The train ride up to Vanhoover was exhausting, especially since the girls were so excited for what lay ahead. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were positively bouncing off the walls of the coach, and their playful energy soon infected the rest of the scout troop. Fluttershy definitely had her hooves full trying to keep them all under control, with little success. They all settled down when the conductor entered, sitting up straight in their seats and behaving like well-mannered little fillies; as soon as he announced Vanhoover as the next stop and left the coach, however, the girls' exuberance kicked into full throttle, and they were giddily jumping around once more. Fluttershy meekly threw in the towel and buried her nose in a magazine. She hoped that volunteering to chaperone this field trip hadn't been a mistake.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had worked hard to help their troop fundraise for this trip. In fact, it was rumored that Pinkie Pie had bought so many boxes of cookies off them that she intended to ship them out to everypony she knew as early Hearth's Warming gifts. Cheerilee was their next-largest buyer, both because she wanted the kids to go on a fun, educational field trip, but also, allegedly, because they paired well with the copious amounts of wine she bought from Berry Punch. This was coming from town gossips, of course, but one never really knows. Tree Hugger also bought quite a few boxes, usually at the same time every few days.

Once the scouts had raised enough bits to take the trip, they began looking for chaperones. Applejack had to pick up the slack on the farm while Big McIntosh was away on his honeymoon, though she realized that her sister had earned this reward, and so gave her blessing to the field trip. Rarity was busy with a big commission from a client in Manehattan, Rainbow Dash was on call with the Wonderbolts, Pinkie had to babysit the Cake Twins, and while Twilight emphasized how much she would've loved to go to a museum with them, she was wrapped up with business in Canterlot regarding the Princesses' transfer of power.

By default, that left Fluttershy, who was more than happy to volunteer. It had been a long time since she'd gotten to look after the CMCs, whom, despite their mischief in the past, she actually considered quite a delightful group of fillies. Besides that, Fluttershy had never been to Vanhoover before, and valued the chance to visit someplace new. She had figured that looking after a few extra fillies wouldn't be much trouble.

Little did she know that she was the only volunteer, and that there were ten of them.

In addition to the usual scouting troop of eight, a couple of other fillies, Toola Roola and Coconut Cream, had been newly recruited prior to the fundraiser. Fluttershy knew them only tangentially, through Twilight, but they were proving to be just as high-energy as the rest of the fillies. Clearly, they had long since patched up their friendship issues that Twilight had helped with, as they stuck together on the whole ride like the closest of friends.

All of a sudden, the train began to slow and lurch to a stop. The faint details of a train station could be seen through the steam from the smokestack, and the fillies' excitement reached fever pitch. Fluttershy hovered to the front of the coach and performed a quick headcount, then helped the girls get their luggage and exit the locomotive.

"So this is Vanhoover!" Sweetie Belle proclaimed as the green-clad guides followed Fluttershy in single file through the city.

"I ain't never been here before!" said Apple Bloom "But this is where my Grand Pear moved back when my parents got married. I wonder how much has changed since then?"

"The sidewalks here are so wide and smooth! I should've brought my scooter!" Scootaloo trotted happily along, buzzing her wings.

From further back in the line, Fluttershy could hear Tag-a-Long, the senior-most scout in the Ponyville troop.

"Miss Fluttershy, with all due respect, are we lost?"

"Um..." Fluttershy muttered, turning the map this way and that in her wings. "Maybe." Fluttershy wasn't used to exploring large cities without somepony around who knew the lay of the land. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to traverse Manehattan without Rarity as her guide. She adjusted her Filly Scouts beret and looked about; when all else failed, she knew, one could always ask for directions. With ten little fillies trailing behind her, she approached a portly Earth pony stallion waiting at the crosswalk. He was short, with a short mane and tail; he was yellowish-brown, sported a large mustache, and wore a sweater vest.

"Excuse me," Fluttershy said in her usual gentle manner "would you happen to know the way to the natural history museum?"

"Ah!" he said, his ears perking up. "How convenient, I work dere!" He spoke in a heavy accent that Fluttershy couldn't quite place. He extended his hoof in greeting to her, trying his best not to spill the tray of coffee cups balanced on his back.

"My name is Diggs! I'm de assistant director at de museum! You must be, eeeehhhh….. Butterpie?"

"Fluttershy." The yellow mare corrected him. "It's nice to meet you."

"We've been setting up for de Filly Guides' visit all dis week! C'mon, I'll take you to de museum."

