"So...he just hatched? All from magic?"

The sheer enthrallment upon Fluttershy's face as she spoke that question was plain for all to see, and Twilight, who seemed to be more than eager to tell this story, simply gave a smile and a nod.

"That's right. It was a strange thing...but at the end of it all, there he was."

Fluttershy looked away, clearly astonished by what she'd just heard. As for Spike, he simply carried on just a few steps ahead of them, grumbling under his breath.

"Oh sure, Mom, just tell the story of my birth to everypony that asks why don't ya!"

Twilight cast him a brief irritated glance, before resuming her smile and looking back to Fluttershy.

"I meant what I said before about your idea, Fluttershy, about our children. Having Spike get some more friends would be good for him."

The animal lover seemed pleased by this, but Spike, finally stopping for a moment, turned to look right at his Mother.

"I already have a whole bunch of friends, Mom!"

But Twilight merely placed a hoof upon his shoulder before replying.

"I mean your own age, Spike. Spending time with ponies like Moondancer and Minuette is all well and good, but a growing child like you needs peers their own age group. It's vital for proper development."

Spike stared at her, raising an eyebrow.

"...How many parenting books told you that one?"

Twilight paused, doing her best not to look him in the eye, before eventually looking a little embarrassed.

"...Twelve?"

Spike slapped his forehead in frustration, all while Fluttershy found herself giggling to this little moment between them. However, mere moments later, the pegasus mare looked ahead, her eyes widening somewhat as she pointed to what she now looked at.

"Well, there it is!"

Both Twilight and Spike now turned to see what she was talking about. And here, they took on a joint look of surprise. For there, right in the middle of an open space in the town, was what appeared to be a large tree. And yet, upon further inspection, they found that it bore many of the features of a building, such as windows and a front door. After taking a moment to take in this spectacle, both of them turned to Fluttershy, clearly awaiting some clarification, which the latter was more than willing to give.

"Golden Oak Library. Your home for the night."

Twilight smiled widely to this.

"Oh! Let's take a closer look!"

And off she went, trotting at a faster pace than before, with Fluttershy walking closely behind her. As for Spike, he took a brief moment to hold back, folding his arms and regarding the building with a somewhat more serious look.

"Huh...a literal tree-house? That's...kinda cool, actually."

Of course, as soon as he realised that he was falling behind, he upped the pace, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. Thankfully, it didn't take him long to catch up to his Mother, just in time to see her place her hoof upon the knob of the library's front door.

"Well...let's see what the place is like!"

Unbeknownst to Twilight, Fluttershy was doing her best to hold back what appeared to be a giggle of some sort. But the young unicorn merely walked on in, seeing nothing but darkness as she entered the library for the first time. Spike followed soon after, and together, the two of them squinted through the gloom to see if they could see anything discernible. Instead, what they got, to their eternal surprise, was a sudden flash of light, as all around them, they saw dozens of smiling ponies, mares and stallions alike. Before either of them could say or do anything in response to this, they all cried out in unison.

"WELCOME TO PONYVILLE!!!"

It didn't take long for the two newcomers to figure out what was going on, as they could now see that the interior of the library had been decorated with all manner of balloons, streamers and banners, all giving a happy and jovial feel to the place. As one would expect, Twilight was a little taken aback by all of this.

"I...I...I don't know what to say."

As for Spike, he knew exactly what to say.

"A party?! Awesome!"

A chuckle was heard in response to that. One which, to Twilight's ears, seemed more than a little familiar. And soon, her suspicions were proved true, as the friendly face of Applejack now emerged from the crowd, taking off her hat and speaking to them both in that assured way of hers.

"Sorry ta catch y'all off-guard like this, but we figured it'd be good ta give y'all a proper welcome ta town!"

Twilight turned as Fluttershy then made her way beside her, smiling just as much as Applejack as she spoke.

"Oh yes, we felt that is was the least we could do, after everything you're doing to make sure everything's in order."

