The moon had become an iconic symbol in Equestria since Luna’s return. No longer was it a solemn reminder of Nightmare Moon’s actions, it was instead a reminder that Princess Luna cared for her subjects just like her sister. Some would say it was even comforting.

Luna took no comfort in the pain she felt in her very being that afternoon. It was excruciating, and more than enough to keep her moaning in agony for the day. Celestia had the best doctors in the kingdom examine at her, but they couldn’t find what was causing the pain in her body, nor the burning fever that dwelled within her head. While they couldn’t think of a definite diagnosis, Luna had her own theories.

“Tia,” She choked out, her muscles tense in pain. “The moon… it doth… I...” She screamed in agony again as another wave of pain swept over her body. Celestia cradled her sister’s head within her hooves, hoping to comfort her during the pain. “It…” She grit her teeth. “The moon is impure. It’s eating away at my very soul.” Her eyes widened. “It must not be raised tonight, as I fear for what magic could corrupt it’s very essence, and what it could mean for-” The princess drew a deep breath in the sharp pain that erupted from her head. Finding little strength in keeping the battle with consciousness, the steward of the night fell into a troubled slumber neath her sister’s hooves.

Celestia found herself both worried and relieved to see her sister finally rest, but unsure of the meaning behind her outburst. Celestia could feel no wrong from the moon, but it had always been her sister that shared a special connection that she could not fathom.

She considered her sister’s warning, and spoke to her guards. “Send word across the land at once! The moon will not raise over Equus until further notice.”

The sister of the sun brought her magic to bear in order to gauge for herself the moon’s due course, but found that the once familiar connection had all but been severed. The common threads simply did not exist anymore. She assumed that when Luna had returned to Equestria, the power had been returned to Luna.

What other explanation could there be?

“Where could they be?” Twilight inspected the overturned carriage, which had distinct claw markings on the side. Rainbow Dash was prodding a dislodged jaw that remained curiously embedded in one of the harnesses.

“No idea,” the man shrugged his shoulders, his hands buried within the pockets of his duster. After their timely rescue by the odd human he introduced himself as Darius, and made sure that the ponies knew he meant no harm. Despite their originally apprehensive attitude towards, as Twilight called them, post mortem homo sapiens (Or as he preferred to be called, human), he managed to get enough information out of them to know that they were going to need his help. And that he wasn’t about to treat them with the same respect he treated the undead.

“So,” Rainbow Dash trotted over to the dark skinned man and poked his shoulder. “What did you say those things you used were again?”

“Guns,” He replied, slightly irked by her constant prodding. She opened her mouth again, but he cut her off. “And no, you still can’t have one.”

“Aw, come on!” Dash bellyached, annoyed by her continuously failed attempts to acquire one of his guns. “Please?”

“No,” He coldly replied. “You’ll shoot your eye out.”

He had proven himself to be extremely efficient with these guns of his, and although Twilight didn’t know how the finer mechanics of the weapons worked, she had a basic idea. Pull trigger, ignite miniscule incendiary charge, small, destructive projectile launched out.

Twilight and Pinkie’s injuries were treated by flasks of a red liquid Darius gave them. While it tasted rather bitter, Twilight was surprised when she saw her flesh reappear and Pinkie’s ear seemingly build itself back together.

“Aw, I was already thinking of the many earrings I could borrow from Rarity now that I had my ear pierced! Oh well!” Pinkie optimistically added, earning an odd glance from Darius.

“Is she always--” Darius began.

“Yeah.” Chimed in three of the friends in practised unison.

“Nevertheless, I doubt now is a time for planning accessories. Where did our two dashing stallions fly off to at the moment of our greatest need?” Cooed Rarity, searching the skies and around the carriage for any sign of their pegasi escorts.

“Don’t think they flew off, Miss,” Darius quickly replied, earning horrified glances from the eight equines. “Look here down next to the harness.” Darius points to the dirt which, to most of the ponies, looked just like normal dirt. “Drag marks around here, these straight lines?” The gunslinger then pointed to the mangled harnesses.“and from the look of these bites, I’d say that an Antlion got ‘em. Dragged them under the sand, probably chewed them into tiny pieces.”

Sheathed found himself staring at the drag marks in the dirt. “One... one of them was going to be my brother in law. He was marrying my sister in a month...”

“And we best be going before we meet our own final rest in this graveyard.” The man cut in, not giving time for contemplation. “Even if you don’t understand the dangers of this place, I don’t see much sense in stoppin’ at a grave unless you have kin here.”

“We didn’t exactly mean to end up here. We was tryin’ to follow this map here, and-” Applejack pulled out the tattered parchment from Sheathed’s saddleback and tried to hand it to Darius.

He didn’t even glance at the paper, only scanning the ground around him. “That map is no good.”

