“So, Twilight, what exactly was that that we fought?” Alex asked as they continued their walk towards the hospital.

“Well that was an Ursa Minor,” Twilight answered matter of factly.

“Isn’t the Ursa Minor just a constellation that belongs in the sky?” Luke asked.

“Well, before Luna came back as the princess that is where they stayed. Now that she took her role as the Princess of the Night again they are now free to roam the lands.”

“Isn’t that a little dangerous especially after what we went through?” Jaeden asked pointing in the direction of the town.

“Well, it is a little odd that the Ursa Minor came rampaging through town. Usually the constellations just keep to themselves. To get one so riled up that it would destroy the town requires a lot of effort,” Twilight stated as she went deep in thought.

“What was weird though was that the Ursa was targeting Trixie specifically. After the show though she really didn’t seem like a pony that would do something so crazy,” Ryan stated as he tried to figure out the situation.

“Not to sound like that one guy, but does it really matter?” Everyone looked at Andrew with either confusion or slight anger. “I mean sure it was terrible, but it is dealt with and over. So let’s not dwell on it,” The others nodded their heads in agreement since there was no reason to think it through.

Everyone arrived at the hospital and the meeting with Nurse Redheart could have been better. She was smiling at her desk as she did the weekly crossword to help pass the time. She heard the door open and she looked up giving a warm smile to those that arrived. Her smile quickly fell when she saw that it was the humans entering the building. Without even hearing what they had to ask she pointed in the direction to where their other friend was.

The friends passed her giving her a nod of thanks or voicing their thanks. Brandon rubbed the back of his neck as he apologized to the nurse for their many visits. Redheart just gave a wave of her hand as she told him that it was fine, but that they better not make it a habit. Brandon gave no guarantees that it would happen, but he would try to limit them. After the exchange with Redheart, he ran down the hall to catch up with his friends.

Redheart watched as he ran down the hall and couldn’t help but give a slight chuckle. Out of all the humans she found it quite enjoyable when he got in a fluster. Once he was out of sight she grabbed her clipboard and made her rounds around the hospital making sure that all the ponies were comfortable.

The friends easily found Trixie’s room and gave a soft knock. The door was opened by Luna and she stepped aside. The friends entered quietly as they looked at the azure unicorn. Dr. Stables was finished looking her over and looked at the worried faces of everyone. He gave them all a warm smile and all the friends were able to calm down.

“There is no need to worry about her. She had a few minor cuts and bruises that were easily treated. She will be good to go in the morning.”

Twilight and her friends nodded as they started to leave the room. Luna and the friends were the only ones in the room and held the silence. Marcus stood in the back making it look like he was thinking. He stroked his invisible beard before placing a finger on the tip of his nose. Luna looked at him questioningly and he held up three fingers.

True to his calculations the others saw what he was doing. One by one the friends touched the tips of their nose. Drak took his eyes off of the unicorn to see what all the friends were doing. The friends winced slightly at the glare that he was giving them.

“Are you really playing nose goes at this time?” Drak asked with slight irritation.

“Yes we are. My reason is more sound since I can’t impose on Lyra anymore than I already have. She is housing me, Bon-Bon, and the night guard Blood Rain,” Marcus said as he looked at Luna from that last part. Drak only shook his head as he looked back at the azure mare.

“Hey, Luke, I’ve been meaning to ask where Pinkie is?” Ryan asked.

“We kind of had a falling out tonight,” Luke answered solemnly.

“What happened?” Luna asked with slight anger in her voice.

“I honestly don’t know what I did wrong. I saw the Ursa outside and texted everyone. Pinkie came into the bathroom glad that I was okay. Next thing I know I try to go and help and she starts to breakdown. She even changed from her hyper self into some other mare named Pinkamena.”

“Let me guess, you both didn’t leave on good terms and now you have nowhere to go,” Jaeden said. Luke only nodded his head in response.

“You can take my room at Lyra’s house,” Luke was going to say something, but Marcus cut him off.

“So what are we going to do about Trixie?” Alex asked.

“For now we will just let her rest at the hospital. In the morning we will help her get settled in Ditzy’s home and then relax before the Gala,” Marcus answered.

“Are you sure that Ditzy would be fine with that?” Andrew asked.

“That is for Drak to find out since they are the ones staying together.”

With the following morning planned the friends head out to get some sleep. Marcus was now alone in the darkness and started walking. He reached the wreckage of the stage cart and looked around. He rifled through the debris trying to find anything that would have caused that Ursa to attack. He picked up a piece of broken glass and looked into it. His eyes caught the sparkle of some purple mist.

He turned around and was met with nothing. He looked around in the sky and couldn’t find that purple mist anywhere. He crushed that glass in his hand and went back to looking through the debris. He may have been crazy on different levels, but he knew what he saw was real.

