Flash and his group gathered in one of the guest rooms, with Twilight and Matt there as well. All eyes, however, were focused on the young filly and the baby; the former was currently munching on a stack of no less than a dozen syruped pancakes taller than she was, while the latter was sleeping in a makeshift crib constructed from the sturdiest, softest chitil and inlaid with the smallest plush blanket available. Both had also been thoroughly scrubbed head to hoof, and now their coats and manes gleamed almost as though they were crystal ponies. However, the lack of blood on the filly revealed a despairingly painful lack of a cutie mark as well.

Blueblood was busy facehoofing at the utter incredulity of the situation, though inwardly he was grateful he'd lived to see the end of tonight's particular brand of insanity. "I can just hear the Courts jeering when they learn I had to form a rhomboid shape with three other ponies to dodge airborne swords," he groused, his voice laced with just enough disbelief amidst his anger that Twilight got the impression he couldn't believe what he was saying. She didn't find the heart to blame him for it, either.

The elder turned to him and frowned. "The trees of Ashwood… have never gotten into such a big uproar before. Until now, I thought them… unable to even move from their rooted areas," he muttered, ears folding back. "If I had known… I wouldn't have left Greenwood. I wouldn't have dragged you into it," he added rather apologetically.

Blueblood ceased facehoofing and turned to the elder before shaking his head. "We couldn't have known they'd get that rambunctious, either," he pointed out. "We were just as blindsided as you were." He turned to the children present and sighed ruefully. "And these two… I dare not imagine what terrible fate would have befallen them had we not acted." He shuddered at the thought.

Shining nodded, his eyes briefly averting to Matt, who returned the look rather warily. As his illusion still had yet to be recast, everyone could plainly see his now-curved horn and the bizarre shape of his irises and pupils. Every now and then, flecks of shadowy wisps would dance around his legs, mane, and tail, though they were miniscule enough to not really do anything other than that. They both glanced back at the filly, who had finished half of her stack and was working her way down the remainder with just her mouth.

Applejack smiled as the filly finished her meal in a matter of two minutes, cantering over to inspect her closely. The poor thing's stomach ballooned out, looking as though she swallowed an entire watermelon whole with no trouble whatsoever, though this also caused her ribs to stand out a little more starkly than she'd have liked. "How was that for grub?" she asked.

The filly smiled weakly. "G-good," she chirped, before she burped and blushed a little. She turned to the chitil crib. "B-baby gonna l-like it," she added.

Applejack's brow went to the line of her forelock within a millisecond. "Why's the baby gonna like the food? He ain't old enough to chew solids yet," she pointed out, tilting her head.

The filly snickered at Applejack's befuddled reaction. "B-baby safe. No trees to h-hurt," she answered.

Applejack nodded at that, also turning to the crib. She trotted to it to peer at the little one, who was sleeping on his side, revealing that he had two little wings spread out. Part of her wondered how such obvious limbs had gone ignored until now, while the other blamed the trees and giant weapons. "A little pegasus colt… a mighty tough one too, given what he went through," she muttered. The foal moved a hoof to start sucking on it, and she barely resisted the urge to awwwww at the sight. She turned back to the filly. "So why'd ya take him outta Greenwood?" she asked. "If ya even left the town at all?"

The filly's smile fell. "Bad ponies… have bad place," she muttered. "Almost took b-baby… to b-bad place… l-left G-Greenwood… to k-keep b-baby safe..."

Applejack frowned at the vague answer. Greenwood had a bad place? As far as she was concerned, the entire village was something beyond rotten. She smiled again. "Well, you and the colt are safe now. Ain't neither of y'all going to the 'bad place,'" she stated, her tone firm yet soothing. She tapped the floor for emphasis as she added, "Greenwood's folk are gonna have to learn how to fly first before they can even get here."

"And me and my fellow troops will shred them when they do," Rhinoc added, donning a small but pleased smile.

Rainbow snorted and rolled her eyes. "Assuming, of course, I don't kick their faces in first," she stated, her cheeks puffing as she resisted the urge to laugh her ass off. She cooled off before adding, "Greenwood's ponies flying? That'll be the day their little shield gives up and stops covering their tails."

