"Why do I have to do this?" Wrecker asked, crawling on the ground.

Boba sat on Wrecker's back as he piggyback rode him around. He even had a rope on his like a rein.

"From what I've been seeing," said Anakin. "You need to learn what it's like for the horses when a rider gets too rough."

"Come on, Wrecker! Faster!" Boba said, trying to get Wrecker to move, and doing the same kind of kick he did to get Remix to move, but it came a little roughly.

"Hey, careful! That hurt." Wrecker whined.

"Exactly." Boba said. "That's why you gotta control your strength."

"That's gotta be humiliating." said Hunter.

"Just you wait, Hunter." Anakin said. "You're next."

"What?" Hunter's eyes widened at that. "But we're not horses."

"None of you have any experience with horses, and none of our actual horses seem willing to let you on their backs because Wrecker keeps jumping on them."

"He nearly cracked my spine!" Estrella said, stretching out after Omega massaged her.

"Thanks a lot, Wrecker." Hunter said sarcastically.

"Maybe you just need some new horses." Carousella said, propping herself on the fence.

"Carousella. I thought you were visiting Fantasia today." Anakin said.

"She was." Fantasia said. "And then we came here."

"I call the purple one!" Wrecker said, dropping Boba as he stood up.

"Boba, are you okay?" Anakin helped his son up.

Boba dusted himself off. "I'm fine."

"We're not talking about us." Carousella said.

The four Batchers were confused.

"May we present, your new horses!"

Then, the two alicorns stepped aside and presented five new horses.

The first horse was a rusty orange unicorn mare with a blonde mane and brown eyes, and she wore a sparkly red cowgirl hat. She trotted around energetically and seemed very excited. Her name was Maybelle.

The second was an alicorn with a green coat, pepper green eyes, and a long, flowing black mane with streaks of green, and she had a mark on her side that looked like two theatre masks. Her name was Teatra (pronounced like 'Teatro,' but with an A at the end) .

The third was a familiar white and brown unicorn stallion named Pinto. Boba recognized him from when he met Remix.

The fourth was an alicorn stallion of a honey yellow with a brown mane under a blue cowboy hat. His name was Banjo.

And the fifth and final one was a beautiful pegasus mare. Her coat was a lovely tan orange color, and she had a long silky brown mane hanging in a puffy ponytail decorated with little lotus flowers. Her name was Indira.

"Aren't you a beauty?" said Anakin, petting Indira. She snorted on him.

"What a minute." said Hunter. He looked at Omega. "I thought you said when you got your horse, you saw magical dust."

"I did." Omega said.

"That's because we asked the Equinary to pick horses." Fantasia said.

Fantasia explained how generally, most Equinaro horses were picked when someone in need manifested their emotions enough in his or her heart for a magical trail to be made and alert the Hearts of Beauty, whose sole purpose was to create and protect the true most beautiful things in the world.

"Outer beauty may look nice, but the true beauty comes from within." Fantasia said. "You can have perfect hair, flawless skin, and a well-built body, but if you have a heart of stone, the mirror might as well shatter."

"So, how'd you pick these horses?" Hunter asked.

"We didn't. The Equinary did. It knows the needs of everyone in need of a horse and thus selects just the right one."

"For example," said Carousella. "Gabby was in danger when we met. She needed someone who could play with and bond with when her parents were too busy, but someone strong enough to protect her from danger. And since I was trained as a royal guard, I'm young and great with kids, I was chosen for her."

"Or in some cases," said Boba. "The Equinary calls the person to pick their horse."

"And it was a good thing Carousella came to me," said Remix. "Because this kid had been missing out on music. And all we knew at the time was that his right horse would be found in Musicorn Meadow."

"Remix introduced me to a lot of musicorns. But I realized out of all them, Remix was the one who stood by me the whole time, picking me up when I fell down, and encouraging me to try again. In other words, the right one was right in front of me the whole time."

"And eventually, I got matched with Sapphire." Anakin said. "During a time I was hurt and felt like I had no one there, Sapphire was brought to me."

The Batchers looked at the horses.

"So... which horse is for who?" Hunter asked.

"Well, first thing to know..." Pinto said, tipping his cowboy hat. "Howdy, I'm Pinto. These are my siblings Maybelle and Banjo. We're all western musicorns. We're a package deal."

"I was sent for someone called Echo?" Banjo said, looking at them.

"That would be me." Echo said, a bit surprised.

Banjo came up and started sniffing him.

"Which one's mine?" Wrecker asked.

"You Wrecker?" Pinto asked.

"Yeah!"

"Then, I guess I'm your ride."

"Oh, yeah!"

But before Wrecker could jump on him, Pinto ran out of the way.

"Hey!"

"Easy, Cowboy." Pinto said. "If ya'll are gonna ride a horse, ya gotta know the right way on the saddle."

That left three horses.

"Which of you is Hunter?" Indira asked.

"I am." Hunter raised his hand.

"Namaste." said Indira with a bow.

Hunter was curious about this mare's behavior, as she rested her ear near his heart, then walked around him as though inspecting him.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked, a bit uncomfortable.

"I can sense you have a lot of tension in you." Indira said. "Come with me, and I will guide you to your inner peace."

And Indira nudged him to a certain way with her muzzle.

That only left two horses.

The very energetic and bouncy Maybelle and Teatra.

Crosshair looked between the two. He was hoping the green one was his.

"You my horse?" Crosshair asked Teatra.

She shook her head. "Nope. Maybelle is."

"Ya'll and I'll be the best of friends! I know it!"

Maybelle cuddled up right beside Crosshair, but he pushed her off him.

