Ponyville's Provocative Predicament

Chapters

A Day in the Life... (Prologue)
Humble Beginnings!
Approach...
Disappearance!
Search Efforts!
Surprises and Procedures... (Pt. 1)
Surprises and Procedures... (Pt. 2)
Contemplation...
The News...!
Guilt Trip...
Realization...
The Calm Before...
The Storm!! (Pt. 1)
The Storm!! (Pt. 2)
Gathering Up...!
Trial Time!
The Hunt! (Pt. 1)
The Hunt! (Pt. 2)
Aftermath... (Pt. 1)
Aftermath... (Pt. 2)
Preparation!
The Ponyville Address!
Recessional!
Another Urgent Discussion...
Reconciliation...

A Day in the Life... (Prologue)

Ponyville’s Provocative Predicament

By: TPurnell18

A Day in the Life… (Prologue)

Twilight Sparkle… the ever-enthusiastic friendship scholar… the most powerful unicorn Equestria’s ever known… the egghead (says Rainbow Dash)… the lovely, lively lavender librarian… and possibly the best girl Scratch that; FILLY-friend anyone— pony or human— could ask for. It’s been quite a while since she and I met under what could be the most random, accidental circumstance imaginable. Like, “Poof-here-I-am-now-let’s-be-friends” kind of random. Literally. It happened such a long time ago, and I was sure I’d never experienced the things I’d experienced with her in my life.

Over time since our sudden encounter, we’d taught each other about the customs of our respective worlds, spent time together, and became friends… and even a step beyond. I’d be inclined to delve into every miniscule detail of how something as… unorthodox as a relationship between a human being and a sentient purple unicorn from an alternate world would even work. But nobody likes being bored to death with a collection of boring ass mind-numbing details (especially when they’re supposedly not scientifically possible), so I’ll simply say this instead: It WORKS!

Starting today however, she’d been acting a little… unusual.

“Heeey, Ty!” the lavender unicorn greeted as I stepped in through my doorway after a long day of work. “I see you’ve gotten a haircut. It suits you well!”

“Helllooooo, Twi! My goodness have I missed you!” I excitedly responded as I took off my shoes and callously cast them aside before picking my vibrant purple filly-friend for a hug. “Funny you should say that, though. Most others tend to like me better with shorter hair. I think i’ss more suitable for me too. But anyway, where you been all my life?” I jokingly asked.

“Busier than usual, unfortunately,” she answered before planting a smooch on my cheek.

“Is that so? Wha’ss been tyin’ you up?” Rather than put her down right away, I carried her upstairs into my room before sitting down on my bed with her on my lap.

“A LOT…” she emphasized. “From my friends and I having to save this thousand year old Crystal Empire so I could pass a test of my magic ability to Pinkie Pie utilizing an enchanted pool in the Everfree Forest to clone herself at least one hundred times simply because she couldn’t fathom the idea of not knowing everything her friends were doing to an old… acquaintance of mine named Trixie returning to Ponyville corrupted by an evil Alicorn amulet and exiling me from Ponyville over a grudge against me I personally believe was entirely misplaced, prompting me to have to devise a convoluted plan to trick her into taking the thing off so she would come back to her senses in time for me to demonstrate my power to some delegates from a far-off land by the name of Saddle Arabia… and then SO much more! Honestly, I need a break…” she ranted, seeming unhappy.

“Jeez… what a hassle that sounds like… no wonder you been M.I.A. the last couple weeks or so…” I sympathetically replied. “Anything I can do to cheer you up?” At that, she smiled.

“I… don’t know…” she answered, feigning an endearing sense of cluelessness as she stretched herself over my lap before lying down to get comfortable. An instant later, her horn glowed, followed by my right hand. She willed my appendage to rest itself on her back. “Any ideas…?” she winked.

“I… might-a came up with a couple…” I slyly answered as I fulfilled her implied wish by running the hand down her back, eliciting a purr from her. Music to my ears, if I do say so myself. I followed up by rubbing her again and again, eventually switching hands so as to gain the ability to gently run my fingers through her mane alongside momentary sessions of scratching behind her ear as I stroked her soft, velvety lavender body. Ever since the first time we met, she always enjoyed being rubbed down in this manner. This time proved no different… at least, not at first.

“Mmm… could you… rub a little lower…?”

“Lower? Sure,” I answered, thinking nothing of the request. Normally, being the gentleman I am, I’d rub her as far down as an imaginary limit line I’d set on her lower back. But I guessed that I’d be crossing that line. “How much lower?”

“To my tail is fine…” I raised an eyebrow and blinked.

“Uh… are you sure? I mean, I don’t want you t’ get the idea that I—!”

“Ty… we’re both adults here. Plus, we’ve been dating for approximately eight months, three weeks, and six days now… it’s perfectly fine if you touch my rump…” I exhaled in shock.

“Oh well, when ya put it that way…”

“You know what I mean… such a naughty mind you have…” I chuckled.

“Got me there… and you been countin’ the days?”

“Yes. All the way down to each magnificent hour… but please, don’t stop now.” Wordlessly, I complied with a shrug and continued my massage, rubbing her from her neck all the way down to where her tail connected as I moved a hand to brush softly against various parts of her face. She was really getting into it this time… joyfully moaning and sighing more profusely than usual, blithely wiggling and squirming into every rub, topped with the occasional gasp of delight… to be curt, I was getting VERY uncomfortable in a certain kind of way.

“Not now… not now… not now…!” I thought, trying to keep myself under control. I took a deep breath, gulped, and clenched my legs together, all the while still massaging Twilight. “Stay down…! Please...?”

“Oh, is that your girlfriend…?”

“Y-yeah…?”

“I’mma poke it!”

“Don’t you do it...”

“I’mma do it!”

“Don’t you do i-!” Twilight wiggled into my stomach, causing me to inadvertently let out a quiet grunt.

“Dammit…”

“Is there something wrong, Ty?” Twilight asked, snapping me out of my mental conflict.

“O-oh nothin’, honey. Why do you ask?”

“You seem a little... tense…”

“Tha’ss one way o’ puttin’ it…”

“Do you want to stop?”

“No, not at all!” I lied against my better judgment, not wanting to disappoint her. “Jus’ need some stretchin’ room is all. Why don’t we lay down?”

“Sure…” with that, the unicorn got up off of me so as to allow me to stretch out before getting comfortable on my bed and allowing her to lie down on my belly. Once she got comfortable, she gave me one of those glazed, half-lidded smiles I so VERY much adored. “You know, I’ve missed you a lot…” she dreamily informed as she leaned in to kiss me.

“As have I, Twi… As have I…” I concurred, restarting my efforts in making her comfortable by rubbing her again. She lay her head down on my shoulder, allowing herself to fall into a state of bliss as I massaged her. I have to say, she definitely felt warmer than usual… like, a pleasant kind of warmness one would feel if they were awoken by the early morning rays of sunlight or relaxing in a hot tub once their body became accustomed to the temperature. I wondered if she was getting sick again or if it had been a hot day in Equestria and the heat hadn’t fully radiated off of her yet. Or possibly that her excitement in seeing me again, coupled with this rubdown, had made her so comfortably warm. But then, as the quiet air around us set in, I could feel and faintly hear her heart thumping against my chest as if she were rhythmically tapping me with a hoof.

“Mmm… how’ve you been since last time, Ty…?” she managed to ask through her pleasured moans and sighs.

“More or less the same… nothin’ exactly worth notin’ happened…” I replied. “But it gets pretty lonesome ‘round here without you.”

“Oh, I’m… sorry. I wish I were able to… *sigh* to visit more often…”

“Don’t sweat it. You’re a busy mare. A VERY busy mare… Don’t let me slow you down.”

“I love your consideration for my cumbersome… mmm… schedule… but really… I’d like nothing more than to spend time with you…” she countered as she picked her head up, her eyes still half-closed. Before I was able to say anything, she kissed me again, this time much deeper. Though taken by complete surprise, I hardly tried fighting her. I allowed her to take me into the realm of luxurious satisfaction that she’d been in since I began her massage. As the two of us lip-locked, she became steadily more aggressive. She wrapped her fore hooves around my head, taking control over me and deepening her smooches to the point where she may as well have been trying to suck air directly from my lungs. The unicorn was writhing and grinding very slowly into my belly as I rubbed her. A red flag raised in my head as soon as I began to pick up a most unusual, indescribable, yet faint, musky scent. As exciting as it all was, she’d never gotten THIS much enjoyment out of a massage. In addition, she was beginning to feel very hot. I pulled away and stopped rubbing her to catch my breath, much to her disappointment.

“Whoo… hah… hey, you feelin’ okay?”

“Yes… wonderful, even. Why?”

“That’s great! But… you’ve NEVER done that t' me before. Not while I was rubbin’ you…” At that, she blushed.

“Oh! Well… I guess I’m just really happy to see you again after such a long time…”

“And you feel a bit warm… Are you comin’ down with a fever?”

“No, no, I’m fine… trust me, there’s nothing wrong with me. At all.”

“At all?” I skeptically asked.

“At *gasp* mmm… all…” she shakily replied. Her reply was shaky because I took the liberty of slowly dragging the tips of the fingers on my right hand from her ear all the way down to her flank, causing her to shudder with what I could tell was delight.

“I ain’t so sure… you’ve never been so sensitive to the touch before…”

“Y-yes I have!” she hurriedly rebutted, taking on a look of alarm. “What makes you say I haven’t been?”

“A lotta things… specifically, you vocalized your comfort a lot more than usual. That and you were kissin’ me while I rubbed you. You don’t usually do that.” I thought about mentioning the unusual smell coming from her, but I refrained from doing so for fear of hurting her feelings.

“Well… I’m just really happy to see you,” she defensively explained, sounding a bit irritated. “I mean, give a mare a break, Ty. I’m sorry of I came on a bit stronger than usual, but is it really worth interrogating me for? It’s not like I’m trying to harm you or anything…”

“Okay, okay, I understand. Sorry t’ upset you. I was jus’ a li’l worried.”

“It’s okay… Now… where were we?”

“I believe we were at th—!”

*grrrrrowwll*

“…the part where I go get somethin’ t’ eat. I kinda skipped lunch at work today. If you’ll excuse me…” With that, the unicorn took her sweet time in getting off of me so I could get up. Before heading downstairs into the kitchen, I turned to look at her. She looked so… sad. She looked like I was leaving and never coming back or something. “Are you sure there’s nothin’ wrong with you? Why you lookin’ all sad all of a sudden?”

“Sad?” she inquired, fixing her face into a smile. “I’m fine, sweetie. Please, go and get your lunch…” she added, lifting her hoof and giving me the ‘shoo’ gesture.

“If ya say so…” I responded before going downstairs.

“Ohh, Twilight… What are you doing…? You’re supposed to control yourself at a time like this… You need to take into consideration his feelings on such a delicate matter… what if he freaks out and tries to avoid me…? What if he wants to help, but can’t because of a probable conflict in him pertaining to the difference in our species?? I need to tell him… but how…?”

“I’m back!” He shouted, startling me.

“Well that certainly was fast…” I replied, flashing him the brightest smile I could muster in a desperate attempt to shroud my insecurity. He walked over and sat down next to me.

“Yea, I jus’ decided on a slice o’ cake. Especially since I don’t want Pinkie Pie maulin’ me again…”

“Heh heh, yeah. Gotta remember not to break that Pinkie Promise…” I concurred.

“Yep. Heh…”

“Yeah…” A moment of silence passed over us before I managed to say something. “Um… Ty?”

“Yea?”

“You… like me, right? Like… like me like me?” As expected, he gave me a facial expression of confusion at my inquiry.

“Uh… is this some kinda trick question? Cuz if it ain’t, then I’m pretty sure there’s solid evidence that you already know the answer t’ that.”

“Excellent. Just… making sure. But anyway… um…” I was having trouble configuring my thoughts into a coherent verbal display of my feelings. Already, I could feel my face heating up with embarrassment. “I… was wondering… if you’ve ever thought about… the stipulations of our relationship… you know… how you’ve been feeling about us…”

“...To be honest, I have,” he answered. “I mean, a few months have gone by, an’ not a single day in those months have thoughts about me bein’ intimate with a unicorn from a whole different world not crossed my mind… but then I realize that you’re just as, if not MORE intelligent than I am. Who am I foolin'...? You ARE more intelligent than I am. Plus, it’d be stupid for me t’ keep dwellin’ on those things if you could move past ‘em. At this point, I think I’m completely fine with my relationship with you, Twi.”

“That’s great!” I happily exclaimed and smiled. He returned the gesture by moving in to hug me; an embrace I was more than willing to accept.

“Still, I get the feel that somethin’s botherin’ you…” he theorized, to my shock as we separated. He looked me right in the eye and laid one of his big, soft, wonderful hands on my cheek. “If there’s anything; ANYTHING at all tha’ss botherin’ you, you can tell me.” I just wanted to tell him right then and there that I was… well… in the midst of an estrus cycle. But… I just couldn’t gather up the courage to do so...

“N-no, nothing at all!” I impulsively lied, already bucking myself for it. “I was… just wondering if you were still okay with being with me after so long… why don’t we head off to Equestria now, hm? I’m sure the others will be excited to see you again.”

“Sure! I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t miss the ol’ crew…”

“Great! Let’s go then!” I commanded, channeling energy into my horn to cast the trans-universal spell.

“Ohh… horseapples… How the heck am I supposed to let him know now…?” With that thought and a flash of my magic aura, we were off to Equestria...

Humble Beginnings!

Humble Beginnings!

As per usual, Twi and I had transported to the inside of her library home, where we were greeted by her #1 assistant, Spike. He seemed to be busy reorganizing a section of books before we showed up, as he was standing atop a ladder with a book in hand.

“Hey, Twi. Long time, no see, Ty.” The young purple-and-green dragon greeted.

“Good afternoon, Spike.”

“What up? How you an’ everybody else been?” we greeted back.

“I’ve been alright. The others are good too. Oh! That reminds me: Applejack stopped by looking for you, Twilight. I think she said something about needing a helping hoof on the farm.”

“Oh? How long ago did she come here?”

“Hmm, I’d say about a couple minutes or so before you guys showed up. She mentioned that she looked for Rainbow, but she’s been a little busier than she used to be because of her Wonderbolts training. The others are doing their own things as well.”

“Oh, that’s no good. But… I don’t think I could help her at the moment…”

“Why not?” I asked in confusion.

“Because I’m in…” she hesitated. “…need to get some studying done.”

“Hm… well, in that case, I could go help ‘er while you do that.”

“You could? That would be wonderful!” Twilight exclaimed, much to my surprise.

“Uh… sure. Lemme jus’ get properly suited up for the occasion,” I uneasily said.

“Do you want me to change you myself? Or should I just give you a magic sample before you complete the spell yourself?”

“Hmm… I think I’ll go with the latter option. For the sake of makin’ sure I got it down right.”

“Alright. Here goes…” With that, Twilight’s horn took on its usual magenta glow and in a second, she hit me with a spray of energy. Then, I stretched, took a deep breath, stood straight up, closed my eyes, and focused. During one of my previous visits to Equestria a month or so ago, Princess Celestia had informed me that she, with the help of a few high-level unicorns, managed to discover a prototype magic transference spell she said was based on the natural ability of a type of organism in this world called a Changeling; the ability to shape-shift. She let me know that the spell was only in its early testing phase, saying something along the lines of this:

“With this, you should have the ability to change into a pony much like Twilight has done for you in the past. It works in that I or any unicorn with enough power lends you a small amount of magic energy. From there, you will need to focus intensely, shutting out all forms of distraction as you mentally convert your physical form from that of a human to that of a stallion. Once you are able to successfully maintain one hundred percent concentration, the transformation should happen within a timeframe of a few seconds. There are a couple of drawbacks to this type of spell, however: One, the amount of time you will be able to sustain your transformation relies on how much magic energy resides within you. You should understand that since you are not a unicorn, the energy in you only stays temporarily, as you are unable to generate natural magic energy on your own. Simply undergoing the transformation would considerably drain the already-diminutive amount of magic being lent to you at the moment. The more energy you have, the longer the transformation will last. Two, once the magic in you has run out, which there unfortunately isn’t any sort of limit counter for, you will instantaneously change back to your true form. Be VERY careful in your travels around Equestria if you opt to use this spell instead of the one Twilight invented. One good thing I should mention is that the more you practice, the less time and energy-consuming it should be.”

Since then, I haven’t had much too time to practice utilizing this spell, but I’ve had enough that I didn’t strain too hard trying to transform (thanks to a certain SOMEONE, whose name will be withheld, making me do it over and over again at least forty times every time I came here, then another twenty for good measure.) I’d have to thank her for all the practice, though. The first few times we tried this, I’d wind up losing focus and only transforming parts of me rather than my entire body. Those failures were NOT pretty… Nonetheless, I was able to achieve the level of concentration I needed this time. Within seconds, I began to glow a luminescent white before I felt the warm, tingly sensation of the magic altering my form into that of an equine, shrinking me, and eventually giving me all of the qualities I had since the first time I was changed. The light around me dissipated, revealing me in pony form once again.

“Hey, something’s missing this time…” Spike pointed out.

“Yeah… no puffy mane,” Twilight added. “Or rather, it’s there but much shorter than normal.”

“Is that so?” I asked, raising a hoof to feel my head. Indeed, my afro-mane was much smaller. I guessed that hair length was consistent between forms, considering this was the first time I’d been transformed at all since getting a haircut. “Alright then. I guess I’ll take note o’ that. But I should prolly go out an’ look for Applejack now.”

“She should most likely be on her way back to Sweet Apple Acres. But before you go…” the unicorn charged up her horn before touching it with my forehead. Instantly, I felt a rush of warmth course through my being. “There. Your supply should last you a good day or so, by my prediction.”

“Okey doke, then. Thank you. Whelp, time fo’ me t’ be hittin’ the ol’ dusty trail…” With that, I leaned in to give Twilight a quick kiss goodbye before I turned to head out of the library.

“See you when you come back!”

“Later, bro!” Spike called.

“See y’all later. Have a good day!” I called back before I was out the door and headed to Sweet Apple Acres.

I saw Ty out of the library, on his way to go and help Applejack with whatever it was she needed help with on the farm. As soon as he was out of sight, I closed the door and promptly face hoofed, groaning loudly as I did so.

“What’s wrong, Twi?”

“Nothing, Spike. I’m fine.”

“I dunno. You seem like something’s up. What’s on your mind?”

“My gosh, am I THAT easy to read?”

“Well… It has to do with… love and a whole bunch of mushy stuff you wouldn’t want to hear,” I reasoned, hoping to coerce Spike to drop the issue.

“I’m all ears if you need me, Twi.”

“*sigh* of COURSE you are…”

“That’s sweet of you, Spike, but really. I’d rather deal with this on my own or when Ty comes back.”

“What’s so bad that I can’t hear it, but he can?”

“Spike… It really isn’t that important,” I implored, already feeling substantially more irritable than usual. “I just need some time alone to think things through. Just leave it be.”

“Alright alright, fine. But just a heads-up: I’m here if you need me.”

“Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be heading upstairs…” With that, I hurried up the stairs and into my room, almost slamming the door before I unceremoniously flopped onto my bed, filled to the brim with a sudden case of anxiety.

“Maybe now I can use this time to think about how to tell Ty that I—!”

*bang bang bang*

“…can get up and scream at the simpleton knocking so loudly at the door!”

“I got it, Twilight!” I heard Spike call, instantly relieving me from the sudden, unwarranted feeling of anger I gained. Listening to the conversation, it sounded like Applejack came back looking for me. Spike informed her that Ty was on his way to Sweet Apple Acres to help her out, but she insisted on talking to me. Sullenly, I dragged myself off of the bed and trudged out of the room and down the stairs to meet my orange Earth pony friend at the door.

“Howdy, Twi!” the orange mare known as Applejack greeted brightly.

“Good afternoon, Applejack,” I replied, hiding my frustration behind a toothy grin.

“I was just wonderin’ if y’all could lend a helpin’ hoof Apple buckin’ down at Sweet Apple Acres. I understand Ty’s on ‘is way there now, but I could use a little bit more help if’in yer up to it.”

“As much as I’d love to, Applejack, I… I can’t.”

“Well why not? Y’all ain’t comin’ down with anythin’, are ya?”

“Kind of…”

“What’s the matter? Feather flu? Ponypox? Food poisonin’?”

“*cough* estrus *cough*” I tried to conceal my ordeal with an oh-so cleverly hidden message so as not to alarm Spike.

“Eh… Pardon?”

“I said… *cough* estrus *cough*”

“Didn’t quite catch that. Run that by me again?” I was losing my patience, and quickly. But still, I didn’t want my little assistant knowing about this, so I thought up another way to inform Applejack of my ailment.

“*sigh* Smell me,” I uncomfortably, yet brazenly suggested in a whisper.

“What?”

“Smell me,” I repeated more sternly, rasping this time.

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Alrighty then…” she uneasily replied, shooting me a look of perplexity before leaning in to obtain a small olfactory sample of my aroma. I could tell by the way she yanked her head back, looking at me in a poorly hidden sense of shock, that she got the message.

“Twi… yer in heat?”

“Yes, but keep your voice down…!” I whispered, suddenly feeling a little flustered. “I don’t want Spike to know. But you see why I can’t help you. Especially not when Ty’s on his way there… That and I don’t want to cause any problems involving Big Macintosh…”

“Did ya tell Ty when ya brought ‘im here…?”

“No… I was going to… but… I couldn’t.”

“Why not…?”

“I don’t know… It’s… It’s complicated, alright…? I’ll fill you in later, but you should probably go and catch up to him. And whatever you do… do NOT mention a word to him about my condition unless I say so, okay…?”

“You have my word, Twi…”

“Good. Now go…! Catch up to him…!”

“Gotcha…” With that, A.J. was off towards her farm looking for Ty, which gave me time to go back up to my room and contemplate my situation…

I was in the middle of Ponyville, trekking my way towards the farm. As far as I could see, no significant changes had taken place since I’d been here last. The same medieval-looking buildings, the same ponies going about their routine, et cetera, et cetera. I began to wonder if anything different happened with anyone other than Twi and her friends. Speaking of Twi… I wondered why she seemed so… out of sorts all of a sudden. She was all over me when she teleported to me. But then when I questioned her on it, she turned defensive and petulant. The part that bothered me the most was that question she asked me… about how I felt about our relationship. I mean, she should’ve known by now that I’m as comfortable with her as she is with me. But then… what if she WASN’T comfortable? What if she was starting to have doubts? What if she wasn’t happy with me? I shook my head at that thought, dismissing it as silly for the fact that we were together long enough to dispel feelings of discomfort or despondency. As I lost myself in my train of thought, my gaze met with the ground while I walked. I stayed that way indefinitely.

*bump*

“Oops! My bad…” I apologized as I shook off my lack of awareness.

“No no, that was my fault. I should’ve watched where I was going,” the stranger responded before turning her gaze from the ground to me. I had clumsily walked into a unicorn mare with a coat color of a vibrant minty green. Her eyes were golden like the setting sun. Her hair was a spiky mix of the same minty green and white. “Hey… you look familiar. You come around here often?” she asked.

“Not quite. I’m usually only here on occasion. Why do you ask?”

“I’ve seen you around hanging with that blue Pegasus mare a few times… Rainbow Dash, I think her name is?”

“Yea. She’s a—!”

“Lemme guess: you’re dating her?” the mare asked, cocking an eyebrow and smirking.

“Hm. Some things never change…”

“What?? No! Not at all!”

“Then why do you two always play-fight when the opportunity arises?”

“Tha’ss just somethin’ we do every once in a while. I consider her a rival of sorts, even though she beats the mess outta me most o’ the time…” At that, this strange mare giggled.

“Ha, I’ve seen how you two wrestle; especially this one time a while back where you threw a pie on her. You guys get almost as rough as me and my friend Bon Bon.” I was taken aback by her remark, but intrigued at the same time. I was unaware that she watched Rainbow and me fight that one time I was giving her dating advice. I could only wonder if she was the only one to see that little showdown or not.

“Well ain’t that somethin’…? Heh heh, wha’ss ya name?”

“Lyra. Lyra Heartstrings. How about yourself?”

“Ponder Memoir. And for the record, I’m actually involved with a unicorn by the name of Twilight Sparkle.” Lyra gasped in what appeared to be pleasant surprise.

“Ohh, so YOU’RE the one everypony keeps calling ‘Ty!’”

“Ha, yep.”

“Lemme tell ya: That mare is TIGHT with royalty. I was at her brother’s crazy wedding as a bridesmaid. Did you know she’s related to royalty?”

“Ya don’t say?” I said, feigning surprise.

“Yeah! Her brother Shining Armor is a Captain in Princess Celestia’s Royal Guard. He got hitched to a Princess named Cadence a little while ago.”

“Really now?”

“Yeah. As I said, I was a bridesmaid there. Although I don’t quite remember it being the most… pleasant experience. Hay, I hardly remember anything that went on that day… other than Cadence being a bit grumpier than she normally is… must’ve been wedding jitters or something…” she quizzically scratched her head. “Anyway, I bet that’s hard to believe, right? I’m actually good friends with Cadence and a casual acquaintance of Twilight’s.”

“There you are! Ty!” I heard someone call from behind me. I turned around to see Applejack headed my way. She galloped towards me posthaste, stopping beside me. “I heard y’all were on yer way t’ help me on the farm?”

“Yes. Yes I am. Shall we be goin’ then?”

“You betcha. We’re runnin’ behind schedule as we dillydally, so let’s git a move on, sugar cube!”

“Alright. Pleasure meetin’ you, Lyra!”

“Likewise, Ponder! If it’s okay, we should hang around sometime! Look me up! And if you’d like, you could bring Twilight. Make it a sort of double date!” she suggested.

“I’mma keep that in mind. Will do. See ya ‘round!” I said, waving as Lyra parted ways with me and Applejack.

“Bye!” she called back, waving a hoof and smiling. With that, Applejack and I proceeded to Sweet Apple Acres. On the way there, I noticed the orange Earth pony looking at me and grinning with this weird look on her face like she knew something that I didn’t. To be perfectly honest, I found it kind of irksome. At the same time, however, I wondered why she was looking at me like that…

“What’re you lookin’ at? Is there somethin’ on my face?”

“No, not at all, lover boy…” I was instantly flustered by her remark. ‘Lover boy?’

“What? You mean me talkin’ t’ Lyra? Applejack, you KNOW I wouldn’t do that to Twi. Ever.”

“Oh, I know. But that ain’t what I’m talkin’ about…” she winked at me. I went from flushed to confused in an instant.

“Then… what ARE you talkin’ ‘bout?”

“Oh, nothin’. Let’s just say a certain somepony is fittin’ t’ get a VERY special gift…” That served only to confuse me more.

“Mind elaboratin’?”

“Nope.”

“Oh okay. Go ahead then. Elaborate.” She raised an eyebrow.

“Pardon?”

“You said you don’t mind elaboratin’. So tell me. What are you talkin’ about?” she smirked at me.

“Nice try smart aleck, but yer fancy little mind tricks ain’t gonna work on me. Y’all know exactly what that ‘nope’ meant.”

“Bummer. You got me red-hoofed. Now tell me what you’re on about.”

“Nuh-uh. I already said too much…” she snickered. “Anyhow, here we are,” she said as we arrived at the entrance to her family’s homestead. Applejack was quick to lead me into one of the vast fields of apple trees where there were already buckets lined up under them. “Now Ty. Do y’all know even the slightest bitta info on apple buckin’?”

“Can’t say I do, Jackie.” She gave me a look of noticeable annoyance at me calling her that.

“Now Rainbow mighta warmed up to ya callin’ ‘er ‘Dashie,’ but I ain’t one t’ be quite as tolerant on nicknames ‘sides from A.J... Got it, pardner?”

“Y-yes ma’am.”

“Good. Anyway, c’mere.” I trotted over to the tree she was standing next to. “Turn around.” I turned around so that my tail end was facing said tree. “Now, what you’ll need t’ do here is plant yer front legs firm int’ the ground. Then, ya push yer back legs off the ground an’ wind up. Once yer ready, slam yer back legs int’ the trunk o’ this here tree as hard as y’all can. Got it?”

“I… guess so. Couldja gimme a demonstration though? So I know for sure what the technique is?”

“I s’pose I could do that. But I’m only gonna show ya once. We got a lotta work t’ do.” With that, she trotted over towards the nearest tree demonstrated her technique by doing exactly what she told me to do. With a mighty blast of her legs into the tree’s sturdy trunk, she managed to knock every apple out of the tree and into the baskets below. Now I’ve seen her do this time and time again, but she amazed me every time.

“Alright… I think I can see it. Quick question, though...”

"Yes?"

"Where's your brother? Doesn't he usually help you? Also, I don't think I've actually formally met the guy yet."

"Big Mac's workin' on the East field. We're on the South one. 'Sides, he ain't much for meetin' new faces anyhow. He's kinda shy..."

"Is that right? I've seen him before. Seems like a big guy. What would he need t' be shy for?"

"That's just how he's always been. You'd be lucky t' get more than a 'howdy, eeyup, or nope' out of him. But let's save that meetin' for another time. We got work t' do..."

"Roger that." With that, I prepared to buck my first tree. I made absolutely sure that I followed her motions as closely as possible. I pushed my forelegs into the ground. I bent and stretched a few times to maintain balance. Then, in one seemingly-fluent motion, I sprung my back legs off the ground, cocked them forward, and kicked the tree as hard as I could. To my disappointment, however, only a few apples came plummeting into the baskets below.

“Not bad for yer first try, Ty! Most ponies don’t even get one apple the first time. But yer form needs work. Try again.” I nodded without saying a word, and tried again.

*Thump*

Again, only a couple of the tree’s fruit fell in.

“Alright, I see where the problem lies…” Applejack informed. “Yer not puttin’ per whole body into it. It takes more than just yer back legs t’ get the job done. Like…” she trailed off as she moved to a different tree. “So!” she shouted as she gave the tree a mighty kick, once again knocking all the apples into the baskets below. “I’ll get the rest o’ the apples on that tree in a jiff. Move ont’ the next one.” I obeyed the orange mare and moved to a tree adjacent to the one I was practicing on, eager to show my strength.

“Okay… plant fore hooves, spring back hooves, wind-up, and— usin’ my ENTIRE BODY— release! Okay, I got this…” With a newly thought-up formula for this unusual, mystical art called apple buckin’, I tried again. I was ready this time. I was going to make A.J. proud. I was ready to take on this entire forest of apple trees and make them bend to my will… in short; they were going to be my BITCHES! Once I was motivated enough, I went through the preparation motions and … I reared up like I’d never reared up before. I cocked my back legs as far forward as I could, ready to do some damage… and then, throwing my whole body into it, I unleashed my fury upon that tree like it stole something from me… or at least, like it was going to steal something from me; which it did… my pride.

*SMACK* “AAAGH! Fuck!” I’d lost my balance in the excitement of proving my macho-ness to Applejack. In losing balance on my front hooves, my back ones lost their coordination and scraped off of the sides of the tree trunk, where my vulnerable pelvic bone (amongst some other vital body parts) were left wide open to meet a terrible fate at the hands of that tree. I fell over on the ground, writhing in absolute screaming agony (of course, being mindful enough to muffle my shouts of torment by clenching my teeth) as I brought my fore legs to the offended area. Ironically, the tree had given at least a couple fruit, which I’d taken as me hitting the tree really hard. I thought for a brief second during the aftermath of my horrible accident how it was possible for it to hurt so much as it did when my reproductive organs were seemingly hidden from view. Applejack quickly took notice and rushed over, looking very concerned.

“What in tarnation happened??”

“My… my fruit have been damaged…” I strained, trying to keep it subtle as I was hunched over on the ground in the fetal position. Naively, Applejack peered into the nearby baskets, clearly not understanding the admittedly egregious euphemism.

“Ah’ont see nothin’ wrong with those app…” she trailed off as she studied my cringing, agonized form, specifically at where I was holding myself. She didn’t even TRY to hold back her raucous laughter. “Now THAT’S a whole new first in apple buckin’! Those were the wrong apples, sugar cube…” she said through her laughter, VERY much to my chagrin. Jeez, how insensitive…

“Tee… nrgh…! hee…”

“*AHEM* I’m sorry. Ya should be a mite more careful, though. I’m pretty sure Twi wouldn’t appreciate it if—!” she hesitated, immediately stopping herself from saying whatever it was she was about to say to make this silly pucker face like she’d eaten a lemon.

“She… wouldn’t appreciate it if I what?” I quizzically asked as I steadily recovered. The pain had steadily sifted up into my stomach, making me feel a bit queasy for the moment.

“If… er… If’in you… hurt yourself too badly.” Already, I could tell she wasn’t telling me everything.

“Applejack, do I… look gullible t’ you?” I kind of regretted saying that, seeing as I moved to sit on my haunches, still cringing and holding my abdomen.

“Well… ‘gullible’ wouldn’t be quite the right word for it…” she admitted with a titter.

“Eh heh heh heh,” I falsely laughed with a contemptuous fake smirk. “What was you really about t’ say?”

“I already said it, pardner. She wouldn’t like it if y’all got hurt. That’s all.”

“That is bullcrap an’ you know it. You wouldn’t-a froze up an’ puckered up if tha’ss what you was really gonna say…”

“Well hardy hoof-clippin’s to ya if y’all don’t believe me. That’s my story, an’ I’m stickin’ by it,” she stubbornly contested as she turned her head away.

“God, how hardheaded can somebody be over a simple fib?”

“Now I reckon y’all should pick yerself up an’ get back t’ work,” she ordered. “We’ve been screwin’ around fer too long now.” Before I could get a word in edgewise, she marched her country self off to one of the nearby apple trees and continued her buckin’. I decided to do the same, figuring that if I was going to get any answers out of her, I was going to have to work for them…

Eventually, we finished as the sun disappeared over the horizon, being replaced by the moon. However, Applejack REFUSED to budge on what she meant with that little remark she made when I hurt myself. She always did seem the stubborn one, but this was a special case of her obstinacy. I just gave up and slaved through the rest of the odd job with her. By the time we were done, all four of my legs were shakier than a bowl of Jello during an earthquake. They may as well have been made of the stuff too, because I could hardly stand, much less walk. I said my goodbyes to the mare before staggering my way back to the library like a drunk…

Celestia’s brilliant, radiant sun had gone down, the sky being lit up by Luna’s luminescent moon, which happened to be full and shining brightly in the sky as the stars sparkled and glimmered in the night sky. I spent the entire afternoon contemplating ways to tell him that I was in estrus and almost none of the scenarios I’d imagined seemed suitable. I paced around my bedroom for hours on end, taking breaks only to stare out of the window like a lost puppy as if one of the princesses or the air was going to give me a legitimate answer. I was wracking my heat-addled brain trying to figure out some way to tell him… The longer I pondered it, the more stressed out I’d become, frazzling my mane and giving myself a migraine to go alongside these… yearning feelings I’d been battling since this accursed heat cycle began.

Admittedly, telling him wasn’t my biggest concern despite it being in a close second. My most problematic concern was my anticipation of his reaction. I was unreasonably afraid of what he would say or do. The mere thought of it sent butterflies swarming through my stomach as I meditated…

“What if I just flat-out told him? Would he be okay? Would he be startled? He’d probably never want to see me again after scaring him like that… Or what if I kind of beat around the bush, dropping subtle clues as to what’s going on with me? Would he get the message? Or wouldn’t he? And who’s to say he wouldn’t be alarmed if he did? Even if he DID want to keep being with me after conveying the news, who’s to say things wouldn’t get uncomfortable in the case that he didn’t want to help me…? What if I had somepony else tell him for me? No, that wouldn’t work at all. If I did that, then he would likely perceive me as some kind of coward who’s afraid to convey her feelings to her own colt-friend...”

The excruciating stress inexplicably made me want to cry… so that’s what I did. I wept quietly, burying my pitiful face in my fore hooves as I sat on the bed facing the window. My anxious emotions largely got the better of me. I needed some way to vent my towering frustration over my uncertainty and apprehension, and crying was the only way I could let it out…

“Twilight? Are you alright?” asked my number one assistant as he entered the room. I couldn’t say yes. My face was soaking in my own optic fluid and I’d been whimpering and sniffling like a foal. I wiped the tears from my eyes, although fresh ones were forming in their place, and I turned to him.

“No, Spike… as a matter of fact, I’m not…” I sadly admitted. Spike was quick to make his way towards me, climbing up onto the bed and hugging me. He was such a sweet little dragon…

“I’m here for you. What’s wrong?”

“Well… um…” Expectantly, I had trouble configuring my thoughts into words. But I, with commendable mettle, managed to voice my concerns. “It… has to do with Ty…”

“What? Did he do something to you??” the dragon asked in alarm. “Because if he did, I’ll—!”

“No, not at all…” I interrupted, not wanting to cause any feelings of enmity. “It’s more of something I’m… afraid to do to him…”

“Oh… what are you afraid of doing to him?”

“Making him… mad at me…”

“Mad at you? I don’t see how he could be angry with you. He didn’t seem angry when you arrived here with him…”

“Y-you’re *sniffle* right. That wasn’t a good choice of words. I… I mean I don’t want him to… be afraid of me or uncomfortable with me…”

“What could make him uncomfortable with you…? Is it because he’s an alien?” I shot him the strongest glare I could muster through my tears. He knew how much I hated it when he called Ty an alien. “Oh! I-I mean uh… a human? While you’re a pony?” he corrected himself.

“Kind of… but… that’s only part of the predicament…”

“Oh… well I thought you two would be fine with the whole human-pony thing by now. It’s been almost a year.”

“We ARE okay on that…”

“…Twi, you’re not making a whole lot of sense right now. You’re afraid of making him mad or uncomfortable because of the species difference, but you’re comfortable enough that you don’t have to worry about it?” He had a point. I was only talking him in circles while he was trying to help me sort out my feelings. So I tried my best to rationalize my problem with an analogy of sorts.

“I’m sorry… It’s like this: You know how much Rainbow Dash loves flying? Or how Pinkie Pie loves sweets and partying?”

“Yeah…?”

“Okay. Well imagine if either of them… went through a period in time in which they wanted-- no, NEEDED to do those respective things more than they normally would for their own good. But at the same time, they can’t because hypothetically, Rainbow is injured and has to wait for the weather ponies to clear out a really bad thunderstorm. Or in Pinkie’s case, she needs to spend a week without eating so much as a strudel or attending or throwing a single party because she needs to better control her eating habits and learn how to focus on her duties as the clerk at the bakery…”

“I… I’m not following,” he admitted, to my aggravation.

“Okay, let’s just say I’m in a period of time where I need Ty… like, REALLY need him… but at the same time, I neither know how nor when to tell him. I also don't know what to expect when I tell him how much I need him or what exactly I need him for…”

“Oh. That’s all?” Spike asked. I guessed I should’ve expected such naiveté out of someone so young… “You two have been great together. Whatever you need him for, I’m sure he’ll come around to it, no matter how unusual it might be. You wouldn’t be together if he didn’t understand you and your wants and needs, would you?” While his advice wasn’t quite the answer I was looking for, his words did have merit. I mean, For Ty and I to be together this long, he’d HAVE to understand me, thereby being more likely to help in a time of need. Of course, there was still the problem of telling him exactly what I needed. However, Spike’s advice gave me some leeway, lifting some burden off my shoulders.

“… You’re right… Thank you, Spike…” I lovingly nuzzled the adorable little guy and kissed him on the forehead. He returned the gesture by rubbing my back, which surprisingly didn’t cause me to flinch or spasm involuntarily.

“I’m always here, Twi… *yawn*” I took the yawn as a signal to release him from my embrace. “Well I’m gonna hit the hay. Owloysius is finishing the rest of the reorganizing… G’night.” Spike climbed into his basket-bed, got comfortable and in almost an instant, was out cold.

“Sweet dreams, Spike…” I whispered before letting out a yawn. I was just about ready to take a trip to the realm of dreams myself before I heard a knock at the door, followed by Owloysius’s hooting. I immediately knew who it was and made my way downstairs quickly, yet quietly. I opened the door to be greeted with a very exhausted looking Ty. “Well good evening!” I greeted with a smile.

“Hey, honeybun…” he greeted back, seeming to be entirely woozy. He staggered in as if he’d been dizzy on the way back from the farm.

“How was your time with Applejack?” I asked as I led him through the library and up the stairs.

“Miserably fun…” he mused, to my confusion. “I was NOT aware of how much work went int’ apple buckin’… My body wasn’t ready… Buuut, A.J.’s an entertainer.”

“Yeah, she and her family are working that hard on a daily basis, combing apple trees across the fields of their homestead by way of bucking them off.”

“Have you ever tried that?” he asked as we entered the bedroom. We trotted to my bed, where the two of us got comfortable lying juxtaposed to one another.

“Nope, can’t say I have,” I answered with a small chuckle. “Whenever I help, I just use my magic.”

“Is that right…? How come you couldn’t come with me, then?” I was almost struck with nervousness before I thought up a suitable reply on the spot.

“…A.J. says it’s a nice advantage when I use magic, but she also said that it takes away the quality of a hard day’s work. In fact, this is probably the first time she’s ever tried asking me alone for help.”

“I see… not sure why she didn’t jus’ ask you t’ use ya magic today, though… before we started, she was complainin’ about bein’ behind schedule. But i’ss whatever. How were you all afternoon?”

“Oh, I just spent time studying. You know, the usual… astrophysics, friendship, chemistry, trigonometric arithmetic, algorithm, magic, and the like. But… I’ve also been thinking…”

“About what?” I was just about ready to tell him right then and there. But I wanted to be patient.

“You see… there’s… something I need to… t-to share with you.” I stuttered.

“Oh no, my nerves are getting in the way already!”

“Wha’ss up?” he asked with an audible yawn.

“Well… um… I…”

“Just spit it out!”

“I’m in heat,” I blurted, scrunching my eyes shut. “I’ve started my estrus cycle yesterday, and I was wondering if you could help me. I mean, I know that this isn’t the most conventional way to inform you of this, but I’ve spent the last two days trying to figure out a way to tell you and it’s REALLY been stressing me out, but I’ve been mindful of any possible feelings you may have in terms of moving our relationship to such a level. So can you help me?” I took a deep breath after my short bout of rambling to hear his reply. I got no response. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach. I was terrified that I’d shocked him into a comatose state or something… until I heard light snoring coming from him.

“Unbelievable! He fell asleep before he could hear me out!” I supposed I couldn’t blame him, though. Applejack’s work does have a tendency to really take its toll on anypony not used to it.

“*gasp* Wuh…!” he grunted, suddenly waking up. “Oh, I am SO so sorry, Twi… A.J. really drained me with all that work she made me do… Group that up with no rest-up time at my REAL job an’ runnin’ on about five hours or so o’ sleep… not a good combo. What’d you say? Somethin’ about heat?” I sighed dejectedly. Any sense of resolve I’d managed to conjure up had dissipated, leaving me unable to repeat myself.

“I’ll… tell you tomorrow,” I told him, swallowing the statement with a grain of salt as I turned towards him to notice him blearily looking back at me, smiling. My goodness, was he cute…

“I’mma definitely be up at attention for ya in the morning… Night, Twi…”

“Good night, Ty…” With that, we shared a small, quiet kiss before snuggling close together, wrapping one another up in our fore legs. He fell asleep long before I did and I felt myself getting a bit warm as we cuddled. These… strange feelings of sensual desire I was harboring towards him were growing. I needed to get this off of my chest immediately, while at the same time delivering the news in a calm, orderly manner... or at least in some way that wouldn't likely startle the daylights out of him. Still, having him here to hold me gave me some miniature sense of ease. I took a deep, shaky breath as I nuzzled into him, getting comfortable myself and drifting off to sleep…

Approach...

Approach…

“Ty… Ty… Dude…” I was half-asleep, but someone was trying to wake me up. Rather than do so, I turned around and lethargically swatted away at the offender. “Wake up!”

*Slap*

“Ow! What the…!?” I sprang to life with a mix of annoyance and confusion, holding my cheek. I looked around to see that there was no sign of the unicorn I’d remembered sleeping next to the night before. Instead, I was greeted with the sight of a small purple dragon standing on the bed beside me. “Good mornin’, Spike…” I wearily greeted with a strong, lengthy yawn.

“Morning? It’s like eleven o’clock. You overslept,” he informed, to my shock.

“What?? Eleven? Aw damn…” I grumbled, wiping my eyes and stretching. “Where’s Twilight at?”

“She left a little while ago. She had a few errands to run around town. She’ll likely be done sometime this afternoon.”

“Oh great… I remember her sayin’ she had somethin’ t’ tell me, too…”

“Oh! About that…” Spike trailed off before pounding his chest a couple times to force a burp in my face. Oh man, his breath was RANCID! He spat out some green flames and out came a scroll that wasn’t wrapped with an official seal. “Twi told me to give you this…”

“What is it?” I asked as he handed me the letter.

“I’m not sure. I never took the time to look at it.”

“Hm… Alright then, le’ss find out…” I opened the letter to read its contents:

Ty,

If you’re reading this, then that means you’re FINALLY awake. Sorry I couldn’t be there to welcome the morning alongside you, but Mayor Mare needed some assistance with some minor touch-ups around town. I don’t quite know how long I’ll be, but if it isn’t too much to ask, could you please stay at the library until I get back? A peculiar request, I know, but there’s something I need to discuss with you, and it’s imperative that we do so as soon as we can.

Hugs & Kisses,

Twi

P.S. I gave you a small boost in magic for you to maintain your form throughout today. Also, Happy Nine Month Anniversary!

“Ineterestin’…”

“What’d it say?”

“She wants me t’ stay here until she gets back. Whatever it is she wants t’ tell me, it must be important…”

“Probably… well in any case, I’m goin’ out.”

“Wait, what? Where??”

“Hanging out with my friends Snips and Snails. I was waiting until you woke up to go and see them in town. And since you’re up…”

“Hol’ up!” I demanded, stopping the dragon in his tracks as he tried to bolt out of the bedroom door. “What about the library? Don’t you have some organizin’ or cleanin’ or somethin’ to do?”

“Took care of that last night while you were with A.J. So while there isn’t anything urgently keeping me here… Have fun!”

"WAIT!"

"What?"

"Brush ya teeth first. Ya breath smells like old cheese mixed with dirty sock sweat..."

"What??" he asked in offense. "It can't be THAT bad, could it...?" He cupped a hand around his mouth and blew into it before taking a sniff. I could tell that he got the message when he scrunched up his face in disgust. "Ugh... good call." With that, Spike zoomed out of the room to brush his teeth (which suspiciously took him under a minute) before dashing out of the bedroom door, leaving me all by my lonesome.

“*sigh* Fantastic… I get to sit here all alone… Might as well clean myself up…” I got up out of the bed to stretch my aching legs that still hurt from the workout I got from apple buckin’. I staggered and wobbled towards the shower room, wincing, grunting, and groaning in despair on every step. It felt like Applejack had bucked me in the legs as practice before we started. I cleaned myself up, made sure to fix Twilight’s bed as orderly as I possibly could, and exited the bedroom, only to be greeted with my new worst enemy… stairs.

“Oh man, this is gonna hurt…” With that, I began my Trail of Tears down the stairs, stumbling a couple times before quickly grabbing hold of the wall with a foreleg to keep my balance. Slowly and painstakingly, I successfully traveled down to the library area of the tree house. Seeing as I’d be sitting here doing next to nothing, I figured I’d browse the archives of this place to see if I could find something interesting to kill time reading. This library expectantly had books of all kinds of genres, from fiction, textbooks, and novels, to spell books, instruction guides, and documentaries… with a bunch more topics on a wide scale. Eventually, I decided on a Daring Do book. If somepony like Rainbow could get into them, I figured I could, too. So I picked the first one in the series, The Quest for the Sapphire Stone, settled down near where I picked the book out, and delved into the text…

*Knock knock knock*

…Or, I was about to. Fighting through pain to get back up, I replaced the book in its rightful place before going to answer the door.

“Oh! Um… hi, Ty…” greeted the visitor, hiding her face behind her mane.

“Well hello, Fluttershy. Wha’ss up?”

“I… was just looking for Twilight. I needed her help taking care of some of my animals. But it’s okay if she’s not here… I’ll just go ask somepony else… unless you’d like to help…?” I was torn… she was giving me such an adorable, pleading look, but Twilight specifically asked me to stay put.

“Well gee, I’d love to… but Twilight wanted me to stay here until she got back.”

“Oh… well I-I promise not to keep you for too long… all I need you to do is help me feed some of them… Please?” Again, one of those submissively adorable looks of hers. I’d feel like a total jerk to say no to such a face…

“*sigh*… fine… but this had better be quick!” I gave in.

“Oh, thank you so much! I promise you won’t be there longer than maybe a half hour.”

“Yea… plus, I don’t think I’ve been t’ your house before. I see it as a good opportunity t’ go an’ have a look.”

“Yes… my house is nice. It’s on the outskirts of Ponyville, near the Everfree Forest. Should we go now?”

“Yea…” with that, I made sure to double check to see that everything in the library was in order before leaving Twilight a note in the case that I didn’t get back in time. I closed the door behind me to go and accompany the yellow Pegasus…

Later…

As Fluttershy and I had traveled through the town on the way to her house, I noticed that she’d been largely silent, yet casting nervous sideways glances at me as I limped and staggered along, trying my best to ignore the pain from Applejack’s chore. I figured she still wasn’t quite used to me yet. So I tried to start a conversation with her.

“Nice day we’re havin’, huh?”

“Huh?” she practically shouted in alarm, seeming to have been snapped out of a daydream. “O-oh, yes… um… very nice. The weather ponies did a good job today…”

“Yep… so… how’ve you been?”

“I’ve been… good. How about you?”

“Could be better… but I can’t really complain…”

“I-if you don’t mind me asking… is there something wrong? You seem… hurt.”

“Jus’ a li’l bit sore from helpin' Applejack last night.”

“Oh, dear! I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in pain…”

“It don’t hurt too much… I jus—!”

“Here, let me help you…”

“Fluttershy, really. I—!” Before I could finish my sentence, the Pegasus hoisted my foreleg up, causing me to grunt in agony.

“Oh! S-sorry. I’ll be gentle. But if I’d have known you were in so much pain, I’d have just found somepony else…” she stated as she rested my leg around her neck.

“I’ss fine, really. Besides, we’re friends. What are friends for?” I smiled at her. She smiled back. “Now le’ss go feed some animals, shall we?”

“Yes…” with that, Fluttershy allowed me to use her as a sort of crutch all the way out to her home, which was much further away than I’d anticipated.

“You smell nice, by the way…” I complimented, taking a small whiff of the air around us to invite the enticing scent into my nose. “…Like strawberries…”

“Oh! My… Um… thank you… y-y-you smell nice too… like um… like… something nice…” she quietly rambled. I chuckled at her ingenious comparison of my aroma and ‘something nice.’ She let out a short, uneasy-sounding giggle. We’d eventually come to a single, solitary cottage that graced the surrounding area very well. The pathway leading to it featured a small bridge built over a small river. The house itself almost looked like a giant bush with how leafy the exterior looked, with the exception of the walls, which appeared to have been made of the same material that the average Ponyville home was made of. In addition, the door was visible and so were all the windows. There were miniature birdhouses surrounding the building itself, as well as a nest or two in the trees looming nearby, as a few more birdhouses in some of the other trees. The area surrounding the house was rich in forestation and healthily populated with flowers. As we approached, a whole slew of various animals came to greet us, all of them smiling warmly at the Pegasus.

“Wow… your house is amazing…” I commented, breath taken by the serenity of the naturalistic theme of the cottage and the area around it. It was almost as if someone had planted the cottage there and it simply sprung out of the ground as is, fitting seamlessly into the landscape.

“Thank you…” she modestly responded as we arrived at her doorstep. She lowered her head, allowing me to painstakingly remove my foreleg and place it on the ground. I looked at her to see that she was looking down at the ground, seeming to be very nervous.

“No problem… Thank you for practically carryin’ me here.”

“Y-you’re… welcome…”

“…Hey, is there somethin’ wrong? You don’t look very comfortable…”

“Oh. No, I’m fine…”

“Can you look me in the eye an’ say that?” I joked with a smirk, somewhat amused by her shyness. To my surprise, however, she actually showed signs of extreme hesitation when she tried looking at me. She finally brought it in herself to do so after a couple of minutes, but the look on her face shocked me even more. The Pegasus was… blushing. She shot me a somber, apologetic look, which I took as her possibly being very uncomfortable with me being here. “Hey… are you… sure you want me here? You don’t seem l—!”

“Yes!” she hastily interrupted before gaining her composure. “I mean… I’m just… a little worried about how Angel Bunny will feel about you…” I was skeptical about her response. If she was so worried about what her pet rabbit would think of me, why would it suddenly be so hard for her to look me in the eye? I shook my head and put the thought off as we entered the cottage. The interior was beautiful. It had such a humble, comfy setup about it that seemed to make all who entered feel at home. “Excuse me for a moment while I go and get the food…” with that, she trotted ahead and made a turn into a different room, leaving me to observe the abode. I paced around for a couple of minutes before I felt something land on my back. I craned my head around to see a small, white rabbit eyeing me up like I was about to steal something.

“Eh… what’s up, doc?” I asked. The rabbit remained silent as he meticulously paced up and down my back like he was looking for clues of some sort. Afterwards, it jumped onto my head and looked me in the eye from an upside-down perspective. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I stood perfectly still. The rabbit finally jumped off of me and onto the floor, where it turned to face me, offering its paw up for what I could guess was some sort of shake.

“What the hell? Is this rabbit her guard dog or somethin’?”

“How… do you do?” I uneasily asked as I placed my hoof in the rabbit’s paw. At that moment, Fluttershy came back into the room carrying a few large bags of various animal feeds and a set of bowls of various colors and sizes.

“I see you’ve met Angel Bunny…” she said, smiling lightly.

“I er… suppose I did,” I answered as I watched the rabbit bound over to its keeper and nuzzle into her leg.

“Aww… Momma missed you, too… I know you’re hungry, but so are a lot of our friends today. Ty… could you please come here?”

“Yes?”

“Can you fill these bowls up with food depending on the sizes and colors of them?”

“Of course. Jus’ lemme know which type o’ feed goes int’ which bowl.”

“The red bowls are to be filled with these feeds…” she instructed as she pointed towards two of the bags; they featured pictures of furry animals, which I interpreted as those bag being for mammals. “The green bowls are to be filled with this feed…” the next two bags she pointed to had pictures of lizards on them. I guessed those were for reptiles and possibly amphibians. “…And the blue bowls are to be filled with this feed…” the last bag she pointed to showed a picture of a bird on it. “Once we’re done, I’ll need you to set up the bowls accordingly around this room.”

“Okey doke. How do you want it?”

“Small mammals eat together on that side of the room while the larger ones eat on that side of the room,” she began. “The smaller mammals, with a few exceptions, are herbivorous, while a good percentage of the larger ones are carnivorous. There is also a fair share of omnivores, but those are very rare amongst all the critters and creatures that live here with me. The green bowls will be set up over there by that corner, but not too close to the wall over there. The animals eating from these bowls will need their space, much like the others. Their eating habits are about the same as the mammals, but the sizes of their bowls are much more relative in terms of consistency. The blue bowls, you don’t have to worry about. Those are for the birds, and I can deliver their food to the birdhouses outside. That isn’t too much to handle… is it?”

“Uh… nope,” I assured, although not feeling all that sure myself. There was quite a bit of specific instruction when it came to feeding these animals. I was already worried about screwing up and feeding a plant-based meal to a carnivore or vice versa.

“Okay… While you’re filling the bowls, I um… kind of need to run to the store and get the ingredients for a special salad sundae for my little Angel Bunny here...”

“Wait, what?? Why didn’t we just go an’ pick that stuff up before we came here??”

“The animals here were waiting long enough as it is when I went out looking for one of the others to help me. I promise I won’t be long. If you’re having trouble, then Angel Bunny will be here to help you…” Rather than argue with her, I let out a defeated sigh before nodding. I figured I might as well get this done as soon as possible so I could return to the library in time for Twilight and I to have this apparently-urgent discussion.

“…fine…”

“Oh thank you, Ty!” the now-elated yellow mare said as she wrapped me up in a surprisingly strong hug. I did my best to return it, despite my aching legs. “I’m really sorry to make you do this on such short notice, but I’ll make it up to you… I promise.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout payback. All you need t’ worry about is gettin’ back here soon enough. I don’t wanna mess anything up while you’re away…”

“Are you sure? I mean I could pay you… or maybe teach you how to take care of your own pet if you ever decided to get one… or maybe we could um… hang out or something…?”

“No payback necessary, Ms. Shy. Although I wouldn’t mind spendin’ some time with you… but we’re wastin’ time at this point. Go getcha recipe,” I told her as I let her go. She took a bit longer than I expected to let go of me, but didn’t need me to remind her. She was out the door in a flash, leaving me to perform the odd job with the assistance of her pet rabbit.

“I am not lookin’ forward t’ this…” I looked at the rabbit to see it eyeing me up like it did when we first met, although much more scrupulously. I gave a look of perplexity at the small creature, basically asking it why it was staring me down the way it was. It shrugged nonchalantly before pointing towards the bags and bowls, signaling for me to get cracking on the task at hand. I wordlessly nodded, moving to get started. I have to say, it certainly was odd communicating with a rabbit that didn’t speak without saying very much myself. I thought little of it, however, and just accepted it as I worked on distributing the food…

Even Later...

By the time I was done filling the bowls up, Fluttershy had returned, groceries in hoof. She set the bags down to inspect my progress.

“Very good! The bowls are filled almost exactly like how I would fill them,” Fluttershy congratulated.

“Yeah… I prolly woulda messed up big time if it wasn’t for your bunny friend here…” I said, gesturing towards the rabbit lounging on the sofa with a newspaper in its admittedly-adorable little paws. It raised its foreleg to form a sort of thumbs-up before continuing its reading… I didn’t even bother to question how a rabbit could be literate to the point of being able to read, or how it acted very much like a human being minus the ability to speak.

“Good, good… I’ll be in the kitchen making Angel Bunny’s lunch. Would you like anything?” the kindly mare considerately asked as she picked her grocery bags back up.

“Sure… quick question, though; I thought Angel Bunny ate with the rest of the animals. Why is it gettin’ a specific meal?”

“Normally he would, but he’s been so helpful around the house lately that I decided it would be nice to treat him.”

“So it’s a boy, huh? Honestly, I wouldn’t-a guessed that, given the name…”

“What would you like to eat, Ty?”

“I honestly don’t know… you know me, bein’ from a different world an’ all, I dunno what types o’ meals are fit for a pony here. Surprise me?”

“Okay. I’ll be right back, then.” With that statement, she trotted into the kitchen to fix lunch for Angel Bunny and me. I took the initiative to try my hoof at distributing the bowls as evenly as I possibly could.

“Bigger red bowls to one corner except for a couple, smaller red bowls to another corner except for a couple… green bowls in that corner, but not too close to the walls… but still separate from each other based on size… Jeez, why can’t they jus’ be organized by color instead o’ this?”

