Angel of Justice: Blood Moon

The rays of the freshly risen sun seeped into the upper floor of the Golden Oak library, gradually lighting and warming the room. As more light permeated the area, Twilight Sparkle started to stir from her restful slumber.

The unicorn yawned and stretched her limbs before settling back down and opening her eyes. She contemplated going back to sleep for a moment before sighing and sitting up.

“Morning, Twilight.” A voice called from beneath her.

Twilight looked over the side of her loft, only to see that her young assistant had woken up as well. “Morning, Spike.” She said, managing a slight smile through her drowsy exterior. Finally, she decided to get out of bed so she could start her day properly.

“Man… I can’t believe it’s almost Nightmare Night again.” Spike commented while tidying up his ruffled blankets. He looked up to see the purple mare descending the stairs to the loft, having already made her bed.

“I know what you mean,” Twilight shook her head in amazement. “It seems like just yesterday that we got done cleaning up the mess from last Nightmare Night.” She felt a slight frown of agitation forming as she thought back to the aftermath of the holiday.

“Well, that’s what happens when you run out of candy to give out. Just be thankful that all we got was a good tp-ing.” Spike added.

“It’s not my fault I had to be out all night with Princess Luna. Someone had to make her feel better.” Twilight protested.

“Did you ever figure out who did it?” Spike asked curiously.

Twilight rolled her eyes and smiled. “Well… I never found any hard evidence, but let’s just say my prime suspects rhyme with ships and sails.”

“Oh…” Spike looked down before nodding in revelation. He turned to the side as he heard the unicorn opening the bedroom door.

“Alright, I think that’s enough reminiscing for now,” Twilight said. “We should go check to see if Tom is back.”

Spike hurried to follow the mare out of the room. “I hope he is. We’re supposed to leave for Canterlot today.”

The pair closed the bedroom door behind them and started walking down the stairs. As they neared the bottom, Twilight paused as she heard noises coming from the kitchen area. She smiled to herself slightly as her previous assumption was proven right. Ever since she had known the human, he had always been up and about before her.

Twilight and her young assistant made their way through the main room of the library and into the inner rooms. As they got closer to the kitchen, they could hear various noises ranging from cabinets opening to things being placed on wooden surfaces.

Peering through the opening into the room, the pair spotted their human friend rushing to and fro, seemingly preparing breakfast for them. There was a salad on one plate, and a few colorful gems on another, along with two glasses of orange juice nearby.

Hearing the sound of someone entering the room, Tom turned around and noticed his two housemates. “Hey, guys... I was wondering when you would finally be up.” He greeted in a friendly manner.

Twilight walked around the table and wrapped a foreleg around the human’s waist to hug him. “It’s good to see you, Tom.” She said cheerfully. Although she had been expecting the human, she hadn’t seen him in roughly a week.

“Yeah, how have you been?” Spike asked curiously, unable to suppress a similarly cheery smile.

Tom shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, you know how it is. Head to town, kill monster, repeat. I would say I’ve been bored out of my mind, but maybe that’s a bit too snobbish.”

Twilight frowned a bit at that, but shifted her attention to the table and the plates arranged on it anyway. “You made breakfast for us?” She said, putting a smile back on while raising an eyebrow in surprise.

Spike eagerly hopped up onto a chair and stared at the gems on his plate. “I would say you didn’t have to do that… but my stomach is inclined to disagree.” He said, his mouth already watering.

“Well, what else do you expect me to do all morning? I figured I’d give you guys a bit of a gift on account of not being here for a while.” Tom explained.

Twilight paused as she noted the lack of a third plate on the table. “You aren’t going to eat anything?”

Tom walked over to the side and leaned against a cabinet. “Nah… I’m not hungry. You two go ahead and dig in.”

Not wanting to turn down such a generous offer, and not wanting to deny their rumbling stomachs any longer, Twilight and Spike sat down and started eating.

Twilight was impressed by how much the human had adjusted to preparing Equestrian meals. The salad in front of her was actually pretty good, despite the meager ingredients that were lying around the kitchen. Meanwhile, Spike seemed to have gone to dragon heaven judging from how much he was enjoying the gems provided him.

