"Hank!" The pick and mix of ponies followed the brooding giant. He marched down the cobbled stone roads, restraining the urge flatten each of them. Other than his moral standards, the only things stopping him from making pony pancakes was the following:

The yellow one was too adorable to even think of a violent act towards. He believed even playing rock, paper, scissors would be threatening to the little butter blob.

The cyan speedster seemed to understand him. The slight movements, he subconsciously made to warn the others, she would pick up. That as well as the fact she put Frank on the floor.

That quiet purple one worried him. Ever since she announced and described his life as a television show she had been hidden behind her mother, or so he assumed she was. Much to his disappointment, she knew way too much about him, as did the blue pegasus, but she was trying to convince him he shouldn't exist. He eloquently labelled her as the 'Crazy bitch.'

Then there's the huge white one, that's not counting her flank. Then again he didn't know if her backside was unfit, or could even fit in a chair. Regardless he witnessed her authority, knew she was royalty, and that was enough to make him edge away. That and the emotional bond she clearly had to the lavender unicorn, although he couldn't see a family resemblance. Perhaps the wings developed after a certain age, he pondered over this bearing a burrowing frown.

Now the pink one. The sole reason he didn't tie her to a boulder and cast her out was because she was untouchable. The living battery pack made it clear that she will do what ever she wants to do, whenever she feels like doing it. Such as disappear again.

"Hank! Look we know this us a little confusing, but trust us. You are a fictional character." The purple unicorn was keeping up with his brisk pace, occasionally avoiding toppled barrels. He refused to answer and concentrated on following the trail of destruction.

"Hank it’s true. We can..." The Diarch was cut off by his sudden change in direction. A swift 180 degree turn landed the pair face to face.

"Stop talking about that shit." he growled, gritting his teeth and clenching a fist. He had more pressing matters to attend to, such as find his Prince, his idiot of brother, and then hunt the silent one. All came before contemplating his existence. "We need to find my lord and the rest of my squad." he finalised spinning back around.

Moments before the pissed off mare snorted steam.

"As I was saying," she continued grinding her pearly whites, "We should find Prince Albert, Shadowman, and Frank." A vein in his forehead almost burst at the way she recalled their names, without actually being introduced. He dismissed it as some magic these horned things each had.

Telepathy. It’s gotta be. I am not some written character in a bad story.

"Well I'm glad you finally understand that part, I was afraid I'd have to explain myself over and over again." he remarked, booting a cart of flowers out of the way.

"Look we already knew that, why do you think we're following you." Rainbow responded, floating in front of him. "I don't care who you are! Or why you're so mad!" she lied, in fact she was constantly restraining her fan-mare from stealing Splinter and hiding in her cloud house, "You don't talk like that to the Princess!" She screamed, jabbing his pecks. That statement did hold true; her Princess did come before any show. Hence the reason the mare was the Element of Loyalty.

Both of their eyes narrowed, neither flinched. The showdown lasted until she saw the smallest of smirks pull on his right cheek.

He cocked his head to the side, leaving enough space to show his eyes to the Princess.

"Sorry. Thanks for the help." he stated calmly. He turned back to face the cyan pegasus, looked her over, and grin. "You got a lot of guts kid." Before he could finish, she took off to the lavender librarian, beaming smile possessing to her maw. Returning to the mission, he marched on still determined. However this confrontation left him less aggravated, having found someone brave enough to face him.

Unbeknownst to the titan, as he finished his sentence to himself, the fan mare let out a giddy squeak.

"You got a lot of guts kid, but if you piss me off, I'll make 'em see the light of day."

He turned back to see a smiling Princess, as disgruntled unicorn, a cowering pegasus, and a rainbow blur doing a somersault.

Still no sign of the little cotton candy rocket.

"Hey I know, why don't we start a search party! My eleventh favourite kind of party, after birthday, because it's like a giant-humongous game of hide and seek, my third favourite game." Looking up, Hank noticed his hair had become a vibrant shade of pink, was curly, and smelt like the sweet shop near where he lived.

"Pinkie Pie...how did you get on top of his head? For that matter why are you up there?" He spun around and found a purple, gawking at his scalp. Reaching up he plucked a almost weightless Pinkie hat off his head, and found a grinning pony before him.

"His head is really flat, I mean it like sitting on the floor, but more tickly because his hair rubs against my hooves." she replied, spinning her neck around. Hank quickly dropped her to the floor, regretting that was possibly the only time he would ever catch the crazy mare, and looked at her with slight annoyance.

"Do you know anybody who would help, not be distracted by the fact I'm human, not to try to turn me into a piñata, or grope my muscles," he winced after recalling one specific mare, who he hoped, made a brief mistake of using his groan to pull herself closer to his arms, " and will help me find my friends?" he finished, still maintaining a frown.

