The morning rays of the sun poured through the upstairs window of the Ponyville library, casting a radiant yellow light across the figure of a pony wrapped awkwardly in her blankets. Twilight Sparkle groggily pushed her head out of the tangled mess of cloth and blinked in defiance of the sunlight.

Shaking off the last remnants of slumber from her mind, she slowly untangled herself from the makeshift net that was her bedclothes. She had been very careful to not wake her assistant up to that point, but looking up to the window as she was stretching a sudden feeling of panic began to well up inside of her mind. If the sun is that far up in the sky, then that means… oh no.

“I’m late! Spike, get up!”

The purple dragon’s eyes shot open at this exclamation and he quickly jumped out of his bed located against the wall opposite of Twilight’s. “Wha—huh? I’m up! I-I’m up…” Spike’s eyes glazed over, eyelids drooping, as he leaned back on his tail and fell asleep standing up.

“Spiiiiike,” Twilight whined, “come on, I’m serious! We’re probably an hour behind schedule by now.” She glanced at the clock on the wall and it was, indeed, almost exactly one hour past the time she should have been out of bed. She poked her assistant in the side with her hoof in a futile attempt to elicit a response.

Spike snored.

“Nnnnggghh,” Twilight growled as she lifted the purple dragon with telekinesis and made her way down the stairs with him in tow. She walked across the library floor and through the open doorway that led to the kitchen and unceremoniously dropped Spike onto a chair at the round dining table.

The short fall to the chair once again jolted Spike back to the waking world. He looked around trying to figure out how he managed to get to the kitchen, and then noticed Twilight frantically rushing to get something to eat. “Uh, Twilight?”

“Not right now, Spike, we need to hurry.”

“But Twilight—”

“What!?”

“It’s Sunday. I thought you were going to take a day off.”

“Spike, don’t be ridiculous, we have to…” Twilight’s voice trailed off as she stared out the window, trying to assess what day this actually was.

Spike stood up and walked to Twilight, placing his hands on her shoulders and looking down into her eyes. “It’s Sunday, Twilight. You need to relax, there’s plenty of time before you need to meet Rarity and Fluttershy at the spa.”

Twilight giggled. “You're right, Spike. I’m sorry; it’s just that taking a day off is such a rare occurrence. I guess I forgot.” She smiled sheepishly towards her assistant, hoping for forgiveness.

The dragon sighed, and then smirked as he turned away from the purple unicorn. “It’s okay, Twi. After all these years you still haven’t learned to relax.” He began making his way towards the cupboards to find some breakfast. “You should really go brush your hair; it’s reminding me of the ‘Tardy Incident.’”

The lavender unicorn ran a hoof through her dishevelled mane and laughed. “Yeah, I’ll go do that.” She had barely made it through the doorway into the main library when the sound of an extremely loud belch echoed through the room and a green flash reflected off the wall opposite her.

Twilight spun around to find her assistant clutching his stomach, looking as though he was on the verge of vomiting. At his feet lay a parchment scroll with a red ribbon neatly tied around it and the wax seal of the Equestrian Royalty emblazoned on the side. She rushed over and used her magic to pick up the scroll and open it. Her eyes rapidly scanned back and forth. Twilight’s smile dropped as a look of pure shock quickly took its place and the letter slowly fell to the floor like an autumn leaf.

Spike shifted nervously on the balls of his feet. “Well? What did it say?”

“The Princess… she wants me to come back to Canterlot,” Twilight said quietly.

“Cool! We get to go visit Canterlot! We can go visit your parents after we see Princess Celestia, too! Oh! And we can go to Joe's and eat doughnuts!" Spike closed his eyes and rubbed his belly as he thought about the delicious confections.

“No, Spike, you don’t understand. She wants me to go there to stay.”

Twilight wandered back to her room in a daze. After closing the door behind her, the remainder of her morning was spent sitting quietly on her bed reading and rereading the letter until it was time to go meet Rarity and Fluttershy at the spa.

My Most Faithful Student, Twilight Sparkle,

I am writing to inform you of very exciting news. In the Equestrian Royal Court there is a position that has lain vacant for a very long time. I believe that you are uniquely qualified for this position and with several months of additional training would be more than apt at performing the duties necessary.

With that, I am pleased to offer you the position of Grand Magus of the Royal Equestrian Court of Canterlot and with it the title and privilege that said position would grant you.

Although I am anxious to receive your decision on this matter, I understand that this is a decision that should not be taken lightly, and as long as the position has been vacant there is no rush at this time. The position requires a dedication that most ponies lack and natural-born understanding of magic that even fewer possess.

Take as long as needed to think this over and feel free to ask anything of me regarding this offer. I will await your answer as long as need be.

