I find myself looking forward as much this time as previous times to starting the game, although, at the same time, I have this sense of foreboding concerning what’s going to happen over the next couple of days in the game. I know that Pinkie Pie has planned to celebrate the anniversary of her pet alligator’s birth, or hatching, the day before her birthday; but I also know she’s going to forget her own birthday immediately follows. I also know that, as one of her friends, I plan on being there to help her, as much as possible, to remember. And, I do have a plan to help her out when she doesn’t remember. Thus, with that in mind, I start my game.

As I do, I find my character waking up to the sound of knocking on his door, followed by Pinkie Pie screaming, “Mormon, time to wake up! It’s Gummy’s birthday today!”

As my character rises from his bed, I reply, “Thanks, Pinkie! I’m awake!” And, as soon as my character is up, he walks to his door and opens it. And, considering I hear no moaning from Pinkie Pie, my guess is she’s far enough away from my character’s bedroom door that Diane sees no reason to warn Pinkamena about it. I have him look toward the kitchen, and I see, through his eyes, that the pink earth pony is already about to enter the kitchen. I ask, “So, Pinkie, shall we go out and harvest fruits in the orchard?”

Pinkie Pie turns and smiles at my character, at me, and answers, “Okie dokie, Mormon! Let’s go!” And, she leads the way through the kitchen and front room, outside and into the orchard.

And, on the way, my character lingers long enough to close the doors behind them.

In the orchard, before Pinkamena hands control over to Diane, she turns to my character and says, “Ah, Mormon, you don’t have to worry. Remember, I’ve planned on having Gummy’s birthday first so I wouldn’t forget, and so I wouldn’t forget my own birthday. You’ll see. Everything’s gonna be fine.”

I smile and answer, “Just so long as you remember. And, I’ll be there to help you remember in case you forget.” And, I proceed to the pear tree and start searching for ripe fruits.

About the time my character has picked four pears from the tree, I hear Diane say, “I appreciate you helping my sister remember her birthday. I will try to do the same. After all, it is mine as well.” And, immediately afterward, I hear a thud, followed by the rattling of leaves, then four more, lighter thuds.

As my character focuses on Pinkie Pie again, I watch as her hair curls again, letting me know that Pinkamena is back in control.

As she takes the apples Diane bucked out of the tree and attaches them to her mane the way I might attach ornaments to a Christmas tree, she giggles and says, “Ah, you and Diane worry about me too much. I promise I’ll remember.”

I wonder to myself if I should get her to Pinkie promise. Of course, when she does forget, the Pinkie promise will likely make things even worse for her.

Then, as I watch, she says, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” and even acts out her promise as she speaks.

In a later episode, one from the next season, of “My Little Pony Friendship is Magic,” one of Pinkie Pie’s friends, Applejack, makes a Pinkie promise, then breaks it. In response, as soon as she finds out, Pinkie Pie does the best impression I’ve seen a pony do of Katy Kaboom. But, right now, she’s made a Pinkie promise; and I know she won’t be able to keep it. I wonder what’s going to happen when, most likely just before her birthday party tomorrow, which I know her friends are planning for her, she realizes that she’s broken the Pinkie promise she just made. Of course, that’s yet to happen. Right now, it’s time to get back to the house with our harvests and get them cleaned up.

Pinkie Pie, who, while I’ve been lost in thought, has evidently already bounced over the fence and is waiting on the other side, calls out, “Mormon, are you comin’, or not?”

Immediately, I have my character approach and climb over the fence with his harvest; and I say, “I’m comin’, Pinkie, I’m comin’.”

This time, Pinkie keeps pace with my character as we make our way to the house, and she asks, “This means a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

I have my character focus on the pink earth pony, and I say, “You mean a lot to me.”

I think I see Pinkie Pie tear up as she says, “Aw, Mormon, you're so sweet.”

And, by this time, my character and the pink earth pony have made it to the steps of the front porch.

Lyra, who’s also there, uses her magic to open the door, allowing the other three to enter.

Pinkie, as soon as she’s inside, gallops to the kitchen door and opens it with the curl in her forehead.

In the mean time, my character lingers behind to close each of the doors.

Once all four are in the kitchen, the process of cleaning and preparing the fruits and vegetables for breakfast is the same as it’s pretty much always been. And, it takes just a few minutes for the group of four to eat them. Then, after breakfast, Pinkie Pie turns to my character, to me, and says, “Oh, I have some things I’ve been working on for singing telegrams for my friends. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to get them now so, once we’re at Sugar Cube Corner, I can get dressed in each of ‘em, and be ready to invite each of my friends to Gummy’s birthday party.”

I nod and answer, “Sure, go on ahead. We can wait.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and says, “Thank you, Mormy,” then gallops through the hallway to her room.

In the mean time, Lyra, Weed Whacker, and my character linger in the kitchen to clean up what the four didn’t eat.

I have to wonder if I should have my character get a box for all the costumes Pinkie Pie has ready for all her friends. Considering it for a moment, I decide it’s a good idea, and have my character head to his work room and get a box ready for Pinkie Pie when she comes out with her costumes. As it turns out, there is a minor problem, in that the only box in the room is occupied by musical instruments from the parasprite incident. So, I have my character remove each of the instruments and place them carefully to the right or left of the box, then take the now-empty box and carry it into the front room.

In the mean time, it seems that Pinkie Pie has gotten all her costumes, and is waiting for my character, for me, in the front room. As soon as she sees the box my character is carrying, she asks, “That’s the box that held the musical instruments, isn’t it?”

I answer, “That’s right. I figured you could use it to hold your invitations for your friends.”

Pinkie only half-smiles as she says, “Well, thanks.” I then hear her say, under her breath, “I hope the instruments will be alright.”

I reply, “I’m sure they will be. In the mean time, let’s get your supplies in the box, alright?”

Pinkie Pie nods in agreement, and the four all join in putting Pinkie’s costumes in the box. After that, with Pinkie and Lyra carrying the box between them on their backs, the group leaves the house, then makes their way through the Everfree forest and on into Ponyville.

