Dear Princess Twilight Sparkle,

I apologize if this is a bad time, but the knowledge that Ponyville has been successfully reconstructed after Tirek’s rampage leaves me with hope that you will have the time for this task.

Almost two years ago, after the Changeling invasion, I assigned some of my trusted guards and scientists to develop a failsafe plan should the Elements of Harmony be unavailable ever again. Just yesterday, their work has finally culminated in an… interesting development.

I will send you more letters over time to inform you of the situation, but my time is short. For now, I will simply give you the basics. I am sending two ponies to Ponyville, and I expect you and your friends to take care of them. It will be difficult, but it is very important you make sure no harm comes to them. And, similarly, you make sure they cause no problems of their own.

They shall be arriving just after noon today. Most of their necessities have been provided or are unneeded; however, one thing they currently lack is a place of residence, for we are not yet sure if they can live on their own. I ask that you or one of your friends house them for the time being.

I apologize for the sudden nature of this request, and you have my gratitude in advance for helping. This is a very important and difficult task, but I believe you are more than capable of handling it.

Yours truly,

Princess Celestia

“An interesting development...” the purple Alicorn repeats, looking up from the letter and into the eyes of her friends. “What could that mean?”

“The letter said they would arrive shortly after noon,” a certain rainbow maned pegasus responds, tapping her chin with a hoof. “Maybe they have some new magic spells, like the ones you made?”

“An’ she wouldn’t just say that?” Applejack asks with a raised eyebrow. “The way she put it, this seems a lot more complex than just a couple a’ new spells.”

The shy yellow pegasus decides to speak up. “Um… m-maybe they’re sick? She did say they needed to be taken care of...”

“Well, I for one see no need to be so apprehensive.” Rarity steps forward from where she was standing. “We’re supposed to welcome them, aren't we? How would they feel if we treated them like monsters from the first moment we saw them?”

“No one ever said anything about being afraid,” Twilight points out, looking around the room. “I suggest we wait and see who they are and actually get to meet them before we start speculating.”

The others all nod in agreement, and for a few seconds, they go quiet… and then Pinkie Pie gasps loudly.

“Wait!” she cries. “There’s gonna be new ponies in Ponyville?!”

“No Pinkie, the letter obviously says that we’re getting two new brick houses,” Rainbow snarks, shaking her head in exasperation before grinning.

“Brick houses?” Pinkie tilts her head. “Can we still throw a party for them? Ooh, this gives a whole new meaning to ‘housewarming party’!” She jumps in the air, giggling.

The group collectively sighs in mock annoyance, used to her antics. “Well, anyways,” the Alicorn continues, “we do need to make them feel welcome in our town.”

“Shoot, that doesn’t sound like too much of a problem,” the farmer says with a chuckle. “I bet they’ll love this place!”

“Um...” Fluttershy speaks up again, raising a hoof towards the clock in the room, eyes wide. “Girls? It’s already noon...”

Eyes widening in surprise, the girls all look up at once. “So it is,” Rarity mutters, almost carelessly.

“We have to hurry!” Twilight exclaims, dashing out the window. Her friends follow suit, though for obvious reasons, most choose the door instead.

It’s almost a quarter after noon when, finally, the six mares see a speck in the sky. Immediately, they can tell it’s the carriage they’ve been waiting for.

“Ooooh!” Pinkie squeals, jumping up and down so fast anypony trying to follow her movements would likely get whiplash. “I’m so excited! I can’t wait to meet them! Where are they? Are they almost here, Twilight? Are they?”

“Almost,” the purple Alicorn mutters as she straightens her feathers, trying to look as presentable as possible.

“Oh please darling, would you stop worrying?” Rarity nudges her friend playfully. “I’m sure everything’s going to go absolutely fine with you here.”

“Yes...” Twilight sighs softly to herself as she watches the carriage approach. “I suppose so.”

“How cool do you think they’ll be?” Rainbow nudges Applejack, who rolls her eyes.

“Considerin’ they’re important enough for the princess herself to ask us for help, I’d say they’re… ‘cool’, at least by yer standards.”

“I just hope we get along.” Twilight chews her lip nervously.

Pinkie bounces up to her and tosses a foreleg around her shoulders. “I’m sure we will! Why would anypony not get along with us? I’m sure we’ll be the bestest of best friends!”

“Thanks for the encouragement, Pinkie, but I think we need to wait and see who they are before we jump right into the parties.” Smiling at her friend, the purple Alicorn chuckles.

“Aww...” The pink earth pony sits down, pouting a bit, only to spring right back up as the carriage starts to land.

The royal pegasus guards pulling the carriage slowly lower themselves to the ground, continuing to run for about ten or so feet as they slow to a comfortable stop for those in the carriage itself. The door opens, and the two ponies step out into the sunlight.

The girls can only stare at the large, metal-covered stallions as they step onto the ground and look back at them, wearing oddly neutral expressions on what remains of their proper face.

“W… Welcome to… P-Pony...” is all Twilight can manage as she stammers out the words in a small, shaky voice.

“This is… horrifying.” Rarity whispers, hiding her face without any concern for etiquette. “Surely a joke.”

