A beam of raw, arcane magic lanced across the ancient throne room, scoring a thin but deep superheated wound on the marbled floor. A few paces away from the cut a white spark materialized out of thin air, rapidly expanding into a luminous bubble that burst with a thunderclap that reverberated in the walls, shaking loose dust and rubble from them. Twilight Sparkle came into being from the light, solidly bringing her hooves down to meet the floor. Her breaths came in haggard, shuddering bursts; her head hung low as a gob of spittle mixed with blood ran down her chin before hitting the ground. Her legs trembled, and she took a half-step to widen and steady her stance. Behind her, toward the entrance of the great hall, two freshly bisected pillars crashed to the ground; Twilight paid them no mind as she raised her head to face her opponent with a wild, unfettered glare from her remaining left eye.

Nightmare Moon blinked; a vicious grin pulled tightly at her face and an even more vicious laugh escaped from her lips. “A quick study you may be, but not quick enough!” she barked through her laughter, thoroughly enjoying the pained grimace Twilight gave her. She'd been mildly surprised at how easily this mere unicorn had copied her teleportation spell but, in the end, her hubris had been her downfall. The little pony had been overtly stalling for time, drawing out the losing battle by barely dodging Nightmare Moon's magic for the past ten minutes, and it had finally caught up with her. A fool's errand, through and through! “They will not come for you, and you know this. You stand alone, Twilight Sparkle, and you will die alone; the Night... Shall last... Forever!”

Twilight grit her teeth but did not reply. She could barely hear the Nightmare's words over the cacophony of pain playing across her body — a parade of abuse she'd set upon herself by facing the Mare in the Moon without her companions. Despite her double-quintuple layered lattice of shields and wards — complex even by Starswirl's standards — Nightmare Moon had pierced through her defenses with embarrassing ease; Twilight knew then and there how little she truly knew about magic. This lesson she had paid for in blood: she would forever wear her academic incompetence on her face for all to see.

This had not been her first mistake of the evening; in fact, if she were to list all of her failures from the past 24 hours, giving up her eye would be at the very bottom. She'd already allowed the Nightmare to destroy five of the Elements of Harmony, and she still had no idea where the sixth one was hidden, or what it actually was. The fact that Nightmare Moon didn't appear to know either was of little comfort at the moment. By failing to secure the Elements, Twilight had doomed the world to eternal night. What would become of the courageous mares she'd just met? What would Nightmare Moon do to her parents and siblings? They were strong; stronger than her, and they would fight— that much she knew.

There was somepony who could not, however: Twilight Sparkle had failed to bring back Princess Celestia. Everything else, she could — and would — bear; but letting the Nightmare imprison the Princess? Allowing this false god take to away Earth's Guiding Light? The Life-Giving Star? Her Sun? Not while she still drew breath. Twilight Sparkle made up her mind: she would die tonight, a failure...

...But she would be buried in the glorious light of the morning sun!

With a rough snort, Twilight lowered her head and squared her horn towards Nightmare Moon. She pawed at the ground, ready to charge at her with what little life and magic she could muster from her battered body.

Nightmare Moon gave Twilight an impassive stare. “You're kidding,” she began, “You're kidding, right?” she repeated, mild disbelief edging her voice.

Twilight's only response was to explode into a desperate gallop, horn ablaze with the same type of raw, tainted magic that had only minutes before taken her eye. Twilight's horn crackled and sparked with unrestrained power that hummed and chirped like one thousand birds flocking together. Tiny arcs of magic discharged all along her body with every step she took. Twilight was a beacon: righteous, furious and bright, pushing back at the permeating darkness the Nightmare had brought to the world.

Nightmare Moon obliged Twilight Sparkle by mirroring her charge, closing the distance between them both in just a few beats of her long, purposeful stride. Her own horn burned with an intensity that evaporated the ambient moisture around it—her horn hissed, leaving a trail of water vapor behind it. She smiled knowingly as she sensed Twilight's magic come to a peak.

With a hopeless, feral scream, Twilight unleashed her spell the very moment she came head-to-head with Nightmare Moon. In a flash, Twilight disappeared, leaving Nightmare Moon to crater the space Twilight had just been occupying with just the concussive force of her magical aura. Less than a second later, Twilight reappeared a few steps behind Nightmare Moon, immediately releasing a beam of such intensity towards her that the remaining windows of the throne room shattered outward from the pressure wave.

