//------------------------------// // Epilogue: Special Delivery, Pt. II // Story: Sonic Generations: Friendship is Timeless // by GreenS21 //------------------------------// Soon, at Fluttershy’s cottage Fluttershy stepped out of the front door of her cottage, the strap for a pair of saddlebags in her mouth and the saddlebags dangling as she walked over to Zecora, the zebra standing a short distance from the front door with her head turned to the left to look at the shy pegasus. As Fluttershy got closer, Zecora bent down and allowed her to place her saddlebags on her back. Once they were securely in place, Fluttershy stepped back and said, “There you are, Zecora. I hope those are all of the herbs you were looking for.” Zecora stood up and turned her head to look at the pegasus again. “Do not worry, oh shy friend of mine. I am sure what you have gathered will do just fine. This mix will not take long to blend. I will see you at Pinkie Pie’s party later, my good friend,” the zebra replied before turning and starting to walk away from Fluttershy’s cottage. Fluttershy waved to her as she headed back into the Everfree Forest. After the zebra left her sight, Fluttershy turned to go back into her cottage, only to stop when she heard a familiar voice calling to her, “Hey, Fluttershy!” The shy pegasus turned and looked up to see Derpy descending towards her, a familiar mailbag dangling from her shoulder. Once the gray pegasus was closer, Fluttershy smiled, “Oh, hello there, Derpy. You’re early today.” The mailmare replied, “I know! I wanted to get a head start on my deliveries for the day.” She reached her muzzle into her mailbag and came back out with a few envelopes in her mouth, which she gave to Fluttershy. She then said, “I’ll see you later, Fluttershy! I’ve just got a few more stops I need to make before my boss will let me go for today!” Fluttershy nodded and waved to Derpy as she turned and flew away, the wall-eyed pegasus waving back and narrowly avoiding crashing into a tree. Afterwards, Fluttershy walked into her cottage and closed the door behind her. GOING AROUND THE TOWN A short while later, after feeding her animals and sorting through her mail with Angel Bunny’s help (she may have already won ten million bits, apparently), Fluttershy stepped out of her cottage and pulled the door closed. She then spread her wings and, after taking a moment to breathe in the air, flapped them and took to the air. She flew at a gentle pace as she enjoyed the nice weather, not really in a hurry to get to her destination. Despite her relaxed speed, she soon arrived at her intended destination: Rainbow Dash’s cloud home. As it came into view, so too did the house’s owner, the cyan pegasus flying over, under, and around her home, though not as fast as she usually did. As Fluttershy got closer, she noticed Rainbow Dash was holding Scootaloo up in her left hoof, the orange filly’s body pointing out in a flying stance as Rainbow Dash carried her through the air. Fluttershy smiled at this and flew over to the cloud home, landing on the edge of the cloud as Rainbow Dash flew around her house again. As Rainbow Dash flew back around, Scootaloo spotted Fluttershy standing on the cloud and called, “Hey Fluttershy!” Rainbow turned her head at that and looked down to see her shy friend waving up at her and Scootaloo. Rainbow slowed down and turned around, landing on the cloud by Fluttershy and setting Scootaloo down. She then said, “Hey Fluttershy. What’s up?” Fluttershy replied, “Oh, um, I’m sorry if I interrupted anything, Rainbow Dash. It’s just that Pinkie Pie’s party will be starting soon and I was wondering if you were ready to go.” Rainbow smiled, “Oh yeah, I’m ready to go. I just wanted to give Scootaloo a quick lesson before we headed over to Sugarcube Corner, that’s all.” She looked down at the orange filly and asked, “You feel like riding on my back, Scoots?” Scootaloo smiled widely, “Of course I do, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash bent down at that and the orange filly clambered up onto her back, quickly getting comfortable and making sure she had a good grip. Rainbow Dash then turned to Fluttershy and asked, “See? We’re ready to go. How about you, Fluttershy? You ready to go?” The pink-maned pegasus nodded and they both spread their wings, taking off and flying in the direction of Sugarcube Corner. Meanwhile, at Carousel Boutique “Rarity, are you almost done?! We have to get going soon!” Sweetie Belle called up the stairs to her sister. The younger unicorn was beginning to trot impatiently in place, ready to go. Up in her room, Rarity was putting the finishing touches on an order, looking down at her creation through her orange glasses as her hooves guided it on her sewing machine. After a couple of seconds, the machine stopped and Rarity used her magic to pick up the dark violet dress, taking it off the machine and holding it up to examine it carefully. After a moment, she responded to her sister, “I’m finished, Sweetie Belle~! I’ll be down in a moment!” She used her magic to remove her glasses, placing them atop her table, and levitated the dress over to one of her ponnequins, putting the dress on it for the time being. She then began to use her magic to pick up the thread and material she had lying around that had been used to fill this order. As she placed the last roll of material