Shining snickered as that image formed into his mind, complete with gryphons and changelings sending the callous villagers right to their deaths. Or at least, to the beginnings of their new lives as trees. Or, barring all of that, the ectoplasms getting to those knuckleheads first, while the army cracked out the popcorn bowls to watch. That would be a good sight indeed, the morbid part of his brain chirped. He turned to Rhinoc and asked, "So, is your superior aware of all of this?"

Rhinoc turned to Shining and nodded, still grinning. "Yep. But he told me he'd leave the new kid and baby alone for a few days, just so they could get used to being on an airship," he replied. "He also said we're gonna be hovering above Green and Ashwoods for the next few days, since the trees threw a hissyfit."

Shining nodded. That sounded reasonable enough. "And him?" he asked, lifting a hoof to gesture to Matt for emphasis.

"He's a hybrid, Shining. Nothing Lance can do about that," Rhinoc muttered with a shrug.

Shining slumped at that. "Well… I asked because something about it bothered me," he stated. When Rhinoc lifted a hoof to spin it in a circle, Shining elaborated, "My ponies back home told me the Crystal Heart repelled Umbrum unicorns, even destroying them during the Crystal Faires, days after King Sombra kicked the bucket." Shining lifted his hoof again and gesticulated to Matt with it. "But… he attended a Faire and a Crystalling, and all that happened to him was him getting the same sparkly aftereffect as everybody else within the Empire."

Rhinoc shrugged at that. "Dunno what to say, really," he stated dourly.

"I dunno…" Twilight's eyes darted between Shining and Matt with uncertainty as she spoke. "Maybe his earth pony magic negated the negative effects the Crystal Heart would have otherwise had on him?" she suggested. "I mean, the Empire consists mostly of earth ponies…"

Shining mulled it over and then nodded with a shrug. That seemed as good an explanation as any, though he wondered why Matt neglected to inform him of his half-Umbrum nature. The answer came unbidden as Blueblood coughed into his hoof and said it for him, "I think the Courts would have had a field day if he showed up without illusions covering him up."

"Politics," Matt muttered under his breath. Twilight noticed the reverb and echo that was in his voice earlier were now gone.

Blueblood heard the utterance. "Just about," he stated ruefully.

Shining's shoulders sagged as he realized Blueblood was right, with his utterance just about summing the whole thing up. The Courts back home would surely spin all sorts of rumors if this were to reach their ears. He found himself thankful he wasn't in Canterlot right now. "So… what now?" he asked.

Rainbow folded her forelegs over her barrel. "I say we just take it easy for now. The ectoplasms are here, the changelings can't go near Ashwood, and unless Lance gets creative with his gryphons, we're gonna end up doing jack squat," she stated flatly. She turned to the crib and added, "'sides, I'm pretty sure the ponies of Greenwood saw the giant weapons by now and have pooped themselves so badly they won't be able to trot for a week."

"And we need to re-gather our strength after tonight's scuffle in the meantime," Rhinoc added with a nod, turning to the filly as she made to canter on to bed. "Hey, kid," he said, stopping her in her tracks. When she turned to him with a raised brow, he asked, "do you need earmuffs?"

"What… earmuffs?" the filly asked, canting her head as a confused frown wormed its way onto her muzzle.

Rhinoc's wings fluttered nervously, and for a moment he fidgeted in place. "Well… they go over your ears to make a room go quiet," he said after a few seconds of hesitation, an awkward frown skewing his muzzle to make it look a little lopsided.

The filly mulled it over for a few seconds before shaking her head. "What i-if baby c-cries?" she retorted. Rhinoc's shoulders sagged.

"Weeeeeell," Twilight interjected, rocking on her hooves a little as the filly turned to her. Her voice took on a slight sing-song tone as she added, "I just happen to know somepony who knows a thing or two about handling babies hooves-on, and she's real sweet and gentleeee."

