Twist’s victory spawned a raucous celebration that shook the walls of Confectionery Coliseum. The joyous party atmosphere was infectious enough to draw almost anypony into the fun.

Quiz, of course, got out of there as quickly as she could.

Quiz slipped out a side door. The party outside was even more boisterous than inside the Coliseum, but only at the front of the building where ponies could watch the Mighty Percher-Tron. Off to the side, where the view was not so good, it was quite peaceful.

Across the street a mare in a broad brimmed hat beckoned for Quiz to come over.

Merry Fairweather was sitting on the curb, next to an elderly mule in a tattered overcoat. She and the mule were passing something in a brown paper bag back and forth. When Quiz approached Merry stood and offered Quiz a hoof.

“Quizzcal Greystone, it’s nice to finally meet you face to face.”

“Miss Merry Fairweather.” Quiz tentatively took the offered hoof and shook it. “Please help me to understand something, Ma’am. Are you my arch-enemy?”

Merry laughed. “Yeah, I’m afraid so. At least I was. I hope you won’t think of me that way anymore.”

“That should not be difficult. I found it nearly impossible to imagine having an arch-enemy in the first place.”

“I can’t tell you how happy I am you beat me, Quiz. Being a failure as your enemy is the best thing that ever happened to me. Of course I should have expected it. All I had going for me was my wits and all the resources of one of the largest corporations in Equestria. You had magic on your side.”

“Magic?”

“Or friendship. They’re the same thing, right? Fred, pass me the bottle. This is Fred, by the way. He’s my new friend.”

“Hello, Sir.”

“Pleased to meetcha,” said the mule.

“Miss Fairweather, you have been injured. You should have that seen to.”

“Yeah, I tripped. But I’ll be fine. It looks like you hurt yourself, too. Fred, hand me your handkerchief.” Merry cleaned a little dried blood from Quiz’s bangs.

“Yes, I dropped something,” said Quiz. “I will be fine.”

While they couldn’t see the Percher-Tron, they could hear it. They were running a replay of the Grand Chef’s freak out again. Merry had already lost track of how many times she’d heard it. “The Grand Chef will go in for 48 hour’s psychiatric observation, just as soon as he comes to. If they decide to let him out he goes straight to jail. If they decided not to let him out they’ll probably keep him for a long, long time. Either way, he’s ruined.” Merry took another swig from the bag and handed it back to Fred.

The clang of a frying pan rang from the Tron’s speakers. “I love that part,” laughed Merry. “Anyway, I had a word with Princess Luna. There are more than enough shares of Food Equestria available out there to take control of the company, and when the market opens tomorrow morning the Royal Treasury begins a big buy up. Even if he can weasel out of his legal problems, unlikely as that is, Blitzen Éclair is finished. But my friends will get to keep their jobs if they still want them.”

“What will happen to you?”

Merry shook her head. “Oh, I move on. I can’t stay here, not after what I’ve done. But I’ll find something. I hear Queen Chrysalis is looking for a PR hack, some pony who can spin it that the changelings aren’t evil, just misunderstood. I think that fits my skill set.”

“I suspect that would be a sad waste of talent.”

“Oh? Then forget it. I’ve already done quite enough of that.” Merry took the bag back and had a swig. “I hope when they rebuild the show Happy tries out to be the new chef.”

“Miss Happy?”

“Oh, yeah. She’s an amateur, but Happy is a real gourmet. And it’s fun to watch her galloping around a kitchen.” Merry look thoughtful for a moment. “There’s a catch phrase in there somewhere. Anyway, did you know that Happy has family in Ponyville? Very distant, but her fourth cousin sixteen times removed sends her killer cupcake recipes sometimes.”

Fred took a drink and passed Merry the bag. “You know, Fred, this is the weakest hard cider I have ever had.”

“Hard cider?” exclaimed Fred. “That cider ain’t hard. Hard cider isn’t good for you, Missy.”

“Oh. Well, in that case it’s pretty good.” Merry took a sip, then wiped off the top of the bottle, and offered it to Quiz. “Care to join me, Miss Greystone?”

“I… yes, I do believe I would like to share a drink with you, Miss Fairweather.” Quiz took a sip, and passed the bag to Fred. “That is quite good.”

“Do you have any idea what you have done, Quiz?”

“I merely helped a friend.”

Merry laughed. “You are the most extraordinary pony I have even met, Quiz. And you are completely unaware of how extraordinary you are.”

Quiz had no comment.

“I would love to chat with you a while longer,” said Merry, looking across the street. “But I see a purple unicorn over there, and I think she’s looking for you.”

“Miss Twilight? Good bye, Miss Fairweather, Mr. Fred.” Quiz dashed off without waiting for a response.

When Quiz was gone Merry turned to her new companion. “Fred, tell me again about this brother-in-law of yours.”

“That worthless jerk? He cheated me, stole my company, and then poisoned my wife’s thoughts about me until she took the kids and left me!”

“Hmmmm,” mused Merry. “You know, if you had the right pony on your side, somepony ruthless, somepony willing to do anything to get things done, you could ruin him and get your life back. We should talk.”

“Miss Twilight!”

Quiz ran to Twilight, and when she reached her she leapt up and hugged her around the neck, and Twilight hugged Quiz back.

“I am so sorry!” they both said at once.

“What do you have to be sorry about?” they both asked at once.

“Me first,” insisted Twilight. “I’m sorry that I did not take the word of the most careful observer in all of Equestria. From now on, no matter what it is, even if you say you’ve seen little green ponies from outer space, I swear I will believe you. Now what are you sorry about?”

“I… am sure there must be something.”

“Never mind, Quiz.” Quiz no longer hugged her, but Twilight still held Quiz tightly by the shoulders. Twilight didn’t want to let Quiz go, and Quiz did no try to get away. “I wish I had gotten here sooner. But there was arcane interference in the ionosphere. It took me eight jumps to teleport here from Canterlot.”

“It is a shame your conference was a sham, Miss Twilight.”

“Oh, that turned out alright. When I went to the public communications office to ask about a conference they were very interested in talking to me. There’s a real conference soon, and they were still trying to recruit a keynote speaker. I think they were a little embarrassed that none of them thought of me. I get to give my speech in a couple of months! Oh, that means I only have two months to prepare!”

“Your speech is already outstanding, Miss Twilight. In two months it will be magnificent.”

“It will give me time to practice with your magic blackboard spell. I think I’ve almost worked out my contrast problems so the words are more legible.”

“If you insist, Miss Twilight.” Quiz sighed. “May I suggest that you not use a sparkly background?”

“What? No, tell me some other time. Right now I could really use a mug of hot cocoa. Want to join me?”

“Will our friends worry about where we have gotten to, Miss Twilight?”

“Actually, it was sort of Princess Luna’s idea. When I asked her where I could find you, she sent me out here. She also said, ‘I do not think I have ever known two ponies who cared so much about each other and yet misunderstood each other so badly. You should have a long talk.’”

“I seem to recall getting similar advice, Miss Twilight.”

“Okay, then. I have heard of a place near here that serves an amazing cocoa. And while we enjoy our cocoa we could have that long talk.”

“I would like that very much.”

Author's Notes:

Thank you for reading.