back where it belonged, her eyes caught sight of a drawing she’d set on the edge of her sewing table. It depicted Rarity’s idea for her first pony kimono; no doubt she planned to base it off the one Hualin had shown her. “I still have to order the proper material to make it perfect. Even if it is my first one, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t make it as good as possible!” she thought to herself. She held a hoof to her chin in thought, “Where did Twilight say I would most likely be able to get the material from? Hoofkaido…? I’ll have to ask her again later.” Her thoughts were interrupted when Sweetie Belle called, “Rarity, I thought you said you were done!” Shaking her head, Rarity called back, “I am, Sweetie Belle! I’m coming!” She started towards her door, using her magic to open it as she reached it. She then closed it behind her as she continued on, wanting to get downstairs before Sweetie Belle called her again. Once she was down in the showroom, the two sisters made their way to the front door. Halfway to the door, Rarity stopped and looked at one of her clothing racks. Dangling from one of the hangers was a dark blue racing suit with white gloves and a pair of red and white boots attached to it, a pair of light green sunglasses wrapped around the hanger. Behind it was an orange racing suit with white stripes on the sides. The legs appeared to be shorter, as the orange and white boots were dangling below where the legs ended, though the orange and yellow gloves were attached to the arms. She’d managed to get those suits and the suits she had designed for her pony friends (which were upstairs) back from the Friendship Express, but hadn’t found a place for those two suits yet due to all the incoming orders. Rarity shook her head and trotted after her sister. She’d worry about finding a place for them tomorrow. Meanwhile, at Sweet Apple Acres “Aw, come on, Big Macintosh! Applejack and Ah want ya to come with!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “Eenope,” was the red stallion’s reply. Applejack trotted over, “Come on, Big Mac, don’t be like that. You’ve done a lotta good work this week, but that’s all ya been doin’: work! Just come on with us to Pinkie’s party and unwind fer a bit. It’ll do ya some good.” Big Macintosh said, “Parties aren’t mah thing, Applejack. Ah mean, yeah, Ah attended Sonic’s birthday party, but…” Applejack cut him off, “But nothin’! Granny Smith said we could go ta the party as long as we finished up all o’ our chores, and we did! She’s takin’ her afternoon nap, and Winona will keep an eye on her while we’re gone!” She got up in his face as she continued, “And don’t ya start givin’ me that nonsense about gettin’ started early on tomorrow’s chores! It ain’t gonna feel right leavin’ ya here while we’re partyin’, so you’re goin’! Got it?” Big Macintosh stared at her carefully for a few moments before relenting, “E-Eeyup.” Applejack nodded, “Alrighty then. Trust me; this’ll be good fer ya.” With that, she turned and started making her way towards town with Apple Bloom trotting eagerly at her right side. Big Macintosh stayed where he was for a moment before walking after them. Meanwhile, at the Golden Oak Library “Twilight, are you just about ready?! We have to get going!” Spike called up the stairs to his and Twilight’s personal area. The lavender unicorn was standing in front of her mirror, checking herself to make sure reading out on the balcony hadn’t messed with her natural look. “I’ll be right down, Spike!” she soon called back, assured that she looked okay. Before heading down, she walked over to the nightstand beside her bed and opened the drawer, peering inside. Inside sat three things: the drained Warp Ring Tails had given her and two pictures, one being her copy of the party group shot and the other a picture of her, Sonic, Shining Armor, Cadance, and Spike together. She’d been a bit busy recently, so they’d been sitting there for the last two weeks to avoid collecting dust. She hadn’t even started looking over the Warp Ring yet, especially during this last week. As she shut the drawer and walked around her bed, a small smile graced her lips at that thought. Walking down the stairs leading to the bed area, she looked over at the library’s fireplace, where the source of some of her recent busyness and her lack of photo frames sat. Around and above the fireplace were various pictures of Spike and his pet, or rather former pet, phoenix Peewee. There was a picture of Spike with Peewee’s egg and a picture of Spike with Peewee just after he hatched. Nearby were two more pictures, one of Spike trying to feed ice cream to Peewee, the phoenix apparently not liking the taste, and the other was the outcome of that: a picture of Twilight with a food bowl of ice cream on her head, Peewee sitting on her tail and Spike sitting on the floor nearby. She hadn’t exactly been happy when that happened (Pinkie probably would’ve been), but she and Spike had talked afterwards and worked it out. Twilight then directed her attention to the photo sitting above the fireplace, the newest addition to their ‘photo album’. It showed Spike, Peewee, and the baby phoenix’s parents, Peewee and his parents sitting in a nest in a tree. Following their adventure with Sonic and his friends, Spike had begun to feel that Peewee deserved to be with his family (and no, it had