“Well, maybe one of these stallion’s was readin’ it wrong?” AJ said, ignoring a disgruntled cough from Sheathed Sword.

“He wasn’t reading it wrong.” Darius replied, crumpling up the paper and throwing it to the ground.

“Now how in the name of auntie Honeycrisp could you know that?” AJ raised an eyebrow.

“The landscape changes around here. Might as well try and chart a desert. Now, are we going to move or will we keep chatting enough to wake the dead again?” The equines looked at each other in an uncomfortable silence before following the strange man.

“Lead the way, gunslinger man!” Pinkie Pie chirped.

“Not a gunslinger, lady,” He absent mindedly walked down the road. “Jus’ an Arms Dealer.”

The dark wooden walls of the mansion were nestled between the treetops that reminded Fluttershy of home. The graveled road which the ponies tread lead up to a cobblestone walkway that Rarity would offhoofedly call ‘quaint’. Though the place was built upon a strong foundation, there could be no mistaking the age of the building upon seeing the countless vines and sagging stained glass which permeated the walls.

A statue of a winged human stood guard in front of the doors, seemingly watching over the group. Rainbow Dash nudged Applejack mid-stride. “Hey, what do you suppose they call a winged human? You don’t think it’s humanus or something like that, do you?”  she whispered, trying not to let Darius hear.

“I believe they’re angels.” Twilight, who couldn’t help but hear their question, answered for them. “I read in a book over at Canterlot High that they’re supposed to be some sort of form humans take after death, if they follow friendship well enough.”

“Ooooooh.” The earth and pegasus ponies responded in unison.

“I still don’t rightly get it.” AJ shrugged to the friend next to her. Before Twilight could get in a rebuke, she was interrupted by Pinkie Pie.

“What does this one do?” The party planner asked, pointing at the cracked statue.

“It doesn’t do anything,” Darius grumbled, glaring at the statue.

“Nothing at all?” Twilight asked for confirmation.

“Nothing at all,” He confirmed with a tired sigh.

The grand front doors of the mansion swung open, revealing a lavishly furnished entry hall. All sorts of odd banners were hung on the wall, and suits of odd armors were lined on both sides.  Both Applejack and Rainbow Dash felt a little uneasy when walking under the armor, having unpleasant memories of a place much like this one. Applejack herself seemed captivated by a purple suit of armor that seemed to be worn from battle. Dried blood leaked out of the helmet’s visor, and it seemed like there were claw marks running down the middle.

Before she could ask Darius about the suit, another human walked downstairs and promptly screamed.

“DARIUS!” A shrill voice yelled out, causing the nine to jump. “You let a unicorn in here?” the group looked at the stairs to find a female with blonde hair slowly backing up the stairs. “Why don’t you just… Kill them!” The ponies flinched and instinctively got into a fighting position.

“Easy there,” Darius raised his hands in the air, motioning for both the woman in white and the ponies to calm down. “These here horses--”

“Ponies, actually,” Twilight helpfully interrupted.

“These here ponies aren’t like the other unicorn’s out there. They seem pretty peaceful; ain’t skewered me just yet, as you can see.” Rarity flinched at the mental image Darius created with his reply.

“Wait…” Sheathed Sword raised his hoof in the air. “Are you saying… There are other unicorns here in Terraria?”

“And they skewer?” Rarity added.

“Yeah. Want to see the scar?” Darius offered, pulling at the hem of his jacket.

“No thanks,” Twilight blurted out.

“Heavens no,” Rarity lurched her head backwards at the very thought.

“I’ll pass,”  Rainbow Dash held a hoof over her eyes.

“Nope!” Pinkie Pie quickly asserted.

“Ah don’t think ah do,” Applejack’s cheeks became tinted green.

“Not at all,” Both bodyguards replied in unison.

Fluttershy only whimpered.

Darius nodded. “Thought so,”

“Granted, I’ve never seen a unicorn talk before making a big hole in someone’s chest. The last unicorn injury I had to patch up gave my fingers a cramp. The dumb bastard wouldn’t sit still.” The nurse stared accusingly at Darius.

“Give me a break, Helen, I was sober!” Darius countered

“Wait,” Twilight ignored the protests of Darius. “Unicorns here don’t talk?”

“Honestly don’t stick around long enough to find out. They kinda look like your marshmallow friend here, but with hellish eyes that stare into your soul.” The gunslinger pointed to Rarity’s eyes. “Once they catch wind of you... well. Few things make a man regret his past like the charge of a unicorn, horn first.”

“Well,” Rarity spoke up, clearly uncomfortable with the discussion at hand. “You don’t need to worry about us. We wouldn’t harm you even if our lives depended on it.”

Twilight touched her own with a wince. “Honestly never thought this could be used that way.”

“I don’t know ‘bout y’all, but I’d like to change the subject here.” Applejack interrupted before pulling on Darius’ sleeve. “Y’all got any grub around here? Ah’m a might peckish.”

