//------------------------------// // Eleven: Gifted & Galled // Story: Obsidian: Daughter of Sombra // by Randimaxis //------------------------------// As she approached the table, Cupcake saw him first. "Hey, Rover!" Gypsy gave a slight start, but looked up with a smile on his muzzle... which quickly melted into a very guilty, very ashamed look when he saw Obsidian. His ears drooped, and he set aside the boat he'd been working on to fidget with his fingers. "Yo Gypsy," Clap asked as they approached, "you okay?" Looking at the floor and drawing into himself to appear as small as possible, a wispy and whimpering voice spoke up. "Th-th-this o-o-o-one d-did not m-m-m... did n-n-not m-m-m... meant no d-d-d-d..." He curled his hands into his lap, his face blushing with both shame and frustration. "... th-th-th-this o-o-one is s-s-s-s-s... s-s-s-s... groan s-s-s-s-s-s..." Cupcake sat next to him at the table. "Easy, Gypsy... breathe. Relax." The poor diamond dog looked absolutely mortified. It seemed that his stuttering got only worse after yesterday's meeting; luckily, Cupcake was able to help - without him Obsidian wouldn't be able to understand her doggo 'friend' at all. Clap reached over and nudged Obsidian softly. "I think," she whispered, "he blames himself for the other day." She raised an eyebrow; he was blaming himself? Of all the creatures around who were involved? "Gypsy, out of the lot of us, you have nothing to blame yourself for. If it helps, I'm s-s-so-..." she stuttered, just a bit. It may have been difficult, but at least this time it didn't look like she was choking on her apologies. "... I'm sorry for scaring you yesterday." Maybe it would be enough - she hoped so, as right now listening him was practically painful. The diamond dog gave a single, mournful look up at the Dark Princess. "... th-this one... h-he... he was j-j-just-t-t... you w-w-were so... a-angry. This o-o-one... d-d-does not l-like... c-c-c-c-c-c... c-c-c-confront-t-t-tation." "Easy... settle down, it's okay, we're all friends here..." Cupcake soothed. Gypsy swallowed a lump in his throat, then gave a soft sigh as the stallion began patting his back. It was the same gesture Obsidian had seen from him, but this time, he actually touched the doggo. For what it was worth, Gypsy didn't flinch. Clap strolled closer, and smiled at him softly. "Gypper... you're gonna be okay, okay? I mean, intense and such yesterday, yeah, but that doesn't mean it'll be that way every day!" He wiped a paw across his eyes. "Obs-s-s-s-sdian... is n-n-not h-h-hating th-this o-o-one?" Hating? Hate was such a strong word... did she truly hate any creature around? While Lemon managed to anger her, she didn't hate him. Cupcake was very, very annoying at first (honestly he still was somewhat, but at least the mockery and poor attitude were absent), but obviously she didn't hate him either. "Of course not. Of all ponies around, Cupcake is the one who has managed to anger me the most... but, as you can see, we are all just fine now," she replied with a look of blunt honesty. "You? You didn't get even close to his level, and you didn't do a single thing that could even slightly annoy me. You don't have to worry about such as that, and I do hope you are my friend." Hopefully this one wouldn't deny it - she needed this confirmed! "Yeah," Cupcake added, "I said all sorts of stupid stuff, and we're okie dokie lokie now! Folks get mad - but it's a passing thing; no one stays mad forever." "... exc-c-c-cept Sourp-p-p-puss." Gypsy softly spoke. Both Clap and Cup smiled at that. "Yeah - except Sourpuss." Clap grinned. "But he doesn't count; WE are the only ones here right now, and we're happy to have you with us, Gypsy!" He looked at the three of them for a moment, then back at Obsidian. "Th-this one... w-w-would very m-much like to b-b-be your f-friend... i-i-if you will accept h-h-him." Who was this Sourpuss? Was he threatening her main non-book source of history knowledge? She'd have to try to remember that name, just in case. "Yes, I gladly accept you." BAH, this entire situation was starting to sound like a ceremony of vassalage! "Is everything fine now?" Gypsy sniffled, nodded, then reached into his coat and pulled out a small baggie. His fingers fiddled around inside it for a moment, then he brought out a small, folded piece of paper. "Th-this one... w-w-wanted to d-d-do something n-nice, so... s-so this o-one..." He took hold ever-so-gently of two edges, and pulled slowly. The paper form folded out, with four legs, ears, muzzle, mane, horn... and a cape? It took a moment because of a lack of color... but slowly, Obsidian realized that Gypsy Rover had folded for her... a little white Sombra. Complete with eye smoke, as little curves of paper that stood out from the head. There was even a little crown! "... th-this one w-wants you t-t-t-to have it." It may have taken her a moment to make any sense out of these shapes - but when she did, instantly she felt her throat dry up like a puddle in a heatwave. "Wow," Cupcake leaned in close to stare at it, "it's almost uncanny! Like, it looks just like him! With, uhm, a lot of pointy angles." Clap looked at it for a moment. "... is it a dog?" Cupcake snickered, but shook his head. Gypsy looked at Obsidian. "Is.... i-i-is it good?" It was truly remarkable how it resembled him, this small piece of art - especially considering it was made out of simple paper. She knew it wasn't him, but the revelation was shocking enough to make her shudder visibly - it was completely unexpected, and felt distinctly out of place. "Y... y-y-y-y... yyyyyeeeeessss, it is," she managed to squeeze out of the desert of her throat. Perhaps it was TOO good... feeling that level of shock and fear over a scrap of folded paper was pathetic! She should feel ashamed for herself for acting like such a weak creature! "What... w-what do you... mean... you want me to have it?" After all, it was her first friendly gift in... well, EVER. She wasn't really familiar with the idea, especially in her current state of mind; she could fathom no reason why he would want anything from her - else, why would he be giving her a gift? The diamond dog blinked at her a moment. "W-w-well... e-each time Obs-s-s-sidian's father was b-brought up, it s-s-s-seemed, with h-how you sp-spoke about h-h-h-him, that you m-missed him. So, this one f-f-found a pict-t-t... a pict-t-t-t... a painting of h-h-him, an studied it s-so he would g-g-g-get it r-r-right." He sighed. "This o-one was only t-t-t-trying to m-m-make you feel b-better, princ-c-cess. This o-one does not h-h-have p-parents, b-b-but he would m-m-miss them if he d-d-did." He now gave a weak smile. "Th-this one d-didn't want you t-t-to miss him t-t-too much." Now there was a question: did she really miss him? She knew he had to be right, and that he would eventually come back. Knew that she had to do everything she could for him, to live up to what he had to have seen as her potential. Missing him, however? She honestly didn't know... However, her emotions at the sight of this small paper sculpture were wildly different from the typical ones that a normal pony teenager should have in this sort of situation, that much was evident. She was left speechless. Gypsy was wrong about her feelings, at least partially, but he surprised her by taking action to influence them. What was there for him to gain from such a thing? "I... um... I-I'd need to take it to my room, I think. Otherwise, I'll have to carry it with my magic the entire time, and some ponies," she glanced at Clap, "do not seem to care very much for how my magical aura looks." Thunderclap's muzzle hardened. "Well, we can't have THAT, can we?" With that, she reached back and unlatched her rather sporty saddlebag, then came right over to Obsidian and held it up. "If you got something to carry it in, you'll be fine. And anyone who'll judge you by the color of your magic... well, they'll have to deal with ME." The saddlebag was actually rather well made; it looked as if it was expensive enough to adorn a princess' flank. "Clap," Cupcake said, "that's your bag, though." Thunderclap shook her head. "Naaaaah, it's hers - and she can use it to carry whatever she wants, regardless of magical auras and stuff." Clap grinned at her. "So? Put it on, let's see you in it! C'mon, I wanna see you with a pack, Siddy!" How very interesting; the words had come from the mare who claimed that any offenders would have to 'deal with ME'... and mere moments ago, that same mare had asked her - to her face - if she was evil. Right now, Obsidian couldn't care less about Thunderclap's sudden charity or if this saddlebag was good enough for her - she just took it and put on, trying to feel its' weight. In fact she did such as if she just assumed it was normal to do such a thing, and that she deserved it. At least the bags seemed to be practical, not just for show - good. "See? Better on you than me, anyway - ya look good, Siddy!" Clap grinned. It fit rather well... even with her height, it seemed to be juuuuuust snug enough to stay in place, but not so tight that it caused problems. It settled against her coat just fine, even still slightly warm from Clap's body heat. "Princess..." Cupcake asked hesitantly, "... is something wrong?" That got both Clap and Gypsy's attentions. Cup paid them no mind, however - his eyes were locked on Obsidian's. "Hey, hey... what's wrong? You looked... panicky. More than after the library. You wanna tell me... or, uhm... would you rather talk about it later?" "Later?" Clap asked, "What, can't we solve problems now?" "It w-would be Obsid-d-dian's choice, Thunderc-clap." His eyes locked on hers, Cupcake looked as though he was searching her eyes for... something... "It... the gift... just surprised me a bit, Cupcake. It's nothing important; I just never expected to see my most