Matt turned to look at Twilight, both brows shooting up. Twilight returned the look and gave a knowing smile. "Well… there's a bit of a problem with that," Matt began, his brows lowering as a serious edge crept into his tone. When Twilight's smile faltered, he stated, "We don't know who gave birth to the little guy, and it takes a lot of stimulation for a non-nursing mare to make milk." His face hardened and he added, "So… where would Pinkie get the milk?"

Silence fell upon the room, and slowly, all eyes gravitated to Twilight as the question sank in. "Maybe one of your coworkers would provide it?" Twilight suggested, causing Matt to blush, sputter, and facehoof at the response.

"Neither of them could do it," Matt growled the moment he got his bearings together, embarrassment creeping into his tone. "One's in heat, and would sooner kick faces in, and the other is… not keen on getting milked."

"Why not?" Twilight asked, tilting her head.

"Ran into a Beholder once. It milked her senseless, and she couldn't move for a month after," Matt groused, rubbing his temples with the hoof that hit his face. "She had to be detoxified."

Twilight's smile fell, and her shoulders sagged. "So…"

"I-I have m-milkies," the filly interjected, causing all eyes in the room to snap to her and bulge out of their sockets. Seconds passed before one brain could process the utterance, and its owner dropped his fanged jaw when he realized what he'd just heard.

"I-I… what?" Rhinoc gabled, his mental gears having ground to a halt as he spoke. Hastily he turned to Twilight. "C-could you ch-check?!" he queried, squirming uncomfortably as he spoke.

Twilight turned to Rhinoc, her muzzle twisting into a grimacing frown. "Why me?!" she protested, ears flattening against her head.

Rhinoc crossed his forelegs and huffed. "General doesn't like us touching foals in certain spots, unless your name is Alexander and you have a tumor in said certain spots or something," he scoffed. "And you sound like you know the signs of a nursing pony, and all I'm asking is for you to look, damnit."

Twilight's grimace contorted to a slightly disconcerting degree. Her stomach churned, and she shook her head. "I… can't make a filly show me…" she muttered.

Rhinoc deflated and dropped his forelegs. "Nor can we," he muttered. He stood up with a tired sigh. "I'll get Alexander, and maybe some medical equipment here too." With that he turned tail and left the room in a hurried trot, wings sagging as he went. "Baby will need an incubator soon," he added as he strode out the door.

Applejack's ears fell back. "Well, this just got mighty awkward," she muttered.

"If the filly truly does lactate," Blueblood began, anger and skepticism warring in his tone, "then I wonder how far Fantasia has really fallen down the rabbit hole."

Matt slumped. "Sometimes I find myself afraid to ask," he hissed. "And I have seen a lot of shit in necks of the woods lately."

The crib started to rock erratically as Blueblood opened his mouth to ask what Matt had meant by that, and it was immediately followed by a series of sniffles that then gave way to a shrill cry. The filly's tail puffed out in alarm, and she darted to the crib, rearing onto unsteady hind legs to peer at the baby to see what the fuss was about. The baby had woken up, kicking and screeching and flapping his little wings frantically. Applejack rushed over and used one foreleg to scoop the child up, holding him to her chest. She turned to the filly, who glanced back with a small but very tight frown.

Applejack handed the filly the baby and said in a stern voice, "If you really do make milk, then I'll be an alicorn's uncle." The filly nodded and took the child in her forelegs, then sat on her haunches before parking him between her rear hooves. The colt stopped wailing for long enough to get a decent view, before he crawled over and latched on. The wet, quite unmistakeable sound of a young mouth suckling on something filled the room, and all eyes fell onto the filly again as she blushed and looked down in shame.

Then Applejack followed her gaze and her heart stopped. The filly had teats, and they were quite the engorged pair at that. The colt was latched very firmly on one of them, and the other was oozing milk in a steady trickle. "Sweet Celestia…" she breathed, her face draining of its color as she watched the baby nurse.

Matt promptly growled and facehooved, ears flattening against his head. "How old is she, exactly?" he hissed.

The nursing filly fumbled with her hooves for a bit, then looked over her front pair three times and the rear ones only twice. "T-ten…" she mumbled once she finished glancing at her hooves.

