~~~~~~~~~Outside Carousel Boutique~~~~~~~~
The building was huge and deserved to be in a painting. But no matter how much it deserved to be in one, it was not enough to give Hookfang back his inspiration. He sighed inwardly, not letting his carefree look dampen. A.I. looked over at him, his eyes asking a simple question 'Anything?' to which Fang responded with a shake of his head. Like the last couple times A.I. had asked that. He could see through Fang like water, which is probably why the rest of the group think A.I. is the master of disguise, when in reality it was Fang, due to his main job.
A.I. shrugged and turned back around. Fang looked back up at the building and continued to admire the design of the entire thing. Pinkie had yet to stop bouncing, and White Out had yet to actually leave her side since Sweet Apple Acres. 'Can't blame him,' Fang thought as he remembered that if White Out wasn't careful, at the first sign that it wouldn't look suspicious, A.I. would teleport White right back to the house. Pinkie led them into the boutique. "Just a second darling," an angelic voice called to them as they entered.
Fang looked around the interior of the building. 'It's perfect for one of my paintings, if only my spirit would allow such a thing,' Fang thought dramatically. "Welcome to Carousel Bout-Oh, Pinkie, such a splendid surprise," a white unicorn said, walking down a nearby flight of stairs. Fang couldn't take his eyes off her. Her angelic white coat, her indigo mane perfectly styled, her azure eyes sparkling with beauty. She was like an angel in Hookfang's eyes, which left him trying not to stumble over his own hooves. He started to feel something deep inside him, something familiar, yet he hadn't felt in months. His inspiration; Fang felt a sudden urge to paint.
"Heya Rarity, these are Whitie's friends, A.I. and Hookfang, the rest of his friends are with some of ours," Pinkie said in her usual excited tone, taking care of the now very short introductions. Rarity looked over at Fang. "I guess now would be a good time to figure out why White Out laughed at me yesterday," Rarity said. Fang and A.I. turned and looked at White, Fang looking like he was about to laugh, A.I. with his usual passive expression. White Out looked back at them. "You can understand why, can't you," White said with a laugh. A.I. turned his unchanging gaze to Fang, who looked back holding a hoof above his chest as if offended, and gave a dramatic gasp.
"I'll have you know, it might not have had anything to do with me," Fang said, gaining a posh tone, turning his head away with a dramatic hmph. A.I. rolled his eyes and looked back at Rarity, while White started laughing. Fang couldn't help but join in, placing his hoof back on the ground. He looked back at Rarity and bowed. "But in all seriousness, I am Hookfang, and you must be Miss Rarity. A pleasure to make your acquaintance," he said, his voice losing the posh accent as he spoke. Rarity blushed slightly at Fang's display. A.I. rolled his eyes again while White had a notepad that came out of nowhere, and was taking notes on Fang's activities.
"My, you are quite the gentlecolt," Rarity said as Fang stood back up. "If you don't mind, could I ask a favor of you?" Fang inquired, causing A.I. and White Out to snap their heads to look at him in confusion, one actually showing the emotion, the other just feeling it. "Sure darling, what is it?" Rarity asked, ignoring White's confused gaze. "Would you mind if I were to paint pictures of the items inside your boutique?" Fang asked, looking around the interior of the room they were in. White's jaw hit the ground, and even A.I.'s regular stoic mask fractured enough for his eyes to fill with shock. White was the first of the two to snap out of their surprise.
White began jumping up and down. "Yay! You got your inspiration back," he cheered in joy. A.I. rolled his eyes and Fang chuckled at that. Rarity and Pinkie looked at them in confusion. "Long story," was all that Fang said about White's reaction. After a small pause, Rarity finally spoke again, "As long as you don't make a mess, I don't see a problem darling." Fang smiled, "I'm always careful," he responded with a bow. "Alrighty, have fun!" Pinkie said, bouncing towards the door. White quickly followed, with A.I. not far behind, just not as eager as the other two.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside the Library~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A.I. looked at the large tree that seemed to be transformed into a house. 'Pinkie said this was a library... If it has any books on mechanics, I'll probably come here more often,' he thought as he followed the pink, and white, bouncing ponies to the front door. Pinkie, instead of the usual knocking on the door like the other places, opted to just bounce right on in, but White had stopped, and turned toward A.I., much to his surprise. "I bet you that you can't go the rest of the day without hiding your emotions," White suddenly announced, looking quite proud. "Depending on the wagers, than I would be more than happy to prove you wrong," A.I. responded, intrigued at the sudden change in behavior.
