Deception

by Yukito

Rating: teen
Tags: Main 6, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Slice of Life
Length: 10709

New faces in Ponyville, but they aren't what they seem to be

Two new faces arrive in Ponyville, and settle in easily enough with the friendly ponies there. Bubbles and Surprise seem like nice ponies, who just want to live a nice, happy life together in Ponyville.

However, not everypony is as they seem.

Published 2012-09-18 14:24:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-10-04 23:14:17 UTC

New Faces

Twilight heard a knocking at the library door, and looked up from her book and to the baby dragon behind her. “Spike, could you get that for me please?”

Spike hopped down from his ladder and made his way to the door, where knocking could still be heard. “Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” he said, before reaching out to and opening the door. On the other side, he could see a yellow Earth Pony with blue hair. “Hello? Can I help you?”

“Hi there,” the pony said, before bowing politely to the baby dragon, “My name is Bubbles, and I was wondering, is this the Ponyville library.”

“Yes, it is,” Twilight said as she approached the yellow Earth Pony. Spike went back into the library and continued his work organising the shelves. “Is there a particular book that you were looking for?”

“Oh, no. I just like to read, and was thinking that I would take a look around.”

“Sure, by all means,” Twilight said, moving aside to let the pony in. As Bubbles passed, Twilight took note of her Cutie Mark: 4 blue bubbles, and 5 green bubbles. She mentally thought about what kind of special talent that could be, before she realised the Bubbles was starting at her. “Oh, sorry. I haven’t introduced myself, have I? My name is Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight extended her hoof forward, and Bubbles shook it with her own a hoof. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Sparkle.”

“Just Twilight is fine.”

Bubbles nodded, and then turned her attention to all of the bookshelves around her. “Well then, don’t mind me. I’m just going to take a quick look around.” Bubbles walked over to the bookshelf on her right, and started to look through the books. “I’m new here in town, and thought that I’d familiarise myself with the place.”

“Oh, is that so?” Twilight asked, walking back over to her book and sitting down to continue reading it. “Well, welcome to Ponyville.”

“Thanks.” Bubbles turned her head over her shoulder to make sure that no one was watching, and then turned backed to the bookcase she was browsing through, and knocked Elements of Harmony – A Reference Guide onto the floor. “Oops, sorry about that,” she said, bending down to pick it up.

“No problem,” Twilight said, not turning her attention away from her book. “Just…Try to be a little more careful. Some of these books are kind of fragile.”

Bubbles examined the front of the book, and then turned to Twilight. “Oh, the Elements of Harmony…That’s why your name is so familiar to me!”

Twilight turned to head around, smiling nervously at Bubbles. “You’ve heard of me?”

“Heard of you? Of course I’ve heard of you! You’re the leader of the Elements of Harmony, right? The one who defeated Nightmare Moon and Discord?” Twilight rubbed the back of her head, and tried to convince Bubbles that it wasn’t such a big deal. “And to top it all off, you’re the Princess’ personal student!”

“I’m not that great,” Twilight said, now blushing from all the praise she was receiving.

“They hay you aren’t!” Bubbles shouted, before covering her mouth with her forehooves. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to make such a big deal out of it.”

“I-It’s ok…I’m kind of used to it by now, actually.”

“So, Twilight,” Bubbles started, moving closer to the purple Unicorn, “What’s it like living in Canterlot? I’ve never been there myself, and I’m kinda curious. Is it like what I’ve heard? Is everypony there a stuck-up snob who won’t even give commoners the time of day?”

Twilight shook her head quickly. “No, no. Not everypony in Canterlot is like that…Though the majority can be a little arrogant, I guess…”

“Is it true that the Royal Guard is constantly patrolling the streets there?” Twilight was about to answer, when Bubbles interrupted her. “How good do you think the castle’s defences are?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the yellow Earth Pony. “Why do you want to know something like that?”

Bubbles’ eyes widened, and she quickly backed away, looking around the room nervously. “Um…I’m just…Curious, that’s all…” She noticed that Twilight was still looking at her sceptically, and quickly tried to change the topic. “S-So, life with the Princess…That’s gotta be pretty cool, huh?”

Twilight sighed, and placed a bookmark into her book, before closing it. She was sure that she wouldn’t be returning to it any time soon. ‘So, she’s one of those ponies, huh?’

“I mean, she was your personal tutor. You must have spent a lot of time with her, by her side as she performed her Royal duties?”

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to face Bubbles. “Well, we did spend a lot of time together, but-”

“So what kind of things did you do together?” Bubbles asked, “Did she let you sit in during her meetings? Did she show you how she went about doing her work? How she ran the kingdom?”

Twilight shook her head, waving her hooves to tell the other pony to calm down. “No, no, nothing like that. She just spent some of her free time with me to teach me about magic. Other subjects I still learned at Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, although she did help me sometimes.”

“I see,” Bubbles mumbled, “Oh well!” She picked up some books from the bookshelf she was currently at, and carried them over to Twilight. “Can I check these out please? I’m a big fan of Daring Do, and I’ve been looking for these volumes for a while.”

Twilight smiled and nodded, levitating a thin book over to her and opening it up. “Sure thing. I’ll just mark down that you’re checking them out.” Twilight jotted a note down in her notepad, and then returned her gaze to Bubbles. “Ok, it’s on loan for two weeks. There’s a small fee for late returns, so make sure you return it before that happens.”

Bubbles nodded, and stashed the books away into her saddlebag. “No problem!” she said cheerfully as she made her way to the library door. “Well, it’s been fun, but I should probably get going. Still gotta settle in, y’know?”

“Yeah, I understand. I hope you enjoy Ponyville. It’s a great town.”

“I’m sure I will.”

“Alright, next, I wanna go visit Carousal Boutique,” Bubbles said to herself, stopping in the middle of the street and looking around nervously. “…Where is Carousal Boutique, exactly?”

“Hey, look out below!” a voice shouted above Bubbles. She looked up to see a rainbow approaching her rather quickly, and did a double take. “WATCH OUT!”

Bubbles tried to run out of the way, but was tackled to the ground by the incoming rainbow, leaving her dizzy and disorientated for a few seconds, before she picked herself up. She looked down at whatever had crashed into her, and saw rainbow lying on the ground, twitching a bit, with two blue wings sticking out of it.

“…Wha?” Bubbles shook her head, trying to clear her mind, and took another look at what was in front of her. ‘Oh, of course,’ Bubbles thought to herself, seeing a blue Pegasus standing in front of her, with a rainbow coloured mane and tail.

“Heh, sorry about that,” Rainbow Dash apologized, dusting herself off before taking a good look at who she had just flew in to. She took a good look at the yellow Earth Pony, who was staring back with a dumb look on her face, and was covered in mud. Rainbow Dash tried to hold in her laughter, but failed, collapsing onto the ground in a fit of laughter.

Bubbles frowned at the laughing Pegasus, and waited for her to stop laughing. When the laughter just continued for about half a minute, Bubbles decided to interrupt. “Excuse me!” she shouted, starting to lose her patience, “What is so funny, exactly!?” ‘Ugh, this is why I wanted to save her for last…’

Rainbow Dash wiped a tear from her eye, and picked herself up, after having rolled around on the ground during her laughter. “Sorry, sorry, you just…” Rainbow took another look at Bubbles, and her laughter started up again, but she managed to contain it a little better this time. “Uh, hey, sorry about that,” she said, extending her wings and flapping into the air. “How about I help ya out?”

