Drak slowly cracked his eyes open and was met with a blank, white room. He could hear a constant beebing sound and when he looked over to his right, he saw that he was hooked up to a heart monitor. He grabbed his head as pain shot through it causing a massive headache. He looked around the room trying to figure out what happened. He casually rubbed his eyes until everything that happened last night hit him in full force.

He had to lean over the side of his bed as he vomited into a nearby trashcan. He felt himself shudder in disgust as he remembered everything that happened. He could see that battered form of Wrath and his friends that held him back. The main thing that worried him the most was the fact that Trixie saw everything that he did.

This simple thought didn’t sit right with him as he knew what they thought of him. He lost control once before with Scarlet and he let it happen again after Ditzy got hurt. He felt like a monster that was even worse than his friends. The fear of what his mares and his friends thought of him made him cringe slightly. He knew at some point that they would tell the pegasus and he wouldn’t blame her if she was angry with him.

He stared casually out the nearby window as he hoped the best for her. His thoughts were soon pulled away as he heard someone knocking on the door. He kept silent for several seconds hoping they would go away, thinking that he was still asleep. He wasn’t given the courtesy as the door opened and gave way to Trixie and Dinky. He could see that the azure unicorn was a little hesitant with coming into the room, but she walked towards him none the less.

The mare kept her silence as she took a nearby chair. The filly walked next to his bed and grabbed his hand. Her eyes were red and a little puffy, showing that she had been crying for quite some time. Not wanting to see her so upset, he lifted his hand and caressed her cheek. The filly nuzzled into the hand as it held her face tenderly. She looked up to the human and gave him a little smile, showing that she was glad that he was okay.

The unicorn got up from her seat and placed a hand on the filly’s shoulder. She looked back at the mare and nodded as she walked out of the room. Drak and Trixie were now alone with their silence, unsure of what to say. The silence stretched on for a few painful minutes and was becoming more uncomfortable. He was about to say something to help break the ice, but the azure unicorn beat him to it.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Trixie said as she pulled the chair closer to him.

“What are you talking about? I just lost control of myself and almost had the same thing happen like last time. I’m just a monster,” Drak replied.

“Aren’t your friends actually monsters?” Trixie asked.

“They are, but I’m worse than they are. They’ve had their powers for a few years and were able to get some control over it. I lose control and just destroy anything that stands in my way. I feel that it’s best that I move out and find another-” Drak said, but was stopped when the unicorn slapped him in the face. He stared at her, stunned by what she did as he waited for her to speak.

“Don’t you dare think that you need to leave. Dinky, Ditzy, and I don’t think any less of you. Since you still feel terrible about what you did that shows that you are not a monster,” Trixie stated as tears formed in her eyes.

“Even then, what about the others? I’m pretty sure that they will have nightmares about what they saw and what they heard if my friends told the story,” Drak said.

“They did tell us what happened before. I won’t lie and tell you that we were understanding. We were all quite shocked to hear what you did and we second guessed on finding you. The only thing that changed our minds was when we saw the magic backlash and decided that your safety was important above all else,” Trixie said as she gave him a small smile.

“Even then, how can I look Ditzy in the eyes after everything that I did?” Drak asked as he looked back out the window.

“Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Trixie stated.

Drak was going to ask what she meant, but was answered when his door was opened. He watched as Ditzy came hobbling in on crutches. He ignored all the needles and sensors that were attached to his body as he ran over to her. She was heavily bandaged along her left side and her right wing was in a splint. She was obviously in pain, but she smiled as he held her close.

“What are you doing out of bed?” He asked as he carefully brought her over to his bed.

“I was told about what happened and I want you to know that I’m not upset with you. It’s true that you lost control of yourself, but you had a reason. You wanted to keep me, Trixie, and Dinky safe from any harm and that’s why I can forgive you. So please don’t let this eat you up inside and allow it to control you,” Ditzy pleaded as tears fell from her eyes.