NOTHING to do with the aforementioned ice cream incident). He eventually came to Twilight about the matter and she agreed to help him find Peewee’s parents. It had taken nearly a week of research and going back to the forest near where Spike had joined the Great Dragon Migration to investigate, but they managed to track down the phoenix’s parents and return him. Twilight had taken the picture of Spike and Peewee’s last moments together to record the memory and serve as a reminder of Spike’s natural growth. “When he grows up, he’s going to do great things. I’m sure he’ll make a wonderful leader someday,” Twilight smiled to herself as she headed down into the library area. Spike smiled as he saw Twilight coming down the stairs. “There you are! Ready to go?” he asked. Twilight nodded, “Yep. Let’s go, Spike.” Spike already had the front door open as she finished speaking, Twilight quickly trotting towards it so she wouldn’t keep him waiting. As soon as she was outside, Spike shut the door and made sure it was secure before moving to Twilight’s left side and walking alongside her as they headed into Ponyville. As the duo walked through the streets of Ponyville and made small talk, Twilight thought back on the last two weeks. Spitfire and Soarin had left shortly after everypony returned to Equestria, Spitfire mentioning something about captain duties before the two pegasi left. She wondered if it had anything to do with Lightning Dust showing up and racing the group along with the Babylon Rogues. Spitfire and Soarin had gotten a hold of her afterwards and escorted her back to Ponyville after the Rogues had left. It hadn’t sounded like Dash’s former teammate was in trouble, but Twilight didn’t know that for sure. Gilda had left almost immediately after everypony was through the portal. Twilight could only guess at her reasoning for leaving so quickly, especially considering the way she acted after Shadow’s… outburst. Trixie, however, stayed with all the ponies returning to Ponyville, which wasn’t a surprise considering she’d been hanging around Ponyville after the Alicorn Amulet incident to work on her magic. When Twilight and Spike ran into her a few days ago while taking care of the grocery shopping, she mentioned she was working on a new type of traveling magic show. She didn’t reveal anything about it, though, and she hadn’t been seen since, presumably because she was working on this new show of hers. Twilight wondered if Trixie really was going to start traveling again. Even though the azure unicorn had her fun at some of Ponyville’s parties, if traveling was what made her happy and she felt ready to appear on stage again, then that was what was best for her, Twilight reasoned. PINKIE PIE PARTY TIME At a nudge from Spike, Twilight looked up to see that they were approaching Sugarcube Corner. Looking off to the side, she noticed Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Big Macintosh were approaching the bakery from the other side. “Hey Twilight, hey Spike!” Apple Bloom called eagerly as the two parties approached each other. Spike and Twilight called back to her in kind. Once the two groups reached each other, Applejack said, “Howdy, y’all!” She, Apple Bloom, Twilight, and Spike looked up at Big Macintosh, the red stallion offering a quiet nod to the unicorn and baby dragon. Applejack then turned back to Twilight and asked, “Right on time, huh Twi’?” The lavender unicorn nodded, “Uh-huh. I tried to limit how much I read before this party so Spike wouldn’t have to call me so much. Especially after this last week…” Applejack looked at her a little sadly, “Oh, that’s right. Ah heard about that…” She looked down at Spike, “Ya feelin’ all right, Spike?” The baby dragon looked at her oddly for a moment before replying, “Of course I feel all right! Why wouldn’t I? It’s a beautiful day, Pinkie Pie’s having a party, and Twilight didn’t need to make a schedule for today! Today is perfect!” He smiled happily until he noticed the way everypony was looking at him. He drooped a bit as he said, “Okay, so I’ve kind of been thinking about Peewee these last few days and how I gave him up. Even if it wasn’t for long, I kind of got attached to him, and I miss him.” He then straightened up, trying to save his manliness, “Only a little bit, though!” Applejack smiled knowingly, “That’s all right, Spike. Ah get what you’re sayin’. Even if it was just by accident that he ended up in yer care, ya still really cared about Peewee and took care of him, probably just like you were taken care of. Then ya did what ya thought was right; ain’t nothin’ ta be ashamed of.” Spike twiddled his fingers together as he looked down at the ground for a moment, then he looked up at Twilight as she spoke, “Applejack’s right, Spike. I know it must hurt deep down still, but you meant it when you told me you wanted to return Peewee to his family, didn’t you? Nopony was forcing you to say that or anything, right?” Spike nodded, so Twilight said, “Then there’s nothing wrong with it. It hurts, just like when we had to leave Sonic and everyone else, but it’ll be okay.” Spike couldn’t take it anymore and he turned to her, wrapping his arms around her right foreleg and hugging her in quiet thanks. She simply placed her left hoof on his back while the Apples just watched. After a minute, Spike let go and stepped back, appearing to be back to his