Celestia's Finest: Sombra Went Down to Ashtown

"One moment, Needles. I need to reply to this text." She texts Happy, "Needles and I are on our way! Thanks a ton for helping out. xoxo"

Needles is a big stallion. She looks up to him and keeps smiling. This right here is a happy moment. "Ah, I don't care if you're not good at baking. It's about having fun and giving gifts! I'd be honored if you guarded me, but you have to stay within conversation range! Though, Happy and I would be glad to have you help us bake! We can figure everything out and make amazing muffins at the same time! Whatever you want to do!" Love waves him forward toward the kitchen. "Will Pins be joining us? You're welcome to invite whomever or whomever you think would have fun!" She chuckles. "Any chance that would include Dagger or Cloak?"

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Originally Posted by Miltonian

“Oh no,” Lullaby says with a chuckle, “My tail would be a normal length if it was.” She nods towards her bobbed tail. “I was...one of the showmares.” She’s using tact and the small, frozen smile on her face to cover a wince. “I’m just helping out because if I wash one more set of sheets my hooves will soak off.”

Rose is making no progress on this right now. She just doesn’t have the skills for it.

---

"Oooh. Well I think the new management won't be as strict with the dress code. I can't attest much about dishpan hooves though." Rose puts her tools down and holds up her hooves. The metal dull and scratched under the desk light. "Lost all four legs in a crash. And some other inside parts. I've learned to live with it, though some days can be harder than others."

She sighs at her failed experiment and sets it all aside. At this point she should ask Star put her comm back together before it's irreparably broken. No response yet though. Hopefully she's awake.

Rose pivots the chair towards Lullaby. "Well, how good is your typing? You could help me transcribe my writing to my computer here. It'll certainly get the work done faster."

Rose’s fiddling, for all it was worth, did accomplish something. Trying to interface with the thing and, worst of all, hooking it up to something with a power source eventually triggers a minor, magical explosion. It washes over Rose and tears the world away.

In that moment, she sees the stars. Millions upon millions of stars with all their planets circling around them. Countless races, many like ponies but many not as well, live their lives on innumerable worlds. The galaxy is alive, but it is not a peaceful life. War, war on a scale Rose could never have imagined, stretches across the galaxy.

She sees whole races trained from birth to fight and kill, to march and die without question. She sees planets, no, whole solar systems stripped of materials and pumped through factories the size of suns to produce ships, vehicles, and munitions in numbers she never would have thought possible. Great ships larger than Equestria itself carry them to the countless legions scattered across the stars, fighting on and on into eternity.

And who could lead this numberless host? The stars themselves. Alicorns of countless shapes and colors, enough to outnumber the Royal Guard itself. Each one carries with it the power and majesty of a star, one of those shining beacons guiding ponies through the dark void. And for just a moment, Rose feels connected to them all, part of a song that spreads beyond her little world and off into eternity.

In that moment, as she sees the forces of Order arrayed out before her, she knows a terrible truth. They’re losing.

For as quickly as they are built, those ships and guns and tanks are destroyed. Empty hulks drift between stars, burned and blacked or, worse, inhabited by skittering, feral things that were once like ponies. Alicorns fall one by one, crashing to the surface of the planets they fight for like meteors and moving no more. The stars they were linked to grow faint and become mere memorials to the spirits they once were bound to. Races die in fire and shadow, for it is a shadow that hunts them. The shadow that comes from beyond the stars themselves. Chimerical, many formed, it stalks the alicorns and, with a snap of its claws, creates horrors or twists things that were already there into shapes that please its dread sense of humor. As Order fights and dies, it laughs.

But from the ranks of the alicorns, two rise up. One, a stallion with a white coat and red mane. The other, a mare with a white coat and pink mane who looks suspiciously like--

Rose snaps out of it. She comes to with her gun pointed at Lullaby’s wide-eyed face.

--

“I would love that, actually,” Octavia says, “How has it fared?”

Sniper’s sharp eye catches what normally stays out of sight. Those are ponies swirling in and out of existence around him, some young, some old, some too young to even have a cutie mark. Their expressions are blank and faces almost featureless. They don’t seem real at all. They try to play the instruments handed to them, but only barely manage to keep up with Octavia. She is the master of the show.

