Matt, Natalie, Flash and Spike idled for a few minutes in the church, having gone inside and up to the guest rooms after finding Eve's note and closing the doors shut behind them on their way in. Harry the bear was there to greet them, with Angel perched on one shoulder and Owlowiscious standing upon the other. Though after that, they took a corner of the guest room Matt and his group had entered and merely watched with interest as the quartet moved to the table.

For a good hour after that, after they'd since moved to sit at the table, silence held as the group waited for someone or something else to break it. Then Flash jostled his seat and huffed when nothing dropped by to answer. "Ain't this a load of ponyfeathers," he cursed with a frown and narrowed eyes, crossing his forelegs indignantly.

Natalie nodded and removed her boots and scarf with a flare of her horn, taking care to do so one object at a time and then briefly shaking each hoof after it was free to encourage a little more blood flow. "Honestly, my tail was so cold I started to think I kept flagging it," she stated with a shake of her head. "Let's just stay here, warm up, and if the others don't show up in a few minutes, then we go out and find them."

Matt, who'd sat down between Flash and Natalie, let Spike climb off his back and onto the table itself before removing his garments and making them vanish in flashes of light. "On the bright side, lunch is on hold. So if everyone shows up before the guards do, then we could let them know of the horsey hives issue and then figure out how the hell to deal with it," he chirped with a small smile and a hopeful note in his tone.

Flash uncrossed his forelegs and set one hoof on the table, before spreading a wing and tapping one of his primaries against the floor. He had to admit that Matt had a solid point. Which begged a question he was all too happy to ask, "So what do we do if everyone can't show up, or simply doesn't?"

Spike took a seat opposite of Matt and leaned back into his chair the moment he parked. He lifted his arms and rested them behind his head, being mindful of his protruding spines. "Well, I guess we could ask whoever gets here first and get a handful of opinions on the matter and take it from there," he stated with a slight smirk budding on his face. "Of course, that's assuming everyone in our groups knows about the potential problem already. In which case, we'll just brief everyone once we regroup in full and have our lunch, just to make sure we're all on the same page."

Natalie and Matt glanced at Spike rather incredulously. "Dude, how old are you?" Matt asked, eyeing Spike as if he'd just grown wings. "Because you sounded like a war veteran talking to a trainee."

Spike's smile widened. "I'd say a little older than Maria by a few years," he replied nonchalantly. "Twilight's technobabble just rubbed off on me a lot over time."

Natalie nodded with a sigh escaping her lips. "Technobabble aside," she paused to let her gaze shift between Matt and Flash, "I'm in agreement. Who's for Spike's suggestion, and who is against?" Both stallions raised a front hoof and nodded. At that, Natalie smiled. "Alright." She stood up. "I'll go make us a quick snack; would you like anything in particular?"

"Well… a sandwich would do me over until the others get back," Matt answered with a grin.

Natalie turned to Matt with a quirked brow and a widening smile. "I might not be able to pile it on high like you usually like," she chirped.

Matt shrugged and donned a smile himself. "Hey, I've only been here a day, and I dunno how mom keeps the kitchen organized," he retorted. "Especially since, y'know, I honestly wasn't expecting her to be here."

Natalie snorted in amusement and turned to Flash. He snickered before stating, "See if there's any celery in there. Preferably with beets."

"Beets?" Natalie parroted. When Flash mutely nodded, she turned to Spike. "And you?"

"Gemstones, preferably sapphires. If that's not available, then whatever's on hand," Spike replied. When Natalie continued to stare at him, he continued to smile back at her. "We dragons eat gemstones from time to time; I could safely say it's a dietary requirement."

Natalie's smile fell, and she exchanged looks with Matt before turning back to Spike. "Polished, raw, or cut into any peculiar shape?" she groaned in exasperation.

"Raw please," Spike replied, his smile widening a little more.

Natalie slowly nodded, and turned for the door. "I'll see what I can do," she murmured. She trotted to the door, but not before twisting to nuzzle Matt on the cheek. He returned the gesture with a small smile, and sighed in content as she left the room to start snack-making. Hurriedly making her way to the ladder, then down it, she found herself in the ground floor hall in a matter of seconds.

