The group disembarked and wasted no time heading to Golden Oaks, though silence hung heavily amongst them even as the sun poked over the horizon and started its daily climb upwards. Armin took the time to make sure his pegasus guise wouldn't falter in the slightest, checking his false feathers and mane and tail to ensure they could not start falling out anytime soon. Katie opted to piggyback on Anna, her gaze fixed on the rising sun and the vibrant oranges, reds, and pinks it brought with.

Anna trotted up to Lance, who lead the group on with Shining. She turned to him with a grin when Maria rushed up from behind, jumped up, and landed squarely on his back in a manner that made his legs buckle for a few seconds and caused him to stop for a bit. When he fixed his posture and resumed trotting to catch up to Shining, he turned to Anna as she kept pace with him. "Yes?" he queried.

"You need any bits for the balloon?" Anna replied with the grin still on her face.

Lance pursed his lips for a few seconds, and he sighed. "Might as well give me my saddlebags while you're at it. Just take out the bullets first; last thing I need is the locals asking me why I'm toting ammunition around," he answered.

"But you might need those and your gunblade," Anna pointed out, her grin fading. "You'll never know exactly when. Better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them."

Lance's brow furrowed slightly, and the corner of his mouth began twitching. "True enough." Then he sighed. "Let's discuss it further when we get to the library."

Anna nodded. "Sounds good," she chirped.

"Daddy, are there any other fillies I can play with?" Maria queried in a sincere tone, which garnered a sigh from Katie, who at last turned away from the still-climbing sun and towards her.

"Given what you've been through, and the way you talk and think, I'd have to say 'no' on the grounds you're not exactly a kid by mind anymore," Katie scoffed, a very firm frown on her illusioned face.

Lance nodded in assent. "Gonna have to agree there, Maria. I'd wager there aren't many foals in these parts who know half the things you do," he stated.

"But—" Maria began, only to stop when Anna gave a groan.

"They're both right, sadly. I don't want you teaching any fillies and colts your age where certain body parts go or how to hack said certain body parts. Or how to molest a pony, Godcat forbid. As harsh as this is gonna sound, you playing with the local foals is not happening," Anna said in a firm tone, her brow furrowing at the mere thought of the entire idea. She rolled her eyes and added, "That, and I'd rather not have to listen to said other foals' parents bitch and moan until our ears go to oblivion."

Then, Shining of all ponies backed the two up with his two bits, "Yeah, Maria… foals who know what you do tend to be…" He turned to her, silent for a few seconds as he swallowed heavily before carefully finishing, "a little bit of an oddball around these parts. If anything, you might attract bad foals who'll demean just about anypony… or gryph, in your case, that doesn't fit in with the norm."

Maria turned to Shining and deflated slightly. "Bad foals?" she asked.

Shining nodded. "Yes. I've heard stories about a few making fun of others for lacking cutie marks, or something inane like that," he replied. He smiled at Maria and added, "Don't look or feel bad; your surrogates are just looking out for you."

Maria nodded and her wings flexed a bit. "Okay," she chirped with a budding smile on her face.

Shining turned to Lance and his smile grew enough to start rivaling that of Katie's again. "At least you don't have it as bad," he chirped.

Lance turned to regard Shining with a brow raised high. "What're you on about?" he asked, causing Shining to snort and chuckle.

"Well, whenever you decide to give your filly the talk, for instance, it'll be a lot easier on you because of the way she thinks and the things she already knows about. You've been spared a lot of awkwardness on your part," Shining chirped in reply, his smile widening just a little bit more as he spoke.

Lance flinched at that with shrinking pupils, his ears immediately folding to rest on the back of his head. "You're saying that like she's already hit puberty!" he exclaimed.

"Mentally, she already has in a way," Katie piped up from Anna's back, donning a very snide grin when Lance turned back to her slack-jawed. "Meaning, no matter how you slice it, you two are effectively fucked."

For a few seconds, Lance's jaws remained parted as he stared at the disguised wraith like she'd stolen a cigar from him, lit it without the aid of a lighter, and took a puff of smoke before his very eyes. Then his mouth started moving, but no words would come out of his throat.

