//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Return to Ponyville // Story: The Misfits: Reviving harmony // by Cyber System //------------------------------// The next day, The Misfits woke up early and continued into Ponyville. Reliving memories as they stepped in. "Ah, Ponyville," Cyber said. "Remember back when we first arrived here?" "Yeah," Dusty said. "Remember back when I beat up Rainbow Crash?" "I thought we agreed to never mention that again," Fang said. "I didn't agree," Dusty said, smirking. "Should I even ask?" Eclipse asked Mixy, who shook her head. "Anyway, Clockwork, head over to where the house was set up last time we were here. Everypony, enjoy your returning time here and we'll meet back together at noon," Cyber said, The Misfits nodded as Cyber handed Clockwork the handle to the cart and the group separated. Bon-Bon was organizing through her inventory when she heard the bell at the door ring. "Hello, just a moment and I'll be with you." "Actually, I was wondering if you could help me find somepony," came a familiar male voice. "Hold on," Bon-Bon trotted to the front. "So, who are you looking for?" She asked before seeing the ocean blue cybernetic unicorn with arms and a motherboard cutie mark. Bon-Bon smiled. "Welcome back, I'll get her down. Lyra! Could you come down here?" They could hear Lyra complaining upstairs. "But Bon-Bon, just give me five more minutes." "Aw, come on, Lyra, the wings aren't going to build themselves!" Cyber called out, which seemed to have gotten her attention after she ran out of her room to see the source of the familiar voice. "Cyber!" Lyra exclaimed as she ran up and hugged her friend. "You're back!" "I told you I would be," Cyber replied as he broke from the hug. "I'll never get tired of seeing your hands," Lyra added, Cyber chuckled as Bon-Bon rolled her eyes. "Is that the only reason I'm your friend?" Cyber asked. "Of course not, you're smart, creative, and we just work really well together. We built Clockwork didn't we?" "I didn't know you were parents already," Bon-Bon teased. "That was fast." Lyra gave her a playful glare. "Just because I helped make a robot doesn't mean I'm a mom. Does it?" Cyber shrugged. "I guess so, but it kinda makes me uncomfortable thinking about it, so let's just leave it as no." Lyra smiled and nodded. "I think of it the same way. Now come on, let's get some work done." "Actually, mind if we stop by Twilight's first? I still haven't seen her new castle." Lyra nodded. "You have to see it, it's amazing. Come on, I'll show you," the two unicorns nodded and headed out as Bon-Bon returned to her work. Rarity just finished her array of elegant dresses, sighing at another hard days work played off, however this was short-lived at the sudden scent of smoke. "Oh dear, oh dear oh dear," Rarity said out loud as she ran downstairs. "Sweetie Belle better not be cooking again," she continued downstairs until she was surprised at what caught her eye, a familiar albino unicorn and satyr. "Eclipse! Pixel! It's a pleasure seeing you here again! How those clothes working out for you, Pixel?" "It's great, thanks," Pixel replied. "And I'm surprised that you made it fireproof in case of Eclipse." "Well, one must always try her best, so what brings you here?" Eclipse shrugged. "I don't really have anything to do or anypony to visit at the moment so I'm just doing whatever Pixel's doing." "And I wanted to tell you that we will be staying here for a month or two while on vacation," Pixel added. "Oh, a vacation, that is lovely, but why of all places did you choose Ponyville? I personally would have gone somewhere exotic or grand like Las Pegasus." "Cyber said that Ponyville's the one place that accepted us and didn't shun us out," Eclipse answered. "What about Predator Island?" Rarity asked. Pixel shrugged. "Not enough to eat, I guess." "Hey, where is Sweetie Belle?" Eclipse asked. "Oh, right, I think she's with her friends in that clubhouse of theirs, could you be a darling and check up on her and make sure she isn't doing anything that might cause damage to anything for me, Eclipse?" Eclipse shrugged. "Alright, could you show me where that clubhouse is?" Rarity nodded. "Certainly." Mixy and Dusty trotted