Before Bubbles could accept or refuse her offer, the blue Pegasus had shot up into the sky and retrieved a raincloud from the sky. “Uh, what’re you-” Bubbles’ question was answered by a downpour of rain falling onto her, soaking her from head to hoof. “AH!” she screamed as the cold water hit her.

Rainbow Dash lowered to the ground, and took a look at the now clean, but now soaking wet Earth Pony. Laughter shot out, but not just from the Pegasus. Bubbles could hear many ponies around the two laughing as well, and her face started to turn a bright shade of red.

“Oh wow!” a voice called out behind Rainbow Dash. Bubbles turned and frowned at the approaching white Pegasus with blonde, curly hair. “Hey Bubbles! What happened? You lose a water fight or something?”

Bubbles moved her wet mane from her eyes, and let out a deep groan. “What are you doing here, Surprise?” she asked, moving towards the two Pegasi, but keeping her attention on the white one. “You’re supposed to be unpacking our stuff.”

“It’s already done!” Surprise responded, flapping her wings and floating in the air, “So I thought I’d come and help you out here!”

Rainbow Dash, who had finally managed to calm down, extended a hoof toward Bubbles, who turned to her and shot a cold glare. “Hey, uh, sorry about that,” Rainbow Dash said, “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in all of Equestria!”

Bubbles looked at the hoof offered to her for a second, before Surprise extended her own hoof and shook it quickly. “Nice ta meetcha!” Surprise shouted, “My name’s Surprise, and this is my friend Bubbles!” Surprise threw a hoof around Bubble’s shoulders. “My bestest friend, in the whole wide world!”

Bubbles, once again blushing, pushed Surprise away, and then extended her own hoof to shake Rainbow Dash’s. “Uh, yeah…We moved to Ponyville today. Nice to meet you.”

A shout could be heard above the group, and they looked up to see a Pegasus shouting angrily at Rainbow Dash. Bubbles couldn’t make out exactly what she was saying, but it was something about Rainbow Dash slacking off.

“Oh horseapples!” Rainbow shouted, kicking up off the ground and floating up into the air. “Listen, I gotta go. But welcome to Ponyville!” Rainbow turned around and shot up into the air, and took a moment to shout back: “Let’s hang out sometime!”

The two friends watched Rainbow Dash leaving, Bubbles staring blankly and Surprise waving a hoof and shouting goodbye enthusiastically. Once the blue Pegasus was out of sight, Bubbles and Surprise turned to face each other.

“Well then, where to next?” Surprise asked, hopping in place excitedly.

“I was on my way to Carousal Boutique,” Bubbles explained, before her wet mane dropped in front of her eyes, and she failed to repress a sneeze. “But maybe we should visit the spa first,” she suggested. Surprise agreed, and the two wandered off in a random direction.

After a minute of walking around blindly, the two ponies realised that neither of them knew where the spa was, and had to stop a random pony on the street to ask them for directions.

After a relaxing soak at the spa, which Bubbles was forced to admit she enjoyed, the two friends made their way to their next shop: the famed Carousal Boutique.

Bubbles held the door open for Surprise to walk in. As she opened it, she heard a pleasant chime ring throughout the store, followed by a voice saying: “I’ll be right there!”

Bubbles followed Surprise into the store, allowing the door to shut behind her, and looked around at the dresses around her. “Wow, a lot of dresses…Considering everypony around here seems to walk around au naturel.”

“Well, dressmaking is my passion,” a voice called out from the next room, and the two ponies turned to see a white Unicorn approaching them, “I sometimes just make things for the fun of it, and then find a buyer later.”

“Rarity, right?” Bubbles asked, turning her attention to the white Unicorn mare. She caught the scent of something pleasant, and sniffed a few times. “What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s a new perfume I’m trying out,” Rarity explained, walking up to the two ponies. “What do you think?”

Bubbles backed away a bit as the smell got stronger. It wasn’t a bad smell, but for some reason, it was…Overwhelming. “It’s…Nice, I guess?”

“We’re here to commission some dresses!” Surprises shouted, jumping in front of Rarity.

Rarity blinked a few times, and then smiled and levitated a notepad. “Well-”

“Oh, sorry! We haven’t introduced ourselves!” Surprise jumped back and hovered over Bubbles, landing next to her and leaning on the yellow pony. “My name’s Surprise, and this is Bubbles! We just moved here to Ponyville, and our dresses got torn up on the way! Long story. So!” Surprise was once again in Rarity’s face, causing the dressmaker to flinch and take a step back. “After hearing good things about this place, we thought we’d come and see if we can get some new dresses!”

Rarity stared blankly at the hyperactive Pegasus in front of her, and then walked over to her work desk, clearing her throat as she levitated a quill to her notepad. “Well,” she started, taking a moment to make sure she wouldn’t be interrupted this time, “That won’t be a problem. I’ll just need to know what kind of dresses you’d like, and what your sizes are, and I’ll see what I can do.”

“Ooh, I’ll draw up some pictures!” Surprise shouted, jumping up and down. Rarity was about to speak up, but noticed Surprise opening her saddlebag with her wing and taking out a sketchpad and some crayons. “Why don’t you go ahead and measure Bubbles while you wait?”

Bubbles walked over to Rarity, scratching the back of her head nervously. “Just leave it to her. It may be hard to tell by just looking at her, but she’s an amazing artist.” Bubbles shifted a hoof against the floor, and for some reason, found it hard to look Rarity in the eyes. “S-So, um…What measurements do you need exactly?”

Rarity smiled and levitated a measuring tape off of her desk, bringing it over to Bubbles. “Well, let’s start with your back and front legs.”

“Miss Surprise, would you mind holding still, please?” Rarity asked, finding it hard to take the client’s measurements with her constantly squirming and giggling.

“I can’t help it! It tickles! Ehehehe!”

Bubbles held her face in her hooves, trying to hide her embarrassment. It had taken three times as long to measure Surprise than it had taken to measure Bubbles, but on the bright side, this allowed Bubbles a chance to get to know Rarity a little bit.

“Wow, Canterlot sounds nice…Once you get past the snobs,” Bubbles said, holding Surprise down whilst Rarity measured her waist.

“Well, yes, it is quite a lovely place,” Rarity said, with a sigh, “But it sounds like your hometown is pretty interesting too. Though I can’t say I’ve ever heard of “Hoofville”.”

Bubbles shrugged. “Well, it’s not a very well known town. Very small, and very out-of-the-way.”

“I see…” After a few more minutes, Surprise’s measurements were finally finished, and Rarity was looking at the measurements and the images drawn by Surprise in order to estimate a cost for their dresses.

Behind her, Surprise put a foreleg around Bubbles and leaned down to whisper into her ear. “So, what d’ya think?”

Bubbles raised an eyebrow as she turned to face her friend. “About what?”

“Her plot,” Surprise said flat-out. If Bubbles had been drinking anything, she would have spat it out all over the floor. “Pretty sexy, don’tcha think?”