Your Friend and Mentor,
Celestia

“Well, this is an unexpected surprise,” Rarity said as she set the letter on the message table in front of Fluttershy to examine. A starry look filled the white unicorn’s eyes as she sighed and looked longingly towards the ceiling. “Just think, one of my best friends, a ranking member of the Canterlot Court.”

“I haven’t said ‘yes’ yet, Rarity.”

“Oh, right, darling. But you are going to, right? Think of—Oh! Lotus, please do be careful not to file my hoof back too far, dear—Just think of the opportunities this would open up for you.”

“I don’t know yet, I only got the letter this morning. I need to think about it. It’s a lot of responsibility, you know.” Twilight paused for a moment while scratching her chin before starting again, “Actually, do you have any idea what the Court’s Grand Magus is supposed to do?”

“The Royal Grand Magus oversees the training, placement, and welfare of all the unicorn members of the Royal Guard, the Night Guard and the Equestrian Military. Furthermore, he or she is immediately appointed as the chairpony of the Bureau of Magical Research and Development of the Equestrian Civilian Government. In times of conflict, the Grand Magus is given the military rank of Major General and is handed over command of the First Division of the Royal Equestrian Magical Defense Force, being wholly accountable for the defense of Canterlot. Although that particular covenant of Equestrian law hasn’t been used since the civil war between Equestria and the New Lunar Republic. Also, the Grand Magus is usually considered to be the highest ranking advisor to the Princesses, being consulted in nearly all matters having to do with magic.”

Rarity and Twilight looked towards the massage table and the source of this wealth of information dumbfounded and slack-jawed.

“Eep!” Fluttershy retreated behind her long mane. “I-I mean… at least, I think that’s what it is,” she said barely above a whisper.

“No… that’s right, Fluttershy,” Twilight said slowly.

The yellow pegasus simply peeked out from her mane and smiled.

Twilight turned to Rarity. “See? It’s so much. I just… I don’t think I can do it."

“Don’t be silly, dear. You’re one of the most amazing and resourceful ponies I know, if anypony can do that job, it would be you. Why do you think the Princess asked you?”

Fluttershy spoke up once more, “You might be the only one that can fill the position, Twilight.”

“That’s right,” said Rarity. “Just listen to it: ‘Grand Magus’. It sounds terribly important; I doubt the Princess left the position open so long because there’s an overwhelming abundance of qualified applicants.”

Twilight sighed while mindlessly splashing bubbles around the hot tub. “I suppose you might be right. I still want to talk it over with the rest of the girls first, though.”

“Well, the letter did say that you could take all the time you needed to make a decision. There’s no rush, Twilight.” Rarity tilted her back against the chair and closed her eyes, ready to enjoy the rest of her hooficure.

The lavender unicorn stared out of the window of her library at the quickly darkening sky, completely lost in her thoughts. Eight years. It had been eight years since the fateful Summer Sun Celebration that brought the six ponies together under the maelstrom of Nightmare Moon. To Twilight the time had passed by like a blur.

She glanced down at Celestia’s letter lying on the table, she had been reluctantly thinking about the upcoming decision for three days now. What if I go and fail? What if I don’t go and the Princess is upset with me? I don’t want to leave my friends behind, but this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

A knock at the door brought Twilight out of her thoughts and back to reality. She watched Spike as he walked over to the heavy wooden door and pulled it open. “Hey Pinkie Pie, hi Applejack!” Spike said happily, motioning for the two ponies to enter the library.

“Hey guys,” Twilight stated half-heartedly.

“Hiya Twilight!” Pinkie Pie shouted and began bouncing across the floor of the library.

“Hey there sugarcube, why the long face?” Applejack asked, then realized the reason they were there was precisely the reason Twilight seemed so sad. “You’re not still worrying about that whole Gran’ Magey thing, are ya?”

Twilight only nodded in response.

Pinkie Pie bound over to Twilight and embraced her in a tight hug. “You know what I do when I’m worried about something?”

“Yes, Pinkie.” Twilight had taken part in this particular conversation numerous times over the years, and the answer never changed.

“You do?” The pink mare tilted her head to the side and looked at Twilight quizzically.

“Yes, Pinkie, you throw a party.”

Pinkie Pie gasped as though that was the very last thing she had expected to hear. “Twilight, that’s a great idea!” She then proceeded to bounce in a circle around Twilight chanting, “We’re going to throw a cheer-up Twilight party! We’re going to throw a cheer-up Twilight party! We’re going to throw a cheer-up Twilight party!”

“Pinkie…” Twilight’s left eye began to twitch as she watched her bubbly friend jump through the library.

“We’re going to throw a cheer-up Twilight party!”

“Pinkie,” Twilight said a bit louder this time.

“We’re going to throw a cheer-up Twilight party!”

Applejack stepped in. “Uh, Pinkie Pie. I think that’s probably enough fer now, sugar.”

“We’re going to throw a cheer-up Twilight party!”