normal self. Applejack was the first to break the silence, “Come on, y’all. If everything’s okay now, we still got a Pinkie Pie party ta go to.” Twilight and Spike nodded at her and she turned and walked towards Sugarcube Corner’s front door, Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh following behind her while Spike and Twilight followed behind them. Almost as soon as they all stepped through the door, the baby dragon and the four ponies found themselves wrapped up in a tight hug by a pink blur. After what felt like a minute of being in the bone-crushing hug, Pinkie released her grip on everyone and bounced backward with a big grin on her face. “Applejack, Twilight, Spikey, Apple Bloom! I’m so glad you all made it! And you got Big Macintosh to come too, Applejack! Now everypony’s here!” She then turned and bounced away into the kitchen, possibly the only spot that she hadn’t put her usual decorations up. As they watched her bounce away, the five new arrivals saw that the pink pony was correct. Everyone else Pinkie had invited was already there. Big Macintosh smiled sheepishly down at Applejack, the orange mare pushing him in the direction of the snack table while Apple Bloom went to join her friends. Spike, meanwhile, went to join Big Mac and Applejack while Twilight walked over to Zecora and Derpy. Soon… “Oh my. That certainly was a big order you were given, Rarity. And so many different designs too. It almost sounds like an order for a fashion show, doesn’t it?” Fluttershy asked. “Hm, yes, I suppose that’s one way to look at it, Fluttershy, but it was really no trouble at all. After all the orders I’ve worked on in the past, I’ve gotten used to having a lot of work to do and still getting it all done on time,” Rarity replied, flicking her mane to the side as she spoke. She then looked at her shy friend and said, “But enough about that. How are you doing with your artistic creations?” Fluttershy’s face turned a bit red, “Oh, um… I’ve been a little busy taking care of my animals. I haven’t had much time to work on anything.” As they continued talking, nearby, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were chatting with each other. “Wouldn’t it be awesome if they decided to have this year’s Equestria Games here in Ponyville, Applejack? I bet it’d make those Canterlot snobs think twice before making fun of our town!” Rainbow Dash said. Underneath a nearby table, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were listening while eating a plate of cupcakes, Scootaloo quietly agreeing with the cyan pegasus. Applejack replied, “Yeah, it probably would, Rainbow, but it ain’t gonna happen. Ponyville doesn’t have any place fer the Games ta be held. Heck, when we had our Iron Pony Competition, we had ta quickly put everythin’ together on Sweet Apple Acres. Ah don’t think we could do that fer somethin’ as big as the Equestria Games.” After about a minute, all conversation in Sugarcube Corner came to an abrupt stop at the sound of a loud bang! As all the party guests stood stock still (except for Fluttershy, who was now hiding under a table), something began to rain down on them. A closer inspection revealed it to be glitter (a LOT of glitter) and confetti. Everyone turned to look towards the kitchen and saw Pinkie’s party cannon pointing up over the front counter and the pink earth pony pushing a large cake out of the kitchen. “Cake time, everypony~!” she said cheerfully as she wheeled the cake around the counter, stopping just past it. “Not muffins? Aw… But cake is good too!” Derpy exclaimed as she flew over to the cake, Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders getting in line behind her. Big Macintosh and Zecora remained where they were near the side while Pinkie bounced over to the other members of the Main Six. “Stars alive, Pinkie! Yer party cannon ain’t exactly quiet, but that has ta be the biggest bang it’s ever made!” Applejack commented. “That was so scary… Oh, I didn’t really like that,” Fluttershy murmured. Pinkie walked over to her and wrapped a foreleg around her, “I’m sorry, Fluttershy! I didn’t mean to scare you! I’m just so used to using this particular combination for my party cannon that it didn’t occur to me to switch back around you!” Twilight asked, “That’s the combination Ponyacci suggested you use, right? Two parts glitter to one part confetti?” Pinkie nodded enthusiastically. “Oh, well that’s okay then, Pinkie. It’s really not so bad if you were just doing what Ponyacci said,” Fluttershy said. “But I don’t mean to deliberately scare any of my friends, especially at one of my parties!” Pinkie replied. “Speaking of which, darling, what exactly is this party for? You always manage to come up with some reason to hold a party,” Rarity spoke. Pinkie replied, “Oh, I’ve got a reason all right, Rarity! It’s been two weeks since Sonic’s birthday party! That means it’s been two weeks since we showed that silly Dr. Eggman and Discord how powerful friendship can be!” LESSONS LEARNED Applejack’s expression dropped slightly at that. “Come ta think of it, we ain’t exactly talked about that since then.” She looked at Twilight, “You been feelin’ all right lately, Twilight?” Twilight looked a bit surprised at that. “Sure, I’ve been feeling all right, Applejack. Why?” Applejack rubbed her left foreleg with her right hoof as she said, “Well, uh… ya haven’t been