He kept looking at Katie with his jaw soundlessly moving for another few minutes before he gave a groan of irritation, snorted, and turned away when he realized he could not make a single rebuttal against her argument. His mouth snapped shut after that, forming a small but tight frown that made it look as though he were annoyed. The frown did ease as he trotted on, and his ears began twitching as he heard those behind him and Shining and Anna start a round of small talk.

Before he could listen to and process the small talk, though, Maria shifted a bit to rest her stomach on his back. "Daddy, what's that?" she asked.

Lance craned his neck slightly to look at her with lips curled back to reveal unmoving molars and canines. "What's what?" he retorted in a forced calm tone, through clenched teeth at that. She rose a talon and gestured to the building with the small bell-tower atop its frame, and he took one look at it before shrugging his shoulders in mute reply.

Anna also turned to the building in question, having seen Maria gesture to it. "It looks… like a barnhouse," she answered. The bell atop it started to ring, though as the group came into sight of Sugarcube Corner, the clanging started to grow faint.

Pinkie bolted up to Shining from behind, then raced ahead before skidding to a halt in front of Sugarcube Corner. This caused the rest of the group to stop trotting, with all sets of eyes falling onto her with brows raised. "Could you stay here for a few minutes? I gotta check on something right quick," Pinkie stated with a small smile on her face.

Lance and Shining exchanged glances, then turned to Pinkie and gave her mute shrugs in return. Anna spoke up, "Nobody's stopping you. Go ahead."

Pinkie's smile widened. "Okie-dokie-lokie! I'll be back in a jiffy!" she chirped before rushing to the establishment with a bounce in her step. Though as she opened the door and bounded in like she owned the place, her mane and tail deflated slightly and her smile faded. She closed it behind her with her tail and stiffened for a few seconds, but took a deep breath through her nostrils to relax herself.

Her heart sunk a little when she didn't see anypony behind the counter, though her ears perked when she did hear a tell-tale clanging of pots and pans. She trotted up to the counter before going around it, heading directly for the source of the clanging. Finding that the door leading to the kitchen was ajar, she lifted a hoof to push it further open before trotting in to find Carrot and Cup Cake hard at work. The former was managing the taffy machine to make a heaping glob of rainbow-colored candies, while the latter had been hovering near the counter with a steaming pie before her.

Between them, playing with a mound of blocks, were Pumpkin and Pound, who instantly turned to the new arrival and called out "Pinkie Pie!" in unison. Their utterance caused Cup and Carrot to turn away from what they were doing, and both smiled at Pinkie when they saw her standing near the door.

Cup Cake trotted away from the pie and hugged Pinkie as soon as she was within hoof's reach. "Oh, goodness! We weren't expecting you to be back so soon," she chirped.

Pinkie returned the hug, and her mane and tail inflated a bit as she did so. "Oh, things were hectic at the Crystal Empire. It was fun, but also terrible at the same time," she replied, breaking the embrace with a content sigh.

Carrot's smile fell, he raised a brow, and cleared his throat to garner the attention of the two mares. "Terrible and fun, you say? Well… what happened?" he queried with a frown forming on his face.

"Well, a bad pony who escaped from Canterlot's dungeon somehow got to the Empire and tried harassing Shining's guards and the Fantasians. He made Shining reaaaally mad two nights ago. Good thing he was jailed again, or things would've been awful," Pinkie replied, her muzzle also forming a frown to match that of Carrot's. "But the Crystal Faire yesterday was very fun. I even took part in a new game that Shining made. I didn't even know archery could be fantastic!" she added, her smile coming back full force once she finished.

Carrot's frown turned upside-down in that moment. "That's good to hear." He turned to Pumpkin and Pound, watching them as they stood up, toddled away from their blocks, and went all the way over to Pinkie before giggling. "It seems the twins missed you," he noted.

Pinkie turned to the babies and smiled at them, before returning her attention to Carrot. "Say, can I take the babies with me to Fluttershy's place? I promise I'll keep them safe, and you two are already awfully busy this morning," she said.