In other words, ghosts are weird.

--

It is a happy moment, in contrast to everything else going on at the moment. Needles nods in assent. “I think I can manage that. Pins is, uh, resting right now. His injury gave him a little more trouble than he realized. Aaaand I don’t think Cloak and Dagger like you much right now.”

The two of them walk side by side into the kitchen and find that Happy has already laid out everything for muffin baking. “Love!” she says and runs forward to give her a hug.

Right. Because if they were normal, no pony would fear them.

"I was only there for a week and most of that was spent on mission, so I don't know too much. But the town seems to have stayed relatively the same size through the years. Most ponies aren't too eager to live next to the EverFree Forest. The Castle of Friendship is still there-- as is Sweet Apple Acres, although I'm sure there's more technology integrated into the farm than in the past. It's still run by the Apples. Pinkie Pie re-opened Sugar Cube Corner and has a thing for trying to hook ponies up from what I hear. The citizenry still panics and stampedes the drop of a hat. Overall, it seemed like a nice place." Sniper says.

"What?"

Rose puts the gun to the floor and kicks it away, pushing herself in the opposite direction. "What?" She falls out of the chair. Her training pulls the leg motors into action against her body and she rolls away until she stops in a crouched position. She's shaking, her eyes darting around trying to reacquire her position against the entire enigma of the universe. "What?"

She slowly sits up. Rose hugs herself, trying to stop her shaking. "Wha... I don't... I was seeing things... just now..."

"...my Luna, it's full of stars." Rose's heart rate races like a Wonderbolt. The shaking won't stop. Something dug into her brain. She didn't want it in her brain. She didn't give it permission in her brain. Rose's muscles tense up. She is in the infirmary. In the DW bunker. In the wasteland. But her mind wasn't inside her head for a moment. It should always be there. Rose's shaking slows down, but there is a change in the intricate rhythm of her shakes. She isn't scared. Not now, if she ever was. Maybe? But no, not now. Anger fills her mind. Anger against Polaris. Against everything he's done; he's doing. Was this truth or propaganda? no, it doesn't matter, does it? Polaris doesn't care about ponies. We're just tools. Pawns.

Rose's shaking is now transformed. Her heart is full of rage. Polaris is using all these poor ponies. Chips in their necks taking away their lives. Throwing themselves against whatever campaign Polaris is waging. Saving them may be too late. Maybe killing them all is mercy. Yeah, it probably is. And Hyper Thought... well. Death would be too good for him!

"FFFfffff..."

Rose sits up. She puts her hooves together in front of her. Rose reaches inside and finds her 'center'. She takes in a deep breath and holds it. She holds herself together tightly, grabbing that rage and compressing it tightly into a ball. No, a bullet. Focus it. Turn it into a weapon of determination. Pierce the armor of Hyper Thought's machinations and destroy everything He. Has. Built.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Control.

Calm.

Determination.

"I'm so sorry, Lullaby," Rose finally says in a weakened voice. "When that chip popped, it gave me a bad vision. Something tried to speak to me, take control of my actions. You might want to keep my gun away from me for a little while. Just to make sure I have control of myself now. Don't worry. No one can fire that gun but me, so it's safe in your hooves."

That's worrying. "Is Pins alright?" He seemed in good health yesterday. "We have really good doctors. Rose should take another look at him. She can probably help him and anyone else that gets injured."

Love grabs her into a hug and tries to pick her up but weakly fumbles around. "Happy!" She snuggles her friend before releasing her back into the kitchen. "It's so good to see you! I've missed you since this morning! I had a great idea."

She introduces the two in case the party wasn't sufficient. "Happy, this is Needles. Needles, this is Happy."

"Cloak, Dagger, and I aren't getting along the best. I don't think we understand each other very well yet. Maybe, they'd like some sweets too."

Octavia stops playing abruptly and stares at him. The illusory ponies fade slowly from existence, the last echoes of their music languishing before dying off. Octavia's metal face cannot show much emotion, so Sniper is unsure what she's thinking. Then, she snorts and quickly dissolves into a fit of laughter, rolling on her back and pounding the floor with one hoof.