It was just another five minutes of walking before the scouts reached their destination: the Natural History Museum of Vanhoover. The building towered above them like a giant box of red brick, its entrance adorned with white marble columns presiding over the grand staircase. It was renowned Equestria over for its collection, which included just about anything one could imagine from the animal and plant kingdoms, as well as countless minerals and relics of ancient cultures.

Diggs led them up the stairs and through the double doors; Fluttershy barely managed to keep the fillies from rushing ahead of her. In the main lobby stood a spindly Pegasus mare, maybe a decade older than Fluttershy, but still full of youthful charm. Her coat was somewhere between lavender and grey, and her curly, purplish mane was pulled up in a coif. Thin spectacles rested on her snout. She was engaged in conversation with a matronly unicorn, burgundy in color and wearing the uniform of a Filly Guides troop mother; behind her, a herd of at least fifteen fillies frolicked and leapt about, laughing and playing with glee. Fluttershy assumed that Ponyville was a small enough town that its troop could function reasonably well without a permanent troop mother.

Diggs greeted the two mares and slid the tray of coffee onto the base of the large statue they stood around.

"Good morning, Miss Fairweather!" He said jovially. "On my way back, I ran into de Filly Guide troop from Ponyeeville! Dis is Miss, eeeehhhh…"

"Fluttershy." She answered for him. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Yeah, Flottershy!" Diggs added shortly after the fact.

"I'm glad you could make it with your scouts, Fluttershy." The elder Pegasus said, sipping her coffee. "My name is Breeze Fairweather, and I'm the director of this museum. You've already met Diggs, my assistant, I see." She gestured to the unicorn standing nearby. "This is Rose Garden, she leads the Vanhoover troop."

The unicorn shook her hoof in greeting. "It's so nice ta' meet ya! And I see you've got a fine group of fillies here!"

The CMC playfully stood at attention and saluted, smiling. Tag-a-Long took her place beside them, and it was clear from the number of buttons on her sash that she was the more prolific scout.

"Yes, they're quite the bunch!" Fluttershy proudly added. "I oversee them now and again, and they're usually a good-mannered group of kids."

"I can see this one is quite the skilled little camper." Rose said, pointing to Tag-a-Long, who smiled proudly. The CMC deflated slightly as the attention left them. "This is my junior officer, Cherry Sweet."

A small Earth pony, about the Crusaders' age but still diminutive, trotted up beside her troop mother. She was deep red, much like a cherry, with a geometric pinkish mane and amber-colored eyes that cast a gaze far too serious for a filly her age. Even though she was smaller than them, the CMC couldn't help but feel a little intimidated.

"Ma'am," she said with a stolid salute "whenever Miss Fairweather is ready to start the tour, I can have this rabble whipped into shape in ten seconds flat."

"She seems more like a Cherry Sour to me." Apple Bloom whispered to her friends.

"Oh, come now, dear; there's no need ta' be so serious on the troop's special day. Have fun, you've earned it!" The troop mother replied. "I don't wanna see an uptight little pony today!" She playfully poked the filly's cheek with her hoof, and Cherry allowed herself a heartfelt--if extremely brief--smile.

"Speaking of which," Fairweather spoke up. "I don't see why we can't start the tour now. After all, we've got lots to see!"

The fillies in the room burst into excited cheering and prancing. Fluttershy gently gathered the CMCs, along with the other fillies in her group, into a neat little herd of cuteness, awash with bright eyes and beaming smiles. Meanwhile, Cherry Sweet turned on her hooves and curtly approached her troopmates.

"TROOP!"

The Vanhoover fillies immediately ceased their youthful revelry and snapped into two columns of seven, like little pastel soldiers. Cherry took position at the head of the company and waited for marching orders.

Rose Garden simply rolled her eyes.

"That filly needs to learn ta' have a little fun." She murmured to Fluttershy with a gentle smile. "She's a wonderful scout and an excellent junior officer-- but she's not very good at... just... bein' a kid! I'd swear that scouting is her life!"

"What better place to start off," the museum director began "than right here in the front?" She gave a sweeping gesture to the large statue standing before them, which previously, nopony had paid much attention to. It was of a Pegasus stallion dressed in explorer's clothes flying amongst foliage. He had a spiffy handlebar mustache and a sharp, intelligent look in his eyes; despite this being a marble statue, it had been crafted with great detail, so much so that it was likely the pony himself had posed for it.