Carrot's smile faded again, and he bit his lip and raised a hoof to rub his chin. He hummed for a bit before his hoof dropped and he nodded. "As long as you remember to change, feed, bathe, and play with them, I don't see why not," he replied. "Just bring them back and put them to sleep when you're done."

Pinkie beamed again. "Yes sir! I'll be sure to take good care of them," she chirped. Her utterance caused the babies to giggle and burble in glee, and they started hopping around her legs eagerly.

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The group mulled about in the front of Sugarcube Corner for some fifteen minutes, chatting amongst themselves when the door to the establishment opened and dual giggles reached all ears present. They hushed and turned to the building, some smiling and others with brows raising as Pinkie bounced out with a backpack laden on her withers and two foal-carriers on her midsection that Pumpkin and Pound occupied.

Lance trotted towards Pinkie as soon as she rejoined the group, both brows raised and eyes going wide. "What're the foals for?" he asked. "They yours?"

Pinkie shook her head and grinned at him. "Nope, but I do foalsit them every now and again. I just figured I wanted to spend time with both of them and my friends," she chirped. Lance nodded and turned to Pound, who spread his little wings and giggled at him like he woke up wearing clown make-up. Pinkie turned to Pound and grinned at him. "Seems he likes you," she cooed. The group turned away from Sugarcube Corner and headed down a road going south.

They continued on their way to Golden Oaks before stopping at a fork in the road, though Natalie picked up her pace to catch up with Pinkie, with Matt falling in step behind her.

Natalie leaned in to nuzzle Pumpkin once she was close enough, smiling when the filly booped her on the nose in response. "Were you a good little filly?" she cooed, her smile widening when Pumpkin giggled at her query.

Pinkie rolled her eyes. "She and her brother were probably good foals while I was gone," she answered for Pumpkin, garnering another set of giggles from the filly in question. "Their parents are really good when it comes to caring for foals. I bet Lance could take lessons from Mr. Cake." That utterance caused Lance to seize up with a choked gasp leaving his mouth, which in turn made Pinkie turn to him and snort once she saw that he was already turning blue in the face.

"But Lance has a growing filly with a foul mouth," Matt stated with a grin. "I don't think Mr. Cake could help him on that front."

Pinkie pursed her lips as she turned to Matt, and her brow slanted slightly. After giving his remark some thought, she nodded glumly. "Eh, you do have a point there," she agreed.

Lance took in a shallow breath, but chose to keep his mouth closed as the group turned to the left on the fork and kept on going. The others chattered on around him, but their latest bits of gossip simply went in one torn ear and straight out the other with speeds rivaling that of freshly-fired bullets. So he simply kept his gaze fixed forward, noticing that despite the rising sun, nopony else came out of their houses yet.

As the collective herd rounded a lengthy bend with the library finally coming into sight, however, they came upon a large gathering of particularly vocal ponies who were already out and about. Shining trotted a little closer with Lance in tow, watching intently as the other ponies' bickering meshed together into an incomprehensible mess as they cut ahead before they veered to the right at another fork further down the road. Among this mass was a peculiar mare sporting a pale brown coat that bordered on beige, and a silvery mane and tail. She broke into a gallop to take the lead of the second group.

"Now, now, everypony. We'll be civilised when we get to the town hall," the almost-beige mare implored in a calm but no-nonsense tone that demanded some modicum of respect. Her voice was what ground the first group to a halt, a mere trot's distance from the library at that. They watched still, and Shining caught a glimpse of yellow and red running to and fro between sets of stamping hooves, followed by a blur of red and orange.

"But what if we need the Bearers of Harmony, Mayor Ivory Scroll?" a stallion called out from the crowd ahead. "I heard we had visiting Fantasians that've been in Equestria for a while."

"Let's save such a thing for the town meeting today," Ivory Scroll replied, her voice rising slightly to silence the resulting murmurs that swept through the rest of the crowd with the stallion's utterance. Once things fell into tranquility, she broke it with a firm statement, "I'm sure we'll figure something out. And if the Bearers show up, things might just go swimmingly for us all." The crowd started fading into the distance, before turning a corner and vanishing from sight.

