I was main room of the library reading a book about-

"Get out," said Vesper,picking me up in her magic.

"What?" I asked.

"Get out, I need the library for myself today."

"But-!" She threw me out the front door and slammed it behind me. The buck was that about? I stood up and brushed myself off. I guess I'll, uh... I glanced around. Visit Rainbo- Wait, no, no magic or Circles to get to her... Uh... Fluttershy? No, we don't have anything to talk about... Pinkie? I thought about it for a few seconds. No, I don't have to energy to deal with her today. I have no idea where Twilight and Spike are... So... Rarity maybe? I scratched the back of my head. Yeah, I guess we could talk about the enchanted fabric in my new suit. To Rarity's it is then.

I started walking to Rarity's boutique.

Rarity didn't answer the door, so I was just walking around town. I just hope the library isn't covered in jizz when she lets me back in. Especially not magic jizz, that stuff's hard to clean up. Why would she use the magic jizz spell? Have I met her? Touche...

I'd been walking for a few hours when I noticed a shadow being cast from above me. I looked up to see Rainbow flying down to me. She landed just in front of me.

"Hey, Rainbow," I greeted.

"Hey, Cloud," she greeted back. "I need you to come with me."

"Where to?"

"I can't tell you. Oh, and you need to put this on." She hoofed me a blindfold.

"How am I supposed to follow you blindfolded?"

"I can direct you with my voice."

"Alright." I was about to put the blindfold on but stopped myself. "Do you realise how dodgy this seems?"

"What do you mean?"

"How do I know you won't just take me to an ally and shove a thing up my butt?" Rainbow blushed.

"W-What?!"

"Having stuff shoved up your butt is really unpleasant. So... Don't do that."

"What are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about you shoving stuff up my butt. It's not nice. Unless you're into that sort of thing. Which I'm not." There were a few seconds of silence. "Don't shove a thing up my butt."

"What are you saying to me right now?!"

"I'm saying I don't like Ponies shoving stuff up my butt."

"Why?!"

"It feels horrible."

"No, why are you telling me this?!"

"'Cause this looks dodgy as buck." I put on the blindfold. "All right, start directing me."

Some time of stumbling around later, Rainbow had directed me into some sort of building. I could tell it was a building and that I was inside because of the heat differences and the sound of the wood flooring under my hooves.

"All right," said Rainbow, "we're here." Really hoping that this isn't a brothel... Well, unless I'm the customer. I took off the blindfold and-

"SURPRISE!"

I was in the library. The girls, Vesper, Spike, Zecora, God-Horse I And God-Horse II were standing around the main room wearing party hats, some holding drinks. There were party decorations up everywhere, a few dozen bottles of different drinks and a large cake with a load of candles stuck into it sat on the table. Next to the cake was a pile of presents of all shapes and sizes.

"Guys," I started, "I know it's amazing that I broke the hospital combo last week, but isn't this overkill?"

"No, you dumb buck," groaned Vesper, "it's your birthday!"

"Oh. That makes more sense." Pinkie materialised next to me and shoved a party hat onto my head.

"Come on!" She exclaimed. "Blow out the candles on your cake!"

After the candles were blown, the cake was cut up and hoofed out everypoone. Then it was time to open the presents!

Applejack got me a crate of her strongest cider.

"Fo' HUH 'ir' coo' 'oo' moo' AGH nuh ar," she started, "chi 'i'i'i'i' eh alolo vur wuh. Boo foo ooh loo too noo, ard ugh 'e'e' hah sonty EET bay o' lek suhpuhuh el'oo' hal wee ar pro lemons, eve eh dey uh racoon ar ar'oo' foo 'fo'oo'. Thee ees moo uh teh stroogah banana uh cedric AGH huh 'st'reee' awawawawa tur shoe yuh muh thuh 'n' weh yuh uh huh tweeen seeeen." I was holding back tears.

"That..." I sniffled. "That was beautiful, AJ."

"AGH duh muh buh."

Twilight got me an advanced medical spell book involving spells such as advanced healing, a healing spell designed for bones and teeth and a pain-numbing spell.

"If you're going to keep getting into fights," she explained, "you should at least know how to patch yourself up right."

