"I'm sorry I didn't find out more about your parents." the young man told Rapunzel.
"I'm not giving up." Rapunzel sounded determined.
"Same here." Vincent and Vulpix smiled.
"Good... So... I... I was wondering if... Well... here." the young man sounded nervous and handed a scroll over to Rapunzel.
"'You are invited to the masked ball in honor of the Prince's birthday'." Rapunzel read aloud once she opened the paper up.
"It's tonight," the young man explained. "I would've given it to you sooner, but you are hard to find-"
'Aww! Why weren't we invited?' Vulpix thought to himself.
"You must be pretty important person if you were invited to the prince's ball." Rapunzel said to the young man.
"Oh... I do not know about that," the young man smiled casually. "Will you come?"
"Yes, well, only if Vincent and Vulpix are also invited." Rapunzel said.
"They could come as your guests." the young man allowed.
Vincent and Vulpix smiled that they could come too.
"I'd love to!" Rapunzel agreed then. "It's just ... I've never been to a masked ball. What's it like?"
"You'll see for yourself tonight, I'll pick you three up at 7:00 with my carriage." The young man said.
"No!" Rapunzel unintentionally yelled, then covered it up. "Uh, no... We'll meet you there."
"So mysterious..." the young man smirked. "All right. I guess I'll be able to recognize you behind the mask."
"You think so?" Vincent asked, curiously.
"Of course, her hair," the young man gestured to Rapunzel's golden locks. "It's a beautiful giveaway."
"He's right." Vulpix smiled.
Rapunzel smiled bashfully and then she held hands with the young man.
'Looks like someone is in love.' Vincent thought to himself with a smile.
Gothel had arrived and Penelope and Spike still hadn't left. Spike was ready to go, but Penelope was too chicken. Hobie kept trying to push the purple female dragon through the wall.
"Would you hurry up?!" Matches glared.
"I'm going, I'm going!" Penelope grunted. "Wait, what am I doing?" she then stopped herself.
"Penelope, we don't have time for this!" Spike reminded his sister.
"Just move!" Hobie glared.
Penelope got nervous again, but this time, she actually stepped through the painting.
"Thank Celestia..." Spike muttered before going after her.
"Finally." Matches sighed.
Penelope and Spike disappeared from the tower and came right where Rapunzel, Vincent, Vulpix, and the young man were.
"Yes, we made it!" Spike cheered.
"We actually made it." Penelope smiled.
The young man drew his sword at the two dragons. "Stand back!"
"Wait!" Rapunzel stopped him. "They're our friends!"
"Yeah!" Vincent added.
"Watch it with that thing!" Penelope put the sword down.
"Yeah, somepony could get seriously hurt!" Spike added.
"You're friends with two dragons?" The young man asked Rapunzel, Vincent, and Vulpix, surprised.
"Hey, our names are Spike and Penelope, bucko." Spike scoffed.
"You guys have to come with us," Penelope whispered to Rapunzel, Vincent, and Vulpix. "Gothel's coming!"
"Um, give us a minute with them." Vulpix said.
The young man watched them go.
"What is it?" Vincent asked once they came to a quiet spot with the purple dragons.
"You must come back, please!" Spike pleaded. "When Gothel finds out you're gone, who knows what she'll do to our father? And.. I... I... I MISS MATCHES!" he then developed separation anxiety and started to cry.
"Don't worry, bro, you'll be back with Matches soon." Penelope soothed her brother.
"I'm sorry, I just never noticed how lonely it is without her!" Spike bawled like a baby.
Rapunzel did not want to leave, but she knew that Hugo's life was important too. "We have to go," she told the young man. "We'll see you tonight and we'll explain everything!"
"I'll be waiting for you!" The young man told her.
"Come on, Matches." Hobie told the green female dragon.
"Are you insane!?" Matches asked once she saw his way out to meet Gothel. "You must be out of your mind if you think I'm going down-"
Hobie grabbed her and the two of them were now sliding down the pipe, Matches kept a firm hold on the egg so it wouldn't crack or scramble.
"If we die, I am so going to fry you to a crisp!" Matches glared at Hobie.
"U-U-Understood." Hobie gulped.
Luckily, they both got to have safe landings, as did the egg.
"Are you all right?" Matches asked.
"I think so..." Hobie rubbed his head.
"Not you!" Matches scolded, then smiled to her egg. "Oh, thank goodness, not a crack or even a rip!"
"I'm okay too, thanks for asking!" Hobie glared.
Matches glared back, snarling with her eyes flashing.
"Gah!" Hobie yelped.