"Sorry, sorry," she says when she manages to pull herself together, "It's just...oh that was perfect. I remember those stampedes. They were often over the stupidest things. Like the time we thought Rarity had been replaced by a changeling because she styled her hair differently. Or when Sugar Lump ran out of sugar lumps and panicked. We thought something was attacking, so we panicked. Pinkie Pie joined in 'for fun', and poor Fluttershy was shopping that day, so she panicked. Twilight saw us running around, so she thought something bad was going on and so she panicked. Lyra thought some calming music would help, but that only started a town-wide musical number about how we were all panicking. It took Celestia charging in with the Royal Guard, ready to take on whatever had caused the entire town and HALF the Elements of Harmony to run around screaming their heads off before we finally sorted the whole thing out."

--

Lullaby snatches the gun up faster than a foal placed before a bowl of candy. She holds it awkwardly, unused to holding a weapon. "Right," she says, "You just...stay there and I'll...call for help."

On the plus side, the chip won't be doing that ever again. The discharge fused its parts together in one, melting lump.

--

"He overtaxed himself," Needles says, choosing not to elaborate further than that.

Happy is a bit too heavy to pick up. Not only is Love weak, Happy is not exactly slender. Not chubby either, but certainly not slender.

"Ooh!" she says, "What's the idea?" She looks to Needles, grabs his hoof, and shakes it vigorously. "Hi! I'm Happy!"

"You certainly are!" Needles declares, chuckling as if he'd just told the world's funniest joke. His ears droop at the mention of giving the two hacker-lings food. "I'm not sure...I mean, they don't like anyone. Not sure that muffins will make a difference."

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Originally Posted by Miltonian

Lullaby snatches the gun up faster than a foal placed before a bowl of candy. She holds it awkwardly, unused to holding a weapon. "Right," she says, "You just...stay there and I'll...call for help."

On the plus side, the chip won't be doing that ever again. The discharge fused its parts together in one, melting lump.

---

"Yeah, actually, do so. Call Angel back to have her check my head and... if you know who Red Tape is? He's sort of my boss? He'll want to talk to me."

Sigh. Rose can't even glance more than once at the slag on the table. She sits there on the floor, waiting for Lullaby to get help.

Sniper stares at Octavia.

That is all.

Except not really because then we'd have a pretty bare bones post. Eventually, he clears his throat and nods slowly.

"I was thinking of growing out my mane, but, given that I'm scheduled to return to Ponyville soon, I think I'll abstain." It's a deadpan joke. "I'm guessing that random public musicals were an accepted practice approximately two hundred years ago? Every pony from that generation seems to be fond of them."

Love chuckles at Needles' joke. Amazing! The two are getting along perfectly. She turns on a confident air and stance. "The idea is to make muffins for Queen Chrysalis and the 5th floor!" She puts a hoof up to her mouth and laughs.

She taps her chin at Needles' point. "Hackers, hackers. Wait! I'm a hacker! What would I like?" She starts thinking real hard with a hoof to her head. "I enjoy hardware, software, and a good challenge. Robots! Oh! No long night of programming is better met than by an amazing cup of coffee! Oh, oh! I know! Napping supplies. They might really enjoy earplugs or a good blindfold or sleep mask." Love rubs her hoof against her temple. "A blindfold isn't hard to find. The earplugs might be more of a challenge."

Without taking her eyes off Rose, Lullaby steps over to the intercom and calls for 'bucking anypony else, you hear?!' She's a little freaked out right now.

In short order, Card Ace, Angel, and Red Tape pile into the room. Card Ace immediately checks for magic while Angel rushes over and checks Rose's vitals. Red Tape...awkwardly stands guard.

"How are you feeling?" Angel asks.

--

Octavia composes herself a bit more, putting a few strands of wiry mane back in place. "You mean you don't?" she asks, sounding genuinely surprised, "I mean, I assumed that nopony around here did because they wouldn't know fun if it came up and decked them in the nose, but they don't do town-wide songs back in Equestria either?" She shakes her head in dismay. "Truly," she says in a mock-serious tone, "This is the worst news of all."

--

Needles blinks. "You're making the Queen...muffins?"

"She loves them!" Happy declares, "Ate as many as I could slip her back on..." Her bright, cheerful demeanor dims for a moment. "Back on Tartarus Station."