As the group enters town, Pinkie Pie turns to my character and asks, “Oh, shouldn’t we head to the library so we can see how Spike’s doin’?”

I answer, “It’s probably a good idea to go to Sugar Cube Corner first, so we can drop off your box of supplies. Then we can head over to the library.”

Pinkie turns to eye the load that she and Lyra have been sharing, then turns back to my character and says, “Yeah, that’s probably the better idea. Then, I could dress up for inviting Twilight first.”

I pause for a moment in thought before saying, “Yeah, I suppose I could wait for a few more minutes. Alright then. As soon as we get to Sugar Cube Corner, you can go to your room and get dressed; then we’ll head over to the library so you can invite Twilight to Gummy’s birthday party, and afterwards I can see how Spike’s doing.” And, about that time I start seeing the bakery.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie corrects me by saying, “We can see how Spike’s doing.”

I smile and nod as I say, “Very well, we can see.”

Then, Lyra says, “I must admit, I missed Twilight and Spike at the reading last night. I’d like to visit with them for a while.”

I open my mouth to speak; but before I can say anything, Weed Whacker says, “I wanna visit Spike, too.”

Well, since everyone has spoken, I say, “Well, I guess that means that all of us visit Twilight and Spike at the library, then.”

The other three cheer in excitement and agreement as the group of four makes its way to Sugar Cube Corner. This time, though, when they arrive, the group enters through the front door.

Mr. Cake at the cash register, as soon as he sees the group of four, says, “Hi, Pinkie Pie, Mormon, Lyra, Weed Whacker. it’s nice to see you. We could use your help in the kitchen.”

Pinkie Pie bounces up to the orange stallion and says, “Hey, Mr. Cake. We need to make a stop off at the library first, if that’s alright with you. Also, I’m having a party I wanna invite all my friends to. Could I use my old room to get the invites ready?”

Mr. Cake nods and says, “Sure, Pinkie. Go right ahead.”

At the orange earth stallion’s acceptance, Pinkie Pie bounces up to my character’s eye level, I’d say, as she shouts, “Yes!” Then, when she lands again, she turns to Lyra, Weed Whacker, and my character and says, “Come on. Let’s get that box up to my room.” And, with that, she takes her position under her previous corner of the box, and the group of four makes their way to and up the stairs.

Or at least Lyra and Pinkie Pie head that way. I have my character head into the kitchen to help Mrs Cake with baking pastries, and Weed Whacker follows him.

At about the time my character has put maybe two loaves of bread in the oven, Pinkie and Lyra show up at the entrance to the kitchen, Pinkie Pie wearing a blue-and-yellow-striped party hat with red dots in the yellow and yellow dots in the blue, and a big red clown’s nose.

The pink party pony says, “We’re ready to go when you are, Mormy.”

As my character turns and focuses on Pinkie, I say, “Well, in that case, let’s go.” I then have my character focus on Mrs. Cake as I add, “We’ll be back as soon as possible.”

Mrs. Cake smiles and says, “Alright, dearie. We’ll be waiting for you.”

As my character proceeds out the back door, followed by Weed Whacker, then Pinkie Pie, and finally Lyra, the dinosaur and two ponies each say their farewells to the blue earth mare before exiting. And, it’s about this time that I notice the birthday alligator riding on Pinkie’s back.

In the mean time, the pink earth pony says, “Now, as soon as Twily shows up, I wanna sing to her first. Then everypony else can say hello, and we can visit for a while.”

Presently, I say, “Sounds good to me.”

Lyra and Weed Whacker also agree with Pinkie’s arrangement.

And, a few minutes later, the group of four arrive at the library; and Pinkie Pie knocks on the door four times, much the same way Woody Woodpecker or the Road Runner would. A few seconds later, Twilight opens the door and says, “Oh, hi,” and immediately Pinkie starts singing. And, unlike in the show where it suggests that Pinkie sings two lines for each of her friends, in the game I have her singing the entire song for Twilight. She’ll do the same thing for each of the rest of her friends.

In the mean time, Pinkie’s invitation song lasts for maybe twenty seconds or so, after which Lyra, Weed Whacker, and I say hello to Twilight.

When the greetings are over, I say, “The invitation to Gummy’s birthday party is just one reason why we’re here. We also wanted to come and see how Spike’s doing.”

Smiling, Twilight steps out of the way of the door to allow her guests to enter and says, “Spike’s making breakfast in the kitchen. I’ll let him know you’re here to visit.” And, with that, she turns and heads to the kitchen.

As the group enters the library, Pinkie turns to my character and says, “Well, I’d say this first singing telegram went well.”

I open my mouth to speak, but it’s Lyra who beats me to it, as she says, “Yeah, just don’t overdo it. You don’t want to wear yourself out before the party.”

Pinkie Pie just smiles and giggles and says, “Thanks, Lyra.”

And, it’s at this point that Twilight enters the main room of the library, followed by Spike.

The purple dragon, seeing the four, no make that five, visitors, takes a step forward and, holding and wringing his tail, says, “Uh, hi everypony. How are you?” And, he laughs nervously.

I answer, “We’re fine. We just came to see how you’re doing.”

Lyra adds, “Yeah. We missed you and Twilight at the reading last night.”

Twilight then coos with gratitude before saying, “That’s so nice.”

At this point, Spike lets go of his tail and looks down at the ground in front of him before saying, “Ah, well, you didn’t need to worry about me. As you can see, I’m alright.” He then looks up at my character before adding, “You were right, Mormon. I shouldn’t have tried to set up Owlowiscious the way I did. Twilight walked right in on me, and she knew exactly what I was doing.” He then smiles as he adds, “But, you did see the mouse, didn’t you? Didn’t it look real?”

Sarcastically I say, “Yeah. Because, you know, there are so many purple mice runnin’ around out there with lime-green ears and tails and faded-blue patches on their backs.”

