It’s been a few months since Faith’s birthday, and everything is going better than Anon could’ve anticipated. It took some time to settle into their new home, but the two have taken to decorating the place to fill out space with all the extra room. This is especially true for Faith, as she made sure all of her various toys were in the right place in her room.

Speaking of her room, the first few weeks were somewhat challenging for her. As she was so used to sleeping in the same room as her father, not having him, there led to some nightmares. Anon though, had a brilliant idea to solve this issue. For a few days, Anon let Faith invite Flint over to a sleepover. While seeing the embarrassment from the young colt was undoubtedly a treat for Anon, the real prize was Faith becoming comfortable with staying in her room.

Since then, she’s been fine. So, as per his promise, Anon has agreed to let Faith have a slumber party with many of her friends. It took some time to schedule everything with the other parents, but soon Anon found a date and time that worked for them, and now he and his daughter are at the store preparing everything they’ll need for this party.

“Is it alright if I get this?”

Anon is drawn from his thoughts as Faith shows him a bag of chips.

“I said you could get whatever you want. This is your first real slumber party, after all.”

She smiles brightly at that. “Alright!”

She takes off deeper into the store while Anon looks around. He needs to get a few things for himself anyway. After taking a few steps, Anon becomes aware of a particular scent hanging in the air and a weight on top of his head.

“Hello, Pinkie.” He says, not bothering to look up. “What brings you here today?”

“~Oh, you know, just some shopping,~” she says with a singsong tone.

“Really? This doesn’t have anything to do with Faith’s slumber party?” Anon plays around, even though he knows the answer.

“Maaaybe.”

“Well, sorry, Pinks. Faith wants to make this party her own.”

A balloon popping sound makes Anon look up at Pinkie; her mane starts to deflate and instead become straight.

“...Oh... Alright.”

“No need to feel depressed about it. She’s excited about doing this on her own.”

“I know, I just miss throwing parties for her. She’s growing up so fast!”

“Pinkie, her birthday was a few months ago.”

Pinkie’s main instantly inflates back to normal as she smiles brightly.

“Oh yeah! Well, either way, I want her to have these.” Pinkie sets a box of cupcakes into the cart. “If you need anything else, you know where to find me.”

Before Anon can say anything else, his vision is obscured by a puff of smoke; once it clears, Pinkie is nowhere to be seen. He shakes his head at her antics but goes about his shopping. He picks up some various cleaning supplies and some other odds and ends just before Faith rounds the corner, arms filled with various snacks.

She drops them into the cart, and while it’s certainly a lot, Anon knows they won’t be able to eat it all, and it can be saved for later.

“All done?”

“Yup!”

“Let’s hurry home so you can start setting things up.”

With some pep in her step, Faith leads the way. Anon is quick to pay for everything, pack it up and carry the heaviest things while Faith carried mostly the snacks. Faith was determined to get home as fast as possible, only stopping to urge her father to pick up the pace. Anon took his time, making sure to wave to a few friends as he passed by.

The walk didn’t take long as Faith bolted into the house and up to her room to get things ready.

“Be sure to keep any messes to a minimum!” Anon shouts while taking his things to the kitchen.

While muffled, he hears what he can only assume is confirmation. Entering the kitchen, Anon takes his time putting things away. There’s still a few hours before the kids start showing up, so he wants to make sure everything is presentable. Though as he glances about for anything out of place, he finds his mind wandering about what he’ll do when the slumber party begins. Of course, he’s not going to leave the house in case of emergencies but sitting around all night will bore him out of his mind.

For the most part, Anon spends his weekends doing things with Faith. Since she came into his life, this would be the first day to himself. His life revolves around his daughter, and now it’s apparent that he doesn’t have any hobbies. Even before Faith, all he would do with his spare time is drink or hang out with friends and drink.

Falling further into the rabbit hole is put on hold as a knock rouses Anon from his thoughts. Curious, the expected time for the party is still a ways off. Who could be at the door? Walking over, Anon answers the door and finds none other than Rainbow Dash. She has a sizeable cocky grin on her face.

“Hey, Rainbow.”

“Hey there. So, want to have a date?”

A brow slowly raises from Anon, but rather than turn her down immediately; he finds himself intrigued.

“Alright, I’ll bite. Any particular reason you want a date?”

Rainbow moves past Anon and walks into the living room. He closes the door and follows after her, and she’s already made herself comfortable on the couch.

“I know you’re going to be bored out of your mind while this party is going on. So, being the bestest of friends. I’ve come to save you from this fate. No need to thank me.”

That gets a chuckle from Anon as he takes his seat across from her. If Rainbow tried to pull this on any other day, he would’ve turned her down, but she does have a point. While Anon wouldn’t see it like a regular date, it would be fun to hang out with Rainbow again. Honestly, what else is he going to do? Read a book? It’d take him hours to get a single recommendation from Twilight, and he’s not going to read Daring Do.

“Sure, Rainbow.”

Rainbow’s cocky attitude falls as confusion sets in. “W-Wha?”

“I said, sure. Let’s have a date.”

“Really?”

“Would I lie?”

Rainbow’s confusion turns to genuine joy as she hops to her hooves, her wings stretched out.

“I-I gotta get ready! This better not be a joke.”

“You’ll see tonight.”

She doesn’t even respond as she bolts out of the house with a rainbow trail behind her.

“Dad? Who was that!” A shout comes from upstairs.

“Just your aunt Rainbow! You got everything ready?!”

“Just about! When are we going to pick up Flint?”

“About an hour or so!”

“Ok!”

Anon relaxes into the couch a bit. He needs to be crystal clear with Rainbow when she returns. He doesn’t want her to get any wrong ideas about this date. What he told the girls about not dating is still true, but he will admit that time has somewhat weathered his resolve. Either way, he doesn’t want her to get cocky about it and start blabbing to the others. This is just a date between friends, nothing more.

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay. Scheduling is hectic right now. Sometimes it's quarantine, other times its work mode. Either way, hope you enjoy.