honourable parent, even in a form of paper figurine, here and now." She was getting used to having company... at least enough to stop constantly thinking about HIM, like she did in the castle. Without HIS presence around, it was far easier to just... well, do anything that she wanted to. "Keep in mind that I'm still thrown off-balance by the fact that I'm not at home anymore... nor even in my own time. I can appear... confused... from time to time, if I so desire." Cupcake smiled. "Well, it's okay - you've got friends here, and we care about what happens to you, okay? I just thought I saw... something not-fun in your stare, like you were afraid of..." The stallion's eyes flicked briefly to the paper statuette, then back. "It's okay, princess... we're happy to help out." "Yeah, anything that'll make you feel better, an' we'll do it!" Clap struck a pose of determination, smiling broadly. "This o-o-one will t-too... bec-c-cause it's what friends d-d-d-do." The three of them there, all smiling at her, all paying attention to her. "You wanna go somewhere else? Back to your room, maybe?" Cup asked meekly, before the pegasus mare's muzzle suddenly lit up. "Hey, why don't we get some grub? I'm hankering for a hayburger! OOH!" Clap looked at Siddy with excitement. "You ever had a hayburger before?" Having her own slav-... serva-... vass-... 'friends'?... surely was useful, especially if they all wanted to be useful on their own. They were even quite enthusiastic about it! "There is still Mica left to gather... and, um, 'getting grub' means eating, I assume? And no, I do not believe I have ever had anything that was named such, Thunderclap." Clap smiled. "That's the thing; Mica usually hangs out at McDonkey's after school - and they serve some fantastic hayburgers there! We could get two apples with one buck!" Cupcake nodded, "They do have great milkshakes... and I'll bet you've never had one of those either, have you?" Gypsy even gave a small grin. "Fried p-p-potato sticks are g-g-good to eat with m-mustard." "They are at that, Pupper! So, Siddy - you up for it?" Clap looked excited enough to resmble a filly on Hearthswarming. "What are these... apples... and why do they need a buck?" Obsidian asked, just to be sure that she got the idiom right. It sounded similar to 'one slave finishing two jobs'... Cup gave Obsidian a momentary glance. "You don't know what an ap-... you've really gotta get out more, princess!" "Aaaaand no. At my last recollection, there were not many 'milkshakes' in the ancient Empire." Milk was obvious, but why was it shaken? "Well, if it is the best option, then I suppose." Perhaps she could, on the way there, ask Gypsy about the supposed 'struggles of Headmare Starlight'... Thunderclap laughed. "Ask Butter Churn about applebucking; her mom's the champ, and she's pretty awesome at it, too! Okay, BURGAAAAAAAHZ!" With that, the excitable pegasus mare took off like a shot... leaving the others behind again. Why did this seem like a repeat of yesterday? Perhaps Thunderclap didn't like walking and talking with them - considering that it was the second time she just flew off, it surely seemed like a possible explanation. So, she'd have to ask Butter Churn about it - that would be fine. However, there was a hidden danger in asking experts about something - there was a risk that they wouldn't know when to shut up, and instead of providing only a bit of basic information, they would just go on and on and on... Cupcake gave a chuckle as he trotted up beside her while they walked. "To let you know, that saddlebag she just gave you? She's a bit of a fashion plate, so I promise you it's not cheap... but that's just like Clap; when it comes to her friends needing something, she'll give whatever she can." He looked over the bag again, resting on her flank. "I think it's a Poochi; all the rave this year, from what I hear. Diamond dog designed and manufactured, and anything from Poochi is usually a LOT of bits!" Cup continued on for a moment... but Obsidian saw something he apparently did not: By the back wall, there was a small circle of griffons, all seeming to be laughing and carrying on. Something was going on in the middle of their circle, but the observers were packed so close together, she couldn't make out anything... except what looked to be furitive, quick movements. Every now and then, one of the collected griffons would look around, as if keeping watch for authority figures, before turning back to whatever spectacle they were enjoying. Cupcake just rattled on as usual, oblivious of the griffon circle. Obsidian just gave an empty stare when Cupcake started to talk again. So these were good Saddlebags, but what was this statement of 'Poochi'? ... it sounded like some kind of slang. Instead of asking for further explanations, she only stopped to stare in the griffons' direction. "Cupcake? What are they doing?" she asked curiously. He stopped and looked