“Man… these are good!” Spike exclaimed as he finished his crunchy meal. “Where did you find gems like these? I haven’t seen any of these around here.” He asked, turning to Tom curiously. As he looked at the human, he paused suddenly as he noticed something strange.

Tom paused in thought for a moment. “Well… I was on a case out on the outskirts of Equestria last week. I found some of those in a cave I searched, and I figured you might like them.” He explained while looking back to the young dragon. As he noticed Spike staring at him, he looked down and noticed that part of his shirt sleeve was revealing a bit of white underneath it. He quickly tugged the sleeve back over his arm and shifted his attention to the unicorn finishing up her own meal.

“Umm… Tom-” Spike started to speak, until he was interrupted by the human.

“So Twilight, are you excited to be seeing your brother again?” Tom asked curiously. Once the unicorn was looking the other way, he shot the young dragon a pleading expression that got across the idea that he did not want to talk about the issue with Twilight present. And while he was confused and mildly concerned, Spike played along and remained silent.

“Of course I am,” Twilight replied. “After all, this will be the first time I’ve seen him since… you know,” She paused uncomfortably at the memory of the incident that happened a few months ago. “And besides, I haven’t seen Cadence since-” She gasped abruptly, “oh my gosh! I just realized you haven’t met Cadence yet! This is going to be great! I can’t wait to tell her about all of the crazy adventures we’ve had.” She smiled eagerly.

Tom couldn’t help but smile slightly at the energy and excitement radiating off the purple mare. “Sounds like it will be fun.”

Twilight nodded while getting up from her seat. “Right, well I’ve got to go get things ready for the trip up to Canterlot! Thanks for making breakfast, Tom. It’s really great to have you back.” She said sincerely before rushing off and out of the room in her usual frantic manner.

As the pair in the kitchen listened to the unicorn bounding up the stairs in the other room, they gradually shifted their attention back to each other.

“Tom, what is that on your arm?” Spike asked, staring at the now concealed appendage.

“Uh… I’m not sure what you’re-” Tom started to play dumb, but the unimpressed expression on the dragon’s face made him trail off.

Spike crossed his arms and frowned at the human’s attempts at hiding whatever was wrong. “Tom, I know what I saw. If something is wrong, why don’t you just tell us?” He softened his expression.

Tom shifted his gaze around, struggling to avoid eye contact with the dragon. “It’s… it’s just…” He finally sighed in defeat as he reached down to roll up his sleeve.

Spike gasped as he saw the full extent of the patch of white he had noticed before. The human had a bandage wrapped around his arm, concealing what must have been a grizzly wound. The once clean bandage was stained with dry blood, creating an outline that gave a hint as to what was underneath.

“Oh my gosh… are you ok?!” Spike asked in a more concerned tone.

Tom quickly rolled the sleeve back down and glanced into the other room to see if Twilight had heard the dragon’s exclamation. “Keep your voice down. I really don’t want Twilight to know about this.”

“But… but, shouldn’t your powers have already healed that? Tom, what’s wrong?” Spike frowned sadly.

“Nothing,” Tom assured while rolling his eyes. He leveled with the dragon and put on his best confident expression. “Nothing is wrong with me. I’ve just been a little tired from work recently. I’ll heal this wound as soon as I recharge my batteries a bit.”

Spike softened his expression as he looked back at his friend. “Shouldn’t we tell Twilight about this? Maybe she can help you get better?”

Tom shook his head. “Spike… you and I both know how worried Twilight can get about the littlest things. I don’t want her to worry… do you?” He asked curiously.

“Well, no… but-“

“There’s nothing to worry about, Spike. I’m ok… and I don’t want Twilight to spend all Nightmare Night worrying about nothing. Please just don’t tell her... for me, ok?”

Spike searched the human’s eyes for sincerity and found nothing that hinted at something being wrong. All he could see was concern for the unicorn, and that was something he could understand. “Ok… ok. I won’t tell her.” He nodded softly. “But you better get better soon, ok?”

“I promise I will.” Tom nodded.

