"-unarrr. Luuuunaaaaarr~."

Lunar Trail stirs, wrapping his wings more tightly around himself.

The familiar voice sighs, "Alright, you leave me no choice."

Without further warning, two sharp bursts of air force their way into his ears, Lunar Trail yelping and loosening his wings just enough to reach out to cover his ears with his forehooves.

"What was that for?" Lunar demands, squinting irritably at the upside-down faces of Night Glider and another guard hovering in front of him.

Night Glider smiles innocently, saluting the thestral next to him, "Excellent job, soldier. You are dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," the other guard says, bemusedly returning the salute before descending to the floor.

"Anyway, you know the drill," Night Glider continues, turning back to Lunar. "Wake up, get down, get ready."

Lunar Trail groans, glancing around to see only a few other guards still hanging from the many oak bars attached to the ceiling and walls of the hastily retrofitted barn, two freshly lit candles providing enough light for the entirety of the building, "It's night already?"

"Well, no," Night Glider admits, "but Princess Luna is standing on the roof right now getting ready to raise the moon. So, you know, take your time."

"Horseapples," Lunar curses, spreading his wings and with a few flaps bringing himself parallel to the ground. Releasing his tail's hold on the sleeping bar, he folds his wings to his sides, a soft thump announcing his return to earth a split second later.

Searching the floor in his immediate vicinity, he quickly locates his set of armor, the pieces neatly stacked to his right. However, as he reaches for his first greave the barn door glows, Luna's magic pushing it aside to reveal the Lunar Princess standing in the doorway backed by the recently risen moon. Its gentle, white light floods the makeshift barracks, for a short moment providing the only light from the outside until Princess Luna steps further inside, closing the door behind her. Lunar Trail bows along with most of the assembled Night Guard, those few not yet awake pulled bodily from their sleeping bars by their peers and dropped on the floor.

"Welcome awake, my thestrals," Princess Luna says, scanning the room before giving a single nod. "As you were."

The tension in the room vanishes at her words, some of the gathered guards nevertheless remaining standing and on alert while most shift to a more comfortable sitting position – several covering their mouth with a hoof or wing to block a yawn.

"We are pleased to be able to say that the situation in town has remained calm since our announcement the previous night," Princess Luna continues once the noise from shifting hooves and rustling wings dies down. "So although there will still need to be patrols, at this point your job is simply to make sure the peace is kept. Therefore, given how few of Ponyville's residents remain awake beyond this time, we do not believe it will be necessary for each of you to be on duty every single night we are here, though I trust you will be able to work out the precise patrol schedule and routes amongst yourselves. As for Princess Twilight's floor… " she pauses, her gaze moving from thestral to thestral, each averting their eyes as she does so, "she has opted for the assistance of some local earth ponies to correctly heal and regrow the damage which occurred last night."

Luna smiles, "In the meantime, I will be with Princess Twilight at the local spa, after which we will most likely be spending the remainder of the night at the town hall discussing further details of, and plans for, the long term vampony presence by Ponyville."

A mare to Lunar's left steps forward, "I would like to volunteer to guard you, Princess Luna."

"Hidden Glow, correct? We do not believe I will require any additional protection," Luna replies. "The threat has passed."

"And I do not presume to know better than you, Princess," Hidden states, "but I do believe it is always better to be safe than sorry."

Princess Luna considers the mare, then nods, "Very well."

Hidden Glow stands taller, her face lighting up with a wide grin, though she quickly hides it with a bow, "Thank you, Princess."

A flurry of whispers follows Luna's acceptance, muffled congratulations and a few knowing smiles directed towards Hidden Glow. Narrowing her eyes at the rest of her guards, Luna clears her throat, silence instantly falling over the other occupants of the makeshift barracks, "Moving on, there is not much else which needs to be said regarding the vamponies, other than if anypony happens to see one of them sneaking around town… "

"Leave them alone," 28 voices chorus back at her.

"Correct. Additionally," Luna says, glancing at the barn door, "and entirely unrelated to the vamponies, I was able to come to an agreement with the Apple family to allow all of you to feed on the apples in the surrounding area. The only caveat is that the Apples have also allowed some vampire fruit bats to make their home in this part of the orchard, and while they can be 'irritating little pests', they are not to be antagonized. And lastly, Hidden Glow, the Apples have offered me their hospitality, so I will be having breakfast with them in their home and expect to be departing in half an hour or less. If you are not there when I am ready to leave, then we will be leaving without you."

