Meanwhile, at a site somewhere outside the woods, there was a group of men working on a big construction project. They were building a new greenhouse for one of the poor houses.
One of them had long hair and a red bandana on his head. He was the one in charge.
"How are we doing with those plans, Tech?" He called.
"If we continue on our current pace," said a thinner man with round glasses. "We should be able to have this done three days before our original deadline."
"Hey, where can I put these things?" asked a bigger, brawnier man, who was lifting some heavy pots filled with dirt.
"Place those on the wagon." Tech answered. "Pinto, Banjo, Maybelle."
"We know what to do, Partner." said a female unicorn mare.
The horses got to pulling the wagon and moving it, while a green alicorn got the saplings sorted out with another man, whose name was Echo.
"Shouldn't Estrella and Remix be here with the kids by now?" asked another man, whose hair was very short and gray.
"Remix contacted me and said Estrella was running late."
A bell rang in the distance, indicating it was quitting time. And at that moment, a blue gray unicorn stallion and Estrella arrived, each with a child on his or her back.
The stallion held a thirteen-year-old boy, and Estrella held a blonde girl the same age as the boy. Both kids were carrying backpacks, as they'd just been picked up from school.
"How was school, kids?" asked bandana man.
"It was good." said the girl.
"Time to head home, everyone."
As nighttime approached, Padme lit a candle and decided to take a look at what was upstairs.
She climbed up the stairs with her animal friends, and found there to be a couple of rooms. One had five beds. Just like in the stable with the stalls, the beds each had a name carved into them.
Hunter, Wrecker, Tech, Echo, and Crosshair.
"What unique names." Padme commented.
She looked into the other room, and found this one must've been the children's bedroom. There were two beds with names carved on them too.
Alpha and Omega.
"What interesting names for children." Padme commented again.
Padme yawned, feeling tired after her long journey and all the work she'd done earlier.
"I hope they won't mind if I just take a rest."
Padme took off her shoes and climbed into Hunter's bed and curled up for a nice nap.
However, shortly after Padme went to sleep, the animals heard someone coming, and they all fled the cottage and hid outside.
Outside, the family of seven, who called themselves the Fett Batch, as that was their family name, rode in on their horses. Hunter, the oldest of the batch, rode his horse Indira, the others following behind.
"Whoa!" Hunter exclaimed, making Indira stopped, and the other horses bumped into each other from behind.
Estrella bumped last, her rider sliding off.
"Are you okay, Omega?!" Estrella asked.
"I'm fine."
"What's goin' on?" Wrecker asked.
"Yeah, what's-" Pinto started, until Hunter interrupted.
"Our house. The light's lit!"
"Oh," said Estrella. "That must be-"
"Shh!"
Hunter had everyone get down low.
The chimney was smoking, indicating the fireplace was in use, and the door was open.
"Something's in there." said the youngest boy, whose name was Alpha, but was referred to as Boba.
"What if it's a ghost?" said Banjo.
Estrella rolled her eyes and said, "Don't be silly. It's-"
"Whatever it is..." said Crosshair. "There's trouble a-brewin'. I feel it."
"That's never a good sign." said Tech.
"Let me at it!" Maybelle said, ready to run in, only for Hunter to grab her tail.
"Don't go rushin' in there just yet, Maybelle." Hunter said. "We have to be very quiet."
"But, Hunter-" said Estrella.
"Not now, Estrella."
Hunter got everyone to follow him, and the humans and their horses tiptoed as quietly as they could to and through the front door. The horses were told to stay outside in case whatever it was tried to escape.
It was quiet. Too quiet.
"Alright, men." Hunter said quietly. "Search every nook and cranny of this house. Omega, Boba, stay close by us."
The kids stayed close to their older brothers, looking all around. They didn't say anything.
"Look." Boba said. "The floor's been swept and scrubbed!"
Crosshair swept his finger across a chair. It was extra clean.
"Chair's been dusted." said Crosshair.
"These windows have been washed as well." Tech observed.
Omega looked up and smiled and said, "Hey, the cobwebs are all gone."
"Who cleaned this place?" Hunter asked, starting to smile.
"It wasn't me." Wrecker said, shaking his head.
"Pft. That's obvious." Boba said, rolling his eyes. Wrecker was usually the messiest of them all.
And all the Batchers and the horses had been at work all day, and the kids were at school. They hadn't hired a housekeeper either. So... who cleaned the cottage?
"Look at this." Echo said. "I don't think I've ever seen our sink empty."
And sure enough, the dishes were all in the cupboard, clean as a whistle and dried.
Wrecker then smelled something yummy.
"Hey, something's cooking." he said happily.
Wrecker followed the smell to a pot boiling on the fireplace. It smelled amazing.
"Yum!" Wrecker grabbed a spoon to grab a taste, but Crosshair stopped him.
"Don't touch it, you crazy!" said Crosshair. "It might be poison."
The pot hissed at that moment.
"See? It's witches' brew."
Omega started sniffing the flowers left on the table.
"Look, marigolds." Omega smiled, liking the smell of the sweet flowers.
Remix came in and sniffed them too.
"Sweet!" said the unicorn before wheezing and sneezing, accidentally unleashing a small blast of music from his horn.
"REMIX!" the others scolded.
"Sorry, accident." Remix blushed.
Estrella came in and said, "Will you all please calm down?! I'm trying to tell you there's nothing to be-"
"Will you be quiet?!" Echo said. "We are trying to find a potential danger in here."
That was when some birds decided to have a little fun with the batch. They started pecking on the wood.