“Well if you’re not here to kill us, then we might as well feed you. Come on upstairs, we were just putting something together from what we had stored. Someone was meant to go out and hunt for something, but he found better things to do.” The nurse turned up the stairs, beckoning for the ponies to follow her.

“Dammit woman.” Darius muttered under his breath, following behind the parade of pastel ponies.

“Is… Uh, is this what I think it is?” Fluttershy meekly tapped a large dish with a brownish food sitting on top of it.

“Hm?” Helen looked up from her rabbit, noticing the disgusted expressions across the table. “Oh. Right. Vegetarians and all that.”

Applejack slowly chewed the bite she took just seconds before, contemplating the gravity of her actions. She had a feeling her stomach wouldn’t agree with her the next morning.

“Vegetarians? Who in the wor--” A new voice seemed to appear out of thin air behind the table. The ten turned around to find a burly man with a wispy white beard propped up against a nearby door frame. “Darius… Are those unicorns?”

“Hey, don’t worry Beldin,” Darius motioned to his guests. “They don’t attack virgins, so you should be good.” The eight equines either blushed or looked for the most interesting speck to stare at on the nearest wall.

“Riiiight,” Beldin rolled his eyes before focusing back to his gun-wielding rival. “So did you bring our company in to help with the moon or--” He was silenced by an icy stare from Darius.

“Could y’all point me the way to the kitchen?” the southern pony interjected, and quickly moved after Beldin pointed a thumb behind him. He still looked perplexed, even more so after AJ gave a quick ‘thank ya kindly’ before passing his way.

Beldin sat next to Fluttershy, eyeing her plate. “Hey, are you going to eat that?”

“N-No, I couldn’t bring myself to ever eat a poor bunny like--”

“Alright, more fer’ the rest of us!” cried a happy Beldin, forcibly skewering the remains of Fluttershy’s plate with a fork and bringing it to his own. The yellow pegasus’ face began to turn an unsettling shade of green before she quickly excused herself and ran after Applejack.

“Beldin!” Helen began to scold the odd man, but Darius shook his head at her. She knew the signal. “So…” Helen trailed off, gaining the ponies attention. “I would love to show you the rest of the mansion, would you like to take a tour?” The six remaining ponies nodded enthusiastically as Helen lead them out of the dining hall.

As soon as Darius was sure he was alone with Beldin, he got down to business. “To answer your question… Yes. More hands on deck during a blood moon can’t hurt.” He instinctively patted his holster. “Especially in one that’s going to be as hectic as this.”

“You sure this is a good idea?” Beldin raised an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you at least let them know what’s going to happen?”

Darius shook his head.”We can’t risk them trying to leave already. Two of them appear to be soldiers, and that purple one seems pretty smart. They were even holding their own against a near dozen of the drybones back at the site. The more of them we have when the moon rises, the more likely it is that we will live to see tomorrow.”

Darius tilted back on his chair while rubbing the back of his neck. “And I’d hate to ruin their meal any more than we have already. Could be our last, after all.”

Beldin sighed, swallowing another bite of rabbit. “Whatever you say, Darius. I just think this is a really bad idea.”

He inched closer to Beldin, his green eyes wide. “You wouldn’t believe how tough some of the beasts I fought today were. Something tells me that this moon is going to be the strongest yet.”

“Like when the Groom and--” Beldin was silenced by Darius’ hand. Wordlessly, he motioned behind him at the approaching orange pony. Beldin nodded as he heard the rhythm of hoofsteps.

“Hey, where did everypony go?” Applejack walked in the dining room, balancing an impressive amount of dishes on two platters with filled plates of baked goods and salads. One in a hoof, the other on her forehead.

“Everypony?” Beldin was ignored.

“They went up with Helen to take a tour of the place. Might be back in a minute.” Darius said as he stood up to help the mare. AJ wordlessly thanked him as he took the platter from her head and set it on the table.

“Well,” the arms dealer slammed his hands down on the table. “I got some business to attend to, so if you don’t mind…” He shot a glare at Beldin. “I’ll be off,”

Applejack’s curious eyes followed the arms dealer as he exited the dining room before her eyes met Beldin’s own. The two’s eyes met for a moment before they broke the silence.

“Nice hat.” They said in unison, followed by a near perfect ‘thanks’ as a reply. Both chuckled awkwardly for a moment, but Beldin simply returned to his meal. Applejack eyed her own before realizing she wasn’t so hungry anymore.

“So... Ah reckon you’re some kind of miner?” Drawled the southern belle, pointing a hoof at Beldin’s hard hat with a flashlight on the brim.

