Epilogue: The Miss Gala

With the Changelings defeated, things are going back to normal in Ponyville, or what's close to it anyway. The ponies are recovering while helping one another out.

Pinkamena slowly gets up and shakes getting dust off of herself. She scowls, "Those Changelings only beat us because of the love they fed off of...............next time, they ever decide to come back, they will not be so lucky."

She walks to Megan and helps her on her feet. The woman sighs, "Thanks, are you hurt?"

"It would take much more than some bugs to hurt me.............even fueled with love, they could not even do any real damage. Their queen maybe.................but she be REALLY in a lot of pain by then but let us go make sure the others are ok."

"Alright."

The Mane Six meanwhile check to make sure one another is all right. They felt bad because this whole mess is partly their fault due to their silly arguing and fighting.

Applejack groan and comment, "Ah can't believe we let those changelings trick us like that. How stupid could we be?"

"Do you need an answer?" Phobos ask Applejack with a smile, making the cowpony scowl at him. "Forget I ask."

"Good!"

Twilight comment, "Odd. By now, we should be familiar with the Changelings' tactics to see their scheme coming a mile away, but we were suckered in just the same."

Pinkie comment, "Well, it would have ruined the script for us to see through Chrysalis's scheme too quickly, despite past experiences with her and her minions."

"For once, Pinkie, I am too upset with how we act to even comment." Rainbow said with a groan of embarrassment. "Girls, I am so sorry. I wasn't loyal to you, I let this silly contest get to my head."

"Shoot, Ah was a bad friend." Applejack said, putting her hat over her chest in embarrassment and guilt. "Ah wasn't honest."

"I wasn't generous to my friends." Rarity said, feeling bad too.

"Oh dear, I wasn't so kind." Fluttershy said, close to collapsing.

"And I don't find this funny, not at all." Pinkie said, close to crying...then she broke into tears. "Ooooh, my poor, poor friends."

"Wow, at least you girls learned your lesson...wait, mom!" Ben gasps as he gallops over to Celestia who is recovering from what happened earlier. "Mother, are you okay?"

Celestia, being helped up, wakes up and groans over the headache she has gotten, "Ugh, what happened? Did something happen my little ponies?"

"It's a long, & frankly ugly story." Rainbow said, feeling a bit guilty and embarrassed over the fact that the girls' fighting has caused Celestia and Azure to be knocked out for a while.

Azure, the next to wake up, felt his forehead with a hoof, demanding, "Ugh, well while I like to hear it, can someone tell me....WHO was it that fired a cannon at me & knock me out right into a gong bell?"

"Ugh...." Pinkie said nervously, feeling a bit guilty as she rose a hoof to answer Azure's question. Boy, is this mare is in trouble!

Or not as Rarity spoke up to plead to the Lord of the Land of Ma, "Azure Phoenix, please don't be mad at Pinkie Pie? When we're all to blame."

"Rarity's right; them Changelings were yankin' our chains." Applejack admits, accepting the blame as well.

"Changelings you say?" Azure ask, arching an eyebrow in curiosity yet interest.

"Yes, we all saw & heard, Queen Chrysalis tricked them into thinking the other one said something to make them be competitive." Megan explains the situation to both Celestia and Azure.

"So in truth, they didn't really know what was going on & really thought the other was not their friend no more." Ben said, getting to that last as well.

"I feel just awful about what happened." Fluttershy said, close to crying. "I mean, I even told rats to attack my friends...that wasn't very nice at all!"

"I feel even more terrible, as the Princess of Friendship, I should have known my real friends would never badmouth me...not after everything we been through." Twilight said, feeling her ears going down a bit for how she acted or misjudge her own friends.

"Hey, come on Twilight! So, you got a little carried away." Spike said, chuckling to assure Twilight that nothing is entirely her or the others' fault. The group just got carried away, that's all.

"You call fighting dirty & trying to drag us into their game a little carried away?" Phobos ask, a bit irritated at Spike, recalling how the Mane Six got dragged into the others' pointless bickering.

"Phobos!" Nyx scolds Phobos for saying that to Spike.

"What? It's true, right?"

"Well..."

Twilight sighs as she patted her daughter on the head, "Its fine Nyx..." Phobos has made a point and it's the right one, even if it's harsh, it's true. The Mane Six has dragged everypony else into their competing and fighting that it wasn't even funny. She comment to Megan, "You were right. NONE of us deserve the title. It doesn't matter that we were tricked. We STILL let our competition get the better of us."