Fortunately, Needles declines to comment. "Oh, I'm sure they'd love a way to tune us out. Especially mentally. They sometimes shout at the rest of us if we're chatting thinking too loud over the hivemind. They're not...adapting well to it. I like it because the Queen helps make all the hard decisions for me!"

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Originally Posted by Miltonian

"How are you feeling?" Angel asks.

---

"Violated," was Rose's response. "I was sitting there at the desk studying one of the CPI's chips and not making any progress. It then exploded on me and gave me this... odd vision to put it nicely. I saw planets around stars with all sorts of alien life and they were at war with some kind of darkness. Like a shadowy, all consuming chaos, and then Polaris went to war with it and it was a mess with billions dying and... well, it be easier to write down I think. But when I came to I had my gun out and pointed at Lullaby over there. That's not like me at all. Whatever was in that chip had momentarily taken control. So yeah, I feel violated."

She shudders at remembering the vision in her head.

"It's possible that the still do them in Ponyville and I simply missed them. I don't get out too often." Sniper says. "I feel reasonably certain about Canterlot, however. I'd say the tradition died off during the Corvid Wars, but that's pure conjecture on my part."

Sniper has the distinct feeling that their culture is falling apart around them.

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Originally Posted by Miltonian

--

As Brazen checks over his equipment, Seafire plops down beside him with an exhausted huff. "If anyone tells you," she says, "That Kittyhawk has skinny legs and should be easy to overpower, tell them they're a big fat liar."

--

---

Brazen can't help but laugh a little at Seafire's plight and wraps a leg around her in a hug. Probably getting a little bit of gun grease on her unintentionally in the process. "Oh? What did she manage to do?"

Love says really excited, "Yep! We're going to make a ton of muffins!"

Happy's flashback to less fun times causes Love to move next to happy and give her a warming hug. "It's because I went to Tartarus that I got to meet you, Queen Chrysalis, Bristle, and so many other awesome people. I'll always owe Queen Chrysalis for everyone meeting." Love gives her a good 'strong' squeeze. "Let's give her some muffins!"

Love puts a hoof up to her mouth, "Shh. The muffins are a surprise!" She chuckles at her antics. She says more mellow, "That sounds really difficult for them. I have an idea. Here, would you be alright with me putting something in your ears?" If Needles agrees, she steps up to him and gingerly puts earbuds in his ears. "Let's try some music." Love will play a soft piano music over the comms.

Card Ace studies her a moment longer before letting out a sigh of relief. "I'll have you know," he says with a wry smile, "I left three very interested mares in order to run to your rescue. But according to my abilities, you're fine now. The spell doesn't seem to have had a lasting effect."

"Vitals are good," Angel says, "You seem alright. Physically."

"Mentally?" Red Tape asks, more posing the question than answering it.

--

"Pity," Octavia says, "They really were something. If you ever get the chance to see one, you should check it out. They did seem to be more common around Pinkie Pie, so find wherever she's hanging out if you're interested."

--

Seafire huffs. "Hey, I just got clean." But she accepts the hug anyway. "Well, she dented my armor, that's what," she grumbles, "Bucked in right in the face. If I hadn't been wearing a helmet, I'd be minus one head right now. She apologized after she calmed down, but I think I strained a muscle or two trying to hold her down."

--

"Muffins!" Happy cheers in agreements.

In the corner, Needles bobs his head to the music as the two mares begin setting up for another round of baking. "This stuff is pretty good," he calls over.

Love works with Happy on the muffins.

She calls out to Needles, "Great! Do you think it'll be useful for Cloak's and Dagger's needs?" Hopefully, Needles with be joining them in baking.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miltonian

Card Ace studies her a moment longer before letting out a sigh of relief. "I'll have you know," he says with a wry smile, "I left three very interested mares in order to run to your rescue. But according to my abilities, you're fine now. The spell doesn't seem to have had a lasting effect."

"Vitals are good," Angel says, "You seem alright. Physically."

"Mentally?" Red Tape asks, more posing the question than answering it.

