Friendship is Everything

by Leathebluedrgon

Rating: everyone
Tags: Other, Romance, Original Character, Adventure, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 11555

There is a hidden evil that even Celestia herself didn't know about, what is this evil that has secretly plagued the land for so long? What do these six new ponies have to do with it?

(Set after season 2, before season 3)
Some times, evil doesn't want to spoil their chance of world domination. Some times, evil don't mind torturing or killing innocents to get what they want. There is a evil who wants to rule Equestria, and the Elements of Harmony has no effect on it. This evil has sent a team to handle them anyway.

(Had to edit the description, if you look closely you can see the half sentence change.)
(School gets in the way of a lot of things, sadly this is one of them.)

Published 2013-05-16 17:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-09-02 00:12:15 UTC

Prologue

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Prologue~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~Ponyville~~~~~~
"Finally! It's finished," Mayor Mare said as the construction ponies walked off the site.

The mayor was looking at a newly built house on the top of a hill. It was near the Everfree forest, but far enough away to still feel safe for ponies. It was right next to the road to Sweet Apple Acres. The house itself was two stories, three bedrooms, two bath.

"Now we have more housing for any new ponies that come to Ponyville," she said turning around, almost walking straight into Pinkie Pie. "Are there any new ponies yet?" Pinkie asked, bouncing all the while.

"Pinkie, the house was just built," Twilight said walking up behind her to look at the house. "Why did you chose to build the house that close to the Everfree forest?" Twilight asked the mayor.

Mayor Mare thought about it for a couple of minutes, then gained a look of confusion. "I don't know. It just popped into my head and I felt as if I couldn't ignore the idea," the mayor said as she walked back to Town Hall.

Twilight watched her go, confused. She looked back at the house on top of the hill, and began to wonder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile, Somewhere in the Everfree Forest~~~~~~~~~~~~

Six stallions lay asleep in a clearing. Two unicorns, two pegusi and two earth ponies. Two of the six were missing limbs.
The earth pony with a silver coat and a pure white mane and tail, whose cutie mark was a orange bull bucking, and he wore a stetson hat; had robotic hind legs, both strapped to his body. And the other was a pegusas with a blue coat and a grey mane and tail, whose cutie mark was a forest green snake; had robotic wings, both strapped to his body as well.

The smallest of the two unicorns was the first to stir. He had a crimson coat stained with oil, with a pure blonde mane and tail,both sticking up at some points by oil, his cutie mark was three grey gears interlocked with each other. The unicorn raised his head and looked at his surroundings, then the other five ponies. His expression not changing in the slightest, as if he had woken many times to this.

He stood and stretched, then walked over to the other unicorn, who had a pure blonde coat stained with paint, and a crimson mane and tail, his cutie mark being a paintbrush with deep blue paint at the tip. The smaller unicorn prodded the bigger one in the side, who grunted and flicked his eyes open, yawning.

"I take it it's time to get moving," the bigger one said with a smirk as he got up. "I'll wake up Bull's Eye and Thunderstorm," he said turning towards the earth pony with the stetson hat. The smaller unicorn nodded, rolling his eyes, and headed towards the smallest pony of the group.

He was a pure white earth pony with silver spiked-mohawk styled mane and spiky tail, his cutie mark was a microphone. The small unicorn prodded him awake too. The spiky pony's eyes flew open and he sprang to his feet, fear clear on his face. He looked around frantically at first, then upon realizing where he was, he breathed a sigh of relief, and grinned widely, showing off pearly white teeth.

"What'd ya want me to do A.I.?" the spiky pony asked the red unicorn, sounding as if he didn't just wake up, or freak out. "Just wait for Bull's Eye to wake up," the red unicorn, A.I., responded without emotion. The spiky pony nodded in confirmation as A.I. started heading towards the pegusas with robotic wings. A.I. again, prodded the pony awake.

The blue pegusas fluttered his eyes open, and stood up and stretched. The pegusas nodded his head in greeting while yawning. A.I. looked over at the other unicorn and both earth ponies trying to wake up the other pegusas.
The pegusas still asleep had a grey coat and blue mane and tail, and his cutie mark was a grey cloud with yellow lightning shooting out of it. "Come on, let's go wake up Thunderstorm," A.I. said to the blue pegusas as he headed towards the grey one. "Yo, bro, think you can help?" the bigger unicorn asked A.I., who still had yet to change his expression.

"Snakescales, can you cause it to rain on your older brother," A.I. asked the blue pegusas behind him. Snakescales nodded and unfurled his robotic wings. It sounded like regular pegusas wings unfurling, strangely enough, Snakescales also took to the skies with ease, heading towards a cloud nearby.

Soon enough, rain was pouring over the bigger pegusas, Thunderstorm. Thunderstorm woke up and flew straight through the cloud, fast enough for it to disperse. The wet Thunderstorm then flew back down to the ground and shook off as much water as he could. He smiled and looked at the ever calm A.I. "Morning" he said, A.I. looked at the sky, "More like afternoon," he said.

Thunderstorm looked up then turned his head back to A.I, "That was not my fault," he said, he smile gone. The pony with the hat laughed. "Oh, you know it wasn't my fault Bull's Eye," Thunderstorm said to the silver pony with a smirk on his face. "I know," the silver pony, Bull's Eye, said. "But it is still funny how you always say that when we leave late," he finished with a chuckle.

"Alright, you know the protocol," A.I. said, walking backwards so he stood in the middle of the clearing. The rest of the ponies groaned as they went into a line of tallest to shortest. "Hookfang..." A.I. said, "Here," responded the paint stained unicorn. "Bull's Eye..." A.I. continued, "Here," Bull's Eye responded with a nod. "Thunderstorm is here...." A.I. said as the pony in question layed down. "Snakescales..." Snake just nodded. A.I. nodded back. "And last but not least... White Out," A.I. finished, "Ooooh, ooooh, I'm here!" the spiky pony said jumping raising one of his hooves.

A.I. nodded, "Everpony's here, time to get going," he said turning around and walking out of the clearing, the other ponies following not far behind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Couple Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~Outskirts of the new House~~~~~~~~
A.I. looked at the town from the edge of the Everfree forest, making sure to stay in the shadows. He took note of all the ponies in town, seeing how they react to certain ponies and what they buy.

He sat down behind some bushes and looked over his shoulder. "The sun will go down in a couple more hours, then we can get the house to fit our needs," A.I. said in his still unsettling calm way. Thunderstorm and White Out groaned, not loud enough to catch any nearby pony's attention, but still loud enough to be heard by A.I., who was two bush sets away from them.

A.I. turned back towards the town, rolling his eyes. "What are we supposed to do while we wait?" asked an annoyed Thunder. "If you go a good distance back, you could do whatever you want, however loud you want," A.I. responded without looking back at them. "But we would have to come straight back as soon as we get that good of a distance away," whined White.

