//------------------------------// // Chaper 4: Jokes, desires, and a party // Story: The Misfits: Reviving harmony // by Cyber System //------------------------------// "Alright, Moonlight, let's see if we can get a chuckle outa you," Pixel said as she sat across from Moonlight Shadow on the grassy hill. "Fine," Moonlight said. "Alright, so why did the chicken cross the road?... to get to the other side!" Silence, pure awkward silence. "Are you going to say the joke yet?" Moonlight finally said. "I... already did." "That was not a joke, that was a question and an answer, nothing 'funny' about that." "Oh, ok, um..." Pixel tried to think of something else. "Ok, how about this, Cyber told me that this one time, Dusty wouldn't stop stealing his lunch, so Cyber made a plan where he grounded up his flowers he was having for lunch, then after Dusty ate it... Cyber said that he replaced it with highly toxic chemicals... and you should have seen the look on his face!" Pixel started laughing while Moonlight remained emotionless. "I do not see at any point how this is 'funny', it was simply a devious act to stop Dusty from taking his food." This made Pixel's laughter short as she started stroking her chin. "Ooh, this is tricky, though I'll admit, I don't have the best sense of humor in Equestria, but we might need to see a professional for this, just in case." "We're going to see Pinkie Pie, aren't we?" Pixel smiled. "Oh yeah," she said nodding. Moonlight sighed. "Very well, but if we must, could we ask her during her 'Welcome back to Ponyville' party', I do not wish to have her always at my side trying to get me to laugh." "Don't worry, I'll make sure you get your space." Pixel said. "Thank you," Moonlight replied. There was thirty minutes of silence before Pixel spoke. "Hey, Moonlight?" "Yes?" "Why haven't you ever laughed before?" "I saw no reason to." "No, I mean why haven't you laughed, what's the real reason? What is hiding behind that black cloak and white eyes? Who is Moonlight Shadow?" "Since when were you trying to see what I have under my cloak?" "Ever since I officially became your best friend." Moonlight's eyes widened a little at the mention of being considered a best friend. "I knew I was your friend, but your best friend? When was it official?" Pixel shrugged. "You never know, it just happens when two ponies spend almost every moment of time with each other." "We have to spend every moment together with the other misfits and I don't consider Laa-Mohr nor Solar Eclipse a 'best friend'." Pixel shook her head. "Not my point, just look at Dusty and Fang, they spend as much time together as they do with Cyber, but if they had to choose between being separated for the rest of their lives or being in their least favorite situation, they'd choose the latter in a heartbeat." "I suppose that would be having Rainbow Dash join us on our quest," Moonlight said, making Pixel laugh. "Moonlight, I think you just made a joke!" "I... I did? But I wasn't trying to be funny." "You don't have to, just say what's on your mind and don't think too hard, it's what Pinkie does." "It's the only thing Pinkie does." Pixel laughed again. "There it is again, maybe this humor thing is going to be easier than I thought." Moonlight smiled underneath her shroud. "I think I understand it now, I used a casual conversation and added a random addition based on the fact that Pinkie Pie hardly takes situations seriously." Pixel stopped smiling. "And you overthought it again." "Sorry," Moonlight replied as she also stopped smiling. Mixy spent time with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, playing a game where Mixy would impersonate somepony and the CMC would guess who it is before Mixy reached her full transformation. The CMC watched as Mixy changed her look to a blond, neatly groomed mane, white coat, and a star cutie mark. "I'm still not gettin' it," Apple Bloom said. "Alright, final hint," Mixy cleared her throat as her voice changed to that of an accented royal stallion. "Why must I listen to you freaks? I don't know what those are, you are downright filthy, and your breath is downright rancid." "Nope, still don't know." Scootaloo replied "Wait, I think I know," Sweetie Belle said, searching hard through her memory. "It's Prince... Blue... Blood?" Mixy smiled and changed back to normal. "I almost thought you wouldn't get that one." "No fair, how come you did one only Sweetie Belle knows?" complained Apple Bloom. "Sorry, I guess I got carried away." "How did you get that anyway?" asked Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I don't know, Rarity came home from the Gala and wouldn't stop talking about this 'prince' who wasn't nice to her." "Wait, did this 'prince' say that to y'all misfits?" asked Apple Bloom. Mixy nodded. "Every word, he said that he was some kind of relative to Celestia, but