Some days after the welcome ball, Carousella had an important question for her best friend Fantasia.

Wrecker seemed pretty keen on having a horse of his own. But as far as anyone knew, the Equinary hadn't chosen him or any Bad Batch members, and that got her wondering. In the last three years, the Jedi and friends discovered those with horses fought much more effectively, as horses served multiple purposes.

Transportation, emotional support, and ammunition if trained properly in the right areas. The Bad Batch might've had a 100% success rate on their own, but they were not without their own weaknesses. And it stood to reason that having their own steeds could and would be beneficial to them.

Right now, love all around. The Skywalker-Jinn family was still prepping for the youngest twins' birthday ball, as well as for the kids' first day of school, Mila was preparing Tech to visit her home world so he could meet the rest of her family and see the town too, and Mila hoped all went well so she could officially bring Tech as her date to Dolores and Mariano's wedding.

"I can't say I've ever heard of anyone asking the Equinary to find a pony outside of the traditional Ride of Love ritual." Fantasia said. "But I guess we can ask my mom if we can give it a try. Do your friends know about this?"

Carousella shook her head.

"Nope. I didn't want to get their hopes up. Plus, everyone's busy right now. Carmine escorted Gabby and Lamenta to a playdate with Pedro and Rosella, Anakin's giving horseback riding lessons with Sapphire and Obi-Wan, Caroline and Qui-Gon preparing Boba and Omega's birthday ball, and Padme's helping Mila teach Tech the ropes of etiquette in her home so he can be prepared to meet the rest of her family."

"He must be crazy nervous about that." Fantasia chuckled.

"Oh, he is. But Mila says people in the Encanto are starting to think she made him up."

The two young alicorns soon consulted Queen Reigna on the matter of the Equinary and seeing if they could ask it to match someone with a pony. They explained to her that they knew someone who really wanted one. And judging by the hearts on Reigna's jewels being purple, there was yet to be another Ride of Love Ceremony.

"I can't say that I've ever considered such a thing." Reigna said. "However, the hearts have called people to choose their horses. Perhaps asking the Equinary to help select horses is possible."

So, Reigna took the two young mares to consult the Equinary.

Meanwhile, with Anakin...

Anakin rode Sapphire around in circles to keep it simple as he demonstrated.

"Remember, you wanna be firm, but gentle." Anakin said. "Horses may look big and strong, but they can be as fragile as a child. Get too rough with them, they're not likely to react kindly."

Anakin had Sapphire stop.

"Got that, Wrecker?" Anakin said.

"Ready to ride!" Wrecker said, jumping right onto Sapphire's back.

The jewel pegasus snorted angrily and stood on her hind legs with a whinny, throwing the brawny clone of her back.

"Ow!" Wrecker groaned. "What'd you do that for?"

"You don't just jump on a horse's back." said Sapphire. "We hate it when people do that."

"It's true." Anakin said. "Horses, Equinaran or not, they're very smart creatures. They're known for having minds of their own."

"In other words, you need to bond and communicate if you want a horse to cooperate. Horses are teammates."

"In more ways than uno!" Fiesta called, jumping over a hurdle with Ahsoka on her back.

Ahsoka moved the rein correctly to signal Fiesta to turn, then slow down and stop. Fiesta snorted as she'd just had a good workout.

"Buen caballo, Fiesta." Ahsoka said, petting Fiesta's mane. "Good horse."

Ahsoka climbed down from her horse and walked her to the trough for water.

"See that?" said Anakin. "You gotta be gentle with a horse. And be nice to them. Work with the horse, not against them."

Mila had Tech pay close attention as she showed him a slideshow of the most critical rules of etiquette to remember.

"Okay, Tech. One more time." Mila said. "When you enter a room, how should you greet the people you meet?"

"Shake hands with everyone." Tech answered.

"Muy bien. And what have we learned about body language?"

"Smiling is essential, never beckon with only the index finger, cover the mouth when yawning, and don't put one's feet on furniture."

"Perfect. Now, we move on to memorizing the familia's names."

Mila switched to a slide with pictures of every Madrigal and pointed to each one to see how well Tech remembered everyone's names and how each was related to the others. Mila's parents and siblings were easy to remember. Remembering all the cousins was a little trickier, seeing as there were six of them all together.

"I still can't get over how big your family is." said Tech.

"Big families can be a handful." Padme said. She rubbed her stomach affectionately. "But they're worth it. Every single member."

"Have you decided on names?" Mila said.

"Yes. It was hard to narrow down, but Ani and I finally agreed on names. Now, about you two. Are you sure Tech is ready to meet your family in your world?"

"Well, he has to be." Mila said. "People back home think I made up a boyfriend so boys would stop asking me out or flirting with me in the hopes I'd do their schoolwork for them. I never even really thought about dating that much, especially given the number of men being dumb enough to start with, 'You definitely look different from the typical smart girl.' So, just 'cause a girl's pretty, she's supposed to be an airhead?"

"Men can be so shallow and insensitive sometimes." said Padme, shaking her head.

