It was two days after Hearth’s Warming Eve, and Melon was currently smiling in her room.

“Wow. I still can’t believe that I have an inn,” said the melon pony. “Almost feels like a dream.”

“Well. This is no dream,” teased a familiar voice. “Especially since you moved into your inn.”

She looked in the direction of the voice to see Jasper standing at her room door with a giggling Pumpkin strapped onto his chest.

Jasper took a look around the room before turning to Melon. “So, how’s it feel to be living inside of your very own inn?” he asked.

She smiled. “I’m actually happy about it. All I need to do is some advertising, and ponies from all over will be coming here, wanting a room,” said the melon pony.

The sheep had a suggestion in mind. “Well, how about we start with Canterlot first? There might be some ponies there who would definitely be interested in visiting your Inn,” he suggested. “All we need to do is print up some flyers and pass them around while spreading the word. Sooner or later, you’ll have tons of customers.”

Jasper booped the foal on the nose with a hoof, causing her to giggle.

Melon thought about what the sheep said. “Canterlot is a train ride away from Ponyville, so there’d definitely be some ponies who’d definitely want to stay over at the Inn while visiting Ponyville,” she said. The melon pony nodded. “Sure. Let’s advertise to Canterlot first.”

He smiled. “Great. Let’s go and make some flyers right now,” said the sheep.

The two then left Melon’s room to go and make some flyers.

A Few Months Later

Jasper drank some hot apple cider as the group were all hanging out together over at the Golden Oak Library while the others enjoyed their own drinks. Well, not everyone was there as the melon pony and Banana Pie were communicating with the group through crystal balls belonging to the sheep, enjoying their own beverages.

She looked at Solight. “I still can’t believe that you almost ruined Spring, Solight. At least we were able to fix up everything that you almost messed up during the Winter Wrap-Up,” Melon said in disbelief.

The Winter Wrap-Up was an event where on one day, the ponies of Ponyville came together to change Winter to Spring by getting rid of all of the ice, snow, and snow clouds, waking up and feeding all of the hibernating animals, and much, much more. The alicorn had decided to use magic to help everyone out, which then turned things from bad to worse. Then, the scheduling was messed up because of some unforeseen accidents happening that were not Solight’s fault. In the end, the alicorn fixed everything and became Ponyville’s new Winter Wrap-Up Organizer.

The alicorn looked down at the library’s floor, feeling a bit ashamed. “Sorry about that. I just thought that with magic, it’d help everypony complete everything faster,” they said.

“Well, at least you’ve learned your lesson and even gotten an official role in the Winter Wrap-Up, Solight,” said Gentle Hope.

Solight looked back up, nodding, agreeing that at least something good came out of the whole mess.

The melon pony finished her drink. “Well, we both have to return back to our jobs before the customers start getting restless. These Canterlot pony snobs are so demanding,” said Melon, rolling her eyes.

Thanks to the advertisement in Canterlot, it did drum up some customers for the melon pony’s business, but apparently, it seems that some of her customers were snooty ponies and made some snobbish requests while staying there. As for the unicorn stallion, he had gotten a job working at the Inn as its cook.

The melon pony gave a small smile. “I’ll talk to you all later when I can. Bye,” said Melon before hanging up.

Banana Pie waved, smiling. “Banan,” he said.

The unicorn stallion was the next to hang up the line too. Seeing that two of his friends had gone back to work, Jasper looked at each of the others until his eyes arrived on a smiling Cinna who was tickling a giggling Pumpkin. Seeing the two playing together had given the sheep an idea.

“Hey, Cinna. Tomorrow, I have an appointment with Gentle Hope, and I have a few errands to run after that,” said Jasper. “I’ll be gone for two to three hours, so I was wondering if you could foalsit Pumpkin for me?”

She turned to look at the sheep, smiling. “I would love to, Jasper. I’m not actually busy tomorrow and my schedule is wide open,” answered the pegasus.

He smiled back. “Great. I’ll drop her off at your place sometime during the afternoon,” Jasper informed.

They smiled. “Sounds like a plan,” agreed the pegasus mare.

Since the group had some time before heading to their homes, except the alicorn who lives in the library, they decided to have a nice chat.