Hidden Glow salutes, "Understood, Princess!"

Luna's horn glows, a sphere of increasingly bright light engulfing her for several seconds until both she and it disappear, leaving behind a leftover haze of dimly luminescent magic. As soon as Princess Luna disappears from the room, the two thestrals who had been sitting on either side of Hidden Glow swiftly move next to her, the stallion on her left and the mare on her right squishing her between them.

"Uff," Hidden grunts as air is forced from her lungs, the pressure provided by the sandwiching pair pinning her wings and lifting her hooves a couple inches from the ground.

They release her several seconds later, the stallion giving her shoulder a light punch, "So that's why you were so insistent about wanting to come along to Ponyville of all places."

Hidden chuckles, rubbing her shoulder, "What can I say? I saw an opportunity, and I took it."

"Yes, yes, congratulations on Princess Luna saying 'yes'," Shadow Strike says, the attention of everypony in the room switching to him as he sidles up to Hidden, "and on having the guts to actually try that. Now don't buck it up. You won't be getting any second chances after pulling this kind of stunt – either from the Princess, or from me."

The grin plastered across Hidden Glow's face falters and she dips her head, swallowing, "Yes, sir. Thank you for giving me a chance, sir."

Shadow Strike takes a few steps back, Night Glider and Lunar Trail joining him on either side while the remaining Night Guard form a loose circle around them, "Anyway, the rest of us still need to decide who's on patrol while we're here. With the 25 of you, plus Lunar Trail, Night Glider, and I, that gives us 28, minus Hidden Glow gives 27. So here's how this is going to work: there will be 18 of us on patrol each night, split into two shifts of nine each. Each shift will then be split into three squads of three, and given Ponyville's size as well as the fact that we don't have to support any earth ponies, each squad will cover two thirds of the town with every third of the town being covered by two squads. Now," he scans the thestrals surrounding him, "that all comes out to everypony being on duty two nights out of every three, for however long we end up staying in Ponyville. I have final say over who is with whom and when, but if anypony wants to volunteer and save me the effort of figuring out where to put you, I'll let you choose the other two who will be in your squad."

After a few seconds a guard directly in front of Shadow Strike walks forward, "I'll volunteer for first shift tonight and tomorrow night, and to be in a squad with Starry Night and Prairie Crescent."

"Hey!" a guard immediately to the volunteer's right objects, "Wait a minute-"

"You Have Been Chosen," Shadow Strike declares. "Deal with it. Anypony else?"

Another guard to Shadow Strike's left moves forward, his eyes darting to Lunar Trail for an instant, "I'll also volunteer for first shift tonight and tomorrow night, and to be in a squad with Lunar Trail, if that's alright with-"

"Denied," Shadow Strike interrupts. "Lunar Trail has other plans for tonight."

Lunar turns to look at Shadow Strike, his brow knitting, "I do?"

Shadow Strike meets Lunar's eyes, his lips curving in a smirk, "I had assumed you were planning to go meet up with your new marefriend, but if you're not, that's fine too."

Lunar's face heats up, the blush spreading to cover his ears as well, "Wait, I'm not – I mean, I was going to try, but she's not-"

"Well it's about time you got a new marefriend!" a guard to Lunar's left calls out, "I was beginning to think you'd turned asexual or something considering what happened last time."

Lunar Trail stares at his fellow guard, mouth hanging open, "What?"

The guard shrugs unapologetically, "Hey, I'm only telling it like I see it."

"And not just any mare either," Night Glider chimes in, "he's fallen for one of the vampony mares!"

"T-That's not-" Lunar stammers, the insides of his ears turning beet red, "I haven't-"

Night Glider grins, "And yet, you're blushing so much I could probably boil water off your face."

"Though, I gotta be honest," Shadow Strike comments, "I never would have pegged you as somepony who'd be into a shade. I always figured you were waiting for some safe, vanilla relationship to pop up out of nowhere."

"She's not a shade," Lunar manages through the haze of his own embarrassment, fixing Shadow Strike with as much of a glare as he can muster. "She's a vampony."

"And there's nothing wrong with that," a mare standing not quite directly in front of Lunar pipes up. "Vamponies are totally hot after all."

A chorus of sighs meet her words, the stallion next to her facehoofing, "Sweet Luna, Whisper, please don't start with this again."

