"Friends, I know I am very deep in debt to you already." said Palpatine to some of the voodoo masks. "However, I fear our little frog prince has lost his way, and now I require your assistance to retrieve him, should Amedda fail with the other prince."

The masks all started to growl.

"I understand," chuckled Palpatine. "You wish to know what you will receive in return."

Palpatine took out too voodoo dolls that resembled Caroline's parents.

"As soon as I dispose of Mommy and Daddy Mitchell, and I am in charge of this town, I shall have all of New Starlanes in the palm of my hand. And you will have all the wayward souls your dark hearts desire."

The masks loved the sound of that, but they seemed to cower when a new voice entered the room.

"No one is running the town except for me." the new voice said.

And that voice belonged to a figure in a dark green cloak, their hood concealing their face, though their voice definitely suggested they were a female.

"Ah, Queen Mariverde. Your Majesty." Palpatine bowed before her.

"You recall what happens if you fail." said Mariverde.

"Not to worry, my queen. There are two princes. We will simply have blood from him."

"No. It is one thing for you to have rid us of one prince. I will not risk you losing another one. You must get Prince Anakin back specifically and ensure Caroline marries Amedda as him."

"But, your ladyship. What if the heiress chooses to marry the other one instead?"

Mariverde then pulled out a pair of glasses that looked like Carmine's.

"Then dispose of Carmine. Just have your other client put these on and tell everyone he cut his hair. Humans are easily tricked. No one will suspect a thing."

Mariverde sighed.

"I am already up to my ears in complaints of those non-human outsiders coming and stealing from the people here. If they are getting stronger as I feared, and they decide to start a revolution as it has been rumored, everything I've worked for will be ruined! And I will not have some amateur dark arts pharmacist put that in jeopardy because you couldn't hang on to one little frog!"

Palpatine regained his composure and said, "I shall not disappoint you, milady. Now, about my request for assistance?"

Mariverde looked at the voodoo masks and was silent for a moment. She snapped her fingers.

The biggest voodoo mask opened its mouth of sharp teeth, and out crawled a multitude of shadows in the shapes of demonous monsters and ghosts. Palpatine ordered the shadows to search everywhere for the frog known as Prince Anakin.

"Bring him to me alive." Palpatine cackled, and the shadows flew out, heading towards the bayou to search for the frogs.

Meanwhile, the unicorns were very nearly at the village. Pinto began carrying the frogs on his back as they came closer to land.

"You know, waitress. I think I finally know what's wrong with you." said Anakin.

"Have you?" said Padme.

"You don't know how to have fun. There. Somebody had to say it."

"Good, because I figured out what your problem is, too."

"I'm too charming?"

Padme hit Anakin with a leafy branch.

"No, you are a philandering, lazy bump on a log."

"Stick in the mud." Anakin coughed.

"Listen here, funny boy." Padme said. "This stick in the mud has had to work two jobs her whole life while you've been sucking on a silver spoon, chasing chambermaids around your ivory tower!"

"Actually, they're polished marble." Anakin corrected.

"Whatever. Point being. Not all of us are lucky enough to have everything handed to us."

"It's true." Banjo said. "We barely make it out here. None of our riders can even get jobs just 'cause they ain't humans."

"In other words," said a blue unicorn named Round n' Round. "We don't even have a shelter out on the other side of the wall."

"Aren't you guys thieves?" Anakin said. "That's what I've been hearing lately."

"It certainly isn't by choice." said young Carousella. "Our folks have to steal from the other side so we can survive out here."

The ponies soon came to a little village somewhere deep within the forest. There were houses made out of wood, straw, and clay. People of different species all around. Twilek, Rodian, Togruta, Cerea, Tholothian, Wookies, you name it. And to Padme and Anakin's great surprise, there were a few humans too.

The people were doing all kinds of things at the moment. Hanging stolen clothes and blankets, fixing up rags they already had for clothes, weaving baskets, fixing up their homes, and teaching the children how to fight.

The ponies all separated to go to their riders or wherever, and Pinto brought the frogs to a brawny-looking fellow.

"Froggies. Meet my rider, Wrecker." Pinto introduced.

"Frogs don't taste very good." Wrecker said, which scared the two frogs.

"They're not for eating." Pinto said.

"Oh. Did ya find anything good to eat, though?"

"Nope. Not much has grown this season, I'm afraid."

