Indiscreet Shipping

Octavia made her way over to where Daisy was sitting and immediately she saw the mare perk up and give her a hug. "I was worried you wouldn't come back," Octavia heard from the pink pony with the green mane. She returned the hug and pulled Daisy close.

"Of course I was going to come back. After last night, how could you think I wouldn't?" Octavia asked Daisy.

"Oh, it had nothing to do with last night," Daisy countered with a giggle. "I knew you'd want to come back and play again. But I'm not going to lie with the look on your face when you left here and when to Eiffel's I was kinda expecting you to get arrested for strangling him to death or something. Not that he wouldn't have deserved it."

"Hey I have more restraint than that!" Octavia retorted.

"Not if what we did last night was any indication," Daisy giggled, patting Octavia's diaper. "Didn't have much restraint at all. If I remember correctly you were as stinky as I was," she said, poking her tongue out.

At that statement Octavia googled and pushed forward, knocking Daisy over and falling over on top of her, and started rolling around the room with her. She could hear the initial squeak of surprise and then the orchestra of laughter followed. That was, until they rolled over a block. "Yaeeek!!" Octavia squealed out, getting the attention of Daisy and Lily.

"Tavi, you okay?" She heard Lily ask. She immediately let go of Daisy and looked to where her leg had rolled over the block. It had rolled with her a bit and she caught the corner of it. She watched as the spot began to turn red a bit. It really started to sting a bit then and Octavia was starting… to feel an urge in the back of her throat and her eyes started to tear up. With as much restraint as the foal she was would have, Octavia let the tears flow.

Lily had Octavia in her hooves nearly instantly and started rocking her lightly and cooing. "Shhhh… it's okay. I'm right here… did my little Tavi get a boo boo?" She asked, giving her a small nuzzle. "Let Aunt Lili see it," she instructed and held out the injured hoof. It was but a light scrape, and it probably didn't hurt anywhere near where Octavia was letting on that it did. She could definitely tell that Octavia was a performer. "Aww, this isn't so bad. Here, let's get you a bandaid, and you'll be good as new," Lily said, leading Octavia into the main bathroom with Daisy following.

"Alrighty, let's see. Will be better if we use a wrap. While the cut isn't deep it's just a bit longer than the bandaids I got," Lily said as she began wrapping the cut before securing it in place with a clip. "There we go, good as new! Just gotta be a little more careful is all. Perhaps you two can use that as a reminder to put the toys away when you're done playing with them."

"Yes Aunt Lili," both of them said.

When Lily got everyone back to the playroom, Rose and Lemon had already made it there as well. Rose saw the bandage on Octavia's hoof and looked to Lily. "Got a bit too rough did they?"

"Nah, more like they found a toy that they forgot to put away the hard way," Lily says with a small giggle and a light bump against Octavia.

"Ah, well, Lemon Hearts is ready to join you two so it's time to have some fun quality bonding," Rose smiled and nuzzled her sister.

Octavia nodded before carrying some blocks over to Lemon Hearts, including the one that she'd just hurt herself on. "Play?" she asked.

Lemon looked at Octavia. The hurt in her was still very present but she did manage a small smile from behind her binkie. She didn't respond verbally but she nodded and accepted the blocks. She sat them on the ground and she began building. At first it looked like she was just laying blocks down, but then the other two realized that she was laying a foundation.

Octavia's eyes gleamed a bit when she saw this and began looking for a spot to add on. She started doing the same and then started building a wall. Daisy started doing the same on the other side and soon all the walls met in the middle. Lemon smiled and then with a small spell of her horn, the blocks grew.

The three ponies now found themselves in a small fort. Lemon Hearts smiled a bit more as she took out her binkie and spoke. "Let me show you how it's done," she said with a smirk.

Rose and Lily watched on and the two of them stepped forward. "Lemon Hearts… don't you think this is a little big for the room?"

"Room? This isn't a room momma. You're silly! This is Fort Foal! And we're from the land of Pampara! You two are the mean adults, come to invade the fort and take our lands!" Lemon said, putting her binkie back into her mouth.

"Why do we always have to be the bad guys?" Lily asked, looking at Rose.

"Because we are the adults, and to fillies and colts grown ups are always the bad guys. We are the ones that usually enforce the rules after all," Rose responded, turning back to the fort and assuming her role. "Fort Foal! The time has come for you to drop the embargo that you put on Mustania. We cannot sit back idly anymore and let you continue to drain the land of resources and horde them all for yourselves."

"You're just jealous that we're living more prosperously as foals in our fortified castle than you adult ponies are up there in all those fields. Fields that you could be growing your own crops in, and tiling yourselves rather than taking the ponies from Fort Foal to do it for you. We're done giving in to you, Fire Flower!" Lemon Hearts yelled.

"Really now?" Lily replied. "Have you ever wondered why her name was Fire Flower?" She started while Rose was swirling her hooves together and an imaginary swirl of fire appeared and swirled into an orb and an imaginary army appeared behind them. "It's not because of the flowers she grows… but because of the spell she can cast!"