Drak wasn’t able to hold back his tears anymore and just let them fall. He cried to his heart’s content as the pegasus held him close and cooed sweet words into his ears. Trixie walked near him and wrapped her arms around both her herd mates. She wasn’t able to help the few tears that escaped her eyes as she held them close. The three of them were too busy with their emotions to see the door open.

Nurse Redheart walked in, followed by Alex. The two of them stood in the back as they waited on the others to finish their emotional healing. They were separating as they gave a few final sniffles as they composed themselves. Ditzy was the first to notice the new arrivals and whispered to the others about their arrival.

“It’s good to see you up and around, Drak. I hope that you aren’t in immense pain since you seemed to remove many of those needles from your body,” Redheart stated as she wrote on her clipboard.

Drak was too busy making sure that Ditzy was okay that the pain never registered for him. Now that he was aware of the missing medical attachments, he could feel the slight tingle of pain. The pegasus moved on the bed to allow him someplace to lay. He happily took the place next to his mare as she ran her fingers through his hair.

“We did some testing for the past while on your blood to see what caused the magic backlash,” Redheart began.

“How long have I been out?” Drak asked as he moved his head on Ditzy’s lap.

“What’s today?” Redheart asked.

“It’s Tuesday,” Alex answered.

“It has been about a week since you were admitted to the hospital,” Redheart finished.

“I’ve been out for that long? Seems a little too much for something like that,” Drak stated.

“Well, usually it is, but you required more healing because the tests showed something interesting,” Redheart said.

“How interesting are we talking about?” Drak asked.

“Well, magic backlash isn’t entirely common from non-magical creatures, but it does happen. Your backlash was special because in documented cases other creatures went back to normal after releasing all that magic. You on the other hand released your magic, but seemed to have created a magic center inside yourself,” Redheart explained.

“So what exactly are you saying?” Drak asked.

“In short, you are like a unicorn. You are able to focus magic and use it as any other unicorn,” Redheart stated.

“So I have magical properties now? What exactly does my magic do?” Drak asked, interested in what his magic was capable of.

“The kind of magic that you can use is something we are uncertain of. You and the others will need the help of the princesses to see what you can do,” Drak nodded his head in understanding until the other thing Redheart said registered.

“What do you mean the others?” Drak asked.

“Well, we were curious about the others to see if they had the same condition. We found that five others have the same magic center. Their magic wasn’t detected since it has been lying dormant in their bodies until unleashed,” Redheart explained.

“So who are the other four that can’t do magic?” Drak asked. He was certain who couldn’t use magic, but he wanted to see if he was right.

“Your friends Marcus, Blake, Luke, and Andrew are the only ones that can’t use magic. It seems that the infection inside their body doesn’t allow for magic to reside in their body,” Redheart concluded.

Drak looked over to Alex who just shrugged his shoulders. Apparently Alex was just as stunned as him, but he just chalked it up to another day in Equestria. As they sat in silence, Alex couldn’t help but start chuckling to himself. His laughter got out of control and caused everyone to look over at him.

“I’m sorry about that. We’ve been here for almost two months and it seems that we have yet to get a break from anything. So now the only thing left to know is when it all goes to hell,” Alex said as he got his laughter under control.

“Who knows? The best thing to do is to keep going on through your days and try to be ready for that day when it comes,” Trixie said.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Well I’m going to leave you love birds alone and let our friends know that you’re up and around. Take care of yourself,” Alex said as he left the building with Redheart behind him.

Marcus

Marcus out lying in the field with Rainbow’s head on top of his chest. She was breathing lightly as she slept peacefully. He stared at the clouds that the pegasus moved over to their spot so they could have shade. Being with her was still a new experience to him, but it felt so right to be with her. She didn’t only make him happy about seeing a tomorrow, but she also brought back his competitive side.

The competitions were always friendly and there was never a true loser. The winner would usually receive a kiss or a little cuddle session that both parties enjoyed. He looked down to see her smiling face and he couldn’t help but smile himself. She looked so beautiful when she slept soundly next to him. There was one thing that kept nagging at the back of his head.