The Next Day

Jasper and Pumpkin were at the front door of Cinna and her brother, Lemon’s apartment room. The door had opened, revealing that the phoenix pegasus was there.

They smiled. “Hey, Jasper. Pumpkin,” greeted Lemon. “You’re here for Cinna, right?”

The sheep nodded. “Yeah. I just came to drop off Pumpkin,” he informed.

“Well, she’s in her room. She should be out soon,” said the phoenix pegasus.

Lemon didn’t notice that the pegasus mare was standing right behind him. “I’m already here, Lemon,” they informed.

The phoenix pegasus turned their head to see Cinna. “Oh. I didn’t notice that you had left your room, Cinna,” said Lemon. “Sorry about that.”

He moved out of the way, allowing the pegasus to get to the door.

“It’s okay, Lemon,” said Cinna. She smiled. “Hey, you two.”

“Hey, Cinna. Thanks again for foalsitting Pumpkin for me,” greeted Jasper. “Like I said yesterday, I should be back in a few hours.”

The pegasus mare gave off a friendly grin. “You can count on me. I’ll take good care of Pumpkin,” they promised.

He hoofed the foal over to Cinna, smiling. “I know you will,” said the sheep. Jasper then took out a bag filled with stuff in it from out of his cloak and hoofed it over as well. “Here’s some diapers, wipes, toys, powdered milk, etc. that you might need for the day.”

The pegasus smiled, accepting the stuff. “Okay, and don’t you worry. Pumpkin is safe in my hooves,” she said.

Pumpkin had then let out some foal talk in response.

The sheep ruffled the foal’s mane, smiling. “I’ll see you later, Pumpkin,” said Jasper. The sheep summoned out his wings. “Bye.”

Cinna grabbed one of the Pumpkin’s hooves and waved. “Say ‘bye’ to your daddy, Pumpkin,” they said.

The foal let out some more noise, making the two smile. Jasper then flew off, heading towards Gentle Hope’s place of business. As for the pegasus, Cinna closed the door behind herself.

Meanwhile with Melon

The melon pony was rushing around with a few folded towels stacked on top of her head as Melon had just gotten a request from one of her customers for some brand-new ones. The melon pony stopped as she had arrived at Room 205 and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, a noble-like earth pony mare opened the door.

“Well, you’re finally here with my towels. Almost kept me waiting long,” she said.

The towels suddenly levitated off of Melon’s head into the air by a forest green-colored magic aura, and right into the noble mare’s room. The door was then closed by the customer before the melon pony could say anything.

She stared at the door for a few seconds in silent anger. Melon wanted to go inside and give the mare a piece of her mind, but instead, breathed in and out, thinking calm thoughts. “You’re welcome,” said the melon pony, in a calm yet angry voice.

Melon trotted away, heading back to the front desk. The melon pony was supposed to be working at the front desk, while one of her workers was supposed to deliver the towels, but Melon decided to help out since that pony was busy with cleaning the dining area to even do the delivery. Business has been good for her because of the customers, but at the same time, it’s been busy because of their requests/demands like more clean towels, the way the food is made, etc. It was getting on the melon pony’s nerves.

She plopped right down behind the front desk. “I like how my Inn’s been getting lots of business lately, but these ponies from Canterlot are killing me. I guess having a busy business isn’t always a good thing, especially if some of the customers are stuck-up, snobbish ponies from Canterlot,” said Melon, tired. “I need a break from them soon. Maybe I should hire some more ponies? More hooves mean less tiring work for me. I could put out some flyers around town and interview the ponies who come here?”

Then, there was the sound of hoofsteps coming down the stairs. After a few seconds, it was revealed to be the chubby mare, Luxurious Lavender, who was luckily one of the melon pony’s customers from Canterlot that wasn’t a stuck-up, snobbish pony like some of the others, and trotting right behind her was the mare’s wife, Star Anise, and their children, Basil Leaf and Chai Latte. She and her family had checked into the Inn a few days ago and were great customers to Melon.

Lavender smiled. “Hey there, Melon. Is Banana Pie in the kitchen right now?” asked the lavender mare. “We’re ready to eat.”

The melon pony nodded. “Yeah, he is. I’ll let him know that you’re all here to eat,” she said. The melon pony trotted from behind the desk. “Take a seat anywhere in the dining area as usual.”