"Exactly, I guess you'll have to do what you always do. Keep each other awake," A.I. answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Couple Hours Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ow, I was awake!" Thunder hissed at White, "Yeah but I wasn't," White responded with a yawn. A.I. looked at the town again, hoping so much that its residents had all went to bed. To his pleasure, not that he showed it, no ponies were in sight and the only sounds the group heard were the heartbeats of all the ponies in the town, plus theirs, and the deep rhythms of breathing, meaning all were asleep.

A.I. stood up and stretched his legs, he heard rustling behind him signaling that his friends and brother were all standing now. He motioned his head to the house, the rest nodded and they walked out of the forest straight to the back door.
Once they were all inside Hookfang closed the door, it was pitch black inside, didn't bother them in the slightest. They walked up the stairs. There were three rooms, the first door was in front, it looked large enough to be a master bedroom, it had no closet though, so it would be perfect for the use that A.I. was going to use it for. The one of the other bedroom doors was to the right of the stairs, it was slightly smaller than the master bedroom, Hookfang summoned three beds and place them in certain ways in the room.

A grey bed with yellow lightning strikes on it was right below the window, a tan bed with bucking bulls on it was closest to the door to the hallway, and a deep blue bed with paint brushes on it was closest to the closet. Which Hookfang also filled with blank canvas's, paint cans, paint brushes and a stand for the canvas's.

Thunder flew straight to the grey bed, went under the covers, and fell asleep. Bull walked tiredly to the tan bed, placing his hat on one of the four posts, he crawled into bed and fell asleep soon after Thunder. Fang yawned and trotted to the last bed, magically lifting up the covers crawling into bed and fell asleep, letting the covers drop on top of him.

The three younger stallions headed to the last bedroom that was to the left of the stairs. Like Fang, A.I. summoned three beds, and placed them in certain places.

A white bed with microphones on it was placed closest to the door to the hall, a crimson bed with gears on it was placed at the wall opposite of the window, and a green bed with snakes on it was placed closest to the closet. Which now had Snakescales best friend, Diablo, a rattlesnake, in a glass case with a heat lamp over it.

White yawned, "See ya tomorrow," he said as he trotted into his bed and fell asleep, not even bothering with the covers. Snake nodded in agreement, but flew to Diablo first, taking him out of the case, leaving the light on, and taking Diablo to bed. Which, upon getting under the covers, both soon fell fast asleep.

A.I., however, left the room and headed towards the master bedroom. He stood in the doorway, examining the room. He nodded and summoned his equipment. His workbench, which he placed underneath the window. His toolbox, to the left of the workbench. His cabinet full of blueprints of future devices, which he put in the corner closest to where the closet should have been.

A.I. looked around the room in satisfaction, it was just how he liked it. He closed the blinds on the window and went to work the rest of the night away.

Author's Note

This is my first fanfiction, I made up this story a couple weeks after I started watching the show, I just chose now to write it due to the fact that appearances and personalities change over time.

I can't stand spelling mistakes, or grammar errors. If any of you spot them, I would appreciate it if you would let me know.

Day 1: This is New

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter 1~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~In the House at the Edge of Ponyville (White Out's P.O.V.)~~~~

White Out woke up to see Snakescales not in his bed, nor Diablo, but light was streaming through the window, so he guessed he must be with the rest of the group. White out got off his bed and stretched. He walked into the hallway to see the rest of the group standing in the doorway of A.I.'s new workshop.

Waiting for him no doubt, he was always the first to leave the house whenever they made it to a new town. He walked up to them, knowing exactly what was going to happen, he always got bored, but he never showed it of course, he always hide everything behind a smile so convincing not even the master expression reader A.I. could tell it was fake.

White stood in front of the door, the group was missing Thunderstorm, not a surprise, he always slept in until around noon. "So I take it I pay for the house and meet up with the important ponies in the town?" he guessed. A.I. nodded, "Yes, but you must not forget, you must spread the word, the boss always says to spread the word," he said, giving White a saddle bag with two bags of bits in it, one far bigger then the other. "One is for the house, the other is for you to spend on yourself," A.I. explained.

"Which is which?" White joked as he put the saddle bag on. By how quiet A.I. was being he must've found it funny. "Go on, you're wasting daylight. You know, the thing that let's you meet new ponies," hie older brother, Bull's Eye, said with a smirk and his usual hat on.

White nodded and headed downstairs and out the front door. He took a step outside, took a deep breath and smiled as he walked down the hill towards Ponyville. He looked at all the buildings, even greeted a couple of ponies here and there, when he realized he had not eaten breakfast. And there was a powerfully sweet aroma right around the corner.

White followed the smell and his mouth hung opened and he began to drool when he saw where it was coming from. It came from a building that looked like a gingerbread house with a sign that read "Sugarcube Corner". White's stomach rumbled, bringing him back to reality, in which he shook his head and walked through the front door.

~~~~~~Sugarcube Corner (Pinkie Pie's P.O.V)~~~~~~

Pinkie Pie had just finished some cupcakes and was bringing them to the counter when she saw him. A stallion with pure white coat and and silver spikey tail and spikey-mohawk mane. He had a smile on his face as he looked around the shop as he walked to the front counter. Forgetting the cupcakes, she dash back into the kitchen.

As soon as Pinkie was in a well hidden area of the kitchen she realized something else. He was new. But she couldn't move, uncertainty paralyzing her. She knew she was not acting like herself, but the new pony didn't. Does he think I'm shy? Does he like shy? Why am I wondering if he likes me? Pinkie thought, no clue what was going on with her. She felt something she never felt before, and she didn't know if she liked it or not.

After a while she heard the front door open and closed, Pinkie then began to sneak her way to the door and take a peak out the kitchen door to see if the stallion was gone. And to her relief he was. Was it relief, or disappointment? She walked out of the kitchen and apologized to the Cakes for dropping the cupcakes.

Pinkie then dashed over to her friends, who were seated at a nearby table. "What was that about?" Twilight asked in confusion. "Yeah, he's a new pony, and you're not making his party yet, that is completely not like you," Rainbow Dash added. "I don't know, all I know is that when I saw him I suddenly felt this strange feeling and then the next thing I know is that I'm under a table thinking about him and trying to move but the strange feeling keeping me from moving and only being able to move once he left." Pinkie explained in her super fast voice, looking directly at her friends, wonder if they had any explanation for the weird feeling.

"Well, it would appear that our dear Pinkie Pie has a crush on the new pony in town," Rarity explained with a smile. Pinkie's eyes widened as well as the rest of the group of friends. "Wait, wait, wait, are you saying Pinkie Pie, one of the pony's that stopped Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis and is THE best party pony ever, is afraid to talk to a colt?" Dash asked with a raised eyebrow. "I believe she is nervous, not afraid, but yes," Rarity answered. Dash's eyes widened.

"Well? Go talk to him and be yourself, if he doesn't like you for you, than it's his loss," Rarity said turning to Pinkie who was looking at the ground thinking. "You think so?" Pinkie asked, her eyes traveling over her friends, who all nodded. Pinkie took a deep breath, put on a smile and dashed out of Sugarcube Corner to the new pony.