There were quite a lot of bowls to set up and even amongst the red bowls, I could only use my sense of judgment to distribute them accordingly. The only other way I was able to accurately place the bowls was by looking at the types of food in them, but even that didn’t help much. The green bowls were even harder. They were almost all the same size, and they were all going in one corner. I still guessed that I’d need to separate plant-food bowls from meat-food bowls, and something else, and…

“D’ahh screw this…! I’m losin’ my patience…” I just set the bowls down wherever, but still made sure they were at least separated by color.

“Done already??” the Pegasus asked in surprise.

“Yyyyep,” I responded while feeling at least a little unsure about the bowl placement.

“Good! Your lunch is on the kitchen table next to Angel Bunny’s. I’ll join you right after I let the others know that it’s lunch time and feed the birds…”

“Mm-hmm, take ya time,” I excused her as I walked into the kitchen, which was surprisingly set up very much like one in a human home. There was a sink, a stove, a fridge, and a table with four chairs set up on each side of it. I took notice of the food. Three large bowls; one filled with some ridiculously extravagant-looking salad sundae with lettuce towering far past the brim, decorated with some miscellaneous features, and complete with whipped cream and a cherry on top. The other two bowls shared the same meal; salads that contained various fruits and berries and at a much more reasonable size than the sundae. As I entered the kitchen, I felt something bounce off of the top of my head and spring towards the seat with the sundae in front of it. It was Angel Bunny, looking ravenous as he drooled all over the table, licking his lips as he anticipated the very moment he would tear into that sundae like it would be the last he’d ever have.

“Somebody’s hungry…” I jokingly mumbled as I took my seat to get a closer look at the delectable meal gracing my vision. A short time later, Fluttershy reentered the kitchen wearing a bright smile as she trotted in to take her seat.

“Sorry to keep you waiting… you can eat now, if you'd like,” she permitted.

“Alright! Here we—!” I was interrupted as I heard a buzz saw sound coming from Angel Bunny as he literally turned into his own rendition of Taz the Tasmanian Devil, devouring his salad from top to bottom in less than five seconds. Once his vicious feasting had come to an abrupt end, he lay down in the now-empty bowl, stomach full to bursting as he let out a small burp. He then yawned and stretched before getting up and bouncing slowly out of the room. I could only assume two things: One, that rabbit had a VERY large appetite. And Two, he got a case of ‘The Itis’ after he was done. “…well then…”

“He tends to do that when he’s really hungry…” Fluttershy informed with a small, cute little giggle.

“I see… in any case, how’ve you been?” I asked as I dug into the salad.

“I’ve been… good. How about you?” she asked as she did the same.

“Good, good… Y’know, I really haven’t seen much o’ you since that Hearth’s Warming party a while back…”

“O-oh! Um…” she took a look of shock, her cheeks already turning a bright pink. “…y-yes. It’s been a while, huh?” she let out a nervous titter.

“Yea… I know I said we’d never talk about that again, but I hafta ask… were you okay after that prank Rainbow pulled on us? I mean… did you talk t’ her about it?”

“Y-yes. She said she was sorry. She didn’t m-mean to make me feel… uncomfortable…”

“Tha’ss good. Uh… I still wanna clarify though; the kiss. I’m sorry if I shocked you or anything. I understand if you felt uneasy around me… or if you still feel un—!”

“No, no, it’s okay. I wasn’t avoiding you if that’s what you’re implying. You only did it to follow tradition. I-it was just that I didn’t expect you to do it… You see, I’ve… never been… um… kissed before… not like that, anyway…” she admitted almost in a whisper, to my surprise.

“Really?? Oh wow… Now I feel really bad… Your first time is supposed to be special… and I ruined it for you…”

“No, you didn’t ruin it,” she countered. “It was nice… I… liked it…” Again, I was taken by surprise.

“Oh! Um… well now… I don’t know what t’ say…” I felt my face heat up a little as I suddenly lost my appetite halfway through the delicious fruit salad.

“*gasp* Oh, I’m sorry! I… I mean, I liked it as… a friendly gesture. I-I know you didn’t mean it like that… oh my…” she was blushing hard and began fidgeting with her mane, pulling it over one of her large, enticing turquoise eyes. She pulled gently on her long, pink hair as she turned sideways in her chair, glancing back at me with a look of fear.

“Er… it’s okay. I understand what you mean. It was purely platonic. Nothin’ more. Right?”

“Y-yes…” the kitchen fell awkwardly silent as the air around us seemed to get thinner.

“…well, thanks for lunch, Fluttershy. I think I should get goin’, though…” I uneasily said to break the silence as I got up and picked up my bowl.

“N-no, wait. Let me get that for y— WHOA!” she said, offering to take both of our dishes before she tripped. I was quick to set the bowl down before moving to catch her, having to endure the sporadic pain in my legs to do so. The Pegasus mare was slow to recover, but stopped once she looked me in the eyes as I held her in my forelegs. Those eyes of hers… they were such a rich, vibrant, glimmering ocean of greenish-blue… seeming to convey thoughts and feelings she’d dare not speak aloud… She stared into my very being, seeming to be captivated by something as the timidity on her face melted away, being replaced with a look of… endearing curiosity I’d only ever seen on the face of a certain purple unicorn mare… At that instant, a huge red flag raised in my head.

“This would PROBABLY be a good time to G.T.F.O… NOW!”

“*Ahem* well… I should probably get goin’ now,” I nervously stated as I helped the mare back on her hooves. “Again, thanks for the food an’ it was a pleasure helpin’ you. But I should prolly go back an’ see Twi now. Bye!” I rambled as I hurriedly left the kitchen and burst out the front door, presumably leaving behind a hurt, confused Fluttershy. I felt a wave of guilt and worry overcome me, for a number of reasons…

“Oh man… I hope she doesn’t feel what I think she’s feelin’… I mean… maybe she was just happy I didn’t let her fall… but then… she’s been sendin’ signals since she saw me! The look she gave me when she brought me here… the hug that lasted a little too long before she went t’ the store… that little incident in the kitchen… Oh boy… First Twilight wantin’ t’ talk about somethin’ important that I have NO clue about, now this… could this shit possibly get any worse?” While I was mentally rambling, I lost a great deal of awareness as I entered town. I wound up bumping into somepony yet again.

“Oh, sorry. Excuse me.”

“On the contrary… You’re just the pony I’ve been looking for…” the stranger said, much to my intrigue. It was a unicorn stallion a bit shorter than I was. He had a coat of beige and a long, somewhat spiky mane and tail that were colored black. His eyes were a menacing shade of red and I noticed he had a goatee and was wearing a pair of glasses when he turned to look at me. I noticed that his flank had featured a picture of a six-pointed star that looked much like Twilight’s, but minus the five other stars surrounding it or the white star underneath. Instead, this pony’s Cutie mark was a six-pointed star that was colored the same blood red as his eyes.

“Is that right…?” I asked. “Well tha’ss great an’ all, but I’m in kind of a hurry. Maybe some other time when I’m not so busy,” I said, stepping past him. I didn’t get more than a couple of feet before I walked into a wall of magic, colored a deep purple. I turned around, annoyed that this guy was intent on keeping me here for whatever reason. I noticed that he had company, however. Suddenly standing beside him was a unicorn mare, a bright cerulean in coat color. Her hair was a wavy shade of a light purple, styled similarly to Applejack’s if the farm pony were to ever remove her hair ties. Her eyes were sea foam green and angled menacingly at me as she bowed her head. Her horn was glowing in the same shade of purple as the arcane wall I’d walked into. "Seriously? I need t' go. I don't have time t' talk."

“I’m afraid I can’t let you slip my grasp just yet…” the stallion spoke. “There’s something about you… that is… unfamiliar, compared to other ponies I’ve observed around these parts… and I intend to find out what. Now, I’ll give you a choice. Either come quietly, or be dragged against your will back to my refuge in the Everfree.” I could tell this guy and his friend were going to be trouble, and I wanted no part of it.

“How’s about you let me go before you start pissin' me off?” I boldly stated, bracing myself as I approached. He smirked.

“Dragged back to my refuge it is, then! Comet Gazer. If you please…?”

“Gladly…” the mare complied as her horn took on a deep purple glow once again. She shot a blast at my hooves, which I jumped away from.

“Okay, somebody’s askin’ for it…!” I angrily said as I lowered my head and in an instant, charged at the stallion. I got in close and threw a punch.

*SLAM* Just inches away from his face, a shield of gray magic materialized, blocking the attack.

“Oh, how delightful. You actually think you’re going to make it out of here,” he taunted as I lowered my hoof. “An Earth pony taking on two unicorns? You hardly stand a chance. I suggest you come with us without quarrel.” Instead of answering, I threw another quick punch.

*THUMP* I managed to catch him off-guard as he stumbled back, holding his snout.

“You’ll pay dearly for that…” He spat. “Comet! Subdue him!” The mare nodded before charging her horn up again. Just as I was about to move, I felt a sudden tingling around my hooves. I couldn’t move, no matter how hard I struggled to do so. I looked down to see that my hooves were encased in a shroud of silver, indicating that the stallion, despite holding his injured snout, had cast a spell on me that immobilized me.

*ZAP* “DAAAAAAAGH!” I felt a vicious flurry of stings and pains course through me as I writhed and twisted in torment. It was so similar to being electrically shocked all over my entire body at such a rapid rate that I could hardly stand the pain. After a few seconds, everything went completely numb as I collapsed on the ground, my vision blurring as I trembled on the ground. I moved to get one last look at my assailants, who looked down at me in triumph.

“You… You won’t… get away… with this…!” I strained, feeling weak to the point of passing out. “Whatever it is… you’re doin’…!”

“We’ll see about that… Ponder Memoir…” with that, another agonizing shock was administered to me and before I knew it, everything went black…

Disappearance!

“Ty! I’m back!” I called as I entered into the library. I didn’t get an answer. “Tyyyy! Hello?” Still no answer…

“He must still be asleep… I couldn’t imagine toiling with A.J. taking THAT much out of him, though…” With that thought, I walked up the stairs into my bedroom to find it devoid of any life. I noticed that the bed had been made, meaning that he had to have woken up at this point…

“Tyshawn! Hey, are you here?” Still no answer… I was beginning to feel a little worried that he’d left. But then, I specifically instructed Spike to give him that letter as soon as he was awake. Could he have forgotten? I trotted back down to the library, contemplating where he could’ve gone… That is, until I noticed a sheet of parchment set on my reading desk. Curious, I enveloped it with magic and brought it to my sight:

Twi,

If you’re reading this, then I didn’t make it back home in time. Went to Fluttershy’s house to help her feed her animals real quick. According to her, I shouldn’t be long. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Love,

P.S. Nine months!? We should celebrate!

“*sigh* Darn it…!” I was annoyed that he disobeyed me, but I suppose I couldn’t blame him for helping out a friend. In any case, if Fluttershy’s is where he was headed, then maybe he was still there. Not wasting another moment, I cast a teleportation spell on myself to make the trip quick…

*POOF* I’d arrived in the vicinity of the cottage, taking note of all of her animals frolicking in the area. I couldn’t help but crack a smile at how cute they were, but I needed to talk to Fluttershy. I trotted up to the doorstep and knocked.

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy, are you home? I need to talk to you!” I waited a few seconds that seemed to go by incredibly slowly before the door was finally answered. However, what I was greeted with shocked me.

“H-hi… *sniffle* Twilight…” my Pegasus friend greeted, her face soaked with tears. She’d been crying for some reason.

“Fluttershy? What’s wrong?”

“Oh… n-nothing… please, come in…” I obliged as I followed the yellow mare into her home. We sat down on her sofa, where Angel Bunny leapt beside her to console the poor girl.

“Why are you crying?” I asked.

“It’s… nothing, really…”

“…Are you sure it’s nothing?” I skeptically asked.

“No… actually, there is something wrong…”

“Well? What is it? Whatever’s bothering you, I can help you…”

“Okay… but… can you promise not to be mad at me…?”

“Mad…? How could I possibly be mad at you, Fluttershy?” she gained my undivided attention with that simple implication of me developing any negative feelings directed towards her.

“Because… because…” she hesitated and whimpered. I assumed whatever she was trying to tell me was really bothering her…

“Fluttershy…” I rubbed her back with a hoof. “Please… you can tell me anything. We’re best friends, right?”

“Y-yes…” she looked at me and smiled. Almost immediately, however, the smile faded into a look of guilt as she refocused her gaze to the ground… “It’s just…" She took a deep breath before responded. "I think I like Ty in that kind of way that you like him but I know he’s your special somepony so I was really nervous when he offered to help me but I let him come along even though he said he was still in pain from helping Applejack and he did a really good job but then I invited him to have lunch with me and we talked and then I tripped and he caught me and I scared him off because I’m dumb and ugly and I’m really really sorry...” the Pegasus took a very deep breath after she finished her distraught rambling while burying her face into the palms of her hooves and letting free a new wave of tears.

I wasn’t sure how to feel. She LIKED Ty? The way I liked him? She had lunch with him? And scared him off? A large part of me wanted to be highly upset with her… but I trusted both her and Ty enough to at least gather more information on the incident before drawing a definitive conclusion. Another part of me felt worried… for both of them, considering how Fluttershy mentioned scaring him off…

“Oh… wow… well… first off: You’re not dumb OR ugly. You’re one of the prettiest, most kindhearted mares in all of Equestria. And who knows how to take care of wildlife better than you do? You HAVE to be smart to do that, right?”

“Yes… *sniffle*”

“Yeah, see? You have nothing to worry about in terms of your looks or intelligence. Don't beat yourself up for Ty running away. It wasn't your fault. If anything... he was... probably scared of how pretty you are..."

"But I'm sure he thinks I'M prettier...!"

"Whoa, where'd that come from? Ah, it doesn't matter... I need to focus..."

"If… you don’t mind me asking… how… long have you… had this crush?” I shuddered with contempt and disdain asking that question. I couldn’t stand the thought of him being with somepony else. He was mine and mine alone.

“Since… the Hearth’s Warming party… when you and Rainbow tricked us into standing under the mistletoe…” I mentally kicked myself for that… I should’ve known that would come back to bite me somehow… It’s a good thing I Pinkie Promised not to pull any tricks like that off again…

“Oh… and… when he was here, did you or he say or do anything out of the ordinary?” I just HAD to make sure nothing happened between them…

"Because if something did happen, so help me Celestia…!"

"Okay, seriously. Focus! I'm sure NOTHING unusual would happen between those two..."

“No… he was a gentlecolt the entire time… It was… my fault that he left… we were talking about what happened at the party, and then I accidentally told him I liked it when… he… kissed me…” I cringed hearing that.

"Ugh, is THAT all it takes for a stallion to win your affection, Fluttershy? Come on!"

"Stop it! She's a sensitive girl. I'd probably like it too if I were single and somepony were that chivalrous towards me after being pranked..." I reserved myself… After all, that incident WAS partially my fault…

“…but then he got really uncomfortable with me… he got up to take his bowl to the sink… I tried to stop him, but I tripped. He… he put the bowl down to catch me… and then… um…”

“And then… what?” I was trying my best to keep calm, thinking that the worst had happened. The anxiousness in me was boiling, and there was very little I could do to keep it from showing. I felt my brow involuntarily furrow, my left eye twitching as I narrowed my gaze at the yellow Pegasus. I could tell she noticed, because she gave me a look of fright.

"Oh, I'd better not hear a WORD of what she's about to say that I dislike...! Because I swear on Luna's bright white Moon if I do, I'll--"

"*Eep!* A-And then he helped me back up and ran away from me. That’s all, Twilight, I swear! I’m sorry! Please please PLEASE don’t be mad at me or him! I promise!” she begged as she cowered in fear. I was completely confident that she’d never have it in her to lie to me; even IF it were to spare my feelings. So, I calmed down for the most part by taking a deep breath.

"Oh, okay. Whew, that was a close one... Ty, you dodged an arrow... a BIG one, I might add..."

“It’s alright… It’s alright…” I informed as I simmered down. “I know I can trust you two not to do anything I wouldn’t like… right?”

“Yes, of course! We would never do anything to hurt you, Twi! I mean, you remember that song he sang when you two first started dating… Never going to… to give you up or hurt you or… make you cry or make you dessert or something…” I let out a chuckle at Fluttershy’s mix-up of the song he sang to me a while back, but I was more so relieved that I really WAS able to trust them… even if Fluttershy DID have a crush on him… “…and I wouldn’t even DREAM of taking somepony special away from somepony else… especially if they’re my friend…”

“Good, good… I’m sorry if I came across as a little hasty or insensitive…”

“Oh, no… it’s okay. I-I don't blame you for worrying about your colt-friend... I’d probably do the same thing if we were in each other’s horseshoes…”

“Really?”

“Well… no.” We shared a tension-easing laugh.

“I didn’t think so… say, did you see where he went when he left here? He hasn’t come back to the library and I thought he might still have been lingering around here…”

“No… I haven’t seen him since he left… I couldn’t imagine where he went. He seemed to be really eager to go back to the library, now that I think of it.”

“Odd…” I pondered where he could possibly have gone if he wasn’t on his way directly back to the library. “Maybe he could’ve gotten sidetracked… You think maybe Rainbow has seen him? I’m not sure if you’d noticed by now, but the two of them seem to enjoy sporadic bouts of roughhousing…”

“I… suppose so. Maybe she even managed to ambush him on his way back…?”

“Probable… if it isn’t too much trouble, could you come along with me?”

“Sure thing.” With that, Fluttershy and I were off to find Rainbow…

Later…

“Nah, sorry. Haven’t seen the big lummox all day,” the rainbow-haired Pegasus informed as she was busy busting clouds. Once she finished, she landed in front of us. “Why do you ask?”

“Well, he was supposed to be at the library, but…” I began.

“I asked him to help me feed my animals. We were wondering if you’d seen or maybe beat him up on his way back…” Fluttershy finished.

“Trust me, if I’d have seen him, I’d have let him have it..." She chuckled. "...I'd probably be carrying him back to the library after I was done with him... But yeah, I haven’t seen him around at all,” Rainbow Dash informed, much to my dismay.

“…Have you at least seen Spike?” I asked.

“Yeah. He’s with those two airheads, Snips and Snails. I think they were headed towards the shopping center. Something about needing carnations from Roseluck…”

“Roseluck…? What could they possibly…?” I wondered. But then I decided to drop it, thinking that maybe they were up to just another harebrained scheme. “*sigh* well then… I’m not really sure where he could’ve gone. There aren’t many places he’d be likely to visit around town… I mean… there’s the Carousel Boutique, Sweet Apple Acres, Sugar Cube Corner, Town Hall, the spa, the shopping plaza… Hmm… where would he be most likely to visit?”

“My guess would be most likely Sugar Cube Corner. If not there, then maybe Applejack’s place,” Rainbow theorized. “I can’t really see him going to Rarity or Mayor Mare for anything. He doesn’t have any money as far as I know, so there’s no way he’s at the shopping center or the spa…”

“…You’re right. I’ll go and check Sugar Cube Corner. Fluttershy, can you go and check at Sweet Apple Acres?”

“Yes,” she simply answered with a nod.

“Rainbow, if you’re not too busy, can you keep an eye out for him?”

“Jeez, Twilight. It’s not like he’s in some kind of danger or something, is he? I mean, he hasn’t been gone too long, has he?”

“No, but I—!”

“Then why organize a search team so suddenly? What, are you afraid he’s gonna vanish off the face of Equestria or something if you don’t see him for more than a couple hours?” She giggled at me, much to my dismay.

“Ugh, will you help me or not!?” I blurted in a sudden sense of frustration I honestly didn’t expect. I looked at the Pegasus to see that she’d been offended. “I’m sorry Rainbow… It’s just that I’ve been under a lot of stress lately… I really need to find him… Can you please help me?”

“…Okay. I’ll make sure to keep my eyes peeled,” she replied with a comprehendible tone of uncertainty.

“Thank you. Let’s not spend time dillydallying. Let’s move out, girls,” I commanded.

“Yes, ma’am!” the two Pegasi agreed, saluting before we were off in our separate directions, on the search for my colt-friend…

“Ugh… wha… where am I…?” I groggily asked as I came to. “Agh, my head feels like I got smacked with a fuckin’ brick…” I attempted to move a fore hoof to massage my temple, but found it impossible. In fact, I could only move my back legs while my forelegs felt bound to my sides. I blinked a few times before looking around. I noticed that I was suspended in midair with a long, thick strand of vine binding me tightly. I appeared to be in the middle of dark, dank forest with no signs of life aside from what looked like a tent with some camping supplies near it.

“What the hell?? How’d I wind up like this?”

“Hey! Somebody out there? I could use some help!” I called in hopes of attracting the attention of somepony nearby after a short bout of futile struggling to break free.

“I’ll be there momentarily, my friend!” I heard a voice call. At first I was relieved to hear that I wasn’t alone. But then… something about the sound of the stranger’s voice… That’s when the stallion showed his face. The beige coat, the red eyes, that smug, toothy grin…

“You! What the hell are you doin’?!” I snapped as I struggled to free myself. “Why do you have me all tied up like this?”

“Relax, Ponder… I assure you, all is well… at least, for now it is…” he snickered.

“You… know me?” I asked in shock as I stopped my struggling.

“But of course…”

“But how? I don’t remember seein’ you at ALL before… And I guarantee I’d remember somebody as shady-lookin’ as you around a place like Ponyville.”

“Oh, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Gillian. Gillian Swardson.”

“Gillian Swardson?” I asked, raising an eyebrow. That don’t sound like no pony name I ever heard of…”

“It isn’t?” he asked in shock. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Oh come on,” I remarked in skepticism. “You seriously never noticed how just about everypony has some kinda name that revolves around their talents or somethin’ about them? Like uh… um… like my name. Ponder Memoir. It circles around this Cutie Mark thing I have here,” I explained, trying my best to gesture at my flank. “A thought cloud. And what does the word ‘Ponder’ mean?”

“Yes, yes, I know about all that crap,” he informed to my surprise. Ponies don’t use words like ‘crap…’ “What I’m getting at is how you would know what a typical pony name would sound like? None of the other ponies I’ve encountered seem to care about my name. Care to explain?” He had me there…

“Damn! He walked me right int’ that one…”

“Uh… I… jus’ don’t hear names that don’t have to do with somethin’ relevant to the pony it belongs to very often. Tha’ss all.”

“Uh-huh…” he replied, seeming not to believe me. “Then why did you say it didn’t sound like a— and I quote— ‘pony name’ you’ve ever heard of?”

“Dammit, he GOT me again!” I was getting really nervous really quickly.

“Umm… I… *sigh* y’know what? No, I ain’t explainin’ myself t’ you, you kidnapper! Why do you have me all tied up in the middle o’ the woods?”

“I thought you’d never ask… You see, I’ve been in Equestria a long time… well, not that long. Maybe two or three months, tops. Truth be told, I actually spent most of my existence in this world in Saddle Arabia…”

“Whoa whoa whoa… What??”

“I said I spent most of my existence in this world—!”

“Stop. ‘In this world?’ What do you mean by that?” Gillian laughed heartily at my question.

“Look who’s playing word analyst now… Truth be told, I’m not originally of this world…”

“Not from this world… as far as I know, there aren’t really any other ‘worlds’ out there…” I said, playing dumb. I was determined to get some answers out of him. “What, are you from another planet or somethin’?”

“Oh, don’t you play coy with me. I’m from an alternate universe entirely…” His statement had me double take in realization… A pony with a name that didn’t sound pony-like, who used the word ‘crap,’ easily picked apart my words, basically tricking me into telling him that I wasn’t an average pony… No way… it couldn’t be…

“Where exactly IS Saddle Arabia?” I asked just to make sure.

“It’s far east of here. Why do you ask?” My eyes widened in complete bewilderment.

“Aw shit, son! I’ss that other human!”

“N-no reason… jus’ wonderin’…” I said in a wavering, nervous tone that betrayed my flabbergasted statement.

“I’m not entirely sure. My answer seems to have struck a chord with you… is there something you’re not telling me, Mr. Memoir?”

“Nope. Not at all. I was jus’ a li’l curious as t’ where Saddle Arabia was.”

“*sigh* I’ll let you know, I’m not one to enjoy being dicked around with… Comet?”

“Yeees, baby?” replied a feminine voice from within the tent. A second later, out came the light blue, purple-haired mare that I faintly remembered nearly killing me.

“I need… an example. Would you be a dear?”

“Of course…” With that, her horn took on a bright glow, aimed directly at me.

“Yo! Chill out, I swear I was tellin’ you the truth!” I pleaded. “I swear to… to pony-God that I wasn’t lyin’!”

“…Sweetie, hold on a second…” Gillian calmly ordered after a brief pause. The mare wordlessly complied as her horn’s dark purple glow died down. He turned his gaze to me.

“Now I’m going to word this question in a way I’m confident you’ll understand… Do I look like a bitch?” I was alarmed at his question, stifling a laugh.

“Wh-what?”

“DO I LOOK…! LIKE A BITCH!?” he shouted.

“Well… considerin’ you ambushed me an’ kidnapped me in possibly the most cowardly, underhanded way possible… yes.” I remarked.

“Ohhohohoho... A smartass, are you? I don’t appreciate smartasses. Comet!”

“With pleasure…” the mare said as she charged up her horn again. She was quick to fire a blast directed at me.

*ZAP* “AAAAAAAAA-GHA-HA-HOW!!” I screamed in agony.

“Allow me to repeat myself…” Gillian reiterated. “Do I look like a bitch?”

“No-ho-ho…ow!” I shouted, still in a lot of pain.

“Then why are you trying to fuck me like a bitch, Ponder?”

“I don’t even know what you’re talkin’ about! I didn’t do anything!”

“Yes you did! Yes! You! Did! You think you’re going to get away with lying to my face and sweeping the small details under the rug? Not to mention that little sneak attack you pulled on me when we first met?” Apparently, this guy was one for grudges. “I will tell you this… I don’t like being fucked, Ponder… Not by anypony… but my lovely, beautiful special friend here, Comet…” he trailed off as she nuzzled lovingly into him. Soon, the two decided to get a little frisky with one another as they began making out right in front of me… or below me, as I was still tied to a tree branch.

“Alright alright, save that stuff for when I don’t hafta be victimized by it. What do you want from me?”

“Finally coming around? Good… Now I’m going to be straightforward with this one… are you a human?” I wasn’t sure how to answer that. I didn’t want to play devil’s advocate and flat-out admit it, but he really had me in a tight spot. “And I DARE you to lie to me again.”

“…*sigh* yes…” I crestfallenly admitted.

“See? That wasn’t too hard, was it?” He taunted.

“Fuck you,” I spat in contempt.

“Aww, are we feeling a bit upset? Here, I’ll cheer you up by letting you in on a little secret… I’m human, too.”

“I figured as much,” I replied, shaking my head in shame.

“Did you? What tipped you off?”

“I’ve heard o’ you... back when I first got here. I almost got kicked outta here cuzza your little fuck-up over in the east. I jus’ wasn’t sure until now. How did you get out of your imprisonment? You were supposed t’ be locked up for good…”

“Oh, that? I assure you, Princess Celestia’s irksome interference with my plans for taking over Saddle Arabia and its rivaling land was the ONLY ‘fuck-up.’ But rather than bore you with details of my supposedly extensive incarceration, followed by my breakout by a few friends within the system and a subsequent escape to Equestira and meeting my wonderful Equestrian mare-friend here, I’ll just say that it was incredibly easy. All it took was a few connections and a penchant for cold, calculating contemplation and WHAMMO! Here I am, standing beside the prettiest mare I could ask for with the only other human in existence here in my clutches…”

“Grrreat… now what do you want with me?”

“Oh I’ve been watching you… not for very long, mind you, but I’ve been watching… and waiting for the opportunity to strike. I suspected that you weren’t like the other ponies in that drab little town… I mean, your accent alone just gives you away. In any case, I know you’re under some transformation spell that’s letting you maintain your form. I also know that the very pony you’re being aided by… is a pony who shows great potential… I’ve heard stories of her and her friends’ heroics… how she’s THE unicorn amongst unicorns… how she’s even the one and ONLY protégé to the Princess herself…”

“You son of a bitch!” I shouted, outraged at his implication of wanting something from Twilight. “Don’t you DARE even think about touchin’ her! I will demolish you if you do anything t’ her!” I redoubled my efforts in struggling to get free.

“Oh how droll. You of all ponies… or should I say PERSONS, are in NO place to be making threats. I assure you, I don’t plan on harming that pretty little filly you call your girlfriend. I only intend to use her to get to the Princess… You see, Celestia’s my REAL target. Let's just say I've some... unfinished business to attend to with her. And you were the key I needed to open the door to my opportunity.”

“You won’t get away!”

“You’ll do nothing to stop me, fool! In fact, you’re going to be helping me. Whatever magic resides in your body at this moment is going to bolster mine. Especially considering its source… you’ll make for a delicious supply…” with that, the unicorn stallion’s horn took on its silvery glow. Within seconds, a beam of magic energy had collided with me, sending shockwaves of agony throughout my body once again as I felt a sudden, rapid loss of energy. I tried to scream, but I couldn’t as this vampiric spell had disallowed me from even moving. A few seconds later, I began to feel familiar changes throughout my body. My hooves turning back into hands, my bones and organs restructuring and relocating themselves, my body elongating… eventually, I was forcibly returned to my human form as the magic keeping me under disguise was stolen.

“Unbelievable! So THIS is a taste of the ability of Equestria’s supposedly most powerful unicorn…”

*snap* *THUD* “D’OH!” The vine suspending me in midair had finally given way, (likely due to a possible shift in weight) sending me crashing into the muddy, swamp-like forest floor. Feeling unbelievably dizzy, tired, and under a great deal of physical despair, I managed to sit up, the vine still binding my arms to my sides. “You… suck… nrgh…!”

“Oh don’t be so glum! See it this way: You’ll die in this godforsaken, miserable forest knowing that you assisted me in making my way towards the Goddess of the Sun!” Gillian excitedly stated much to my agonized chagrin. However, I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at his ambition.

“You seriously think Princess Celestia of ALL ponies is gonna… be so easy to do away with…? She has protection all around… a sister just as powerful as she is… and six protectors who would… see you turned to stone on the spot if you… went through with such a… misguided attempt at revenge…”

“Are you done?” He impatiently inquired.

“Yea… yea, tha’ss all I gotta say t’ you… oh, an’ watch ya back… cuz if I find a way outta here alive… you best guaran-damn-tee I’m comin’ for you… and if I don’t… they will…!” The stallion leaned into my ear really close.

“As foolish as this may sound… I’m looking forward to it…” he whispered before backing away. In that instant, he took a mighty swing at me with his fore hoof.

*SMACK* A tsunami of pain whirled through my already-throbbing skull as I was thrown to the ground.

“Until we meet again… implying that you'll survive long enough in these woods for that to happen…” with a hearty, menacing cackle, he charged up his horn, his mare stepping beside him before the two of them disappeared in a flash along with all their stuff, leaving me stranded in the middle of an unknown landscape, beaten, wasted, and gasping for air. I wasn’t going to let fatigue and an enormous amount of bodily suffering stop me, however. I had to find my way back to Ponyville… I had to find Twilight… I had to warn her that danger had set hoof in Equestria. I pulled myself up to my bare feet and was about to begin an arduous, possibly suicidal run in no particular direction when I was approached by a mysterious figure. I was instantly convinced I was going to meet my end, but I figured that if I was going down, then I was going down without running.

"Stay...! Back...!" I warned as I braced myself as best I could for a gruesome fate before the creature spoke.

“Fear not, strange creature; I come bearing good tidings. That is, unless, in your nature, is fighting…”

Search Efforts!

Search Efforts!

“Any luck, Fluttershy?” I asked becoming increasingly worried as our search continued, so far inconclusive. It’s been at least two hours and there hasn’t been a single trace of him anywhere!

“Sorry… I looked everywhere, but I haven’t seen him at all,” the Pegasus mare glumly answered.

“I don’t get it…! I checked the library six different times, I looked all over the place and even asked a whole slew of ponies if they’ve seen him… and what do I come up with? Nothing! TY! WHERE ARE YOU!!?” I shouted, although I knew that was futile. This was NOT a good day for me.

“Twilight, calm down…” Rainbow Dash advised.

“Calm down? How could I possibly calm down!? My colt-friend’s gone missing without so much as a trace of his whereabouts; nopony knows where he could possibly have been, and I haven’t come up with a single lead myself! And you want me to calm down??” I snapped in distress.

“Hey! Don’t go biting my head off because he hasn’t shown up yet! It’s not my fault! What’s up with you!?” The sky blue Pegasus shot back in offense.

“Girls… you sho—!”

“Oh, well EXCUUUUSE me for worrying about somepony I care about! What would YOU do if YOUR special somepony went missing!?”

“Girls… please don—!”

“Well I’d certainly be a bit more calm and collected about it than you’re being right now! I mean come on! He’s only been gone a couple hours and you’re treating it like he got kidnapped or something! Seriously, Twi, you have a habit of overblowing things…”

“Twilight… Rainbow… ple—!”

“Oh, like how you overblew it when you were panicking about that flight competition a few years back? Like how you overblew it when you tried stealing that Daring Do book from the hospital? Like how you overblew it when you decided to play superhero and let it go to your head? Don’t you DARE tell me I have a habit of overblowing things when you do it just as often as I do!”

“Girls… stop argu—!”

“That stuff’s got NOTHING to do with this! And you wanna compare situations of overblowing things? How about when you made at least HALF OF PONYVILLE fight over that raggedy old doll because of a letter to the Princess? Or how, during that SAME situation where I was ‘playing superhero,’ you and the others, rather than confront me on the issue, decide to disguise yourselves as the ‘Oh-So Mysterious Mare-Do-Well’ and one-up me at every tu—!”

“GIRLS!!” Fluttershy screamed, alarming both Rainbow and I. “This fighting has got to stop! This isn’t going to help us find him any sooner than if we kept trying…” She was right… I had no idea what had come over me. I’d normally never lose my temper like that. Especially not on a friend of mine… I felt just awful taking my emotions out on Rainbow… she didn’t deserve it.

“Y-you’re right…” I solemnly concurred. “I’m sorry, Rainbow Dash…”

“Yeah… I’m sorry, too…” she replied, rubbing the back of her head. “I… I know it must not be easy not knowing where he is… but as your friend, I’ll still help you try to find him… Besides, he can’t be too far off. It hasn’t been that long.”

“Th-thank you…” I felt a sudden wave of sorrow hit me as I nearly succumbed to the tears of guilt welling up in my eyes. “I’m really sorry… I… I’m a wreck right now… the last thing I’d want to do is upset you girls…”

“Aww, Twilight…” Fluttershy said as she hugged me. “We’ll find him… and he’ll be okay…”

“Yeah,” Rainbow added as she joined in. “I’m sure wherever he is, he’s fine…”

“Hey, is one of you three named Twilight?” asked a new voice. Fluttershy, Rainbow, and I broke the hug and turned our attention to the new voice. It was a gray Pegasus mare with blond hair that resembled a style not too dissimilar from Rainbow’s. She had golden eyes that always seemed to be looking in different directions. To be quite frank, I’ve seen this mare around Ponyville VERY often. In fact, if I wasn’t mistaken, she was one of Ponyville’s mail mares. Oddly enough, however, I’d also caught numerous glimpses of her in places in which I’d assumed she didn’t have any reason being. I wasn’t sure what her name was, either. I think Rainbow used to call her “Derpy” at some point, but she mentioned getting chewed out harshly for it one time and had since refrained from calling her that.

“Yes, I’m Twilight,” I answered and stepped forward. “What can I help you with?”

“I think somepony’s in biiiig trouble and he needs your help!” she said as she leaned towards me before taking a seemingly painful faceplant. Her news made my heart sink.

“What do you mean, ‘in big trouble’?” The mail mare picked herself back up, goofily stumbling back to a standing position.

“Do you know a tall, black Earth stallion? Cloud for a Cutie Mark? Even though that doesn’t make a lot of sense… I mean… an Earth pony with a cloud for a Cutie Mark… how would he be able to work for the weather team without wings…?”

“Excuse me,” I interrupted her mumbling. “But that sounds VERY familiar... Where did you see him?”

“Umm… Oh! I saw him… walking past some houses while I was on my mail route… and then… he bumped into another pony… and then what happened…? Hmm…” Although this mysterious mare’s explanation of this pony’s whereabouts was… questionable at best, I decided to listen, as it was my only lead. “Oh yeah! The other pony had someone with him. They were both unicorns. The third pony was blue. And that pony blocked the first guy’s way with a magical wall. And then… um… the first guy was gonna sock the second one right in the face! But then he got stopped. But then he tried again and did it! And then… and then the blue pony shot him with some magic, making him go falling down on the ground, like this…”

It’s worthy of note that the Pegasus mare was actually reenacting everything she claimed to have seen going down between Ty and these two unicorns in her story. “Then they hit him with some more magic. And then the two unicorns took him away…”

“What???” I was outright appalled at the news. Ty really DID get kidnapped?

“Okay… maybe he ISN’T fine…” Rainbow Dash muttered.

“Did you see where they took him? Do you know what the two unicorns looked like? How long ago did this happen??” I asked in panicked succession.

“Umm…” the mare took a second to think. “No I don’t know where they took him, one of them was tan with black hair and the other one was light blue with purple hair, and it happened maybe… an hour ago… But that’s all I know. I hope you can find him. If I wasn’t so sure you knew by now, I’d say he needs your help… I wish I could help, but I gotta get back home. Good luck!” the mare said as she took flight, slowly and erratically flying away from us.

“Hey! Derp—! I-I mean uh… Ditzy! Your house is THAT way!” Rainbow Dash advised.

“Oh yeah! Thanks, Rainbow Dash!” the gray mare said as she did a rather sloppy one hundred eighty-degree turn and soared off in that direction. Once Ditzy was out of sight, I voiced my concerns.

“Oh my gosh, that is the WORST news I could’ve EVER had delivered to me!”

“I dunno, Twi… I think Ditzy did a pretty good job of acting out what happened. I think it added to the—!”

“No, not that! The fact that Ty really DID wind up being kidnapped!”

“Oh… yeah, that stinks.”

“Yeah, and we need to get to the bottom of this right away!”

“But… how?” Fluttershy asked. “All we know is that two unicorns were likely responsible… Where do we start?”

“Hmm… I’ve got it!” I announced after a brief moment of contemplation. “I’ll cast a spell to scan areas of the town for clues regarding the use of magic. If Ditzy’s story was as accurate as I hope it was, then there should still be some traces of these unicorns’ magic resonating in the area in which the deed was done. Rainbow Dash, I’ll need you to gather up a Pegasus search team to scour the town for either Ty or at least one of the unicorns Ditzy mentioned in her story.”

“Roger! But uh… a quick reminder on what they looked like?”

“Uh… I believe Ditzy said that one of them was… tan with black hair. The other one was… light blue with purple hair. Both of them unicorns."

"...I'd hate to break it to you, but... that isn't exactly a lot of info to work with. Anything more specific? Like eye color? Hairstyle? Even what their Cutie Marks looked like?"

"Hmm... Ditzy didn't mention anything beyond coat and hair colors... *sigh* Just be on the lookout for an Earth stallion that matches Ty’s description, then. But be mindful of the information about those two unicorns we were given.”

“On it!” With that, Rainbow was off to perform the task I’d given her.

“Fluttershy, do you… possibly have any animals with senses keen enough to possibly recognize a particular scent or something of the like?”

“Um… I think I do… but I don’t know if I’d be able to find something at my home with a large enough sample of him on it…”

“I see… I can’t take any chances, though. Go home as quickly as you can and bring at least one animal with viable olfactory ability and, if necessary, bring it to the library. You should be able to find at least a couple of things with a good enough sample of his aroma on it.”

“I’ll do my best!” she assured, quickly taking flight towards her home.

“Okay, now that THAT’S under way… time to investigate…” I mumbled as I enchanted my horn and began a ground search for any possible disturbances in the makeup of the landscape. “Since the library and Fluttershy’s cottage were the only definitive places he’d actually been seen around, I’ll begin by teleporting back to the vicinity of Golden Oaks to commence the scan…”

*POOF* I’d arrived, my horn still glowing as I was already in the midst of performing the scanning spell. I’d immediately caught sight of Spike on his way back, causing me to power my horn down.

“Good afternoon, Spike!” I called.

“Hey, Twi,” he simply greeted back. He didn’t seem to be in very high spirits.

“What’s wrong? Did your day not go so well?”

“You could say that…”

“What happened?”

“It’s… kind of a long story, but I’ll try to wrap it up in a nutshell… I was with Snips and Snails and they wanted to buy some flowers to impress somepony they liked. We went to the shopping center to buy a bouquet from Roseluck. Turns out they both liked the same mare… and get this; that mare… was Junebug.”

“Oh dear… what happened next?”

“The two of them got into a fight that not only ruined the bouquet, but also made me lose this really rare, really tasty, but really small triangle-shaped garnet I was carrying and planning to eat at dinnertime. It took me FOREVER to find one of those… and now it’s gone…”

“Aww…” I felt for the little dragon. I was well aware of how much he loved his jewelry. I hugged him in consolation for his loss. “Sorry, little guy. I’m sure another one will pop up somewhere.”

“Yeah, I hope so… Say, what’s for dinner tonight? I’m starving.”

“Yeah… about that… I’m kind of in the middle of something… dinner may not come tonight.”

“What?? What could possibly keep you from making dinner?”

“I have reason to believe Ty was kidnapped.” As I expected, the dragon gasped in shock.

“What?? Seriously?? Oh man, that’s not good at all!” he said before he realized something. “Wait… He should be inside. I gave him that letter telling him to stay put.”

“Yes, but obviously, that was too hard an instruction for him to follow,” I stated in annoyance; not at Spike, of course. “He went to Fluttershy’s and, according to the mailmare, he got tangled up with two currently-unknown unicorns who subdued him and dragged him off.”

“Oh. That’s horrible!”

“I know… and if I don’t get moving now, I could wind up losing my trail on possible clues as to what happened to him. It could take me all of what’s left of this afternoon before I come up with decisive evidence, too… I’m really sorry Spike, but it looks like you may be responsible for your own sustenance tonight.”

“Can I come with you, then? I mean, I don’t know how much help I’ll be, but—!”

“Thank you Spike, but as I said, I’ll probably be all day, very likely into the evening searching. Besides, I’ll need someone here to watch over the library while I’m gone. Owloysius won’t be awake for a while.”

“Aww…”

“I’m sorry… I’ll make it up to you as soon as I can. I promise. That sound good?”

“I guess so…”

“Good,” I hastily answered as I moved to quickly hug the dragon. “Now I have to get going. I’ll see you later tonight, okay?”

“Sure! Good luck!” with that, I started my scan of the area. I decided to go down the quickest route to Fluttershy’s cottage. If she’d taken into consideration that he wanted to be quick about helping her, Fluttershy would likely have taken this route. I was swift, but meticulous in scanning the ground I tread upon, not wanting to miss a single detail.

As I tread, however, I was feeling increasingly conflicted about the situation at hoof.

“None of this would’ve happened had he just stayed put like I asked him to… Serves him right for not listening to me…!”

“No… that’s not nice… He DID only leave to help Fluttershy.”

“Yeah, this is partially HER fault, too! Why couldn’t she feed her animals herself?”

“No, it’s nopony’s fault. It’s not like I strained it that I wanted him to stay home no matter what… All that matters right now is finding him… ESPECIALLY since I need to have that talk with him… Immediately…!” I occasionally caught glimpses of Pegasi soaring about overhead, which was confirmation of Rainbow Dash’s successful efforts in gathering a team of Pegasi to keep an eye out around the town.

After close to a half-hour of scanning, I’d finally come across a faint, fading signal of magic activity a little more than halfway between the library and the cottage. I increased the strength of my spell tenfold to get a better reading of the phenomenon. From the feel of it, there were multiple uses of low-level spells in the immediate vicinity. I couldn’t place my hoof on what exact spells were used, but the fact still remained that Ditzy’s story had irrefutable merit. Still, there were no signs of anypony being dragged away from the area, so I decided to increase the strength of my spell again. Just then, however, I was approached by Fluttershy, accompanied by a snake.

“Hi, Twilight. Any luck?” she asked. I was compelled to jump out of my fur and run as far away as possible.

“She KNOWS how much I don’t like snakes…!” I held my own and took a few deep breaths before responding.

“Y-y-yes…”

“Of ALL things! A bear, a dog, an albatross, even a rat! THEY ALL have senses of smell adequate for the job! And she chooses the snake…!”

“What did you come up with?” she asked.

“H-he didn’t get far from your house b-b-before he was t-taken…” I was trying my best not to lose my cool.

“It’s just a simple, harmless snake; at least, I HOPE it’s harmless… It IS one of Fluttershy’s, after all...” I tried to reason within myself. But just the thought of those thick, venomous fangs… that unsettling double-pronged tongue… that… HIDEOUS, irritating hissing sound they made… I SHUDDER at the thought of one of them being near me…

“*ahem!* The unicorns took him from this spot, but I’m not picking up a trail of any sort leading from here, so they must’ve teleported someplace…

“Oh! Well maybe little Ophis here can help us…” As she said that, the green, scaly creature slithered from around her neck and onto the ground. It sporadically stuck its tongue out and hissed, licking at the ground trying to get a good sample. At first, I’d thought it had something, but after a minute or so, it turned back to the Pegasus mare, scratching its head with its tail.

“…Well I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised,” I said, slowly backing away from the creature. “As far as I recall, snakes smell the air with their tongues, and I’m not entirely su—!” Suddenly, it perked up and looked directly at me. I was petrified with terror, trembling like the weather had instantly turned bitterly frigid. It slithered towards me at a pace I could hardly comprehend. I was so close… SO close to turning tail and running far away…

“I think he’s got something!” Fluttershy cheered, which was just barely enough to hold me in place. The creature flicked its tongue on my hoof, causing me to flinch in horror. I thought that would be the worst of it… Sadly I was mistaken. It coiled its way up my shivering leg and up my neck, finally reaching its destination at my horn. It flicked its tongue a few times on my magic appendage.

“Omygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, it’s on me! It’s so gross and scaly and slimy and it’s licking my horn and that HIDEOUS hissing noise is driving me insane! Whatever it is you’re doing, make it quick, then get OFF of me, you slithering little—!” I was ready to SCREAM in horror before it slithered its way off of me (thank Celestia!) before pointing its tail towards the Everfree forest…

“The Everfree forest?” Fluttershy and I asked in conjoined fear. I hypothesized that by getting a whiff of my horn (a torture I hope to NEVER go through again), it managed to get a sample of my magic signature. From there, it must’ve been able to better pinpoint any familiar signatures that resembled mine in the air. And if I wasn’t analyzing incorrectly, Ophis’s senses told him that our human-turned-stallion was taken into the Everfree forest… The feeling of sheer terror I was exhibiting was amplified…

There are SO many dangers in the Everfree… Plants grow by themselves, the clouds over it move on their own… and worst yet… the animals there… take care of themselves! And at THIS time of day, wherein the sun was beginning to set and be replaced by the moon, many dangerous creatures are known to come out…

“What if he’s in there all alone? Frightened, stranded, lost, and possibly injured… desperately looking for a way out… and then a Manticore… or a Cockatrice… or some Timberwolves… or even a Hydra…?”

“We need to go in there now!” I abruptly shouted, an intense wave of heart-sinking dread washing over me.

“Wh-wh-what??” objected a frightful Fluttershy. “W-we can’t! Not by ourselves…”

“If something happens to him while he’s in there, I could NEVER live it down, Fluttershy. We know what dangers lurk about in that forest. He doesn’t! I don’t know what those unicorns want with him, but if your snake is picking up traces of my magic coming from there, then I have no choice but to go in there and find out if he’s okay or not…” I, although feeling very tense and fearful, knew what I had to do. Nothing was going to deter me from doing it, either.

“…You… you’re right… but I don’t think we should go in by ourselves…”

“Well then you can go and gather the other girls. I can’t risk Ty being in danger, so if I have to, I’ll go alone.”

“B-but Twilight…! You remember the last time you went into the Everfree forest alone at night… don’t you?”

“Yeah. I was turned to stone by a Cockatrice. I have you to thank for saving me, though. And I’m a lot more prepared for the perils of walking through that place than I was back then. If anything, I’ll head straight to Zecora’s and ask her if she’d possibly seen anything out of the ordinary before we search the forest for him… there’s no time left! Go! Get Rainbow Dash, get the others, and meet me at Zecora’s hut.”

“…O-okay…” the Pegasus meekly stated before taking off, her pet snake coiled atop her mane. I didn’t wait until she was out of my line of sight before I turned around and made a mad dash towards the Everfree forest.

“I hope you’re okay… Please, PLEASE be okay…”

“Hey… thanks for your help…” I weakly said as I looked around the house I was led into. All kinds of voodoo masks, potions, and a lot of other mythical objects I’d only ever heard of existing in African culture in my world… Of course, I had to crouch and duck-walk to get inside, as my arms were still constricted by the vine.

“‘Thank you’s’ are not necessary. Who are you? What are you doing here in the Everfree?” asked my rescuer as she searched a nearby drawer. It was a zebra, feminine by voice, with gold rings on her neck and forelegs. Her eyes were sharp and a lukewarm blue. She had all the looks of a zebra back on Earth, but she also had this sun-shaped swirly Cutie Mark on her flank... At least, I THINK it's a Cutie Mark... She had a thick African accent, too.

“My name is…” I hesitated.

“Is tellin’ this zebra my name safe? I suppose it doesn’t matter anyhow, as she’d probably not seen me in pony form… Besides, she did invite me int’ her house…”

“My name is Ty… I… was dragged here. By some strange, malicious ponies… they… they stole my energy… and they’re plannin' on doin' something bad t' the Princess… what's your name, by the way?” The zebra gasped in horror as she pulled out a brown vial with a cork in it.

“Oh dear. That’s quite severe! But Celestia should have nothing to fear,” she assured as she opened the vial and dripped some strange mud-colored liquid onto the vine. Almost instantly, the vine shriveled up, wilted, and then turned to dust, allowing me to finally stretch my chafed, aching arms. “And Zecora is the name that I go by. It’s quite the pleasure to meet you, Ty!”

“Heh, nice t’ meet you too, Zecora. But I’m… not so sure Celestia should be the one t’ be worried jus’ yet… they aren’t headed directly for her. They want Twi…” At that moment, I realized I had the chance to warn her before it was too late. “Twilight! I have to find my way back to Ponyville. Can you—! Agh!” I winced as I tried to get up. My head was still throbbing vigorously and various parts of my body were extremely sore, forcing me back to a sitting position.

“You are injured; you need time to rest. I know the moment is urgent, but it’s for the best. In addition, I must assure that you are not a threat. Equestria is not your land of origin, I’d bet.”

“No… I’m not originally from Equestria. I can explain the details t’ you later. But please understand that if I don’t get back and tell her now, I don’t know WHAT they’ll do to h—!”

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

“Who’s rapping at my door at a time so late? Excuse me for a moment while I investigate…” I took note of how this zebra mare liked to rhyme everything she spoke. Nonetheless, she trotted to the door and opened it to reveal a familiar, yet unbelievably distraught-looking face. The visitor seemed really bent out of shape. Her mane was frizzy and disheveled, her eyes were wide with what seemed to be terror, and she’d had spots of dirt along her coat. “Twilight Sparkle! How do you do? Is there any way that I can help you?”

“Good evening… Zecora… hah…” she was out of breath, seeming to have run here. “I’m sorry to bother you at a time like this, but… have you seen or heard… TY???” she instantly noticed me sitting on the floor as she walked in.

“Hey… didn’t expect t’ see you of all ponies here…” The unicorn charged at me and tackled me. I fell to the floor and hit my head, much to my dismay. Nonetheless, I welcomed the unicorn’s hug. After a few seconds, she pulled back. However, rather than seeing a face of joy, I saw one of EXTREME dissatisfaction.

*SMACK*

“OW! AAAaah…! Damn…!” I grasped my aching head in agony as the unicorn made my headache ten times worse.

“How could you have me so worried like that!?” she screamed at me, seeming to be holding back tears. “I spent ALL DAY looking for you! I told you to stay put at the library!”

“Easy now… I thought I left you that letter sayin’ where I was goin’…”

“Yeah. You went to Fluttershy’s. Speaking of which…”

*SLAP*

“OUCH! What was THAT for!?”

“Because you made Fluttershy cry, you jerk!”

“I… what?” Then I realized… Fluttershy must’ve been pretty dejected after the way I’d left her earlier… but I didn’t know how to explain myself to Twilight on that matter. I’m pretty sure she didn’t know why the poor yellow Pegasus was crying. Still, I owed Fluttershy an apology. “Oh… yeah, about that… I owe her a HUGE apology… I only left her so abruptly beca—!”

“She has a crush on you.”

“I think she li—! Wait… what???”

“She likes you… or at least, in pony form, she does. But I have myself to blame for that. For that misguided Hearth’s Warming prank Rainbow and I pulled on you…”

“Ha! What goes around comes around…” I was tempted to laugh, considering that mean-spirited joke found a way to bite her in the flank, but there was something much more important at hand.

“That brings about this question… why are you in human form? I gave you enough magic to last you the next two days under the transformation.”

“Yyyyea, about that… Remember that guy Celestia told us about when she first wanted me outta here? The one in the east that tried to take over two countries at once?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well uh… he escaped from his prison and found his way here... He has this mare helpin' 'im and he stole the magic you gave me. He… he says he’s gonna get his revenge on Celestia for ruinin' his original plot…” Twilight gasped in complete and utter horror.

“WHAT??” she frantically asked as she leapt from my grasp. “No no no no no… this is bad. REALLY bad… wait a second: Who am I kidding? Celestia’s all-powerful! Plus, she’s got tons of protection surrounding her at all times! How could she possibly be in any danger?”

“Right now, she’s not… WE— specifically you— are…” Twilight gasped in shock again.

“What do you mean??”

“The reason that guy found me is because he said he was watchin’ me since he got here two or three months ago. He knew from the get-go that somethin’ was up with me. Today jus’ happened t’ be the day he chose t’ act on his suspicion. He left me stranded in the woods, but not before mentionin’ somethin’ about usin’ you t’ get to Celestia. I don’t think he accounted for our friend here rescuin’ me though…” I explained, gesturing toward the zebra, who looked completely lost. I didn’t blame her. This was a LOT of information to overhear. “Either way, I think he went somewhere else, thinkin’ of a way t’ try an’ capture you. And considerin’ he has some of your energy— and maybe a small amount o’ my own— at his disposal, it might not be a good idea takin’ him an’ his accomplice on straight-up.”

“Oh my… I… I refuse to let that happen! Whoever this scoundrel is… he won’t get away with anything he’s doing! I… WE have to make sure of that!”

*knock knock*

“I’d like to be filled in on this perilous tale. And make absolutely sure that evil does not prevail…” commented the zebra as she moved to answer the door. In came five recognizable mares: an orange Earth pony with blond, ponytailed hair and a cowgirl hat, a blue Pegasus with rainbow-colored hair, a white Unicorn with dark purple, swirly hair, a pink Earth pony with hair that resembled cotton candy, and last but not least, a yellow Pegasus with long, straight pink hair. As I could’ve expected, the five of them froze in collective fear and shock at the sight of me, huddling together and backing away towards the door.

"Aww shit..."

“What the heck is THAT thing??” asked Pinkie Pie in complete surprise.

“It’s enormous! And it looks so… horrifying!” added Rarity, much to my offense.

“I wouldn’t say ‘horrifying…’” Rainbow Dash countered. “It just looks like… kind of like a monkey. A really huge, mostly hairless monkey… with clothes… and no tail… huh...”

“Is this some kinda result o’ some potion you made, Zecora? I don’t reckon I’ve seen anythin’ like this thing before…” pondered Applejack.

“I… think it’s… kind of cute for how big it is…” admitted Fluttershy, to the combined shock of the other four mares.

“Why thank you, Fluttershy. Gee, at least ONE o’ you thinks I don’t look ugly…” I remarked. Again, the group stared at me, seeming to register the sound of my voice.

“H-how do you kn-know my name??” The yellow Pegasus asked in total fear, petrified where she stood.

“I’mma give you a hint: Fruit Salad. As in, we ate some fruit salad together earlier today. Y’know, after I helped you with your animals.”

“F-fruit sal…” Once the bells rang in Fluttershy’s pretty little head, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates while her irises and pupils shrunk nearly to the sizes of decimal points. “TY????”

Surprises and Procedures... (Pt. 1)

Surprises and Procedures…! (Pt. 1)

“No way… I-it can’t be…” Applejack stuttered in disbelief.

"But it is," I assured matter-of-factly.

“I don’t believe you!” Pinkie accused. “There's no way YOU could be Ty! Ty is a pony!”

“Ohh, how wrong you are…”

“You’re… you’re a… some kind of alien! I know Ty was from a different universe, but there’s no way Twilight would seriously have a special somepony outside of her own species!"

"Wrong again..."

"She would always go on and on and on about how it would never work and how it would make no logical sense and how neither of the two involved would be able to have foals and how they would face a lot of public trial and trivialamalation and a whole bunch of other stuff I don't remember!” I raised an eyebrow in intrigue at Pinkie's small rant.

"Well now... tha'ss a bit of a curveball..."

"That's 'tribulation,' Pinkie..." Twilight glumly corrected, thus confirming that the pink mare wasn't lying or joking herself.

"Yeah, that!" Pinkie, although jumping the gun, did have good reason to be skeptical… even if said reason WAS a bit unbelievable to me in itself. I looked over at Twilight, who could only lower her head in shame as she looked up at me, seeming to be silently asking for forgiveness.

“Well, I guess I can’t blame either of ‘em. Pinkie DID say Twilight said all that herself an' Twilight probably said somethin' along those lines before she even met me. Nothin’ t’ be upset at her about… but it DOES bring about a topic o' discussion with the unicorn later on…” With that thought, I looked back at Pinkie.

“Well believe it or not, I’m Ty,” I assured.

“Oh yeah? Prove it!” the pink mare challenged.

“And how exactly do you want me t’ do that?”

“Hmm…” she pondered for a second. “Ooh! I know! I’ll ask you a question only the REAL Ty would know the answer to… Something that no faker baker or liar liar pants on fire would know… something so specifically specific that—!”

“Well? What’s your question?” I asked, getting impatient.

“…Okay, Ty— IF you really are him, that is…” she emphasized as she practically teleported in front of me to stare pryingly into my eyes before jumping back to give me some breathing room. “What happened in Canterlot after you broke a Pinkie Promise?” At that, I smirked for a quick second before scowling as I recalled that horrific incident.

“YOU, A.J., and Dashie here beat the crap outta me,” I accused, pointing fingers at all three of them. “I still remember all that nonsense… You with the randomly appearin’ everywhere I went when I tried t’ get away from yo crazy ass... A.J. puttin’ me in a headlock..."

"T' be fair, Ty, ya DID bite me t' get outta said headlock," reasoned the farm mare.