"T-ten?!" Shining and Blueblood cried in unison, manes and tails standing right on their ends as a hideous realization set in. The filly gravely nodded.

"Had… first h-heat… last year," she mumbled, her voice tinged with shame. "Didn't want… b-bad ponies around b-baby… got o-out…"

"And the window…" the elder stopped his musing, eyes going wide and alert in realization. "The village leaders n-never told me th-they let a pregnant filly leave the village!" he gabled, shuddering with enough force he could've sworn he heard a bone or two pop.

Twilight's mane started frizzing up, and she turned to Shining for an explanation. Shining took a few deep breaths to collect himself before looking at her and shaking his head. "The whole town of Greenwood seems like it has something to hide…" He lifted a hoof and gestured to the nursing filly. "They abandoned a pregnant foal who got out, and then kicked out an elder! A pregnant foal!"

Twilight's stomach flipped, apparently discontent with what her ears were hearing. She found herself wishing she had the option to deny to no end what she was listening to, but that was impossible since her eyes were witnessing a very different scene play out before her.

"Lance is gonna bitch to no end… and the sad thing is there's next to nothing he can do about it," Matt hissed, shuddering to the point his teeth briefly chattered. Twilight glanced at him, wondering what he was harping on about, and Matt lifted his other hoof to gesture to the crib.

"Well, if he's gonna go off, at least the baby should be asleep before he does," Applejack groused, still watching as the filly moved to pick up the baby, heft him over her shoulder, and pat him on the back a few times before he burped. Then she plucked him from the filly's hooves and put him back into the crib. Almost instantly, the little one fell back asleep. She sighed heavily. "At least they're outta Ashwood now…"

"And more importantly, away from whoever decided it would be a swell idea to steal a young filly's foalhood by impregnating her," Blueblood added, though his voice had been brought down to a whisper that still carried its weight throughout the room. As he said that, he heard the sound of muffled hooves beating on carpet, followed by a muffled shuffling noise. Seconds after, Rhinoc and Alexander strode into the room, with the latter toting saddlebags by the straps in his beak.

"You guys take care of the baby and the filly…" Twilight muttered, her horn lighting up. Matt found himself lifted up into the air, by his tail no less. "Mister, you're coming with me. We're going to have a looooong talk with your superior…" Matt whimpered, but did nothing to struggle in her magical grip as she cantered out of the room, levitating his sorry ass with her.

Alexander handed the saddlebags to Rhinoc and watched Twilight leave. After they left, he stared at the door for some seconds. "He did it again, didn't he?" he asked blithely. Rhinoc nodded once with a frown etched onto his face, and Alexander groaned in exasperation. "That would explain why the ship shook… and why Pinkie Pie was twitching her tail so damn much…"

Rainbow winced at that. "You mean… you saw her tail…" Alexander's nod cut her off.

"Harped on and on about things falling…" Alexander muttered, and he left it at that. He collected himself and turned to the filly, then let his gaze settle onto Applejack. "Anything happen with the newest charges yet?"

Applejack nodded. "Uh, yeah… she nursed the baby," she answered, grimacing at the thought, which on all accounts just felt plain wrong to even think about, let alone speak of.

Alexander rose a brow and cantered over to the crib, finding the little one fast asleep and sucking on his hoof again. He took a close look, making sure to avoid waking the wee colt. "A few days old at best… and relatively healthy and hale-looking… I'll need to double-check when…"

"He," Rhinoc interjected.

"Yes, when he wakes up," Alexander finished with a roll of his eyes before turning to the filly, who cringed under his gaze. "Does the baby have a name yet?" he asked, keeping his voice low and soft. The filly shook her head. "Tell me… what is your name?"

"N-no hurt me?" the filly squeaked. Alexander shook his head.

"I wouldn't even think of it. You have my word," Alexander replied in a soothing voice, trying his best to sound as fatherly as possible. "Note to self," he thought as the filly fidgeted in place, "get makeshift diapers for the baby."

"H-Heather…" the filly mumbled.

"Tell me, Heather, does anything hurt at the moment?" Alexander asked. Heather shook her head again.