My guess is Spike’s grimace is as much in response to the tone in my voice as to what I say. When I finish talking, Spike looks down again and says, “Yeah. Anyway, like I said, you were right about everything. I know now that Owlowiscious wasn’t trying to set me up. I’m senior assistant now, and I should’ve been responsible enough to let Twilight know about what had happened to that astronomical almanac thing when it happened.”

I have my character kneel in front of the purple dragon and stroke his head with my character’s closest hand as I say, “Well, as long as you’ve learned your lesson, I’d say the whole experience was worth it.”

At my statement, Spike looks up at my character and pushes his hand away, then says, “Oh, and the next time I go into the Everfree forest, I’m gonna stick to the trail from now on. I had no idea there was a dragon living there.”

I state, “Well, as it turns out, the dragon’s a friend of the one we had to convince to leave a few weeks ago. It seems that the green dragon’s allowing the red one to stay in his cave wherever he lived before, and decided to move into the Everfree forest, partly to meet the human that had sung to his friend.”

Spike grunts with interest, then says, “And, I’m guessing you are that human?”

I answer, “That’s right.”

Just then, Pinkie Pie says, “Oh, we need to get back to Sugar Cube Corner. Mormon, Lyra, and Weed Whacker need to get back to helping the Cakes, and I need to get ready and invite my other friends.”

Smiling, Twilight says, “Well, then, we won’t hold you up any longer.”

So, with Pinkie Pie leading the way, the quartet makes its way out of the library.

Then, as my character makes his way out the door, the purple unicorn says, “Oh, Mormon, if you could wait a moment, I’d like to have a word with you.”

Since my character’s the last to leave, I decide to have him wait at the door. I have him turn to the two ponies and the dinosaur, and I say, “I’ll catch up to you in a moment.” I then have my character turn back to the purple unicorn, and I ask, “So, Twilight, what do you want to talk to me about?”

Twilight’s first response is to motion my character down to where she can talk into his ear. Then, once my character is in that position, she says, under her breath, “Tomorrow is Pinkie Pie’s birthday.”

I state, in an equally quiet voice, “I know. Pinkie Pie planned to celebrate her pet’s birthday the day before her own.”

Twilight’s ears fold back for a moment, and I can see, through my character’s eyes, the look of concern on her face. When her ears are open toward my character again, she says, “Well, the rest of us five are planning a surprise party for her on Sweet Apple Acres, in the extra barn. I just thought you might like to be involved.”

I state, “Well, as much as I appreciate the invitation, I’m thinking I should stay out of it this time.” Seeing the look of disappointment on the purple unicorn’s face, I add, “Trust me, it’ll be better this way.”

Twilight looks away from my character and says, “Oh, alright, if you think that’s best.”

I don’t say anymore, just have my character leave the library. It’s about then that I find out that the two ponies and the dinosaur didn’t go that far away, and are waiting for my character to catch up to them.

When my character reunites with the rest of the group, Pinkie Pie says, “Mormon, I’m surprised you didn’t mention that you calmed down the green dragon.”

I reply, “I didn’t feel like I needed to.”

And, that seems to be all that’s said, at least between me and Pinkie Pie, as the group heads back to the bakery.

Once the group gets there and enters through the back door, Pinkie proceeds through the kitchen, into the main room, and on up to her own room to get ready to invite her next friend, Rarity.

In the mean time, Lyra, Weed Whacker, and my character proceed to their assigned duties in the kitchen.

When Pinkie Pie comes back through the kitchen, she’s wearing a tuxedo, a top hat, and shoes that almost look like a human would wear them.

The four in the kitchen wish the pink party pony luck as she marches through and on her way out the back door.

A few minutes later, Pinkie Pie returns, bouncing through the kitchen on her way to change costumes. When she comes back through, she’s wearing a purplish-pink saddle with what look like firework cylinders and a hat with one more such cylinder. This, no doubt, is the costume she wears to invite her friend Applejack to Gummy’s birthday party. When she comes back, a few minutes later, it’s evident to me that the singing telegrams are starting to take their toll on her. Instead of bouncing, she just canters through the kitchen on her way to her room to change costumes.

This time, when she comes back through the kitchen, she’s not wearing anything.

I notice this and ask, “You don’t have a costume to wear to invite Rainbow Dash?”

Pinkie Pie turns to my character and answers, “Not this time. I’m goin’ over to the library to borrow Twilight’s balloon.” And, without a further word, she heads out the back door. And, when she returns a few minutes later, I can see her sweating and panting.

As I watch her, through my character’s eyes, stumbling through the kitchen, I ask, “Shouldn’t you take a break for a few minutes to catch your breath before inviting Fluttershy?”

As she looks up at my character, her smile seems forced to me. She answers, “Nah. Fluttershy’s the last on the list, and then I’ll take a break.” And, once again before anyone can say anything more, the pink party pony goes on ahead through the kitchen.

When she comes back through, she seems to be wearing two cakes, one over her torso, and one on her head. And, while Gummy’s sitting on her neck between the two cakes, Pinkie Pie has her head lowered, making me wonder how heavy that cake hat on her head is. She seems to struggle to lift her head up to look at my character before she says, “You know, taking … a break … is sounding … better … and better … right now.” And, she starts to slump down.

I reply, “I’m sure Fluttershy won’t mind if you take a few minutes to catch your breath before you visit her.”

Again Pinkie Pie seems to force a smile as she says, “Maybe … you’re right, … Mormon. But, … I can … have a … break … after … I invite … Fluttershy.” And, once again she rises, and shakily proceeds toward the door.

I’m sure Pinkie Pie will survive the ordeal she’s putting herself through. And, I’m sure it’ll all be worth it when all her friends show up to celebrate the anniversary of Gummy’s hatching with her. Still, I think it wouldn’t have hurt her to rest for just a few minutes before going to visit Fluttershy.