"Point taken. In hindsight, you DID kinda taste like apples, though" I joked. "Not t' say I'mma try an' eat you or nothin'..."

"Heh, wouldn't count on it, sugar cube. Especially since ya'd probably be suckin' yer food through a straw if'in ya tried." Applejack and I shared a short little chuckle at that.

"Duly noted. Now where was I... Oh yea! There was the part where Rainbow took a door t’ the face an’ gave me a black eye for it…"

"And let's not forget about all those piping hot flank-whoopings I deliver to you at your discretion..." the sky blue Pegasus mare quipped, getting a few laughs out of the others. I deadpanned as I brought my gaze to her.

"Forget YOU, Rainbow Dash!" I comically dismissed to her amusement, despite feeling VERY tempted to grace her with a certain one-fingered gesture familiar only amongst humans. "...Oh an’ don’t think I forgot about the part where you butt-slammed on my stomach an’ threw a pie in my face after Rainbow an’ Applejack were done destroyin' me, Pinkamena…”

“WHOA, IT REALLY IS YOU!!” the pink mare finally realized.

“But… what happened t’ you???” asked a dumbfounded Applejack.

“Did… those bad ponies turn you into a monster or something?” added Fluttershy.

“No, wait…” Rainbow began. “If… if I remember it right… I’d say you were… in your human form right now… right?” At that, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Zecora all gawked at the Pegasus and then back at me.

“Yyyep," I confirmed. "Looks like the cat’s out the bag now… I owe most o’ you an explanation. But now’s not the time.”

“He’s right,” Twilight interjected. “I’m not too sure if Fluttershy filled you in on the situation, but—!”

“We got the memo, Twi,” interrupted the farm pony. “We were told Ty was dragged out here by some nasty individuals… but… what’s all this about a ‘human form?’ I thought he was always a pony! Just from a different world.”

“Well… um…” Twilight blushed, lowering her head in what I could speculate was embarrassment. “Actually… he IS from a different universe… but uh… yeah, he was never… actually a pony. THIS is his true form…”

“Ohh…” Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy collectively droned.

“But… why did you have to hide it? And for so long?” asked Pinkie. “I mean, I think it’s amazing how you could find a special somepony in a different world! Even if you did say yourself at one point that you didn’t approve of a pony going into a relationship with a non-pony and he isn’t a pony and looks like a giant, scary monster.”

“Hey…!” I complained.

“Oopsie! I mean… uh… a giant, humungous, really adorable, handsome-looking monster!” she corrected herself with a toothy smile that just oozed her discomfort.

“And I for one congratulate you on ignoring the barriers between your builds in the name of love,” Rarity praised.

“Hmph. Says the one who thinks I look ‘horrifying…’” I flatly remarked. At that, the white unicorn’s cheeks turned pink as she covered her mouth with a hoof, her eyes shifting about nervously.

“Yes, well um… I… didn’t quite mean it like that… I meant er… horrifying as in… intimidating. In terms of looks, minus all the icky Everfree Forest muck sullying your outfit… you’re still uh… pretty dapper,” she said with an uneasy, toothy grin.

“Hm. Nice save. But i’ss okay. I know you all mus’ feel some level o’ disgust or contempt or fear or somethin’ because I’m not a pony like you all are…” I somberly assumed.

“No! Not at all, actually,” Fluttershy countered. “I mean… it IS kind of surprising to find out like this… but even if you’re not a pony, we still know who you are…” as she said that, she slowly, carefully approached me. I could see the apprehension in her eyes and her mannerisms, but I knew she meant well.

“Aww, come ‘ere…” I reached towards her. She shakily let her fore hoof fall into my open hand. I was considerate in that I very slowly wrapped my fingers around it before gently dragging her in for a hug. I heard her squeal in surprise as I wrapped her up in my arms. I placed one of my hands on the back of her neck and softly ran it down. My hand brushed past her wing as each of my digits caressed her svelte, canary yellow, velvety body.

“*GASP* Oh… my… that feels wonderful…” she dreamily whispered as she threw her forelegs around my neck.

“See? I’m just as nice as a human as I am as a pony, no?” I asked in curiosity as I stroked the Pegasus a few more times.

“Y… Ye… mm-hmm…” Fluttershy nuzzled into me, seeming to be warming up in more ways than one.

"I wonder if they ALL get this… relaxed when bein' rubbed by human hands..."

*AHEM* I heard an annoyed voice clear its throat, signaling me to let go. I released the Pegasus to see an upset Twilight glaring at me.

“I think the point has been made clear,” she firmly stated. If I didn’t know better, I’d say she was… jealous! I found that just adorable… but I knew that she didn’t see it my way.

“Yea. Sorry, hon…” I apologized as I reached over to scratch under her chin.

“Mmm… you’re just lucky your hands are so soft…” she murmured, seeming to be cheering up as I rubbed her.

“Does it really feel that good?” inquired a curious Rarity.

“Mm-hmm…” Fluttershy nodded as I saw her walk back to the group, smiling contently. “It was like being wrapped in a soft, tickly blanket…”

“*GASP* I wanna turn! I wanna turn!” Pinkie volunteered, bouncing with glee.

“I’m sure it can’t be THAT great…” Rainbow brashly muttered, not knowing what she was missing out on. “Buuuut… I think I’d like to try it out…”

“Hay, I’d give it a shot myself…” Applejack commented.

“Yes, as sure as I am that you’d all love a rubdown from MY colt-friend, that’s going to have to wait,” Twilight firmly interjected after I’d stopped rubbing her. “Right now, we’ve got to focus on the issue at hoof. Now then…”

Twilight took the moment to bring everypony up to date on the situation, which brought about expectantly alarmed reactions from the other mares.

“How dreadful!” Rarity exclaimed in appall. “Who does this… this… rapscallion think he is!?”

“Does he REALLY think he’s going to lay a hoof on you, much less Princess CELESTIA??” added Rainbow.

“I don’t know how he plans on taking me, but I won’t allow it to happen,” Twilight assured.

“Seems t’ me like he’ll… ow! …go by any means necessary…” I suggested, trying my best to move into a comfortable position despite all the aches and pains I’d triggered by doing so. “I mean… he DID come close to killin’ me… an’ given how long he claims t’ have been watchin’ us… who knows what he might do…”

“This unicorn sounds like quite the creep… it seems no price to pay is too steep,” Zecora began. “And if my dreadful premonition serves to be right… then I’d say his next target could be—!”

“Spike!!” Twilight shouted in horror.

“Aww damn…” I muttered. I could only hope that Zecora’s prediction was wrong.

“No! Not little Spikey-Wikey!” shouted Rarity.

“Oh no! We have to go back to the library! Pronto!” Twilight announced. With that, the six pony mares took on collective looks of worry as they readied themselves to leave the hut. I tried to get up myself, but found it very hard, not only because everything hurt, but also because this house was so small.

“Ty… I… I think you should stay here for now…” Twilight suggested, to my bewilderment.

“What?? Why?”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go running into Ponyville in your current form. Plus, you don’t seem to be in much of a condition to run all the way back to the library from here…”

“You can’t jus’ like… teleport us there?”

“I don’t have enough energy to take all seven of us there at the moment. I used a great deal of it when I was searching for you. And I regret to say I don’t exactly have enough to heal you, much less change you back and then run back to the library from here…” I was speechless. My disappointment at her words left me without the ability to argue against her. She was right in that I shouldn’t go running through town as I am. But was there really NOTHING I could do?

“Twi… I—!”

“We don’t have time to argue over this. I need to go and make sure Spike’s okay…”

“…fine. Go,” I dejectedly conceded. I could tell she felt bad, because when I looked at her, she wore a similar look to that of a child who’d had to say their final goodbyes to a beloved pet.

“Ty… you know if I had any better choices, I’d go with those. I… I understand that you’d rather go with us… but right now, that’s much too risky.” I sighed in regret as I looked to the ground. She trotted up to me, climbing onto my lap and grabbing my face with her hooves to direct my attention to her. “I’ll come back for you as soon as I can. Please understand that this for the best… I-I have to go now.” With that, the unicorn gave me a kiss and a lengthy hug. Once again, I picked up that strange, musky scent emulating from her.

"What is that smell? It ain't exactly offensive... but seriously, that odor is strong!"

"Beats me, but... whatever it is... i'ss kinda gettin' me excited..."

"...Seriously?"

"Don't ask why, but... I think there's somethin' about that smell that jus' makes me wanna stand at attention..."

"...Right. I'mma get back t' you on that, cuz now ain't the time..."

Twilight and I reluctantly separated before she turned around to rejoin her friends. I watched helplessly as they said their goodbyes to Zecora before they turned to me. All I could bring myself to do was wave at each of them, offering a half-smile to see them off.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. She pulled a slice of chocolate cake out of her mane (a feat of hers I have STILL yet to discover how she accomplishes) before dashing toward me, climbing onto me. "Now say 'ahhh...'"

"What am I, a baby? I don't need you feedin' me no cake like I-- *SPLAT* ACK!!"

"Good boy...! You ARE a boy... right?" It took all the energy I had left in me to refrain from doing something I might've regretted doing to the energetic party pony. Despite this, and with a mouthful of cake, I simply shut my eyes and nodded, patting her on the head. She reacted with one of her hyperactive little giggling fits as she leapt off of me. "Fluttershy was right! That DOES feel good. And remember your Pinkie promise about eating sweets every day!" she reminded as she regrouped with the other five pony mares. In a moment, the six mares were out the door and I was left stranded in the middle of the forest with only a zebra to keep me company.

“Fret not, strange being; ‘tis not the end. In the meantime, would you like a new friend?” asked Zecora, taking note of the disappointment scribbled across my face.

“*Gulp*…sure. Do you have any milk, by the way?”

My friends and I bolted through the Everfree forest with no regard towards the dangers that lurked about. We needed to get back to the library A.S.A.P. and nothing was going to get in our way.

“Twilight. Do you think it was a good idea to leave Ty back there?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“To be perfectly honest, Rainbow… that was the LAST thing I’d wanted to do… But you saw how beaten up he looked. Plus, we really don’t need the distraction of trying to calm the entire town down enough to accept a human while there’s the possibility of a dangerous enemy we have to deal with…”

“Quick question, Twi…” Applejack spoke. “When were y’all gonna reveal this whole ‘human’ thing to us? I mean, it’s been quite a while since you two got together… were y’all plannin’ on keepin it secret the whole time?”

“No. We WERE working on telling you before we found a proper method of revealing his existence to the rest of Ponyville. But neither of us was really very focused on the matter lately. We’re both to blame for our growing complacency in terms of the subject… I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to apologize, dear,” Rarity addressed. “It’s quite understandable that you couldn’t find a suitable time to introduce this… most stupefying news with us… or rather, MOST of us, considering Rainbow Dash’s knowledge…”

“I only knew that he wasn’t actually a pony,” Rainbow countered. “That and that he was human. Until just a minute ago, I had no idea what he looked like as a human… To be honest, you were right, Rarity. He DID look kind of intimidating... Not enough to scare ME of course, but you know what I mean.” We made it out of the forest and continued our dash through the town.

“Still, he seems nice as a human,” Fluttershy stated.

“You’re only saying that because you got that apparently-wonderful back rub,” Rarity humorously countered.

“*GASP* No…! Well… maybe a little… but whether he’s a pony or not, we know he’s nice enough that we can accept him…”

“Yeah, but what about the rest of the town?” Pinkie asked. “You guys remember what happened when Zecora first showed up, right? Even WE didn’t like her or give her a fair chance. The only pony to do so was Apple Bloom.”

“That’s true,” replied Applejack. “But I wouldn’t be able t’ speak on behalf o’ the whole town in Ty’s case. He was… so much bigger ‘n’ Zecora… or any of us. I mean, he’s still a mite smaller than say, a dragon or a bear, but he looked big enough t’ give Ponyville a fright.”

“Well this time, I’m sure Ponyville’s much more accepting of sentient beings who aren’t ponies by this point, right?” I rhetorically inquired. “I’m not saying the fear factor is gone completely, but all things considered, I don't think we should have too hard a time welcoming him into Ponyville in human form… it’s just a matter of when we can do so…” With that, we eventually made it to the library. I didn’t hesitate to practically break the door down as I hastily entered the house.

“Spike!!” I called. “Spiiike!”

“What is it!? Why are you screaming?” answered a familiar voice as its owner came waddling down the stairs, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“Oh thank Celestia you’re okay!” I galloped toward the small dragon and hugged him tight, inadvertently causing him to choke.

“Yeah, I’m… okay. Can you… ack! …let go of me now?” I obliged immediately, releasing my beloved #1 assistant. “What’s the big idea? And where’s Ty? I thought you were looking for him, not me.”

“We found him. We left him at Zecora’s.”

“Oh. Well why didn’t you bring him back here?”

“Whoever kidnapped him stole the magic energy he had, which forced him to revert back to human form. We couldn’t risk alarming the town while we came back to make sure you were okay.”

“I see… so the bastard’s still alive, is he…?” Spike said in a suddenly menacing tone, confusing me beyond belief.

“Excuse me? What do you mean?” I asked.

“Oh nothing… except that I’ve just gotten a brilliant new idea!” he answered in a voice VERY much unlike his own. I stepped back as he began to glow bright silver. In an instant, the dragon standing before me was replaced by a unicorn stallion… with red eyes… and black hair… and a tan coat…

“Wh…? Who are you!? What have you done to Spike!?” I asked in inherent anger as I took a stance of battle. The girls followed suit as they lined up next to me, looking as ready to fight as I was.

“Ladies, ladies, relax!” the invader calmly said. “I assure you, your little pet dragon is fine… in the care of my partner here…” just then, another figure materialized beside him. In an instantaneous flash of dark purple, a unicorn mare appeared beside him, levitating my poor, distraught assistant in a sphere of magic. He was frantically banging on the walls of the magic field, trying to break free, to no avail.

“Spikey!” Rarity shouted. “You ruffians let go of him this instant!!”

“Or you’ll regret messin’ with us!” added Applejack.

“Oh? And what will you do if I don’t?” dared the stallion.

“We’ll—!”

“Oh! Before you answer that… Excuse me for a moment.” With that, the stallion powered up his horn and performed a teleportation spell, leaving us with his partner in crime, who had Spike still trapped in a magic sphere…

“Why do you rhyme everything when you talk?” I asked Zecora in a mix of bewilderment and interest.

“Why does the sun rise?” she asked back, smirking at me as she was brewing something in a giant cauldron. “Why are there blue skies? Why is it that your name is Ty?”

“Y’know, there’s actual explanations for all those things… even IF the explanations I have might contradict the answers considered ‘correct’ here…”

“My speaking in rhyme is simply natural. It defies explanation, whether fantastic or factual.”

“Oh yeah? Well I got a bit of a screwball for ya…”

“I see… so no matter WHAT, you just rhyme two things together? Like… some sort of impulse?”

“In a sense, you could say it is impulse to rhyme. But is it impulse when I willingly do so all the time?”

“Okay then…” I slyly replied, smirking. “What rhymes with O—!”

*POOF*

“Oh, hello there!” said a new voice as its owner teleported into the hut without warning. Gillian had come back, alone this time. “I heard you survived our little… confrontation in the woods.”

“You…!” I angrily rasped, preparing to fight, despite the pain.

“How dare you trespass into my abode uninvited?! Leave now or face the risk of being smited!” Zecora shouted in outrage.

“Oh please…” Gillian retorted, chuckling with spite.

“What? Are you here t’ finish me…?” I asked, feeling a mix of intense aggression and fear.

“Oh no, not at all! What would give you the idea that I…” he stopped himself, realizing the error in his statement. “…you know what? Forget I asked. In any case, I just got this brilliant idea and you’re going to be playing along.”

“Like hell I am!” with that, I ignored the twinges and bursts of pain as I wrathfully lunged towards the unicorn. I saw his horn taking on a silver glow, but before he could cast a spell, I managed to lay a hand on his mane, causing him to lose his focus. Before either of us knew it, we’d gotten into a physical altercation with him swinging away at me with his fore hooves as I tried to subdue him with holds and the occasional punch while we rolled on the ground. We quickly rolled out of the hut as we scuffled, but not before presumably destroying a good amount of Zecora’s decorations.

I have to say, he was a tough opponent. Not nearly as tough as Rainbow on a bad day, but still; what he lacked in physical strength, he made up for in magic. Every time I’d managed to put him into some kind of submission hold or get him in a position wherein I could easily start hammering away at him, he’d just teleport out of it and come charging back at me for more. Other instances while we fought, he’d use his magic to take hold of one of my limbs and pull it to an entirely uncomfortable position before I’d manage to hit him or shake him off with a free arm or leg. The scuffle culminated in him teleporting out of one last position I’d gotten him into where I managed to land a solid hit on his eye.

“Okay, that’s enough of this… you’re coming with me!” with that, he cast a spell that enveloped my entire body, lifting me very high up into the air. Struggle as I might, I was totally unable to break free.

*WHAP* “Ow!” the unicorn shouted. I went crashing oh-so gracefully into the ground, welcoming a face full of mud. I groggily pulled myself up enough to see Gillian holding his head in pain as he turned around. Behind him was a highly upset zebra wielding what looked like some kind of bamboo staff and a yellow saddlebag slung around her shoulder.

“Begone, villainous unicorn! For you, there’s much more than that in store!” she warned.

“Oh, you best believe I’ll be back for you, zebra…” the stallion spat. “But as for right now, I came here for the human, so we’ll continue this another time!” With that, he dashed over towards me, placed a hoof on my shoulder and with a flash of his horn, everything went black as we were both dematerialized…

*POOF* “Welcome to Ponyville, asshole!” he taunted as he let go of me. I looked around to see that we were indeed teleported to the middle of Ponyville; just outside of Town Hall, to be exact. But he wasn’t done there. He shot a blast of magic into the air and with a thunderous *BOOM*, a giant white arrow appeared over the area in which he stood and I lay in a substantially worse off condition than he’d initially left me in. “Oh, and before I go… one for the road!”

*THUMP!* “Oof! Augh, you fuckin’ coward…!” the jerk kicked me in the stomach while I was down before stepping back, waving and smirking as he cast another teleportation spell on himself and disappeared.

“Ohhohoh, if I get another chance, I am gonna whup his ASS…!” With that thought, I rolled over onto my back and anticipated the inevitable, being too riddled with fatigue and aching to try to run and hide. As expected, ponies began to walk out of their homes to inspect what the noise was that disrupted their presumably mundane, quiet evening, only to instead lay their widened, fearful glassy eyes on a nearly passed-out human being lying on the ground dirty, beaten, weak and in a lot of pain...

“What do you two want? Why are you two plotting to overthrow Princess Celestia?” I asked, demanding a good reason for their misdeeds.

“It’s… not so much what WE want… it’s more of what he wants,” the mare answered, to our surprise. “I’m just here to support my one true love…”

“What do you mean?” asked Rainbow.

“I mean that whatever he wants, I’ll give it to him! He wants me? I’m all his. He wants to terrorize Ponyville? I’m there beside him. He wants to do away with Celestia? I’ll be the one to watch in glee as he sits atop her throne as Equestria’s new emperor…”

"The NERVE of these guys...!"

“But… why?” asked Fluttershy in horror. “Don’t you see all the ponies you’ll be hurting in the process? Or the human you've already hurt?"

“That’s none of MY concern who gets hurt…” the mare coldly replied, much to my dismay.

“…well what if… YOU were hurt?” Rarity asked. “Would it be your concern then? How do you think your friend would react?” The cerulean mare seemed to have been stricken with that question. She lost her composure as she looked down in thought. Just then, a distant booming sound shook all of us out of our stare down. A second later, the evil stallion rematerialized next to her, now sporting a few scratches & cuts and a black eye.

“Whew! What a hassle...”

“What happened to you, honey?” asked the mare as she inspected the damage.

“That miserable human, that’s what…”

“What miserable human?” I asked, growing increasingly upset.

“Your boyfriend. You know any other humans that exist here? Lemme tell you; he put up quite the fight. But I’d like to say my business with him is all taken care of…”

“What did you do to him!!?” I shouted.

“Relax, Twilight Sparkle. I didn’t do too much. Just got into a bit of a tussle with him before I brought him to the middle of Ponyville. I also made sure to draw a lot of attention to him so everyone in this town can know your dirty little secret...” he chuckled menacingly at his own remark, serving to further irritate me. “To be perfectly honest, I’d expected him to be much less… resistant, considering what Comet and I had done to him beforehand… I suppose I have that meddlesome forest-dwelling zebra to blame for undoing my work.”

“What?? Oh no…!”

“Oh and before you worry that cute little head of yours, the zebra’s fine… for NOW, anyway. In any case, YOU have a decision to make: Try to save your precious little dragon at the cost of prolonging the amount of time your boyfriend spends scaring the public? Or go fetch him now while we make our daring escape to a more… reasonable location to negotiate how things are going down…? The choice is yours, my pretty little pony…”

This conniving jerk had me stuck between a rock and a hard place… I wasn’t sure WHAT to do… attempt to free Spike but then have a large portion of Ponyville catching sight of Ty and having the town quite possibly enter a state of panic, thus having him taken away by Ponyville authorities… or go and bring him back as soon as I could at the cost of this stallion and his companion taking Spike away, thereby disabling me from the quickest way to warn Princess Celestia of the impending threat?

There were so many factors to consider, and little to no time to consider them. At the very least, I had my friends to back me up, no matter what decision I made... But then, I knew his magic had been augmented by a sample of my own, and I was running low as it was. In addition, it was me he was after.

“What does he want to use me for? I figure he’s using Spike as bait to try and capture me, but I can’t leave him in their clutches… But then what about Ty? I’m confident he can find his way here… in the case that he has enough strength left to do so. But if I left him to come back on his own, who’s to say he wouldn’t meet stern resistance from vigilante citizens or the police and possibly be captured and dragged away? I really can't afford to let THAT possibility come to fruition, either... Hmm… AHA! I’ve got it!”

“Well, Ms. Sparkle? What’ll it be?”

Surprises and Procedures... (Pt. 2)

Surprises and Procedures…! (Pt. 2)

“Fluttershy! Pinkie! Rarity! Go and find Ty!” I ordered after a brief moment of thought.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” “Okay.” “But… what about Spike?” two of the three agreed in unison. Rarity seemed to have been torn about the decision.

“I… I can’t fathom the idea of little Spike being taken away by those… those brutes!” she complained.

“Hey!” the stallion complained.

“Seriously? NOT the time, Rarity!”

“I’ve got this under control, Rarity. Whatever happens, Spike will be okay. I can and I WILL make sure of that. Now go,” I ordered.

“Twilight, are you absolu—!”

“I said GO!!” I snapped, to the shock of the fashionista. “The more time you waste thinking about what may possibly happen here, the bigger the risk of Ty being taken away by the authorities becomes! Find him and bring him back here immediately!” Wordlessly, the white unicorn agreed as she, the pink Earth mare, and the yellow Pegasus mare turned to head out the door. Just before they were gone, however, Rarity shot me one last look of worry. I assured her as best I could by smiling. She smiled back before hurriedly turning around and bolting out of the library.

“Okay… with that, I have the two strongest mares I know backing me up in the case that things get physical… That and this library won’t be such a mess after any possibly complicating situations. In addition, if they find him soon enough, we hopefully minimize his exposure to the public… For a given definition of 'minimize.' But now I have to focus on how to save Spike…”

“Alright you… what’s your deal? Who are you? What do you want with me?” I asked in the calmest tone I could muster, although it came out very contemptuous. I couldn't help but notice that the stallion was grinning at me.

“My name is Gillian,” he simply replied. “And nothing, Twilight Sparkle. I want nothing from you. It’s Celestia who I want something from. You’re simply the only way I can get to her in the first place. I was actually hoping you'd send some of your friends off to find your boyfriend, by the way. Makes things a whole lot easier...” He chuckled to himself.

"That's not good... at the very least, we still have them outnumbered. Plus, it's Applejack and Rainbow Dash backing me up. We should be fine. As for his intentions however..."

“What makes you think I’ll just agree to whatever nefarious scheme you’re conjuring against her?”

“Well… I DO have your little pet dragon in my possession… and you wouldn’t want anything BAD to happen to him… would you?”

“You wouldn’t DARE harm a scale on his head!” Rainbow Dash challenged, flaring her wings and readying herself for battle.

“Oh boy, I REALLY hope a fight doesn’t break out in here… I thoroughly cleaned this place FOUR times over the last week or so…”

“Ooh, feisty… But I’m sure you wouldn’t want any… unfortunate accidents to happen, would you?” the stallion known as Gillian asked with a wink towards his accomplice. The mare willed the orb holding Spike prisoner in front of us. The dragon was still trying his hardest to break free.

"I dunno why y'all are doin' this, but ya ain't gettin' past us!" A.J. boldly stated. "We'll make sure of it!"

"Applejack... how cute of you to be there for your friends," Gillian mocked. "However, as the bearer of the Element of Honesty, I'd expect you to know better than to lie..."

"Lyin'? What in the hay are y'all talkin' about? Why would I lie about anythin'? And how do YOU know what Element o' Harmony I wear?"

"Because... you WON'T hinder me from my plans. That, I can promise you. And come on, don't be so modest. You girls are more famous than you think... MUCH more famous than you think..." At that remark, he smirked.

“Okay, I’ve had just about enough of this!” Rainbow angrily stated, apparently losing her patience before moving at a blinding speed and attacking the mare.

"Ouch!!" cried the mare as she flinched in despair. Rainbow Dash was quick to flick her horn with her fore hoof, disrupting her spell and releasing Spike. Immediately, the dragon picked himself up and ran behind me. In that same instant, Rainbow entered a physical altercation with her target.

“Spike, are you okay?” I asked with great concern.

“Y-yeah… these two just came out of nowhere! They were gonna use me to try and capture you… LOOK OUT!” he shouted, pointing ahead of me. I turned to be greeted with a blast of silver energy heading directly towards me.

*SLAM* The blast hit me full force, sending me flying into the wall just beside the door, which I hit back-first. Although it surprised me and hurt quite a lot, it was far from enough to do me in. I gingerly recovered from the sneak attack, shaking my head with a newfound sense of fury.

“Twilight!" A.J. called to me as she looked back in horror before turning toward Gillian in anger. "Oh, you bet’cher flank yer gonna be payin' fer THAT…!” Applejack said to the stallion before lunging at him. As much as I’d wanted to jump into the battle, I needed to make sure my #1 assistant was as far away from danger as possible. He rushed over towards me to make sure I was okay.

“Spike, you need to get out of here. If you can, find Rarity and the others. They’re on their way to get Ty. Go to them. And whether Rainbow, A.J., and I make it back to you or not, I need you to warn the Princess. Got it?” I quietly instructed him as I cast simultaneous levitation spells on a quill, an inkwell, a sheet of parchment, and a table cloth I’d made into a carrying sack to hold the supplies. I levitated the bag to Spike before hugging him.

“I… are you sure about this?"

"Yes. If anything, it's better that you make it out before I do."

"...please stay safe, Twi…” he fearfully requested as he returned the hug.

“I will. Now go.” With that, the dragon was on his way out of the library to complete his mission.

“Now with that out of the way, I can concentrate on the scuffle going on here…” I turned my attention to the two juxtaposing fights going on. Rainbow seemed to be doing a good job keeping the mare at bay, the two rolling about the floor like animals as their hooves swung wildly at one another. Applejack’s situation, however, wasn’t quite as fortunate. Gillian had been toying with her. He was in a stationary position, placing magic shields up every time she tried to cuff him and taunting the Earth pony as she attacked, causing her to grow angrier and angrier at him. I took it as a perfect opportunity to make a move. With intense focus, I cast a spell that immobilized his hooves to keep him from moving, all the while making sure it wasn’t detected. It seemed to go unnoticed as the arrogant stallion continued to incur A.J.’s wrath.

“Applejack!” I called. “Can you move just a LITTLE to the right, please?”

“Huh?” She was thoroughly shaken out of her rage as she looked back at me. I flashed a quick wink, which she read as me having a plan. She smiled with confidence as she obeyed my order. In that instant, I powered up my horn.

“What do you think YOU’RE going to do? Hell, do you think I’ll just stand here as yo—?” I didn’t let him finish his statement before I launched a powerful magic blast at him.

*ZAP* “AAGH!” the spell hit its mark. After maybe a nanosecond, the magenta aura of my spell dissipated around him. “Oh… wow, that didn’t hurt at all. I thought you were supposed to be the strong… wait… my hooves! I can’t move!”

“You also won’t be able to use magic for a little while,” I added to his astonishment as his jaw dropped and his eyes widened. “That spell I just hit you with? It was a level two disabling spell. So while you’re not going anywhere…”

“I sure hope that was worth the amount of energy I put into it… I’m just about spent at this point… That should at least eliminate the possibility of him utilizing the portion of my magic he stole from Ty for the duration of time that spell holds for...”

“Applejack?”

“With MUCH pleasure…” the Earth mare smirked as she positioned herself in front of Gillian, facing towards me. She lifted up onto her forelegs, just about ready to buck the intruder halfway into Cloudsdale when…

“Wait!” I shouted. “Please don’t aim towards any of the library shelves…” I requested.

“Oh! Right. Pardon me. Ya might wanna open that there door an’ get clear, then…” wordlessly, I obliged, reopening the front door wide and stepping out of the way. Applejack moved behind Gillian, snickering as she did so. “Pardner… You’re about t’ find out EXACTLY what you’ll get when ya mess with a bull…”

“Comet… Comet. Comet!” Gillian shouted in a tone that sounded much like fear. Attentively, the mare heard his cries and despite being tangled with Rainbow Dash, saw her leader’s compromising situation.

“Honey!” the mare shouted from under the blue Pegasus. “Get off of me, you cow!” with that, the mare lit up her horn and hit Rainbow with a particularly strong blast of magic, sending her hurtling into the ceiling with a voluminous *BOOM*. The mare quickly picked herself up at try and assault Applejack, but I wasn’t going to have it. Thinking quickly, I rushed toward the mare and, digging into the almost depleted reserves of my magic energy, shot a small flare at her hooves.

*POP* “Ouch!” she yelled. Despite this, she still barreled towards A.J. with intense determination. With no other choice at this point, I charged full-speed at an angle I was confident would intercept her.

*BOOM* “OOF!” *CRASH* I was too late… the cerulean mare rammed Applejack hard, sending her flying into a nearby bookshelf. The resulting impact caused books of various sizes to rain all over her and bury her. Before I could make another move myself, the mare used her magic to undo the immobilization spell I’d cast on Gillian.

"Dammit!"

“Thank you, my dear…” he said to her before turning his gaze to me. “You’re quite the strategist, aren’t you? I’m impressed. Actually, I’m more impressed than I am angry…” he trotted towards me, smiling sinisterly. “…and while we’re on the subject of anger…” he raised his hoof high, seeming as if to hit me as his smirk faded into a contemptuous, wrathful sneer. I squeezed my eyes shut and turned away, waiting for what I perceived to be the inevitable.

*SMACK* “ARGH!” My eyes shot open to see Rainbow Dash, seeming to be badly damaged and in a VERY foul mood, glaring angrily at the stallion, panting heavily. I looked over towards Gillian in surprise to see him clutching his snout.

“Don't you DARE lay a hoof on my friends!" Rainbow shouted, absolutely livid.

"How dare you!?” the mare shouted as her horn took on a glow of dark purple. In an instant, she blasted the Pegasus with another attack, sending her hurtling.

*CRASH* Rainbow hit the wall behind me; and hard...

“Rainbow!” I cried with worry. I turned around and was just about to rush over to see if she was okay when…

*BOOM* I was blindsided by Gillian who rammed me, sending me rolling across the library floor. During the fall, I’d tried to stop myself, only to awkwardly straighten one of my forelegs out. I accidentally landed on it in an uncomfortable position as an enormous wave of pain shot through it. I slowly picked myself back up to stand, but I had to lift my foreleg off of the ground to accommodate for the pain pulsing through it.

“This is bad… Rainbow… Applejack… they’re both unconscious… and I’m just about out of magic and now I’m injured… What else can I do…?”

“I think I’d… like to call this little fight a draw,” Gillian stated, still holding his snout, which seemed to be leaking red. “But next time we meet, you won’t be so lucky. In fact… Comet?”

“Yes dear?” the mare answered.

“Which one of these two mares between the Earth pony and the Pegasus do you think we should take as a trophy?”

“A… trophy? I thought we were here to take the unicorn in order to get to Celestia?”

“Yes, but without that dragon, she’ll have a way of knowing we’re here. It seems he’s already escaped and that’s already a compromising situation in that he’s able to send messages directly to her."

"Shouldn't we just go and fetch the dragon then?"

"Trust me hon, I'd love to do just that. But chances are he's in the middle of town, and trying to take him from there would prove disastrous; especially since my magic's been temporarily disabled..."

"Disabled??" the mare asked in shock.

"Yep. I have THIS one to thank for it," he answered, pointing an accusing hoof at me. "But anyway, the dragon's likely sent a letter already, alerting her of our presence. Buuuut, that human should likely serve as a nice distraction should she send guards here or decide to come herself. Plus, taking one of the other two would ensure that this one will come looking for us AND that our demands are met…”

“You won’t be doing ANY of that!” I screamed. “You—!”

“You can do nothing to stop us, Twilight!” he interrupted. “You’re just lucky we’re not taking you yet! Between you, these two, that wretched human and that… that… rhyming zebra…” His expression changed immediately from one of smug triumph to one of a realization.

“Zecora? What do you plan on doing with Ze—!”

“Comet: Change of plans. We take the zebra.”

“Okay... but, if I may ask… why?” Comet inquired.

“If we take the Pegasus or the Earth pony, we’ll likely alert the town to them missing, and unless there's the off chance of them thinking our extraterrestrial pawn was the cause of the disappearance, we'd likely be hunted down by much more than our intended audience. On the contrary, that zebra doesn’t live in Ponyville. In fact, she lives deep in the Everfree Forest, where no one would suspect her going missing. If we take her, the town can focus on what to do with the creature I’m sure is still in the middle of town scaring the hell out of every pony he comes across! Even IF those other mares find him.” he turned his attention back to me. “As for you, my dear lavender unicorn…”

“I’ve heard enough of this convoluted plot! I need to stop them! Now!” Not wanting to waste another moment listening to the cold, calculating contemplations of the cruel couple, I took the stance of a bull and charged what little energy I had left in my horn to try and ensnare them. Unfortunately, my horn fizzled out and the magic died down due to a lack of sufficient energy as I nearly collapsed on the spot, panting heavily.

“Aw, what’s the matter? Feeling a bit tired? Maybe you should rest up. We’ve got a date tomorrow…”

“What… hah… do you mean…?” I asked, out of breath, but my anger boiling over.

“I mean that when we take your zebra friend, we want you to meet us at her dainty little hut in the forest to get her back… alone. If you don’t come by around 3:00 PM or if we even THINK you’ve brought someone else with you… let’s just say Celestia will be your SECOND most pressing concern… You'd better hope your little pet hasn't sent that letter yet...” with that, he began to laugh as he tried powering up his horn. When he realized it wasn’t working, he stopped laughing immediately. He tried once again with a comical grunt, only to fail. “Oh… Right. YOU put me under that stupid disabling spell…” I smirked in satisfaction despite my foreleg feeling like it was being squeezed like a lemon.

“That’s what you get, you arrogant jerk! You’ll have a lot more to worry about once everyone’s in tip-top shape, too…!”

“Comet, could you be a dear?”

“Of course, my sugar pie…” Comet placed a hoof on Gillian’s back, powered up her horn and with a *POOF*, they were gone.

“*Sigh* great… I need to make sure A.J. and Rainbow are okay, I need to go and find the others, I need to make sure Zecora doesn’t fall into the clutches of those rotten troublemaking villains, and I need to warn the Princess of impending danger…”

“Not to mention I have to find a way to tell Ty that I’m in heat, all the while possibly being forced to explain to everypony in town what he is, why he isn’t a threat to anypony, and why I know so much about him. Then there’s the fact I have to do ALL of that with my magic depleted and my leg sprained… Gah, I REALLY don’t need all this extra rubbish on my plate right now…!” With a mighty huff and sigh of exasperation, I moved to first dig Applejack out of the pile of encyclopedias and archaeological textbooks. Surely enough, there she was, seeming to just be waking up.

“Ah, my head… What happened t’ those no-good varmints?” she asked in a semi-daze as she was coming to.

“They’re gone… for now. Can you stand?”

“I…think so… Ooh!” she exclaimed as she clutched her head. “By Celestia’s mane, my head feels like I took a buck from Big Macintosh t’ the temple…”

“Ooh, sounds bad… stay here while I go and check on Rainbow…” with that, I stepped away from the farm mare and limped toward the Pegasus sprawled out by the open front door. “Rainbow. Rainbow? Rainbow Dash! Can you hear me?” I asked, nudging her as best I could without the use of one of my forelegs. I got no response.

“Oh no, they knocked her out cold… Guess neither of them is coming with me.”

"What a way to make things harder...! Fantastic...!"

“Hey Applejack.”

“What is it, Twi?”

“Can you bring Rainbow up to my room? I’m at a bit of a handicap at the moment and I urgently need to meet up with the others. Can you stay here and watch over her and the library while I’m gone?”

“Sure thing…” she agreed as she placed her hat back on her head and trotted slowly toward me. “And while yer at it… is it okay if I sleep here tonight? My head really hurts…”

“Sure. You and Rainbow can use the guest bed you and Rarity used during our slumber party. Now I have to get going. Be back soon, okay?”

“Got it, sugar cube. Now then…” she trailed off as she wrapped a foreleg around the unconscious Rainbow. “Come along now. Y’all are in a worse off condition than I am…” the farm pony muttered as she, with considerable effort, hoisted the Pegasus up, making sure that she landed on her back. With that, I nodded and exited the library, making sure to shut the door behind me.

“Alright… If I’m not mistaken… that Gillian character mentioned that he transported Ty just outside of Town Hall… well, here goes nothing…” I began my awkward, painfully limping trek, occasionally whimpering in despair along the way…

“What IS that thing??”

“Where did it come from??”

“Is it dangerous??”

I was surrounded by ponies of all shapes and sizes, every single one of them gawking and staring at me as if I was from an entirely different world… which, I was. But I digress. I moved to sit up, but I refrained from standing, considering how I would likely have towered over almost everything around me. Judging by Twilight’s height as compared to my own, I’d have to say the average pony leveled at around my knees... if not a bit taller than that. Nonetheless, I raised a hand, causing everypony around me to go silent with intense fear.

“Uh… I come in peace. I mean you no harm,” I announced as I gently waved my hand and looked around.

“It speaks our language!?” shouted a stranger amongst the crowd.

“I ain't too sure if they call it 'English' here, but I'm sure o' one thing: Do NOT let them know who I am... at least, not now...”

“Yes. I am er… fluent in… the Equestrian dialect.”

“But how?”

“Where are you from?”

“Are you an alien?”

“Who are you?”

“What are you?” Of course, I was being hammered with question after question after question at a rate I couldn’t deliver properly articulated responses to as the crowd of ponies began to talk amongst each other about the alien that sat before them.

“Lyra! Wait, don’t go near it! It could hurt you!” I heard a voice shout from my left.

“I need to, Bon Bon! I want to see what this thing is!” the pony in question shouted back. I saw a familiar minty green, spiky-haired unicorn mare step out of the crowd and tread carefully towards me.

“Oh thank goodness, it’s Lyra. But I can’t jus' tell her who I am right here… I can’t exactly call her by her name either... Or else I might get her in trouble…”

“Hey there, strange creature,” I said in a false sense of cluelessness.

“Strange? Me? If anypony is strange here, it’s you,” she remarked.

“True. Um… wh-why do you approach me unhindered, indigenous being?”

“Because unlike everypony else here, I’m not quite so afraid of new things,” she boldly replied.

“Tha’ss good t’ know.”

“I see…”

“Plus… something about you… seems… familiar…” at that, I flinched in surprise. The unicorn mare circled around me, possibly inspecting for signs of danger. She stopped at the hand I was resting on my knee. “But it’s not your bodily form I’m picking up the vibe from… although I do find it VERY intriguing… Say something casual.”

“Somethin’ casual? Like what?” I asked, accidentally losing my mystical foreigner accent and replacing it with my usual foreigner accent. I verbally shot myself in the foot again by covering my mouth.

“Shit!”

“*GASP* I’ve got an idea of who you are!” she exclaimed, much to the shock of the audience as they spoke amongst themselves once again.

“Y-you do?”

“At least… I think I do… are you familiar with any ponies around these parts?”

“I um… I can’t say I am…” I lied.

“There you are!” shouted another voice from behind. I craned my head around to see Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all rushing towards me. “We need to go back to the library! Twilight’s in trouble!” Pinkie informed much to my dismay; not so much because I got caught lying, but more so because Twilight wasn’t safe.

“Oh no, wha’ss goin’ on over there??”

“That meanie pants that kidnapped you was there and he took Spike and then he told us that he went back and brought you out here so then Twilight told us to come and get you so that we could bring you back to the library without anypony seeing you so nopony would panic!”

“Oh… but… we’re kinda late for the ‘nopony seein’ us’ part…” I commented as I stretched out an arm to gesture towards the crowd of bewildered onlookers. “And given that you jus’ screamed all that out, tha’ss prolly gonna make things worse…”

“Oh… oopsie!” the pink mare shot me a nervous smile. “At least I didn’t tell them your name was T—! OOP!” I clasped a hand around her muzzle so she wouldn’t screw the pooch further by blurting out my name, quickly followed by the hooves of Fluttershy and Rarity joining in.

“Goddammit, Pinkie!”

“Okayyy, le’ss jus’ go back t’ the library, huh?” I asked, visibly annoyed as I let go of the Earth pony's mouth.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” with that, the three mares moved to help me up before we began to make our trip back to Twilight’s home.

“Wait!!” shouted Lyra amongst the clamoring bystanders. “I’m not done yet! Who are you?”

“Maybe some other time, Lyra,” I hurriedly responded before quickly slapping my hand over my mouth.

“Ohh, we need to get out of here! Now!” I ran off immediately, followed by Pinkie, Fluttershy and Rarity. We didn’t get too far away from Town Hall, but after some twists and turns, we’d managed to escape the crowd of townsfolk. We waited a few minutes before the coast was clear. Once things seemed to smooth out, we began our trek back to the library. Not even a minute later, we ran into Spike, who was out of breath and carrying a sack of some sort. Rarity didn’t hesitate to wrap him up in an enthusiastic hug.

“Oh, my little Spikey-Wikey! You’ve escaped!”

“Y-yeah…!” Spike managed to choke out. “It’s nice to see you too, Rarity…!” after a couple minutes of her squeezing him like her personal teddy bear, she eventually let him go. “How did you manage to break free of the mare that was holding you captive?”

“I have Rainbow Dash to thank for that. She hit the other mare on the horn, causing her to lose her focus on the spell holding me,” answered the young purple dragon. At that, Rarity flinched and brought a hoof to her own horn.

“Oh dear… A unicorn’s horn is such a delicate thing when there’s magic running through it… I still cringe at the memory of the time Sweetie Belle flicked my horn when I was caught snooping through her saddlebag…” the unicorn piqued my curiosity.

“And why would you be doin’ somethin’ like that, if I might ask?” I inquired.

“I… er… it’s none of your concern,” the unicorn curtly replied to my amusement, turning her head away.

“What happened with Twilight and the others?” asked Fluttershy.

“I… I dunno,” Spike answered with uncertainty. “Right after Rainbow freed me, that stallion hit Twilight with a blast of magic and sent her flying into the wall.” Hearing that instantly sent a wave of unease through my gut, which frustrated me as I gritted my teeth and furrowed my eyebrows.

“Oh, now I’m REALLY gonna beat his ass…!”

“My word! Is she alright?” asked an appalled Rarity.

“Yeah. She wasn’t too hurt by the attack. She gathered all the stuff in this bag right here before sending me out to follow you guys.”

“Aww no…” I murmured in a tone of great disquiet. “We should prolly continue back there now. No use standin’ here.”

“Twilight!” Pinkie hollered, pointing ahead of us. I wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved to see that she wasn’t captured by Gillian and Comet, or angered to see that she’d been limping and grimacing in despair, seemingly unable to place her right foreleg down. Her hair was frizzier than before and she looked to have gained a scratch or two. All of us rushed over to the injured unicorn and surrounded her.

“Are you okay, dear?” asked Rarity. “You seem to have been in quite the debacle!”

“Yeah… I’m fine…” she responded in a labored tone. “It’s just a sprain is all… I just don’t have the magic energy to heal it up right away. Nice to see you’ve retrieved our human, though,” she added, smiling at me.

“Yea, but not before the whole town got a good look at me… we gots some ‘splainin’ to do…”

“Darn… I figured as much. Gillian said he’d dragged you out into the middle of town and made sure to let everypony know where you were. I noticed that he came back in a less than well condition. What happened?”

“Yea, he came to Zecora’s hut an’ tried to teleport me here. We got into a fight before he could do it, which ended when Zecora smacked him upside the head with a stick after he got a chance to lift me up with his magic. Rather than attack her back, he said he’d be back for her then teleported me here. Hey, speakin’ o’ him… what did he do t’ you?”

“Nothing much. Just caught me with a couple of cheap shots while I wasn’t looking. He and his friend did worse to Applejack and Rainbow Dash, though… the mare managed to catch Applejack off-guard and ram her into one of my book cases when she and I had Gillian cornered. Then Rainbow prevented him from physically harming me, only to suffer a brutal attack from the mare… I think he called her ‘Comet…’ In any case, she hit Rainbow with a powerful spell that sent her hurtling towards a wall where she was knocked unconscious. I was going to check on her, but then Gillian himself took the distraction as an opportunity to sideswipe me, causing me to sprain my leg…”

“Is that right?”

“He is dead!”

“Yeah… after that, he mentioned that he was going to take Zecora. Which reminds me: Spike, did you send that letter to Celestia?”

“No. In fact, I’d just found everyone not too long ago before you came here. Should I send it now?” asked the dragon.

“Actually… no,” Twilight responded, much to the collective shock of everyone around her.

“Why?”

“I’ll explain it to you as soon as we return to the library. In which case, let’s head back. I’m not sure we should be standing out here with you in your current form, Ty…”

“Good point.” With that, we headed back to Golden Oaks. On the way there, however, I could not stand the sight of my poor filly-friend in pain. Her limping was slowing her down significantly. Despite being a bit banged up myself, I offered my assistance. “Would you like me t’ carry you, Twi? You seem t’ be havin’ a bitta trouble…”

“Actually… yes, please,” she admitted. “But are you sure? I mean, you don’t look like you’re in such a great condition yourself.”

“Maybe, but I can still walk jus’ fine... for the most part. That connivin’ Gillian ain’t do so much t’ my legs as he did t’ my head an’ chest,” I informed as I knelt down with open arms to invite the purple unicorn into my embrace. She slung her good leg around my neck, allowing me to scoop her up and pick her up in a similar manner as to how one would carry another person; my arms bent in a ninety degree angle. The only difference was that instead of one of my arms hooking upwards under Twilight’s legs, my hand cupped under her flanks. It was more or less a similar position.

“Ooh…!” the unicorn winced as I moved to stand back up. “Please be careful… I’ve got a bit of a stomach cramp, too…”

“Ooh. He hit you that hard?”

“No… it has more to do with something else… I’ll explain when we get home, okay?”

“Gotcha,” I agreed with a nod as we continued our trip. “Oh, and uh… Fluttershy?”

“Yes?” the yellow Pegasus asked.

“We… should talk. I… I think we left off on a really bad note before this whole ‘Gillian’ thing happened. I feel like uh… well, to be frank, I feel very guilty.”

“Oh! Don’t feel that way,” she gracefully responded as she took flight to pat me on the back. “I-it was… it was no big deal… right? We’re still friends?”

“Of course we are…” I smiled at her. “…but I feel like i’ss at least somethin’ you an’ I should sort out. Y’know, jus’ t’ make sure there isn’t anything that might possibly jeopardize any friendships.”

“Oh, okay. I understand. In that case, maybe we should talk.”

“If I might interject,” spoke an inquisitive Rarity. “…what exactly is it you two are going on about?” I looked down and smirked at the alabaster unicorn.

“Well wouldn’t YOU like t’ know, Miss ‘it’s none of your concern.’ One does not simply give advice without first taking it themselves, Madame.” She scowled at me, shooting me a contemptuous glance. A second later, she lightened up and giggled.

“…Touché, Ty.”

“En effet, Mon Amie.” She gasped in what seemed to be pleasant surprise at my rebuttal.

“My, such eloquence. I’m very impressed,” she commended with a bright, cutesy smile.

“Yea I figured you’d like that. No doubt about you bein’ one o’ those fancy romantic types, I guess…”

“I aim to please.”

“That’s great and all, but don’t forget who you’re REALLY supposed to be aiming to please here,” Twilight suddenly cut in with a noticeable tinge of annoyance.

“Yeah and besides; you have Twilight. Rarity’s off-limits to you,” a surprisingly jealous Spike added in, getting a laugh out of the group.

“Aww, Spike… you know I wouldn’t let anypony— or, any human, in this case— take your place…” Rarity assured the dragon, wrapping a foreleg around his shoulder and nuzzling into him.

“You right, you right. My bad. I apologize. Especially t’ you, my love,” I melodramatically professed to the mare I was holding in my arms as I brought her up close enough for me to nuzzle into her cheek, causing her to giggle.

“It’s nice to see your sense of humor’s still intact after everything that happened today,” she commented as the tree-library came into view.

“As always. But since we’ve arrived at our destination, I suppose i’ss time t’ get down t’ business, no?”

“You guessed it, sweetheart.” With that, we all walked inside the building (of course, with me having to practically crawl in) and got settled in for our discussion of the Gillian situation…

Contemplation...

Contemplation…

Everypony had come up to Twilight’s room and found comfortable positions around the area to sit down and discuss the situation… that is, with the notable exceptions of Applejack and Rainbow Dash, who’d seemed to be asleep in the guest bed. Applejack was fit snugly under the covers snoring lightly, but not Rainbow. I took note of how INSANELY attractive the blue Pegasus was in her sleep; sprawled unceremoniously across the guest bed she shared with the orange farm pony, her raucous snoring akin to the sound of a growling tiger as she periodically gaped her mouth to the point where I was worried she’d dislocate her jaw to take in air, and then pucker her lips to gently blow the air out, making this strange whispery sound every time. I was going to mess with her SO hard for this… if only I’d have brought a camera… In any case, we had an important matter to discuss, and Twilight headed the discussion…

“Okay, first order of business: The letter,” the unicorn began quietly, considerate of her friends who weren’t awake to listen or give input. In addition, the room was lit only by the night’s moon. “There’s a very important reason I want you to hold off on that letter, Spike. And that reason is because Gillian plans on taking Zecora hostage.” At that, everyone gasped in shock.

“Then why don’t we send the letter to Celestia now?” asked Spike. “I mean, she would likely send guards out to her hut to protect her if they haven’t gotten to her already, wouldn’t she? And if they did, then they could search for her.”

“Yes, but that’s the thing… Gillian told me that he planned on taking her hostage, but not taking her anywhere. In fact, he said he would keep her holed up in her hut. The problem lies in that he wants me to go there tomorrow afternoon… alone.” That statement elicited another series of collectively appalled gasps.

“Twilight! You don’t seriously intend on embarking on such a… such a DANGEROUS quest on your own, do you?” asked Rarity, worried about her friend.

“I… I don’t know…”

“I don’t trust that sneaky snakey dragon-napping, zebra-burgling, human-jacking, forest-lurking, home-invading, pony-beating-upping, Celestia… againsty… conspiriatiring Gillian as far as I could throw him,” Pinkie ranted. “And given how big he is, I bet I couldn’t throw him very far at all. But then… I wouldn’t be able to throw any of you guys very far either… hmm… does that mean I can’t trust YOU guys? Hmm… Or maybe there’s some kind of exception…” she lost herself in her own train of thought, pondering her own ridiculous question.

“What I think Pinkie’s trying to say,” Fluttershy continued. “…is that Gillian might be setting a trap.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “I mean, we’ve been over this before, Twi. He’s after you. It honestly baffles me as t’ why he didn’t take you when he had the chance, now that I think of it…”

“Well… look at me,” she countered.

“Yea. It looks like you had a rough day. Which means you were right in the palms o’ his hooves…” I gritted my teeth and growled at the thought.

“Right. But for some reason, he wants me to be in what I assume is a presentable condition, which I’m currently unable to— Ooh! –maintain right now,” she rebutted with a sudden cringe, holding her abdomen.

“I assume that means you’re prolly outta magic t’ fix yaself up with then, no?”

“Mmph! C-correct…” she affirmed in a labored tone, still clutching her stomach.

“That stomach cramp botherin’ you?”

“Yes, but… I’ll manage. In any case, I feel… as though I need to follow his order without any risks… for Zecora’s safety.”

“What??” gasped everyone else, myself included.

“You can’t be serious!” I shot in a tone of appall. “You’re not seriously gonna jus’ walk right int’ his dirty trick, are you?”

“You know just as well as I do that I don’t want to. But he mentioned that if I don’t, then something bad’s going to happen to her. I will not have any unfortunate incidents involving a friend of mine on my conscience when I have the option to stop it... I won't be going in to surrender, though; I'll go in and with luck, negotiate with him and find out his motives.”

“I understand that, Twi. We all do. But come on. We all also know exactly wha’ss t’ come if you do that. He’s most likely gonna take you in exchange for her, which would bring him THAT much closer to Celestia, whether you 'discuss' it or not. We ARE dealin' with an escaped convict here.”

“So what? You’re saying I should just ABANDON Zecora? I’m sure THAT’S a great way to say thanks for saving you from the dangers of the Everfree Forest,” she indignantly remarked, her frustration showing.

“No! What I’m sayin’ is that you can’t trust him and you can't do this alone! You have seven friends here t’ back you up. Why in the world would you go in there without some kinda protection?”

“Because if even ONE of you comes along, he’s going to renege on his end of the perceived deal, where he and his accomplice will do something terrible to both me and Zecora, with the addition of those who followed me!”

“So hide us! I mean, I don’t wanna assume that you have spells that are convenient for the situation we’re dealin’ with, but there’s gotta be some other way.”

“Well I’m sorry, but there isn’t. Besides, I’m not going to gamble on the safety of Zecora like that. If he and his friend Comet even THINK there’s something fishy going on, who knows what they’ll do to her or even me!”

“Twi, I REFUSE t’ let you go an’ endanger yourself like that!” I forbade, my own frustration growing.

“What are you, my parents!?” the unicorn snapped, much to my surprise, as well as the surprise of our spectators.

“…Seriously??” I asked with extreme contempt at her sarcasm. “You KNOW it’s a trap, you KNOW they’re gonna use you t’ get t’ Celestia, and you KNOW that even if you’re thinkin’ of tryin’ somethin’ heroic, they combined have you outmatched!”

“I know that! But I also know that I’m not going to sit back and wait for them to harm my friend before they improvise and execute another phase of their malicious plot! For all I know, they could come for Spike, they could come for Pinkie or Applejack or any of us, or they could even come for you!”

“Me?”

“Yes!" she nearly shouted. "You’re the reason this whole thing began in the first place!" the unicorn accused, pointing a hoof at me. "If you’d have just listened to me and stayed here like you were supposed to, you wouldn’t have been dragged into the forest where you could've been killed, and the series of unfortunate events that led to this hostage situation likely wouldn’t have transpired!” I was no less than appalled at her accusation. My frustration at her amplified as I began to feel the intensity of my headache increase with it.

“Oh, that is unbelievable… You’re really gonna blame ME for everything that went down today? SORRY for wantin’ t’ help out a friend in need!” I stated in offense. “How was I supposed t’ know that he was out there searchin’ for me? And more importantly, what was I supposed to say? ‘Oh sorry Fluttershy, I can’t help you, I’m supposed t’ sit here for no legitimate reason whatsoever?’”

“Of course not, but I REALLY needed you to stay here! I’m sorry if I didn’t iterate and illustrate that point strongly enough for you to understand the urgency of it, but I really wish you’d have listened to me! If you did, Gillian wouldn't have found you the way he did!”

“Well I'm sorry, but wha’ss done is done an’ now we got a situation on our hands an’ hooves regardin’ somebody’s plans t’ get at Celestia. An’ I COMPLETELY disagree with the way you’re tryin’ t’ go about it!”

“Well let’s see YOU come up with something better! Do you see any OTHER way I could get Zecora to safety? Hm?” I went completely silent; just like the others who watched in unified alarm at the verbal altercation Twi and I had engaged in.

"I don't know WHAT'S wrong with her right now! But I also don't have a way t' convince her t' go about a less risky method o' savin' Zecora... Dammit..." I had no idea how to go about another way to combat Gillian’s ultimatum. But I had the point that Twilight shouldn’t just give herself up to the opposition. This man has proven to be extremely cunning and sneaky. Who knew if he was even a pony of his word? Whatever he wanted Twilight to do, I wholeheartedly disagreed with it.

“…no,” I dejectedly responded. “But my point still stands that you CANNOT go in there alone if that’s the case! I mean come on: When’s the last time you actually AGREED to the demands of a crimin—?”

*knock knock knock* “Twilight Sparkle! Are you home? And please tell me that you’re not alone!” shouted a familiar, thickly-accented voice.

“Zecora?” the entire group murmured in unison. Twilight was quick to get up, despite wincing at the pain in her stomach and foreleg, and was about to trot out of the room before I stopped her by grasping and gently tugging on her tail. Of course, she glared at me in anger.

“Hold on. You don’t know if tha’ss really her or not. Why leave yaself open like that?” I whispered.

“He does have a point,” Rarity concurred. “I mean, we’ve seen how Gillian impersonated Spike… what if he’s casting the same spell, but taking on the form of Zecora to lure you out?”

*knock knock knock* “I hear somepony inside the abode! Am I in need of some kind of code?”

“Who else do any of us know that keeps up rhyming on a consistent basis?” Twilight asked. “I don’t think even Gillian could keep THAT up… But just to be safe, let’s ask her a few questions only SHE would know once one of us lets her in…”

“Sounds like a plan,” I concurred.

“Good. Now who’s going down there?”

“I’ll do it!” volunteered an enthusiastic Pinkie Pie.

“Really?” I asked, caught off-guard by Pinkie’s volunteerism.

“Yeah! I could easily tell a real pony— or zebra in this case— from a fake. I usually pick up on these sorts of things with my Pinkie sense.” At that moment, her tail shook wildly, prompting everyone to duck and cover their heads but me.

“What are y’all doi—!” *CRASH* “Ow…!” I exclaimed, grasping my aching head, which I found was covered in a mound of dirt with shards of ceramic in it. “Fuuu… cryin’ out loud…! What WAS that?”

“My Pinkie Sense. I can predict when certain things will happen JUST before they do!”

“Don’t even ask… Don’t. EVEN. Ask…”

“…Well rather than debate that, which I’m sure I’d lose anyway given what I’ve heard, why don’t you go an’ put that to the real test,” I suggested, wiping the remains of what I could guess was a potted plant off of my head.

