As the day went by, Princess Celestia and her sister were very busy with sorting out everything that had happened. The royal guard finally arrived and helped with the relief efforts for all of the citizens of Canterlot that were affected during the attack. Due to the darklings being destroyed now that there wasn’t anything keeping them intact, all the ponies had to worry about was repairing any damage done and resting.

After dealing with the bodies of Raven Feather and her followers, Celestia and Luna escorted Raincloud down to the guard station themselves. Once she woke up to find herself in cuffs and her shadow magic suppressed, the grey mare lowered her head sadly and reluctantly agreed to going along peacefully.

Although it would take days, perhaps weeks or months even, to repair all of the damage done during the attack, the ponies had finally won. They had claimed victory over the hooded ponies, even though it was in a way that nobody expected. The threat of darker magic and terrible creatures lurking out in the world was still present in the back of everyone’s mind, but now that there was no one harnessing these dark forces in an attempt at harming innocents, the ponies felt at ease.

Twilight and her friends sat in the study of the palace and rested. They were sore, their heads hurt, and they barely had the energy to stand, but somehow they managed to be cheerful and content with spending time with each other. While everyone rested and chatted happily about their triumphant victory, Twilight stared at her human friend with a curious expression.

Tom had died, that much she was certain of. She watched him fade away into embers before her very eyes. The only reason she had come back from death was because he used all of his energy to resurrect her, but there was nobody to revive him so he could help them beat Shade. Yet there he was, leaning against the wall and talking like everything was normal. Twilight shook her head and smiled softly as she realized that nothing was normal anymore, and she kind of liked it.

“You know… I almost can’t believe we’re still alive.” Fluttershy stated in a surprised tone. This was only the most recent time in the past several days that she thought she was going to die. Perhaps the yellow mare needed to reconsider how she spent her waking hours if her life was taking such dangerous turns.

“Believe it Fluttershy… we finally did it. We won!” Rainbow Dash cheered eagerly.

“Ah have to say… you all did a mighty fine job out there guys… especially you Tom.” Applejack said while offering a congratulatory nod to her friends.

“I only wish I was there the whole time to get beat up alongside you. How are your cuts? Are you sure you don’t want me to heal them?” Tom suggested while looking to the cuts on the orange mare’s shoulders.

Applejack looked down to see the bandaged up wounds from when the darkling landed on top of her. Although her entire body felt sore, the medical wrappings definitely drew attention to that particular injury and made it look a lot worse than it actually was.

“Boy… if you offer to heal me one more time, you’re the one that’s going to need healing.” Applejack retorted with a lighthearted smirk. Everyone chuckled warmly at the exchange, despite the orange mare being semi-serious.

A soft knocking at the door drew everyone out of their idle chatter and elicited them to turn to look at the door. The castle had been very busy with many guards rushing to and fro to deal with the many problems that needed tending to, but everyone had generally left the six mares to their own devices.

“Who could that be?” Twilight wondered out loud while getting up to go answer the door.

As she walked over to the front of the room and opened the door, she was greeted by a white unicorn stallion with blue hair. He was wearing a regal uniform that looked professional enough to belong to the royal guard. Twilight immediately recognized the stallion to be her brother, Shining Armor.

“Twily!” Shining Armor exclaimed happily, referring to the purple mare by the nickname he had given her since she was a filly.

“Shining Armor!” Twilight exclaimed with equal happiness while rushing forward and hugging her big brother.

“I was so worried about you! I overheard some of the guards saying you died… I’m really glad Princess Celestia set me aside and explained everything to me.” Shining Armor said in a relieved tone. Twilight frowned slightly as she thought about what the news of her death must have done to the stallion at first.

“I’m fine now Shining… why don’t you come inside and stay a while?” Twilight suggested while adopting a more uplifting tone and backing up to reveal the five mares behind her.

“Hello girls, it’s nice to see you.” Shining Armor greeted the others while entering the room as Twilight closed the door and followed him.

“It’s nice to see you too, Mr. Shining Armor.” Fluttershy said while bowing her head slightly. As many times as she was introduced to the stallion, it was hard getting over the fact that he was captain of the royal guard.