"O-other than m-my hoofsies, b-but th-they're g-good," Heather muttered.

Alexander knelt to Heather's eye level. "Show me your hooves, one at a time, please," he said gently. "I need to make sure they're good."

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

Anna and Sarah were in the master bedroom alongside Lance and Natalie, parked around the table. All were engaged in a game of cards. "So… your wing finished healing?" Anna asked, noticing Sarah's wing was no longer bound in its cast or even wrapped up in bandages.

Sarah nodded. "Yeah, but I was told to give it another week or two before I can start flying again. Alexander said something about avoiding the risk of aggravating the muscles or whatever, and that I was lucky I didn't suffer any more damage to my critical nerves and joints than just a few broken bones and fractures that healed fast thanks to magical aid," she answered, stretching her wing slowly for emphasis. "But, little movements here and there are encouraged, and so far nothing's going wrong. Anyone have a king?" Three heads shook negatively, and she plucked a card from the deck.

"That's very good. I take it you learned the hard way not to take unicorns head-on?" Lance asked. Sarah nodded.

"After seeing your wings? I'd just leave tackling unicorns to the changelings," Sarah answered, garnering a roll of the eyes from her sister. "Chanson Cheval's hooves were surprisingly weak for somepony lugging around a guitar."

Anna lifted a cardless hoof and waved dismissively. "That was probably the first serious fight he's been in. Let's face it, the only Canterlot noble who had balls was Blueblood," she scoffed, garnering nods of agreement. "Anyone have a jack?" Again, three heads shook. She drew a card with a sigh.

"It takes balls to come here after being told and shown a myriad of reasons not to go. Gotta admit, I respect him for the fact that he was the only noble even willing to drop by," Lance stated matter-of-factly, followed by a shrug of his shoulders. "And Chanson's testes were probably as big as his brain." Here, he spread his wings and furled them upward until his primaries rested just an inch apart, whereupon Sarah snickered. Lance closed his wings and asked, "Anyone have an ace?"

Natalie lifted a card from her hoof and forked it over to him. Lance took it with a hoof and plopped the ace he had on top of it. "Anyone have a queen?" Lance tried. That time, heads shook. Another card went from the deck to his hoof in short order.

"So when did you earn your cutie mark?" Natalie asked, looking pointedly at Sarah's hip to get a good view of her wind-and-halberd mark.

"Last year, and Fenrir helped me do it," Sarah replied with a shrug. When the gaze on her hip shifted expectantly to her face, she elaborated, "Had the harp since I was little, but didn't get the enchanted halberd until I was stupid enough to raid a guard's armory in a village near Glacier Valley. Fenrir bailed my ass out, and… after tying the things together and using the harxe for the first time, that's when I got it. We've been trekking together since."

Natalie's brow rose. "So you and Fen are travel buddies?" she queried.

Sarah nodded. "More like friends," she chirped. "I learned not to steal after that."

Natalie smiled at that. "Anyone have a seven?" Immediately, she got three shaking heads.

Anna looked incredulously at Sarah, eyes narrowing. "You stole your halberd?" she hissed.

Sarah nodded. "And plenty of other things before that, mostly food and clothing for when the weather turned for the worse. Hey, I've been on my own for a while, and I had to make a living somehow, markless as I was. Not many towns tolerated hippogryphs, let alone one who was a thief," she pointed out. "I stopped after I got my mark. Fenrir chewed me out sideways over that shit."

Anna sighed dejectedly, though inwardly she was glad for Sarah. "Are there bounties on your head?" she asked worriedly.

Sarah shook her head again. "Fenrir dragged me to pay off the stolen goods by various community services. After that, the bounties were taken down," she answered. "And once the last debt was paid off, I was pretty much pardoned. Anyone have a five?" Heads shook, and the deck found itself one card shorter.

"So, you were a thief…" Lance muttered with a frown. "At least you got your shit together."

Sarah nodded. "Trust me, I needed to be chewed out," she chirped.

Anna snickered at that. "Then again, I'm basically a teen soldier," she stated, her tone bubbling with amusement.