“Okie Dokie Lokie!” with that, the excitable pink mare bounced her way out of the room and into the library to let in our suspicious guest.

“Pinkie Pie! How do you do? You haven’t seen Twilight Sparkle, have you?” we all heard as we sat in silence.

“Yes. She’s right upstairs with the others. Come on up!” with that, Pinkie led the zebra up into the room, entering the same way she exited: bouncing with glee. Zecora trotted in, seeming a bit confused.

“Why did you not answer the door?” she asked Twilight. “I’m sure this library is yours.”

“Sorry, Zecora,” Twilight apologized. “We were just a little nervous is all… we had a little run-in with a certain pair of unicorns, and one of them happens to know a shape-shifting spell. He used it to deceive us before we got into an altercation with him...” At that news, Zecora took on a look of worry.

“...Then I see my premonition was right. They DID come for Spike?”

“Yeah, but... *yawn* I’m okay now...” answered the dragon, seeming a bit weary as he crawled into his basket. The zebra nodded with a smile at his comfirmation of his condition.

“And I see that you are safe and sound,” she addressed me. “I noticed many townsfolk looking around. They make claims of an alien that crossed their sight, which gave everypony quite the fright.”

“Yea… he made SURE I’d be seen when he sent me t’ the middle o’ the town. I almost had no way outta there until I got picked up by Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Rarity. But I know we’re only beginning t’ deal with that problem. Especially since this one unicorn named Lyra took a particular interest in me.”

“Lyra?” asked Twilight. “Why would she take an interest in you?”

“We met while I was in pony form yesterday and got acquainted before A.J. found me. When Gillian sent me t’ Ponyville as I am now, she was the first to approach me, snoopin’ around an’ playin’ detective. Long story short, she MIGHT have an idea of who I am… but I don’t know if she’s told anypony or not in the case that she does…”

“Oh no…” Twilight murmured in worry. “I really hope she didn’t figure it out… we can’t afford to explain you to the rest of the town right now… we have to deal with Gillian first.”

“Speakin’ of which, we thought he came after you, Zecora.”

“After me? Why would that be?” she asked, perplexed.

“He said he was going to take you hostage in your own home after he was done here as a way to lure me out there,” the purple unicorn explained. “We’d thought he’d have gotten you by now. Which reminds me: not to sound rude or anything, but what made you come here?”

“He and Ty were in quite the scuffle. I knew there would be a great deal of trouble. After they disappeared, I ran from there to here, in hopes that a crisis in Ponyville wasn’t near.”

“It’s a good thing you did. We were in the middle of a debate on how to save you in the case that you WERE apprehended by them… Just to be absolutely sure though… would you mind staying here for the night?”

“A night spent here? What reason is there to fear?” she asked, apparently picking up the nervousness in Twilight’s tone of voice.

“While we don’t know where he and Comet are, I’d feel much safer if we all stayed together, thereby severely limiting his chances of taking one of us while separate.”

“*GASP* A slumber party!!” Pinkie Pie shouted in total ecstasy.

“Pinkie…!” Rarity scolded. “Applejack and Rainbow Dash are asleep…!”

“Oopsie… I mean… whoo-hoo! A slumber party…!” she cheered in a much more whispery volume, although she couldn’t hide her excitement. She reached into her mane and pulled out a giant roll, which she unfolded to reveal a giant pink sleeping bag.

“Okay, how in the hell did she fit THAT behind her head? Damn, jus’ thinkin’ about it makes my head hurt more…”

“What should we do? Tell ghost stories? Have a pillow fight? Play Truth Or Dare? Would You Rather? Maybe we could sit and share stories with each other about our day! Ooh! I know! We could—!”

“I think a little rest is something we all need…” Twilight suggested, which no one argued with as she trotted up onto her own bed. “Oh, before I forget: Spike, I think now would be a good time to send that letter…” she got no reply. “Spike?” the lavender unicorn turned toward the basket in which the dragon lay to see that he’d been long gone in his sleep. “*sigh* I guess we’ll wait then… can’t blame the little guy for being tuckered out after the day we’ve had…”

“Aww…” Pinkie sighed in dejection at her partying ideas being more-or-less shot down.

“I… *yawn* for one could certainly use a good night's sleep… There should be some extra blankets and pillows in that closet over there, everypony. Although…” she trailed off as she looked at me in worry.

“Don’t sweat it,” I assured. “I got these filthy clothes t’ keep me warm. All’s I need is an extra pillow.”

“A-are you sure? I mean… I don’t want you to be uncomfortable…”

“I’ll be fine. It won’t be quite as snug on the floor, but I can manage.”

“…alright then…” she uneasily agreed as she made herself more comfortable. “G’night, everypony...” Everyone still awake bid their nightly farewells after they (with the exception of Pinkie, who had come prepared) each took a blanket and a pillow for themselves to find a comfortable place on the floor to rest.

However, I still had something on my mind and I chose not to put it off with sleep. So I instead decided to get it out of the way as soon as I could.

“Hey… Fluttershy?”

“Hm?”

“Can you see me out on the balcony?”

“Oh… okay,” the mare humbly agreed. I made sure to tread carefully and quietly over the other sleeping ponies. She merely needed to fly over them. The yellow Pegasus and I made our way to the balcony’s doors and stepped outside. We each took a position across from one another as I sat down. She followed suit by landing and sitting down on her haunches while folding her wings.

“*sigh* Okay… about earlier… um… I’m… really sorry…” I apologized, the guilt overtaking me.

“It’s okay…” she assured, giving me an adorably worried stare.

“No… no, i’ss not okay. I… Twilight let me know what happened with you after I ran off…”

“Oh…” the Pegasus answered in a tone of sudden discomfort. “Sh-she did…?”

“It’d prolly not be such a great idea t’ mention the whole ‘crush’ thing t’ her.”

“Yea… she told me you were cryin’ when she saw you today…”

“Oh. Well um… I was, but only a little. I’m okay now.”

“Well I’m glad t’ hear you’re good. But… tha’ss not the only reason I needed t’ talk t’ you. I… get the feel that you… um… how do I put this…?” I pondered. “I get the feel that you’re… I dunno, conflicted in a way.”

“O-oh! Wh-what makes you say that…?”

“The entire experience when I came t’ your house. Specifically, what happened in your dinin’ area… when I caught you… the way we locked eyes… I was jus’ gettin’ this vibe…”

“Oh…” the Pegasus seemed to be getting increasingly uncomfortable as I beat around the bush. She lowered her head while still struggling to keep her gaze locked on me, blushing with what I perceived as guilt.

“Okay, this ain’t workin’. Jus’ get to the point.”

“Alright, I’mma jus’ be straightforward with this, Fluttershy…” I, feeling a tad uneasy myself, took a very deep breath before just blurting it out. “Do you like me?”

“What???” she practically jumped out of her fur, completely startled by the question. "O-of course I like you. Did you think I was mad at y--?"

“No, I mean do you like like me? Y’know… in a… romantic kind of way?”

“Oh… my…! Um… I-I… well… uh… *whimper*” she went from feeling slightly awkward to extremely uncomfortable in an instant. She’d totally lost the ability to look directly at me as she turned away and hunched over a little and began fidgeting with her mane.

“Well, she ain’t sayin’ no. But she ain’t sayin’ yes, either. No reason t’ pressure the poor girl into an answer...” After a moment of silently, patiently awaiting her response, I spoke with a newfound sense of emotional dissonance.

“I’ll… take your silence as a… Yes…? No...? Maybe so...?” she didn’t respond with words right away. She instead slowly, weakly nodded her head as a way to confirm her answer.

“Aww man…” I mentally face-palmed.

“Oh… um… well… I…” it was my turn to be at a loss for words.

“I’m sorry. I really am truly very sorry, Ty… I know you’re with Twilight,” the Pegasus suddenly, hastily interrupted as she turned her full focus towards me, looking me dead in the eye with an expression of guilt that I was completely unprepared for. “I understand completely that you wouldn’t do anything to hurt her. Neither would I. But it’s not every day somepony like you comes along…” her statement alarmed me.

“What do you mean…?” I warily asked, butterflies forming in my stomach.

“I mean somepony who I feel understands me for being as… as introverted as I am. Not many ponies here know what it’s like to not be able to express yourself normally. I don’t want to always be the scaredy-pony that everypony has to either make fun of or have to stand up for when I can’t do it myself. I don’t want to have to go through an entire dispute with my own self-esteem in order to go through with something as simple as helping out a friend in need…”

She began to tear up, her voice wavering as she explained herself, which served to make me feel even worse for her than I did before. “I… I’ve learned enough about myself to better handle myself in situations where I’m the one being depended on or where I need to assert myself or even when I’m just meeting a new pony. But it’s just so hard keeping it up… Sometimes, I fall right back into the same cowardly habits I’ve been trying to get rid of… I wish I could be more like you… “

“Really?” I asked in astonishment as butterflies fluttered wildly in my stomach. I couldn't contain my anxiousness at Fluttershy's confession and began fidgeting with my moistening hands as my heartbeat sped up as if I were jogging.

“Yes… I still occasionally think about that conversation we had when we first met… how you said you were able to overcome your own shyness and be able to talk to ponies without fear of making a bad impression or worrying about making a fool of yourself… not to mention all the stuff you’ve done for Twilight since we’ve known you. You’re so kind and sweet to everypony and when I do see you around, you and Twilight seem to get along so well… but at the same time, you seem like you’d be able to stand up for yourself when you need to. Then there’s the Hearth’s Warming party…”

“*sigh* I get the feel that none of us is gonna live THAT down…”

“When you were the only one to ask me what I was going to say when everypony else wasn’t listening to me… how you only got a little upset instead of really angry when Dashie tricked us… how, even though you didn’t have to, you still went through with… the um… the kiss… and then you, Twilight, and I managed to clear the air afterwards… That’s sort of when I started thinking of you… or at the very least… what it would be like to have somepony like you as a colt-friend… And then just today, when you volunteered to help me even though you were injured... I didn’t know somepony from a world so far away could be so… so kind. And that’s why I was crying after I scared you off… I… I guess what I’m trying to say is… is that I… I admire you.” After venting her feelings out to me, she took a deep breath and cast her gaze away once again, blushing. “…even if you’re not a pony.”

“Oh… wow…” I was completely stunned beyond belief at her confession, my face feeling hotter than a habanero pepper that hat been set on fire. “Um… I… I’m flattered, really. I… didn’t know you thought of me that way… But… I’m also really sorry…” I'd even begun trembling a little as the awkwardness took full swing.

“Sorry? For what? You didn’t do anything wrong…” she assured as she looked at me.

“I mean… for causin’ you trouble. I uh… I’d hate for you t’ feel some kinda negative way all because o’ somethin’ like this… I don’t know how t’ word it, but I guess I’ll say it kinda hurts t’ see or even hear about you of all ponies bein’ in an unhappy mood. It’s worse t’ know I’m the cause of it…”

“But that isn’t your fault. It’s mine… for even thinking of you that way when I know you’re with Twilight…”

"Wow... poor girl. She blames herself for her own feelin's..."

“You have nopony t’ blame. I understand where you come from. It’s perfectly alright to uh… to have an active imagination, for lack of a better term. The mind, in a way, is a… a sort o' safe haven, I guess… a place where you’re able t' do what you want, when you want, and how you want… a place where your thoughts and feelin's, unless physically or verbally conveyed t' someone else, are yours an' yours alone. So long as you don’t act out on those thoughts in the case that they’re in some way, shape, or form unacceptable, no one can control what runs through your mind but you. Simply put, you don’t hafta feel guilty for your thoughts so long as you don’t act on anything that may seem unacceptable… unless the thought is unacceptable even to you, that is. In that case… well in that case, jus’ don’t think bad thoughts, as hard as that may sound…” I stated with a short laugh, which Fluttershy joined me in.

“I understand…” she smiled a most heart-melting smile that would’ve probably made the Grinch’s heart grow ten times as compared to three.

“Good. Oh, and… um… two more things. One: I’m sure there’s a lotta good stallions out there willing to be your special somepony. I’ss up t’ you to find which one of ‘em is good enough for you… and Two: It’s part of your nature to be shy. Not t’ say you can’t change your nature to some extent, but old habits die hard. I know exactly where you’re comin’ from with the spontaneous recovery of repressed behaviors. Heck, I still have trouble talkin’ to others sometimes. Like if I was in a group with a buncha ponies I didn’t know... Would you expect me t’ be able t’ hit it off with every single one of ‘em or lead the conversation?”

“I… think so…?”

“Truth be told, Fluttershy… I wouldn’t.” At that, Fluttershy’s softly gazing turquoise eyes widened in surprise.

“You wouldn’t?”

“Well, i’ss more of an in-between kinda thing. I’m one-uh those types that normally gets t’ know others one by one before I get comfortable. Tha’ss why I was able t’ get t’ know all o’ you so well. If Twilight was t’ jus’ introduce me t’ all o’ y’all at the same time, I woulda jus’ shut down… not in the sense that I’d panic an’ run away, but… it’d be more like… like I wouldn’t be able t’ give more than simple one or two-word responses t’ anything y’all had t’ ask me… MAYBE I’d speak a li’l bit more than that, but yea, I can still be shy sometimes, too...”

“Oh… I… I had no idea.”

“Yea, no one’s perfect. I got my quirks, you got your quirks, we all got quirks. What I figure we hafta do t’ become better individuals is learn ‘em an’ control ‘em to the best of our ability. Unless one feels like they really need t’ reevaluate his or herself, then all we gotta do is look at ourselves an’ ask, ‘do I like how I am?’ And if the answer is no, then you ask, ‘what can I change about myself t’ make me happy?’”

“I… I understand… you’re very insightful, Ty.”

“Thank you. But since we’re on the topic, I gotta ask: Do you like how you are?”

“Of course! I have wonderful friends, I take care of all the cutest, most wonderful animals I could ever ask for; big or small, I help protect Equestria from danger, and I’m nice to everypony. I’ll even stand up for my friends if there’s somepony giving them a hard time.”

“I see…” I commented; impressed by the qualities of herself she listed. “Impressive. But what about your quirks?”

“I um… I guess I’m too shy… and quiet… and… and I scare really easily to the point where it gets in other ponies’ way sometimes… and sometimes, when somepony isn’t listening to me, I give them, ‘The Stare.’”

“The Stare…?” I asked in aroused interest.

“It’s this really mean look I give to anypony who upsets me a lot. It scares anyone I aim it at really badly. Well… except Discord…”

“Discord…?” I asked in bewilderment. “Why does that sound familiar…?”

“You probably remember him as the statue you saw in the garden in Canterlot.” It took me a second, but I quickly remembered.

“You mean that freaky goat snake monster thing with all the different body parts that y’all said almost took over Equestria??” I almost shouted in shock and a sudden sense of apprehension. “He’s free again??”

“He’s not a freaky goat monster thing. He’s our friend. At least, now he is…”

“Really now? But… how? Where is he?”

“I don’t know where he is now, but it took a lot of time reforming him. Eventually, he came around when we gave him something he would never, ever want to give up…”

“What? Freedom?”

“No. Well, technically yes… but we gave him friendship.” At that, I dropped an eyebrow in skepticism.

“Really? Friendship?” I asked in disbelief. “Considerin’ what Twilight told me about this Discord, he was supposed t’ be the LORD of chaos and anything opposed t’ natural order and basic sense makin’… an' ALL y’all needed t’ do was become his friends t’ change ‘im?”

“Yes.”

“Now ain’t that about a ‘B’…?”

“Well now… I… actually hafta say that’s impressive… turnin’ a bad guy good jus’ like that…?”

“It’s possible. It just takes time, a lot of patience, and compassion.”

“So it is… I imagine it not bein’ so easy, though. He was prolly pissin’ you off the whole way through, wasn’t he?”

“He was… what?”

“Oh! I mean, was he gettin’ on your nerves?”

“Oh. Yes. But only because he needed to make a change he originally didn’t want to make until he saw how that change could benefit him…”

“Ix-nay on the Anguage-lay, man!”

“Interesting… That kinda plays along with what we’re discussin’… But now I’m curious. This ‘Stare’ of yours… what’s it like?”

“I could show you what it’s like, but… If it’s alright with you, I don’t want to do that…”

“Understandable. Any more quirks you can think of?”

“No… I… I think that’s all…”

“Oh. Well then yea, you could always work on betterin’ yourself. But in the end, are you happy with who you are?”

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Then don’t worry if you occasionally wind up lettin’ slip a bad habit. Jus’ focus on bein’ the gorgeous, good-natured pony you are. And who knows? Someone might take an interest in you…” I advised with a wink. She seemed to have taken that comment personally, as she gasped at the word 'gorgeous,' her cheeks turning pink.

"I-I'm... gorgeous?" she sweetly asked, her turquoise eyes glimmering in the moonlight as she fixed her attention directy at me.

"Of course you are, Fluttershy..." I assured as I reached over to pat the Pegasus mare on the head and run my hand down her mane. She closed her eyes as she cooed in satisfaction.

“Oh my goodness, your hands… they feel so good…”

“So I’ve heard from Twi…” I joked.

“She must really like it when you do that then, hm?”

“More than you know, ‘Shy… More than you know…” I chortled before I'd gotten an idea on how to make it up to Fluttershy for hurting her. “Hey, would… you like a rubdown?”

“A-are you sure? I mean… if you want to, I’d like one. But… I don’t want to make it less special for Twilight if you do me…”

“The ‘specialty’ of my rubs on Twilight will not change for anything. I’m jus’ feelin’ generous enough t’ give you this one freebie. You deserve it after all I put you through…”

“Well… it DOES feel really nice… but for the record, you haven’t done anything bad to me.”

“Hm. If ya say so. Now c’mere an’ turn around.” Wordlessly, Fluttershy agreed in the form of standing up, trotting towards me as I sat, turning around so that her tail end was facing me, and sitting back down on her haunches.

“So… how do you usually begiii… mm… hmm…” she slurred as I gently ran one hand down the middle of her back.

“Jus’ relax an’ lie down…” I instructed. The Pegasus obediently complied, folding her hooves and lying down as I gently, rhythmically rubbed her from her head down to her lower back. I even took the liberty of scratching behind her ear, which she seemed to enjoy as both of them lowered to mat over her head. This was very much the same as rubbing Twilight in almost every aspect except that I’d had to take into account the wings rather than a horn. At one point during the massage, however, her wings seemed to begin standing up involuntarily. Pretty soon, they were fully flexed out and stiffer than boards. I took that as a sign of her contentment with the friendly gesture.

“Jeez, her wings are as hard as a prosthetic leg! Or like how I was when Twilight was sittin’ on top of m—!”

“Shut the hell UP!”

I’d gotten a bit curious as to how she’d react if I’d tried rubbing her wings. So I very carefully ran the fingers of my left hand along the underside of her fully-flared left wing from the base to the tip.

“*GASP* Ahh…” she sighed with utmost pleasure as she arched her back ever so slightly.

“I… take it your wings are… sensitive?” I inquired.

“Mm-hmm… very… c-could you please um… do it again…?” the Pegasus innocently requested.

“Uhh… sure…” I obliged as I copied the motion using my right hand on her right wing. Again, she arched her back as she sighed with pleasure. “Uh huh…” I muttered as I put the pieces together. “Your wings… they’re… an erogenous zone… aren’t they?”

“Erogenous zone?” she innocently asked, craning her head to look back at me in wonder.

“It means um… well it means… how do I put this...? It's a place on your body where, if touched a… certain way, it gets you really… happy.”

“Happy? Try ‘Horny.’”

“Try shuttin' up.”

“What? I’m bored. I need somethin’ t’ do. Or SOMEONE, rather…”

“AAAAAAND this is the part where I start ignorin’ you.”

“Oh. Then yes…” Fluttershy sweetly answered, turning back around and resting her head in her forelegs.

“I see…” was all I said before continuing the rubdown. With the newfound information I’d acquired, I decided to utilize it, all the while being careful not to overdo it. I caressed her svelte, fuzzy, cuddly soft form in mostly the same way as I’d begun, but I focused just a little bit more of my attention on her wings. I’d brush past the base of each wing as I dragged my fingertips down her back, or occasionally take the liberty of softly trailing up her flight-enabling appendages after trailing my hands simultaneously down her sides. She was much quieter with the mesmerized moaning and cooing than Twilight was, but she did it more frequently. Fluttershy was out like a light in mere minutes, smiling cutely as she tucked herself in.

“Such a baby-like look of cuteness she has… just adorable…” I painstakingly picked myself up, ignoring the now-waning thresholds of physical torment I’d endured throughout the day. I carefully picked the Pegasus up and cradled her in my arms in a way very much akin to how one would cradle an infant. I brought her back into Twilight’s room, where I’d seen that everypony else had been sound asleep, each of them making their own distinct onomatopoeic sounds of sawing logs. I very carefully set Fluttershy down in the area where she’d laid her pillow and blanket and tucked her in to make her extra comfy. I gave one last stroke of the gorgeous little Pegasus mare’s mane before carefully stepping over Pinkie, Zecora, and Rarity in order to take my admittedly uncomfortable spot on Twi’s floor.

“Damn this is painful…” I thought as I twisted and turned about on the floor. “I almost think sleepin’ on the ground outside would be more fittin’… There is like NO room in here…” The area was already small for my size, seeing as I’d outsized everyone around me in this world… or at least, in this room. The most comfortable position I could find was when I scrunched up into the fetal position. Eventually (emphasis on EVENTUALLY), I’d gotten used my awkward position as I lay my head on the tiny pillow. JUST when I was about to go to sleep, however…

“Ty…? Are you awake?” called a dreary-sounding Twilight.

“DAMMIT! So close, too…!”

“Yea… what up, honeybun…?” I asked, masking my irritation as one of my eyes twitched.

“I… I can’t sleep… I need to talk to you…”

“Of course…”

“…Alright,” I agreed, not wanting to upset the unicorn further than she seemed. “Wha’ss on ya mind?”

“Can we go out to the balcony? It’s… kind of… personal.”

“Nooo, I don’t wanna go back out there…! Gnaaaaah…!!” I mentally whined like a spoiled child.

“Okay…” I sullenly agreed as I got back up to lethargically follow the drowsy unicorn mare back to the area in which I just talked to Fluttershy…

The News...!

The News…!

I carefully limped out onto the balcony with my human colt-friend following close behind. I took my place at the center of the structure and sat down. He took the liberty of finding a seat right next to me. Rather than look at him, however, I was gazing into the starry night sky, contemplating the wording of the news I was about to convey to him.

“So… wha’ss up?” Ty asked in a nonchalant tone, although I could hear the fatigue in it.

“A couple things actually..." I uneasily replied. "But first and foremost, I… just wanted to say… I’m sorry…” I guiltily apologized.

“Sorry? For what?” the human inquired in wonder.

“I’m sorry for… for the argument we got into earlier. I shouldn’t have blamed you for everything that happened today…”

“Oh. Don’t sweat it. We’re all under a lotta stress over this Gillian guy. I understand you bein’ a bit upset with me. I shoulda stayed inside like you told me.”

“Yes, but you were only helping out a friend. You had no idea you were going to be taken away in the manner that you were. Plus, he was apparently already searching for us for a while. I suppose it was only a matter of time before he found either you or me."

"True... I could still only wonder what woulda happened if I DIDN'T go t' Fluttershy's house, though..."

"Speaking of… how’d your talk with Fluttershy go?”

“Oh, it was good. I’d like t’ think we cleared at least some stuff up. Although I’m still a li’l bit worried about her…”

“Why's that?”

“This… ‘crush’ thing,” he began, sounding unsure of himself. “I jus’ feel guilty for it. She said she was fine, but after that, she basically blurted out every reason as t’ why she likes me…”

“What…?” I asked in a new-found sense of interest, accompanied with a bit of apprehension. “There’s more behind it than the party?”

“A LOT more…” Ty emphasized. “Long story short, she says she ‘admires me,’ an’ had been admirin’ me since the day we met. The party jus’ kinda… I guess, sparked the ember, I should say?”

“Fluttershy… Poor girl…”

“She’d better keep her hooves off of him! He’s MINE!” I wasn’t sure how to take that. Fluttershy, one of my best friends whom I've known since MY first visit to Ponyville, harbored affection towards Ty…? And had been since HIS first visit to Ponyville?

“Oh…” was all I could muster as I let it sink in that one of my closest friends— FLUTTERSHY, no less— harbored such feelings towards my special somepony of all ponies…

“Yea… I don’t know what t’ say about it either…” Ty concurred as we both began staring into space. After a brief, awkward silence, he spoke again. “All I could tell ‘er regardin’ that is that there’s plenty of other viable suitors out there an’ that it was up t’ her to choose who was right for her…”

“Oh… so… you let her down easy?” I asked, trying not to sound hopeful about my inquiry.

“I… guess I did."

"That's good. Maybe she won't feel too down about her feelings being unrequited, then?" I asked again, still trying to mask my relief.

"Yea... but… I gotta be honest with you... I… I… um…” he faltered on his words as he scratched his head, thus sending my heart sinking.

"...You... what?" I pressed, my brow furrowing a little as I focused my line of sight on the human.

"I... I... kinda... *sigh* gave her a sort of... apology gift..." he vaguely admitted in a tone of guilt. There was only one thing I could figure from his suddenly withdrawn disposition and unclear euphemism...

“*GASP* Oh no…! He kissed her again, didn’t he? I knew it! I knew it was a bad idea to trust them around each other alone!”

“But… why?” I asked, hurt by his shameful confession.

“Why what?” he turned toward me with a look of confusion.

“Why did you do it?” I asked, my anger growing rapidly. “Why WOULD you do it? You know you’re with me. You KNOW I wouldn’t appreciate it.”

“Twilight, please. Let me fin—!”

“No!” I snapped as a huge lump formed in my throat. “You snake! Why did you do that!? How could you!? You both said you wouldn’t! You lied to me!” I buried my face in my fore hooves as I let the tears begin streaming from my eyes. I felt something— his hand— gently placing itself onto my back.

“Twilight, listen t’ me.” He ordered, keeping his cool. “Whatever it is you’re thinkin’ I did, I—!”

“Save it!” I was absolutely livid at this point. Whatever excuse he had for betraying my trust, I didn’t want to hear it. I coldly pulled away from his hand and glared at him with the intensity of an angry Cockatrice. All he could do was stare back in a pitiful display of fear and guilt. “Why don’t you and Fluttershy go and get married since you like HER so much!?”

“What?? Twilight, what is your problem?!” He asked in offense. “Why are you actin’ so bent outta shape all of a sudden?”

“Because you CHEATED on me!!” I shouted so loud that the others could probably hear it. "Wouldn't YOU be bent out of shape if I was in YOUR position!?"

“WHAT!!??” he asked in total shock. I could bet I hit the nail right on the head there. “You’re jokin’, right??”

“Does it look like I’m joking to you, cheater!?”

“*sigh* Okay, how in the WORLD could you POSSIBLY fathom the idea of me doin’ ANYTHING t’ hurt you like that??”

“Oh I dunno! Maybe because you just ADMITTED to it??”

“I ain’t admit t’ anything! You didn’t even let me finish!”

“Why should I bother letting you finish when I know what you were going to finish with!? The damage has already been done!”

“Because you’re accusin’ me of doin’ somethin’ I didn’t do, would never THINK of doin’, an’ have NEVER done! I thought YOU of all ponies would know better than that!”

“Oh, so you WEREN’T going to admit to kissing Fluttershy during your little bonding time with her?”

“What!? No! I was gonna say I ru—!”

“I don’t wanna hear it!” I boldly interrupted. “I… I don’t want to even LOOK at you right now…!” I coldly spat as I turned away and back towards the entranceway, fighting the anger-fueled tears welling up in my eyes. “I’m so upset with you I can’t even see straight…”

“Well you wouldn’t be if you’d just listen t’ me!” He pleaded. “I dunno wha’ss givin’ you such a problem with me that you would even THINK I’d be unfaithful t’ you, but I am NOT gonna sit here an’ let you persecute me like you’re doin’! You’re actin’ like a spoiled little kid right now!” He placed his hand on my back, which sent my frustration with him past its peak. My teeth were clenched hard enough that I might have been able to chew through pure titanium as I lowered my head. “*sigh* Look at me. Listen to me, please...” I don’t know what sense of primordial instinct overtook me in that moment, but whatever the case was, I lost my sense of self-control as I swiftly turned around and swung my bad hoof at him.

*SMACK* Despite the surge of physical pain now coursing through my leg, I found some arbitrary satisfaction in seeing that I’d done damage to him. He placed both of his hands over his nose, staring at me in complete bafflement.

“I’m not going to sit here and listen to you lie and makes excuses about cheating on me! Good night, Tyshawn!”

“Twilight, wai—! *SLAM*” I left that cheater outside where he belonged. I was so distraught over what he did, though…

“How could he…? He promised… He PINKIE promised…!”

“Obviously, he was just full of it when he said he’d never harm me in any way…! I actually can’t wait to see what Pinkie does to him! Yeah… I… can’t… *sniffle* wait…!” With that thought, I marched back into my room, gathering up every last semblance of effort I had left to keep quiet, where I plopped my exhausted body onto my bed. However, it would be a while before I found peace in slumber… I had a lot emotional venting to do…

“God, what the hell got INT’ her…!?” I muttered as I stared at the balcony entrance, appalled at the way she’d just completely lost her temper. I’d still been covering my throbbing nose with my hands and my head was hurting worse than ever, but I couldn't bring myself to go back to sleep. I couldn't even summon up the courage to go back inside where there was a pissed-off unicorn likely sobbing her eyes out over a hasty assumption. I removed my hands from my nose to see that they’d been stained red.

“A nosebleed…? Perfect…” I nasally muttered in frustration as I moved my left hand to cover my nose once again while I wiped the other hand on my shirt. "What a fantastic day THIS has been..."

“Well, I can't say I'd feel comfortable stayin' here tonight… She prolly wouldn't let me anyhow... I need t’ go somewhere… but where…? I’d be too recognizable jus’ strollin’ through town… ahh fuck it. They all saw me anyway.” With that, I got up and dragged myself toward the balcony’s railing, the anger and sorrow over the misunderstanding building up inside of me like a dam about to burst. I looked down to see that the drop wasn't too steep for me to leap off and land safely and hopefully without injuring myself further. I used my sense of judgment to carefully climb over the rail. As I prepared make the small leap towards the ground below, a sudden hooting sound stopped me.

“Wha…?” I murmured. Soon, a small brown owl came soaring from nowhere, hooting sporadically before perching itself on the railing about an arm’s length away from me. “Oh. Hey. You mus’ be that pet owl of hers… Owloysius, was it?” I asked, holding my nose with one hand while the other kept me secure from falling.

“Hoo!” the owl simply said with what I assumed was a quick nod.

“Oh. Well i’ss good t’ finally meet you, I guess…”

“Hoo? Hoo!” the owl cawed once again, pointing a wing towards the entrance to the balcony.

“I’m gonna guess he’s askin’ why I’m not goin’ back in there…”

“…Oh. No, I’m not goin’ back in there tonight. Considerin’ you’re out here, I guess you heard what jus’ happened?”

“Hoo!” Owloysius nodded again, presumably confirming my previous hypothesis about his gestures.

“An’ of course, you understand why I ain’t goin’ back in there… right?”

“Hoo. Hoo Hoo! Hoo!” the owl made more unusual motions, trying to demonstrate some kind of message to me. He pointed once again back to the entrance, followed by flying up towards my face and hooting some more. He made a few confusing signals with his feet (one of which was shaped like a sort of heart) before perching on my shoulder and nuzzling into my face. Finally, he once again pointed towards the entrance before jumping off of my shoulder and landing back on the railing.

“What, you want me t’ try talkin’ t’ her again?”

“Hoo?”

“Twilight. You want me t’ try talkin’ t’ Twilight again?”

“Hoo!”

“Twilight. Y’know, the purple unicorn you li— wait a minute…”

“What the hell am I doin’? I’m talkin’ to an owl. Of course all it’s gonna be able t’ say is ‘Hoo.’”

“…Oh, right. You can’t actually talk… But uh… Yea, I’m not doin’ that; at least not now. I’ll come back an’ talk when she’s in more of a mind t’ listen. Not sure if you noticed, but she’s been a bit crabby lately an’ I quite frankly, ain’t in the kinda mood t’ deal with somebody who falsely accuses people of infidelity an’ gives ‘em nosebleeds,” I dismally stated. “That and I need some time alone t’ think... Whelp, I’m off t’ go find somewhere else t’ sleep. Good night, Owloysius.”

“Hoo!” Rather than listen to any more of what the owl possibly had to say, I carefully turned around and leaped off of the balcony.

*FLOP* I’d landed, but the shock of the fall sent me to my hands and knees, which only served to piss me off even more; especially with how much my arms and legs already hurting.

“Dammit…!” I cursed as I pounded the ground with my tightly-clenched fist. I sat there in my pitiful stupor, feeling bad for what had happened just a few moments ago.

“First that a-hole criminal comes outta nowhere an’ ruined the entirety of today, an’ now Twilight hates my guts for NO good reason… How could she seriously distrust me that much? Nine months down the line… NINE months…! And she chooses to lose her damn mind over an assumption SHE made… but then... I really DIDN'T pick the best way t' tell her I gave Fluttershy a massage... Shoulda jus' spit it out when I had the chance... Even so, I honestly thought you knew me better than that, Twi… Guess I was wrong…” A couple of tears, as well as a few droplets of nose blood, made their marks in the dirt where I’d pounded my fist. A short while later, I stood back up on my feet and staggered into town, holding my messy nose with a hand as I walked. I was hoping that, given the time of night, I wouldn't run into too many of the town's residents as I searched for a new place to rest. However, there was a small amount of ponies still outside during the night that either stared at me or screamed something along the lines of “Monster!” and hurried into their homes and presumably locked their doors tightly.

“Whatever… Be scared.” After a short stint of staggering about the town like the downtrodden drifter I’d suddenly become, I’d run into the minty-green unicorn mare yet again.

“There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” announced an excited Lyra.

“Well you found me. Now wha... ha... HATCHOO!!" I sneezed, but managed to contain the majority of my blood from spraying anywhere but on me. "What do you want?” I asked, failing to mask my bitterness.

“Oh… you don’t seem too happy,” she observantly pointed out. “And it looks like you’ve been bleeding… Is there something wrong?”

“Le’ss jus’ say I’m... stranded with no place t’ go,” I offhandedly replied. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’mma go crawl off somewhere an’ live under a rock for a while.” I stepped past the alarmed green mare and staggered away from her.

“Wait!” she called. I, for no good reason, stopped in my tracks. “Your voice… your accent… Are you… are you Ponder Memoir?”

“Congratulations, you figured me out.”

“…Ty’s my real name,” I admitted, having long lost the ability to care about hiding my identity. With that, I began to slowly walk away from a presumably dumbfounded Lyra, not even looking back at her.

“Well in that case, um… Ty. Are you looking for Twilight’s house? If I remember right, her friends picked you up to lead you there. It’s—!”

“I know where her house is. Tha’ss where I’m comin’ from.”

“What? Why?”

“*sigh* Because she don’t w—!”

*ZAP* “Aaawrgh!” a familiarly excruciating series of burning stings and pricks coursed through my body once again, lasting a good couple seconds. Once the god-awful sensation subsided, I came crashing down on my knees and then my face following immediately after, all my limbs feeling numb.

“We meet again, human,” said a recognizably cocky voice. I managed to lift my head up just enough to see that red-eyed, smug grin of the voice’s malevolent owner. I noticed that his scratches and bruises were healed up.

“Charmed…!” I spat in agony.

“Y’know, we were JUST on our way back to your girlfriend’s house to pick up a substitute. I’m sure by now she’s already told you about the zebra, who’s apparently not at her isolated home in the Forest.”

“Well… Ya got me instead.”

“Indeed. I honestly wasn’t expecting you to just waltz out into the open like this.”

“Shit happens…” I rolled my eyes.

“Hm. No snippy remark? No misguided threats to beat me up?”

“Oh believe me, I… would love nothin’ more than t’ beat you senseless then drag you through town by your spiky black mane for what you did… but as you can see, I’m too weak t’ do any o’ that… So, no. Jus’… do what ya gotta do. Hit me, send me back int’ the woods t’ die again… I won't fight back…”

“Not like I can anyway… I can’t feel my arms or my legs…”

“…Okay, what’s wrong with you? You’re in MUCH lower spirits than before.” He grasped my head and, from the look of shock accompanied by the sudden release of my head, I could tell he noticed my new facial decoration. “Ooh. AND you’ve been bleeding. Recently, too. That blood looks fresh. Something happen?”

“Nothin’ you need t’ worry about. I already know you’re jus’ gonna use me in place o’ Zecora t’ get Twilight. I’m too weak an’ beaten t’ do anything about it… spare me the lip an’ jus’ take me…”

“Nothin’ you could do could be NEARLY as bad as what I figure Pinkie Pie’s gonna do t’ me anyway… Fuckin’ broken Pinkie Promise…!”

“…alright, then. Comet?”

“Sure thing…” with that, I was highlighted in a deep purple glow and levitated into the air before being made to stand up again. My hands involuntarily placed themselves together before being magically bound with rope obtained from the saddlebag Comet was wearing. I could only stare in sadness and contempt as I willingly gave myself up.

“What are you doing!? Why are you jus’ handin’ yaself over?”

“It’s no use. They have me right where they want me. There ain’t a damn thing I can do about it, physically or otherwise...”

“Kick ‘em! Ask for Lyra’s help! Run! Somethin’!” As I mentally argued with myself, more rope magically found its way around my ankles and tied itself tightly around them.

“Oh… whelp, you’re boned.”

“Hey, loosen that up a li’l bit, will ya?” I complained in a dejected, emotionless tone.

“Oh. Sorry about that,” Comet apologized. The rope’s grip loosened just enough that my ankles had some breathing room.

“Who are you guys?” Lyra finally spoke up. I assumed she’d seen enough of this pathetic show of utter submission.

“We’re… uh… we’re alien hunters,” Gillian lied. “We… find unusual species and we… see if we can find a way to return them to their home worlds.”

“Well that is just about the stupidest thing I ever heard…”

“Then… what was that he said about you using him in place of Zecora to get to Twilight?”

“Oh, that? We uh… heh… we mistook the zebra for him when uh… somepony reported to us that there was a strange creature lurking around here…” I stared at him blankly, my eyes half-open with disbelief at his ridiculous story. However, I saw him smirking as he looked at Lyra. “In fact, first thing in the morning, tell Twilight Sparkle that we found him and are looking for Ponyville’s greatest mind to cooperate with us in this… most wonderful discovery.” at that, the air went silent for a moment.

“…you guys are joking, right?” Lyra skeptically asked. “Do you seriously think I’m stupid?”

“…would it be surprising if I said yes…?” Gillian sheepishly admitted with a chuckle.

"You shocked him to get him down, and now you’re binding him with rope. I know you’re kidnapping him. And considering what you said about being on your way to pick up a ‘substitute for that zebra’ and what Ty just said about—!”

“*sigh* Comet?”

“I thought you’d NEVER ask…” with that, the cerulean mare charged up her horn and shot a small spark at the ranting detective.

*ZAP* *POOF* in an instant, the mint green unicorn was out cold as she collapsed on the ground.

“What’d you do t’ her??” I asked, worried about the bystander they’d just victimized.

“I simply put her under a sleeping spell. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine after about six or so hours. That’s usually when the spell wears off,” Comet informed to my relief.

“Well then… tha’ss actually pretty lenient of you.”

“Yeah, we’re not trying to kill anypony here…” Gillian said, causing me to shoot him another angry deadpan look. “Okay fine, we’re NOT going to kill you either. We figured that if we’re going to collect a peaceful audience with Celestia, we’re going to do it without anypony’s blood on our hooves.” He looked at his own hoof to see that there was a small amount of my blood on it. “Figuratively speaking, of course…” he added as he wiped his hoof on the ground.

“What about the kidnappin’, the scarin’ Ponyville shitless, and the apparent fight you got in with Twilight an’ her friends?”

“That fight was a minor setback. As for the other two things… well I need Twilight to come willingly without Princess Celestia noticing my presence here before I get anywhere near her. As you know, I AM an escaped convict from an entirely different country. I committed two simultaneous acts of high treason. Plus, I am-- er, WAS the only human on record to have ever existed here... besides you. Celestia would recognize me immediately if anypony with a strong enough connection to her alerted her of me, which, given my prior knowledge of the TV series, can be done through use of that dragon... I was initially hoping to take HIM so that little ol' Twilight wouldn’t be able to use him. I can only hope he didn’t send her a letter already… but I digress. In any case, that’s where YOU come in, my semi-new hostage!” He falsely praised, patting me on the back of my leg. “Exposing you to the public was both a way to distract the rest of the town from my being here in the case that they heard about that, and a small bonus in seeing them freak out over an alien!” he laughed.

“*sigh* Great. Can we go now?” I impatiently requested, feeling much too upset and tired to hear him ramble on anymore.

“Jeez, you’re not very fun. How about this, then: Would you rather take the short way or the long way?”

“Why am I bein’ given the choice?”

“I’m not letting you ruin my fun, that’s why.”

“Oh, whatever. Like I give two shits about whether you have fun or not…”

“Fine. The long way.”

“Yes…!” he cheered. “You’re at least a LITTLE fun after all!”

“How’s THAT make me fun t’ you?”

“Simply put: Because we get to drag you through town like the war trophy you are. In addition, I’m almost certain that Ms. Sparkle would be MUCH more obliged to come and get you than she would that zebra!”

“Oh tha’ss rich… I sure hope you ain’t gettin’ high on that bet…”

“…Oh, okay. Whisk me away then, O mighty alien hunter,” I flatly commanded.

“Not a problem.” With that, he moved to grab the end of the rope with his teeth. He yanked hard, causing my feet to slip out from under me.

*THUD* “Ow…!”

“Before we go…” I looked and saw him pull a sheet of parchment and a quill out of his own saddlebag. He then moved to flip me so that I was lying on my stomach. “I just need to get this out of the way…” I felt him press a hoof firmly against my back. I guessed that he was writing something. A few seconds later, he took his hooves and the sheet off of me. “Comet, can you help me drag our newest acquaintance into that bush over there?”

“No problemo, babe,” the mare complied as her horn lit up with magic again. Soon, Lyra’s unconscious body was highlighted and levitated into the bush.

“Excellent…” with that, he walked over to the bush, the note sealed and in his mouth. He carefully placed the scroll inside; presumably in a position Lyra would see it when she woke up, before trotting back towards me.

“Off we go, then!” And off I was, being pulled through town by my bare feet by two evil unicorns. At this point, the fatigue was really setting in; causing me to slowly lose consciousness as I was shamefully dragged about Ponyville, more dirt accumulating on my already-ragged, filthy clothes. Despite that, I’d managed to gain a solitary moment of remorseful sulking before passing out.

“This is some bull…”

Guilt Trip...

Guilt Trip…

I awoke lying on my back in a total daze, completely unaware of my surroundings. My vision was much too blurred to see any definitive images that would clue me in on my exact location. No sound was made that could tell me where I was. However, I was able to move to an upright sitting position and inspect my own appearance. I was surprised to see that I’d been clean; no dirt or blood staining my outfit. In addition, my limbs were free from ensnarement and devoid of any physical torment.

“How…? I coulda sworn I was…” I muttered to myself, scratching my head in confusion. "Where am I...?" I shook my head quickly, hoping to gain some semblance of awareness.

“Ty…” I heard someone gently call from a distance, alerting me into opening my eyes wide.

“Yea?” I responded as I looked around the unfamiliar landscape. I got no response. "Who's there?"

“Ty…!” the disembodied voice sang again, sounding much closer. The voice itself sounded vaguely familiar, but my confusion would not allow me to put a name or a face to it.

“Yes? I’m here! Who’s lookin’ for me?” I called, scouring the area a bit more scrupulously despite my myopic vision. "What do you need?"

“Ty…” the voice called one more time, coming from right behind me. I slowly turned around to be greeted with a brightly smiling lavender unicorn, who'd come into my sight very clearly. As soon as I laid eyes on her, the environment became clear: I’d suddenly found myself back in my own universe; my room to be exact, sitting on my bed next to Twilight Sparkle, who'd also seemed to have been cleansed of injury and physical signs of fatigue. The room was dark, no light other than the moon gleaming through the window to provide any clarity to our surroundings.

“Oh thank goodness, i’ss you, Twi…” I breathed a sigh of relief, the wary tension that had been building inside me suddenly gone. “What’s up? How'd we wind up back here?”

“I love you, Ty... I love you… so much…” she dreamily whispered, grinning at me in wistful ecstasy. I didn't quite know how to react to such a sudden, yet affectionate confession. All I knew was that those words, coming from Twilight, sent me into a state of absolute bliss… Right there, I wanted to reciprocate her affection by confessing my feelings to her.

"Aww..." I replied, love-struck as I ran a hand along her smooth, silky mane and down the back of her neck. "I l--!" Before I was able to say anything else, the unicorn lunged at me, blinding me from seeing anything but her mane and vibrant, luscious violet eyes as she voraciously locked her lips with mine. I did nothing to stop her. The unicorn kissed me deeply, seeming to pour all of her feeling into the lovely gesture as she wrapped her forelegs around my neck and pulled me close. A few seconds later, she pulled away, still smiling as a strand of saliva kept our mouths connected. The unicorn, noticing the strand, blushingly giggled as she lifted a hoof to wipe my lip clean. Being utterly beguiled by her charms, I did the same by softly running my thumb across her bottom lip.

“I want you… here and now…” she admitted with an unusually erotic inflection in her voice. “Give me all of your love, Ty… and in return, I’ll give you mine…”

"Whoa... Giggety, Giggety, Gig-Eh-Dee...!"

"Wow... how sudden... I'd be a bad guy t' say no... but... are you sure you want to do this, though? I mean..."

"Please, take me!" She interrupted as she pounced on me yet again. Taken by pleasant surprise, I hungrily welcomed her uncalculated embrace as we fell back onto the bed with her on top of me. I closed my eyes to bask in the moment of bonding with my filly-friend, wrapping my arms lovingly around her as we kissed deeply, stopping for nothing as I lost myself in the love of the unicorn… the air became hot and thin… our breathing and moaning was heavy and primal… and before I knew it, I found myself uniting with her in the most physically intimate way possible. Any objections I’d harbored against this sort of behavior were cast to the wind as Twi and I became one, each of us thoroughly enjoying the explicitly wondrous feel and taste of one another… Everything became a blur; my vision was fading into blackness and all sound was inexplicably drowned out as Twilight and I indulged in each other's intimate desires. Eventually, the two of us reached the simultaneous climax of our physical lust, causing me to black out in pleasure…

However, when my two most vital senses returned to me, I was alarmed to be greeted with the physical form of someone else. The eyes were no longer purple. They’d taken a more rounded shape. The mane was no longer dark blue, nor was it shaped the same. The horn had disappeared. The coat was no longer lavender. I’d even felt something… feathery in my grasp. Instead of Twilight, I was greeted with the sight of long, straight pink hair, soft, round pools of turquoise, and a bright yellow coat.

“That was… wonderful,” said the voice, now sounding whispery and soft as its owner nuzzled into my shoulder. Baffled and speechless, I looked around to see that I was no longer in my own home… I was no longer holding Twilight. I was in the home and the embrace of the yellow Pegasus mare known as Fluttershy. I’d been holding her in my arms as she lay on top of me, smiling the same way I’d thought I’d seen Twi smile as she stared into my eyes. Except… my arms weren’t arms. I noticed that I’d been shrunken in size and my body had been reformed to the shape of a quadruped. I took note of my jet black coat and lack of hands, which only served to befuddle me further.

“Wha…? How did I…? Fluttershy? Wha’ss goin’ on?” I asked in bewilderment, foolishly hoping for a legitimate answer.

“We just made love, sweetie…” she softly whispered in my ear as she cuddled and ground her lower body into me. “And it was the best…” Instantly, I was confused beyond belief as my heart sank.

“Made… LOVE???” I thought, my mind wracked with dread and confusion. “That is insane! Me? And Her?? But… I’m with Twilight!! I WAS with Twilight! Wasn’t I? Why would I do something like this? With Fluttershy of all ponies! Why am I not with Twilight!?”

"Even I gotta say tha'ss a bit of a mind fuck..."

"But... I thought Twilight was...!"

"Shhh..." the suddenly-seductive Pegasus quieted me as she lifted her head to meet my gaze as she playfully pressed a hoof to my lips. "You don't need her... you have me... I can love you much more than she ever could..."

"That doesn't make sense! Why would I EVER--?" My thought process was interrupted when I felt the hoof remove itself from my mouth. I was thoroughly alarmed beyond my wits when it was replaced with a pair of lips pressing against my own. My eyes opened wide with total shock as I processed the fact that Fluttershy had just kissed me. "What... the... hell???" Flabbergasted, I hastily pulled away from the embrace. Fluttershy lifted her head back up, seeming a bit confused.

"What's wrong, Ty? Don't you love me?" she sincerely asked as she kept me pinned down with her body.

"I... sure I do, but..." I had no idea what to say... But, I was positive I didn't want say anything that would offend the mare. "Not in the way you want me to... This isn't right... I'm supposed to be with Twilight. She's my filly-friend. I'm sorry, Fluttershy... I jus' don't feel the same way about you that you do me... I don't even know how I wound up here... None o' this seems right at all...!"

I squeezed my eyes shut and shook my head violently to make sure I wasn’t simply hallucinating. Rather than simply appear somewhere else like I had just a moment ago, I’d suddenly felt Fluttershy's presence disappear along with the environment. I'd begun falling before I’d even opened my eyes. Wind was flowing by me at a velocity I couldn’t comprehend as I kept my eyes shut; too afraid to look at the ground I was plummeting towards. After what felt like an eternity of being at the mercy of gravity, I’d finally come to a complete halt… But rather than crash land into the new area, I found myself suddenly levitating, my eyes still clenched.

“You’re ours, now… hahahaha…!” I heard a deep, sinister voice taunt. Suddenly, a shock ripped through my body, forcing me to open my eyes. Again, the landscape had changed; this time, it was a dank, creepy forest, where I’d once again found myself tied up to a tree. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. I tried to struggle, but I only found it extremely exhausting… but then, I noticed I could move my arms and legs. I was human again. But then… I wasn’t hanging from the tree by my torso… I was hanging by my neck. I suddenly felt a stark tightness grip around my windpipes with the strength of a python. Panicked, I clasped my hands around the leafy tether, trying vehemently to break free from the literal death grip of the vine. My eyes wandered around the forest, looking for someone or something that could help me. From the corner of my eye, I noticed a familiar lavender unicorn walking right into the area. I tried reaching out for her as I struggled for breath. She seemed to notice my frantic waving, as she stopped and looked up at me. However, the look on her face wasn’t one of worry or shock… it was one of bitter vindication; a look of pure, unadulterated hatred, piercing directly into my asphyxiating being.

“You cheat! You liar! You… you pig!” she insulted, seeming to care nothing for my dire situation.

“T-Twi… Light…!” I managed to gargle out, feeling as if my head was going to explode any second. “Please…! Help…! Me...!”

“I don’t need a special somepony! At least… not one… *sniffle* like you… I hate you, you cheater! I never want to see you again!” she bitterly spat, hitting me with a tsunami of emotional torment as I felt my hands go limp as my resolve to break free weakened dramatically. I blinked slowly, managing to look down to see that the unicorn had her back turned toward me. However, I could hear something coming from her… sniffling… whimpering… weeping… She was crying.

“I… don’t understand… What’s… goin’ on here?”

“I… I… wouldn’t do that to you…! You know that…!” I managed to choke out again as I ignored the vine suspending me in the air by my constricted esophagus to try and reach down towards the grieving mare... then I blinked once again. The instant I reopened my eyes, however, the unicorn I knew as my significant other was gone. My body went completely limp, devoid of any more physical suffering. Instead, there were only feelings of despair… anguish… sadness… Although my body suddenly stopped any sort of movement, my eyes were still functional. I looked at the area Twilight was standing in to instead see the malevolent, wrathful faces of most of her friends and family. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadence, Shining Armor, Princess Luna, Spike… All of them glaring spitefully at me; dissonant scowls on each of their faces… but Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were nowhere to be seen.

“You let her down, human…” spoke Celestia in a stern, emotionless tone. “In turn, you’ve let us all down. And now you must pay the price…”

“What did I do??”

Following Celestia’s decree, the vine had finally broken, sending me plummeting into an abyss of complete blackness. I didn’t scream as I fell… Inexplicably strong feelings of regret and miserable dejection all but silenced me as I hurtled toward the unknown... Eventually, I’d crash-landed into a pit of nothingness, my wrists and ankles suddenly bound with rope. My body was the only light glowing in the darkness as I’d pulled myself up to a position where I was on my knees. However, when I looked down, I noticed my clothes were filthy, ragged, and stained with blood. In an instant, my limbs and head were throbbing viciously, crying out in agony. I couldn’t tell what it was being caused by, but everything suddenly hurt as if I’d been in a losing battle against a rabid gorilla that was armed with brass knuckles...

“I thought I told you what would happen if you broke that Pinkie Promise…” I heard a scratchy, menacing mare’s voice admonish. A second later, Pinkie stepped into my view, her body glowing in the darkness like mine had been. She wore the same facial expression of disdain as the others had… Her hair wasn't styled in its usual fashion, though... it was straight... flat... her mane hung down over one side of her head as she glared icy death at me.

“I… I’m sorry…” I pleaded. “I’m really sorry…”

“That won’t work,” she informed. “You’re a cheater cheater, pumpkin eater, and you hurt my friends. And more importantly, you hurt Twilight. You’re going to pay…”

“Pinkie Pie, wait!” I heard another voice call. Almost instantaneously, the figure of a yellow Pegasus came into view. “He didn’t mean it! I-it wasn’t his fault! I—!” the Pegasus tried to explain.

“I don’t wanna hear it from YOU!” Pinkie harshly screamed. “You’re just as bad as he is! We’re not friends anymore, Fluttershy! No one wants to be friends with a pony who steals her best friend’s special somepony! Go away!” Fluttershy seemed devastated by her former friend’s unforgiving judgment. The look of emotional pain that plastered itself onto the Pegasus’s face was far too much for me to bear… the guilt I was feeling was amplified fiftyfold. A lump had formed in my throat as I watched Fluttershy break down into tears and crestfallenly trot away into the darkness without so much as even glancing back.

“This is all my fault…” I mumbled in solemn realization. “I let her down… I betrayed her… I broke her heart… I hurt her… and now she wants nothing to do with me… and she abandoned one of her best friends… Twilight, I’m so sorry…” I hung my head low and shut my eyes just one more time… except this time, I had no intention of reopening them. The barrier I’d formed against my own sorrow had finally been broken, thanks to my disheartening epiphany. And with that, I began to weep… in that moment, Pinkie Pie had pulled some sort of party cannon out from nowhere and aimed it directly at me as she pressed the barrel against my forehead. I found the courage to open my tear-riddled eyes look up and see her... But what I saw wasn’t Pinkie… it was instead, a stallion. Shaggy black hair… threatening red eyes… a tan coat… and a gleeful, toothy evil grin as he aimed the cannon at my face… I couldn’t bear to look at it. I lowered my head back down as I continued my pitiful display of shame and regret.

“Hasta la vista… Hahahaha…!”

*BOOM*

“Wuh!” I awoke with a start and a gasp, my heart pounding furiously in my chest as I breathed heavily, sweating profusely and trembling with fear. I couldn’t gather up the strength to look around and see where I was, but from the feel of it, I’d been lying on something hard and wooden. The area in which I was lying was too dark for me to see anything. Instead of focusing on my surroundings, however, I took the time to think about the nightmare I’d had… it was vague and hazy at the moment... I could only remember certain parts of it… Something happening with Fluttershy… Twilight crying… me choking… and the *BOOM* that startled me awake…

While I couldn’t remember the full experience of it, I couldn’t help but feel overcome with remorse when Twilight and Fluttershy came to mind. Especially Twilight… I know I didn’t cheat on her. I never would. But… I still had a pang of penitence hanging around my head as I thought more of her. I wanted to see her again… to admit to offering her friend a rubdown… to apologize for not considering her feelings when I did… to hold her in my arms again… but I couldn’t, as I realized I’d been captured. My arms and legs were still numb, rendering me unable to move. In addition, I was still very woozy, soon finding my head drooping back down onto the surface I was resting on. As I lay my aching head back down on the ground, a sudden, crushing hopelessness took me over as a lump formed in my throat.

“I’m sorry, Twilight…” was all I could think of before my lingering physical fatigue took me back into the enigmatic realm of my own addled mind…

Realization...

Realization…

Despite having to cry myself to sleep over that… that two-timing JERK, I had a somewhat good night’s rest. I woke up with a stretch and a yawn to see that everypony else had been awake already. I took a special note of the absence of a certain human amongst the group.

“He’s probably still on the balcony. Good, he’ll stay there until I feel like seeing him.”

“Good morning, everypony…” I plainly greeted. Everypony greeted me as well as each other, welcoming in the new day.

“Where’s Ty?” asked none other than Fluttershy. I was instantly irritated at the mention of his name... I was even more irritated that Fluttershy of all ponies was questioning his whereabouts.

“Of course, YOU’RE the first to ask…”

“Hmph. Beats me,” I nonchalantly stated with a shrug. “Why don’t you go look for him? He’s probably on the balcony waiting for you.” I coldly answered to the shock of everypony in the room.

“Um… O-okay…” the falsely innocent Pegasus weakly complied, taken aback as she flew over towards the entrance of the structure.

“Whoa, somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Rainbow quipped, although I was none too amused.

“But seriously, Twi…” Applejack added, seeming to get a small kick out of Rainbow's joke. “Where is he?”

“I don’t know. I don’t much care right now, either,” I stated bluntly, eliciting a few bewildered inhales from the others as what little laughter going on came to a sudden stop.

“Oh my,” Rarity gasped in astonishment. “Did… did something happen between you two last night?” asked Rarity. “I must say I’ve never seen you so terribly upset.”

“Yes,” was all I responded with before the bedroom went completely silent.

“*ahem*…Well?” nudged the white unicorn. “What happened to make you so angry at him?”

“It’s none of your business!”

“Ask Fluttersh—!”

“He isn’t out there,” Fluttershy fearfully announced as she came back. “All I see is a bunch of red spots that lead to the balcony rail.” Everypony gasped again. “And there’s a bigger red spot on the ground below.”

“Red spots that lead to the balcony rail and the ground below? How odd… if anything, he probably jumped off the balcony. But he wouldn’t harm himself on purpose, would he…?”

“Who cares if he did it on purpose or not? It’s good enough that he actually feels bad for what he did to me…!”

“You think he could’ve… possibly jumped off of the balcony?” asked Rainbow.

“Judging by what Fluttershy saw, it would seem likely,” Rarity confirmed. "But... why would he be inclined to leave?"

“If it’s true that he jumped down, and has yet not been seen around, could he have wandered into town?” inquired Zecora.