about the fields. "So, we're back," Dusty said. "Yeah, it's kinda nice to not have ponies accuse you of something wrong." Mixy agreed. "I hear you on that, remember when-" "Look out!" CRASH! Dusty was hit by a cyan blur as Mixy flinched from nearly being it. "Hey! Watch where you're going, you little-" Dusty stopped after the dust cleared, showing the cyan pegasus which was the element of loyalty and Dusty's personal frenemy. "Well, isn't this a case of deja vu." Rainbow Dash rubbed her head before her eyes landed on Dusty, making her smile. "Yep, just like when you first arrived." "Does this mean you two are going to fight again?" Mixy asked. Dusty chuckled. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea, actually." Mixy facehoofed. "You two have a really weird relationship." "It gets that way when one caused the other trauma," Dusty smiled as Mixy rolled her eyes. "So, how much have you been training?" Asked Rainbow. "I don't need training to beat you," Dusty replied. "I don't know, you really have to be good to beat one of the elements of harmony that saved Equestria from Tirek," Dusty winced and his smile disappeared as Mixy giggled. "So you were responsible for the rainbow?" Dusty asked. "Heck yeah!" That put worry in Dusty as Mixy laughed even harder, making Rainbow Dash confused. "What's so funny?" "No, no, no, no, no, don't tell her," Dusty begged. "Dusty bet that if you were the cause of the rainbow," she snorted from laughter. "He would drink Marine's tank water," that made both mares laugh and Dusty groan. "I have got to see this," Rainbow managed through her laughter. "You'll have to catch me first!" Dusty said as he dug into the ground. "He's still going to do it, right?" Asked Rainbow. "I'll be sure you're there when he does," Mixy said, smiling. Laa-Mohr and Moonlight payed a visit at Sweet Apple Acres, already they were seeing Applejack bucking a tree. The apple tree shook but no apples fell, much to her confusion, so she tried again, again nothing happened, except for one apple that was on direct course for her head. SPLAT! The apple spattered as sauce all over Applejack's face. "What the hay is goin' on?" She said, cleaning her face off. "Sorry, my fault," Laa-Mohr said earning her attention. "Well, would ya look at that, Laa-Mohr's back, and Moonlight too!" Applejack said, trotting up to the two misfits. "Greetings," Laa-Mohr said. "Hey," Moonlight added. "Why are y'all here? I thought all y'all misfits would be visitin' Twilight at her new castle first." "Well, I couldn't think of anything else to do," Laa-Mohr replied. "I just went with whatever he was doing." "Well, since y'all are here, how about you help me out with these apples?" Moonlight shrugged. "Sure." "As long as you don't mind a couple of apples suddenly turning rancid or something," Laa-Mohr said. Applejack chuckled. "I think we can manage." Lyra and Cyber trotted to the large castle of friendship. "Wow, if this is what destiny has in store Twilight, who knows what else is there in the future?" Cyber said. "Maybe she'll fight sirens," Lyra replied. "Come on, Lyra, sirens aren't real." A familiar voice approached them. "Actually, sirens are a big part of hippocampus legend." The two unicorns turned to find not just the hippocampus princess, but also the equine automaton. "Marine, Clockwork! Hey!" Lyra greeted. "Hello, Lyra," Clockwork said. "Are you guys here to see Twilight too?" Asked Marine. Cyber nodded. "Yeah, come on!" He said as he knocked on the door, which after a minute or two was answered by a familiar purple and green baby dragon, who smiled at the sight of The Misfits. "Cyber! You're back!" Spike said. "That's right, Spike," Cyber said. "Can we come in?" "Sure," Spike let The Misfits and Lyra enter the castle, closing the door behind them. "Twilight! The Misfits are back!" he called out. It wasn't long before the lavender alicorn princess of friendship came into view. "Hello, Twilight," greeted Clockwork. "Hi, guys, sorry about the lack of decorations, I just got it a couple days ago," Twilight responded. "Come on, make yourselves comfortable." Twilight showed her misfit friends to a large dining hall where they could talk while Spike prepared refreshments. "So, what