After faltering slightly, Twilight regained her composure, returning the smile.

"This is...this is wonderful. Thank you all so much for this!"

While Applejack understandably blushed over the praise, she replied with a far more humble tone.

"Well shucks, sugarcube, y'all are sweet ta say. But we didn't actually do the plannin of all of all this."

Twilight cocked her head in confusion, only to be kept from saying anything further when, all of a sudden, a new and unexpected voice came from the now-chattering crowd.

"That would be me."

It was a somewhat high-pitched voice, and it was only moments afterwards when Twilight and Spike saw its owner. Another mare, light pink in her fur and dark-pink in her long and straight mane. She smiled as she approached the two, reaching out a hoof.

"Pinkie Pie. Pleased to meet you."

Clearing her throat a little, Twilight took the hoof, shaking it.

"Twilight Sparkle. And...well...thank you for doing all this."

The other mare gave a brief laugh to that, looking over her shoulder to her work.

"Yeah, parties have always been my thing, ever since I was a filly. Birthdays, weddings, you name it, I got it."

Spike looked to her, clearly impressed.

"You did all of this?! Wow, you must really like parties!"

Pinkie turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Like them? No...I love them! All the fun and the excitement, seeing everypony smile and have a great time, it just...it just..."

Then, to the shock of both Twilight and Spike, Pinkie's mane, which had been as straight as an arrow this whole time, suddenly poofed up into a more wild and fluffy look. This was soon coupled with a more excited and widely-smiled expression upon Pinkie's face as she started to speak in a somewhat rapid-fire manner.

"Seeing everypony love what I do is just so great! Hearing them laugh and be all gaspy when they see the surprise bit, that just makes me feel all bubbly and sweet and..."

Then, almost as quickly as she started, she stopped, looking almost embarrassed over what had just happened. She cleared her throat somewhat before turning to Applejack who, almost out of reflex, handed her a comb. The party-planner took it and, right in front of Twilight and Spike, started to comb her mane back to the way it had been before.

"Um...sorry about that. Parties kinda bring out...well...a bit more excitement out of me."

Though still unsure of what she'd just witnessed, Twilight nevertheless gave a small giggle.

"Yes...I can see that."

Having finally got her mane back the way she liked it, Pinkie returned to smiling softly as before.

"Well...don't let me keep you. Enjoy the party. Chances are we'll be getting another one very soon."

Twilight nodded.

"We will...and thank you."

Pinkie nodded back, before then turning and heading off to speak to some of the other ponies here. Now alone with her son, Twilight watched all the happy and smiling faces of those who had gathered here to welcome the two of them to the town. Naturally, she couldn't help but feel somewhat contented, as well as flattered about just how far they'd gone for her and her young charge.

"You know, Spike...right now...I actually can't think of a better place for the Summer Sun Celebration."

But, after waiting for a few seconds, the mare realised that Spike had not responded to her, prompting her to look down to her side. To her surprise, she found that he was not there, leading to her looking around in an almost frantic manner.

"Spike?"

"Over here, Mom!"

She turned, seeing him standing beside a nearby window, and she let out a sigh of relief as she approached him.

"Phew! Don't scare me like that!"

A brief look of guilt crossed his face as he looked to her.

"Sorry for that. It's just...look!"

He pointed out of the window, leading to a look of curiosity on Twilight's part as she stood beside him.

"What is it?"

Looking back to her, Spike now bore a wide smile of his own as he gave his answer.

"She's here!"

Twilight didn't need any clarification on that, for she knew exactly who her son had been speaking of. So, like him, she glanced through the window, up to the clear skies above Ponyville. And there, flying gracefully through the cloudless blue, was a golden chariot, larger and more elaborate than that which had brought the two of them to Ponyville, and pulled by at least a dozen of the royal guard. From this angle, Twilight could not see the occupant of that transport, but she didn't need to. For now, a warm and happy smile crossed her face, and as she patted her son's head, she gave him a nod.

"Yes, Spike...looks like she's here already."