"Hmmmm." the party pink pony replied, further agitating the man, and squinted at the floor before her . Finally finding the answer, after looking at his boots, she once again turned to face the group of mares behind her.

"Applejack and Rarity can help us! Oh but AJ's busy, we should go visit Rarity. Wait no, now that I think about it, she'll be making dresses. We could look for them ourselves, then ask for some more help when their finished."

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"Hey Applejack!" Shadowman scuttled as fast as he could under the cart, resting his legs and shoulders over the wheel axles.

"Howdy BonBon! How are you this mornin'?" He heard the cowpony reply. The soft clops of the pony's hooves can to a halt by the stand.

The visitor sighed, paused and said "Tired. A few of the ponies here have gone nuts, stir crazy, because apparently there are humans here." What followed was an awkward silence.

"You mean ta tell me that Ah'm sitting here, as bored as Ah would be watching Granny Smith take a nap, and the town is chasing cartoon characters?" the apricot mare asked, slamming her forehoof on the floor.

"Applejack. You okay?" the concern in her tone, mixed with the soft steps backwards, made the shadow wonder if he picked the right cart.

"No Ah ain't! Ah'm tryin' to sell mah apples and the whole town gallivanting off after old filly stories!" A long groan was heard, followed by another silence. "Sorry BonBon. Ah was just ventin' is all. Yesterday Ah had a lot of people asking me about that show last night."

Shadow man took a peek from under the cart. After partially blushing due to popping out right between her hind legs, he quickly repositioned himself. He spotted the blonde maned pony massaging her temples. The golden glory of her hair and the sun captured the moment for him.

She would not take too kindly to a human under her cart.

Retreating back to his lurking, he continued to listen in on both parties.

"I know. Lyra won't stop bugging me to watch the show. I'm glad it's over, but-" she was cut off as another voice bounded out of the alleyway.

"Hey BonBon, oh hey Applejack. Have you seen Shadowman running around here?" Looking to face his hunter he could only notice the carrot coat of her hooves, from the knees down.

"No Carrot top, we haven't. We ain't gonna go looking for him either." chided the one named BonBon.

"Oh filly!" he heard the new comer curse, slapping the stone floor with hoof. "I was sure he came this way. Why do all the good ones run away?" the orange pony moaned, returning to the dark passage.

"That mare's crazy. I mean I like the strong silent type too, a lot, but come on. It's a cartoon." BonBon giggled, until she abruptly stopped.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Is that why you're always staring at mah brother?"

"Wha-no-Wh-Stop looki-err." she spluttered, defensively. Even this was obvious for Shadowman, but he took a moment to rub his ego over about how 'Dark and mysterious' he was to the females. It wasn't until he remembered he was being chased by ponies, not women, did the moment of pride dissipate.

Had it been women chasing him, the situation would be entirely different.

"Hehe, Ah won't tell. He normally finishes his chores around sunset on Fridays, and heads to the tavern for a quick drink. Maybe you should bump into him there, rather than sit opposite mah stall every week?"

"Err...I...thank you." The other replied in a soft tone.

"No problem. Now. What can Ah get cha?" The business mare assumed her role as merchant.

"Just a bushel of...let’s see...Red delicious." she replied merrily.

The cart groaned and squeaked, and much to Shadowman's silent dismay a screw came lose. He hoped it was the one piece that could afford to be lost, not one to result in the whole thing collapsing. He watched the wooden panel before him with scrutinizing eyes.

"Here yer are. That's four bits." Immediately this was followed by a small clatter of coins, as well as a farewell.

"Well at least I managed to sell some apples today. Darn humans, I don't know what they see in that show. Nothing but violence and stupidity anyway," she scolded. If nopony was going to arrive because they were hunting him, they wouldn't arrive now because of her mood.

"Applejack! Hey Applejack!" a young voice cried out. Swivelling his head around, he finally spied a whole pony from his hidden position. Small, bouncy little thing. She had a faded daffodil coat, contrasting the weak red mane and tail. The pink bow was roughly the same sizes as her huge amber eyes. Both poised at the more mature mare.

"Apple Bloom! What in tarnation are you doing out of school young lady?" He watched as the filly skidded to a halt, her smile quickly transforming into a worried look.

"Miss Cheerilee is sick. We had a substitute today, he kind of...blew up." Shadowman imagined even the orange pony did double take as well.

"Excuse me?"

"Well not really. We were doing chemistry and well, me, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle wanted to see if we could get our cutie marks in mixin' stuff. We were puttin' all of the stuff together when it started glowing. Then it started fizzing. Then it started shaking. Then the teacher ran up to the flask, grabbed it and ran out the classroom. We heard a hug explosion, and he came back in the room. He looked like he put his head in a twister and then in a saddle bag of coal. He said school was over, then fell asleep at his desk."

