//------------------------------// // Chapter 3: Reunion // Story: Spiritus ex Machina // by wonderkid125 //------------------------------// As Celestia’s sun climbed into the mid-morning sky, all the denizens of Ponyville were waking up and preparing themselves for another bright day. Twilight Sparkle yawned and stretched her arms tiredly as she stirred from her sleep. She felt well rested and alert, despite the hard day of work she had put in the day before. Taking a glance to the side, she noticed a book lying open beside her. She must have fallen asleep while reading and forgot to put the book away before dozing off. Hearing a soft yawn beneath her, Twilight looked over the side of her loft and noticed that Spike was waking up too. “Morning, Spike.” The unicorn called down to him. Upon noticing that his friend was awake, Spike looked up and managed a small smile despite his tired exterior. “Morning, Twilight…” Spike yawned lazily while rubbing his eyes to better acquaint them to the daylight streaming into the room. “Ugh… don’t tell me you fell asleep while reading again. You do know that those books will still be here if you slow down the pace right?” The dragon asked while glancing up at the unicorn as she lifted the book off of herself. Twilight glanced to the book and cringed in embarrassment. She quickly put the book behind her and made an awkward smile in an attempt to brush off the matter, but clearly, her assistant wasn’t buying it. “I guess I must have dozed off without realizing it… oh well. I just can’t help myself, Spike, these books are so interesting! You know humans were just as into poetry and stories as we are?” She asked with an eager smile. Spike shrugged in response to the unicorn’s giddy excitement. She had been this way ever since she got her hooves on the large collection of human books. She was so enthralled by what she read that she often took several of the books to bed with her. Thankfully reading was a silent pastime, so the unicorn didn’t keep the dragon up with her late night reading sessions. “I’m sure that’s all fine and dandy Twilight, but don’t you think that you should get out some more? Maybe get a little exercise? I’m sure that sitting indoors and reading all day can’t be good for the muscles… and between you and me, I think the others are starting to talk about how flabby you’re getting.” Spike said in a quiet whisper as if he were divulging a well-kept secret. “I’m just going to pretend that you didn’t say that…” Twilight muttered while eyeing the dragon with a raised eyebrow. “Anyway… I don’t think that the others are talking about how flabby I’m getting… which I’m not… getting flabby I mean.” The unicorn said while looking down and sucking in her gut self-consciously. “Yeah… how would they know? You barely leave the library anymore.” Spike said while rolling his eyes at the reclusive unicorn. Twilight furrowed her brow in annoyance. The dragon’s comments were starting to get on her nerves. “Alright… you know what? I’m going to go around town and see the others… and you’re coming with me.” The purple mare said in a stern tone. She smiled slightly as she saw the dragon’s shocked reaction. “What?! Now… hold on a minute Twilight. You aren’t that flabby, so you don’t need to go out of the library today. How about I go grab you one of those books? I think I saw one about sciencetology… or something like that.” Spike offered with a nervous smile. He clearly didn’t want to be going around town this early in the day. Twilight started to say something until she thought about the dragon’s words for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she was more upset at him for indirectly calling her flabby again, or for trying to weasel his way out of accompanying her. “Sorry Spike, but it’s like you said. I don’t go out often enough anymore… and besides, I need to let the girls know that Tom and the others will be in town for a few weeks.” The unicorn explained in a smug tone. The dragon seemed to be excited to shift to the topic of the human returning to Ponyville. “I can’t believe that the princess gave him a week off! When was he supposed to get here again?” Spike asked curiously. “Well… he probably arrived in Fillydelphia yesterday, and I imagine that it wouldn’t take him longer than a day to get the mission done.” Twilight pondered out loud as she estimated when the human would return. “Actually, he might make it here tonight if he caught the train.” She perked up with excitement as she came to the realization. “That’s great news. Maybe we could get the others together and throw them a welcome back party.” Spike suggested eagerly. “I’m not sure if we could get a decent party put together by tonight.” Twilight said with a doubtful expression. Spike chuckled slightly. “Clearly you underestimate the force of nature that is Pinkie Pie.” He retorted. Twilight smirked as she thought about her pink friend. “Maybe you’re right… I suppose we could go see if Pinkie wants to set up a party.” She said while hopping out of bed and walking down the