Twilight trotted up to Shining and exchanged glances with him. "The town's already assembled to head to the hall? That's not something that usually happens around here," she bemoaned, a frown forming on her face.

Shining's face hardened. "It seems the library will have to wait for a few minutes, at the least," he replied before turning to face Lance, who still stared at where the crowd had gone. He lifted a hoof and poked him on the withers with it, garnering an incredulous look. "Would you and yours mind staying in the library for a few?" he asked.

Lance nodded with wide eyes, dilated pupils, ears folded back, and muzzle slightly scrunched. Finally, after his mouth opened again and his gums flapped for a few minutes on end, he found his voice. "We'll… uh, be in the basement," he stated in a very uneasy voice. Then he trotted towards the library with a hurried pace, causing Matt and Natalie to exchange looks before turning to Pinkie Pie. Pinkie looked at them before directing her attention to Shining.

Shining turned to stare her in the eye before spinning around to stare at Fluttershy, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Spike, and Zecora. "Can you guys keep the Fantasians out of trouble? Me and Twilight are gonna head to the town hall for a bit, and we shouldn't be gone long," he stated. As soon as he got a series of nods after the mares and dragon he addressed exchanged glances, he and his sister turned to the fork up ahead and broke out into a unified gallop.

They spared just one glance over their shoulders to confirm that the others stayed behind, and both smiled as the group began heading to the library after Lance. Then they turned to stare ahead again and reached the fork in under a minute, veering sharply to the right as if avoiding a wall they couldn't simply jump over in a single bound.

The still-bickering crowd was up ahead by a few miles that took some six minutes to cross, already congregating with yet more ponies around a large building that jutted up like a thumbtack amidst a few houses and establishments that were dwarfed in comparison. It had a large, manicured patch of grass spanning a few yards all to itself, only offsetted by a nearby river and bridges arching over said river.

This building looked as though the construction team got inspired by a carefully-crafted and layered wedding cake; it had several sets of steps leading onto a porched alcove of sorts. It came with pink windows and sturdy, painted-mauve oak doors framing the base of the building. It had a first floor atop that, constructed much like the base albeit with a balcony and fence to keep the foolhardy from tumbling to the ground and pillars starting from the ground floor that held it up.

It was capped off with a sloped, angled roof leading to two more balconies, one with more windows and pillars to hold up an arching roof and the other serving as a sort of crow's nest if one so desired to use it for that purpose. On the porch of sorts, standing behind a polished podium crafted of wood and between two of those pillars was Ivory Scroll. She looked over the forming crowd with critical eyes as blue and cold as ice, waiting until the mass of ponies stopped accruing more members than she could hope to count before clearing her throat just once.

Any sort of noise the crowd made in that moment, even as Twilight and Shining stepped in behind them without notice from their fellow attendees, died as soon as that sound crawled from her throat.

She turned her piercing, chilling gaze onto Twilight and Shining before nodding to them once. "Would you two like to step up to the podium?" she queried in a friendly, though miffed, tone of voice that had the rest of the crowd turning to them on the spot.

Shining and Twilight exchanged glances, then turned to Ivory and nodded in unison. The crowd parted to let them through, and they began to languidly walk to the podium shoulder-by-shoulder.

"Is it true there are Fantasians in Equestria?" a stallion called from their right.

"Are they evil and cruel?" a mare yodeled from the left.

"Why would they bring changelings with them? Doesn't that seem fishy?" a third asked from the right, his query causing a wave of murmurs to sweep through the crowd like a tide. "Would that mean they're all changelings?"

"Do they take candy from foals?" a filly on the left asked.

"Now, now," Ivory Scroll chided in a raised voice as she tapped her hoof on the podium like a gavel, her no-nonsense tone combined with the thumping hushing the murmurs almost immediately. "No need to bedraggle Twilight and her brother with a laundry list of questions. As it stands, I myself have enough unanswered as is." That caused Twilight and Shining to pick up their pace, though the two shuddered nonetheless.