The one with a purple coat flicks its - his - ears. He opens his mouth, and to their surprise, out comes a normal, if echoing, pony voice. “...I can hear you, you know.” The other, with his body almost entirely made of metal, looks away without saying anything, if only giving a disgruntled huff.

“Welcome to Ponyville,” Twilight squeaks out, unable to say more.

“If… if you’ll excuse us, we’re rather surprised,” Rarity says sheepishly, looking away.

“It is of no consequence, and I at least bear no ill will,” the larger metallic pony says in a cold, yet gentle voice.

“Yes... right.” The Alicorn lowers her head and shakes slightly.

The first of the metallic ponies takes a step forward, a low clanking sound coming from his legs as they leave and then reconnect with the ground, before offering one of his hooves to the purple princess. “I’m Chain Link. The more dramatic one is Deadbolt.”

“Nice to meet you,” Deadbolt speaks up. He looks around. “This is a charming little town.”

“Th-Thank you...” every one of them stammers out at some point, around the same time

Smiling, the larger metal pony steps forward, offering one of his both normal forehooves. “It’s nice to meet you, Twilight Sparkle. I assume you’ll be helping us get settled in?”

“Well, we all will.” Grinning awkwardly, the purple pony shakes his hoof uncertainly.

Applejack chuckles and nods, still a little hesitant. “Yep… we’re here to help ya make yerselves at home.”

“Home,” Deadbolt repeats, then turns to his companion. “Don’t we have those already?”

“It’s a figure of speech...” Chain says before sighing and turning to the six mares. “What he means is, thank you.”

After a few seconds of silence, Rainbow decides to bluntly ask the question on all six of their minds. “So, what the absolute hell happened to you?”

“...well, I don’t know about him,” Chain says, motioning to the other part-robot. “But I died and was brought back as a cyborg.”

Applejack’s eyebrows shoot up. “Ya… died?”

“That’s what I was told. Apparently I was working in a factory and fell twenty feet onto a sharp metal pole, shattered my legs on impact, and was impaled right through the chest and died instantly.”

“I was crushed in a factory accident.” Deadbolt sighs and shrugs. “And the same thing happened to me after that, basically.”

The orange earth mare takes a couple steps back, face going slightly green. “...o… kay...”

“That’s… horrible.” Twilight shudders visibly. “Then… how are you here now?”

Chain shrugs. “One second I’m falling down and suddenly my legs are in pain, and the next I’m standing in a dark room surrounded by ponies in lab coats and Princess Celestia looking at me like I was a monster, which I guess I sort of am. My best guess is they took out my - our - internal organs, particularly the heart and lungs, and replaced them with mechanical substitutes while also repairing any majorly damaged parts of our bodies with powerful metal to fix us up and keep us sturdy, and either replaced our brains with computer chips or just sparked them back to life.” He pauses. “...that’s just a guess, though.”

“It’s exactly what happened and you know it,” the larger stallion says bluntly. “Just tell them the truth up front.”

“Hey, unlike you, they didn’t tell me much,” he snaps, his eyes briefly flashing. “I started talking and they just let me be. You were quiet, so they gave you a rundown of everything until you told them you got the point. I’m just speculating here.”

“Then perhaps you don’t need to know much.” Sighing again, Deadbolt gives his smaller companion a sidelong glance before bowing his head. “I apologize for our rude introductions. We are still unsure of ourselves.”

“N-Not at all,” the Alicorn replies, terrified at the outburst.

“Yes, of course,” Rarity says in a shaky voice, stepping back.

Catching himself, Chain makes to take a breath, only for nothing to happen. He grumbles incoherently to himself, saying something about ‘missing my lungs’, before he turns to the mares, trying to smile pleasantly. “So… would you mind giving us a tour of the town? We would like to have a look around.”

“Well... at least you’re cool...?” Rainbow says it with a grin, though it seems more like a question now than anything.

“Cool? Perhaps.” Chuckling, creating an odd sound, Deadbolt steps forward finally, into the group. “There were six of you before. Where is the yellow one?”

“Fluttershy,” the purple one clarifies, as if the others wouldn’t know who they were referring to.

“She was here just a minute ago... never mind. You scared her off,” Rainbow says in the same blunt tone the metal stallion used earlier.

Applejack blinks. “...and how d’ya know her name already? We never introduced ourselves...”

Chain opens his mouth to reply, but hesitates. “...well, as if you haven’t heard enough creepy stuff about us, I have scanners in my eyes.”

Naturally, this causes the five mares to, once again, widen their eyes at him at the sudden revelation. Twilight, however, suddenly steps forward. “That’s… um… do you mind if I ask you more?”

“We're not allowed to divulge secrets about the tests,” Deadbolt grunts, but gives her a sympathetic gaze with his one normal eye.

She nods understandingly. “Yes... alright then. Well, should we start your tour?” Turning, the purple pony looks around at her friends, then nods at them to follow. Together, they walk on, with the two cyborgs in tow. Next Chapter: Chapter 2: The Explanations Estimated time remaining: 13 Minutes