“Fluttershy, come on now… you don’t need to call me that every time we meet.” Shining Armor said with a slight chuckle.

“Right… sorry.” Fluttershy replied with an uncomfortable smile.

While all of Twilight’s friends came forward and greeted the stallion, he had his attention shifted elsewhere. The human to the side of the room was friendly looking enough, though he opted to remain where he was instead of walking up to greet him.

“And you must be this Tom I keep hearing about. You know, the guards will not stop talking about you in particular. From what I hear from the princess, you all saved the day together, but I guess the novelty of being the only human in Equestria hasn’t quite worn off yet.” Shining Armor said in a lighthearted tone while reaching forward to shake the human’s hand. Tom smiled and gladly accepted the gesture while examining the stallion curiously.

“It’s nice to meet you. I always wondered who Twilight’s brother would be once I heard her talking about you. You two must be really close… I guess older brothers just can’t help but to get attached to their younger siblings.” Tom said in a cheerful tone, though he paused for a moment to think about his own family before returning his cheerful disposition.

“I wouldn’t know what I would do without Twilight.” Shining Armor said in a sincere tone while smiling at the purple mare. “Tom… I know you’ve probably heard this a lot today, but I cannot thank you enough for saving her. I only wish I was here before it happened… I should have been able to protect her.” He added in a slightly somber tone before returning a grateful expression to his face.

“Hey… you shouldn’t worry about not being able to be everywhere and save everyone… that’s my job.” Tom said with a reassuring tone and a slight smirk. The white stallion laughed warmly at the boy’s statement.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Cadence would probably go stir crazy if I traveled any more than I usually do.” Shining Armor said with a cheerful smile.

“Shining Armor, where is Cadence anyway? Is she here with you?” Twilight asked curiously. She hadn’t seen her former babysitter in a long time. Then again, she hadn’t had much spare time to book a trip to the crystal empire just to see her either.

“Sorry Twilight, but Cadence isn’t here. When I left for Canterlot, it was because we got the alert that you guys lit the signal fire. She really wanted to come and help, but I somehow convinced her to stay.” Shining Armor explained in a sympathetic tone as he watched the unicorn frown slightly.

“Ok… I guess it would have been pretty dangerous if she came along. Just be sure to tell her that I said hi, ok?” Twilight asked with a smile returning to her face.

“Heh… yeah, alright… I think I can manage that.” Shining Armor replied with a slight chuckle. Twilight knew that her brother was putty in her hooves, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Ooh! Can you tell her I said hi too? I was going to send you guys a postcard, but I couldn’t find one good enough. So then I tried to get a carrier pigeon to give you a letter, but those birds are waaay too hard to train. And then I thought up this thing with balloons-” Pinkie Pie explained in an energetic tone while popping up beside the two unicorns and getting a bit closer than Shining Armor would have liked. The stallion inched away slowly while the pink mare continued talking at a mile a minute with no signs of slowing down. Everyone laughed as they watched the pair interacting. It felt good for them to finally be able to enjoy a moment without any looming threats present in their minds.

After several minutes of talking, more than a few of which being spent trying to get Pinkie Pie to settle down, Shining Armor bade goodbye to the group as they left and walked back through the castle. It had been a long day after all, and the only thing the six mares wanted right now was to be safe and comfortable in their own homes. If they hurried, they could catch a train back to Ponyville and be there before sunset.

As they walked down the steps toward the front entrance, the group noticed Glimmer Shine and Sunspot standing idly by the doors. The pair looked even worse than they did when they were fighting Shade, but that was only due to the copious amounts of bandages wrapped around their bodies. They both had head wrappings, Sunspot had her side all bandaged up, and Glimmer Shine had a few smaller bandages scattered around his body.

“Hey guys… are you on your way out?” Sunspot asked curiously as she watched the group approaching.

“Yeah… we’re going to go on ahead and catch a train back to Ponyville. I was hoping to talk to Princess Celestia before I went… is she here?” Twilight asked while thinking to any other place the alicorn could have been.