It’s ten or fifteen minutes before the pink party pony returns from visiting her yellow pegasa friend, and she takes just a few steps into the kitchen before collapsing on the floor.

At this point, I decide it’s time for me, that is my character, to step in and help her out. As he, as per my instructions, approaches her and picks her up, I ask, “Are you going to need help getting that costume off?”

Pinkie Pie doesn’t even look up at my character as she wheezes, “Next time, I think I’ll just hand out written invitations.”

Evidently Pinkie’s energy isn’t so limitless after all.

In the mean time, I notice, as my character starts to stand up again, Gummy, who has fallen on the ground next to the exhausted pink party pony, looks up at him and licks each of his, that is Gummy’s, eyeballs.

I have my character focus on the little toothless alligator, and I say, “I’m sure Pinkie Pie’ll be fine. She just needs to rest for a while.” Then, as my character proceeds to carry the pink earth pony through the rest of the kitchen, through the main room of the bakery, and up to her room, I say, “And, once we get to your room, I’ll help you remove your costume so you can rest for a while.”

Lethargic, Pinkie Pie manages to say, “Thank you, Mormon.”

When my character gets Pinkie Pie back into her room, I have him close the door behind them, then proceed to search for the belt that’s no doubt securing the larger cake to Pinkie Pie’s back. When he does find the belt buckle, I can see, through his eyes, that it’s on pretty much as tight as it can be. I ask, “How are you able to breathe with that belt on so tight?”

Pinkie Pie slowly turns to have a look at the belt, then says, “Breathe … belt … tight?”

I immediately order my character to do what he can to remove, or at least loosen, the belt as I say, “I need to get that belt off of you as soon as possible.” It takes, I’d say, a minute for my character to loosen the belt enough to be able to slip the cake costume off of Pinkie Pie.

When the cake is finally removed, Pinkie Pie shows signs of being able to breathe again by inhaling deeply, then exhaling deeply, almost sounding like she’s braying. Twice more she does that before focusing on my character and saying, “It feels good to be able to breathe again. Thank you, Mormon. I didn’t realize I had that thing on so tight. I knew it wasn’t that heavy.”

As my character proceeds to remove the cake hat from Pinkie’s head, I respond, “Something you need to be aware of from now on when wearing a costume like that. While it’s a good idea to make sure the costume isn’t going to fall off, you also want to be able to breathe.”

Pinkie Pie forces a chuckle before she says, “Right.” Then, when the hat’s removed, she says, “I think I’ll take your advice now and rest for a while before I go back downstairs and help with the baking.” And, with that, she rises to all fours just long enough to stroll to her bed, jump up onto it, and lie down and fall asleep.

In the mean time, I have my character leave the party pony and head back downstairs and to the kitchen.

As my character takes his position in front of the oven again, I hear Lyra ask, “Is Pinkie going to be alright?”

I answer, “I’m sure she’ll be fine. Like I said to Gummy, she just needs time to rest and recuperate.”

And, thus the group continues to work, producing more loaves of bread, as well as cookies and other pastries, until Pinkie Pie enters the kitchen again, evidently rested and ready to help out.

The rest of the day continues on that way, with no notable incident.

When the time comes for the Cakes to close down the bakery, Pinkie Pie, Lyra, Weed Whacker, Gummy and my character exit through the back door to find that Twilight, Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy are there waiting for them.

The purple unicorn steps forward and says, “We thought we’d join you, along with the birthday alligator, on your way through the Everfree forest to your home.”

Then, Fluttershy asks, “Are you going to have the reading first, and then the party?”

Pinkie Pie answers, “That’s right.”

Then, Spike, sitting on Twilight’s back, says, “Well, in that case, let’s get going.” And, he points toward the Everfree forest.

Evidently none of the members of the group has a reason to argue with the purple dragon, as the group of now ten, lead by my character, proceeds away from Sugar Cube Corner.

After a few paces, Pinkie Pie turns around and says, “Wait!”

Then, as the group collectively stops and turns around to see the front door, and the “Closed” sign in front of it, I hear Pinkie Pie sigh and say, “Never mind.” As my character focuses on her, she continues, “I was hoping to get my costumes and take ‘em back again. But, it’s too late now.” Then, she perks up again as she says, “Oh, well. We can always come back tomorrow and collect ‘em.”

With that much apparently figured out, the group once again proceeds out of Ponyville, through the Everfree forest, and to my character’s house.

Once there, I happen to notice a few things. For one thing, there’s a wooden tub filled with water, with apples floating on top of it. There’s also a table with a bowl full of punch, with cups next to it, and a cake next to the punch bowl. And, I can’t help noticing that the punch bowl and cups resemble the ones that Twilight and Spike had available a couple days ago for that meteor shower, leading me to wonder if Pinkie Pie borrowed them from the purple unicorn. There’s also some kind of stereo system on the front porch. And, the tub and table are on one side of the lawn, providing plenty of room on the other side for the reading to take place.

As the group enters and the members notice the new items in the yard and how they’re set up, Pinkie Pie says, “I thought it’d be a good idea to have things ready this way. Now, we don’t have to wait to get things set up between the reading and the party, because everything’s already ready.”

I couldn’t argue with the pink party pony’s logic. I agree, “Good thinking, Pinkie.”

And, before Pinkie can thank me for my compliment, the two princesses appear maybe a few inches from the refreshment table.

Princess Celestia, looking around and seeing the setup, says, “Well, this is the first time we've gotten this kind of reception. What’s the occasion?”

Pinkie Pie, grinning ear-to-ear, approaches the daytime princess and says, “We’re going to be celebrating Gummy’s birthday party this evening, after the reading. You and Princess Luna can stay and party with us if you want.”

Princess Celestia smiles and says, “That’s very kind of you to offer. But, we’re only here for the reading. After that, we have duties back at the castle.”

I notice that Pinkie Pie looks down and sighs before looking up again and saying, “That’s alright. It was worth offering anyway.”

At this point, I ask, “So, is everyone ready?”