Outskirts

“I can’t believe that I let my guard down,” the purple mist said to no one in particular.

During the time that the mist traveled away from the town it began to change back to its original form. Once outside the city the mist was now back in their pony form and watching the human from a distance.

“Why can’t I keep myself from you? You are clearly my enemy since you are friends with those awful Elements, yet I can’t stay away,” the pony continued to watch the human until he walked off. Once he was out of sight the pony sighed as she took flight to visit an old friend in the Everfree.

Drak

Drak was walking down the cobblestone path with his hood pulled up. He kept his eyes pointed forward as he thought about the best way to ask Ditzy to allow Trixie to stay with them. During the couple of days that he has stayed with the pegasus, he found her to be really nice. She treated everyone with respect and always gave a warm smile. He was certain that there was not a single bad bone in her body, but he was going to be asking for a lot.

He was pulled from his reverie as he finally reached the home of the gray pegasus. He steeled his nerves as he opened the door and decided to just ask the question. He didn’t get far when he was tackled to the ground by a pink filly. He hit the ground with an audible thud and could feel his shirt getting wet. He opened his eyes to see Dinky on his chest crying.

“Hey there, Dinky. Is everything okay?” Drak asked as he stroked the filly’s mane.

“I was so worried about you, Drak. You left the house without saying anything and then there was an Ursa. Mommy left to go find you, but she couldn’t. She locked herself in her room and is worried that something bad has happened to you,” Drak set the filly on the ground as he got to his feet.

“Can you lead me to your mother’s room please?” Drak asked.

Dinky nodded and led him through the house to the pegasus’ room. Once at the bedroom door he could hear the faint sounds of someone crying. The filly took this chance to head back to her room since it was past her bed time. He stood in front of the door for a few seconds and then gave a few hesitant knocks. He listened to the sounds of shuffling until the door was thrown open.

He stared into the mailmare’s red and puffy eyes showing that she has been crying for a long time. The two stood there in silence, neither one sure of what to say. He was about to apologize for running out when she gave him a hug. He felt the mare’s tears stain his shoulder and he held her close as he stroked her mane. He soothed the distraught mare as she let all her tears fall from her eyes. After a few minutes the pegasus was able to compose herself to speak.

“Where have you been?” Ditzy asked as she looked back into his eyes.

“I was at the hospital making sure someone was okay during the Ursa attack.”

“Is she going to be alright?”

“The doctor said she would be fine in the morning. The better question is why were you trying to find me when the Ursa attacked?”

“The reason is because Dinky looks up to you. She only has a few friends and no father figure to look up to. After the day that you saved her she has been talking non-stop about you. She couldn’t handle the thought of you getting hurt again or even losing you. The same could be said for me because I have never met such a caring person before.”

“I didn’t mean to cause all of you to worry. So that makes this next part kind of hard to ask.”

“You don’t need to be afraid to ask me anything, Drak,” Ditzy assured him as she smiled at him.

“Well, Trixie, the pony that got hurt doesn’t have a place to stay for the time being. I was wondering if you have an extra room for her to stay in. If not then I could give her my room and I could sleep on the couch,” Drak kept his eyes closed hoping that Ditzy would be okay with this.

“Don’t worry about sleeping on the couch since I have another room for her to stay in,” Drak gave a warm smile to the mare as he pulled her into a hug.

With Trixie’s stay planned out he broke the hug off and headed for his room. Ditzy smiled as she watched the human walk to his room and couldn’t help but blush. The pegasus looked over and saw that her daughter was giving her a wide grin. The mare pointed towards her room and the filly retreated back inside to get some sleep.

Morning

The friends walked towards the hospital with Twilight and the others, but Pinkie was still missing. Luke looked like he didn’t get much sleep which he didn’t. He spent the entire night thinking about what Pinkamena said to him. The words stung as he felt guilt for making Pinkie have to worry about him. He made it a promise to himself to visit the pink mare after the hospital visit.

Marcus hung in the back as he thought back to everything last night. The one thing that didn’t leave his mind was that purple mist. He couldn’t figure out how, but that mist was somehow related to the Ursa attack. He found no reason to let the others know since he never saw it again during his night walk.

Everyone reached the hospital and walked in. They saw the azure unicorn at the front counter signing the many papers to be released from the hospital. Redheart waved to everyone as the showmare finished signing the last paper. Curious as to who the nurse was waving to, she turned around and was shocked to say the least at the new creatures.

Her mouth opened and closed for a few seconds as she thought about what to say. She couldn’t find the words to express what she was thinking so she did the next best thing. She walked up towards one of the humans and looked them over. She gave a few pokes to Andrew’s arm before retreating back. Her brain seemed to finally catch up to what was going on and she voiced her question.

“Who and what are you exactly?”

