The sun had long since fallen by the time the last of the mares and stallions had poured into the town hall. There were many of them, probably half of Ponyville in fact, which was a source of much nerves for the poor colts and fillies that had gathered there to perform. Many in the crowd were chatting amongst themselves, excited at seeing what the foals had arranged for them to see, but behind the curtains of the stage, they were being watched. Spike, peeking out from behind the red drapes, searched amongst the crowd for any familiar faces. Okay...I know you're out there. His eyes widened as he finally caught sight of his quarry. There they are. Sure enough, many of their friends had gathered there tonight. There was Applejack and Rarity if course, here to watch their respective sisters. There was Rainbow, perhaps here at Scootaloo's urging. And then, at last, there was Twilight, standing beside Applejack and talking to her about some matter. Spike, letting out a long sigh, stepped back from the curtain and back into the area behind it. A lot of eyes watching them tonight. I hope the girls will be okay.

"Everything okay, Spike?"

Hearing the familiar voice, the young dragon turned, gaining a look of surprise as he saw Sweetie Belle before him. But, tonight, she was already dressed for the occasion. She wore a dress for one her size and age, a simple light purple that matched her mane. It lacked a lot of the flourishes or design touches that a master dress-maker might add, but it was nevertheless a well-crafted piece of clothing. Apple Bloom did good work there, Spike thought. Seeing the way the drake was watching her, Sweetie Belle blushed slightly before doing a little twirl.

"You like it?"

Spike nodded with a big smile on his face.

"I do. You look great, Sweetie. Here's hoping Bloom's props do just as well."

Sweetie nodded in return to that, before stepping to one side, revealing that Scootaloo was now walking beside her. Spike took a closer look, seeing the outfit that she wore. In stark contrast to Sweetie's attire, this one was less feminine in appearance, and more the kind of clothing that an athlete would wear. Even so, it complimented the filly well, coloured the same as her mane, with enough flexibility in it to allow plenty of movement if needed. She’ll need that if she's going to perform to her usual standards, Spike noted. He opened his mouth to speak, but a quick "psst" from behind caused him to turn. There was Apple Bloom, gesturing for him to come over. Unlike the other two, she did not wear any kind of outfit, and simply appeared as always. Makes sense. She won't be appearing on stage like the other two. Spike walked over to her, as did the other fillies. Apple Bloom put her hoof to her mouth, making a "shush" noise before turning and peeking through the curtains at the side of the stage.

The others followed suit after this, and they saw, out there, that Miss Cheerilee had already begun addressing the crowd, much to the latter's excitement. There was much murmuring amongst the assembled adult ponies, and it was a sight that caused Sweetie Belle to back away slightly, showing clear nervousness at all this. Spike noticed this and reached forward, holding onto her hoof. Seeing this, Sweetie blushed slightly, as did Spike in fact, before the latter gave a reassuring smile. A few moments passed before Sweetie let out a sigh, smiling back to him. So, the two turned back to the stage, seeing the first of the acts arrive. It was Snips and Snails, two of the colts from their class, who seemed to be in the middle of some kind of magic act. Needless to say, they didn’t end up doing too well, and the audience was soon filled with collective groans of discomfort. I don't blame them, Spike thought. That performance was awful. Bet they tried imitating Trixie or something after her last show. Kinda hard to do that when you can't use magic yet, guys.

What followed was a veritable parade of different acts from the other colts and fillies. Diamond and Silver tried doing a musical number together, but, sadly, their voices weren't exactly the most pleasant to listen to, especially when sung loudly, and most ponies just covered their ears from it, causing the fillies to storm out in a huff. Rumble tried pulling off some kind of comedy act, but his jokes failed to get any kind of laugh whatsoever, except form his parents, even though it was clear they were just doing it to avoid having him be upset that nopony was laughing. Featherweight was next, and he was trying to do some impersonations. Sadly for him, nopony could figure out who he was impersonating until he finally relented and explained it, leading to many a revelatory "oh" from the crowd. A few more colts and fillies came on and exited, but as time went on, it was clear that nopony in the audience was liking what they were seeing. Eventually with the night drawing to a close, Cheerilee got up to the stage and called out the final names.