"At least you get paid for that shit," Sarah snarked. Anna rolled her eyes again.

"You should've seen me when I was trying to find my cutie mark between all the assignments I got," Anna snarked back, smiling just a little bit. "Anyone have three's?" A trio of cards were forked to her, and once she deposited the fourth onto the pile, she followed that up with, "Jacks?" Heads once more shook, but before the next card could be drawn, the door to the room burst open, and Twilight trotted in with Matt floating behind her.

"If this is about the giant swords that I saw from the window, can it wait?" Lance asked, turning to the new arrivals with eyes narrowed.

"Why should it wait?" Twilight shot back, eyes also narrowing dangerously low. "Matt almost killed Shining!"

Lance sighed. "Park him on the bed." Twilight flung Matt onto the bed, who gave a startled yelp when he landed. He nodded and kept his gaze on Twilight. "Are you going to file another complaint?" he asked expectantly, and Twilight noticed that his flat tone and still-narrowed eyes screamed 'this isn't the first time I had to deal with this.'

Twilight shook her head. "Uh, no… the filly, uh… she feeds the baby," she muttered awkwardly, her stomach twisting once more with the utterance. She winced as it started cramping; by Faust, that felt just insanely wrong to say.

Lance's brow shot up. "Elaborate," he said tersely.

Twilight fell onto her haunches and threw her forehooves to the air. "She makes milk! I saw her put the colt between her rear legs!" she screamed. "And she said she was only ten years old!"

Lance's wings ruffled, and his feathers bristled. His eyes narrowed until they were meager slits. A deep, guttural, almost leonine growl rose from his throat. "If what you say is true… then I will find whoever did that to her and have that bastard drawn and quartered. And then I will probably have him fed to the lich-wyrm in the crystal caverns," he hissed. "But not before I give somepony a loooong talking to."

Twilight nodded and shivered, swallowing nervously. "Isn't having a pony drawn and quartered… a bit extreme?" she tried.

Lance shook his head. "For stealing a filly's foalhood by thrusting an adult responsibility onto her withers? Perhaps. But I am going to go that extra mile and guess that she didn't want to, but got that particular package anyway," he muttered grimly. "Is somepony watching her?"

Twilight nodded. "Several, including an elder from Greenwood… who Shining told me got exiled. Alexander trotted in to check on her when I dragged Matt out of the room she's in," she answered. "And the colt's asleep."

Lance sighed, and his feathers relaxed a little. "Just great, Greenwood's turning more and more like Frostbite the more I hear of it…" he grumbled indignantly. "How well are they acclimated?"

"A little. Applejack made the filly a big stack of a dozen or so pancakes," Twilight answered with a shrug. "Not sure if it's healthy for a starving filly to eat that many in one sitting…"

Lance lifted a card-free hoof and waved dismissively. "Eh, she'll need the carbs as much as the nutrients. But the sweets should be toned down a little. Maybe give her… I dunno…" His free hoof moved to tap his chin thoughtfully.

"Eggs and ham?" Anna suggested.

Lance nodded. "Sounds good enough, but maybe with a side of biscuits," he chirped. "And please make sure to tell the cooks to not make the eggs and ham green."

"Oh, and another thing," Twilight interjected, garnering no less than five expectant looks. "Is it alright for Pinkie to help the filly with the colt?" Twilight winced when she realized what she'd just uttered. Good gravy, that sounded a lot better in her head than it did coming out of her mouth, and profoundly less awkward to boot.

Anna and Natalie exchanged glances, then turned to Twilight and shrugged in unison. "She has the experience," Anna mumbled.

"I don't see why not. Babies aren't our forte," Natalie added with a sympathetic wince. "But I say… hold that off until tomorrow, after Alexander gives the initial once-over and his diagnosis."

Lance nodded. "Pinkie's… exuberance may scare the new kids. Would she be alright with toning it down by twenty-five percent, just for their sake?" he asked rather uneasily, his brow slanting and his mouth faltering to form a slight frown. Twilight got the impression that he was mentally picturing the foals scared senseless, and if such was the case, she couldn't blame him.

