When Pinkie Pie threw a party, she really threw a party. The music room of Canterlot High had been decorated to the nines, with streamers, balloons, banners and every colourful thing a celebration was expected to have. And what's more, all of their friends had been gathered here for this. The Rainbooms, the CMC, the Shadowbolts, Adagio and her sisters, all of their respective boyfriends, even some of the people they'd once been enemies with, like Wallflower, Juniper and Gloriosa. Everyone was here, and in truth, that was really all this party was. There was no big event that needed celebrating, no special occasion to honour, it was just friends, hanging out and having a fun time. And speaking of fun, the hostess herself, Pinkie Pie, was sure to be going around everyone here, making utterly sure that they were all enjoying themselves. But, of course, it was to her closest friends that she went first.

"Hey, Sunset! Having fun?"

The Equestrian gave a quick chuckle.

"I am. You've really outdone yourself here, Pinkie."

The party-lover beamed to that, and in response, she gave a surprise tight hug to her girlfriend, Fluttershy.

"Isn't it great, Flutters? Having all our bestest friends here?"

Though taken aback by the embrace, the pink-haired girl nevertheless eased into it, offering Pinkie a warm smile.

"It is good. Having everyone here is just wonderful."

Pinkie gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek, eliciting a blush from both of them. A hearty chuckle was soon heard, and they turned to see both Applejack and Rainbow looking over to them with smirks on their faces.

"Try not to have Fluttershy all to yourself, Pinkie. Some of the rest of us wanna talk to her too," Rainbow remarked.

"Eyup! Ain't gonna be a proper party without talkin' ta all our friends after all," Applejack added.

Pinkie giggled nervously to that, before indeed releasing Fluttershy and allowing her to speak to the rest of the party guests. First on that list was Rarity, who moved to the animal lover and swept aside some of her own hair before speaking up.

"I must say, Pinkie has truly outdone herself today. And these colours? Oh, I must confess, she truly has an eye for aesthetic when it comes to this sort of thing!"

Fluttershy giggled.

"Well, she had a little help in that."

Rarity raised an eyebrow, but soon got her answer, as Twilight suddenly appeared onto the scene, adjusting her glasses a little before adding her voice to matters.

"It was a simple matter of trying to make sure that everything corresponded with the colours that pre-existed in the room. After that, Pinkie simply did what she did best."

"Yeah...making sure the place look like a balloon factory exploded everywhere."

They turned at the sound of the second voice, seeing the ever-snarky-looking Aria arrive into their little collection.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to return your book, Twi."

And the Siren did indeed offer a book to the spectacled girl, prompting a smile from the latter.

"Ah yes, a fine story from the great Edgar Rice Burroughs. How did you find it?"

Aria shrugged her shoulders.

"Pretty good. Still prefer Twenty Thousand Leagues personally."

Twilight smiled.

"Understood. I'll look for another one for you later."

Aria chuckled.

"Yeah, it'll be good to talk to Wiz about it some more."

Here, she glanced over her shoulder, seeing that very boyfriend of hers mingling with some of the others guys, like Big Mac and Timber. The boy soon spotted her, offering her a smile and a wave, which she couldn't help but give a chortle to.

"He's a dork...but I love him."

"Well, at least you have a boyfriend!" Sonata announced unexpectedly.

Sonata's declaration may have been genuine, but it was clear from the look on her face that it was made in good humour, causing a shared laugh among the group there.

"Well, you could certainly get yourself one if you wanted, Nata," Rarity remarked.

Sonata shook her head, gaining an amorous look to her.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I think we all know who my eye is set on."

She turned, giving the nearby Flash Sentry a wink, causing the boy to roll his eyes. Sunset, seeing that, gave her Siren friend a frown.

"Er, he is still dating me, Nata."

Sonata shrugged her shoulders.

"Hey, I got time."

Sunset sighed to that, looking instead to Twilight.

"You talked to your old classmates yet?"

Twilight smiled.

"I have. They're really doing well right now. Indigo and Rainbow have a big race planned between them, Sugarcoat is planning on another date with Moonlight, Lemon's going off to listen to some of Vinyl's music later, and Sour plans on going to the gym with Aria for more stress relief. So yeah, things are pretty good."

"Hey, don't forget me!"

They turned, seeing the raised eyebrow of Sunny Flare walk towards them.

"I've got plans too, Twilight!"

The former Crystal Prep girl blushed, chuckling a little.