"What?" Whisper asks, letting her tail lightly brush the chest of the stallion beside her as she starts to circle him, "They are. Just imagine, it's after your date and you're not quite sure if it's time for you to head home or not yet, and she meets your eyes with a familiar need burning in her own. Knowing what she wants, you raise your head to allow her access to your neck – her lips on your throat a moment later, gentle as a kiss, fire spreading across your body as you feel her fangs slowly, lovingly penetrate your-"

"OKBYE!" Lunar Trail shouts, galloping to the barn door, shoving it aside and all but throwing himself through the doorway, then shutting the door behind him forcefully enough to rattle the entire building.

Laughter conquers the barracks in Lunar's absence, Night Glider eventually taking a deep breath and wiping a few tears from his eyes, "Seriously though, Shadow. Is he going to be, you know, safe, going out with a shade or a vampony or whatever?"

Shadow Strike shrugs, "I don't know. It's his choice to make though – it is his neck on the line."

A collective groan follows his statement, a few chuckles reigniting as well.

Night Glider sends a worried look at the door, "I'm not joking, Shadow. I know Princess Luna said the vamponies are good and fine and all, but are they really?"

Shadow Strike sighs, "The Princess has made her position on them very clear, and I see no reason to doubt her judgment."

"And what about Lunar?" Night Glider asks.

Shadow Strike gives him a flat look, "What about him?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" A guard behind Whisper calls out, "He's about to go on a date with a monster!"

"Wow, I didn't know you were a tribalist, Fruity!" Whisper shouts back.

"It's not being a tribalist if it's true," Fruity retorts. "They kill things and eat them!"

"Lunar Trail is free to do whatever he wants," Shadow Strike states sharply. "He's not some colt chasing after his first crush, we're not his parents, and for whatever reason Princess Luna seems to have been encouraging his pursuit of Midnight. I am not going to interfere with that. It is not my job or my place to do so."

"With all due respect, sir," Fruity says carefully, "are you saying we aren't going to do anything at all?"

Shadow Strike narrows his eyes at Fruity, "That is exactly what I am saying. And while I'm at it, I'll go one step further. Nopony had better go off by themselves and start any kind of confrontation on their own. As I said, Princess Luna has made her position clear, and anypony who puts her efforts in jeopardy will have to answer to her exactly why they think they know better than she does. Is that in any way unclear?"

Fruity dips his head, lowering his gaze to the floor, "No, sir."

"Good," Shadow Strike says, returning his attention to the guard who had requested Lunar. "Anyway, we still have a patrol schedule to fill, so who're your next choices?"

Lunar Trail shoves the barn door aside, grabbing onto its handle with his tail as he passes through the doorway and slamming it shut behind him. Slowing to a stop in front of an apple tree a short distance away, Lunar closes his eyes and rests his head against the rough bark of its trunk, the stream of images brought forth by Whisper's teasing stubbornly sustaining the fire of embarrassment and lust heating his face.

The leaves above him rustle, weak vibrations making their way to his forehead through the trunk, "So."

Lunar jumps away from the tree as if it had turned to lava, his wings slowly spreading of their own accord while he stares up at the owner of the voice perched on a branch above him with growing horror, "M-M-Mid-Midn-"

"Midnight," said vampony finishes, her fangs bared as she grins toothily down at him. "And if I overheard all that correctly, you think me biting you is… arousing."

Lunar Trail's blush deepens, his wings burning and face radiating heat like the sun itself as he feels each heartbeat pulse across his body, "I-I-I-I – I d-don't, I mean, u-uh… h-how… how did you even get here? Princess Luna just raised the moon a few minutes ago."

Midnight hops off the branch, landing behind him, "It wasn't that hard. I followed you here after you spent all of last night following Luna around, then I slept on the edge of the Everfree until the sun started getting lower." She prowls forward, taking short, deliberate strides, "And then, once the sun was low enough to be mostly hidden by the trees, I flew over, staying just above the ground. Simple."

Lunar swallows, the tree upon which he has previously planted his face only allowing him to retreat a single step, "O-Oh."

"But, if it makes you feel any better," Midnight continues, now nearly nose to nose with him, "I kinda like the idea that you like being bitten."

Lunar's mouth opens and closes, half formed words and random syllables the only sounds coming out.

Midnight giggles, moving to the side and walking past him, "Anyway, come on, let's go."

Lunar Trail blinks, dislodging a few particularly provocative thoughts with a shake of his head before turning to look at Midnight, "Sorry, what?"

Midnight sighs, "Just follow me."