stairs to the waiting dragon. “Since when does Pinkie not want to set up a party? You could walk up to her on the street with no reason at all and ask her for a party, and you can bet your bottom bit that she would jump at the chance.” Spike stated with a confident expression. “Yeah, that is true. I’m sure Pinkie can come up with something to give Tom and the others a proper welcome back to Ponyville.” Twilight said eagerly while opening the bedroom door and walking out. Spike started to follow her until he got a bright idea. He slowly and quietly walked over to his bed and climbed back in. “Heh… you can’t make me come with you if you forget about me.” He said while a small smirk while cozying up and laying his head on his hands to take a nap. Suddenly, he heard a magical hum and felt his body getting lifted off the ground. “Hey what the- WOAH!” He yelped in surprise as he was whisked out of his bed and floated over to the door where a very annoyed looking unicorn was waiting. Twilight hovered the dragon in front of her face so she could properly glare at him. “So uh… I suppose you still want me to go with you? Heh…” Spike chuckled nervously while trying to avoid the piercing stare of the purple mare. Twilight shrugged before placing the dragon on her back and turning to walk back down the stairs. Spike groaned in protest while resting his chin on his hand with an annoyed expression. After a brief walk through town, Twilight and her reluctant travel companion arrived at Sugarcube Corner. Just walking into the festive building and catching a whiff of the many treats inside immediately made her think about her energetic pink friend. It was like everywhere Pinkie went, she irradiated fun and happiness. Twilight had no doubt in her mind that the party pony was the right place to go for a party on such short notice. “What?! What do you mean you can’t throw a party on such short notice?!” Twilight asked in a shocked tone while staring at the pink mare with a stunned expression. Pinkie was busy frantically rolling out dough and throwing ingredients together in various mixing bowls in the shop’s kitchen while Mr. and Mrs. Cake were running the front counter. “Sorry Twilight… normally I would jump at the chance to throw a party, especially for a friend, but I have my hooves full here.” Pinkie said while feverishly rolling out a blob of dough until it was flat. With how hard she was working, Twilight thought she was going to bust a gasket. “I thought you usually did this stuff really fast so you had the rest of the day off?” Twilight shrugged in disappointment. “I do! But today we need to work extra hard! We just got an order in to cater a huge party in Canterlot, and we need to prepare everything by tomorrow. I think I’ll be back here rolling dough for most of the day!” Pinkie exclaimed while working up a sweat. Despite how fast she was moving, she didn’t appear to be making a dent in whatever large amount of sweets she was making. “*Sigh*… do you at least think you will be free later tonight so you can come see Tom and the others when they get here?” Twilight asked with a pleading expression. She wanted to make everything perfect for the human’s return to Ponyville, and one of the most important things was making sure that all of his friends were there to see him. “Yeah, I think so. Sorry Twilight, I wish I could do more to help you out… maybe you could make the party with the others? I’m sure that if they help out, you should be able to put together something nice by tonight. I might even be able to sneak you a few cupcakes or something.” Pinkie suggested in a quiet whisper while glancing around suspiciously as if she were divulging a well-kept secret. “That sounds great Pinkie… I’m sure that the others will want to help out.” Twilight said with a small smile. She would have to make compromises, but she was sure that she could pull off a decent party with her planning skills. After waving goodbye to Pinkie and the Cakes, Twilight and Spike exited the store and walked back through the streets of Ponyville to their next stop, Carousel Boutique. The pair knew that Rarity would be pleased to hear that her human friend was coming back to town. “Sorry, darling… I don’t think that I will be able to help you today.” Rarity shrugged in disappointment while running a piece of fabric through a sewing machine. “What…? But… but… why?” Twilight asked in a dumbfounded tone. “I’m afraid that I will be occupied until later tonight with a large order of dresses that came in yesterday. I may be able to come with you to the train station later, but I don’t think I can help you plan a party for Tom and the others.” Rarity explained with a troubled expression. “What’s that about Tom and the others?” Sweetie Belle asked curiously from behind the group. Everyone looked over to see the young unicorn trotting up to them with an eager expression. “Tom and Glimmer Shine’s team will be coming to Ponyville for a week. They should get here tonight if nothing happens.” Twilight explained. Once she heard that the human and the team of monster hunters would be returning, Sweetie Belle gasped in excitement. “You mean Tom and the others are coming here tonight?! Yaaay!” The filly cheered while hopping up and down eagerly. “You should throw a party for them!” Sweetie Belle suggested with a wide grin. “Well… we’re trying, Sweetie Belle, but nobody seems to be able to help us so far.” Twilight admitted while shrugging in annoyance. “Maybe we could help you? I’m sure Scootaloo and Applebloom would love trying out a party themed cutie mark. Cutie Mark Crusaders, party planners!