Iron walked into the dining room still half asleep, yawning loudly as he opened the large double doors, and made his way slowly over to the table in the middle of the room.

“Mornin’” Carbon said as he lifted a glass of orange juice up to his mouth, “Sleep well?”

“Eh,” Iron responded, still too tired to say anything more intelligent.

Helium walked into the room a few seconds later, and saw Iron placing some bread into a microwave. She giggled and walked over to him. “Um, Iron?” Iron turned to face her. “I think you should probably be placing that in the toaster, not the microwave.”

“…I knew that,” Iron said, removing the bread and shifting slightly down the table to where the toaster was.

“So, you fed Sodium then?” Carbon asked, levitating his empty glass and plate and walking towards the small kitchen area in the corner of the room.

“Well, I placed some food by her door and told her it was there…She usually takes it and eats it, so I’m not particularly worried or anything.”

“As long as she gets her job done,” Silver started, levitating an orange into the air, “I don’t care what she does in her spare time. Her computer skills are amazing, so just as long as she’s happy and willing to work for us, that’s all that matters.”

“…But is she happy?” Iron asked, slightly more awake than a little earlier. His now toasted bread popped out of the toaster, and he began buttering them. “Helium, you’ve known her longest. Has she always been a recluse?”

“Yup!” Helium answered, her smiling not fading, “Back then, I was a much lower rank, but I was still tasked with scouting out potential candidates for our group.”

“You have an uncanny ability to see the potential within changelings, right?” Silver asked.

Helium nodded. “Right, and I saw her potential straight away! She only attended school for one day, and ooh boy, did she look scared!”

“So what happened? Did she just stop going?”

“She did!” Helium lifted a grape from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table, and threw it into the air, catching it in her mouth skilfully. “I went over to her house to see what was up, and it turned out she had sealed herself in her room!”

“Sealed herself?”

Helium nodded, her smiling dropping slightly as she took on a somewhat more serious tone. “She rigged a defence barrier all around her room, rigged with explosives. She ordered everyone to stay away, threatening to blow the whole house away if they tried to approach her.”

Iron and Silver were clearly shocked to hear this, and were staring at Helium wide-eyed. “Whoa,” Silver said, placing his orange down and leaning forward, now suddenly more interested in this story. “So, what happened? Was she being bullied?”

Helium shrugged. “Dunno. But it took the Royal Guard’s Special Squad to finally break in…In particular, we had to call in Magnesium and Copper, who, at the time, were our barrier and bomb experts, respectively.”

“And you still recruited her?”

“Well we couldn’t let such a wonderful mind go to waste, now could we? When we saw her talents on a computer, it was even more reason to get her on our side! We just used her reclusive nature to our advantage.”

Iron took a bite out of his toast, wincing as it tasted horrible in his mouth. ‘Note to self…Find a new bread seller.’ He swallowed the piece of toast in his mouth, and pushed the rest of his breakfast aside. “By which you mean you told her that, if she joined, she could do whatever she wanted…Including being all alone, if she desired it?”

Helium nodded, and reached over towards the toast that Iron pushed aside. “You gonna finish that?” Iron motioned for her to have it if she wanted, and she shoved the whole thing into her mouth, swallowing it without even chewing. Iron almost felt like throwing up. “To this day, only the Queen and Hydrogen seem to know what’s up with her, but they won’t say anything to me.”

Helium almost seemed hurt when she said that, something that Silver quickly picked up on. He stood up quickly and tried to change the subject. “Still, I’m surprised,” he said, drawing the attention of the other two changelings, “To think such a place exists under the Everfree forest, and Celestia just…Forgot about it.”

Iron chuckled, and walked over to the kitchen area, where Carbon was just finishing washing his plate. “Well, it’s been abandoned for 1000 years. I’d wager, since nothing ever happened with it, and since she kept it a secret from even her own subjects, that it just moved to the back of her mind.”

Carbon nodded, and moved back into the dining room. “That barrier she erected around this place was very…Flimsy,” he said, not being able to find a better word to describe it. “Even without Sodium sending false data, we would probably have no problem setting up our base here.”

“But with Sodium, we can also take it a step further, and do some digging around in the lower levels,” Helium pointed out, “Well, after she’s given the all clear, of course.”

Suddenly, a ring was heard in the dining room, soon followed by a voice. “Heads up. There’s a pack of timberwolves hunting around outside. Nobody leave the base until I can confirm that they’re gone.”