After that, she opened a door to her right and strode in, finding herself in a wood-floor kitchen fitted with a small chandelier holding lit lanterns in lieu of candles that illuminated the room. Said room was drenched in the various smells of cooked and raw foodstuffs that were probably there since the night prior, and it was also so stocked it rivaled the Valkyrie tank in both amounts of equipment and the variety thereof.

To one side of the kitchen was a stovetop that was engraved top to bottom in odd runes, though some were almost entirely invisible without any of the lanterns' light shining directly onto them. To either side of said stovetop were twin counters sporting cupboards, one with a rotisserie, a can opener, and a toaster and the other sporting a sink laden with uncleaned dishes. Some dishes were made of glass with minimal patterns, others of polished wood that matched the floor perfectly in color.

Across from the stovetop was a massive firepit oven that was built into the wall, with a thick wire rack inlaid above an ashy bottom that had yet to be cleaned. Beside that was a large fridge, also with runes engraved in its surface. In the corner next to the fridge was a massive white box, one with still more runes carved into it. Between the box and counters stood several oaken shelves, laden with more dishes galore. Finally, to the far side of the room, opposite of the white box was a cabinet of some sort, made of simple oak wood that was only starting to splinter and grey with age. Immediately, Natalie cantered to the cabinet and lifted a hoof to pry its door open.

The door swung open effortlessly, albeit with a noisy creak of protest, revealing several shelves that held despairingly little in the realm of edibility. Aside from a baguette that was already cut in half at some point and a massive stewing pot filled with some sort of powder-like substance, the cabinet was devoid of foodstuffs, instead piled high with bags of flour and sugar and spices in such obscene amounts she couldn't hope to name them all.

Her horn glowed and she lifted the baguette with her magic, turning it over slowly to examine every square inch of its surface. She smiled a few seconds later, finding the surface relatively spotless. Natalie turned to the firepit oven for a few seconds after having snagged the baguette. "Mom, how much do you bake every night?" she mumbled aloud, prior to closing the cabinet and trotting to the fridge with her prize in tow.

Upon reaching said fridge and throwing its door wide open, she heard the sound of another door opening, followed immediately by encroaching hoofsteps that caused her to turn to the door leading into the kitchen before she could examine the fridge's contents. Two sets of hoofsteps, instead of just one, oddly enough. This ruckus was briefly drowned out by a mare's voice calling, "Is anypony here?"

"I am! I'm in the kitchen!" Natalie called back before turning to the fridge, finding that it was stocked with more meats and vegetables than she could shake her staff at. The thing was so packed with foodstuffs she was wondering how the door of the device could even close at all. At least the meats were raw, but put in separate transparent containers that kept the threat of cross-contamination at bay. The same thing was true for the individual vegetables.

"Natalie, honey? There's somepony who wants to see you, and urgently," the mare outside replied. "I'm taking him to the guest rooms upstairs, so please don't keep him waiting."

"I'll be out in a few!" Natalie called again, feeling a frown starting to tug at her lips. She began to dig through the fridge's contents, finding the celery and beets easily enough and picking up two stalks and a bulb after dismantling and re-assembling their containers. The meats, however, she soon found some trouble with. There were bacon slices and ham, fish fillets and sausage links galore, and that was just the tip of the iceberg. It took her a few minutes, but she eventually settled on the fish, plucking some pieces from its container and putting it back where she'd found it before closing the fridge and trotting out the door.

As she went into the hall and up the ladder, she made all of the foodstuffs vanish in flashes of light. The actual snack-making could wait for a few minutes longer; besides, she'd still need to somehow wrangle in Spike's desire for sapphires into that particular equation, or find a suitable substitute thereof. Once she got to the first floor, she heard Matt shouting, "You?!"

"That's right blondie, it's me," another masculine voice snarked in reply with an audible snort of amusement punctuating his response. "And by the way, how's the military life treating you and Natz? You look a lot more rugged then when we last bumped into each other. I say the look suits you well."