"Well, glad you learned that." Megan said, proud that her pony friends have learned their lesson of letting competitions get the best of them.

"You know, as being as awesome it be to become Miss Gala, I should have been loyal to stick with my friends who wanted it more than me." Rainbow said as she learned her lesson to just be loyal to her friends than herself.

Applejack nodded as she said to her pals in agreement, "An ye know, in all honesty, Ah didn't think Ah be cut up fer de title. Besides, it's more in truth ta try bein' supportive ta a friend ye feel deserves it."

"I quite agree, someone deserving of the Miss Gala. Though, in a more generous sense, it's more better to give than to receive when you don't want to hog the spotlight from a friend." Rarity said, being her generous self.

"I know that being Miss Gala be like a big party to celebrate, but...there's not much laughter involve by yourself unless you have happy pals to be with." Pinkie said as she gave Fluttershy a hug, making her squee a bit.

"I know that in such times, most ponies feel happiness when they win, but...unless you show them the kindness they showed you, well...then, it's not very kind to trample over one's feelings." Fluttershy said meekly while smiling a bit.

"Magic is something that has always been there for us, but sometimes...the real magic isn't from one's books or spells, or even from their horns to cast them. The real magic...is having the magic of friendship keep ours healthy & strong." Twilight said with a smile to her big friends.

"I just wanna say that I'm glad you all managed to get over this silly contest & regain your friendship." Ben said with a smile, proud that his girlfriend and her friends has gotten over this nonsense.

"Silly?" The Mane Six snaps at Ben making him yelp a bit.

"Ugh, okay...correction, I'm glad you recovered & not let things end up badly."

'Right, it's no fun when you’re not all getting along." Spike said in agreement. The baby Dragon likes it when the girls don't fight like this.

"Especially when we end up being stuck in the middle of it." Phobos remarks, still bitter about that.

"Oh Phobos." Nyx said, rolling her eyes at this. Typical!

"I'm just glad to have my friends again." Twilight said, happy that she and her friends are back together once more.

Applejack chuckles in agreement, "Ah agree wit' ye there Twilight."

"Yep, I'm in too!" Rainbow exclaims, throwing a foreleg into the air excitedly.

"Me three!" Pinkie exclaims happily, bouncing up and down and with her mane and tail back to its poofy like style.

"And me!" Fluttershy exclaims happily yet quietly at the same time.

"Oh, this calls for a group hug!" Rarity said with an approving smile.

The Mane Six happily hug each other, like what happened upon realizing that Rainbow's Sonic Rainboom was the reason that they became future friends. Most of everyone smiles, happy that the heroines of Equestria had learned their lesson about letting this go too far.

"Well now, this is certainly something to see." Celestia said with a warm smile, proud that her fellow princess and her friends had reconciled.

Megan nodded in agreement as she said to her adopted filly daughter, "I agree Celestia; they know what's most important."

"Well...I suppose it's never too late to learn over one's mistakes." Azure admits. Even he got to admit, the lord knows that even the best of friends and learn their mistakes.

"Attention everyone, we have come to decision of who the next Miss Gala will be. And it's..." Celestia said that, despite the fact of what happened, everyone must now declare a winner.

The ponies and everyone else snapped to attention as a drumroll is heard playing. Twilight said to her friends, "Listen, even if none of us wins or not...I got you as my friends, that’s my real prize.”

"Right, you are my real prizes as well." Rainbow said in agreement with her fellow Council member.

"Well, this is a big surprise...we got a six way tie for the first time!" Megan announces with a smile as she motions to the Mane Six. "The Mane Six!"

The Mane Six looks surprised as most of everyone applauded for the ponies. The Mayor held out a crown as well as five extras as she said, "Congratulations, Princess Twilight and friends."

"I don't understand." Fluttershy said puzzled as the crowns are put onto their heads. "We had shown bad sportsmanship and poor friendship."

"Shoot, we done don't deserve 'dis title." Applejack said in bewilderment and confusion. The Mane Six are all Miss Gala despite the behavior they'd shown.

Celestia trots up to the six as she explains gently, "You have shown true friendship in knowing it's better to help a friend reach a dream than just doing it for one's own self. You had learned a lesson in friendship."

"And for that, you are all Miss Gala of Friendship." Azure said, giving a salute to the Mane Six."

"Well, congratulations, girls! Feel proud?" Ben ask the Mane Six as he hugs Twilight who gave him a warm smile.