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed loudly. Even though her two fellow crusaders weren’t with her, her outburst was loud enough to make the others cringe uncomfortably. “Umm… I think we’ll pass on that one Sweetie Belle. Maybe you and the girls can try that another day.” Twilight suggested while trying not to disappoint the young unicorn. Surprisingly, Sweetie Belle was un-phased thanks to her high level of excitement. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we can pencil that in at the next meeting. For now, I need to go tell Scootaloo about this!” The filly exclaimed eagerly before rushing out of the door. Before anyone could even react, she was out of earshot. Rarity sighed before returning her attention to the purple unicorn. She could tell that her friend was upset that she couldn’t help out. “Sorry again Twilight… I’ll be sure to come find you once I’m done with these dresses.” The white mare said with an apologetic expression. “Don’t worry about it Rarity. I’m sure that the others can help me out… it might be harder with fewer people, but I think I can manage.” Twilight said with a hopeful tone. Rarity smiled slightly as the pair waved goodbye and exited the boutique with a bright outlook. Now that two of her friends were unable to help her, Twilight was starting to get desperate. She had to hope that nobody else had important matters to attend to. Deciding to ask Applejack next, the unicorn made her way to Sweet Apple Acres. As she walked through the apple orchards in search of her friend, she glanced over to her side and noticed the orange mare pulling a cart of apples along with her little sister Applebloom. Every so often, she would park the cart in front of a tree and buck it until more apples fell into the cart. Applebloom was carrying a spare bucket, most likely to be used when the cart got too full. “Hey Applejack!” Twilight called out to the farm pony while trotting to catch up with her. Applejack turned to watch the unicorn walking up to her and smiled warmly. “Howdy Twilight, howdy Spike.” Applejack greeted before returning to her task. “What brings you around these parts?” She asked curiously. “I have some good news to share with you, and I was hoping you could help me out with something.” Twilight explained with a hopeful expression. Applejack shrugged before glancing around her at the numerous trees full of apples. “Sorry Twilight, but I can’t do much of anything until I get these apples harvested. We’re a little behind on apple buckin’, so I need to catch up.” The orange mare explained with a tired expression. She already looked like she had done a full day’s worth of work, even though it was in the afternoon. “That’s… inconvenient.” Twilight muttered sadly. “Now, what was that good news you were talkin’ about?” Applejack asked curiously. “Tom is coming to Ponyville for a few weeks, along with Glimmer Shine and the others. They should be here by tonight.” Spike chimed in eagerly. Applejack and Applebloom immediately perked up upon hearing the news. “Really? Tom and the others are comin’ back to Ponyville?” Applebloom asked with a growing smile. “That’s wonderful Twilight! You should go ask Pinkie to throw them a party!” Applejack suggested cheerfully. Twilight shrugged in frustration at the orange mare’s idea. “I already tried that… she is just as busy as you are. I was hoping that you guys could help me out to put something together, but apparently, that isn’t going to work out.” The unicorn said in a defeated tone. “Cheer up sugarcube… I’m sure that Tom could care less if you throw him a party or not. All he needs is to be with his friends… I might not be able to help you out right now, but I should be free to come see them later on tonight with you.” Applejack said in a reassuring manner. “I want to come too!” Applebloom chimed in with a pleading tone. “You can come, Applebloom, but first we need to get as many apples as we can off’a these trees.” Applejack replied to the young filly. “I guess we’ll get out of your mane…” Twilight sighed before turning and walking away gloomily. Applejack and her sister felt bad for the unicorn. She had a bad habit of getting worked up over the smallest things. “Twilight… don’t you think you’re taking this a little too hard? Maybe you should just accept that we won’t be able to throw a party tonight… I’m sure that we can just throw one another night. They are going to be here for a couple of weeks after all.” Spike said while taking note