Chapter Twelve: Twilight Sparkle Still Drinks Too Much

"BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR!!!" screamed Pyx.

It was the night of the Ponyville Spring Festival. At the park in the center of town, ponies were gathering around a makeshift stage that had been erected earlier that day. Behind the stage, the foals of Ponyville Elementary were getting into costume and giving their scripts a last read, in preparation for the play they were about to put on. However, back at the tree library, the star of the play stood facing off against her mother or cousin or whatever, who had just delivered an unwelcome and baffling bit of news.

"Come on, Twilight!" said Spike, standing off to the side with his bubble pipe in his mouth. "You're being even less reasonable than normal."

Twilight, however, didn't budge. She stood firmly in front of the door, holding it shut with her aura. In front of her Pyx gritted her teeth, looking to either side, trying to see if there was a way around.

Then, suddenly, Pyx smiled. Her little horn crackled, and she vanished into thin air. However, Twilight was unperturbed. A moment later Pyx reappeared, her face triumphant until she realized she was standing in the exact same spot. Now it was Twilight's turn to smile, though there was little mirth in it.

"Your little teleportation spell won't work, I'm afraid," she said. "I cast a protective barrier around the entire tree."

"But WHY, Mommy?!?" shouted Pyx. "Why can't I be in the play desu?"

Twilight sighed heavily. The look of hurt and betrayal on Pyx's face was worse than anything. She felt as though her heart were being stung by five hundred bees. However, she knew that this anguish was something she would simply have to endure, because something something Nightmare Moon.

"I can't tell you why," she said, a sad expression on her face. "I'm really sorry Pyx, but you just can't be in it."

"But WHY?!??!" Pyx shouted again. "It doesn't make any sense desu! My friends and I worked so hard on that play desu! They're all counting on me desu! WHY ARE YOU BEING SO MEAN DESU?!?!?!?!?!"

"Twilight..." began Spike.

"Oh, give it a rest, Spike," snapped Twilight. "You're not helping."

It was pretty uncharacteristic of Spike to take Pyx's side in an argument. She didn't know why he had chosen now of all times to start doing it, but it only added to her anger and sadness. She felt as though a thousand angry bees were stabbing her heart with bitter stingers of betrayal.

"Look, Pyx," she said. "I know you worked hard on that play, and you really wanted to be in it. But there are times when Mommy has to say no. You're just going to have to trust me when I say that this is what's best for you."

"Shut up!" cried Pyx angrily. "You're not even my Mommy anyway!!"

Twilight recoiled as though she'd been stung in the heart by two thousand bees.

"Don't say that, Pyx," she said, tears in her eyes.

"YOU'RE NOT MY MOMMY!!" screamed Pyx at the top of her lungs. "You never were my Mommy, desu! You just found me and started calling yourself my Mommy desu! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHO MY MOMMY IS, BUT IT ISN'T YOU DESU!!!!!!!"

Twilight felt tears welling up.

"Please, Pyx," she went on, her voice quavering. "One day, you'll realize that this was all for the best..."

"WHY DESU?!?"

Twilight and Spike both took several steps backward in surprise. Pyx's scream sounded like the wail of a banshee, ethereal and terrible. Her glasses suddenly exploded, the spell broken. Her reptilian eyes glowed with fury and some alien power. Her mane, too, was glowing; floating and writhing about her head like a nest of angry serpents.

Pyx took a menacing step forward, and Twilight found herself shrinking back against the door.

"Why can't I be in the play?!?" demanded Pyx. Her voice was no longer hers; she sounded like a creature from the depths of Tartarus itself. Her eyes blazed.

"BECAUSE OF THIS!!" shouted Twilight. "BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW!! BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU ARE!!!"

Pyx came to a halt mid-step and blinked. The cold light in her eyes was suddenly gone.

"Because of...what...I am...desu?" she asked. Her voice was her own again. "What...what do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Twilight just shook her head.

"I know what you did," she said, her voice calm and sad.

"What...I did?"

Pyx looked confused.

"I found Peewee," said Twilight flatly.

Pyx still looked confused.

"What?"

"I found Peewee," Twilight repeated.

"Who is Peewee?"

"Twilight--" Spike interjected, but she ignored him.

"I found him in the garbage disposal," said Twilight.

