As the moon hits its apex, the nightmare Night festivities begin to slowly simmer down. The Ponyville House of Horror closes its doors, the games are put away, and ponies begin to head home. As the night slowly comes to its end, eight friends slowly make their way to the golden oaks library, to rest after a fun night, and enjoy each others company. As they open the door, their laughter echoes throughout the library.
”I can’t believe how awesome that was! I’ve been to haunted houses, but never one so scary! How’s you do it?”
”The way all the greatest scares happen: I didn’t hold any punches. Most ponies tend to shy away from violence, but in doing so limit how scary they can truly be. Fear is, in its most basic form, a feeling we get when we or somepony we care about feel as if we are in danger. And blood tends to be a good sign of danger.”
”Huh, never knew scaring could be so sophisticated.”

The group settles near the fireplace, getting comfortable as they continue to talk.
”It’s a shame Princess Luna had to leave.”
”Yeah, it was super duper sad. She finally got out of her shell, and those meanie pants nobles forced her to go home! At least she had plenty of fun!”
”Glad to see her finally embrace the spirit. Speaking of which, That haunted house of yer’s really was a star of the night Spike.
”Haven’t had that much fun scarin ponies since Dash and I were younger.”
Hearing the praise, Spike rubbed the back of his head, chuckling to himself.
”Thanks guys, glad you all enjoyed it. Working on my own haunted house was one of the best moments of my life. Very few things top it.”
”I hope you don’t mind me asking darling, but what would those be?”
”Well, first there’s when I met you guys. And then there’s also meeting my family for the first time. Then there’s finding Thorax. And of course, when I finally confessed to him. And finally, when he said yes.”
This final line confused his friends. Twilight, being his Sister, was the first to ask him what he meant.
”Yes to what?”
Spike, also confused, answered back, cocking his head slightly.
”Yes to when I asked him to marry me.”

The silence in the room was deafening. After what felt like an eternity within the void, six voices rang out, louder than one would think possible.
“WHAT?!”
As Spike takes his hands off his ears, he notices the girls looking at him, shocked looks on their faces.
”What?! I thought I told yo-… oh. Oh no. I forgot to tell you.”
Spike sheepishly rubs the back of his head, as Thorax shoots an annoyed glare at him.
”You seriously forgot to tell our friends that you proposed to me?”
”Look, I’m sorry. It the party was still going on, and then we got interrupted, and had to go to Celestia. It just slipped my mind.”
Thorax sighed, nodding his head.
”Yeah, your right. I can’t blame you for that.”
Thorax snuggled up to his fiancé, before looking back to their friends.

After a few moments, the first to recover from the revelation was Twilight. Shooting forward at a speed no one though possible, she wrapped her arms around the two and hugged them tightly, as tears of joy begin to flow from her eyes.
”Congratulations!”
One by one, the others shake out of their stupor and join in on the hug. Even Gilda joined the hug. All of them, except Pinkie Pie. Instead, she begins to vibrate, and her eyes begin to shine with a recognizable Twinkle. When she finally did join the group hug, she looked straight at Spike and Thorax.
”You know what this calls for? A PARTYYYYY!!“
Laughter erupted, as Pinkie reacted just as everypony thought she would.

Shortly after, everypony headed home. Spike, Thorax and Twilight stayed up for a few minutes, but inevitably headed off to bed. The next day seems to pass by in a blur. After Spike woke up, he did his morning routine, and headed off to work. Today called for clear skies, so there wasn’t much to do, but it flew by, despite the boredom. As he clocked out, he got ready to take off, before a paper airplane bounced off his snout. Curious, Spike unfolded the note, smiling as he realized what it was. Upon the paper was a cute little invitation, hand written by Pinkie. He quickly folded the paper up and stowed it away, before flapping his wings, and taking off.

As the library came into view, Spike wondered about the party. What did Pinkie have planned? Who had she invited? As he landed, he quickly opened the door and headed inside, still distracted by the prospect of who would be showing up. He wasSo engrossed in his mind, he didn’t even notice Thorax until he felt a kiss be planted upon his lips. This immediately broke him out of his train of thought, before returning the kiss. As they broke the kiss, Spike smiled to his Fiancé.
”Hey handsome, how was your day?”
Thorax blushed at the compliment, before giggling and returning the smile.
”It was good. I went over and helped Fluttershy with her animals, before returning home. I helped Twilight with a project she had, but she kicked me out when she started working on a more explosive experiment. How as your day Spike?”
”It was boring. Not much to do today. When I was about to leave, though, I got hit by a paper airplane. From Pinkie of course.”
” I assume that means that the engagement party is ready?”
Spike nodded to him, before looking around.
”Hey, where’s Twilight?”
Thorax was about to answer, when a shout and bang came from the basement.

