As Fluttershy, Night Breeze, Rainbow, and Pinkie walked through the front gate, they saw several pony nobles and common ponies making their way to the castle because Princess Celestia’s Day Court was about to start. Seeing more nobles than common ponies gave Fluttershy and Rainbow feelings of regret for Celestia. But she was not the pony they had come to meet. They continued walking and went up to a nearby guard to ask him where Twilight would be. Fluttershy and Night Breeze, on the other hand, were planning to meet Luna that night, and hopefully her friends would be none the wiser.
Up in the Canterlot dining room, a purple alicorn was having her favorite breakfast of pancakes with daisy flavored syrup and melted butter. But she wasn't alone. To her right, Princess Celestia was having several layers of pancakes too. The pancake on top had a strawberry smiley face. On Twilight’s left was an annoyance in the form of Prince Blue Blood. Unfortunately for him, he was still drunk from Celestia’s alcohol. He was eyeing Twilight with drink-induced love in his eyes. However, she didn't like that at all. As for Luna, she was either lowering the moon or asleep from staying up all night. The likely scenario was the second one, because that was the sisters’ routine. Celestia was always up early in the morning to raise the sun while Luna was usually asleep, but when Luna was raising the moon and staying up late, Celestia and the rest of Equestria was asleep and having sweet dreams.
As Twilight took a sip of her apple juice and tried not to look at Blue Blood, her mind questioned how in Celestia’s name he was related to her teacher.
"Well, I'm off to Day Court." And the white alicorn got up and turned to look at her former student. "Twilight, are you going to the library?"
Twilight looked at Celestia. "Well, no, in fact. Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie have just sent me a letter saying that they’ll be coming here, and as long as they’re coming, I plan to introduce them to our new favorite game. I’m looking forward to a relaxing day with my friends." She lit up her horn and a magical screen appeared showing a Rarewolf. She started to tear up from looking at the magical image of what used to be her friend. No, she must not think like that. Rarity was still her friend.
“You’re sister Luna filled me in on what she is now." She dispelled the magical screen.
Celestia had stopped at the door, and if Twilight had looked at her at that moment, she would see a questioning look on Celestia’s face as she mentally said, ‘I had no idea that Luna knew more than me. There must be two reasons why she would keep this information from me. Reason one is that these creatures are so terrifying that she remained quiet about them to protect my view of the world. The other reason is probably because there’s something else she wants to protect, and funnily enough, this reminds me of that one moment eons ago.’ Before Celestia could ponder on this any further, her thoughts were interrupted by a very drunk and noisy Blue Blood as he said in a dreamy voice, "I could watch her all day."
Twilight decided to ignore that and continued talking to Celestia. "But do we have to go to the Wonderbolts performance in Canterlot?"
The Princess of the Sun’s face brightened as she replied, "Why, yes, Princess Twilight, it is our duty to show our subjects that we respect them no matter who they are or what they do, and the way to do that is to show up at big events such as the Wonderbolts performance in Canterlot. I do hope you enjoy it."
Blue Blood chugged down whatever liquid he had in that small canteen he held in his hoof. "Yeah, that’s my dream mare right there," Blue Blood said in a very dreamy, drunk voice from his side of the table.
Celestia saw how uncomfortable Twilight was, so she walked over to her nephew and whispered into his ear. "Now, Blue Blood, I don't want your drunken state to scare her away, so if you would be so kind as to leave your disturbing thoughts in your head, then I would be ever so grateful." And with that, he shook off his dreamy, drunk look and ran out of the dining room. Soon, Celestia followed him out the door to start Day Court.
Several seconds passed by before Twilight finished her breakfast and decided to walk out to the balcony. She had spent far too many days locked up in the royal library reading book after book, and she never seemed to have time to stretch out her wings and fly into the clouds. She opened her wings and took off. When she was a unicorn, she had no idea that a Pegasus had such a beautiful view every time they flew like this. She continued to glide, enjoying the view. It was a good amount of time before her horn started to glow, which told her that she had guests.
Outside of Twilight’s sleeping chamber and down the hallway, a door swung open to reveal Shining Armor’s replacement for Captain of the Solar Guard. His name was Blaze Trail, and he was an orange Pegasus with a red and black mane and tail. His eyes were green, and as the captain, he had to wear purple armor. When asked about his armor, he said, "Yeah, Celestia was more into the colors than the uniforms."
A certain pink pony that he was escorting said in an energetic voice, "But I thought this nation was a peaceful nation with no need for war or violence. This makes me wonder; why does she need soldiers? Or guards? Or whatever you guys call yourselves?"