Cyber said that if she's an extremely distant aunt, it doesn't make them related anymore, I don't know, the point is he was a jerk and I'm glad that Laa-Mohr was with us when we met him." "Did he use his curse on Blue Blood?" asked Sweetie Belle. "I think the word 'karma' is better, but yes, and also it was nice to see Laa-Mohr show him how a true royal should act." Shortly Marine's familiar voice emerged not too far away. "Are you talking about Blueblood? I still want to know if his blood is actually blue." turning, the CMC and Mixy could see the hippocampus misfit along with most of the other members come over to them. "It was the only time I could not tell whether my curse was acting or if it was just pure karma," added Laa-Mohr. "Hey, guys!" Mixy greeted. "Yeah, we were just talking about that jerk." "I hear you on that, I couldn't tell you how many times he got on my nerves," Fang said. "Fortunately I managed to maintain myself and control my anger before it got out of control." "So, how many times did you bite him?" Scootaloo asked. "Three, he tastes like makeup for some reason, not like I know what makeup tastes like." "And you should have seen the look on his face when I rolled all over his room," Dusty said, laughing. "Although I disliked Blueblood, I at least maintained a chivalrous attitude towards him," Laa-Mohr said. "Which means you stood in his kitchen and watched while the servants burned the food, the dishes, and each other," Eclipse answered. "He insulted us, what else was I going to do?" "Maybe you could have let me torch him?" "Eclipse, we already discussed that burning his home with him in it was going too far, even if it was Blueblood." "What would have happened if you let me?" "Banishment, our reputation ruined, your reputation ruined," Laa-Mohr suggested. "I burned down most of Hoofington, I doubt my reputation could get any worse." "It was blamed on a fireplace, hardly anypony knows you were the cause." Dusty chuckled as the two stallions argued. "Looks like they're at it again," he said. "So tell us what's up while we wait for the two hot heads to work it out." "I heard that!" Eclipse yelled inside his argument. "Not much, just playing with the CMC," Mixy said. "And they haven't blown anything up or broke anything, you must be really good with kids." Dusty said as the CMC looked at each other in confusion. Mixy shrugged. "Well, it's like what Celestia said, I can see through other ponies' eyes or something, so I guess that's the reason." "Well, whether that's the reason or not, you're really fun to play with, Mixy," Apple Bloom said. "Yeah, I can't wait until hang out with you next time." Scootaloo added. "Maybe you could help us earn our cutie marks in something." Sweetie Belle said. Mixy chuckled. "Maybe some other time, why don't you go play with Fang and Marine while we wait for Eclipse and Laa-Mohr to stop arguing, if it's alright with them." "I don't see why not," Fang answered. "Come on!" Marine said as the group separated, leaving Dusty and Mixy alone while Eclipse and Laa-Mohr left to settle their argument somewhere else. "You know, Scootaloo doesn't seem to be the kind who could fly," said Dusty as he watched the CMC play some kind of game with their predator and hippocampus friends. "Dusty!" Mixy scolded him. "Don't say that, have hope in her, she's still learning, you didn't have an easy time flying either." "Yeah, but my destiny is the complete opposite to flying." "What about your parents?" "My parents were pegasi born in Cloudsdale, if you were born there, you've got a guaranteed chance of easy flying, it's like that with all purebred pegasi." "I don't know, Pound Cake is the son of two earth ponies and he already pretty much mastered flying, he even crawls on the ceiling." Dusty scoffed, "Well, how am I supposed to know what foals learn as they grow up? What do I look like, a geologist?" "A geologist studies rocks, you mean 'genealogist' and you're not even using it right." Mixy corrected. Dusty gave her a dead-pan expression. "Wow. Right now, I'm a bit surprised you didn't end up with Cyber as your coltfriend." "Well, I was thinking on being a school teacher or something if we ever stop with this misfit business so I've been studying every now and then." Dusty rose an eyebrow at Mixy's surprisingly simple goal. "That's it?" "Well, of course not, I was hoping on settling down, get a house, husband, maybe raise a foal or two if I'm able." Dusty lounged on the ground next to her. "Heh, you really have your life planned out, do you?" Mixy smiled and nodded. "Of course, why wouldn't I? Being here in Ponyville made me see how I am around children, helping them move on in life and teaching them about misfits while their minds are still fresh, but I'm not sure if I can. I'll be taking in a lot of responsibility just by considering having a foal, and even then