After Rainbow and Marcus got together, she was a little protective from other mares. He was able to notice this from the way she acted when Lyra, Blood Rain, or Spitfire came near him. Her eyes would become a little cold and she would stare daggers at them. There were a few cases that she almost broke his hand when Lyra sat next to him during a picnic outing with their friends.

He had a feeling that he knew the reason why she was being so protective. The fact was made slightly apparent by his friends Jaeden, Drak, and kind of Blake. Jaeden and Drak were able to form their own little herd with the mares that they were staying with. Blake has been trying, but after the whole incident with Drak, it kind of got put on hold. As far as he could tell it wasn’t about herds that was scaring the pegasus.

He wasn’t sure what she thought about herding and he was kind of scared to ask her. It seemed that she was more afraid of losing him to the other mares that were getting his attention. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but he also didn’t want to hurt the others. It was weird being in this situation since each mare that he has met so far has given him a different form of happiness.

He was pulled from his thoughts when he felt the mare stir a little. He looked down to see her give off a cute little yawn. She looked up at him with her magenta irises and smiled at him. He smiled back at her before giving her a kiss on the head. They were about to look up at the sky and make out different cloud shapes, but he felt his phone go off. Groaning slightly, he pulled out his phone to see the text.

The text was sent by Alex to him and the others. The text asked for them to show up at the library with the mares. The pegasus gave a little groan of her own as they got to their feet and brushed off their clothing. After adjusting his back, he took the pegasus’ hand and they walked towards the library as she leaned on him.

Alex

Alex was sitting on the couch, watching Twilight pace back in forth. There was a letter sent by her brother that she hasn’t opened yet. She was a little nervous to open the letter since she hasn’t told him about her relationship with the human. She convinced herself that it was some kind of warning to whatever stallion that wooed her, that he would find them and hurt them.

He tried for an hour to calm her down, but it was falling on deaf ears. Spike even tried to help, but not even her surrogate brother could get her attention. Seeing that there was nothing that would help calm her down, he sent out a text to his friends. He waited for half an hour until there was knocking on the door.

Getting up from the couch, he walked over to the door and opened it. He smiled at all his friends as he allowed them entrance. As they entered they saw the pacing Twilight, but didn’t question it. Everyone easily filed around the library as they waited for the next thing to do. With everyone in the library, he walked over to the unicorn and grabbed her arm. She tried to pull free from his grip, but she didn’t use much force.

She finally calmed down when she noticed that she wasn’t really going anywhere. She looked around and saw the worried look on her friends’ and Alex’s faces. She took a few calming breaths as she tried to compose herself. Once her beating heart slowed and her mind wasn’t shooting a million scenarios a second, she took a seat. No one said a word as they waited for her to say something.

“Sorry for causing such a fuss,” Twilight apologized to her friends.

“There is nothing to be sorry for, darling, but I must know what has you in such a fuss,” Rarity said as she placed a hand on her shoulder.

“Well, I got a letter from my brother, but I haven’t opened it yet to see what it says. I’m afraid that he found out about my relationship with Alex before I could ease him into it,” Twilight explained.

“I don’t think a closed letter is going to help put your mind at ease if you just leave it closed like that,” Ryan stated.

“I know, but I just can’t handle the thought of my brother coming here to hurt my lovely Alex,” Twilight said as she looked over to her boyfriend.

“Would it help you if we just opened it together?” Alex offered.

Twilight lightly nodded her head and levitated the envelope over. He stood next to her as she held the paper in her hands. Taking a few seconds to calm her nerves, she slowly opened the letter. The opening process of the letter was slow enough that Spike went to the kitchen and got Drak and Ditzy some water. The two of them were seated on the couch comfortably since they were still healing from their injuries.

After what seemed like hours for the letter to open, it finally was. The lavender unicorn carefully pulled out the paper and looked at it. The paper wasn’t some simple parchment like all other letters. This letter was embroidered and seemed very fancy. Curious about the letter, she opened it and read it aloud for everyone.