Sigh Blaze Trail lowered his head and looked at Pinkie. "Well, you are basically on the right track with that thinking. There is really no reason to have the Solar Guard." Blaze Trail raised his head and walked right up to Pinkie. "But, if you ask me, I would think that Celestia wants to be prepared for the worst case scenario."
"Oh," said Pinkie Pie.
Then Blaze Trail used his hoof to open the door and said, "Please wait for Twilight here." After Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Night Breeze walked in and said nothing more, Blaze Trail walked out and closed the door behind them.
After waiting for Twilight for what felt like hours, the ponies decided to distract themselves by playing a board game Twilight had in her sleeping chambers. The game was called Canterlot Panic. Pinkie, Rainbow, and Fluttershy played in war chief mode. Rainbow had fun placing the monsters on the board and trying to knock down Pinkie and Fluttershy’s mini version of Canterlot Castle. The game lasted for several hours. In the end, Rainbow won and celebrated her victory over her friends. Fluttershy accepted defeat, but Pinkie demanded a rematch, saying, "Next time, Rainbow Dash, I will get you! Next time!"
"Easy, Pinkie! It's just a game. There’s no need to get all worked up over it.” Rainbow kicked back in a nearby chair and placed her front hoofs at the back of her head.
Night Breeze rolled her eyes and said from the chair closest to the bookshelf, "That was a dirty trick you pulled, using three boulders at a time. Before they could repair the damage that was done, four of your monsters managed to take down half of the towers."
Rainbow got up onto the arm of the chair and exclaimed, "Hey! It’s not my fault that most of the boulders were used in one turn and the right monster pieces were pulled. If anypony is to be blamed, it’s you." Rainbow glared and continued, "Because you’re the one who mixed them up.”
Fluttershy’s mother returned the glare and said, "Just because I mixed them up doesn't mean I purposely gave you three boulders to use in one turn."
"Well, it looks like I missed some fun while flying in the air," said a friendly voice.
Rainbow lost her balance on the chair’s arm and fell down to the floor.
"Yep!" said a surprised Fluttershy.
Miss Shy didn't appear surprised and remained seated.
The energetic voice of Pinkie Pie rang out, "Hello, Twilight!" as she appeared right behind Twilight. Normal ponies would jump out of their skin when some mare appeared suddenly behind them, but Twilight and the rest of Pinkie’s friends just rolled with Pinkie popping out of nowhere. Pinkie continued, "So, how was your breakfast with Celestia and her son?"
Twilight blinked twice and said, "It was interesting, I guess, though I'm hoping Blue Blood will back off."
Rainbow got up from her fall. "Hey, Twilight." Rainbow looked at her friend with a puzzled expression and continued, "How long have you been there?"
"I think when you guys were in the middle of the game and I saw you were really into it." Then a sheepish smile spread across the purple alicorn’s face. "And I don't blame you. It is an addicting game."
"Well, your majesty," said Night Breeze as she walked up to Twilight, "My daughter and I have some business here in Canterlot."
"Oh, I know all about your visit here. Pinkie somehow sent a letter to me even before she got on the train and said I should expect you." Twilight smiled brightly. "And what better way to welcome you than with royal seating at the Wonderbolts show here in Canterlot.”
The dust of the explosion cleared away to reveal several wereponies, each one hungrier than the last. But one of them stood out among the others. With his white fur coat and red eyes, he seemed to be in charge. He looked at Cold Blood and Black Fall and then smiled, showing off his fangs. "Well, well, well, Cold Blood, it looks like you freed us and brought me a snack for the road." He looked back at Black Fall with hunger in his eyes.
"Excuse me? I am not your meal," Black Fall said as she raised the spear of the first hunter. The spear started to glow red as she pointed it at the white werepony. The power of the spear said inside her head. 'Kill them all. Make them bleed and eat their flesh, for we need strength.'
The white Werepony and several others began drooling as they slowly approached her. Black Fall pulled out her crossbow with the lightning bolt in it, and the spear began to burn with red flames as they were seconds away from killing each other on this mountain. The one thing that stopped them from doing just that was Cold Blood, who had stepped between them and said, "Whoa, whoa, there is no need to kill her. She helped me free all of you, and she despises the Hunters for trying to kill her in Tartarus. I’ve seen her killing more than one Hunter. I don't think this is the time to try to slit each other's throats."
Cold Blood’s words got through to the Wereponies. They agreed with him and listened further to him. "So, let's just go to Canterlot and rase it to the ground. It will become our new hunting ground." He looked straight at the white werepony. "Right, Frozen Fang?"