~~~~~~~~Ponyville (White Out's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~

White Out finished the rest of his cupcake on a bench in the park. As he finished, he found his thoughts going back to the pink mare he saw at Sugarcube Corner. He had managed to get a glimpse of her before she had dashed off into the kitchen. He would've stayed longer to try to talk to her, but a table of five mares were giving him strange looks so he had to head out to get away from their odd gazes.

It was one thing to do something and receive stares, or glares, but completely different when you do nothing, but find yourself being stared at. The hair he could understand, but these mares were looking at him longer than any other pony would've if it had to do with the hair. But back to the pink one. What he had saw of her made him feel like what Fang had said was his job to make other mares feel.

White shook his head, hoping the feeling would just go away on its own. But as he stood up, the mare suddenly appeared before him. He looked at her with wide eyes, surprised she had been looking for him at all.

"Oh my gosh you're new here, I know this because I've never seen you before!" the mare said bouncing up and down, seemingly defying gravity. In the corner of his eyes he could see the five other mares that had been at the table. All of them had their mouths hanging open. 'She must be doing something she doesn't do a lot,' he mused.

"Ohhh, that means I need to throw you a party!!!!" the mare continued. White Out's eyes widened. 'Nopony has ever thrown a party for me before,' he thought, 'but then Bull's Eye and everypony else will miss it.' "Reallly?! Ohhhh, I love parties!!!!! But you should wait to meet my brother and our friends. They won't want to miss a party!" He said matching the mares hyperness, to the shock of the five mares staring, and the pleasure of the pink of in front of him.

"Ohhh, there's more of you!!!!!" she said bouncing even higher, if possible. "Sure I can wait!!!!!" White smiled, he realized he felt comfortable around her, yet at the same time nervous that he might do something wrong and embarrass himself. He had to make sure it didn't get worse. "Oh, by the way, I'm White Out, but my friends and brother call me White. But you can call me Whitie if you want," he said with his world famous smile.

'Why did you say that?! I do not know!!! Nopony calls you Whitie! Well, nopony that you know anyway,' he thought, inside he became completely confused on what was happening to him, but he still didn't show any of it. The mare smile got bigger slightly, if it was possible, which it apparently was. "Hi Whitie! My name's Pinkie Pie, but all my friends call me Pinkie," she said as she stopped bouncing.

Pinkie then motioned for the five mares who had managed to close there mouths awhile ago to come over. "These are my friends," Pinkie said as the five mares came over. "Howdy, mah name's Applejack, owner of Sweet Apple Acres," the mare wearing a hat just like Bull's hat. "Hiya Applejack, my older brother wears a hat that looks just like yours. Maybe a little lighter in color," White said looking at Applejack's hat. AJ raised an eyebrow, and looked at the other mares.

Then a cyan pegusas flew straight in front of White, "I'm Rainbow Dash, the fastest flier in Equestria," the mare said taking a heroic pose. "You remind me of my friend Thunderstorm," White said thoughtfully. "Does he like to race?" Dash asked, "Yes," White responded without even thinking, it being very common knowledge to the group. Dash smiled, then hovered over Applejack. 'Are all five mares going to remind me of someone of the group?' he thought.

"I'm Rarity," a white unicorn said with a very posh accent. White's thoughts instantly went to Hookfang, White couldn't contain his laughter. White began laughing so hard he started rolling on his back clutching his sides. The mares raised and eyebrow, except for the unicorns and Applejack. "It's not very nice to laugh at a pony's name," the purple unicorn said with a slightly angered tone. White Out didn't speak until he finished laughing, but even after he finished he stayed on the ground.
White was entranced by the sky, but it didn't stop him from responding. "I wasn't laughing at her name, it was the accent. It reminded me of my friend Hookfang," he said, "Don't ask about the name," he continued as if he could seen Rarity open her mouth, which she then promptly closed. "Anyway.... My name's Twilight Sparkle," the purple unicorn said. White didn't even look up as he said, "Nice to meet you Twilight."

White Out than heard something being whispered, he became confused, this was the first time after his ears became super sensitive that he couldn't hear what a pony was whispering. He lifted his head, his smile gone, with a look of confusion on his face. "Who whispered?" he asked, to which the mares all looked shocked, for a reason unknown to White Out. Well, not all the mares, a yellow pegusas was hiding behind Twilight, so he took that as the mare who had whispered.

"How did you hear her?" Twilight asked curiously. "Not in the present topic of introductions," White said not thinking about his answer, the answer supposed to be evasive, which it always was. This time was no exception. "So what's your name?" he asked the fearful pegusas. "M-my n-n-name i-is F-f-fluttershy," she whispered. 'Suits her,' White Out mused. "Hi Fluttershy," he greeted her. "So what's your name?" Twilight asked, "My name's White Out, but you can call me White," he said, in the corner of his eye, he saw Pinkie's eyes widen, but she said nothing and blushed slightly. To any other pony, they wouldn't be able to tell, with her already being pink and all, but White Out wasn't a regular pony, and so he smiled a broad smile and stood up.

"Nice to meet you all," White said, then he looked at where the sun was positioned in the sky. "But I need to find the town hall so I can pay for my group's new house," he finished looking back to the mares. "Ohhh, ohhhh, I can show you," Pinkie said jumping up and down again. White turned towards her, smiling like usual, "Lead the way then," he said. "See ya later guys," he called over his shoulder to the remaining mares who watched them go.

~~~~~~~~~~~Couple Hours Later (White Out's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~~

White walked through the front door of the house, greeted by the sight of Fang resting his head against a blank canvas looking sad, Snakescales sitting nearby playing with Diablo, and Bull's Eye looking like he was right about to kill Thunderstorm. A.I. was nowhere to be seen, but that was common. "Honey I'm home," White called out, taking off his empty saddlebag. With that, the four stallions in the living room looked at him and all gave him a greeting, "Yo,", "What's up?", "Hey," and Snake just nodded, and they all went back to what they where doing before.

'Good to be home,' White thought with a smile. He walked up stairs to give his report to A.I., who had not left his workshop all day so he was easy to find him. White Out stood in the doorway as he saw A.I. reading an huge ancient tome that was on his workbench. White smiled fondly at the memory where the boss 'gave' him the tome. He chuckled, "How did it go?" A.I. asked not looking up. "I met the mayor, saw the main eatery, library, apple orchard, fashion boutique, and the animal caretaker's place," White reported, "I also met our targets," A.I. raised his head at that. White Out kept quiet about his crush on Pinkie Pie, hoping it would go away on it's own. It was a good thing that White Out was better at hiding his real emotions than A.I., and was even more glad that no pony knew it....yet.

"And?" A.I. asked, turning towards the doorway, giving White his full attention. "Just how the boss said they were. Only the element of laughter wasn't as hyper as I thought she was going to be," White said turning to the floor to think about it. A.I. just nodded, "Very good," he said turning back to the tome, "You should go to bed, too. It's getting late and you have a lot to do tomorrow," he concluded. White nodded, then headed off to the room they shared. Upon entering, he saw Snakescales asleep in bed with Diablo. White smiled and yawned, realizing how drained he was.

Without waiting any longer, he walked over to his bed, and fell fast asleep on the covers again.

Author's Note

The P.O.V. in each chapter will be crazy until I find one that works. I also found out upon rereading my earlier chapters that I forgot to add my OC's eye colors, which is slightly important to the story, so I thought I would put it here.
Hookfang: Green eyes
A.I.: Turquoise eyes
Bull's Eye: Aqua eyes
White Out: Hazel eyes
Thunderstorm: Gold eyes
Snakescales: Green eyes
Also, I would appreciate feedback when it comes to Rarity, she is the one I am least like, and I tend to be judgmental about her, so it's pretty difficult to write about her.

Day 2 Part 1:Uh Oh?