"I don't...I don't know what you're talking about..." Pyx stammered.

"Don't deny it, Pyx."

"But I really don't know desu! Who is Peewee?"

"Peewee was Spike's pet phoenix. Emphasis on 'was.'"

"Spike had a pet phoenix? I don't remember that!"

"Nopony does," said Twilight. "But that still didn't give you the right to murder him and stuff him in the garbage disposal."

"Twilight--" Spike began again, but nopony was listening to him.

Pyx stood, blinking back tears and looking even more confused than before.

"You have powers, Pyx," continued Twilight, a little more gently. "I don't know how or why, but you have powerful magic inside you. Magic that you can't always control. Some kind of nightmarish moon-magic. Maybe you didn't hurt Peewee deliberately, in fact I'd rather believe that you didn't, but it doesn't change the fact that he's dead and you're responsible. So until we figure out how to control the dark magic that's inside you, there will be times when you are just going to have to listen to me, and trust that I know what's best for you. Like those times when I make you put on glasses, or hide in the basement, or pull the dental floss out of Spike's colon when he eats it because he doesn't know any better."

"Oh, one time I did that!" Spike scoffed.

"All of those things were for your own good, Pyx," said Twilight. "Just like this is for your own good. And that's why you can't go to the play tonight."

Pyx was trembling.

"SHUT UP!! YOU'RE NOT MAKING SENSE!! I HATE YOU DESU!!!" she screamed all of a sudden, her eyes wet with tears.

And with that, she turned and ran into the basement, slamming the door behind her. Twilight stood there in silence, staring at the basement door, her heart aching as though it had just been stung by five million bees.

Spike blew a large bubble from his pipe and watched it float lazily across the room.

"That went well," he said.

Cheerilee paced anxiously backstage, once again scanning the milieu of students who were gathered about, putting final touches on their costumes and practicing their lines. There was still no sign of her star.

"Sweetie Belle!" she called out to the little white unicorn as she passed by.

Sweetie turned.

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee?"

"Have you seen Pyx yet?"

"No, I haven't," she said. "Is something wrong?"

Cheerilee looked anxiously at the clock on the wall.

"Well, it's almost showtime," she said. "If Pyx doesn't get here soon, we're going to have to start without her."

Sweetie Belle looked concerned.

"We can't start without her!" she protested. "She's playing the lead role!"

"I know, but..."

"She wrote it! It's her play!"

"I know," admitted Miss Cheerilee nervously. "But Celestia and Luna are here, not to mention everypony else in town, and we can't just keep them waiting forever. Where in Equestria could that filly be..."

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted as two stallions in grey suits and fedoras entered the backstage area.

"Excuse me, ma'am," said the taller one. "My name is Pony-Joe Friday, and this is my partner Horse-Pun McSpade. We were wondering if we could speak with one of your students for a moment."

Cheerilee took the card that McSpade extended and read it, frowning.

"You're detectives? What is this about?" she demanded.

"We just need to speak with one of your students for a moment," Friday repeated.

"You do have a Pyx Trebuchet in your class, don't you ma'am?" asked McSpade.

Cheerilee and Sweetie Belle glanced nervously at each other.

"I'm afraid that Pyx isn't here at the moment," said Cheerilee carefully. "Would you mind telling me what this is about?"

Instead of answering, the two detectives exchanged a brief look, and then nodded to the teacher.

"If she stops by, please let us know," said Friday, tipping his fedora, and the two of them turned abruptly and left.

Cheerilee turned to Sweetie Belle, who was looking up at her anxiously.

"Sweetie Belle," she said. "Would you mind running down to Twilight's library to see if you can find out what's keeping Pyx? I'll see if I can stall for time."

"Sure, Miss Cheerilee!" said Sweetie Belle, and she took off at a gallop.

Cheerilee watched her go, a knot forming in her belly. Then, she turned around and cleared her throat.

"Excuse me, Snips? Snails?" she called out.

The two colts trotted forward.

"Yes, Miss Cheerilee?" asked Snails.

"Do you two remember that absolutely terrible magic act you did at last month's talent show? The one I told you never to perform in public again?"

The two colts looked at each other, and then smiled and nodded.

"Great," said Cheerilee. "How would you like to be our opening act?"