"This museum was established over 100 years ago by my great-grandfather, Finder Keeper, a Vanhoover native who devoted his life to studying the natural world and ancient cultures, and spent many years exploring the far-off wilderness beyond Equestria." Fairweather's crystal blue eyes gazed with pride towards those of her ancestor. "Every generation since has upkept this museum and added to its collection. While I'm afraid I'm more accustomed to the archives rather than the field, it still makes me proud to carry on his legacy along with my family. As a matter of fact, there are some exhibits in this museum that are new additions--they've been here less than a month! Would you like to see them?"

The fillies collectively called aloud their excitement.

"Then follow me on a trip through the wonders of nature and history!"

Fluttershy chuckled to herself as they followed their host into the heart of the museum. Twilight really would've liked such enthusiasm for learning.

Aside from the Buckball Hall of Fame, Fluttershy hadn't really been to any museums in her life, so she was fittingly astounded by all the things Miss Fairweather's family had amassed in this grandiose place. The fillies eagerly trotted past everything from bits of pottery or old weapons from long-lost cultures to miniature recreations of ancient temples or cities, with Fairweather narrating all the while. Every so often, a filly or two or three would stop and ooh or aah at something behind the glass, causing the rest of the group to pause for them to catch up. Sometimes Cherry Sweet would roll her eyes at this, but Rose Garden would put a hoof on her shoulder and remind her to smile and have fun.

The group stopped for a moment in the Hall of Antiquities, which was near the front, and allowed everypony to look around at their leisure while Fairweather and Diggs planned out the rest of their exhibition. Fluttershy allowed herself to wander around a bit and take in the sights, occasionally helping a filly who didn't know how to pronounce a certain word or lifting her up for a better view. She came upon Toola Roola and Coconut Cream, who were looking intently at various gemstones, as well as the jewelry made from them.

"Wow! Imagine walking around town wearing that!" Toola Roola said, planting a hoof against the glass. She gestured towards a sparkling necklace, with rounded, deep blue opals set in a pattern amongst real silver, which had been polished until it was nearly blinding under the light in the case.

"According to the card," Fluttershy said, peeking in-between the fillies "it was created at the turn of the century for a famous actress, and it was meant to resemble a piece that belonged to Princess Platinum a millennium ago."

"What's this?" asked Coconut Cream, pressing a small red button on the wall. Suddenly, a projector on the ceiling powered to life and cast its image above the button, playing a short film about how gemstones are cut and polished for jewelry-making. As the narrator's voice buzzed out of a tiny speaker, Fluttershy felt something tugging on her tail. Turning around, it was Sweetie Belle.

"Fluttershy, come look at this!"

"Yeah, it's a little creepy!" called Scootaloo from across the room.

Fluttershy approached the exhibit that the CMC were crowded around, and she understood what they meant. Behind the glass was a skeleton--still partially entombed in earth--of a zebra chieftain and the items he'd been buried with; among them, beads, dried herbs, colorful, if now faded, bird feathers, and a small stone warhammer.

"Dont'cha think it's a little weird seein' somepony's real bones out on display?" Apple Bloom inquired.

"Oh girls," Fluttershy patted them gently with her wings. "I know it may seem a little odd to see a skeleton laying around, but it's different in a museum. Once somepony has been gone long enough, looking at their bones can actually be important if you want to learn about their life."

Suddenly, Tag-a-Long had propped her forehooves up on the ledge next to Apple Bloom. "Yeah! Like, for instance..." The Filly Scout proceeded to read aloud the placard presiding over the chieftain's remains.

"These remains of a zebra stallion were unearthed in the Neighgoroneighgoro Crater during one of Finder Keeper's expeditions, and they are estimated to be nearly 1,000 years old. From the items he was buried with, it is evident that this stallion was a chieftain, and would have ruled over an area within what is now Zanzebrar. Wear on his teeth and calcium on his joints indicate his advanced age, and small punctures in his hooves seem to indicate that the Zanzebrari had developed some form of horseshoe by the time of Luna's banishment, though this zebra was either not buried with any or they weathered away with time before he was exhumed."

"...Y'know we coulda just read that ourselves if we wanted to, right?" asked Apple Bloom bluntly. Tag-a-Long's face briefly became stern and pouty before the two turned away from each other. Fluttershy was trying to think of something to say when she noticed Cherry Sweet standing by herself, looking intently at another exhibit. She decided to go over and try to introduce herself.

"You're Cherry Sweet, right?" she began. "I'm Fluttershy, the chaperone for the Ponyville troop."

"Ma'am." Cherry Sweet gave a quick tip of her cap without looking away.