---

Rose thinks for a moment and cannot find a satisfactory answer for Red Tape. So she defaults to that lie you give when something feels wrong, but you don't know what it is. "I think I'm okay. Unless you know a good wasteland shrink that can get into my head and check... and don't worry, Ace. If you like nerdy red-heads, I'll give you my sister's number."

She looks over to Lullaby. "So, can you go over what happened from your perspective? Start from the explosion--what did you see, and what did I do? Did I just pull the gun out immediately? I don't know how much time passed until I came to my senses."

"I'll keep that in mind the next time I'm in Ponyville."

He was treated to the unenviable flashback of Brazen throwing Pinkie Pie in his face... And Pinkie Pie shaking him like a bobble head doll on Tartarus. Sigh.

Sniper considered the situation for a moment. The conversation seemed to be concluding. It was probably better to end on good terms before he started rambling.

One check of the time and: "Well, I should report back. If any pony gives you trouble then let me know and we'll get it sorted out."

"I dunno," Needles says, "I try not to talk to them if I can help it. I like it though, so that's something. If they don't, then it's just them and not a changeling thing."

Happy guides Love through the steps of making muffins. Love gets the feeling she could to it all herself, but she enjoys having Love to keep her company. It helps the time pass quickly.

--

"Well," Lullaby says, "I started to answer your question when the chip exploded you went all stiff. I asked what was wrong and if you were alright but you...pulled your gun on me. You told me not to move, so I didn't. And then...you woke up?"

Ace grins. "But why would I need her number when I have yours already?" He chuckles. "Alright, well if you're sure you're feeling better, I'll get back to winning over the locals to our cause."

"Oh is that what you're doing?" Angel says with a smirk.

"I'm multi-tasking. i'm a very talented stallion." He leaves with a wink.

--

"See that you do. It's a strange place, Ponyville, but I love it for its strangeness." She chuckles. "It's the one place in Equestria where ghosts might NOT be out of place, given everything that happens there."

She nods. "Have a good night, then. And...well, thank you for the talk."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miltonian

"Well," Lullaby says, "I started to answer your question when the chip exploded you went all stiff. I asked what was wrong and if you were alright but you...pulled your gun on me. You told me not to move, so I didn't. And then...you woke up?"

---

"I said not to move? Hmm, I didn't say anything when I have having that vision. Or... hallucination?" Rose sighs. "Alright, well... no more messing with these chips until we can get a proper lab with a blast-proof container to work with. Give Red Tape my gun. He'll keep it locked up until we're sure I'm okay."

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Ace grins. "But why would I need her number when I have yours already?" He chuckles. "Alright, well if you're sure you're feeling better, I'll get back to winning over the locals to our cause."

"Oh is that what you're doing?" Angel says with a smirk.

"I'm multi-tasking. i'm a very talented stallion." He leaves with a wink.

---

Rose shakes her head after Ace leaves. "Alright, so... what should we do now? I trust Angel and Ace to find something if there was anything."

"I don't doubt that at all." Sniper says about her former residence.

"the conversation was my pleasure. I'll try to check in with you tomorrow as well."

If there's nothing else, Sniper will head toward the infirmary. One eye is kept on the rafters. Just in case.

Love smiles at him. "I'm glad you like it! I have a whole bunch of songs you could listen to if you want!"

Baking is actually pretty fun. Love has enjoyed "engineering" a good muffin or even trying her hoof at turkish delights. She is happy to accept the tutelage of the muffin master, but Love isn't completely inexperienced to the task at hoof. She shows off some basic technique and know how as they work to let Happy know she can handle herself. Love wants Happy's partnership in this endeavor because they are making muffins together for the Queen. She pours some positive thought and emotion into the batter. Love also takes the time to have some fun with happy since they haven't seen each other as much as Love wants. Love's laptop is put in a safe place nearby and she puts background music on for all of them (instead of entirely through the earbuds). She sings a few words, adds some physical humor, and dances to the process.

Needles is very welcome to join them if he wants. She does throw him a prompted song line to test his singing mettle and a few dance steps if he seems interested.

Lullaby looks at the gun and remembers she still has it. She hurriedly hands it over to Red Tape. He catches it with his magic and stows it on his back.

The stallions shifts uncomfortably. "Well you're not in charge of the infirmary, that's for sure." He nods to Angel, who steps forward. "You're...going to be under observation for tonight."

