The train ride back to Ponyville was long and boring. At least to some of the friends it was. Andrew and Alex seemed to be getting along with their new partners as they held long conversations. It was weird to see Andrew act all friendly towards Fluttershy. Most of the time he would never talk unless he needed to voice his input. Though if you brought something up that he had interest in he would talk about it for hours. Alex was more interested to the new learning experience.

Luke on the other hand looked like he was ready to strangle someone, or more likely somepony because she wouldn’t leave him alone. Pinkie kept bothering him about his preferences on the party that she would throw them. He had his face in his hands as he tried to block out the hyper active pony. Marcus looked back over at Rainbow and he really wished he hadn’t. The cyan mare was still giving him an icy glare, but she was also ready to fall asleep on the train. Before he could say anything there was a flash of light.

Once the light died down everyone looked to see Blake and Luna on the train. Blake took his seat and the princess took the one next to him as they enjoyed the ride. The friends wanted to ask what he was doing there, but waited since they were almost at Ponyville. After their seven hour journey they were finally back at Ponyville. Everyone was glad to be off the train and hoped that they wouldn’t be getting on it anytime soon again. The sun was already starting to lower and gave the town a beautiful golden hue.

“So Blake, how come you are here and not back at the castle with the uptight princess?” Brandon asked.

“Well, Pinkie left a letter for the princess that requested my presence. Not really sure what was on it, but I guess we will find out,” most of the friends shrugged as they headed back to the library.

Everyone reached the tall oak tree and entered it. The friends sat around the living room as the ponies were doing their own thing. They watched as they conversed to each other in secret and they seem very happy with what they were planning. The friends knew that there was a good chance that whatever they were talking about was meant to be a secret between them. The friends watched as they left but only Luna stayed behind.

“So did they leave you behind for a reason, Luna?” Blake asked.

“I just need to make sure that you all stay here until we are requested for our presence.”

“What exactly do you have planned?” Luke asked.

“I would love to tell you, Luke, but that would spoil the surprise,” Luna answered as she gave a slight smirk.

“Hey, Luna, I don’t want to be rude, but I have a question about the guards,” Luna looked at Marcus as he tried to figure out the best way to word his question. “I have noticed that the ones in golden armor have the sun emblem and are ponies. Then there are these ones that I don’t know wearing midnight blue armor with the moon on it and they aren’t ponies. So what exactly are they?”

“They are my personal guard that protect me. Just like my sister has her solar guard I have my own lunar guard. As to the race of my guard they are ponies but a crossbreed. They are bat ponies or better known as thestrals.”

“So they are some form of half breed?” Andrew asked.

“Yes, but they don’t like being called half breed. They feel insulted since they are ridiculed enough for their looks.”

“I can understand how that would make them feel. To me I think they are more suited to being guards than any other regular pony. Though my only question is that out of all of them one seems to not be a thestral,” Marcus said as he pointed to one of the princess’ guards.

“Ah, yes, that guard. She is a special case and the only one that was able to join the lunar guard.”

“I can clearly see that she is a pegasus, but what makes her so special?” Marcus asked intrigued by this different guard.

“Well, she does have many traits of a regular pegasus, but it is her eyes that allowed her to join. The reason all of my guards are thestrals is because they can see in the dark. She was born a pegasus, but her eyes were developed into that of a thestral,” Luna explained.

“So what is her story?” Marcus asked.

“The only thing that I can tell you is that her name is Blood Rain. Anything else about her past is a mystery. My sister found her when she was just a filly and took her in. She was able to give us her name, but nothing else. We never tried to pull the information out of her because her cutie mark was enough for us to not question her about it.”

“What is her cutie mark?”

“Her cutie mark is a dark grey rain cloud with three blood raindrops coming out of it.”

“Before I ask anymore about Blood Rain, I do want one thing clarified,” Luna looked at the human as he adjusted himself on the couch. “I know that your cutie marks show what you are good at and it has made sense so far. What I want to know is what do you and Celestia do.”

“My sister raises the sun while I raise the moon,” Marcus couldn’t help but laugh at this information.

“You have got to be kidding me. I have been pretty relaxed about everything weird in this world but this is where I draw the line. There is no way, no matter how powerful you are that both of you can control the sun and moon.”