There were no lights in the gloomy basement, but enough moonlight filtered in through the little window to illuminate the earthen walls. Pyx sat on the floor, her horn aglow, glumly bouncing a little red ball back and forth. Suddenly, the upstairs door creaked open, and lamplight flooded in.

"Go away, Mommy," said Pyx flatly, without turning her head. She bounced the ball again.

"Uh, it's me," said a more-or-less masculine voice.

Pyx glanced over her shoulder as Spike descended the stairs, shutting the door behind him.

"What do you want?" she said, turning to face the wall again.

"Look, uh..." he trailed off, not quite sure what to say.

Pyx said nothing, and continued to bounce her ball.

Spike watched her for a moment, and then abruptly he turned and began pushing boxes and barrels up against the wall, forming a makeshift staircase beneath the window. Pyx watched him curiously. The ball stopped bouncing.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"What do you think I'm doing?" said Spike.

He pushed the last barrel into place, and climbed up the stack until he could reach the window latch.

"Come on," he said. "Climb up. I'll give you a boost."

Pyx gave him a curious look, then shrugged and trotted over to the makeshift staircase.

"Twilight's spell doesn't block me," continued Spike, "So as long as I'm the one who opens the window, you should be able to get out and back in again. If you hurry, you can probably make it to the park before the play starts."

"What about Mommy?" asked Pyx as she scrambled up.

"Don't worry about her," said Spike. "She usually blacks out around this time anyway."

"Mommy drinks too much," said Pyx, clambering up to Spike's level.

"She really does," agreed Spike.

The two of them laughed. Spike put his hands down, and boosted Pyx up so she could crawl through the window. Once she was outside, she turned around.

"Why are you helping me desu?" she asked.

Spike looked a little embarrassed.

"Uh, well," he began. "You remember that thing that Twilight yelled at you about? About putting Peewee down the garbage disposal? I...uh...I know you didn't do it."

"How do you know desu?"

"Uh, well...because...that one was my bad. You see, Peewee was this baby phoenix I found when I was off in the dragon lands. I adopted him as a pet, but after that we all just kind of forgot he even existed. Life just...went on, you know? And...well, I wasn't feeding him, and then one day I noticed this weird smell..."

He cleared his throat and looked away.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter. Twilight thought you murdered him, but you didn't. He died of natural causes, and I'm sticking to that story. So I'm letting you out. Just don't tell her I did, okay? Believe it or not, she really does worry about you. And...try not to stay mad at her, either. She's trying to do what she thinks is best for you...in her own...way. Kind of. I guess."

Pyx nodded enthusiastically.

"I won't tell," she said. "And I'm not mad anymore. Nipah~~!"

"Oh yeah, one more thing," said Spike, rummaging around behind him. "I also brought you another pair of enchanted glasses. Can't have you running around town with those weird-looking eyes, after all."

"Okay," said Pyx. "I'm still not sure I understand why that matters so much, but I no longer feel like asking questions! Nipaaaah~~!"

Pyx bent forward, and let Spike put the glasses on her face. There was a soft flash of magic, and once again her eyes looked like those of any other filly.

"Be careful with these," said Spike. "The box is kinda running low."

"I will desu~~!" said Pyx.

"Anyway, you'd better get out of here while you still can," said Spike. "If you don't hurry they're going to start without you."

Pyx nodded, and turned to go.

"Break a leg, Pyx!" Spike called after her.

Pyx stopped dead in her tracks, and turned around slowly.

"What?" asked Spike. "It's just an expression; I didn't mean you should actually break a leg."

"I know desu," said Pyx. "It's not that, it's just..."

"What?"

"...that's the first time you've ever called me Pyx before."

Spike's cheeks reddened a bit.

"So?" he demanded, quickly looking at the ground.

Pyx grinned.

"I'm just thinking that maybe you like me a little better now! Nipah~~!"

"Yeah, well, don't get a big head about it, Trebuchet," Spike muttered. "I still think you're pretty dumb. Just try not to get sent to the moon or anything, okay?"

Pyx grinned wider.

"I won't!" she cried happily. "Sayonnara, Spike-onii-chan! Tutturu~~!"

She turned and galloped away--

--and nearly collided headfirst with Sweetie Belle, who was galloping towards the library.

"Oh, hi Sweetie Belle!" said Pyx, who managed to rear up in time to avoid gouging her friend's eyeball out with her horn. "Tutturu~~!"