The ringing was heard again, and was followed by Silver sighing. “Well, that’s the problem with setting up our base in Everfree forest.”

“True, but at least the timberwolves aren’t looking for us specifically,” Iron said, bringing a glass of water from the kitchen into the dining room. “Unfortunately, this means I might be late meeting with Magic today. I suppose I could say I just slept in…”

“Or maybe,” Carbon started. Green flames shot around him, and when they were gone, he was replaced by a purple Earth Pony mare with green hair, and green eyes. Her Cutie Mark was five green seashells. “Maybe it’s time for Seashell to get acquainted with Ponyville.”

Argon entered the dining room and looked around. “Are the others gone?”

Helium nodded, humming something as she flicked through her magazine. It had been 10 minutes since Iron and Carbon left, after receiving word from Sodium that it was safe to leave.

‘Good. Then I can eat in peace,’ Argon thought to herself, walking over to the fruit bowl at the centre of the table and levitating an apple to her mouth. “Silver mentioned an assassination,” she said, before taking a bite of her apple. It was much better than she thought, but her expression didn’t change. “Isn’t that a little early? I thought we were on standby.”

“Assassination?” Helium asked, turning around and looking at Argon quizzically. “That’s odd. Are you sure ‘bout that?”

Argon thought for a second, and then turned to face Helium. “He was mumbling, but he said something along the lines of “they should just let me kill ‘em. Damn pony, whoever it is”.”

Helium realised what was going on, and let out a small giggle. “Oh, don’t worry ‘bout it. Silver’s just a lil’ upset ‘cause Iron’s fallen for somepony.”

Argon raised an eyebrow, but then remembered that Silver hated ponies with a passion. No, not just hated them. He was downright xenophobic towards them. Won’t have anything to do with them. That’s why he only ever has bottled love; he simply doesn’t have it in him to even pretend to love somepony.

“Well, I didn’t tell him who it was, so it’ll be fine!” Surprise said.

“…He won’t try to take matters into his own hooves?”

“Nah! I ordered him not to! He won’t refuse an order from me.”

Argon thought about it, and then simply nodded. She grabbed another apple from the bowl, and turned around to leave.

“Where ya goin’?”

“…Training,” she said, eating her apples as she walked towards the doors of the dining room.

“Alrighty! Have fun!”

Seashell looked up at the Ponyville library with a look of awe and wonder. “Wow,” she said, “It really is a tree.”

“Yeah,” Bubbles laughed, “I was surprised too, when I first saw it for myself. Guess our intel wasn’t as bad as we thought.”

“And yet Silver threw such a tantrum at those scouts…We’ll have ta apologise to them when we get back.”

Bubbles knocked on the library door, and heard a voice inside say: “Come in!”

Bubbles opened the door and walked inside, followed by Seashell. “Hi there,” Bubbles said to the purple Unicorn and baby dragon inside.

“Hi, Bubbles,” Twilight said, walking up to the two mares. Spike also greeted them, though it was only a mumble, since he was busy with his work. “You know, you don’t have to knock when you enter. This is a library, after all. You can just come in whenever you want…Providing we’re open, of course.”

“Yeah,” Bubbles laughed, “I forgot about that. Sorry. I’ll keep that in mind in the future.” Bubbles turned to face her friend. “Twilight, this is Seashell. Seashell, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Pleasure to meet you,” Seashell said, offering a hoof.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Twilight replied, extending her hoof to shake it. “And that baby dragon over there is Spike, my number one assistant.”

“That’s me!” Spike shouted, taking a moment from his work to flex, before returning with a frown when the three mares giggled.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around before. Are you living with Bubbles?” Twilight asked Seashell. Said pony shook her head.

“I’m just visiting my friend here to check out her new place, and help her with the unpacking. I’ll only be here for the next week.”

“Oh, I see. Well, enjoy your time here in Ponyville.”

“Thanks. I’m sure I will.”

Bubbles clapped her hooves together, and faced Twilight with an excited smile. “Soooo…When are we heading out?”

Twilight giggled, and looked behind her at a clock on the wall. “Excited to get a pet? Well, I guess I understand…I just have one little thing to take care of, and then I’ll be good to go.” Twilight turned back to face the yellow mare. “You don’t mind waiting a little bit, do you?”

Bubbles shook her head. “No, no, it’s cool. Take as much time as you need!”

“Well, it’s just putting a few books on hold, really. It shouldn’t take long.” Twilight turned to face Spike, who was placing a few books onto a nearby shelf. “Providing my number one assistant has been doing his job correctly?”