The rest of the morning went by in a flash as Spike and Tom helped Twilight to finish packing. While the unicorn had a lot of the work done beforehand, she was still stressing over every little thing going perfectly right.

Much to Spike’s dismay, she even got out her planner.

“Ok…” Twilight took in a deep breath, briefly eyeing around at their luggage pensively. Spike stood nearby with a checklist and a feather quill, wearing a strained expression of patience. “Did we pack the extra scrolls and writing supplies?”

“Check…” Spike droned, not even bothering to make a mark on the list due to one already being there.

“What about the cards and board games?” Twilight asked.

“Already got them.” Tom chimed in from the other room.

“Right,” Twilight nodded, still deep in thought. She bit her lip as she struggled to think of anything she missed. She wanted everyone to have a good time on such a rare occasion, and if just one thing went wrong, then everything would be ruined. Deciding to be safe rather than sorry, she briefly opened up one of the bags to check its contents, only to gasp at what she saw. “Where’s the scrapbook?!” She frantically started rifling through the items in the bag.

“Twilight…” Spike said, only to be thoroughly ignored.

“How are we supposed to take pictures of everyone together if we don’t have a scrapbook?” The unicorn fretted, still burying her head into the bag and turning it inside out in an almost literal sense.

“Twilight!” Spike raised his voice a little, finally breaking through to the frantic mare.

Twilight looked up, a palpable sense of dread present on her face that probably wasn’t warranted, given the situation. “What?!”

“You’re holding it,” Spike stated blankly, pointing ahead with his claw.

Twilight furrowed her brow before slowly turning her head. She suddenly laid eyes on the missing scrapbook, which had apparently been floating beside her in her own magical grasp the whole time. “Oh…” She chuckled nervously, her face reddening as she tried to avoid the unimpressed look she was receiving from the young dragon.

The pair looked up as they heard their human friend walking into the room. Tom placed a decently sized bag on the floor and exhaled with relief before turning to the others. “I’m all set whenever you guys are.” He reported.

Spike looked to the unicorn beside him with a smug expression. “That’s great. At this rate, we should be ready in about… I don’t know… what day is it?”

“Hardy har,” Twilight rolled her eyes at the dragon. “For the record, I’m just about ready now… I think.” She hesitated for a moment before going to pick up her bag. If she spent any more time on packing, she was afraid her young assistant might finally reach his last straw.

Tom perked up slightly as he followed the pair toward the door. “Man, I can’t wait to see everyone again.”

“Yeah,” Spike nodded in agreement. “I’ll bet they can’t wait to see you either. It’s been forever since you visited.”

“Well, they won’t have to wait much longer. Let’s go.” Twilight said, hurrying her two companions out the door, an eager smile plastered on her face.

After a short walk across town, the trio arrived at the Ponyville train station. Even though they had gotten there early, it didn’t take long for the others to show up.

Rarity and Applejack arrived first, with the Cutie Mark Crusaders close behind. A few minutes later, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and their newest friend Blue Bolt came swooping down together. Soon, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and even Glimmer Shine and his three teammates were there. After some initial greetings and friendly conversation, the group boarded their train and settled in.

Everyone was excited to see each other, so much so that some of them could hardly contain themselves. And while Pinkie somehow managed to make the world’s largest group hug all on her own, the group gradually got into their seats in a timely manner as the train started off on the journey to Canterlot.

The ponies sat in various places around the train car. Everyone was still chatting with each other and catching up on lost time.

“No way… are you serious?” Pinkie Pie asked in disbelief. “They put gum in her hair?” She looked over to Sunspot, barely managing to hold in the laughter building inside of her.

Glitterball chuckled as she turned and saw her pegasus friend glaring at her silently. “Yep, and trust me… it was everywhere. I’m amazed we managed to get it all out without having to cut it out.”

“My goodness, that sounds awful.” Rarity shuddered sympathetically as she pictured such a thing happening to her.

Sunspot softened her expression and groaned while pointing to Rarity. “Thank you… Finally, someone who understands the pain I went through.”