The two exchanged another look as they came closer to the podium, and at this rate they were a mere trot's distance from it now. They swallowed nervously before nodding to each other and quickening their pace again, crossing the distance in a matter of seconds. Twilight saw a magenta glow in her sight for a few milliseconds before she heard Shining's voice echo into her head, "Might as well get this over with." Giving a silent nod of assent, she turned to Ivory Scroll as she and her brother trotted around the podium and directly to her.

Amethyst eyes locked with ice-cold ones, and for but a few seconds the lock held tight, taking precedence over all else in that moment. Then Ivory blinked and asked, "Are any of the claims the good citizens of Ponyville keep going on about, in any way, shape, or form true?"

Twilight turned to look at the crowd for a second or two before averting back to Ivory. "Yes and no," she replied, a slight frown forming on her face.

Then another pony broke through the crowd, causing the three near the podium to turn to the source as she forced herself onto the cleared path with a wordless cry. "I've met some of the Fantasians, and they're really nice folk!" Apple Bloom exclaimed. All eyes fell onto her as she added, "They helped my sister buck trees a few days ago."

"You don't know that for certain!" cried the stallion who made the assumption about all of the Fantasians being changelings. He stood up on his back legs, revealing a horn, a pale yellow coat and a blue mane as he added, "They might be waiting to strike!"

"I beg to differ," another voice cut through the crowd as, from behind Apple Bloom, Big Mac trotted onto the clear divide the crowd didn't bother to re-fill. He flanked his sister before addressing the unicorn who was upright, "Comet Tail, did you not get a wink of sleep last night? It sure sounds like it."

Comet Tail's ears folded back, and he flinched as though struck across the face by a flyswatter. "How do you know that?" he retorted in a faltering voice.

"I met them in the flesh. As my sister said, they are good folk," Big Mac replied in an even voice, his expression straight and steadfast. "Maybe I could take you to meet them, if they show up again."

Silence held the crowd, and yet again Shining and Twilight exchanged looks. Then they turned to Comet Tail as he sighed and sunk back into the crowd on all fours. After that, Big Mac and Apple Bloom retreated into the mass of ponies as well, although they stuck together in doing so.

Then the gap between the crowd closed as everypony within shuffled about, before they stilled and sat on their haunches. Twilight saw Ivory shift away from the podium in her peripheral gaze before shuffling over to take both said podium and the entirety of the crowd's immediate attention. "It's true that there are some Fantasians in Equestria," she announced, yet again causing the crowd to murmur with her utterance. "But," she began, silencing all on the spot, "the only reason they're in Equestria is to discuss potential relations with Celestia in the future."

"Then what explains this!?" Comet Tail shouted, his horn glowing with a silver aura. In a flash of light, a stack of newspapers materialized before hovering next to him. He threw it rather unceremoniously over half of the crowd, and it would have hit Twilight's face has she not lit her horn and grabbed it with her aura at the last second.

She brought it close and scanned it, seeing a familiar article with three pictures to one side. She made it vanish in a puff of pink smoke before turning to Comet. "About that… one of the Fantasians runs an army with changelings and gryphons. As for the hotel… I'm not even gonna delve into that," Twilight replied with a huff.

"Are they trying to invade?!" Comet yelled, his eyes narrowing as he abruptly stood on his back legs again.

Twilight groaned. "Here we go. The madness has officially begun," she muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes. "No. I will repeat myself only once, because evidently you weren't paying attention," she stated firmly, shaking her head as she spoke. "They only want to establish relations with Equestria—nothing more, nothing less."

Comet Tail's face tightened to the point he looked as though glowering. "How do you know that?" he queried.

Twilight snorted, eyes narrowing slightly. "Try asking a different question. You're just exhausting that one," she replied in an icy tone.