Nyx gallops over and jumps onto Twilight's back, giggling. The Alicorn smiles to her friends, saying, "Never better."

And thus, a lesson in friendship has been learned today, one that hopefully the Elements of Harmony will never forget for a very long time...

Meanwhile, back at Hayseed Swamp, the Changelings were seen licking their wounds after having been yet again, defeated by their mortal enemies. And Queen Chrysalis looked so steam even without the burn marks she & the rest got, thanks to Pinkie Pie's little LOVE Cannon.

"Who in Equestria ever heard about a cannon that contains love?" Queen Chrysalis protest out in not believing that Pinkie Pie could have something so...random.

"Um, isn't it like a love gun?" Fred asked off that idea.

"Or maybe it's like a love arrow?" Ed also spoke something out.

"You two are so stupid, it's amazing how you think of such things!" Seto held his head in feeling that this was just too much.

"Ohhhh.....someday, one of these days...I will overpower those fools!" Queen Chrysalis growls in frustration that she will settle this matter, someday in the future.

"Really?" Ed asked this off surprised.

"How?" Fred asked this question next.

"Yes, my queen, do tell." Seto nods of in being curious about the topic himself in how that can be done.

"I may not have the answer....yet!" Queen Chrysalis exclaimed off to say this while looking off at her reflection. "But someday...I will obtain power to which they will learn to FEAR me! And I will get my revenge on Twilight Sparkle...& all of her friends!" She issued this off in being so close to wanting revenge, that she will stop at nothing to achieve it...

Far from away from the Changelings' little base, someone was spying them from the shadows. And from the shadows, someone merge out to take on physical form, none other than the fearsome masked stallion of mystery, the Equestrian Eliminator, an agent of Grimmore, the known Demon God.

"Agent 13, report." A male voice on the com-link spoke up to contact the agent in the area.

"The Changelings have been defeated. By the sounds of it, they appear to be desperate for a win." The Equestrian Eliminator reported this matter of what was going on about the Changelings current position.

"That will be all the more reason to find a use for them later, come back afterwards." The male responder on the other side replied back before hanging up, as the masked stallion looked across the distance.

"Looks like Twilight's group have push them into the moment where they will become useful pawns for the Three Lords, & by that...the one who reigns supreme above the rest. Lord Grimmore..." Equestrian Eliminator stated off in seeing what sort of newfound trouble the Mane Six will soon be getting in as the Changelings may become useful in serving his lord & master, the Demon God that all of Equestria fears.

Soon the Equestrian Eliminator vanishes in his shadows in the blink of an eye. Leaving many questions left to wonder in just what sort of dark shadowy futures await for those ahead? That remains to be a mystery for the future...to be untold at a later time....

The End for now

Author's Note

Major Cast List
Tara Strong: Twilight Sparkle
Ashleigh Ball: Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie
Andrea Libman: Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Pinkamena Diane Pie
Tabitha St. Germain: Rarity, Adult Nyx, Derpy Hooves
Cathy Weseluck: Spike the Dragon, Mayor Mare
Jason Marsden: Ben Mare
Daveigh Chase: Nyx
Chris Sanders: Phobos the Dragon
Nicole Oliver: Princess Celestia
Kath Soucie: Megan Richards
Doyglas Rye: Azure Phoenix
Kathleen Barr: Queen Chrysalis
Eric Stuart: Seto the Changeling, Ed the Changeling
Rob Paulsen: Fred the Changeling

Minor Cast List
James Arnold Taylor: Fred Flintstoneward
Matt Hill: Soarin'
Kazumi Evans: Rarity (Singing Voice)
Scott McNeil: Tough Apple
Michelle Creber: Apple Bloom
Claire Corlett: Sweetie Belle
Madeline Peters: Scootaloo
Yuri Lowenthal The Equestrian Eliminator

Well, the Mane Six has definitely learned a lesson there, but there's more trouble on the occasion. For now, here's the next fic...

"Making Amends: A short story. After learning of Diamond Tiara's recent change of heart, Brave Heart comes to town, hoping to apologize to her again and hoping that she'll find it in her heart to forgive him this time after the way he treated her. Will the former bully forgive the Trottish warrior? Or will Maxin Talos get in the way? "

Looks like a story that involves Brave Heart and Diamond Tiara. Looks promising. Read, review and suggest.

A Foreshadowing of a future story towards 'The Equestrian Eliminator' is noted here in this chapter.