“Wherever he is, I’m sure he’s fine. Right now, we’ve got something more important to deal with,” I impatiently dismissed, once again shocking everypony in the room.

“Okay, what gives?” asked Rainbow, suddenly skeptical of me. “Yesterday you were losing your mind over him when he disappeared, and now you don’t care at all. What’s your deal, Twilight?”

“I-I agree with Rainbow Dash…” Fluttershy added, much to my dismay as I shot her a cold, menacing glance that made her squeak in fear.

“*sigh* Nopony’s gonna leave me alone about this…" I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I delivered my rebuttal.

“Let’s just say he broke a Pinkie Promise and I’m very upset with him about it,” I flatly stated.

“Wait… he did?” asked Pinkie, seeming confused.

“Well… yeah,” I answered, beginning to feel the slightest bit unsure. “I thought you were always on top of it when a Pinkie Promise was broken.”

“Of course I am!” the pink Earth mare brightly assured. “But… I don’t think Ty broke any promises…” she added in a tone of wonder, searching the room for nothing in particular as she quizzically scratched her head. Suddenly, she seemed to have realized something as she perked up. “Ooh! He DID break a Promise!”

"He did?" asked Applejack with utmost curiosity. "What'd he do?"

“Good, so my premonition is correct.”

“He forgot to eat something sweet yesterday!” Pinkie announced in realization.

“…Or maybe not.”

"Again?" Applejack inquired, shaking her head in amused disbelief as she smirked. "Ya'd think he learned after the first time around... heh heh."

"Especially after what WE put him through," Dash added, equally as amused as A.J.

“Twilight, if you were mad at him for that, then we should go find him and bake him a pie! It’s no big deal, really… I don’t really see why YOU would be so upset about him forgetting to eat sweets, though…”

“Not that!” I scolded, my patience already wearing thin. “The other one… regarding all the things he’d never do to me…? Remember…?” I hinted, trying to jog her memory a bit.

“Hmm…” the pink mare went into thought again, but this time taking much longer to come up with a definitive conclusion. “Nopey-dopey. He didn’t break any other promises,” she matter-of-factly stated to my complete bafflement. “Although, I’ll be sure he gets what’s coming to him for forgetting to eat something with sugar in it…”

“What do you mean ‘didn’t break any other promises’!?” I asked in a sudden tone of exasperation. “He kissed another mare!” I blurted. Once more, everypony sucked in air in total astonishment. Any more at this point and somepony might’ve fainted.

“What? When did he do that??” asked Spike.

“Cat’s out of the bag now… might as well shed some light on this ordeal.”

“I’m not sure, Spike… let’s ask Fluttershy!” I accused as everypony turned toward the yellow mare I was SO sure was guilty.

“Wh-what? Why would I know if Ty really did something like that??” she asked, suddenly frantic about the attention directed at her.

“Don’t you play innocent with me!” I accused as I hopped off of my bed and limped towards her, forgetting about my sprain and small abdominal cramp. “YOU’RE the other mare!” I accused, pointing a hoof at her.

“WHAT???”

“I sure hope you weren’t thinking for an instant that I wouldn’t find out!”

"B-but... I--!"

“Whoa whoa whoa!” Rainbow interrupted as she moved between us, facing towards me and staring me down with intense defensiveness. “Fluttershy would NEVER do anything like that, Twilight! How could you be so sure she or even TY did anything of the sort?”

“Yea, it ain’t quite like Fluttershy t’ steal a special somepony,” Applejack calmly reasoned. “Maybe Rarity…”

“Why I never!” Rarity shouted in offense. “Only the classless and the hopelessly lonesome resort to taking what belongs to somepony else! No offense, Fluttershy...”

"It's okay... Wait, no! No it's not! I-I didn't steal anyone's special somepony!" the discombobulated Fluttershy sputtered in total befuddlement. "I'm not lonely, either! Or classless!"

“Good point,” Applejack agreed with Rarity. “’Sides, Ty told me himself he wouldn’t do that to ya, Twi.”

“Oh really? Then explain yourself, Fluttershy!” I demanded. “What were you and Ty doing on the balcony last night?” That question alerted everyone in the room to the situation as they all focused their attention on me and the Pegasus responsible for ruining my relationship.

“…we were talking,” she stated matter-of-factly as she regained her composure, suddenly gaining some vertebrae. “We were talking about how neither of us would want to do anything that you wouldn’t like.”

“I’m SO sure,” I sarcastically remarked, not believing her for an instant.

“Twilight, I’m telling the truth!” she emphasized.

“Uh-huh… So that's really what you were talking about?”

“Yes. Some other things about personality traits too, but yes.”

“Well if THAT'S the case, why didn’t that stop you?”

“Stop me from what? We didn’t do anything else! All we did was talk!” she worriedly reasoned, stepping from behind Rainbow, who moved aside.

“If THAT’S all you did, then he would’ve told me that! There’s obviously something you two are hiding according to him, and I demand that you stop hiding it! What were you doing with him, Fluttershy!?”

“But we only talked!” the yellow Pegasus reiterated, seeming to tear up as the pressure on her built like a stack of bricks.

“And after that??” I knew she couldn’t lie about this one. “I know there was more than that, so spit it out! What else did you do?”

“We um… he… uh… h-he...” she was already faltering as she refocused her gaze to the floor for an instant. Everypony was staring at her as suspenseful silence swept over us.

"I've got you now... There's no way you're slipping away from this one..."

"Twilight... don't you think you're being a little... harsh?" Spike asked worriedly as he turned his gaze to me.

"Yeah..." Pinkie Pie agreed. "It isn't really very nice to put her on the spot like this..."

“All I want is the truth, and everything will be fine... more-or-less," I assured them before refocusing on Fluttershy. "Well? We’re listening…” Again, the room went silent.

“…H-he gave me a backrub…” she sheepishly admitted as she guiltily looked down toward the floor, rubbing her foreleg with the other.

“Exactl—!” I almost shouted, but stopped when I realized what I’d heard. “Wait… what?”

“Yes… what?” asked Rarity, possibly just as surprised as I was.

“I said he gave me a backrub,” the yellow mare enunciated, bringing her gaze back to me. “He said he was giving me a freebie for making me cry yesterday...”

“Wait…” Rainbow interrupted. “He made you cry??”

“Not in the way you’re thinking of, Rainbow Dash. It was more of me making myself cry… over something personal I’d rather not share with the rest of you…”

“Understandable…”

“…Anyway, he gave me a massage until I fell asleep. Then he brought me in here. That’s all, Twilight.”

“So… it’s possible that he DIDN’T cheat on me…?”

“He still gave her a backrub, though. That’s something he’s only supposed to do for me!”

“She mentioned that he was only giving her ‘one freebie,’ though…”

“…but why didn’t he just say that?” I asked myself aloud.

“I actually didn’t even want the rub,” Fluttershy admitted with a more assertive tone. “…but he said he only even offered it to me because he felt like he owed it to me. He also said that it was special when he rubbed you and that it wouldn’t mean anything more than a friendly gesture if he did it to me.”

“Oh dear… I’m starting to think I made a mistake…”

“But… why would h—?”

“I told you before, Twilight; neither HE nor I would do anything to hurt you. Even if I DO like him the same way you do… We're best friends.” At that, everypony let loose their alarmed reactions at the yellow Pegasus. Most of the others clamored over to her, asking her question after question while I sat and thought things over…

“Oh my gosh…! How could I be so STUPID!? I should’ve let him explain when I had the chance. But no, I HAD to jump to conclusions… and worse yet, I probably made him run away… Ohh, what am I gonna do now…?”

“Twilight, do not feel so sad. Your position was not all bad,” Zecora advised, rubbing my back.

“But… I just accused my best friend AND my special somepony… of infidelity… only to be dead wrong…” I weakly replied in a shameful stupor as I focused my gaze to the ground. "How could it not be all bad...?"

“While it’s true the accusation was severe, it’s simply because you weren’t thinking clear. I sense that you’re in a time of strife and only true love will suffice, to bring clarity back to your life.”

“Wow… she hit the nail on the head there… Wait… 'true love'? Does this mean she…?”

“So… I guess you… know about my current condition?” She looked towards the others, who were still talking to Fluttershy before she leaned in close to me.

“Other than your most recent display, I could honestly smell you a mile away…” she whispered much to the damage of my composure as I lowered my head and felt my face heat up a bit.

“Well at least she had the courtesy to keep it down…”

“*sigh* I was worried about that… what do you suppose I should do about this whole… ‘heat’ problem?”

“That decision is up to you to make; only you can choose which route to take…”

“Figures she wouldn’t actually point me in the right direction…”

“She IS right, though… this predicament can only be settled between Ty and me. Nopony else… I just have to find him and beg him to forgive me first... I owe him a HUGE apology...”

“…thank you, Zecora,” I finally said, uneasily smiling at her, to which she responded to with a smile of her own as she wordlessly nodded.

*Knock knock knock* “Hey, Twilight! It’s me! Lyra! I have something important to tell you!” I took a step, but remembered that my leg was sprained. Feeling for the most-part recharged, I performed a quick healing spell to rejuvenate myself to full health (which didn’t work at all on the stomach cramp I was feeling for some reason) before moving out of the room and down into the library to answer the door. As expected, I was greeted by a mint-green unicorn mare with white and green hair and golden eyes. She seemed totally distraught and a little untidy as if she’d been sleeping on the ground, which worried me.

“Good morning, Lyra. What brings you here?” I courteously asked.

“It’s about Ty. He was taken away by these two unicorns!” she frantically informed to my surprise.

“Are you SERIOUS!? Why now!?”

“Wait… how does she know if it was Ty?”

“When you say ‘Ty,’ you mean…?”

“Twilight, I know you’re romantically involved with the alien that found its way into Ponyville yesterday. In fact, if I’m not mistaken— which I’m not because he confirmed it himself when I saw him last night— he was masquerading as the pony known around here as ‘Ponder Memoir.’”

“Shoot! She knows! Why would he just out and tell her, though?”

“Uh… well, you got me there…” I admitted, feeling a little ashamed before I realized something. "Wait... you said you saw him???"

"Yes, I did. And for the record, I promise I won’t tell anypony about your relationship,” she assured. “Anyway, can I come in so I can explain what happened?”

“Please, be my guest…” with that, the bright green, golden-eyed unicorn mare followed me into the library. The others came down after presumably overhearing Lyra’s urgent entry before we all sat and listened to the green mare’s story.

“…and then they put me under a sleeping spell that knocked me out until just a few minutes ago!” She explained. “I don’t know where they took him! They just threw me in a bush and left me this note that basically said to tell you all not to let Spike send the Princess a letter or they would do something really bad to him…”

“I don’t get it…” Rainbow pondered. “Why would he think it was a good idea to wander into town? And so late at night at that?”

“And y'all said he was bleedin’ from ‘is nose before ya even saw ‘im?” Applejack added.

“Yeah,” Lyra affirmed. “It was all over his shirt and he was covering his nose when I spotted him.”

“I still don’t understand why he would give up so easily,” Spike addressed. “I know he was beat up and all, but he still could’ve at least tried to fight back or run!”

“Not quite,” Lyra countered. “They hit him with a sneak magic attack before they showed themselves. Plus, he seemed to be really down about something. In fact, he mentioned something about coming from here…”

“I am SOOOO sorry, Ty…” the guilt was eating me alive from the inside out...

“Down?” inquired Fluttershy. “That’s odd… I talked to him a little before he left and he seemed to be in at least a somewhat-good mood before… um… the incident. But he certainly wasn’t bleeding at all last I saw him…”

“That’s… probably MY fault,” I finally gathered up the courage to regretfully admit to the combined astonishment of everyone around me.

“Your fault?” Rarity asked. “Did it have something to do with the apparent falling out you two had?”

“Y-yeah…”

“What happened?” everypony asked in unison, alarming me as I was put in the hot seat.

“…well… I asked him to come outside with me… to um… discuss something… between me and him… I wanted to apologize for being so short with him last night… and then I asked him how his conversation with Fluttershy went. He said it was good and after that they… did something… He never explicitly said it himself, but I guess from what I learned just a few minutes ago, he wound up rubbing Fluttershy to sleep… Either he was so afraid of telling me about it that he couldn’t, or… or he didn’t know how to properly phrase the statement…”

“What did he say?” asked Pinkie

“He only said he gave her an 'apology gift'. He didn't elaborate on it, though… but that’s because I wound up assuming the worst before he could… and I jumped to the conclusion that he committed an infidelity…” As I could’ve predicted, I was met with a series of “Ooh’s” from the whole group. “I lost my temper on him and we got into an argument… and I wound up… I wound up hitting him in frustration before I left him out on the balcony... I’m certain he managed to leave this place without alerting anypony by climbing down from there, but, as Fluttershy observed, there were spots of red all over it…” I painfully admitted. Tears of guilt were building up, just waiting to flood out of my wavering eyes. “That’s most likely why you saw him with the nosebleed…”

“Twi… why’d you do that?” asked Applejack in a tone of worry.

"I didn't even know you had it in you to hit somepony that hard..." Rainbow admitted. I simply ignored it, seeing as that was one of the LAST things I'd wanted to hear.

“I… I don’t know. I just lost it… The simple thought of him talking to Fluttershy alone out there was already bothersome to me… When he hesitated to admit that he massaged her, every bad thing I could imagine the two of them doing together crossed through my mind in an instant…” I squeezed my eyes shut as tears began to run down my cheeks. A huge knot welled up in my throat from the mounting wave of crushing remorse that manifested in my aching gut. “*sniffle* I… I just don’t want there to be a possibility of me losing him… especially since I still haven’t told him that I… um… that I’m… I’m… *sniffle*”

“Say no more,” Pinkie Pie interrupted. “Twilight, you know that I’d be all over him like Timber wolves on Spike if he did anything to purposefully upset you, right?”

“Not the best comparison, Pinkie Pie,” complained the dragon.

“Y-yes…” I admitted, allowing myself to fall into a bout of weeping. Pinkie took it upon herself to wrap me up in her forelegs.

“You remember his Pinkie promises, right? You know, the ‘never gonna give you up, let you down, run around, desert you, make you cry unless it’s tears of joy, say goodbye unless he’s gonna come back and say ‘hello’ again, tell a lie, or hurt you’ promises?”

“Yes…”

“And if he’s gonna stay true to those promises, then you’ll know for sure he wouldn’t do anything bad to you, right? Even if he WASN’T to Pinkie Promise, you’d still have all of us here to support you. And I'm sure Ty would have the common sense NOT to do anything bad to you, anyway...”

“Yeah,” Rainbow agreed. “We’ll always be there for ya, Twi.”

“An ’if it helps, he already told me he wouldn’t hurt ya,” Applejack chimed in. “I know we can take his word on it.”

“Yeah… you’re right …” I agreed, lightening up a little as I found it in myself to return the embrace. Almost immediately, the other girls, with the exceptions of Zecora, Spike, and Lyra all gathered in to make it a warm, friendly group hug; one I needed badly.

“*ahem* Sorry to interrupt,” Lyra began, seeming to be holding back her own sentiments. “…but we’ve still got a situation on our hooves regarding that alien.”

“Human.” I corrected as I broke my hug with my friends and regained my composure. “*sniffle* He’s not an alien. He’s human. But you’re right. We need to find out where Gillian took him.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” said a menacing male voice. All of us turned at attention to face the speaker; none other than Gillian himself, standing triumphantly in front of us and smirking with satisfaction at our instant expressions of enmity towards him.

“You!” I shouted, instantly hot with seething anger.

“You’ve got SOME nerve showing your face here!” Rainbow Dash warned.

“Where’s Ty!? What did you do with him!?”

“Easy now. I haven’t done anything yet… and I won’t do anything so long as you comply with me,” he suggested. "By the way, what a touching little performance you girls put on! I'd have never guessed YOU would be the reason that fool wandered out into the open like a defenseless rabbit just waiting to be hunted down for game..." he chuckled heartily at his own cruel simile, much to my frustration. I also noticed Fluttershy with her fore hooves over her mouth, seeming to be completely appalled... presumably at that same comparison. "*AHEM* But as I said; He'll be fine, so long as you meet my prerequisite requirements..."

“Why in the world should we trust a devious miscreant such as yourself??” asked a reasonably wary Rarity.

“Especially when you knocked me out and left me in that bush!” added an offended Lyra.

“I only needed you to deliver the message, Ms. Heartstrings; which I see you’ve done a beautiful job of,” the stallion replied to the mint-green mare.

"Wha?? How'd you know my--?"

“Now down to business… Twilight, I’m willing to make a… trade, of sorts.”

“I already know what you’re going to say, and there’s NO WAY I’m letting you get anywhere NEAR Celestia!” I accused. At that, he simply laughed.

“Hey, it’s YOUR choice. Either I get to the Princess or you lose your special friend. But, whenever you decide not to be foolhardy and instead choose to be reasonable, I’ll be waiting near Town Hall. Come by anytime. You already know the deal I presented to you still stands. We’re just playing with a different— and dare I say, more sentimental— bargain chip… Clean yourself up and come soon… Oh, and come ALONE. WITHOUT sending Celestia any warnings! Farewell!” with that, his horn glowed silver, indicating that the magic disablement spell I placed on him had worn off. With a flash of silver and a *POOF*, he was gone, leaving us all to think about what moves to make in the process of rescuing Ty…

I’d awoken very slowly, stretching and yawning, still feeling the pangs of anguish from the two days past as I extended my arms and legs. The nightmare I’d had still lingered within me, sending me into an automatic state of despondency. I tried raising a hand to scratch my head, only to realize that I couldn’t.

“Oh, right…” I sat up to see my hands and feet were still bound with rope and that I was on the floor inside of a seemingly empty house.

"This has, NO DOUBT, been the WORST fuckin' time I've ever had here..."

“Oh, you’re awake,” a feminine voice stated, causing me to flinch in fear as I looked to my left to see Comet sitting comfortably in a chair, likely keeping watch over me. “Good morning.”

“Yea okay,” I dismissively remarked, already bitter toward her for kidnapping me. “Always a good mornin’ wakin’ up tied up in some stranger’s house with somebody watchin’ you.”

“Sorry. Wouldn’t know the feeling,” she shot back with a nonchalant shrug.

"Nyeh nyeh nyeh-- wouldn't know the feelin'-- FUCK You!"

“Where’s your dirty, sneaky colt-friend?” I coldly asked, already beyond pissed off.

“Gillian is neither dirty nor sneaky!” she remarked in considerable offense. “…and if you MUST know, he’s paying your precious little Twilight Sparkle a visit.”

“He’s WHAT??” I asked in alarm, quick to bring myself to an awkward standing position. I was just about to try hopping out of the house when the familiar sound of energy being channeled froze me in place.

“I wouldn’t try anything risky if I were in your position,” the cerulean mare warned, her horn glowing purple.

“*sigh* Damn…! Who am I kiddin’? Not like Twi would come rescue me for the sake of rescuin’ me anyway, considerin’ she prolly still thinks I cheated… which is BULLSHIT!”

“Now sit back down.” Heeding her words, I sat back down, wary of what the mare could’ve done to me if I’d not complied and suddenly feeling even more downtrodden when the lavender unicorn was brought into my mind.

“Can I at least go t’ the bathroom? Not sure about you ponies, but sleep usually makes me need to… how you say, ‘drain the main vein,’ so to speak.”

“How do I know you’re not going to try some deceitful move to escape?”

"...is that a serious question?"

"I think it is..."

"*sigh* Un-freakin'-believable..."

“Trust me, I don’t think I wanna get shocked again for tryin’. I don’t really have much of a reason TO try an’ escape, either…” I reasoned before getting an idea. “If you don’t believe me… you can always let out your inner voyeur…” I winked. The mare gasped and sputtered in disgust, her cheeks turning a flustered pink; much to my satisfaction.

“Good. I feel a li’l bit better now.”

“How incredibly crude and tasteless…” she stated in appall. “The bathroom is down that hallway,” she advised, pointing to her right. I looked and saw a miniscule corridor with a single wooden door at the end of it. “Make it quick.”

“Will do.” With that, I got back up and shuffled my way into the bathroom. The rope around my feet was just tight enough that I couldn’t get it off, but still be able to at least take quick little baby steps. After finishing my business in the restroom (and washing as much filth off of my face as I could), I shuffled back into the lobby of the dainty little house like a penguin and sat back down like a good little hostage.

"You know, you're a real smart-aleck. Just putting that out there." Comet callously informed, thus angering me further.

"And YOU'RE a real pain in my black ass! Jus' puttin' that out there," I mockingly shot back to her frustration.

"WATCH it!" She warned, her temper seemingly as short as mine. "...or else I'll GIVE you a real pain in your--!"

"Yea yea, whatever," I dismissively rolled my eyes. "Threaten me with magic shocks when I'm tied up. REAL scary... I already know what it feels like."

"Just who do you think you are!? You're so rude! It's revolting!"

"Like YOU'D be any better if YOU got dragged somewhere by some criminals for some sorta hostage negotiation... Oh, wait: You 'wouldn't know the feelin',' now would you?"

"...You know what? Just sit there and shut your rude little mouth. I'm sick of you already. The sooner this is over with, the better..."

"Fine with me..." I simply, calmly replied with an uncaring shrug before a short silence washed over us. The silence was only short for the simple fact that my stomach began to growl.

"Ugh... I forgot about you, tummy..."

“So… Got anything t’ eat?” I asked with as polite an inflection as I could muster... which was FAR from easy as I felt sick just trying.

“What do I look like, a maid?” the mare understandably remarked in biting sarcasm.

“Look who's gettin' smart now. I didn’t ask for ya mouth, lady. I asked if there was food,” I emphasized with a tone of shortness towards my captor.

“Not for sharp-tongued hostages who don’t know their place, I don’t.”

“Oh for Christ sake…” I rolled my eyes.

“Fine. Would you have me ask politely or beg?”

"Neither. I don't appreciate the way you've been treating me, so I'm not giving you diddly-squat."

"Dammit! Who knew she had feelin's that would actually be hurt?"

"Yo, chiiiiiiilllll. I know this ain't the best time t' say this, but you gotta lay off her. Might be ironic comin' from me, but she's only the sidekick in all this. Gillian's the one you REALLY wanna mouth off to. That pretty li'l mare over there is prolly only followin' orders... even if she IS datin' that crazy mothafucka... That AND it ain't her fault Twi raged an' decided t' hit us..."

"Wow... you're prolly right for once..."

"Even I got my moments t' stand tall... and then I got my moments t' 'stand tall,' if ya catch my drift..."

"Okay, don't fuck up your ONE shinin' moment in the last two days..."

"You right... but still, apologize to the lady... I'ss prolly the only way she's gonna get us anything t' eat, anyway..."

"Ecch... as disgustingly wrong and backwards as it might feel... *sigh* I'mma do it... For you, tummy..."

"*sigh*... Listen. I'm... sorry," I disdainfully, yet meaningfully apologized. I looked directly at her to see that she'd been completely taken aback by my words. I felt absolutely sick to my poor, empty stomach apologizing to someone who took part in kidnapping me, but it was only necessary. "You... don't deserve the lip I been givin' you..."

"...You're serious?" she asked, apparently stunned.

"Yes. No sarcasm, no more back-talk, no B.S... I'm really sorry for how I been talkin' t' you, an'... um... uh..."

"Just a little bit longer..."

"...I would greatly appreciate it if you... forgave me for my rudeness. I'm jus' stressed is all. Y'know, hostage anxiety..." after I finished my apology, the area went awkwardly silent for a time that felt like an hour. Eventually, Comet spoke.

"...I guess I can at least SOMEWHAT sympathize with what you're going through. I'm actually surprised YOU'RE apologizing even though you're the victim. Very well. You're forgiven... sort of," she replied.

"Thanks... I--!"

"I also know you must be starving after such a long time without proper sustenance. So... I'll allow you to beg for food."

“Wow, she WOULD find some way t' jus' get a kick outta this...”

"Jus' go with it. The more you put up with it, the sooner you can get somethin' t' eat..."

“Okay. *AHEM* Ms. Comet, May I PLEASE have something to fill my poor wittle tummy up with?” I asked childishly, humoring her.

“Cute,” she flatly replied with a deadpan stare and a small grin. “What would the little alien foal like?”

“Some fruit would do,” I simply requested, dropping the childlike tone of voice.

“Alright. Be right back.” With that, the mare lifted herself up off the chair she'd been resting in and trotted into a separate area of the house, but made sure to stay within my line of sight in the case that I’d gotten any ideas. She glared back at me to make sure I was staying in place.

“I ain’t goin’ nowhere,” I assured.

“I’m sure of that.” Her horn lit up and in a second, she’d levitated an object from within what I had a good idea was the kitchen. She brought the object to me and callously threw it to my hands with her magic. “There.” I clasped my hands around the fruit to get a better look at it. What I saw disappointed me greatly.

“Aww, a mango!? I hate mangoes! Please tell me there’s somethin’ else in there. An apple, a kiwi… hell, I could even eat a lemon without a problem.”

“Aww, you don’t like mangoes?” she asked in a false sense of caring.

“No. They taste funny.”

“Oh. Well, that’s good. Watching a self-depreciating battle between you, your hunger, and your personal preferences will be amusing to me,” she teased with a mean smirk.

“You BITCH...!” I shot her the dirtiest look I could muster, but I could tell that only served to amuse her even more.

“You got what you asked for. Now eat,” she commanded.

“…You an’ Gillian both jus’ keep givin’ me reasons for me t’ hate y’all. I hope you know that.”

“I do. And that knowledge makes watching you eat that mango that much funnier to me,” she countered with a short giggle. I figured I was at a loss at this point and arguing with Comet would serve me no good. So, with much internal preparation, I manned up, lifted the mango up to my mouth, and took my first bite of the distasteful plant and almost gagged, scrunching up my face in complete revulsion.

“Oh God, it tastes so gro-ho-hoss…!” This was going to be a LONG breakfast…

“*SNORT* Huhuhuahahahah, your face is priceless! Hahahaha!”

“Grr…!” My mistake: A long, ANNOYING breakfast…

“What’ll we do?” asked Lyra. “We can’t really just agree to his ultimatum, can we?”

“Who says we have to?” Rainbow Dash asked. “There’s one of him and one… two… NINE of us! There’s no way he’ll be able to take on all of us by himself!”

“A frontal assault would be likely unwitting, as we know not the alternative he may find fitting,” Zecora countered.

“Zecora’s got a point,” A.J. concurred. “If we DO all go at ‘im at once, who knows what he might do; not jus’ t’ weasel out t’ safety, either. We gotta keep in mind that we still hafta get Ty, too.”

“But we can’t let Twilight go alone,” Rainbow argued. “We already know why he wants her. Why would we just flat-out give her to him?” With that question, the group went into a full-blown discussion of a proper method of action. As the group threw around ideas of how to go about the situation, I began to contemplate a possible scenario silently.

“I obviously don’t want to just walk into his clutches… but I don’t want to endanger Ty, either. Problem is… if I was to meet up with him followed by the entire group, he’d most likely renege on his end of the bargain. But then, going there alone would be the next least practical move, as to capture me, he clearly stated is his primary objective. But then…” After a brief moment to my thoughts, I'd finally come up with a concrete idea of how to go about the predicament.

“I’ve got it!” I announced, bringing the group’s attention to me.

“What did you come up with, dear?” asked Rarity.

“I WILL be going alone.”

“What??” half the group shouted in an amount of shock that I’d anticipated.

“Twilight, you can’t be serious!” A.J. stated in total appall.

“Oh, but I am,” I boldly replied with a wink. “You see, I’LL go alone. But, YOU all won’t.”

“What are you getting at?” Lyra asked, seeming not to grasp the hint.

“What I mean is that you should all leave before me. Go and find separate hiding spots around the vicinity of Town Hall. Once you’ve all found suitable spots where you know Gillian won’t be able to see you, Spike will send me a letter telling me when you’re ready. From there, I’ll go and ‘surrender’ myself over to him, where he will hopefully take me to where he’s holding Ty. You all should be able to tail us over to his hideout and THAT’S when we strike…”

“That’s genius!” Rainbow lauded.

“But… what if he teleports you instead of actually walking you to the place?” Fluttershy cautiously asked.

“Good point… Hmm… If that does happen, then one of these things will likely be going down: A., I take Ty by force and find a way to alert you all as we make our escape. B., I shoot a magic flare that will alert you all to my current location. Or C., I teleport myself back to the center of town and let you know where they’re hiding. That sound good?”

“Are you sure that’ll work if that’s the case?” asked Spike.

“I… can’t answer that for certain," I replied, uncertain of the exact circumstances in relation to the conundrum at hoof. "...But if we’re gonna get this over with without Celestia being endangered, it’s all we have for now. Ty, I can only hope will comply with me, as I'm not entirely certain of what may or may not happen to him in the process. If the plan goes through a SNAFU, then send Celestia a letter immediately, Spike,” I informed as I levitated a sheet of parchment, an inkwell, and a quill toward him.

“Roger! But… what’s a SNAFU?” he curiously asked as he took hold of the supplies.

“Something Ty told me about some time ago… it’s an abbreviation for something… I forget what exactly, but he said it’s something or someone that causes the whole plan to go horribly wrong... usually by accident. Let’s make sure that doesn’t happen. AT ALL. Is that clear, everypony?”

“Yes!” Everypony replied with a nod.

“I feel there is not much time to invest. Let us hurry and put this plan to the test,” Zecora added.

“You’re right. We’ve waited here long enough. You all should go now. Make sure to spot Gillian without being spotted yourself, find a hiding spot where you can observe him— I cannot stress enough; WITHOUT being spotted— and Spike, let me know immediately when you’re ready. Got it, everypony?” Everyone else nodded in agreement. “Good. Now move out, troops!” Everyone complied, moving out to begin their espionage mission. “Fluttershy?” I called as everypony was leaving.

“Yes, Twilight?” she asked, turning around to face me.

“I’m… I’m sorry… for accusing you of—!”

“It’s okay,” the Pegasus assured with a smile that warmed me up enough to smile back at her. “I forgive you. I’m sorry for letting him rub me without your permission… Now let’s go get him back.” Wordlessly, I nodded as Fluttershy turned and took flight, following behind the others already on their way… I took a deep breath to calm my nerves as I sat and waited… but when I inhaled, I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my abdomen.

“Oooh! I hope this can all be resolved soon… This cramp is killing me…! Oww…!”

The Calm Before...

“Oh man… That was painful… *cough* *hack*” I complained as I’d accomplished the grueling task of eating as much of the disgusting mango as I could tolerate. I managed to eat all around the pit of the fruit. Sticky, sweet, yet foul-smelling juices coated my mouth and hands as I held the remains of the abominable yellow-orange thing in my hands.

"Why do you DISGUSTING things exist? I would eat a hundred LEMONS over one o' YOU any day..." I stared in stern abhorrence at the mango, ready to just throw it away.

“Hahhhhahahahahaaa!!” Or better yet, at the mare who got a kick out of observing me. Comet was having quite a blast watching me torture myself eating my least favorite fruit. She spent the entire time cracking up at my grievous misfortune. The sadistic mare was clutching her sides as she sat in her chair with her eyes squeezed shut in amusement, cackling like the witch I was convinced she was.

“You will pay for this…!”

“I hope you’re happy…” I bitterly remarked.

“Actually… I am. Whew, that was a good laugh… Best one I've had in a while...” she answered as she calmed down. I thought about ruining her mood by throwing the remains of the mango at her, but in that instant, I was hit with a sudden curiosity about the mare.

“Rather than piss her off int’ shockin’ me again, I COULD get t’ know ‘er a li’l better… See what goes on in that mind o’ hers when her man ain’t tellin’ ‘er what t’ do… Although, I could use a good laugh myself... Nah, don't throw the mango...” After a brief moment of silence had passed, I spoke up.

“*AHEM*…well now. Seein’ as you’s all laughed out now an’ we ain’t got nothin’ else t’ do… Mind answerin’ a few questions?”

“Questions…?” she asked in an actually puzzled, skpetical tone. “Like what?”

“Who are you? I know who Gillian is, but you… who are you?”

“I’m… Comet Gazer,” she simply replied, presumably feeling a bit uneasy about my question.

“That much I know. But tell me: Are you by any chance… that same mare who helped him with his plot t’ take over those Eastern countries?”

“Why is that any of YOUR business?” the cerulean unicorn asked in a suddenly-defensive tone.

“Chill. I’m jus’ tryin’ t’ start a conversation, but if you don’t wanna, fine. Be that way. I don’t really care.” The room went awkwardly silent once again. This time, even I felt an invisible weight of discomfort penetrate the otherwise-calm atmosphere.

“…So what if I am?” she asked, breaking the silence to my shock.

"Unbelievable...! After what I heard about last time, she's STILL helpin' him?"

“…Why are you still helpin’ him?” I asked. I was genuinely curious about her and I wanted to know how she’d even gotten involved with him in the first place. “You know he basically used you t’ stage that situation… you know what you’re doin’ NOW is wrong… and for all either of us knows… he’s prolly jus’ usin’ you now. Why?”

“…Because… because he’s all I have…” she dismally replied, alarming me yet again.

“What? That can’t be true…"

"You wouldn't understand..."

"Well I can at least try. I jus' don't get how you would still be on board with another scheme o' his after what happened the first time."

"Your point?" she flatly asked.

"Damn. Colder than an iceberg... She's gotta give at some point, though..."

"I mean… what about your special talent? Your Cutie Mark?” I asked, making note of the telescope-shaped Cutie Mark on her flank.

“Just because you discover a special talent, it doesn't mean it’ll bring you success, y’know…”

"Really...? I thought that was the general idea o' the whole 'Cutie Mark' thing..."

“No way… what do you mean?” I asked, almost breath-taken by her statement.

“I mean that my job as an astronomer in Saddle Arabia was more or less a flop…”

“A… flop?”

“Yes. I’d moved there from Equestria a few years ago. It was about a few months after the ancient terror known as Nightmare Moon was reverted back to her original form as Princess Luna…”

“Nightmare Moon? Luna had an evil alter ego? Ain’t that somethin’…?”

“I’d found employment over there, but… It was taking me nowhere… getting paid to just stare out into the cosmos, wistfully admiring every single shining star within my line of sight, gazing deeply into the reaches of space... Conducting various tests and experiments and forming theories and such, based on your findings… It’s quite exhilarating to say the least… and for a while, I'd become complacent with my profession... but eventually, it ceased being enough to satisfy me…”

“Mind elaboratin’?”

“Gladly. You see… I was always one who believed that there was… life on other worlds.” I was growing increasingly captivated by Comet’s story.

“Ya don’t say…?”

“Oh, but I do. About a couple years ago, I’d begun taking time away from my astronomical research to develop a spell… a spell that would revolutionize science and magic alike as we know it…”

“What? You mean the trans-dimensional spell?”

“Actually… no. I was trying to develop a spell that allowed me to travel to other planets in this galaxy… one that would allow me to gain a personal account of experience with other possible life-forms besides the ones that reside on this primitive, soggy dirtball. As you could probably guess, other ponies thought I’d gone mad with boredom… or that I was just plain crazy… After an extensive period of trial and error, I'd almost started to believe my critics' words... but then one day… about ten or so months ago… it happened…”

“You finally managed to travel…?”

“…to your native world, yes. The spell in itself was totally erratic in its properties due to it being a simple prototype… Instead of sending myself to a different planet, I wound up going to a whole different universe. There, I met him… I’d teleported in front of him while he was taking a shower…” I chuckled a little.

“How unfortunate.”

“Yeah, it might sound that way… but it wasn’t. At least, not to me. It was the most amazing thing I’d ever come across in all my years…”

“Well THAT could be taken in more ways than one."

“And before you make yet another one of your tiresomely lurid anatomical references, I'm referring to the fact that seeing a human being for the first time was—!”

“I got it. Although… the way you worded that provides some laughs…” She rolled her eyes in disdain at my comment.

“Ugh, do you want to hear the rest of this or not?”

“Fine, fine… I’mma shut up. Please, continue.”

“Thank you. Now where was I…? Oh yeah…”

“There’s gotta be something… anything…! This is driving me crazy…!” I frantically mumbled to myself as I desperately searched through my sizable repertoire of text. “Hurry up, Spike!” My cramps were steadily increasing in intensity as I waited around for the signal to meet up with Gillian. I was urgently searching for ANYTHING that bore reputable information on how to make the cramps go away; even if only temporarily. Healing spells did absolutely nothing to soothe them and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. As I scrutinized through every shelf in the biology and anatomy section of the library, I began to think about the consequences of my previous actions…

“I was SO close to having him…! Why in the hay did I flip out on him!?”

“Because at that point, ration was completely thrown out the window! But the sooner I wrap this up, the sooner I can have him…! Just keep it together, Twilight…!”

“Easier said than done. There’s still the fact that he doesn’t even KNOW I’m in heat!”

“Let’s just forget about HOW to tell him and just tell him. It’s far too late for careful consideration at this point. He deserves an explanation.”

“But then he’ll probably be angry at me! I mean, I hit him pretty hard last night…”

“Buuut, he shouldn’t be so upset that he wouldn’t listen to reason… right?”

“Ohh, who am I kidding? I accused him of CHEATING on me! With Fluttershy! How ridiculous does THAT sound? He was even bleeding when he left here!”

“But then… he DID give her a rub. Maybe he’ll understand my feelings on that and from that, he should still be able to lend me an ear… hopefully… Just keep it together, Twilight… Keep. It. TOGETHER!” As my mental conflict raged on, I’d finally managed to find the pony anatomy textbook I’d been searching for. I hurriedly cast a levitation spell on it to bring it to my attention.

“Yes…!” I exclaimed. “Now then… what does this say about possible temporary remedies for cramps during estrus…?” I set the book on the floor and found a comfortable position to sit in. Just as I was about to delve into the reading material, a flash of emerald green fire materialized in front of me, revealing a scroll.

“Aww, horseapples! They must be ready now…”

“No wait! That’s a good thing! We’re THAT much closer to getting Ty back!” I opened the scroll and read its contents:

We’re in position and awaiting your arrival

-Spike

“*sigh* Alright,” I said, bringing myself to a stand. “I may as well not waste time. Let’s go...” As I readied myself for the commencement of the gang’s plan, I redoubled my determination and confidence. I was ready to get this over with as soon as physically possible. I marched out the door, took a deep, painful breath, and broke into a hurried gallop towards Town Hall.

“I’m coming for you, honey. I’ll make it up to you if it’s the last thing I do…!” I put all of my focus on the mission at hoof, hoping that our plan would go smoothly...

“…and that’s when I found out about his plan to try and take over Saddle Arabia and its neighboring land…” Comet explained. There was quite a lot to consider about this mare. An astronomer who became bored with her job and found an interest in the extraterrestrial… only to find and be made a pawn by one… and lose everything because of it… I actually felt bad for her.

“Jeez, Comet… Tha’ss rough,” I consoled.

“Yeah, but what can I do? This is what I’ve got to get used to, and since Celestia’s mages disabled that spell of mine from use as part of the punishment I'd been delivered for almost causing the downfall of two nations, I couldn’t share my knowledge of it or prove that I’d developed it… which reminds me, human…”

“My name is Ty.”

“Ty. How did YOU wind up here? Was it that purple unicorn you’re apparently so fond of?”

“Yea."

"How'd you two meet up?"

"She found me the same way you found Gillian; except of course, I wasn’t in the shower. I was jus’ wrappin’ up some quality alone time after a hard day at work. From there, we jus’ hit it off. I showed her around my world a l'il bit. In return, she brought me here, but I guess at the time she brought me here, Gillian was busy doin’ his thing with you over in Saddle Arabia. Still, I wasn’t lookin’ t’ stay here permanently, nor was I plannin’ on enterin’ a relationship with her… but after bein’ turned into a pony t' stay incognito AND havin’ just about all o’ Ponyville, a few Canterlot guards, her older brother, and her sister-in-law come under the assumption that we were datin’, plus a sort of... private chat between us, it made both of us kinda… see each other that way, I guess.”

“Interesting. Gillian liked ME from the start. From the day we met to a short time after I'd brought him to this world, he'd begun making less-than-subtle advances toward me, doing nothing to hide his attraction to me. Imagine my bewilderment at such forwardness... and from a human being, at that..."

"Huh... He liked her from the start? Wha'ss up with that?"

"Tha'ss crazy..."

"Yeah, it kind of was. At first, I was resistant to the idea of entering a romantic relationship with an extraterrestrial... but then, he found a plethora of ways to prove that love could be blind..."

"Is that right...?"

"Mm-hmm. After a short while, I'd finally given into his persistence and decided to give it a shot... Allow me to inform you that I regret nothing. He showed me a cornucopia of his affection... it was so... wonderful. In fact, it didn’t take too long before we tried—!”

"Oh, no...!" "Oh, yea!"

“Okay," I interrupted. "...Before you finish that… Is it what I’m thinkin’ it is?” Wordlessly and blushingly, she smiled and nodded.

“…wow.”

“…wow.”

“I… went into heat within the first two weeks of our relationship, and he was the only one who was there for me… sorry for any undesirable graven images you may develop..."

“You good…” I affirmed.

"Unreal...!"

“…At the very least, he was already in his current form when we did it. But that's enough about me… as you were saying?”

“Oh, uh… where was I...? Oh yeah. Like I mentioned when y’all kidnapped me before, that plot almost got ME banned. Celestia got a bad impression on humans when she found out what he was, which didn’t serve me too well when she found out I was human, too. I almost completely agreed with her on bannin’ me because of all these crazy ideas Twilight developed in terms o’ that spell. I didn’t know Twilight so well either, so I really didn’t have much of a case to argue. But then Twi an’ I thought about it when she stayed with me for what we thought would be our last day together an’ she went t’ see what she could do to change the Princess’s mind. Evidently, she was successful. Long story short, we made it past nine whole months… at least, tha’ss what it coulda been if she didn’t decide t’ come up with the assumption I was cheatin’ on her…” I could tell I had the cerulean mare's attention, as she gasped in wide-eyed surprise at my confession.

“Why would she think something like that?? Did you?”

“Of course not! Although… I may have done somethin’ I shouldn’t have… I feel miserable jus’ thinkin’ about it…"

“Hm... I suppose that explains all the sleep-talk and twitching you were doing last night as you slept..."

"Yea... Wait... What?"

"Sleep-talk? Twitchin'?"

"I... was assigned the task of watching you as you slept in case you woke up and tried to escape. You were moving around and mumbling unintelligibly in your slumber for most of the night."

"Oh."

"Can I assume you were going through some sort of guilt-induced nightmare?”

“Yea… And before you two decided t’ launch your scheme— which I obligatorily hafta say you won’t be allowed t’ get away with…”

“Maybe, maybe not.” She shrugged nonchalantly.

“We’ll see. But yea, turns out one o’ her closest friends developed a… sorta crush on me.”

“Oh, my. That doesn't sound good...”

“Yea… I accidentally made her cry about it when I went t’ her house an’ practically ran away from her when the evidence was pilin' up... Then jus’ last night I managed t’ make amends with her an' sort things out… I even gave her a quick li’l massage as a ‘Sorry’ gift until she fell asleep. After that, Twilight suddenly wanted t’ talk. Despite bein’ tired beyond reason, I agreed. I hesitated t’ admit to rubbin’ down her friend since Twilight’s the only one I ever gave those massages to before then, an’ she completely lost it on me.”

“I… assume that’s why your nose was bleeding when we found you?”

“You guessed it. And the rest is history. But even before that, she’s been… actin’ unusual lately...”

“How?”

“Hmm… She’s been more aggressive an’ moody, she’s made a few possessive comments whenever I talked t’ some o’ her friends… umm… The one time we got intimate all weekend, she REALLY got into it... more than she usually does... and... OH! An’ she’s been tryin’ t’ tell me somethin’, but every time a chance comes around, somethin’ screws it up.”

“Hmm… call this a bit arbitrary, but… have you… noticed a… certain kind of smell about her as well?”

“Yea, as a matter of fact! I can’t put a finger on what it smells like, but… I’ss—!”

“Kind of a musky, yet strangely alluring body odor, usually gets stronger with the more you two show affection towards one another?”

“Yea!”

“Okay, how the hell does she know all this?”

“I see… And has she complained of cramps recently?”

“Yes… jus’ yesterday, actually… How do you know all this?” At that, she laughed heartily, as if to imply she knew something I didn't.

“Don’t be so naïve, Ty. She’s showing all the signs and symptoms of an estrus cycle.” My eyes widened in total shock at the diagnosis Comet made.

“…what?”

“…what?”

“…what?” I was utterly dumbfounded.

“An estrus cycle, also known as 'heat': A certain time when a mare is substantially more prone to… arousal, for lack of a better term."

"Go on..." I nudged, intent on hearing her out, but at the same time frightful of what I was about to tune in to.

"It usually occurs during the warmer times of year-- much like now-- and during these times, mares tend to be more consistently moody and irritable. They also tend to be more possessive of their mates, given they HAVE a mate at the time, and will go through intermittent episodes of abdominal cramps until the cycle passes within an average of a week's time OR if she engages in sexual activity with her mate. There's also the option of self-pleasure, but that's usually only a temporary remedy to the cramps..."

"..." I had nothing to say as I listened intently to Comet's equine biology lecture.

"Didn't expect her t' break it down like this... But still..."

"I'm not entirely sure of cross-species pregnancy rates though, as nopony has ever studied the concept with regards to ponies other than the ability of any two members of the four pony classes to procreate with one another; so long as all the necessary biological equipment is there, obviously. I'm certain that cross-species breeding is physically impossible anyway, given the clear difference in chromosomes... Ponies have around sixty-four chromosomes and, according to Gillian, humans only have about... forty-six, I believe," she informed before she took on a look of realization. "I'm sorry, I'm diverging far from the point right now. Long story short, your Twilight may quite possibly be undergoing an estrus cycle.”

“Oh… aw shit…” I mumbled, dazed beyond reason.

“So the girl’s in heat… Ain’t this about a—!”

“Time for celebration? I knew that hunch was right! She wants us! Especially me!”

“*sigh* but… I… wow… Twilight? In HEAT? Is that…?” I stared blankly at the withering, wilting mango remains resting in my suddenly-hot, sweaty hands as I tried to register the realization.

“Well THAT doesn’t seem like a happy reaction…” Comet commented, snapping me out of my train of thought.

“I… yea… I… it’s jus’ that if tha’ss true… then I’ve… got a LOT of thinkin’ t’ do…”

“I see… If it's about the species difference between the two of you, then... the best piece of advice I could offer you is to forget about it... even if only temporarily."

"Yea sure, but... i'ss not quite the same... I mean... you did it with your special someone while you both shared the same body type..."

"Believe me, I held the same worries you're experiencing, even WITH that in mind... I couldn't fathom being rutted by somepony that... well... WASN'T a pony..."

"'Rutted,' huh? How peculiar..."

"...ly arousing."

"It was so troublesome... I mean, nopony could tell that he wasn't actually a pony, but the knowledge of me committing such an act was so hard to overcome... At first, it bothered me greatly... For a while, I questioned my own integrity and suffered through bouts of catatonic daydreams about it... It felt SO good... but it was so... morally, ethically, and physically wrong... I was wracked with enormous feelings of shame and self-loathing over my lack of understanding of how I could allow myself to have sexual relations with a human being... But then... I realized I loved him... and he loved me... No matter WHAT bodily form he or even I maintained. That nothing in the world would change my mind on my feelings for him... Plus, he REALLY knows how to please a mare..." That last bit woke me up a little.

"OKAY, tha'ss all I need t' hear about that..." At that, she giggled.

"Not so amusing when you're the recipient of such lewd remarks, is it?"

"...point taken," I conceded.

"Anyway, after a bit of time spent in consideration, I finally cast aside my fears and doubts. I fully accepted Gillian as my one true love... Of course, even after the whole 'take over the East' thing happened."

"Wow... i'ss like that between you?"

"Yep."

"Even though he's batshit insane?"

"He's not insane. He just needs somepony to love... I'm the only suitable candidate, so I fill the role as best I can."

"Well... what sense does THAT make? He used you."

"That may be, but even though I had no idea of his plans, he never once mistreated me... Every time we were together, both of us poured our hearts into one another... I see his plan as but a minor setback in our courtship, and I've fully forgiven him for it."

"Uh-huh..." I was having trouble understanding her reasoning.

"Scratch that; you're BOTH insane..."

"...Can I admit something to you?"

"...Sure."

"I actually don't know what he plans on doing once we get to Celestia. I actually hope he doesn't do something that will get us both extradited to the moon or something..."

"An' yet you're still followin' along?" I skeptically asked, raising an eyebrow to show my lack of understanding.

"Hey, it was either this or rot in prison for the rest of my life. I'm fully aware of the consequences of us being captured and sent back, but... I really just needed two things: One, some fresh air. And Two, my Gillian... I can't imagine my life without him..."

"Wow... You really love him, huh?"

"With every last fiber of my being..."

"Right... well, if that's the case, then you should probably consider talkin' him outta this crazy plot o' his."

"And why, may I ask, should I do that?" Comet asked, gaining an expected tone of skepticism.

"Why? I imagine you both are already in a lotta trouble since y'all broke outta prison, one. Two, you're usin' your premature freedom t' terrorize the lives of other ponies... and one human. Three, you apparently got this far without so much as questionin' what he's gonna do if he gets t' Princess Celestia, which I believe is a HUGE no-no. And Four... if you love him as much as you say, then... then maybe you can convince him t' stop this. For the safety of everyone involved. Plus, there's no benefit t' be had in holdin' grudges for your own undoin'. This is jus' me, but if I was you, I'd have tried talkin' him outta such crazy schemes in the first place..."

"...Your points are valid. But, I don't know if I want to do that..."

"Why not?"

"As you've already witnessed and experienced, he has an extraordinarily low level of tolerance for those who get in his way."

"But you're his girlfriend! As far as I know, you are the only one who he allows to get close t' him. You have the power t' change his mind... t' end this bullshit before somebody gets hurt! At this point, even YOU run the risk o' gettin' hurt. An' if THAT happens, I guarantee a lotta completely preventable bad things WILL follow, given he cares about you as much as you're lettin' on."

"He DOES care for me!" she snapped. "I know for a fact he does! But... I just want to see him happy is all... he's had such a terrible life in your world, and I'm the only thing that brings him joy in this one... that's why I permanently transformed him into a stallion at his request, and that's why I follow him unquestioningly... I... I want to make him happy..."

"Damn... I'd ALMOST feel bad for the guy if he wasn't the reason I'm a beat up alien hostage now..."

"Well, you can. You hafta understand that there's better ways t' do it, though. Let me ask you this... is it worth his happiness t' see all the others you're potentially hurtin' in the process? Twilight, her friends, the Princess? Even me?"

"...I don't know... I've never done anything like this before... with the violence, the kidnapping... All the things we've done so far in order to find a way to Princess Celestia... It honestly doesn't sit too well with me, but... this is the most genuinely enthusiastic I've seen him since the day we met... I feel like it's too late for me to do anything to change our plans, anyway..."

"It ain't never too late t' make a change, Comet... believe that."

"I'll... take your word for it." The room went silent once again. I took a deep breath to rid myself of the emotional tension I'd developed in my discussion with the mare over the plot she was involved in. Eventually, I spoke up again.

"Um... we got way off-topic... er... Exactly how strong IS your relationship with him, anyway...?"

"I'm sure it's really no different from how you and that other unicorn are... My only guess is just that you two haven't progressed quite as far in your relationship as Gillian and I have, considering your apparent fears and doubts regarding sexual activity with your mare."

"I... guess...? I mean, we've touched on the subject before, but we never exactly had a chance t' explore it... I... I love her, but I... I jus' don't know how... how something like sex between us would work; at least, in the case that she stays a pony while I stay human..."

"I already know she can turn you into a pony, but it's not like she can turn herself human..."

"Well... actually..." I trailed off, losing my words. Comet gasped in shock, grasping my hint.

"She can??"

"Yea. I left her at my house with a few anatomy books one time. She used the time she had t' develop a spell that would turn her into a human girl."

"But... HOW?? Transformation spells of that level should take months-- no, YEARS to master! And you're saying she--!"

"Learned it in a few hours, yes. It ain't a perfect spell an' she has some kinks t' work out, but yea. Tha'ss beside the point, though," I stated, wanting to get back on topic. "My point is... I... don't know how I'd be able t' go through with such a thing... as odd as that sounds, given we been together for close to a year now... I don't feel like I'm... ready yet, I guess. Her bein' in heat... I'ss jus'... so sudden..."

"*Ahem* Trust me, Ty... Once you go pony, you NEVER go back..." Comet quipped, lightening the tense atmosphere momentarily. I found it in me to chuckle at the corny euphemism.

"Hehehhe, what?" I asked in amusement.

"Just something Gillian told me after the first time we um... how you say, 'made love'... it IS kinda funny, isn't it?" She chuckled a little.

"Yea... yea..." I agreed before my smile faded. I'd quickly descended back into a pensive state of consideration to contemplate the world-shaking news I'd just been delivered as the room went silent once again.

"Still... if you expect your relationship with your mare to go anywhere further, you will have to come to a decision on whether you feel comfortable enough with her in order to fulfill her physical needs. If you truly love her as you say, you are also accepting your differences and treating them not as obstacles, but as milestones... And from there, you show her in every sense how much you love her... Because when you manage to do that, Ty... she'll reciprocate the favor with all her heart... and the strength of your bond will bolster to the point of being nigh unbreakable..." Comet advised, winking at me.

"Insightful, she is..."

"You're right... Weird comin' from hostage t' captor, but... you're right... I still need time t' consider, though..."

"...Well, I suppose I could just leave you here to mull over it for a moment. Can I trust you to not try and escape?”

“I… um… yea. I-I’mma jus’ be right here… Still, you should consider what I told you.”

“I... I shall," she said before getting up out of the chair.

"Wait," I called.

"What's up?"

"...Is it too much t' ask for you t' undo this rope? It kinda itches..." I shyly requested, foolishly hoping she'd comply after our conversation.

"Nice try, Ty. We may be on better terms and you may have given me much to consider, but you ARE still a hostage."

"Dammit... Worth a shot..."

"Darn," I stated, frowning in slight, yet expectant disappointment.

"In any case, I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me. I can at least take that rotting mango pit off your hands..." she generously offered as she cast a levitation spell on the remains of the fruit, lifting it out of my hands and towards her. "Let me know if you’re feeling up to eating another one,” she joked.

“Tee hee,” I dryly remarked. Nonetheless, Comet disappeared into the kitchen, leaving me by my lonesome to think about Twilight’s apparent condition…

After a painstakingly stressful run from the library, I'd finally made it to central Ponyville. There, I saw the stallion I was looking for, smiling at me as if he were a colt waiting for some gift I had to give him.

“Ms. Sparkle! Just the mare I've been waiting for…” Gillian pompously greeted. “And you’re early!”

“You know what I’m here for,” I flatly stated as I approached the malicious stallion. “Now where is he?”

“Easy now, girl.”

“‘Girl?’ Who in Equestria does he think he is!?”

“Listen, you!” I shot, marching right up to him wearing the most frustrated expression I could muster. “You and your filly-friend have caused me and my friends a LOT of trouble in the past two days and quite frankly, I am thoroughly fed up with it! Tell me where he is and give him back, and MAYBE I won’t have to—!”

“Ms. Sparkle! You’ll get your boyfriend back, I assure you. All I request is that you accompany me to Canterlot without quarrel so we can meet Celestia.”

“What are you, insane?? You know VERY well I refuse to do that!”

“Fine…” He calmly remarked. “I suppose you DON’T want him back..." he trailed off before taking a deep, extravagant breath through his snout. "...and I suppose you DON'T want your little ‘heat’ problem settled as soon as possible, hm?” I was completely dumbfounded at his deduction as I went silent.

“*Gasp* How?? How could he know??”

“But… how did—?”

“I could tell just from how you trotted your way here: Labored and struggling not to lose that pretty little head of yours over what to do without your precious Ponder Memoir to help you…” He chuckled, much to my chagrin. “Did I neglect to mention you have quite the alluring odor surrounding you as well?”

“How embarrassing…” I felt my face heat up as I looked at the ground.

“Now now, don’t get so down…” he falsely consoled as he moved to lift my head up to face that smug smirk of his.

*Smack* I’d come to my senses and hastily swatted his hoof away from my chin, glaring hotly at him as I did so.

“Don’t touch me!” I angrily warned. “Stop wasting my time and just show me where you’re hiding Ty!”

“Why the hurry, Twi?” he asked in a mocking tone.

“Ugh, how DARE he!?”

“That’s TWILIGHT to you, pal! Only my friends call me that, and YOU are not my friend!” He laughed again.

“In any case, Twilight… Why are you in such a rush to find my hideout? You wouldn’t happen to be staging some sort of ambush, would you?”

“Oh shoot! I hope he hasn’t figured it out…”

“W-what would give you THAT idea?” I asked warily, unsure of whether he was bluffing or not.

“Hm. You must really take me for a fool. When I left you to consider your options, I’d only teleported right outside your home to listen in on any possible foolish attempts to defy me that you and your friends would come up with…”

“Darn it…! He already knows! I need to come up with an impromptu fail-safe…”

“In fact… I’m almost certain they’re around here right now, eavesdropping like the flies they are… but I’m a magnanimous kind of guy… I’ll give you a second chance. Call them out and tell them to stand down. If you do, MAYBE I’ll consider taking you to your precious boyfriend…”

"Oh, no... I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place now... What to do, what to do...? Ah! I've got something...! I'll try and rebuff his demand by feigning ignorance to his accusation. Just in case he's bluffing..." I opened my mouth to speak when...

“NO!” shouted a familiar voice. Its owner came rocketing out from behind a nearby house. In a polychromatic flash, Rainbow Dash had landed right in between me and Gillian, causing him to step back.

“*sigh* Rainbow Dash…!”

“You don’t have to agree to that, Twilight!” she practically screamed, seeming eager for a fight. In an instant, the sky blue Pegasus turned to Gillian, fire in her eyes. “Just who do you think you are, coming to Ponyville and demanding things of us like you’re some sort of big shot!?” she angrily asked, getting into his face.

“Never mind who I think I am, Rainbow Dash,” Gillian replied, seeming to be quite happy about Rainbow’s brash move. “I THINK you just fell for my bluff. I THINK I’m still in control here. I THINK you didn’t hold up your end of the bargain, Twilight. And now…” he gave a sinister smirk. “…and NOW… I THINK I’m going to do away with that human!” he threatened with a laugh.

“No! Wait!” I desperately called, hoping he might still change his mind.

“Too late! He’s as good as gone!” he shouted as he lit up his horn, preparing to disappear. Acting on a presumable impulse, Rainbow Dash lunged at him as fast as she could and just as she managed to land a hoof on him, the two of them disappeared. I could only stare in total bewilderment at what had just taken place. Rainbow Dash brashly interrupting the negotiation because Gillian apparently faked knowing about the plan... Gillian threatening to harm Ty because of the slip-up... and Rainbow attacking Gillian as he cast a teleportation spell, sending both of them to Celestia-knows-where...