Dear Twilight,

You and your friends are cordially invited to the royal wedding of Princess Mi Amore Cadenza and Shining Armor. Princess Cadenza has asked for your help in preparing for the ceremony and has even asked the help of your friends. Applejack and Ryan are to help with the food. Rarity can help with the dresses. Dr. Whooves and Callie can help prepare the seating arrangements. Andrew and Fluttershy can help with music along with Jaeden, Vinyl, Octavia, and Lyra. Luke and Pinkie can help with the entertainment. Brandon and Rose can help with the floral arrangement and the bouquet. Drak, Trixie, and Ditzy can keep track of all the guests that show up. Rainbow Dash is wanted for her sonic rainboom after the ceremony. You and Alex can make sure that everything goes smoothly. Blake, Luna, and I will make sure that word is spread around about this ceremony.

Sincerely,

Princess Celestia

“Hold on a second. What about Marcus? We all got invited to this wedding and have something to do, but there is nothing about Marcus,” Rainbow said as she tried to keep her anger in check.

“Hold on Rainbow. I wasn’t finished reading,” Twilight said.

PS: Marcus is not allowed to the wedding and is required to stay in Ponyville. I’m truly sorry for the inconvenience this may cause you. Cadenza has asked specifically for him not to show up.

“That’s bullshit. If Marcus isn’t allowed to go, then I sure as hell am not going,” Rainbow stated.

“Rainbow, it’s fine that I wasn’t invited. You go and have fun with everyone,” Marcus said smiling at her.

“But it won’t be fun if I don’t have my coltfriend there with me,” Rainbow said as her lower lip quivered.

“There is nothing to be worried about. I’ll still be here in the town until you come back. You deserve to have some fun with my friends and I would have just ruined it. Weddings aren’t my thing and I want everyone to have some type of good memory from it,” Marcus said as he hugged Rainbow.

“Are you sure that you will be okay by yourself?” Rainbow asked.

“I’m sure that I’ll be fine. You just take care of yourself and your friends,” Marcus said.

“So when do we leave?” Andrew asked.

“We leave in a few hours. That’s really short notice and I need to know who this Mi Amore Cadenza is. If she is a princess then why haven’t I heard of her?” Twilight asked as she put the letter in her pocket.

Everyone shrugged and started leaving the library. They had a few hours to get packed before they headed out for the train station. Everyone left the library except for Marcus. Alex saw Marcus standing by himself and went to see if he was okay. He reached his friend and saw that he was deep in thought.

“Something on your mind?” Alex asked even though he could see that there was.

“Yeah, it’s just about the letter. I know that my actions have been very questionable, but I’ve been at least forgiven. So not being invited to the wedding is a little weird. Granted I don’t really care since there was a low chance I would have gone, but being told I can’t really raises a few questions,” Marcus said.

“Is there anything that you want me to do?” Alex offered.

“Not really. I’m pretty sure that this is something that I’m thinking too much into. I wasn’t invited so there isn’t much I can do. Just make sure that everyone stays safe and please keep Rainbow from getting herself drunk. She may act like she is okay, but I know that if she finds the nearest cider she will be there and never leave it,” Marcus said.

Alex nodded his head as he showed his friend a shelf of books that he could choose from. He also handed him a key to the library in case he wanted to return the books or get some more. Marcus happily took the key and grabbed a few Daring Do books. He couldn’t explain it, but the books seemed like they were written from actual experience.

Marcus waved to his friend as he left the library and headed for his house. He walked into his room and laid down on his bed. He looked at his phone to see that Rainbow sent him a text saying goodbye and a nude picture of herself. The caption under the picture said that she would be waiting for him when she got back and make up for the lost time. He carefully put his phone away and grabbed a book.

The book he grabbed though wasn’t one of the Daring Do books. It was a book on bat pony relationships. Knowing that he didn’t have that book when he left, he looked over to his right. There was nothing there until he looked up and saw Blood Rain hovering in the air. She was feigning sleep, hoping that he wouldn’t guess that it was her that placed the book. Her efforts were for naught as he threw a paper ball at her.