“I-Idiot!” she shouted as quietly as she could. Luckily, it seemed as though Rarity hadn’t heard a word of their conversation yet. “Why would you be asking me something like that!?”

“Well, you like her, right?”

“Wha-”

“Oh, wait. Don’t tell me…” Surprise facehooved herself, and then looked at the ground in disappointment, sighing sadly. “Right, you’re still young. You’ve probably never been in love before, and you were supposed to discover it for yourself…”

“What the hell kind of nonsense are you saying?” Bubbles asked, pushing Surprise away and turning around to hide her red face. “I’m not in love with her, or anyone! I’m-”

“All done!” Rarity shouted, before getting up and approaching the two, with her notepad grasped in her magic. “And your estimated cost is…Did I miss something?” Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the two ponies. Surprise was whistling innocently…Obviously hiding something, and Bubbles was facing the wall, covering her face with her hooves.

“No, nothing,” Bubbles said, though it was muffled by her hooves. “So, the price?”

“Oh, right…Well, for now, it looks to be in the region of 50-90 bits, each.”

“That’s quite a gap,” Surprise said.

“Well, your drawing makes it hard to determine how much fabric I need…As for how long it will take, Bubbles’ dress looks rather simple, so I should be able to get it done by the end of this week.” She then turned to Surprise, and a frown formed o her face. “Yours looks a little more complex, so it will probably take a little longer…But it shouldn’t be any more than an extra week.”

“Alrighty!” Surprise shouted, hopping over to the door, “Well then, we’ll leave it to you! Thanks a ton!” She turned to Bubbles, who was still staring at the wall. “C’mon Bubbles! Let’s go!”

Bubbles groaned, and slowly made her way to the door, keeping her head low. “I’m not in love with her,” she whispered as she passed Surprise, who simply smiled back at the disgruntled Earth Pony.

“Oh dear sweet god, what hell is this?” Bubbles asked herself as she stared at the two ponies in front of her. One was her friend Surprise, and the other…Was a pink Surprise, but with no wings.

‘I’d heard the rumours…But I was hoping they were just made up,’ Bubbles thought to herself as the two ponies bounced up and down excitedly, talking to each other at high speeds, filling the street with high-pitched ramblings. How they were actually conversing like this was beyond Bubbles.

“Hey, you two wanna come to a party later!?” Bubbles heard the pink one say.

“Yeah, sure! That sounds like fun!”

“Uh, wait,” Bubbles said, but was interrupted by Pinkie Pie leaping into the air and speeding off down the street. “…Why did you do that?”

“Do what?” Surprise asked innocently.

“Accept her invitation?”

“…” A sly grin spread on Surprise’s face, and she turned around to face down the street. “Well, we have to befriend those six at least, but it wouldn’t hurt to befriend more, right?”

“…But a party? We're supposed to-”

“Relax!” Surprise shouted, skipping down the street. Bubbles followed, tagging along behind her. “The others can take care of it! We should just enjoy ourselves here for today!”

“…By the way, our next stop is the market square.”

“You mean here?” Surprise asked. Bubbles looked around, and was surprised to find that they had somehow wandered into the market square without her even noticing. “Woohoo! What next?”

Bubbles opened her saddlebag, and pulled out a slip of paper. “Well, we need some groceries. We can use that to approach Applejack, who should be selling apples here at around this time.”

“Great! Let’s go then!”

Bubbles tried to stop Surprise before she rushed off, but was too late. The white Pegasus was already on her way to the nearby apple stand, where an orange Earth Pony was hard at work selling apples to nearby ponies.

Bubbles sighed and followed after her hyperactive friend. ‘Why did they send her? I get a headache just trying to keep up with her…’

“Well howdy there!” Applejack said as Surprise approached her stand, followed by Bubbles. “Ah don’t reckon ah’ve seen y’all ‘round here before. You new around here?”

“Yup!” Surprise shouted, leaning down and inspecting each of the apples closely with a magnifying glass.

Applejack looked down at Surprise with a questioning look, before turning to face Bubbles. Bubbles shrugged and smiled at the farmer, before extending a hoof to her. “Don’t mind her. She’s kind of…Weird,” Bubbles said, not sure how to put it more delicately. “We just moved to Ponyville today. We need to pick up some groceries, and we heard that Sweet Apple Acres has the best apples in all of Equestria, so we’re kind of excited to try them out.”

Applejack blushed and scratched the back of her head nervously. “Aw, shucks. Ah don’t know ‘bout “best apples in all of Equestria”, but if ya’d like, ya can have some on the house.”

Bubbles was about to decline the generous offer, but Surprise had already picked up two apples, and took a big bite out of one of them. She shoved the other into Bubbles’ mouth, who then struggled to chew and swallow the whole thing. When she was done, she gasped for air, and then took a moment to catch her breath.

“Well? What d’ya think?”

“…They’re…Delicious,” Bubbles said, genuinely surprised at just how good the apple tasted. “They’re even better than the ones from home!”

“Hm…I dunno,” Surprise said, narrowing her eyes and she inspected her half eaten apple. “I think it needs just a little bit of ketchup.”

“…Wha?” Applejack asked, staring at Surprise as if she were crazy. “Ketchup? Really?”

“Don’t ask,” Bubbles said, rubbing her forehead with a hoof. “It’s not the strangest food combination she likes, trust me.”

Surprise simply smiled at Bubbles’ comment, as if she were being praised for something. Applejack let out a small chuckle, and then told them how much her apples cost.

“Just one bit per apple?” Bubbles asked incredulously, “For how good they are? Really?”

Applejack lowered the tip of her hat in embarrassment. “They’re nothing special, and one bit per apple is a right fair price if’n ya ask me.”

“We’ll take a bunch!” Surprise shouted, dropping a bag of bits into Applejack’s hoof. She counted the bits to determine exactly how much a “bunch” was.

“Ok, so that’s 27 apples,” Applejack said, and Surprise nodded in confirmation.

“We don’t really need that much,” Bubbles said, “We only need about 10.”

“But that was before we found out how yummy they are! Besides, we have plenty of bits, right?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Then it’s no problem!” Surprise leaned over to Bubbles and whispered into her ear: “Besides, I believe I’m the one in charge, right?”

Bubbles rolled her eyes. “No fair. You can’t just decide when you’re going to accept you responsibilities.”

“Of course I can!” Surprise grabbed the bag of apples from Applejack, and flung them onto her back. “Thank you, Applejackie!”

“No problem,” Applejack said, smiling at the two ponies, “Have a good day, ma’ams.”

The two friends walked away, chatting to each other as they approached the next stand. Applejack turned her attention to the Ponyville clock tower, and then suddenly snapped her head back to the two ponies as she realised something. “Wait, how’d she know ma name?”

Bubbles and Surprise stood in front of the bakery Sugarcube Corner. It was late evening, and the two were finished with their shopping and their exploration of Ponyville, and now they were on their way to Pinkie’s party.

“So…How exactly did you know that the party was here, and at this time?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Surprise asked, floating alongside her friend.

“Not really…”

“Oh…Oh well! C’mon, let’s go in!”