“Well, we are human and my name is Andrew. The others are Marcus, Callie, Drak, Jaeden, Alex, Ryan, Brandon, Luke, and Blake,” Andrew answered calmly as he pointed at the others.

“Before we get into further conversation, Trixie, would you like to hear the good news or the bad news first?” Marcus asked.

“Trixie would like to hear the bad news first.”

“Well, the bad news is that your show cart is completely destroyed.”

“Then what is the good news?” Trixie asked a little irritated.

“The good news is that we found you a place to live until the cart is fixed.”

“Ah, then I guess that is something good then. So who will Trixie be staying with?”

“You will be staying with Ditzy and I,” Drak answered.

The showmare nodded her head as she straightened out her clothes before leaving. The friends left the hospital and just started walking in a general direction. They neared Surgarcube Corner and that was when Luke broke off from the group.

“So, Trixie, would you like to come to this year’s Gala?” Luna asked.

“Trixie doesn’t think that she can go. Trixie doesn’t have anypony to go with and Trixie certainly doesn’t have the appropriate clothing to go.”

“Well, I am pretty sure that you will be going with Drak since you are staying with him and he could use the company. As for the clothing, you could visit Rarity and she could make you some clothes.”

“Would it be a bother if Trixie went with you, Drak?” Drak shook his head as he gave her a smile and patted her shoulder.

“Trust me, Trixie when I say that your company would be worth more to me than anything else,” Trixie blushed slightly at this and nodded her head. The friends walked for a bit longer before breaking off and doing their own thing. Marcus had free time since he had his suit finished, but the others didn’t. With nothing else to do he headed for the park to look at the little lake.

Luke

Luke walked into the pastry shop and was greeted by Mrs. Cake. He waved to her as he walked up to the counter and looked around. After a few seconds of looking at the different cakes and brownies he spoke to Mrs. Cake.

“Hey, Mrs. Cake is Pinkie here?”

“She is locked up in her room. When I checked on her she seemed rather upset. Did you two have a fight?” Mrs. Cake asked with worry.

“There is a good chance that we did and I would like to try and fix that. Thanks for letting me know where she was.”

“Anytime, dear. I hope that you two can work out your differences.”

Luke nodded his head as he slowly went towards the stairs. He reached the stairs and began the short trek up. It felt as though the stairs were endless as he never reached the top. After what felt like hours of climbing a few stairs he was at the top. He took each step with trepidation as he headed for Pinkie’s room. He soon found himself in front of the pink mare’s room and didn’t know what to do.

Not wanting to chicken out and get scolded by everyone, he gave a few tentative knocks. He was greeted by silence and knocked a little harder. Silence still greeted him, but when he went to knock again the door was opened. Before he could say anything he was pulled into the room and held up against the wall. He felt a slight pressure on his throat and he found it hard to breathe. He opened his eyes to be greeted by Pinkamena.

The dark pink mare was staring at him with pure anger. Every fiber in his being told him to break free from the mare’s grasp, but he resisted. He knew that if he struggled against her grasp he could risk hurting her and he wouldn’t be able to live with that. Silence filled the room and he listened to the ticks of the clock on the wall. For several seconds there was nothing until finally the mare spoke.

“Why?” Pinkamena asked softly. He clearly heard the hurt that was in her voice, but held his tongue as she continued. “Why did you come back here? I told you that once you walked out those doors that you are not welcome back here,” Luke then saw the tears that were forming in her eyes and decided to speak.

“I came back because you are hurting,” This seemed to confuse the distraught mare as she increased her pressure on his throat.

“Why must you toy with Pinkie’s feelings? I have seen the way that you look at her so why do you continue to try?” Pinkamena asked as she growled.

“I try because she has been the first outside my friends that cared. She didn’t care that I was a new creature or that I was possibly dangerous. She went out of her way to make sure that we were all happy and did her best. I don’t want to see her run herself ragged to make us happy that she becomes neglected,” Luke answered as he stared straight into her eyes.

“Do you truly mean that?” Pinkamena asked as she lightened her grip on him.

“I wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t true. You may be an extension of Pinkie, but I can see that you care for her too. I don’t know what happened to her during the early years, but I don’t want to see her hurt,” Luke answered as he was lowered to the ground.

“Can you promise to keep her safe?” Pinkamena asked with pleading eyes.

“I don’t promise to keep her safe,” Luke said and Pinkamena stared at him with anger filling her. “I promise to keep both of you safe,” Pinkamena gave a small smile at his words as she brought Pinkie back.

The human watched as Pinkie’s mane and tail became poofy and her coat became a brighter pink. He smiled as the pink mare ran up to him and held him in a tight hug. He stroked her mane as she let the tears fall from her eyes. After crying for several seconds, she looked up at him and gave him a goofy smile. He smiled back as he placed his forehead on hers and promised her that everything would be okay.