"Back off!" Crosshair said.

"Come on, you know I'm just trying to be affectionate."

And Maybelle started licking him, to Crosshair's disgust.

Anakin and the twins laughed as Crosshair, for what must've been the first time in his life, was running for his life.

"So, I guess you're Tech's horse." Anakin concluded.

"That's correct." Teatra said.

Anakin noticed her mark. "So, what's your talent?"

"I'm a theater musicorn. My philosophy is that there is a character within every living being just waiting to get out. And in musical theater, that character is best let out when first the music is found."

Teatra looked around.

"So, I'm supposed to be meeting someone named Tech. Any clue where he is?"

"He's in the palace learning about Columbian culture and etiquette with his girlfriend." Anakin said.

"Ah, perfect. Nothing attracts a girl more than a man on a steed. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to find my rider."

And Teatra trotted off to find Tech.

"Is this really necessary?" Tech asked as Obi-Wan measured him, and Peppermint held different colored shirts in front of him.

"I don't know everything about Columbian culture," said Obi-Wan. "But I'm pretty sure black armor is not generally worn when meeting your girlfriend's family."

"Trust me," said Mila. "The climate is different in the Encanto. You're gonna want to dress lighter. Black absorbs heats, and we don't want you sweating or getting dehydrated so quickly."

"But at the same time, we need to make sure we choose the right color." Peppermint said. "And we're definitely scratching yellow and light oranges off the list. They do not go with your complexion."

"I love you in your uniform, Tech" said Mila. "But where I'm from, even if it weren't so hot, we generally dress more comfortably and semi-formally. Especially when introducing a boyfriend or girlfriend to the family."

Tech thought and looked to his tablet again.

"Hmm. Many of these sites I've seen about dating do suggest that the first impression is everything."

"But what they don't tend to say is that the most important thing is your significant other chose you for a reason, and you just need to show her family that too when you meet them."

Just then, Teatra entered the room.

"Hello?" said the alicorn. "I was told I'd find Tech in this room."

Mila and Tech saw the green alicorn entering the room.

"Must be another Ride of Love." Obi-Wan said.

But Peppermint noticed something.

"She doesn't have a bottled message." Peppermint said. "When I was sent for you, I had a bottle. Remember?"

"That's because I, along with four other horses, was requested outside the Ride of Love, and selected by the Equinary." Teatre explained. "And, I've memorized why I was selected for Tech. First of all, my name is Teatra Melodica. I am a musicorn specializing in musical theater, and I was selected for the Bad Batcher known as Tech because he relies solely on facts for everything and could stand to dig deeper into using more imagination to express himself."

"Who are the four others?" Tech asked.

"Hunter, Crosshair, Echo, and Wrecker. Each has received a horse of his own, and hopefully is making steady progress bonding with them."

Tech grew more curious about this Ride of Love.

"How exactly were they matched?"

"If you want to overcomplicate it with facts many may consider useless, I'm not the pony to do it." Teatra said. "But if you want a straight answer, the Equinary chooses the right horse for specific individuals, likely based off the horse and chosen individual's personality, personal experience, as well as what each individual needs out of a friend that only a specific pony can give."

"Did she just give an overcomplicated-sounding straight answer?" Peppermint looked at Mila.

"I think she did." Mila said.

However, bonding with the horses was not as easy for the Bad Batch as it had been for some of the others who'd received horses.

Wrecker was chasing Pinto all around the corrale.

"Wrecker, the more ya try to jump on me, the more I'm gonna run!" Pinto said, still running.

"Come back here!" Wrecker begged, still running. "I wanna ride you!"

Wrecker wasn't the only one running with a horse though. But instead of running after a horse, Crosshair was running from a horse. Maybelle just wouldn't give up trying to bond with him. She wanted to play, but Crosshair wanted no part of it, and he kept running.

"Come on, Crosshair! Ya gotta loosen up!" Maybelle said, still running after him.

"Get away!" Crosshair said, running around a tree, Maybelle still coming after him.

Indira, on the other hoof, was pretty calm. Hunter, however, found some things she did rather unusual. She'd brought them to a lush grassy area and had him sit down as she placed some lavender flowers she found in a circle around the two.

"This is the circle of peace." Indira said, laying down in front of Hunter. "In here, you're away from all your worries. Here, we breathe and relax."

"So, you're meditating."

"Correction, we are meditating. In the circle of peace, we shall relax together. Your tensions rise from leading a group, and your heightened senses leave you vulnerable. Thus, I will teach you to overcome those tensions and unlock the peace within you. Inner peace."

Echo and Banjo seemed to get along okay, but Echo knew pretty much nothing about country music.

"Ya'll love seeing Pinto call out square dancin'. No pony does it like him." Banjo said as Echo brushed him.

Omega and Boba got to brushing their horses after a while, but saw the two Batchers who were having trouble with their horses.

"Huh. Looks like they got the hardest ones." Boba said.

Omega giggled. "Poor Crosshair."

Boba started laughing too, as Crosshair had just climbed high up into a tree, hoping to get away from Maybelle. But... she somehow found her way up there, making Crosshair jump and run again.

"You ain't gettin' away that easy!" Maybelle said. "I'm gonna wrangle ya and we're gonna bond!"

Maybelle ran.

Wrecker, on the other hand, was starting to get tired as he kept running after Pinto.

"Okay, I'm getting tired." Wrecker panted.

"I'm not sure who I'm more afraid for." Boba said. "Wrecker or Crosshair."

"They'll learn to get along with their horses eventually." Anakin said. "Remember, Obi-Wan didn't think he'd bond with Peppermint at first, and here they are now."