Natalie's frown deepened. She turned to a door on her left a few paces away that was slightly ajar and trotted to it, finding Eve and Laz in the room. The former was sitting behind Spike, while the latter was engaged in a muzzle-to-muzzle glaring contest with Matt, all while wearing a shark's smile on his face. She cleared her throat and caused the pair to turn to her. "Matt… and Laz, both of you lay off. And speaking of..." Her gaze shifted to Laz specifically. "I was about to make snacks for everybody. Do you want something to munch on?"

Laz raised an incredulous brow, and his grin faltered for a split second. Eve stood up and trotted around the table and group to Natalie, and flashed her a small smile. "But dear, aren't you a soldier? You don't have to cook anything," Eve stated in a gentle voice that had a note of confusion.

Natalie snorted and smiled right back. "I still cook from time to time, and besides, you're overworked as is. I just want to lend a helping hoof," she replied in a chipper tone.

Eve's smile widened, and she leaned in to nuzzle Natalie, who eagerly returned the gesture. "Well, why don't we start on lunch together then? It's been years since we last made a mess of the kitchen to clean up," she cooed.

Natalie's eyes began gleaming, and she chortled. "Remember the time I froze chili peppers by accident?" she queried, and at that Eve giggled.

"Oh, yes I do. I still can't believe you made ice cream with those peppers," Eve replied. "Speaking of… perhaps we should treat everyone to a special, homemade batch."

Natalie's grin took on a fierce, malicious cast. "One Burning Frost Special…" she whispered conspiratorially. "Of course, we'll have to portion out the Special…"

Eve nodded and turned to Laz, her grin also morphing into one of malicious intent. "We'll be downstairs for a while. Yell if you need anything," she chirped before turning for the door to find Natalie already making another stride into the hall beyond. Eve followed with a slight spring in her step, using her magic to close the door behind her, leaving the whole room to start dwelling in silence.

Laz was the first to speak a full minute after the two mares had gone off to the kitchen, turning to Matt in doing so, "So, uh… that was awkward."

Matt turned back to Laz and nodded in agreement. "That's my mom for you," he replied. "Some of it rubbed off on Natz."

Laz's eyes widened and he turned back to the door. "Wait… that blonde-maned mare was…"

Matt nodded again. "Yeeeep," he replied tersely.

Laz blinked and tilted his head, turning back to start looking at Matt rather incredulously. "Um, wow… that explains a lot," he mumbled. "Does she know you're in the military?"

Matt nodded once more. "Yes. In fact, she's already met my superior," he answered, turning to glance at the window of the room. "And speaking of… where the hell is he?"

As if to answer him, he heard the sound of another door opening from below. "Matt, where are you?" a stallion called from below, followed by the sound of several sets of hooves cantering about, one of which was particularly loud and packed enough strength to send slight tremors through the floor.

Matt sighed. "Upstairs!" he called back. His reply was instantly met by the sounds of several hooves trotting through the building, followed by very noisily clanging against steel one set at a time. It took a minute or two before the leader of the hoof-stomping procession strode into the room and showed himself. At his arrival, Matt lifted a hoof and waved. "Hey dad."

Laz turned to Bartholomew and gaped. Bartholomew lifted a hoof and waved back at Matt, before the ponies and dragon at the table noticed that he donned a small frown. "Why the long face?" Laz asked as Bartholomew stepped aside to let the rest of the procession behind him file into the room. He whimpered upon seeing Anna canter in last, though she didn't seem to notice his presence at first. Only when everyone was in a tight line did they turn to him in unison.

Lance leveled a flat stare at Laz, but it only stayed flat for a few seconds. Then his lips quirked up in a smile. "So we have another pony spending the night here?" he chirped.

Laz's ears fell back, and he hesitantly nodded. "My frenemies are here… and his mom—" He gestured to Matt with a hoof, "—took me here because some ponies with a legless cat wanted intel on the barrier that broke or some shit like that."