“No, you just missed her. She left to go process Raincloud with Princess Luna. We’ll be sure to let her know you said goodbye.” Glimmer Shine explained. The ponies were surprised to hear that the two alicorns were taking care of Raincloud themselves. Then again, she had contributed a lot to the group’s victory, so it wasn’t too farfetched to think that the princess would want to handle the grey mare personally.

“Thanks… how is Glitterball doing? I hope she isn’t in too rough a shape.” Twilight asked in a concerned tone while noting the absence of the rainbow haired unicorn. Usually she stuck by her teammates like glue, but she wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Nah, she’s fine. Tom swung by and healed her leg for her, so right now she is just resting in the infirmary. The worst she has to worry about is a sore body… which isn’t too bad considering we’re up and about.” Sunspot explained in a cheerful tone.

Twilight glanced to Tom and offered him a playful leer. She was thankful that he healed Glitterball after she suffered such a gruesome leg injury, but she really wished that after dying, her human friend would be a little more careful with his energy consumption.

“So what are you guys going to do now? Are you still thinking about splitting up?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously, with a hint of hesitation in her voice. It pained the group to know that the team of monster hunters was even thinking of breaking up after everything that happened. Sunspot and Glimmer Shine looked at each other pensively for a moment. They smirked slightly and nodded to confirm their thoughts before turning back to the group with cheerful expressions.

“I think we might stick together a while longer.” Glimmer Shine stated in a pleased tone, much to the surprise and joy of the others.

“Really? That’s great!” Rainbow Dash said in an excited tone.

“Yeah… we figured that Equestria might need a team of monster hunters sometime in the future. At any rate, someone needs to take care of the patches of dark matter scattered around the country from Raven Feather’s previous experiments.” Glimmer Shine said while thinking about roughly how much work would need to be done before all of the hooded ponies’ effects on the land were removed.

“Oh just go ahead and say it Glimmer… you would be lost without me and Glitter to help you out.” Sunspot said with a wry smirk, eliciting a chuckle out of the yellow stallion and the others.

“Something like that I suppose.” Glimmer Shine said with a cheerful smile.

“Well, we’re going to head out now. You guys be sure to stop by Ponyville sometime. Don’t be strangers.” Twilight said with a friendly tone while smiling at the two ponies.

“We’ll drop in sooner or later. I’ll tell Glitterball you guys said bye. See you around.” Sunspot said while waving to the group as they opened the doors and walked outside. Twilight and the others waved back at the pair before heading out onto the streets of Canterlot.

After a few minutes of walking through town, the group waited at the train station for the next ride to Ponyville. Once their train arrived, the six mares and their human companion hopped on and settled in for the next few hours.

A few hours went by, and the group was feeling their exhaustion catching up to them. Rainbow Dash had actually managed to fall asleep while everyone else talked, although she did wake up shortly afterwards. Finally, the train slowed to a stop as it arrived in the Ponyville station.

“Aww, come on guys! We just beat the hooded ponies! We should be celebrating!” Pinkie Pie carried on her conversation with the others as she hopped off the train and onto the platform. The pink mare whined softly while offering the best puppy dog expression she could muster while her friends stepped out with her.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, but it’s too late to throw a party tonight. Besides, we’re all tired. I am going to do good just to stay up long enough to not ruin my sleep pattern.” Twilight said in a sympathetic tone, much to her friend’s dismay.

“You know what would keep you awake? A good ol’ Pinkie Pie party!” Pinkie suggested eagerly. The others had to give her props for how persistent she was.

“Yeah, I’m with Twilight on this one Pinkie. How about we throw a party tomorrow, or some other time?” Rainbow Dash suggested in an attempt at reaching a compromise. The pink mare shrugged audibly and folded her arms while pouting in an upset manner.

“You guys are no fun…” Pinkie muttered in a disappointed tone. The others couldn’t help but to snicker quietly at the pink mare and her antics.