"Tutturu~~!" replied Sweetie Belle. "Uh, Pyx, you do know tonight's the play, right?"

"I know!" beamed Pyx. "Mommy Twilight locked me in the basement again! But I got out! Nipaaaaah~~!"

"Oh, okay," said Sweetie Belle. "Nipah to you too, then. Anyway, we need to get going! Miss Cheerilee says if we don't get there soon, they're going to have to start without us!"

And with that, the two fillies galloped off in the direction of the park.

*BANG BANG BANG*

Twilight awoke with a snort, peeling her face off of the book that was spread open in front of her. She'd drank even more than usual tonight, and being awakened when she was still half-drunk was not a good feeling. Why did she drink so much tonight? Then it all came back to her: Pyx. She'd had a fight with Pyx.

*BANG BANG BANG*

She glanced at the door to the basement. It was shut securely; the filly was probably still sulking down there. The banging was coming from the front door.

"Alright, hold your friggin' horses," Twilight snapped, and stood up to open the door. On the front porch stood the two detectives who had been by a few days ago: Friday and McSpade.

"We're sorry to disturb you so late, ma'am," said Friday.

"What's this about?" said Twilight suspiciously.

"We'd like to speak with your cousin Pyx," said McSpade. "I don't suppose you could go and get her for us, could you?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed.

"What's this about?" she repeated.

"Could you please just get your cousin for us?" said Friday, ignoring her questions.

"...Pyx is grounded," said Twilight after a moment. "I don't think it's a good idea for her to speak with you tonight. Come back another time."

She began to close the door, but Friday quickly stuck his hoof inside.

"Could you please just go get her?" he asked.

"We know she's home," McSpade added. "She wasn't at the festival."

"Yeah," said Friday. "How many more places could she be? That is, unless she's out in the Everfree Forest committing another murder."

That did it. Twilight's horn flared, and suddenly, to his great surprise, Pony-Joe Friday found himself teleported back a few feet. Before he could react, Twilight had slammed and bolted the door.

"What did you go and say a thing like that for?" snapped McSpade. "Now she's never gonna let us inside to see the kid!"

"She doesn't have to," said Friday. "Look!"

He pointed at the open basement window with a hoof. McSpade curiously went over to it, poked his head inside and drew a breath, then pulled out again.

"What did you see?" asked Friday. "She down there?"

McSpade shook his head.

"I don't think so," he said. "In fact, I don't think she's here at all."

"So if she's not here, and she's not at the school play..."

They both turned to face each other, an expression of unutterable horror on both of their faces.

"By Celestia's mane, she's going to kill again!" cried Friday.

"Does her blood-lust know no end?"

"Come on! We don't know who her next victim will be, but we know where she's going!"

"Wait, we do?"

"Of course! Think, McSpade: where did the last murder take place?"

"Uh...the Everfree Forest?"

"Right, but where in the Everfree Forest?"

McSpade thought about it for a moment.

"That clearing, with the old altar," he said.

"Right," confirmed Friday. "The altar to Nightmare Moon."

McSpade groaned.

"For Celestia's sake, Friday, now is not the time--"

"Listen," snapped Friday. "Either I'm wrong and it's all horsefeathers, or I'm right, and that filly is about to drag another of her classmates off to be sacrificed to a pagan god. Do you really want to take that risk?"

McSpade swallowed, and shook his head.

"No, I suppose you've got a point. And your instincts have been right before. Alright, let's go. Meanwhile, I'll put out an A.P.B. in case she's still in town somewhere."

"We're private detectives, McSpade. We can't do that."

"Oh, right. Well, let's just go then."

And the two of them galloped off into the woods.

Snips and Snails bowed. A few ponies in the crowd applauded politely, but most of them were fidgeting and looking bored.

"When is the play supposed to start?" one mare whispered.

Oblivious to the crowd's indifference, Snips and Snails proceeded with the last bit of their magic act.

"And now, for our final trick!" said Snips. Several ponies breathed an audible sigh of relief at the word 'final.' "My assistant Snails will make this daikon radish...disappear!"