Sniper passes Card Ace on his way to the infirmary. The stallion nods with a grim expression, but doesn't stop him.

--

Needles shifts between several songs, dancing a little in place when he finds one he particularly likes. However, he doesn't join in on the baking.

The muffins are soon ready and piping hot. Happy sniffs them carefully and nods, satisfied.

Rose nods to Red Tape. "Yeah, I'd suggest that myself. Best to keep me in a box by myself for a while to make sure I don't... hurt anyone. Um, do we still have one of those... horn arresting..."

She's unable to finish her question, feeling a bit down about what transpired. But like, she couldn't have known the chip would explode like that... sigh.

Two steps after returning Card Sce's nod, Sniper stops in place. A half-circle into turning after Ace, Sniper stops again. This was a horrible idea. The realization of his near miss puts Sniper back on course for the infirmary.

Banish it, Scope. Get your head together.

No amount of pipe dream or empty promise would change anything.

Love tries to do some busy / computer work over the wireless for Dagger and Cloak during baking. She'll text whoever was in charge of security to see if they ran into any issues today. They should have spotted Love and Needles together. Needles seems happy so she tries not to badger him so he can do the things he enjoys.

Love sniffs the muffins and returns a couple excited nods of her own. She pulls in happy and whispers in her ear, "Needles and Pins - Pins is Needles brother - are two of the people I wanted to make muffins. Would you help me surprise him?" If Happy agrees, Love wants to 'hide' the gift until they present the muffin in front of him. "Ta da! We made you a muffin!" Love smiles real big. "Thank you for guarding us! I had a lot of fun last night!"

She will help haul the muffins for everyone down to the 5th floor. A couple of robots can airdrop her requested supplies on the way down.

It was an unforeseen outcome that Rose could only have guessed at before doing an examination. So in order to know the exam was dangerous, she had to do the exam. Bit of a Catch 22 there.

"Yes," Red Tape says slowly, "And I'm sure we can cart a bed into the...brig or something for you. Something comfortable." Sniper steps into the infirmary. "I'm afraid you'll be sleeping alone tonight," Red Tape finishes.

--

Currently in charge of security is Green Pine. Though not the most adept with computers, he rewinds the footage and says that Needles just...appeared. In the middle of a hallway. It's as if he popped up out of a vent, but they checked those. It's way too small for a pony his size. Too small for anyone but a foal less than a year old, really. There's no way he could have come through there.

Happy eagerly agrees to this plan. Together, they sneak up on Needles and catch him off-guard...which isn't the best idea. He whirls, a snarl on his face and teeth ready to bite into whatever's nearest. Happy jumps back. He blinks and his ears go down. "Sorry," he says. The muffin brightens him up again. "Oooh. Pony-food," he says.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Miltonian

"Yes," Red Tape says slowly, "And I'm sure we can cart a bed into the...brig or something for you. Something comfortable." Sniper steps into the infirmary. "I'm afraid you'll be sleeping alone tonight," Red Tape finishes.

---

"I'm used to sleeping alone," Rose comments with a dry wit, glancing at sniper's presence. We'll call it self-depreciation humor.

She takes in a deep breath and starts removing every remaining piece of gear from herself and drops it in a pile. "Hey, Sniper. You missed the fireworks." Rose points to the slag on the table. "Apparently running an electric current through one of the CPI's chips makes them explode. I got hit by... geas shrapnel. And that's the first time I thought I'd ever say such a concept."

Could Needles have turned into a mouse to infiltrate the vents? Love had checked the vents on more than one occasion at this point. Or, perhaps the hacker twins really did breach the security in their playing around. Her appeared in the middle of the hallway? Curious. Love will have to check the cameras herself it seems. Still, she sends a thank you to Green Pines. The stallion always seemed helpful.

Love's ears go down as he snarls at the two. "I'm sorry", she apologizes as well. Her ears go back up. "I didn't mean to surprise you that much." She chuckles. "We're surprising each other all over the place today." Love holds out the muffin in her hoofs and presents it to him with a smile. "Yep! One pony-food-muffin! Made by Love and Happy for Needles. A gift from us to you. Thank you for being around!"