"Thanks, Twilight," I thanked, "now maybe I won't have to keep going to hospitals!" I laughed as she rolled her eyes.

Rainbow also got me a book, but this one was fiction. It was a story called 'Daring Do and the Quest for the Sapphire Stone' and was apparently one in a series.

"I know Twilight's got the collection," she explained, "but I figured you probably hadn't read this yet."

"Yeah, I don't read much fiction," I admitted.

"I'm sure you'll love this though! It's about adventures and fights and all sorts of cool stuff!" I grinned.

"Sounds right up my alley! Thanks, Rainbow."

Pinkie had given me a tin of a new type of sweets that she'd been working on the recipe of for nearly a year. They were designed to give you tonnes and tonnes of energy for a short while without too much of a crash afterwards.

"I call them 'Pinkie Simulators'!" She exclaimed. "Ponies are always asking what it's like to have as much energy as I do, so I made these to show them!"

"Didn't Spike and I test a prototype of these ages ago?" I asked.

"Yepperoni! I was designing them to be cupcakes back then!"

"I remember, we were up for days."

"Now they only last an hour!"

"Sound like fun! Thanks, Pinkie!"

"You're welcome!"

The God-Horses got me a pair of enchanted saddlebags.

"They have ten times the amount of room that regular bags have while still being the same size on the exterior," explained Celestia. "When you stick a hoof inside, the bag will send you a psychic message of its contents. Think of the object you want to take out of it and it'll teleport into the hoof you have in the bag. They will also always be fairly lightweight."

"And I made them glow in the dark," added Luna. "Oh, and they charge from my moon's energy, so you don't have to worry about recharging them." I picked my jaw off of the floor.

"Holy bucking shit!" I exclaimed. "That's awesome!"

"We figured we hadn't really repaid you for saving the world numerous times," said Celestia, "so we went a little crazy with your present."

"Thanks so much you two! But how are they bigger on the inside?"

"You aren't the first alien in Equestria..."

"What was that?"

"Nothing! On to the next present!"

Rarity and Fluttershy got me a cotton scarf decorated with a pattern of Arcane Circles.

"It may not be as fancy as your new bags," said Rarity, "but it'll keep you warm in the winter!"

"I chose wool taken from northern creatures," added Fluttershy, "so it'll be extra snuggly."

"Thanks, you two," I thanked, "I needed some winter gear."

Spike got me a bag of candy crystals.

"They're not as good as the real thing," he remarked, "but they're pretty good!"

"Thanks, Spike," I thanked.

Zecora got me a strange looking potion.

"Save that for a rainy day," she said with a wink.

"What, uh... What kind of rainy day?" I asked.

"A bored rainy day."

"O-Okay... Thanks, Zecora..."

My final present was from Vesper. I unwrapped the paper to find a jar filled with looked like a liquid rainbow (the light spectrum kind, not the Pegasus kind).

"What is this?" I asked, turning it over in my hooves.

"It's a bottle of memories," she replied. "You can't use it until you get your magic back, but it'll still work fine then."

"What memory is it?"

"It's..." She sighed. "It's a copy of the memories from around my sixteenth birthday. The worst days of my life."

"So I finally wore you down enough?"

"Yeah, ya wore me down."

"Do I drink it or...?"

"No, you need to absorb it through your horn. Like I said, you'll need magic to use it."

"Okay, I'll take a look at this next week. Thanks, Vesper."

"Uh huh. Just don't expect to like what you find."

"Come on, everypony!" Exclaimed Pinkie. "Let's get this party started!" I grabbed a bottle of the special cider. Time to get wasted for the first time as a twenty six year old!

Author's Notes:

Next time on The Quest For The Past:
The Vesp Of The Past Part 3.
The sixteenth birthday.

---

For anyone who wanted to know what Applejack's speech was, here's a rough translation:

"For the first couple of months I knew you, we didn't get along very well. But for a long time now, you've taught me that sometimes it's best to let somepony else help with your problems, even if they're a race you aren't fond of. This is most of the strongest batch of cider I had stored away to show you my thanks and wish you a happy twenty sixth."