“Welp, I think I’m gonna go home and hit the hay. I don’t have a sleep pattern to ruin.” Rainbow Dash said in a lighthearted tone while glancing to Twilight.

“Ah think it’s time Ah headed home too. Goodnight ya’ll.” Applejack said while starting to walk away. The orange mare waved to her friends before picking up her pace slightly and heading towards Sweet Apple Acres.

“I guess we should all be getting home. It’s been a long day for sure.” Twilight said while holding back a yawn. “Night guys… I’ll see you tomorrow.” She added while smiling warmly at the others. After everything that had happened earlier, she was overjoyed to be heading home.

“Take care, guys.” Fluttershy said while waving to Twilight and Tom as they departed. Soon enough, the others departed as well and went their separate ways.

As Twilight and Tom walked through the quiet streets of Ponyville, they remained silent and kept to themselves for the most part. The air was pleasantly cool, with a bit of a stronger chill coming over the town as night approached. The sun was low in the sky, but it was still fully visible. It was astonishing to think that everything that happened only took up a few hours of the day. It felt like an eternity several times when the group was fighting Shade.

Twilight spent a good few moments taking in the sights and sounds around her. After her untimely death and miraculous revival, the simple charms of everyday occurrences were something that filled her with a content feeling.

“Feels good being back home. I almost can’t believe I’m here… even after that stunt you pulled.” Twilight said in a playful tone while nudging into the human.

“Hey, I got the job done didn’t I?” Tom replied with a slight chuckle. The purple mare frowned slightly as she thought more about how the human threw all self-preservation out the window just for an attempt at saving her. He didn’t even know that it would work. In fact, he had reasonable knowledge to tell him that it wouldn’t work.

“Don’t ever do anything that reckless again ok? I thought you were gone…” Twilight said in a saddened tone.

“Did you really think you could get rid of me that easily?” Tom asked in a lighthearted tone to lift the unicorn’s spirits. Twilight smiled softly before looking ahead again and returning to her thoughts.

“Hey… how did you know that the elements of harmony and your powers would react like that?” Twilight asked curiously. The human hesitated for a moment before smiling knowingly.

“I don’t suppose you would believe me if I told you that it was a lucky guess?” Tom asked in a lighthearted tone.

“And I don’t suppose you’re going to tell me how you came back, are you?” Twilight added in a hopeful tone while pausing and turning to face the human again. He hadn’t talked at length about anything that had happened after he died, and the purple mare was itching to know how he was revived.

Tom paused for a moment and looked down in thought. He hadn’t paid much attention to the events that happened after his death. His memories of the experience were a bit blurry to boot, but he could still remember the peaceful park and the mysterious stranger bearing his friend’s face. Although he hadn’t wanted to trouble the unicorn with such a bewildering explanation, her questions made him think back to the experience all the same.

-Earlier and Elsewhere-

As the warm glow of the sun and the birds chirping lulled him into a sense of relaxation, Tom rested his head back on the bench behind him and sighed. Taking a look over to Clarence, and briefly having to remind himself that he wasn’t actually on a park bench with his old friend, the boy saw that his strange host was still sitting quietly with a calm expression.

Still, despite the soothing atmosphere of the park around him, Tom couldn’t stop worrying about his friends back in Equestria. If Raven Feather had defeated him and Celestia with such ease, then what chance would Twilight and the others stand? Then there was the troubling implication that the eternal night was real, and the black mare had actually found a way to invoke it. Even if the ponies survived their battle with the hooded cult, what sort of horrible evils would they have to live with after the fact?

“So… what are you going to do to help Equestria now?” Tom asked curiously while turning to his companion and leaning back, expecting him to dispense some kind of grand battle plan to save the ponies from Raven Feather and her group.

“I don’t know… nothing probably.” Clarence said in a casual tone while leaning back as well and resting his hands behind his head.

“What?! What do you mean nothing?!” Tom asked in a shocked tone while getting up and looking at the human on the bench with an angry glare.

“You died before you could succeed, so now it is up to the ponies to save Equestria.” Clarence said with a serious expression.