of the stressful tension in the purple mare’s body. She was practically clenching her teeth from how frustrated she was. “No… we need to throw one tonight! I want this to be perfect… Tom deserves a good welcome back home after spending so long out there fighting monsters… and so do Glimmer Shine and the others.” Twilight stated in a passionate manner. “Yeah… I agree, but we don’t have enough people to put together a party.” Spike reminded in a pessimistic tone. “Well, hopefully we can change that. Rainbow Dash is the fastest flyer in Equestria… I think she can handle setting up a party in no time flat.” Twilight said with a confident expression. “Maybe, if you can find her.” Spike said while glancing up into the sky. “She should be around here somewhere…” Twilight said while squinting her eyes and looking around. Her cyan friend usually lounged around on a wayward cloud when she wasn’t hanging out with one of them, but the sky was seemingly crowded with places to look for her. In fact, there seemed to be a lot more clouds than usual in the sky. “Hey… wasn’t it supposed to be clear today?” The unicorn muttered curiously while observing the cloudy sky. “Look! There she is!” Spike announced while pointing up in the sky. Twilight looked up and noticed the cyan pegasus flying overhead. “Rainbow Dash!” She yelled to get her friend’s attention. Rainbow Dash looked down and smiled as she noticed the pair. Twilight and Spike watched as the pegasus did a loop in the air before landing in front of them. “Hey, guys, what’s up?” The cyan mare asked cheerfully. “Hey Rainbow… we need your help with a party we’re throwing for-” Twilight started to explain until she was interrupted by Rainbow Dash speaking up. “Whoa, whoa… hold on a second Twilight. I would love to stay and chat, but I’m kind of busy here. There was a mishap over at the weather station, and now there is a load of clouds floating around where they shouldn’t be.” The pegasus explained while pointing up at the sky. “What?! Are you serious?!” Twilight asked with a shocked expression. “Yeah, sorry… I’m probably going to be clearing the skies all day. Now, what was it that you needed?” Rainbow Dash asked curiously. Twilight could feel her eye twitching in frustration. Four of her best friends were all too busy to help her. Now all she had to work with was Fluttershy, and that was assuming she agreed and her schedule wasn’t as full as everyone else’s was. “Ughh… well… Tom and the others are coming to town tonight. I was going to throw a party for them, but everyone is busy. You were kind of my last hope.” The unicorn shrugged in annoyance. “Hold up… Tom and the others?! They’re coming here… tonight?!” Rainbow Dash asked with an excited smile. “Yeah, they should be… either tonight or tomorrow… depending on if they catch the train.” Twilight explained. “Holy cow! I am definitely going to see them first thing when they get here… I need to clear the sky now if I’m going to get done in time!” The cyan mare exclaimed before spreading her wings and flying into the air. “Good luck with that party thing! I’ll see you later!” Rainbow Dash waved in the air before zipping through a line of clouds and out of sight. “Bye… I guess.” Twilight muttered while staring ahead at the spot where the pegasus was just a few moments ago. “So much for your backup plan…” Spike said in a droll tone. Twilight growled in frustration before rushing off in the direction of Fluttershy’s cottage. The young dragon barely had time enough to hold on before the unicorn raced off. “Whoa! Twilight, slow down!” Spike pleaded as he tried his best to remain on the purple pony’s back. Twilight paid no heed to his instructions and instead sped up a little bit. “I am not about to just roll over and admit defeat! I said I would throw them a party, and by all that is good and sacred, I am going to throw them a party!” She exclaimed furiously. “You can’t do everything by yourself! And Fluttershy is the only option you have left!” Spike said in an attempt at getting the unicorn to come down to earth. Suddenly, Twilight skidded to a halt. The young dragon yelped in surprise as he was almost sent flying forwards. Twilight took in a deep breath before returning her calm disposition. Despite her clarity, Spike could still tell that she was on the verge of a psychotic break. Her eye would still twitch uncontrollably every once in a while, and she was almost a little too giddy with excitement. “I know that Spike… and you, Fluttershy, and I are all we need to throw a party. I can’t wait to see the look on everyone’s faces when I manage to throw the best party in Ponyville history with just three people!” The unicorn said with a determined tone in her voice. “Well, time’s a wasting… we don’t have that long to put this… whatever it is together.” Spike said while looking up at the sun as it moved across the sky. “Which is exactly why we need to get to Fluttershy as fast as equinely possible!” Twilight announced while preparing to speed off towards the yellow mare’s house once again. “Wait a minute! I