“Wait, you didn’t answer my-” Surprise landed on the ground and hopped inside Sugarcube Corner before Bubbles could finish. Bubbles sighed, and followed Surprise inside. “Whatever…Hey, who knows, this might be fun.”

“SURPRISE!”

Bubbles and Surprise were startled by the sudden appearance of many ponies from seemingly out of nowhere, accompanied by the loud bangs of many party poppers going off at once, spraying confetti all over the room. After recovering, Bubbles faced Surprise with wide eyes. Surprise being startled was a rare sight, one that she wasn’t sure she had ever seen before.

“I’m so glad you made it! I knew you’d have no trouble finding this place!” Pinkie Pie shouted, hoping up to the two ponies.

“Well duh! The directions you gave were so easy, a dodo could follow them!”

Bubbles paused for a moments, and then raised an eyebrow at her white friend. “Hey, wait. What directions? She just took off down the street!”

“After giving me very clear directions to where the party would be, and telling me what time! Really, you need to pay better attention when ponies are talking, Bubbles.”

“SHE DIDN’T-” Bubbles put a hoof to her forehead, feeling a migraine coming along. “You know what? Never mind. I’m gonna go sample the punch.”

“Good idea! I’ll catch up later!” Surprise shouted, before turning back to Pinkie Pie and striking up a conversation with her. Again, Bubbles couldn’t quite tell what it was about…Something about banjos and dolphins.

Bubbles found her way to the punch bowl, and poured herself a drink. “Hey there,” she heard a voice behind her say. She turned around to see Rainbow Dash, smiling and waving at her. “Listen, I wanted to apologize for earlier…I would’a dried you off, but…”

Bubbles remembered her previous encounter with the rainbow maned Pegasus, but compared to the rest of her day with Surprise, that incident seemed like a pleasant memory. She giggled and waved a hoof dismissively. “Hey, no prob. I’m sure it happens often, right?”

“Actually,” Twilight said as she walked up to the two ponies, “It happened to me when I first came to Ponyville…I guess it’s Rainbow’s way of welcoming new ponies.”

The three ponies shared a laugh together, before being joined by a yellow Pegasus, who was awkwardly trying to walk around the three ponies to reach the punch bowl.

“Uh, are you ok, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, raising an eyebrow at the timid Pegasus.

“Oh, I was, uh, just trying to get a drink…But it’s ok, I’ll wait until you three are finished.”

“Oh, sorry,” Bubbles said, after realising that she was standing in the way of the punch bowl. She moved to the side, allowing the Pegasus access to the bowl. She quietly muttered a thank you, and then made her way to the bowl, hiding her face from the new pony behind her mane.

“Oh, have you two not been introduced?” Twilight asked, and then continued before either of them could answer, “Fluttershy, this is Bubbles. She moved to Ponyville today. And Bubbles, this is Fluttershy. She’s the resident animal caretaker here in Ponyville.”

Bubbles extended a hoof towards Fluttershy, who backed up a bit and stared at Bubbles shyly. “Nice to meet you.”

“L-Likewise…” Fluttershy said, timidly extending her hoof and shaking Bubbles’.

“…So…” Bubbles pulled back her hoof and tried to think of a subject to break the ice. “…How’s Ponyville? You enjoy living here?”

“…It’s nice…”

“…Uh, you have a lot of friends?”

“Some…”

“…” Bubbles put a hoof to her chin, trying desperately to think of something to make the Pegasus open up to her. “…You like animals, right?” Fluttershy’s ear twitched, and her shyness seemed to die down a bit. ‘Bingo,’ Bubbles thought to herself. “Y’know, I was actually thinking about getting a pet soon…You think you can help me…Out?”

Bubbles noticed that, now, Fluttershy’s shyness seemed to have died down completely, and instead, she found that the Pegasus was starting at her with a giant, wide open smile, flapping her wings excitedly as she hovered in the air.

“Oh, certainly! I have lots of animals that are just dying to be adopted! Oh, I’m sure we can find the perfect companion for you, and you’ll be just perfect for them!”

Bubbles backed up as Fluttershy reached out to grab her. “Whoa, hold it!” she said, causing Fluttershy to look at her confused, “Listen, I said I wanted to get a pet soon…But, it’s kinda late now, don’t you think?”

Fluttershy gasped, and then lowered down to the ground, once again hiding her face behind her mane as she scratched the ground with a hoof. “I-I’m sorry…You’re right, it is a little late right now…”

Bubbles groaned inwardly as she saw the Pegasus once again being shy and hard to talk to, but then smiled when she saw that Fluttershy wasn’t shaking like earlier. Perhaps she was feeling more comfortable around her?

“But…How about tomorrow?” Bubbles suggested, and suddenly, Fluttershy’s face lit up again. ‘Yeah, I think I got her.’

“Oh, yes, that would be great!” Fluttershy said, smiling at Bubbles, who smiled back. “Then, come by my house whenever you’re ready and…Oh! Do you know where my house is?”

“Well…”

“I can show you, if you’d like,” Twilight said, cutting into the conversation, “I have to go somewhere tomorrow anyway, and it’s on the way.”

“Well, then, if you’re offering…”

“Oh! This will be so great! I can’t wait to tell all of the animals when I get home tonight! I just know they’re going to be so excited!”

Bubbles smiled as she and her new friends continued the evening by drifting from one conversation to another, playing party games, and enjoying some delicious food, courtesy of Mr. and Mrs. Cake. Rarity and Applejack also joined in, as well as Pinkie Pie and Surprise, who, together, showed the town that Discord wasn’t the only master of Chaos in Equestria.

“That wash great! We should tooootally hang out more!*hic*”

“Surprise…How are you drunk?” Bubbles asked, carrying Surprise through the streets of Ponyville at night, after having left the party about 10 minutes ago. “There wasn’t any alcohol there.”

“…Sheesh!” Surprise shouted, suddenly sobering up and jumping to her hooves next to Bubbles. “You’re such a party pooper, y’know that?”

“Wait…You were pretending to be drunk? Why?”

“Why not?” Surprise asked with a shrug. The rest of the trip was spent in silence, with Bubbles cutting off Surprise whenever she attempted to say anything. Apparently, Bubbles was at her wit’s end. Once the two reached the border of the Everfree forest, they looked around cautiously, and then entered. “You first. I’ll cover the rear.”

“Right.”

The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters. Once a grand castle where the two Princesses of day and night reigned, now a crumbling ruin, a wreckage left by Nightmare Moon, one thousand years ago.

However, only the top was destroyed. The bottom remains intact. And it is below the surface of this ancient landmark that Bubbles and Surprise had set up their base.

“You’re back,” Carbon said as the doors to the dining room opened up. “How did it go?”

Bubbles and Surprise undid their disguises, revealing their true selves to their changeling comrades. “Mission successful,” Bubbles, or rather, Iron said.

Carbon smiled, and levitated two glasses of wine over his two comrades. “So, you’ve befriended the Spirits of Harmony?”

Iron nodded, and took a sip of his wine. “Not just that, but I’ve placed a bugging device in Twilight’s- I mean, in Magic’s library.” He took another sip, and looked around the room. “Sodium should be able to listen in on her now…Where is Sodium?”

