The door swung open into Night Shadow's room, which was still dark from the lack of a sunrise during that time.
"And this is my room, where we will be staying. Now, do you want the bed, or are you going to try out hanging yourself?" Night Shadow stepped into his room.
"H-hang myself? Are you crazy, Night?" Thunderblast's pupils shrunk a little.
Night quickly stopped and turned around. "Not like that kind of hanging, silly. I mean, hanging by your tail. Like a bat!" He raised a hoof, pointing to a wooden pillar above his room just below the ceiling, a hanging perch.
Thunder stared up at the wooden perch. "Oh," he thought for a minute. "Perhaps."
"Well, you have all day to decide," Night sat down on his bed, then glanced around. "Hmm...I could have sworn-"
"Alright, what's all the ruckus going on in here?" The door opened again, and a younger bat pony mare stood at it rubbing her eye with a hoof tiredly. Suddenly, she squealed and ran up to Night Shadow, hugging him tightly. "Big brother!"
Night chuckled and hugged the mare back. "Good morning to you too, Dawn."
"Eee! I missed you!" She squealed happily still.
"It...it hasn't been that long," Night chuckled again.
"I know, but that doesn't mean I don't miss you when you're away!" Dawn giggled, then glanced over and spotted Thunderblast, who was standing a couple of feet away and watching them with a small smile on his face. "Who's this hunky stallion you've got with you?"
"Oh! Of course. Dawn, meet Thunderblast. Thunder, meet my sister, Dawn Blossom," Night smiled between the both of them.
Thunder stepped forward and extended a hoof. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Dawn," he smiled to her.
Dawn giggled and blushed faintly, extending her hoof to Thunder and slowly shaking it. "It's n-nice to meet you too...hehe...Thunderblast!"
The two pulled their hooves back to themselves a few moments after, both staring awkwardly at each other with Dawn's blush slowly becoming more visible. Thunder noticed it instantly and grew a slight blush on his cheeks as well, then he looked to Night slowly, who was grinning. Dawn also turned to Night, then scrunched her muzzle. "Looook, I'm gonna...go downstairs. Bye!" She darted out of the room and shut the door behind her.
"Weeeell?" Night grinned, turning back to Thunder.
"Well what?" Thunder dropped his faint blush and stared directly at his friend with an eyebrow raised.
"Aren't you two going to taaaalk?" Night smirked.
"Uh, what is there to talk about?"
"You know."
"I actually don't."
"Yes you do. Talk to her!"
"No! Not like that, are you crazy?!"
"Do it, you'll have to sometime while we're here!"
"Your sister is cute, yes, but I'm taken! Don't push this on to me, we're here for one reason and one reason only."
"Come on, lighten up Thunder. One of the reasons I wanted you to go is so you could meet my family. Not one of the main reasons, but still."
"One of the reasons? What were the others?" A glare began to form on Thunder's face.
"I meant the other reason, not one of them. Our mission is to bring the peace back between our races. Look, I just want you to stay calm about this. I know it seems serious, and it's stressful that we're doing it alone, but let go already. We have all the time in the world to get this done."
Thunder's glare softened, then he looked away a little and sighed. "Fine, fine."
Night smiled afterwards. "Now, let's head downstairs. I'm sure you're hungry too."
Sitting patiently at the table, Thunderblast waited as Night Shadow trotted about the kitchen, humming happily to himself as he brought ingredients for something to the wood stove.
"So...what do uh, what do bat ponies usually eat?" Thunder asked.
"Same food as regular ponies!" Night hummed more.
"You mean you all don't suck blood for a living?" Thunder grinned.
Night zipped over to Thunder with a scowl on his face. "We. Do not. Suck blood! Got it?!"
Thunder recoiled back fearfully as he stared Night in the eyes, who quickly calmed after he nodded and trotted back to the kitchen. He breathed a sigh of relief and continued to wait patiently. Some time after, Night Shadow walked out holding two plates on his back and humming happily again.
"Breakfast is served!" Night set the plates on the table, sliding one to Thunder.
"I never knew you liked omelets," Thunder said, somewhat surprised.
"Oh, definitely! My dad makes the best omelets, but he's not here, so I made 'em!" Night smiled and began to eat.
Thunder also started to eat, almost immediately after saying 'Mmmm' with his mouth closed and kept eating.
"Like it?" Night asked, smiling still.
Thunder nodded in response, smiling back as he gulped down his first couple of bites. "Tastes amazing! Thank you, Night, for breakfast."
"Ah, come on. We flew all of this way, you had to be hungry," Night rolled his eyes playfully, taking a bite out of his food.
As they ate, the sound of hoofsteps could be heard coming down the stairs. The two glanced over, spotting another bat pony mare tiredly walking downstairs. This time, the mare was slightly taller than Dawn, and had a silver mane, her coat was a slightly lighter shade than Night's. The mare stopped at the bottom of the steps and smiled big.
"Nighty!" She called out, trotting up to Night Shadow and kissing his cheek.
"Hi mom!" Night smiled, his mouth slightly full.
"I had no idea you'd stop by!" Midnight smiled still, trotting into the kitchen. "It smells good in here, what did you make?"
"Omelets. I made you and Dawn some too," Night gulped down to speak properly.
"Aw, thanks sweetie!" Midnight picked up her plate and walked back out to them, sitting at the table. She then noticed Thunder, who was eating still as well. "Who's this?"
"Thunderblast, my friend."
