Fluttershy couldn't help curling her hooves into the stalks of green grass as she ascended the hill, offering the empty field a girlish giggle at the vaguely ticklish sensation which shot up her legs when she did so; while she was not a habitual wearer of hats and sunglasses, she was glad that she'd remembered to pack them today because her fellow pegasi had just finished clearing the clouds and now there was nothing to interrupt the sun's rays on their way to Ponyville.

        After the harshness of winter, Fluttershy was glad to feel the warmth on her back again; it was a time of renewal for all the beings in Equestria, and she couldn't deny that she, too, had experienced a curious sense of revitalisation ever since the sun had made its presence known once more. After a few more steps, she turned to her travelling companion – a small, white rabbit – and asked, “Does this seem like a good spot to you?”

        Angel Bunny cast a scrutinising eye over the location: the small hill that they had climbed together overlooked Ponyville, offering a perfect view of town hall, the Castle of Friendship, and Sweet Apple Acres. Ponies milled to and fro, going about their daily lives. A single tall, leafy tree offered plenty of shade from the sun. Eventually, the rabbit's feigned grimace turned into a smile and he gave Fluttershy an imperious nod to indicate his satisfaction.

        Setting her saddlebags down on the ground, Fluttershy fussed with them for a few moments before returning to where Angel patiently sat waiting for her; she had retrieved a chequered blanket, a basket, and a small metal container about half the length of her leg. It was the work of a couple of minutes to unfurl the blanket under the protective canopy of the tree.

        “Hey, Fluttershy, whatcha doing?” asked Pinkie Pie, only the top part of her head poking out of the tree.

        To her credit, Fluttershy didn't give in to her first instinct which was to unscrew the lid of the container and throw the very hot mint tea held within at the interloper; instead, she settled for merely jumping out of her skin, landing on the branch opposite Pinkie Pie and wrapping all four of her legs around the the thick trunk whilst covering her eyes with her wings.

        “Okay,” Pinkie Pie said drawing the O out, “have I caught you at a bad time?”

        It was a full minute before Fluttershy lowered her wings and finally noticed who it was that was speaking to her. “Oh, Pinkie Pie, hello,” she said tentatively, her heart still juddering in her chest. “What are you doing here?”

        “I was looking for you, silly,” said Pinkie Pie, her eyes darting back and forth as if what she was doing ought to be obvious to anypony with one-tenth of a brain. “I wanted to tell you something important.”

        “What is it that you wanted to tell me?” asked Fluttershy hesitantly, recovering her wits long enough to remember her fear of heights; with a slightly out of practice flap of her wings, she alighted on the welcoming solidity of the ground.

        “First-” Pinkie Pie fished around in her bouffant pink mane for a moment, her tongue hanging out as she did so, until she found what she was looking for “-I want you to have this.”

        Fluttershy eyed the item with a curious expression; it appeared to be a velvet jewellery box wrapped in a white ribbon, and she was a little taken aback by this. “What is it?”

        “Look inside,” Pinkie Pie said eagerly, her blue eyes bright and shiny.

        Falteringly, Fluttershy did so; with a delicate motion of her hoof, she untied the ribbon, then opened the box slowly. Inside it she found a miniature cupcake with yellow frosting. “Pinkie-”

        “-Happy Birthday, Fluttershy,” Pinkie Pie said quietly, clearly fighting to keep a lid on her obvious excitement. “I know that you came up here because you didn't want a big party with lots of fuss, but, well, I just couldn't let the day pass by without marking the occasion somehow, could I?”

        Close to tears at the lengths her friend had gone to for her, Fluttershy said, “Thank you, Pinkie Pie. I … I don't know what to say.” Big parties and lots of fuss was the exact opposite of what she wanted, but it was difficult to explain that to the hyperactive Pinkie; when she cared about somepony, she wanted them to know it. She needed to show it.

        “You don't have to say anything,” replied Pinkie with a dismissive wave of her hoof. In a more subdued tone she added, “Sometimes, you think that I don't know you, but I do, Fluttershy. The parties are my way of celebrating the friendships that I've made, my way of showing everypony how much they are valued.” Her eyes met Fluttershy's. “But valuing a friend also means respecting their wishes and not pressuring them all the time to do things your way. Okay, speech over, eat your darned cupcake now!”

        Lifting it up out of its box, Fluttershy discovered that the cupcake was concealing yet another surprise: a small butterfly brooch; it had a green body and white wings, and the shiny metal glittered fetchingly in the sunlight. “Pinkie Pie, what's this? It's … lovely.”

        “I was delivering some cakes to the antique shop on Mane Street yesterday and-” she took the box from Fluttershy's grasp, scooped up the brooch, and affixed it to one of her friend's long pink bangs in one smooth motion “-when I saw it, I just knew that you'd love it.”

        “It must've-”

        “-Shush,” Pinkie Pie said, placing the tip of her hoof against Fluttershy's muzzle to stifle any protest about how much it had cost. “The rudest thing that you can do when somepony buys you a gift is complain about the price.”

        Fluttershy, instead of complaining, settled for hugging Pinkie Pie with every bit of her meagre strength. “What did I do to deserve a friend like you?”

        “You offered me the greatest gift of all without ever asking for anything in return,” replied Pinkie Pie, her own forelegs finding Fluttershy's neck and pulling her into a warm embrace, “your kindness.”

        “That reminds me.” Fluttershy hastily disentangled herself from Pinkie Pie's clutches, walked over to where her saddlebags still sat, poked around in them, then returned a moment later. “This is for you.”

        Pinkie Pie looked at the object in Fluttershy's hooves in amazement. “How did you-”

        “-Know that you'd be here? Because you're you.”

        Pinkie Pie took the pink-frosted cupcake and scoffed it in one bite.