Upon hearing the shout, the two immediately snapped their heads towards the basement. Spike took initiative, and began running towards the basement, followed shortly by Thorax. As the door burst open though, what they saw confused them. Twilight was covered from head to toe in confetti.
”What the hell happened in here?!”
Twilight coughed up some confetti, before sighing and turning towards the intruders.
”Well I was trying to test a magic based fuel source I created, but fate had other plans.”
”But what about the confetti?”
”I’m assuming Pinkie sent in a letter for some reason, only for it to land in a petri of liquid mana. One reaction later, and the confetti in the letter proceeded to duplicate, causing the letter to burst open.”
Spike chuckled at his sister’s misfortune, causing her to glare at him. As she bore into his soul, he wilted a bit before attempting to de-escalate.
”A-anyways, I got a letter from Pinkie too, inviting me to a party. I’m assuming that that’s the reason you got your letter as well.”
Twilight sighed, before smiling and looking to him.
”Yeah, probably. I should take a break anyways. Between this and preparing a surprise for the party, I’ve barely had any time to wind relax. When exactly is the party?”

Aparently, the party was in 30 minutes, so the three had to rush getting ready and ran out the door. Thankfully, they made it just in the nick of time. They quickly catch their breath before heading inside, only to have their breath taken away. The entirety of sugarcane corner was decorated with purple and green decorations, and all of the tables were filled with some of their favorite foods, colored to match. As they stood there in awe, Pinkie Pie quickly bounced up to them, purple and Green Party blower in her mouth.
”Heya guys! Glad you got here! And right at the bell too! Any later and you would miss some reeeeaaaly important stuff!”
Spine tilts his head, confused as to what she means.
”What would we have missed?”
”Mainly just the opening statement. Speaking of which, gotta bounce!”
And before any pony could get another word off, she was replaced by a pony shaped cloud of dust. Just shrugging their shoulders at Pinkies antics, they head towards the buffet table, not noticing the strange pony, sitting in the corner by themself.

The party is lively, yet not too packed. Thankfully, Pinkie hadn’t invited the whole town, just friends and family. As Spike looked for a seat, he could see Zecora talking to Fluttershy at one of the tables, and Applejack and Gilda were arm wrestling at another, with Rainbow watching on in amusement. Spike saw his parents out of the corner of his eye, his mother speaking with Rarity while his father was grabbing them snacks. Even the princesses were here. Somehow, to Spike’s surprise, he didn’t notice Shining Armor and Cadence until he heard them talking. Upon realizing who it was, he grinned, before walking over to them.
”Shining! Cadence! Good to see you!”
Spike quickly embraced his brother in a hug, before doing the same to Cadence, who both eagerly returned the gesture.
”Hey Spike! Congratulations!”
”Im so glad to see how far your love has blossomed already. I can’t wait to see how much more it will grow.”
Spike chuckled a bit, before suddenly feeling a shiver in his spine.
”But why, pray tell, did you wait so long to tell us?”
Oh boy, this was gonna be rough.

As Spike attempted to survive his run in with Cadence, Pinkie suddenly came bouncing into the middle of the room, mike in hand.
”Well hiya everypony! Glad you could make it! Today, we’re here to celebrate a momentous occasion. Our good friends Spike-a-rooni and Thorry got engaged!”
A quick round of applause sounds out causing, Thorax to blush.
”Yep! And to help with this, Twilight’s gonna give A big ol’ speech, before we get this party really started! And a little later, we’ll do some karaoke! Okay, take it away Twilight!”
With that, Pinkie bounced off stage, tossing Twilight the Mike as she got into position. Twilight barely catches it, causing everyone to chuckle a bit, before she recovers. Clearing her throat, she begins to speak.