“Any reason why you gave me this book?” Marcus asked.

“I just thought that it would be something that you would like to read since I’m the only bat pony you’ve been talking with,” Blood Rain answered.

“Aren’t you a pegasus though? So wouldn’t you just follow pegasus mating rituals than bat ponies?” Marcus asked.

“Well, I’m actually both, but a little more pegasus than bat pony. Even then I hold onto what I was raised with and I was raised to act a little more like a bat pony,” Blood Rain answered a little hurt.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to make you feel bad. I’m just confused why you would do this since I’m with Rainbow and you know what she is like,” Marcus said.

“You still haven’t talked to her about herding with others?” Blood Rain said a little irritated.

“I don’t just want to drop that kind of bombshell on her. She is already nervous enough that she might lose me to some other mare and now this wedding isn’t probably helping her in that department. I will talk to her about it, but I need to be sure that she won’t rip me a new one when we talk about it,” Marcus answered.

“Aw, is the little human scared of a simple pegasus?” Blood Rain teased.

“Yes, I am. You forget that she is an element bearer and her friends would be ready to break anyone that would hurt her. I would like to live to see another few weeks if I can,” Marcus answered.

“I’ll give you some advice. Ponies prefer it if their mate came out with something sooner than later because it avoids hurting us later on,” Blood Rain said.

He was about to ask what she meant, but she already left his room. Left with her words, he looked back at the ceiling and thought of different ways to talk about this. He looked over at his phone and immediately decided against it since that would be a low move on his end. Nothing to do, he looked out the window and saw the train station. The train was leaving and he could feel his worries take over as he imagined the state the pegasus was in.

Taking a heavy sigh, he laid back in his bed and grabbed the book Blood Rain left him. He was slightly interested in the concept to see how different it was for bat ponies to form relationships. The only thing that was keeping him from tearing into the book was the thought on its importance. He was currently stuck at a crossroad because the information would be helpful if he formed a herd, but it could also be useless if it was just Rainbow and him.

After staring at the book for several minutes he shrugged his shoulders and went straight into the book. He skipped through many of the pages since they were the basics of any relationship. As he got further into the book he noticed that one of the pages was dog eared. He skipped ahead to that page and read the chapter title. The chapter title was ‘Determining Dominance.’ Intrigued by what the chapter was about, he began to read.

He finished that chapter and looked through the rest to see if there was anything else important. There really wasn’t anything left for him to read so he put the book away. The only important chapter was the dominance chapter and he couldn’t help but laugh. No matter how he thought about it, he found it weird that he would have to fight Blood Rain to see who the dominant one was.

Out of all the creatures in Equestria he didn’t see the bat pony thing coming. It was an interesting concept and he would need to be ready in case this happened. He cared for Blood Rain but he didn’t want to be controlled by her every word, so he needed to make sure he could take her. He knew that she would be tough to fight since she is part of the lunar guard and had immense training.

Smiling a little to himself, he placed his head on his pillow and drifted off to sleep. He didn’t notice that his door was slightly cracked, with a pony peering inside. Blood Rain silently tiptoed into his room and grabbed the book. She kissed her fingers and placed them on his forehead before walking out. She couldn’t help but smile as she closed the door and imagine what her life would be like with him.

Nightmare Moon

“So are you ready to begin the plan?” Moon asked.

“Very much so, but are you sure that just removing him will suffice? I thought you said that there were three others that shared his ability?” Chrysalis questioned.

“I did, but since Marcus has been removed, they will be easier to manipulate,” Moon replied as they watched the human leave the library.

“I have put much faith into this plan of yours, Nightmare, so this better work or we will have a problem,” Chrysalis threatened.

“You have nothing to worry about, little changeling. If everything has been followed as we planned, then not even the princesses can stop us,” Moon laughed as she faced her partner.