Lavender nodded. Then, the lavender mare, and her wife and kids trotted towards the dining area. The whole place was nicely decorated and had made the family feel like they were at home.

Melon trotted over to the kitchen door. “Banana Pie, you’ve got some hungry ponies in the dining area,” she called out.

After a few seconds, a blur dashed out of the kitchen and arrived at the table that the family had just sat themselves at, revealing it to be a smiling Banana Pie.

“Hello there, everypony. What would you like to order?” greeted the unicorn stallion.

While he was taking the family’s orders, the melon pony had trotted away.

Melon hoped that her job would get easier once there were new hired hooves to help out around the Inn. “I’ll print out the flyers tonight and put them up tomorrow,” muttered the melon pony.

Melon arrived at the front desk and continued her job of having to deal with either annoying or unbearable customers.

Two Hours and Fifty-Eight Minutes Later

There was a confused look on Lemon’s face as their forelegs were crossed over. “You know, Cinna, I’m more confused on how this happened rather than why it happened,” said the phoenix pegasus. “You know what I mean?”

Cinna nodded, understanding what their sibling actually meant. “You’re not the only one, Lemon. You’re not the only one,” said the pegasus mare. Cinna then turned her head to look in another direction and smiled. “Now, Pumpkin. Can you please let your Aunt Cinna and Uncle Lemon down now?”

It was revealed that the pegasus and Lemon were both being restrained as the two’s bodies below their wings were being restrained separately in the grip of pumpkin orange-colored, giant clawed hands. It seems that the hands themselves were made from magic, and the culprit behind it was none other than a giggling Pumpkin who seemed to be having fun. It seems this all happened because a few minutes ago, Cinna asked if the foal wanted to play a game, and then the next thing the two knew, this happened, and the two siblings had been stuck like this ever since.

He sighed frustratedly. “No luck. She must think we’re playing a game,” said the phoenix pegasus. “We can’t even raise our voices over fear that she might end up either shaking us around, or throw us into the wall or out the window.” They looked worried after saying that. “I just hope it’s not the second option. The landlord will never believe us, even if we were to tell him how we ended up denting the wall or breaking the window, he’ll just add the damages to our rent.”

She nodded once more. “Yeah. Who would actually believe that a foal did the damage and not us?” said the pegasus mare, agreeing. “They’d probably think we were just trying to get out of paying for the damages and blame it on an innocent foal.”

Lemon sighed frustratedly again. Then, the phoenix pegasus tried to turn his body around. “Ugh, I can’t see the clock. Cinna, can you check it and see how much longer until Jasper returns?” asked the phoenix pegasus.

Luckily, the clock was near the pegasus, so Cinna turned their head until the pegasus mare was able to see the time clearly on the clock before looking back at her sibling. “He’ll be here in two minutes,” answered Cinna.

Hearing that made them give off a relieved sigh. “Thank Celestia. Once Jasper is here, he can get us out of this mess,” said Lemon. “Now, all we have to do is wait, and we’ll be free.”

They raised an eyebrow. “You do know that even if his session with Gentle Heart ends, it’ll still take Jasper some time to get here, right?” the pegasus informed.

That had partly killed off the happy mood that phoenix pegasus was in. “Oh, but still, he’ll be here eventually to help us,” he said, confident. “I just know it.”

One Minute and Some Seconds Later

Lemon moved around as the phoenix pegasus flapped their wings, trying to escape from the grip.

Cinna had a concerned look on her face. “Jasper better get here fast or else you might lose a few more feathers,” said the pegasus mare, worried.

Lemon was currently missing a few wing feathers. During the minute that had passed by, Pumpkin had summoned some smaller versions of the clawed hands and had accidentally plucked out a few of the phoenix pegasus’ wing feathers out of curiosity, causing him pain. Now, the clawed hands were heading right for Lemon’s wings once again.

They were worried. “No, no, no!” shouted the phoenix pegasus.

The hands were inching closer and closer to Lemon’s feathers, when suddenly…

KNOCK!!! KNOCK!!! KNOCK!!!

The sound of the knocking at the door had attracted the three’s attention, causing them to look in its direction.

“Cinna? Lemon?” a familiar voice called out. “It’s Jasper. I’m here to pick up Pumpkin.”

Hearing the sheep’s voice had given Cinna an idea on how to get both of them free.