Lunar Trail hesitates once they reach the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, an expanse of increasingly wild grass separating the neat rows of apple trees from the twisted oaks and chaotic undergrowth of the Everfree, "Um, Midnight?"

Midnight halts a few strides ahead, turning around to look at him, "What?"

"Why are we going into the Everfree Forest?" Lunar asks, glancing between the dark woods and the vampony leading him there.

"Because I like being in the Everfree more than being in Ponyville," Midnight replies. "Everything is way too… open. Also there's a clearing close to the border here where we won't be interrupted by some random pony happening to see what we're doing and getting the wrong idea."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Lunar Trail says, cantering to catch up to Midnight as she continues making her way towards the forest. "What are we going to be doing when we get there?"

Midnight smiles, "When we get there, I'll tell you."

Lunar pauses again upon reaching the Everfree's border, spreading his wings in preparation to take flight only for Midnight to push the closer of his wings back against his barrel, "No flying."

"No flying?"

"No flying."

Lunar eyes the trees in front of him, even the incomplete coverage they provide seeming to absorb more of the moon's light than they should to cast an eerie shroud on everything beneath them, "Why?"

Midnight shrugs, "Because I said so."

"Flying would be safer though," Lunar insists, "and faster too."

"I am here," Midnight states, fixing Lunar Trail with an indignant glare. "Even if there was anything around here that would be interested in attacking you, it wouldn't dare try while you're with me. And flying isn't always safer or faster either, especially once you start going farther in."

Lunar sends a long look at the peaceful, moonlit orchard behind them, then sighs, "Alright, lead the way."

The remainder of their journey passes in silence, Lunar Trail keeping his eyes narrowed and a foreleg raised to protect himself from the leaves, branches, and vines pushed aside by Midnight's passing. Eventually though a break appears in the trees and foliage, a small, perfectly circular area with a completely unobstructed view of the night sky appearing out of nowhere.

Midnight walks into the clearing without hesitation, however Lunar pauses after placing a single hoof inside its border. Looking down, he sees a dense sheet of moss covering the entire clearing, tiny gaps in the moss revealing it to be growing on a single large chunk of stone rather than the dirt of the rest of the forest. Raising his gaze, his eyes land on a waiting Midnight, the vampony standing beside a short stone spire only as tall as her shoulder jutting from the clearing's center. Light from Luna's moon glints off water flowing down the spire's sides from its lopped off tip, the moss covering the surrounding area absorbing and distributing the water like a sponge.

Midnight licks her lips, glancing at the moss covered rock for an instant before returning her attention to Lunar, "I figured it would be better to see it all at once, rather than first seeing it less clearly from the sky and then noticing more stuff as you got closer."

"I'd… have to agree," Lunar Trail says, walking a few steps further into the clearing. "It's beautiful. I wouldn't have thought the Everfree would have any place like this. Thank you for showing it to me."

Midnight nods, her cheeks darkening ever so slightly, "There are a few other places like this. Well, not like this like this, but worth seeing if you know where to look. The next closest is almost two nights away though, and for part of the way there you actually really don't want to fly."

Lunar Trail walks further into the clearing, closing the distance between them, "Well, I definitely don't have enough time to go see that place, but maybe… "

"What?" Midnight asks, tilting her head.

Lunar glances between Midnight and the stone spire, "Where is the water coming from?"

Midnight shrugs, "From the rock."

"But there aren't any holes in the rock," Lunar points out, narrowing his eyes at the spire. "The water is just… appearing on top of it."

Midnight rolls her eyes, "Yes, there is a magic rock inside a magic forest, who'd have thought."

"Right, sorry," Lunar Trail says, smiling apologetically. "Anyway, you said there was something you wanted to do without anypony wandering over and interrupting?"

Midnight bobs her head, squaring her shoulders and standing straighter, "Yes, that. So, I don't know how thestrals usually do this, but when we vamponies are considering another as a potential mate-"

Lunar's eyes nearly bulge out of his head, a fresh blush returning to his face, "Wait wait wait, hold on. Potential mate?"

"W-Well, yeah," Midnight replies, her ears pinning back. "You seemed interested before tonight, and after overhearing you earlier I assumed that, you know, you were."

"I-I mean, yeah. I am. Definitely, uh, interested," Lunar Trail stammers.

"But not as a potential mate?" Midnight asks.