Twilight could no longer maintain her composure. “Pinkie knock it off!” she yelled forcefully.

Pinkie stopped bouncing midair, hanging in between the floor and ceiling of the library for a few seconds before gravity took hold of her, pulling her back down to the hard wooden floor.

“I’m sorry Pinkie, but this is kind of serious. I asked you guys over here to discuss this… this decision I need to make and I need your help.” Twilight sighed heavily, shaking her head with a hoof held up to her face.

“Well, I dunno what the—” Pinkie was interrupted by a sharp knock at the door.

“Come in!” Twilight shouted at the door.

The door slowly swung open and Fluttershy walked in, closely followed by Rarity. Just as Rarity turned to shut the door, a polychromatic streak flew through the entrance.

“Did I make it? I’m not late am I?” Rainbow Dash asked, hovering near the ceiling..

“No, Rainbow, you’re not late. Everyone is right on time.” Twilight was smiling now, seeing all her best friends in one place always gave her a feeling of great joy.

Rainbow Dash landed softly on the floor and looked around the room. All her friends seemed apprehensive and uneasy about something. The tension could almost be felt buzzing in the air of the library. Something was amiss, as though everyone knew something she didn’t. “So is somepony gonna say something? What the hay is this all about, anyways?”

Twilight looked genuinely surprised. “You mean you haven’t heard? I thought all of Ponyville knew by now.” She quickly cast an accusatory glare to an obvlivious Rarity.

“Heard what? I haven’t seen any of you guys since last week and you know I’m not much one to gossip around town.”

Twilight pointed a hoof towards the large round wooden table in the middle of the library where the letter from Celestia was resting. Dash trotted over and began to read. Her eyes began to grow as she continued scanning the manuscript.

The colorful mare turned around with a huge smile on her face. “Oh my gosh! This is amazing Twilight! It’s what you’ve wanted for so long, you’ll get to work alongside the Princess at the castle! I can’t believe it, con–grat… ulations?” Rainbow Dash suddenly realized that her friend didn’t seem to be nearly as excited about this prospect as she was. “What’s the matter?”

“The matter is that I would have to move to Canterlot permanently and I’m not even sure if I can do the things the job requires. I don’t have experience directing or supervising ponies, let alone orchestrating the top-level magical research of the Equestrian government.”

Applejack quickly jumped into the conversation, “Ya sure as heck do ‘ave experience supervising. Why, you’ve been handlin’ the Winter Wrap-up for years now, and ever since y’all started, Ponyville has been on time every year.”

“I guess, but this is on a whole other scale.”

“Scale-schmale, I still don’t see what the problem is. This is like if I got accepted to the Wonderbolts and turned them down because I didn’t think I could cut it. Celestia chose you, because she knows you can do it,” Rainbow Dash said.

Twilight opened her mouth to argue her point further, but couldn’t find the words to dispute Rainbow’s rebuttal.

Pinkie sighed, exasperated. “That’s what I was trying to say when you got here!”

“Rainbow is right dear, this is something you’ve worked hard for for so long.” Rarity walked over to Twilight and placed a hoof over her back, slowly stroking it back and forth in a comforting manner.

“But I would have to live in Canterlot… I don’t want to leave all of you behind; I would miss you all so much.” Tears were beginning to form in the corners of Twilight’s eyes.

Pinkie Pie chose this point to chime in. “Of course you would, silly! And we would miss you too, but you can come back to visit and we can have a ‘Twilight Came to Visit’ party, and we can go visit you and then we can have a ‘We’re Visiting Twilight’ party… Oh! And we can all write letters, and use smoke signals or Morse code or e-mail or—”

Twilight was quick to cut-off the pink mare’s rambling. “E-what?” She then sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes as a weak smile began to grace her lips.

“Huh? I don’t know what you’re talking about, Twilight,” Pinkie replied.

Rarity stepped in and spoke in a soft motherly tone, “I believe what Pinkie is trying to say, darling, is that just because there’s distance between us does not mean we stop being friends.” She looked over to Pinkie Pie and the pink pony nodded quickly to agree.

“You’ll always be my friend, Twilight,” Fluttershy said quietly, breaking the silence that had surrounded her since arriving. “No matter what.”

“Yeah, I mean Canterlot isn’t that far away. Heck, it only takes me a couple hours to fly there,” said Rainbow Dash with only a hint of her ego echoing through the words.

“I don’t know Twilight; I don’t think living in Canterlot again would be that bad.” The six ponies looked to the dragon that had just arrived from the stairwell.

Everyone present seemed to be in agreement, with the exception of Twilight Sparkle. She bit her lip and nervously shifted her weight back and forth between her legs. She was still very unsure of herself and if she was going to be truthful to herself, maybe even a little scared. It was a huge decision; even the Princess said that it was not to be taken lightly. Then a terrifying thought pushed itself to the forefront of her mind. “What if they get mad at me?”