Frozen Fang gave him a good long stare, and it felt like hours before he finally said in a frustrated tone, "Ok. Fine. We will leave her be for now." Then, Frozen Fang ran off with the rest of his pack.
Cold Blood and Black Fall both exhaled with relief that the pack listened to them and didn’t try to kill her.
Black Fall put her crossbow away but kept a firm grip on her spear. "Well,” she said, “isn't he just a charmer, deciding to eat me right then and there." As she lowered the spear down to her side, Black Fall heard the voice again.
'I still think we should’ve have gone off on a killing spree.' But Black Fall ignored the voice and looked at Cold Blood.
Cold Blood simply shrugged and said, "He’s just hungry. They all are. The only thing they eat is ponies. I'm sure when the pack heads to the nearest pony town and feeds, he will start to warm up to you just like how I warmed up to you."
Cold Blood placed one of his paws on Black Fall’s shoulder and said, "Remember how long it took for you and me to trust each other fully?" They stood like that on top of the mountain for a good long while.
Realizing how quiet it had suddenly become, Black Fall said, "Well, we better find the pack. Who knows how far they got." And with that, Cold Blood and Black Fall started to scale down the mountain to find the pack.
At the Blood Moon gates, Night Glider had his Hunters with him. As he walked by them, he saw a very burned Eager Shot who was loading his crossbow. Right next to him is Black Dart, who was polishing his sword. Night Glider continued on, walking past Sturdy Step, who was reading through the different types of monsters. Then, a staff nearly hit him, but he managed to dodge it. He looked straight at Raven Wind as she went through her fighting styles, step by step.
Night Glider came to a halt and looked at each of his Hunters, then cleared his throat and said in a commanding tone, "Mares and stallions, we are not going to hunt down the Butcher."
Black Dart frowned and said, "Well, why have us all here if we're not gonna hunt her down?"
"We received some new intel that part of the Hunter seal is broken. If that is true, then it would be suicidal to go there now. We now have new orders."
Raven Wind asked, "Are we going to kill all kinds of monsters far out in the Ever Free Forest?"
Night Glider looked at her and replied, "No, we are going to patrol Canterlot itself."
Sturdy Step noticeably brightened up, but Eager Shot said, "No offense, but aren't the lunar and solar royal guards there already, as well the EUP army? Shouldn’t that be enough?"
"That is true, they are there already," replied Night Glider. "But we are talking about the survival of ponykind, and Princess Luna isn't willing to take a chance with the Equestrian army, so she is trusting us with giving the military a helping hoof. Now, can we please discuss tactical approaches and where we should be positioned?"
"Wow! I must say, Twilight, I never thought you'd make that kind of move," said the energetic pink mare.
"Well, Pinky, you had a good chance to beat me, but then you forgot the purpose of the game. Sigh But as fun as that game was, we need to get out of my sleeping chambers. I have no problem walking with a friend."
It was about noon, and Twilight and Pinkie had been walking through the streets of Canterlot, mainly in areas where middle class ponies lived, ponies who were able to pay their rent. The streets were messy, but not too messy. The two ponies were looking for a restaurant, one where anypony, except nobles, could eat.
"Here it is," said Twilight as she walked towards the restaurant. Pinkie took a whiff and realized that it was an actual restaurant and not a fancy place where the rich ponies could order their very fancy and very awful foods, where you could take one bite and feel very much done with your meal.
This place wasn’t like that though. Even though the paint on the building was peeling off, it smelled like a real restaurant with good food. Who knows, maybe they were planning to repaint it.
As Pinkie walked in, she felt warm and invited. There were a few ponies here and there, mostly families, who had planned on eating at this restaurant after a long day of walking and playing all kinds of outside games.
Twilight walked up to a desk where she and Pinkie could order and pay for a table.
A stallion approached the desk and said, "Welcome to Canterlot Crown. May I take your ord-" The waiter suddenly realized who his customer was and he immediately bowed down. "Why, Miss Sparkle, I didn't realize that you could come down here to eat among the rest of us Canterlot citizens" He said this while looking up to her.
Twilight mumbled to herself. 'For Celeste’s sake, the whole bowing thing is really getting old. Like two years too old.’ Twilight cleared her throat and said in a regal manner, "Rise." The waiter rose from his bow.
"To answer your question, I want to eat with my friends without any nobles or that Stupid Stallion Blue Blood sticking their noses in my time with my friends."
The waiter winked. "Well, that makes sense. Ahem, which table will you be taking today?"
Twilight pondered for a moment then saw a table that was not too populated. "Hmm, how about table seven?"