Nightmare Moon, however, had anticipated Twilight's feint. A layered, hexagonal shield redirected Twilight's beam, causing it to split into several smaller beams that fanned out and away from the magical field; the stray bolts carved angry, vengeful scars upon the walls and floor of the once-great hall of the Pony Sisters. Nightmare Moon smiled as she languidly turned to face Twilight, even as the beam continued to batter her impenetrable shield. “I would say that I am impressed, Twilight Sparkle, but that would be a lie,” she smiled, fangs on display.

She chuckled as she felt Twilight's magic push even more forcefully against her shield. “Though, I do wonder where this second wind is coming from; I could barely feel any magic left in your body a few minutes ago.” She smirked, lowering her head to Twilight's eye level. “No matter,” she hissed; Twilight didn't even blink. Nightmare Moon took a step forward, driving her shield closer to Twilight Sparkle. The potency of Twilight's sustained magical attack pushed the unicorn backwards the same distance. “Just how long do you think you can keep this up, Twilight Sparkle? What do you hope to accomplish with this petulant display of impotence?”

Twilight Sparkle abruptly extinguished her horn, collapsing to the floor in a heap. “Nothing, really,” she replied through labored breaths, half-dead and smiling brightly, “I just needed you to look away from the entrance for a moment,” she added as a spark flashed across her eye.

Nightmare Moon's sharp senses allowed her to turn around even before Twilight Sparkle had finished speaking. These same senses allowed her to witness in slow motion as a beautiful indigo blade effortlessly sailed through her shields and penetrated her right eye with supernatural accuracy.

“An eye for an eye? My, how generous of you, Darling!” Rarity smiled as Nightmare Moon immediately leaped away with two powerful wingbeats that carried her to the far end of the throne room.

“What have you done?!” Nightmare Moon screamed at Rarity, her voice warped by an unfiltered, caustic hatred that — until that very moment — had been solely reserved for Princess Celestia. Her sidereal mane and tail billowed outward, circling around her as she pulled at the blade with her magic. “Why can't I—” She unleashed a guttural wail as her magical grip briefly shorted out around Rarity's weapon. It resisted her magic?! “THIS IS A DRAGON SCALE!” she yelled, roughly and desperately pulling at it with her hooves.

“Technically, he's a seeeeaaaa seeeerpeeent~!” a cheerful voice sing-sang, coming through lined with radio static.

Nightmare Moon startled, feeling as though the buoyant voice had come from within her own head. For the first time in a thousand years, true fear, crushing and cold, gripped at her throat. She dropped her forehooves, ignoring the blade that still resided in her skull, and took a step back. Her heart pounded in her head, frantic and overwhelming; the oppressive thudding deafened her and dimmed her vision to the erratic rhythm of its beating. She twisted her head with demented motions, desperately trying to find the mare that spoke to her from everywhere and nowhere at once. “Where—”

“—This is Major Pie to Black Snooty!” the voice sang once more, this time barely containing a giggle. “Over here, silly!”

Nightmare Moon reared back, loosing an involuntary whinny. “What is the meaning of this?!” she shrieked, finally spotting her tormentor: Pinkie Pie, clad in a space suit, was floating weightlessly in the infinite starscape of Nightmare Moon's own mane. Pinkie Pie waved at her from the distance, almost indistinguishable from the backdrop of stars.

“Best keep yer eyes forward, hun.” Once again, Nightmare Moon's shields manifested with unrivaled speed, and just in time to block Applejack's mighty bucking hooves from smashing into her body. The deafening collision released a shock wave that shook every single tree in the Everfree Forest. As soon as she saw the earth mare's hooves strike her shield, a smirk tugged at her lips.

It lasted all of half a second.

Just beyond the point where her shields had stopped Applejack's rear hooves, Nightmare Moon's peytral was abruptly and violently caved in by two horseshoe-shaped indentations; two identical — though much larger — indentations likewise appeared on the wall directly behind her. Both her armor and the wall exploded simultaneously from the impact. A second later, the moon itself shifted slightly in its orbit.

Somewhere in her mind, Nightmare Moon questioned her immortality.

Rarity tsked as she watched Applejack and Nightmare Moon's display; she had raised a simple bubble shield around herself and Twilight to protect her from the flying debris. “Honestly, that mare has no finesse at all,” she said as she knelt to match Twilight's prone form. Gently, she lifted her friend's chin with her hoof. “Can you stand, Darling?” she asked softly, casting a rudimentary healing spell on Twilight to ease some of her pain.