"Tell me about it. I've lost count of how many made comments about my goggles." Mila said. "If it wasn't someone trying to guess my gift, it was someone asking me why I always wear goggles and never a headband, a bow, a flower, or even a tiara. Even at my Quinceanera, I just wore goggles with rhinestones on them. I got a pair for every occasion."

"You're certainly a unique girl, aren't you?" Padme smiled.

"My parents call me their miracle. It's literally what my name means." Mila shrugged.

"They're right." Tech said, looking at Mila like he was looking at an angel. "I literally would not have even considered falling in love until I met you."

Mila pulled him into a kiss.

In the Encanto, Gabby and Lamenta were having fun on their playdate with Pedro and Rosella.

They were having a lot of fun sliding down the magic staircase and racing all around the place, and eventually went outside and were out and about on the town.

Carmine watched the kids as they were having a lot of fun interacting with some of the town children.

"It's so nice seeing Lamenta growing more social." He said.

"Lamenta's a very pretty girl." Dolores said.

"Have you and Mariano talked about when you'd be ready to start having kids?" Carmine said, talking quietly so he wouldn't hurt her ears.

"We're taking it slow." Dolores said. "Our wedding is still months away. But I already convinced him to have Alma as a name for a future daughter. Named after my abuela."

"Caroline and I named Lamenta after Caroline's grandmother. On account that she has the same purple eyes she did."

"Have you thought about having another kid?"

"Caroline and I have actually talked about it recently. With a new baby coming, Padme and Anakin are gonna need a lot of help. We're seriously considering trying. I mean, Anakin is gonna have a lot of kids already, and Caroline and I only have one. Lamenta hasn't said anything, but something tells me she really would like to have a baby brother or sister."

"Hmm. Both our families are facing a lot of changes." Dolores said. "You should hear everything I've heard. Everyone's talking about Mila bringing her boyfriend home."

"I'm not sure who I'm more concerned for, Mila or Tech. On one hand, Mila is bringing a man she really likes to meet her whole family, hoping he'll be accepted. Tech, on the other hand, is gonna be introduced to a whole new world less advanced than his own as well as one world he never even imagined he'd be entering. The world of romance. The things people will do for love, some stories are crazier than others."

Caroline and Qui-Gon, meanwhile, were with the clone twins.

Boba and Omega looked at the different design options for their birthday ball. It was less than two months away, and there was still so much to do.

Omega really liked sampling cakes though. The hard part was getting the twins to agree on a flavor.

"I like this red velvet one." Omega said.

But Boba gagged at that one.

"No way. Cinnamon is much better." He said.

"You always want cinnamon treats."

"Children, have you perhaps thought of choosing a flavor you both like?" Qui-Gon chuckled.

"I like strawberry." said Omega, picking up a strawberry cupcake. "That's my favorite."

"I like it too." Boba shrugged, then he picked up a chocolate cupcake. "But I really like chocolate."

"Well, perhaps a good compromise would be to combine the two." said Caroline.

"Oh! I can see it now." said Strawberry. "We could have a strawberry cake with chocolate chips mixed in, the whole thing decorated with white and brown chocolate frosting, and fresh strawberries cut into little flowers."

The twins licked their lips as they imagined such a sweet, delectable confectionary creation.

"I can almost taste it now." Boba sighed.

"It sounds like it'd be a beautiful cake too." Omega said.

"Oh, it will be." Strawberry said. "I designed and baked your parents' wedding cake and birthday cakes for the royal family of Equinaro and Solaris. I do more than bake pastries. I bake dreams."

Meanwhile, Queen Reigna consulted the Equinary.

"Equinary, there are some folks we believe deserve some equines of their own." she told the book. "I know it's probably out of your usual doings, but my daughter and her friend know some folks who could do with some very special friends."

Reigna looked at Carousella and told her to describe, to the best of her ability, the ones she wanted to find ponies for.

"Their names are Wrecker, Hunter, Crosshair, Echo, and Tech." Carousella told the Equinary. "They're part of a group called the Bad Batch. They're all very unique in their own ways."

Carousella described each individual member to the best of her ability, hoping to give the Equinary an idea of what kind of horse each of them needed.

"Hunter has heightened senses and is a pretty great leader. But I sense a lot of tension around him too. Like he's under pressure. Tech is really smart, and lives pretty much based on cold hard facts. Wrecker, he's kind of a funny fellow. He's like a really big kid, and very strong and full of energy. Then there's Crosshair. Not much of a talker. Kinda intimidating and a bit rough around the edges. He's a great shot though. And finally, Echo. He's gone through a lot. Been through a war, experienced a lot of near-death stuff, and now he has a little droid companion, Mini-R2. No doubt the cutest little droid ever! If there are any ponies who would be a good fit for any of them, please, please, won't you help us find them?"

The three mares watched and waited to see what would happen.

The Equinary did nothing.

But then, as the queen was about to turn away, the Equinary moved and started to flip its pages. It was working its magic. The pages flipped very quickly as though someone were attempting to break a universal speed-reading record. It was quite possible that for what must have been the very first time, it was making more than one match at the same time. Five people, five ponies. Who would be picked for them? Which ponies would be just right for each of them?