“Demolitionist,” He pulled a long red cylinder that Applejack could instantly identify as TNT out of his back pocket. “Love to see things go boom, y’know? The little bloody chunks flying through the air, those sounds…” He wistfully shut his eyes. “‘s a thing of beauty, wouldn’t you agree?” He turned to the apple farmer, who currently had her jaw slack and her brow furrowed.

“Ah... Ah probably wouldn’t quite think of it that way.” Applejack replied after pushing her jaw back in place. Fluttershy re-entered the room.

“Oh c’mon!” He put his hands up for extra effect. “You have no idea how fun it is to go Bunny Boomin’.” Applejack quickly put a hoof to her throat in a silencing motion to Beldin as he spoke, but the damage had been done.

“Bunny… Booming?” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Yeah!” Beldin ignored Applejack’s motion and continued through a mouth full of rabbit. “Go and find a bunny, catch the lil’ bastard, strap dynamite to it, and throw it at some slimes. Y’know, a nice way to keep your hands attached and still collect that gel!”

Fluttershy left the room again.

AJ scowled at the strange man. He didn’t seem to be as kind and well meaning as she had originally thought.

“So, I take you as a... waitress?” the demolitionist inquired.

“Not exact-” Applejack began through gritted teeth.”

“Ha!” Rainbow Dash bellowed as she and her friends returned to the room. “Yeah, wouldn’t that be something AJ?” She playfully patted her friend on the back. “Imagine yourself, all dressed up in some stupid frilly outfit!”

“Like the one you had on when Rarity was zappin’ everythin’?” AJ retorted, causing Dash’s face to redden.

“Hey, you and I both know that was Rarity’s fault!” She barked, motioning at their fashionista friend.

“Actually,” Rarity piped up. “I believe that a book was to blame for that little incident, right Applejack?”

AJ nodded. “Ah reckon so.” Dash sighed, slouching into her chair as Rarity and Applejack giggled.

“But regardless, I think Rainbow is right. You’d simply look marvelous in a starched white shirt and a fitting black vest, wouldn’t you think?” Applejack grumbled, thinking of a retort.

“So,” Beldin eyed the white and orange ponies. “Can you cut the tension and just kiss already?”

Dead silence followed by even deadlier stares.

Beldin simply shrugged as the guards and nurse returned. “Jus’ saying.”

The flickering lamp was the only illumination that Darius’ underground vault contained, and it was the only one he needed. As he swung open the door of his safe, he cracked a smile. While he knew for a fact that the danger that lurked after sundown could jeopardize his very life, he was more than a bit excited to use his full arsenal.

The massive vault was cluttered with guns of all sorts, from a massive sniper rifle to a gatling gun shaped like a shark. He reached through the clutter for a second before pulling out a black T-shaped gun that could fit in his hand. In a swift motion, he slid a scope that he salvaged off of the skeletal sniper on top of the slide.

He quickly holstered the gun into his coat, before fishing around for his next target. He pulled out a large red gun with one hand, and a fistfull of what appeared to be its ammunition in the other. He gently slipped the flares into large loops on his belt before adding the flare gun to his holster as well.

He closed the door to the vault, but his favorite weapon of all was yet to join his inventory. His eyes wandered to the stone walls of his bunker, where a large double-barreled shotgun was mounted. Underneath the item was a gold plated plaque that simply read BOOMSTICK.

The arms dealer just grinned as he pulled the boomstick down and into his coat.

Fully equipped, he took the stone stairwell out of his bunker and into the front yard of the mansion. To his horror, there appeared to be a flock of bunnies pounding at the door. He knew that they were waiting for the moon to rise, and wasn’t about to let them walk free.

In a swift motion, he pulled his uzi out of his coat and fired upon the crowd of bunnies. Chunks of rabbit went flying as the high velocity bullets tore their very skin in half. Gunshots could be heard across the forest as the bunnies were gunned down, along with their piercing death cries.

While most of the flock was downed in one spray, Darius soon found his magazine unexpectedly dry. Before he could reload a new magazine into his gun, the lone surviving bunny began to hop away at a rapid pace.

“Oh no you don’t,” he muttered, drawing his handgun from his holster. As he raced after the rabbit, he heard assorted cries as the front doors of the manner burst open. Darius swiftly tackled the rabbit, pointing his gun against it’s head.

“Don’t shoot!” He quickly turned his head back, noticing the quickly advancing equines. Things were about to get complicated.

The graveyard was silent, the only motion provided by the slight swaying of dead trees in the wind. However, the dead were all but peaceful. They had been preparing for this night, spending years to enact their plan. All the pieces were in place, all that was left to do was wait for the moon rise.

A solitary top hat tumbled off of a grave marker, landing on the patch of dirt below.

Almost instantly, a sickly green hand reached out, grabbed it, and pulled it under. The Groom would rise again.

And he could owe it all to the blood moon rising. Next Chapter: Chapter 2: Full Moon Estimated time remaining: 18 Minutes