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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Just Twilight is fine.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I’m sure I will.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Well, you like her, right?”

“Wha-”

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

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

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

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

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

“That’s quite a gap,” Surprise said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Yeah, sure! That sounds like fun!”

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

“Do what?” Surprise asked innocently.

“Accept her invitation?”

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

“…But a party? We're supposed to-”

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

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

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

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

“Great! Let’s go then!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Well? What d’ya think?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Well, yeah, but-”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Not really…”

“Oh…Oh well! C’mon, let’s go in!”

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

“SURPRISE!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“…It’s nice…”

“…Uh, you have a lot of friends?”

“Some…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Well…”

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

“Well, then, if you’re offering…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Right.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“All hail Queen Chrysalis!”

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

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