At Canterlot, the wedding between Princess Cadence and Shining Armor had become a big celebration thanks to Twilight Sparkle. Queen Chrysalis was defeated, and the happy occasion continued without a hitch. And for all the happiness that abounded, Twilight still felt like she was owed something.
Everypony in Canterlot went home after the wedding, while Twilight and her friends stayed behind to change out of their party clothes. Twilight left for her own separate room, which made the others think that they had done something wrong.
“Girls, do you think we should say something to Twilight before we go back to Ponyville?” Fluttershy asked.
“You’re right. Sure, Shining Armor was in cahoots with Queen Chrysalis to make us believe him, but we treated Twilight badly,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Oh, certainly. If it wasn’t for her, we would of been slaves in the Changeling empire.” Rarity said.
“But, what are we going to say to her?” Pinkie replied, with a noticeable absence of happiness in her voice.
“How about we talk to Princess Celestia about this? I’m bet she’s got somethin’ to say to Twilight too,” Applejack said.
She left the room to find the solar princess, who was still in the throne room after everypony left. Princess Celestia was looking out her window, watching the ponies in Canterlot cleaning up after the wedding party.
“Princess Celestia.” Applejack called.
“Hm?” Princess Celestia answered, turning to find the Bearer of Honesty approaching her. “Hello, Applejack. I thought that you would have gone home by now.”
“Well, we were gonna after we changed. But, there’s somethin’ me an’ the girls have been thinkin’ about.”
“Which is?”
“Do ya think we should say somethin’ to Twilight?”
“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”
“I just feel like we owe her an apology for everything we said to her. Ya know, when she was tryin’ to warn us about the changelings?”
Celestia sighed deeply. She too was responsible for rebuffing Twilight, and knew that if she had only listened to the one pony she could trust above all others, things wouldn’t have gone so far. She nodded, and walked to the door.
“You’re right, Applejack. Let’s go see if Twilight’s still here,” Celestia said.
Indeed Twilight was still at the palace. She had just exited her changing room to join the others.
“Twilight, darling,” Rarity said, before Twilight could leave. “Before we go home, can we have conversation in the throne room?”
“Sure,” Twilight responded.
The others finished changing, and met with Twilight in the throne room with Applejack and Princess Celestia.
Applejack took the initiative to begin, and took off her hat first.
“Twilight, we wanted to apologize for not trusting you,” Applejack said.
“It’s okay, Chrysalis was smart enough to fool all of us,” Twilight answered.
“No, it’s not that.”
Rainbow Dash flew her way to Twilight to apologize next. “Yes we know what happened. But, the thing is that ignoring you and kicking you out of the wedding was too far even for us.”
Calmly, and somberly as never, Pinkie approached Twilight. “I was too focused on the party, I completely forgot that Cadence was acting mean,” she hugged Twilight.
“You were just doing your job Pinkie.”
Then Rarity took her turn. “You know, even if I love making the dresses for the wedding, it was difficult to start over on the dresses because of her disapproval. I bet the real Cadence would have loved my first ideas.”
Fluttershy slowly walked through the others, and greeted Twilight with a warming hug. “I’m sorry but, I have nothing. But, you deserve a hug from me.” She said quietly.
Twilight rolled her eyes after listening to her friends but the only person who hadn’t talked to her yet was Princess Celestia.
The solar princess took her time, taking her steps and also greeting Twilight with a hug.
“Twilight, I’m really sorry for how I misjudged you. If there’s one thing I learn today: it’s that you’re too smart to be wrong.”
“Well, all that reading has let me learn some things,” Twilight said. “As for misjudging me, you probably put your focus on the wedding than seeing the fake Cadence. You always do your job as a princess in Canterlot.”
Celestia was impressed with her student showing her opinions towards her. So much she hugged her with her wing.
“Twilight, I’ll promise if this ever happens again, we will trust you no matter what,” Princess Celestia assured her.
Those words made Twilight smile. “Thank you, Princess. To me, you’re my number one teacher.”
Celestia giggled as she broke the hug, while Twilight friends initiated a group hug on Twilight.
“Maybe when we get home, we should throw a Twilight appreciation party to show how much we trust her,” Pinkie cheered.
“I think that would be wonderful, from my best friends in Equestria,” Twilight commented.
They left the castle and Canterlot, and made their way back in Ponyville to throw a party for Twilight for saving the wedding.
***Twilight’s House***
Inside the Golden Oaks Library, five little ponies awaited the arrival of their friend. The party would be everything that that Twilight wanted, ranging from her hobbies to spending time with her friends.
“Quiet! She’s coming!” Pinkie whispered to the others.
The door opened. The lights turned on. Then came the jubilant shout.
“SURPRISE!!!!”
Twilight was stunned by the sight before her. How the others had managed to set it all up before she even got home was beyond her. Tables were lined with daisy sandwiches and cupcakes with frosting the same lavender color as her coat. And in the center of the living room was a mountain of books.
“What--What is all of this?” Twilight asked.
“Well, we know how much ya like readin’ before ya go to bed,” Applejack explained.
“Not that. This. What’s this party for?”
“It’s just our way of apologizing for how we treated you before. Pinkie wanted to build you a bigger library, but the rest of us decided that joining you for your reading time would suffice,” Rarity answered.
Twilight smiled warmly at the gesture. This was a special kind of logic that only a special kind of friend would use. “So, what book do all of you want to read?” She asked.
“Your party, your pick,” Rainbow Dash answered.
“Alright,” Twilight said, as she hoofed through the stack of books. “Here we are: History of Equestria, Vol. 1.”
Dash stifled a groan, hoping that her friend would have picked something more adventure-oriented. But, it was her party, her pick. Just like Dash had said.
They spent hours reading the book, and after so long, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershy and Applejack all fell asleep. Pinkie Pie tried to stay awake, but her eyes couldn’t stay open which. Something Twilight noticed.
“Um Pinkie Pie, maybe we should go to bed,” Twilight said.
“Thank you!” Was all that Pinkie said, immediately falling asleep like her friends.
Twilight giggled and magically retrieved blankets from the nearby utility closet to cover her friends. Once they were taken care of, she went up to her room and blew out the candles by her bedside.
The party had been fun for her, even if her friends didn’t stay up to enjoy it. She covered herself with her blanket as she went to sleep, feeling somehow more fulfilled.