The alicorn and changeling laughed manically as they entered the forest to prepare the final parts. Moon was able to get Chrysalis inside and out of the barrier that was placed around Canterlot after their threat was sent. During that time, Chrysalis has been feeding off of Cadenza’s husband’s love. By the time the ceremony started she would have enough power to take out Celestia.

Train

Everyone was seated in the train and trying to figure out what to do. Some of them have fallen asleep while the others were planning what to do. Rainbow was a complete mess as she stared out the window in the direction of Ponyville. No one said anything for fear of upsetting the pegasus and left her to it. They hoped that everything would go fine and the wedding would end fast enough so she could get back to Ponyville.

Hell, they were certain that the moment the wedding was over, Rainbow would sonic rainboom back to Ponyville and avoid the train. That would be one way to give Marcus a surprise with her return, but she seemed reluctant to even try that. Halfway during their travel it started to get quiet. With nothing really left to do until they actually reached the castle, everyone took a little shuteye.

After a couple of hours of sleep, everyone awoke to the sound of screeching brakes. Luke groaned at the offending noise and tried to cancel it out by burying his head in Pinkie’s lap. Pinkie just giggled at his little antics as she ran her fingers through his hair. When the train finally came to a stop everyone got up and grabbed their luggage.

Everyone sluggishly walked out of the train, but Rainbow really lagged behind them. Once they were all on the station floor, they were met by a contingent of guards. They looked among the group, possibly to make sure that Marcus wasn’t with them, and gestured for them to follow. Everyone packed into the awaiting carriages and ate the snacks that were laid before them. The mares all got into their own carriages as the friends got together in their own.

With everyone seated, the carriages moved out. The friends stared out the windows since this was their first time actually getting a good look at Canterlot in the morning. It was about what they expected when they saw nobles walking around. Some of the friends were disgusted by their smugness while the others were interested in the buildings. Taking this chance, Brandon pulled out a pen and paper and started sketching their surroundings.

Brandon had this habit of making escape plans if they ever needed them. Everyone left him to it since it helped to calm his nerves. Alex kept his eyes out for anything suspicious. Sure Marcus told him to just let it go, but he also had a weird feeling about him not being invited. He wanted to chalk it up with the princesses just being cautious, but it was just out of place to have it requested in the invitation.

Everyone had their attention pulled away when the carriages stopped in front of the castle. Blake was the first to greet them as he exited the castle grounds. With pleasantries out of the way, Blake led everyone to their rooms for the next couple of days. With everything put away for the evening, Ryan confronted Blake about what was going on.

“So whose idea was it to ban Marcus from the wedding?” Ryan asked.

“Apparently Cadenza found out about the little incidents with Marcus and to make sure that she had the perfect wedding she specifically asked Celestia to make sure he didn’t come. I personally don’t see a problem with him coming since he would have at least behaved himself slightly,” Blake answered.

“True, but Rainbow has not been taking this very well. I don’t want to have to do this to you all, but I may need your help to make sure she doesn’t break down or cause a scene,” Alex asked.

“We’ll try our best, but we have our own things to worry about as well,” Jaeden said.

“I know, I’m not asking to look out for her twenty-four seven, but if you see her just make sure that she is okay.” Alex said.

“We’ll keep our eyes out for her,” Brandon said.

“Actually, Alex, since you are here you may want to meet Twilight’s brother before you try to further your relationship with her,” Blake stated.

“Why? Is he some guardsman or is he some kind of military hero?” Alex asked a little annoyed.

“Yeah, he’s the captain of the guard who stopped the chimera invasion from the northern mountains a few years back,” Blake answered, scratching the back of his neck.

“You have got to be shitting me,” Alex said.

“Yeah, and he’s also very adept in defensive magic and can use a few advanced offensive spells. So if you want to continue walking, I would suggest to go meet him,” Blake said.

Alex just rubbed his eyes as he exited the room to go find Twilight. Blake told the others where they could go to find the other mares and left to go see what they were up to. He took a deep breath when all his friends were gone. He felt bad that Marcus wasn’t able to attend this evening, but at the same time it might do his some good to be alone.