The two of them left the room headed for Rarity’s so they could get ready for the Gala. Pinkie pulled out her phone to see that Twilight texted her saying that the others were at the boutique and waiting for her and Luke to show up. The two smiled as they left the sweets shop smiling the whole way.

Several Days Later

The days leading up to the Gala were calm. The friends continued to hang out with each other and got to know the girls a little better. Marcus took the time to hang with Scootaloo when she showed up into town. The friends smiled as they watched Marcus be happy for the first time with the filly. The friends all pitched in to help rebuild Trixie’s cart. The azure unicorn tried to tell them that they didn’t have to but they wanted to.

Ryan and Brandon had jobs that they did, but didn’t get paid since they had debts they needed to pay. The friends asked what Brandon had to pay back and his reason made sense that it was him that could pull it off. He was helping Rose move the plants around so they could get more light. He got distracted when he saw the flower mare swaying hips and crashed into a wall. The pots that he was holding fell to the floor and shattered.

The mare looked at him and shook her head as she handed him a broom and dustpan. He held his head down in shame as he swept up the pieces of pots and dirt to be thrown away. Terribly enough those were rare plants in those pots so he had to pay back for new materials to replace them. The friends couldn’t help but laugh a little at his clumsiness, but he took it in stride.

Trixie was interesting to be around as she told stories about her travels around Equestria. The friends listened intently as she explained the things that she saw and did. It was weird hearing the things that she saw since they sounded so similar to Earth. They were tempted to bring this up with Luna about who they could sue. They never had the chance since the princess had to go back to the castle and finish the preparations for the Gala. Andrew enjoyed his time with Fluttershy as they tended the animals.

It was weird to see Andrew like this since it was such a rarity. During those four years he had as much a cold heart like the others. Before the incident he was a caring guy who loved to take care of animals. Fluttershy was helpful to bring out his kindness with her animals. The two of them would talk for hours on end about the animals, happy to agree on something.

Jaeden seemed worried about Vinyl and Octavia because of something that they received. The DJ got a letter from Ditzy and as she read it to herself her happy expression fell. Octavia grabbed the letter from her DJ friend and read it over. She growled slightly in anger as she crumpled the letter and threw it in the fire. Jaeden asked if everything was okay and they told him that he didn’t need to worry about it.

He knew better than to leave it be. He talked with his friends and they told him that if need be they would help. For now he just had to hope that nothing bad would happen to his two hostesses. If something did come up that would cause them problems then he would intervene. Sure they would be mad at him for butting in, but their expressions were the only reason that he needed to help them.

Ryan helped around Sweet Apple Acres and easily paid off his debt. He continued to work though because he didn’t feel right about leaving Applejack and Big Mac to work the fields. He was able to convince them to allow him to help after the farm mare tried to scare him off. He couldn’t help but laugh at the way the orange mare acted. She was so stubborn when it came to the field work and tried to tell him that she didn’t need any help.

Mac assured him that he was smart to help even if his sister threatened him. He just shrugged since he knew what it was like to help a stubborn person. Applejack couldn’t help but watch as the human worked on the fields away from everyone so he wouldn’t be a bother. Sometimes the earth mare would walk by and hit one of the trees that were in his row and create a mess. He could only laugh as the mare walked off like she didn’t do anything.

Callie enjoyed her time with Whooves as she helped around his house. She learned that he hasn’t lived in that house for several months because he was off doing other things. She was certain that she saw something move in the basement that wasn’t human/pony. She turned out to be right when the thing that she saw attacked Whooves. They were able to beat the creature back and lock it back in its cage.

The female human glared daggers at the stallion and told him that he better not bring anything like that to the Gala. The earth stallion gave a warm chuckle promising that he would be a gentlecolt during their time together. She couldn’t help but shake her head as she walked back to her room and make sure everything was where it belonged.

Alex was enjoying his time with Twilight. The two kept themselves entertained as they talked about history and other things. There were a few things that were kept secret from the unicorn, but that was more for her sanity than anything else. He helped her with her experiments and organizing the library. He got to learn a little more about Spike as he stayed in the library.

At first Spike was worried that he was going to take his place, but he assured him that Twilight would rather give up her library than lose her number one assistant. Everyone also learned about the drake’s little crush on Rarity, but he seemed to also have his interest pointed somewhere else. For some reason the girls were oblivious to his other found affections and the friends were a little worried for the young drake.

Spike had his attention set to impress some of the fillies. The fillies that he had chosen knew about his interest and were keen to tease him. To say that everyone was fine with who he was falling for would be an understatement. His attention vied for Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Dinky. Those four fillies that the drake chose kind of bothered Marcus, Drak, and Ryan.

Marcus had no relation to Scootaloo except being a good friend but he didn’t want to see her heart get broken. Ryan knew that Apple Bloom was a tough filly, but knew that she had a soft heart. Ryan couldn’t explain the reason why he cared for Sweetie Belle, but he didn’t want to see her smile become a frown. Drak was starting to see Dinky as his own child as she came to him when she had a nightmare or learned something new in school.