“That isn’t fair! They can’t win and you know it!” Tom stated in an outrage. He couldn’t believe that the seemingly compassionate and sympathetic being he just learned about would be so casual about leaving an entire race of innocent and sentient creatures to die.

“You resurrected Twilight Sparkle. Perhaps the elements of harmony can win the battle?” Clarence suggested in an optimistic tone.

“That might not work… they need someone there who can fight! Send someone to help them!” Tom said in an adamant tone while glaring at the strange boy.

“Like who? There aren’t any other human slayers able to be sent to Equestria.” Clarence said in a more serious tone as he realized that his blue suited friend wasn’t on board with his explanation. Tom groaned in a frustrated tone and walked away a few paces before turning back with an even more desperate expression.

“What about new slayers? Maybe you could find someone from Equestria worthy enough to be a slayer… hell, try Brimstoke and the others! One of them would be more than willing to come back and save them!” Tom suggested while trying to contain his anger. Despite his attempts at appearing civil, it was clear that he wasn’t going to just sit down and let the strange human do nothing.

“Even if one of them was worthy, it normally takes at least a week to create a new slayer. If I were desperate enough, the time could be shortened, but only to a few days at most. The Equestrians need someone now, or they won’t have use for anyone coming to save them.” Clarence explained in an adamant tone while getting up. He met Tom’s burning glare with a stoic, if not a little bit agitated expression of his own.

“Send me then.” Tom said in a resolute tone.

“No, you aren’t strong enough. Right now, the last thing they need is someone who can’t fight.” Clarence explained with a stern expression. He could see the human in front of him getting more frustrated and upset, but he knew what had to be done.

“I can fight. You let me worry about what I do when I get down there, just send me back!” Tom pleaded with a desperate expression.

“You said it yourself Tom… you lost. Raven Feather defeated you without even trying. If you went back now, it would only serve to confirm that you have lost the strength to bear the responsibility of a slayer.” Clarence said in a matter of fact tone. Tom turned around and shook his head angrily before turning back and releasing all of his pent up anger. The boy threw a hard punch at his former friend’s face, sending Clarence to the floor with a sizable thud. As the strange human looked up from the ground while holding his jaw, he saw Tom with a steely expression.

“You listen to me right now Clarence. I don’t care who or what you are… I don’t care that I lost, and I don’t give a damn about whether or not you think I’m still worthy of being a slayer. I chose to come back… you wouldn’t just pop people back into existence without their consent would you? I might not remember it, but I chose to be a slayer because I wanted to help people. So what if I had self-doubts? So what if I have those same doubts now even? I don’t care if I die again down there… but I will not sit idly by and allow them to come to any more harm. They deserve better than us humans did… and if they need someone to fight for them, then I will stand by them no matter what. You can either send me back down there, or you can smite me or whatever the hell it is you mystical beings do… I don’t really want to be here anymore either way.” Tom said in a confident tone while preparing himself for whatever retribution he would get for his actions. No matter what happened to him, he couldn’t just sit by while Twilight and the others needed help.

Clarence looked up at the boy silently for a moment. Instead of being angry however, a small smile crept across his face. Tom was surprised to hear him starting to laugh. As he got up from the floor, Clarence dusted himself off and smiled again as he faced the confused human.

“You wanted to know why I chose you instead of Henry… right Tom?” Clarence asked curiously.

“Wait… what?” Tom asked in a bewildered tone while watching the strange human approach him slowly. As if to further confuse him, Clarence placed a hand on his shoulder heartily.

“Both you and Henry had a burning desire to right the wrongs that Johnathan Pike imposed on you and the other children. Both you and Henry would have made great slayers… but I chose you. I did it, not because I saw something in you that wasn’t there… but because I knew only you would punch your maker in the face to protect those you learned to call your friends.” Clarence explained in a more stoic tone.

“So… you’re not mad at me for decking you?” Tom asked with a confused expression still plastered on his face.

“Heh… don’t worry about that. You have more important things you could be doing right now. Besides… I can always get you back later.” Clarence said in a lighthearted tone. “I’m going to send you back to Equestria… this will be your last chance Tom. If you die again, I can’t help you or Equestria.” He added in a more serious tone.