“Hey,” Sparkplug spoke up, looking over to Sunspot with a hint of annoyance. “At least you didn’t get ghoul blood all over your face.” She pouted in an upset manner, forcing the orange pegasus to cringe and quiet down.

Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow curiously. “When did that happen?” She asked before thinking for a moment and shifting to a surprised expression. “Oh wow, was that what you were hunting in Ponyville last night?”

Sunspot nodded in place of her teammate. “Yeah, it was one nasty customer from what Glimmer told me.”

“I sure am glad you took care of it before it decided to come after us.” Sweetie Belle shivered slightly at the thought of having a terrifying monster practically in her backyard.

“I hope nobody got hurt,” Fluttershy said, adopting a more concerned expression. Although she was confident that the human would have healed any severe wounds the group sustained, that still didn’t mean that they didn’t suffer while the injuries happened.

“Well, aside from us getting knocked around, we’re alright.” Glimmer Shine explained. “Tom got nailed on his arm, but I’m sure it wasn’t anything he can’t take care of on his own.” He paused briefly before smirking and looking to the gray mare beside him. “Oh yeah, and there’s the whole ghoul blood on Sparkplug’s face, thing.”

“Hey, that’s not funny!” Sparkplug protested. “I don’t think there’s enough shampoo in the world to get that smell out of my fur.” She frowned slightly, rubbing her muzzle to test if it felt clean, despite how much scrubbing she had done the night before.

Meanwhile, while everyone else was sharing a laugh at the gray pony’s expense, Spike glanced up at Tom and frowned slightly. The human met his gaze and lowered his expression a bit before forcing his attention away.

“So… umm-” Tom started uncomfortably. He trailed his eyes around vacantly, seemingly struggling to find something to talk about. Finally, his attention shifted to the blue stallion with short black mane and blue eyes sitting with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.

Blue Bolt had been slowly adjusting to life in Ponyville with his new friends. Of course, he had known Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy much longer. His cutie mark, a neon blue lightning bolt-esc arrow twisted and bent skyward against a black background, seemed to mirror his determination to persevere through any hardship life threw at him. He had lived half his life with a paralyzed wing, so adjusting to a new town should have been no problem.

“Will this be your first time in Canterlot, Blue Bolt?” Tom asked curiously. Glancing back to Spike, he could see that the dragon was still looking at him uneasily. Although, it seemed like Spike had decided to keep quiet about what he knew would just be a troubling conversation for everyone involved.

Blue Bolt looked a bit surprised to have suddenly been brought into the conversation. “Uh, yeah… I guess so. I’ve never really been anywhere outside of Cloudsdale and Fillydelphia… and Ponyville, obviously,” He chuckled awkwardly. “Still, I can’t say I’m not looking forward to it. I hear Canterlot is one of the most beautiful cities in Equestria.” He added.

“You heard right,” Twilight chimed in. “It might not seem like much next to a place like Cloudsdale, but take it from someone who lived there for most of her life, it is one of a kind.” She smiled over to the blue pegasus. “I’m sure Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy wouldn’t mind showing you around. The view from the air is much better… or so I’ve heard.”

Hearing this, Rarity looked over her shoulder toward the group of pegasi, an intrigued expression on her face. “Speaking of which, how have your wings been, Blue Bolt?”

Blue Bolt glanced down to his wing, twitching it to affirm that it could still move. “They’ve been working just fine, thanks to Tom.” He looked over to the human and flashed a grateful smile. “I’m still a little rusty at flying… but Rainbow Dash has been helping me out a lot.”

“Heh, yeah right,” Rainbow Dash chuckled, playfully nudging the stallion with an elbow. “‘Rusty’ my tail. You’re already pretty much back to how you were before you broke your wing in the first place.” She reassured.

“I wouldn’t take it that far,” Blue Bolt added. “But, I do appreciate the help.”

The hours rolled by along with the steady chugging of the train. Soon enough, everyone mostly quieted down and settled in for the long ride to Canterlot.

Finally, Twilight looked up as she noticed the train sloping upwards. Sure enough, outside the window was the familiar sight of Canterlot mountain. She smiled slightly as she realized that their journey was over.