"Sugar cube, you gotta calm down about this crusading stuff. Ah keep tellin' you it will come eventually. Yer just gotta wait."

"But I want it now!" moaned the child, before lowering her head to pout. She looked at her surroundings, noticing the rocks, the crack in the pavement, the screw that fell from the cart, the pony hiding under the cart, a spare apple that toppled out of a barrel.

Wait? What?

"Applejack..." she trailed off, inching closer to the shadow.

"Now don't think you're getting off so easily." He heard the elder reply, still focusing on the filly closing in.

"I think you parked on top of a pony."

"What!"

After a lot of confusing commotion, that sounded like a stall being bucked over and a cart yanked backwards, Shadowman found himself flat on his back, staring up to two ponies. One confused by his physic and style of clothing, the other was also bewildered too, until her face contorted into a furious mask.

He moved his hand around, patting around the ground before the filly, searching for something. As a peace offering, hoping to convince the angered mare he meant no harm, he held up the missing screw.

"Applebloom."

"Yeah sis?"

"Get my rope."

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"Yo Tavi! I'm back, and I have friend I want you to meet." Frank ducked his head as he entered the back of a small cottage. Although, from his perspective, he should start calling this a normal cottage given that he's the giant here. Still he had been following the strange unicorn, noticing the way she wore her shades in a similar fashion to Shadowman. However she was chattier than his team mate.

As he discovered the hard way for the past fifteen minute walk.

"Oh dear. Sorry Vinyl, but I'm going to have to ask your friend to leave." a poetic voice called out. Frank was satisfied with holding the shopping, whilst munching on a chocolate chip cookie, but now he began to worry about finding a place to stay till night fall. The pony with the music note butt tattoo spoke up as he entered the kitchen.

"Oh come on Tavi. He really needs a place to stay till tonight, what's the problem?" He watched the one named Vinyl, originally called a ludicrous 'DJ PON-3', trot into the next room. He was putting the bag of baguettes, celery, milk, and other delectable items on the marble side, when he ear splitting scream.

Instinctively he barged through the door and scanned the room for threats.

He spied a toppled sofa, inches away from a large television. In the center of the room, not only was the couch flipped, but a wooden coffee table was crushed. The top halves of the walls were painted a coffee cream, whilst the bottom was a milk chocolate. By the staircase, in front of the door, lay the remains of a large Cello. Frank mourned the loss of his third favourite instrument, recalling many symphonies that have played close to his heart.

Beneath a large square window lay three broken speakers. Monumental compared to the others by the DJ deck, sitting in the corner to his left. He also spied Vinyl moaning and weeping over them.

"WUBSY!" she sobbed, clutching a broken speaker piece. The man rolled his eyes.

Of course there's no danger here. I think the most dangerous thing in this world is catching something in those massive eyes of theirs. As if evolution had any need for puppy dog eyes. I don't know why the blasted pony is crying over...a speaker? I better fix that thing in ten minutes, before she asks for a minute silence from the entire town. Now that would be funny; a DJ asking for a minute silence.

"WWWHHYYYYAHAHhYYY" Vinyl continued sobbing, much to his amusement. He planned to let the sorrow build up, step in, be the hero, secure a place for until night, and finish of the cookies.

And not the bloody raisin ones either! Pretending to be chocolate chips, deceitful bastards.

The sound of the still grieving mare brought him from his musings. He was about to intervene when a new set of hooves announced themselves by galloping down the staircase.

"Oh Vinyl, I understand your sentimental attachment to those speakers, but must you cause such a racket?" A dull platinum pony gently made her way to her roommate. Moving along with poise and concern, she rested her hoof upon the musician's shoulder.

"I lost my cello too, but these-" she took a glance at the functioning speakers and arched an eyebrow, "instruments can be replaced. There is no need for this silly outburst. You have more than enough to buy..." she slowly trailed as her eyes widened at her first sighting of the man.

He was leaning against the doorway, arms folded, and using a hand to support his flat chin. His small smirk and judgemental stare froze her to the spot.

"Oh don't mind me. I'm your conscious, who will be teaching you how to properly treat a grieving pony."

Her maw dropped as the sniffling unicorn removed her glasses to wipe her eyes. Before the steel pony could reply he pressed on.

"Don't believe me? Well... I am a human. Mythological being and symbolic representation of nobility, wisdom, war, and peace? Oh and perhaps the sexiest thing to walk on two legs, by product of your imagination." He switched to a more ponderous look, facing the upper corner of the room, and then nodded slowly. "Yes, definitely."