“Where d’ya think?” Silver asked sarcastically, before pushing his cue forward, hitting the balls atop the pool table he was playing on. “She got here three hours ahead of us and shut herself away. Bitch got the best room too…”

Carbon chuckled, and poured three more glasses. He levitated one over to Silver. “Well, you should’ve got here sooner.”

“Tch, yeah right. I dunno what goes through her head. Who the hell wakes up that early just to secure a good room?”

Carbon shrugged, and levitated another glass over to Argon, who had been silently sitting off to the side of the room. Argon accepted the drink, but only acknowledged it with a slight grunt.

“Who knows?” Carbon asked, before turning to face the changeling that earlier assumed the identity of “Surprise”. “Helium, what’s our next move?”

Helium laughed, and took a big gulp of her drink. She levitated the bottle over to her, and began to refill her glass. “Well, Iron here wants ta get a pet-”

“No,” Silver said, standing up straight and glaring at Iron, “The last thing we need is some stupid dog or cat spreading hair all over the place.”

“But it’s for the sake of winning over Kindness,” Iron insisted, “Don’t worry, I’ll keep it in my room…Whatever it is exactly that I get.”

“…So you didn’t win them all over,” Silver pointed out.

“Oh, we did,” Helium argued, “But Kindness is…Well, kinda like our little Sodium. Not quite as bad, but still a little hard to talk to. And it would certainly help if we had some kind of common ground…A pet would be just perfect, and if that’s not enough, we can strike up conversations by asking for advice on how to take care of our pet.”

Silver considered this for a second, and then sighed in defeat. “Fine. Just…Nothing with hair.”

Iron laughed, and walked to the centre of the room. “I’ll try,” he said, before raising his glass into the air.

Helium and Carbon smiled, and joined him. Argon also raised her glass, and was soon followed by Silver, after he pocketed the eight ball on his table.

“Everyone,” Helium began, “A toast, to our great ruler Queen Chrysalis, and to the mighty changeling kingdom, that will soon rise forth and take Equestria from our enemies!

“All hail Queen Chrysalis!”

“All hail Queen Chrysalis!” the other four shouted back in unison, before downing their drinks together with Helium.

Iron left the room and made his way towards his designated sleeping quarters, after being directed to them by Helium. ‘One day, the changelings will take this land that was rightfully ours…But, if things remain peaceful for just a little while longer…’ His thoughts drifted to the events that transpired today, and to the faces of the six ponies that he had befriended. ‘…Well, it’s not like I would mind staying on standby for just a little longer.’

Introducing Seashell

Iron walked into the dining room still half asleep, yawning loudly as he opened the large double doors, and made his way slowly over to the table in the middle of the room.

“Mornin’” Carbon said as he lifted a glass of orange juice up to his mouth, “Sleep well?”

“Eh,” Iron responded, still too tired to say anything more intelligent.

Helium walked into the room a few seconds later, and saw Iron placing some bread into a microwave. She giggled and walked over to him. “Um, Iron?” Iron turned to face her. “I think you should probably be placing that in the toaster, not the microwave.”

“…I knew that,” Iron said, removing the bread and shifting slightly down the table to where the toaster was.

“So, you fed Sodium then?” Carbon asked, levitating his empty glass and plate and walking towards the small kitchen area in the corner of the room.

“Well, I placed some food by her door and told her it was there…She usually takes it and eats it, so I’m not particularly worried or anything.”

“As long as she gets her job done,” Silver started, levitating an orange into the air, “I don’t care what she does in her spare time. Her computer skills are amazing, so just as long as she’s happy and willing to work for us, that’s all that matters.”

“…But is she happy?” Iron asked, slightly more awake than a little earlier. His now toasted bread popped out of the toaster, and he began buttering them. “Helium, you’ve known her longest. Has she always been a recluse?”

“Yup!” Helium answered, her smiling not fading, “Back then, I was a much lower rank, but I was still tasked with scouting out potential candidates for our group.”

“You have an uncanny ability to see the potential within changelings, right?” Silver asked.

Helium nodded. “Right, and I saw her potential straight away! She only attended school for one day, and ooh boy, did she look scared!”

“So what happened? Did she just stop going?”

“She did!” Helium lifted a grape from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table, and threw it into the air, catching it in her mouth skilfully. “I went over to her house to see what was up, and it turned out she had sealed herself in her room!”

“Sealed herself?”

Helium nodded, her smiling dropping slightly as she took on a somewhat more serious tone. “She rigged a defence barrier all around her room, rigged with explosives. She ordered everyone to stay away, threatening to blow the whole house away if they tried to approach her.”

Iron and Silver were clearly shocked to hear this, and were staring at Helium wide-eyed. “Whoa,” Silver said, placing his orange down and leaning forward, now suddenly more interested in this story. “So, what happened? Was she being bullied?”

Helium shrugged. “Dunno. But it took the Royal Guard’s Special Squad to finally break in…In particular, we had to call in Magnesium and Copper, who, at the time, were our barrier and bomb experts, respectively.”

“And you still recruited her?”

“Well we couldn’t let such a wonderful mind go to waste, now could we? When we saw her talents on a computer, it was even more reason to get her on our side! We just used her reclusive nature to our advantage.”

Iron took a bite out of his toast, wincing as it tasted horrible in his mouth. ‘Note to self…Find a new bread seller.’ He swallowed the piece of toast in his mouth, and pushed the rest of his breakfast aside. “By which you mean you told her that, if she joined, she could do whatever she wanted…Including being all alone, if she desired it?”

Helium nodded, and reached over towards the toast that Iron pushed aside. “You gonna finish that?” Iron motioned for her to have it if she wanted, and she shoved the whole thing into her mouth, swallowing it without even chewing. Iron almost felt like throwing up. “To this day, only the Queen and Hydrogen seem to know what’s up with her, but they won’t say anything to me.”

Helium almost seemed hurt when she said that, something that Silver quickly picked up on. He stood up quickly and tried to change the subject. “Still, I’m surprised,” he said, drawing the attention of the other two changelings, “To think such a place exists under the Everfree forest, and Celestia just…Forgot about it.”

Iron chuckled, and walked over to the kitchen area, where Carbon was just finishing washing his plate. “Well, it’s been abandoned for 1000 years. I’d wager, since nothing ever happened with it, and since she kept it a secret from even her own subjects, that it just moved to the back of her mind.”

Carbon nodded, and moved back into the dining room. “That barrier she erected around this place was very…Flimsy,” he said, not being able to find a better word to describe it. “Even without Sodium sending false data, we would probably have no problem setting up our base here.”

“But with Sodium, we can also take it a step further, and do some digging around in the lower levels,” Helium pointed out, “Well, after she’s given the all clear, of course.”

Suddenly, a ring was heard in the dining room, soon followed by a voice. “Heads up. There’s a pack of timberwolves hunting around outside. Nobody leave the base until I can confirm that they’re gone.”

The ringing was heard again, and was followed by Silver sighing. “Well, that’s the problem with setting up our base in Everfree forest.”

