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A long, black limo slid up the drive followed by a small armada of moving trucks. The moment the limo stopped, it's doors began to fly open. The first one out shook his huge, well-groomed mop of brown hair as he tried to smooth out the wrinkles the trip had put in his costume.

"Uhg, why did I let you guys talk me into this trip!" Any Teenie-bopper fangirl could instantly tell you that this was Andrew West, the guitarist for B.A.N.D. Most other people would piece it together eventually, however, given the huge "B.A.N.D." logos on all the moving trucks.

"Because it's a chance for us to make a ridiculous amount of money." The next man out of the limo had a baby face, despite his punk rock spikes and black leather. This was Brandon Stevens, B.A.N.D.'s lead vocalist. He fumbled in his pockets for a moment, then produced a key.

"How is moving to the middle of nowhere going to make us money?" Andrew asked, jogging in place to get the feeling back into his legs.

"Like I explained on the way over. Housing values are insane here to begin with. If a group of superstars (us) lived in one of these homes and put it up for auction, it would sell for a unthinkable price!"

"Why would anyone by such an expensive house?"

"Dude, people do whatever we tell them to, remember?"

Locked in the room she had claimed as her own, Danielle was hard at work setting up her computer equipment. Three monitors and two over-sized towers may have seemed like a bit much to anyone else, but she managed to use every inch of processing space. She plugged the rig in, mentally praying it wouldn't blow the fuse like it had at the band's last temporary home. She was rewarded with the cheery ding of the system coming on. Breathing a sigh of relief, she adjusted her web cams.

"Incoming message." Danielle nearly jumped out of her chair as the computer immediately began flashing a camera icon at her. She hastily clicked on the image and sat up.

"Wasn't expecting you to call so soon, sir."

"Forgive me, I'm a little excited." The man who appeared in the screen before her wore a black cloak and an almost Darth Vader-esc mask. His voice popped and whistled as it came through the disguise's voice changer. "Do you have blueprints?"

"Town hall didn't have any on record, so I drew up some of my own." Danielle plugged her PDA to the computer and sent her map through. As the mysterious man looked them over, she waited in anticipation.

This guy's a nut, he has to be. I mean, look at that mask! Still, he has money and he's willing to spend it. Plus, he's supposed to be a found- Danielle was pulled from her thoughts as the man suddenly began to laugh.

"I knew the man was crazy, but look at this place! He built himself a fortress!" He shook his head, his chuckles coming out of the mask as short barks. "It's absolutely perfect. How soon can you begin your little 'renovations?' I'd like to move in before summer."

"That shouldn't be a problem, sir. Just send me what you want and I'll work out an estimate-"

"I'm not worried about the price, just outfit the place for my operations and send me the bill."

"Of course, sir-"

"And you may call me The Politician, Miss West. I'll get you my order within the week." And the screen winked out.

"No way... That was The Politician?!" Danielle whistled loudly as she leaned back in her chair. All of her doubts of the man were gone, left with respect and perhaps the tiniest bit of fear. "What have I gotten myself into?"

"Danielle?" There was a loud knock on the door. Opening it, Danielle was face to face with her older brother. He had a suspicious grin on his face. "The guys and I were talking-"

"You want to do a show. I knew you wouldn't be able to wait long." Danielle shook her head, though not without a grin of her own. "I've already got the aids building a stage in that main hall. We'll throw up flyers and be ready for a show in a couple days."

<<

The fire raged and smoke blew far behind Epona as she grabbed her bag and wandered out into the dark night. The bright fire couldn't go unnoticed for long, and it was almost probable that someone was already there trying to call the authorities. She wanted to go to her old home and pick up a few more pieces of clothing. She was excellent at getting to the manor unseen in the dark, and knew exactly how far from the roads she had to be to be unnoticed by cars. She had a long way to travel, but on four legs it did not take her too long.

The manor looked almost the way she remembered, but something was different. Maybe it had to do with the changing of the seasons, but it had been almost a month since she had been home. She went around to the backyard where the barn had been, and found the larger door that she used to go in and out. But something stopped her. In fact, it happened to be a large metal human with a name tag that said "13ROY". Cautiously, she allowed the new being to introduce itself before she kicked the snot out of him.

"State moniker please." He said in a monotone voice, that caught Epona off guard.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" She spat out before she could catch herself.

"Moniker incorrect. Please try again."

"Get out of my house! When my father-"

"Moniker incorrect. Begin Defensive Maneuvers." As the metallic man moved his arms, Epona spooked, turning around, and kicked him in the chest before bolting back to the woods. She observed him as he stood slumped over. After a few moments, two more metallic men joined the first, but their eyes were red. In unison, the two said "Defensive Maneuvers begun. Please Leave the Premises."

The first one righted itself, eyes flashing and began flailing it's arms, "DANGER! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!" it began to shout, wheeling wild curves back inside the house.

Something was wrong, and there was no way Epona could take the three of these men. She turned on her back heels and winced. She'd hurt herself kicking that man. It felt like her hoof was cracked, but there was no way she could see it. If she was bleeding she could get an infection and she'd be crippled... She had to get home soon and see what she could do, but she'd have to wait until the sun was up to see anything she might have done... Trying to walk home, Epona limped, laying off her back foot. The pain was getting worse, and it was going to be a long night.