"Vinyl, I don't mean to interrupt your sombre moment but I think I require your confirmation on something." Returning from her stupor, she faced slowly recovering DJ. "Have I lost my sanity or is that the fictional animation character titled 'Frank'?

"Yeah...he needs-" she blew her nose on a hovering handkerchief, "a place to stay till tonight." She threw the snot rag out of the window whilst pulling the massive speaker closer to her chest. After a quick scuttle of hooves, there was loud thud and choking noise being produce. She looked up to see an alarming sight.

Octavia strangling the stranger.

"YOU BRUTISH THUG! HOW DARE YOU OBLITERATE MY CELLO, THEN HAVE THE GALL TO DESTROY VINYL'S SPEAKERS!" Octavia yelled, grasping his throat and slamming his head against the floor. He was more surprised how she managed to replicate fingers around his oesophagus with her hooves than how she tackled him to the ground. Once he managed to loosen her grip, again to his amazement, he finally spoke.

"So I could return defenceless, lost, and in need of your help. Oh and you had cookies, and a mighty fine flank I wanted to get another glance at." Her reaction to this was to slap him, and appear to be on the brink of exploding. Had it not been for the bleached pony's intervention, Frank probably would have died again.

"TAVI! He didn't break your cello or my little Wubsy. He was helping me carry the shopping for Celestia's sake. He couldn't have busted my baby!" She gave a mournful look to black disk.

"Then how do you explain the foot prints at the bottom of the stair case." Still on top of the man, she pointed to the bottom of the first step. Only the unicorn could actually see the boot size. She wondered over to the dirtied wooden step, and asked Frank to join her.

Pushing the mare to the side, more gently than he would've wished to, he arrived at the staircase under the scrutinising supervision of the classical musician. He knelt down, level with the Vinyl, and was trying to analyse whose boot print was before him.

Hmmm. Thin speckles of dust and stone indicate recent running, as well as the partially dried mud. Most of the runner's pressure is applied to fore foot, specifically the metatarsal, indicating knowledge and training in agility and speed. Given we are supposedly the only four humans on the planet, Hank and the Prince were not present, then there is only one logical answer.

Shadowman. Perhaps he was attempting to form a band, but forgot the part where he'd need to sing.

"Well?" the impatient iron pony asked, still maintaining an elegant tone of voice.

"Given the position of the moon, the sun, and the total cookies left in the building, multiplied by the amount of unnecessary tears lost about a stupid speaker, then divided by the amount of cares I actually give about said instruments, squared by the horrible decor...It was a friend of mine." Frank replied nonchalantly, more than Octavia liked in fact.

"So you did break in through the roof, destroy my beautiful cello- which was a gift from Royal Institute of Elite Musicians," she glared at him, losing the warm pink tinge in her pupils to a more sinister fierce pink in her eye, "and you ruined our living arrangements and decimated Vinyl's speakers."

"No." he spoke, dragging the word out and turning to face the mare. "I said my friend did. Friend, as in another person. You do understand what a friend is right?" he remarked patronisingly. Before she could interject, he continued. "It was likely that my friend was being chased by a mob, and found his way onto the roof. I suspect he was being chased; he's not a messy sod so I doubt he wrecked, let alone touched, anything in this building on the way out. I can't imagine why he wound up ruining the living room, but I'm sure it's because the human hunters were chasing him." he replied, calmly and steadily as he attempted to avoid suffocation.

"A human hunter? What in Equestria are you talking about?" The cellist replied, confusion devouring her intense anger towards the biped. He stood up and made his way over to the speaker corpses.

"It's what he keeps calling the mobs who were chasing him, and his friend..." Scratch leant in closer and brought a hoof close to her mouth, "Shadowman." She backed off and Octavia gave another bewildered look to the unicorn. "Yeah so this guy had the town’s people who wanted to hurt him chasing him, and also the bronies and humares wanting to...do whatever they wanted to do to him." Finally Octavia understood the situation and began to ponder, as did Vinyl, over what the bronies could possibly do.

"You do realise this ain't as bad as it looks right? Wait, of course you don't know. Why would you? You have horse drawn carriages being driven by other horses. Can’t you see the humourus side of that?" he turned back to see the two give him a cocked head, "Right... I guess you wouldn't." He returned to analysing the scrap before him under the window.

"You mean you can fix Wubsy?" He instantly regretted turning around; the alabaster pony had dropped her glasses, widened her ruby eyes, and gave a large hopeful smile.

"Oh god! I can feel the testosterone fleeing my body!" The short man winced, blocking his view. "If I say yes can you put the shades back on? I see why you want to wear those things."

"Oh sweet! Thanks bro! Hey Tavi, just my look to be stuck with the cool one and your favourite." He was already ignoring her, getting to work sorting out the piles of debris, when she gave her roommate a wicked grin.