“True, but at least the timberwolves aren’t looking for us specifically,” Iron said, bringing a glass of water from the kitchen into the dining room. “Unfortunately, this means I might be late meeting with Magic today. I suppose I could say I just slept in…”

“Or maybe,” Carbon started. Green flames shot around him, and when they were gone, he was replaced by a purple Earth Pony mare with green hair, and green eyes. Her Cutie Mark was five green seashells. “Maybe it’s time for Seashell to get acquainted with Ponyville.”

Argon entered the dining room and looked around. “Are the others gone?”

Helium nodded, humming something as she flicked through her magazine. It had been 10 minutes since Iron and Carbon left, after receiving word from Sodium that it was safe to leave.

‘Good. Then I can eat in peace,’ Argon thought to herself, walking over to the fruit bowl at the centre of the table and levitating an apple to her mouth. “Silver mentioned an assassination,” she said, before taking a bite of her apple. It was much better than she thought, but her expression didn’t change. “Isn’t that a little early? I thought we were on standby.”

“Assassination?” Helium asked, turning around and looking at Argon quizzically. “That’s odd. Are you sure ‘bout that?”

Argon thought for a second, and then turned to face Helium. “He was mumbling, but he said something along the lines of “they should just let me kill ‘em. Damn pony, whoever it is”.”

Helium realised what was going on, and let out a small giggle. “Oh, don’t worry ‘bout it. Silver’s just a lil’ upset ‘cause Iron’s fallen for somepony.”

Argon raised an eyebrow, but then remembered that Silver hated ponies with a passion. No, not just hated them. He was downright xenophobic towards them. Won’t have anything to do with them. That’s why he only ever has bottled love; he simply doesn’t have it in him to even pretend to love somepony.

“Well, I didn’t tell him who it was, so it’ll be fine!” Surprise said.

“…He won’t try to take matters into his own hooves?”

“Nah! I ordered him not to! He won’t refuse an order from me.”

Argon thought about it, and then simply nodded. She grabbed another apple from the bowl, and turned around to leave.

“Where ya goin’?”

“…Training,” she said, eating her apples as she walked towards the doors of the dining room.

“Alrighty! Have fun!”

Seashell looked up at the Ponyville library with a look of awe and wonder. “Wow,” she said, “It really is a tree.”

“Yeah,” Bubbles laughed, “I was surprised too, when I first saw it for myself. Guess our intel wasn’t as bad as we thought.”

“And yet Silver threw such a tantrum at those scouts…We’ll have ta apologise to them when we get back.”

Bubbles knocked on the library door, and heard a voice inside say: “Come in!”

Bubbles opened the door and walked inside, followed by Seashell. “Hi there,” Bubbles said to the purple Unicorn and baby dragon inside.

“Hi, Bubbles,” Twilight said, walking up to the two mares. Spike also greeted them, though it was only a mumble, since he was busy with his work. “You know, you don’t have to knock when you enter. This is a library, after all. You can just come in whenever you want…Providing we’re open, of course.”

“Yeah,” Bubbles laughed, “I forgot about that. Sorry. I’ll keep that in mind in the future.” Bubbles turned to face her friend. “Twilight, this is Seashell. Seashell, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Seashell said, offering a hoof.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Twilight replied, extending her hoof to shake it. “And that baby dragon over there is Spike, my number one assistant.”

“That’s me!” Spike shouted, taking a moment from his work to flex, before returning with a frown when the three mares giggled.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you living with Bubbles?” Twilight asked Seashell. Said pony shook her head.

“I’m just visiting my friend here to check out her new place, and help her with the unpacking. I’ll only be here for the next week.”

“Oh, I see. Well, enjoy your time here in Ponyville.”

“Thanks. I’m sure I will.”

Bubbles clapped her hooves together, and faced Twilight with an excited smile. “Soooo…When are we heading out?”

Twilight giggled, and looked behind her at a clock on the wall. “Excited to get a pet? Well, I guess I understand…I just have one little thing to take care of, and then I’ll be good to go.” Twilight turned back to face the yellow mare. “You don’t mind waiting a little bit, do you?”

Bubbles shook her head. “No, no, it’s cool. Take as much time as you need!”

“Well, it’s just putting a few books on hold, really. It shouldn’t take long.” Twilight turned to face Spike, who was placing a few books onto a nearby shelf. “Providing my number one assistant has been doing his job correctly?”

Spike turned to Twilight with a smug grin on his face, and stood proudly. “Of course I have! No books will be misplaced with number one assistant Spike on the job!”

“Well then,” Twilight started, watching Spike move on towards another part of the library, carrying a stack of books, “Would you mind telling me why you’re taking a pile of history books over to the magic section?” Spike stopped and looked down at the books he was carrying. “When they clearly belong in the history section, which is in the opposite direction?”

“…I knew that,” Spike said, turning around to face the other way, “I just…Had to turn around.”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “I’ll be right back,” she said to the two mares next to her, “Feel free to look around while you wait.”

“Will do!” Seashell exclaimed cheerfully, already on her way to the fantasy section.

Once Twilight was finished, the three mares left the library and began their walk to Fluttershy’s cottage. On the way, they encountered Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be arguing about something.

“Hey guys,” Twilight called out as she approached them. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, hey Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, “Nothing much, just telling AJ she has no chance this Running of the Leaves.”

“You wanna put yer money where yer mouth is?”

Twilight sighed and facehooved. “Oh, not this again.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack chuckled. “Don’t worry, Twi,” Applejack said, “We’re not gonna have a repeat of last year.”

“Yeah. This time, I’m gonna be first!”

“Y’mean second, right?”

“Um,” Seashell said, drawing the group’s attention to her, “Excuse me, but what are you talking about?”

“Oh, they’re just getting excited about this year’s Running of the Leaves,” Twilight explained, “It’s an annual race held every fall, and the purpose is to make the leaves hanging on the trees all fall off, ready for winter.”

“I see…” Seashell turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and realised that she hadn’t yet introduced herself. “Oh, sorry about that! My name is Seashell. And yours?”

Applejack extended her hoof to shake Seashell’s. “Nice ta meet ya! Ah’m Applejack, and this is-”

“The one and only, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash struck a pose for a second, before landing in front of Seashell. “Fastest flier in all of Equestria, and future member of the Wonderbolts!”

Seashell chuckled, and shook Rainbow’s hoof. “I see. It’s good to have goals.” Rainbow Dash nodded with a proud smile on her face, and Seashell continued. “But you’re both wrong,” she said, confusing both Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “You’re both gonna be second and third, now that I’m here!”

Bubbles sighed and walked off to the side a bit. “And here he goes…”

““He”?” Twilight asked.

“She!” Bubbles quickly corrected. “I, er…Hey, we really should get going, shouldn’t we?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but decided to shake off Bubbles’ weird behaviour just now. “You’re right. Come on, let’s go.”

Bubbles watched Twilight walk off, and turned back to Seashell to see her arguing with Rainbow Dash and Applejack about who would win tomorrow’s race. “Hey! Seashell! We’re going!”

Seashell turned away from the two athletes to see Bubbles walking after Twilight. “Ah! Hey, wait up!” Seashell shouted, chasing after her friend. She turned back to Rainbow and Applejack for a moment, to say: “Good luck tomorrow! You’re gonna need it!”