“Uh… ok.” Tom stated while adopting a more serious tone. “Thanks for letting me do this… is there anything I should know before I go? Maybe some hints for future reference?” He asked curiously, hoping to get some otherworldly advice out of his strange host.

“Sorry, but you know that I can’t do that.” Clarence said while shaking his head slowly.

“Wouldn’t want to interfere right?” Tom asked with a slight chuckle, to which the strange human smirked in response.

“Now you’re catching on.” Clarence said with a friendly nod. “Oh yeah… before I forget, I might not be able to give you any hints per say, but… here’s a friendly word of advice. You might find some nasty stuff down there when you get there… Why don’t you try using your ray of light with the elements of harmony?” Clarence asked in a suggestive tone.

“Thanks for the tip…” Tom said in a sincere tone as he prepared to be sent back to Equestria. “Hey, you weren’t being serious when you said you would get me back for that punch, right?” He asked in a hesitant tone. Clarence smirked and chuckled softly without answering. Before Tom could ask him again, he placed his hand on his forehead. The world around him, including Clarence, was engulfed in a bright light. Soon the sounds of the gentle breeze and the birds chirping faded.

“Hello? Tom…?” Twilight asked in a curious tone while looking at the human as he was deep in thought. Tom looked up to see the purple mare still awaiting an answer to her previous question.

“Oh… sorry, I guess I must have zoned out for a minute there.” Tom said while scratching the back of his head. As he noticed the patient expression on the unicorn’s face, he quickly realized that she wasn’t about to just drop her question and walk away.

“I guess the powers that be are good after all.” Tom said with a slight smirk while avoiding having to give an actual explanation. Somehow however, Twilight felt that the boy’s statement was satisfying enough to please her. After a few moments of smiling and taking notice of the silence around them, the pair quickly noticed how late it was getting.

“Let’s head home. I think we have both earned a good night’s sleep.” Twilight said in a confident tone, to which Tom nodded. The two started walking again with the comforting thought of being back at the library driving them forward.

Several minutes of walking through the streets went by. The more the pair made their way into the denser areas of Ponyville, the more ponies they saw, most likely heading home themselves or doing some last minute errand before settling in for the night. Even though news hadn’t been made public yet about Raven Feather’s defeat, most of the ponies looked somewhat peaceful and happy in comparison to the last few days. Perhaps the relaxing atmosphere was getting to them and easing any fears they had, or perhaps the pervasive atmosphere of fear and uncertainty that prevailed around town was gone somehow. Either way, Twilight was happy to feel like it was a relatively normal day, or at least a normal end to a day.

Finally, the golden oak library came into view. As many times in recent days that similar thoughts crossed her mind, Twilight was still glad to be home. Now, instead of having terrible news of some tragedy that happened to report to Spike, the purple mare could actually tell him that something good had happened. Not only had something good happened, but something tremendous and wonderful to boot. They had finally won against the hooded ponies and the evils they brought with them.

“Hey, Tom…” Twilight spoke up in a slightly somber tone as she paused before the entrance to the library.

“Yeah?” Tom asked curiously, picking up on the unicorn’s slight hesitation.

“Could you not tell Spike about what happened to me? I will tell him soon enough, but tonight I just want to tell him some good news for once.” Twilight said with an exhausted shrug as she thought about having to tell the young dragon that not only had she yet again failed her promise to him, but she had actually done it in such a spectacular way that she died as a result.

“Alright… I think that would be for the best anyway. You should focus on resting tonight, not explaining to him about how you died and came back to life.” Tom said in an understanding tone.

“You know… it sounds so weird to actually hear that out loud.” Twilight replied with a slight giggle.

“I’ll bet. With how many times you’ve cheated death figuratively and literally this past week, and with how many monsters you’ve taken on, you could be an honorary slayer.” Tom said with a slight smirk. Twilight laughed warmly at the boy’s statement before briefly entertaining the thought of what she would be like as a slayer.