"Oh yes Vinyl. I am eternally grateful for you bringing this fine, handsome, gentlecolt to our home." she replied, sarcasm spewing out by the bucket load.

"Now I don't want you getting any ideas, Miss. As attractive as I am, and as much as you love wrapping your hooves around me, I must ask you to vacate the premises if you cannot restrain your urges." He committed, facing her with a fiendish smirk before winking.

"You are perhaps the most vulgar human I have ever had the displeasure to meet!"

"Well it wasn't difficult, being your first homosapien you have ever laid eyes upon. You are such a prim and proper bore, no wonder people think the rest of us who favour a classic symphony are mundane."

"I'll make sure you're Equestria's last too...wait, what do you mean 'favour a classic symphony?'"

"I do hope you played the cello amongst an orchestra, not as some form of band passing noise as music."

"Obviously, despite many of Vinyl's attempts to sway me in aiding in this 'Dubstep' plague, I have constantly resigned myself to only performing the finest of songs my instrument can produce. I have performed at many high society events, including the Grand Galloping Gala. The apex of every instrumentalist hopes to be performing, let alone be seen at" She responded, holding her head up high. To most, this could have been seen as an attempt to look down upon the individual being spoken to.

However, Frank did detect a hint of pride and judgement, but he understood that her intentions were to show they had a common link. He also believed that she would have a right to tub her ego if such a statement rung true.

"It's true. Tavi wouldn't even let me record a single note if she knew it was going to end up on one of my tracks." the DJ added, nodding as the human lover of the finest orchestrated music replied to the cellist.

"Well I do favour the violin, I do often practice when I am not teaching or researching, however the cello does have its own divine dialect."

"True, I instantly took to the cello, seeing as it was my special talent of course, but it did have its own beautiful voice."

"Well perhaps if I do manage to repair yours and your friend's instruments you could give me a teasing of this talent you claim to have." She couldn't help but give a small grin, but a quick as it came, it had disappeared to reveal a neutral business look.

"Very well. I look forward to having my cello back. Perhaps you're not as much of a vulgar criminal as I had assumed."

"Still just as handsome though right?" he replied, earning a giggle from Vinyl as he finished assorting the broken remains of 'Wubsy'.

"Do not push your luck. I will cast you back out, gift wrapped, for the human hunters to collect you." she replied, stepping upstairs. "And when you finished, you can fix the roof as well." Her final statement was greeted by a sigh from the man.

"What am I? A construction worker?" He spoke, not taking his eyes of the debris before him. He turned and faced the smiling unicorn, asked for some tools and mentally began constructing the device. He understood the mechanics behind the speaker, which unfortunately meant more effort on his part to decide how repair it without the bass shaking it apart.

A soft trot caught his attention as he had created several ways to fix the speaker.

"Here is my cello, well what remains of it after your friend was finished with it." He recognised the poised voice as a saddle bag dropped before him. The cellist gave him a small disheartened look.

"I'll get right on it after I fix these speakers." He responded looking back at her.

"Here you are, I got a tool box as a gift from one of the techno guys in this club in Hoofington, never thought I'd need it" A red steel box hovered in front of the man, much to his disapproval. He had come to terms with A) magic existed here B) as his escort described it, he and his friends were watched. Evidence of this was when Vinyl described what he really wanted one Hearts Warming eve: a violin with a calculator built into it. She didn't tell him he was created by a pony, for fear of either being seen as a lunatic or causing him to have a mental break down.

"Thanks. I will need to talk to you soon, Vinyl. It will be about how this thing should look, and if it sounds right or not." He was already unlocking the repair kit. He realised 'techno guys' meant technician, not a pony who was a fan of the music genre. He spied some black tape, plastic packs of wires that were separated by colour, solder and soldering iron and a few spare parts.

"Would you like anything else? Some tea perhaps?" Octavia asked, slowly losing the hostility in her voice.

"I would love an Earl grey, or perhaps some mint tea would be nice." he asked, not holding back the cheeky grin.

"Brilliant, another one who is opposed to the simple concoction of 'tea bag and milk cuppas'." she remarked, cringing at the last part.

"Hey! You said I should try some tea, and I found a favourite." chided the unicorn.

"I understand. I do not hate them, but I would always choose a finer option." Frank responded. The navy blue maned pony stood there looking between the two.

"Two Earl greys and what would you like, Vinyl? Another bottle of blood clotting, sugary, carbonated bottle of Coca-Coltla?" Octavia added, wearing a morbid expression whilst still facing the human.

"Er yeah...I would like that. Thanks Tavi." The confused mare replied. She looked back and forth between the two as they happily separated, and then received a disturbing revelation.