The sun was starting to set and everyone was getting ready. Marcus’ friends knew that he was wearing clothing under his suit along with carrying his knife. They tried to talk him out of taking it with him in case they were scanned at the entrance, but he refused to leave it behind. When asked why he wouldn’t leave it behind he explained that the Gala also has members of other species show up.

At first no one understood what he was getting out until it hit them like a train. He was bringing the knife with him in case there were harpies there seeking revenge. A new fact that they learned in Equestria is that if someone demanded a duel for revenge then it needed to be met. Sure there was a high chance that the harpies wouldn’t know that it was Marcus who killed one of their own, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Night soon fell across the land as pegasus drawn carriages arrived to take the friends. Twilight and the others were taking a different set because they didn’t want to be seen until they got there. Half the friends shrugged as they were taken to the castle. In the sky Marcus couldn’t help but look out the window to see the tiny village of Ponyville leave their vision. It would take half an hour before they would arrive so some of the friends opted to get some sleep.

The friends were awoken as their carriage landed on the paved road and came to a stop. Everyone looked outside to see a bunch of ponies gathered around to see who arrived. Since they weren’t going to have a calm walk towards the door they decided to speed walk inside. Once the door to the carriage opened all the ponies outside stared in disbelief as the friends hurried to the entrance. Drak slowed his pace as all the eyes of the surrounding ponies was getting to him.

Blake grabbed him by the arm and dragged him the last half distance into the castle. Once at the entrance the guards moved aside and let them through. Once they were inside they huddled together to make sure that everyone was there. Marcus also couldn’t help but make a joke about the lax of security.

“See, I told you there would be no problem getting in,” Marcus said as he grinned at his friends.

“I guess you were right. I mean if they just let ten dangerous humans in without giving them a look over then there are bound to be problems,” Andrew said.

“Yeah, I mean you could hold a wedding here and then an invasion would happen because they didn’t check to make sure the bride was who she said she was,” the friends all laughed at that possibility.

“Well, since we are here let’s go sit somewhere,” the friends all nodded as they headed for a table.

The friends took their seats at a table that was far off from the many gathered ponies. They waited for their ‘dates’ to arrive so they could go do something. As they waited they noticed Celestia walk by, but she was looking different in more ways than one.

“Blake am I crazy or did Celestia look different?” Marcus asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s go over the list because I have no idea how you are missing it. Her mane and tail are now pink. Her coat is a darker shade of white than before. Her breasts are a little larger than before. Also I am pretty sure that she is undressing us with her eyes,” Marcus shivered at the last part.

“I have noticed those differences lately, but I thought nothing of it. Just because I am being watched over by one of the princesses doesn’t mean I can go up to one and have a casual conversation,” the friends just shrugged since there was no real danger present at the moment.

The friends sat around the table for a few minutes until the doors were opened. The friends looked over to see who was entering and they nearly fainted. The mares came walking in and there were no words to do their dresses justice. The dresses showed off every curve and gently hugged their bodies. Each dress was tailored specifically to match the personality of the pony wearing it.

Luna came walking behind them with Blood Rain and Marcus and Blake had to do a double take. Luna wore a regal dress, but it matched her mane and tail as the dress showed off different constellations. Blood Rain wore a red dress that was a single strap. She wore makeup under her eyes that helped to show them off and her mane was pulled back in a ponytail with a little to cover the right side of her face.

Fluttershy was the first to break away from the group as she headed for the garden. Andrew left the table so he could join the pegasus and see the different animals. Twilight, Applejack, and Pinkie headed for the buffet table. Ryan, Luke, and Alex left the table so they could see how they were doing. Jaeden headed closer to the stage so he could watch Octavia play with the orchestra.

Whooves walked up to Callie and extended his hand for her to take. She took the offered hand and headed for the dance floor. Blake left to join Luna out on the balcony so she wouldn’t be alone. Brandon saw Rose and went up to her and asked for a dance. The flower mare accepted as she was led to the dance floor by her escort. Marcus sighed as he knew this wasn’t going to end soon so he left to join Rainbow in meeting the Wonderbolts.

Ditzy and Trixie went over to the table where Drak was sitting and started up some casual conversation. As Ryan was getting his food he watched as Rarity went to a white stallion that was really dressed up. His mane and tail her blond in color. As the human stared at the stallion, Applejack nudged him to get his attention.

“That’s Blueblood.”

“That’s the prince. He looks like a pompous ass.”

“Maybe, but Rarity has been dying to meet him.”

“I may have to end up saving her then by the end of the night,” Applejack placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled at him.