“Let’s head inside. I’m sure Spike can’t wait to hear about what happened today… the good parts at least.” Twilight said while smiling softly. As her human friend nodded in agreement, she opened the door and stepped inside.

After making their way straight upstairs and finding the young dragon sitting with his legs hanging off the edge of the loft, Twilight rushed straight to him and picked him up into a tight hug. Spike seemed confused and a little concerned by the strange behavior of the unicorn, so she started explaining everything to him, minus a few details of course.

As the purple mare told him about everything that happened, Spike went through a range of emotions. He was concerned that the hooded ponies had attacked Canterlot on such a grand scale, he was terrified as he pictured an enemy so powerful that even the elements of harmony were bested by it, and most of all, he was overjoyed as he learned that it was all over and everyone was ok in the end. However, no matter how excited he was, he felt something else that was overriding his happiness. After listening to the young dragon yawning, and letting out a few yawns themselves, Twilight and Tom decided to prepare for bed.

While her number one assistant and her new human friend prepared to head off to sleep upstairs, Twilight decided to walk down to the main room to take care of something. The purple mare grabbed a piece of blank parchment and a feather quill and sat at a table with a content expression. After thinking for a few moments, she started writing and quietly sounding out the words as she scribbled away.

“Dear Princess Celestia… I have learned a great many things since the last time I wrote you, most of these things having occurred in the past week. I learned that there are scary things in this world of ours… things that I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams. But I also learned that, despite all of the hardships in the world, I am still just as happy to live in it as I was before. Even though sometimes bad things may happen, and sometimes those bad things happen to good people without much of a good reason, I strongly feel that the friends you make can help to soften the blows you receive. No matter how harsh the world may or may not be, it is always important to remember that friendship is worth the trouble it takes, because one day… you might need your friends a lot more than you ever thought possible. And if I have taken anything away from my experiences these past few days, it is this one simple fact that can seem hard to remember at times. There will always be good in the world to balance out any evil that might be hiding in the shadows.” Twilight muttered with a slight smile on her face while scribbling away with her quill.

The soft sound of tiny feet scampering down the stairs made the unicorn turn to look behind her. She noticed Spike standing midway down the steps looking at her with a cheerful, if not a bit curious expression.

“Are you coming up to bed Twilight? We’re waiting on you.” Spike asked while glancing upstairs impatiently.

“I’ll be right up Spike… I’m just writing a letter to the princess.” Twilight replied while looking back to her letter.

“Do you want me to send that now?” Spike asked curiously with a helpful tone of voice, eliciting a smile from the purple mare.

“No Spike… you can send it tomorrow after we get some sleep. Thanks though…” Twilight said while looking to the dragon with a proud expression. She was glad that she could finally see him smile again without some looming threat to dim his energy, not that it did in the first place. Despite everything that happened, her number one assistant had always looked to her with a bright smile.

“Alright… I’m heading upstairs now. If I want even a chance at waking up before Tom does, I need to get to bed like right away. Try not to stay down here too much longer.” Spike said in a determined tone, as if it were actually a competition now to see who woke up first. “Doesn’t need much sleep to function… we’ll see who gets the last laugh, Mr. hotshot slayer of evil.” He muttered in a confident tone while heading back upstairs.

Twilight giggled slightly as she watched the dragon heading upstairs. She heard the bedroom door open and close with a soft click. As she yawned yet again and stretched her limbs, she realized just how tired she was as well. Taking a look out of the window at the progressively darkening sky, the purple mare returned her attention to her letter to add the finishing touch.

“Your faithful student… Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight wrote down with a pleased smile before setting the quill aside and rolling up the scroll for later. She got up and walked over to the window to take one last look at the sunset before heading off to bed. The sun and the moon were both visible on opposite ends of the sky, with a near perfect divide between them to separate starry night sky from beautiful sunset and dark blue sky. The unicorn smiled at the metaphorical implications of the sight before turning around and walking up the stairs. She was more than ready to get some sleep so she could start a new day with a fresh mind and body, and she was also confident that tomorrow would be another beautiful day in Ponyville.