It is Pixel's first day as a misfit, and one day until they leave for Predator Island. Currently The Misfits were trying to find a way for Pixel to at least make eye contact with another pony.
Cyber talked with Pixel at the Misfit home. "Hey, I know that you are trying to get used to living in Ponyville, but you need to get over the first hurdle. Is there some way for you to relieve your stress?" Cyber asked.
Pixel thought for a moment. "Well, I sometimes listen to music, that always seems to calm me down."
Cyber concentrated and pictured a small, rectangular device capable of storing and playing music whenever Pixel wanted. "I got it, hold on for a second," Cyber then entered his lab and got to work, Pixel could hear sparks, typing and mechanical whirring from inside before Cyber came back out holding the white device he imagined. "This is the Instrumental Portable Audio Device, or IPod for short."
"But wouldn't it be IPad?" Pixel asked.
"Well, technically speaking, yes, but IPod sounds more fitting."
Pixel took the IPod and looked at it, seeing wires coming from the top that stopped at small flat nubs and a black square above a black circle. "You just came up with this?"
Cyber nodded. "It's my special talent, I think of what I want to make, imagine it, then Poof! I know how to make it from scrap metal,"
"You are a genius!"
"Tell me something I don't know," Cyber chuckled. "Alright now this little button here turns it on..." Cyber then showed Pixel how to work her new device, what it can do and how to play music. "...So if you want more on here, ask me or Clockwork, and if it doesn't turn on, try sticking it in the sun for a while because of it being solar powered, but if that doesn't work talk with me or Clockwork, same goes for if you break it."
Pixel nodded in understanding and placed the speakers in her ears. She stepped up to the front door as she selected one of Vinyl Scratch's best albums, then opened the door as she hit 'play'.
Music filled her ears as she stepped out into the world, as the upbeat tone played, for the first time in her life, she wasn't scared, she had no care in the world that stopped her from enjoying this experience. She just kept walking and smiling, feeling as though she was in her own world where she could be herself and there was nopony to worry about. She really has to thank Cyber for this.
The exercise and music allowed Pixel to think, and she thought about The Misfits, she thought about what they said to her, mostly one thing ran through her mind. 'I know what it's like to be alone.' that was said by Moonlight Shadow. Do Pixel and Moonlight really have a similar past of fearful isolation? There was one way to find out... but she seems so secretive, what if she won't say?"
The music gave her the confidence to change her mind as she walked over to her new home, finding Cyber inside working on a machine before noticing her and waving. Pixel paused the music and took out the speakers to talk.
"So, how are you enjoying that?" asked Cyber.
"I love it, thank you," Pixel replied.
"No problem."
"Hey, Cyber?"
"Yeah?"
"Where is Moonlight? I need to talk to her."
Moonlight Shadow rested on a hill, thinking about Pixel, she was alone during her youth too. Could she understand Moonlight's pain? Could Pixel actually help her with her past? Moonlight didn't know, but yet at the same time she wanted to.
She was answered by Pixel herself approaching.
"Hey, Moonlight," Pixel said, holding a small device.
"Hello, Pixel," Moonlight replied. "Did Cyber make you that?"
Pixel looked at the device in her hand and nodded. "Yeah, he made it to help me with my anxiety, it really works."
"What does it do?"
"Just plays music, that's it, you want to try?"
"No thank you."
"Oh, alright," Pixel sat down next to Moonlight. "Hey, I wanted to talk to you."
"Really?"
Pixel nodded. "Yeah, about what you said when we first met, you said you know what it's like being alone, what did you mean by that?"
"I just grew up alone, no explanation," Moonlight replied.
"But why do I feel like there's more to that? You're hiding something, aren't you?"
Moonlight stayed silent.
Pixel noticed that she may have gone into something personal. "Oh, I'm sorry if I got too close, it's just-" Moonlight stopped her.
"Wait, actually, I think that I could explain some things, but only if you tell me your past."
"Alright, well I don't know who my parents are or why I am alone, all I know is that I woke up in the middle of the forest when I was very young, not knowing who or where I was, what was going on, the only memories I had were that my name is Pixel Berry, and that I am a satyr. I tried looking for other satyrs too, but only got chased out by everpony, I felt like I couldn't trust anypony. I was alone, but I did discover that I can do this:" she held up her hand and it started to glow pink, shortly a rock nearby started to get the same aura with the occasional pixels radiating off it, then it started to levitate a few inches in the air before falling back down. Moonlight looked at Pixel, who had her finger on her mouth in a 'shush' manner, telling Moonlight to keep it a secret.