"Oh no. There's two of them," she whispered in horror.

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Meanwhile, in a boutique on the outskirts, the tranquillity of the landscape was a soothing backing track to the village’s inhabitants. Whether it was natural grace of a swooping song bird, the cooling breeze that whistled a sweet melody through the bushes or even joyous giggles of a tiny duo of fillies running, the sound of a distant quiet town would melt the worries of any pony.

Discounting the small clusters of ponies still prowling around for the new arrivals.

It had been some time since the abrupt sighting of the humans, of which only a selected few could vouch for their appearance, even fewer feared of doing so after Celestia's order to abandon Hank.

Soon enough as the sun started dying down, the harmonic birds still took flight and continued singing a final song.

However to one pony in the dress shop, she couldn't care less. She had something else that was music to her ears.

Resting across a long couch, her angelic body reaching to the other side, Rarity had her forehooves perched on the side and laid her head between the two. Tilting her head to the side, allowing her ear to pick up every sweet syllable, she kept a small smile directed towards the source.

"Oh your majesty, you do know how to flatter a lady," she remarked, eagerly anticipating the next comment.

Albert sat across from her dreamy gaze, one leg crossed over the other and his best smile on show. His cheeks were slowly succumbing to pain of prolonged use, despite years of practise with the most tedious, annoying and unwanted citizens of Primane, he found giving a warm-hearted grin for this long to be a trial worthy of Tartarus.

"It is only is flattery if it is exaggerated or not true my dear, and I don't believe I have told a single lie yet. I lady of such poise and grace has no right to be misinformed; you truly are a magnificent creature. A unique combination of the intellect and creativity you put into your dresses and the natural blessing of your appearance. It is I who is honoured to meet you." The Prince had been straining his flirting skills to maintain his stay in the boutique.

Suffice to stay he probably would be welcome for the next twenty years, uninvited. For the past hour, after another hour of explaining his troubles, request, and immediate history, the fashionista hung to his every word as if it was liquid gold.

"Oh please stop," Rarity repeated, reaching the hundredth time, "but if you wish to continue I won't hinder you," she finished, fluttering her eyelashes. Both of them saw past this façade, as they had done for what seemed like an eternity for him and a short lived evening of having every, single, possible, quality being described poetically for her.

If I had known he was so charming, I would have given that show a second chance. Perhaps I should at least try to overlook his...brutish side. The fashionista was lost to her musings, until she recalled the episode where he put a bullet through a dragon’s skull mid-flight. The landing wasn't pretty either.

I don't think I can say anything else. I give it to her; she appears modest, perhaps the best example of a lady I have ever had the...pleasure of meeting? Lovely, yet demanding at the same time. Perhaps I have gone on for far too long. He had only managed to complete his thought bubble when a sudden ringing, followed by a large thud, erupted from the entrance.

Both the blonde man and the deep purple maned pony both faced the intruder, or intruders as the case seemed to be.

The Diarch was pleased to be given a swift escape route, the phrase saved by the bell became evident once said doorbell stopped ringing, whilst the mare opposite him, who thought she was living out every other mare's dream of having somepony be able tell them how unique they were, was disgruntled by the arrival of the newcomers.

Oh just as I was about to inquire about getting him some more clothing, after a few more minutes of this wonderful conver-my how the time has flown by. she thought, squinting at the sun which had moved since she last checked. Her royal navy orbs made out two small silhouettes, the small tuft of hair passing as somepony's mane, and the small protruding horn of another.

"Rarity! Can the Applebloom and Scootaloo stay over tonight and..." a little marshmallow trailed off, as she skidded across the floor. Halting in between the elders, the filly cocked her head to the side and studied the beast before her.

"What did she say Sweetie Belle? Can we stay over or not? I wanna find Applebloom before-" Another young pony entered the room, this time a tangerine shade, wearing energetic purple tuft for hair. The little pegasus joined the unicorn in staring at the strange creature sitting in a weird position.

"Sweetie Belle! Don't be rude! Stop staring at the lovely gentlecolt. sorry, gentleman." the elder mare scolded, bringing the duo out of their bewilderment. Whilst Sweetie Belle turned to face, and question, her sister, Scootaloo's eyes widened and sparkled at the sight of the man.

"Rarity, what is it?" The younger asked curiously, edging back towards her sister. He was amused to be referred as 'it', he did have time to come to terms with being a mythological being, but he thought he should show that this creature had some form of intellect.

"Little one, I am Prince-"

"ALBERT! From My Big Human!" the pegasus chirped, bounding onto his lap. Whilst she gave a gleeful smile up to the man, he and the pearl white filly wore a confused look, directed at the said orange pony. Rarity, on the other hand, was encased in a deep fear.