A sad truth in these parts: the soil was not good enough for the people to grow many good crops. They had to rely on nature for a lot of food in the beginning. But not a lot of great plants grew wild around here. Mostly mushrooms, dewberries, and watercress grew there. Sadly, it wasn't enough to feed everyone. So, they often had to go over the all at the end of the bayou and steal food from various places in the city. Parties, farmer's markets, and sometimes they even had to dig through garbage to find things they needed.

Suddenly, that was when three more unicorns and a pegasus arrived. Strawberry Sundae, Teatra, Fiesta, and Peppermint Twist. They weren't alone either.

"We've got another load of food." Obi-Wan called, carrying a bag of stolen goods.

Everyone seemed happy to see that they had more food now. But one of the humans, named Tech, looked injured.

"Mom!" Ahsoka called. "Sunheart! Tech needs medical attention."

"We're on it." said Shaak, coming over with Sunheart.

Sunheart got Teatra to help carefully lay Tech on a stretcher to take him to the healer's tent.

"What happened out there?" Pinto asked.

"We were on a supply run, and someone caught notice of Ahsoka and Fiesta." Mace explained.

"We barely managed to get away." Obi-Wan explained, unloading Peppermint's saddle bags of the fruits and vegetables and bread they managed to snag. "And Tech fell off Teatra as they were creating a diversion before their getaway."

"I thought humans were welcome on the other side of the wall." Anakin pointed out, his being a frog and speaking startling the humans.

"Did that frog just... talk?" Mace said.

"Um, you have talking horses, and a talking frog freaks you out?" Anakin said in disbelief.

"Touche."

"I don't believe I've seen you two around here before." Obi-Wan said, picking up the two frogs in his hands. "What are your names?"

"I'm Padme Naberrie." Padme introduced. "And this is-"

"Prince Anakin of Coruscant, at your service." introduced the other frog.

When others overheard this, they gasped.

"Is this a joke?" said Comedia, walking in.

"Last time I checked, the prince was a human, not a frog." said Aayla.

Padme got a look at Comedia and the Twilek.

"Hey, wait a minute." said Padme. "I know you."

Padme recognized a few more faces in the village.

"You were those people who invaded the Mitchells' masquerade ball." Padme said.

"Guilty as charged." said Citrus awkwardly. "What a mess!"

"It made for a good distraction from us, though." said Anakin.

"Or maybe you made a good diversion for us." Ahsoka said, looking at the two frogs. "How did this happen, anyway?"

"Princey here was messin' with the shadow man." Pinto said, making the others gasp.

"And how did she end up a frog too?" Ahsoka asked.

Padme felt mortified having to admit to this.

"Long story, he mistook for an actual princess, I kissed him thinking he would be able to help make my dream reality, and next thing I know, I'm a frog too."

But then Anakin thought of something.

"Wait a minute." said Anakin. "You've got a bunch of magical horses here! One of them can turn us back to humans."

"Whoa there, fella!" Maybelle said. "You were changed by voodoo magic. That's a little out of our jurisdiction."

"How exactly?" Padme asked.

"Voodoo magic is serious dark arts!" Peppermint said. "Not something to be trifled with. Voodoo folks were exactly what led to us living here."

"How did that happen?"

"Yousa be askin' our leader Yoda about that." said Jar Jar.

So, the two frogs were brought to the village's leader, Master Yoda, the oldest and wisest in the village.

"True, it is. Banished here by voodoo were we." Yoda said. "Convinced the humans, dangerous we were."

"But why? And how?" Padme asked.

"Help us cook for the village. Tell you over dinner, I shall."

Padme was happy to help with cooking dinner for everyone. Seeing what they had to work with, Padme offered to cook some gumbo for everyone.

Anakin wanted to sit back and rest.

"Wake me when dinner's ready." said Anakin.

"Oh no, you don't." Padme said, getting a small blade and a mushroom. "You, Sir, are gonna mince these mushrooms."

Anakin groaned and reluctantly started to slice a piece of mushroom, and found it tiring just to do one slice. Padme chuckled.

"Step aside. Let a professional show you how it's done." Padme said.

Padme took the mushroom, then she chopped it up and minced it up. Anakin had to admit, he was impressed.

"Wow!' he gasped.

Padme picked up a second mushroom, and this time, helped Anakin figure it out.

"Huh. You know, I've never really done anything like this before."

"Oh, really?" Padme feigned surprise.

"All right. But when you live in a castle, everything is done for you. All the time. They dress you, they feed you, drive you, and brush your teeth too."

"Oh, poor thing."

"Do they blink your eyes for you too?" Banjo joked, making some of the others laugh.