Snails somehow managed to unhinge his jaw, like a snake. Slowly, inch by inch, Snips was able to push an enormous daikon radish down his friend's throat. The horrible gagging sound was indescribable but...somehow...it just...kept...going. Deeper and deeper and deeper. The crowd watched in slack-jawed amazement. Cheerilee stood backstage, an anguished hoof pressed against her forehead. This act was even worse the second time around. She didn't want to watch, and yet she couldn't look away.

Suddenly, there came a commotion as two fillies galloped into the backstage area.

"Miss Cheerilee!" cried Sweetie Belle, panting and nearly out of breath. "I found Pyx!"

"Nii...*huff*...pah..." said Pyx.

"Oh, thank Celestia," muttered the teacher. "Alright, Pyx, hurry up and get into costume! I'll get Snips and Snails off the stage!"

"Nononononononononoooo....." Twilight muttered to herself as she galloped along the road. She was still half-drunk, and several times she almost broke her leg on the uneven road, but she kept pressing forward.

Immediately after she'd thrown the detectives out, she'd gone downstairs to check on Pyx. She'd assumed the filly would still be mad at her, but she could no longer afford to be patient; she needed to hide her somewhere. However, when she'd seen the empty basement and the open window, she'd realized what had happened.

"I'm going to kill Spike when I get hold of him..." she muttered.

She knew that there was only one place that Pyx could have run off to. If the filly wound up playing Nightmare Moon in front of the Princesses that would be bad enough, but if those detectives found her first...she galloped faster and faster.

She came at last to the park. A stage had been constructed in the center of the grassy space, complete with a curtain and backstage area, along with a few rows of wooden benches for ponies to sit on. Up on stage, a pair of colts appeared to be engaged in some kind of weird erotic performance art. Twilight had seen that sort of thing often enough in Canterlot, but it was a bit avant-garde for Ponyville. Briefly she wondered what Cheerilee had been thinking. Then, she realized that she had more important things to worry about. She had to find Pyx!

She took off at a gallop once again, but before she was halfway to the stage, a towering white mare suddenly blocked her path.

"Twilight, my student!" cried Princess Celestia, gracefully pulling her into an embrace as they collided. "It feels like it's been ages!"

"Oh...*pant*...Princess...*pant*...Celestia..." wheezed Twilight. "I'm...uh..."

"Salutations, Twilight," came a second voice. Twilight turned and saw Celestia's sister, Princess Luna, approaching them from the other side.

"Hi....*pant*.....Princess Luna......*pant*......"

"Come, Twilight," said Celestia, wrapping an enormous wing around the smaller unicorn and ushering her into the seating area. Luna fell into step on the other side. "You can sit with us. I would love to hear how your lessons in Ponyville have been going. You never write anymore!"

Twilight looked anxiously over her shoulder towards the stage. She needed to find a way to get back there, but she couldn't risk being rude to the Princess. Helplessly, she allowed herself to be led back to the royal seating area, in a special raised pavilion that stood behind the benches.

"We understand that you have a cousin staying with you of late," said Luna, sitting down on Twilight's right.

Celestia sat down to her left.

"I must confess, I did not know that you had a cousin," continued Luna. "My Royal Sister and I are both very much looking forward to meeting her."

Twilight forced a weak smile. One of her eyes was starting to twitch. Celestia's brow furrowed in concern.

"Er, Twilight," she whispered. "You seem a bit...distracted. Is everything all right?"

"Oh, everything's just swell, Princess!" said Twilight, a little too enthusiastically. Celestia noticed that her student's mane was in disarray and she was sweating profusely. Her furrow deepened.

"I'll...get you a pinot grigio," she said, and raised a hoof to summon a nearby drink vendor.

"We'd heard a rumor that your cousin is the author of this play, as well as the star!" said Luna pleasantly. "She sounds like quite a talented filly!"

"Oh...she's a little ray of sunshine all right!" said Twilight. "I mean, uh, a ray of moonshine! Or...uh..."

As she stammered, a folded piece of paper floated in front of Twilight's face, held in the dark blue light of Luna's aura. Twilight took it in her own and unfolded it.

