I’m so glad there’s an actual MLP ATG Alumni group here on DA: it gives a stronger purpose in drawing those characters you love and sharing them with the rest of the community.  
Anyway…
 
It’s true the devil is in the detail! i pinned down this scene with Spike and Ember yesterday night but i’ve been fidgeting with it a ton today while looking for simple and elegant solutions for some of the colors. I like the way it ended up… i had other solutions with more light effects on the fire and the notes and stuff, but they all felt like they were taking away from the power of the composition so i edited them out.