"Of course not! That'd be ridiculous." Anakin shook his head, unamused. He sighed. "It was a charmed life until my parents cut me off, and I suddenly realized... I don't know how to do anything."

"What about your brother and that sister you mentioned?" Padme asked.

"They probably know about as much as me. But Mom and Dad only cut me off. Said I wasn't being careful, said I was reckless."

"Well, you did get turned into a frog." said Comedia.

"Comedia!" Ki-Adi scolded.

Padme suddenly felt bad for Anakin. Here she thought he was just plain being ungrateful for what he had in his life. But it turned out that he felt lost now; his whole life he never got to experience doing things for himself, so he never got to learn important job skills like critical thinking, cooking, cleaning, and even how to take care of himself.

"Well, by the look of it now, you make a decent mushroom mincer." said Padme, seeing how well Anakin did for his first mushroom mincing.

"Hmm. Must be from all those fencing classes I took."

"Keep practicing, and I just might hire you."

Once the gumbo was ready, everyone was excited to be served some of Padme's cooking. None of them could remember the last time they'd been served something so scrumptious.

Yoda then told Padme and Anakin a story.

Many years ago, humans and the non-humans lived together in harmony. Everybody had jobs of their own, families, even nice homes. But then one day, there came the voodoo gang. The Doresho Gypsies. And with them was their queen, who was intent on taking the land for herself. But, one thing the non-human species and the magical horses had that most of the humans didn't was magic powerful enough to fight against them.

They banded together and were able to fight off many of these dark forces, but then one day, the voodoo queen came up with a plan. She had some of her shadows rob one of the most secure banks in the area, and place the money and many valuables in the non-humans' homes. The humans immediately accused the non-humans of being thieves and monsters, and the voodoo folk seduced everyone into believing the non-humans should be banished to the bayou. And they built a big, strong, solid wall so that none of them could come back to New Starlanes.

Since then, life was a huge struggle for these people. They had to make a village from almost nothing, and they only had each other to rely on. And over the years, they came up with strategies to get over the wall. And unfortunately, they were reduced to stealing what they needed to survive. Food, clothes, clean water, even medical supplies from time to time. The horses proved especially helpful in providing distractions, getaway transportation, and extra space to carry larger loads. But in all that time, as more people came along or were born into the village, the elders of the village kept strategizing to start a revolution and take down the voodoo queen.

"You likely don't realize this, but the queen of the shadows hides within your midst." said a Kel Dor, whose name was Plo.

"How do you know?" Anakin asked.

"Having a few humans in our village gives us a slight advantage for getting over the wall and strategizing our next heists." Peppermint said.

"And according to what Comedia has said," said a Cerea, whose name was Ki-Adi. "We finally know where she is. Your beloved Mayor Verdine is the queen of the voodoo."

Padme found herself laughing at that.

"Now I know you're joking." Padme said. "Mayor Verdine is a very nice woman. She's an old friend of the Mitchells."

"Her real name is Mariverde." Comedia said. "I may be a silly-corn, but I know a voodoo queen when I see one. And if there's one thing we've been taught here, it's that not everything is what it seems."

Padme suddenly remembered her father saying that, but still, she couldn't believe it.

"If she's a voodoo queen, why would she put herself into such a high position?" she asked.

"That is how the dark arts members do it." Mace said. "They always put themselves in a place where no one will suspect them. And in a high profile position, where they would seem mostly likely to get caught, it's a very devious hiding spot."

"And as a politician," said Ahsoka. "She's surrounded by guards and has high influence over everyone. She makes us sound worse and worse every day."

"That's why we're working to fight back!" Fiesta said.

"Okay," said Anakin. "And what about a teeny, little thing? WE'RE STILL FROGS!"

"Mmm. A special kind of help, you require. Indira. Help you, she can."

So, Anakin and Padme hopped over to the clearest pond in the forest, where Indira was meditating within a circle of lotus flowers.

"Pardon me, Indira?" Padme said gently as to not startle Indira.

"Come. Join me in the circle, my friends." Indira said, not even opening her eyes.

Anakin was freaked by that. "How did she know we were here?" He whispered to Padme.

Indira slowly opened her eyes as the two frogs came in

"I know when folks are in need." Indira said. "My only question is, do you know what you need?"

"We need a way to turn back into humans!" said Anakin. "Can you help us or not?"

"Why would you wanna go back to being humans?" said Indira.

"Why not?" Padme said as though Indira was crazy. "I have a family who needs me. Sola can't have a frog for a sister!"