It was a play program:

The Captured Shadow
A Play in Three Acts
by
Pyx Trebuchet

Starring:
Pyx Trebuchet as Pyx Trebuchet

Sweetie Belle as The Lady Pilkington
Apple Bloom as The Duchess of Windsor
Scootaloo as The Gentleman Caller

Also Appearing:
Lemon Pledge as Chimney Sweep #4
Widdershins as King Henry VIII
Plum Tuckered as Oda Nobunaga
Flying Tart as Cobra Commander
Twisted Sister as The Debutante
Littlepip as Astaroth the Destroyer

Written By:
Pyx Trebuchet & Apple Bloom

Original Score By:
Pyx Trebuchet & Gil Evans

Set Design:
Pyx Trebuchet & Scootaloo

Costumes:
Pyx Trebuchet & Sweetie Belle
(courtesy of Rarity's Carousel Boutique, located in the heart of Downtown Ponyville in the Garment District, come on down for the hottest new fashions at low low prices)

Craft Services:
Pyx Trebuchet & Basil Duke Lee

Executive Producers:
The Cutie Mark Crusaders

"Wow, Pyx really put a lot of work into this," muttered Twilight to herself.

"What was that, Twilight?" asked Celestia.

"Um, well..." began Twilight.

As luck would have it, at that moment Cheerilee stepped out onto the stage and asked for silence, and Twilight was at least spared from answering any more questions. After the teacher's brief introduction, the curtain was pulled back.

The stage lights came on, illuminating a crudely-drawn cardboard set. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, wearing ostentatious-looking dresses decorated with sequins and sparkles, trotted out. Sweetie Belle entered from the opposite side of the stage, and they drew to a halt.

"Hence!" said Sweetie Belle, glancing nervously at the audience. "Uh, home, you idle creatures, get you home desu! Is this...um...a holiday? What, know you not, being...uh..."

She trailed off, glanced at the audience again, and then looked helplessly at her two friends.

"Bein' mechanical," whispered Apple Bloom.

"Oh, right," said Sweetie Belle. "Being mechanical, you ought not walk upon a laboring day without...without the sign of your profession desu? Speak...uh...what trade art thou?"

"Why, sir, a carpenter!" said Scootaloo, a little too loudly. "Tutturu~~!"

Twilight glanced over at Celestia, who was watching with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Your cousin wrote this?" she whispered.

"Um......yes?"

"It's...interesting," said the Princess.

Twilight smiled weakly and turned back toward the stage. Where the hell was that pinot grigio, anyway?

Four hours later, the crowd sat in rapt attention, watching the scene play out on stage.

"Keep away from me!!" cried Scootaloo. "I don't believe in you anymore desu!!"

A shot rang out, accompanied by a small pyrotechnic effect. The audience jumped. Scootaloo fell on her back, her tongue lolling out.

"But I've got the bullets!!" screamed Pyx. "The gun was empty desu!!!"

She broke down, sobbing over Scootaloo's dead deceased corpse.

"W-what did you have to do that for?" she said between sobs. "Tut-tutturu~~!"

Apple Bloom came running in from stage left. She almost tripped over the hem of her dress, and then stood defensively before Pyx and the fallen Scootaloo.

"Leave her alone!" she cried, blocking the advance of a group of fillies dressed as police officers. "She's mine! I'll take care o'her! Nee-pah!"

"It's all right!" said Sweetie Belle, motioning the officers back. "It's all right desu!"

Apple Bloom knelt down next to Pyx.

"You couldn't help it, Pyx," she said. "You did everythin' a trebuchet could do. Nee-pah."

"Nipah," said Pyx quietly.

Apple Bloom put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, and the two of them rose.

"Stand up, Pyx. I'll stand up with ya. Let me try to be as strong as you want me to be, desu."

Pyx wiped the tears from her eyes. For just a moment, the glasses slipped off her muzzle, and she quickly pushed them back up again. She looked sadly down at Scootaloo.

"She depended on me desu," she said.

"And you can depend on me desu," said Apple Bloom. "Trust me. Whatever comes, we'll face it together, I swear. Nee-pah!"

Pyx smiled bravely.

"Tutturu~~!" she said.

"Toot-a-roo, Pyx," said Apple Bloom, smiling back. "Toot-a-roo."

They embraced, and the curtain fell. The audience erupted into thunderous applause.

Twilight Sparkle looked back and forth between the two Princesses, both of whom were in tears and applauding hysterically.

"Bravo!" cried Celestia, clapping her hooves together and whistling. "BRAVO!!!"

Twilight heaved a sigh of relief.