They both then looked over as Hugo was now before Gothel.
"Wait, your ladyship!" Hobie called out. "Wait!"
Gothel heard the voice and turned to see the hopping rabbit.
"Please! I need, er...you see, I got to...oh, what am I saying, what am I saying?" Hobie stammered anxiously.
"Spit it out, rabbit!" Gothel demanded.
"Quick, think of something." Matches whispered.
"Umm... Oh... It's my spine!" Hobie grabbed his backside. "I can barely hop! It's a miracle I can even go out the door! Let me tell you, this is getting pathetic to be a hopeless rabbit!"
Gothel laughed at that. "Hopeless..."
"No, please, stop!" Matches begged.
Gothel got onto Hugo's back, ignoring them.
"I need a tonic to kill me!" Hobie panicked. "It hurts! The pain, really, you know!" he then grabbed onto her shoes.
"Yeah!" Matches told her.
Meanwhile...
"How are we going to get back in time?" Vincent asked.
They then remembered how they got to the village.
"The paintbrush!" Penelope, Rapunzel, Spike, Vincent, and Vulpix said together.
They all ran and flew down a set of stairs and came in front of a wooden door.
"We'll come back and clean it up later." Rapunzel said before painting on the door.
"Hopefully the distraction is going well." Penelope said.
Rapunzel painted the tower as quickly as she could. While she did that, Vulpix began to pray. Rapunzel painted the tower with her magic brush, and like before, the painting came to life and became a portal to the other side, allowing her to transport from place to place.
"Okay, let's get going." Vulpix smiled before going through the magic painting/portal.
Hugo kept flying with Gothel on his back, much to Hobie's nervousness.
Gothel picked up the rabbit by his ears. "You're useless!"
"Give him to me!" Otto begged hungrily. "I'll leave you the lucky rabbit feet!"
"These?" Hobie grew frightened again. "Oh, no, you don't want these, no, no... I come from a long-line of unlucky rabbits, you know, trust me! I mean, look at these feet... corns, bunions, ingrown toenails, a real mess."
Gothel then threw Hobie down.
"Don't worry, I got ya!" Matches called out.
Hobie yelled out, he fell through a tree and ended up on Matches's back. Matches caught him and gently flew down back to lower ground with him.
"Oh, dear..." Hobie frowned, looking up as Gothel and Hugo flew off.
Penelope, Rapunzel, Spike, Vincent, and Vulpix made it through the tower painting, it had worked like it did with the village painting.
'It worked!' Vulpix thought to himself.
"Quickly, cover up the painting." Vincent told them.
They hurriedly covered up the painting as Gothel was coming with Hugo. Spike and Penelope watched for their father just to be on the safe side.
"And there." Vincent said as the wardrobe now covered the painting/portal.
"That should do it." Vulpix agreed.
Gothel came in as if on cue to inspect them. Penelope stood close by Spike and he gently held her hand to soothe her like a good big brother.
"So, Hugo, your children are with Rapunzel, that boy, and fox once again!" Gothel observed.
"They're not doing anything wrong." Vincent said.
"I guess a couple of foolish scared little dragons are much to worry about!" Gothel mocked. "Especially one to be raised by magical ponies!"
Hugo grinned to that, but he seemed a little sad in the eyes. Penelope and Spike were visibly sad. Vulpix visibly growled at Gothel for saying such a thing.
"So, Rapunzel, I assume your memory is improved," Gothel coldly looked to the trio. "Are you ready to tell me who you met?"
"Lady, we already told you, we don't know!" Vincent defended.
"He's right." Rapunzel said.
Matches was sitting on her egg and reading a brochure for a place called Dragon Land.
"Oh... Fine!" Gothel scoffed. "Rot here for all I care," she then looked to the mighty dragon outside. "Watch these children of yours. They're a little too friendly for my taste."
"Yes, Mistress." Hugo obeyed.
'That lady is seriously getting my last nerve.' Vulpix thought to himself with a growl.
Gothel and Hugo then flew away together. Even though he was a little rough and tough, Penelope and Spike were relieved.
Penelope hugged Rapunzel. "You saved our father!"
"Yeah!" Spike added.
"For now," Rapunzel let go. "But we can't stay."
"She's right, we have a party to get to." Vincent remembered.
"Yeah." Vulpix nodded.
Penelope and Rapunzel moved the wardrobe out of the way of the painting so they could get out of here in secret.
"We all have to go," Rapunzel said then. "I'm going to leave tonight. And you have to convince your father to go, too. Somewhere where Gothel can't find you."
"Yeah." Vincent nodded.
They all had to think it over.