The train curved along the mountainside until it finally entered the city itself. While they were entering the station and slowing down, everyone gathered their belongings and got ready to disembark.

Twilight was among the first of her large group to step onto the platform below. Taking in a deep breath of the refreshing air of the city, she let out a relaxed sigh. The odd combination of smells from the city itself and the mountain it sat on would never get old.

“Wow…” Blue Bolt raised his eyebrows as he slowly took in the sight of the many buildings outside of the station. “It’s… bigger than I imagined.”

“Well, it looks smaller when you’re watching it in the distance.” Rainbow Dash stated.

Blue Bolt nodded to himself slowly. “Good point.” He tilted his head slightly as he shifted his attention to the maze of plazas and walkways littering the many levels of the city. “So, uh… where do we go from here?”

“Straight to the castle.” Twilight chimed in.

“The castle?” Blue Bolt said, a bit of anxiousness in his voice.

Rainbow Dash nudged the stallion reassuringly. “Relax, Blue. Just stick with us and we’ll show you the ropes.”

Blue Bolt swallowed uneasily, but nodded anyway. He only hoped that his friends would somehow break the ice for him if he had to speak with the princesses.

With Twilight, Spike, and Tom leading at the front of the pack, everyone made their way through the busy streets of Canterlot. Everywhere they turned, the ponies could see various decorations for Nightmare Night adorning the buildings and street lamps. The many cartoonish skeletons, bats, ghosts, and depictions of Nightmare Moon filled the area with a lighthearted atmosphere. Even a few townsfolk were already wearing their costumes in anticipation of the festivities in a few days.

Up a few winding streets and around some twists and turns, the group could finally see their destination ahead. Canterlot Castle, home to the royal sisters and head of the Equestrian diarchy, stretched out before them. Its massive scale, breathtaking architecture, and sheer aura of grandeur made more than a few members of the group take a moment to appreciate what they were seeing.

“Woah…” Blue Bolt’s jaw practically dropped. Never in his life did he expect to be this close to the royal palace.

“It’s prettier than I remembered.” Apple Bloom noted, her eyes aglint with wonderment.

Scootaloo grinned from ear to ear as she stared ahead. “I can’t wait to go inside!”

Sweetie Belle beamed eagerly. “Are we really staying here all week?”

Rarity took a moment to look down to the trio of eager fillies and raised an eyebrow. “Now, girls, remember your manners. We must be on our best behavior in front of the princess, right?” She asked pointedly.

“Yes, Rarity.” Scootaloo and her two friends answered with varying degrees of passive annoyance between them. Satisfied that her work was done, Rarity smiled contentedly and returned her attention ahead.

Deciding that it would be best not to keep everyone waiting, Twilight walked forward and led the group up to the castle. They passed a few guards stationed at their posts around the grounds before finally reaching the massive steps leading to the front entrance.

After what seemed like an eternity of climbing stairs, the group reached the top and opened the grand double-doors, revealing the castle foyer in all of its magnificence. A ruby red carpet stretched all the way from the entrance to the back of the room where a set of stairs went up to the next floor. And standing on the first landing of the stairs, was a pair of ponies that was immediately familiar to everyone.

Princess Cadence and her loving prince Shining Armor were chatting idly with each other. As they noticed the front doors opening, they turned and looked to see the large group entering the castle.

Twilight lit up with excitement as she spotted the couple. “Shiny! Cadence!” She bolted forward, leaving her friends behind as she rushed toward two of her favorite ponies in the world.

Shining Armor met her at the bottom step, grabbing her up into a brief, but firm, embrace. Once she was done greeting her brother, the unicorn turned to her former foalsitter and smiled knowingly. Both of them then proceeded to do the strangest greeting ritual that anyone had ever seen.

“Sunshine, sunshine, ladybugs awake, clap your hooves and do a little shake!”

The others watched as Twilight and the regal princess of love shared a moment that would seemingly befit a pair of childhood friends. While most of the group knew about the odd and touching ritual, it was a head-turner for Tom. Still, the unicorn seemed happy, and that was what mattered as far as the human was concerned.

Shining Armor waited for the two mares to get done with their greeting before ruffling his sister’s hair gently. “It’s good to see all of you here… especially you, Twily.”