~~~~~House on The Hill (White Out's P.O.V.)~~~~~

White Out woke up to an empty room again, and an noiseless house. White got up from his bed and walked to the doorway of his room. He would've walked into the hall, had the rest of the group not been standing in the way. "Morning guys," he yawned. Thunderstorm shot Fang a dirty look, "You said that White was sleeping in, why did you woke me early?" he growled, to which Fang snickered. "I thought you wanted to see if there was any pony worth racing in this town?" Fang said with a smirk. Thunder just crossed his front hooves and looked the opposite direction of Fang, grumbling.

That short little banter is just how long it took for White to fully awaken, as well as remember what was going on that day. 'I can't wait for the party, they'll be so surprised,' he thought with a smile. He looked at A.I., "You coming this time?" White asked him. A.I. rolled his eyes, "You know I never do," he said in his monotone voice, walking back to his workshop. "And don't even think about doing it again," he said over his shoulder as he walked inside and shutting the door. White Out just shrugged and looked at everpony else. "All ready to go?" he asked heading into the hallway and down the stairs.

All four of them nodded, and they left the house. As the started walking down the hill, Fang walked up beside him. "You hide it?" White asked him with a smile on his face. "Yep, it's in a place he would never guess we would put it," Fang said trying his best not to laugh, which caused it to come out as a snicker. White was searching the nearby streets for a familiar pink mane. 'She promised she would meet us here. No, she Pinkie promised she would meet us here,' he thought. "Where did you hide it this time?" White asked with a smirk on his face. "I put it back in the toolbox," Fang said laughing, in which White Out joined along.

Then, out of no where, there's a dash of pink and they see Pinkie Pie standing before them with a wagon type thing behind her. "Ohhhh, more new ponies!" she squeals in happiness. Than she pushes a button on the side of the wagon, and suddenly horns, flags and what looks like an oven raises out of the lowered lid. Then the music started playing. 'Oh boy,' White thought, he didn't if it was in joy or displeasure, but he would soon find out. Pinkie started singing:

"Welcome welcome welcome,
A fine welcome to you."

She began while bouncing in front of us, 'Voice of an angel' White thought, than immediately began scolding his thoughts for thinking up something so cheesy. Than she placed a hat on Fang's head, and had a horn in her hooves.

"Welcome welcome welcome
I say how do you do?"

She than blew the horn in Thunder's ear. Next thing he knows, she has a drum, 'Wow, just like me!' White thought excitedly.

"Welcome welcome welcome
I say hip hip hooray"

Pinkie started bouncing on two legs now, the drums seemingly vanished.

"Welcome welcome welcome
To Ponyville today!"

"Wait for it!" she finished. Then the oven opened and shot forth confetti. 'So there is no cake?' White thought, a little too soon. Suddenly yellow stuff shot out of the piston like things on the sides of the oven, and all five stallions, plus Pinkie Pie, got covered. "Oh, silly me. I must have put the confetti in the oven, and cake in the confetti cannon... Again," she said, sounding slightly nervous for some odd reason. White licked his face clean with one swipe of his tongue, "Mmmm, still tastes good though," he responded, with a laugh and a broad smile. He turned his head to look at the rest of the group to see them all trying to hold in their laughs and giggles, but they couldn't hide that they were hiding it, causing White to laugh. "Hahaha, you should see your-" he began, but then realized he was rolling on the ground."Awwww, I rolled on my cake covered back. Now I can't eat it," he said giving a pointed look at Bull's Eye, who had taken off his hat to shake as much cake off it as he could.

Bull just rolled his eyes, but kept his smile. "You gonna introduce us or what?" Thunder said, suddenly floating right beside White, who quickly stood up again. "Oh, right," White said turning back towards Pinkie, who was somehow cake-free now. "This is Thunderstorm..." he began pointing at said pegusas. "'Sup" Thunder said, flying back to his brother's side. "This is Snakescales, my younger brother. He never talks much these days," Thunder said floating over said pony. If Pinkie was startled by the robotic wings, she showed no signs of it. "I'm Bull's Eye. I'm White Out's older brother," Bull said, putting his semi clean hat back on. "And I am Hookfang, or just Fang by my friends, I'm the older brother to-" Fang began, he had levitated the cake off him and was about to let it drop into a pile beside him, when there was a flash of grey light and A.I. stood right underneith the floating cake, looking angry. "HOOKFANG!" A.I. growled, for once there was emotion in his voice, which, as everypony in the group knew, was very uncommon.

Fang was so surprised, he lost concentration on the cake and it fell, right on top of his younger brother. A.I. blinked, and it wasn't long after that the rest of the group was on their backs laughing hysterically, introductions forgotten, at least for a little bit. "It's not that funny," A.I. said, standing up straight, without any emotions, again. "Sure it isn't" Thunder said sarcastically as the group started calming down. That's when White noticed that Pinkie Pie had joined them in the laugh-at-A.I.-be-covered-in-falling-cake fun. "The pony that just appeared is Artifical Intelligence, or A.I. for short. He is the younger brother of Fang," White explained as Pinkie was calming down. White then turned to the rest of the group, "This is Pinkie Pie," White said as Pinkie bounced back to her feet, literally.

A.I. raised an eyebrow, while only looking at White. "White, I need to speak to you over there for a moment," A.I. said in his usual monotone voice, motioning farther up the hill, closer to their house. "Uh, sure I guess," White responded with a confused look on his face as he followed the still cake covered A.I. up the hill. After they were far enough away so no pony could eavesdrop, A.I. turned to White Out. "You have a crush on her," A.I. stated. White Out looked at his front hooves, which he began to shuffle nervously, 'Took you long enough to notice,' he thought, nodding. A.I. sighed and shook his head. "Go back to the house and don't rejoin us until you get over it," A.I. commanded, heading back down the hill. "You can't tell me to wait in the house before we even had our party!" White said in surprise, only he was the one that knew it was fake surprise. A.I. just sighed, "Fine, you can go to the party, but after that, you are staying inside the house," he said. Then a white blur flew past him and landed in front of Pinkie, smiling.