"You are correct young one, I am Prince Albert," he switched to a more curious tone of voice and leant forward, "How do you know my name? Furthermore, what is this 'My Big Human' you claim I am from?"

"Oh that's easy! I know who you are because Rainbow dash showed me the TV show My Big Human. I've seen all your fights, and that episode when you were wrestling with a three headed werewolf, who turned out to be your father, who you managed to save and end the curse was my favourite." she chirped bouncing up and down on his lap, wings replicating the sound of a dragon fly. His sense of mirth and joy disintegrated, and became a controlled rage and a more harsh Prince attitude.

"Little one, I will only ask this once... How do you know that?" His once warm smile, that coaxed the little filly into such a friendly state, fell and a scolding expression soon followed. She back up to the edge of his knees.

"Err... I watched the episode in season 2? I-I-I started watching the cartoon about four years ago." she asked, worry for her health laced in every stuttered word. "You mean you don't know you're not real?" Before he could respond, Rarity stepped in tried to convince him she was just being imaginative. A terrible excuse. However, it was her turn to be saved by the doorbell.

"Rarity! Rarity!" A southern accent cried out. All heads turned to face another filly, pale yellow and wearing a pink bow. "Applejack needs your help capturin' a weird looking'..." Another young pony repeated the trend of gawking at the creature. However this one took a different option when her brain started working.

She attacked.

"Take this you monster! Ah'll save yer Scootaloo!" the newcomer yelled, beating the monster. By which he felt the fierce prodding of all her might against his shins.

"Applebloom! He's okay. He's friendly. I would have run away if I was in any danger." the orange pony reassured her friend, hopping off the still anxious man. Rarity calmed panicked filly down, and asked her to explain her intrusion. Half way through explaining that her elder sister Applejack was chasing a similar creature to Albert, whose description matched that of his mute friend, another voice cried out.

"Come back here you vermin! Ah ain't done hog tying yer legs!" an angered apple farmer cried out. A pair of footsteps were heard racing towards the boutique, and moments after everyone stood up and faced the doorway, the actual wooden door collapsed and revealed a black ball.

It had rope restricting the movements of its mid-section, to long legs sprouting out and a shadowy cloak around it. Once Albert, and Scootaloo to his dismay, recognised that Shadowman had broken down the door, the man was already standing up. Rarity was in mortified and grasped Sweetie Belle instinctively.

"Hello Shadow. Perhaps you should just knock next time?" Albert responded, still holding a frustrated mask. Not at the intrusion of his ally, but what the little skinny tangerine with wings had said.

As shadow man rolled onto his front, attempting to get on his knees, another ring of rope hovering above him. It slammed down and constricted him in a way to make a Python envious. As he was being pulled away by an unknown force, he spun around on the door and placed his legs on each side of the frame. Much to the amazement of the crowd behind him, he was standing up against the wall. Both the strain in his shaking legs and the painful groan of the wood he stood on hinted at the power of the opposition.

Albert quickly rushed over to his snared comrade and grasped him in his own lock. Wrapping his arms around the chest, he attempted to push forward. Although it did combat the force effectively, he still hadn't removed his friend from the wall.

"Applejack! Stop! They won't hurt us!" Scootaloo rushed out, ducking under the horizontal legs of the phantom, and racing out of the boutique. Guided by a tense rope, she finally found an angered mare. She was pulling the rope away from the boutique by facing towards the town, more determined now than ever before.

For the past two hours, she had been chasing the dangerous creature, almost trapping the abomination numerous times. Leading him to the outskirts, resulting in fewer areas to lurk and hide in, the farmer used the last of her rope. Applejack often growled at herself for forgetting about his twin blades, which were often used to slash the past two ropes around his wrists. Now that she had immobilised his arms, she was reeling in her prize.

"Scoo'aloo ah ain' go' 'ime for dis, ah go' a mons'er 'er cash," she replied agitated, not willing to open her mouth fully to lose the rope. The cowpony managed to get a step forward, grinning at the thought of finally being able to subdue this creature.

"But Prince Albert is in there as well. Prince Albert! He ain't hurting nopony, he's not even bothered by Applebloom hitting him!"

The mare, whose coat was a much lighter tone of apricot to the filly's, paused and turned her head at breakneck speed.

"Wha'?"

Back in the boutique another thud was heard.

Suddenly the rope went slack, combined with the pulling force of the Prince, the bipedal duo were sent backwards. The impact knocked the wind out of both of them. Whilst one was scrambling to his knees, again, the other was already standing up. Not for long however.

"Oh my, Prince Albert are you okay? What about Shad-your companion." Despite pronouncing the first half of his name, the Prince was more concerned about his gift wrapped friend. He registered the worry in Rarity's voice, especially after seeing her still clutch her little sister, and continued hoisting his team mate up.