thinkin’ about that whole thing Eggman and Discord did, have ya?” Twilight cocked her head to the side, “No. Have you?” Applejack replied, “Well, no, but…” Rarity stepped up next to Twilight, “Darling, what Applejack is trying to say is you, well, fell apart in front of us. You were worried about something, but you didn’t want to tell us because you were afraid you’d upset us. You were afraid to speak up.” She glanced down at the floor, “Just like what happened to me when we were all having those nightmares…” Twilight wrapped her left foreleg around the white unicorn’s shoulders, “That was different, Rarity. The Nightmare Forces could’ve taken any of us if they wanted. The only reason I didn’t tell any of you was because I thought I could handle it myself. It was a moment of weakness, and I’ll try to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Fluttershy asked, “So… y-you’re not mad, Twilight?” The lavender unicorn replied, “I might have been upset at the time it all happened, but I was never mad at any of you. Like I said, I always figured it was completely my fault it all happened.” Rainbow laughed, “Give everypony else a little credit, Twilight! They mess up too, you know!” Applejack glared at the pegasus, “So do you, Rainbow. Ya ain’t got any room ta talk.” Before Rainbow could retort, Pinkie piped up, “That’s what this party is all about! It’s not just to remember Sonic! It’s also so we can remember the lessons we learned while partying with him, especially the one about being faithful and trusting friends!” The six friends all came together for a group hug at that, all of them having smiles on their faces and sounding happy. “AWWWW!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both exclaimed, touched by the display of friendship. Off to the side, both Big Macintosh and Zecora smiled silently while Derpy continued to debate where to start on the cake. “EW!” Scootaloo groaned, being less welcome to such ‘girly’ displays as usual. Beside her, Spike was poking his right index finger into his mouth, seemingly sharing how she felt. A second later, everyone (except Derpy) turned to look at him as his cheeks puffed out and he began to look sick. “Spike, really!” Rarity admonished while walking towards him while he clutched his stomach with both claws and bent over slightly. “Even without hearing it from Twilight, it’s clear to me you’ve had an emotional time since you gave up your friend Peewee. You’ve surely been up at night thinking about it, but you can’t behave like a proper gentleman now?” *URRRRRRRRP!* “Oh my!” Rarity cried as she ducked down, narrowly avoiding a plume of green flames that shot out of Spike’s mouth so fast it knocked him back into Derpy, both of them landing on/in the side of the cake. Everypony else watched as the flames floated up close to the ceiling before swirling together and making a *POP* as they revealed what the dragon had transported. When this sort of thing happened, it usually meant Celestia was sending some kind of letter to Twilight and the others. The only time Spike had belched up something that wasn’t a letter was when Chrysalis had sent the crystal ball that served as the Main Six’s map to the Changeling Kingdom. It was unknown just how much Spike’s fire breath was able to transport, but it must’ve been a lot, seeing as the flames revealed a blue and orange cylindrical tube that fell straight to the floor once the magic in the flames released it. “Wh-What is that?” Fluttershy asked worriedly as she peeked out from behind Pinkie’s mane. “A letter, maybe? From the Princess?” Twilight wondered. “Ah don’t know, Twilight. She doesn’t usually put her letters in a tube or whatever that is,” Applejack commented. Spike lifted his head up and said, “Must be a different way of sending stuff too. It left kind of an electrical taste in my mouth. There’s a sweet taste in my mouth too.” He licked his right claw, noticing some frosting on it. “Oh wait, that’s the cake.” Next to him, Derpy murmured an agreement, her head buried in the side of the cake. Twilight used her magic to pick up the tube and brought it over, holding it up as she turned it over and adjusted it a few times, examining it. “What is it, Twilight?” Sweetie Belle asked. Twilight murmured, “Um… Ah!” She located the top of the tube and, while holding it up with her magic, raised her left hoof and moved it to the side, opening the lid. She then magically pulled out a scroll, seemingly the only thing inside the tube. As Twilight opened and scanned the scroll, Rainbow said, “So it is a letter! But why’d Princess Celestia send it like that?” After a moment, Twilight gasped, prompting Rainbow to ask, “What, what’s the matter, Twilight?” The lavender unicorn looked up and said, “It’s not from Princess Celestia! It’s from Sonic and Tails!” That response definitely surprised everyone, gasps of surprise being heard before the girls, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Zecora, and Big Macintosh moved a little closer, Spike launched himself off the cake to get closer, and Derpy pulled her head out of the cake. “Are you serious?! How can you tell?!” Rainbow asked. Twilight replied, “Well, aside from what it says at the bottom, just look at the writing.” She turned the scroll so her friends could have a better look at it. Rarity looked at it carefully before saying, “You’re right, Twilight. That