Nine ponies and two dragons answer the question by producing their copies of the Book of Mormon and taking their familiar places in the circle.

I ask, as my character takes his position, “Twilight, Spike, do you need to be brought up-to-date on what we read last night?”

The purple unicorn smiles and answers, “No, that’s alright. Fluttershy told us about what you read, so Spike and I were able to read the two chapters between the two of us, when we weren’t having to get books for ponies that came in, or putting books away when ponies left ‘em out.”

I nod and say, “Well, in that case, I guess we’re ready.” I have my character focus on the orange earth mare, and I ask, "Applejack, will you read verse one of Mosiah chapter twelve?"

The orange earth pony smiles and nods, then looks down into her book and reads, "And it came to pass that after the space of two years that Abinadi came among them in disguise, that they knew him not, and began to prophesy among them, saying: Thus has the Lord commanded me, saying—Abinadi, go and prophesy unto this my people, for they have hardened their hearts against my words; they have repented not of their evil doings; therefore, I will visit them in my anger, yea, in my fierce anger will I visit them in their iniquities and abominations."

Fluttershy then reads, "Yea, wo be unto this generation! And the Lord said unto me: Stretch forth thy hand and prophesy, saying: Thus saith the Lord, it shall come to pass that this generation, because of their iniquities, shall be brought into bondage, and shall be smitten on the cheek; yea, and shall be driven by men, and shall be slain; and the vultures of the air, and the dogs, yea, and the wild beasts, shall devour their flesh."

Lyra reads, "And it shall come to pass that the life of king Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace; for he shall know that I am the Lord."

I read, "And it shall come to pass that I will smite this my people with sore afflictions, yea, with famine and with pestilence; and I will cause that they shall howl all the day long."

Weed Whacker reads, "Yea, and I will cause that they shall have burdens lashed upon their backs; and they shall be driven before like a dumb ass."

Princess Luna reads, "And it shall come to pass that I will send forth hail among them, and it shall smite them; and they shall also be smitten with the east wind; and insects shall pester their land also, and devour their grain."

Princess Celestia reads, "And they shall be smitten with a great pestilence—and all this will I do because of their iniquities and abominations."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And it shall come to pass that except they repent I will utterly destroy them from off the face of the earth; yet they shall leave a record behind them, and I will preserve them for other nations which shall possess the land; yea, even this will I do that I may discover the abominations of this people to other nations. And many things did Abinadi prophesy against this people."

Pinkie Pie reads, "And it came to pass that they were angry with him; and they took him and carried him bound before the king, and said unto the king: Behold, we have brought a man before thee who has prophesied evil concerning thy people, and saith that God will destroy them."

Twilight Sparkle reads, "And he also prophesieth evil concerning thy life, and saith that thy life shall be as a garment in a furnace of fire." She then looks up and says, "Well, Abinadi did say that King Noah's life would be valued as a garment in a hot furnace."

Spike reads, "And again, he saith that thou shalt be as a stalk, even as a dry stalk of the field, which is run over by the beasts and trodden under foot."

Rarity reads, "And again, he saith thou shalt be as the blossoms of a thistle, which, when it is fully ripe, if the wind bloweth, it is driven forth upon the face of the land. And he pretendeth the Lord hath spoken it. And he saith all this shall come upon thee except thou repent, and this because of thine iniquities." She then looks up and says, "Now, based on what we've read about King Noah thus far, Abinadi wasn't pretending anything. He was warning the people, just as God told him to."

Applejack reads, "And now, O king, what great evil hast thou done, or what great sins have thy people committed, that we should be condemned of God or judged of this man?" She then looks up and scoffs before saying, "Ah wonder."

Fluttershy reads, "And now, O king, behold, we are guiltless, and thou, O king, hast not sinned; therefore, this man has lied concerning you, and he has prophesied in vain." She then looks up and grunts in confusion and disbelief.

At this point, I reply, "Clearly, by this point, this people, under King Noah's administration, had forgotten everything they'd learned from Zeniff, or at least were refusing to pay attention to it. Either way, they were refusing to acknowledge that they'd done anything wrong."

Lyra looks and waits for my character to nod to her before she reads, "And behold, we are strong, we shall not come into bondage, or be taken captive by our enemies; yea, and thou hast prospered in the land, and thou shalt also prosper."

I read, "Behold, here is the man, we deliver him into thy hands; thou mayest do with him as seemeth thee good."

Weed Whacker reads, "And it came to pass that king Noah caused that Abinadi should be cast into prison; and he commanded that the priests should gather themselves together that he might hold a council with them what he should do with him."

Princess Luna reads, "And it came to pass that they said unto the king: Bring him hither that we may question him; and the king commanded that he should be brought before them."

Princess Celestia reads, "And they began to question him, that they might cross him, that thereby they might have wherewith to accuse him; but he answered them boldly, and withstood all their questions, yea, to their astonishment; for he did withstand them in all their questions, and did confound them in all their words." She then looks up and says, "You know, I'm beginning to really like Abinadi, and I'm really disliking this King Noah."

Rainbow Dash reads, "And it came to pass that one of them said unto him: What meaneth the words which are written, and which have been taught by our fathers, saying:"

Pinkie Pie reads, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings; that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth;"

Twilight Sparkle reads, "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion;"

Spike reads, "Break forth into joy; sing together ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem;"

Rarity reads, "The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God?"

Applejack reads, "And now Abinadi said unto them: Are you priests, and pretend to teach this people, and to understand the spirit of prophesying, and yet desire to know of me what these things mean?" She then looks up and says, "If those priests don't understand those scriptures, then they're doin' more pretendin' than the people said Abinadi was a'doin'."

Fluttershy reads, "I say unto you, wo be unto you for perverting the ways of the Lord! For if ye understand these things ye have not taught them; therefore, ye have perverted the ways of the Lord."

Lyra reads, "Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise. Therefore, what teach ye this people?"

I read, "And they said: We teach the law of Moses."

