By the next evening, Sunflash had made a full recovery, and now the feast was proceeding as planned. It was an even more joyous occasion than imagined, for now Sunflash was not only celebrating the anniversary of his stay in Ponyville, but he had also finally been reunited with his mother.

Sunflash and Bella sat side by side at one of many long tables lined up in the Apple's orchard. The tables were sagging under the weight of many delicious dishes, and nearly everypony in town was there. A great cauldron of apple stew steamed thickly, its wondrous aroma tickling the noses of all who fancied a second helping, or even a third, or in Sunflash's case, a fourth and fifth. Sunflash and Applejack had ranged far and wide for the ingredients. The apples had come from the orchard, but the special touches like wild onion, fennel, and beans had taken some finding. There was summercream pudding and apple-and-blackberry pie made by Granny Smith, and plenty of apple cider. Pinkie Pie had also brought some sweets from Sugar Cube Corner.

The happy laughter of young and old alike rose to mingle with high larksong on the warm spring afternoon. Pinkie entertained the ponies with the comic song "Why Can't Earth Ponies Fly?" while the Cutie Mark Crusaders retold the story of the battle with the adders to some other young ponies, giving a highly embellished account of the event in which they came off as the heroes of the day.

"That's right, we fought 'em! Bang bash wallop splat!" Scootaloo yelled. "We sent all three of those snakes scurrying."

Pip Squeak held up a hoof. "But I thought Rainbow Dash said there were only two snakes."

"Did she? Well, there was actually four o' the varmints," Apple Bloom said. "Ah took care o' two of 'em with this here stick. Yup, Ah wouldn't be surprised if'n Ah got mah cutie mark fer snake wranglin' pretty soon."

Applejack laughed. "Lissen to them young 'uns! Ah never heard such fibbin' in all mah born days."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were chatting with Sunflash and Bella. "It sure is funny how the name we came up with for him was the same name you gave him," Twilight commented.

"Aye, that it is. I always knew that one day I'd find my son again," said Bella.

"Looks like things worked out pretty great for you, Sunflash," said Rainbow Dash. "You know who your parents are, you know who you are…"

"And I even know now what the riddle song means!" exclaimed Sunflash. "All those phrases- Arm not alas sand, So star land a mat, Sand not as alarm, And alas most ran. They have all the same letters, because they're anagrams of the same word- Salamandastron!"

"But what does Salamandastron mean?" Rainbow Dash started to ask when suddenly a Pegasus pony swooped in and landed on the table.

"There's a huge army coming this way!" she yelled. "Ferrets and foxes and rats! They all have weapons and their leader is a big ferret with six claws on each hand!"

"Oh no!" Fluttershy wailed.

"It must be Swartt Sixclaw!" Sunflash hollered.

Everypony stopped eating and looked around in alarm. Princess Celestia said, "Friends, this is serious news. Ponyville appears to be in great danger."

"What should we do?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow's voice held no hesitation. "I say we raise our own army and train them. Swartt won't get Ponyville without a fight."

Applejack stamped her hoof angrily. "Yeah! We'll show those vermin a thang or two!"

"Wait. Not so fast." Bella interrupted. "You talk as if this town were full of trained warriors and fighting beasts, but I doubt if any of you ponies have ever seen a real vermin horde, or realize the danger and slaughter they could inflict upon Ponyville!"

"Well, they can't be worse than Discord or Queen Chrysalis," said Twilight.

"Let me face the vermin by myself," said Sunflash. "They're here because of me anyway. If I can kill Sixclaw quickly, maybe the rest of the vermin will lose heart."

Celestia put a hoof on his shoulder. "No, my friend. You are still weak from your adder bites. Leave this to me and my sister. We can take care of this army without any ponies being killed."

"How can ya do that?" Applejack asked.

"Long ago, when Celestia and I were young, Canterlot was attacked by a gigantic army of vermin led by a wildcat named King Mortspear," said Luna. "We used our magic to defeat them without a single pony casualty, and we can do the same thing again."

Rainbow Dash bit her lip in disappointment. "Why can't we go an' strike a blow for Equestria and freedom? I'd make a good warrior."

Celestia said, "Of course you would, that's why you'll be needed back here. If our plan fails, we'll need fighters to defend Ponyville. I'd like you and Twilight to be in command should the need arise."

Rainbow tried to swell out her chest, but only succeeded in puffing out her stomach.

"Twilight, I'll need you to get everypony to safety," Celestia continued. "Can you fit all of them in your library?"

Twilight gulped but was resolute. "You can count on me, Princess!"

"Good," Celestia said. "And now, we must be off." She and Luna spread their wings and flew off into the sky to face Swartt Sixclaw and his horde.