Even as Applebloom punched his leg.

"Applebloom stop! They are not going to hurt us." Sweetie Belle piped up, removing her elder's hoof from her face.

"What do yer mean they ain't gonna hurt us? Haven't you heard the bed time stories about the humans! Monsters!" She responded, pointing both an accusative hoof and a fierce glare at the member of royalty.

"Little one, we have been trying to hide to avoid the human hunters, I have been here for two hours with Lady Rarity." he added calmly, balancing Shadowman on his feet.

"Is that true?" The little filly was confused, especially when the poised mare confirmed he had been a perfect gentleman his entire stay. After vouching for his lack of hostility, Applebloom turned to face the man, holding an apologetic look.

"Well...if Rarity says you were bein' nice, and thinkin' about how yer friend didn't try to hurt us with those knives of his, then maybe...Applejack is wrong about y'all," she began softly, circling the wooden floor with her hoof. She looked up to him and said tenderly, "I'm sorry I hurt you."

"That is okay little one. You were trying to protect your friends. You are a brave little filly, and perhaps even a good hunter to chase my friend," Albert responded, earning a nod from the black figure.

"I accept your apology, now it’s time to-OOFFF!" Both he and his friend were sent into the back room, yet again through another locked door, by a powerful kick. Upon landing, both slammed into an item in the back room. The shadow ploughed face first into a wardrobe, spilling a rainbow of dresses onto the floor, whilst the Prince tackled a gang of mannequins.

"Y'ALL STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!" The protective cowpony retracted her hind hooves and turned to face her younger sibling. "Applebloom are yer alright?" she asked, checking over the yellow filly.

"What did yer do that for? He was being real nice to me. I was apologising' then you kicked 'em both into the back room." Applebloom replied, swatting an orange hoof away angrily.

"Apologising? For what?" The elder glared back, before switching to Rarity.

"Why were you keeping Prince Albert here with the girls? Have you lost your mind?" she chided, edging closer to the fashionista.

"First of all, they were not originally meant to be here, I had no idea they were hoping for a sleep over. Secondly, he has been nothing short of a kind, charming, lovely, romantic-" Her lips soured, before she bit them and faced the apple farmer.

"Beg yer pardon?" she questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"I said a classic gentlecolt," she replied quickly. "He was looking for a place to stay until night fall. Once the girls stormed in, he was only ever friendly to them. Even as Scootaloo invaded his personal space and Applebloom began beating his legs." She took a glance at the named filly's, which both responded with a sheepish grin and began slowly creeping away.

"I'd imagine Shadowman was the same, was he not? Did he attempt to strike you?"

"Well...no. He did cut mah ropes, but he never tried to hurt me or Applebloom. Even when I did catch him a couple of times, he didn't cut the rope with those swords-things of his until mah little sis was out of the way." She paused and recalled each incident and how he never did attack first. Barring the time he surprised her by wrapping her head in somepony's jacket, which was left out to dry, he hadn't actually wanted to come in contact with the equines.

"Oh darn it. Maybe yer right, but ah still don't trust 'em. They're wrong. You've seen what they can do! Hurting' others like that, it's just plain wrong," Applejack remarked, bringing back the reason she chased Shadowman in the first place. "They ain't friendly." she stated firmly.

"Hey Rarity! We're gonna need- oh hey AJ, we need you too." A cyan blur raced through the doorway, upon doing so it ceased to be an airborne smudge and focused on said doorway. The azure speedster studied the trodden door, the boot prints on either side of the door frame, and the rest of the search party making their way over. Turning back around, she glanced around with a worried look, scanning the room present before spotting the back room.

Upon spotting an unconscious Prince, her eyebrows burrowed into a frown.

"Applejack! Rarity! Did you guys knock out Albert? He was Celestia's favourite!" Dash scolded.

"Well I thought...wait...the Princess likes My Big Human?" AJ quizzed.

"Why yes dear Applejack, I do. Prince Albert is my favourite human. No offence to Hank, but the prince does like to analyse and plan out his next five steps," Celestia spoke, gracing the boutique's occupants with her presence.

"Oh dear, erm...Applejack I think you should explain the current status of our new FRIENDS," she remarked, bowing and making her voice heard.

Well, it’s a good thing I have nothing else to do for the rest of the afternoon. the fashionista thought, worried about the no doubt troublesome future.

"Oh you mean to say they are here? Splendid." Celestia give herself a quick once over, before continuing with, "I think I shall properly introduce myself."

Oh I do hope Albert is in the mood to give me the royal introduction. she thought, re-activating her fan-mare side with a gleeful smile.