Weed Whacker reads, "And again he said unto them: If ye teach the law of Moses why do ye not keep it? Why do ye set your hearts upon riches? Why do ye commit whoredoms and spend your strength with harlots, yea, and cause this people to commit sin, that the Lord has cause to send me to prophesy against this people, yea, even a great evil against this people?" She then looks up and says, "Those sound like valid questions to me."

Princess Luna reads, "Know ye not that I speak the truth? Yea, ye know that I speak the truth; and you ought to tremble before God."

Princess Celestia reads, "And it shall come to pass that ye shall be smitten for your iniquities, for ye have said that ye teach the law of Moses. And what know ye concerning the law of Moses? Doth salvation come by the law of Moses? What say ye?"

Rainbow Dash reads, "And they answered and said that salvation did come by the law of Moses."

Pinkie Pie reads, "But now Abinadi said unto them: I know if ye keep the commandments of God ye shall be saved; yea, if ye keep the commandments which the Lord delivered unto Moses in the mount of Sinai, saying:"

Twilight Sparkle reads, "I am the Lord thy God, who hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage."

Spike reads, "Thou shalt have no other God before me."

Rarity reads, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing in heaven above, or things which are in the earth beneath."

Applejack reads, "Now Abinadi said unto them, Have ye done all this? I say unto you, Nay, ye have not. And have ye taught this people that they should do all these things? I say unto you, Nay, ye have not."

At this point, I have my character close his book and stand up; and I say, "And, I think that should be the end of the reading for tonight."

Presently, Pinkie Pie shouts, “Yes!” She then approaches the princesses and asks, “Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, I’m sorry you can’t stay for Gummy’s birthday party.”

Princess Celestia nods and says, “We do appreciate the invitation, though. But, we may just come and stay for your birthday party.”

Humbly and sincerely, Pinkie replies, “Well, thank you, Princess. I’d be honored.”

The two alicorns smile, and Princess Celestia says, “Well, we must be going now. Until tomorrow.” And, before anyone can reply, the two princesses disappear.

At this point, Pinkie Pie turns to the other nine and says, “Well, now it’s time for dancing and games and cake and drinks!”

I order my character to approach the stereo system to turn it on, and I say, “I’ll get the music started.”

Then, while my character follows my orders, my guess is that Rainbow Dash and Applejack approach the wooden tub with the apples, and Rarity approaches the refreshment table. And, I’m surprised that, as soon as the stereo system is turned on, I immediately hear bagpipes playing, signaling the start of the song, “You Make Us Want to Sing.” At this point, I’m left to wonder what other surprises Pinkie Pie has in store for me and the rest of her friends, although I have an idea of what she’s provided for Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

My character turns to the front yard to show me, through his eyes, Pinkie, Lyra and Twilight dancing together, Rainbow Dash and Applejack taking turns bobbing for apples, and Rarity and Fluttershy talking at the refreshment table. Even Spike and Weed Whacker seem to be having fun conversing with each other.

Then, Pinkie Pie looks up at my character and says, “Come on down, Mormon! Join us in dancin’!”

I smile as I reply, “Thanks for the invite, but the only dance I know is a Maori war dance, and I don’t think that’d be appropriate for this situation.”

At my response, the pink party pony says, “Aw, well, you can at least come down and talk with some of my friends, like Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash or Applejack.”

Considering she’s right, I decide to have my character leave the front porch and approach the refreshment table. If anything, maybe I can catch Gummy before he ends up in the punch bowl.

In the mean time, from the tub with the swimming apples in it, I hear chomping sounds, followed by Rainbow Dash saying, “Nice one.” My character turns his attention to the blue pegasa as she continues, “Now, let me show you how it’s really done.”

In the mean time, I see Pinkie Pie, with a slight limp, approaching the tub, opposite the azure pegasa and the orange earth mare. Seeing her two friends, she says, “Hey, girls!”

Rainbow Dash replies, “Hey, Pinkie Pie.”

Then, Applejack also responds, “Hey.”

I can hear the pink party pony smile as she grunts and says, “Just wanted to tell you how happy I am that you could make it to Gummy’s party.”

Applejack replies, “Are you kiddin’? Ah wouldn’t’a missed it for the world.”

Then, Rainbow Dash says, “Me neither. When Pinkie Pie throws a party, I am there.” And, with that, she plunges her head into the water, then pulls it back out holding another apple in her mouth and sings, “Ta-da!”

Seeing this, Pinkie says, “Aw, it’s just a boring old apple. Don’t worry. There are plenty of other surprises in there.”

Rainbow Dash spits out the apple, into Applejack’s head, and asks, “What kind of surprises?”

Pinkie giggles and answers, “I can’t tell you that, silly. Then it wouldn’t be a surprise.” Then, she trots away, but still with a slight, although evident, limp.

As the pink party pony approaches my character, I have him kneel down in front of her, and I ask, “Are you alright?”

Pinkie leans in toward my character and answers, “My shoulder’s aching a little.”

I have my character stand up again in time to see, through his eyes, the azure pegasa and the orange earth mare plunge their heads into the tub of water and apples, and, apparently, surprises.

When Applejack pulls her head out again, in her mouth she has a green apple with a spring attached to its bottom. Then, the spring, demanding to keep hold of the apple, pulls it back, taking Applejack with it.

Then Rainbow Dash pulls her head out again, but with Gummy attached to her muzzle.

At this point, I can’t help laughing a little when I hear Pinkie Pie say, “Oh, ache’s gone.”

In the mean time, Rainbow Dash grimaces, then frowns, then shakes her head vigorously until the hatchling alligator lets go.

Fortunately, I have my character in just the right spot to catch the airborne alligator before he can end up in the punch bowl. As my character holds the toothless reptile, I say, “I’ll get you some punch.” I then have my character get a cup from next to the punch bowl, take the ladle and transfer some of the punch into the cup, then grab a straw from a pile, also next to the punch bowl.

It’s Scout that provides a small stump for Gummy to use as something of a platform so he can reach the straw without having to stand or sit up.