The pegasus looked at the foal. “Hey, Pumpkin. Your daddy’s here,” she said. “Want to go see daddy?”

Hearing that had made Pumpkin happy and giggle, causing her to be distracted and make all of the magic hands disappear, letting the two siblings go and setting them free.

The phoenix pegasus gave off a relieved sigh and started stretching out his body. “Finally! I never thought he’d finally get here,” said Lemon. The phoenix pegasus looked at their wings, frowning. “Ohhh, my poor wings”

The pegasus mare had trotted over to the door and opened it, revealing a smiling Jasper.

“Hey, Jasper. How was your therapy session with Gentle Hope?” she greeted.

He shrugged. “It went well, as expected. The two of us had a lot to talk about, and it was quite therapeutic,” said the sheep. “How was foalsitting my daughter? She didn’t cause you any trouble, did she?”

The pegasus thought about telling him but decided not to. Also, there was a chance that Jasper wouldn’t believe Cinna even if they were to tell him. “No. She was an angel,” said the pegasus mare.

It was a white lie since the foal was doing okay up until the point with the magic hands.

The sheep smiled. “That’s great. By the way, you don’t mind if you foalsit Pumpkin again next time, Cinna?” he asked.

An apologetic look appeared on their face. “Sorry Jasper, but me and Lemon aren’t actually great with foals. Foalsitting Pumpkin was only a one-time thing,” answered the pegasus. “Though, we’d be happy to foalsit her again when she’s five to eight-years-old.”

The sheep nodded. “Sounds good. Thanks for foalsitting her this one time anyway,” he said. “So, can I see my daughter now?”

She nodded and trotted out of the way. “Sure thing. Your foal’s waiting for you,” said Cinna.

The sheep smiled and walked inside. “Hey, Pumpkin. Did you have fun hanging out with your Aunt and Uncle?” he greeted.

Pumpkin’s response was foal-talk like usual. Her forelegs were stretched out as the foal wanted to be picked up. Seeing this made the sheep smile, so Jasper picked her up in his hooves and placed the foal into the carrier device.

The sheep had noticed that Pumpkin’s toys were on the floor, so he summoned some magic hands. “Here. Let me take care of that mess for you,” said the sheep.

As soon as the pegasus let him know that she was okay with it, the magic hands then went to work as Jasper controlled each and every one of them into grabbing and putting away every single toy into the bag. Once all of the toys were put away, the hands disappeared. The foal clapped her hooves, amazed.

The sheep went over and picked up the bag, putting it away into his cloak. “There. Nice and clean,” said Jasper. He turned to talk to the phoenix pegasus, but became silent.

The sheep saw that Lemon was missing some feathers, which were currently on the floor.

After a few seconds, Jasper turned back to look at the pegasus mare, both curious and concerned. “Sorry for asking this but do pegasi wings molt like birds?” he asked.

They were silent for a few seconds as the pegasus was deciding on what to say before nodding. “It’s a natural thing for all pegasi to do. We all go through a molting phase, which is why when a pegasus’ wing feathers start falling out, we temporarily move from the clouds to the ground only until our new feathers grow in, and right now, Lemon’s going through his molting phase,” she informed. “So, he has to stay on the ground until he’s done molting, and his new feathers appear.”

Behind the sheep, the phoenix pegasus was giving his sibling a silent shocked yet insulted look as the phoenix pegasus couldn’t believe that the pegasus mare said that.

“Oof, that’s gotta be rough,” said Jasper. The sheep looked at Lemon, giving him a sympathetic look. “I hope your new wings grow soon. It’ll be rough not having to fly for a while.”

The phoenix pegasus was now giving Jasper a fake smile. “Oh, don’t worry about it, Jasper. I’ve been used to it my whole life,” he reassured, secretly angry. Suddenly, a sneaky yet funny idea popped into the phoenix pegasus’s head as they had looked at the pegasus.

Cinna had a bad feeling from the look that Lemon was giving her. It was like he was up to something and the pegasus mare was the target. Unfortunately, they were too late to stop the phoenix pegasus’s plan.

They smiled. “Did you know that Cinna will also be going through her molting phase too in a few days?” asked Lemon, lying, in a mischievous tone.