”Hello everypony, I hope you’re all doing well. Today, we’re here to celebrate a massive moment in these two’s lives. From the day Spike hatched, he’s always been such a caring soul. When he thought I was in danger, he jumped in front of the princess to protect me. And with a heart as big as his, it was hard to see most ponies be afraid of him. That is, until he met Thorax. Many years ago, Thorax was all alone. His mother had cast him out of his home, and ponies feared him due to his eyes. But even then, much like Spike was, he was a kind soul. Even going as far as to helping some pony who had tried to hurt him. This sadly did not work out for him, for the pony, despite the kindness, hurt him badly. He had his leg broken, and began to lose blood. In fact, that night, he almost died. But thankfully, for everyone here, that didn’t happen. For that was the night he first met Spike.”

”Spike, upon seeing him in such a painful condition, immediately sprung into action, saving his life, and earning a new friend. After that night, they would spend as much time as they could together. They were two misfits, making their way through life together. Together they grew, becoming the great creatures they are today. And after years of friendship, the fateful moment finally came when they realized they felt more for each other than they first thought. And from then, their love has blossomed into something that could rival the stars. They are two of the greatest ponies I have ever met, And I am proud to be their big sister.”
As Twilight finished, a round of applause echoed through Sugarcube Corner. Twilight left the stage, and embraced the two of them in a deep hug, causing a massive ‘awe’ to ripple throughout their friends. Shortly after, Pinkie re-entered the stage, wiping away tears.
”That was too beautif-u-ul! My heart is just melting! Oh!”
Pinkie turned around, sobbing her eyes out, and attempting to calm down. Pinkie eventually recollected herself, before turning back to the crowd.
”Now let’s get this party started!”

The party raged for several hours, and it showed no signs of stopping. Eventually, ponies had to leave, as it was getting late. Even his parents had to leave, in order to not miss the last train to Canterlot. Eventually, all that was left was Spike and Thorax, the elements of harmony, Gilda, and the mysterious pony. Suddenly, Pinkie gets back up on the stage, reaches into her mane, and pulls out a strange machine machine.
”Alrightie! Who’s ready to siiiiiing!”
Applejack, curious, was the first to speak up.
”Sugarcube, what exactly is that? It don’t look like no karaoke machine I’ve ever seen.”
”Why, it’s my super special Multi-dimensional sing-a-long a-tron!TM!”
”Um, Pinkie. That really doesn’t explain what it is.”
”Oops, your right! Silly me. It’s like a karakoke machine, but it has way, waaaay more songs on it.”
Upon this explanation, she pulls a mike out of her hair and plugs it into the device.
”Sooooo, who’s first?”

Thorax had been thinking. After Twilights speech earlier tonight, he was feeling very emotional. Several emotions swirled in his head, gnawing at his mind and causing his heart to race. He felt joy, knowing that he had such a great family now, and pain, for all the abuse he suffered.But mostly, he felt anger. Remembering what happened to him, what his own mother put him through, just to throw him out into the cold, where he almost died. It made his blood boil. And he hated it. He hated feeling angry, because it reminded him of her. She was always so angry, and took it out on everything around her. And he was afraid that when he felt anger, he might be like her. So when Pinkie had brought out the karaoke machine, an idea formed in his head. Maybe he could help release the pent up emotions, in the form of song. As he thought about this, the perfect song came to his mind, and a smirk grew on his face as he rose his hand.

”Ooooh, seems like our first volunteer is one of our guests of honor! You’ve got the stage, Thorry!”
With Pinkie’s permission, he gets on the stage, and grabs the mike.
”Thank you Pinkie. And before I begin, let me just say, thank you all for everything. You helped me come out of my shell even more after what happened to me when I was younger.”
Thorax grinned slightly, before getting down to fiddle with the machine. As he got back up, the grin turned into more of a sinister smirk, as he got ready to sing.
”But none of this would have happens if not for my mother. So where-ever she is, this is dedicated to her.”
And with that, he pressed play, and a guitar began to play.

“This is about you, mom.
Beware, beware, be skeptical. Of their smiles, their smiles of plated gold. Deceit, so natural, But a wolf in sheep's clothing is more than a warning! Baa, baa, black sheep, have you any soul? No, sir, by the way, what the hell are morals? Jack, be nimble, Jack, be quick. Jill's a fucking monster, and her alibis are turning tricks.

So could you, Tell me how you're sleeping easy? How you're only thinking of yourself?
Show me how you justify, Telling all your lies like second nature! Listen, mark my words, one day! You will pay, you will pay, Karma's gonna come collect your debt!”

As Thorax sings, everypony is surprised at the emotion in his voice. It was almost as if they could feel his pain.