doesn’t look like the Princess’ writing. I-I don’t mean that it’s terrible or anything of the sort, but…” Rainbow interrupted, “Yeah, yeah, whatever! Forget about that!” Pinkie bounced in place, “Read it! Read it!” Twilight nodded, clearing her throat and turning the scroll back towards her. THE LETTER Dear Twilight Sparkle and friends, How’s it going, guys? It’s been a while since we last saw you. For us, it’s been two weeks since the birthday bash Pinkie put together, and we’ve been thinking about you every day. Hope it hasn’t been too much longer for all of you. Anyway, if you’re reading this now, it means Tails’ the new machine worked perfectly (and I have no doubt that it did). Remember that whole thing about turning the Warp Ring into a portal that can travel across dimensions? Well, we want to see you all again too, so we’re currently working on a portal of our own to travel to Equestria. This machine is still just a prototype, though, and it can only transport small objects around. It’s only one-way too, so we won’t know if it worked as planned or not, but once one or both sides are ready, we should be able to combine our research to make the perfect trans-dimensional portal. Anyway, we’re just writing to let you know everything’s been fine on this end. We haven’t seen Baldy McNosehair Dr. Eggman since he ran off, but no doubt he’s found yet another new base and he’s now plotting some new world-conquering scheme. We might manage to coax him out soon, but no matter what, we’ll be ready for him. As long as we all stick together, he’s got no chance! We hope things have managed to get back to normal in Equestria and Ponyville (or as normal as they can get). While Tails has spent most of these last two weeks working on his machine, the rest of us have been getting back to normal in addition to helping him when he asks for help. It’s certainly been an interesting time for Sonic. First he got invited to an anniversary party and then, almost a week later, to a wedding! While he was there, he met the Best Man and got to know him better (he nearly crashed into Sonic once before that). There’s a big racing competition coming up soon here and, after we told him about it after the wedding, he’s been taking lessons from a princess. We’re hoping he gets accepted so we can go racing with him. Anyway, it’ll probably be a while before we can see each other again, but once it’s possible, we definitely will! Just don’t miss us until then, okay? Even if we’re not there, we’re not really gone! If you ever miss us, just look at the Moon. Luna was right; it really does look the same in both our worlds. And don’t forget the wind either. From the softest breeze to the strongest gale, memories are always carried on the wind. We’ll always be part of the wind; hold onto that and the memories of our colorful adventure together. There are a lot of ‘ordinary’ things here to remind us of Equestria and everyone we met, so there’s no way we’ll ever forget any of you! So don’t forget about us, okay? Stay cool, everyone. We’d say that friendship is worth fighting for even if it isn’t always easy… but that’s not something any of you need to be reminded about! So always do your best to make its magic never-ending! You inter-dimensional friends, Sonic and Tails P.S.: Even though we didn’t get any input on this letter from the rest of our friends, we paid them all a visit and they all send their warmest regards. Be sure to let everyone everypony else know we all wish them well too. Nothing was said for several moments after Twilight was done reading, the letter still held in the grip of her magic. Apple Bloom was the first to speak, “Wow… they did all that work in two weeks so they could send us a letter…” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, “That is so SWEET!” Applejack nodded, “That’s a real sign of friendship right there.” Twilight looked down at the letter as she said, “They’ve already managed to make a portal that can transport material objects one-way… I’ve got some catching up to do.” Zecora opened her mouth, Twilight looking up at her as she spoke, “They’ve had time to do work, Twilight, and you will find time as well. When it is all ready, we’ll all have stories to tell.” Pinkie popped up right beside the lavender unicorn and wrapped a foreleg around her shoulders, “Zecora’s right, Twilight! You’ll totally be ready to work with Tails and make that perfect portal he mentioned!” She let go of Twilight and bounced over to her phonograph while saying, “But that can wait! Right now, we really gotta celebrate this delivery!” She picked up a record in her hooves, “And this new release by Vinyl Scratch will be the perfect way to start!” She removed the current record and put the new one on it, music starting to play as the party started up again. LUNA'S NIGHTFALL Later that evening, at Canterlot Castle Luna stepped out onto the balcony connected to her room, her eyes watching the sky turn dark as her sister’s Sun sunk past the horizon. The Lunar Princess focused for a moment, her magic guiding the Moon up to take its place and revealing the stars in the night sky. She looked around at what Equestria looked like under the cover of her night for a moment before nodding in satisfaction. She then gazed towards the sky and thought, “It is time.” Before she could begin with her plans, however, she heard a knock