"Does that mean you can fly?" asked Moonlight, looking at Pixel's wings.
Pixel shrugged. "I think so, I don't know, I never tried."
"But why show it to me when you don't trust?"
"I don't know, but I feel llike because you and I share the same pain, we can share secrets and know they will be safe."
"So you look at me as a... friend? But we just met yesterday!"
Pixel chuckled. "Pretty much, but I know you can look at me the same way, we abandoned orphans have to stick together."
Moonlight thought for a moment. "You know what? I do look at you that way, and because of that, I think I can show you this," she said as a pure black aura emerged around another rock that was then tossed out in the distance.
The next day...
Fang jumped around and tried to wake up The Misfits like a colt on Hearth's Warming Eve morning.
"Come on! Come on! Come on guys! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!" Fang shouted. "We're going to Predator Island today! Let's go! Come on!"
Fang then ran into Dusty's room. "Dusty! Come on! We gotta go!"
Dusty only stirred. "Sandy... go back to bed... you can open your presents when Mom and Dad wake up..." he muttered before Fang pulled the sheets from under Dusty that sent him tumbling off the bed. "Gah! Dude, what the heck?!"
"Dusty, we gotta go! Predator Island!"
Dusty stood up as he rubbed his eyes. "Fang, you do realize that you sound like a foal about to go on some kind of trip to a fair or something, right?"
Fang stopped jumping and blushed, seeing how foalish he acted. "Sorry, I'm just really excited to see my tribe again, it has been too long since I saw them."
"Right," Dusty yawned. "So since I'm awake, how about some breakfast?"
"Great, you start cooking and-"
Dust stopped him. "Woah, woah, calm down, you must really want to go if you want me to cook. Look, you go blow off that energy by hunting or whatever you do while I get Clockwork, he probably has cooking recipes programmed in him or something."
Fang nodded and zoomed outside while Dusty trotted into Cyber's lab, then looked at the deactivated robot, connected to a large machine to recharge overnight. "Hey, Clockwork!" Dusty said, activating the automaton, who looked at Dusty.
"Dusty? Do you know it is 5:21 in the morning?" Clockwork asked, getting off the machine he was hooked to.
"Yeah, I know, Fang is really excited about meeting his tribe, so I sent him off to blow off that extra steam. By the way, you have any cookbooks in that brain of yours?"
"Yes, I know a variety of recipes."
"What about breakfast?" Clockwork nodded. "Great, you think you could fix us up something?"
Clockwork considered it before nodding. "Sure, what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to go back to bed," Dusty replied with a yawn, trotting up to his room as Clockwork rolled his eyes and trotted to the kitchen.
"Fang, slow down!" Mixy warned as Fang wolfed down his pancakes. "You're going to-" she was interrupted when Fang stopped eating and clutched his throat. "Too late," she said nonchalantly.
As Fang strained and spasmed, Pixel looked at each of the Misfits, growing more anxious at their lack of reaction. "Is he choking? He's choking! Why aren't we doing anything?"
"Predators have over fifty times the amount of muscles in their throat compared to normal ponies," Cyber informed. "This allows them to revive from choking spasms and regurgitate the problem, probably in case they swallow a bone or something."
"Wait, does that mean that he-" Pixel was answered when Fang cringed and threw up the large wad of chewed up pancakes that choked him onto his plate and continued breathing, making Pixel and Eclipse grimace.
"Eeewww," they complained.
"Hey, it may be gross, but it's a real lifesaver," Fang said before eating the chewed up food again.
"Predators are disgusting with food," said Eclipse.
"We would say the same about you plant eaters."
"Oh...kay...?" said Eclipse, desperately trying to find a way to change the subject. "Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing Fang's tribe.
"Well, I don't know, what will they say around me?" Pixel asked.
"The only Predators who know what's on the mainland are me, my family, and maybe Chief Xanthos, they'll think you're just a common inhabitant," Fang said.
"Really? They'll just act like I'm no problem?" Fang nodded, Pixel smiled.
"What's also interesting is that Twilight will be joining us,"
Mixy spoke up. "Not to mention we get to meet this 'Marine' Fang's always talking about in his sleep."
"I sleep-talk that much?" Fang asked.
"We could make a movie out of the amount of times you sleep-talk," Dusty replied.