“Who?” Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Spike asked in unison.

“Who? The unicorns of course!” Twilight couldn’t believe that she hadn’t thought of it before. “There are several dozen unicorn magi serving Celestia’s Court. Some of them have probably been there since before I was even born. Then, here I come appointed by the Princess herself, and step over who knows how many ponies that have been working their entire lives for a chance at that position. And who am I? What right do I have to be there? I’m just a librarian from Ponyville cutting in line in front of all of them!”

Although she didn’t mean to, Twilight was shouting by the end of her long winded explanation and Fluttershy was backing towards a wall in response to the outburst. The rest of her friends just stood there watching as the tears began to darken the fur in vertical lines across the purple unicorn’s cheeks. “I can’t do it, I’m just a librarian.”

Applejack began to laugh. Now everyone turned their attention to the orange farmpony.

Rainbow cocked her head to one side and spoke, “Uh, Applejack… you think that’s really… uhm, appropriate right now?”

“‘I’m just a librarian’… heh… Oh, Twilight, yer so much more than that and ya know it.” Applejack wiped a tear from her eye and continued, now speaking very deliberately with almost no hint of her usual accent, “You are also the bearer of the Element of Magic, savior of Equestria on more than one occasion, a very accomplished mage in your own right, learning most of it on your own, I might add, and you’re also one of the most caring, helpful, and loving ponies I have had the pleasure of ever meeting. Heck, even Celestia has said that you could easily be the most powerful unicorn to be born in the past hundred years.”

Fluttershy recovered from the shock of Twilight’s shouting and moved towards the weeping unicorn. “Applejack’s right you know.”

Twilight nodded slowly, wiping her nose with the back of her fetlock.

“You’re so much more than a librarian, and if those mean ol’ unicorns at the castle can’t look past their jealousy of you to see it, then they don’t deserve to be there anyway,” Fluttershy said in the soothingly pouty manner that only Fluttershy could achieve.

“And besides, if you don’t like it, it’s not like you have to stay there,” Pinkie Pie interjected.

The distraught unicorn shuddered at the thought of quitting anything after starting it. Trying and failing would be far better than quitting. “Thank you Fluttershy… and Applejack… and everyone. I think…” Twilight paused to sniff her nose and wipe her eyes. “I think I’m going to do it.” Her mood seemed to lighten and it looked as though a weight was literally lifted from her shoulders at this revelation.

Twilight smiled as her friends all simultaneously moved in for a group hug.

They moved away from each other and Twilight looked to her number one assistant. “Spike, take a letter.”

Three Days to Canterlot:

“Come on, Twilight, why are are we in such a hurry?”

“Because Spike, we only have three days left before we have to report to the Princess.”

“But she said in her letter ‘at your earliest convenience,’ I don’t think she meant one week. We could be taking our time and maybe even relax a bit before we go.”

Twilight was quickly packing what was left of her belongings that weren’t already sequestered in large cardboard boxes. “Well, I already told her that we would be there. So just help me pack, please. The movers will be here shortly and I want to have everything ready for them.”

“When‘s the new librarian going to be here?” Spike wondered out loud.

Twilight growled to herself as she shoved a small snow globe into the box she was currently loading. “Shoot, I forgot all about her! I’m supposed to meet her at Sugarcube Corner today.” She checked the time and tossed her clock into the box. “I was supposed to meet her forty minutes ago! All this moving to Canterlot business has me all flustered; I can’t even keep my to-do list straight.”

The frustrated unicorn started down the stairs calling behind her as she descended towards the front door of the library. “Spike, keep packing, the movers will be here in an hour.”

“Sure thing—” The slamming door shook the entire tree. “…Twilight.”

The unicorn started towards Sugarcube Corner in a full run. She made it all of a dozen steps when she stopped. “What am I doing?”

She closed her eyes, concentrating on a point near her destination where no ponies would be. Her eyes opened just in time to see her current surroundings quickly pull away from her and blink out of existence as the familiar sensation of her body being pulled in every direction at the same time enveloped her. Reality then fell in around her again and she stumbled, trying to find her hooves under her.

The aroma of baked goods greeted her as she walked out of the stand of trees behind Sugarcube Corner that she had teleported into. “Almost there,” she said to herself as she trotted around to the front of the bakery.

A moment later Twilight was finally approaching the bakery’s entrance nearly an hour late for the appointment. She was slightly nervous about meeting the new librarian. Twilight always had a way of making a mess of first impression and hoped that that wouldn’t be the case today. Well, here goes…

As she walked through the doorway her senses were immediately assaulted with the sickeningly sweet smell of the numerous colorful baked confections that the establishment was famous for. Twilight loved sweets on occasion, but the smell of the four industrial ovens in the back room churning out cookies, cupcakes and other confectionary delights was something that her stomach never really got the hang of.