"I was hoping that it wouldn't come to this…" Rose replied, before throwing the fireball at the main gate. "Attaaaack!" she yelled, grabbing as many stuffed animals that she could for her spell components.

Octavia had to duck down in order to dodge the initial attack. "Fire the cannons!" she yelled as pillow cannonballs started raining down. They seemed to have a very minimal effect though as there seemed to be some sort of shield around them.

"Music Note! They're too strong! What do we do!?" Daisy asked using the pretend name for Octavia that they used yesterday.

"I don't know Flower Heart, but we didn't just return from defeating the Porcelain Throne only to get overrun at home. We must think of something… What do you think, Creamcycle?" Music asked.

Lemon Hearts raised an eyebrow at Octavia before leaning in. "Creamcycle? Really? That's the best you could come up with?" she asked as she watched Music Note blush, smile, and shrug her shoulders. She then giggled a bit looking back at her. "Why, we do what got us here to begin with. We must protect the citizens. If you two can defeat a giant monstrosity on your own, defeating a small army should be a piece of cake, especially with a little bit more help," she said, pulling out a small staff and in doing so a small fairy appeared. "Flower, you keep their attention. Music, fling as many spells at them as you can. I'll use my fairy to keep you two alive and help clear the weaker stuff. Let's go!"

The three ponies got down to the main level to find that the gates had been breached. They all three looked up to the sky for a second as epic battle music started playing out of nowhere. Then looked back at each other, shrugged, and then charged forth. Flower Heart surged forward as she channeled dark energy through her greatsword and claws erupted from the ground. They didn't seem to do much, but they definitely got their attention.

Music Note followed suit, throwing a small jolt out. She used that to set up her next ability, which was to call what appeared to be a crystal out of the sky and explode on the ground. This spell would harm the enemies but leave Flower untouched. A couple more of these and the group that was around Flower had fallen and then moved closer to the gate.

Creamcycle followed close by as to not get separated, but far enough back to not get caught in the crossfire. Flower had taken a couple hours, but it wasn't anything that she couldn't take care of. They encountered a couple more groups of soldiers along the way that posed little threat to them though. When they got to the gate though, they would face their first real challenge. In between them and the gate was a giant animated teddy bear.

"Mr. Snuggles!? Why are you siding with them!?" Flower yelled out.

"I'm sorry Flower Heart… I had no choice…" the teddy bear replied before a dark blue zone appeared on the ground. Music and Cream got out of the zone, but Flower didn't see it in time and the long arm of the bear came down and crushed her. When the leg moved Flower remained motionless on the ground.

"I don't think so," Cream said as she twirled her staff and with a smack on the ground Flower disappeared from where she was and reappeared next to Cream.

" Phaaaaaa!" Flower gasped, shaking her head violently. "Thanks," she replied, turning to Mr. Snuggles. "I wish it didn't come to this…"

"Hey! Try to stay out of the blue zones of death this time okay?" Cream asked, partially sarcastically and partially legitimately.

"You got it," she said before turning around and plunging into the teddy with a leap. Hey weapon struck true and she got its attention. An array of attacks and spells would go off as they started weakening the teddy bear.

Music Note was paying attention to the health bar and continued to dodge the blue zones of death. The bear was proving to be a bit of a challenge in that regard, but it wasn't really all that threatening otherwise. Once it reached a point on its health, Music Note yelled. "It's time to finish this!" she said, diving into melee range and engaging with her rapier. She then dove back and called down two additional spells, the later of the two darkening the skies as it came down. After it stuck, the teddy bear let out a deafening roar of pain before it reverted back down to its original size.

At that point, Flower instantly picked up Mr. Snuggles. "Mr. Snuggles, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to hurt you… you've always been my favorite teddy…" she said, her eyes already turning glassy.

"I am sorry…*cough* Flower… I… was not… *cough* under my own control…" he started, "Go… Beat the Fire Flower… Avenge me…"

"Mr. Snuggles? No hold on!!! We'll get help! We can still save you! You're not evil!" Flower said as his body was being enveloped by light.

"You… were always… my… favorite…." we're the last words that Flower would hear before the base faded into the aether. Quietly she began to sob until in turned into a full fledged wail of hurt and pain.

Music Note immediately pulled her into a hug. "Mr. Snuggles was a great bear. He will be sorely missed. But we have a job to do, less more of our friends fall victim to their games," she told Flower.

Cream also nodded. "We should move swiftly. We have an opening!"

Flower sobbed for a few seconds more before she released Music Note from the embrace and turned to the gate. The only thing that could be seen in her face now was a blind rage. She tilted her series back and a dark energy overtook it as her eyes turned red. She began to channel the inner darkness inside of her and her power level grew because of it. She marched past soldiers swinging her sword at anything that got close.

