Creepy ponies

Jeff crashed to the ground for what seemed like the hundredth time. He'd been trying to learn how to fly, and failing miserably. Ben, who had stopped playing Minecraft to watch, was struggling not to laugh. He'd thought the wingboner was funny, but this was even better. Jeff just kept crashing and crashing, over and over again. Each time he crashed he seemed to look more angry.

"You're never gonna learn how to fly, you know." Ben said after the 47th crash, he'd been counting.

Jeff stood up and shook the dirt off of himself. "Shut up." He readied his wings again and jumped. As expected, he crashed again.

"Just give up and let E.J teach you."

"No, I can do this." Jeff tried again, but got the same results as the last 48 times.

"It really doesn't look like it." Ben pointed out. "You've been at this for at least 15 minutes and you're getting closer to breaking your wings than actually flying."

"Harry has 4 nipples, your argument is invalid!" Jeff steadied himself to jump again, but started talking to himself before he could get in the air. "Maybe the problem isn't what I'm doing, but where I'm doing it." He looked up to a high branch on the tree house they lived in. "Maybe I need to be higher, then pegasus instinct will kick in and I'll fly."

"First of all, you're an idiot." Ben walked in front of Jeff before he could get any closer to the house and start climbing. "Second of all, you've been a pegasus for about an hour, you don't have any instinct yet." He started circling around Jeff. "Second of all, you're an idiot." Each time Ben circled he got closer to Jeff. "Fourth of all, if you jump from there and hit the ground, you'll die, and the ounce of good conscious I have left can't let that happen."

Jeff tried to open his mouth to argue, but Ben stopped him.

"Fifth of all, you're an idiot." He stopped in front of Jeff and looked him in the eye. They were close enough for their noses to touch. "Finally, sixth of all, and probably the most important thing, E.J has wings, he can teach you!"

Jeff didn't react for a good few minutes. He just stared, his emotion unreadable. After a while he sighed. "Fine, I'll go see E.J." He walked into the house, mumbling under his breath. He went up to E.J's room and knocked. He was a bit concerned when he got no answer. "Maybe he's just at work." Jeff said to himself. For good measure he knocked again. Still no answer. He decided to talk to E.J after he got back. He walked back outside and sat outside on a root that he often used as a seat.

"Where is he?" Ben asked. "Did you talk to him?"

"He's at work or something." Jeff answered, looking up at the sky, careful not to look at the sun.

"Today isn't one of his work days." Ben pointed out.

"So?"

"He never leaves the house for anything but work and hunting." Ben walked in front of Jeff. "And it's not nighttime, so, are you sure he wasn't in his room?"

"He didn't answer when I knocked."

Ben didn't say anything else, but he fired up his horn and teleported away.

Jeff knew where he teleported to, it was pretty obvious. He waited for a few seconds before Ben teleported back in front of him.

"His window is wide open and he's not here."

This interested Jeff. "Why didn't he just use the door?"

"I don't know, but it looked like he sneaked out." Ben looked a bit concerned at this point.

Jeff, exhausted from crashing almost 50 times, lied down on the root and sighed. "I'm sure he's fine, don't worry about it."

"I'm not worried about whether he's fine or not, he's the smartest of us all, of course he's fine."

"Then what are you worried about?" Jeff asked, putting a hoof over his eyes since he was too lazy to put his blindfold on.

"I'm worried about why he'd sneak out." Ben answered. "I mean, what would he have to hide from us?"

"I'm sure it's nothing." Jeff mumbled, not really listening to Ben, trying to get to sleep.

Ben sighed in annoyance. "You might think it's nothing, but I know that something's up with him, and I'm going to find out what it is." He wasn't sure whether or not Jeff had been listening. He didn't really care. He walked into town, trying to think of some place E.J would go. The first place that came to mind was the empty corner of Ponyville that they used to meet in. It seemed pretty obvious, but it was worth a shot. Ben fired up his horn and teleported himself there. When he got there he looked around. It took him only a few seconds to notice a brown tail hanging off of a cloud. He was fairly sure that it was E.J's tail. He stopped and listened when he realized that there was someone else E.J was talking to.

"Are you sure there's not going to be anyone else here?" The other pony that, Ben couldn't see, asked.

"I'm sure, I come here all the time." E.J answered.

"Alright then, we can talk."

Ben stared up, confused. Who was E.J talking to, and why did it seem so important that they talked in private? Ben listened on, sure that they'd say why.

"We can." E.J said. "So what was it you wanted to discus?"

"You should join us, we could benefit from your skills."

"My skills are exactly the same as before." E.J stated. "And you surely didn't want me then."

"But you've changed, I'm sure you'll be accepted."

Ben was a bit confused. What did this pony want E.J to join? Who was this pony? Was this even a pony? Ben walked silently around the cloud to see the other pony's tail hanging off the edge. It was a lighter shade of brown than E.J's.

"Yes, I have changed, haven't I?" Ben saw E.J's wings spread a bit. "I've become a pony, a sub species of you."

Sub species? Ben was even more confused. The tail of this creature looked like an ordinary pony. Were there even any sub species of ponies? Ben listened on, determined to find the answers to his questions.

"That's not the only reason we want you." The other pony snapped. "We need a bit of help, the ponies hate us, and I'm sure they'd have Celestia kill us if they saw any of us."

"And you need more of anything willing to be on your side because the ponies already have killed a good bit of you." E.J finished the sentence for the other pony.

"Indeed." The other pony's voice turned a bit grim. "And wounded many others. We've taken shelter where they won't find us easily, but it is only a matter of time."

"I have something close enough to a family, I can't rejoin you."

"They could come with you, the more the merrier."

"They're ponies, pureblooded ponies, they wouldn't fit in with you guys." E.J said.

"I suppose that's true, but they'd be fine without you, I'm su-"

"No they wouldn't." E.J interrupted the pony. "If it weren't for me they'd have killed each other years ago."

The pony sighed. "Come on, we need you." He sounded desperate by now.

"You're not planning on invading again are you?" E.J asked. "Because from what I heard, that didn't go too well last time."

"Perhaps, but not Canterlot, they'll expect us."

"I can't help you." E.J turned to fly away. "If I see that you've chosen to invade Ponyville, then I'll do what I can." He lifted himself into the sky and flew toward their home.

Ben followed him, ready to bombard him with questions as soon as he landed. When they got back home, Ben stepped in front of him before he could enter. "Can we talk?" He asked.

E.J stared at him for a few seconds before answering. "Of course, I'm not busy."

"Who were you talking to?"

"No one." E.J answered quickly.

"I saw you, you were talking to some other pony about an invasion or something." Ben stepped closer to E.J. "So, who was it."

"Nobody you know."

"What did he want you to join, and why?"

"It's nothing that concerns you." E.J sat down, at peace with the fact that he'd be there for a while.

"Why did you sneak out to talk to him?"

"Because I did." E.J's sockets met Ben's eyes. "You may as well give up, I'm not giving you any information."

"Why not?"

"Because." E.J pushed past Ben and entered the house.

Ben sighed. What was E.J hiding? Why was he hiding it, he knew that Jeff and Ben could keep a secret. Ben decided to try questioning him again later. He would find out, one way or another.