"And now, for our final act, we have a performance by Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo!"

Spike turned, seeing Apple Bloom already preparing a lot of the props and decorations needed for the performance, while Scootaloo stood at one side of the stage, ready for her own part of the act. As for Sweetie, she was standing right in the middle, ready to face the crowd and sing for them, though still looking more than a little nervous. She turned to Spike, who gave her yet another reassuring smile, which she returned, before taking a deep breath. Spike moved, just in time as the curtains began to rise, and the crowd was able to see the fillies behind. As expected, many of them seemed to be completely disinterested, most likely due to the lacklustre performances before. However, as they looked to the stage now, seeing some rather well-made backgrounds, including a brightly-painted backdrop of a scenic countryside, some of them seemed to perk up, albeit only slightly. Sweetie Belle stood there, looking out at the massive crowd before her, and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. Come on, Sweetie...you can do this, Spike thought. And soon enough, she began to sing.

At first, her voice wobbled a little, most likely due to her nerves, but, as the moments passed, and the crowd seemed to grow more interested, those wobbles vanished. Her voice reached high, and there was clear effort behind it, resulting in a pleasant melody, especially with the lyrics she herself had written. Spike looked amongst the assembled ponies, seeing their frowns turn into smiles, and thus smiled himself. As time passed on, and Sweetie's song continued, Scootaloo smirked a little as she knew her time had come, and she leapt out into view. The crowd watched the newly-arrived filly, seeing her run right towards Sweetie. But, instead of stepping aside, the unicorn filly stayed where she was, with Scootaloo almost about to crash into her. There were a few pre-emptive winces from the audience, no doubt expecting an impact, and yet, at the last possible moment, Scootaloo leapt up, using her still-weak wings to lift herself slightly higher than she could normal jump, before doing an impressive forward flip right over Sweetie, landing with grace and flourish on the other side. Many of the audience, surprised by this, cheered on at the sight of it, much to the delight of the fillies.

And this duet carried on for some time, with Sweetie singing beautifully and Scootaloo performing a number of acrobatics around her, including back-flips, twirls and a few improvisational dance moves. All the while, her movements were matched perfectly to the timings of Sweetie's notes, creating a performance that was both impressive to eyes and ears alike. As time went on, Apple Bloom, while remaining out of sight, gradually changed the props on the stage, moving in and out without anypony noticing her. She would roll away the backdrop, revealing a beautifully-pained sunset ocean view behind. She would bring on crafted trees and shrubbery, and all manner of things to give the impression of an outdoors performance. And by this point, the audience was utterly entranced, especially Twilight and her friends. Spike smiled at how much the Crusaders' work was being appreciated, and watched as the fillies neared their climax. This is it. And sure enough, as Sweetie reached for a nearly-impossible high note, Scootaloo landed beside her after another flip, before carefully reaching forward, holding onto her and, in a feat of strength one wouldn’t think a filly capable of, lifted Sweetie high above her head during the latter’s final note.

It was a sight for all to see, and the moment Sweetie stopped singing, everypony there leapt up out of their seats, cheering and clapping their hooves with great fervour. The two fillies on-stage got back onto all four hooves, looking around with fierce blushes as the crowed continued to sing their praises. With the performance now over, Apple Bloom now made herself known, walking out to stand beside her fellow Crusaders. Smiling to each other, the three fillies gave a simultaneous bow at the crowd, prompting yet louder cheers. Looking into the crowd, Spike could see that their friends were cheering louder than any other, with Applejack and Rarity especially, looking like they were almost in tears over how well their sisters had done. As time went on and the cheering continued, the Crusaders made their way off the stage, right towards Spike, who grinned widely as he greeted them.

"You guys were awesome!""

They smiled back at him after that.

"Thanks, Spike!" Apple Bloom remarked.

