It was easily the strangest sight any of the girls had seen. When they met at the library before heading to the Stable, Fluttershy showed up in a Know Your Limits T-shirt and sporting a magnetic stud earring in her right ear. Angel Bunny had Warhorse's flying W logo drawn on his chest and wore dark sunglasses to emphasize his coolness.

"Excuse me, miss, have you seen our friend Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash cracked when she saw their outfits. "She must have gotten lost on her way here."

Fluttershy giggled and replied, "I'm right here, Rainbow. Where else would I be?"

"At the Stable. It's almost showtime!"

"Right! Girls...let's go!" It was three hours until the concert started, and they wanted to make sure they had a decent spot on the floor. When they reached the Stable, a line had long since formed and curled from the front doors back around the rear of the building and back towards Ponyville. With their spot in line secured, they began to talk and reminisce about adventures and lessons learned, which jogged Fluttershy's memory.

"Oh...that reminds me. I have to prepare my friendship report! Spike, take a letter, if you could," she requested.

With pen and paper at the ready, Spike answered, "Go ahead!"

"Dear Princess Celestia:

Everypony has different interests and hobbies. In fact, some of them might be the polar opposite of that pony's personality. There's no reason to feel ashamed or embarassed about that, and as long as nopony is getting hurt, you shouldn't keep it a secret. Who knows-sometimes you may find that your interest is shared by your friends, and they can help you enjoy what you like to do even more.

Sincerely, Fluttershy."

The letter finished, Spike delivered it to Canterlot with a puff of his fire breath, startling the ponies ahead of them in line. "Hey, watch where you're breathin' that!"

"Oops...sorry," Spike said as he shrank back near Twilight. The group had been in line for nearly two hours, and Spike was curious to see how big the crowd was going to be. He jumped on her back to get a better view of where they stood, and was stunned to see that the line stretched nearly all the way back to Ponyville. He'd had a feeling the concert was going to be huge, but this was massive. All he could muster was a small "Holy cow."

"Can you believe it, girls?" Rainbow Dash asked, jumping up and down in excitement. "It's almost time! It's almost time! THIS IS GONNA ROCK!"

"You know it, Dash!" Applejack exclaimed. "This'll be one to remember!"

"And Rarity? Thank you so much for coming."

"Oh, it wasn't a problem at all, darling," the white unicorn answered.

"That's funny-I thought you didn't like Warhorse," Pinkie said.

"Just because I may not be a fan doesn't mean I can't spend time with my friends."

Everypony smiled as Fluttershy gave her an appreciative nuzzle. "It wouldn't have been the same without you, Rarity."

The white unicorn nuzzled her back and replied, "I'm always happy to oblige."

All of a sudden, the girls noticed the line begin to move. Fluttershy let out a giddy squeal of anticipation as they made their way into the arena and down to the floor. Taking their spot in the middle of the floor about a quarter of the way from the stage, they watched as the arena filled up with more and more ponies, fillies, mares, stallions, and the like. In less than a half hour, the stands were almost completely full.

"WOW! Look at the size of this crowd!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I should have brought my party cannon!"

"Okay, everypony, here's some concert etiquette," Twilight said. "One: Make sure you're wearing proper ear protection." She pulled out eight sets of earplugs, all of which were taken and inserted by everypony.

"Two: If you're going to headbang or dance around, make sure there's enough space between you and the next pony. You don't want anypony to get hurt."

Fluttershy looked around and extended her front legs to either side, flapping her wings for leverage. She had plenty of room to headbang or dance around.

"Third, and this is the most important: Have a good time!"

"Oh, I intend to," Fluttershy responded with a huge smile.

Just as Twilight finished her sentence, the lights dimmed and the crowd exploded in cheers. Rarity glanced at Fluttershy and saw the timid, bashful pony had disappeared. In her place was a loud, boisterous, excited beyond all reason pony. Rarity smiled and shook her head in disbelief as the house announcer thundered across the PA system:

"FILLIES AND GENTLECOLTS, ARE YOU READY?"

The crowd cheered their approval.

"COMING TO YOU STRAIGHT FROM MANEHATTAN, GIVE IT UP FOR THE ONE..."

Dash and Fluttershy held each other in anticipation.

"...THE ONLY..."

Twilight's eyes widened in delight as Applejack chewed on her hoof. Pinkie jumped up and down, cheering and whooping with reckless abandon. It was almost time.

"...WAAAAAAAARHOOOOOOOOOOOOOORSE!"

A simultaneous crash of drums, bass and guitar signaled the band's arrival. As they took the stage, the crowd reached a state of near-civil unrest, with Terry giving a pleased smile and nodding his head as he watched the scene unfold.

"Oh yeah, that's what I like to see, Ponyville!" he thundered. With another triumphant crash, the music stopped, leaving a solitary spotlight on Terry as he shouted out the opening lines to "Hooves Down," sending the crowd into a frenzy:

"WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, YOU STAND UP AND FIGHT!"

The crowd answered back: "PUT YOUR HOOVES DOWN AND CHARGE WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!"

Terry continued, with the crowd matching his vocals every step of the way: "GET THE ENEMY LOCKED ON AND DEAD IN YOUR SIGHTS!"

This was it. Her time to shine. Fluttershy took a deep breath and screamed the last line at the absolute top of her lungs: "AND PUT YOUR HOOVES DOWN AND CHAAAAAAAAAAARGE...WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT!"

The song kicked into gear with a literal bang and flash of smoke as the band began to play. Worried, the girls looked around to see if Fluttershy had been startled away by the pyro, but, to their utter shock, Fluttershy had long since lost herself in the music, her hooves in the air, screaming and cheering, having the time of her life.

When the song ended, Fluttershy leapt into the air and was caught by her friends, yelling, "THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH, GIRLS! THIS IS THE BEST NIGHT EVER!"

When she finished yelling, she heard Warhorse begin to play "In Sanity." And while the rest of the show would prove to be just as memorable, with Twilight and Dash air-guitaring to the solo of "Lead The Way," passing various ponies along as they crowdsurfed, Applejack and Rarity (against her will) crowdsurfing during the encore, and Spike and Angel forming a two-animal mosh pit, the simplicity of this moment would stick with Fluttershy forever. Her friends all crowded together and began to sing along, including Rarity. Surprised, Dash turned to her and exclaimed, "I THINK WE GOT YOU TO LIKE 'EM!"

"JUST A LITTLE, DARLING! BESIDES, I'VE HEARD THIS SONG A MILLION TIMES! IT'S QUITE EASY TO REMEMBER!"

Between the smiles on their faces, the comraderie between them, and the unison of their voices amidst the crowd, this perfect storm of events had Fluttershy beaming. Her fears had been unfounded. Her friends were having the time of their lives. And she was right there with them, her voice cutting through the air, singing about reigning in sanity and beating down her demons.

And reign they did.