Spike turned to Twilight with a smug grin on his face, and stood proudly. “Of course I have! No books will be misplaced with number one assistant Spike on the job!”

“Well then,” Twilight started, watching Spike move on towards another part of the library, carrying a stack of books, “Would you mind telling me why you’re taking a pile of history books over to the magic section?” Spike stopped and looked down at the books he was carrying. “When they clearly belong in the history section, which is in the opposite direction?”

“…I knew that,” Spike said, turning around to face the other way, “I just…Had to turn around.”

Twilight shook her head and sighed. “I’ll be right back,” she said to the two mares next to her, “Feel free to look around while you wait.”

“Will do!” Seashell exclaimed cheerfully, already on her way to the fantasy section.

Once Twilight was finished, the three mares left the library and began their walk to Fluttershy’s cottage. On the way, they encountered Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who seemed to be arguing about something.

“Hey guys,” Twilight called out as she approached them. “Is something wrong?”

“Oh, hey Twilight,” Rainbow Dash said, “Nothing much, just telling AJ she has no chance this Running of the Leaves.”

“You wanna put yer money where yer mouth is?”

Twilight sighed and facehooved. “Oh, not this again.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack chuckled. “Don’t worry, Twi,” Applejack said, “We’re not gonna have a repeat of last year.”

“Yeah. This time, I’m gonna be first!”

“Y’mean second, right?”

“Um,” Seashell said, drawing the group’s attention to her, “Excuse me, but what are you talking about?”

“Oh, they’re just getting excited about this year’s Running of the Leaves,” Twilight explained, “It’s an annual race held every fall, and the purpose is to make the leaves hanging on the trees all fall off, ready for winter.”

“I see…” Seashell turned to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and realised that she hadn’t yet introduced herself. “Oh, sorry about that! My name is Seashell. And yours?”

Applejack extended her hoof to shake Seashell’s. “Nice ta meet ya! Ah’m Applejack, and this is-”

“The one and only, Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow Dash struck a pose for a second, before landing in front of Seashell. “Fastest flier in all of Equestria, and future member of the Wonderbolts!”

Seashell chuckled, and shook Rainbow’s hoof. “I see. It’s good to have goals.” Rainbow Dash nodded with a proud smile on her face, and Seashell continued. “But you’re both wrong,” she said, confusing both Rainbow Dash and Applejack. “You’re both gonna be second and third, now that I’m here!”

Bubbles sighed and walked off to the side a bit. “And here he goes…”

““He”?” Twilight asked.

“She!” Bubbles quickly corrected. “I, er…Hey, we really should get going, shouldn’t we?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, but decided to shake off Bubbles’ weird behaviour just now. “You’re right. Come on, let’s go.”

Bubbles watched Twilight walk off, and turned back to Seashell to see her arguing with Rainbow Dash and Applejack about who would win tomorrow’s race. “Hey! Seashell! We’re going!”

Seashell turned away from the two athletes to see Bubbles walking after Twilight. “Ah! Hey, wait up!” Seashell shouted, chasing after her friend. She turned back to Rainbow and Applejack for a moment, to say: “Good luck tomorrow! You’re gonna need it!”

The three mares approached Fluttershy’s cottage, which was situated just outside of Ponyville, next to the Everfree forest. Bubbles and Seashell already knew where Fluttershy lived, but it would look suspicious if they knew without ever being there before, and this way, Seashell could get to know Twilight a bit.

It turned out they both enjoyed astrology very much, and they shared a lot of common interests, like solving puzzles, reading, organising their rooms…The conversation was beginning to make Bubbles feel sad, and she drowned it out about halfway through. ‘Congratulations, Carbon. You’ve found someone as boring as you.’

“You don’t do any sports?” Seashell asked.

Twilight shook her head. “Nah, I’m not very athletic,” she said, looking a little embarrassed.

‘Huh, what d’ya know? She’s even more boring than Carbon.’ Bubbles cleared her throat to get the attention of her two companions. If she didn’t she feared they may just keep walking into the Everfree forest. “We seem to be here, now.”

Twilight and Seashell looked over at Fluttershy’s cottage, and giggled with embarrassment when they realised how caught up in their conversation they were.

“Eheheh…Sorry, guys,” Twilight said. “I guess I got caught up in our conversation.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Bubbles responded. “Well then, you have business elsewhere I believe?”