White noticed A.I.'s defeated expression from the corner of his eye, but he payed it no attention, 'Maybe the crush won't go away, but maybe that's not such a bad thing' White thought. "So, what were you and A.I. talking about Whitie?" Pinkie asked, but before he could reply, he heard a sigh and a pony trying, and failing, to hold in their laughter. He turned his head over his shoulder to see his brother shaking his head, and Thunder with his hooves over his mouth. White turned back to Pinkie, "It's a private matter," he responded, seeing A.I. lift an eyebrow at the statement, but nod his head in approval, out of the corner of his eye again. "Let's give them the tour and have them meet your friends," White said, an idea popping into his head. Pinkie looked confused, "But I need to start setting up the party," she said. "And we will, after my brother and friends meet your friends," White responded, hoping she wouldn't leave just yet. "Well... Okay!" Pinkie said happily, then bouncing down the road to Sweet Apple Acres. "We'll visit Applejack first, since you live so close," she said, not even checking if the group was following, which they were with White Out trotting right beside Pinkie Pie.

~~~~~~~Sweet Apple Acres (Bull's Eye's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~

Bull watched his brother talk to Pinkie Pie every now and again, he would've stopped it, but since A.I. seemed fine with it, then he should be too. But one of the group's rules kept going through his head, but he could see that White was following it. For now anyways. Soon they walked through a gate onto what looked like a farm. 'Finally, a place with manual labor. Now A.I. doesn't have to be the only one that gets an income of money,' Bull thought in excitement. "Wait here," Pinkie said suddenly to the group and dashed off into what looked like a forest of apple trees. The group waited there, then Pinkie Pie came back.

With the most beautiful mare Bull had ever seen in his life. She was an orange earth pony with a blonde mane and tail, both tied up, she also wore the same type of hat that Bull was wearing. She was carrying apples on her back, and her cutie mark was of three red apples. 'Now I understand how White Out feels,' he thought, then realization hit him. Before either of the mares could speak, he turns to White, "You did this on purpose didn't you?" Bull asked. The mares gave each other a confused look but stayed quiet. "Yep," White replied with a huge, proud smile on his face. Bull shook his head and sighed, 'What am I going to do with him?' he thought. "What did he do on purpose?" Pinkie asked, looking first at White, than at Bull. White just chuckled, "I'll tell you later," he said, which caused Bull's head to snap back to White. "You better not," he warned, glaring at his younger brother. "But I will," White sang, but he slid to the side a little.

'He is out of range for me to tackle him. Dang it,' Bull thought, turning his head back towards the mares. "Howdy, mah name's Applejack, owner of this here farm," the orange earth pony said with a southern accent. 'Great, now I won't be able to stop thinking about her,' he thought with an annoyed look on his face. 'Cause, unlike the rest of the group, Bull's Eye didn't have the ability of hiding how he truly feels, or hiding his thoughts, or keeping secrets, except for the life or death secrets, those he always kept hidden. Then he remembered his hind legs, 'Please don't ask, please don't ask...' Bull begged in his thoughts. Seemed like Celestia had it out for him again. Applejack noticed the metal hind legs strapped to him, and the metal wings strapped onto Snakescales, Bull knew she noticed, because she froze in place and seemed to be concerned.

"Wha' happen'd to your legs, sugarcube?" she asked. Bull's head immediately snapped to A.I. who just shook his head. Then Bull looked back at Applejack, "I don't want to talk about it right now," he said, beginning to look down, sadness becoming a clear expression on his face as he recalls what had caused the problem. He was thankful that Applejack didn't press the issue. Bull shook his head to clear away the memories. "Anyway, I'm Bull's Eye, White Out's older brother," Bull said, "But you can call me Bull." He heard a groan, and knew it came from Thunder.

~~~~~~~~~Ponyville (Thunderstorm's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~~~~

After some good natured teasing and introductions, Bull asked for a job at the farm. The only one surprised was A.I., and they only knew that because he raised an eyebrow. And he only got the job when A.I. convinced Applejack that the robotic hind legs will cause no damage to the trees, as long as Bull doesn't wish to harm them. When Applejack asked how he knew that, he told her the most common knowledge of all common knowledge to the group, A.I. was the one that made the robotic limbs. Anyway, Thunderstorm stayed right above his younger brother on their way to a pony's fashion store. It had a name, but since it slipped his mind, it must not have gotten his interest.

But he had noticed the cloud that was following them even before it got close enough to actually see it. White Out looked back at Thunder, as if knowing what he was going to do. Thunder lifted a hoof in front of his closed mouth as a sign to keep silent, to which White turned his head back so he could continue to unknowingly stare at Pinkie Pie. Thunder flipped himself over, so he was flying upside down, then started to slowly seep into the cloud above him, his grey coat working with him. Soon he was fully inside the cloud, which he then poked his head out the top, causing a beautiful cyan blue pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, with a rainbow lightning bolt cutie mark, to jump off it in surprise.

'Wait, did I just define her as beautiful?' Thunder thought, 'Great, now I know what Bull was talking about.' Thunder moved so he was standing on the cloud. Some of it was clinging to his coat and mane, so he shook it off. When Thunder noticed no more cloud was on him, he stopped and looked at the rainbow maned pegasus with a smirk. Then he looked under the cloud to see if his brother and friends where still within cloud radius. When he noticed they were, he jumped on the cloud, causing it to thunder and show some lightning, causing his friends and brother to jump and yell in fright. Well, Snake jumped and opened his mouth as if to yell in fright, but no sound came out of course.

Thunder and the rainbow maned pegasus both started laughing. Thunder's laughter started to calm down, as the rest of it died he turned back to the cyan mare floating above him. "Thanks for the cloud," he said with a playful smile. "My name is Thunderstorm by the way, but my friends call me Thunder for short," he finished, flying off the cloud. Everypony else had stopped and were watching them, but White Out and Pinkie were the only ponies who had smiles on their faces, both with completely different reasons for their smiles. "Nice to meet ya Thunder. I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flier in Equestria," the mare responded, taking a heroic pose. "Nice to meet you too Rainbow Dash," Thunder said.

"So you like pranks, too?" he asked as Dash layed down on the cloud below him, causing him to move so he could stay face to face. "Yep. Other than racing, it's one of my favorite things to do," she replied, placing her front hooves behind her head and closing her eyes. Thunder turned his face to White Out. "Why you little..." Thunder mumbled, Dash opened one of her eyes, and White hide behind Pinkie, snickering. "What?" Dash asked opening her other eye. "Nothing, I'll explain it later," Thunder said, thinking. 'Rainbow Dash... Rainbow Dash... I know I've heard that name before...' he thought, than he remembered. "You're the pegasus that did the legendary Sonic Rainboom!" he announced pointing a hoof at Dash. She smiled smugly and closed her eyes again. "Yeah that was me," she said.

