"Listen, Rainbow Dash... I forgive you."

A thick, disbelieving silence filled the air around them. The others in the bakery tried their best not to stare even though the drowning silence was affecting them too.

Rainbow's pupils swelled to full size in her eyes in disbelief. "You - y-you what...?"

"I forgive you." Toby grunted, as if he would have rather been anywhere else at the moment. "For... you know. What you did. In Canterlot."

There was another suffocating silence.

"Wait... does that mean...?" Twilight murmured after a very tense moment.

"It only means that I'm forgiving her for what she did to me," Toby huffed. "Nothing more than that. I'm still hurt by it, moron. I definitely don't like Rainbow in the slightest." He made eye contact with the pegasus and sighed. "But still... I forgive you for what you did. You're a downright mess, and holding a grudge would make it worse. Besides, I can tell you regret it. I don't want anyone to suffer because of me."

Everyone looked extremely shocked. Twilight looked slightly miffed on top of that, but that was probably because of the fact that he called her a moron a couple moments ago. Luna slowly extended a wing towards Toby's back and stroked it calmingly. She looked very unnerved by his last comment.

"No one here is suffering because of you," a small, soft voice spoke suddenly. All eyes moved to Fluttershy, who was glaring slightly at Toby. "Don't say that."

"That's good to hear," Toby chuckled, but Luna could instantly tell that it was forced. She could also see that Toby did not believe Fluttershy in the slightest.

"Toby... I'm really proud of you for doing this..." Twilight sighed, a warm smile forming on her face. "I think that it's a really good look into who you are as a pony."

"I'm not a pony, Twilight."

"Oh! Right - sorry." Twilight instantly replied with a nervous giggle.

Toby smiled weakly. "No worries. Also... before you go back to Canterlot, Twilight, I need to talk to you. Could we find somewhere more private?"

"Eh? This is kind of sudden," Twilight replied, clearly caught off guard. "Yeah. Want to go outside?"

"Ooooooh, they're taking this outSIDE!!" Pinkie said in a gruff voice, mimicking a very tough masculine accent. Everyone burst out into laughter except for Twilight, who rolled her eyes.

"Oh, Pinkie. Alright Toby, let's go."

Toby nodded and followed the purple princess outside, where they took a seat at a table in the shade across the street.

"So! What did you want to talk to me about?" Twilight asked, looking pleasantly curious.

Toby swallowed the lump in his throat and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Listen, I'm sorry."

"For what?" Twilight asked, confused.

"For what I did after Canterlot was attacked," Toby replied in a monotonous tone. "You know when I - when I jumped."

"Oh..." Twilight said quietly.

"I didn't think it would cause that much pain. I'm not even sure how it did, honestly," Toby explained. "I was so ready for an escape - or for it all to be over, I'm not sure which."

"Toby..." Twilight said in a shaky voice. She was clearly trying to keep a neutral face in public, but Toby could tell that her emotions were putting up a heck of a fight. "Why? Why would you do that? First you tried to strangle yourself in your own cell, then you jumped - why do you want to die...?"

Toby felt an enormous amount of guilt swell up in his chest. "Listen, I'm sorry for the trouble I caused. I never meant for any of it to happen."

"Answer the question!!" Twilight cried, drawing looks from passerby.

Toby looked down at his lap. "I... can't."

"Toby!" Twilight snapped. "Please!"

"I don't know," Toby said in a very low tone. "Please, stop asking me. I don't know."

Twilight backed off immediately seeing the expression on his face. Her look was a mixture of urgency, disbelief, and distress.

"Okay..." she replied softly. Her voice quavered. "I'm just worried, you know."

"You don't need to," Toby insisted. "Please. You have a responsibility. I know you care, but please don't let me get in the way of your royal-"

"You're my friend," Twilight interrupted bluntly. "I will never, ever stop worrying about you. Okay?" She ended the statement by bringing the human in for a hug. He responded well, hugging her back.

When they let each other go, Toby sighed. "Do you at least accept my apology?"

Twilight smiled. "Of course. Let's go back to the others, okay? They might be worried."

The two of them headed back into Sugarcube Corner, where they were delighted to find that their friends did not appeared worried at all. The only exception was Luna, who eyed Toby worriedly as they rejoined the group.

"How did it go?" she asked quietly, ignoring the pie in the face Applejack had just received from Pinkie in the background.

"Well, I think," Toby replied with a smile. "She was receptive to the apology, at least."

"Okay, I'm glad!" Luna remarked, followed with an affectionate nuzzle on Toby's cheek. This did not go unnoticed.

"Oh-HO!" Rarity exclaimed, drawing the attention to her. "What do we have here? You two seem unusually close."

Applejack, Pinkie, and Rainbow Dash looked rather confused, since they were mostly unaware of the happenings between Toby and Luna. As far as they knew, the two still disliked each other.

Toby and Luna both turned a bright red in unison. They avoided the eyes of the others as they stammered nervously.

"Um, is it alright for me to say?" Fluttershy squeaked.

Toby raised his face to the group before saying, "Luna and I are dating now. So yeah."

"WHAAAAAT!!??"

"Shhh!! Don't be so loud!!" Toby yelped. Luna simply giggled.

"I don't see a problem with telling them," she said sheepishly.

Rarity squealed. "Oh my goodness, congratulations!!! How about a trip to the spa, on me?"

"It's not like we're getting engaged right now!!" Toby stammered.

"We need time before we do that!" Luna said cheerfully, making Toby turn the deepest shade of red. The group 'aww'ed at this.

"I insist!" Rarity declared. "After all, Toby, I daresay you deserve the relaxation!!"

The group all hummed in agreement (including Rainbow Dash), ignoring Toby's babbling protests. Before he knew it, he was being tugged outside by Luna's magic as they (accompanied by Rarity and Fluttershy) began making their way towards the spa.

Until they were interrupted, that is.

The spa building had just come into view around the corner when Toby heard an immensely familiar voice.

A voice he had not heard since jumping off that cliff. And it was pissed.

"TOBY O-BUCKING-LEARY, YOU ARE SO DEAD!!!!!"

Author's Note

Thank you for all the support in the comments!! I've been going through a really rough patch in my life right now, so it's always nice to see the praise and constructive criticism in the comments. It tells me that you guys dig it, which keeps me going.

I apologize for the delays. This story will be completed, but slowly.