Twilight gasped in shock. She knew that Flame's cutie mark wasn't exactly the picture perfect definition of who he was, but even she couldn't have foreseen the incredible transformation that took place. He was still the same colored pony with the same mid cut orange mane, but his self-esteem seemed to have taken a turn for the better. His new cutie mark was one of a hurt pony being helped by a courageous hero. She didn't see him as the bumbling, yet well-meaning pony he once was. Now, she saw him as a big part of her life, and she didn't want to let him go.

She walked up to him and placed a gentle hoof on his face. "I'm so proud of you, Flame Mane!" She said as breath finally returned to her lungs, "you've shown today why we need you to help save Equestria. If it weren't for you, Starlight might have been-"

"Let's not even go there, Twilight," Starlight said, "I don't want to relive it."

Twilight nodded in understanding and continued. "The point is, you've done a great thing here, Flame Mane. That has caused your cutie mark to change."

"I don't get it, Twilight," Flame said in confusion, "I mean, I'm happy to have my new mark…in fact, I'm thrilled to have it, but…how? Cutie marks don't change spontaneously. They don't change at all…do they?"

"They can be manipulated magically," Twilight said. She turned and saw Starlight blushing heavily, so she figured she would steer away from that subject. "But other than that, I've never heard of them just changing based on a pony's deeds after it appears. Obviously, blank flanks receive cutie marks all the time, but I've never heard of a pony garnering a new mark after already having an old one."

"I think I get it, Twi," Starlight spoke up before turning to Flame Mane, "like you said, when Flame came after Greyhoof to stop him from hurting me, he put our friendship above all else. Even though it could've killed him, or both of us, he still did it. I'm no expert in the field of cutie marks, but I do consider myself a bit of an expert in the magic of friendship." She trotted around and looked at his cutie mark and nodded. "Just as I thought, it's the same magic that I used to remove the cutie marks of my villagers."

"What do you mean, Starlight?" Flame asked.

"Well, before I met Twilight and learned about the importance of true friendship, I was a bitter mare who-"

"Ran a village where you magically removed all the cutie marks of the villagers and forced them into being dull colored shells of themselves in the name of 'equality' and then Twilight and her friends tried to stop you but you removed their marks and basically held everypony in a collectivist/socialist/fascist grasp until Twilight outsmarted you, and then you all had this big time travel battle before you ended up giving in to Twilight's friendship." Flame said rapidly.

Twilight and Starlight were so shocked at the accuracy of Flame's description of their past that they wondered if he had been there himself. He blushed and looked at the ground. "I…read a lot of your books, Princess," he chuckled.

Twilight smiled in return, "I should say you do. I remember writing about that."

"So, Starlight, you think the same magic was at work with me?" He asked.

"Yeah, I do," Starlight said, "see, the spell I used to remove cutie marks was one that I read about in an old scroll I retrieved on my travels throughout Equestria."

"Where did you get the scroll?" Twilight asked curiously.

"From the Castle of the Two Sisters," Starlight said bluntly, "since I didn't have any friends or social obligations, I spent my time roaming the country and seeking my revenge on cutie marks. I wound up spending a few weeks in Ponyville and, after ravaging the bookstores for something that could help me, I decided to wander through the Everfree Forest for a while. I knew it was dangerous, but I was so depressed and angry that I thought being slaughtered by a timber wolf would be a fitting end to my existence."

Twilight's mouth grew wider and wider as she realized that there was so much about Starlight's past that she had never learned about. After all, they had grown so incredibly close since the latter's reformation. You could've sworn that the two were sisters themselves. Twilight felt awful that she had never spoken to her about it.

"Starlight…I'm so sorry I never asked you about that," Twilight said sincerely, "it must be so difficult for you to see the Everfree Forest everyday now that you live in Ponyville."

"Eh…I just look past it. It's all good. You never had to speak with me about it, Twi. I didn't want to dig up those old memories. In fact, I avoided talking to you about it for so long on purpose."

Twilight smiled in understanding as Starlight accepted the apology. She was so thrilled that, out of all the ponies in her group, Starlight had been the one to remember her. She knew that having her as an ally was of the utmost importance, and they could reclaim Equestria for friendship.

"Anyway, that scroll I found the spell in was written by Princess Luna right before she turned into Nightmare Moon."

"How do you know?" Flame asked.

"Because there were a lot of incredibly disparaging remarks about Celestia in there as well." Seeing that she had both of her friends' complete attention, she went on. "The spell was born out of a pool of dark magic, and when I tried it for the first time, the magic went haywire. Before I could stop it, some of it had flown away and gone all throughout Equestria. My old self dismissed this as a simple side effect and continued with the plan. I didn't realize how much it would affect somepony else."

She suddenly realized how far reaching her jealousy and greed for power had gone, and she felt miserable all over again. She looked up at Flame Mane with pleading eyes and asked, "can you forgive me?"

"For what?"

"For being such a stupid, careless, evil pony…"

"You're not a stupid, careless, evil pony," Flame responded, "I believe you're quite nice. You and Twilight are the only two friends I have in the world…and I don't want to lose either of you."

The three friends all nodded at each other, determined to stick together and save Equestria from this terrifying nightmare. They might have been forgotten by everypony else, but they knew they would never forget each other. The mountains could fall, and great storms could be unleashed upon them, but they would never be anything other than what they were: the very best of friends.

"Twilight," Flame suddenly said, "could I see you over there for a minute?" He pointed to a secluded location with a hoof and Twilight looked at it curiously. She noticed the desperate look on his face and decided to accept his invitation. "Sure," she said.

They walked over amongst the leaves and arrived in a rather beautiful location. Flame Mane turned to her and she noticed that he was beaming. "Twilight," he said, "I've never known anypony like you before. I've never had somepony care for me like you. Twilight…I'm in love with you."