"I just noticed that you don't seem as... enthusiastic as the other fillies is all." Fluttershy continued. "Is something... wrong?"

"With all due respect, ma'am, some ponies prefer to be left alone." Cherry gave a brief glance at her interlocutor. "I can only take so much of my troop's frivolity, ma'am. Miss Rose would be the first to tell you that they are very silly ponies."

"I think they're just trying to have fun, don't you think?" Fluttershy softly smiled, trying to be friendly. "After all, that's what children do best."

"Some children, I suppose." Cherry continued examining every aspect of the exhibit before her, reading every placard. "I find enjoyment in my own pursuits, ma'am. Scouting is one of them. I'm very proud of what I do, and I don't let childish games get in my way."

Fluttershy looked around for Rose Garden, but she was across the hall, reading to the filly perched on her shoulders. The yellow Pegasus sighed and decided that she probably wouldn't get through to Cherry, at least not now. Instead, she thought, maybe she'd humor her; after all, she seemed very interested in this exhibit.

"What are you looking at there?"

"It's a diorama of the ancient city of Timbucktu, ma'am." Cherry replied, her eyes scanning the scene sternly, as though she were an omniscient ruler surveying her people. "Look how neatly the streets are laid out, the buildings, the market stalls, the decorative plants... nothing is unruly, nothing is out of shape... it's the closest one can come to perfection."

Fluttershy's brow creased in a look of mild concern. She hoped that fillies like Cozy Glow were once in a century.

"Do you... like history?"

"I believe that it should be learnt, lest it be repeated, ma'am." Cherry ran her hoof along the woodwork before her, wiping off dust. "It's a shame that this city eventually fell to the changelings. King Orion sure knew how to run a tight ship, a skill I seek to emulate with that unruly bunch." She gestured back over her shoulder without turning to look. Fluttershy observed several fillies at play, excited just to be there. She turned her eyes back towards Cherry Sweet, then backed away slowly. The filly didn't say a word, keeping her eyes on the miniature city bustling with little plastic ponies.

The next section of the museum would prove to be Fluttershy's favorite: the Hall of the Animal Kingdom.

The Filly Scouts were beside themselves as they explored a room filled with taxidermy animals from across the world emerging from fake foliage and pools of silicone water. Everything from lions and elephants to cockatrices and cragadiles were on display. Diggs made the children laugh by feigning distress and putting his head in a lion's mouth. Sweetie Belle stood on Apple Bloom's shoulders while she held Scootaloo aloft next to the herons, both equine and avian appearing to take flight. On the opposite side of the hall, Cherry Sweet was again by herself, examining in awe the careful intricacies of a cutaway termite mound. Quietly, Rose Garden approached from behind and put a hoof on her shoulder, and the two shared a smile.

Meanwhile, Tag-a-Long, holding Fluttershy by the wing, escorted her around the exhibits and shared her own knowledge of the animals, which, she pointed out, had been useful in earning the Wildlife Guide merit badge. Most of it was information Fluttershy already knew, of course, but she could tell that Tag-a-Long was eager to impress an older pony, and so Fluttershy played along like a good scoutmaster.

Fairweather hovered near the ceiling, taking turns bringing fillies up to look face-to-face with a giraffe which stood to one side of the room. The spotted creature was an adult male, standing 20 feet tall and presiding over every other animal in the exhibit. Fluttershy brought Tag-a-Long up to the giraffe's eye level, where Fairweather held a filly from the Vanhoover troop.

"When a giraffe is born, the calf falls six feet to the ground!" Tag-a-Long playfully remarked.

"I guess we can't blame them if giraffe babies cry, then!" Fairweather replied with a smile.

"Fall?" asked the filly in her forelegs. "Why would the stork drop the baby from so high up?"

"Stork?" Tag-a-Long inquired. "I think you're a little confused. You see, babies come from--"

"OKAY! I think it's time we move along to the next exhibit!" Fairweather interrupted Tag-a-Long's explanation. "Sundown will be here before you know it, and we want to see everything we can!"

The group passed through some smaller exhibitions before reaching the next large hall, which lay at the heart of the museum: the Hall of Prehistory. A large circular room, lit from far above by sunlight through a decorative dome, was filled along its sides by informational placards, diagrams, and smaller fossils under glass, but on the podium at its center stood the main attraction: a colossal mounted skeleton which nearly stretched across the entire room. It had a massive, boxlike head with a thick skull and large, fierce teeth, a stocky ribcage supporting its barrel, miniscule arms yet long, powerful legs, and a lengthy tail serving as a counterbalance.