Marcus was busy following Rainbow through a sea of ponies to meet the Wonderbolts. The cyan mare was radiating excitement while he was just wishing for this to end. As they walked he noticed a beige unicorn stallion bothering an orange mare. He slowed his pace as he stared at the orange mare who radiated fire. Her mane and tail were orange and yellow that looked hot to the touch.

Her eyes were a golden-orange and she had a wonderful figure. He could see that the mare was trying to get away from the stallion, but he wouldn’t let her go. The prismatic mare didn’t notice that the human wasn’t following her as he went to help the mare. He casually walked towards the two ponies minding his own business. As he neared the mare and stallion he was able to catch the tail end of the conversation and it made him sick.

“I can easily fund your team, all you need to do is give me an incentive to give you the funds,” Marcus watched as the mare tried to keep herself from hurling. He didn’t need any more of a reason to step in.

“Excuse me, good sir, but I think you are bothering this nice mare,” the unicorn stallion turned around and stared at the human.

“By Celesita’s holy sun, what are you?” The stallion asked as he looked at the human.

“Nothing that really concerns you. So if you don’t mind, please leave this mare alone and go bother someone else,” the stallion didn’t like this as he got right in the human’s face. He stood a head taller than the human and he could smell a hint of alcohol.

“I don’t think this concerns you, creature. I am making a proposition to the Captain of the Wonderbolts, so I suggest you scurry off.”

“Oh, are you now? To me it looks like you are harassing this young mare. Also this little ‘incentive’ that you want isn’t going to happen. You make me sick,” the stallion was fuming as the mare watched the two of them exchange words.

“So what do you care? I can do whatever I want since I can financially ruin them. So in a way that makes them my-” Marcus had enough of the noble as he clocked him in the face.

The music stopped as all the ponies turned their attention to the sounds of breaking items. The stallion was sent several feet back into a table that had many wine glasses. The stallion lay unconscious as the human flexed his hand. The orange mare stared in shock at the creature that punched a high ranking noble. The mare flinched as the human turned his attention to her and looked at her. She felt her heart race as he spoke to her.

“Sorry about the mess, but I can’t stand people like that. Where are my manners though. My name is Marcus and I am one of the humans stuck here. What is your name?” Marcus asked as he extended his hand. The mare slowly took his hand as she spoke.

“The… name… is S-Spitfire,” The mare answered.

“What a wonderful name. I think it suits you quite nicely,” Marcus stated as he smiled at the mare.

The mare could only stare at him in confusion as he smiled at her. Her attention was pulled from the human as she spotted her teammates coming over along with a cyan pegasus. When the others reached Spitfire and Marcus the cyan pegasus got up in the human’s face full of anger.

“What the hell were you thinking?” The cyan pegasus asked.

“Relax, Rainbow. I just taught this guy not to be so rude to a mare,” Marcus said as he pointed towards Spitfire.

“Marcus, do you have any idea who that is?” Rainbow asked.

“Her name is Spitfire. Why, is she something more?” Marcus asked in confusion.

“She is the Captain of the Wonderbolts,” Rainbow stated enthusiastically.

Before anyone could anything more, Luna and her guards came running over. Marcus quickly turned his attention away from Blood Rain because as she jogged over her breasts were not held in place by her dress. The guards picked up the unconscious stallion and took him out of the castle. Another set of guards came over to the human ready to escort him out, but were stopped by Spitfire.

“You can leave this one alone. He did nothing wrong except break a worthless table.”

“Even so, Ms. Spitfire, he assaulted a noble and he has to pay the consequences.”

“As Captain of the Wonderbolts I excuse him of his actions. So thank you for your concern, but you can head back to your posts,” the guards looked at the night princess who nodded her head.

Blood Rain lifted a brow quizzically at the human who just shrugged. After staring at him for a few seconds she walked off to keep an eye on the princess. He was pulled back to the golden pegasus as she nudged his arm.

“So is it true what Rainbow says about you taking on a harpy?” Spitfire asked.

“I did fight a harpy, but I would like that not to get out unless you want to alert the other harpies and get me killed,” Marcus said as he stared at the cyan mare.

“Sure, I can do that.”

“Also, you know that you didn’t have to cover for me with the guards. I could have really cared less about the punishment,” Marcus said.

“I wouldn’t feel right having my defender being thrown in some dungeon for standing up for a mare,” Spitfire retorted.

Marcus, Rainbow, and Spitfire continued to talk as they walked to an area where the Wonderbolts could sign autographs. Once the commotion of everything that happened calmed down all the ponies went back to the party. Marcus enjoyed meeting the Wonderbolts and he especially enjoyed talking with Spitfire. At first he thought they were going to be like the celebrities back on Earth that only cared for fame.

They proved him wrong as they treated all the ponies with the same respect that you would treat anyone else. He learned that Spitfire was the first in Wonderbolt history to be the youngest assigned Captain. As the crowds around the Wonderbolts died off they went to enjoy the party. Rainbow, Marcus, and Spitfire continued to hang together as they went to get something to drink.