After thanking my timber wolf friend for the stump, I have my character place it on the table, then Gummy on the stump, and slide the cup of punch, straw and all, up to him. I then ask, “How’s that?”

Gummy responds by licking my character’s nose, I assume, then grabbing the straw and sucking on it.

In the mean time, Pinkie Pie takes over use of the ladle, pouring more punch for the white unicorn.

Putting on her best show of grace, Rarity says, “This punch is simply divine. Is this the same recipe you used for your ‘Spring Has Sprung’ party?”

Smiling, the pink earth pony answers, “Nope, somethin’ new.” Then, as the two ponies turn and see Gummy drinking from his own cup, Pinkie continues, “It’s Gummy’s favorite.”

In this game, it’s the surprise of seeing the little toothless alligator drinking the same liquid that causes Rarity to spit her mouthful of the punch into Pinkie Pie’s face as the pink party pony speaks. But then, seeing Pinkie smiling expectantly at her, Rarity shakily proceeds to take another mouthful of the punch.

As Pinkie Pie trots off satisfied, I watch Rarity prepare to spit her mouthful of punch into the lawn as I say, “You don’t need to worry about it. There’s no meat in the punch.” I then have my character take an empty cup, fill it with the punch using the ladle, then drink it directly from the cup.

At the bottom of the screen, a message box pops up, saying, “Various kinds of fruit, including citrus.”

Noticing the last word, I hum contentedly and say, “Citrussy.”

Seeing that I approve of the punch, Rarity, with relief, swallows her mouthful, then says, “Thank you, Mormon. I was hoping I wasn’t tasting baby alligator in the punch.”

I then hear the song end, and a different, but familiar melody start playing, one I remember from the parasprite incident, which Lyra, Pinkie and I had marched to, to lead the parasprites away from Ponyville and back into the Everfree forest.

As “Stick Figures” starts playing, Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle and Fluttershy move away from the refreshment table and start dancing at Pinkie Pie’s encouragement.

I watch as Pinkie Pie, a little too energetically, dances, knocking the yellow pegasa and the purple unicorn away from her, Twilight toward the orchard, and Fluttershy almost out of the front yard. I then have my character turn to Gummy on his log perch, and notice the little alligator’s wagging his tail in time with the music. So, I ask, “Would you like to join Pinkie Pie in dancing?”

Gummy just looks up at my character and continues to rhythmically wag his tail.

Taking this as affirmation, I have my character pick the alligator up from his perch, then carry him over to Pinkie Pie, who’s hopping around in her place, landing on one, two, or three of her legs each time.

Then, as I put Gummy down a few feet away from her, as much for my character’s safety as that of Gummy, Pinkie Pie stops hopping around long enough to take notice. Seeing her alligator pet keeping time with the music with his tail, she smiles and says, “Come on, everypony! Gummy wants to dance!”

At this point, as I notice other ponies accepting the pink party pony’s invitation, I have my character back away.

It’s not until the Animusic melody ends and a clearly Celtic melody starts playing, that Twilight and Fluttershy recover enough to join in the circle of ponies dancing around Pinkie’s pet alligator.

Seeing that all of her friends have joined her in dancing around her reptilian friend, Pinkie Pie starts chanting, “Go, Gummy. It’s your birthday.”

After a few hours and several songs, it’s gotten dark enough that, without Twilight and Rarity lighting their horns with their magic, it’s difficult to see the objects in the yard. But, it’s still clear that the ponies, at least, have plenty of energy to keep partying.

Still, it’s Twilight who, noticing how dark it is, looks around and says, “Well, it’s getting late, and we need to be getting back to Ponyville now.”

Then, Applejack stops and says, “Oh, that’s right! Ah need to get back to Sweet Apple Acres.”

Fluttershy worriedly states, “I need to get back to my cottage. Oh, I hope my creatures don’t think I’ve forgotten about them.”

Rarity says, “And, I need to get back to the boutique. Sweetie Belle and her friends have been planning a sleepover there, and Celestia only knows what they’ve been getting up to.”

I hear a little suspicion in Pinkie Pie’s voice as she asks, “Wait, I thought Princess Celestia had duties back in Canterlot. Why’s she taking care of three foals at your boutique?”

At her pink friend’s question, Rarity giggles. Then, she answers, “Oh, Pinkie Pie, it’s just a figure of speech.”

At the white unicorn’s statement, Pinkie lowers her head somewhat and says, “Oh,” then forces a couple chuckles.

I state, “Yeah, I’m sure even Rainbow Dash has some duties she needs to attend to tomorrow, and probably needs her rest right now.”

My suggestion seems to dawn on the rainbow-haired pegasa, as she flies directly upward and says, “Oh, that’s right!” When she lands, she adds, “I have to help out at Sweet Apple—Ow!”

As Rainbow Dash glares at Applejack for interrupting her, Pinkie Pie tilts her head in curiosity and wonders aloud, “That’s strange. I’ve never heard of Sweet Apple Ow. Where is it?”

Then, Applejack, with a smile that demonstrates her nervousness as much as her forced chuckle does, starts backing toward the gate. After some four paces, I’d say, she answers, “Nothin’ you need to be worryin’ about.” I then happen to notice Rainbow Dash cover her face with a forelimb, evidently realizing how she’d nearly let something slip, as Applejack continues, “We’d better be a’mosyin’ on home now,” and forces a few more nervous chuckles.

But, before the orange earth mare can get any closer to the gate, Pinkie Pie shouts, “Wait!” Then, as Applejack stops moving and all eyes focus on the pink party pony, Pinkie says, “We haven’t had our group hug yet.”

It’s Lyra who says, “Oh, that’s right.”

Rainbow Dash adds, “We can’t end the party without a group hug.”

I decide to have my character join in on the evident party-ending tradition, and Pinkie Pie picks up Gummy by the scruff of his neck and puts him on her shoulder so he can be part of the group hug.