The lavender unicorn’s violet eyes began to dart around the room, searching for her quarry.

At a table in the far corner sat the pony that she had come to see. Seated alone was a stunning young pegasus mare with a dark-blue coat and a long, sky blue mane which hung down straight as though it were draped over her head and neck rather than growing there. Twilight approached her from a somewhat awkward angle in order to see her cutie mark; a stack of three books with a quill laid across them. At least her special talent appears to match the job.

“Quillfeather?” The blue pegasus stood up at the sound of her name. “Hello, I’m Twilight Sparkle,” said the lavender pony, extending a hoof.

Quillfeather quickly reached out and touched hooves with Twilight. “Oh, Quill is fine. It’s very nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so many amazing things about you.”

“I’m so sorry that I’m late, it’s just the whole moving thing has got me kind of frazzled at the moment. Should we order some food?”

“I actually just finished eating. I was starting to think that you weren’t going to show up, so I was about to head over to the library.”

“Oh, well that’s alright, we can go over there right now. Or maybe you would like me to show you around Ponyville a bit?” Twilight hadn’t eaten lunch yet, but didn’t think it would be fair to Quill to keep her waiting because she forgot the appointment.

Quill perked up at the suggestion. “That sounds great!” The pair walked out of the bakery and began to walk down the gravel path towards the town square.

The sun was just beginning to set when the red door hanging in the entrance of library swung open and two ponies walked through. “. . . and I’m not sure about Mr. Whooves, he comes in every week and he’s nice enough, but he has a very strange taste in literature.”

Quillfeather giggled. “I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”

Twilight stopped walking just as they got inside the tree. “So here we are, your new home, I guess. I imagine that you’ll want to move in right away.”

Quillfeather wandered further into the library taking in her new surroundings. She looked down to the floor closely inspecting the intricate pattern of hundreds of years’ worth of growth rings. She then moved on to the large table in the middle of the room. In the center of it rose a large carved wooden bust that appeared to be fashioned from the same piece of wood as the table. She quickly ducked below the table to find that the base was indeed still attached to the tree’s stump. “It’s all a single piece. That’s amazing… I’ve never seen a building like this in my entire life.” Quill was obviously awestruck by the old tree that had been converted to serve as a library.

“It sure is amazing, and it’s been a wonderful home for me… soooo?”

“Huh? Oh, yes… moving in. That would be great if I could. I spent last night at a local hostel and the bed they gave me was less than comfortable.” She was still continuing to go over every detail, now moving over to the bookshelves that were masterfully carved directly into the walls.

“No problem,” Twilight said, smiling. She turned towards the stairs and suddenly yelled, “Spike! Come down and meet Ponyville’s new librarian!”

Spike appeared at the doorway leading to the basement. “Twilight, you still have a bunch of your sciencey research equipment downstairs. And the movers already took everything else… you were gone for an awfully long time you know.”

“I know Spike. I was showing Quillfeather around Ponyville and explaining her role as the town librarian.”

Spike eyed Twilight suspiciously, then walked over to the blue pegasus and held out a hand. “Hi there! I’m Spike.”

Quill held out her hoof for Spike to shake. “Hello Spike, my name is Quillfeather. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Now, what about your equipment in the basement, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“The Princess said that she would send a team that is experienced in moving delicate equipment, they won’t make it until after we’ve left though. So we'll just let them take care of it.”

“Suit yourself. Less work for me at least.” Spike stretched his arms as far above his head as he could and yawned. “I’m going to bed. It was nice to meet you Quillfeather.”

“Likewise. Goodnight, Spike.”

Twilight also said goodnight to her dragon assistant before turning to the other librarian in the room. “I think I’m going to hit the hay too. I’m drained. Your new room is at the top of the stairs and I’ll sleep on the extra bed downstairs. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Okay, thanks for everything Twilight. You know, I was bit worried about moving to Ponyville, but you’ve made it a lot easier than I had expected.”

“Hey, no problem. What are friends for?” Twilight smiled at the pegasus then turned towards the stairs to the basement. “Goodnight.”

One day to Canterlot:

“Come on, Spike! We’re going to be late for our own party!”

“I know, I know. Just hold on a minute,” Spike yelled from upstairs.

Soon enough, a purple dragon was stepping carefully down the stairs wearing the same suit that he had for the Grand Galloping Gala three years prior.

Twilight looked up at him as he was descending the stairs and chuckled.

Spike stopped midway down the stairs. “What?”

“Oh, nothing.” Twilight was making a poor attempt at holding back the laughter. “You… heh- You look very dapper. It’s uhm… it’s a little snug though, don’t you think.”

Spike looked down to his belly peeking out from under the shirt, and then blushingly looked back to Twilight. “Maybe a bit, but it’s all I have.”

