"And that's when she said..." Pinkie grinned across the stagecoach. "...'No, you have chicken mouth!"
"Ooh, that's a new one, Pinkie!" Fluttershy said. She smiled... and then squinted. "I still don't get it, though."
Just then, the stagecoach jostled to a stop.
"What is it?" Rarity momentarily panicked, looking all around. "Did we hit a sinkhole?"
"This far from Fillyda?" Applejack stuck a tongue out. "Pffft! Don't be silly, Rares."
"Mmmmm..." Twilight perked up. "I smell mountain lavender!"
"Ooh!" Pinkie pointed out the window. "And I see castle spires!"
"Then that can only mean..." Fluttershy squirmed in place.
"We're here! Oh, we're here!" Rarity giggled and gasped. "Canterlot! Canterlot! Oh, I am positively going to faint!"
"Hold it in, Rarity—"
"I hear Spike's claws dismounting from the driver's seat," Twilight said, positively bouncing. "This is it, girls! We're here!"
"Well, hot dang!" Applejack tilted her hat back. "Better fetch my apple wares!"
"First thing's first, Applejack!" Pinkie shook her head with a haughty expression. "Song and dance number!"
"Pffft, says you!" Applejack was about to say something else when she noticed a prismatic figure shivering in the corner. She looked over, blinking. "Rainbow?" The farm mare leaned forward. "Y'all alright, sugarcube?"
"Who... me?"
"Yer shiverin' somethin' awful."
"Pffft. Optical illusion, AJ. It's just the jerk in the coach."
"But we ain't movin' no more."
"Oh..." Rainbow's ears flattened. She gulped hard, trembling some more. "Right."
"Hey..." Applejack rested a hoof on her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay. Yer gonna wow the pants off them Wonderbolts, so dun you fret... ya hear?"
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow glanced at Applejack's hoof, then back at the freckled mare. "I... uhm..." An honest smile. "I'm not fretting anymore."
Applejack smiled back. But before she could say anything—
The door opened from the outside. A baby dragon in a tuxedo bowed.
One by one, the mares all stepped gracefully out. Starlight glinted off the fabric of their dresses, and it was enough to steal the breath out of Spike's lungs. "Whoah!" he exclaimed, bouncing back on his tail. "You all look... amazing!"
"I can't believe we're finally here!" Twilight exclaimed as Rainbow Dash hovered excitedly above the group. They collectively gawked at the spires of Canterlot Castle looming before them as more and more ponies in formal attire wandered in towards the heart of the enchanted evening. "With all that we've imagined, the reality of this night is starting to make this... the best night ever!"