“*sigh* Damn…!” I quietly cursed in frustration. Normally, I would NEVER use such a word… but my time spent around Ty, coupled with his frequent use of it despite his informing me that it was profane and not fit for proper speech, forced that to be the first thing to come to mind. I’d be sure not to make a habit of it. I’d also be sure to wash his mouth with a bar of soap next time he said anything of the sort around me or any of my friends. But that would have to wait until I saw him again… That is, IF I saw him again.

“Girls? Spike?” I called aloud. “You can all come out now! Seems we’ve hit our SNAFU!” with that, all my friends stepped out of their hiding spots (which I have to say were quite innovative, as I wouldn't have even been able to tell they were there) and grouped up around me, each of them looking as worried as I felt.

“What do we do now, Twilight?” asked Lyra. "We can't let him get away."

“I'm aware of that, and we'll have to reassess the situation. For one thing… Spike, send the letter. Make sure to let Celestia know everything going on right now, from the two evil ponies to the kidnappings to their terrible plot to try and get to her.”

“On it,” Spike complied, quickly putting the quill to the parchment.

“What about Rainbow Dash?” asked Fluttershy.

“Yeah,” agreed Applejack. “Didn’t really expect ‘er t’ lose her cool like that…"

"Neither did I," I answered, equally as befuddled as my friend was.

"We didn't even hear what you an' Gillian were talkin' about...”

“Long story short, Gillian bluffed his way into ruining our plot. Rainbow must've overheard it from the house she was hiding behind and decided to take an alternative course of action. Even so… even I couldn't tell if Gillian was bluffing or not. We were SO close to finding his hideout, too… *sigh* Oh well. It’s possible only Rainbow knows where the hideout is now, but… she also runs the risk of being captured just like Ty, considering Comet didn't seem to be with him. Chances are, she's guarding Ty at their hideout.”

“What measures do you propose we take?” inquired Rarity. In that moment, Spike had finished the emergency letter and with a blast of emerald green fire, sent it on its way.

“Hmm… I suppose we could search the town for the place in question. We’ll need to split up to maximize our chances of at least finding Rainbow Dash. I’m hoping she and Gillian will make enough noise for us to find out their current position, implying she’s in a position where she can make noise,” I reasoned. “Okay… we’re at the heart of Ponyville right now, so… Rarity, Spike, you two search the North."

"Got it!" Spike assured.

"Zecora, Applejack, you two search East."

"Y'all can count on us!" Applejack confidently stated.

"Lyra and Pinkie will search West."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" Pinkie Pie agreed.

"Fluttershy, you’re with me. We’ll search South." The Pegasus mare simply nodded in concurrence.

"I figure you and I still have some talking to do anyhow..."

"From there, teams will split to scour their respective surrounding areas if no clues are found during the initial search. If anypony finds something, find a way to let everypony else know. In the case that anypony runs into Rainbow, Gillian, Comet, and/or Ty, do NOT hesitate to take action to help our friends. There’s no time to waste! Let’s move out!” Everypony agreed without a word as we all split off into designated pairs to search the different areas of Ponyville...

The Storm!! (Pt. 1)

“So… You had enough time to think, Ty?” asked Comet as she reentered the room.

“I… suppose… I’ss jus’… A human havin' sexual intercourse with a pony? Even if t' help soothe her 'heat' problem... How wrong does that sound?” I asked back, still a bit on the fence about Twilight's possible condition.

“Well, to be fair… from the perspective of a pony, such an act with a species of sentient being that ISN'T a pony; one that doesn't even EXIST in this world, mind you, would yield the same form of conflict you're going through. I’m almost positive that, if the heat hasn’t gotten all the way to her head by now, your Twilight is dealing with a similar internal battle… You DID say she had trouble telling you herself, no?”

“Good point…" I concurred before going awkwardly silent for a few seconds. "Forgive me if this sounds intrusive, Comet, but… how did you an’ Gillian manage t’ go through with it?”

“Well, as I said before, he was already in his transformed state when we did it… I must say, it really didn't make much of a difference, given that, despite him looking the part of a stallion, he is still human. That and, between you and I, he didn’t have any objections to it at all.”

“Seriously?? None?” I asked in complete disbelief.

“None at all. He actually said doing it with me would make it more appealing for him…”

“…Woooooooooooow…”

“That sick fuck!”

“Don’t be so quick t’ judge. We may be on the same boat as him pretty soon… given this whole thing wraps up without somebody bein' seriously injured or killed…”

“Y’know… you’re actually right again…”

“Yep. Bein' right is a good feelin'... Of course, not as good as--!”

“Don't even...!”

“Yeah… but once you get past the fact that you’re different species and just go for it, I can personally say your love will flourish… given you in particular make it out of here without dying or sustaining more damage than you have already.”

“Indee—!”

*POOF* With a sudden flash of silver, two ponies had suddenly appeared in front of me. One of them was sky blue with a mane of various colors. The other was tan with hair of black. Despite the two of them being locked in a violent struggle, I recognized them as Rainbow Dash and Gillian.

“Rainbow Dash???” I called. The sound of my voice must’ve grabbed her attention because she and Gillian stopped dead in their tracks to look at me. As soon as she registered me in her thoughts, she effortlessly kicked the stallion away and dashed towards me.

“Ty! So glad to see you again, big guy!” Rainbow excitedly greeted. “I’m bustin’ you outta here!”

“Wait… You are??” I wasn't so much surprised at her announcement as I was that she didn't seem to be in the least bit angry at me.

“Of course! Twilight and the gang should be waiting for us near Town Hall. Let’s get going!” As she instructed me to follow her, I noticed a glow of purple from my peripheral vision. I quickly cut my eyes over to the left to see Comet preparing to attack Rainbow with a magic blast.

“Rainbow, duck!”

“Wha—! WHOA!” she narrowly avoided being hit by the sneak attack as it whizzed over her head.

“I don’t think so!” scolded the cerulean unicorn. “You’re not going anywhere with him!”

“YOU’RE just lucky I don’t have the time to pound you halfway to Hoofington for what you did to me yesterday! Now come on, Ty! Let’s go!”

“I can’t! My hands an' feet are tied up.”

“Well you’re in for a bumpy ride, because one way or another, you’re comin’ with me!” she grabbed my feet with both her forelegs and with a mighty pump of her wings, she began to drag me across the floor. We didn’t get far before Rainbow narrowly avoided another blast of magic; this one silver.

“Leave the human here, and you MAY leave this place with your wings intact!” Gillian threatened, seeming none too happy. I looked over at Rainbow to see that she didn’t seem startled in the slightest. In fact, she’d been smirking.

“I’M supposed to be scared of a pony who can’t aim well enough to hit a target as big as a Pegasus?” she taunted, much to my surprise and the chagrin of Gillian.

“Watch your mouth, you cur! I could have you erased from existence!”

“Nyeah nyeah! *Phlblblblblt*” She blew him the old-fashioned raspberry. If I wasn't mistaken, it was like she was TRYING to piss him off... "Maybe you should get yourself a pair of glasses. And a gym membership to go with it because you're as weak as you are blind!"

“Rainbow Dash, what the he—!” I stopped when I noticed her winking at me. In that same instance, Gillian charged another blast to shoot at Rainbow with. Rather than duck or dodge out of the way of this one, she waited there, grinning with confidence. As soon as the blast left Gillian’s horn, Rainbow lifted my legs up.

*ZAP* “Ouch!!” I shouted as the blast made contact with my feet. However, I noticed that the rope binding my now-tingling feet together had been incinerated.

"Clever girl... I'm impressed."

“Good! Now get up!” Rainbow commanded as she flew over to grab me by the shirt and pull me to my feet before swiftly dashing over to open the door. “Get outta here! I’ll catch up with you!”

“What?? Rainbow, I—!”

“Go!! Twilight needs you!” Her words left me totally speechless as they registered in my mind.

"She... needs me? I thought she hated me..." I knew I didn't have time to ponder the Pegasus's words, so I readied myself for the run of my life... which I hoped wasn't to be taken literally...

"Don't you DARE take one step toward that door!" Gillian commanded in stark frustration, charging up his horn again. "...or you'll regret it!"

"...You know what? I think now's a good time for some payback..." Rather than freeze in place or try to bolt out of the door, I calmly turned toward the stallion and approached him slowly.

"*sigh* Y'know, Gillian? At a time like this, there's only one thing I hafta say t' you..." I told him as I stopped mere inches away from him. Surprisingly, he powered down his horn, possibly thinking I was complying with him.

"And what, pray tell, is that?" He asked, seeming to be humoring me.

"I'ss more of a question, really..."

"And that question is...?"

"What is this?" I could tell he'd taken the bait, as he cocked an eyebrow at me.

"What is... what?" He asked again, not seeming to understand what I meant.

"This. Y'know, this," I reiterated, pointing at absolutely nothing.

"Well, what do you mean by, 'this'? You're not gesturing toward anything, or making a clear point as to what you're alluding to."

"All I'm askin' is what THIS is. Jeez, how hard is that t' answer?" At this point, both he AND Comet were shooting me looks of confusion. He turned to her, his expression unchanging.

"...Did you do something to him, Comet?" Gillian asked his cohort.

"No... At least, I don't think I did..." the cerulean mare uncertainly answered.

"Ty!" Rainbow called, seeming to be worried. "What are you--?"

"In a sec, Dash. I jus' wanna know somethin'..." I assured before turning my attention back to the stallion. "Well? What is this?" Gillian shook his head at me with an expression of annoyance and confusion before he responded.

"*sigh* I have NO clue what you're referring to, but I think I'll take a stab at it... This is a house?" he guessed, seeming unsure of his answer.

"A house...? No... no..." I muttered before making a dramatic pause, turning away and feigning contemplation for what I was about to do. After a second-long suspenseful silence, I turned back to Gillian, furrowing my brow and baring my clenched teeth. "THIS IS PAYBACK TIME, BITCH!!!" I fiercely shouted before, in a swift, fluent motion, I cocked my right foot back as far as I could and let all of my pent-up aggression go in a single vengeance-fueled kick.

*THUMP* "OOF!" *CRASH* I punted that son of a bitch as hard as I possibly could, sending him flying into the kitchen like a hapless football and crashing into what sounded like the table. Ignoring the wave of pain coursing through my foot and shin, I took a second to look at Comet, who looked absolutely appalled at what just happened as she gawked into the kitchen, her eyes and mouth agape.

"Way to go, Ty!" Rainbow cheered, reminding me to get out of there immediately.

"Worth it!"

“…I owe ya one, Dashie…” I commended as I turned and took off as fast as I could out of the house… or at least, that’s what I would’ve done if I had any idea where to go or had any intention of leaving Rainbow there. Instead, I made my way to the door, making sure to grab hold of Rainbow’s tail as I ran by. I’d be damned if I was going to let my friend sacrifice herself...

“Get back here!!” Gillian yelled as he and Comet gave chase. As soon as we were outside of the house, I let go of Dash, who shot me a look of perplexity as she flew alongside me.

“What gives?" she asked. "I could’ve taken both of them on while you got away!”

“I have enough t’ feel bad about… I ain’t about t’ let you bein’ capped or hurt fall on my conscience…! I jus’ wish we had a—!”

“Look out!” she called as she flew in front of me to pull me down by my neck, so as to make me crouch as I heard a magic shot whiz past us. As soon as the coast was clear, I moved back to an upright running position as she flew beside me.

“…better way o’ gettin’ away from them!” I finished.

“Hmm... I have an idea, but it’s a bit of a long shot!"

"Anything's good at this point! Wha'ss the plan?"

"We don't exactly have time for me to explain it! I'll just need you to spread your legs and hold your arms out as you run so I have enough room!” before I could even ask why, she flew behind me. Trusting her, I did as she asked. Before I even had time to turn and look, however, I took note of an incredibly fast trail of rainbow shoot up from under me, as well as a strangely wet, warm, hard object pressed against each of my constricted wrists. In the next literal instant, my arms were rising toward the sky as my feet stopped making contact with the ground.

*FWOOSH!!!!!!*

“WHOA!!!!” Turns out Rainbow’s idea of an escape plan was to gain enough momentum to fly from under me between my legs, take the rope binding my hands together into her mouth, and use the momentum to lift me high into the air.

“Mrrn, yurr hrrvy!” she loudly mumbled as she rocketed toward the clouds. I understood it as her complaining about my weight. I took no offense, as she was my only hope…

“Sorry about that, but whatever you’re gonna do t’ get us the hell outta here, make it quick!” I hastily ordered, deathly afraid of what might’ve happened if she possibly got too distracted and let me go from the height we were at. At that point, I wasn’t sure what to regret more: My request that she move faster, or the fact that I was completely at the Pegasus mare’s mercy in the first place. She heard my command and fully delivered by rocketing off at an unprecedented speed only comparable to a fighter jet.

“WAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!” I shouted in a voice akin to a famous Italian plumber as we blasted off. I could hardly breathe, much less see anything as the winds ripped past us at a dangerous velocity. It sort of made me think back to that story Twilight told me about the time she tied herself to Rainbow in order to make a swift trip to Canterlot… I now know how absolutely horrible that must’ve been.

“Rainbow Dash, I hope you can get away from them soon because so help me, I am gonna lose it in more ways than one!!”

Fluttershy and I were well on our way searching the Southern section of town for our friends. So far, our efforts proved fruitless, but it'd still been pretty early on. My sporadic stomach cramps had settled down for the moment, allowing me to place full focus on the task at hoof. However, I'd been compelled to strike up a conversation with Fluttershy... There was something I needed to get off of my chest regarding the yellow Pegasus, but I simply didn't know how to form my thoughts into coherent words. Rather than stay silent or wait until I was ready to talk, I went on a whim.

"So... Fluttershy..." I awkwardly began.

"Yes?" the Pegasus mare answered.

"Um... nice morning we're having... huh?"

"Um... yes. Well, sort of... We still have to find our friends and make sure they're safe..."

"Yes, yes we do. Say... speaking of 'friends...'"

"...I guess you want to talk about what happened earlier?"

"Clever..."

"Yes. I... I know we apologized already, but... I still can't help but feel bad..."

"Twilight, it's okay," Fluttershy assured. "You don't have anything to feel bad about."

"Yes I do... It's not just accusing you of trying to steal Ty... It's the fact that I could even come up with something so unbelievably insipid in the first place..."

"What do you mean?" she asked in curiosity.

"You see, when you told me about your feelings for him... I... I felt... I felt... um..." I uneasily trailed off, afraid of finishing my statement.

"...Scared?" she finished to my astonishment.

"Well... yeah, for lack of a better term... I felt like the security of my relationship was threatened, even though I didn't even have a reason to... I hate to admit it, but... your confession bothered me much more than I initially let on... which is why after I found him in Zecora's hut, it was one of the first things I told him..."

"Oh..." she responded, seeming to be listening intently.

"I'm sorry... It wasn't at all right of me to expose your feelings to Ty like I did... I told him more or less as a warning, selfishly hoping he would take action to be more wary of you... I suppose that's why he led you out to the balcony to talk last night..."

"I guess so... He never mentioned that you told him about my um... my... crush, though. He said he'd only picked up on it from the way I was acting around him when he came with me to my house. I thought I was at least keeping my calm around him, but I guess I'm not very good at hiding my emotions... Even so, I'm sorry for making you feel uncomfortable. He's your colt-friend and I, as your friend, should do a better job of respecting that. I shouldn't have even been crying over it when he left..."

"Huh... I would've guessed he'd simply brought it up to her referring to me... Still, I'm surprised she can still find things to apologize for when none of this is her fault..."

"Speaking of... He DID tell me that you let him know I was crying when you visited me," the Pegasus continued. "I didn't consider it before, but I guess that's how I should've known you told him already."

"I suppose that would be a pretty significant clue..." I agreed before I'd suddenly become curious. "If you don't mind me asking, how'd your alone time with him go?"

"It was wonderful. We talked about a lot of things... from why I feel the way I do about him..." at that, I almost cringed.

"Watch it, sister!"

"...to why neither of us would do anything you wouldn't like..."

"Good, good..."

"He even gave me some advice on being more comfortable with myself," she finished with a positive inflection in her tone.

"I see... I didn't know you two shared such a deep conversation. I was under the impression that he simply... well..."

"Let me down easy?" she finished to my astonishment again.

"How'd she know I was about to say that...?"

"Well... yeah, to be blunt. How'd you know I was about to say that?" I inquired with utmost curiosity.

"Because I've... *sigh* been through it before..." she solemnly admitted, MUCH to my shock and sympathy.

"Wow... I'd have never guessed. I always figured she'd be one to prefer to be alone..."

"Wow, Fluttershy... I-I had no idea..."

"Yeah... Ty was much more kind in sparing my feelings than the last pony, though..."

"How so?"

"I'm not sure really... I guess it's just the method he chose. In a way, Ty did let me down... But in another way, he gave me a vote of confidence in finding my own special somepony. What he did to make me feel better, though... the massage he offered me for my troubles..."

"As if I need to be reminded about that...!"

"I was so shocked that he would even consider rubbing me even though you seemed to disapprove of it back in Zecora's house..." At that, I lost my composure, lowering my head as I blushed with radiant embarrassment.

"...Was I that obvious?" I asked, feeling a bit ashamed.

"No, not at all!"

"Fluttershy, you don't have to lie to make me feel better..."

"Well... okay, maybe a little... But, like I said before, he said he'd only do it for me just that one time... as a way of apologizing, even though I don't think he had anything to apologize for. If you don't mind me saying this... you're lucky, Twilight. Ty's a great pony. Even though he's not a pony... And his hands... they're so... soft..."

"Trust me, I know," I concurred. "I feel like I could just melt into him when he rubs me down... especially when I lie down on top of him..."

"Is that how he usually does it?" she curiously asked.

"Yeah... why?"

"He only had me lie down on the floor facing away from him."

"Well then... he really WAS being considerate of me when he gave her one..."

"Still, it was as amazing as it was relaxing. Especially on my wings... I fell asleep in only a few minutes, it felt so good..." she admitted with a small smile as she temporarily turned away from me, looking into the late morning sky. I couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"Heh, yeah that tends to happen... *ahem* I just wish I'd have given him the chance to admit that to me before I lost my temper..." My statement brought her attention back to me.

"I know you said it was a misunderstanding, but... if it's okay for me to ask... Why did you hit him?"

"I honestly don't know, Fluttershy..." I answered, a guilty sinking feeling emanating in my gut. "It's... like I instantly became an aggressively territorial Diamond Dog finding his hoard tampered with; wanting absolutely nothing to do with something that, because of a simple, minuscule perceived shift in its position by someone else, suddenly didn't belong to him... If you understand what I mean." The Pegasus gave me a sort of puzzled look, seeming to not fully comprehend the comparison.

"I... kinda do. Could you explain it a little more?" she graciously asked.

"It's like this: When he mentioned he gave you an 'apology gift,' but seemed reluctant to explain himself, I assumed he meant that you two... um..." The two of us went silent for a moment before she gasped in shock, realizing what I meant when I trailed off.

"Oh! Twilight, we would NEVER do that!" she assured, seeming to be a bit flustered. "I wouldn't be able to LOOK at myself the same if that were to happen. The guilt would just tear me apart."

"Yeah, but after the way I treated him when we were discussing what to do... and him hesitating to admit to the massage... The worst thought that came to mind was that he kissed you again to make you feel better... or at the very least, just to make himself feel better... I see now why that's a horribly distrustful thing to imagine..."

"Oh... My...!" Fluttershy was flustered beyond belief, blushing vehemently as she fluttered her wings to keep herself afloat.

"I was afraid of losing him as it was... And that fear turned to misplaced distrust and seething contempt, which caused me to hit him... it's also what caused me to feel so... bitter towards you earlier this morning..."

"You have nothing to be afraid of, though. We're best friends, Twi. Even if we weren't, I'd at the very least acknowledge that you were with him... And besides, I know he likes you as much as you like him. You can trust him. You can trust me, too."

"Yes, I understand... Thank you," I replied, smiling contently at the Pegasus mare.

"You're welcome, Twilight," she answered back, smiling as brightly as I was. With that, a brief silence washed over us and my smile faded into a slight frown before I spoke.

"Y'know... there's a sort of reason behind why I've been so... irritable and emotional lately..."

"There is?" Fluttershy asked, her eyes widening in intrigue as her smile disappeared, her facial expression turning to one of worry. "What's wrong?" At that, both of us went silent again.

"I suppose she deserves to hear this just as much as Ty does... *sigh* Well, here goes nothing..."

"I'm... in h--!" As I was about to begin my confession, a strange noise coming from seemingly nowhere startled me out of my train of thought. Fluttershy and I looked up to see a... a rainbow-colored trail of aura tearing through the sky. Within the trail, I noticed something... or rather, someone...

"Aaaaahaaaaaauuuh!!!" A shockingly familiar voice shouted as the trail streamlined across the horizon. It took all of a millisecond of thought for me to realize what we were laying our eyes on...

"Ty!" I shouted in alarm.

"And Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy also shouted. As we called their names, I noticed various shots of silver and purple-colored magic blasts zooming in their direction.

"It looks like they're running away from those other two unicorns! We need to go help them, Twilight!" Fluttershy worriedly urged.

"And that's exactly what we're going to do! From the looks of it, they're headed back to Town Hall. Grab onto me! We have to make sure they're safe!" The yellow mare complied as she lay a hoof on my back. I was quick to charge my horn with magic and with a *POOF*, we were ready to save our friends...

Rainbow Dash was beaming through the air so swiftly that I wondered if she'd forgotten about the passenger she'd been stringing along. In the midst of our attempt to escape the hostile unicorns hot on our trail, she'd taken evasive maneuvers to dodge the magic blasts they frequently shot at us. She'd been periodically bobbing and weaving in all directions and doing barrel rolls as we soared through the sky. I was little more than a weighted rag doll in the clutches of my prismatic-haired savior, and I wasn't sure whether to regret this crazy plan or be thankful that she knew how to fly defensively and had the strength to carry me as long as she'd been. I was also surprised that she could maintain such masterful agility in such a presumably physically uncomfortable situation. All I could do was scream in rigid, petrifying terror (and make sure her unbelievably luminescent rainbow-colored aural trail didn't make me go colorblind) as we blasted through the sky going much too fast for me to at least be useful enough to warn her of most of the incoming attacks. I tried my absolute hardest not to vomit because of this hellish roller-coaster ride... that could quite literally be from Hell.

"Wr'rr Rlmrst Thrr, Tr!" she tried to assure me as we approached the heart of Ponyville. I managed to open my eyes enough to take note of the tower in the distance.

"Tha'ss great!" was all I could think to respond to the Pegasus mare with.

"Yea, great! Now get us there an' get us on some solid ground!! I can't stand this shit!! My arms are tired, I can't see, I'm freezin' like a popsicle, and I can't breathe! Get me down, get me down, get me the HELL DOWN!!" As my mind went rampant, Rainbow moved to avoid another rapid barrage of silver and purple magic blasts by doing another barrel roll.

"WHOOOOOOAH!!" I shouted at the top of my lungs yet again, at this point convinced I'd contract laryngitis by the end of this. Admittedly, despite me being frightened out of my wits and in at least eight different types of severe danger, I have to say this adrenaline-pumping disaster piece of a botched rescue attempt... was kind of... dare I say, fun. That is, until one of the worst things that could have EVER occurred during the flight happened.

*POP* "MMPH!" Rainbow groaned in agony. Almost immediately, we went into a completely unscheduled, unintended, and all-out unexpected diagonal nose dive as we approached our destination. At this point, I did what I always do when I find myself about to paint the ground red from about five-thousand feet in the air... I shut my eyes tight, took a deep breath, and panicked.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Oh, LAWDY NO! SHE GOT HIT! WE GONNA DIE! GAME OVER, MAN! GAME OVER!" Suddenly, we were pulled out of the nose dive by some sort of miracle. I opened my eyes to see Rainbow was still in limited control, as one of her wings seemed singed and smoking like a damaged airplane as we still glided toward the ground at a THANKFULLY slower, more steady rate. It seemed that Rainbow knew how to make a safe emergency landing in the case that she sustained damage as she flew. She used what I assume was all of her energy to pull us up and flare out her wings, giving them periodic flaps in order to stabilize us.

"Tuck and roll, Ty! We're going in for a crash-landing!!" Rainbow warned after removing the rope binding my hands together from her mouth. She was quick to curl up into a ball under me. Heeding her words and desiring to come out of this alive, I quickly mimicked her motion, but cradled the Pegasus as the ground drew nearer and nearer...

*CRASH* "AGH!" *FLOP* "OOF!" *THUD* "AWGH!" *BOOM* "UUGH!" We landed HARD. Rainbow Dash and I tumbled violently along the earthy mounds of dirt known as the Ponyville street as I held onto her. Thankfully, it didn't take long for the friction between the ground and my body to slow us down to a screeching halt.

*PSSHHHHHhhh...* We'd finally come to a stop after our bout of sliding along the ground like a couple of hockey pucks on ice.

"Oww...!" I moaned in total agonized disorientation as I lay sprawled out on the ground with Rainbow laying on top of me, seeming to be largely unscathed in the crash, save for her injured wing, a couple of scratches, and a frazzled mane.

"Man... what a disaster," the Pegasus stated as she still lay on top of me, picking her head up to examine the damage. "You feelin' okay?" she asked as she panted, out of breath.

"I... could be-- AH!-- better..." I didn't feel quite as lucky as Dash. I was very dizzy and completely winded from all the rolling around we did, I was nauseous from that nightmarish flight, I was trembling in post-traumatic, adrenaline-riddled stress, and the crash itself left me in unbelievable physical pain. Everything REALLY hurt like I'd been the victim of a vicious, merciless beat down at the hands of a crazed martial artist with superpowers. "How... how you feelin'?" I managed to ask as Rainbow rolled off of me and lay flat on her back beside me.

"Besides my wing, I'm pretty good... hah..." the Pegasus answered, checking her scorched wing for any extensive damage. "Carrying you... really took a lot outta me, though..."

"Sorr-- Oww...! Hah... Sorry about that...!" I choked out as I moved to sit up. Pangs of anguish and the stings of various cuts and bruises along my beaten body made themselves very apparent as I tried to sit up. I took a special note of my clothes, which were in total ruins at this point. The left side of my shirt was torn almost completely off and my pants had been torn in various areas around the legs. My entire outfit looked like it had been run over by a monster truck and fed to a ravenous pack of wolves.

"This was my favorite shirt, too... Damn..."

"Next time... warn me when you decide t' pull a stunt like that... Never been so terrified in my life," I semi-joked.

"Heheheheh," Rainbow tiredly chuckled, managing to pull herself to a sitting position. "It's all we COULD do... But you gotta admit one thing; flying is pretty awesome. Isn't it?" she asked with a confident smirk, seeming to already know my answer.

"Oh, mos' def... but not when you're the one bein' dragged along..." We both shared a good laugh at that. "At the very least, it looks like we made it..." I said, looking around to see various ponies staring at us, clueless as to what had just transpired. I took note of the tower standing just a couple of yards away from us to gain some insight on where exactly we were.

"Rainbow!" I heard a voice call from our left. I turned to see an orange Earth mare accompanied by a zebra. "Ya found 'im!" Applejack cheered as she and Zecora approached us. Her face turned from one of excitement to one of worry when she got close enough to inspect us for damage. "Ma goodness, y'all look more beat than a pair o' Pinkie's bongo drums!"

"I FEEL that way, too," I added, feeling the nausea, shakes, and vertigo slowly creep away, but the results of everything else lingering like the aftermath of a tornado.

"At any rate, we're glad to see you've escaped," Zecora mused.

"Speakin' o' which... how--?"

"Ty! Dashie!" called another voice. We all turned to see Pinkie and Lyra racing towards us. Lyra stopped a good few feet away, but Pinkie kept coming. She didn't stop for anything as she galloped full-speed toward Rainbow. In a blinding pink flash, she tackled the Pegasus as if she were holding something of value.

"I'm glad you're okay, Dashie!" She announced as she gave Rainbow the most brutal bear hug I'd ever seen her give. Pinkie was literally squeezing her so hard that Rainbow's eyes momentarily bulged out like a couple of veiny balloons ready to burst at the touch of a sewing pin.

"Jesus Christ! That doesn't look fun..."

"Pinkie...!! I'm fine...!! Let me go...!!" Rainbow choked out, clearly wanting no more physical torture. Obediently, Pinkie complied as she mercifully allowed Rainbow to live... but then she turned her gaze to me.

"No... No. No. No, no, no, no no, NO!" I managed to brace myself before the pink mare gored me like a professional football player. I was lucky she only decided to jump into me, as I managed to catch her before she sent me flying backward. Even so, she barreled into my tenderized belly with her head.

"AGH! Ow...! You really know how t' make a welcome memorable, don't you...!?" I painstakingly asked, shockwaves of agony coursing through my head, back, and arms as did my best to return the extravagantly excitable pink Earth mare's embrace.

"We missed you SO much!" she melodramatically informed me as I felt her grip around my torso tighten like a vicegrip. "We were worried we'd never see you again!" She squeezed much harder, disallowing me from breathing just like she did to Rainbow just a moment before.

*crack* "Owwww, ooh!" I moaned in pain as Pinkie squeezed too hard, giving my back a chiropractic crack. Seeming to notice, she immediately let go, looking a bit worried that she'd done me harm.

"*Gasp* I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!"

"Nah, you good," I responded, stretching a little to adjust to the sudden crack. "If anything, that only helped," I added as I softly wrapped my still-bound-together hands around the adorable mare's face and gave a few strokes of her cheeks with my fingers. She seemed to enjoy that, as she giggled like a little school filly.

"That tickles!" she excitedly stated before her expression turned to one of stern disapproval. "But don't think you're out of the hot water yet, buster! You broke your Pinkie Promise, and you're gonna have to pay!" At that, my heart sank, causing me to look down toward the ground in shame and fear.

"Oh man... Well, i'ss been a good li--!" My train of thought was interrupted when I felt one of Pinkie's hooves on my forehead, forcing me to face her.

"Wha--!" *Splat!* "ACK!" I felt the mare's fuzzy little hoof shove something into my mouth. From the sweetness of it, it seemed to be something with jelly in the center of it.

"Stop forgetting to eat sweets, Ty! This is like the twenty-seventh time you've done this! At this rate, your Pica's gonna take years to cure!" she scolded, much to the amusement of everyone around us, with the exception of Lyra, who seemed to be as lost as I was. I swallowed the treat Pinkie shoved into my mouth before taking a moment to gather my thoughts.

"Should PROBABLY tell 'er I don't really have Pica... but then I don't think that would nullify the Promise I made... but still..."

"Um... wait, I thought I broke the other--!"

"No, you didn't break that one," Pinkie interrupted, seeming to know what I was about to say, which only served to confuse me further.

"But how did you--?"

"Twilight thought the same thing."

*POOF*

"And speaking of Twilight..." Rainbow trailed off. Pinkie leapt off of my lap, allowing my gaze to fall upon two more mares; one of them a lavender-coated, blue, purple, and pink-haired Unicorn, the other a yellow-coated, light pink-haired Pegasus.

"Oh boy... NOW i'ss time t' die..." I WOULD'VE been happy to see them... but considering Twilight's most recent feelings towards me over what she thought happened between Fluttershy and I the previous evening, coupled with what I learned from Comet about her possibly fragile physical and mental state, I instead felt petrified in heart-wrenching fear as I stared at the unicorn.

"Um... H-hi, Twi..." I murmured like an emotionally withdrawn child. Twilight didn't respond. She only stared at me. What struck me as odd, however, was how she stared at me: Her brow wasn't at all furrowed and she wasn't frowning. Instead, she gawked at me, frozen in place as if she were starstruck. I didn't know exactly what signals to pick up from the unicorn's awe-stricken gaze, but that did nothing to calm me down; it frightened me even more as my heart began thumping so hard that the others could probably see its imprint periodically protruding from within my chest. I warily, painstakingly raised my hands to attempt to wave at her. What she did in response, no less than shocked me beyond words...

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw him... He looked like he'd been through a cheese-grater. His clothes were in tatters, he'd been coated in dirt, his hands were bound together, and he seemed to have been in a really brutal physical altercation.

"My gosh...! What did they DO to him!??" A lump welled up in my throat as I analyzed the human sitting in front of me. I also took note of Rainbow Dash, who'd seemed to be injured herself, but nowhere near as severely. I was glad they were okay, but... seeing Ty so... so... beaten up... it worried me...

"This is all my fault! I should've NEVER allowed him to leave the library! He would've never had to get hurt like this if I didn't hit him! He's probably mad at me and hates me and doesn't want to see me again... but... I still owe him an apology... I hope to Celestia he... *sniffle* forgives me... I wouldn't blame him if he didn't, though..."

"Twilight?" I heard him call, snapping me back into the real world. "...Are... are you alright?" I couldn't find the emotional strength to give him a worded reply. It was especially shocking to me that there wasn't a hint of bitterness or resentment in his question. I was just so full of happiness... fear... remorse... anger... my emotions were in a heated conflict over how I should've felt in that moment as tears began to form in my eyes.

"I'm so glad he's okay!"

"But Gillian and his filly-friend practically destroyed him! Plus, he must be furious with me..."

"He's alive though. Which means I still have a chance to make it up to him... And I may as well do it now..." As if on impulse, I began to trot toward Ty slowly, feeling the pressure building up as I tried not to cry. My heart was pounding like an Ursa Major's footsteps. Each and every step I took towards the battered human felt like there were weights on my hooves, dragging as if to stop me from reaching him. I felt steadily more timid as I approached. However, the closer I got, the more I anticipated just pouncing on him and showing him how much I... I...

"I'm sorry, Twilight..." he somberly apologized, much to my shock.

"HE'S sorry?" I picked up the pace, speeding into a gallop towards him. As I charged at him like a bull, I saw that he cringed, seeming to fear me doing something to him, causing me to slow down to a canter before stopping directly in front of him. "He must still think I'M upset with HIM..."

"I would never do anything t' hurt you... You know that, right? I... I shoulda jus' came out an' told you rather than punk out an' wind up gettin' you mad... I gave Fluttershy a--!" I quickly moved forward to interrupt him by placing a hoof over his mouth. In that moment, I could care less about the rubdown. I could care less that Gillian and Comet had apparently tortured him after they captured him. I didn't even pay any more attention to his ragged clothes or his numerous bodily injuries... I was only content with the fact that my colt-friend was alive and well... and I was willing to prove it to him. Tears were already flowing down my cheeks as I involuntarily cracked a smile to show that I didn't need to hear the rest. His confusion was evident as he simply gawked at me in such adorable bewilderment that I just had to do something to ease his mind...

"KISS HIM!" In that instant, I lost control of my body and let my lustful desire take over. In a fluent motion, I swiftly climbed onto his lap, wrapped my forelegs around his neck and pulled down as I lifted my own head up and closed my eyes, anticipating the moment our lips met once again for the first gloriously enamoring time in what felt like an insufferable eternity... and in only a second, my impulsive, love-fueled gesture was complete. I kissed him. I kissed him as deeply and as passionately as I possibly could... and this time, I was going to make it count...

I... could only stare in totally overwhelming bafflement, as I was rendered unable to process what was happening...

"...Holy..."

"...Frijoles..."

The Storm!! (Pt. 2)

The Storm!! (Pt. 2)

Words couldn't even BEGIN to explain the discombobulation I was experiencing as Twilight kissed me. I kept my eyes wide open to register that this was really happening...

"She... isn't mad?"

"It would seem that way. Don't really get it myself, either... But considerin' she's bein' so affectionate all of a sudden... I wouldn't complain."

"Oh my..." I heard what sounded like Rarity's voice from behind me. Unable (and admittedly unwilling) to break Twilight's kiss, I simply disregarded my urge to turn around as I allowed my eyelids to close, accepting the purple unicorn's affection and giving back some of my own. After what felt like forever, the lavender unicorn finally pulled away from the lip-lock, albeit very slowly. When she reopened her eyes, however, she bore a look of glassy-eyed sadness that hurt to see. She was still weeping.

"I... I'm sorry, Ty..." she shakily began, much to my surprise. "I... I shouldn't have hit you. I shouldn't have accused you of cheating on me... I-if I didn't, then... *sniffle* you wouldn't have had to be tortured by those two... I wouldn't be surprised if you wanted to *sniffle* leave me..." she managed to choke out before letting her remorse overcome her as she planted her face into my chest and wept some more.

"Aww, Twi..." Feeling nothing but empathy and affection for the unicorn, I did my best to comfort her by hugging her as best I could while my hands were still tied together with rope. When I lifted up my arms, however, I noticed the rope was ragged and damaged from my perilous aerial adventure with Rainbow. I managed to, with a strong tug, slip my left hand out of the knot holding my wrists together and wrapped the unicorn up in my arms.

"Twilight... I... I don't want to leave you," I began, feeling guilty for Twilight's despondent demeanor. "I already forgive you for hittin' me. I'ss my fault for not tellin' you straight up what happened on that balcony. I'ss my fault for leavin' when your pet owl told me t' go back an' talk t' you. You don't gotta feel guilty for me bein' captured..." Twilight heard this and pulled her adorable little head up, bringing her tear-stained eyes to meet mine.

"B-but you wouldn't have even had a reason to leave if I didn't give you such a hard time last night... the argument, the accusation, the--!" I interrupted her when I pressed two fingers against her lips.

"It's okay. I understand. You were under stress, an' I did nothin' t' help you... I'm sorry about that." She moved a hoof to gently take my hand away from her mouth. Rather than place the hand down, however, she held it.

"It's still my fault for not taking control of my emotions, though... It was wrong of me to take my aggression out on you. If I didn't hit you, you wouldn't have left and from there, you wouldn't have gotten so beaten up by those two troublemakers..."

"Beaten up...? OH! I guess she got that from how I look right now... can't say I wouldn't make the assumption..."

"What, this?" I asked, understanding her misconception. "Nah, this wasn't from them... well, most of it, anyway..."

"What? If they didn't do this, then... what happened to you?" she asked, understandably confused.

"Rainbow rescued me. I'ss jus' that she got hurt on the way here, which caused us t' crash-land. I made sure she was okay durin' the crash, but I didn't take int' consideration my own physical safety..."

"That's why you huddled over me?" asked Rainbow, seeming to be astonished by the confession.

"Yea. I thought you knew that already."

"No. I thought you were holding me because you were scared."

"Heh, believe me, I WAS. But I still didn't want you t' get hurt savin' me."

"Oh. Well I've been through worse, so you didn't have to do that. But... Thanks."

"Anytime... NOT literally, though. I feel like I got hit by a moving truck..." I quipped before turning my attention back to Twilight. "*Ahem* The worst those two did t' me was tie me up an' drag me t' their hideout... And make me eat a mango..."

"That won't be the case when I'M through with you!" Another voice shouted, alarming all of us as we turned to face none other than a thoroughly infuriated Gillian, who'd not received treatment for the scratches across his body from when I kicked him earlier. His horn was already glowing brightly, reflecting his ferocious temper. He was accompanied by Comet, who surprisingly didn't seem so angry. If I didn't know better, she seemed... worried. Whatever the case, Everyone moved into defensive stances, bracing for a possible fight. I managed to pick myself up and take my own readied stance, despite all of the physical anguish I'd had to fight through to do so.

"You won't get away with anything you've been doing!" announced Lyra. "Whatever evil plans you've had up till now are foiled at this point, so there's no use in making things worse for yourself!"

"Just what are you talking about?" the stallion asked, seeming not to understand the specifics of Lyra's proclamation.

"The Princess has already been warned about you and your nefarious plot!" Rarity added. That didn't seem to sit well with the stallion, as he gritted his teeth in frustration and growled.

"Is that right? Well then I'd better give her a grand welcome show! Starting with YOU!" he threatened, pointing a hoof at me.

"Oh boy..."

"Bring it!" I boldly shouted back, bracing myself.

"Gladly...!" he growled. In a flash, he made the first move by casting a teleportation spell. In an instant, he appeared directly in front of me and shot a blast of magic at me.

*POP* I was quick to block it by crossing my arms over my chest, but the force of the attack had me stumbling back a bit. My arms had gone limp at my sides and were tingling from the blast as if they'd fallen asleep on me. I'd temporarily lost most of the function of them.

"Damn, that hurt! My arms are on fire right now! And they won't move...!" He was ready to charge at me again before Applejack and Rainbow stepped in between us.

"If y'all think y'all are gonna just mosey on int' our town an' beat up our friends, then y'all got another thing comin'!" the farm pony barked.

"Yeah! Your little scheme ends here!" Before anything else could be said, the two mares charged into action simultaneously. Gillian, however, didn't seem worried. Right as the two of them reached their target and tried to take swings, he transported himself behind them. Thinking nothing of it, A.J. and Dash tried again, only for him to pull the same trick.

"C'mon, you coward! You asked for a fight, and now you're getting one!" Rainbow prodded.

"I'm not concerned with either of you two. You are simply nuisances," the stallion coldly shot back. "You're insignificant at this point."

"I reckon y'all don't even know whatcha got yourself into," Applejack calmly retorted, keeping her cool.

"Please, I know EXACTLY what I'm up against! It's funny you in particular are even talking right now, considering that pitiful display you put on last time." I was expecting the farm pony to lose it right there. However, she instead coolly nodded, took a deep breath, and adjusted her hat.

"Okay, it's about time somepony shut that trash-talkin' trap o' yers for ya. C'mon, Rainbow! Let's show this joker who 'e's tanglin' with!"

"Aww yeah!" Rainbow replied, readying herself yet again. Rather than sit and watch these two fight alone, I stepped up beside them, ready to help in whatever way I could.

"*Yawn* Oh dear. THREE of you. What EVER shall I do?" the stallion taunted.

"Don't worry, Ty! We've got this!" Rainbow confidently assured, looking at me from the corner of her eye. An instant later, she and A.J. nodded toward one another before launching into action yet again.

"No, wait!" I called to them, desperately hoping they'd stop and listen to me. My plea fell on deaf ears unfortunately, as they continued their assault. Their efforts expectantly fell well-short of successful, as Gillian, still wearing that smug grin, placed a barrier between himself and the two mares. They stopped when they saw him materialize it and paused for a moment before taking it upon themselves to try and break it with sheer force. Each of them turned around to face me, apparently preparing to simultaneously buck the barrier into oblivion.

"A.J.! Rainbow! I don't think i'ss a good idea t' try an' break it!" I plead again, fearing that Gillian may have had a trick up his sleeve.

"Why not?" asked Dash.

"I feel... I feel like he might be tryin' somethin' sneaky."

"Jus' standin' here hidin' behind a magic shield?" inquired a skeptical Applejack, still preparing to try and buck the shield to break it. "I hardly count that as 'sneaky,' 'Sides, There ain't no way in Equestria this guy's barrier's strong enough t' block bucks from both of us!"

"Even so, I don't think that--!" *TZZZZT* The instant the mares touched the barrier, their bodies rattled and flashed, seeming to have been fed a neutralizing electrical current. Both of them went down, paralyzed."...'s a good idea..." I trailed off, as my warning had just become completely irrelevant.

"Dashie! Applejack!" Pinkie called to her friends in worry, rushing over to them. I didn't even have to glance at the others to know their expressions of worry.

"Aw shit...!" I cursed, clenching my fists as the magic that paralyzed my arms steadily wore off.

"Like I said! Nuisances!" The stallion triumphantly shouted.

"Yer a... crafty varmint... nrgh... Ain't ya...?" A.J. groaned, unable to move or stand as the effects of touching that barrier made themselves apparent.

"That I am. Now if you'll excuse me..." He trailed off as he stepped past the mares he'd just incapacitated and trotted towards me. In that moment, I saw the two aforementioned mares being enshrouded in a magenta glow and taken away from the area. "You and I have a score to settle." He lowered his head and powered up his horn, glaring at me with intense enmity.

"A score? What, are you still mad about gettin' what you deserved back there?"

"I don't get mad, I get even."

"Nyeh-ow Git Merr, I git e-- the fuck up..." I coldly mocked, taking amusement in his misery.

"Oh, I am going to enjoy tearing you apart, you disrespectful cockroach...!" he growled.

"Humph. Well if i'ss a fight you want, i'ss a fight you get..." I did my best to try and kick my tired, weary body into gear.

"Come on, body...! Just power through the pain!"

"Not so fast!" shouted Twilight as she, Pinkie, Lyra, and Zecora stepped in the way, all looking determined to defend me. I looked around in surprise to see that Fluttershy, Rarity, and Spike were tending to the injured mares on the side before observing the four mares lined up in front of me.

"You'll have to get through US to get to him, Meanie McBullyPants!" Pinkie added in my defense.

"I appreciate the gesture, girls, but I--!" I tried to reason.

"You won't DARE lay another hoof on him!" Twilight threatened, much to my surprise yet again. "And you're going to regret what you've done to my friends!" Gillian merely chuckled at their boldness.

"Gathering a bunch of mares to do your fighting for you, Mr. Memoir?" He taunted me. "How spineless..."

"I don't need anyone t' do my fightin' for me," I shot back, quickly letting frustration take me over. "I'm jus' lucky enough t' have friends who are nice enough t' offer t' do so. Besides, without your magic tricks, you prolly couldn't beat even ONE of us!"

"You REALLY think you could beat me in a f--!"

"ENOUGH! Put up or shut up!"

"My my, how brash... very well, then. All five of you, all at once. Oh, what the hell... how about six of you? I can take you all on..."

"Your foolish words, whether false or true, serve a fair chance of dooming you," warned Zecora. "Overconfidence breeds incompetence."

"Heh. Don't think I forgot about YOU, zebra," the stallion vindictively threatened, narrowing his eyes at her. "I'll make sure to give you AND the human special treatment."

"Goin' offa what she said, you mus' think you REAL tough, huh?" I added.

"No. I just know that I can soundly defeat all of you without any assistance. I'm only even suggesting six because I've already dealt with the two hotheads, the yellow one seems too frail and weak, and the dragon's a baby. That charming little white mare seems to want in on the action, though. Isn't that right, Rarity?" I turned to look at the alabaster mare. She hardly seemed like she wanted to participate. She actually seemed alarmed at his sudden shift of focus over to her.

"Moi? O-ho, no nonononono no..." she respectfully declined. "I'm above such... boorish shows of brute strength. Fighting is simply unladylike."

"What? Afraid you'll mess up that already-ugly hairdo of yours?" he goaded, much to the offense of everyone; especially Rarity.

"*GASP*! How DARE you cast such childish insults at me!? And with no provocation, at that!"

"Yeah!" Spike added, equally as angry as the mare he was defending. "Rarity's the most beautiful pony in Equestria! Leave her alone, you bully!" Out of that, Gillian got some sort of twisted laugh.

"Bully? I'm just telling the truth, little man!" He replied to the dragon before turning his attention back to Rarity. "Come on and join your friends as I hand their flanks to them! I'll be sure to give that hideous mane of yours a makeover as I do so!"

"My word! What kind of stallion ARE you!? Such... such spiteful, unmitigated rudeness! Such shameless indifference towards a mare!" Rarity ranted, seeming to be on the brink of tears at his words, further driving my frustration level up.

"That's ENOUGH out of you!" Twilight shouted, clearly fed up with him.

"Leave her out of it!" I added.

"Says the coward who has a bunch of girls fighting for him... Unless you're going to fight your own battles, I suggest you keep that filthy mouth of yours shut." That statement set me off like a bomb, I was so pissed off...

"I am going to TEAR 'IM IN HALF!!"

"*sigh* Y'know what? I'm sick o' you, I'm sick o' ya mouth, and quite frankly, I'm done bein' bothered with you. You want me? You got me!" I angrily offered, limping past the mares trying to protect me.

"What??" Twilight questioned in total astonishment. "Ty, you can't!"

"I can, and I will." I sternly rebutted. "This guy's been a thorn in ALL of our sides all weekend, an' I'm not toleratin' it no more! He's done!"

"Nice to see you finally showing some backbone... Since you've finally come out of your shell, how's about we make things interesting?"

"I don't know about this... I feel like he's got somethin' up his sleeve..."

"I know... But accordin' t' Rarity, Celestia already knows about all this. At this point, it should be a matter o' time before she shows up... I hope..."

"Name ya terms."

"No outside assistance, no magic. Just you and me. Human vs. Pony. You game?"

"There some sorta reason for this, if I might ask?" I inquired, very much skeptical of this conniving trickster.

"Reason? Yes, two of them, actually..." the stallion calmly replied. "One reason is that I'd like to prove how wrong you are to think you'd stand a chance against me by yourself. The other is that I'd... like to make a wager."

"I bet there's a third reason, too... He's prolly holdin' a pretty mean grudge against me that he thinks he's gonna settle right now."

"An' that is...?"

"How about this?: If I win, you, your mare, AND your friends submit to me and whenever Celestia arrives, you help me in my goal..."

"Even IF I lose, that shit ain't gonna fly..."

"If I win?" At that, Gillian got an expectantly cocky little chortle.

"In the HORRIBLY low chance of you winning... Hmm... I will own up to everything that's gone down this past couple days, and even promise to abandon my plans forever."

"Sounds about fair t' me... But when you lose, you're PINKIE Promisin' not t' pull any convoluted schemes like this ever again," I agreed, getting into as readied a stance as I could muster.

"Not sure what the deal with that is, but I accept..."

"Wait!" Twilight called.

"What's up?" I asked, turning to face the lavender Unicorn as the others stepped back.

"I can't let you go through with this!" Twilight ranted. "You're severely injured as it is! Besides, we already know he can't be trusted! Why would you put yourself in harm's way like this!? It's foolish! It's unnecessary! It's--!" I interrupted her by kneeling down and placing two fingers over her mouth yet again. I ran my other hand through her mane and down her back.

"Twi..." I whispered as I brought her face close to mine. "I know... but if I heard right, Celestia's already been warned. This is more or less a way o' keepin' him occupied until she gets here..." I informed before removing my hand from her mouth."...that is, implyin' she actually comes."

"Plus, I could use the stress relief..."

"I'm not entirely sure she WILL show up. She's an extraordinarily busy mare, Ty..." she argued.

"True. But, I'm guessin' you had Spike send a letter t' warn her, no?"

"Yeah...?"

"And if you were a Princess and YOUR most faithful student sent you a letter warnin' about a possible attack aimed at you, wouldn't you want to investigate?"

"I... I guess I see your point, but... still, we don't know how busy she is or if she'd even gotten that letter yet. And even if she does get the letter... What about me? What will I do if you go through with this and you lose? Or worse...? For all we know, he probably wants to... to..." she trailed off, seeming afraid to finish stating her premonition. However, I had a pretty solid idea of what she was going to finish with, given the distraught look she'd been giving me.

"What? Kill me? I don't see that happenin'..."

"Trust me: I won't lose. And as for that, I know he wouldn't... There's no way he would go that far."

"How can you be sure? We know the lengths to which he'll go in order to get to Celestia..."

"He... actually told me hisself that he wasn't plannin' on bein' so brutal... But... in the extremely unlikely case o' that happenin'... I just want you t' know that I... I..." I suddenly got a case of cold feet as I hesitated to finish my statement.

"Spit it out!"

"...I love you, Twilight," I finally gathered the courage to say, "With all my heart... This is the first time in our time together I've said this, and it ain't exactly the best time, but... I love you." My confession seemed to have swept her off of her proverbial hooves, as she only stared at me in a breathless daze of anxious happiness.

"Whelp, the 'L' bomb has been dropped. But... it's true. It's necessary for her t' know at this point, anyway. Better late than never..."

"Ty..."

"I'm Waaaaiiiitiiiing..." Gillian impatiently goaded me, but no one listened. However, the atmosphere became silent for a brief moment.

"I... I know what you've been goin' through this past few days, an' I want you t' know that I'm here t' help, Twi... in any way I can." Her eyes widened in surprise and her jaw hung slightly open as she gazed into my eyes.

"Emphasis on 'ANY.'"

"So... you know I'm...?"

"Yes. We'll talk later, though. The sooner I knock some sense int' him, the sooner we can sort this out... okay, hon?" I asked, placing a hand on her cheek and gently stroking it.

"...If you really ARE dead-set on going through with this... wouldn't you at least want me to heal you first?" I thought about her question for a second, turning to glance at the smirking unicorn stallion out the corner of my eye before returning my focus on Twilight.

"I... don't think he'll let that slide. But between you an' me... he's a weak fighter anyway," I assured with a smile and a wink. "Without magic helpin' 'im, he's pathetic. I know from experience. He'll need the advantage." At that, I managed to get a small smile out of the adorable little mare, although I knew she was still disapproving of my course of action.

"You seem confident, so I trust you. But, I seriously don't think this is the best idea you've come up with, Ty... I hardly even think you doing anything as unorthodox and unnecessarily risky as fighting a unicorn; especially one of HIS level, is a good idea in the first place." Rather than argue, I simply nodded in agreement with her.

"I understand, an' you might be right... but... if anything, I'll try my hardest not t' strain myself or hurt 'im more than I need to. I'mma jus' hold him off until Celestia HOPEFULLY gets here. If she doesn't show up, then... then I suppose I'll jus' do my best t' win an' from there, we'll be done with him. I'ss a huge gamble t' bet on, but I think i'ss worth it at this point. Plus, HE came here lookin' for a fight, not me. That AND he even agreed not t' use his magic, which I personally think is dumb on his part."

"My goodness, are you DONE?" Gillian interrupted again, growing steadily more antsy.

"Shut up!" I turned and shouted back. "I'mma be there in a minute. I'm busy," I finished before turning back to Twilight.

"You KNOW he can't be trusted, though... don't you?" the purple unicorn inquired.

"I know... tha'ss why I'll try t' keep him close enough that he won't have time t' come up with some trick. That way, if I even THINK I see his horn glowin', I'mma flick it so he won't be tempted to use it." She seemed alarmed by the strategy I presented to her.

"How'd you know about that??"

"Kinda figured from what Rarity told me about unicorn horns an' their sensitivity when magic's runnin' through 'em..."

"I see... Well, I.... I believe in you... but... a little luck doesn't count as 'outside assistance,' does it?"

"I don't think so... why?"

"Would... would you like a... kiss for good luck?" she bashfully asked, blushing and lowering her head a little.

"She's so cute... But why am I gettin' that 'Deja Vu' feelin' all of a sudden?"

"Sure..." I agreed, smiling warmly at her. I lifted her chin up before closing the distance between us as our lips met one more time.

"Aww, so romantic..." I heard Rarity comment. A few seconds later, Twi and I separated.

"Good luck..." she gracefully wished.

"Thank you..." I replied with a bolstered will.

"And given how I feel right now... I might need it..."

"I promise you, this will be over in no time at all," I assured. With that, Twilight and the others stepped back, clearing the area as I stepped forward.

"Wait!" Fluttershy called.

"Yea?" I answered, only looking at her from the corner of my eye.

"Don't you think there's... some other way you could settle this? Fighting doesn't solve anything..."

"Trust me, if there was another way, I'd go for it..."

"And at this point, there isn't! Come on already so I can mop the floor with you!" Gillian interrupted, eager for the upcoming battle.

"There's your answer, I guess. If it's a whuppin' he's a-wantin', them I'mma gladly deliver. No charge."

"I... I don't agree with you..."

"Not surprisin'..."

"Nopony else should have to get hurt. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are hurt already. I... I don't want to see you get hurt, too..." Caught off guard, I made the mistake of giving her my full attention to see those large, adorable, glimmering, pleading blue-green eyes of hers as she gave me the most poignant look of friendly apprehension I'd ever seen. That stare of hers sent waves of frightful hesitation crashing around my entire body as I froze, captivated by her gaze that just BEGGED me to reconsider.

"Okay... THAT'S a little surprisin'... Dang it, Fluttershy...!"

"Oh, don't try to talk him out of this!" Gillian interrupted once again, snapping our attention back to him. "I've waited TOO long for this plan of mine to be completely F.U.B.A.R.'ed by you and your annoying friends, and I will NOT have this pathetic, spineless cretin back out of a fight all because one of his cutesy-wootsy wittle girlfriends wants to give him a morality boost. You should've seen how hard he kicked me earlier!"

"Okay, I better stop him before he says somethin' else t' her that he might regret..."

"I'd stop right there before you said anything else t' her. You're already down three strikes for puttin' ya hooves on my girlfriend, kidnappin' me twice, and messin' with everybody here!"

"And YOU'RE going to do something about it, as weary and fatigued as you are? Ha! You'd be better off sending the dragon to fight me."

"You bet I AM gonna do somethin' about it! I sure hope you're ready for a well-deserved ass-whuppin', Gillian, cuz I'm about ready t' give you one!" I taunted, taking a battle stance akin to a professional boxer.

"Big talk coming from a beaten-down human I've had the liberty of defeating in battle twice."

"With the help of Ms. Comet Gazer over there..." I pointed a finger at the mare who'd been sitting quietly, watching everything going on, but looking far from content with what she'd seen thus far. "...AND your magic. But now the battlefield's even. Talk is cheap, actions speak louder than words, blah blah blah, Le'ss get ready t' rumble!"

"On that, we agree..." he replied as he readied himself. "Ready when you are."

"Fine... Oh, and one more thing t' clarify: If I so much as HEAR that horn o' yours powerin' up, this little sparrin' match ends with YOUR forfeit."

"Hmph. I could say the same about you if even ONE of your little friends tries to interfere on your behalf." I didn't verbally respond to that; I merely nodded in understanding.

"Here goes nothin'...! For Twilight and our friends!"

"Ding, ding..." I quipped as I gestured an index finger in the "come hither" motion, imitating a fight bell before both of us launched into action...

I joined my friends on the sideline as Ty began his vicious entanglement with Gillian. I was INCREDIBLY uneasy about his decision to fight him alone, and it was beginning to have an effect on my stomach as sharp, stabbing pangs of anguish began to manifest from my anxiousness. What struck me as curious, however, was the fact that Gillian's companion hadn't said or done anything since they arrived to confront us. I glanced over at the mare known as Comet to see her staring intently at the stallion and human as they wrestled around on the ground with a look that gave off a strong vibe of... dare I say, regret.

"She seems even more upset than I am... maybe I should talk to her...?"

"She's his accomplice, though. Who knows what she might do if anyone other than her colt-friend approaches her...?"

"Twilight..." I heard a strained voice call, rattling me out of my train of thought. I turned to my right to see Rainbow was still awake, but in pain.

"Oh! I should probably fix you two up... Sorry..." I apologized before gathering magic into my horn to cast healing spells on Rainbow and Applejack. In a moment's time, the two were back in shape.

"Thanks, Twi," Rainbow began, stretching the lingering effects of her injuries away. "...but, are you sure Ty can handle himself alone against that guy?"

"Good question..."

"I... don't know for sure, to be honest..." I uneasily replied. "But he said he could do it, and I trust him enough that I don't think he would charge into a situation he couldn't handle..."

"Yea! Look atchu now! I'm a lot stronger than I look, huh!?" I heard a voice shout. I quickly turned my attention to the battle to see Ty actually holding his own against Gillian. The two of them were on the ground with Ty's arms wrapped tightly around Gillian's jawline. I also took note of a small gathering of spectators across from us, watching in shock as the fight carried on.