“Come over here.”

Spike came down the remainder of the stairs and stopped in front of Twilight. The lavender unicorn looked him over closely then pointed her horn towards the dragon.

Spike was enveloped in a soft purple glow and his snug suit grew to a more appropriate size.

“Thanks Twilight!” Spike held his arms out and looked himself over, inspecting the suit.

Twilight smiled up at him. “Don’t mention it. When did you get so big, anyway?” Over the past eight years Spike had grown to stand two hands taller than Twilight and had lost most of the pudgy awkwardness that had been present when he was a baby.

“I dunno. Just kinda happened I guess.”

She was now looking through Spike, lost deep in her thoughts of the years passed. "Yeah, I guess."

“Well, I’m ready to go now. Shall we?”

“Yes, I believe we shall.”

Spike walked to the door and opened it, making a bowing gesture for Twilight to go ahead of him.

“Why thank you, good sir.” Twilight giggled at the young dragon’s show of chivalry.

It was an unusually warm night, even considering that it was summer. The wind lay dead calm as millions of stars shone like gems hanging in the clear indigo night sky. Twilight and Spike walked lazily towards Sugarcube Corner, enjoying the beauty of the night as they continued towards their destination.

They were still quite a distance from the bakery where the going-away party was to be held when they first heard it. A deep bass thud sounding off at a monotonous tempo with a pitch so low that it could be felt reverberating through their chests more than it could be heard.

“What’s that noise?” Spike asked as he looked to Twilight.

“I don’t know. It kind of sounds like…” Twilight turned her head in an attempt to hear the sounds better. “Like music?”

The path in front of them soon opened to the town square, where along with many other storefronts was Sugarcube Corner. The sound of the music continued to get louder and louder as they approached and other noises were soon discernible amongst the beats of the songs; the sounds of laughter and ponies trying to talk over the music and hooves stomping on the ground as ponies danced to the rhythmic sounds.

As the guest of honor and her assistant came around the corner of one of the buildings that lined the edge of the town square and turned towards Sugarcube Corner, Twilight stopped dead in her tracks. Her mouth hung agape as her mind frantically attempted to process what she was seeing.

It looked as though the going-away party had literally exploded from the front of the bakery that was hosting. In front of the building and to the left a small stage was set up, on it was Vinyl Scratch (who was likely going by her stage name tonight) with a small table in front of her holding three turntables, a mixing board and a crate full of records. Also on the stage, situated to either side of DJ Pon-3, were two stacks of very large speakers and on the ground next to the stage were four more stacks of speakers, two on each side. Hanging from the stage out to numerous poles that had been set up were strings of small colored lights flashing in time to the beats of the music.

On the opposite side of the bakery, across from the stage were several large tables. Each one arranged with a large assortment of food and drinks, and although it was far out of season, three large cider kegs from the Apple Family’s private stash even stood at the end of one of the tables. Twilight turned her attention up to the side of the building where a massive banner was hung.

“I don’t believe it,” Twilight said to herself out loud.

Twilight quickly tried to gauge how many ponies were actually there, she estimated that nearly the whole of Ponyville was in that one area right now and more ponies were still wandering in from all directions. It was stunning and it was everything Twilight could do to keep herself from crying at the sight of the entire community turning out to wish her well and say goodbye. She knew there was going to be a going-away party, but this… this was completely unexpected.

“Wow… this is something else!” Spike exclaimed as he started to run towards the party. “Come on Twilight, this is your party, after all!”

“Huh? Oh, right…” Twilight began to move slowly towards the massive event unfolding in front of her, speaking to herself once again, “You’ve really outdone yourself this time Pinkie Pie.”

As Twilight walked towards the crowd, the DJ on stage took notice and lifted her glasses revealing crimson eyes; she made eye contact with the lavender unicorn and winked while a mischievous smile grew across her face. With the near deafening high-pitch screech of the needle being pulled carelessly across the record used to direct the attention of the crowd, her voice boomed over the sound system, ”Ladies and gentlecolts, our guest of honor has arrived! Give it up for Twilight Sparkle!”

Everyone quickly turned to the direction the DJ’s hoof was pointing and obliged her instruction. A deafening roar of hoofstomps, cheering and whistling filled the air in an instant. Twilight was completely taken aback, totally unprepared for this onslaught of attention. Almost immediately a huge smile was beaming from the unicorn’s features.

Out of the exuberant crowd came five mares running towards the dumbstruck unicorn and suddenly she was deep within the embrace of her five best friends. As her compatriots pulled away, Twilight was openly crying, but looked as though this was the happiest day of her life.