at her door and, after releasing a small sigh, turned towards it and called, “Yes? Who is it?” A familiar voice called back, “It’s me, Luna. May I come in, please?” Luna’s response was to focus her magic on the door and open it, revealing the form of her sister on the other side. Celestia stepped inside and looked over at her younger sister, standing in the doorway leading out to her balcony. “Sister. What a pleasant surprise,” Luna commented. “Yes, well, I have finished my work for the day, and as I was sitting down to relax, your talk of ‘plans’ for tonight came to mind,” Celestia explained. She gave her sister a slightly uncertain look, “I don’t suppose you’d care to share those plans with me now?” Luna smiled, “You’re just in time, sister. I was just about to begin.” She turned and stepped all the way out onto the balcony, turning her head to look at Celestia and saying, “Come, sister, join me.” Despite knowing her sister was back to normal, especially after defending Ponyville from the Nightmare Forces, Celestia was still a bit apprehensive as she followed Luna out onto the balcony. As she stood next to her sister, she spoke, “All right, I’m here, Luna. Now what is this all about?” Luna didn’t answer her. Instead, she closed her eyes and raised her head while channeling her magic into her horn. Celestia looked from her to the night sky, where she saw what Luna was doing. Her eyes widened for several moments before she smiled, “Luna… this is…” ENDGAME Luna opened her eyes after a few more moments and said, “You may have your windows to record events that anypony can come and see, but I have my own ways of honoring others, especially with a beautiful canvas such as this.” Celestia looked at her and asked, “Will it be there forever? What will you do if nopony else sees it?” Luna replied, “I do not think everypony in Equestria could not notice this, especially not your student, but for those who miss it, it will be their loss. I believe this is the way Sonic wouldst most prefer to have his heroism honored. He did not seem like the type who would demand that his exploits be recognized by the general public. If that is true, then he would surely find a simple, occasional rearranging of the stars like this preferable to being permanently honored on one of your windows.” Celestia glanced down at the ground, “Hmm… Do you think so? But how will ponies across Equestria come to recognize that he was one of their saviors?” Luna replied, “There will be no need for that. When we meet again, like he said, he will decide how best to handle that.” Celestia smiled at her, “I suppose you are right, Luna.” The two sisters stood together for several minutes, both staring up at the sky in silence. Eventually, Celestia broke the silence with a yawn. “Excuse me, sister, but it has been an interesting day and I believe I will sleep quite soundly tonight.” Luna nodded, “Of course. Pleasant dreams, Celestia.” Celestia nodded back and left her younger sister to take care of her night sky and duties. Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire Shining Armor and Princess Cadance disembarked from their train, stepping out of their car and onto the platform. They then left the station while the train’s conductor got the train turned around, getting it ready for its last trip to Canterlot and Ponyville. During the ride back to the Crystal Empire, the royal couple had talked about their day in Canterlot, catching up with old acquaintances and revisiting some old haunts. Now that they were back in the Crystal Empire, their conversation returned to the subject of the Equestria Games. “Cadance, are you sure you want to do that? I mean, considering what Spike did for the Crystal Empire and all…” Shining said. “I know, Shining, but this is really important for the crystal ponies. I don’t want to risk the Crystal Empire’s chances of hosting the Equestria Games and their happiness by doing something this Ms. Harshwhinny won’t like, especially after all the hard work they put into building the new stadium. I’ll make it up to Spike somehow, I promise,” Cadance replied. Shining sighed, “All right, as long as you’re sure. So how should we tell the crystal ponies that the Equestria Games inspector will be coming?” Cadance thought about it for a second before saying, “We’ll make an announcement tomorrow. I’m sure they’re all curious about how our visit to Canterlot went anyway. I’ll also send that letter to Twilight and her friends so they know to keep that day open on their calendars.” Shining replied, “Right. If they’re really as busy as often as it sounds like they are, they’ll probably need to find a way to squeeze in a visit to the Crystal Empire.” Cadance nodded, “Which is exactly why I want to inform them of the date as soon as possible.” As they reached the edge of the Empire, close to the buildings, Cadance looked up at the sky, in the direction of Canterlot and saw something. “Oh! Shining, look!” she exclaimed. The white stallion looked in the direction she was looking and saw what had caught her attention, both of them coming to a stop. Shining soon smiled, “Well, what do you know?” Cadance nodded, “That must be Aunt Luna’s doing. She’d never let anypony rearrange her night sky without her permission.” They stared at the sight for about a minute longer before Cadance asked, “What do you suppose they’re up to these