“Then why don’t I prove you wrong and while I am at it why don’t we make this a bet?” Luna stated as she grinned at him.

“Easiest win I am ever going to have. So what are the stakes?”

“If I win and I will, I want to know more about Blake. I want you to allow him to answer any questions that I may have and he can’t say otherwise.”

“Fine, but since I am going to win this you will tell me what the others are up to,” Luna and Marcus shook hands as they grinned at each other.

“Now follow me outside.”

Marcus followed the alicorn outside and got all of his friends to join him. Once they were outside they watched as her horn and hands flared to life. They glowed a midnight blue color and she seemed to be concentrating very hard. At first nothing happened and the human was starting to celebrate on the inside for his victory. His internal cheering was short lived as the sun finally disappeared and the moon rose over the horizon. After several seconds the moon was high in the sky and everyone stared in astonishment.

“Well, Marcus, it looks like I win,” Marcus looked at the princess as he swallowed his frustration and spoke.

“A deal is a deal and I make good on my promises.” Marcus turned to look at Blake and waved him over.

“What do you want?” Blake asked as he continued to look at the moon.

“So I kind of made a bet with the princess,” Blake looked at him and he already wasn’t happy about where this was going, “and since she won the bet, you have to answer any and all questions she asks and you can’t with-hold any information.”

“Why would you do something like that?” Blake asked as he glared at his friend.

“Oh come on, you would have done the same thing with the way everything works. I mean sure there are mythological creatures living in this world, but there was no way that the sun and moon worked differently.”

“Pardon my interruption, but how does it work on your world?” Luan asked as she joined the little argument.

“Well, in our world the sun and moon come and go on their own time.”

“That is very strange.”

“Coming from a pony with wings and a horn that really doesn’t mean much,” the friends headed back inside the library until a certain pink pony showed up.

“Hey Luna, you can bring them over now,” Pinkie said.

“I will meet you at Sugarcube Corner,” Luna said as she smiled. The friends were going to ask what was going on, but before they could, Pinkie disappeared.

“How the hell does she keep doing that?” Luke asked as he started to get slightly frustrated.

“I think it would be in your best interest and health not to think about it,” Luna said as she led the friends to their destination.

“Oh no. I am going to figure out how she does it and expose it for the world to see,” Luke stated triumphantly as he raised a fist into the air.

“You’re only going to try for a few days and then give up like you always do,” Ryan jokingly said.

“If I may interrupt, I do have a question for you, Marcus,” Marcus gestured with his hand for her to go ahead and ask.

“Well, when you gave us that story you mentioned the tattoos on you and your friends,” Marcus nodded his head as he listened for where this is going. “My only confusion was after that terrible incident that happened to Drak, I saw no tattoo.”

“Well, that actually has an easy explanation. We don’t have our tattoos on us anymore because of consuming. Once we consumed the soldiers we used some of their skin to cover up the tattoos.”

The walk to Sugarcube Corner was quiet the rest of the way. Everyone continued on their little walk as some of them enjoyed the night sky. After a few minutes of walking they finally reached their destination. The friends were certain that they were seeing things as they stared in awe at the building. They could feel their mouths salivate as they looked at the delicious ginger bread house. The blue opened the door and walked in. The friends were going to follow, but she slammed it in their faces.

Jaeden just shook his head as he muttered about how rude she was. The friends stood around for a few seconds hoping that someone would open the door for them. It was clear that no one was going to open the door so they all went ahead and entered the building of their own accord. Once they were inside they could see nothing but complete darkness. The friends stood close as they tried to figure out what was going on. Alex heard some shuffling and a few giggles come from somewhere in the dark room.

After thinking it over for a few seconds he realized what was going on. He quickly turned to spot Drak in the middle of the group. He tried to reach out and grab him before the lights turned on, but he was too late.

The lights were turned on and all the friend’s ears were assaulted by the ponies yelling, “SURPRISE!”

All the friends jumped into the air as they saw the many faces of the ponies that lived in the town. Everyone turned to Drak as he was about ready to pass out. Alex tapped him on the shoulder and led him over to a sidewall that had a booth. He tried to help his friend calm down, but was having little success. After a few minutes Drak crossed his legs and placed his hands on his knees. Alex took a sigh of relief as his friend was busy meditating to calm his nerves.