Comet Tail's lips pulled back and he started grinding his teeth, but a glare from Shining and Ivory stopped him from speaking right as he opened his mouth to pipe up again. His mouth clacked shut and he slowly sat back down. His pupils dilated when he saw Shining's horn glow, before a flash of magic exploded next to him to reveal a bowl of popcorn at the ready. His teeth ground harder when Shining offered the bowl to Ivory Scroll, who accepted the treat and popped some into her mouth.

He tuned out what Twilight had to say about the Fantasians after that, not bothering to absorb details about trade relations and how all of that mumbo-jumbo was going to work out.

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After the crowd had been quelled and dispersed an hour later that morning, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief and let her shoulders slump. She turned to Ivory and Shining, both of whom looked at her with grins on their muzzles and an empty bowl sitting between them. "I must say, Twilight, your arguments were very sound. Why, it's almost like you met with the Fantasians," Ivory noted, causing both Twilight and Shining to flinch at the remark.

Twilight lifted a hoof and rubbed the back of her head nervously, an awkward and warbling grin spreading on her face as a dry chuckle left her mouth. "Weeeeeell…" Her ears twitched, and her grin widened and faltered as Ivory gave her an expectant look. "Would you like to come to the library with me, Ivory? I… have something I'd like to show you."

Ivory raised a bemused brow. "Something?" she queried sincerely, her own grin likewise broadening.

Twilight dropped her hoof and hesitantly nodded. "Yeah. But can you promise to keep it just between us? I don't want the townsponies to lose their marbles again," she replied.

Ivory's other brow rose to join its mate. "Like the stampeding rabbits ordeal?" she asked.

"Sort of, but worse if word got out," Twilight stated in an uneven voice, her mouth twitching a little to the right as she spoke.

Ivory bit her lower lip as her brows lowered, before she turned to Shining to find him looking back with an expression that betrayed slanted brows, a faltering smile rivaling that of Twilight's, and shrunk pupils—a mix between amusement and pleading. Only then did she relent and nod. "Alright, I'll bite. But it better be good," she said in a flat tone.

The three then trotted off of the alcove, though Shining took a few seconds to make the empty bowl vanish in a flare of light before he joined the two mares as they gained a trot's distance from him. "So, would either of you tell me what I'm gonna get into here?" Ivory piped up as Shining rejoined them. The siblings looked at her, still bearing nervous grins that warbled so much it seemed as if they threatened to fall off their muzzles at any second.

"Well… it's kinda a surprise. You'll know when we get there," Twilight answered before turning to glance forward. She left it at that. Ivory, thankfully, took the hint and nodded, sporting a small grin on her face that lasted for all of fifteen minutes that it took to get back to Golden Oaks. As soon as they reached the building, Twilight trotted to the door and opened it before poking her head inside, finding that everything was as it should be: books in alcoves, horse head bust before the table. There was nary a thing out of place.

But as she came inside, motioning with a hoof for Ivory and Shining to follow suit, she heard voices so muffled it was difficult to make out whatever words they spoke. As soon as her brother and her newest guest flanked her, her horn lit up and she lifted the table behind the bust with a flare of magic, revealing the winding stairs going down. This also caused the voices she heard to get louder, though whether or not they were shouting she couldn't tell.

"Twilight? Do you have ponies in your basement again?" Ivory asked in a sincere voice, her smile fading at last.

Twilight nodded. "Just follow me," she stated simply. She made for the stairs, but not before setting the table to one side so it wouldn't hamper her in any way. Taking the first few steps thereafter, her ears perked as the voices became clearer.

"Y'all got any queens?" one asked, which Twilight immediately recognized as Applejack's.

"Not again," a masculine voice grumbled indignantly. After some seconds, the owner added, "Any four's?" Another few seconds. "Aaaand my hoof is emptied." Followed promptly by a loud thump.

"It seems they're keeping themselves busy, whoever they are," Ivory noted with an amused snort.

Twilight mutely nodded as they went down a winding staircase that did not span any longer than a standard set leading to another floor. This gave way to a small hall with gnarled tree roots poking out overhead, which ended in a small green door that remained closed for the moment. As they came closer, Shining flared his horn and grappled the doorknob in his magic, hastening his trot so that he could go shoulder-to-shoulder with Twilight. There was a brief pause when they reached the door about a minute later, and they kept still for a few seconds.