The party was going along smoothly after the noble punch-out incident. Drak continued to talk with Ditzy and Trixie and was enjoying his time with them. The azure unicorn opened up to the human during their stay together and he learned why she spoke in the third person. The showmare spoke in the third person not for her shows, but also because she was afraid of meeting new ponies. She was afraid of being teased by others because of her mane color.

As the azure mare got to know him better she learned that he held no malice towards those that were different. He treated Ditzy with respect even with her messed up eyes and complimented Trixie on her beautiful mane. He was starting to grow hungry and thirsty so he headed for a nearby refreshment table. He asked the mares if they would like anything and told him what they wanted. He left to get the items and that was when two pegasus stallions walked up to Trixie and Ditzy.

Ryan was busy watching Rarity from the food table and he was ready to lose it. He watched as Blueblood treat the fashionista like she was nothing and cared only for himself. He was ready to go give that stallion a piece of his mind when he saw that Blueblood took a seat for himself instead of giving it to the white mare. He was stopped from making a scene when Applejack placed a hand on his shoulder.

“I know that you want to help her, but going up against him won’t do you any good.”

“Either way Rarity doesn’t deserve to be treated like this,” Ryan was pulled back to Rarity when he heard her scream.

“You have to be the most ungrateful stallion that I ever met! I thought that you were some kind of gentlecolt, but apparently you are just a ruffian!” Blueblood didn’t like being called a ruffian especially in front of the nobles. To maintain his image as a higher citizen he struck the mare across the face.

Rarity fell to the floor clutching her cheek as it began to swell. Applejack wasn’t fast enough when Ryan bolted towards the ‘prince’ anger fueling his actions. The fashionista was starting to tear up as she saw Blueblood get closer. The unicorn stallion was ready to strike her again for her insult, but was stopped by something grabbing his hand.

“If you so much as strike this kind hearted mare again I will rip your arm off and beat you to death with it,” Ryan whispered menacingly into the stallion’s ear.

“What filthy creature dares to defile my hand?” Blueblood asked as he looked at the human with hatred.

“One of a few people that you don’t want to piss off,” Ryan answered back as venom dripped from his words.

“You dare threaten me. I can have you executed right here if I wanted to,” Blueblood threatened as he met his gaze.

“The execution wouldn’t happen fast enough to save your life. By the time a guard would take a single step I will have broken you like a twig.”

Ryan let go of Blueblood’s hand and he backed away. He looked at the human before turning away and leaving the party. Once he was out of sight, Ryan lowered his hand to the fallen mare who took it. He led her to an empty table and had her take a seat. She removed her hand and he winced at how big her cheek had swollen. He grabbed a glass and filled it with ice before handing it to the unicorn.

“Once the swelling dies down a bit, would you like a dance?” Ryan asked as he smiled at the mare.

“I think I am done with the party now. I should probably head back home to make sure Sweetie hasn’t burned the place down.”

“I can’t let you leave without one good memory. I know that I am not your Prince Charming, but I think you deserve a good dance,” Rarity looked at him for a few seconds before smiling and nodding to him.

The two of them sat around for a few minutes until Rarity got up. Ryan got up as well as he grabbed the mare’s hand and led her to the dance floor. Jaeden saw Ryan walk to the dance floor with the fashionista and decided to do something nice. He walked up towards the orchestra that was still on break for a few more minutes. He looked through the group and found Octavia talking with Lyra.

“Hey, Octavia, you mind doing me a favor?” Jaeden asked.

“Why should I do you a favor?” Octavia shot back as she glared at the human.

“I want you to play something heartfelt for Ryan and Rarity. He is giving her a good memory so she doesn’t think ill about the Gala every year.”

Octavia looked out at the small crowd that waited for the orchestra to start playing. She noticed Rarity and Ryan in the crowd and could barely make out the welt on her face. She looked back at the human who looked at her pleadingly and sighed as she nodded her head. He thanked her as he walked off stage and let them set up.

Once the orchestra was set up they agreed on a song. They play a rendition of Beethoven’s songs and it was a good choice. Ryan held Rarity close as they danced to the music. The white mare closed her eyes as she let the human guide her through the steps of their dance. She couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face as she danced with the kind human. The song ended much to her disappointment. He gave a kiss to her hand that caused her to blush as he went back to the table.

Drak was returning to the table when he saw the two pegasus stallions at the table. As he got closer he saw that both Trixie and Ditzy were crying. He felt his anger rise and he placed the food and drinks on a table. He walked towards the stallions quietly as he got behind them. As he got closer he heard what the stallions were saying to the mares and he didn’t like it.

“Who let the freak and old bag into the Gala?” The pegasus on the left asked.