“What just happened?” Twilight asked.

“Drak doesn’t do very well in crowds and this little surprise certainly didn’t help,” Ryan answered.

“Is there anything that we can do to help?” Applejack asked.

“No, he just needs a few minutes to himself and he should be able to calm down. He still won’t be excited about all the ponies here but if he stays in a small group then he should be fine. Speaking of which, do you know where Ditzy is?” Brandon asked.

“She isn’t here yet. She said that she would be a little late to the party,” Twilight answered.

“So what is this party for exactly?” Luke asked.

“This is your welcome to Ponyville party, duh,” Pinkie answered. “I was finally able to get it set up after going through all of that stuff. I also thought this would be a good way for some of you to meet the others that you would be staying with.”

“It probably wouldn’t hurt to meet them, but it would be best to do it over where Drak is sitting so we are away from the crowd,” Andrew suggested.

Everyone nodded as they went their separate ways. The friends joined Drak as he was finally starting to calm down. Pinkie and her friends went through the guests to grab the few ponies that they needed to meet. Before they were to meet and greet each other, Marcus went over to one of the tables that had the drinks. He looked through them all and some alcoholic ciders. He shrugged as he grabbed a few and brought them back over.

The friends drank their ciders as they waited. The party seemed to be in full swing in the center, but was quiet around the sides. After half an hour passed, Blake heard the door open. He looked over and saw Ditzy enter the building. The grey pegasus looked around the party and noticed the friends sitting in the booth. The friends moved around as they allowed her in as she sat down next to Drak. The human looked over at her, but quickly turned away as soon as their gazes met. They waited several more minutes until Pinkie and her friends came walking over with a few other ponies.

Drak was starting to breathe a little fast at the approaching ponies. The friends were about to help him calm down, but were stopped as the pegasus placed a hand on his. He looked down at the hand and then back up at the mare. She just smiled at him as she patted his hand a little. He didn’t know what it was, but that smile seemed to help make the situation more calm. The friends could only stare in surprise as they watch Drak slowly calm down.

“Glad that you could finally join us, Ditzy,” Pinkie said as she smiled happily.

“I am glad to be here although I am sorry for being late to the party,” Ditzy said with a little sadness.

“It’s okay. As long as you showed up then it was alright. You did get the letter though from Celestia, correct?” Pinkie asked.

“I did, but I am a little confused at what exactly is going on,” Ditzy said.

“I think it will be better explained after everypony here is greeted properly,” Twilight suggested. The friends nodded as they looked over at the new arrivals.

“You already know us, but these three are Vinyl, Octavia, and Rose,” Pinkie said as she pointed to the three mares.

The friends looked closely as they took in their features. Vinyl was a pure white unicorn with an electric blue mane and tail. She wore a pair of violet goggles that covered her eyes. She wore a white tank top and tight fitting jeans that showed off her curves. Octavia was grey in color and had a raven black mane and tail. She was a regular earth pony, but had beautiful purple eyes. She wore a grey dress that had a cut up her right leg stopping at her knee. Rose was another earth pony with a pale yellow coat. Her mane and tail were a combination of moderate raspberry and light raspberry. Her eyes were green like that of a stem on a flower. She wore a simple green blouse with a pair of jeans.

Jaeden got up from his seat and walked over to Vinyl and Octavia to shake their hand. As he extended his hand it was slapped away by Vinyl. Everyone looked as the mare got up in his face with what they though was anger. There was a few seconds of silence until she spoke.

“Just because I got a letter from the princess to watch over you doesn’t make us friends. As far as I am concerned you still need a proper beating for breaking into my house.”

“Look, I know it won’t mean much but I am sorry for being in your house. If I had a choice I wouldn’t have ended up there in the first place. Although I am kind of glad that I did because you make really nice music,” Vinyl blushed slightly at his comment, but shook her head to clear it. She looked at him for a few more seconds as he smiled at her. Not knowing what to do she did the next best thing and stomped on his foot.

The human jumped in place as he tried to rub the pain away. As he jumped in place Vinyl walked away in a huff towards some turntables that were set up. When she was gone Octavia stepped up to him with a neutral expression. She looked him up and down for a few seconds before deciding to speak.