Twilight glanced behind her toward her friends, a goofy smile still plastered on her face. As she laid eyes on the human at the front of the group, she gasped in remembrance and eagerly turned back to Cadence. “Cadence, there’s someone I’d like you to meet.” She said, motioning behind her with her foreleg.

The alicorn looked at the boy, taking a moment to study him before smiling slightly. “So, this is the Tom you’ve been writing me about so much,” Cadence said. Of course, it wasn’t very hard to pick the human out of a crowd. She stepped forward slightly, eager to finally greet the monster hunter she had heard so much about.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess,” Tom said in a friendly manner while still trying to hold some formality. “I’m Thomas Greene, but you can call me Tom if you want.”

“The pleasure is all mine, Tom.” Cadence replied. She reached a hoof out, and after a moment of hesitation, the human reached forward and shook it. “My name is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza… but you can call me Cadence if you like.” She added with a slight chuckle.

Tom stifled a laugh as well before returning a relaxed expression to his face. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Twilight, not to mention Glimmer Shine and the others.” He stated, nodding toward his fellow monster hunters behind him.

Twilight raised an eyebrow curiously as she looked to the yellow stallion and his teammates. “Wait… you guys have already met Cadence? And I'm just hearing about this?!”

Glimmer Shine nodded, offering a brief smile in the direction of the alicorn. “We took a case in the Crystal Empire a while ago.” He explained.

“Frost wraith,” Glitterball added to the curious group. “It wasn’t pretty.”

Shining Armor nodded pensively. “It’s a good thing we had insurance on that statue… and the windows.” He cringed slightly, seemingly remembering something unpleasant.

Meanwhile, Sunspot was surprised to see some of the others looking at her suspiciously. “What? It isn’t always my fault when something breaks!”

Cadence chuckled to herself before trailing off. She cleared her throat and turned to Twilight. “I hate to cut our reminiscing short, but we had better get going. Celestia and Luna are waiting for us.” She suggested, taking a few steps toward the stairs and waiting for the others to start following.

“Oh! Of course,” Twilight quickly grabbed her bags again. She and her friends all followed Cadence and Shining Armor as they headed upstairs and further into the castle.

Blue Bolt gawked at his surroundings as he followed his friends. The marble floors were practically polished to the point where he could see himself in them, and some of the paintings and statuettes they passed looked more expensive than his entire house back in Ponyville.

But it wasn't just an atmosphere of riches and wealth. Every piece seemed to have purpose and beauty, and while it all felt grand and regal, there was a certain warmth to it as well. This was the home of the princesses, and it reflected on their personalities perfectly.

Apple Bloom skewed her expression as she glanced around. “How come this place is so big if only the princesses live here?”

“Well, that’s easy. It’s because they can afford it.” Scootaloo offered confidently.

Sweetie Belle tilted her head at this. “Ok… but why would they want to?” She asked, to which the young pegasus started to answer, only to fall silent as she found no explanation.

“She does have a point.” Sunspot chimed in. “I’ve been living here for the past few months, and I still don’t think I’ve been in all the rooms.”

“You’d probably make more ground if you looked for something other than the kitchen or the spa,” Glitterball replied with an amused snort.

“Wait a minute…” Rarity blinked. “This place has a spa?”

“Actually, there’s two if I remember right.” Glimmer Shine clarified.

Rarity gasped, “TWO spas?! Why has the princess never said anything about this?! I thought we were at least a little close! Does being the wielder of an element of harmony not count for anything anymore?!”

While the unicorn was having an existential crisis, Pinkie was struggling to think of an explanation for having two separate spas in one palace. The others didn’t really care enough to give the matter thought themselves, but they were curious what the pink mare would come up with.

“So… it’s gotta be to hold all of the princess’s rubber duckies, right?” Pinkie suggested.

Sparkplug gave the party pony an odd look. “Pinkie… I don’t think the princess has any rubber duckies.”

“But what else would she need two spas for?!” Pinkie asked. “Unless it’s some kind of a joke on Rarity,” She said, looking back to see Sweetie Belle trying to comfort her sister, who was having a nervous break. “But even then, I could think of less expensive ways to do the same thing.”