there's worries like what if because I'm half-changeling I can't get pregnant, or what if things don't work out how I hope, or what if I never find the right stallion for me, or what if-." she was stopped when Dusty put a hoof over her mouth. "Woah, Mixy, you're overreacting about something that won't happen until years from now. Besides, even if you can't get pregnant, there's always adoption, and even then you'll make an excellent teacher, and maybe even a better mother, whether or not you birthed your foal. As for the stallion of your dreams, sometimes you gotta look in places you'd never expect to find what you're looking for, whether it's keys, bits, or your 'special somepony'." Dusty let Mixy speak. "Wow, I never thought you'd be the romantic type," she said with a smile. "I'm not being romantic, I'm just stating the obvious about my friend." "You sure? Cause I'm pretty sure that time we spent in Prance made you soft." "The only thing Prance made me was sick from all the sap." "You sure that wasn't the escargot?" Dusty shuddered. "How can those ponies eat that stuff?" he muttered under his breath before turning back to Mixy. "Anyway, the point is I'm not romantic, nor am I soft." The voice of the tomcolt pegasus mare came from behind them. "Aww, you sure? This looks pretty sappy to me." "Rainbow Crash, what are you doing here?" Dusty demanded, see the cyan pegasus with rainbow hued mane hovering just a few feet away from them. "Just wanted to see how my favorite pegasus misfit is doing." Rainbow answered. "I'm the only pegasus misfit." "I know, that's why you're the favorite," Rainbow Dash said as she landed next to the two misfits. "So, what's up, Rainbow?" Mixy asked. "Scootaloo's over there if you wanted to know." "Not this time, I was bored just sitting around and not beating Dusty at anything, but seeing you two together made me think of a song." "What kind of song?" Mixy asked. "You know..." Rainbow Dash mischievously grinned. Dusty understood. "Don't say it," he demanded. "I'm gonna say it," Rainbow replied, nodding. "Don't say it." "I'm sayin' it." "Don't say it!" "Dusty and Mixy, sitting in a tree..." Rainbow began. "That's it!" Dusty shouted as he tackled Rainbow, making Mixy roll her eyes. "Sometimes I wonder if those two are meant to be together," she muttered to herself. Meanwhile, at the Palace of Friendship, Twilight, Cyber, Clockwork, and Lyra somehow managed to change their subject from the mechanical wings, to about what they were going to do in the future while The Misfits were staying in Ponyville for the next couple months. "Perhaps Eclipse could help out with the Winter Wrap-up when it comes again," Cyber suggested. "That sounds nice, but it's tradition for ponies to not use magic during Winter Wrap-up," Twilight said. "Actually, Eclipse's body temperature seems to be also natural, so it's a bit of a loophole if you think about it," Clockwork said. "Yeah, and all he has to do is stand near snow or ice, and it'll melt instantly." Lyra pointed out. "Unless he falls in the water," Twilight said. "What happens if Eclipse is in water, anyway?" "Well, as Dusty would say it: instant hot tub." Clockwork replied. "Cool!" Spike exclaimed. "Right, so anyway, do you think Moonlight would help out by following tradition?" Twilight asked. "Doubt it," Lyra replied. "She'll probably just stay inside alone or something." "One can only wait and see." Clockwork replied. "Hey, all this talk about misfits reminds me," Twilight began. "I've always wondered, what will you guys do if you have too many members?" Twilight's question caught Cyber off guard, either he wasn't paying much attention or it wasn't something he ever considered. "What?" "I mean like what will happen when you have too many members than you can travel with?" "Huh, I don't know, maybe I could just set up some kind of center of operation, like a headquarters or a hotel, or..." "How about a city?" Lyra suggested. "That sounds marvelous!" Clockwork said. "Actually, that does sound pretty interesting, a whole city dedicated to misfits fitting in, it'll be like Cloudsdale." "How will it be like Cloudsdale?" Spike asked. "Everypony may enter, however the whole area was built for a certain kind of pony," Clockwork answered. "In this case it would be for misfits." "But what would it be called?" Twilight brought up, making everypony think." "How about 'The City of Misfit Ponies'," Spike suggested. "Interesting idea, but I was thinking on a name that's different," Cyber said. "After all, a misfit home needs a misfit name." "I ran every plausible name that was in my database, none show pleasing results." Clockwork added. "I'm sure we'll think of something someday, until then, maybe we should wait until we're done with the vacation before the city is mapped out." Twilight nodded. "That's sounds great, but aren't you still going to