around. "Who? Doing what?" When he saw it, his eyebrow cocked and he looked at Obsidian. "Uhhhhhhh... folk dancing? Wait," he observed for a moment, "that doesn't look like any of their traditional dances - and trust me, I know them ALL - but why would..." Cupcake's eyes suddenly lit up... anxiously. "Oh, by Celestia's crown, are they fighting???" Cupcake looked over at Obsidian. "You wanna wait here, or are you coming with me - 'cause I'm not gonna let them just fight like that, but... it's not your fight." He turned to face the circle. "Technically not my fight either, but the school has a STRICT 'no fighting' policy." Obsidian stared at him for quite a long moment, wondering why she was surprised at all; this world had banned or changed almost everything she knew, so it was obvious that it would cover any possible fighting as well. "It's good you told me that before I had any opportunity to use too much force here... but fighting outside the school is fine, right?" Eh, these modern ponies; if violence doesn't solve a problem, then it's a sign that not enough violence was used! "I'll go with you; I'm curious." Cupcake gave her a slightly embarrassed look. "Uhm... I'll explain more later - c'mon, let's put a stop to this!" He made a fast gallop over towards the circle, where a number of griffons now looked back at the new interlopers. There was a voice that said, "cheezit!", and all the harried activity within the circle seemed to stop. "Hey," Cupcake began, "what kinda deal is this? What's going on? What are you doing, there?" One of the taller griffons gave them both a distasteful look, then glanced at the other five griffons present. "You see this? Just blatantly accused of something awful here - and it's just our first day, too... y'see what kinda stuff ponies do to griffons like us?" Cupcake's eyes narrowed a bit. "If you're not hiding anything... then move." The griffon rolled his eyes. "Scram, dipwad - you're crusin' for a-" The griffon stopped, staring at Obsidian. "Hey... what's up with that horn? Wow, that thing melting? 'Cause it's all bent and stuff!" Cup suddenly seemed to s-t-r-e-t-c-h his legs up to meet the griffon eye-to-eye; it was utterly impossible... but there it was, right in front of her. "The next words out of your claptrap had better be, 'sorry, my bad, won't happen again'... because I promise you, as the Thirteenth-Year-In-A-Row Champion Chicken-Plucker..." His muzzle came to rest on the griffon's beak, Cupcake menacingly glowering at his opponent. "... I'll have you skin-bare in ten seconds flat." The griffons all looked to their 'leader' while he seemed to be pondering a few things for a moment. Nervously. It was either very bold or very stupid of Cupcake to try to stop those griffons from fighting - Obsidian wasn't sure which one it was, considering her complete and utter lack of experience with modern social norms. However, they seemed to dislike the fact that they were interrupted - enough to say the equivalent of 'we'd like to be violently beaten and thrown out of this country!' or something to that effect. At least that's what she heard when one of them disrespected her horn. "It's a side effect of dark magic, griffon; a very interesting kind of magic," she spoke only loud enough for the gathered griffons to hear. Cupcake was truly surprising her right now - she was sure that it was physically impossible for him to become that tall... and it looked like he was behaving in his very antagonistic, mocking manner again. Though this time it wasn't directed at her, so she had no reason to complain. The griffon looked at her, then back at Cupcake, then back at her again... and she saw a single bead of sweat roll down his face. "Eehhhhh... this ain't worth it. Forget you two. C'mon boys; we're finding somewhere else to be." At that point, all the griffons took wing, and shot into the sky, headed elsewhere. Cupcake slowly lowered back to his original size, watching them warily until he heard a groan from in front of him. He looked down... Standing there, bruised and a little bloody, was Stalwart Stance, beaten but visibly refusing to fall over. "WART!!!!!" Cupcake was instantly at her side, looking her over frantically. Of all the creatures around... Obsidian stepped forward as her feeling of satisfaction over threatening the griffons into submission was rapidly evaporating. Right now, for reasons that weren't exactly familiar to her, she was frustratingly regretting that she didn't strike down one or two of them for daring to lay their claws on Stalwart. She quickly started to check unicorn mare's wounds, to figure out how serious they were. With her magical training, directed by her most honourable father, she knew a bit about healing magic... after all, it would have been a shame if she had to stop her training each time she got wounded. She had that knowledge, and was willing to use it - regardless if her magical aura would scare a few