didn’t mean to- AHH!” Spike yelled as the unicorn took off like a speeding bullet. She was running so fast that she would have given Rainbow Dash a run for her money. After a quick run, probably quicker than Spike would have liked, the pair arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage. Twilight looked around at the various animals scurrying to and fro around the property. She smiled slightly as her plan was coming to fruition. If the yellow mare could handle taking care of so many animals, then there was no reason to doubt that she could help put together a party. Or at least, the connection made sense to Twilight. Taking a quick stroll up to the front door of the cottage, the unicorn softly knocked and waited for her friend to answer. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting that was probably mere seconds in real time, Fluttershy opened the door and smiled upon seeing her friends. “Hi, guys… what are you doing here?” The pegasus asked curiously while glancing between the two. Twilight was oddly almost as cheerful looking as Pinkie Pie, while Spike was clinging to the unicorn’s back with a pale expression. “Hey Fluttershy, you’ll never guess who’s coming to Ponyville for a week!” Twilight said in an excited tone. “Umm… is it the Wonderbolts? I think I saw Rainbow Dash flying through here just recently with an excited look on her face.” Fluttershy said while looking up into the now clear sky. Apparently, the cyan mare had become motivated enough to double time her clearing of all the clouds. Twilight somehow managed to smile wider, probably hurting her face in the process. “No, it’s even better! Tom and the others are coming here on a break! They should be here tonight!” She exclaimed cheerfully. “Tom and the others…? That’s wonderful!” Fluttershy smiled warmly as she thought about her monster hunting friend. She had been through a lot with each of them. Tom had saved her and her best friends numerous times, even going so far as to bring Twilight back from the dead. And as much as she didn’t want to think about it, she felt a close bond with Glimmer Shine and his teammates as well ever since their time in Raven Feather’s mansion. “Yeah, I know! See, me and Spike here were going to throw a party for them, but everyone else is preoccupied with other things. We were hoping that maybe you could-” Twilight started to ask the pegasus for help when she suddenly groaned uncomfortably and averted her eyes. “Umm… Twilight, I would love to help you throw a party for them, but you see… umm… I’m kind of-” Fluttershy could barely even form her next sentence before Twilight exploded into her face. “BUSY?! Oohoho no! You are not telling me that you are busy, are you?!” The unicorn demanded in a frantic tone while getting right into the yellow mare’s face and glaring at her. Fluttershy recoiled into her house a short ways, but Twilight followed her, all the while managing to never break distance or eye contact. “Umm… w-well… I-I mean… I…” Fluttershy stammered nervously as she tried to think of something to say. She could barely stand the purple mare staring at her so intensely. If she didn’t know any better, the pegasus would have figured that her friend had somehow learned how to do the infamous stare. “Just tell her you aren’t busy Fluttershy! Maybe she will go away!” Spike suggested in a frantic attempt at helping the yellow pony. “But… I don’t want to lie! Please don’t be mad at me Twilight! I was just going to go get more food for the animals!” Fluttershy admitted before closing her eyes and cowering to the floor. She covered her head and waited for the unicorn to explode with anger. Twilight’s eye twitched even more so than usual. She gritted her teeth and growled under her breath. Spike could feel the unicorn trembling with anger and frustration. The dragon turned away and covered his ears in preparation. Suddenly, all of the anger left the unicorn. Twilight stopped shaking angrily and instead hung her head in defeat while letting out a drawn out sigh. “That’s fine…” She muttered in a calm yet saddened tone. Fluttershy and Spike looked up in surprise. “What?!” Spike exclaimed in shock. “It is…?” Fluttershy squeaked timidly. “Yeah… I guess I can’t control everyone’s schedule. I’ll just have to admit that I can’t throw a party for them tonight…” The unicorn explained with a gloomy expression while turning around to leave. “I’m really sorry I can’t help Twilight…” Fluttershy said in a sympathetic tone while watching her friend leave. “If it makes you feel better, I should be back in time to-” She was suddenly interrupted by the purple mare turning around and speaking. “Don’t… just… don’t. I have heard that four times already today… just be sure to drop by the library later so we can go see them tonight.” Twilight shrugged before returning her attention forward and sadly walking out of the cottage. Fluttershy couldn’t help but feel bad for the unicorn. She must have been through a long day to feel this upset. -Later that evening- Not that many ponies took the