Even Weed Whacker and Spike join in, Spike between Rarity and Twilight, and Weed Whacker between my character and Lyra.

After a few seconds the ponies, reptiles, and human separate; and I have my character proceed to the front gate to allow the party guests to leave.

And, as my character looks up to see five ponies and one dragon leave through the gate, I notice, through his eyes, Pinkie on the other side of the gate, ready to say goodbye to them.

The first out of the gate, Applejack, says, “Woowie! Ah am beat. Ah haven’t danced that much since, well, since your last party. Thanks again for the invite.”

I respond, “It’s been an honor having you here.”

The next one to leave, Rainbow Dash, focuses on Gummy, who’s on Pinkie’s back, and says, “See you later, birthday alligator.”

Gummy just responds by licking each of his eyes.

Then, Rarity, who along with Fluttershy follows close behind the azure pegasa, says something about “another delightful soiree.” As many times as I’ve watched the episode, I’ve never been able to catch all of what she said about it.

At any rate, Fluttershy adds, “It’s been lovely.”

Finally, Twilight, the last in line to leave, with Spike fighting to stay awake on her back, says, “We should do this again soon.”

Now, I know in the episode there was more to the conversation between Pinkie and Twilight. But, considering the situation and the fact that Twilight was already the first to speak up and call an end to the party, I figured her last words on leaving the party were enough.

At any rate, I notice an idea seems to dawn on the pink party pony, as she gasps and says, looking up at my character, “Twilight’s right. We should do this again soon.”

As I look at the pink earth pony’s face, I can already tell she’s starting to forget the importance of tomorrow, and why she had Gummy’s birthday party planned for tonight. I have my character close the gate behind Twilight and, once the five ponies and one dragon disappear into the forest, I say, “Just so long as you don’t forget why you wanted to celebrate Gummy’s hatching this evening.”

Pinkie Pie smiles and giggles as she says, “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I remember exactly why I wanted to celebrate his birthday this afternoon.”

In an effort to encourage the answer, I ask, “And, that is?”

Pinkie Pie closes her eyes and squeals, “So, I can celebrate his after-birthday party tomorrow!”

Now, it’s clear to me that Pinkie Pie has forgotten her own birthday. And, knowing that she Pinkie promised to remember, I get the feeling she’s going to be really hard on herself when she finally does remember.

In the mean time, Pinkie continues, “You don’t have to worry about a thing. We still have that cake in your fridge, and Gummy can eat that while the rest of us have the other cake. It’ll be just as much fun tomorrow as it was tonight.”

I open my mouth to say something, but Lyra’s the first to say, “Let’s go harvest some food for dinner. We’ll discuss the party while we eat.”

Still smiling, Pinkie sings, “Okie dokie lokie.”

Deciding to go along for the present time, I decide to wait until Pinkie and I are in the orchard before I say, “I’m sure you Pinkie promised to remember why tomorrow is so important to you.”

At this point, Pinkie Pie gives me a strange look before asking, “Now, Mormon, why would I need to Pinkie promise to remember my pet’s after-birthday party?”

Now, I know I programmed Pinkie Pie to forget her own birthday. But, I didn't program her to make a Pinkie promise to remember it first. And, I have to wonder, if this were a real case, would there have been a situation, say when my character was freeing her from that cake costume, that she might’ve gotten some kind of brain damage that would’ve caused her to forget her birthday? And, right now, would it help if I were to tell her directly about her birthday tomorrow?

Those are the thoughts running through my mind right now as I harvest fruits from other trees while Pinkie “Diane” Pie kicks apples out of the tree she chose. Come to think of it, does Diane remember their birthday?

I have my character turn to the straight-haired mare to ask her the question, but I notice that Pinkamena has already taken control after Diane kicked four apples out of the tree.

After the harvest, the four reunite on the front porch, where Lyra uses her magic to open the door for the other four.

Then, Pinkie, the first to enter, gallops ahead to the kitchen door and opens it, holding it open for the rest of the group.

Lyra, as soon as my character, the last to enter, enters, follows him inside and closes the door behind her, then follows him into the kitchen, where, after she and my character enter, Pinkie follows them in and closes the door behind her.

Then, the group takes their positions and prepares the fruits and vegetables for dinner, then takes their positions in their chairs and eats the fruits and vegetables. Then, after dinner, they clean up the remains and return to their rooms.

For my character’s letter to the princesses, I mention the way Pinkie invited each of her friends, differing in costume while singing the same song to each of them. I add events that took place during the party, the celebration of Gummy’s hatching, and mention my concerns about Pinkie Pie having forgotten her own birthday party. I don't mention the Pinkie promise she made, that can come tomorrow. When the letter is finished, my character rolls it up, then delivers it to Weed Whacker for her to bite and send to the princesses.

I know what Pinkie’s going to do tomorrow, because I know today and tomorrow are based on the episode, “Party of One.” But, I also remember what happened in the episode, “Last Roundup,” when Applejack broke her Pinkie promise. The only question is, how do I help her come to terms with the fact she made a Pinkie promise she couldn't keep? I suppose I’ll figure it out by the end of the game’s tomorrow. So, until then, I wait until my character is in his bed before I save and close the game.

Author's Notes:

At the beginning of this chapter, Pinkie Pie made a Pinkie promise that she wouldn't forget her birthday, and that it was tomorrow, that is the day following Gummy's birthday. Then, at the end of the chapter, she's demonstrated her inability to keep that promise, due to programming in the game.

In the next chapter, the last of the two based on the episode "Party of One," Mormon has to come to the rescue of the pink party pony as she struggles to understand why her friends don't want to celebrate Gummy's after-birthday party. Then, when it dawns on her why, Pinkie must face the fact that she couldn't keep her Pinkie promise relating to her own birthday. And, that's one more thing Mormon will have to help her with. Thus the adventure continues in Chapter 32: Pinkie Pie's Birthday.

The reading at the end of that chapter will be the Book of Mosiah chapter 13.