"No, I mean, yeah, I mean, I think so," Lunar backtracks. "It just seems kind of sudden, becoming a potential mate. A lot's happened, but we only met a few nights ago."

Midnight gives him a flat look, "I'm not saying we should mate right now, I'm saying I thought you would be interested in potentially becoming mates at some point. But now you're acting like you're not actually interested in that."

"I am interested in you though," Lunar objects.

Midnight throws her hooves into the air, "Then why did you act all scared when I said I was interested in you too?!"

"Because you said-" Lunar shuts his mouth, closing his eyes for a moment and taking a deep breath, "Okay. When you said 'considering another as a potential mate', what did you mean?"

Midnight glares at him, "We'd do the two things I brought you out here to do, then… if you were a vampony we'd go hunting together or feeding together or… I don't know. I guess we'd just talk to each other?"

Lunar blinks, "You mean sort of like dating?"

Midnight frowns, "What-ing?"

"Dating," Lunar reiterates. "It's where two ponies are interested in each other, so they spend time together to get to know the other better."

Midnight's glare weakens and she shakes her head. "No, that comes after the first two things."

"Oh," Lunar Trail replies. "What are the first two things then?"

"So you are actually interested in potentially becoming mates," Midnight clarifies.

"Yes," Lunar states clearly, nodding for good measure.

"Okay," Midnight inhales deeply, holding the air in her lungs for a couple seconds before exhaling. "Good. So, the first thing we need to do is determine who's the better hunter."

"Uhm… Midnight?" Lunar queries, "You do realize I'm not a vampony, right? I've never hunted anything in my life. I don't even eat meat."

Midnight grins, "That's fine. We're hunting each other, not some random animal."

Lunar gulps, his heart beating faster, "And by 'hunting' you mean… ?"

"I mean we fight each other," Midnight says, snickering. "Whoever gets knocked out or gives up loses."

Lunar lets out an exaggerated sigh, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow, "That's a relief. Plus I'll be able to prove to you that I, and the rest of the Lunar Guard, aren't as weak as you seem to think we are."

"I never said you're weak," Midnight corrects, "I said you're weaker. If I thought you were weak, I wouldn't have bothered bringing you out here. But in any case, the second thing we need to do is to find out which one of us has the strongest will. This is also the more important of the two, since I doubt you're going to go hunting for real any time soon."

"How exactly would that work?" Lunar Trail asks. "Not that I'm doubting you or anything, but I've seen more than a few 'tests' that claim to measure willpower when really they just do things like measure pain tolerance or concentration and then pretend they're the same thing."

"Simple," Midnight answers. "We have a staring contest."

"A staring contest," Lunar repeats.

Midnight raises an eyebrow, her eyes flashing bright red, "Yup! First one to look away or be completely overwhelmed loses."

Lunar Trail glances at the moss beneath his hooves, shifting from side to side, "Is this at all related to what you did to Princess Twilight a few days ago?"

"It's the same idea," Midnight confirms, "but I was only trying to have some fun that time, even if it didn't work out how I wanted. This is actually important though, and you'll get time to prepare yourself before we start. Same thing with the fight – I'm not going to ambush you at random or anything like that."

"But what you used on Princess Twilight, that was mind magic, right?" Lunar asks.

Midnight shrugs, "I guess. Luna called it 'domination magic', if that helps."

"Not really," Lunar replies, bracing himself. "Still, I don't want to do the willpower contest."

Midnight frowns, her mouth opening for a split second before any words come out, "Why?"

"Because it's really dangerous," Lunar Trail says matter-of-factly.

"No it's not," Midnight counters.

"Yes, it is," Lunar insists. "Anything that involves messing with ponies' minds is dangerous – minds are very complicated, they are very easy to damage inadvertently, they are very hard to fix, and changing a pony's mind with magic means you're changing who they are in ways that are barely, if at all, understood."

Midnight glares at him, "That sounds like some list you memorized."

Lunar Trail shrugs, "And? That doesn't make it any less true."

"But it is wrong!" Midnight says loudly, "Me, my family, and all vamponies use it all the time, and not once has anything bad ever happened."

"And that's great for you," Lunar replies, "but I'm still not doing it."

"Luna said she goes into the 'dream realm' or whatever," Midnight points out. "That's mind magic too, isn't it?"

Lunar nods, "Yes, but that's different. Princess Luna is, well, a princess. She knows what she's doing."

"And you don't think I know what I'm doing?" Midnight growls.

"I didn't say that," Lunar Trail states sharply.