Thunder's eyes widened. 'This is awesome...but White Out is still going to get it when we get home,' he thought landing on the cloud beside Dash.

~~~~~~~~~~Fluttershy's Cottage (Snakescales's P.O.V.)~~~~~~~~~~

Thunderstorm had introduced them all and explained that Bull's Eye was working at Sweet Apple Acres at that moment. Thunder had also left to watch Rainbow Dash do stunts, hoping to see her do a Sonic Rainboom. But Snakescales doubted that Rainbow would be able to do it, since the last time she did it was when she was in flight school, but he didn't want to dampen his brother's hopes. So he stayed quiet, not like he would talk anyway. Snake was roused out of his thoughts as they crossed an earthen like bridge over a stream. He looked up to see a cottage covered in what looked like grass, and had many bird houses.

White Out looked over his shoulder at Snake, a playful smirk on his face. 'Oh, no,' Snake thought as soon as he saw it. He looked back at the cottage and instead of wonder, he filled with dread. Pinkie Pie stopped in front of the door and was about to knock, when Snake heard singing. His hooves began to move on their own, heading around the cottage, following the singing. When he made it behind the cottage, he saw the mare that was singing. She was a pale yellow pegasus with a long pale pink mane and tail, and her cutie mark was three butterflies. 'Even looks like an angel,' Snake thought dreamily. "Hiya Fluttershy!" White Out suddenly shouted, coming from the same direction that Snakescales had come from. The yellow pegasus did an adorable squeal and hide in some nearby bushes.

'Understandable,' Snake thought, remembering when he had first met his friends. "O-oh, White Out, y-you startled me," Fluttershy whispered poking her head out from the bush. "Oh, sorry about that, I probably should have learned by now, living with Snakescales and all," White said standing beside Snake. Snakescales looked down at the ground digging nervously into the ground, implying that he was Snakescales. "Oh, n-nice to m-meet you S-snakescales," Fluttershy whispered, suddenly hiding behind her mane, but Snake had started lifting his head before she did that successfully did that, so he noticed her blushing a little. Snake than began blushing, so he looked down at the ground again, having no long hair to hide behind.

"Your plan is going to fail, you know that right?" A.I. said standing on the other side of Snake. "What plan?" White said innocently. Snake knew A.I. had rolled his eyes at that. Snake cleared his throat to get their attention off each other so they could discuss it later. He heard A.I. sigh, "You're right Snake, we'll deal with this later," A.I. said walking back to Fang. Suddenly there was a gasp, and Fluttershy was standing on the side of Snake that A.I. was just at, with her forelegs on his back. He then remembered his robotic wings. "Oh, you poor thing," she said, her hooves tracing where the wings rested on his back.

Snake heard Fang snicker, so he shot him a glare. So Fang just responded with a smile and introduced himself and A.I., but Snake did not pay attention as he looked at Fluttershy as she inspected the straps keeping the wings in place. 'She is WWAAAYYYY out of my league,' Snake thought, admiring his view of her. But then she asked a question, dragging him out of his thoughts. Fluttershy must've known he wasn't listening, cause she was kind enough to repeat the question. "W-would you m-mind i-if I took o-off your w-wings? I mean, I won't if you don't want me to..." she asked again in her quiet voice. As soon as he realized what she was asking, fear filled his face and he vigorously shook his head.

"Oh, okay," she responded, but she didn't remove her forelegs from his back. Not that he wanted her to anyway. Fang snickered, A.I. rolled his eyes and White smiled proudly. Then Fluttershy must've remembered she had yet to get off his back. "Eep" she squealed and, blushing furiously, got off his back. Snakescales was blushing the same amount as Fluttershy. "Alright, Pinkie, lead the way to Rarity's," White said turning around, Fang and Pinkie following. "See you later 'Shy," Pinkie called over her shoulder. But A.I. looked at Snake, who looked back at him, his face clearly showing he wanted to stay for a while longer. A.I. just sighed and nodded, he then turned around and started following Fang.

Snake looked back at Fluttershy with a small smile. "W-would you l-like to s-stay and h-help take care of the a-animals? I m-mean...If you want to..." she asked, and Snake nodded, thinking 'White Out is going to pay if we all end up falling head over hooves for them.'

Author's Note

I should probably explain that even though it says P.O.V., that part of the story is just focused on them. But I kinda realized how stupid it is to put it in, so this is the last chapter you'll have to deal with them.

Day 2 Part 2:Against the Rules

~~~~~~~~~Outside Carousel Boutique~~~~~~~~

The building was huge and deserved to be in a painting. But no matter how much it deserved to be in one, it was not enough to give Hookfang back his inspiration. He sighed inwardly, not letting his carefree look dampen. A.I. looked over at him, his eyes asking a simple question 'Anything?' to which Fang responded with a shake of his head. Like the last couple times A.I. had asked that. He could see through Fang like water, which is probably why the rest of the group think A.I. is the master of disguise, when in reality it was Fang, due to his main job.

A.I. shrugged and turned back around. Fang looked back up at the building and continued to admire the design of the entire thing. Pinkie had yet to stop bouncing, and White Out had yet to actually leave her side since Sweet Apple Acres. 'Can't blame him,' Fang thought as he remembered that if White Out wasn't careful, at the first sign that it wouldn't look suspicious, A.I. would teleport White right back to the house. Pinkie led them into the boutique. "Just a second darling," an angelic voice called to them as they entered.

Fang looked around the interior of the building. 'It's perfect for one of my paintings, if only my spirit would allow such a thing,' Fang thought dramatically. "Welcome to Carousel Bout-Oh, Pinkie, such a splendid surprise," a white unicorn said, walking down a nearby flight of stairs. Fang couldn't take his eyes off her. Her angelic white coat, her indigo mane perfectly styled, her azure eyes sparkling with beauty. She was like an angel in Hookfang's eyes, which left him trying not to stumble over his own hooves. He started to feel something deep inside him, something familiar, yet he hadn't felt in months. His inspiration; Fang felt a sudden urge to paint.

"Heya Rarity, these are Whitie's friends, A.I. and Hookfang, the rest of his friends are with some of ours," Pinkie said in her usual excited tone, taking care of the now very short introductions. Rarity looked over at Fang. "I guess now would be a good time to figure out why White Out laughed at me yesterday," Rarity said. Fang and A.I. turned and looked at White, Fang looking like he was about to laugh, A.I. with his usual passive expression. White Out looked back at them. "You can understand why, can't you," White said with a laugh. A.I. turned his unchanging gaze to Fang, who looked back holding a hoof above his chest as if offended, and gave a dramatic gasp.

"I'll have you know, it might not have had anything to do with me," Fang said, gaining a posh tone, turning his head away with a dramatic hmph. A.I. rolled his eyes and looked back at Rarity, while White started laughing. Fang couldn't help but join in, placing his hoof back on the ground. He looked back at Rarity and bowed. "But in all seriousness, I am Hookfang, and you must be Miss Rarity. A pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, his voice losing the posh accent as he spoke. Rarity blushed slightly at Fang's display. A.I. rolled his eyes again while White had a notepad that came out of nowhere, and was taking notes on Fang's activities.

"My, you are quite the gentlecolt," Rarity said as Fang stood back up. "If you don't mind, could I ask a favor of you?" Fang inquired, causing A.I. and White Out to snap their heads to look at him in confusion, one actually showing the emotion, the other just feeling it. "Sure darling, what is it?" Rarity asked, ignoring White's confused gaze. "Would you mind if I were to paint pictures of the items inside your boutique?" Fang asked, looking around the interior of the room they were in. White's jaw hit the ground, and even A.I.'s regular stoic mask fractured enough for his eyes to fill with shock. White was the first of the two to snap out of their surprise.