"Well, if I win, you let me continue gaining the trust of the elements of harmony," White began, but then put on a face that suggested that he was in deep thought. A.I. opened his mouth to ask about what he would get if he won, when White began speaking again. "But if you win, than you can try that spell to alter my memory," he finished, knowing that A.I. couldn't resist testing a spell. A.I. went into deep thought, calculating on his chances of winning the bet. After a couple seconds, he finally nodded. "Deal," he said, then walked into the library, not really looking like anything changed, but White Out seemed happy as he followed A.I. in. Upon entering, they saw a lavender unicorn levitating a tool and was about to do something to a huge, yet familiar, wardrobe-like machine that stood in the middle of the room.
Suddenly something clicked in A.I.'s memory, causing him to become fearful for the machine. He used his magic to stop the tool from getting any closer to the machine. The unicorn first looked confused, then she turned to face the two stallions with a look of agitation on her face. A.I. ignored it, galloping straight to machine, with White racing behind, remembering the machine a couple seconds after A.I. did. The purple unicorn opened her mouth to ask something, but White cut her off. "I can't believe they found it, I thought it was destroyed after your last experiment," he said excitedly, bouncing around the machine as A.I. was just staring at it with a reminiscent expression. The unicorn's agitated expression turned into a confused one. "Wait, you mean he made this?" she asked White, who responded by nodding profusely.
The unicorn turned to A.I. with a look of wonder. She opened her mouth to ask something when White cut her off...again. "Let's see if it still works!" he announced, jumping into it. A.I. didn't seem to notice at first, but then he smiled and levitated a couple wires and connected them to White Out, who was trying really hard to stay still. A.I. then lit up his horn, and seem to be gathering energy, when he looked at the lavender mare. "Did you do anything to the machine?" he asked, realizing that he would be doing something reckless if the mare touched even one of the knobs. The unicorn was still slightly stunned, but she nodded her head at the question.
"Awwwwww" White moaned while taking off the wires, clearly disappointed that the machine couldn't be tested. A.I. let the magic around his horn dissipate, "I'm sorry about that, I just get excited when I see machinery," he stated, with a small smile and a small chuckle at the end. "I guess I should introduce myself," A.I. remembered, "I am Artificial Intelligence, but everypony calls me A.I. for short." The unicorn took a moment to get over what had just taken place with the machine. "I am Twilight Sparkle," she finally said, shaking her head, probably to clear it. "I take it you have a thing for inventions," A.I. guessed, motioning towards his machine. Twilight nodded, "What is it supposed to do anyway?" she asked, walking up to the machine, A.I. following behind.
"It was to change a pony's form into a different species for however long they wanted. But I eventually made a spell that does the same thing, only using less magic," he explained, reanalyzing his machine. Twilight looked at him in surprise. "You make new spells?" she asked, the thought of making a spell off a machine sounded fascinating to her. A.I. just nodded his head in reply. He then looked at her cutie mark, then to her face with a look of interest in his eyes, like she was a newly built machine ready to be tested for the first time. "I have yet to see a cutie mark like yours before. Does it have to do with the stars?" he asked. Twilight shook her head, "Actually, my special talent is magic," she replied, trying her best to not boast.
A.I.'s eyes widen in surprise. "Truly?" he asked in disbelief, to which she nodded in confirmation. "So you have made new spells, too?" He asked, sounding hopeful. "Well, no. I've just been learning already existing spells," she explained, sounding slightly embarrassed to admit to a pony that has already made a new spell. A.I. just nodded in understanding, if a bit sad. "Understandable, it took quite some time for me to make my first new spell," he said, turning to face the machine. "You sound like you made a lot of new spells," Twilight guessed, to which A.I. nodded in confirmation. "What other spells have you made?" she asked, clearly intrigued. A.I. smiled, and began listing off the spells he had created and what they did, and how they were tested (but he did not go into when he actually needed them, no matter how many times she asked).
Both were so preoccupied, they didn't notice the white and pink earth ponies say their goodbyes and leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Outside the Library~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thank you for reminding me where your friends live Pinkie," White said, shutting the library door behind him. "No problem Whitie," Pinkie replied with a smile that seemed to be a beacon from heaven, for White anyway. "Why don't you continue setting up the party, and I go gather up my friends?" he suggested, getting ready to bounce over to Sweet Apple Acres. "Okie-Dokie-Loki," Pinkie said, bouncing towards Sugarcube Corner. White watched her go, sighing wistfully, before bouncing towards where his brother was, humming a little tune that matched his mood, which wasn't as dark as when he began the day.