days?” Shining replied, “Probably running, learning new things, and getting into all sorts of adventures… kind of like Twily and her friends.” Cadance looked at him, “You think so?” Shining shrugged, “Maybe. But I’m sure they haven’t forgotten us. And I get the feeling Sonic was telling the truth when he said we’ll see them again someday.” Cadance smiled, “That would be nice. I’m sure the crystal ponies would love to meet them.” Shining smirked at her, “I don’t suppose you’re also thinking of something else besides that?” Cadance giggled, “Hey, I’ve got you to blame for putting the idea in my head!” While laughing lightly to themselves, the couple resumed walking, passing by some of the crystal ponies that were still out and waving back to them as they made their way to the crystal palace. Meanwhile, in Ponyville Pinkie poked her head out of the second story window of Sugarcube Corner, watching as her friends and the other party guests walked out through the front door. “Thanks for coming, everypony!” she called once they were all out, slightly rousing Spike, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo (who was lying on Rainbow Dash’s back). Rarity called back, “Pinkie, darling, you know how much we enjoy your parties. On a normal day, why wouldn’t we come to a party you’ve invited us to?” Everyone else agreed with that statement, even the more sleepy partygoers. “Anypony want to stick around for some more cake? Or take some home?” Pinkie asked. Spike let out a sleepy moan at that, not due to his stomach acting up but more due to how tired he was. Twilight looked down at him and then back up at Pinkie Pie and said, “Uh, not tonight, Pinkie. Still, it was a great party and…” She trailed off as she noticed Pinkie seemed to be looking at something. She faced forward, following her gaze. What she saw surprised her. “Oh wow…” she breathed, catching the attention of the others, who had started to move away from Sugarcube Corner. They all looked, including Spike and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and were also surprised by what they saw. Up in the sky, Luna had rearranged a large amount of stars into a particular pattern that could be seen for miles. They all had no doubt it was made in honor of Sonic and his friends, for the most prominent part of the design, which was made up entirely of clear stars, was a sideways shot of the blue hedgehog’s head, his eyes looking outwards. Behind it were three stylized circles whose stars were composed of many different colors, though each color was unique to a particular circle. They all assumed that each color was meant to symbolize Sonic’s friends and possibly them as well. “Oh my… How beautiful,” Fluttershy murmured. “Aw, yeah! Now THAT is awesome! And Luna managed to get all the colors too!” Rainbow exclaimed. Everypony stared up at Luna’s creation for a while before yawns coming from the tired passengers reminded them that it was starting to get late. They all said goodbye, Zecora reassuring everyone that she would be able to get home without any trouble, and they all parted for the night. Pinkie watched everyone go before closing the window, the party pony feeling ready to hit the hay herself. When Twilight reached the library, she used her magic to open the door and closed it behind her, using her magic’s glow to guide her to the stairs. She passed by Owlowiscious on her way up to her and Spike’s beds and whispered a greeting to him, the owl responding with a “Hoo”. With a slight giggle, she climbed up the last set of stairs and used her magic to lay Spike down in his basket and pull his blanket up over him. With her draconic charge settled in for the night, Twilight placed the letter from Sonic and Tails and the canister it had come in atop her dresser and walked over to the balcony doors, pushing them open and walking out into the cool night air once more. Still having a little bit of energy left, she stood on her balcony and observed Luna’s creation once more, looking specifically at the stars she had used to create it. She wondered where she had gotten so many different stars from and decided that she would ask the Lunar Princess if she could find a chance to do so. She continued to stare up at it for a while, reliving the memories of that amazing adventure in her head as the colors in the night sky reminded her of the new friends they had all made that day. Eventually, her eyes began to grow heavy and she let out a yawn. Realizing how tired she was, she turned and walked inside, using her magic to shut the balcony doors while she walked over to her bed. As she lay down on her side atop the sheets, she used her magic to pull the drawer on her nightstand open and then pulled out the pictures inside. She smiled to herself as she thought, “Even across time, across space, across dimensions, the magic of friendship can still be found. And those who believe in friendship are stronger, not just for themselves but for those who they’re friends with.” Placing the pictures back inside and pushing the drawer closed, she yawned and snuggled under her covers. “No matter what forms it may take, as long as it’s pure, the magic of friendship never changes.” She smiled as she looked at the canister and letter on her dresser one last time as her eyes slid shut, “And a true, true friend will always try their best to make the magic never-ending.”