Now it was the pegasus’s turn to give the phoenix pegasus the same silent shocked yet insulted look.

He was surprised. “No, I didn’t,” said the sheep.

“Yeah. I just wanted to tell you in case you were wondering why she wasn’t flying once her molting day starts as well,” said Lemon, lying again.

Before the sheep could say anything in response, Cinna interrupted him.

“Sorry if it seems like I’m trying to rush you out of our apartment room, Jasper, but I’m not. It’s just that me and Lemon were planning to go out and compete against each other at some arcade games after you had picked up Pumpkin,” the pegasus mare lied.

Cinna just wanted to get the sheep out so that she can have a nice little chat with the phoenix pegasus.

He smiled. The two did take time out of their lives to foalsit Pumpkin. “It’s okay, Cinna. After all, it is your day off and you want to spend it hanging out with your brother,” said the sheep. He walked over to the pegasus and took out a bag of bits. “Here’s some bits as thanks to you two for foalsitting Pumpkin.”

The pegasus gave a kind smile. “Thanks Jasper, but you don’t have to pay us. We were doing it for free,” they said. “Foalsitting Pumpkin was fun in its own way.”

Jasper still had the bag of bits out and was still smiling. “I know, but I still want to pay you. You two deserve the money and have earned it,” said the sheep, adamant. He wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

The pegasus mare realized that she wouldn’t be able to change the sheep’s mind and, in the end, decided to accept the money from him.

Cinna grabbed the bag of bits from the sheep. “Thanks, Jasper,” they said.

He gave a hoof-up. “It was no problem, really,” said the sheep. He headed for the door. “I’ll see you two again next time.”

As soon as Jasper was near it, he stopped and turned around, grabbed one of the foal’s hooves, and waved it at the two.

“Say bye-bye to your Aunt Cinna and Uncle Lemon, Pumpkin,” said Jasper.

Pumpkin said something in foal talk and giggled. As for the pegasus mare and the phoenix pegasus, the two decided to wave back at the foal.

“Bye, Pumpkin,” said Lemon, smiling.

“Bye. We’ll see you again later,” said Cinna, smiling as well.

Seeing that they waved back to the foal, the sheep smiled and left through the door. The two siblings waited until they were sure that he wasn’t in an earshot of the conversation, and then glared at each other.

“Why did you tell him that I was molting today?! My molting phase happened a month before you had even met him, and I’m not due for another one until next year is what my doctor said,” exclaimed the phoenix pegasus. “Now I’m going to have to avoid showing everypony my wings for the next few days!”

“It was the only thing I could think of. Also, you didn’t have to tell him that I was going to be molting too,” she argued, angrily.

Lemon looked to the side, angry. “Well, if I had to suffer embarrassment because of your lie, then so will you,” said the phoenix pegasus.

The next thing that happened, the two siblings had an argument that lasted for a while before they eventually stopped arguing and decided to actually go to the arcade.

Meanwhile with Melon

The melon pony was currently behind the desk, dealing with a customer who had just checked out now, and unfortunately, this customer was the very same noble mare from Room 205. Her name was Golden Wishes, and she decided to be difficult by complaining about certain things she didn’t like.

“Next time I visit, which might in fact be a long time before I visit this town again, I’d like a better room that isn’t in the area of noisy colts and fillies,” complained the noble mare.

“I’m so sorry about that,” apologized Melon, an apologetic smile on her face. “I’m going to have to talk to Luxurious Lavender and her family about that.”

Over to the side, standing by the bags was Golden Wishes’s unicorn husband, Silver Coin, waiting for his wife to finish her tirade so the two could get to the station on time and take the train back home. While Golden Wishes’s unicorn husband held a straight face, he was actually quite bored. “I should’ve listened to my mother when she warned me that marrying Golden Wishes would be a mistake,” thought Silver Coin. “I should’ve just listened to her and become a gypsy, traveling the road like she and dad did. Well, it’s way too late for that anyway.”

Back over with the melon pony, she was just giving the noble mare a fake smile while listening to her complain even more. The melon pony was inwardly slowly starting to get more and more angry, and it seemed that her anger was about to explode any minute now.

“Sure thing,” said Melon.

“And another thing–” said Golden Wishes, but was then interrupted.