have you been up to, lately?" Asked Twilight. "Oh, you know, helping ponies, exploring Equestria," Marine answered. "However, this has been the lowest amount of ponies we've ever helped by far," added Clockwork. "So Cyber suggested we take a vacation and spend a few months in Ponyville." "Well, everypony deserves a vacation once in a while, even when you love doing your job," said Cyber. "I can understand why you would choose Ponyville," Twilight said as Spike brought in snacks. "I've never had more fun than when I'm at Ponyville." "By the way, what happened to the library? I can't seem to find it anywhere," asks Cyber. Twilight slumped down a little from recalling a bad memory. "It was destroyed by Tirek," she answered sullenly. "Oh, I'm so sorry," Clockwork said. "Lots of ponies were really bummed about the library being destroyed too," Lyra said. "But at least Twilight has this place, so it's not a total loss." Spike put a claw on Twilight for comfort. "It's just that we've been living in there ever since we first came to Ponyville," he explained. "Twilight hasn't been taking it lightly." "I understand," Cyber said. "It's like when I accidentally made an atomic bomb, sure it didn't harm anypony in the middle of a field, but if it were to blow in a town, any ponies evacuated would be given new homes, but it wouldn't be the same as the ones they grew up in." There was a moment of silence before Marine broke the silence. "So, how are things going now?" "Well, with Tirek defeated, we don't have to worry about him anymore," Twilight said. "Although right now I'm still trying understand what it really means to be a princess. What is being a princess like for you, Marine?" Marine thought for a while. "Well, it isn't as great as Celestia, Luna, Cadence, or you, but I guess that I don't really have much to do, I just learn, play, and do whatever I want, I don't really have that much responsibility, that belongs to my dad, the King. Even then I'm not first in line for the throne, my older brother, Aquarius is, but I don't think you and I are very different as princesses." Twilight smiled. "I guess you're right, Marine." "So, Rainbow Dash is one of the reasons for that rainbow?" Fang asked as he and Mixy approached Sugar Cube Corner. "Yep, I'll try to trick Dusty into fulfilling his bet," Mixy replied. "How, are you going to boil it first or something?" "Nah, I'll just slip him the water when he least expects it." The two misfits entered Sugar Cube Corner to be greeted by the Cakes. "Good morning, Mixy," greeted Cup Cake. "Hey, Fang," said Carrot Cake. "Hey, Mr. and Mrs. Cake," replied Mixy. "Is Pinkie here?" "Here I am!" Pinkie replied, startling the two misfits. "Gah! Pinkie!" Fang exclaimed. "Word of advice: if you want to keep your blood in your veins, do not sneak up on a predator!" "Sorry, I'm just so happy you guys are back! You know what that means? A party!" Mixy giggled. "We'll be waiting for it, Pinkie." "And this time it'll be special," added Fang. "Cause this time we'll be staying longer on a vacation." "Ooh, vacations are always fun." "I'm sure this will be fun too!" Mixy said. "And not to mention you could help out with Pumpkin and Pound Cake if it's ok with the Cakes," Pinkie and Mixy looked at Mr. and Mrs. Cake hopefully. "Well, Pinkie told us how good you are at entertaining them, Mixy," said Cup Cake. "So I don't see why not." "Yipee!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Wait, don't you have a party to plan or something?" Fang asked. "Don't you know, Fang," Pinkie said. "I was planning the party while we were talking, now I gotta get it started!" Pinkie dashed into the kitchen as Mixy and Fang exchanged looks. "Does she do that a lot?" Asked Fang. "More than you think," answered Carrot Cake. The Cutie Mark Crusaders sat in their treehouse discussing how to earn their cutie marks. "All right, girls," Scootaloo said. "What have you got in mind?" "Maybe we could earn our cutie marks in astronomy," suggested Sweetie Belle. "How would we even do that?" Denied Apple Bloom. Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I dunno, look at the stars or something?" "Pass," Scootaloo said before thinking. "How about we try doing golf?" "Golf is boring," commented Apple Bloom, who gasped shortly out of thought. "I got it! We could do-" "Fire!