ponies. "Stalwart, were thou attacked? Should I follow them and beat them into bloody submission?" Obsidian hoped she would say yes. "... n... n-no." Wart looked up at them both, but the look in her eyes was one of rage, not cowardace. "They... Galen Grout knows that I... that I'm trying to become a... Royal Guard... and he knows... that I am... trying... to maintain a... a spotless school record when it... c-c-comes to discipline... to improve... my chances..." Cupcake's eyes watered up as he listened, a comforting hoof on Wart's unbruised shoulder. "... so I... didn't fight b-back... wouldn't fight back... a-and it made them..." "Shhhhhhhh, Wart; take it easy, it's gonna be okay, now. Don't blame yourself for their-" "I don't." Cupcake was a bit surprised by such a quick answer, but he nodded his understanding. "... besides... I can use..." she began to try to step forward, catching herself at least twice, "... the training... to... t-to toughen up." Wart started to reach up to fix her wild mane, but gave a grunt and returned her forehoof to the ground. "Wart! You know who they are; aren't you going to report them? If you don't, I WILL." Stalwart's gaze turned and locked on Cupcake instantly. "N-no! If a report like that comes in... (grunt)... then it'll go on my record, and... and I will NOT have my record sullied... even slightly... for some... s-some petty sense of revenge." She gave a weak chuckle. "Years from now, I hope they show up to... the throne room to see the princess... and I'll tell them to... t-to go and find somewhere else... to be." Even in the obvious pain she was in, she not only remained standing, but was trying to literally 'walk it off'. So they compunded their cowardace by taking advantage of the fact that Stalwart wouldn't fight, using her ambitions against her. Obsidian growled quietly with anger, but for now she refrained from comments - she had to focus on healing the intent little mare. Her horn flashed with a sinister aura as she magically started to clean up the more prominent wounds first. "They most certainly do deserve punishment! Galen Grout, you said? I shall remember that name..." How dare they place abuse on such a proud mare that had acted as her bodyguard! "If something hurts more than the rest, please tell me; I can't heal broken bones, if you happen to have any. You would have to go to a trained medic for that... and what will you do, should they ask you what happened?" The magic surrounded Wart, and her eyes widened as Obsidian healed her... yet, she looked at her in shock. "Y-your Majesty! You... y-you're above healing those... beneath you! I'm not worthy o-of-" "Wart," Cupcake said with a kind, warm smile, "shut up and let Obsidian be a good friend." Wart, still unsure if she was worth the effort, simply gave a single nod, then looked back at Obsidian. "I am... honored that y-you would find me... w-w-worth your notice, Your Majesty." As the energy enveloped the little mare, the bright red glow coated the surrounding area in a light sheen of crimson. It also attracted more than a little attention, and a number of creatures began to slowly meander towards them, curious and concerned looks on their muzzles. Cupcake stood up and held out his hooves. "Move along, folks - nothing to see here!" "Then what's that?" one earth pony spoke up. "Healing." "... healing?" Cup nodnodded. "Healing." The other stallion looked skeptical. "Really?" Cupcake sighed. "Yes, really. Now, if you'd simply move on, we can-" "Dark healing?" Cupcake froze, then reached behind him and pulled out... what in Tartarus... The thing was shaped to look like a cupcake, turned on one side, suspended between what appeared to be two large chocolate-chip cookies as wheels... and one wheel even seemed to have a bite taken out of it. There was a pull-cord that came from the top of the cupcake, complete with what looked to be a cherry at the end of it. "PARTY CANNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!!!!!" >BOOM!< The thing was a CANNON!? But... it shot out what looked like... candy? And ribbons? And... little pieces of colored paper that went seemingly everywhere. What was..? Whatever it was he was doing, it was attracting more attention than Obsidian's light show, so the heat was off her and Wart, who was healing up nicely. Wart looked up at her. "I am sorry that... I wasn't able to... to greet you this morning. I'd have been there, but... but I had chores and school. I give you my... my word, Your Majesty, I'll be right behind you, once my... m-my lessons are through for the day..." Did these ponies not even know what true dark magic looked like? It wasn't THAT hard to miss - especially with all this ill-looking violet light boiling out of her horn, while tiny little dark crystals sprouted up like weeds around their hooves. Truth be told, real dark healing would probably hurt Stalwart more than help her; she wasn't THAT experienced with it... and