“I don’t know, but I think that we should show them the way out,” the other pegasus answered. Drak was behind the two and he wasn’t going to let it continue any longer. He threw his arms around their necks and pulled them close so they could hear him.

“Why don’t you leave these mares alone before I turn you into mares yourselves?” Drak whispered as he held them tighter.

The two pegasi looked at each other and smirked as they turned their attention to the human. They each pulled back their free arm and shot them towards him. He easily ducked their punches as he grabbed their heads and smashed them together. The two stallions fell down onto the floor unconscious. He walked over to the table and grabbed the food and drinks as he rejoined the mares.

The mares smiled at him happily as they ate and drank. Blood Rain came over to see what happened and when she saw the ruined makeup on the mares and the unconscious stallions she knew what happened. She grabbed the two pegasi and took them outside of the castle. The lunar guard returned and nodded at the human who waved his thanks.

The party was starting to die down and ponies started to leave. The princesses thanked all the ponies for attending the Gala and wished to meet them next year. Celestia was back to her normal self and seemed oblivious to her earlier change. The friends got back together and had a few drinks as the mares talked about their night. All in all it was a good night or it would have been if a pair of harpies didn’t appear.

All of the ponies were gone and that was when the harpies decided to show up. They flew down from the sky as they confronted Celestia about what happened in the Everfree. The friends walked closer to the princess ready for anything that they might do. As they got closer they heard what the harpy was yelling about.

“I thought we had a deal, Celestia! We don’t attack your precious cities and you don’t attack us in the Everfree.”

“The deal still stands for I haven’t broken it,” Celestia answered.

“Then care to explain why one of my Lieutenants was found dead?!” The harpy screamed at Celestia.

“Well, that would be because of me,” Marcus answered for her. The harpy turned around quickly and got right in the human’s face.

“What gives you the right to kill one of my own, creature?” The harpy spat at him.

“First off my name is Marcus and you will do well to remember. As for the reason I killed your harpy was because she was attacking some foals.”

“If they were in the Everfree then we were within our bounds.”

“I don’t give a damn what parts of the Everfree you own. You so much as threaten little foals that meant no harm then so help me I will protect them from the likes of you,” the harpy continued to stare at the human before laughing hysterically.

“You are quite funny, Marcus. I have lived for two hundred years and never has any creature stood up to me. So I will cut you a deal. I won’t have you killed if you come to work for me. You will be a bodyguard for our ruler and you can do anything that you want,” the harpy offered as she smiled maliciously at him.

“I am free to do whatever I want as long as I listen to your queen?” Marcus asked and was answered with a nod.

Marcus gave a slight nod as he thought to himself. Everyone else watched stunned that he would even consider such a thing. As he thought over what the harpy said he started to take off his suit. He took off his jacket and neatly placed it on the chair. Next was the dress shirt that he placed in the jacket. He took off the dress shoes and took off his dress pants. He placed those on the other pieces and put on his sneakers.

“As tempting as that sounds, I have only one response. Go. Fuck. Yourself,” Marcus answered as he got closer to punctuate his last three words.

Everyone stared at the human like he was crazy for what he did and couldn’t find the words to say anything. The harpy landed on the ground as she walked towards the human and stared him in the eyes. The human could feel her heavy breathing as she tried to control her anger. After staring at each other for a few seconds the harpy joined the others and spoke to them.

“Let’s go, harpies. It’s apparent this human doesn’t want to join us and I am not looking for a confrontation right now. Be warned, Marcus, that you probably haven’t heard the last from us,” the harpy said and flew off. She didn’t get far before the human called out to her.

“Just make sure you tell your queen that if she comes after anyone but me then I will rip her head off her shoulders,” the harpy only laughed as she flew off into the night sky heading for home.

“What the hell are you thinking?!” Luna yelled as she looked at the crazy human.

“Making sure that they never come back that was what I was thinking. If they wanted a fight then they would have sent someone else. I don’t know what their true motives are, but we won’t see them for a while. They are also smart to not attack since they don’t want to go to war with Equestria. So all in all I think this was a pretty successful night.”

The princesses rubbed their temples trying to stave off their incoming headache. The carriages arrived outside the castle and the friends got in. The mares got in their own carriage and laughed during the whole trip. Even after everything that happened at the end everyone had a good night to remember.

“You have nothing to worry about, Luna. Those harpies won’t be coming back anytime soon and everyone enjoyed themselves. So was this Gala better than the ones before it?” Blake asked as he chuckled slightly to himself.

“Even after that harpy encounter it was. Sure there were a few problems, but I was glad that your friends did the right thing. Nobles think that they can get away with everything and pay off our guards. With you and your friends here we were able to deal with some of the troublemakers and deal with them accordingly,” Blake and Luna laughed as they headed back towards their rooms excited about the prospect of sleep.