“I think it’s just a matter of Celestia and Luna having separate spas, Pinkie,” Twilight said plainly.

Pinkie seemed to reject this notion. “Nah… that’s just what they want us to think. I’ll bet there’s some well-kept secret behind it, and I am going to find it out before I leave if it’s the last thing I do.” She narrowed her eyes and darted them around the area suspiciously, even getting uncomfortably close to a passing guard and eyeing him up and down. To his credit, the stallion didn’t react outwardly, though the group did see him walking slightly faster away from them.

“I think the real secret they don’t want us to find out is how our tax bits are bein’ spent.” Applejack mused.

Soon, the group made their way into the throne room. Sitting across the wide-open space in their thrones were none other than the royal sisters themselves. Pinkie Pie gave an eager wave to the pair until Rarity swatted her hoof back down.

Celestia stood as she noticed the crowd entering, with Luna following close behind. “Welcome everyone. It is good to see you all.” She greeted, casting her gaze around the group and smiling warmly.

While Twilight and the others were mostly acclimated to meeting with the two alicorns by this point, Blue Bolt was awestruck. He stared ahead, slack-jawed, wide-eyed, and seemingly unsure of how to react.

Noticing her friend struggling to process the situation, Rainbow Dash smirked a bit before moving up and nudging Twilight. The unicorn looked back, only to find the cyan mare nodding back toward Blue.

“Princess, I think we should introduce you to our newest friend,” Twilight said, gesturing to the stallion with a wide smile. “This is Blue Bolt. He’s that pegasus I wrote you about.”

“I see.” Celestia looked over to the stiff pony beside the group and flashed a smile. “Hello, Blue Bolt. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Blue stammered nervously and started to bow before stopping himself. Finally, he settled on smiling as well, though his was far more awkward and goofy looking. “Uh… t-the pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty.”

“Princess Celestia will do just fine.” Celestia giggled softly. “And please, relax. We’re all friends here.” She said, and while the stallion eased some of the tension in his form, it was easy to see he was still unsure of how to act.

Luna walked up to the stallion and gave him a hearty pat on the shoulder that caught him off guard somewhat. “I’ve heard about that ordeal you and Rainbow Dash went through a few months ago. You two were exceptionally brave out there. I’m glad that you made it out unharmed.”

“Thank you, Princess… but, I can’t take credit for that. Rainbow did most of the work out there.” Blue Bolt said sheepishly before receiving a whack on the back by a cyan hoof.

“Aww, don’t be so modest, Blue. I could have handled myself, yeah, but you helped out.” Rainbow Dash said, trying to be reassuring in her own cocksure way.

Applejack formed a wry smirk as she looked at her friend. “Didn’t you end up in the hospital?”

“Let’s see you do better next time you get lost in a forest.” Rainbow deadpanned.

Celestia chuckled a bit before returning her attention to Blue Bolt, which in turn made him return his attention to her. “At any rate, please feel free to make yourself at home here over the next few days, Blue Bolt. You are our guest, and I want you to feel comfortable during your stay.”

“I… uh… I don’t know what to say.” Blue rubbed his foreleg, the corners of his smile twitching awkwardly. “Thank you, Princess.”

Celestia regarded the stallion for a moment longer, snorting softly and trying to fight off the amused smile forming from his nervous expression. Finally, she craned her head around at the larger gathering, paying particular attention to Twilight and the other bearers. “Glimmer Shine and the others can show you to your rooms. Dinner will be prepared in a few hours, but other than that, please feel free to let us know if you need anything.” She said graciously.

The group all smiled brightly at the royal sisters for their hospitality. Some were somewhat accustomed to this kind of treatment, but for others, this was a jarringly pleasant experience unlike any they were used to.

With a little over a week of their stay ahead of them, the ponies were all in high spirits as they headed off to their rooms to stow their luggage and settle in. Nightmare Night wouldn’t be the only exciting experience for them, they were sure of it. After all, what more could they ask for besides each other’s company in such lavish surroundings?