Twilight nodded back. "I'll see what I can do. I'll go tell her now," she answered.

Lance nodded again, donning a small smile. "Thanks," he chirped, before his smile fell. "How well would she take… the news of a filly being a…"

Twilight shuddered as he trailed off, knowing full well what he was asking. "I don't think she'd… take it well. She hates it when ponies make other ponies frown, and forcing a filly to become a mother is the best way to do just that," she mumbled. "I think she'd try pounding whoever did that into a pulp…"

Anna and Natalie exchanged glances again, brows slanting that time. Anna turned back to Twilight first, her gaze one of uncertainty. "In that case, tell her Lance has dibs on the bastard, and we'd have to find him first," she stated. "She does know to wait in line, right?"

Twilight nodded. "Can do," she said. With that, she trotted out of the room and closed the door behind her gently.

Lance sighed and turned to Sarah. "Want to finish this round first, before I tear Matt a new asshole?" he asked.

Sarah nodded, eyes narrowing as a fire sparked within. "You're on," she challenged. "As long as I spend time with Anna, I'm game."

Anna nodded to her sister as she donned a small yet wicked smirk, eyes flitting to Matt for the barest of instants. "Two rounds," she proposed. "And during round two… we make him don a maid uniform."

Matt paled and gulped audibly. "Nah, since he almost killed Shining…" Lance began with a malicious edge in his voice that wasn't there before, "I say we horncap him… and cocoon him for a day."

Natalie giggled. "Pshaaaw, that's still a pansy punishment meant only for the corporals," she snorted. "I say we stick him on a unicycle and make him play the accordion."

Anna turned to Natalie and snickered. "In a maid uniform, horncapped," she chirped.

"Make him sing something stupid," Sarah added with a chortle. "Like, 'grated dick cheese' or something."

Lance donned another grin. "Loser of round one has to fetch Armin. I bet he still has his maid uniform…" he muttered darkly. "But, we'll have to be at the base first, or in a town, just so the airship doesn't get destroyed. Agreed?"

A moment of hesitation passed, and then a chorus of "You're on!" from his card-mates answered him eagerly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Matt's tail tuck itself between his rear legs.

~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~-—-~

The window of a guest room shook as thunder boomed, the door opened and slammed into the wall outside, and the furniture rattled violently with the force of an earthquake as Pinkie shouted on a level of volume surpassed only by Princess Luna, "The filly had what happen to her?!"

Twilight shakily nodded, sweat beading her brow as a manic look of pure, narrow-eyed hatred crossed Pinkie's face. Her eyes, once a clear blue, now gleamed dangerously gold in color. "A-and we don't know who did that to her…" she muttered in reply. "We have to find the pony first, and… and Lance already wants him drawn and quartered for it."

Pinkie shuddered for a moment, and then as fast as it had come, the look of rage passed into a solemn stare framed by a slanted brow and a very deep frown. Her eyes stopped gleaming, and her ears drooped and her mane and tail fell flat and straight as a ruler. "Wh-who would… do that… to a filly?" she mumbled, her voice now shaky and quiet. Twilight winced and frowned, shaking her head and shrugging her shoulders.

"A purely heartless pony?" Twilight suggested, but her voice was weak and shaky. Pinkie started shedding tears, and Twilight lifted both forehooves before planting them onto her friend's withers. "But the filly managed to take her foal out of Greenwood, and now she's with us. She and the baby are safe. If anything, they can start to heal now that they're around sane ponies." A weak smile crossed Twilight's muzzle. "She can get the help she desperately needs, and Alexander is already looking at her to make sure she can pull through."

Pinkie slowly nodded, and lifted a hoof to wipe away her tears. "B-but what if w-we don't find th-the pony who…"

Twilight lifted a hoof from Pinkie's withers and held it over her lips, shushing her on the spot. "Then we make sure he can't get to the foals. We have multiple sets of eyes aboard this ship, more airships all around with even more pairs, and at least a pair of eyes that can see very far away. She's safe, trust me," she muttered in reply. "While we don't know who did it, I'm confident that he will rat himself out. 'Guilty dog barks loudest,' after all."