"Ooooh, where'd you meet him?"
"Canterlot. Turns out I wasn't the only one there," Night chuckled a little.
"Well that's good! It is nice to meet you, Thunder," Midnight smiled to him.
Thunder nodded in response, having his mouth still full as he finished his omelet.
"Sooo, what brings you back home, my little Nighty?" Midnight asked, just before taking a bite of her omelet.
"Oh, you know, nothing too important. Just showing Thunder around is all," Night winked to Thunder, who winked back.
"Oooh, so a little vacation huh? Well, I'm glad you are back," Midnight sighed softly. "I always miss you when you're gone. I'm more than happy you came back to us when you did. We all missed you."
Night blushed. "Awh, mom, stop it."
"What? It's true!"
"Please mom, not in front of Thunder."
"Oh what is he going to do? You're my little bat, Nighty!"
Night blushed harder and shrunk slightly into his own body, turning his attention to Thunder who was snickering.
"Moooom, quit embarrassing me!"
"Oh you quit, you know you love it when momma loves all over her big stallion!"
"I thought that was dad?"
"You both are. But, you are dad's big stallion too."
Night blushed harder. "Moooom!"
"Oh fine, you big pansy. I'll stop," she giggled, and took her omelet to the couch to eat. Night laid his head on his hooves, embarrassed, and Thunder burst out into a loud laugh.
"Thundeeeer, that's not funny!" Night's face was red as his blood.
Thunder tried to speak, but found it too funny to speak and soon couldn't breathe from laughing too hard. Night dropped the blush and rolled his eyes, then flew to the front door.
"I'm going to go for a walk, I'll be back," Night opened the door and trotted outside.
Thunderblast quickly stopped laughing and stood up. "Hey wait!" He galloped after. "Wait for me!"
Night Shadow trotted down the street at a normal pace, his ear swiveling at the sound of fast-approaching hooves from behind. He glanced over, catching Thunderblast run up beside him and stop, panting a little.
"Where...are we going?" Thunder asked, trotting beside his friend.
"Eh, nowhere in particular. Just thought I'd walk around for a bit," Night shrugged.
"Oh, alright. Hey, where did Dawn go? I never did see her after she...ran away."
"Don't ask, she's weird," Night replied sarcastically.
"Right behind you, ya chumps," Dawn's voice appeared out of nowhere.
Thunder jumped, quickly spinning around and instantly seeing Dawn grinning and standing where he was. "Oh, D-Dawn! Were you following us?"
"Well, where else would I come from silly?" Dawn giggled and motioned a hoof.
"Oh...heh, of course," Thunder blushed awkwardly and looked over to Night, who stared back momentarily.
"Sis, what are you doing out here? I thought you had classes today," Night turned and stared to Dawn with some concern.
"Hah, of course not! I've got the week off. They never said why, we just have the week off," Dawn replied.
"Strange," Night thought for a moment, then shrugged it off. "Oh well."
"Hey, Thunder. Since we're all out here, would you like for me to show you around town?" Dawn asked in a soft voice.
Thunder smiled and blushed. "Heh...would I?"
"I'll take that as a yes," Dawn giggled. "Come on you two silly fillies."
Following Dawn's long, and quite unorganized tour of the town, the three finally stopped at the park to sit down. They sat on a bench, just a few feet from a large statue of the Legion's founder, who's engraved name was covered in snow. Sitting in between, Thunderblast laid back against the wood bench, relaxing a little, while Night Shadow was fiddling with his hooves and Dawn was...scooting closer...and closer. He continued to watch the mare scoot closer, although she was looking elsewhere. He then moved into a sitting up position, staring curiously at her. She finally stopped, just two inches from his side, when she slowly looked over to him with a faint blush on her cheeks. She jumped out of her seat squealing when she realized Thunder was watching her. Night Shadow quickly looked over to Dawn, then to Thunder who was watching her from his spot on the bench.
"Okay, what did you do Thunder?"
"N-nothing! She just jumped and squealed out of nowhere!"
"Dawn, what did you do?"
"He was staring at me!"
"You were scooting closer!"
Night then facehoofed and shook his head slowly. "Dawn...get over here. Thunder, move over."
Thunderblast did so, scooting to the other side of the bench and allowing Dawn to sit between them. She wrapped a hoof around Night, as he did back to her, but she continued to stare at Thunder with a faint blush. He tried not to notice, occasionally and briefly moving his eyes to her to see what she was doing. Almost each time, she was staring directly at him.
"Aagh, forget this!" Thunder stood up, his cheeks turning red slowly as well. "I'm going for a walk..."
"W-wait, Thunder! Let me come with you!" Dawn squeaked out, then blushed hard. "F-from behind...I-I mean, by your side...with Night too!"
Thunder stopped and looked back at her, then faintly smiled. "Come on."
Squealing happily, she flew out of the light hold of Night's arm and landed next to Thunder happily with widened irises. Thunder chuckled and started walking. Night Shadow stood up and tagged along, trotting up on the other side of Thunder and smirking.
"Ooooo, somepony is in loooove," Night growled playfully.
Both Thunderblast and Dawn Blossom immediately stopped and blushed hard. "We are not!" They said, almost synced perfectly. The two turned to each other, pupils shrunk and cheeks red as roses.
"Yeah, you two just keep telling yourselves that," Night laughed and continued trotting. Thunder and Dawn looked around nervously, hoping no one else was watching, and hesitantly followed Night Shadow through town.