White began jumping up and down. "Yay! You got your inspiration back," he cheered in joy. A.I. rolled his eyes and Fang chuckled at that. Rarity and Pinkie looked at them in confusion. "Long story," was all that Fang said about White's reaction. After a small pause, Rarity finally spoke again, "As long as you don't make a mess, I don't see a problem darling." Fang smiled, "I'm always careful," he responded with a bow. "Alrighty, have fun!" Pinkie said, bouncing towards the door. White quickly followed, with A.I. not far behind, just not as eager as the other two.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside the Library~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A.I. looked at the large tree that seemed to be transformed into a house. 'Pinkie said this was a library... If it has any books on mechanics, I'll probably come here more often,' he thought as he followed the pink, and white, bouncing ponies to the front door. Pinkie, instead of the usual knocking on the door like the other places, opted to just bounce right on in, but White had stopped, and turned toward A.I., much to his surprise. "I bet you that you can't go the rest of the day without hiding your emotions," White suddenly announced, looking quite proud. "Depending on the wagers, than I would be more than happy to prove you wrong," A.I. responded, intrigued at the sudden change in behavior.

"Well, if I win, you let me continue gaining the trust of the elements of harmony," White began, but then put on a face that suggested that he was in deep thought. A.I. opened his mouth to ask about what he would get if he won, when White began speaking again. "But if you win, than you can try that spell to alter my memory," he finished, knowing that A.I. couldn't resist testing a spell. A.I. went into deep thought, calculating on his chances of winning the bet. After a couple seconds, he finally nodded. "Deal," he said, then walked into the library, not really looking like anything changed, but White Out seemed happy as he followed A.I. in. Upon entering, they saw a lavender unicorn levitating a tool and was about to do something to a huge, yet familiar, wardrobe-like machine that stood in the middle of the room.

Suddenly something clicked in A.I.'s memory, causing him to become fearful for the machine. He used his magic to stop the tool from getting any closer to the machine. The unicorn first looked confused, then she turned to face the two stallions with a look of agitation on her face. A.I. ignored it, galloping straight to machine, with White racing behind, remembering the machine a couple seconds after A.I. did. The purple unicorn opened her mouth to ask something, but White cut her off. "I can't believe they found it, I thought it was destroyed after your last experiment," he said excitedly, bouncing around the machine as A.I. was just staring at it with a reminiscent expression. The unicorn's agitated expression turned into a confused one. "Wait, you mean he made this?" she asked White, who responded by nodding profusely.

The unicorn turned to A.I. with a look of wonder. She opened her mouth to ask something when White cut her off...again. "Let's see if it still works!" he announced, jumping into it. A.I. didn't seem to notice at first, but then he smiled and levitated a couple wires and connected them to White Out, who was trying really hard to stay still. A.I. then lit up his horn, and seem to be gathering energy, when he looked at the lavender mare. "Did you do anything to the machine?" he asked, realizing that he would be doing something reckless if the mare touched even one of the knobs. The unicorn was still slightly stunned, but she nodded her head at the question.

"Awwwwww" White moaned while taking off the wires, clearly disappointed that the machine couldn't be tested. A.I. let the magic around his horn dissipate, "I'm sorry about that, I just get excited when I see machinery," he stated, with a small smile and a small chuckle at the end. "I guess I should introduce myself," A.I. remembered, "I am Artificial Intelligence, but everypony calls me A.I. for short." The unicorn took a moment to get over what had just taken place with the machine. "I am Twilight Sparkle," she finally said, shaking her head, probably to clear it. "I take it you have a thing for inventions," A.I. guessed, motioning towards his machine. Twilight nodded, "What is it supposed to do anyway?" she asked, walking up to the machine, A.I. following behind.

"It was to change a pony's form into a different species for however long they wanted. But I eventually made a spell that does the same thing, only using less magic," he explained, reanalyzing his machine. Twilight looked at him in surprise. "You make new spells?" she asked, the thought of making a spell off a machine sounded fascinating to her. A.I. just nodded his head in reply. He then looked at her cutie mark, then to her face with a look of interest in his eyes, like she was a newly built machine ready to be tested for the first time. "I have yet to see a cutie mark like yours before. Does it have to do with the stars?" he asked. Twilight shook her head, "Actually, my special talent is magic," she replied, trying her best to not boast.

A.I.'s eyes widen in surprise. "Truly?" he asked in disbelief, to which she nodded in confirmation. "So you have made new spells, too?" He asked, sounding hopeful. "Well, no. I've just been learning already existing spells," she explained, sounding slightly embarrassed to admit to a pony that has already made a new spell. A.I. just nodded in understanding, if a bit sad. "Understandable, it took quite some time for me to make my first new spell," he said, turning to face the machine. "You sound like you made a lot of new spells," Twilight guessed, to which A.I. nodded in confirmation. "What other spells have you made?" she asked, clearly intrigued. A.I. smiled, and began listing off the spells he had created and what they did, and how they were tested (but he did not go into when he actually needed them, no matter how many times she asked).

Both were so preoccupied, they didn't notice the white and pink earth ponies say their goodbyes and leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside the Library~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thank you for reminding me where your friends live Pinkie," White said, shutting the library door behind him. "No problem Whitie," Pinkie replied with a smile that seemed to be a beacon from heaven, for White anyway. "Why don't you continue setting up the party, and I go gather up my friends?" he suggested, getting ready to bounce over to Sweet Apple Acres. "Okie-Dokie-Loki," Pinkie said, bouncing towards Sugarcube Corner. White watched her go, sighing wistfully, before bouncing towards where his brother was, humming a little tune that matched his mood, which wasn't as dark as when he began the day.

Day 2 Part 3: What Just Happened?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sweet Apple Acres (Bull's POV)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bull still could not believe his robotic hind legs could buck soft enough to not take down a tree. Of course, it took him a while before he risked bucking hard enough to even shake the leaves. But after some encouragement and taunts from Applejack, he finally managed to get some apples out. But that was hours ago, now he was getting the apples out of trees with one hoof. It might be a robotic hoof, but it still counted. "Hey Bull!" a familiar voice shouted from above. Bull looked into the leaves of the tree next to the tree he was getting ready to buck. "What are you looking at?" White asked, standing right beside Bull, who turned towards him with a smile, as if it was a daily routine.

"Hey White, is it party time?" Bull asked, letting one of his robot legs kick the tree behind him. "If it was, you would already be there," White replied, rolling his eyes as if it was obvious. Bull just nodded at the statement before looking around. "Let's find Applejack and tell her that it's time to go," Bull explained, perking his ears up so he could be able to determine the location of the farm pony easily. "She's at the South Orchard, well she was anyway," White explained, turning and walking in a seemingly random direction. "So I take it you already told her?" Bull asked, looking back at his brother. "Yeah, and she said for you to drop the buckets of apples off at the barn, then meet us at the gate," White replied over his shoulder, now bouncing through the orchard.