Twilight stared into the eyes of the unicorn in front of her, awed and taken with a deep, unforeseen affection that warmed her to the core. She'd barely known these five mares for a day, and they had all braved the Nightmare of the Mare in the Moon — laughed right in its face! — just to be at her side. It was an honest display of friendship, given generously, expecting nothing in return; the feeling was overwhelming, but galvanizing! She could sense it— see it clear as day: these kind, loyal mares... they would be at her side til the day she died. And I plan on living a very, very long life!

Rarity smirked as she witnessed the emotions play out across the other unicorn's face. “My, do you think love can bloom, even on a battlefield? It's impolite to stare, sweetie!” she teased with a wink, giggling at Twilight's reddening cheeks.

“You girls...” Twilight began, her eye brimming with tears as Applejack and Pinkie Pie both approached her, coming to stand at either side of Rarity. As the three of them helped Twilight rise to stand on her hooves, she felt it: a spark within her friends' hearts and her own; the birth of a blinding, binding light that could rival the Sun itself. A story that's just begun; a promise of what's to come. The Elements hadn't been destroyed! The epiphany almost bowled Twilight over. The five Elements have gathered around me...!

Applejack tipped her hat at Twilight and whistled. “Quite a shiner ya got there, Sugarcube. Yer a tough little thing, ain'tcha?” she smiled, open respect and admiration laid across her face.

“Applejack!” Rarity hissed as Twilight's smile turned lopsided, her eye downcast. “Do forgive her tactlessness, Darling,” she said, caressing the left side of Twilight's face, “She was raised by trees.”

“Hey!”

Rarity ignored the farmer. “Besides, you're as beautiful as ever, Twilight! Now you've got a fetchingly roguish character line to accent that. The only thing missing is that winsome smile of yours,” she said, beaming as Twilight gave her a tiny, blushing smile.

“Rarara's right; you're gonna get all the ladies, Twi-Twi!” Pinkie Pie grinned and held up Nightmare Moon's helmet. “I even got you a snazzy new hat!”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at Pinkie Pie before turning her gaze towards Nightmare Moon. She blinked, then raised a second eyebrow. Nightmare Moon lay prone, wings and legs tucked close to her body and ears folded back. Her stardust mane and tail pooled limply around her; for all intents and purposes, she had the contrite look of a scolded puppy.

“...And I'm not mad, I'm just so... so disappointed! There are so many diurnal and crepuscular critters that rely on daylight to function properly, and I just feel that you've made a very big decision without taking their needs into consideration,” Fluttershy said, her piercing Stare holding Nightmare Moon to the ground. “Well, okay, I'm also a little mad because you hurt Twilight, and she's a very nice pony and didn't deserve that.”

Nightmare Moon — prostrate before this wrathful augur — could only gape dumbstruck into her eyes, drool falling from the corner of her mouth. This angel of vengeance, posing as a mere pegasus, could see the Nightmare for what it was: nothing more than an opportunistic, virulent parasite. A scavenging, magical construct so powerless, so inane and insignificant that the all-powerful Goddess of the Night never noticed its presence until it was too late. “Do you think that, um, you could apologize now?” The Beast demanded, making the Nightmare flinch involuntarily, frightened beyond reason.

Nightmare Moon now knew she would never sleep again, lest she dream of Fluttershy.

Fluttershy tilted her head. “We would really appreciate it if you could release Princess Celestia, as well; if you don't mind, that is.”

“NEVER!” Nightmare Moon roared as she rose to her hooves, foam and bile dripping from her mouth. Her all-consuming contempt for the Princess had momentarily overpowered the stifling, crushing weight of Fluttershy's Judgment upon her soul. Her horn sparked to life; she knew a being such a Fluttershy should not be allowed to roam this universe unchecked. She would end it all here before It struck again.

Nightmare Moon choked, gasping to fill her empty lungs the very second her heart restarted beating. Though her eye was open, she could barely make out the moon shining down on her supine form; the longer she focused on it, the less blurry it became. Waiting for her visual acuity to return, Nightmare Moon assessed the situation.

She had died.

Nightmare Moon could feel that every bone in her body had been fractured, broken, or in some cases, disintegrated. A few of her organs had liquefied. The impact had driven her body into the floor, through the ground, and into the castle's basement; that much was obvious from the way the moon was framed by the craters she'd made. Painfully, she turned her head, scanning her surroundings as best she could. She lay partially covered by a pile of rubble and debris. Dust and a few black feathers gently drifted down from above. To her left, she spotted the upper half of her horn driven into a slab of rock.