The Batchers looked around.
"What was that?" Boba asked.
"Shh!" Hunter said.
"It's right here in this room." Crosshair said.
And the birds shrieked, making the batchers and horses all run around like crazy, and hide in various places.
Estrella, the only one who didn't run, looked up and saw the birds.
"Not cute, pajaros. Not cute." Estrella said, not the least bit amused.
"Estrella, what are you doing?!" Tech asked Estrella as if she were crazy as she started to sniff around.
"There's no danger!" Estrella said.
"How would you know?" Crosshair said.
Estrella sniffed around a little more, finding the scent of snowdrops and following it to the stairs.
"Follow me upstairs." she said. "I'll prove to all of you that there's no monster."
Estrella whistled to get the other horses to come in too.
Though uncertain they were, the Batchers followed Estrella upstairs to the grownups' bedroom, where there was a bump in Hunter's bed. And there they spotted Padme peacefully resting right then and there.
"It's a girl." Echo said.
"A very pretty girl." Wrecker smiled.
"SHH! Don't wake her!" Hunter whispered.
"Let her wake up!" a rather grumpy Crosshair grumbled. "She don't belong here anyway. What's she even doing here?"
"I told her she could come in." Estrella said. "I found her in the woods about to become a pack of wolves' next meal on my way to get the twins."
Estrella figured maybe it was time for a proper introduction. So, she started licking Padme's cheek.
Padme stirred a bit, and she yawned as she woke up, stretching herself out.
"Rise and shine, Princesa." Estrella sang.
"Oh, hello, Estrella." Padme said tiredly, then she was startled when she saw a bunch of strangers in the room.
"Oh, you must be the residents of this cottage." Padme said, getting out of bed. "How do you do?"
"Uh..." Hunter began. "We do, fine... Miss."
"And you would be...?"
"Hunter. Hunter Fett." Hunter shook the princess' hand. "These are my brothers and sister, and our horses."
The humans were all introduced.
"You already know Estrella, obviously. And these two are the twins, Boba and Omega." Hunter said.
"I thought the other kid was named Alpha." Padme said.
Boba winced.
"Don't call me Alpha." Boba said sternly.
"He's never liked that name." Hunter explained.
"How did you come up with the name Boba?" Padme asked curiously.
"When he was five, he went through a phase of drinking boba tea almost all the time. So, we nicknamed him Boba, and then it stuck."
Omega seemed especially happy to have another human girl in the house.
"Well, we all know who we are," said Crosshair. "But who is she?"
"Oh, where are my manners?" said Padme. "I'm Padme Naberrie."
"The princess?" the others gasped.
"Yes."
"It's an honor, Your Highness." Echo bowed.
"Princess or not, why were you in our house?" Crosshair asked rather suspiciously. "Don't you live in a castle or something?"
"Oh, I can't go back there." Padme said. "If I do, she'll kill me."
"Kill you? Who would dare?" Hunter asked.
"My stepmother, the queen."
That filled everyone with great anger and fear.
"That woman is an old witch!" Crosshair said.
"Let me at her!" Wrecker said.
Crosshair was convinced that having Padme there would endanger all of them, as the queen was in possession of black magic. But Padme assured them all that the queen didn't even know where she was or that she was still alive.
"And if you let me stay, I'll cook and clean." Padme said. "I'll even babysit and take care of the kids and the horses."
"Can you make apple dumplings?" Omega asked eagerly.
"Yes," smiled Padme. "And chocolate pudding and strawberry pie."
That all sounded good to everyone. But speaking of food reminded Padme that she'd left soup on the stove.
When Padme got down, she found the soup wasn't quite ready yet.
And as the others were eagerly getting to the table to eat.
"Just a moment." Padme said. "Dinner's not quite ready yet. You'll just have time to wash."
Omega looked at her hands. They were covered in chalk from writing on the board at school, and they had dirt and bits of horsehair on them too.
"Hands up, everyone." Padme said.
Everyone held up their hands. Sure enough, they were filthy from all the construction they'd done. And they were also covered with sawdust, dirt, and other things in their clothes and hair.
"Aww! Do we have too?" Wrecker whined.
Then everyone caught a whiff of Wrecker. He smelled worse than the horses!
"Wrecker!" Padme pinched her nose. "When's the last time you had a bath?"
"Uh..."
"Everyone get washed, or not a bite for anyone." Padme said sternly.
So, the Batchers got to work, getting themselves bathed and squeaky clean.
Once they were dressed in clean clothes and dried their hair, they were ready to eat. Well, almost all of them.
Wrecker, however, was stubborn when it came to baths. All the male horses came in to help and they got Wrecker into the tub.
"HELP!" Wrecker screamed as he was put into the bubble bath with a big splash of cold water!
The guys all worked together getting Wrecker scrubbed head to toe until he smelled fresh as a daisy. They managed to keep him still sometimes by distracting him with a rubber ducky.
Padme even got Estrella to watch the stove for a moment while she helped Omega get washed up and brushed her hair.
Wrecker sniffed under his arm after he was clean and dressed.
"I smell weird!" Wrecker whined.
"That's because you are clean." Tech said.
"Dinner!" Padme called, and everyone came down for dinner.
A tasty vegetable soup was cooked up and ready to eat.
Padme poured some veggie scraps and leftover veggies she hadn't used for the soup into the horses' trough for their dinner.
Dinner was absolutely delicious!
The Batchers couldn't remember the last time they'd had such a hearty meal together, and in such a clean house no less.