When she finally got to where Fire Flower was, she charged in and swung hard, way harder than she actually intended and she heard a very loud yelp. She also saw her bounce off an object before crumpling to the ground. Immediate Daisy was out of character and realized that they were way too close to the wall and Rose was now on the ground. "Rosie!!!" Daisy screamed. "Lily, go get ice. Tavi, Lemon, help me get Rosie onto one of the nap pads," she said, starting to lift her up.

"Why did you hit her so hard Daisy?" Lemon asked curtfully.

"I don't know!" Daisy replied, starting to actually cry now. "I didn't mean to. I was just acting out the part, and I got carried away… Come on Rosie… please be okay…" she said as her sister lay motionless.

Octavia didn't have a lot of medical training, but there were fundamental things that everypony knew. She sat her head, ear down onto Rose's chest and she could hear her heart beating. It was slow as was hey breathing but it was steady. "She's going to be okay. Though she might need to see Nurse Redheart though, to make sure she doesn't have any head trauma," she said as Lily came back into the room with ice in a rag. She placed the rag onto Rose’s head and the Rose began to wake and move.

“My head…” she said before shaking it a bit before feeling the ice on her head and she held it there with a hoof. Thankfully outside of a splitting headache right now, nothing else seemed amiss. She then looked towards Daisy who immediately pinned her ears back. “Daisy… what in Equestria had gotten into you back there? You’ve never hit me that hard before…”

“I’m sorry Rosie!!! I was playing the part… and I was angry… and hurt… and I lost myself in myself… and I didn’t realize until after what I had done…” Daisy cried, laying her head over her chest.

Rose draped her hoof over the pink pony and pulled her close. “Hey… hey… I wasn’t hurt…. This time, but we do have to be careful. That playroom isn’t that big, and it probably wouldn't have been as bad if I hadn’t also clonked my head on the wall.”

“Honestly,” Lemon Hearts started. “That was probably mostly my fault for setting the play castle up so close to the wall to begin with. It really put a hamper on what space we had… I’m kinda surprised we didn’t break anything.”

“Nah, we all got a bit carried away a bit. We were just having fun and maybe pushed a teensy bit too far,” Octavia commented as her stomach growled a bit. “You know… in all of the excitement in the morning… I don’t think we ever had breakfast. I think now would be a perfect time to remedy that,” she went on to suggest.

Lily looked over to Rose. “Are you sure you’re going to be able to handle the rest of the day Rose? That was quite a wallop.”

“Yes Lily, I’ll be fine. It’s not the first time I’ve had a little hit me in the face. They are usually throwing a tantrum though. AT least you three are well behaved for the most part,” she said, pushing herself up and letting her vision right itself before she started heading out into the hall and down into the kitchen, the rest of the ponies in hoof behind her. Lily however, made her way to the living room instead. “With a group this big we’re gonna have to use the table for breakfast. I know it ruins the immersion, but… I simply can’t afford the fancy grown-pony highchairs that they make.” Rose admitted to them.

“While immersion is nice, we’re here because you’re the best caretaker in Ponyville Rose. One of these days we’re going to find a way to make it up to you,” Lemon Hearts told her as she sat down with a puff and a crinkle at the table.

“Aww, Lemmy, you’re making me blush! Although… we have been playing all morning so…” Rose started before sticking her hoof at the base of their diapers and patting them gently. “Wow! We’ve been playing for hours and my little foals are still dry! We might be ready for big pony pants now!”

“Hmph… No!” Lemon Hearts said, turning her snout away in faux disgust. “No Big Pony Pants! Just haven’t had to potty yet!”

“Okay… Okay… Let’s see… What would be a good breakfast for my foals… I know! How about some nice Blueberries and Cream Oatmeal! The perfect food for cleaning out those digestive tracts!” Rose said with a smile. She barely had the pot on the stove for the oatmeal before she saw a flash in the other room and a clammer of an assortment of things. She knew that flash, something had teleported into the room, and considering Lemon Hearts was the only unicorn here and was still at the table, that ruled her out. Not to mention she didn’t know if Lemon even knew how to teleport to begin with. That was an advanced spell after all.

“R...Rose…. You might… want to come in here…” she heard Lily stammer.

Rose took her sister’s words seriously and grabbed one of the frying pans that she wasn’t using in her mouth before moving from the kitchen into the living room. When she got into the living room though, she dropped the pan herself as she saw a white alicorn standing in the room. “P...P...Princess Celestia?” she spoke in shock. “To what do we owe the honor?” she asked, her heart racing a million miles a minute. The princess herself had just teleported directly to them, and that usually meant something very bad…

“Greetings Miss Roseluck and Lily Valley. I am here on an urgent matter. I was looking for a Miss Octavia Melody and a Miss Lemon Hearts. I was told that they would both be here. I would like to speak to them immediately,” The Princess commanded, the pony’s eyes shrank to pinpricks, and her already racing heart was going faster as she pinned her ears back and leaned away from the princess. She also couldn't help the small puddle that was starting to spread from around her.