Also, she had died.

“Wrong answer, Moonbutt!” she recalled hearing at some point between getting kicked and dying from said kick. Nightmare Moon's body was the vessel that contained the very will and power of Earth's moon, given pony form by the Three Tribes, the Stewards of Magic. With Celestia gone, she stood alone as the single most powerful being to trot the Earth. She was unequaled, unrivaled, and unmatched; no pony was stronger, smarter, or faster than her.

So, what did that make Rainbow Dash? She Who Felled the Moon? What was a goddess to a non-believer?

As the light of the moon slowly mended her bones, Nightmare Moon came to a decision. She would purge these six ponies from existence. They would be cleansed by the full might and fury of the Moon; she would make sure her wrath burned their souls away along with the rest of their bodies. She would flense them from reality itself! They would simply not be.

Their spirits would never again rejoin the fallen in the Great Vale of Harmony, trotting across the Elysian Fields for eternity; their Song would be forever silenced and forgotten. with that pledge in mind, Nightmare Moon began pooling her magic.

“That's a pretty wicked scar ya got there, Sparky! Very cool,” Rainbow Dash said as she and Fluttershy trotted up to the other four.

Twilight giggled at the look Rarity gave the pegasus. “Thank you, Rainbow. You're pretty cool yourself,” she replied, giving Rainbow Dash a hoof-bump. She met each of the girls' gazes one by one, smiling brightly. “Thank you, all...” she whispered, wiping a tear from her eye. “...for being here with me, for risking your lives when you didn't have to.” The girls approached her all at once, enveloping her in a group hug.

“Didn't have to, but Ah wanted to.”

Twilight turned to Applejack. Honesty, she thought.

“You were willing to give your life for Equestria, Darling, how could I give any less?”

Generosity…

“We just met yesterday, silly! Think of all the fun we still haven't had!”

Laughter…

“Oh, it's all so scary, but I just couldn't leave you to face her alone!”

Kindness…

“Hope never rides alone, Twilight! Not if I have anything to say about it!”

Loyalty… Twilight could see it now: the spark had become so much more. Her friends' bodies were glowing, their manes and tails twirling and fluttering in the still air of the eternal night. Twilight could feel their hearts beating in time with her own, and the sound was so very sweet, so beautiful to her ears; it was a marching tune— no! A battle hymn! A song of conviction! A chorus of victory!

And it filled her heart with Magic!

Twilight smiled at her friends as she turned her gaze skyward. The moon took up so much more of the sky than she could ever remember, and it had turned a deep, bloody red, tinting the rest of the celestial sphere along with it. From the crater Nightmare Moon had made rose a swirling, expanding mass of dark clouds peppered with stars. Like a waking volcano, the black plume spread out skyward and outward, covering a great portion of the heavens. In mere moments, Nightmare Moon emerged from the massive cloud formation with a thunderous cackle that could be heard around the world. Her body simply dwarfed everything else Twilight had ever seen in her life; when the Nightmare unfurled her wings, Twilight couldn't see her primary feathers, for they reached out well past the horizon on either side.

“Behold, Twilight Sparkle! Let the futility of your efforts wash over you and your herd of malcontents! Did you truly believe you could stand upon the withers of giants?” Nightmare Moon's voice bellowed, dispersing every cloud in the sky. She craned her colossal neck downwards, her head descending a few kilometers so she could bring her good eye closer to Twilight and her group. “Did you believe me to be defeated? That your little friends could bring Celestia back? That—”

“—That you talk too much?” Twilight replied as she took a defiant step forward, flanked by the Elements. “We'll suffer this no longer!” she screamed at the monstrous face before her, her eye glowing white. “I'll put and end to this, I swear!” she continued, stamping her hoof as her horn sparked to life; its scintillating light circled her friends.

“This I swear, the Sun will shine!” Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash chorused, rising from the ground as Twilight pulled them in with her magic. The entire group floated skyward, glowing ever brighter.

“THIS...! I...! SWEAR!” Twilight Sparkle's power exploded outward, enveloping her friends in its iridescence and making Nightmare Moon flinch and take a monumental step backward.

When the light subsided, Nightmare Moon grimaced at the sight of the artifacts that Celestia had used a thousand years before to imprison her in the Moon. The six ponies hovered before her, gilded in glorious, golden barding that covered them from head to tail. On their sides, the armor sported Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark. Upon their chests, the Elements of Harmony lay embedded on their peytrals, except for Twilight's; hers was embedded on her helm, upon a metal plate that covered her right eye socket.