"I'm thinking on staying behind," Clockwork said. "Somepony needs to start on the renovations for the house since The group is getting much larger. Besides, I'm not sure how a tribal society will behave around new-age technology such as myself."
"Alright, you've got the plans and directions in your database, right?" Cyber asked, Clockwork nodded.
"Alright, we should get ready."
It was a few hours later when The Misfits met Twilight at the train station, ready to leave to the west and board the boats to sail off to Predator Island.
"This is so exciting," Twilight said as they took their seats on the train. "I finally get to see the home of the predators and hippocampi!"
"And today may just be the day the famine ends for the tribe," said Fang as they all got on the train and took their seats.
"Hey, where's Clockwork?" Twilight asked.
"He's staying behind and will be starting on expanding the house since we're starting to run out of rooms," Cyber answered.
"Won't it take a while?"
Cyber shrugged. "Maybe, but this is the third time the house has been expanded, so I downloaded the directions and plans into Clockwork."
"I can understand why you need to keep remodeling, lately The Misfits have been growing very fast, you've already added Moonlight, Eclipse, Pixel, and Clockwork!"
"Well, Clockwork isn't an official member, being a robot and only a few days old, he hasn't been shunned out by the public or sought out for comfort, which makes him a minor member."
Twilight was confused. "Minor members?" she asked.
"Well, you see, there are three types of misfits," began Dusty. "First there's the official members, that's us, who have been shunned out and need a friend. Then there's the minor members, where ponies are different but haven't been shunned or outcasted, like Clockwork or Lyra. Finally, there's the junior members, which are just ponies with disabilities or mental disorders that only make having a normal life difficult or impossible, all we do is show them that there's nothing to worry about, sometimes give them a way to fix their problems, then give them a friend and a badge, Cyber, could you show her?"
Cyber reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a small, golden badge that read "The Misfits Junior Member," across the center.
"We've given out so much, I lost track. Who knew that there were so many ponies who needed help fitting in?" Cyber said, putting the badge back in his saddlebag as the train whistle blew and it set off.
Xanthos, Celestia, Luna, and Trident waited at the main dining area of Xanthos' large hut. "This is it... this is the day..." Xanthos said, thinking about what Celestia had told him about Fang coming back to Predator Island to end the famine once and for all.
Trident swam around in his tank. "I am excited as well, my friend."
"Yes, this is a new beginning for not just predators, but all ponykind as well," Celestia said. "Being introduced to a new species in the land and sea."
"Perhaps there could even be ponies underground, or in space," Luna suggested.
Celestia chuckled. "One can only hope, sister."
"But it wouldn't be a surprise if that were true, Celestia," Xanthos replied.
"Quite right, Xanthos."
After stepping off the train and heading for the docks, the Misfits and Twilight approached the large boat, which was much larger than a house and had mountains of meat in boxes, protected by a spell to keep from spoiling.
Fang took a deep breath. "You smell that? That is the smell of a new beginning."
Eclipse plugged his nose from the smell. "Smells more like a pile of raw meat, Fang."
Fang opened his mouth before being interrupted by a voice only he, Cyber, and Dusty knew.
"You sure? Smells more like lunch to me."
Everypony turned to the source to see a predator stallion and mare that Fang ran up to. "Mom! Dad!" he exclaimed as he hugged his parents. "I did it, I stopped the famine, I got Celestia to help."
"You sure did, Fang," said Fang's mother as they broke from the hug. "And it is great to see Cyber and Dusty again after all this time."
"It's nice to see you too, Artemis," Dusty said.
"I am thrilled to see the homeland of the predators," added Cyber
"Oh yeah, meet the new members of The Misfits, I wouldn't be here without them. Guys, these are my parents, Diomedes, and Artemis."
"Nice to meet you," Mixy said. "I'm Mixy."
"My name is Solar Eclipse," Eclipse said, shaking hooves with Diomedes.
"Are all unicorns this warm?" asked Diomedes.
"No, just me, but watch this," Eclipse looked away and concentrated, shortly a jet of fire emerged from his horn that surprised Diomedes, Artemis, and Pixel.
"You can do that?" exclaimed Pixel. "You're like a living barbecue!"
"Don't say barbecue in front of my dad," Fang said, pointing to Diomedes, who was salivating.
"Huh? Oh, right, sorry, I dazed out for a second, so what about the rest of you, what are your names?"
"Oh, I'm... Pixel Berry... sir," Pixel answered.
"My name is Moonlight Shadow."