“Yeah…” Twilight looked a little worried about something, and looked over at Fluttershy’s house nervously. “I’m a little worried about this. Maybe I should go with you…”

“Don’t worry about it!” Seashell said. “There’s nothing to worry about. Bubbles told me that Fluttershy can be a little shy, but trust me, I’m good at getting ponies to open up!”

‘Liar,’ Bubbles thought to herself.

“No…That’s not exactly what I’m worried about…”

“What do you mean?” Bubbles asked.

“…Ah, never mind. I’m just over thinking things; I’m sure you’ll be fine!”

Bubbles and Seashell exchanged confused glances, before turning back to Twilight and waving her goodbye as she left. They then made their way towards Fluttershy’s cottage, where the perfect pet was surely waiting for them.

Fluttershy swept up a small, fluffy kitten off the ground, and shoved it into Bubbles’ face. “Well? What do you think? Isn’t he so cute you just want to take him home with you right now?”

Seashell watched as Fluttershy showed off the various animals in her garden, not quite sure what was going on. ‘This is the shy and timid pony we’ve been briefed about? She’s just one sugar stick away from being another Helium!’

“Um…Cats aren’t really my thing,” Bubbles said, his heart melting as the cat frowned and meowed sadly. ‘Sorry, Mr. kitty, but Silver doesn’t want anything with hair…Anyway, I need to keep this up long enough to make sure I win Kindness over.’

“I see. Well then, how about…” Fluttershy flew over to another part of her garden, and Bubbles and Seashell followed, stopping when she held up another animal for them. “A skunk!”

The two Earth Ponies immediately backed away, both familiar with what the black-and-white-striped badger from their lessons. A mere nuisance to ponies, emitting a foul odour that sticks to them, but deadly to changelings. Especially changelings in enemy territory; a changeling’s sense of smell is much more sensitive than a pony’s, and the stink from a skunk could easily render one unconscious, and also unable to control their shape shifting.

Of all the animals they learned about during training, skunks were in the top 5 to watch out for. It was for that reason that Bubbles and Seashell were immediately refusing Fluttershy’s offer, and practically begging her to keep it away from them. Clearly this was a bad move if one wanted to win over a kind-hearted animal lover like her, but they really had little choice if they didn’t want to reveal themselves to the enemy.

“I see…But there’s no need for that,” Fluttershy said sadly, placing the skunk down and apologizing to it, before it ran off in the opposite direction. “Poor guy. Nopony ever wants him…I hope he doesn’t take this too hard.”

Bubbles scratched her head nervously and approached Fluttershy, a frown on her face. “Uh…We’re sorry about that…We just…We haven’t heard many good things about skunks, and…”

Fluttershy turned around and looked at Bubbles disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t judge someone based on just what you’ve heard. That isn’t very nice…” Fluttershy stopped her lecture and sighed. “But…I mean, I’ve done it before, too, so…I guess I understand.”

Seashell laughed and walked up to Bubbles’ side. “You’re right. We shouldn’t have overreacted like that…I hope this doesn’t ruin relations between us.”

Fluttershy smiled and shook her head. “Of course not. You’re clearly both very sorry, and I can tell you’re not bad ponies.”

Bubbles practically sighed with relief, which confused Fluttershy. A nudge from Seashell brought her back to reality, and she quickly entered “improv mode”. “T-That’s good! ‘Cause, uh…I really would like a pet, y’know? Just…Nothing with too much hair, or fur.”

Fluttershy thought for a moment, and then nodded, still smiling. “I think I have just the thing.”

Fluttershy flew over to another part of the yard, and was once again followed by Bubbles and Seashell. She ascended up into a tree, and emerged a few seconds later, her forelegs stretched out to her sides and with various birds perched on them.

“There are many different types of birds who all are seeking the perfect owner.”

Bubbles looked over the various birds before him. There was a hawk, and eagle, a toucan, a hummingbird…There certainly were a lot of different birds, and Bubbles had to wonder how they were all able to live together in peace…Especially considering some of them required very specific conditions to survive. ‘Equestria really is a strange place.’

“Wow, impressive,” Seashell said, admiring the fine assortment of birds that Fluttershy was showing them. ‘Unfortunately, I don’t think Silver would appreciate a feathered animal flying all over the place.’

Bubbles was about to say something, but was stopped by a voice behind her. “Fluttershy, darling, whatever are you doing?”

The two Earth Ponies turned around to see a white Unicorn mare, Rarity, approaching. Seashell smiled as the mare drew closer. ‘Ah, Generosity. That makes five…I believe I’ve only yet to meet Laughter, now.’