"And what about me?" said Anakin. "What would my parents say if they saw me like this?"

"You want to be human, but you're blind to what you need."

"Isn't what we want and need the same thing?" said Anakin.

"Uh, no it ain't!" Indira said. "Let your auntie Indira tell you a little something I learned when I was a filly."

Indira:

Don't matter what you look like
Don't matter what you wear
How many rings you got on your finger
We don't care
(Other ponies: No we don't care)

"You don't even have fingers." said Anakin.

Don't matter where you come from
Don't even matter what you are
A dog, a pig, a cow, a goat
Had 'em all in here
(We had 'em all in here)

Other ponies joined in, and so did some of their riders.

And they all knew what they wanted
What they wanted me to do
I told 'em what they needed
Just like I be telling you

Everyone:

You got to dig a little deeper

Indira:

Find out who you are

Everyone:

You got to dig a little deeper

Indira:

It really ain't that far

When you find out who you are
You'll find out what you need

Everyone:

Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed
You got to dig (dig)
You got to dig (dig)

Indira picked up Anakin on her foreleg and had him sit on a stump as Sugar Cane dropped some chocolate coins on him.

Prince Froggy is a rich little boy
You wanna be rich again
That ain't gonna make you happy now
Did it make you happy then? No!
Money ain't got no soul
Money ain't got no heart
All you need is some self-control
Make yourself a brand new start

You got to dig a little deeper
Don't have far to go
You got to dig a little deeper
Tell the people Mama told you so

Anakin looked at Padme as she danced along with the others, and proved pretty good for a frog. He started to feel something inside him that he'd never felt before with even one of the many girls who threw herself at him the first chance she got.

Can't tell you what you'll find
Maybe love will grant you peace of mind
Dig a little deeper and you'll know

Indira then approached Padme.

Miss Froggy, might I have a word?
You's a hard one, that's what I heard

Indira touched her hoof to the clear water of the pond and showed Padme a vision of her childhood with her father. Padme felt so touched getting to see her father's face again, even if it was like this.

Your daddy was a loving man
Family through and through
You your daddy's daughter
What he had in him you got in you

You got to dig a little deeper
For you it's gonna be tough
You got to dig a little deeper
You ain't dug near far enough

Dig down deep inside yourself
You'll find out what you need
Blue skies and sunshine guaranteed
Open up the windows

The other ponies spread some light and flowers all over the place, the whole area starting to look like a party.
Let in the light everyone
(Blue skies and sunshine)
(Blue skies and sunshine)

Padme:

Blue skies and sunshine
Guaranteed
(Ahhh...)

"Now, do you understand what you need, Padme?" Indira asked.

"I think I do, Indira." Padme said. "I need to dig a little deeper and work even harder to get my restaurant."

Indira sighed.

"Well, if you two are set on being human. There is a way." Indira said.

Indira went back to the pond and had two of the unicorns cast a little spell to show a vision.

"Bayou waters, as worse comes to worst, we need a princess to break a curse." She chanted.

And the waters showed a vision of...Caroline. She was in bed, sleeping

"Caroline?" said Padme. "But she isn't a princess."

"Not yet." Indira said. "Watch."

That was when Caroline's parents entered the picture with a surprise for her

"That's right. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell are king and queen of the Starry Grand parade." said Padme with realization. "So that makes Caroline a princess."

"Does that even count?" Anakin asked.

"Yes, it does." said Indira. "but only until midnight, when Starry Grand is over. You only have until then to get her to kiss you, Prince Anakin. Once she does, you both turn human again!"

"Midnight?" said Padme said. "That doesn't give us much time at all."

"Wait! Shadow guy's gonna be looking for me. For us!" Anakin said. "How do we get across without him seeing us?"

"Well, unicorn magic can't turn you human." said Indira.

"Yes, you already cleared that up for us."

"I never said it couldn't turn you into anything else."

So, all the unicorns came together, and together they performed a spell on the two frogs to turn them into something else Dr. Palpatine and Mariverde wouldn't suspect.

It was a really hard spell to cast, but they did it, and they turned the prince and waitress into... equines.

Anakin turned into a black pegasus and Padme turned into a beautiful green pegasus.

"Well, at least we're not frogs anymore." Padme said, liking how she no longer felt slimy, or mucusy.

"No, but we are furry!" Grunted Anakin, rubbing his side against a tree. "And itchy!"

"Come, you two." Indira said. "A quick flying lesson, and you'll be on your way."