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed, interrupted. "Fire? That doesn't make any sense." "No, fire!" She pointed outside, where large amounts of smoke could be seen just outside the treehouse, which made the CMC panic. "Come on! We gotta tell somepony!" Scootaloo shouted before they all rushed outside, a little too fast which caused them to fall. They suddenly stopped on a somepony's back. "You three really know how to find trouble, don't you?" Came a familiar voice. The CMC looked to find the Saddle Arabian pony that cursed their mean classmate. "Laa-Mohr, you're back! Were you the cause of the fire?" Asked Scootaloo. Laa-Mohr chuckled. "No, I don't think my curse does that anymore," he said. "But you'll find the real reason over there," Laa-Mohr pointed to the albino unicorn that the CMC once mistook for something dangerous and tried to doused (but ended up angering) with water. "Hey, Sweetie Belle, Rarity wanted me to check up on you," Eclipse said. "And Apple Bloom, Applejack wanted me to tell you to head home," Laa-Mohr informed. "Applejack says you still got some work to do." "Aw, can't I just stay for a while?" Apple Bloom complained. "Yeah!" Sweetie Belle added. "We've just gotten started." Laa-Mohr shook his head. "Sorry, can't do that, Applejack was firm, said something about cider." "Ah! I almost forgot! Sorry, girls, I gotta go," Apple Bloom said as she ran off, and tripping a few times along the way. "Sorry about that!" Laa-Mohr called out. "Aw man, I thought we were going to earn our cutie marks this time," said Sweetie Belle. "Hey, at least we get to have some cider, I never had some before." Eclipse replied. "Well, since you guys are back..." Scootaloo started. "You think that you could curse Diamond Tiara again?" Laa-Mohr chuckled. "Sorry, but my curse doesn't accept requests," Scootaloo pouted. Fluttershy assisted several ducklings as they made their way into a pond. "There you go, little friends, safe at home," she said. "Wait a minute, there are five of you, there's supposed to be six!" Fluttershy began to panic and look around frantically before she heard some pony harrumph and gain her attention, which she saw as the digging pegasus and secretive mare. "Oh, hello, Dusty, welcome back, Moonlight," she greeted. "Have you seen a little duckling? I lost one, and I can't find it anywhere." "Is this what you're looking for?" Moonlight asked, using a dark pillar to hold up the lost duckling. "Oh yes, thank you so much," she took the duckling in her hooves as she floated it to the pond. "Now, don't you go wandering off again, okay?" She told the duckling, which gave a quack and a nod as Fluttershy put it in the pond with its family. "See you soon, have fun!" Fluttershy turned towards the two misfits. "Thank you again, I don't know what I would do if they were gone forever." "Yeah, apparently it fell in one of my holes and I heard it quack, who knew that a duck's quack can echo?" "Actually, I knew, I didn't want to disappoint anypony," Fluttershy said. "So, what are you guys doing?" "Just meeting with our friends right now," Dusty said. "Nothing much until Pinkie starts the party." "And... is Fang with you?" Fluttershy asked, slightly worried. "Of course, are you still scared of him?" "What? No!" the two misfits were unconvinced. "Okay, maybe a little, but I'm scared of all predators." "You really need to get over this fear, Fluttershy," Dusty said. "Fang may be a predator, but he is really nice." "I suppose so, but it is really hard after seeing what he did to a squirrel." "You aren't going to let that go, are you?" Asked Moonlight. "Oh, I'm sorry, I tried to, but predators are just really, really scary, I think they ate every animal on their island." "Actually they-" Moonlight was stopped by Dusty, who shook his head. "Nevermind." "So, how long will you be staying?" Asked Fluttershy. "A few months, maybe more," Dusty answered. "We're on vacation, which should give you enough time to warm up to Fang." "I suppose so, as long as he doesn't even put his tongue on Angel, I could get used to him," Fluttershy and Dusty smiled, Moonlight remained stoic.