“No!” Nightmare Moon snarled in desperation; “Noooo!” She would not be imprisoned again! With an earsplitting roar, she rose to her full height, her broken horn pointed skyward. She would bring down the very moon on these interlopers and be forever rid of them and everything they have ever known! Victory would be her—

The final thing Nightmare Moon ever witnessed was the sight of her Moon being bisected by a beautiful, rainbow-colored blade of light — tens of thousands of kilometers long — that lanced through it like a knife through flesh. As the hemispheres of Earth's satellite drifted apart, Nightmare Moon could do nothing but stand in awe, thunderstruck by the resplendent blade of Harmony as continued its graceful arc across the sky, splitting the red-tinged darkness of her eternal night, and trailing daylight and justice in its wake. Nightmare Moon closed her eyes as Love and Friendship finally descended upon her, dividing her asunder without resistance.

“Okay, that is it!” Twilight said, her wings fluttering as she rose from her seat. Her outburst was met with a general chorus of complaints and exasperation from most of the ponies gathered around her.

Across from her, Rainbow Dash groaned. “C'mon, Twilight, I was right in the middle of the good part!” she said, swinging around a stick with a half-eaten marshmallow impaled through it. “You're making me look bad in front of my squadron!” she continued, sweeping her foreleg to point out the large group of fillies seated on logs around a large bonfire.

“Yeah, let her finish!” Scootaloo said, backed up by the agreement of many of her fellow Pony Scouts. This was turning out to be the best jamboree ever!

Twilight rolled her eye. “Three things, Rainbow Dash: number one, that is not how I got this eyepatch,” she began, pointing at her face. “You know I injured my eye in a lab accident; you were there! In fact, you're the one that carried me to the hospital!”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “You can't prove that,” she said, placing a few more marshmallows on her stick and suspending them over the fire.

Twilight gaped at the pegasus. “Dash, we battled Nightmare Moon three years ago! Everypony in town saw me last week without the eyepatch! Applejack, help me out here!” she said, turning to the pony to her right.

Applejack shrugged, a placid smirk on her face. “Dunno 'bout all that, Sugarcube, though that was a pretty entertainin' story,” she drawled, winking at Rainbow Dash.

Rarity, sitting to Twilight's left, rolled her eyes at the pair. “You two are impossible sometimes,” she said while she used her magic to braid Sweetie Belle's mane. “Though, Rainbow Dash does have a point, dear,” she continued, turning to face Twilight, “that eyepatch does give you a certain je ne sais quoi, non?”

Twilight's cheeks tinged red; Et tu, Rarity? “Number two, that is not at all how that encounter went down. The number of liberties you've taken with the story is downright criminal! I sincerely hope you haven't been telling everypony that this is how it happened...”

“It was, um, also maybe a teensy bit too violent? F-for the fillies, I mean.”

Rainbow Dash swung the stick to her left, where Fluttershy sat beside her. Fluttershy gave her a tiny smile as she began nibbling on one of the marshmallows. “And what if I am?” Rainbow began, grinning at Twilight, “What're you gonna do about it, Princess Egghead? Banish me to The Library?” she teased, before bringing the stick back to her mouth and finding it empty... and much shorter than it originally was. She turned to her right, where she found Pinkie Pie giving her a guilty, marshmallow-smeared grin.

Twilight's eye twitched. “How is that even a punishment?!”

Apple Bloom scratched her head, her eyebrow quirked in bemusement. “So, waittaminnit, is the story of y'all fightin' Nightmare Moon true'r not? I'm confused now.”

Twilight gave the filly a lopsided smile. “Well, yes, it's true that we fought Nightmare Moon, but—”

“—There ya have it, straight from the horse's mouth!” Rainbow Dash interrupted, leaping from her seat. All the fillies gathered around the bonfire oohed at the revelation as they turned to face Twilight with stars in their eyes.

Twilight grimaced as she looked back at the sea of admiring faces; these impressionable foals were looking at her like one would a first-edition copy of Princess Celestia's Memoirs! As she scanned the crowd, she noticed that even Cheerilee looked positively star-struck and just a little bit smitten. Et tu, Cheerilee? Twilight was certain Cheerilee knew exactly how the battle against Nightmare Moon went down; in fact, Twilight had helped her add it to the History class curriculum two years ago!