The three mares approached Fluttershy’s cottage, which was situated just outside of Ponyville, next to the Everfree forest. Bubbles and Seashell already knew where Fluttershy lived, but it would look suspicious if they knew without ever being there before, and this way, Seashell could get to know Twilight a bit.

It turned out they both enjoyed astrology very much, and they shared a lot of common interests, like solving puzzles, reading, organising their rooms…The conversation was beginning to make Bubbles feel sad, and she drowned it out about halfway through. ‘Congratulations, Carbon. You’ve found someone as boring as you.’

“You don’t do any sports?” Seashell asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Nah, I’m not very athletic,” she said, looking a little embarrassed.

‘Huh, what d’ya know? She’s even more boring than Carbon.’ Bubbles cleared her throat to get the attention of her two companions. If she didn’t she feared they may just keep walking into the Everfree forest. “We seem to be here, now.”

Twilight and Seashell looked over at Fluttershy’s cottage, and giggled with embarrassment when they realised how caught up in their conversation they were.

“Eheheh…Sorry, guys,” Twilight said. “I guess I got caught up in our conversation.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bubbles responded. “Well then, you have business elsewhere I believe?”

“Yeah…” Twilight looked a little worried about something, and looked over at Fluttershy’s house nervously. “I’m a little worried about this. Maybe I should go with you…”

“Don’t worry about it!” Seashell said. “There’s nothing to worry about. Bubbles told me that Fluttershy can be a little shy, but trust me, I’m good at getting ponies to open up!”

‘Liar,’ Bubbles thought to herself.

“No…That’s not exactly what I’m worried about…”

“What do you mean?” Bubbles asked.

“…Ah, never mind. I’m just over thinking things; I’m sure you’ll be fine!”

Bubbles and Seashell exchanged confused glances, before turning back to Twilight and waving her goodbye as she left. They then made their way towards Fluttershy’s cottage, where the perfect pet was surely waiting for them.

Fluttershy swept up a small, fluffy kitten off the ground, and shoved it into Bubbles’ face. “Well? What do you think? Isn’t he so cute you just want to take him home with you right now?”

Seashell watched as Fluttershy showed off the various animals in her garden, not quite sure what was going on. ‘This is the shy and timid pony we’ve been briefed about? She’s just one sugar stick away from being another Helium!’

“Um…Cats aren’t really my thing,” Bubbles said, his heart melting as the cat frowned and meowed sadly. ‘Sorry, Mr. kitty, but Silver doesn’t want anything with hair…Anyway, I need to keep this up long enough to make sure I win Kindness over.’

“I see. Well then, how about…” Fluttershy flew over to another part of her garden, and Bubbles and Seashell followed, stopping when she held up another animal for them. “A skunk!”

The two Earth Ponies immediately backed away, both familiar with what the black-and-white-striped badger from their lessons. A mere nuisance to ponies, emitting a foul odour that sticks to them, but deadly to changelings. Especially changelings in enemy territory; a changeling’s sense of smell is much more sensitive than a pony’s, and the stink from a skunk could easily render one unconscious, and also unable to control their shape shifting.

Of all the animals they learned about during training, skunks were in the top 5 to watch out for. It was for that reason that Bubbles and Seashell were immediately refusing Fluttershy’s offer, and practically begging her to keep it away from them. Clearly this was a bad move if one wanted to win over a kind-hearted animal lover like her, but they really had little choice if they didn’t want to reveal themselves to the enemy.

“I see…But there’s no need for that,” Fluttershy said sadly, placing the skunk down and apologizing to it, before it ran off in the opposite direction. “Poor guy. Nopony ever wants him…I hope he doesn’t take this too hard.”

Bubbles scratched her head nervously and approached Fluttershy, a frown on her face. “Uh…We’re sorry about that…We just…We haven’t heard many good things about skunks, and…”

Fluttershy turned around and looked at Bubbles disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t judge someone based on just what you’ve heard. That isn’t very nice…” Fluttershy stopped her lecture and sighed. “But…I mean, I’ve done it before, too, so…I guess I understand.”

Seashell laughed and walked up to Bubbles’ side. “You’re right. We shouldn’t have overreacted like that…I hope this doesn’t ruin relations between us.”

Fluttershy smiled and shook her head. “Of course not. You’re clearly both very sorry, and I can tell you’re not bad ponies.”

Bubbles practically sighed with relief, which confused Fluttershy. A nudge from Seashell brought her back to reality, and she quickly entered “improv mode”. “T-That’s good! ‘Cause, uh…I really would like a pet, y’know? Just…Nothing with too much hair, or fur.”

Fluttershy thought for a moment, and then nodded, still smiling. “I think I have just the thing.”

Fluttershy flew over to another part of the yard, and was once again followed by Bubbles and Seashell. She ascended up into a tree, and emerged a few seconds later, her forelegs stretched out to her sides and with various birds perched on them.

“There are many different types of birds who all are seeking the perfect owner.”

Bubbles looked over the various birds before him. There was a hawk, and eagle, a toucan, a hummingbird…There certainly were a lot of different birds, and Bubbles had to wonder how they were all able to live together in peace…Especially considering some of them required very specific conditions to survive. ‘Equestria really is a strange place.’

“Wow, impressive,” Seashell said, admiring the fine assortment of birds that Fluttershy was showing them. ‘Unfortunately, I don’t think Silver would appreciate a feathered animal flying all over the place.’

Bubbles was about to say something, but was stopped by a voice behind her. “Fluttershy, darling, whatever are you doing?”

The two Earth Ponies turned around to see a white Unicorn mare, Rarity, approaching. Seashell smiled as the mare drew closer. ‘Ah, Generosity. That makes five…I believe I’ve only yet to meet Laughter, now.’

“Oh, Bubbles! That’s right, I forgot that you wanted to adopt a pet from Fluttershy.” She looked guilty as she turned to Fluttershy. “Terribly sorry to interrupt, but-”

“Oh!” Fluttershy suddenly remembered her engagement with Rarity. She was going to go with her to the spa today, and got so caught up in showing her range of animals to her two new friends (to the point of randomly breaking into song), that she completely forgot all about it. “I’m so sorry, Rarity. I…I’ll just be a minute. And then we can-”

“Oh, please, take your time darling.” Rarity turned to Seashell, and smiled at her warmly. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. My name is Rarity, and you?”

“Seashell,” Seashell answered, extending her hoof for Rarity to shake it. Rarity was about to comply, before she noticed that Seashell’s hooves were covered in mud. “Hm? Something wrong?”

“Uh…Well, it’s just…You hooves are a little…” Rarity was having a hard time trying to be nice about it.

Seashell looked down at her hooves and realised that they were pretty dirty. She laughed and pulled back her hoof, allowing Rarity to relax. “Sorry ‘bout that. I get my hooves dirty a lot.”

Bubbles rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, no kidding. That’s kind of our job.’

Rarity turned to Bubbles and examined her hooves. Much cleaner. She smiled and extended her hoof. “I’ll just shake your hoof instead. If that’s alright with you?”