late night train to Ponyville. By the time the last station rolled around, most of the passengers had departed. The train was so empty in fact that Glimmer Shine and his team had their train car all to themselves. Well, mostly all to themselves. Glimmer Shine sat across from Glitterball, while Sunspot sat across from them on the opposite aisle. The suited pegasus was still a little annoyed at her teammates from last night, so she decided to sit near them, without actually sitting near them. Sitting in the seat in front of Sunspot, was their human friend Tom. The slayer had apparently gotten done with his job around the same time the team of ponies did, so they managed to get on the train at the same time as him. The group had much to talk about with the boy. After all, they hadn’t seen him in a long time. But even with the high interest the ponies had with the human, their conversation topics had run dry two stops ago. Sunspot tapped her foot against the armrest at the end of her seat as she lay across it. She was laying on her forelegs while staring up at the ceiling in utter boredom. The steady sound of the train chugging along was the only thing breaking the silence in the car, and even that had become annoying a while back. The orange mare glanced up to see what her teammates were doing on the opposite row. As she expected, they were still sitting quietly and doing the same thing they were doing the last time she checked. Glimmer Shine was leaning back into his seat with his eyes closed, while Glitterball was just looking around pensively. “Ughh… I am so boooooored.” Sunspot droned in an exaggerated tone while thumping her head back against the cushion. She would give anything for some sort of stimulation. She almost missed the days when everywhere she went there would be a surprise attack from the hooded ponies waiting for her. Now, whenever she went on a boring train ride that lasted for hours, she really was just going on a boring train ride that lasted for hours. “I don’t want to hear anything from you about boredom… I spent like an hour and a half last night trying to get a dead werewolf off of me in the cold silence of a forest… with a tree behind me. Do you know how comfortable the bark of a tree is? Let me answer that for you… not very.” Tom shrugged in annoyance at the pegasus’s statement. “Well excuse me, nature boy… did it ever occur to you that we could have come to get you? You could have called us at any time.” Sunspot explained in a snarky tone. “I…” Tom started to speak up in protest until he paused mid-sentence at the sudden realization. “Don’t talk to me right now Sunspot…” He muttered in an irritated tone while ignoring the orange mare’s smirk of victory. “Wow Sunspot… you’re just getting on everyone’s nerves lately aren’t you?” Glimmer Shine spoke up from across the aisle while still keeping his eyes closed. “Shut it Glimmer… we’ve been over this enough times.” Sunspot muttered while glaring in the general direction of the stallion. Glimmer Shine smirked as he felt the pegasus’s icy stare beaming into the side of his head. “And I’m sure we’ll be over it a few more times… that is if the owners of the house will let us come back in a month after what happened to that window.” He said with a shrug. “I can’t wait to finally get off this train and get away from you people for five seconds… Maybe the girls will let me have a conversation with them without bickering with each other.” Glitterball groaned uncomfortably. “If it makes you feel better, I could have a conversation with you without bickering.” Tom offered in a helpful tone. “I appreciate the offer, Tom… but I think I just need a break from these two.” Glitterball smirked slightly at the human before returning her gaze out of the nearby window. Although she usually didn’t get involved in her teammates’ arguing, the unicorn did get tired of listening to it. At the end of the day, she just wanted the two to settle on who was giving orders so she could follow them and get the job done. “Hey… we’re not all that bad.” Sunspot said in a surprised tone. “Well… I don’t know about Glimmer Shine over there, but I’m not all that bad. I try to make our kerfuffles as small and civilized as possible, but it’s kind of hard… I mean just look at what I have to work with.” She stated with a playful smirk while glancing over to Glimmer Shine. Glimmer Shine stared back at her with an expression of disbelief plastered on his face. “I’m not even going to dignify that with a response.” He muttered in annoyance. “Technically you just did.” Sunspot replied in a smart-alecky tone. “Oh boy…” Tom and Glitterball groaned in unison while shaking their heads uncomfortably. They only hoped that they would arrive in Ponyville as soon as possible. Twilight and the others waited patiently at the train station for their friends to arrive. All six element bearers, along with Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were scattered around the various benches of the relatively empty station. Only a few worker ponies manning the