The children were fittingly wowed by such a large creature. Fluttershy herself had never seen anything like it, and could only imagine what it must've been like in life.

"What is that animal?" she asked aloud.

"That is the fiercest predator ever known to exist." Fairweather said with a slow, dramatic voice. "It lived many millions of years ago, and hunted just about any creature it wanted, snapping them up in its giant jaws!" Fairweather mimicked the motions of a stalking predator, and many of the fillies playfully hid behind their scout leaders.

"Yeah! Dat's a... ehhhh…" Diggs tried his best to mentally process the name on the placard. "Eeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. I can never remember dis thing's name."

"Tyrannosaurus rex." Cherry Sweet spoke up. "The 'tyrant lizard king.' I've seen it in books a few times."

"Yeah, what she said!" Diggs added.

"Yes indeed!" Fairweather lauded the filly. "The king of the long-extinct dinosaurs. This skeleton was actually discovered just a few miles away in the badlands. You Ponyvillians might be familiar with Dr. Fossil; this was one of her discoveries back when she was just a young mare. Now, the species T. rex was first described..."

As the museum director continued her miniature lecture about the towering skeleton behind her, Fluttershy slowly approached the exhibit, her thoughts racing as she tried to put flesh on the bones. The very thought of this ossified behemoth trekking across the ancient landscape in search of Celestia-knows-how-much food to satisfy itself was both exciting and terrifying to Fluttershy. She loved animals of all kinds, certainly, and she had stared down a red dragon without fear, but this "tyrant lizard" seemed different somehow. Utterly more primal, she thought. She looked up at the sunlight shining between its ribs and casting their shadow upon her. She shivered, both out of awe and fright, at the thought of a living, breathing creature such as this.

"Wow!" remarked Scootaloo, who had suddenly appeared beside her. The little orange filly propped her forehooves up on the exhibit railing. "Can you imagine what that thing must have been like? That would be wicked scary."

Fluttershy snapped out of her trance. "Yeah, I bet it would be, Scootaloo. Look at the sheer size of everything! The teeth, the jaws, the legs, the tail..."

"The arms." Apple Bloom playfully added. "Ya got a 40-foot animal with arms like that. What's it even s'posed to do with those?"

"Gee, if only Petunia Paleo had come along on this trip." said Sweetie Belle, not far behind her. "She could tell us everything about it."

Without warning, Tag-a-Long appeared from somewhere behind them.

"I may not have my Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils badge yet," she began "but I've read that those arms are actually quite strong. They could have lifted a full-grown pony each. It's thought that--"

"If I'd wanted to know, Tag-a-Long, I would have asked." Apple Bloom dryly cut her off.

"But you did ask." The senior scout retorted, turning up her nose.

"Girls," Fluttershy leaned in "there's no need to squabble. Tag-a-Long just likes to show what she knows, is all."

"So you agree she's a know-it-all?" Sweetie Belle quipped, eliciting a scowl from the other filly.

"That's not what I said!" Fluttershy raised her voice only slightly. "I think you all need to spend some time away from each other until you can sit down and work out your problems. I don't want any more feelings to be hurt, understood?"

"Fine by me." Apple Bloom turned away snidely and trotted off with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in tow. Tag-a-Long huffed angrily and sat on her haunches, crossing her forelegs. The chaperone went to put a gentle wing on her shoulder.

"Tag-a-Long, I--"

But the filly brushed away her gesture, and trotted off in an opposite direction to be alone. Fluttershy sighed; maybe she wasn't cut out for this after all?

"I've worked hard to be the best scout I can be, to learn all I can, to achieve all I can..." Tag-a-Long muttered to herself as she curtly trotted across the room. "...and while it gets me merit badges, it doesn't get me friends."

"Tell me about it." came a familiar voice. Tag-a-Long turned around to locate the source; it was Cherry Sweet, who was sitting on the floor and looking up at an exhibit of index fossils in layers of earth, displaying geologic time. The orange-maned filly came up to sit beside the red-coated loner.

"Rose Garden said you were her junior officer, right? What's that mean?"

"I run things when she's not able to." Cherry spoke, even as her eyes continued absorbing information. "I like to think I'm pretty darn good at it, but, nopony seems to like it when I do things by the book. I don't know how else I'm supposed to do them, we have rules for a reason..."

"Ponyville doesn't have a permanent troop mother," Tag-a-Long looked at her hooves in contemplation "we're a pretty small town. But... I guess I do sort of pull most of the weight in the troop. I organize events, I pick camping spots, I help old mares cross the street..."