"Then why are you making such a big deal about this?" Midnight demands.

Lunar meets Midnight's flickering eyes, glaring back at her, "I told you, because it's dangerous!"

"No it's not!" Midnight shouts, "This is literally how it's always been done!"

"Maybe this is how you've always done it," Lunar replies curtly, "but I'm not a vampony and I'm not going to let you use mind magic on me!"

Midnight stares at Lunar for a moment, then takes a step away, "You're right. You're not. Sorry for the mistake."

Lunar Trail blinks, suddenly aware of the cold, wet moss under his hooves and the weak breeze pushing against his back, "What do you-"

Midnight does not wait for him to finish however, vanishing from sight without another word.

Lunar stares at the spot Midnight had previously occupied, a pair of seconds passing while he processes her disappearance, "Midnight?"

The brush on the opposite side of the clearing rustles, for an instant the moon revealing a translucent, shadowy figure.

Lunar springs to his hooves, galloping across the clearing, "Midnight! Wait a minute!"

Shadow Strike turns his head slowly from left to right, observing the otherwise ponyless landscape in front him. Gore from a multitude of crushed and broken apples lies strewn at random across the grass, red pieces of skin scattered amongst the fruits' pulverized innards as well as stuck to the trunks of trees and the sides of the barn-turned-barracks. Sticky streaks of partially dried juice likewise cover all wooden surfaces, the former liquid having flowed downward along their various curves and imperfections.

Shadow Strike sighs deeply, the action dislodging a seed from his mane, Princess Luna will not be pleased.

The sound of hooves hitting the ground behind him reaches his ears, the heaviness of their landing driving a chill into his stomach. Forcing his expression to remain neutral, he turns sharply on his heel, "Princess, I can – Lunar? What the heck happened to you?"

"Nothing happened," Lunar Trail grunts, keeping his eyes on the ground while he attempts to walk around Shadow Strike.

"Nothing happened to you about as much as nothing happened to Princess Luna before she was possessed by the Nightmare," Shadow Strike replies, moving into Lunar's path, "except instead of turning evil you're covered in mud, bark, and cuts. Did Midnight attack you?"

"No," Lunar states, again trying to sidestep Shadow Strike only to again be blocked.

"Lunar," Shadow Strike says, "as a fellow guard and as a friend, I'm not going to let this go. What happened?"

A tired silence hangs in the air for several seconds before Lunar speaks, never once raising his eyes from the grass, "She was waiting for me when I ran out of the barracks and she led me to a clearing inside the Everfree, which was actually pretty beautiful. We had a bit of a misunderstanding at first, but basically she wanted to start the vampony equivalent of dating. But before they do anything like what we would consider dating, they have a contest to see who's the better fighter, and then another contest to see who has the stronger will. I was okay with the fighting contest, but the willpower one turned out to involve her using mind magic on me. I didn't want to do it, she said we had to, we argued about it, and then she all of a sudden decided to disappear. And then I ran into the Everfree to try to find her."

Shadow Strike stares at Lunar Trail, after a moment placing a comforting hoof on his shoulder, "You made the right choice."

Lunar looks up at Shadow Strike, "I did?"

Shadow Strike snorts, "Running into the Everfree Forest after a pony who can become invisible was incredibly stupid, but as far as the 'refusing to let her use mind magic on you' part goes, yes, you made the right choice. All forms of mind magic outside of what's used by the princesses are either completely illegal or tightly controlled, and to willingly take part in such an activity anyway would be conduct unbefitting of a Lunar Guard. How Changelings and Vamponies are going to fit into this, I have no idea, but that's the way it is right now. Further, as a Lunar Guard, your most important duty is to Princess Luna, and by exposing yourself to such magic you could compromise yourself, those around you, and even the princess herself."

Lunar Trail glances at the ground, "Right, right… that makes sense."

"Glad I could help," Shadow Strike says. "Now you go wash up, and I'll get some bandages. You look like you jumped into a pool of mud filled with thorns and swam around for a while."

Lunar nods, his lips quirking in a wan smile. Stepping around Shadow Strike at long last, Lunar trudges to the back of the barn. A metal pump greets him, the immediate vicinity of the pump mostly clear of apple debris and instead surrounded by wooden buckets as well as a few stray sponges and bars of soap.

His smile slumps as he gathers one of each item however, a single thought slipping to the forefront of his mind, If I made the right choice, then why do I still feel like I made a horrible mistake?