The young dragon opened his mouth, ready to speak further, but was stopped from doing so when he noticed something going on behind the fillies, back on the stage. Cheerilee had made her way there, carrying a golden envelope in one hoof. There is it. The announcement of who won. Spike pointed to her, at which point the fillies turned, now looking nervous as they realised what was going on. There was a silence over the crowd as Cheerilee began to address them.

"Well, that was quite a night. We've had many acts today, but of course, only one can win. And that act is..."

There was a deathly silence as the mare opened the envelope, pulling out the paper within and reading it, smiling as she did so.

"...the Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

Like before, the hall erupted into loud applause and cheers. Backstage, the three fillies looked to each other with utter disbelief, before breaking out into small smiles and rushing back out onto the stage. Spike stayed where he was, watching as their teacher handed their award to them. They deserved it. All of them. What they did out there...amazing. But, he was then prompted to turn around as he heard hoofsteps approaching him from behind. A smile crept onto his face as he saw that Twilight and the others had now arrived, with Twilight especially stepping forward and placing a hoof upon his shoulder.

"You should be proud, helping them like you did."

Spike nodded.

"I'm happy for them," he replied.

Both he and his carer looked on as, at last, the cheering had begun to die down, and the Crusaders finally made their way backstage again. Spike watched as each of them reunited with their respective elder, all of whom were heaping praise after praise with what they'd done tonight. In time, however, they broke free of them, walking over to Spike before smiling at him in appreciation.

"You should have been out there too, Spike," Sweetie noted.

Spike chuckled.

"Thanks, but I prefer being here, if it's all the same to you."

"Maybe...but we'd have never got it into our heads that this is what we were good at without you," Apple Bloom added.

Spike shook his head.

"I appreciate you saying that, but this night really...belongs...to..."

The young dragon had stopped as he looked past the Crusaders, to something just behind them. His expression was one of utter shock, almost as if he'd just seen a ghost. Is...is that what I think it is? The other ponies looked at him, almost concerned about what it was he'd just seen, leading to the older mares following his line of sight. And when they did, their expressions began to mirror his own. Seeing this, the Crusaders themselves looked to each other with confusion, until finally, they turned their heads around. And what they saw made them stand there with greater shock than they had ever felt in their lives. For there, freshly glowing, were three brand-spanking new cutie marks upon their flanks. Upon Apple Bloom's was a single red apple, in front of which was a hammer. For Sweetie Belle, there was a pink heart with a musical note in front of it. And finally, for Scootaloo, there was unmistakeably a wheel from her scooter, from which emerged a downward-facing purple lightning bolt. There was silence all around, and as the three fillies turned to each other, they very quickly broke out into smiles so massive that they threatened to burst out of their faces.

"WE HAVE OUR CUTIE MARKS!!!"

The simultaneous scream prompted everypony else to cover their ears, but when it died down, and the fillies simply started bouncing up and down in excitement, everypony was with them, chattering excitedly. And it was at this point that the tears finally arrived for Rarity and Applejack, who both hugged their sisters tightly. Spike stood there, watching them with pride, and smiling warmly. They did it. They actually did it. Guess they really were that good. A single chortle escaped him at that, after which Sweetie Belle turned to look at him, her own eyes welling slightly. Before he could react, he was taken aback when the filly leapt forward, embracing him in a hug. The sheer joy she was feeling was as clear as day, as was the nervousness of Spike. When she pulled away from him slightly, her words were hushed, but affectionate.

"Thank you, Spike."

The young dragon opened his mouth to speak, but before he got the chance to do so, Sweetie leaned forward and planted a single, tender kiss upon his cheek. Apparently, everypony else had seen this too, for they all turned to him with looks of either surprise, mischievousness or, in Rarity's case, utter shock. As for Spike, he soon felt all the colour drain from his face with the weight of what had just happened, prompting Sweetie to giggle slightly. When he finally came back to his senses, he looked to her, and then to Twilight, who stood there with a smirk on her face. Letting out a laugh of his own, Spike said the one thing that was on everypony's minds.

"Yeah...best night ever."