"Um, ok, but you’ll have to mind the mess. Last night, some ponies had a party for one of them and made a good mess under that table." The waiter scratched the back of his head and continued. "And personally, I don't think we got all of it."
Pinkie Pie said excitedly, "Oh, by the way, we are expecting three other friends to arrive later."
Pinkie Pie bounced along right next to Twilight as they walked to table seven. Twilight used her horn to quickly scan around the table. She found several small crumbs on the floor, and also a few streamers that the staff had missed. But at least the table was clean. Satisfied with her scan, Twilight sat down on a chair and Pinkie sat down right next to her.
To start conversation, Pinky asked Twilight, "So, what do you think Rainbow and the Shys are up to? I mean, that was just way out of character for Rainbow."
“Yeah,” Twilight replied.
Pinkie looked straight at Twilight and said, "Don't you agree? It's really out of character for Rainbow to suddenly want to go to the library. My pinky sense is telling me that she’s actually spying on Fluttershy, even though she has no reason to spy on her."
Twilight replied, “That’s good to know.”
Then Pinkie began again. "To suddenly leave and not give us a good explanation for why she needed to go to the library."
Twilight wondered where her other friends were, but she was distracted, focusing on a strange group near them. One of the ponies was a light blue alicorn mare with brown eyes and a purple mane and tail, the latter of which was tied up in a ponytail. She didn't wear any crown or jewelry, which meant she was not a royal alicorn. The next pony was a blue stallion pegasus with brown eyes and a green and white mane and tail. Judging by the way he played with the alicorn's ponytail, he had a sense of humor. As he teased the alicorn, on the opposite side of the table was a dark blue stallion unicorn with a curved horn that Twilight recalled King Sombra also possessed. It was King Sombra’s horn, but this pony wasn't him. He had a flowing black mane and was talking to an orange mare unicorn with light silver eyes and a bright yellow mane and tail next to him. She was listening to him intently. Twilight decided to listen in on their conversation.
"I'm still working on my book. Soon ponies will be curious and will want to read it. If it becomes popular enough, then I'll focus on the next one."
"Now, Arkantos, you should know that there is more to life than this." Momma Bear gestured to the book in her silver hooves and continued, "You should visit your parents more often. Give your father a chance to tease you."
Arkantos sighed and said, "I will try, but my work schedule can be unpredictable." He paused and looked at his mother and continued, "Unless you know exactly what my schedule will be before I even know?"
Momma Bear looked straight into his eyes and replied, "There will be times where you feel like you're in an endless loop of working at Starve-Ving and then walking straight back home, but never forget you can make your own plans. Have fun! But to answer your question, No, I don’t know your schedule before you do."
"Dad, stop it," The alicorn complained.
"But you know I like to tease you. Oh, by the way, Arkantos is the best."
The pony in question facehoofed and said, "Silly, silly, silly, silly, silly, silly dad."
The pegasus replied. "What? But, it's true, Arkantos. You are the best."
Momma Bear decided to change the subject. "So, Peppermint, how's the substitute teaching job going for you?"
The alicorn named Peppermint replied, "Well, I get to see new faces and help little foals and fillies complete their projects. I help them when things get difficult and they tell me I'm the best substitute they have ever met. Sometimes, they are very generous and give me an apple. Oh, and this one time-”
The conversation was interrupted when the waitress came up to take their order. She spoke to the stallion pegasus first. "Have you made your decision, Mr. Tuna?"
The pegasus of the group said, "Yes, I will take the warm water with bread crumbs."
The waitress looked at the alicorn. "And you?"
"I think I'll have a salad with alcoholic apple juice."
"And what about you?" The waitress looked at the mare unicorn.
"I'll have a salad with water."
"And you sir?" she asked the umbrum.
"I think I'll have hay fries with some pork."
"All right, that will be seven coppers and four silver bits."
The family dug out their bits to pay for the meal.
Back at Twilight’s table, Pinkie Pie had just finished saying, "And that's how Equestria was made."
Twilight, with a questioning look on her face, stared straight at her friend and was about to say something, but then she heard Rainbow say, "Hey, guys, sorry I'm late! It's just that I heard some Wonderbolt was hanging around at the pub all day and I just had to meet him."
Pinkie said, "Oh, well, did you get any pointers for how to enlist in the Wonderbolts? Because that's, like, your dream, isn't it?"
"Oh, yeah, of course it's my dream. And sadly he didn't."
Twilight was about to ask another question, but just then, Fluttershy and Night Breeze entered the restaurant. Fluttershy looked a little tired out, but she was here and ready to order with her mother.