station were present, so the group only had each other to occupy themselves with. “I can’t believe that Tom is going to be back here for a few weeks.” Rarity stated in an amazed tone. “Yeah, it seems like just yesterday that we met him.” Rainbow Dash added while thinking back to the day where everything in her life got turned upside down. It had only been a simple trip to Zecora’s hut when they departed for the Everfree Forest that day, but it turned out to be the beginning of a very harrowing and dangerous journey. “I just wish that he didn’t have to travel around and fight monsters… he barely even knows his way around Ponyville, so I can only imagine how lost he must feel in the rest of Equestria.” Fluttershy said in a worried tone. “Someone has to fight all of the monsters that have been poppin’ up Fluttershy… besides, he volunteered for the job. Right, Twilight?” Applejack asked for confirmation while glancing over to the purple unicorn. Twilight’s mind seemed to be elsewhere, but she looked up upon hearing her name called. “Well… he certainly agreed to go along, but it was the princess’s idea to ask him.” The unicorn explained while staring down the train tracks in anticipation. She wondered how much better this welcome party would have been if it were an actual party. “At least she was nice enough to give them some time off. Oooh, we’re going to have so much fun!” Pinkie Pie giggled in anticipation of all of the activities she had planned to make the group’s small vacation even better. Suddenly, the ponies could hear the far off rumble of a distant train. They looked down the tracks and spotted the passenger train they had been waiting for all night. The anticipation was rising as the group watched the train pull into the station. After a short wait, the ponies saw movement at one of the doors to the train. The door popped open, and Glimmer Shine and his two teammates walked out, closely followed by Tom. The four were surprised to see everyone walking up to them and surrounding them. “Hey, guys!” Sunspot exclaimed cheerfully while glancing around at the small crowd of friendly faces. Glimmer Shine, Glitterball, and Tom quickly joined the pegasus in greeting their friends. Twilight and the others were surprised to be suddenly pulled into a group hug by Pinkie Pie. The pink mare was so eager to greet the four that she decided to just hug all of them at once. After a few moments, the group settled down and gave the others some room to breathe. “Wow, I didn’t expect to see all of you here this late.” Tom said while glancing up at the night sky. Upon mention of how late it was, Spike yawned, causing several of the others to yawn in response. “I guess it is a bit late… but we all wanted to see you guys when you got here.” Twilight stated with a warm smile. “Sorry guys, but we have had a long day. Maybe we could get together tomorrow and do something?” Glimmer Shine suggested tiredly. “Yeah… I think I’m going to fall asleep standing up at this rate.” Sunspot added while stretching her limbs. “Aww…” Scootaloo and her two fellow crusaders whined in disappointment. “But we just got here!” The orange filly protested. “Now, now girls… It is way past your bedtimes… as a matter of fact, it is way past my bedtime as well.” Rarity admitted with a slight yawn. “I agree… we should all be gettin’ home. Besides, Tom and the others need a good night’s sleep after their long trip to get here.” Applejack added while looking to the three fillies sympathetically. “Ok…” The fillies said in reluctant acceptance. “Well, it was nice seeing you guys. See you all later.” Glimmer Shine said while waving to the group. Glitterball and Sunspot waved as well before following the stallion. Everyone walked back through town and went their separate ways. Before long, Twilight only had Spike and Tom to keep her company. It felt good to be walking home with her human friend again. The unicorn missed having him around. After a few minutes, the three found themselves back at the library. Tom looked at the building and smirked slightly before following the purple mare inside. Twilight smiled while turning to the human. “Welcome home, Tom.” “Feels good to be back.” Tom stated while stretching his arms. Taking a quick glance behind her, Twilight realized that Spike had fallen asleep on her back. She smiled softly before slowly making her way up the stairs to the bedroom. “We have the guest bed made up already. I think I’m going to just head to sleep.” She explained to the human in a tired tone. “Yeah… I think I will too. We can figure out something to do tomorrow.” Tom replied. With a nod of agreement, Twilight yawned before opening the bedroom door and stepping inside. She levitated Spike into his bed and pulled the covers over his body. Once the dragon was nestled away in his bed, the unicorn walked up the steps to the loft and quickly hopped in her own bed. Tom climbed into the bed set up in the corner of the room and immediately settled in. The pair scarcely had time to say goodnight before they drifted off to sleep.