“Oh, Bubbles! That’s right, I forgot that you wanted to adopt a pet from Fluttershy.” She looked guilty as she turned to Fluttershy. “Terribly sorry to interrupt, but-”

“Oh!” Fluttershy suddenly remembered her engagement with Rarity. She was going to go with her to the spa today, and got so caught up in showing her range of animals to her two new friends (to the point of randomly breaking into song), that she completely forgot all about it. “I’m so sorry, Rarity. I…I’ll just be a minute. And then we can-”

“Oh, please, take your time darling.” Rarity turned to Seashell, and smiled at her warmly. “I don’t believe we’ve been introduced. My name is Rarity, and you?”

“Seashell,” Seashell answered, extending her hoof for Rarity to shake it. Rarity was about to comply, before she noticed that Seashell’s hooves were covered in mud. “Hm? Something wrong?”

“Uh…Well, it’s just…You hooves are a little…” Rarity was having a hard time trying to be nice about it.

Seashell looked down at her hooves and realised that they were pretty dirty. She laughed and pulled back her hoof, allowing Rarity to relax. “Sorry ‘bout that. I get my hooves dirty a lot.”

Bubbles rolled her eyes. ‘Yeah, no kidding. That’s kind of our job.’

Rarity turned to Bubbles and examined her hooves. Much cleaner. She smiled and extended her hoof. “I’ll just shake your hoof instead. If that’s alright with you?”

Bubbles simply nodded, and slowly extended her hoof forward, connecting it with Rarity’s. She felt a warm feeling throughout her whole body, which lasted up until Rarity disconnected their hooves. “Something wrong?” Seashell asked, grinning slyly at Bubbles. Bubbles snapped backed to reality, and realised that Rarity and Fluttershy with both giving him odd looks.

“Uh…No, nothing. I just…” ‘Quick, Iron! Find something to shift the conversation!’ Bubbles pointed a hoof into a random direction. “There! That’s the perfect pet for me!” she shouted, startling the other three ponies present.

The group turned to face where Bubbles’ hoof was pointing, and saw, lying on the ground, was…“A snake?” Seashell asked, before approaching it to get a close look. Bubbles and Fluttershy soon followed, once the birds had flown away, and Rarity opted not to go near the serpent.

Bubbles looked at the grass snake lying down in front of her, and almost facehooved herself. ‘Why did I do that? Of all the ways to divert a conversation…Well, may as well just roll with it.’

“Wow,” Fluttershy said, turning to Bubbles. “I never would have pictured you as a snake pony. Oh, no offence.”

Bubbles laughed nervously and turned to Fluttershy. “N-None taken. But, uh…Yeah, I think this would be the best pet for me.”

“It’s pretty cool,” Seashell said, kneeling down to get a better look at the animal. “Good choice, Bubbly!”

“…Don’t call me that.”

The snake began to wrap itself around Bubbles’ hoof, causing her to back up quickly and stare wide-eyed at the serpent beneath her. “W-What’s it doing?” she asked.

“Awww, she likes you,” Fluttershy said, beaming at Bubbles, who stared back in confusion. “You two seem like you’d make a good pair. Please take good care of her.”

“Uh…Yeah…” Bubbles said awkwardly, picking up the snake. She squirmed slightly as it wrapped itself around her neck, but soon relaxed when she realised that it was just getting comfortable. She had to admit, it felt kind of nice.

“Well then,” Rarity said, keeping her distance from the group, but not so much that she would have to shout. “If we’re all done here, shall we be off, Fluttershy? If that’s ok with you, Bubbles.”

Bubbles turned her head away and nodded. “Y-Yeah. That’s fine with me…I got what I came for, after all.”

The four mares said their goodbyes, and Fluttershy and Rarity headed off into town for their weekly spa meet. Once they were out of sight, Bubbles finally decided to ask Seashell why she had been grinning like an idiot for the past few minutes. “What is it?” she asked.

“You like that white one, don’tcha?” Seashell asked, and almost burst out laughing as Bubbles’ face quickly turned a deep shade of red. “I knew it! You totally have the hots for that mare!”

“S-S-S-S-S-Shut up!” Bubbles shouted, turning around and walking towards the Everfree forest. She was soon followed by Seashell. “Of course I don’t like her! That’s ridiculous!”

“Uh-huh…Sure you don’t, Bubbly.”

“A-Anyway, why should my love life be any of your concern?”