apparently, helping her was more of a 'friendly' act, which made it a touch more difficult. Was it, though? Frankly, she thought it was just a matter of saving her own useful assets... but if they were going to think that there was something more behind that, then they were welcome to; there was no reason to correct that mistake on Cupcake's part. However, even though Obsidian didn't want to think about it, there was the possibility that she was actually starting to care about this whole situation (and those involved) a bit more than such a cruel, pragmatic approach would typically justify. Obsidian paused in her healing of Wart - but not because she was done; when Cupcake pulled this out strange device - wherever it came from and however he did it - the dark unicorn sat bolt upright, looking around frantically for the source of the explosion. "Wart, I should insist that you make sure you are well, first - and what, by Darkness, was THAT?" Pinkie's child had done it to distract other ponies from her healing - but it broke her focus far more than a few babbling bystanders would have been able to. It was an explosion, right? That's when she took stock of the scraps of paper, ribbons and so on - they looked like the same sort she'd seen from the package delivered to Miss Trixie, hadn't they? "Actually," she said, gathering herself, "you should probably go there anyhow - I don't believe that any of your teachers are as... strict... as my most honourable father, so they probably wouldn't punish you for trying to heal yourself." Where was Gypsy? Didn't he follow them? Chances are, he would be probably scared of griffons... Wart looked about at the effects of Obsidian's magic, but not once did she hesitate or seem intimidated; she would make a grand guardpony... if they allowed it. "Your Majesty... I will do as you say. I think," she rolled her shoulder a bit, "I'll be able to make it without a problem; I'll tell them I had a... rough training session." She now seemed as though she were much better off, even with the interrupted healing. Wart looked over at Cupcake, then turned back to face the Dark Princess. "That thing he's using... it's called a 'Party Cannon', and every one of Miss Pinkie's children has one... I think. Cupcake uses his more frequently than his siblings do. I assure you, Your Majesty, you have naught to worry about." Cupcake looked back, saw the magic was no longer visible and as quickly as he'd pulled it out, Cup picked up the cannon and swept it behind him. When he stood up and came back over to them, there was not a sign of the large thing to be seen. Where was he keeping it!? "Wart, you okay now?" She smiled at them both. "I am headed to the medic's office... but otherwise, I believe I'm going to be okay now. Thank you so very, very kindly, Your Majesty, for your mercy. I beg you forgive my leaving your presence." She began to walk back towards the main school building, with only a slight limp instead of the dragging-herself-bodily-across-the-floor shape she'd been in earlier. At least Stalwart was doing her best to make Obsidian feel like a proper princess, contrary to the rest of their group. Too bad that she got away before Obsidian had any opportunity to ask her about being friends - she just had to focus harder on Princess Twilight's order! Cupcake was beaming at Obsidian. "You're getting the hang of friendship faster than even I thought possible! Is she going to be okay?" "Probably; the wounds weren't too deep and I tried to clean and fix the worst ones. I am uncertain they would believe in any lies about training - assuming that you don't have any vicious, sentient training dummies lying around - but at least she doesn't look like she had a warm-up with a minotaur. However, I believe it's our duty to teach these griffons a lesson." Obsidian huffed angrily. Bastards... "May I ask, Cupcake, where... where did your, eh... cannon go?" Cupcake blinked. "What cannon?" That's when the ground in front of the two of them slowly parted from a pair of claws, and a hole formed. The claws vanished into the hole, but the head of Gypsy came up to replace them. He looked right at Cup and Siddy. "This one s-s-saw them; th-they stay in Hall E, rooms 524, 525 a-and 526. Fifth floor wind-d-dows. Floor is m-mostly unoccupied." Cupcake looked at Gypsy, then at Obsidian... and gave a small but wicked grin. "I think you're right, princess... but not now. We'll have to wait a bit to properly exact vengeance for poor Wart. Now, I don't want to do anything too harsh, but just enough to make certain they'll think twice before doing this again." Gypsy gave a small grin. "This one c-can get you i-i-i-inside, after hours." Cupcake leaned down to help the diamond dog out of his hole, which he buried behind him with his rear paws, without even looking. Apparently, paper wasn't the only thing he could easily manipulate. "So," Cup looked at them both, "on to McDonkey's?"