Hammer and Quill

A minty green and a cream colored mare stood near each other, a smoking wreck in front of them.

The green mare broke the silence. "Is.. Is it alive?"

It was then that the cream colored mare went from nervously anticipating death from a vengeful fae sprite to agitated. "Yes, it is alive. It's breathing, see?" She motioned to the steady rise and fall of what most would call a chest. "And 'it' is not an 'it', 'it' is a colt, Lyra."

Lyra ignored her marefriend's comments. Walking towards the unconscious colt, she paused and looked back. "Come on Bon Bon, it looks hurt!"

Bon Bon resisted an urge to smack her own face with a hoof before approaching. "It's a he, Lyra." Lyra didn't so much as blink in response. Sighing, the cream mare got to the colt's right side. "Okay, Lyra, we need to get him to a hospital; We don't know he broke anything, but from the looks of the tree, it's probably safe to say that he hit it."

Lyra glared at Bon Bon. "Do I need to remind you why Nurse Redheart won't see anyone we bring?"

Bon Bon flinched as her cheeks slowly turned a bright red. "No, no no no no. It's perfectly fine. Let's just get someone else to help him." Bon Bon began to walk away. She didn't get far, however, before she stopped. ".. Lyra, the forest is a dark place, are you really going to leave me to walk home alone?" She turned around, only to be met with a face full of a minty green.

"Nope! I got him on my back, let's go home and get him onto a couch and get him something to drink." Bon Bon angled her head to see that her marefriend had, in fact, managed to pick up the colt.

"... Lyra, isn't he heavy?"

"I thought he'd be heavy too, but I think he might actually be lighter than me. Weird, huh?" Lyra smiled, and began walking back to the path.

Bon Bon blinked, before attempting to catch up. Must be a pegasus thing, or Lyra's been working out.

---- Meanwhile, within an abandoned mine deep beneath Canterlot ----

Three cowered before an angry, abnormally large changeling, who was standing in front of a green chalkboard. Minutes passed, but to three changelings, each minute felt like an eternity.

Finally, the large changeling cleared his throat, startling the three others. "Okay, who can tell me where you three went wrong?"

The one furthest to the left (facing the chalkboard), a small, almost newborn changeling, raised his hoof.

"Fickle Pickle, what is your answer?"

Fickle Pickle, his voice a much higher pitch than a full grown changeling, spoke. "Was it when we attended the wedding party, Mr. Horn?"

Glinting Horn, the large changeling, glared angrily at the three others, before shouting. "You did WHAT?!" Fickle Pickle cowered, eyes beginning to wet. Glinting Horn let out a long, exasperated sigh. In a much calmer voice, he said, "I'm sorry, Fickle, I shouldn't have exploded at you. But the two of you!" Glinting Horn glared at the other two changelings, both of them full grown, and shook his right hoof at them. "You two should be ashamed for going to that party. Just because the blast didn't reach the caves, does not mean that you can surface and take part in a victory party against your own race!"

The center changeling spoke, her voice a feminine one. "But sir, it wasn't so much a victory party as it was a standard after-wedding party!"

As a response, Glinting Horn scowled. "After-wedding party or not, Fading Light," he said, "it could still be counted as a victory party." He shook his head, before pointing to the third, slightly smaller than average changeling. "Flickering Cinder, can you tell me where you went wrong?"

Flickering Cinder was silent for about three minutes. Suddenly, he said, "Nope."

Glinting Horn buzzed his rings in irritation. "All right," he said, "I'm going to draw this out for you." He turned to the chalkboard, picked up a piece of chalk in his teeth, and drew a crude stick figure drawing of a unicorn with two lines protruding from the base of it's neck. "Can anyone tell me who this is?"

Fickle Pickle's eyes grew and shined, a smile spreading across the young changeling's face. "It's Mare Do Well!" The other two changelings nodded in agreement.

"But.. where's her hat?" said Fading Light.

Glinting Horn reared his hind legs and bucked the chalkboard into a nearby chasm. "It's our Queen, you idiots! Now, who can tell me what orders she gave you three?" Fading Light blinked, the realization dawning on her. She raised her hoof; No need to delay the inevitable, after all. "Yes, Fading Light?"

"To be the best bridesmaids we could be for our Queen."

"And..?"

Sighing, Fading Light said "To keep the alicorn, as well as any new prisoners, contained."

"Now, how did they escape?"

"They threw the bouquet, and we went after it."

"Why did you go after it, instead of following orders and keeping them contained?"

Fading Light paused for a moment, then grinned. "We were following orders, sir."

"Exactly, you weren't thinki-" Glinting Horn paused as his brain processed the words. "How were you following orders? They escaped, and almost killed our Queen!"

"We were following the original orders to be the best bridesmaids we could be. We wouldn't be the best bridesmaids we could be if we let the bouquet get damaged, could we?" Fading Light's smile threatened to split her face in two.

Glinting Horn paused, and stayed silent for a minute, as he tried to think up a response. Finally, he said, "Fine. Well, don't think you two are getting off that easily." The three other changelings stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "We're not strong enough to get that alicorn, much less capture Canterlot for our queen." Glinting Horn grinned evilly. "We'll capture that purple unicorn that she was with."