Lance's grin widened until it went Cheshire. "Frenemies? And 'ponies with a legless cat?'" he parroted, amusement twinkling in his eyes. "Do my ears deceive me?"

Matt nudged Laz with a hoof, shaking his head at the look that now painted Lance's face. "Good going, my superior's got that gleam in his eyes…" he mumbled, watching as Anna's gaze zeroed in on Laz. She lifted a hoof and made an invisible dotted line across her neck. He shuddered as she donned a similar expression to that of Lance, though her grin looked more manic. "Yep. You're boned."

Lance studied Laz for a few seconds, taking in his stature and the fact he had a cloak. Then, he stepped forward before he flexed his bare wings and spread them wide, curling one forward and using it to grasp at the hem of his own garment. With a quick flick, he lifted it off of his neck, over his head, and tossed it into the air. It rose up high when a golden flash of light seized hold of it before it could descend and made it disappear.

Laz's pupils shrank at the display. He balked when Lance strode over to him, wings still flared and showing off a dozen or so growing pin feathers. The two found themselves muzzle to muzzle only when Lance stopped his advance, staring into each other's eyes unblinkingly. A wing spread forward and grabbed Laz's cloak before lifting it a little, and red eyes trailed to the hip to find a crimson bird carrying a sun-shaped spear in its talons. A tense but brief silence held, which Lance was all too happy to break, "There's no mistaking it."

"Mistaking what?" Blueblood interjected, causing Lance to crane his neck to him and reveal a shark's smile on his face.

"Matt and Natz told me about this guy as soon as they joined my army," Lance replied, retracting his wing before turning the rest of his body and striding towards Blueblood. Halfway, though, he stopped dead in his tracks and tilted his head. "Lazarus Highwind… wasn't it?"

He craned his neck to eye his quarry, who gulped and nodded apprehensively. At that, Lance folded his wings, though only for a few seconds prior to spreading them again. "I've been looking forward to meeting you in the flesh," Lance stated in a tone between amused and no-nonsense. How he was able to maintain such a precarious balance in his voice, Lazarus had no idea. He looked to the rest of the group. "Could you… please leave us to chat in private?"

Anna nodded silently. "Well, Maria needs to be preened, so… and someone needs to wake Alexander and Armin up," she muttered in reply, before turning to the door and being the first to file out. Everyone else went after her, though not before giving Lance a confused look or two upon taking their leave. Even Harry the bear and his animal entourage went out, and with their departure the door closed. A palpable silence fell onto the room when the door shut, and the air began to hang heavily.

Lazarus turned to Matt and his jaw dropped open. Matt returned the look with a solemn shake of his head, a front hoof lifting up before slowly waving, and a slanted brow framing eyes gleaming in pity. The look was one that all but screamed 'it was nice knowing you.'

Lance was still looking at Lazarus over his shoulder, still wearing that unnerving grin on his face when said quarry turned back to look at him, and still keeping his bald wings fanned out like some sort of deranged peacock. Part of him was compelled to wipe that smug look off the general's face, but the urge went as fast as it had come when Lance addressed him again. "That said… I believe we can work out some sort of compromise, Highwind," Lance spoke in an ominously low, still-amused tone of voice.

Lazarus's face started draining of its color as soon as he heard 'compromise.' His mouth then made an attempt to transmogrify into sandpaper the moment he opened it. His voice attempted to die, leaving him to utter a strangled whisper consisting of but one word, "What?"

Lance turned his body to Lazarus in such a way he could see his cutie mark plain as day. His left wing leveled at him before four of its digits curled in a manner reminiscent of a fist pointing an index finger at him. Then it turned until its joints were facing up, before the singular pointer curled in on itself repeatedly.

Lazarus gulped and trotted to Lance with a hesitant pace, though when he stopped briefly, he felt some force push him onward. He turned to glare at Matt, but his expression faltered upon finding a glowing horn accompanying a still-solemn visage.

When he came close enough, the extended wing unfurled before it draped across Lazarus's cloaked backside and yanked him until he was shoulder to shoulder with its owner. "This is going to sound really strange, so bear with me," Lance began in a smug tone, turning to look Lazarus in the eye. The smug look may as well have been stuck on his face at this point.