Sensing Twilight's switch into Lecture Mode, Rarity placed a comforting hoof on the alicorn's shoulder. “A tale full of gallantry and heroism as befitting the gallant, heroic mare that is our Princess; isn't that right, kids?”

Twilight's face tinged red as the entire Pony Scout troop erupted in cheerful agreement, with Applejack doffing her hat and winking at her, and Cheerilee's loud whistling competing with the ruckus. “But Rarity—”

Rarity silenced Twilight with a soft touch of her hoof to her lips. “So what if Rainbow Dash's recollection differs slightly from our own? It's a small miracle the poor dear even remembers her name with how much she hits her head during stunt practice!”

“Hey!” Rainbow Dash said; beside her, Fluttershy tried her best to contain her giggling. Pinkie Pie and Applejack attempted no such thing.

Rarity smiled sweetly at Rainbow Dash. “Honestly, the only thing I would question about Rainbow Dash's story is her extensive vocabulary!”

“Hey!”

Rarity raised an eyebrow at Rainbow Dash. Around them, the general din of excited foals continued, most of them ignoring the adults as they chattered amongst themselves. Rarity quirked her eyebrow higher.

Rainbow Dash blushed and turned away from Rarity's scrutiny. “... Fluttershy helped.”

“Ah. Well, my point is this, Twilight: the foals are having fun, and that's what this night is all about, Darling; is it not?” Rarity asked with a pout, fluttering her eyelashes at her friend.

Twilight replied with a defeated sigh. She gave Rarity a half-smirk; she didn't know what was more amusing to her: that Rarity believed punctuating her questions that way would work on somepony that knew her so well... Or that it actually did still work on somepony that knew her that well. “I suppose...” she conceded, smiling at Rarity.

“Besides, Twi,” Rainbow Dash began as she opened up a new bag of marshmallows, pointedly ignoring her exchange with Rarity, “You sayin' you'd rather I just tell everypony that you managed to blow up your microscope, yourself, and your lab again?”

“Aaand that you weren't wearing eye protection?” Spike added helpfully as he walked out from within the bonfire, roasted marshmallows embedded on each of his fingers and quills. With his tongue, he grabbed all of them at the same time and dropped them into his mouth. “You know, like all the placards you put up around the lab say you should?”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” Twilight replied, all amusement drained from her face. With another sigh, she used her magic to pick up a few marshmallows from Rainbow Dash's bag before levitating them over the bonfire. “Besides, I didn't blow up the microscope,” she said, “The specimen that I was observing on the microscope had a volatile reaction to a frequency phase shift from my magic—”

“—What's number three, Twi-Twi?” Pinkie Pie piped up, raising her hoof.

Twilight blinked, broken out of her rant. “I'm sorry?”

Pinkie Pie held up a hoof with a marshmallow on it, “Number one is that you blew yourself up, number two is that Dashie remembers the story better; what's the third thing you didn't like about her story?” she asked, now holding three hooves up, each one with one more marshmallow than the last. A few more pink hooves came up, each holding crackers and chocolate bars. S'mores were made.

Twilight brought her hoof to her chin as she thought for a second. “Oh. Oh! That's right! 'Love on the battlefield'? Really, Rainbow Dash?”

Rainbow Dash grinned at Twilight. “Oh, you liked that one, Twi—”

“—How did you even find out about Rarity and me?”

At that, all the noise and commotion around the campsite came to a screeching halt as every single pony big and small raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Twilight with slacked jaws. Rarity lost her concentration and Sweetie Belle's braids unraveled, leaving her with a big, curly fro. Somewhere in the crowd, unnoticed by all, Cheerilee fainted. Back in Ponyville, in the basement of the Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie smashed a glass to gain access to an emergency party button. Back at the bonfire, Pinkie Pie's grin threatened to reach all the way around her head.

“That, uh, that part I did make up...” Rainbow Dash replied, somewhat stunned.

“...Oh.”

“Wait,” Sweetie Belle said, turning to face Rarity, “That was a secret?”

Author's Notes:

Hope you guys enjoyed my slightly delayed return!

Also, shout-outs to everyone who kept me writing by poking my corpse from time to time, as well as those who pre-read, and just kept me company on Skype with a friendly ear! Lots of people to thank, like the GTP Bronies, Telaros, Monochromatic, Steel Resolve, Icefox, Plow Claw, TheGreatEater, Cynewulf, and probably a lot more people that I'm forgetting! (Please remember to air out your grievances about my terrible memory in the comments, it's the only way I'll learn.)