Bubbles simply nodded, and slowly extended her hoof forward, connecting it with Rarity’s. She felt a warm feeling throughout her whole body, which lasted up until Rarity disconnected their hooves. “Something wrong?” Seashell asked, grinning slyly at Bubbles. Bubbles snapped backed to reality, and realised that Rarity and Fluttershy with both giving him odd looks.

“Uh…No, nothing. I just…” ‘Quick, Iron! Find something to shift the conversation!’ Bubbles pointed a hoof into a random direction. “There! That’s the perfect pet for me!” she shouted, startling the other three ponies present.

The group turned to face where Bubbles’ hoof was pointing, and saw, lying on the ground, was…“A snake?” Seashell asked, before approaching it to get a close look. Bubbles and Fluttershy soon followed, once the birds had flown away, and Rarity opted not to go near the serpent.

Bubbles looked at the grass snake lying down in front of her, and almost facehooved herself. ‘Why did I do that? Of all the ways to divert a conversation…Well, may as well just roll with it.’

“Wow,” Fluttershy said, turning to Bubbles. “I never would have pictured you as a snake pony. Oh, no offence.”

Bubbles laughed nervously and turned to Fluttershy. “N-None taken. But, uh…Yeah, I think this would be the best pet for me.”

“It’s pretty cool,” Seashell said, kneeling down to get a better look at the animal. “Good choice, Bubbly!”

“…Don’t call me that.”

The snake began to wrap itself around Bubbles’ hoof, causing her to back up quickly and stare wide-eyed at the serpent beneath her. “W-What’s it doing?” she asked.

“Awww, she likes you,” Fluttershy said, beaming at Bubbles, who stared back in confusion. “You two seem like you’d make a good pair. Please take good care of her.”

“Uh…Yeah…” Bubbles said awkwardly, picking up the snake. She squirmed slightly as it wrapped itself around her neck, but soon relaxed when she realised that it was just getting comfortable. She had to admit, it felt kind of nice.

“Well then,” Rarity said, keeping her distance from the group, but not so much that she would have to shout. “If we’re all done here, shall we be off, Fluttershy? If that’s ok with you, Bubbles.”

Bubbles turned her head away and nodded. “Y-Yeah. That’s fine with me…I got what I came for, after all.”

The four mares said their goodbyes, and Fluttershy and Rarity headed off into town for their weekly spa meet. Once they were out of sight, Bubbles finally decided to ask Seashell why she had been grinning like an idiot for the past few minutes. “What is it?” she asked.

“You like that white one, don’tcha?” Seashell asked, and almost burst out laughing as Bubbles’ face quickly turned a deep shade of red. “I knew it! You totally have the hots for that mare!”

“S-S-S-S-S-Shut up!” Bubbles shouted, turning around and walking towards the Everfree forest. She was soon followed by Seashell. “Of course I don’t like her! That’s ridiculous!”

“Uh-huh…Sure you don’t, Bubbly.”

“A-Anyway, why should my love life be any of your concern?”

“Well…When the one you love is a pony, it kinda complicates things…And as your friend-”

“Oh please! Don’t start lecturing me about love, when you can’t even confess to the one you love!”

Seashell’s face quickly mimicked Bubbles’ as she blushed, and her mocking tone quickly turned into a flustered one. “W-Well, of course I can’t confess…Helium is our superior, it’d really mess things up. Especially if she rejected me…” The last part was said rather weakly.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, before Bubbles decided to break it. “Helium? Don’t you mean Surprise?” she said, reminding her friend to be careful when outside, even this deep into the Everfree forest.

“…Yeah, right. Sorry.” Seashell cleared her throat, and composed herself. “Anyway, if it were just a regular pony, I would be more supportive. But…” Seashell stopped, and Bubbles soon joined. “She’s one of our targets. When the time comes, we can’t protect her. We have to stick to orders, which means-”

“I know,” Bubbles said bitterly. “I know, ok? Don’t worry…I know my priorities…I won’t let my emotions cloud my judgement…” Bubbles continued walking, staring at the ground as she made her way through the forest. ‘Easier said than done…But as a member of the RGSS, the entire kingdom is depending on me to do this job right. I can’t let them down. I won’t let them down.’

Seashell sighed, and walked faster to catch up to Bubbles. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, staring straight ahead with a frown on her face, “When the time comes, I’ll ask Helium to assign you one of the other targets…You won’t have to kill Generosity yourself.”

“…Thanks.”

“So…What’s it do, exactly?” Silver asked, tapping the tank which was the snake’s new home. “And where’d we get this thing from, anyway?”

“It…doesn’t really do much, huh?” Carbon responded.

“As for the tank…” Iron looked over at Helium, who was making silly faces at the snake. The snake apparently couldn’t care less. “Well, a good leader is prepared for everything, but…”

“So if it doesn’t do much, why’d you get it?” Silver asked, walking away from the group and taking a seat next to Argon.

“Hey, it’s hairless, furless, and featherless. Be thankful, will ya?” Carbon said, tapping the glass of the tank in an attempt to gain the snake’s attention. “So, what should we name this guy?”

“Girl,” Iron corrected, “Kindness said it was a girl, remember?” Iron turned to face the snake, who was staring right back, flicking its tongue about in the air. “Hmmm…How about *yay*? It’ snake, but spelt backwards.”

“We can’t use that!” Helium shouted. “It could cause a lawsuit!”

“…With who? What are you talking about?”

“Ooh! I know! Let’s call her Queen Hissy-pants!”

“No,” everyone in the room besides Helium and Argon said in unison, causing Helium to pout.

“By the way,” Silver started, turning his head to face the group, “What else happened today? Anything of actual interest to report?”

Carbon chuckled and turned to face Iron, who simply blushed and turned his head away. He leaned closer to whisper into his ear. “Hey, why didn’t you go with them? To the spa, I mean.” Iron’s eyes widened, and he looked at Carbon in shock. “You could’ve bathed with her, y’know?”

“T-That’s!” ‘A pretty good point, actually…’ “That’s just improper! I couldn’t do something like that!”

“Something like what?” Silver asked, wondering what the two were talking about.

Helium chuckled and walked closer to Silver. “It seems our little Iron is growing up. Aah, to be young and in love…”

“What!?” Silver shouted, jumping to his hooves. “This is about that mare, right!? Iron, what the hell is wrong with you!? You can’t fall for a pony!”

“I haven’t fallen for a pony!” Iron shouted defensively, but was ignored and drowned out by Silver’s shouted, and Helium’s teasing. He turned around and stormed out of the room. “I’m going to bed! See you all in the morning!”

“G’night!” Helium and Carbon shouted.

“Get back here! I’m not done with you yet!”

Helium sighed as Silver chased after Iron, and sank down into the now unoccupied seat next to Argon. “Man, love sure is tricky, ain’t it?”

“Much easier when it’s not with a pony,” Carbon pointed out.

“I wouldn’t know,” Argon said. The other two looked at her with surprise, and almost hoped for her to continue. She didn’t.

Carbon took note of the time, and decided it was time to turn in for the night. “Well, I’d better go to sleep. I’m entering myself in the race tomorrow.”

“Oh really?” Helium asked, getting up and following Carbon outside the room. “Good luck! I’ll be there to cheer you on!”

Carbon laughed nervously, and turned his head as he blushed. “Thanks…I’ll do my best.”