Pinkie Pie came forward, putting her face mere inches from Twilight’s. She was closely inspecting the unicorn’s wet cheeks with a foalish curiosity as she brought up a hoof and wiped the moisture from one side of Twilight’s face. She looked at her hoof then looked back to her unicorn friend and whispered, “Twilight, this party’s for you. You’re not supposed to cry, you’re supposed to be super-duper happy.”

“Oh, I am super-duper happy, Pinkie!” Twilight sniffed and rubbed the tears off of the other side of her face. “In fact, this could be the happiest I’ve ever been. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so loved and wanted and cared for in my life. Thank you! Thank you so much!” Twilight leaned in and gave the pink mare a huge hug.

“Hey! Don’t thank me. I mean, just look at this place. Do you really think I could have done this all by myself? Everypony pitched in!”

Twilight backed away from Pinkie and looked to all her friends standing there. As the roaring noise from the crowd began to die down Twilight said, “Thanks girls, thank you so very very much.” She looked up to the stage where a brilliant white unicorn with a bright blue mane was motioning for her to come up. “I’ll be right back.”

As she made her way through the crowd all of the friendly faces parted away from each other, giving Twilight a clear path to follow to the stage. She was quickly thinking of what she could possibly say that would be appropriate for such an occasion. Time was up, she was now standing next to Vinyl Scratch and the DJ passed her the microphone.

Twilight looked over the crowd, she couldn’t think of a time that she had seen so many ponies assembled in the town square. “Um!” Twilight jumped a bit, startled by the sound of her amplified voice. She moved the microphone a bit further from her mouth and giggled as she started again. “Uh, thank you everypony for showing up tonight.” She paused still trying to find the right words. “This all very overwhelming.” She paused one more time as several ponies in the crowd chuckled at the obviousness of her statement.

Twilight took one more deep breath as she collected her thoughts. She smiled and began to speak, “My time in Ponyville has been the greatest time of my life. I’ve met many ponies who I consider life-long friends and I hope that they would consider me in the same light. Everypony has been so caring an-and…” The lavender unicorn was once again beginning to choke up at the thought of leaving Ponyville and her vision became blurred with tears. “…so caring and helpful d-during my eight years here… And I…” Twilight paused one more time to wipe the tears from her eyes. The only sound was the soft chirp of a cricket in the distance as the crowd stood, fixated on the lavender unicorn standing on the dais. ”And I j-just hope that I was able to repay even a fraction of th-th-that hospitality and f-friendship that I was shown. I-It makes me so very happy and honored to see all these friendly and familiar ponies here tonight just to wish me well and say goodbye…” The tears were now streaming down Twilight’s cheeks, discoloring and matting the fur down under the tiny waterfalls. “I-I… I love you all, and I will m-m-miss you all so very much.” Twilight attempted to regain her composure, wiping her tears once again with her hoof. She smiled broadly to the audience of her friends and neighbors and made one last statement. “Now enough of this sentimental stuff…” Her smile grew even larger as she looked to the small group of her closest friends. “…let’s PARTY!”

With that declaration, the entire crowd once again began cheering for Twilight Sparkle and Vinyl Scratch deftly moved her forehooves over the mixer controls restarting the music almost instantaneously. Once the current record was running again, Vinyl turned and gave Twilight a hug. Yelling over the music into Twilight’s ear she said, “Hey, I play gigs in Canterlot from time to time, we’ll have to get together!”

Twilight pulled away from the hug and nodded her approval of the suggestion.

The party was four and a half hours of well wishing ponies, dancing, eating and drinking. Twilight spent the majority of that time with her five best friends and Spike, but she did take leave of them several times throughout the night to say goodbye to some specific ponies that she felt more than deserved a more personal farewell.

Once the party had ended, all that remained were the six friends, a purple dragon, a white unicorn packing up sound equipment and a few ponies helping clean up.

“Well done Pinkie Pie, I believe your party was a resounding success,” Rarity remarked.

Rainbow peeked out from the top of a low lying cloud. “Are you kidding? It. Was. Awesome! Did you see how many ponies showed up? I’ve never seen anything like it!”

“No no no no nononono… I just organized it, everyone else did all the real work,” Pinkie explained.

All the girls laughed, knowing well that that was not the case. While she did have a lot of help, Pinkie Pie had worked exhaustingly for nearly a week to put this party together.

Twilight sighed deeply as she sat in the company of her friends. The party was amazing and she got to see all her friends and she even had a ridiculous amount of fun, but it didn’t make the feelings go away. It merely pushed them aside for awhile. Now though, now they were all returning. The feeling of abandoning her friends for her own selfish needs, the sorrow and pain of not having her best friends only a short walk away, the dread of the impending loneliness that living in the castle was sure to bring.

Fluttershy put a hoof around the lavender unicorn’s back. “What’s the matter Twilight? You’re crying again.”

Twilight reached a hoof to her face; she hadn’t realized she was producing more tears. She looked up just in time to see Rainbow Dash gliding down from her cloud to join the group looking just a worried as the rest of them.