"I'll... take that as a 'yes...'" Rainbow answered her own question.

"Twilight...?" called Fluttershy, seeming very worried.

"Yes?" I replied, turning my attention to her.

"I... I don't think he should be doing this..." she began. "He looks tired as it is... And before he left last night, he already said he was still hurt from everything that happened since he came here... I don't know if he can do this..." Her words struck a chord with me, as I instantly felt my heart sink a little.

"Oh no... she might be right. He hasn't exactly gotten a good night's rest at all since Friday... And considering everything that's happened to him since then..." My stomach steadily began to cramp up more frequently as I became a bit more worried for the safety of my possibly-endangered colt-friend.

"Maybe he feels... mmph! Like he can power through it?" I hopefully assumed, wincing as I did so.

"Even if that IS the case, I feel like we should still help him if things get out of hoof..."

"Much as I'd like to, you heard the wager they... ah! Made... didn't you?"

"Yes... Are you okay, Twilight? You don't look so well..." the yellow Pegasus asked, taking note of my loss of composure.

"I... I could be better, to be honest..."

"What's wrong?"

"It has to do with... with what I was about to tell you earlier...! I'm... I'm in--!"

"Go Ty! Yeah, show him who's boss!" Rainbow cheered, directing my attention to the fight. It relieved me a little that Ty seemed to be in control of things as he followed through with the strategy he'd told me about. He was keeping Gillian within his grasp, seeming to be putting the stallion into submission holds to keep from doing too much damage to himself or his opponent. I also took note of the growing crowd of spectators watching the fight.

"Whoo doggie, that Ty's got more in 'im than I thought!" commented Applejack.

"Show that jerk what happens when he insults a lady!! Give him what he deserves!!" Rarity shouted, uncharacteristically enthusiastic about the fight. The rest of the group, myself included, turned toward her in total astonishment at her sudden change in demeanor. She took note of it and looked back at all of us in wide-eyed embarrassment. "*Ahem* My, where did that come from?" she asked, flustered about her most recent display. "What I meant to say was... er... I'm rooting for our friend. H-He can do it." she finished her statement with a sheepish, blushing giggle before quickly returning her gaze to the brawl.

Gillian and I were going at it, each of us trying our hardest to best the other. I'd gotten an early advantage when I managed to grab him by his tail and pull him into a sitting headlock, as well as a few other miscellaneous submission holds he'd actually had trouble breaking free of. Still, it wasn't very easy to keep him locked in a specific hold for very long, as wrestling against a pony was nothing like doing so against another human being. Plus, what he lacked in strength, he made up for in raw determination as he wildly threw his hooves around, sporadically hitting me and forcing me to let him go and try again.

At one point, I managed to catch him in another headlock as I sat down. He got out of it when he threw one of his forelegs back and hit me in a tender area on my side. I let go of him, flinching in agony. He took it as an opportunity to pounce on me, bucking me in the chest. I fell back, lying on the ground when he jumped on me and tried to take a swing at my face.

*clap* I managed to block his attack by raising a hand to catch his hoof mid-swing, but that didn't stop him. He stomped on my belly with one of his hind legs, causing me to involuntarily lower my guard around my face, which he took advantage of by taking another swing at me.

*SMACK* "Ooh!" He landed a pretty good haymaker on my right cheek. An explosion of pain went ripping through my already-aching head as I brought a hand to cover my face. It felt like I'd been hit with a brick.

"Playin' dirty, are we? Two can play at THAT game!"

"Doesn't feel so good, does it, human?" He taunted, standing triumphantly over me. "There's a LOT more where that came from for you...!"

"Please, I wouldn't... hah... be talkin' trash if I was you. I'm jus' gettin' started!" with that, I swiftly threw an elbow that caught him square in his snout, sending him stumbling back. Out of breath, I climbed back to my feet, fighting through waves of physical torment to do so.

"Damn...! Everything hurts even more now...! I need t' wrap this up quickly...!" I heard some of the girls cheering for me as this grueling altercation carried on. I also noticed that there was a small crowd gathered around the area, looking on in collective shock at what had been transpiring as of yet. What surprised me more was that no one seemed to want to step in the middle. Instead, I'd heard clamoring among the spectators regarding the sight they beheld, whether it be about seeing an 'alien' in Ponyville, seeing a physical confrontation in the fair town, or about said alien attacking a unicorn stallion they'd never seen around before. I thought about saying something to ease their possible fears, but then I noticed a certain stallion already preparing for another assault.

"What a dirty way to get out of a dire situation..." he bitterly spat.

"You're one t' talk... but we ain't done yet. Get over here!" I shouted. Without another word, I charged at him, ready to subdue him in whatever non-lethal way I could, just to get things over with. Right when I reached him, however, he turned around and bucked my left leg out from under me. "Ah!!" I shouted as I almost tumbled over. Gillian quickly moved out of the way and pulled my other leg off the ground.

*FLOP* "Oh! Oww...!" I fell face down, but caught myself by placing my hands out to stop the fall before I really got hurt. Before I could get up, however, I felt a weight come crashing down on my back, flattening me on the ground. An instant later, a pair of legs wrapped themselves around my jaw and forcefully pulled upward. "Aaaack...!"

"Hahahahaaa... And to think you could actually defeat me..." the stallion menacingly whispered in my ear as he strenghtened his grip, further choking me.

"Come on...! I can't... lose!"

I watched in absolute horror as Gillian managed to turn the tables of the battle. It pained me to see that... that CREEP strangling him like that...

"Come on, Ty! Get out of there! Don't let him beat you!" Spike shouted toward the human.

"Yeah! This guy's got nothing on you!" Rainbow added. "I know you're stronger than that!"

"Twilight, we have to do something!" Fluttershy pleaded, grabbing onto me and shaking me a little. "He's losing!"

"Jeez, she's even more on-edge than I am..."

"But could she have good reason...?"

"Fluttershy, relax... It might not look good, but you have to have faith in him..." I reasoned, although I had trouble believing those words myself. "Besides, if we go in there before it's over, he automatically loses this ridiculous wager of his..."

"OUCH!" I heard a scream come from what sounded like Gillian. I turned to see that the stallion had let go of Ty and was holding his foreleg as if something were wrong with it. "You bastard! You bit me!"

"Oh, thank Celestia he managed to get out of that...!" I observed Ty to see that he looked completely exhausted, but was still willing to go on. He picked himself back up again, and didn't hesitate to reengage the stallion in combat. Happy as I was to see that he hadn't lost yet, I was still vehemently afraid for his safety. That fear manifested in the form of an especially strong cramp that hit me with the force of a geyser.

"Oww! Mmph!" The pain was so unbearable... so sudden... I fell back on my haunches, clutching my gut in writhing anguish as the cramp refused to subside. My friends noticed this, and immediately rushed over to me.

"Twilight! What's wrong!?" asked Pinkie, totally distraught. "Did something hit you?"

"No...! I--! Owww...! My stomach...! It's cramping...! Oooooh...!" I could barely THINK, much less talk. The pain was intense. It was like I'd been caught in the ruthless grasp of a dragon's tail by my midsection.

"Cramping?" Fluttershy asked. "Is that what you were telling me about before?"

"Y-yes...! I... I... Ow! Applejack, please! Tell them!" I couldn't get it out, I was in so much pain... I was on the brink of tears, it hurt so much...

"Are ya sure? I mean... Do ya want--?"

"Yes! Ple-he-hease!!"

"Tell us what??" Lyra asked, as confused as she was worried.

"Twi's uh... in heat..." Applejack confessed, much to the surprise of everyone as they collectively gasped.

"Yeah...!" I admitted. "A-and healing spells don't--! Ooh! Help in the slightest...!"

"Heat??? Darling, why didn't you tell us sooner!?" Rarity inquired.

"It isn't really... something I'd like everypony to know...! Plus, I was more focused on telling him...! Oooh!"

"You should have told him! Then you two could've... could've..." she trailed off. "Spike, could you please step a few feet away and tell us how Ty's doing?"

"What? Why? What's going on??" Spike asked, expectantly confused about the white mare's request.

"It's a mare thing, dear. Now please, go and spectate the fight!" she commanded.

"But... what about--?"

"Spike... p-please, listen to her...!" I choked out as another cramp twisted my insides like a pretzel.

"O-okay..." the dragon sadly agreed, as dejected as he was bewildered by my condition. He slowly stepped out of the circle and walked away, looking back with severe apprehension before turning back to the fight.

"Poor little guy... You'll understand someday..."

"You must consult with him, and soon. Or else, more physical torment will loom..." Zecora warned.

"But... he's not a pony...!"

"Who cares at this point, Twi!?" Rainbow interrupted, almost as if she'd expected me to say that. "That's better than you being in pain like this! I mean, yeah it'll probably be weird, but if you two are happy together, then that shouldn't be a problem."

"Rainbow Dash giving love advice? Heh, there's a first for everything..."

"Yeah, but... ow...! I don't want you all to think I'm... I'm disgusting or weird because of it...! Especially since you all know what he really is now..."

"Twilight... no matter what, we'll always be there for you," Fluttershy consoled.

"Yeah! We're all best friends, silly!" Pinkie added. "And Ty's our friend, too! We're all here to help and support you, not judge you because of something you do! Especially if you might NEED to do it!"

"...Thank you, girls..." I tearfully said, an emotional lump welling up in my throat. "I don't know what I'd do without you... Owwwwwwww!!" Another cramp hit me, much worse than the last two as I fell over on the ground, writhing in aggregate abdominal torture.

"We need to get him! Now!" Fluttershy announced. She took flight away from the circle, presumably about to call an early end to the fight...

After I'd broken free of Gillian's headlock, I put in what was left of my strength to end this fight as soon as possible. At first, he put up some resistance, but as we kept going at it, his fatigue eventually made itself as apparent as mine. After a bout of rolling around, trying to gain dominance, I FINALLY managed to catch him in a position identical to the one he'd caught me in. The only difference was that he'd been lying on his back with me kneeling on top of him with one hand pinning him to the ground by his upper chest.

"Give up!" I ordered, thoroughly exhausted at this point. "I don't wanna hafta beat you even worse than you already are!"

"No...! I've come too far for this!" He refused despite being just as tired as I was. "I won't let my plot be foiled! Not by you, not by your friends, not by any--!"

*SMACK* Unwilling to hear his rambling, I gave him an open-handed smack to the face.

"Don't you know when t' quit!? You're beaten! Celestia knows about you an' your plan AND you've just about lost this fight! Just stop!"

"Make me...!" he spat.

"*sigh* Well, you asked for it...!"

"Fine..." I agreed, nodding. With that, I clenched my free hand into a fist and raised it up high, ready to send the stallion on an all expense-paid trip to dreamland. "Jus' know that you brought this on yaself...!"

"STOP!" I heard a voice call before I delivered the final blow. I looked up to see Comet, completely disheveled and crying. "Please! No more! Don't do it!" she begged. "You win! We give up! Please, just don't hurt him anymore...!"

"Well then... if that don't say that this is finally over, I don't know what will... I jus' feel awful about upsettin' Comet like this..." I nodded in agreement to the mare and let go of her colt-friend, bringing myself to a stand.

"Hm. You better thank that girl, Gillian," I suggested, looking down at the defeated stallion who did nothing but glare hot, seething wrath at me as he lay there.

"Ty! Please, come quick!" Another voice called to me. I turned to my right to see Fluttershy, who looked really worried about something, flying towards me.

"Hey! Wha'ss wrong?" I asked, taking the urgency of her beckoning very seriously.

"I-it's Twilight! She needs your help!"

"Aw, no...!" I was quick to follow the Pegasus mare a few steps toward the group before something caught my ear. A twinkling sound... coming from behind me... "He... wouldn't...!" Frightfully, I turned around to see Gillian, angry to the point of a vein popping out of his forehead, his horn glowing brightly with his gaze fixated on me. I froze in fear at the stallion, but I knew exactly what he was planning to do...

"Don't you do it...!" I shakily murmured.

"Ty... what--? *GASP*" Fluttershy was equally as shocked to see the irrationally livid unicorn. Before either of us could get another word out, he glanced slightly to his right and shot an enormous blast of magic... at Fluttershy.

"That bastard!!"

"Move!!" I hollered, pushing the Pegasus out of the way, but dooming myself to absorb the vengeful blow...

*ZAP* *CRACKLE* "AAAAAAAAAH!!!" I was flung back, a magical electric current ripping through my body. I fell flat on my back, in unbelievable pain and completely disoriented.

"TY!!" someone called. Everything was such a blur... my entire body went numb, but my head was throbbing like I'd been hit with a hammer. Every sound was muffled as my ears were ringing like I'd been the victim of a terrible sound grenade. I opened my eyes to look up at the sky, but everything looked so blurry and distorted. Despite that, I slowly turned to my left side and, with what little coordination I had at the moment, placed both of my arms on the ground beside me. I laid there for a few seconds, wherein the ringing in my ears ceased and my vision, for the most-part, returned to me. However, before I was able to fully recover, I heard a *POOF* come from my right. I slowly turned to see the dark, vindictive sneer of the stallion I'd just defeated in a fight as he raised his left foreleg high across his body before taking a quick back-hoofed swing.

*THUMP* "AAHAGH!" I went back to the ground with a newly explosive, rattling pain shooting through my right side. The son of a bitch had kicked me while I was down, winding me as he struck me in an area close to my lung. I clasped my side tightly as I struggled to draw in some air to re-inflate my respiratory system.

"Ty!!" someone else yelled. "What did you do to him!?" From the sound of it, it was a clearly unhappy Twilight.

"That is ENOUGH!!" the first voice shouted. I opened my eyes a little and looked past Gillian to see Fluttershy, who looked VERY upset. "How could you do something like that!?" she ranted, getting up in his face. "There's no reason for you to be a sore loser! And there's definitely no reason for you to take your aggression out on others! That ISN'T nice! You should feel ashamed of yourself! Would YOU like it if someone hit YOU like that!?" I'd only ever HEARD about Fluttershy getting pissed off, but to actually see it? It... frightened me. She'd even given him what I could guess was "The Stare," as the angry glare she was giving him sent inexplicable waves of paralyzing fear racing through my body.

"N...n-no," Gillian meekly replied, seeming to actually be afraid of this new Fluttershy I'd never had the chance to see up until this point. "But... he kicked me before when I wasn't expecting it. Doesn't that count as taking out aggression on others?"

"Yes, and I'm sure he feels really bad for it, but that is NO reason for you to retaliate like you've done! Two wrongs don't make a right!"

*POOF* "Back off, sister!" Comet commanded, pushing Fluttershy away from her colt-friend.

"Well... Thanks, Com--!" *SMACK*

"Save your thanks! What in Tartarus were you THINKING!?" the cerulean mare scolded after slapping some sense into her special somepony. "I've been behind you one hundred percent on just about everything we've done thus far, but THAT! THAT is just unacceptable! It's one thing for you to try and bet the success of our entire plan on something as neanderthal as a fight, but it's a whole different thing when you risk being knocked senseless rather than quitting while you were behind! And to watch you do THAT!? How does that make us look, Gillian!? Ponies will think we're crazy!"

"Honey, I--?"

"No! No excuses! Weren't you thinking about US when you went through with that foolish display!? I love you, Gillian, but we seriously need to evaluate things..." As Comet continued to scold Gillian, Fluttershy walked up to me, worried beyond reason as she stared down at me.

"Are you okay?"

"Honestly, 'Shy... I've... mmph! Seen better days...!" I painfully rasped as I smiled back at her. "Sorry for not listenin' t' you..." I slowly raised a hand, having it unceremoniously, yet softly plop onto her head.

"It's... sort of okay... umm... Thank you for saving me..."

"No problemo... How's Twilight...?" Before giving her answer, she looked up and over to her left, then back at me.

"She still looks like she's in pain because of her stomach cramps, but... it looks more like she's really angry... She's crying because of what just happened to you, but the others are there, trying to calm her down..."

"Awwww, damn..."

"Faaaantastic... I know I won't hear the end o' this... If it ain't too much trouble, could you please... tell her t' come here?" Before the yellow mare could give a response, the sky suddenly turned dark save for a bright, blinding light in the sky.

"What in Equestria is going on here!?" shouted a serene, yet highly upset-sounding voice. I squinted my eyes to see into the light. What I saw both relieved, and scared me. Equestria's ruler herself, looking downright pissed as she descended toward the ground.

"Princess Celestia... About goddamn time...!"

Gathering Up...!

Gathering Up...!

*Fair Warning*: There is a link to an NSFW story here. Reader Discretion is Advised.

Celestia wasted no time descending to the ground, landing with a harsh *THUMP* of her hooves against the dirt.

"You!" She shouted, sounding less than pleased at the sight of Gillian. "You were supposed to be incarcerated in Saddle Arabia!"

"Yeah..."

"And now not ONLY have you escaped, but I hear that you also DARE to plot against me!?"

"It's not what... *sigh* y'know what? Yes. Yes I was," the stallion shamelessly answered, seeming not to care anymore.

"You have SOME nerve, I'll give you one thing, Gillian. But even I didn't expect your tendency for petty grudges to go so far as to take it out on my subjects."

"Well believe you me, I actually WASN'T going to involve ANY of them... except for a couple. But then your precious little student and her IRKSOME friends decided they weren't going to have that, and chose to defy me! I made sure to give you a welcoming gift, anyhow..." He trailed off, pointing at me.

"A... welcoming gift? What in Equestria is that?" she asked, turning around to see me pitifully lying there, observing with a hidden sense of joy at his misfortune.

"H... Heeeey, Princess..." I rasped, feeling much too weak to move. She looked at me in total bewilderment, seeming to be vaguely registering me in her thoughts. After about a few seconds, she trotted over to me, examining my beaten, tired body, unable to draw a definitive conclusion.

"What in the name of...? What is this thing? A part of your scheme gone wrong?" she asked in noticeable hostility. It's PROBABLY worth note at this point that although she knew I was a human being, she actually still had no idea what a human actually looked like. Twilight and I always made it a point for me to transform either before she brought me to her library or while we were in the library.

"Well... excuuuuuuse me, Princess..." I indignantly replied. "...but this 'thing' has a name. Here's a hint... it... nrgh! Rhymes with 'Twi...'" The instant I mentioned her student's name, she seemed to have put two and two together as her eyes widened in surprise.

"*GASP* My gosh... Ty???"

"In the human flesh..." I gave her a small thumbs-up, congratulating her.

"What happened to you?? You look like you'd spent a day as the chew toy of Cerberus!"

"Gee, thanks... but this... this is all courtesy o' that guy... right over there..." I slowly pointed an accusing finger at the stallion who was already in hot water. She clearly didn't like what she'd heard, as she glared at him again. All he could do was shrug, trying his best to pull an 'oopsie' face, wherein he grinned stupidly while closing his eyes in embarrassment.

"My word...! Where is Twilight?"

"Here..." I heard the unicorn present herself in a melancholy tone. She came into view, seeming very unhappy.

"Twilight..." the Princess beckoned the unicorn in a tone of worry. "Why do you seem so upset? And what is wrong? I can't help but notice a considerable strain in your walk..."

"It's... *sniffle* just a stomach cramp that's bothering me... but I'm upset at a lot of different things I'm sure you don't have the time to listen to..." she answered.

"There is always time for you, my student. Now tell me... what is wrong?"

"Um... with all due respect... Is it *sniffle* okay if I tell you in private?"

"Of course..." With that, Celestia bent down, lending Twilight an ear, where I heard some incoherent jumbling that I assumed was the unicorn informing her mentor of the events past. "Oh... Oh. Oh my! Is that right...? Hmm... I see..." A minute later, Celestia brought herself back to a stand and took a look around. Eventually, she brought her gaze over to me. "So... it appears you are needed for a... very special purpose..."

"So she definitely told her about the 'heat' problem..."

"...and that all of you have been dealing with Mr. Swardsen and Ms. Gazer for quite some time now..." she continued to guess, bringing her gaze to the stallion and mare responsible for the present situation.

"AND she told her about Gillian an' Comet..."

"In addition, you've been exposed in your current form to the vast majority of the townsfolk?" she inquired again, looking around to see quite a few spectators around the vicinity.

"Yea..." I answered.

"...and I also understand that there'd been a physical confrontation that ended in the defeat of our human friend here?" she asked, looking back at Twi.

"...But Twilight thinks I lost the fight..."

"Yes, Princess..." Twilight somberly assured.

"For the record... I actually WON that fight..." I corrected. "I only look an' feel this way because I pushed Fluttershy outta the way of a magic blast from Mr. Sore Loser over there..."

"Really...? Is that true?" Celestia asked, looking toward the yellow Pegasus.

"Yes..." she quietly answered. "Twilight was in a lot of pain, so I went to get Ty to come over. I saw him standing over Mr. Gillian and called him. But... after I did that, Mr. Gillian shot some magic at us. Ty pushed me out of the way and got hit..." Celestia merely nodded before turning back to me. Rather than speak, however, she stared in silence, seeming to be contemplating something.

"Why's she jus' starin' at me? I'ss kinda scary..."

"Beats me... I hope it don't mean she's gonna punish us or somethin'..."

"No way... We didn't do anything wrong... unless she disapproves of fightin'..." After an admittedly-awkward silence, she spoke again.

"Ty..."

"Yes...?"

"I... need you to answer me something, and I'd like for you to be as totally honest as possible."

"Shoot..."

"How do you feel?"

"How do I feel? How do you THINK I feel!? Look at me!"

"Like shi... er, I mean... terrible... Like you said, I--! Ugh! ...look like the chew toy o' Cerberus. Tha'ss also how I feel..."

"I understand your physical condition, but allow me to finish... How do you feel... about Twilight?"

"Oh! Aw shit, way t' put me on the spot...!"

"Oh... well, to be blunt... I love the girl."

"I see..." she replied, seeming to be deep in thought as her graceful, unwavering gaze locked on me. "Is it too much to ask to what degree you love her?"

"At a time like this, yes. But I don't suppose you of all ponies would be askin' for nothin', so..."

"I feel like I'd do anything for her... I've already taken care o' her when she was sick... I actively participate in her studies, makin' sure not t' get in the way... An' as you heard and saw nine... agh! months ago... I Pinkie Promised-- through song-- never t' hurt her in any way. Plus, jus' this past weekend... I... I told him I'd beat him up if he touched her... and surprisingly enough, I did... heh heh... But we've had some trouble between us regardin' some misunderstandings that involved some of our friends recently... but I'd like t' think we settled that without anyone gettin' too mad... nrgh! But... but I know there's somethin' more she needs... that... ah...! That I haven't been sure about givin' t' her..."

"Yea! Me!"

"Seriously... NOT the time...!"

"And what might that be?"

"Hmm... How t' put this...? I guess you could say, my... 'Full acceptance of our physical differences...' Between the two times o' me bein' taken hostage by Comet an' Gillian... I had some time t' think... an' at this point, I feel I... I need t' cast my doubts aside... an' show Twilight how much I love her..."

"D'aww, that's just... *sniffle* so marvelously romantic... I may need a tissue..." I heard Rarity compliment, seeming to take some emotional enjoyment out of the moment.

"Ugh, I HATE bein' sappy...!"

"Ty..." I heard my sweet little filly-friend whisper in a quavering tone.

"I see... Then there is one thing I must do..." Celestia replied. With that, her horn took on a bright golden glow. In an instant, my own body was highlighted in an identical shade of spectral light. Soft, warm tingling engulfed my entire form as I lay on the ground, motionless. Aches and pains began to diminish, strength was returning to me, and I suddenly felt much less tired than I had before. Before I knew it, Celestia's magic glow disappeared and I pulled myself up to a seated position to examine my newly-healed body. No more scratches, aches, cuts, bruises, or anything... except for my clothes, which still very much looked like I'd tried to shove them through a paper shredder. "Twilight?" the Royal Alicorn spoke.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Take Ty and find somewhere you two can be alone. I will take things from here. The rest of you are free to go for now."

"Even us?" asked Gillian, seeming to be hoping for a favorable answer.

"EXCEPT you and Comet Gazer. You two are to come with me. Immediately. I'd like to have a word with both of you."

"Damn!"

"I wish to acquire a full account from everypony involved in the conspiracy of these two within the next... give or take, three hours."

"Princess! A-are you sure? We could stay and--! Ooh! Settle things right now..." Twilight offered despite cringing at a cramp of hers.

"Twilight, I admire your selflessness, but right now, you are in need of immediate assistance. What I'd like for you to do is take him to a private location and attain the help you are in need of. Now go."

"But... what about--?"

"Twilight..." the Princess sternly interrupted. "Are you, my most faithful student, doubting me?" Celestia asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Of course not!" the unicorn frantically responded. "It's just that... that... *sigh* Y'know what? You're right..." she conceded.

"Good. Now take care of your business."

"...Thank you, Princess..." Twi humbly replied before walking over to me, placing a hoof on my back. "Well... let's go, Ty... There's a long, awkward talk awaiting us..."

"Yea... but there's one thing I gotta do before we go..."

"What?" Rather than respond, I turned my gaze toward the cerulean unicorn.

"Hey, Comet!" I called. She seemed alarmed by my shift of focus over to her.

"Yes?"

"Thanks..." I replied. That simple reply sent everyone into a collective state of wonder as they each made their own sounds of confusion at my word. Even the mare's colt-friend seemed confused (and a bit upset).

"Oh! Um... Y-you're welcome..."

"Thanks? For what?" Twilight asked, expectantly wanting to know exactly what I meant.

"Yeah... what?" Gillian added, looking at Comet in confusion.

"I'll explain later," I answered the lavender unicorn. "Now we should prolly get goin,' no? Come t' my house. We'll talk there..." I suggested, rubbing Twilight's back.

"Okay..." With that and a *POOF*, we were out of there...

About two and a half hours later...

*POOF* The two of us made our way back to Equestria after our short break; specifically, we appeared within the confines of the library, where Spike seemed to have been organizing Twilight's work desk.

"Hey, Spike!" we greeted simultaneously as I took a seat on the floor.

"Oh! Hey! You guys are back," he replied, tearing himself away from his task. "So... how was... whatever it was you were doing?" he asked, which took both of us by surprise.

"It was... *ahem* it was good," I uneasily answered.

"Yeah, good..." Twi concurred.

"He must NEVER know...!"

"So I take it you're feeling all better, Twi?"

"Yes. I'm at a hundred percent now!" the unicorn brightly responded.

"That's good. I was worried you might've gotten sick or something..."

"Sick? Well... 'sick' wouldn't be the correct word for it, but I guess you could say it's somewhere in that approximate area..."

"Right... In any case, I'm curious: What did you need Ty to do to help you?" Both of us froze in sheer, unadulterated terror at his question.

"Umm..." the mare shakily trailed off, awkwardness scribbled across her face.

"We... uh..." I began, trying to think of something to satisfy Spike's inquiry.

"Shoulda seen THIS comin' from a mile away..."

"Um... we... made some.... hot coffee..." I sheepishly blurted out.

"Hot coffee?" he asked, puzzled at what he THANKFULLY didn't know was a subtle reference to what we REALLY did...

"Yea! It's a... *Yawn* a recipe o' mine that only comes from my universe... It's delicious."

"Oh. Well I don't really care much for coffee, but it looks like it did the trick."

"That it did!" Twilight agreed, reasonably out of sorts as her eyes darted nervously around the room.

"*Yawn* Oh, man..." I remarked, feeling drained of energy. "Yea, it did the trick..."

"...Wait a second..." Spike said, seeming to find something wrong with what I told him.

"Oh no..."

"What?" the lavender mare asked.

"Why's your hair all messy? It looks like you just woke up." At that, Twilight scoffed indignantly.

"Well excuse me for not dolling up after some much-needed stress relief, Spike..."

"Sorry. It's just that with as uptight and obsessed with order as you normally are, you'd have time to keep your mane from getting messy."

"Gee, thanks..." the unicorn sarcastically remarked. I resisted the urge to laugh at his (possibly) unintentional insult, puffing my cheeks for a second before exhaling through my nose.

"Ouch. That wasn't even directed at me, an' that still hurt. Heh heh..."

"Wait a minute... How is it that a problem you had could only be solved with Ty's help, but then when you go with him to get it, the cure winds up being coffee?"

"Well... 'cuz i'ss my recipe!" I lied.

"But Twilight's hair is all frizzy!" he countered, showing the slightest sign of frustration. "How does coffee solve your problem, but mess up your hair?"

"I'ss really good coffee," I calmly replied. "Maybe she jus' wasn't expectin' it t' taste so good, an' it blew her mind..."

"Genius!"

"And that's another thing! I remember you telling me one time you didn't even like coffee! How would you know any 'special recipes' if you don't even drink the stuff?"

"Goddammit! Why can't you jus' accept the answer we gave you at face value!?"

"Plus, you seem really tired. I thought coffee was supposed to wake you up."

"Yea, but with all the caffeine in it, you are subject t' crashin' once it wears off."

"Uh-huh. Well there's still the fact that it's only been a couple hours. I'm pretty sure coffee lasts longer than that. Besides, you specifically told me, and I quote: 'I would rather choke down a three week-old bottle of spoiled goat's milk than drink a cup of coffee...'"

"Wow, you REMEMBER that?? It was a joke! Who knew it'd come back t' bite me...?"

"Um... it was an exception...?" I shyly stuttered, unsure of what else to say.

"Okay, now I KNOW you guys are lying. What did you REALLY do to solve your problem, Twilight?" It seemed the dragon was more than curious, judging by his tone of voice. He seemed a bit... frustrated.

"We... *sigh* Spike, does it really matter?" Twilight asked in annoyance.

"It does if you have to keep it secret from me."

"Nopony's keeping any secrets... You know that I had a problem, and you know that Ty helped me solve it. What more is there to know?"

"What you did to solve it, obviously. I don't understand why I'm being kept in the dark about this. It's one thing not knowing how you solved your problem, but it's a whole 'nother thing when I apparently can't even be told what the problem was. All I know is what Applejack said about you being 'in heat.' What does that even mean? You were hot and needed to cool down or something?"

"No! Well, sort of... I... You'll understand when you're older..."

"Of course!" he practically shouted in exasperation. "I got responses like that from everyone else, too! Why won't any of you just spit it out!? If it's a secret, then you already know I'm good at keeping them..."

"Yeah, I'm SO sure," Twilight snarkily replied. "Like how you told Rarity all those things about me when you were spending time with her?"

"What?? That was months ago! I've grown and learned since then."

"Or how you an' Rarity started that rumor about Twi an' me when I first came here..." I added, knowing I was only fueling the fire.

"Oh, come on! You should be THANKING me for that one! Look where it got you two!"

"He MIGHT have a point..."

"Or, more recently, how you told the Cutie Mark Crusaders AND Cheerilee that Pipsqueak had been stealing baked goods from Sugarcube Corner and the case just wound up being that he was helping the Cakes with a few small orders around the town?" Twilight accused.

"H-how'd you find out about that?? Uh *ahem* I mean... I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Suuuure..." the unicorn smirked, at this point having the dragon checkmated.

"W-we're getting off-topic anyway," he conceded. "What's so secret that you two and the girls can't tell me about this 'heat' problem you had?"

"That's quite enough, Spike," another voice called to the dragon. In a moment's time, a tall, white Alicorn came trotting out into the area.

"Princess??? What are you doing here??" Twilight asked in total shock.

"I'd been awaiting your arrival since you two left to fulfill that errand of yours a little while ago. I'd actually expected you to be done much later," she explained.

"We thought it'd be better to finish up as soon as we could so we didn't make everypony wait..."

"Hmph. 'We'? More like 'you...'" I mumbled under my breath, rolling my eyes.

*Thwack* "Ow!" ...or at least, I tried. Twilight heard me and hit me upside the head to shut me up.

"*Ahem* Um... so, we're here now. Should we go and get the others?" the lavender mare asked her mentor.

"That won't be necessary. Spike will send word of your arrival. Would you be a dear?" she beckoned the dragon, who'd already had a pile of letters in his grasp. He set them down and, one by one, he incinerated seven letters, sending them along their way to their respective recipients.

"Soo... where are Gillian an' Comet?" I asked.

"They are being looked after in an improvised holding cell."

"Is that right? Where, exactly? If i'ss alright t' ask..."

"I was originally going to take them back to the Palace with me, but our good friends Applejack and Rainbow Dash volunteered to watch over them at Sweet Apple Acres while the others, myself included, waited for your arrival."

"Whoa, are you sure about that? I mean, they're some pretty crazy characters. How do you know that you can trust them not t' do anything bad?"

"I'm absolutely certain Gillian and Comet wouldn't jeopardize their situation any worse than they already have..."

"Right, but I ain't talkin' about them... I mean A.J. an' Rainbow." At that, the Princess raised an eyebrow and tilted her head slightly.

"What do you mean?"

"Gillian gave them a pretty hard time as well. An' if I'm not mistaken, each of them had a bone t' pick with those two..."

"Oh, come now, Ty..." Twilight countered. "Those two wouldn't do anything of that sort."

"I certainly wouldn't put it past 'em..."

"In any case," Celestia began. "...How do you feel, Twilight?"

"I feel completely recharged! Good as new!" she informed with a smile.

"Good, good. And you, my subject?" she asked me.

"Like a new kinda guy," I calmly, happily answered. "A li'l bit... *Yawn* tired, though. Thank you for healin' me, by the way."

"No thanks are necessary. I'm glad to assist you. On another note, I suppose you had quite a time, taking into consideration your new hairstyle, Twilight..."

"ZING!" Twilight's jaw dropped in embarrassment as Celestia chuckled at her own joke, joined by Spike. I decided against laughing myself, as I didn't want the unicorn to make me suffer for it in the future.

"Now now, she's feelin' good," I defended, hugging the flustered mare. "Her hair looks good this way, anyway..."

"*AHEM* Well... um... i-in any case..." Twilight shakily began as I let go of her. "What about the rest of the town?"

"Yes, I've arranged an address meeting for you scheduled for later this afternoon. I did so in advance because there were a numerous amount of sightings of him as a human, and quite a few of the residents were startled by what they'd seen of his altercation with Gillian."

"Oh, no..." the purple mare murmured in worry.

"Do not fret. I've explained the situation regarding our international intruders to the best of my knowledge, which served to mostly calm the townsfolk. Of course, my word won't have as much of an effect on their inherent tension as yours and Ty's should..."

"Oh, boy... THIS should be interestin'..." I sarcastically muttered, expecting the worst.

"If it's any help... then you should know that it's possible some of the townsfolk have pieced together your identity and, given how you've behaved as a stallion, may possibly be more willing to accept you in your current state..."

"Yea, but they also knew that 'Ponder Memoir' was in a relationship with Twilight Sparkle for the last nine months an' that they, like the majority o' Twi's best friends, thought I was a full-fledged Earth pony. I'ss jus' such a bad way for them t' find out... It worries me..."

"Damn that Gillian an' his conspiracy plot...!"

"Have faith in Ponyville's residents, Ty... If you keep calm and explain yourself to them, they will understand. I have faith in you."

"I-if ya say so... Thanks for the vote o' confidence..." I replied, still unnerved by the potential hostility I'd be met with for being a species of life form that was completely nonexistent in this dimension. Before I knew it, I was suddenly shrouded in the embrace of my loving young mare as she held me to comfort me.

"You're not in this alone, honey..." she whispered as she held me tight. I couldn't help but return the hug, feeling as if I REALLY needed it. "What you may face for being human, I'll also face for being romantically involved with you. No matter which way we see it, we're in this together..." I looked directly into her eyes to see the air of comforting confidence I'd come to know her for. Gazing into those vibrant pools of deep violet didn't melt ALL of my worries away... but it sure did quite a lot to ease the apprehension I'd built up for the upcoming public address. I brought one of my hands to her face, caressing the beautiful pony's cheek in my palm.

"...Thank you..." I meekly answered. Rather than reply, she leaned forward, planting her lips on my cheek and staying there for a good amount of time before slowly pulling away.

"No... Thank YOU..." she smiled, her eyes glimmering as their gaze locked onto mine. I couldn't help but smile back at her, the fear now almost completely gone and replaced with a roaring wave of affection for the lavender mare.

"HIYA, GUYS!!" shouted a familiarly shrill voice coming from the library's entrance. We all turned to see Pinkie bouncing in as excitedly as ever, followed by Rarity. "We came just as soon as we could!"

"Heeey!" "Hi, girls!" "Hey!" "Good morning!" we all greeted the two mares as I released Twilight from my grasp.

"Twilight, you still seem quite disheveled," Rarity worriedly observed. "Did you and Ty not go through with your errand?"

"No, no, we did. In fact, we just got back after taking care of that."

"Then why is it that your mane still seems unruly? In fact, with all due respect, it seems like it's more out of shape than it was when you departed..."

"Well, y'know... We just didn't find the time to freshen up after we were done."

"Ye... *Yawn* Yea... not enough time," I added as I stretched and wiped my eye, trying to fight my fatigue.

"Well how can that be? Ty looks like he found time to refurbish himself. Speaking of..." Rarity shifted her focus over to me. "You seem as if you hadn't gotten a proper amount of rest at all..."

"Great, now SHE wants t' play 'detective...' What the fff..."

"If I'm not mistaken, then that implies..." The white unicorn trailed off, as she stared at me, seeming to be having some sort of epiphany. A second later, she began giggling like a schoolgirl as she approached me. "My my, Ty... I didn't take you to be such a mare pleaser..." she commented, giving me a flirtatious look as she moved to where her face was up in mine, causing me to instinctively back away.

"Wh-what are you talkin' about?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. She stood up on her hind legs and placed her foreleg on my shoulder, leaning into my ear.

"...You must've really shown her a rousing good time, if you catch my drift..." she sultrily whispered with a hint of playfulness. Hearing that made every hair on my head stand up as my eyes widened to the point of possibly being able to pop out of my head and my face suddenly got hotter than a tea kettle.

"Hooo-lyyy shiiii..."

"D'ah! *AHEM* Yea, um..." I nervously stuttered, unable to find any words as Rarity released me from her grasp, giggling. I took a deep, awkward breath to try and blow out the hot air that suddenly built up in my chest while tugging at the collar of my shirt to let out some literal steam. "I-I er..."

"Rarity..." Twilight called, shooting her fellow unicorn a look of visible contempt. "What did you say to him?"

"N-n-nothing, darling..." she lied, stifling her laugh. "Just... er..."

"She said that Ty must've shown you a--!" Pinkie Pie almost announced, not even trying to hide her amusement before Rarity shoved a hoof in her mouth.

"Pinkie!!" Rarity laughingly shouted before losing it. Pinkie joined in right away.

"That's quite enough, ladies," Princess Celestia said. "It's time we... *snort* w-we got serious..."

"Et tu, Princess? Way t' be a friggin' team-killer...!"

"*GASP* Princeeess!" Twilight whined, clearly upset with the Princess's failure to hide her amusement. "Ohh!" The poor little unicorn could only cover her face in shame. I joined her by closing my eyes and pinching the bridge of my nose, shaking my head as Pinkie, Rarity, Spike (who was likely just going with the flow), and even Princess Celestia shared a laugh at our expense.

"*sigh* You KNOW i'ss a sad day when even the ruler of an ENTIRE COUNTRY is laughin' at you..."

"Hello, everyone!" Another voice called. "Why is everypony laughing?" I peeked over my fingers to see Fluttershy, looking reasonably confused at what was going on.

"Oh, no..."

"Hey, Flutters," I hurriedly greeted. "Everybody seems t' have a case o' the funnies for no reason, don't mind them. We're jus' waitin' for Lyra, Zecora, A.J., an' Rainbow t' get here, an' we'll be all set."

"Oh, okay," she replied before noticing Twilight with her forelegs covering her blushing face. "Twilight? Why are you--?"

"Say, would ya like a hug?" I asked with a nervous titter, interrupting her so no one would hear her question.

"Oh! Um... s-sure..." the Pegasus uncertainly replied as she trotted toward me.

"C'mere, you!" I was quick to grasp the yellow mare by her sides and yank her in.

"WHOA!" she shouted in surprise, calming down as soon as her body made contact with mine. To make sure things weren't too awkward, I ran a hand up and down her back. She flinched in what I assume was a mix of relief and delight.

"I don't think I ever told you how much I value you as a friend, Fluttershy. You're the best."

"I refuse t' subject you t' the joke bein' thrown around here."

"Oh! My... well... um... I value you as a friend, too..." she quietly admitted, nuzzling into my shoulder as she wrapped her forelegs around my neck.

"I'm prolly gonna pay for this..." About a few seconds later, everyone seemed to calm down, done with their laughing (or in Twilight's case, her hiding). I assumed it safe to let the Pegasus go. I couldn't help but notice her cheeks turning a bright pink as she backed away, casting her gaze to the side.

"Great. Now that everypony's all laughed out, can we PLEASE discuss something else?" the purple unicorn suggested.

"Wait!" Pinkie Pie loudly called as if we were some great distance away from her. "Fluttershy didn't get to hear why we were laughing!"

"An' she won't need to," I sternly countered. "Ain't all that important anyway... On another note, Princess?"

"Yes, yes," Celestia began. "I'll be explaining it a bit later, but what I'm gathering you all here for is a sort of... group testimonial. As I said before, I wish to gain as full a personal account as possible of what happened between each of you and the escaped criminals you'd come across."

"Wait... HERE??" Twilight asked.

"Yes. It will save us an enormous amount of time. There's... something else I must attend to regarding a spell book of Starswirl the Bearded with an unfinished spell in it."

"An... unfinished spell??? Of Starswirl the Bearded??? What kind???" the unicorn was very much interested in whatever it was regarding this spell book.

"I'll fill you in when the time comes. For now, we focus on resolving our issue with Gillian."

"Right..." she replied, seeming a bit disappointed.

"Hey, guys!" "Howdy!" called a pair of new voices. In all of a second, Rainbow Dash and Applejack strolled in together, leading in their less-than-prideful-looking P.O.W.'s with rope that was tied firmly around each of their necks.

"Good morning," Celestia greeted, although a little perplexed. "I don't remember telling you to tie these two with rope."

"It's okay, Princess. We only did this to make sure they didn't try to escape," Dash reasoned. I had some other reasons in mind, buuuut... they're irrelevant...

"Well... wouldn't they just be able to teleport out of it?" asked Spike.

"Believe me, little dragon: We'd have tried that a while ago," Gillian spoke. "But even I know when to quit."

"Bullshit..." I mumbled.

"Hmph! Okay, when there's no chance of my triumph, I know when to quit."

"Such a liar... Comet musta finally set him straight...." I simply shook my head at him in disapproval. He rolled his eyes at me and looked back to the ground in shame.

"Besides, our magic was temporarily disabled in the case that we DID try something conniving..."

"Or that..."

"Yes, well I'm glad to see you're being cooperative," Celestia praised. "It will make this last-minute hearing much shorter for you."

"I still don't see the point in all of this..." the stallion argued. "I mean, isn't it enough that I've been caught for breaking free of my incarceration?"

"I think i'ss necessary..." I answered, to which the stallion shot me a spiteful glare, which I shrugged off nonchalantly. "We gotta take into account the kidnappin'..."

"The assaults..." Twilight added.

"The conspiracy against me..." Celestia added on.

"And the fact that you seriously injured--!" Fluttershy was about to add on.

"Okay, okay, we get it," the stallion interrupted. "But like I told you before, Princess, it WASN'T a conspiracy! I was telling you the truth when I told you we did this to--!"

*Knock Knock* "Hello?" a feminine voice called from the door.

"Yes! Come in!" Twilight permitted the visitor to come in. The door opened to reveal a mint-green unicorn mare followed by a zebra mare.

"Lyra! Zecora! Nice o' you t' join us!" I greeted. "Hope we didn't keep ya..."

"Hey, Ty!" the green unicorn greeted.

"Seeing you in good health is quite a treat. The wait, my friend, was none too steep," greeted a gracious Zecora in her trademark rhythmic speech pattern.

"Hey, Twilight?" beckoned Lyra.

"Yes?" the lavender mare responded.

"There's... something I want to talk to you about... y'know... um... o-once we're done here..."

"Oh? Well I'd be glad to talk with you."

"Okay, cool... Nice hairdo, by the way... I-It really brings out your wild side..." Lyra shyly complimented, although Twi didn't take it that way. She frowned slightly and lowered her head in embarrassment as she quietly groaned.

"Ach, mein gott... I'ss worse she actually sounded like she meant it, too..."

"Um... th-thanks..." Twilight meekly responded.

"Yeah, what gives with the hair, Twi?" Rainbow inquired. "I thought you and--!"

"Don't ask," I answered in her stead. "Le'ss jus'... *yawn* get on with this, eh?" I suggested, not wanting to hear more snickering at why Twilight's hair was a mess.

"Yes. Let us migrate to the balcony, shall we?" Celestia proposed. Everyone gave their collective signs of approval at her request, and with that, we migrated to the tree/library's balcony to commence the 'trial' of Gillian and Comet...

Trial Time!

Everypony in attendance to this last-minute trial made their way to my balcony and took their places. Princess Celestia stood in the center while everypony else sat in respective places around her, for some reason dividing ourselves into groups. Spike and I sat down next to Ty (or rather, I sat on his lap as he crossed his legs) while Rarity, Pinkie, A.J. and Dash all sat huddled together. Lyra and Zecora took their places a few leg-lengths away from the others. Fluttershy sat alone on the human's left, but was within reach of him. The two ponies responsible for everything that had gone down over the last couple days took their places juxtaposed on either side of the Princess herself.

"Okay," Celestia began. "This hearing is now in order. Who would like to begin the testimony?" Instead of a valid response, someponies had begun giggling quietly. I turned to look at the offending ponies; Pinkie and the others sharing some sort of joke amongst themselves. I caught Applejack and Rainbow glancing at me, stifling laughs with their hooves. Already, I could tell what they were laughing at, which frustrated me.

"*sigh* Is it REALLY that amusing to them? Sheesh..."

"Somethin' funny over there, ladies?" asked my human colt-friend in noticeable annoyance. It seemed he knew their joke, too.

"N-no... *snort* Not at all, big g-guy..." Rainbow laughingly lied, failing to put on an at least SOMEWHAT convincing serious face.

"*AHEM*! Let us focus," Celestia ordered, bringing everypony's attention back to her.

"If it isn't too much trouble, can we take these ropes off? They're not really serving any purpose..." Gillian requested.

"You may." With that, he and Comet unfastened the rope from around their necks and cast the material onto the floor. "As I said, who would like to begin?" After a brief silence, someone spoke.

"I guess, seein' as I was the first t' come int' contact with 'em, I will," Ty volunteered.

"You have the floor," the Princess permitted.

"Right. So this all started about... *yawn* two days ago... I was under the pony disguise an' on my way here from Fluttershy's house. I was in a hurry because... uh..." He paused. I turned to see that he'd been giving the yellow Pegasus a worried look. Within a few seconds, he turned back to Celestia. "...because I didn't have enough time t' stay and chat with Fluttershy after I helped her run an errand..."

"That's one way of putting it..."

"On the way back, I bumped int' these two. They tell me they been lookin' for me, which I found kinda odd, since I'd never met 'em before that point. Anyway, I tell 'em I can't hang around cuz I needed t' get back here, but this guy wasn't havin' it. He ordered his friend here t' block my way, then says some sh... stuff about how he's been watchin' me for the last three months or so. From that, you could already tell he'd been outta prison for a while. Anyway, already a little bit angry, I tell him that I really needed t' go. He said somethin' about 'Doin' it the easy way or the hard way,' so I'll admit that I tried t' hit him. He blocks the attack and announces that I chose the hard way, so I tried again. I actually hit him, he gets mad, tells Comet t' electrocute me, and makes sure it happens by usin' his own magic t' hold me down while she attacks. I go down, I say he won't get away, he taunts me, then has Comet knock me out with magic."

"Mm-hmm..." Celestia pondered as she listened to Ty's side of the story. "Is all of that true, Mr. Swardson?"

"More or less..." he passively muttered.

"I see... Is there more you'd like to add, Ty?"

"Plenty. So I wake up sometime later, tied up an' hangin' from a tree in what I guess was the Everfree Forest..."

"The Everfree Forest?"

"Yep. So yea, I wake up an' notice my situation, then I call for help. Gillian comes along out of a tent he set up in there. He figures out what I really am after he interrogated the info outta me."

"To be fair, YOUR incompetence led you to reveal yourself," the stallion remarked.

"My incompetence? How about you havin' Comet pretty much ELECTROCUTE me when I didn't wanna tell you? Hm?"

"Again, that's YOUR fault! I wouldn't have needed to have her do anything if you didn't insist on being such a thick-headed smart-a--!"

"Enough!" Celestia interrupted before things got ugly. "You will have your turn, Gillian. But for now, he has the floor. Now, as you were?"

"Right..." Ty began again. "...So I wind up revealin' to him that I'm human. But then from that, I figure out that he was the same guy you was talkin' about tryin' t' take over the East close to a year ago. When I tell him I know who he is, he admits it straight-up, an' then he talks about how he has some kinda score t' settle with you. And THEN... and THEN he has the nerve to make a passive threat against Twilight here..." he informed, placing a hand on my head briefly. "After that, he casts some spell that winds up reversin' the transformation, which he said was because whatever energy Twilight gave me, he absorbed for himself. Then he left me t' die in the woods."

"Really now? Anything either of you have to rebut with, Gillian? Comet?"

"No, ma'am," Comet declined.

"I do," Gillian spoke up. "I would HARDLY say I 'left you to die,' as you so bluntly put it. Clearly, you survived."

"Right, but only after a freak occurrence where I got saved by Zecora. Otherwise, I'm pretty sure I'd-a gotten mauled by some... I dunno, some kinda crazy mutant Scorpion-Lion with... with freakin' Bat wings or somethin'..."

"A Manticore?" I guessed at his description.

"Yea, sure, that," he agreed.

"Come on now, the Everfree Forest isn't THAT dangerous. The worst that could happen to you is being turned to stone by a Cockatrice..." Gillian naively assured.

"And that is...?"

"A chicken-like creature with a snake's tail for a lower body that will literally petrify you if you look it in the eyes."

"Oh. An' THAT'S not dangerous t' you? I don't know what i'ss like t' be frozen or encased in stone, but I imagine it t' be sure as HELL less than pleasurable. If anything, that sounds horrible!"

"Trust me... It really is..." I commented to Ty's surprise.

"We seem to be straying away from the important issue at hoof here," Celestia cut in. "Bringing the focus of this meeting back to its original topic, are you finished with your input, Ty?"

"For now, yea..."

"Very well. Is there anypony else who would like to add to the testimony?"

"Princess, I do believe I can," Zecora replied. "I will be next to take the stand."

"Oh, THIS should be good..." Ty leaned in and whispered to me.

"What should...?"

"Hearin' her rhyme out her entire explanation..."

"Very well then, Zecora," Celestia permitted.

"To Ponyville was my intended route, until I heard some arguing going about. I looked around for a simple clue, until I stumbled into you," the zebra explained, pointing a hoof at Ty. "Not a single pony was in sight, and I'd given the creature quite a fright. I wondered why he'd been tied with vine, but minus that and some injuries, he'd been fine. I welcomed the creature into my abode, where I'd been brewing some Lima bean stew; a la mode..."

"She's good..." Ty whispered again.

"Well it IS in her nature..." I replied nonchalantly, despite being just as astounded as he was.

"I freed the mysterious creature from his bonds; an action with which I knew he'd be quite fond," Zecora continued. "I proceeded to poke and prod the guy, which brought him to reveal his name: Ty. As he and I continued to speak, he had an epiphany that was most bleak..."

"Oh, my... Is there more you'd like to add?" asked the Sun Princess.

"At this time, I do not have much else to share. You will find more info from another mare. Since my knowledge's extent is only partial, I pass the floor to Twilight Sparkle."

"...How do you DO that???" Ty asked aloud, unable to hide his total astonishment. "It was like listenin' to a poem!" Rather than respond, the zebra smiled and winked at him.

"Well, Twilight? The floor is yours," Celestia informed, bringing my attention to her.

"Oh! Yes, um... where to begin... Ah! Friday started off more-or-less normally. I went out to run some errands around town after telling Spike to tell Ty to stay put. When I came back, however, I noticed that neither Ty nor Spike were in the library; only a note from Ty saying that he went off to Fluttershy's cottage to help her run an errand. Thinking he might've still been there, I visited Fluttershy only to find that he'd already left there and that she had no idea where he went. She even told me he was on his way back to the library. Of course finding this a bit peculiar, she and I embarked on an unexpectedly strenuous search for him, even recruiting the help of Rainbow Dash to boost our chances. After about a couple of hours of inconclusive searching, the mailmare dropped by and reported to us that she watched the aforementioned confrontation between Ty, Gillian, and Comet, explaining everything that happened..."

"I see... And did this mailmare's report sound at all similar to what I'd been told already?"

"Almost to a definitive 'T,' Your Highness. As I was saying, the mailmare told us that Ty'd been kidnapped by these two, the act happening in an area not too far away from Fluttershy's house. Rainbow, Fluttershy and I split up to search for him, and soon, our trail pointed toward the Everfree Forest. I sent Fluttershy to round up the others while I desperately searched the forest for Ty's whereabouts, already fearing the worst due to his lack of knowledge of the dangers that lurk in those woods. Eventually, I wound up finding him at Zecora's residence."

"I see. Were there any subsequent run-ins with Gillian or Comet Gazer during your search?"

"No..." I began to reply before realizing something. "Oh! At least, not by any of us... Spike?"

"Yeah?" the dragon answered, taking a stand.

"Please share with us your experience with Comet and Gillian, if you will..." I humbly requested.

"Sure. Yeah, it was awful," my number one assistant began. "I was just about to dig into a delicious slice of ruby-encrusted strawberry cheesecake I'd been saving from my last visit to Sugarcube Corner when somepony came knocking at the door..." I was a bit miffed at the beginning of his confession.

"*sigh* Spike, how many times do I have to tell you that you CANNOT have sweets for dinner?" I scolded.

"What? It was the only thing that looked any good! It was that or the... Ech, the leftover wheat-and-oat casserole from the night before..." he responded, disgusted at the thought of his alternative.

"I thought you liked my casserole!" I practically yelled, offended at his disdain.

"Uh, I-I do! I... just don't like when it's been in the fridge for a day. Makes it smell like... like old cheese and uh... dirty sock sweat..."

"Heh heh... You're learnin'..." I heard Ty mutter at the ridiculous comparison, alongside some laughs from some of the others. I simply ignored it in my annoyance at the dragon for badmouthing my cooking as I glared at him.

"...*sigh* Well the fact of the matter is that you can't have desserts as replacements for your dinner. I'm sorry I wasn't able to make anything for you that day, but I'll be sure to stay on top of that from now on," I replied, regaining my composure in an attempt to bring the discussion back on track...

"Awesome..." he muttered in what sounded like a mix of sarcasm and disappointment.

"Hey!" Pinkie indignantly called, seemingly determined to keep the discussion at a stand-still. "Who says nopony can have dessert for dinner!? It's only like, the best kind of food ever!"

"Pinkie Pie, desserts are not an adequate source of nutrients," I argued. "But we can discuss that another time. We have more important things to talk about right now."

"And what do you mean by THAT, Twilight?" the easily-stimulated pink mare cross-examined me as she stood up and approached.

"Oh, brother..."

"Pinkie, we don't have time for this! It can wait for another time."

"There's no time like the present," she stubbornly shot back, taking a seat right in front of me and glaring like I'd just offended her. "Now tell me what you mean!" She was making me feel like I was the one being prosecuted.

"...Princess, can we please just focus on the testimony?" I asked.

"Much as I'd like to, I can tell that Pinkie Pie will not let your comment slide so easily. So long as focus isn't fully placed on the current testimony, it's going to take much longer than it already has been. So just this once, I'll allow you to settle her curiosity. You may answer her question."

"Seriously?"

"*sigh* Fine," I conceded before turning toward the pink mare. "You can't get your daily dose of protein, fiber, grains, and other essential minerals if you have dessert and snacks for every meal. With all due respect, consumption of that stuff on a more-than-occasional basis, according to some of my health studies and tests, leads to some very serious physical issues; especially with regards to weight. Why do you think Rainbow Dash visits Sugarcube Corner so infrequently?"

"*GASP* Oh, uh-uh! Oh, no you di~in't!" Pinkie angrily shot back in a suddenly sassy tone, waving one of her forehooves around while the other planted itself on her hip as she sat on her haunches. She'd also been erratically moving her head around as if she'd suddenly become a bobble-head toy.

"What in the...?" I heard my colt-friend whisper to himself.

"Um... No I didn't... what?" I asked, vexed by her new demeanor.

"I KNOW you ain't tryna be callin' me fat, sista!" she complained, still waving her head and forehoof around. It was even more unusual that the mare had suddenly adopted an accent strikingly similar to Ty's...

"What?? Pinkie, that's absurd. I didn't call you f--!"

"Ah'own know where you got yo big, boring fancy-shmancy health facts, but honey, I am Pinkamena Diane Pie! I am a glamorously independent pink pony who don't need no nutritionist t' be tellin' me 'bout no weight problems! I'm proud of MY fantabulous figure!" she complained, striking what I assume was supposed to be some feminine pose of some sort... "And besides, Dashie's just busy a lot of the time! It's perfectly understandable if she can't stop by for a cupcake or two every day! Although it would be nice..." Suddenly, her facial expression changed from one of pensiveness to one of predictable elation. She turned around in an instant. "Hey Dashie! You should visit more often! Especially since I want you to try out this spectacular new cupcake recipe!" I could only stare in total discombobulation at the pink Earth mare as I tried to process what I'd just observed of her. Everypony else did the same... well, except for Ty, who'd been shaking his head, chuckling at Pinkie's antics.

"Pinkie Pie, you are so random..." Rainbow said in a tone of bewilderment. "But uh... I guess I could drop by sometime..."

"Yes! Oh, and uh... Sorry 'bout that, everypony..." she apologized as she looked around. "I don't know what came over me..." Pinkie added, shaking her head as she walked back toward her original seating position. Even she seemed to be confused herself at the scene she just made.

"Some things about that mare, I dare NOT to question anymore..."

"...*ahem* well then... Shall we continue?" Celestia awkwardly suggested.

"...Y-yeah..." I answered, feeling just as uneasy about that little outburst as she. "A-as you were saying, Spike?"

"Um..." it took him a second to gather his thoughts. "Oh! I heard somepony knocking at the door. At first I thought it was Twilight back from searching for Ty. But, when I answer it, these two were there. I asked them what they wanted, but they just burst in, with the light blue one over there trapping me in a magic force field. Then the tan one turned into a clone of me before having his friend take me upstairs so he could ambush Twilight."

"We were NOT going to 'ambush' her," Gillian defensively interrupted. "We were only going to initiate a negotiation with her."

"Other than you speaking out of turn yet again, that admission does not help your case," Celestia informed the criminal.

"Oh. Shit..." he muttered.

"As you were, Spike?"

"I was trapped and I couldn't warn anyone about what was going on," the dragon continued. "Twi and the gang showed up to confront these two a little while later... But then, while everypony was staring each other down, the tan one said he had some idea and vanished..."