”Aware, aware, you stalk your prey, With criminal mentality. You sink your teeth into the ponies you depend on. Infecting everyone, you're quite the problem. Fee-fi-fo-fum, better run and hide! I smell the blood of a petty little coward! Jack, be lethal, Jack, be slick, Jill will leave you lonely, dying in a filthy ditch.

So, could you, Tell me how you're sleeping easy? How you're only thinking of yourself?Show me how you justify, Telling all your lies like second nature! Listen, mark my words, one day! You will pay, you will pay, Karma's gonna come collect your debt!

Maybe you'll change, Abandon all your wicked ways. Make amends and start anew again. Maybe you'll see, All the wrongs you did to me. And start all over, start all over-

As tears begin to well up in Thorax’s eyes, Pinkie suddenly jumps.
”Pinchy knee!”
And with that, runs into the kitchen.

“Oh my god, who am I kidding?
Now, let's not get overzealous here
You've always been a huge piece of shit
If I could kill you, I would, but it's frowned upon in all Equestria. Having said that, burn in hell!!! “

As Thorax hits this line, his emotions finally fully boil over, causing his wings to flare out, removing the coat concealing them. Upon seeing the insectoid wings, his friends gasp, while Spike and Twilights eyes shrink.

” So, tell me how you're sleeping easy, How you're only thinking of yourself. Show me how you justify, Telling all your lies like second nature! Listen, mark my words, one day! You will pay, you will pay! Karma's gonna come collect your debt! Karma's gonna come collect your debt, oh, oh, oh, Karma's gonna come collect your debt! “

As the song ends, Thorax comes back to his senses. Looking around, he wonders why all of his friends have such strange expressions. Then, he feels his wing twitch, and realization hits.

Sugar cube corner is suddenly engulfed in chaos, as Fluttershy hides, Rarity faints, and AJ just stares in shock, while Rainbow and Gilda all get up and start rushing the stage. But before they could get there, Spike and Twilight intercept them, stopping them immediately.
”What the hell are you two doing?!”
”Yeah, we’re tryin to save the day here!”
”Stopping you two from making a huge mistake!”
”Just stop and look for a second! Please!”
”Why do you want us to lo-“
The words die on her tongue as the two rushers take in the Scene in front of them. What they had once thought to be a monster that was impersonating Thorax, was curled up into a ball, sobbing. They could feel the fear and pain radiating off of him, as they realized. If it weren’t for the wings, it would look just like Thorax. And that’s when the pieces began to come together. Why they never saw him without his coat, his eyes, and his strangely smooth coat. The name. Thorax and the creature in front of them were one and the same.

As the realization set in, the two stumble back.
”No way…”
”I… That… Thorax?”
Slowly, the others regain themselves, and begin to realize themselves.
”Oh dear…”
”Is he…”
”Good gravy, that’s…”
As the six realize their mistakes, they begin to slowly walk forward, before being blocked by Spike.
”Please, don’t.”
”Look sugarcube, we… we made a damn big mistake. Please let us apologize.”
For a moment Spike hesitated, before moving out the way.

”Thorax, you’re good friend, and we messed him up.”
”We’re… we’re sorry, Thorax. We royally bucked up.”
”You were afraid of how we’d react to your secret. And for good reason. We reacted how you feared.”
”Darling… could you ever forgive us?”
For a moment, nothing happens, and they fear the worst. But suddenly, he bursts up, and rushes to them, before embracing them while sobbing. Despite the fear and pain he was feeling, he could never hate them. And as they realize this, they themselves begin to sob, embracing him right back. As the friend ball makes up, Pinkie finally emerges from the kitchen.
”Aw man, did I miss Thorax’s big reveal?! Awww man!”

a few minutes earlier
As Thorax revealed his wings, no one noticed the mysterious pony slip away. No one was there to watch as he slinked away, before hiding in a dark Alley. And no one was there to witness the green flash within the alley, as a large bat flew out. As the bat flew away, his mind was swirling with what he just learned.
’Thorax… is alive?! How?! And why did Mother lie to me? What is she hiding?’
As Prince Pharynx flew away, he knew he could not tell any-ling. He would have to figure out what happened, without notifying the queen. If she found out that he not only was going behind her back, but investigating his supposedly dead brother, he would meet a fate worse than death.

Author's Note

With the recent rebirth of this song, I just had to include it. I edited the lyrics of the song a bit to fit the universe.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It was probably the most challenging for me yet. Please comment if you find any mistakes, or have any suggestions for this chapter or upcoming ones.