The two turned to Ivory Scroll in unison as the door was flung open, their forms obscuring what was beyond. For a few more seconds, the voices that chattered hushed, and silence cradled the basement before being abruptly broken as Pinkie asked, "Anypony got any seven's?"

Twilight felt an increasing tightness in her chest the longer she kept her back to the door, watching Ivory with as straight a face as she could muster. Then she heard Matt pipe up, "What next, a concussion? Pinkie, you've just won how many games now?" This was followed by another wave of bickering from many voices.

Ivory cleared her throat and turned to Twilight. "We have some new ponies in town?" she guessed, a brow raising yet again before dipping back low.

Twilight nodded for the upteempth time. "Not just any ponies, though," she replied before she turned around and trotted into the room.

Shining stayed for a few seconds, his ears slowly turning back to rest against his head. "These guys… aren't of your standard run-of-the-mill sort," he added before likewise shifting to face the door and trotting into the room beyond. "Everyone, your attention please," he said in a firm voice, one that quelled the bickering yet again. Ivory lifted a brow when 'everyone' instead of 'everypony' left Shining's mouth, and it rose higher with his next utterance.

"It seems you'll have to be discreet today, as we've confirmed that the rest of Ponyville has caught on to your presence. That said, we've decided to introduce you to the mayor of this town, as she's promised me and Twily to keep a secret," Shining announced. "Are you fine with this?"

Several voices said "yes" or "yeah" in unison. Among them, a cat meowed, which caused Ivory's mouth to twitch a little. This was followed by a shuffling of what sounded like cards.

"Alright then," Shining stated. "Ivory Scroll, come in please," he beckoned. Ivory did not need a second invitation; she trotted to the door and went into the room to find Twilight's friends, in addition to Pumpkin and Pound Cake. All sans the aforementioned babies were engaged in a card game with the strangest ensemble she'd ever seen.

Maria wasted no time putting her cards face-down on the floor as soon as Ivory turned to her. "You're a pretty pony," she innocently chirped.

Ivory blushed and managed a small smile. "W-why thank you, d-dear," she stammered. She turned to Fenrir, whose paws dwarfed the cards he held so much he may as well have been in possession of bobby pins. "A… oh, um…"

Fenrir smiled at Ivory and lifted a paw to gesture her over. "It is alright; me and my acquaintances do not wish you any harm."

Ivory hesitated for a full minute before she slowly walked over and sat next to him prior to turning away, only to then find herself staring at a pale face that at first seemed like that of a filly's. But then it shifted into a grotesque, almost skeletal thing with a flare of gold and a buzzing of wings. It was this abrupt change that caused Ivory's pupils to dilate into tiny pinpricks.

"Long and complicated story. But I won't bite," Katie chirped, her orbs twinkling with some fleeting vestige of emotion that Ivory couldn't pinpoint a name to. She extended a card-free hoof in greeting, noticing that Ivory stared at her with a jittering jaw that threatened to drop. "Broken as I may be, I'm not going to drain you of your love or anything of the sort. I've lost that kind of drive a long time ago."

Pinkie, who sat directly opposite of Ivory, piped up, "She's actually friendly, if only a bit blunt. Still, she's not a meanie-pants like Chrysalis and her army."

Ivory sighed through her nostrils and hesitantly lifted a hoof to grapple with Katie's, and she made sure to very tenderly shake it as soon as she had it in her grasp. "This is… a lot to take in…" Her eyes flew to look at each and every new face present. "Where'd you guys come from?"

"World over yonder," Natalie answered with a slight smirk. "Things, ah… got a little hectic lately."

"You're telling me," Ivory snorted, barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "I had to have help calming down a crowd in the last hour and a half." Then she registered the 'world over yonder' bit and her eyes widened. "Wait, so you are the Fantasians everypony's been fussing over?" When ten heads nodded at once, she turned to Shining with twitching eyes. "Um… why aren't they in Canterlot presently?"