Bull smiled and shook his head in amusement while seemingly shifting in his robotic legs. When he stopped shifting, the robotic legs seemed to open in some areas, allowing robotic arms to extend out and begin picking up the filled apple buckets near him. Bull began trotting towards the barn, the robotic arms picking up full buckets on the way. He wasn't that far from the barn to begin with, so it didn't take him long to get there, the buckets suspended in the air. After he set the buckets inside the barn, he shifted a little again and the arms retracted, and he headed towards the entrance of Sweet Apple Acres. Bull's Eye smiled at White Out and Applejack, who seemed to be in a conversation.

Well, not seemed to be, they were in a conversation, Bull had heard it on the way to the barn in the first place. Apparently, AJ wanted to know more on how Bull got the robotic legs, which White always replied with "From A.I." She still had yet to word the question right. "Ready to go?" Bull asked, walking right by them. "Yep! Now we can get Snakescales and Fluttershy," White announced, hopping beside him. They both knew AJ was following, but she didn't choose to say anything, and was simply walking behind them, most likely to stare at the robot legs.

"I take it overheard me and Jackie's conversation," White Out commented, making sure that Applejack didn't overhear. "Eeeyup," Bull responded, not really caring if she heard him say anything, as long as it didn't ruin any future surprises. "So when she asks the right question, will you answer, or should the pony she asked answer for you?" White continued to whisper. Bull turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "You know the rules," was all he said as he faced forward again. "Okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure you were going to be comfortable talking about it," White responded, no longer whispering. "Are any of us comfortable with talking about what happened to us?" Bull asked, much more somberly than before. White just nodded in agreement to the question, and the conversation turned into a calming silence.

~~~~~~~~~~~Flutershy's Cottage (Snakescales' POV)~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snakescales placed Diablo back in one of his wings, shutting the ashamed rattlesnake in. Snake motioned his wings in his way of apologizing, but of course Fluttershy still didn't understand how he 'spoke', but she wasn't looking at him anyway. "Now Angel, you should know better than to start a fight with another animal," she scolded at a little white rabbit that looked rather angry. Snake let out a sigh, and turned to look at the forest that Fluttershy feared, but lived next to. He sort of understood why she did, being away from the judgmental eyes of other ponies, and to be closer to some of these animals natural habitat. That's when something caught his eye. One of the bushes closest to the cottage seemed to be moving unnaturally. Snake crept closer, but kept his robotic wings out in case it was a dangerous animal.

As he got closer, a familiar face greeted him. It was a Timberwolf with a couple chips in its muzzle. Snake retracted his wings and let out a sigh of relief. But by the look in the wooden wolf's eyes, it seemed to be grieving, and scared. Snake did some small movements with his wings and head, asking what was wrong. The wolf did small movements with its head and legs, and halfway through the wolf's movements, Snake let out a silent gasp. When the timberwolf was done, it bowed its head, as if out of shame. Snake patted its head a little, moving his wings to comfort the wolf.

"Hey Snakescales, what are you doing?" an energetic voice asked behind him. Snake made a metallic screeching noise as spun around in terror. Upon seeing it to only be White Out, Snake placed a hoof over his heart and did small movements with his wings. "Whoops, didn't mean to startle you," White apologized, rubbing the back of his head. Snake looked back at the bush where the timberwolf just was, but to find it empty of any creatures. "What are you looking at?" White asked, walking right next to Snake to look at the bush. Snake gulped, remembering what the wolf had signed to him.

He tapped White's shoulder gently with one of his wings to get his attention. When he got it, he started telling White what the wooden wolf had informed him of. The more Snake kept signing, the more distraught White seemed to become. After Snake finished signing with his 'I am sorry' movements, he pulled White into a hug, which he really needed. Apparently this didn't go unnoticed by the other ponies not far from them. "White?! What's wrong?!" Bull asked worriedly, galloping to his upset younger brother. "Fr-freezer's g-g-gone," White stuttered, switching from crying on Snakescales to crying on his brother. "What?" Bull asked, shocked. He looked at Snake with a look that pleaded, 'Please tell me it isn't so'. Snake nodded joylessly, much to Bull's horror. "Oh Celestia, I'm so sorry. I wish I could've done something," now Bull had tears in his eyes as he tried to comfort his distressed brother.

Before now the two mares only stood in confusion and concern, but seeing two ponies crying spurred them to action.. "What the hay in goin' on here?" Applejack asked Snakescales. "Oh, um...h-he doesn't t-talk," Fluttershy mumbled. It surprised all of them when White Out immediately stopped crying, and looked at Fluttershy in disbelief. "S-so w-what if h-he c-can't s-say w-words," he began, though there were still stutters in his words that showed he had yet to actually calm down. "H-he talks t-to us u-using movements," White motioned over to Snake, who was currently asking Bull's Eye what caused such a drastic change in White. Fluttershy was now cowering away from the angry stallion, which set off alarms in the other ponies' heads. But Bull got to White first. "What's gotten into you?" he asked, as he turned White away from Fluttershy. White Out looked into his brother's eyes to see an angry looking white pony being reflected back at him. He closed his eyes and started taking deep breaths.

When White became calm, he opened his eyes and looked apologetically back at Fluttershy. "I'm sorry I snapped, but it sounded like you were calling Snake stupid in the nicest way possible," he explained, now looking at his shuffling hooves. Fluttershy gasped and started shaking her head. "I would never say anything of the sort," she said, surprised that White would think such a thing. "I know, I know, but I just found out our boss killed my best friend, so I wasn-" White was cut off. "Wait one applepickin' minute! The pony you work for killed another pony?" Applejack asked, completely stunned by this revelation.

"Well, it was actually a Windi-" White received his brother's hoof to his mouth before he could finish the last word. "Yep, our boss killed another pony, nothing new. Now don't we ha-" it was Bull's turn to get cut off. "Wha' do ya mean by 'nothin' new'?" AJ asked. Snakescales face-hoofed and let Diablo out to hide his embarrassment. "Um... Well, you see-" Bull was thankfully cut off by the master of distractions himself. "Would you look at the time?" White asked, looking at a watch that had suddenly appeared on his hoof. "If we don't leave to get the others now, we'll be late to our party," White continued as he started back to town. "Don't want to be late for a party," Bull nervously stated, galloping after his brother. The mares looked at Snake questioningly, but Diablo had wrapped himself around Snake's head, though he kept the eyes in clear view. Snake looked at both the mares and trotted after his friends. Begrudgingly, Applejack followed, with Fluttershy not far behind. Snake made a noise no organic thing should've been able to create, which got Diablo to release Snake, and go back into Snake's wing. 'I hope we can manage to complete our job without another incident,' Snake thought as he saw the mares giving him weird looks.

Author's Note

Hints are being dropped from here on. Hints focused on the stallions' past, and current predicament. Eventually all will be explained... mostly with flashbacks. But those will probably begin at the party or the next day.