Spike and Flash looked at Matt, both frowning uncertainly. "Is he okay?" Flash asked, spreading a wing before curling all but one digit onto themselves and using the uncurled one to gesture to Lance.

Matt returned the looks and gravely shook his head. "He's rarely like this… hell, he doesn't just wrap his wings around anypony else," he muttered in reply. "I'd wager 'no.'"

Lance's ears twitched, and he craned his neck to look at Flash and Spike, still grinning like a lunatic. Evidently, something amused him, but the trio at the table didn't know what that was to save their hides. "I'm fine," he chirped before turning back to a paling, uncertain-looking Lazarus. He decided he'd had enough of beating around the proverbial bush, "You get another go at Matt and Natz… or however many you want, for that matter, but on one condition."

Lazarus's legs began wobbling to the point of threatening to buckle. Some part of him wanted to run away from the crazy pony staring him unnervingly. All he could do, though, was lean back as far as he was able, which was no easy feat considering a bald wing still had a stranglehold on the area between his withers and his croup. His mouth worked furiously as Lance continued to stare at him, yet nothing would issue from his throat.

Lance ignored Lazarus's flailing gums before leaning in to match his retreat, making sure to never stray too close. "How'd you like to be in their little boat?" he asked in a whisper, lifting just one digit of the wing holding Lazarus and using it to gesture to Matt for emphasis. He jerked his muzzle to Matt, just so Lazarus could see it.

Lazarus turned to Matt once he felt the digit part from his body, jaws still moving soundlessly. Comprehension dawned, and his face fully drained of its color with the realization. His tongue continued to flail about, trying desperately to form words without sound, but alas it was of no use. It seemed his voice had up and left the building, taking with it the ability to mouth even the most basic of syllables.

Matt's jaw had, likewise, dropped open at the implications. It took him a few seconds to reel it in, direct his attention to his seemingly-insane superior, and utter something in that order. "Y-you're… wanting to recruit him?" he asked.

Lance nodded, his eyes not yet ceasing their twinkling in amusement. "You and Natz quibble like you're already married. So I figured 'fuck it, why not?'" he retorted. "Besides, Katie's also gotten an offer herself."

Finally, Lazarus found his voice and interjected, "Wh-who?"

Lance lifted his wing and folded it shut against his own side, its mate doing likewise. "You'll get to know her," he replied.

Spike piped up, causing Lance to turn to him in doing so, "Wait… are you one of those types who just hoof out invitations willy-nilly? That doesn't seem like good protocol to me."

At that, Lance shook his head, but his seemingly-fixed smile did not falter in the slightest. "I've made two exceptions. I could make another with Sarah, but she's currently compromised. I'd rather not push my luck," he replied. His voice faltered and his grin twitched as he added, "She engages mouth before brain, Spike. And her level of vulgarity puts her friggin' sister to shame."

A golden aura seized Lance by the face and flexed his cheeks a bit before tugging them sharply down, then back up as far as they could go without tearing. It held for a few seconds before pulling down again and relinquishing its hold, and only then did Lance stop smiling. He turned to Matt and nodded. "Thanks," he chirped.

Matt nodded back, his gaze flicking between Lazarus and Lance with uncertainty. "Um…"

Lazarus staggered back from Lance before falling to his haunches, followed immediately by his front legs giving out and causing him to faceplant on the floor. "I'll think about it," he grumbled into the floor. He lifted his head and craned his neck to look at Matt. "So, uh…"

Spike piped up again, eyes half-lidded and a firm frown affixed to his face, "This just got a lot more awkward…"

Matt nodded again and turned to Spike, his frown deepening. "Yeah, that."

Lazarus lifted his head a little more and turned to Lance, his features still pale but regaining a bit of color. "I'll… take five." He shifted his legs under him, waiting until they stopped shaking before starting to lurch up.