“Well…When the one you love is a pony, it kinda complicates things…And as your friend-”

“Oh please! Don’t start lecturing me about love, when you can’t even confess to the one you love!”

Seashell’s face quickly mimicked Bubbles’ as she blushed, and her mocking tone quickly turned into a flustered one. “W-Well, of course I can’t confess…Helium is our superior, it’d really mess things up. Especially if she rejected me…” The last part was said rather weakly.

The two walked in silence for a few minutes, before Bubbles decided to break it. “Helium? Don’t you mean Surprise?” she said, reminding her friend to be careful when outside, even this deep into the Everfree forest.

“…Yeah, right. Sorry.” Seashell cleared her throat, and composed herself. “Anyway, if it were just a regular pony, I would be more supportive. But…” Seashell stopped, and Bubbles soon joined. “She’s one of our targets. When the time comes, we can’t protect her. We have to stick to orders, which means-”

“I know,” Bubbles said bitterly. “I know, ok? Don’t worry…I know my priorities…I won’t let my emotions cloud my judgement…” Bubbles continued walking, staring at the ground as she made her way through the forest. ‘Easier said than done…But as a member of the RGSS, the entire kingdom is depending on me to do this job right. I can’t let them down. I won’t let them down.’

Seashell sighed, and walked faster to catch up to Bubbles. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, staring straight ahead with a frown on her face, “When the time comes, I’ll ask Helium to assign you one of the other targets…You won’t have to kill Generosity yourself.”

“…Thanks.”

“So…What’s it do, exactly?” Silver asked, tapping the tank which was the snake’s new home. “And where’d we get this thing from, anyway?”

“It…doesn’t really do much, huh?” Carbon responded.

“As for the tank…” Iron looked over at Helium, who was making silly faces at the snake. The snake apparently couldn’t care less. “Well, a good leader is prepared for everything, but…”

“So if it doesn’t do much, why’d you get it?” Silver asked, walking away from the group and taking a seat next to Argon.

“Hey, it’s hairless, furless, and featherless. Be thankful, will ya?” Carbon said, tapping the glass of the tank in an attempt to gain the snake’s attention. “So, what should we name this guy?”

“Girl,” Iron corrected, “Kindness said it was a girl, remember?” Iron turned to face the snake, who was staring right back, flicking its tongue about in the air. “Hmmm…How about *yay*? It’ snake, but spelt backwards.”

“We can’t use that!” Helium shouted. “It could cause a lawsuit!”

“…With who? What are you talking about?”

“Ooh! I know! Let’s call her Queen Hissy-pants!”

“No,” everyone in the room besides Helium and Argon said in unison, causing Helium to pout.

“By the way,” Silver started, turning his head to face the group, “What else happened today? Anything of actual interest to report?”

Carbon chuckled and turned to face Iron, who simply blushed and turned his head away. He leaned closer to whisper into his ear. “Hey, why didn’t you go with them? To the spa, I mean.” Iron’s eyes widened, and he looked at Carbon in shock. “You could’ve bathed with her, y’know?”

“T-That’s!” ‘A pretty good point, actually…’ “That’s just improper! I couldn’t do something like that!”

“Something like what?” Silver asked, wondering what the two were talking about.

Helium chuckled and walked closer to Silver. “It seems our little Iron is growing up. Aah, to be young and in love…”

“What!?” Silver shouted, jumping to his hooves. “This is about that mare, right!? Iron, what the hell is wrong with you!? You can’t fall for a pony!”

“I haven’t fallen for a pony!” Iron shouted defensively, but was ignored and drowned out by Silver’s shouted, and Helium’s teasing. He turned around and stormed out of the room. “I’m going to bed! See you all in the morning!”

“G’night!” Helium and Carbon shouted.

“Get back here! I’m not done with you yet!”

Helium sighed as Silver chased after Iron, and sank down into the now unoccupied seat next to Argon. “Man, love sure is tricky, ain’t it?”

“Much easier when it’s not with a pony,” Carbon pointed out.

“I wouldn’t know,” Argon said. The other two looked at her with surprise, and almost hoped for her to continue. She didn’t.

Carbon took note of the time, and decided it was time to turn in for the night. “Well, I’d better go to sleep. I’m entering myself in the race tomorrow.”

“Oh really?” Helium asked, getting up and following Carbon outside the room. “Good luck! I’ll be there to cheer you on!”

Carbon laughed nervously, and turned his head as he blushed. “Thanks…I’ll do my best.”