The door had opened, and in walked Jasper with Pumpkin, who was now being carried around in a stroller while there was a pacifier in her mouth as the foal had started crying at some point before the two had arrived.

The sheep smiled. “Hi, Melon. How’s it going at the Inn?” he greeted.

Before Jasper had gone on his way home, the sheep had decided to go to the store and pick up some more foal food for Pumpkin before they ran out, and also visit his marefriend to see how she was doing. After picking up the foal food, the sheep had arrived at the Inn, and while strapping the foal into the stroller, Jasper was able to hear the noble mare complain from behind the door with his sense of hearing, so the sheep decided to intervene.

The melon pony smiled, feeling a bit calmer now since she had a slight distraction from Golden Wishes. “Hey, Jasper. I’m doing great,” greeted the melon pony. “This mare here had finished checking out of the Inn and was just about to leave.”

“What?! No, I wasn’t!” argued the noble mare. “I’m not finished ta–”

He ignored her. “She paid for the room and is packed up, right?” asked the sheep.

Melon nodded. “Yeah. She is,” said the melon pony.

“Then get ready to lose a customer,” whispered Jasper.

Hearing that made her confused, but the melon pony decided to see what the sheep was going to do next.

Jasper turned around to look at the noble mare, glaring at her. Then, the sheep cleared his throat. “Listen here and listen good, but you’re in Ponyville, not Canterlot. We don’t give Canterlot ponies like you the same royal treatment like with Prince Draco and his sisters because you’re actually not that important,” he said. “We treat those from across Equestria who visit Ponyville with the exact same respect and kindness that we give to those who move here. We don’t take kindly to rude ponies like you who think that we actually have to do what you tell us to do, when in fact, we get to decide whether or not to listen.”

Everyone was silent as they watched Jasper talk.

“My marefriend worked her plot off to make you Canterlot ponies stay here comfortable yet some of you just boss her around like you own the place, but you don’t, and you don’t even say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ as soon as she does your request. Melon is one of the most hard-working ponies and the most loyal marefriend I could ever have who deserves your kindness and respect, and I’m not letting you say anything bad about the Inn that she worked hard to achieve right to her face,” said the sheep. “So, take your stuff and get out here.”

Everyone was still silent, but shocked.

“Nopony has ever stood up to my wife before. They’d be afraid of what she might do to their businesses through her family’s connections, yet he’s not afraid of her at all,” thought the unicorn husband, both shocked and slightly impressed

Jasper looked back at Melon. “So, you want something to eat? I brought some snacks I made at home with me,” he offered.

The melon pony went from shocked to impressed. “Well–” she said, but was then interrupted.

Golden Wishes looked both livid and insulted. “How dare you speak to me like that!? I will ruin your business for talking to me like that!” she shouted. “There will be nopony who will do business with you or your marefriend after I’m done with you!”

The sheep yawned, not caring about what the noble mare said, before booping Pumpkin on the nose. It seems that her yelling had woken the foal up before she could fall asleep, making the foal seem a little grumpy.

Jasper had gotten out some paper, his wax seal, and a quill and inkwell. Then, the sheep started writing out a message. “I got way more customers than you think, and I can find new ones way faster than you can ruin my business, and I even do business with Prince Draco and his family too. Also, Melon and I are friends with tons of ponies here in Ponyville too, and I know that they’d be willing to help the both of us out no matter what,” he said, nonchalantly. “Face it. Your family’s status and power doesn’t actually matter. Just give up and accept that you’ve lost.”

Jasper took a look at what he wrote, which was not too short, yet it was to the point. The sheep did the same things he would usually do, which was roll it up, place the wax seal on it, and send it away by dragon flames. The sheep watched it leave in smoke form, heading to the chimney to fly off and to deliver the message to a certain pony. Jasper turned back to chat with Melon, when suddenly…

The melon pony’s eyes widened in alarm. “Jasper, behind you!” she warned.

The sheep turned around to find himself hit in the shoulder by a magic blast that was sent by Golden Wishes’ horn as it was too late to defend. The sheep hit the counter, holding his shoulder in pain with one hoof while still holding onto the letter with the other. Both Melon and Silver Coin were shocked at what just happened.

As for Jasper, the sheep had never expected the noble mare to attack him. “Argh,” said the sheep, in pain. The magic blast did hurt and he was lucky it only hit the shoulder area.