"Then you're a lot like me." The other filly responded. "You do thankless, yet crucial work. At least I have Rose Garden to appreciate my efforts. I feel sorry that you're essentially your own troop mother." Finally, Cherry's head turned to face her counterpart. She extended a forehoof.

"Miss...?"

"Tag-a-Long." She extended her own hoof to shake.

"Cherry Sweet." The red filly adjusted herself to face Tag-a-Long more directly, a sign she was more interested in the conversation. "So, what success did your confection sales yield this quarter? Clearly enough to come all the way from Ponyville."

Tag-a-Long cocked her head in confusion. "Uh...?"

Cherry gave a quick, unnoticed roll of her eyes. "How many cookies did you sell?"

As the two scouts discussed troop finance in regards to the sale of baked goods, Rose Garden and Fluttershy watched from afar.

"Well... at least she's making friends?" Fluttershy innocently spoke up.

"Yes..." Rose agreed "though I feel that both of them need acceptance from the fillies they lead, instead o' just validation from us or each other, but it's a start. Maybe tonight at the sleepover, we can devise somethin' ta' help them along?"

After several more exhibits and a trip through the gift shop, the fillies unpacked their bags on the floor of the planetarium; there, they would be spending the night, underneath cool, calming projections of the stars and planets.

"It's been a long time since we've had a sleepover together, hasn't it, girls?" Fluttershy happily cooed. The CMC could still remember the night they spent pursuing a lost chicken through the woods and coming face-to-face with a cockatrice.

"Yeah, it has been! This should be fun then!" Sweetie Belle replied. "Although, if you don't mind, I think I'll leave the lullabies to somepony else this time!" The four of them giggled at the memory of Sweetie Belle's earthshaking rendition of "Hush Now, Quiet Now."

As everypony was rolling out their sleeping bags beneath the soft, artificial starlight, Rose Garden approached Fluttershy and the CMC, guiding Tag-a-Long and Cherry Sweet, both of whom were comfortably swaddled in pajamas.

"Hi, all!" Rose said in a singsong manner. "I was just wonderin' if there was some room over here for a couple more little fillies? They seem like they'd make good friends, dont'cha know?" She gave a wink to Fluttershy, who winked back.

The Crusaders' faces grew incredulous.

"We're full up." said Sweetie Belle, with no pretense of sweetness. She rolled over in her sleeping bag, her back to them.

"Yeah," added Scootaloo "go find an encyclopedia to sleep in." The other two mimicked the unicorn's sleeping bag protest.

Fluttershy gasped. "Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo! That was very rude!"

Before Rose Garden could attempt to reason with the fillies, her junior officer turned to her.

"With all due respect, ma'am, I told you this wouldn't work. C'mon, Tag-a-Long, let's go someplace else." She led her new friend away, who looked visibly hurt.

"Alright, everypony!" called Fairweather from the far doorway. "It's time for the sleepover! Diggs and I will be back for you in the morning, but until then, the front doors are locked!"

A couple of stallions, an orangish unicorn in uniform carrying a flashlight and a old, bearded Earth pony with a mop and bucket peeked their heads in. Diggs introduced them.

"Evrehponay, dis is Keyes, de security guard, and Grimes, de custodian! If you need something in de middle of de night, don't be afraid to ask dem for help!"

"Bathrooms and water fountains are right down this hallway, and there are snack machines in the lobby." Fairweather continued. "Please pick up after yourselves and don't touch any exhibits or wander around the halls at night. With that out of the way, everypony have a wonderful sleepover!"

"Goo'night, evrehponay!" Diggs added happily.

The fillies chimed out a cheery chorus of thank you and goodnight as Fairweather and Diggs left towards the front exit and the guard and janitor began their rounds throughout the building. The Vanhoover fillies were largely clustered around their troop mother, with the exception of Cherry Sweet, who was a short ways away next to Tag-a-Long, who had curled up with the encyclopedia she'd bought at the gift shop.

The Ponyville fillies, likewise, were sleeping around Fluttershy, with the CMCs directly at the foot of her sleeping bag. Fluttershy hoped that a good night's sleep would calm tensions between them and Tag-a-Long, and that an amicability could be reached on the train ride home. With that, she burrowed down into her pillow and fell asleep.

Author's Note

Sorry I couldn't have the whole story ready for Halloween, but I hope you'll enjoy what I've got... and the chapters to come.