Before he could get onto his hooves, though, Lance trotted to him and planted a hoof on his withers. "You said… something about the barrier. Before you head off—"

Lazarus stood up abruptly, the sudden movements violently causing Lance's hoof to fly off and its owner to stagger back on three legs. "I'll talk about it later. This is… this is a lot to take in," he muttered in reply.

"Understandable." Lance dropped his raised hoof once he stopped stumbling and flashed Lazarus another smile when he dared to make eye contact again. "You scratch our backs, and we'll scratch yours."

At that moment, they heard yet another set of hoofsteps canter their way into the building, this time accompanied by thudding and a very dull scritch-scratching that was almost drowned out. The owners wasted no time dallying, as soon the sounds were briefly replaced by the cacophany of clanging metal. Lance perked his ears and twitched them, zeroing in on the noises. At the precise moment the metal ceased banging seconds later, voices filled in the void. One was particularly shrill.

"Could you believe that stallion? I was this close to tearing his throat out and making him eat it! He was spewing so much horseshit I'm surprised his ass didn't jump ship yet," he heard Sarah snarl in a tone between outrage and exasperation. That alone caused Lance to trot to the door and press his ear to it to better listen to whatever the hell was going on.

It didn't take long for a conversation on the other side to pick up. The moment he pressed his ear to the door, he heard a lady-like huff of indignation. This was followed by Rarity adding in a very curt tone, "Honestly, I'd like to think that stallion had simply lost his sanity some time ago. It's the only thing that would both explain his deranged beliefs and shed some light on the affairs going on around here."

Sarah snorted, and audibly stomped a hoof. "Whatever helps you sleep at night," she scoffed.

Fluttershy piped up next, her voice barely audible, "I think I can see why Lance keeps his wings out of sight…"

"But that doesn't explain why Sarah has yet to do likewise, especially accounting for her broken wing," Rarity argued, which immediately earned her another snort.

"You do realize I'm standing right here, right?' Sarah hissed sarcastically.

"Yes, I do," Rarity stated in reply.

"Ladies, please cease your bickering at once," Fenrir cut in, garnering two huffs of indignation. "You can have your little spat at a later time. I suggest we take a room, sit down, and engage our brains after we've had some time to calm our tempered nerves." A wing started flapping in tandem with a keening hiss, but it broke off when Fenrir cut in again, "Yes, I know, the barkeep had said very questionable things as we escorted him to his abode. I'm not entirely certain if he was merely raised with such inane beliefs, or had ceased being sane, and quite frankly I don't particularly care. You shouldn't, either."

For the first time since the whole debacle on the other side started, someone inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. They repeated this process for a few seconds. Afterwards, Rarity spoke again, her tone much calmer than it had been before, "Well… considering the barkeep's state of mind, I'm inclined to agree that he's simply a lost cause. Unless he decides to hurt a foal of something ludicrously appalling like that, I'm afraid we'll just have to ignore him."

Sarah audibly sighed. It didn't take long for her to concede, either, "Alright, you two win. But if the barkeep comes back and tries plucking me, I'm breaking his horn off with my bare talons."

"Duly noted," Fenrir replied tersely, punctuating his response with a snort. This was followed by the sounds of more hooves, scritch-scratching, and thudding that began wading towards something. They stopped briefly when a door opened, before resuming and cutting off with a door closing. When silence permeated the room, Lance pulled back and opened the door before turning to look back at Lazarus and the others.

"I'll go see Zecora for a bit. I'll catch you lot later," Lance stated, and with that he left the room, closing the door behind him with a bare wing. Silence held for several minutes on end, before it broke with a brief clicking of hooves on wood, followed by metal clanging for a few seconds.

Lazarus let his shoulders slump, and turned before trudging his way back to the table on hooves that dragged across the floor. He turned to Matt the moment he sat down and asked, "Are you gonna keep the crazy pony away from me?"

"Crazy pony?" Matt asked, a brow raising when Lazarus nodded.

"G-green mane… h-horn," Lazarus stammered in reply. His face then hit the table when Matt merely shrugged and muttered something about some sort of impossibility.

He groaned when Natalie called from below, "Lunch is ready! Come and get it, while it's still hot!"