“I apologize for her rudeness. She doesn’t like having to deal with things that interfere in her work. Though I am also not happy of having to look after you since I have my own problems that I need to deal with. So to make this easier on all of us, let’s set a few things straight. Do not bother us unless it is an emergency, don’t try anything funny, and if you even dare hurt Vinyl, you will be dealing with more than the princess,” Jaeden just gave a slight nod of his head as she walked away to join her friend.

“So are you going to introduce yourself, Brandon?” Twilight asked.

“Not really since she and I have already met,” Brandon couldn’t help but laugh a little as Rose looked at him in anger.

“What exactly did you do, Brandon?” Ryan asked. Brandon gestured for his friends to get close and he explained what he did.

Once everyone was pulled away they busted out laughing. Marcus raised his hand and got a high five from Brandon. Drak could only shake his head for the awful thing that Brandon did. Rose was furious as the friends continued to laugh and she slapped Brandon across the face. Before anyone could react the mare ran off with slight tears in her eyes.

“What did you do to that poor mare?” Applejack asked as she glared at Brandon.

“Well, after I woke up from my little nap I found out she was the one that knocked me out. So as a little payback I took a permanent marker and drew cocks all over her face,” Applejack took a few steps forward and got into his face.

“You better plan on apologizing to her or you and I are going to have a problem,” Applejack said in a low and menacing voice.

Brandon took a few seconds to look her in the eyes and see that she was serious. As he though it over he did feel kind of bad. It was true that she attacked him, but if he was in the same situation he would have done the same thing. He looked at the floor for a few seconds before nodding his head in agreement. Applejack smiled as she walked back with her friends to enjoy the party some more.

The friends continued to sit in the booth, enjoying their drinks and the little quiet that they had. A couple of hours have passed and some of them have headed towards the party to enjoy it themselves. It wasn’t too long after that Marcus got up from his seat and grabbed another cider. He started walking towards the booth, but then took a sharp turn and left the building. He didn’t notice a certain cyan pegasus watching him though. He sighed as he sat on a bench drinking his cider and staring out into nothingness.

“What are you doing our here?” Marcus jerked in his seat from the sudden voice. He looked to his right and saw Rainbow Dash floating in the air and staring at him.

“I just came out here to get some fresh air and avoid the rest of the ponies.”

“Yeah, sure you did. I bet you just came out here so you can plan your escape,” Rainbow retorted as she eyed him suspiciously.

“If I wanted to escape then I would have done so. The only problem that I am facing is that there are guards out here watching my movements. May I ask why you came out here?” The question threw the pegasus off track as she blushed slightly.

“Well, I was assigned to watch over you and I am just trying to do my job,” Rainbow answered as she gained back her composure.

“Why do you care? I have seen the way that you look at me and I can tell that you really hate me. So why even bother keeping an eye on me when you can tell your princess whatever you want and have me sent away?”

“I could do that, but I won’t. I promised the princess and my friends that I would look after you. As much as I despise you right now I never go back on my word. I am loyal to my friends and I will see this through till the end.”

“Loyalty to friends and rulers is a joke. Loyalty is just a word people can throw around as an excuse to betray people.”

“Well I am the most loyal pony there is since I will always be there for my friends.”

“It’s funny that you say that. Would you like to hear a little story of the last person that said that to me?” Rainbow nodded her head as she lowered herself to the ground and took a seat.

“I met a guy named Jimmy during our travels. He was all alone, but a really nice guy. We trusted that he would be helpful and let him join. First chance that he got he tried to sell us to some bandits. Big mistake on his part. After we destroyed the bandit settlement I found Jimmy. I ripped his skull out of his body and beat him to death with it.”

“How can you beat a person to death with their own skull? That doesn’t even seem physically possible.”

“That was what Jimmy kept yelling as I mercilessly beat him to death. If you even want my trust then you are going to have to work for it.”

Marcus got up from his seat and headed back inside to join his friends. Rainbow continued to sit on the bench as she looked up to the moon. She held slight anger towards the human, but she understood somewhat where he was coming from. She took a few moments to think it over and decided that she would ask her friends for help to prove not just to him, but all of them that they could be trusted. With that resolve she entered the building to enjoy the ongoing party.