invent things even on vacation?" Cyber shrugged. "It's how I relieve stress." The next several minutes were followed by talking about subjects too complex to explain. Finally Clockwork spoke up after an alarm went off in his internal computer. "As much as I would hate to ruin this conversation," said the automaton. "But it is time for the party." "Oh yeah, should we go now?" Twilight said. "Ooh! Ooh! Can I come, please?" Spike begged. "I'm so bored listening to you guys talk about arrow-dinatics." "It's 'aerodynamics'." Lyra corrected as Twilight smiled at her assistant. "Sure, Spike, come on." she answered as Spike clawpumped in excitement. Cyber, Clockwork, Spike, Lyra, and Twilight met up with the other Misfits and Elements of harmony in front of the Misfit home. It was clear the party was waiting on the other side. "There you are!" Pinkie said. "I was about to come get you." Cyber shrugged. "We got caught up in science." "You guys ready?" Pinkie asked, everypony nodded. "Wait," Clockwork said. "Dusty, Rainbow, why are you two injured?" "We got to beat each other up again." Dusty answered proudly. "I won, by the way," Rainbow Dash said, Applejack rolled her eyes. "Sure, so shall we enter and let the party begin?" Rarity suggested. Moonlight rolled her eyes. "Let's get this over with." she said as Cyber grabbed the knob with his hand and opened the door. Instantly the lights turned on as balloons and confetti fell from the ceiling, with a giant cake in the center that had each of The Misfits' names on it under a banner that said, 'Welcome back to Ponyville, Misfits!' across it. "So, how do you like it?" Pinkie asked eagerly. "It would've been a surprise party but Fang doesn't like surprises." "Great job as always, Pinkie." Twilight said. "Couldn't of ask for a better party than the ones run by you." Applejack added. "I feel nothing." Moonlight said, much to Pinkie's surprise. "Don't mind her, Pinkie," Laa-Mohr said. "I'm sure if she could feel happiness, she would." Fluttershy added. Pinkie's giant grin returned to her face. "Okay, glad you like it." "Heck ya!" Rainbow added. "Hey, Dusty, I bet you five bits you can't keep Fang's meat-flavored cake down." "And I bet you ten bits you can't," Dusty replied as they dashed towards Fang's side of the giant cake. "Hey, save some for me!" Fang said, following them. "Ooh! I wanna see!" Pinkie said. "Looks like they've already started." Cyber said as everypony separated to certain areas of the Misfits Home. Lyra nodded. "Come on, I want to see how well they can keep down that cake." Time continued as it was full of fun, conversation, and vomiting by both Rainbow Dash and Dusty. About halfway through the party, Pixel Berry looked at Moonlight Shadow. "I think it's about time, are you ready to laugh?" she asked. "As ready as I'll ever be," Moonlight replied flatly, then they trotted over to where the pink party pony was, who was enjoying a piece of cake. "Pnkie, I-" Pixel was stopped by Pinkie Pie raising her hoof to stop them as she swallowed the slice. "Ok, you can tell me now," Pinkie said with a smile. "Pinkie, we have an emergency," Pixel said, making Pinkie's eyes widen in notice. "What is it? Ghosts? Werewolves? Did all the sugar in Equestria become sugar-free?" Pinkie guessed. "How would that even be possible?" Moonlight asked. "No, wait!" Pinkie continued. "It's zombies isn't it? Don't worry, I have a secret bunker underneath Sugar Cube Corner, Gummy sometimes likes to play in it but we should be fine." Pixel shook her head. "No it's not that, it's- wait, why do you have a bunker?" Pinkie shrugged. "Why not?" she said as she ate another piece of cake. "Okay? Anyway, this is something only you can solve. It's Moonlight, she's never laughed in her life." After that Pinkie froze in shock, swallowed the rest of her cake, then dashed right up close to Moonlight's face. "What!? You've never laughed at all?" Pinkie almost demanded, Moonlight could smell Pinkie's sugar-coated frosting breath from the distance she was. "No, I haven't." Moonlight replied. "What about chuckled?" "No." "Giggled?" "No." "Snickered?" "No." "Chuckled?" "You already said that and no." "Faked a laugh at least?" "No." "Have you even thought of something funny?" "I don't think so." "But she did accidentally make two jokes," Pixel added. "How many did she kill?" Pinkie asked Pixel. "Just the second one." "And has she ever smiled before?" Moonlight nodded, "Yes, I have." Pinkie thought it over for a while before she narrowed her eyes in seriousness. "Meet me at Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow morning at nine. Don't be late, this is worse than a zombie apocalypse." after that, she smiled and bounced away as if none of that ever happened. "That was a bit odd..." Moonlight said. "It's Pinkie Pie, who knows what she thinks. Now come on, we've got cake to eat."