“I don’t know… It’s just that this is such a big change in my life and I guess I’m kinda sad that I’m leaving. I mean, all my friends are here.” She paused for moment, taking time to look up to the starry sky. “Everything that I’ve known for the past eight years is in this place.”

“Well heck, sugarcube. Movin’ on to new and different things can be a kinda scary thing. Heh... I’m purdy sure I’d be scared stiff if I was in yer shoes,” stated Applejack.

“But just remember darling, we’re all still your friends and we always will be. If you need anything at all, you just send a letter and let us know,” Rarity added.

“Yeah! If you need something, you can bet I’ll be there for you lickity-split! You know… Element of Loyalty and all,” said Rainbow as she hovered a few feet of the ground.

“We can throw you another party if you’re feeling sad!” Pinkie energetically added, bouncing in place.

“And we all love you very much, Twilight… and we’ll come visit you,” Fluttershy added quietly.

The five mares moved in on Twilight for one last group hug for the night. They all stepped away from each other and said their goodnights before they went their separate ways for the night.

To Canterlot:

Considering how unusually warm it was the previous night, the cool morning air bit with a surprising sting. The fresh smell of the air present in the rest of Ponyville was tainted by the smell of burning coal as the locomotive engineers worked at stoking the fire that would eventually power the train up the mountainside to Canterlot.

A somber atmosphere surrounded the platform at the rail station. There were several small bunches of balloons floating up from the wood decking and some streamers hanging from the ticket office. A group of seven ponies and one baby dragon stood chatting. The five Elements of Harmony and even Quillfeather showed up to see Twilight and Spike off. The rest of the ponies of Ponyville apparently had decided that the party the previous night was enough of a goodbye.

The locomotive hissed then a very loud low pitch whistle howled, signaling that the engine was now ready for the journey. Other ponies that had been on the platform waiting for the train to Canterlot began to file into the cars.

“Well… I guess this is it,” Twilight stated flatly.

“We’ll miss you, Twilight. Be sure to write to us as soon as you’re settled in.” Rarity gave her good friend a hug and then moved aside to allow the procession to continue.

Pinkie Pie was next. Although she was still trying her hardest to be her usual bouncy self, Twilight could see the sadness in her blue eyes. “I’m going to throw you the bestest party when you come back to visit.” A single tear trickled down her cheek as she hugged Twilight.

Applejack then moved forward. “Hey Twi, it’s been fun. And we will see each other again,” she said with a quick wink and a hug.

Rainbow Dash landed on the platform right in front of Twilight. “I dunno about all this mushy stuff, but I’ll see ya around Twi!” Dash then gave Twilight a quick hug.

Fluttershy was standing a few feet away with her head down, face hidden behind her flowing pink mane. She slowly shuffled towards her soon to be gone friend and whimpered an incoherent sentence.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy, I didn’t hear that,” Twilight said softly.

“I don… … … g… way.”

“Fluttershy, I can’t hear you dear,” Twilight patiently said again.

Fluttershy quickly looked up and met Twilight’s eyes. “I don’t want you to go away!” She quickly threw her front legs around Twilight and began sobbing into the unicorn’s shoulder.

“Oh… it’s okay Fluttershy, I’ll come back to visit really soon.”

“You promise?” Fluttershy squeaked.

Twilight gently pushed the timid pegasus back so she could look her in the eyes. “Pinkie promise.”

Fluttershy smiled, then backed away as Quillfeather walked forward. “I know we just met and all, but I feel like we’ve already made a connection as friends. And I just want to wish you luck in everything that you do.”

“Thank you, Quill. I feel the same, and take care of my library, okay?” Twilight said chuckling a bit.

“Will do.”

Just then the whistle blew again, much longer this time as a brown earth pony stallion in a dark blue conductor’s uniform began walking up the platform. “All aboard!”

Twililght looked to her assistant. “We better go Spike.”

“Bye everypony!” Spike shouted happily.

“Bye Spike!” the group said in unison, eliciting a laugh from the dragon.

“We’ll miss you,” added Rarity, smiling to the dragon.

The friends then moved in for what would possibly be their last group hug.

“All aboard!” The train’s whistle sounded with two quick short bursts as the engine began hissing.

“Come on, they’re gonna leave without us if we don’t get on,” Twilight said to Spike.

The lavender unicorn and her dragon assistant jumped onto the nearest carriage and found a pair of seats next to each other seconds before the engine roared to life and began to slowly accelerate towards Canterlot. Twilight waved to her friends through the window as they waved back from the station platform. She watched them and Ponyville as they disappeared into the distance.

Once they were out of sight she sat back in her seat and turned her head to Spike. “You ready?”

“Yep! How about you?”

Twilight sighed. “Yeah… I think so.”