Pinkie nodded again, and her mane started frizzing up. "And her baby…?"

Twilight's smile widened. "Well… he and his mom will probably be adopted into a loving home," she answered. "Buuuut the baby might grow up believing his mom is his sister, at least for a little while. It would certainly ease her burden." Her smile grew a little more, and her eyes twinkled. "All we have to do is let her decide who her new mommy and daddy will be."

Pinkie's mane began curling more and more at that, her eyes brightening. "And they could help her get better…" she finished.

Twilight nodded firmly. "Just… let's let her rest for tonight. Once she has breakfast and Alexander finishes looking her and the colt over, we'll take it from there. But please please please don't go overboard. She's already been scared enough," she stated, her voice firm but gentle at the same time. "And then you could start teaching her how to giggle at the ghosties, but it may take her a while to get it and consider it seriously. She already has a lot on her plate, much more than any filly her age should have."

Pinkie nodded in understanding, and her mane's re-curling hastened by a considerable margin. "Can I help her with the baby?" she asked.

Twilight nodded. "That's why I came to you actually, so we could work out how to help the filly," she answered. "Now, aside from teaching her to giggle at the ghosties, I wanted to know what you'd recommend. You're the baby expert, after all. Except for the filly to get more food than usual; already got that down, since I confirmed she is lactating."

"Hrrrrrmmmmmm…." Pinkie lifted a hoof and tapped her chin, frowning and letting her brow furrow in thought. Her mane and tail finished poofing up, and for a moment she did nothing but hum and tap. When her hoof parted from her chin, she gave a smile and answered, "Maybe have the changelings make some toys out of that goo stuff they use, and then have her play with them. Heck, we could get Maria in there too; she knows a thing or two about what fillies shouldn't know, and they could become friends."

Twilight's eyes widened. "Playmates…" she murmured.

Pinkie nodded vigorously at that. "And Spike, too," she added. "And I could watch the baby while they all play! Isn't that wonderful?!"

Twilight beamed and nodded once. "As good an idea as any other," she answered. "Although Spike may object."

"That could get all three of them to get better faster, and do something about their boredom. And then they'll be super-duper happy, and they'll giggle at the ghosties before we know it!" Pinkie shrieked, ignoring Twilight's second utterance as she began bubbling with enthusiasm that could not be contained. "And then they will be happy as can be! So happy I don't think even Lance could frown at such joy!"

Twilight giggled, mentally picturing Lance amidst a bunch of happy, rambunctious foals. "Unless the foals did something they weren't supposed to, but that'll be his prerogative to deal with. I don't think Maria would do anything bad though," she chirped. "Spike certainly wouldn't. I think he'd help them be good."

"And if things go sour, we could have Fenrir break the foals up. He's big and mean when he needs to be, but around kids he's harmless as a fly," Pinkie added, her smile widening tenfold. "And we could get Harry, Angel and NoLegs in there too, as more playmates!"

Twilight nodded at that. "Well, we'll have to get started tomorrow. I think we'll need to sleep soon," she pointed out.

Pinkie kept on smiling. "Okie-dokie-lokie," she chirped.

"And maybe… the filly will get her cutie mark," Twilight added, eyes still twinkling.

Pinkie gasped, and her mane and tail stood straight on end. "She… she's a blank flank?!" she cried, pupils shrinking to pinpricks.

Twilight nodded, yet her smile remained. "Maria is also a blank flank…" she trailed off, letting her unspoken meaning hang in the air. It took a second for it to click into Pinkie's head, but when it did she nodded vigorously.

"Maybe we could get Applejack or Rarity to help them earn their marks, or even Rainbow Dash," Pinkie chimed, and she began shaking in place, giving Twilight the impression she was envisioning tomorrow's shenanigans on some level.

"Mhm. But I would recommend trying to keep them out of the more dangerous activities, since there's a baby and all," Twilight pointed out. "Think you can do that?"

Pinkie stiffened suddenly, then gave a salute with a hoof. "Yes sir ma'am sir," she stated in a slightly more serious tone, as though she were speaking to an army's commanding officer.