"Ah, right, sorry."

But Sunny merely smiled, walking over to them.

"My Mom and me are going over to the city cemetery later. We're going to put some new flowers down for my Dad."

Sunset smiled, reaching over and giving her a pat on the shoulder.

"Well, I hope you have a good time there together."

Sunny chuckled.

"Well, as good a time as someone can have, going to a grave."

The ground shared another laugh together, only to stop when they looked over to see none other than Adagio walking towards them.

"Oh, you never know. Fun can be had in the most unlikely places when you get right down to it."

Sunset smiled to her.

"How've you been?"

Adagio gave her a smirk.

"Oh, well enough. I plan on going home and doing some more singing practice later. With how busy things have been at the spa, I simply haven't been able to get away lately."

Sunset nodded.

"Well, I hope you get the chance. You've been sounding pretty good with that lately."

Adagio brushed some of her hair behind her ear, smiling to her former foe at that.

"That's very nice of you to say, dear."

But, the silence that followed did not last long, as they soon found that Wallflower, Juniper and Gloriosa walked over towards them.

"You know, it's hard to imagine that so many people here would end up as friends," Gloriosa remarked.

"Yeah, I mean...how many people here only met each other because they were planning something bad? Like us?" Wallflower added.

"Well, you know how forgiving these girls can be," Juniper finished.

A chuckle escaped Sunset at that, but, before she truly had a chance to say anything in response towards those words, she was interrupted all of a sudden by Pinkie, who poked her head into the group, let out a very loud gasp, then started speaking in that usual excited way of hers.

"Oh! That's it! That's what this party's toast is gonna be!"

Then, she leapt up onto a nearby chair, clearing her throat loudly so that everyone noticed her. Soon, all eyes within the room were upon her, and she smiled widely to the assembled friends before her.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Let us raise our glasses to friendship! And all the joy it's brought us!"

There was a silence for a time, but then, Timber let out a chuckle, breaking the ice.

"I'll drink to that!"

He raised his cup, followed shortly by all the others. Sunset, smiling warmly, raised her own cup, adding her voice to what Pinkie had already said.

"To friends..."

She smiled to Twilight and the rest of the Rainbooms, who smiled right back at her as she continued.

"...to those who used to be our enemies..."

Her smile then fell to Adagio and her sisters, who gave her half-smiles-half-smirks in response before raising their cups. Then, before Sunset said anything else, a different voice called to her.

"...To relationships we once thought we'd never have again...or never imagined having at all."

Sunset turned, and here, she looked upon the loving expression of Flash, as he gave her the warmest smile of all. He also gave a glance over to his sister, Rainbow, who raised her cup silently to him with a nod, allowing the boy to look back to his girlfriend. She matched this, looking to him with equal love in her own expression, before finally turning, addressing the crowd yet again.

"...To us!"

"To us!" they all echoed back to her.

And with that, they all took a swig of their drinks, with Pinkie merrily hopping off her chair, looking very pleased with herself.

"Yeah, this is a good moment!"

Sunset chuckled.

"Yeah...thanks, Pinkie."

Pinkie smiled widely, giggling happily before once more moving over to hug Fluttershy. Meanwhile, Sunset glanced over to Flash, walking over to him and, to the boy's slight surprise, leaning forward and giving him a tender kiss upon his lips. The young couple enjoyed the moment, oblivious to the smirks and giggles they were no doubt receiving, before breaking away and moving to other people. Flash walked over to speak to Derpy, as well as to help her in feeding Dinky, whom she'd brought with her to the party. Naturally, the infant was being fawned over by many of the other party-goers, much to her Mother's delight, and it even caused Sunset a smile too as she regarded her. After a while, the ex-unicorn wound up speaking to Twilight and Adagio, with the former letting out a long sigh.

"Well...it's pretty overwhelming, right? I once had no friends at all, and now...I have all of this!"

She gestured to the whole room, prompting a chuckle from both Sunset and Adagio.

"Trust me, dear...you're in good company in that regard," Adagio remarked.

Sunset nodded in agreement.

"Yep, no debate here."

Slowly, the eldest Siren looked over to her fellow Equestrian.

"How do you think all this really began anyway?"

Slowly, Sunset gained a knowing smile, and after quickly looking around the room, to all the friends she and her colleagues had made during their time at this school, she looked again to the one who had once been her deadliest enemy.

"Well...it all began a few years back...when I tried to steal Princess Twilight's crown..."