Pumpkin’s pacifier had fallen out of her mouth as the foal had started wailing and crying after seeing the sheep get hurt right in front of her.

Golden Wishes had a haughty look on her face. “That’s what you get for talking down to me! Apologize now, and I won’t have to teach you a lesson,” said the noble mare.

There was only one thing he could say in response. “Eat…Pinecone,” insulted the sheep. It was in fact the only answer that he could only think of seeing as the sheep’s own mind was currently being distracted by the pain in his shoulder. “Seriously? Eat pinecone? That was the best insult I got?”

Golden Wishes’ only response to the sheep’s response was a scowl. Just as she was about to charge up another magic blast, the noble mare had gotten a right hoof to the face by a familiar hoof, causing her to fall to the floor. Everyone, except the crying foal, looked to see that the hoof had belonged to an angry Melon.

She trotted over to the downed noble mare, and then the melon pony restrained Golden Wishes while also grabbing her horn, preventing the noble mare from using magic. “Nopony hurts either my friends, family, or sheepfriend and gets away with it. Got it?” she said. The melon pony looked over at Jasper, concerned. “Are you okay, Jasper?”

He nodded. “Yeah. My shoulder hurts, but I think I can bear with it for now until I get myself healed,” said the sheep.

Melon smiled, glad to hear that he was okay despite the injury. The sheep got up and walked over to one of the windows and opened it. Then, he breathed dragon flames onto the letter before it turned into smoke and flew away, on its way to a certain pony. The sheep closed the window and walked over to Pumpkin who was still crying and picked up her pacifier.

“Don’t worry, Pumpkin. There’s no need to cry,” reassured Jasper. “I’m okay. I promise.”

It had taken him a while to calm down the foal.

Less than Two Minutes Later

Melon was still easily restraining Golden Wishes, who was shouting for her captor to let her go, spewing threats and insults all the while. It seemed that the shouts had attracted the other guests’ attention who had come from their rooms to investigate the noise, but as soon as anyone arrived, they were told to either go back to their rooms or stand aside for the noble mare’s judgment, which all of them did, interested in seeing what was going to happen. Golden Wishes then called out for her husband to step in and free her, or else. Silver Coin would’ve, in slight fear of angering his wife and in-laws’ family, but didn’t when the sheep had informed him that somepony important was coming to the Inn and it was best that he didn’t get dragged into it.

Banana Pie appeared with Pumpkin’s pacifier in his magic aura. Jasper had called for the unicorn stallion and asked him to wash it under hot water for the sheep, which he did in the kitchen. “Banan,” said the unicorn stallion.

Jasper smiled, accepting the pacifier back. “Thanks, Banana Pie,” he said. The sheep crouched down to give Pumpkin back her pacifier. “Here you go, Pumpkin. Your pacifier’s all clean thanks to Uncle Banana Pie.”

Unfortunately, the foal was still being a bit fussy, not wanting her pacifier right now.

“I guess you don’t want it right now. Maybe later then,” said the sheep. Jasper placed the pacifier away inside of his cloak. The sheep’s ears twitched as he heard some sort of noise behind the door. “I think he’s here.”

Everyone looked in the direction of the door as it had just opened, and trotting into the Inn was a concerned-looking Draco with some royal guards following closely behind him.

Author's Note

Pumpkin being able to use the magic hands spell was just a spur of the moment idea that popped into my head, and the "molting" scene was to add something funny in the story involving the two siblings.

Lessons of the Day:

• Cinna (Kindness): Doing a kind thing for a friend may leave one tired depending on the task, but it's worth it to see them smile in the end.
• Melon (Loyalty): Defending a friend, whether they're her colt or sheepfriend, is important. She shouldn't let others walk all over or harm her or anybody else just because you want to appease them. Stand up, face them head on, and show her own unwavering loyalty to everyone. Also, that she shouldn't try and appease those who don't see or appreciate how hard she worked to make their stay comfortable at her Inn and all they want to do is complain about everything for no reason.

After I upload the next filler chapter, I'll focus on finishing the two Phantom Pony chapters I'm working on. Also, if any of you have any suggestions for adventures for the group of friends to go on in Equestria, then please leave a comment.

The Psychopath proofread this chapter.

Comments are welcome.