"There's also Clockwork, but he's back in Ponyville," Cyber said. "I'm not sure how predators will act around an automaton."
Diomedes raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's an aw-tom-it-ton?" he asked.
"Never mind that," Twilight said. "I'm Twilight Sparkle."
"Are you a misfit too?" Diomedes said, looking at Twilight's wings and horn.
"Oh, no Diomedes, I'm an actual princess."
"Oh, well um..." Diomedes acted confused before leaning to his wife. "Honey, what are we supposed to do when we meet a princess again?" he whispered, Artemis shrugged as Twilight giggled.
"It's alright, Diomedes, you don't need to act formal, I am glad to be introduced to a new species."
"It's nice to see our little carnivore all grown up and making friends with princesses," Artemis said, nuzzling her son, much to his annoyance.
"Mom, don't embarrass me in front of my friends," he complained, "we have to go to Predator Island."
"Fang's right, Xanthos won't be waiting forever," said Cyber as they all stepped onto the boat before it set sail.
"How about a little song to speed up the time?" Diomedes suggested at the wheel, but his wife and son shook their heads.
Meanwhile in Canterlot, a dark grey earth pony stallion with black mane approached a stall for apples that was being run by a pegasus mare.
"Hello there," the stallion said, gaining the mare's attention.
"Hey there, handsome, what can I do for you?" the mare replied.
"Are these apples fresh?"
The mare nodded. "Straight from Appleloosa!"
"From how long ago?"
"I got this shipment this morning, why?"
"You sure? This apple doesn't look very ripe," he pointed to the ripest looking apple in the batch.
The mare was confused. "Impossible, it's very red and ripe."
"Looks can be deceiving," the stallion said. The mare shrugged and ate the apple he pointed to before wincing and spitting it out.
"That was rotten! How'd that happen?"
The stallion smiled. "Well you can't trust some ponies and their deals, such as that," the stallion pointed to another apple as several worms poked out of it, making the mare shriek and kick the wormed apple away, then sigh.
"Oh, first I burn my breakfast, then I lose my bits, then I somehow got gum in my mane when I was nowhere near any gum and my apples turn out to be rancid, now this! Can today get any worse?"
The stallion smiled. 'And in three... two... one...' he thought as a bird flew in out of nowhere and started attacking the mare, who screamed.
"AAAAAAAHH! GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF!" she screamed as she ran away before being followed by two more birds, then the stallion laughed and looked around. Seeing that nopony was near, he swiftly took the apples from the stall and trotted away, eating one as he did so.
'Looks like that mare was right, these do taste fresh,' he thought and chuckled, before sighing. "Well that's another day of thieving, it's fun and all, but I can't help but feel very lonely," he said to himself as he trotted through Canterlot.
"Hey, did you hear about The Misfits?" the stallion overheard another stallion, who was talking to his friend, the grey stallion approached silently to eavesdrop.
"Yeah, what about them?"
"I hear that they've got a pony that's half changeling."
"Half changeling? That's impossible."
"I don't know, seems pretty likely to me."
"But why would a group accept a half-changeling, don't they know what those creeps have done?"
"Apparently they accept anypony who wants to fit in, no matter what they are."
"Wow, I guess that make sense, they have a meat eating pony too."
"Gross, what kind of- AURGH!" one stallion placed his hoof on his eye.
"What's wrong?"
"Something got in my eye!"
"Let me see- AAH!" the other stallion suddenly fell down as his legs became boneless. "I can't feel my legs, what is going on?"
The grey stallion continued on his way. "Hmm, The Misfits, they accept ponies who want to fit in, like what happened to me..." he remembered the pestilences, plagues, and disasters he brought to his home of Saddle Arabia. "Stupid curse," he muttered, looking at his cutie mark, which was the eye of misfortune in Saddle Arabia. "Maybe they could see past my curse. Excuse me," he stopped a unicorn mare. "Do you know about The Misfits?"
"Of course, it's the talk of Canterlot!"
"Do you know where The Misfits are?"
The mare thought for a moment. "Last time I remember, they are staying in Ponyville with Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"Alright thanks," the stallion said as the mare nodded and continued walking. "And watch out for that ice slick," he muttered before his curse started to do its job and make a patch of ice appear out of nowhere that made the mare he was just talking to slip and slide.
"So, Ponyville..." he said to himself, "Misfits, I hope you accept curses and bad luck, because my name is Laa-Mohr, son of nopony and nopony in this world."