"Vanished? Why is that?"

"Because tha'ss probably the part where he got into a fight with me at Zecora's an' wound up sendin' me into the middle o' the town," Ty spoke. "Sorry about all the destruction by the way, Zecora..."

"You need not worry, my human friend... So long as you've a helping hoof to lend..." she suggested.

"Hm... I'ss the least I could do for you. Sure," Ty agreed, smiling at her.

"I see... Spike, is there more you'd like to add?" inquired Celestia.

"Yeah. After he came back, the tan one--!"

"My name is Gillian, if you haven't caught on by now," interrupted the stallion.

"Right. Gilligan told everyone that he'd just gotten done revealing Ty to all of Ponyville, which made Twilight send Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie to go find him. Rainbow Dash got me out of the magic bubble by flicking the blue unicorn's horn before getting into a fight with her, but then Gilligan--!"

"GILLIAN!"

"Gilbert," Spike mistakenly pronounced. I wondered if he was doing it on purpose...?

"Are you deaf? I said my name is GILLIAN! GILL-EE-AN!!" the stallion shouted, clearly unhappy with Spike's numerous mistakes. Most of the group shared a collective snicker at his frustration... myself included. :twilightblush:

"Whatever! So anyway, Carl here got the drop on Twilight after I ran over to her when he shot some magic at her. After that, Twilight gathered up some supplies and sent me on my way to find the others while she, Rainbow, and Applejack dealt with these two..."

"I see... And what were the results of this altercation?" Celestia asked.

"They... weren't so pretty," I replied.

"Yeah," Rainbow added. "Comet knocked me out cold when she caught me off-guard..."

"...and I didn't fare much better," A.J. continued. "Comet here blindsided me harder than a wayward carriage driven in the middle of a stampede."

"To be fair, girls, I was only protecting my significant other from harm. I... I hope there wasn't anything... personal to be taken from that grisly confrontation..."

"Comet... are you... are you apologizing to them??" the mare's colt-friend asked in appall. She merely nodded, her face taking on an expression of tangible guilt.

"Hm. Well in that case, I GUESS we can forgive you..." Rainbow said. "...but don't think that means it'll get you off of thin ice with us!"

"Understandable..."

"...Oh! Speaking of harm, I managed to get a good one in on Gillian when he was about to hit Twilight in the face..." the sky blue Pegasus confessed.

"You what!?" Ty asked the stallion, clearly upset at that news.

"Relax! I didn't even get to. The worst I did was push her down after Skittles-for-brains over there was knocked unconscious for almost breaking my snout..." he defended.

"It don't matter that you didn't get to! You still tried it, a-hole! You deserved Rainbow slappin' you senseless!"

"I beg to differ, you hapless gorilla! My magic was temporarily disabled, I'd already been practically mauled by you, AND if Comet DIDN'T save me from little Miss Farmer Brown over there, I'd have wound up a stain on the ground outside of this place!"

"Y'all deserve worse for what ya've done! What kind o' spineless weasel of a stallion tangles with mares in the first place??" Applejack shouted.

"Oh, sure, but THAT'S not as bad as me being frozen in place while you prepared to buck me in the a--!"

"Order!" Celestia commanded, causing everypony to go silent. "Now... Twilight, I believe it was your turn..."

"Yes. Continuing from where we left off, Gillian had blindsided me after Rainbow was incapacitated. I wound up spraining my leg, which didn't help me in the slightest; especially since I'd already been dealing with a most pressing reproductive issue AND I'd depleted the reserves of my magic in my efforts to locate Ty and to stop Gillian from succeeding with his nefarious plans at revenge against you."

"Oh? So you've caused more trouble than I initially imagined," Celestia asked, glaring at the stallion standing beside her.

"It isn't as bad as it sounds, Princess, trust me..." he assured.

"Oh?" I indignantly shot. "Then why was it that you and Comet were discussing who to take between Applejack, Spike, and Rainbow Dash as a sort of war trophy in order to lure me out to negotiate some sort of deal with you!? What's worse, you two actually decided on trying to kidnap Zecora because you thought no one would notice her missing!"

"But did we?" he asked back, "No! Princess, if it's alright to have the floor...?"

"You may," she permitted, although I didn't see the point. He was just going to try lying his way out of a harsher punishment.

"Thank you. So I'll admit, most of the ramblings of this group of inconsiderate simpletons--!"

"Please refrain from the name-calling."

"Right... Um... As I said, most of their ramblings are true. However, they're leaving out important details."

"And what, may I ask, are those?"

"My first encounter with the human over there? HE initiated the first attack! Comet and I were only acting in self-defense after he flipped his top on us."

"What!??" Ty indignantly shouted. "Are you serious, you lyin' son of a--!?"

"Ty, I'll have to ask you to withhold your rebuttal until he is done," Celestia intervened. "As you were, Gillian?"

"*sigh*..."

"Thank you. So anyway, yeah, we took him hostage and interrogated him, as they said. But I most certainly did NOT want him dead. I actually figured the zebra would come find him, which is why I left him there after taking the energy he'd been maintaining his disguise with. May I say you have a most powerful, potent student, Your Highness?"

"Flattery will not work on me, Gillian. Now continue."

"Right..."

"I swear, he is so full o' hot air...!" Ty whispered toward me.

"Tell me about it..." I replied.

"So where was I?" the stallion recalled. "Oh! Yes, after leaving Ty here to the care of the zebra, Comet and I retreated to the house we rented in town to plan out our next move, which wound up being the ploy to take the dragon as a bargaining chip. Everything described was true... except for the point in which I went to take Ty to reveal his and Ms. Sparkle's dirty little secret to the public. Determined not to let that happen, the human pounced on me like a wild cougar, practically trying to beat poor, little ol' me into a pulp. I did what I had to do to defend myself until Stripey McRhymes-a-Lot attacked me with a bamboo staff. That actually gave me the chance I was looking for to do Ponyville some definitive justice by revealing the alien invader to the public before returning to the library..."

"I see what he's doin'," Ty whispered to me again. "He's tryna use points at which we MAY have been at fault an' is tryna twist it in his own way t' drag everybody through the mud with him."

"I see... There must be no limit to his trickery... Not that the Princess would be anywhere near gullible enough to actually believe him..."

"...and when I returned, Candy-Mane over there decided to assault my beloved Comet," the stallion continued in some obviously fraudulent 'good-colt' tone.

"Hey! The name's Rainbow Dash, pal!" the prismatic-haired mare stated in annoyance. "And I only hit her to free Spike!"

"If that's the case, then why is it that you decided to enter a full-on physical altercation with her immediately following?"

"Because...! I... Um... Because..." Rainbow faltered. "Wait a sec! That's totally unfair! What else was I supposed to do when you two were delivering demands of us, using Spike as a hostage? I'm almost positive you wouldn't listen to anything that would have you just let him go."

"Maybe, maybe not..."

"Most likely not," I mumbled. I may have made a mistake in controlling the volume of my voice, because Gillian glared at me from his peripheral.

"*Ahem* anyway, after that, I'll admit I, fueled by love-driven anger, decided to retaliate by launching an attack on the bookworm," stated the tan, black-haired unicorn.

"Is that right?" Ty skeptically asked.

"And if it is?" a brief, yet tense moment of silence passed before anyone said anything.

"...Nothin'. Nothin' at all..." he calmly replied to my surprise. "Please, go on."

"Alright then. So, as I was saying..." Gillian continued. I turned toward the human, curious about his sudden change of demeanor.

"What was that about...?" I whispered.

"What?" he asked back.

"The fact that you're suddenly so calm that you didn't retort with anything hostile...?"

"Meh, I'm jus' really... *yawn* tired," he informed, shrugging. "Far too tired for any more fightin', anyway... The sooner we get this pointless trial outta the way, the sooner we get everything else done, an' the sooner I can take a nap... You ain't tired yourself?"

"Well... sort of... but how can you be so tired? I thought Celestia rid you of your fatigue when she healed you...?"

"No... well, sorta. Mostly, actually. But that ain't why I'm so... *yawn* so drowsy..."

"Then what could...?" I almost asked before realizing it. "Ohhhh..."

"Yep."

"I'm sorry, hon... I should've realized the side effects of... *yawn* our... time together..." I apologized, suddenly feeling a little weary myself at his mention of it. "I forgot that um... l-lovemaking... physically drains the male more than it does the female... I'm actually surprised that the same effect appears to hold true for humans..."

"That it does..."

"More experiments may need to be run on such a phenomenon..."

"Wha? You're still here?"

"Of course I am. I'm part of you, y'know..."

"Indeed... Sorry, but now isn't exactly the time for that... Although I could see to it that some time could be made... For scientific purposes, of course..."

"Suuuure..."

"I'ss fine tough," Ty forgave. "We got too much t' worry about t' take any breaks, anyway. Rest is a luxury afforded only t' the dead..." at that, I frowned.

"Ty... You know how I feel about those dark comparisons of yours..."

"Then let me finish... Rest is a luxury afforded only t' the dead... tired. As in, I'm tired, but not dead-tired. Better?"

"Eh, it'll do..." I smiled at him, provoking him to stroke my back once. Still aware of our surroundings, I resisted the urge to coo in appeasement.

"Um... Twilight? Ty?" I heard a soft voice call to us. We turned to see Fluttershy, who'd been looking at us with a blushing expression while pointing toward the rest of the group. I turned to see that everypony had been staring at us, likely because our talking was disrupting the meeting.

"Oooh... I can only hope they didn't hear our little discussion..."

"Heh, sorry everyone..." I sheepishly apologized, feeling slightly embarrassed for both of us. "It won't happen again, I promise..."

"It is okay, my student. I understand your jadedness in the wake of this hearing. It'll soon be over," my mentor assured.

"Yeah, then you two can go off and find somewhere to f..." I heard the stallion mutter before trailing off when he turned his gaze to us.

"Watch ya mouth," Ty warned.

"Noted."

"As we return our focus to this testimonial, I believe the next speaker was going to be... you, Lyra."

"Yes, ma'am," the minty-green unicorn replied. "I guess I'll start off from when I really got involved in all of this... It all started last night, when I was searching for any clues of a strange Equestrian-speaking creature that made its way into Ponyville earlier that night and knew my name... I was about to give up and go home when I noticed the creature I'd been looking for, walking in no particular direction, and bleeding profusely from his nose..." My heart skipped a beat as a sudden, voluminous wave of guilt and fear froze me stiff on Ty's lap as my eyes widened at the mention of his nosebleed.

"Bleeding? Why was that?"

"It's... unimportant," my colt-friend answered. "I'ss a long story anyway..."

"I see..." Celestia pensively replied as she looked down at the floor to notice some stains in the boards. The shameful fear I was experiencing amplified as she noticed and studied the splotches of dried blood. "I'd... like to hear this story of yours once we wrap things up here..."

"*Gulp*" both Ty AND I gulped simultaneously.

"...As you were saying, Ms. Heartstrings?" the Sun Princess nudged as she brought her attention back to the mint-green mare.

"Right. I found him, but he made no attempt to hide his identity from me once I figured it out. He didn't seem to be in much of a mood to talk and was about to walk away from me when somepony from nowhere hit him with a paralyzing blast of magic that sent him to the ground. A second later, these two showed up and bound his limbs together with rope. Then, when I asked what they were doing, Gillian thought he'd try his hoof at bald-faced lying when he fed me some bogus slop about being an 'alien hunter' who'd mistaken Zecora for Ty after he JUST explained to Ty that they were on their way to the library to pick up a 'substitute' when it turned out Zecora wasn't home. When I was explaining to him that his blatant fib wasn't working on me, he had Comet Gazer knock me out cold with a sleeping spell. I woke up the next morning in a bush with a note pinned to my horn telling me to tell Twilight that they kidnapped Ty and that she'd better meet Gillian to discuss some sort of trade..."

"And that trade was...?"

"Taking me along to see you or they'd threaten to harm him..." I explained.

"Oh? So it wasn't so much a 'trade' as it was an ultimatum, hm?" asked the Princess, casting her gaze down to the unicorn stallion.

"Maybe...?" He sheepishly admitted.

"It gets worse, Princess..." I informed.

"How so?"

"After making a plan to intercept his fiendish plot, he bluffed his way into foiling it by using my... my..."

"Temperature-related problems..." Ty mercifully finished for me.

"This is why I love you, Ty..."

"Yes, my temperature-related problems. He used those against me in an attempt to force me into a full surrender. As I pondered what to do next, Rainbow Dash, apparently overhearing the discussion, intervened, thus getting into yet another altercation with Gillian; only this time, she'd caught him in the midst of a teleportation spell... Once the two had disappeared, that was the point where we finally decided on warning you of the impending threat via letter."

"Interesting... That brings me to yet another aspect I feel is missing..."

"What might that be?"

"Ty."

"Yea?" he answered.

"It's been said you'd been held hostage a second time. Were you at all injured or tortured by these two during your second involuntary detention?"

"Surprisingly, no, Ma'am... While Gillian was apparently tryna coerce Twilight int' meetin' his demands, I was under the watch of Ms. Comet Gazer here."

"Is that so?"

"Yea. From the night before today up till the point where Rainbow an' Gillian appeared, I spent my time as a hostage bein' watched over by her."

"Intriguing... Ms. Gazer."

"Y-yes, Your Highness?"

"I'd like for you to explain your point of view on this hostage situation..."

"What?? M-me??"

"Yes. It appears you'd only been following orders and, aside from some injuries you'd inflicted upon some of the individuals present, you haven't done anything on your own volition. I'd like to hear your voice. The floor is yours."

"Oh! Ok-okay, Your Majesty... Um... I suppose I'll begin at when I was keeping guard of the human here..." the cerulean unicorn mare began. "U-um... I was, as stated before, keeping watch over the human. I'd just like to point out that I'd done nothing to harm him during his stay in our home..."

"'Cept maybe force me t' eat nasty fruits..." I heard Ty mumble, to my confusion.

"Yes, except eat a mango when you were hungry. I don't understand why you harbor such vitriol for such a delicious fruit..."

"Mango? Huh, I figured he'd like those... Guess I'd better study more about his tastes in fruit..."

"I jus' do. But please, continue..."

"Yes. I was watching him to make sure he didn't try anything that would jeopardize our plan... At first, he was expectantly bitter, making passive-aggressive remarks and making the occasional joke at my expense. After a while of us butting heads, and me feeding him a mango for sustenance, we began talking..."

"About what?" Celestia inquired.

"Miscellaneous subjects... from this entire plot, to the previous venture Gillian and I had embarked on in Saddle Arabia, et cetera, et cetera... At one point, he even suggested that I reconsider my decisions before someone was seriously injured... I... I suppose I should've..." Comet's voice had taken on a sudden, yet strong tone of guilt. "...If I had, then that horrible scenario in the middle of town may not have taken place..."

"Comet, honey... What are you saying?" Gillian asked.

"I... I... *sigh* to be honest, Gillian, I wanted nothing to do with this plan..."

"What??? Why?? I did this for us! I did this so we could be free!"

"Yes, and you have my gratitude, but... what we had to go through to get here... What we went through in just this last three days or so... Each and every time I was asked to shock someone into submission or defend you from harm... It... *sniffle* it strained my morality... It's even worse that we've done all of our misdeeds for the sake of your vendetta against Princess Celestia... Plus, a thought was put into my head by the white unicorn over there... Miss..." Comet trailed off, turning toward the mare in question.

"Rarity," the aforementioned mare introduced herself.

"Yes... She made me think... of the limits to which you'd go to succeed... of what would happen if, for some reason, I was injured in your quest for vengeance... Believe me, I tried acting as cold, relentless, and determined as you were to see this plan reach its fruition... but I couldn't get into the right mindset for it... I was further deterred when Ty and I engaged in an actually friendly conversation during my time guarding him... I was so torn between my love and dedication to the only good thing left in my now-ruined life and my sense of morality, which had been tested and weighted upon by each and every scenario that played out since our arrival in Equestria... Clearly, I allowed my love for you to triumph..."

"...Oh... well, I thought I was doing what was best for us," Gillian began. "I mean, what I tried to do in Saddle Arabia... How I used you... Betrayed you... In the short time I sat in my cell, nightmares continually haunted me... About how we loved each other... how I, instead of abandoning the opportunity to rule over not one, but TWO nations, I should've simply moved into Saddle Arabia to be with you after the spell you used to bring us from the human world to this one separated us... How Princess Celestia herself could allow you to be punished alongside me once I'd been found out and apprehended, despite you doing nothing wrong on purpose...! Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. After a bit of contemplation, I launched this scheme in order to get the freedom we deserved..."

"...I see... but... why choose such... such violent measures to get us here? The fighting, the kidnapping... the plan to overthrow Celestia in some revenge quest..."

"We surely couldn't have just waltzed in and asked for a free ride to Canterlot... If we were to take a more peaceable approach, Celestia would've had us sent right back without a second thought. Force was only necessary... I would've NEVER done more than simply take the human we'd discovered here and convince Twilight Sparkle to ally herself with us in order to obtain a pass to Canterlot where we'd discuss some possible terms with the Princess for us-- or at least YOU-- being excused for previous crimes, but I didn't account for such stern resistance... But then... what is this about revenge...?" the stallion paused for a second. "Wait... You thought I did this to try and overthrow Princess Celestia??"

"Well... Yes. You said you had a score to settle with her... Wasn't that your intention?"

"Hell no! I would NEVER jeopardize our lives like that! I was trying to get us to her without being detected so that I could plead for amnesty! That's what I meant by the 'score!' And, for what it's worth... If I couldn't gain freedom for both of us, then... then I could at least do so for you..."

"Really?? You... You did this for me??" Comet asked in total shock, her eyes welling up.

"Of course, sweetums... You shouldn't have been punished for my foolishness back in Saddle Arabia. I figured that if you were to cross the international border and be pardoned by the ruler of Equestria herself, you would be able to live a happy life... with OR without me..."

"I... I don't know what to say... I..."

"There's nothing to be said. I love you, Comet..." Rather than reply with words, Comet wrapped her stallion up in her forelegs, bringing him into a kiss that shocked all of us. Most of us just stared in complete bewilderment at this sudden realization. Spike just shielded his eyes, not wanting to see the two would-be criminals sharing an intimate moment.

"Unbelievable...! Love really DOES make a pony do crazy things..."

"Well now..." I mumbled after regaining my composure. "How about that, Ty?" I asked. When I didn't get an answer, I turned to look at him, but what I saw scared me... He was glaring at them with such anger... such frustration and contempt... Veins were protruding from his forehead... His left hand was clenched tightly; to the point where I could see some of the blood vessels in them... I hadn't seem him quite THIS angry since the time I made him play that 'Super Meat Boy' video game at his home for an hour...

"Oh boy, does he look MAD..."

"You mean... you broke out of prison... snuck yourselves over here... kidnapped me twice..." he muttered in an unusually sinister tone, bringing the attention of the Saddle Arabian troublemakers to him. Fearing he might lose his temper, I climbed off of his lap. "...Electrocuted me numerous times..."

"Dude, it's not what--!" Gillian tried to input.

"Tortured me and exposed me t' this entire... FFFFFUCKIN' town...!"

"If you'd just let me expl--!"

"Harassed, insulted, assaulted, and outright terrorized EVERYONE here..."

"It wasn't THAT ba--!"

"And damn near KILLED me...!"

"Okay, maybe it is..."

"All just so you could get t' Princess Celestia to ask for her FORGIVENESS?"

"WELL.... Yeah, basically..."

"...Ohh, my god... My head..." at that, the human simply stared at the stallion before he took a deep breath, shaking his head and pinching the bridge of his nose. It's likely because of one of his frustration-induced headaches he told me about occurring whenever he gets exceptionally upset. I'd never observed such a phenomenon until now... and my gosh, I was frightened... even for Gillian.

"...If anything, we probably should've just asked for Ms. Sparkle's help, but... We figured she wouldn't be very keen on cooperating if we explained our identities and motives to her, so we went with this method instead. Not the most practical series of maneuvers in hindsight, I'll admit, but in a way, I'd like to think we partially succeeded in that we technically made it to Princess Celestia..."

"Okay... Okay..." he calmly replied as he began to chuckle... and chuckle... and chuckle some more... Some of the others began to laugh with him, but I knew that his laughing did NOT mean he was in a good mood... If my memory served to recall, he inadvertently laughed at things that upset or antagonized him to a point of anger.

"Heh, yeah... I guess it IS all pretty funny, huh...? Heh..." Gillian nervously goaded.

"Yea... yea..." he answered before the smile on his face suddenly turned into a vicious scowl. "...except that it's FUCKIN' NOT!!!"

"What?? Then why were you--?"

"Do you realize how... how asinine... how foolish... how incredibly insipid... how unbelievably, undeniably harebrained..."

"Hey! It wasn't THAT ba--!"

"How... outright STUPID that is!?"

"Stupid?? How dare you?! It took months of work to pull this entire thing off, and it takes much more effort and cunning than you think to pull anything LIKE this off!" he didn't get a response to his rebuttal. I looked around to see most, if not all the faces in my line of sight wore collective expressions of bewilderment at the revelation of Gillian's true motives.

"*sigh*...Princess?"

"Yes, my subject?"

"Seein' as you're the one he wanted t' see so bad that he terrorized an entire town, wha'ss your verdict?"

"Hmm..." Celestia pondered. "Well... before I can decide that, I'd like to know if there is any more relevant information anypony here would like to add." At that, we all answered with a collection of "No's."

"Very well, then... Judging from what I've heard, I have one account of escaping incarceration, one of illicitly sneaking into another country, two accounts of kidnapping, one account of coercion, multiple accounts of endangering the safety of others, and, as I observed earlier this morning, one account of aggravated magic assault on a non-unicorn victim... just to name a few..."

"Yeah..." Gillian admitted.

"I'm going to have to make a formal arrest of you, Mr. Swardson. The authorities in Saddle Arabia will be contacted posthaste and you will be sent back to serve the rest of your time..."

"Wow. That's actually pretty le--!"

"And there may be the possibility of sealing your magic off permanently, considering all the harm and pandemonium you've caused with it."

"What??" The stallion practically yelled in outrage. "You can't! That's cruel and unusual! That's unnecessary! That--"

"COULD be reasonable, considering all the harm you've caused," Celestia interrupted. "Now as for you, Ms. Gazer..."

"Yes, Ma'am...?" the cerulean mare responded.

"Given that you were an accomplice in the actions of Mr. Swardson, I'm afraid to say that I cannot grant you the amnesty your partner claims to have come here to plead for... In fact, I'd have to punish you to the fullest extent of Equestrian law..."

"I... I understand, Your Highness..."

"...That is, unless you did not have a say in the events that carried out since your breakout. I expect nothing but the truth when I ask you this. In fact, place your hoof upon your heart." Comet obediently did so. "Ms. Comet Gazer, do you solemnly swear upon Equestria's shining Sun to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?"

"Yes, Ma'am..."

"Good. I expect nothing less, for perjury will not be tolerated. Now answer me this: Did you have a choice in whether to follow Gillian's plans?" At that moment, the area went completely silent, a tense pressure building up around us as Comet was confronted with a question that would make or break her situation.

"...To be fair, Princess Celestia..." Ty calmly spoke up, much to everypony's shock. "...She really didn't do much. Sure, she followed his orders to an extent, but as I learned from talkin' t' her, she was only tryna make him happy; nothin' else. Plus, she was the one t' call the plan off when things got too perilous. Like she said, she didn't want anything t' do with this..."

"I understand that, and that may be taken into consideration regarding her punishment, but all I need to know is if she had a choice in the matter. Now, Ms. Comet Gazer... did you?"

"...Yes..." the mare managed to choke out, seeming to be on the brink of tears. "I... I could've told him no when he freed me from my cell... I could've convinced him not to carry out this plan... But I didn't want to disappoint him... I love him so much... It would've... *sniffle* hurt me too much to see him hurt..."

"Comet..." Gillian stared at her, devastated by her loss of composure.

"But... *sniffle* because I didn't try to reason with him... A lot of ponies were hurt... Even him... I'm... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." With that, she began to weep...

"Wow... I feel so bad for her..."

"Jesus..." Ty muttered, seemingly touched by Comet's breakdown. "Poor girl..."

"I see... Then, as Ruler of Equestria, I hereby place both of you under arrest," Celestia decreed. "Your punishment will be--!"

"NO!" Gillian shouted, thoroughly angered. "She doesn't need to go down with me! Let her stay here! Let her be free!"

"I'm afraid I cannot allow that, Gillian. You both hold responsibility in the events that transpired, and you both will be reprimanded accordingly. I am afraid I cannot pass my judgments any less firmly for either of you. I'm sorry, but you will come with me."

"Like HELL I will!" The stallion shouted, his horn taking on a bright, silver glow. I could only stare in total astonishment. The stallion shot a blast of magic at Celestia, who just barely managed to dodge out of the way of it.

"Assaulting an Equestrian official, Gillian!?" The Princess angrily yelled. "You only WORSEN your impending sentence!"

"NOT if I have something to do about it!" with that, he turned toward Ty and I. Suddenly on high alert, we braced ourselves. However, in an instant, Gillian's horn lit up once again and shot off a luminous flash of white that came accompanied with a thunderous *BOOM* and a loud ringing sound, blinding me from seeing anything and rendering me nearly deaf. It's only safe to assume there was nopony that didn't fall victim to his attack.

*ZAP* "AAAGH!" *THUMP* *BOOM* In my blindness, I could just barely hear muffled sounds that indicated that Ty had been attacked.

"TY! A-are you ok--!" I was cut off as I felt something wrap tightly around my midsection. "Hey! Let go of me!"

"I should've done this a long time ago...!" I heard the stallion mutter before the sound of his horn powering up alerted me to try and escape his grasp.

"What do you think you're doing!?" I shouted in alarm. "You're not going to get away with this!! Surrender while you still can!"

"TWILIGHT!!" I heard my colt-friend call in desperation.

"Somepony help m--!" *ZAP* "OWWW!!" I'd been struck by magic; presumably Gillian's.

"That should be enough that you don't try escaping from me for a while. I took the liberty of learning that spell you used on me a while back, so now the tables are turned!"

"Let her go, you ruffian!" I heard Rarity scream.

"You're gonna pay for this, you jerk!!" Rainbow shouted after her.

"If you fools want your Twilight Sparkle back, then YOU, Princess, will consider letting us go! If you don't, then... well let's just say a bad hair day would be the LEAST of your precious student's problems!" With that, I heard his horn power up. He dragged me forward a bit, and with a *POOF*, he'd taken me away...

It took a couple minutes to recover from that magic flash-bang maneuver of Gillian's, but it took me a bit longer than the others to recover, given that he'd attacked me before he... he...!

"Looks like that varmint done took Twi AND Comet with 'im..." Applejack observed.

"He will answer DEARLY for his recklessness...!" The Sun Princess venomously spat, expectantly far from happy.

"I thought he was under a disablement spell...?" Rarity inquired, confused as she was upset. "How did he manage to execute such an under-hooved tactic as that?"

"It may be that he somehow avoided the spell's effects. I'll have to look into it, but for now, we focus on where to find him, and how to free Twilight from his clutches..."

"What should we do about Mr. Gillian?" Fluttershy asked. As the ponies began to discuss in what method to assess the situation, I, on all fours, thought to myself.

"Okay... NOW I'm pissed off...!" Fueled with unmitigated, seething rage, I gritted my teeth. I could feel the anger just pouring out of me... My body temperature skyrocketed... My head began throbbing as blood flow to it increased dramatically... My fists were balled so tight that the Jaws of Life couldn't open them... I was trembling with new-found vigor and a sudden craving for revenge... He took Twilight... He tricked and ambushed us... and he TOOK Twilight...! That single thought became the only one running through my already-aching head as the insurmountable enmity I harbored toward that stallion amplified tenfold... and that same thought had me glaring at the ground so hard I might've developed laser vision if I focused hard enough...

"Grrhhh...!!" *THUMP* I growled quietly as I pounded a fist against the balcony floor, inadvertently bringing attention to myself. I didn't want anyone to see the look of pure hatred plastered on my face, so I kept my gaze locked onto the floor. It had been a little while since I'd been THIS angry... and up until this point, none of the ponies present had ever seen it...

"Whoa... Easy there, big guy..." I heard the voice of the sky blue Pegasus try to console.

"Yeah. We'll find them," the voice of Lyra added. "And we'll get her back..."

"...!" I said nothing as my breathing became hot and heavy, letting the frustration for what horrible, disgusting things he could possibly be doing to Twilight overwhelm me with an unbelievably tense wave of pure, brazen hatred... I glimpsed at my fists to see that there had been some faint glow around my right one... I don't know what it was, but whatever the case, I ignored it as I thought only about beating the ever-loving shit out of the stallion who blinded, disabled, and kidnapped my significant other...

"Settle down," Celestia tried to warn. "It is best for you to remain calm. I know it's highly upsetting for something like this to happen, but you need to keep a level head."

"NnnnnnRAAAAAAAGH!!!" I stood up and, clenching my fists hard enough to possibly shatter bricks in their grip, roared into the sky so loudly that the entire town may have heard it. Gaining a running start, I leapt off the balcony without a care for my own well-being to begin my blind, rage-induced quest of revenge. Before I got very far, Rainbow Dash instantaneously flew in front of me, intent on stopping me.

"Ty, wait!!" she ordered. "You can't go alone! We need to work together!"

"Move!" Not wanting to hear anything that would curb my anger, I blasted off past her and tried heading into town. Not one to give up, she swiftly cut me off again.

"You're not gonna get far. I'm a lot faster than you, y'know," she admonished. "Now listen to me!"

"WHAT!!?" I screamed at her without meaning to, but I let my impatience get the best of me. The rainbow-maned mare seemed taken aback, her surprise evident as she looked at me with an expression of a mixture of worry and fear.

"Calm down, dude... We need to go back to the library and plan things out."

"Y'all can do that. I need t' find them!"

"No! Listen, I know how angry you are that that snake took Twilight. We ALL are. But you can't just charge into town without a clue on where to find them. Besides: Even if you DO find them, you don't stand a chance against him by yourself!"

"Hmph! Says you," I shot back, bringing myself down to a level to talk. "I beat him once. And I already know about unicorn horns."

"Yeah, but there's no way he's gonna let you get close enough to even touch him. You saw AND experienced what he did to us before!"

"I'll give you that, but that ain't the point!" I admitted, my frustration blazing like a large pile of firecrackers doused in gasoline. "I'm going t' find her! Other than that, what are y'all even gonna plan on doin'? Splittin' up t' find 'em? Cuz tha'ss exactly what I'M doin'!"

"You... you have a point, but I--!"

"Enough," I interrupted with as calm a tone as I could muster. "I need t' go now. Tell everybody else t' comb around Ponyville. I'mma be doin' the same."

"...Are you sure? I-I mean, you could at least take somepony with you for backup or see if somepony could pinpoint--"

"*sigh* Look... If you can find me in town after you set up your plans, then join me. But for right now, I'm goin' alone. I'll find 'em. If I don't, y'all will... Besides, you do NOT wanna see what I might do t' him if I find him before you do..." at that, Rainbow stared for a second.

"...I don't suppose I'm gonna be able to convince ya to stay here, am I?"

"Glad you're finally seein' it my way..." I agreed.

"Hardly... I doubt you're gonna have much luck by yourself..."

"...Why don't we make a bet on it?" I asked, getting an idea.

"Is... that a challenge?" she asked back.

"And if it is...?" I goaded before giving her a small one-cornered smile. The Pegasus floated, studying me before giving me one of her own.

"Name your terms..."

"I find 'em first, you do me a favor. If you-- an' I mean YOU specifically-- find 'em first, then... then I'll spend a day doin' whatever you want me to on top o' the favor I already promised you for rescuin' me earlier today..."

"Fine. You're on, Ty. First to find them wins. But I'm warning you: Do NOT go and do something you OR Twilight might regret, you oaf..."

"Deal." With that, and a thumbs up, I prepared to charge off into town.

"Halt! Make no more signs of motion!" I heard Zecora shout, stopping me.

"Ahhh, what now!?" The zebra jumped down from the balcony and approached me, a vial of some strange, dark green liquid in hoof. "It is wise for you to take hold of this potion."

"What is this...?" I asked as she gave me the vial.

"It is a concoction that disrupts the use of magic. Use it on Gillian to prevent further havoc."

"Huh... How convenient..."

"...Why does somethin' tell me you expected this t' happen?"

"I expected him to attempt a daring escape. I did not know he would choose Twilight to take. Now go; for us, she awaits. There is no more time to procrastinate."

"...Thank you, Zecora..." I gratefully replied before turning and charging off into town on a whim, ever the more determined to find them...

"I'm comin' for you, Twilight... AND you, Gillian, you sneaky son of a bitch...!!"

The Hunt! (Pt. 1)

The Hunt! (Pt. 1)

Uh... Is this thing on? Check, check, one two, greatness incarnate speaking... Yep, everything's good here... What?... Oh! I'm on now?? Jeez, ya coulda warned a pony...

*AHEM* So... what's up? The name's Dash. Rainbow Dash. Equestria's Fastest Flier, Bearer of the Element of Loyalty, the soon-to-be Wonderbolt, yada yada yada... All you need to know is that I am one awesome pon-- huh? What do you MEAN 'No Bragging'?... I'm not bragging, I was jus--!... Oh, fine, whatever! Excuse ME for making myself known...

*AHEM* So where was I...? Oh yeah... So in case ya missed it, Ty COMPLETELY blew his top and charged off alone after Gillian after he kidnapped Twilight. TWILIGHT of all ponies, getting kidnapped: I know, it sounds a bit far-fetched, but bear with me. There's a lot goin' on here I'm sure you don't have the patience to listen to. Celestia knows I don't. So I'll keep you up to speed from where we left off before. So anyway... After I tried talking some sense into that lummox, we instead wound up making a bet: First to find them between me and him gets a favor from the loser... or should I say I was getting TWO favors for the price of one? Because he's got a snowball's chance in Tartarus if he thinks he's gonna beat me! Heh heh, have I got something in store for you... But yeah, he got a bit of a head start on me. I still had a job to do in setting up a strategy with the others. After Zecora and I saw Ty off with this anti-magic potion stuff, we made our way back up to Twilight's balcony to discuss a last-minute gameplan...

"Alright, ladies... and Spike," I began, taking charge of the situation like I naturally do. "We've got a missing, magically-disabled unicorn, two international criminals, and a SUPREMELY ticked off human on our hooves. And Celestia knows where Gillian took Twi..."

"Actually..." Princess Celestia herself spoke, sounding unsure of herself. "I don't."

"Oh! Right... Sorry, Princess," I gracefully apologized. "It's a figure of speech."

"Is that so? Hm..."

"Yeah. So anyway, we have no idea where they've gone, and Ty's charging in like a blindfolded rhino who just got his food stolen. To make sure we wrap things up while avoiding casualty, we'll obviously need to disperse and comb around town for any suspicious signs of Gillian or Comet. Ty should be easy enough to find, so I'll say this in advance; if you see him, offer assistance to him, but don't be surprised if he refuses."

"Pardon me, but what d'ya mean, 'if he refuses'?" asked my good buddy Applejack.

"I mean that he's pretty much bent on finding them himself. I'm sure we can ALL guess what he might do if he does..."

"...He's THAT mad, huh?"

"Yeah. That's another reason we might want to speed things up here so we can start. But now we move on to the searching strategies. Fluttershy and I will get a Pegasus's-eye view of things. Rarity, you and Lyra can try scanning for traces of magic activity with Gillian's signature, seeing as Twi's magic is disabled as we know it."

"But Rainbow..." Rarity began. "I don't know nearly as much about those sorts of spells as Twilight does... I only know how to utilize such location spells to search for jewelry, not other ponies..."

"I know a thing or two about magic signatures," Lyra countered, much to my relief. "It's really simple. I could try teaching you as we go along."

"Good," I replied, eager to speed things along. "Spike, you and A.J. can go around asking the townsponies if they'd seen any clues regarding a tan, spiky-haired unicorn stallion or a cerulean, plum-haired mare."

"But how do we know if they actually teleported into town and not to some secret hideout or something?" asked Spike. He brought up a good point.

"There aren't very many places to hide around here... unless you're like Pinkie Pie," I reasoned, gesturing toward the pink Earth pony. "...in which chase, we'd have our work cut out for us. Sneaky as Gillian might be, there's no way he's as clever at hiding as Pinkie is..."

"'Pinkie' and 'Clever' in the same sentence... Never thought THAT would come outta me... Then again, she DOES have her moments..."

"Speaking of... Pinkie."

"YES MA'AM, RAINBOW DASH, MA'AM!!" she shouted as if she were in a battle squad. Already, she was showing her enthusiasm.

"Is it possible for you to do that thing...? Y'know, the thing where you instantly know where somepony is and appear right next to them, no matter how far away from you they run or fly?"

"Sorry Dashie, but I've never tried that on a unicorn before. They vanished out of here while we were busy listening to that really loud ringing sound and being blinder than a bat that forgot his glasses at home when he needed to drive a carriage to Las Pegasus... but then he--!"

"Okay," I interrupted in order to prevent her from rambling on. "Um... then I guess you can warn the town that there's been a kidnapping and that we could use all the help we can get to locate the culprit. Oh, and... it's probably good if you let them know that the giant, rampaging alien monkey with the vial of green liquid on him is on our side."

"Okie Dokie Lokie!" the Earth mare agreed with a bright smile and a salute. "You can count on me, Dashie!"

"Good. Zecora, your primary objective is to find Ty and at the very least, tell him how to use that potion. In the meantime, you can join A.J. and Spike in asking the citizens of Ponyville if they've seen Twilight or Gillian around recently." The zebra nodded in agreement. "And Princess..."

"Yes, my subject?" she asked. The second we locked eyes, I felt my sense of leadership slip away almost completely. Surely, I couldn't order the Princess of Equestria around... It'd be disrespectful. Like if a foal was ordering a full grown pony around.

"...You can count on us, Your Highness!" I assured with a salute. I'm not gonna lie: It would've felt waaay past uncomfortable to give Princess Celestia of all ponies orders...

"I'm positive I can. However, it is my duty as Equestria's Co-Ruler to uphold the law and sustain peace in the land. That being said, I'd like to offer my assistance in this sear--!"

"Princess!" called a masculine voice from the sky. We looked up to see one of Celestia's guards coming down.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Canterlot needs you. The townsfolk: They await your scheduled public address regarding the city's budget for repairs around the Eastern quardant," said the guard.

"Oh, darn... That completely slipped my mind... I will be there posthaste," Celestia assured before turning to me. "What perfect timing, too... I suppose I won't be able to deliver my aid to your search at the moment..."

"It's okay, Your Majesty. We've got it all under control. By the time you get back, I'm sure we'll have Gillian all wrapped up and ready to go for ya."

"Thank you for your assurance, Rainbow Dash. Just see to it that both Twilight and Ty come out of this situation safe. Speaking of Ty... I didn't think it necessary to warn him as I thought we'd be done with this ordeal by now, but... at this point, given what we'd just observed of him, it is imperative for you to be advised that the magic coursing through his body at this moment is highly malleable..."

"Malleable?" I repeated, confused by what she meant.

"What do you mean, Princess?" asked a curious Fluttershy.

"I mean that it took more than a normal healing spell to regenerate him."

"M-more than 'normal'?? Was he hurt that badly?" asked the yellow Pegasus, all of a sudden frightful.

"I'm afraid so... It took a marginally more powerful, yet considerably less stable second-grade healing spell to relieve him of the numerous severe injuries he sustained prior to my arrival. The spell works much more slowly in its rejuvenation process, but it also makes its benefactor feel as if they had already fully recovered... so long as he or she remains completely at ease throughout the spell's working period of about six to ten hours."

"Oh, dear... What may happen to him if he does NOT stay calm?" asked Rarity.

"I... cannot say for certain... However, what I AM able to tell you is that this spell hasn't yet passed its testing phases... There have been past cases of ponies taking in too much negative emotional stimulation before the spell's completion, as well as the spell itself having unpredictable adverse effects based on the pony's emotions... But at the same time, given how badly he'd been injured, I was left with very little choice but to use that spell... I should have expected such treachery as Gillian's...! I fear that if, by any chance, Ty loses control of his anger in his quest, he may possibly--!"

"Pardon the interruption, Princess, but the townsfolk; they grow impatient as we speak," the guard urged. "And we run later by the minute..."

"I see... Let us depart, then..." she said in worry as she took flight after the guard. Before she took off, though, she turned back to us. "See to it that Gillian is found and apprehended as soon as possible. I also implore you to deliver my warning to our human comrade even sooner; especially in the case that this search proves a challenge. I bid you all my farewell. I will return as soon as I can." And with that, possibly our biggest asset to this search was gone, occupied by some boring old Canterlot town meeting.

"Alright..." I said after the Princess departed. "We have our plans set up, we have more reason to find our human first, and we have no more time left to dilly-dally. Let's get a move on, troops!" With that, everypony grouped up in their assigned parties and we quickly began our search...

About 20 minutes later...

Fluttershy and I were keeping very steady surveillance on the ground below us as we circled the town in our efforts to spot the ponies in question. Everypony else had been doing their jobs as well, as far as I could tell. A.J. and Spike were blazing through town digging for info, Lyra was searching for clues or signs of Gillian's magic while trying to teach Rarity the spell she was casting, Pinkie grabbed her bullhorn and had been shouting the news at the top of her lungs, and Zecora had been looking for info at her own pace, seeing as her main objective was the only one yet to be complete. I didn't see Ty either, which could've only meant he was really on the move... I wondered where he could've gone so quickly.

"Um... Rainbow Dash?" Fluttershy called.

"Yeah?" I passively responded, never taking my hawk-like gaze off of the ground below us.

"How... how do you think they're doing?"

"I think they're doing alright. Pinkie might be going a little overboard as usual, and Spike & Applejack could pick up the pace a little... And Rarity really needs to lear--!"

"No, I mean... I mean Twilight and Ty... How do you think they're doing?"

"Oh... Well Twi might not be able to use her magic, but I'm sure she's alright; for now, anyway. I can't really say for myself. The sooner we find them, the better. As for Ty... he's fine. Angrier than a raging Minotaur and in way over his head, but he's good."

"Yes, but... he was so... so mad... and he's already been through so much... I feel so bad for him..."

"Aw come on, Fluttershy. He's pretty tough. He'll be alright," I nonchalantly assured.

"I hope..."

"Zecora gave him something to defend himself with in case he finds them first and things get ugly with Gillian," I confidently added.

"I know, but... he doesn't deserve what's been happening to him..."

"Okay, now you're sounding a bit TOO worried..."

"What do you mean?" she had my attention as we stopped with me turning to look at her big green puppy-dog eyes. She always WAS one to worry more than she needed to...

"I mean from him getting kidnapped and hurt repeatedly, to Twilight hitting him because she thought he was seeing me behind her back, to what happened to him earlier this morning when he saved me..."

"Saved you?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Mm-hmm..."

"When did that happen?"

"When Mr. Gillian attacked us just before Princess Celestia arrived. He pushed me out of the way of the spell he was hit with at the last second... He said it himself when she showed up, remember?"

"I couldn't really hear him... He must've been speaking too quietly. Is that really what happened, though?"

"Yes..."

"Wow... I thought Gillian just shot him from behind after you went to get him. Twilight saw part of that and screamed her head off when she saw him on the ground, smoking. Kudos to him for thinking quick and rescuing you. But I guess you're right; he HAS had a pretty rough time, huh?"

"Yes... but then there's this situation... AND what Princess Celestia said about the spell she used to heal him earlier... how it was 'malleable...' What do you think she meant?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. All I understood was something about him losing control of his anger and something possibly happening because of that... I just hope it doesn't mean that he'll literally explode or something..." From that, my fellow Pegasus whimpered and cringed.

"Okay, bad example. Look... I know you're worried about them, but we'll pull through and wrap things up soon... Twilight's the smartest pony we've ever known. She'll surely know what to do in a hostage situation; even IF she's the hostage. Ty, I'm sure wouldn't do anything that might get him into trouble. He's smarter than we give him credit for. I know for myself," I assured as I drifted over to her to pat her on the back. She eased up a little, but started looking at the ground like she lost something of her own.

"Okay..." was all she responded with. After that, the air went silent... too silent. Like, 'somepony telling a bad joke that nopony laughs at' kind of silent. Coupled with how worried Fluttershy was acting, I got curious.

"...Hey... you... don't still have that crush on him... do you?" I asked, taking note of exactly how worried she seemed.

"What?? O-of course not... I... I'm just worried about him is all..." she hastily replied as she looked at me for a second, then turned away, blushing and hiding her face behind her mane. Given that kind of reaction to a simple question, I was a little skeptical.

"Are you sure? I haven't really seen you this worried since the time you thought that herd of squirrels got lost at the train station..."

"Y-y... Mm-hmm..." she answered, withdrawing into her 'Fluttershell,' as I used to call it when we were fillies.

"Jeez, she must have it BAD for him... I'm not even sure if Twilight was this worried the first time he got taken away... Although it could be debatable... What do they even find so interesting about him, anyway? He isn't even a pony... Plus, he's cool and all, but he isn't exactly the most appealing-looking guy I've ever seen... human OR pony... Then again, he's the only human I've ever seen... Am I missing something?" I caught myself lost in thought before I realized we were in the middle of a search effort.

"Uh-huh... Well how about this? We split off and look in different areas to boost our chances just a little more," I suggested. "That sound good?"

"Sure..."

"Alright. I'll search the Eastern half. You search West. Let's meet up back here. Lemme know if you see anypony or anything out of the ordinary. And if you see Ty, don't forget to deliver Princess Celestia's warning to him."

"Yes." With that, Fluttershy and I split up to search separate areas of Ponyville...

*POOF* "Let go of me!" I shouted as I pushed the stallion away, finally recovering from that ghastly little trick of his back at the library. I looked around to see that we were surrounded by trees and various forms of plant life. From the looks of it, we were in some secluded clearing within the confines of the Everfree Forest.

"Jeez, that took a lot out of me..." Gillian complained to himself, panting. "I'm not sure I have enough left in me to last... even WITH that miniature boost from Ms. Sparkle..."

"Gillian!" Comet shouted, seeming HIGHLY perturbed. "What were you THINKING!?" She didn't seem to agree with his last-ditch effort for freedom from his rightful punishment. "Do you know how thoroughly you've screwed us on this one?? Celestia will NEVER give us the freedom you were looking for now! Why--?"

"Comet, honey, calm down!" the oblivious stallion began. "With Twilight Sparkle here, the Princess would have no CHOICE but to free us! Don't you see? Our plan is finally on the right track!"

"He seems pretty confident that Celestia is actually considering surrendering to his outrageous demands... Well you've got another thing coming, Gillian!"

"No! This isn't OUR plan anymore! This is YOURS! I already told you I didn't want anything to do with this, and then you go and make our situation twenty times worse! You tried to attack her after faking being disabled! She's more than likely contemplating some way to forcibly put a stop to you, not giving in to this ludicrous ultimatum! Is THAT what you call, 'on the right track'?"

"You don't know what you're saying! This was a sudden move, yes, but with good reason! I avoided being disabled because I managed to prepare myself after the first time, but I thought she'd have been more lenient towards us after hearing our plight!"

"Of COURSE she wouldn't have!!" the cerulean unicorn yelled, much to Gillian's fright. "After all we've done!? I wouldn't expect her to be any more lenient toward a pair of ravenous, bloodthirsty Griffins who tried EATING some of Ponyville's citizens!"

"Baby, keep your voice down...!" He tried to hush. "You'll alert Ms. Sparkle's friends...!"

"I just don't understand why you don't seem to know when to give up!" she berated, ignoring his plea for her to use an inside voice. "I admire your undying drive to attain your goals! I really do! But there are times when the opposition just proves to be too much! I'm sure you had that realization when you tricked me into helping you take over Saddle Arabia, you SHOULD'VE realized it when Ty almost hammered a hole into your skull, and you DEFINITELY should've realized it when we were standing before the Princess of Equestria of all ponies!"

"What are you saying!?" He shot back, seeming to be getting upset with Comet's attitude.

"I didn't see this coming... Their plan is falling apart at the seams, and not even because of my or any of my friends' efforts to stop them..."

"Would you rather get sent back to that hellhole of a prison back in Saddle Arabia?? Would you rather be locked up and forced to sit and dwell amongst the scum of that country in a filthy institutionalized daycare center for the rest of your life??"

"Of course not! No, but... *sigh* I wasn't going to even bother telling you this, but... before you broke me free, I only had to serve five months," the distressed mare admitted.

"WHAT??" the stallion asked, dumbfounded by what he'd just heard.

"Yeah... five measly, insignificant little months... They said I wouldn't be persecuted to the fullest extent like you were if I were to relinquish my use of the trans-dimensional spell I'd developed to bring you here..."

"But... why? Why didn't you tell me that!? Why did you give up use of that spell?"

"Because, like I said to myself THOUSANDS of times before, I trusted you! Other than that, my involvement with your conspiracy plot ruined my reputation! I wouldn't have been able to find a job after being convicted of a crime as detestable as trying to instigate a war that would've annihilated two countries at once! I'd have walked out with NOTHING! You were all I had left... I love you so much... I thought you felt the same when you sprung me from my imprisonment. Foolish as it may have been for me to think it, I figured we'd run away to some deserted island or some far-off place after the fact... That we'd... that we'd... find some place to be free... to be happy... and... and maybe to... to start a family..."

"...Comet..."

"When I found out we were going to Equestria to settle your little grudge, however, my hopes were shot... but I still went along anyway, holding on to that unbelievably slim hope that somehow, you'd succeed in what you were doing... or at the very least, you'd change your mind and change course to a place where we'd never be discovered to avoid more trouble than we were already in... And NOW look where we are... On the brink of spending the rest of our natural existences holed up in some disgusting, mucky, run-down dungeon, all because you want to give us 'freedom...' Tell me: Is all of this strain and heartache worth the freedom you feel we deserve? Is it? If you ask me, then it seems at this point that I'd have been better off waiting to be legally released..."

"If you don't like how I've been running things, then why don't you just leave and turn yourself in, you ingrate!?" Gillian brashly shouted, shocking Comet and even me. "I felt absolutely fucking ABYSMAL for the way I treated you! I tried to right the wrongs I'd dealt unto you! This entire plan was devised with YOU in mind! Unlike you, I didn't have five measly little months. I had fifteen years to life! I had nothing to lose! I'd have GLADLY spent the rest of my life in prison if it meant you were free from your wrongful incarceration! But NOW you tell me you don't appreciate the sacrifices I've made for you??"

"That's not at ALL what I'm saying! You know that! What I don't appreciate is how many lives we've put in danger because of it! Ms. Twilight here, her beloved Ty, all of her friends! And while we're on the subject, what kind of sentiment did you think you were giving me when you injured Ms. Sparkle and her friends!? Or when you nearly KILLED that poor human!? Or when you tried attacking Princess Celestia!? Is THAT your idea of sacrifice?"

"Those were instances of me losing my temper! You know how short my fuse is! Besides, you did some damage yourself!" at that, Comet scoffed in complete disgust.

"To protect you! Don't you DARE try to drag me through the swamp with you! Everything I've done, I did for you and ONLY you! As a self-aware pony, it made me sick to my stomach to cause all the harm I'd dished out. I still feel a possibly insatiable need to apologize to all of them... I'd be lucky if even the little dragon forgave me... In fact... Ms. Sparkle?" she beckoned, bringing her attention to me.

"Yes?" I responded, although I was a simply taken aback by the verbal confrontation that unfolded between these two.

"I'm sorry. I'm truly, very deeply sorry... for everything," she solemnly apologized in front of her partner in crime, which threw me for more loops than almost anything else had this entire weekend.

"Wow... what do I say to that? I mean, I'd like to forgive her, but..."

"Um... i-it's... okay...?" I uncertainly forgave, still a bit stunned by her nobility.

"...No... As a matter of fact, it isn't... And it won't be until we respectfully turn ourselves in..." with that, the cerulean, lavender-haired unicorn mare turned toward her significant other. "Let's just give this up, baby... There's nothing to be gained... Not anymore..."

"Are you KIDDING me!? You expect me to just throw all of this away!? Are you aware of how much of a struggle this has been? Do you realize how close we are to attaining our freedom??"

"Nrrgh, no!! No more excuses! I've HAD it with this incorrigible, despicable mess you call an escape plan, Gillian! I want out! Now drop the attitude, drop this plan, and bring this poor mare back to her friends! You might believe that there's still a point in this, but the fact is that we're doomed to fail at every possible aspect! Don't you understand that!? I can only WONDER how badly you've infuriated those other ponies!"

"I said NO!!" hollered the stallion, intent on keeping his delusion that he'd succeed without ramification.

"*GASP*" Comet was taken aback by his foalish outburst, her sea-foam-colored eyes wavering in heartbroken astonishment. "...F-fine... if that's the way you want it... then... then... *sniffle* we're through... I'm breaking up with you, you insensitive, obstinate mule.... Clearly, your plans are more valuable to you than I am... *sniffle* Ms. Twilight, can you accompany me out of the forest?" she asked me as she approached but met resistance when Gillian stepped in between us.

"She isn't going ANYWHERE...!" he practically growled at her.

"Gillian, please! We've done too much! I don't know about you, but I'm going to do what's right; not for us, maybe, but for those who were caught up in this..."

"...Nrrgh, FINE!! GET LOST!!" Gillian angrily shouted, seemingly without thinking. Half a second later, he realized it as the hurt became evident on Comet's face. Her jaw hung open as her eyes widened in devastation. "Comet, I... I didn't mean..." Before he could utter out anything to soothe the mare, she turned and ran off into the woods, sobbing her poor, distraught eyes out. He tried giving chase, but stopped after only a few hoofsteps. After the sounds of her despair faded away into the landscape, an ominous silence washed over me and the now-downtrodden stallion. As we sat there, I couldn't help but shed a few tears of empathy for poor Comet.

"Wow... That was totally uncalled for...! I-I should speak up..."

"...Just what is wrong with you?" I asked in complete appall, my voice quaking with a mixture of sorrow and spite. He didn't seem to acknowledge me, his gaze turned toward the ground. I slowly trotted toward him. "That mare didn't deserve you talking to her like that... She was only trying to earn your approval..."

"Shut up..."

"She gave you everything she had, and even when she had nothing left to give, she gave you more... But then you just threw it all back in her face...*sniffle* Are you really that blind to the feelings of your own special somepony?"

"Shut up..." It appeared he wasn't trying to hear me out, trying to get me to silence myself by building a figurative wall of solitude around himself. I trotted even closer, making sure my words rang in his head.

"It's one thing to commit such atrocities as the ones you've dealt upon me and my friends, but for you to say that you were doing it for Comet, only for you to lash out at her when she seemed unhappy?"

"Shut up...!"

"That doesn't say you were honestly doing it for her; it says you were honestly doing it for yourself!"

"Shut UP!" He yelled. Before I knew it, *SMACK!* an eruption of agony washed over my cheek as my head was forcibly turned sideways. Gillian had just... hit me. As much as it hurt (and it really hurt), I wasn't too fazed or alarmed by the impact. It only meant that I was right about something; that somewhere deep inside the recesses of his mind, a chord had been struck.

"...The truth... It hurts, but it will set you free..." I mused as I calmly recovered from his uncalculated attack, rubbing my pulsing cheek with a hoof.

"Oh, what do YOU know? You have no idea what it's like to make the mistakes I've made... To try your hardest to atone for them... and to have the fruits of your efforts turn out rotten and putrid..." he muttered, his crimson red eyes still focused on the moist, gunky earth we stood on.

"While I don't know what it's like to usurp a position of power or what it's like to manipulate somepony, I DO know what it's like to try and make amends... More so, I know what it's like to have somepony you care deeply about turn their back on you in a stressful time..."

"What are you on about?"

"I mean, have you ever thought about how Comet might've felt about this? Sure, only now did she finally voice her concerns, but YOU of all ponies should've noticed any discrepancies in her disposition from the start; anything that would alert you to her discomfort with what you've been doing... More importantly, you should understand how she felt when she tried to convince you that what you're doing was wrong, only to have you so bitterly turn her away..."

"She's already made it obvious that she doesn't want to be free... You reminding me of it isn't helping."

"That's not the point, Gillian."

"Oh, Ms. Psychotherapist?" he sarcastically inquired, becoming indignant as he cast a contemptuous glare at me. "Then what the hell's the problem?!"

"You want to know the problem!?" I heatedly asked back, not much caring for his bitterness. "It's YOU!"

"Me??"

"Yes, you! It's exactly as I said before; you're doing this for yourself, but you're using her as some sort of justification!"

"I was NOT doing this for myself!"

"Yes, you were! Otherwise, you wouldn't have said such horrible things to her when she said she didn't like what you were doing! The ends might justify the means in YOUR mind, but she knew better than that! So should you!"

"Oh, so it's ALL MY fault for trying to give her her life back? It's ALL MY fault for striving to right the wrongs I'd committed against her? Is it?"

"To be blunt, it is! Not just for the fact that you've physically and emotionally tormented and harassed an entire slew of other ponies to get your job done, but also for the fact that you didn't even ONCE seem to ask her how she truly felt about this maniacal series of heinous crimes! I mean, you tell me! Does kidnapping other ponies and forcing them to take you where you need to go sound like an ideal plan for amnesty to you? Does breaking out o--?"

"I GET it, Twilight Sparkle!! Little Miss High-and-Mighty Protege of Princess Celestia, giving me a morality lesson like I'm a fucking kid! What, do you expect me to learn some stupid lesson about 'the Magic of Friendship' from this? Do you want me to write some worthless, bullshit friendship report about it??" Alarmed, I stood silent, registering the stallion's harsh words.

"Wha...? How could he know about my friendship studies...? Ah, It doesn't matter... He clearly needs a reality check... And I can only help him get one if I keep my cool, which means not letting his foul mood influence mine..." With that thought, I took a deep breath to calm myself, already knowing that fighting fire with fire would only construct a far more perilous inferno...

"There's no need for you to take your aggression out on me, Gillian. You may have taken me hostage AND temporarily disabled my magic, but I can tell a cry for help when I hear one..." the area got silent after that statement, save for the sounds of the animals nearby rustling through the trees.

"...You're a smart mare... and you already seem to have the answer... So tell me... Where did I go wrong?" he calmly asked, much to my surprise.

"Well then... This is a start..."

"...I can't answer that for you, Gillian... That's something you'll have to figure out for yourself."

"But... I don't know... I honestly don't know... " he stammered, a slight waver in his voice as his facial expression softened to one of pensive sadness.

"Yes, you do... You just don't realize it yet. Let's talk... Shall we?"

"*sigh* Great, just what I need; another goddamn Psychology lecture..." he remarked, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"I'm only here to help..."

"Whether I like it or not, anyway..."

"If you don't like it, then we can sit here in silence until either you give yourself up or my friends locate us and turn you in..."

"...You'd be wasting your time trying to help a hopeless nutjob like me, y'know..."

"Already, a clue... Self-deprecation in a moment of notable dejection... Could be a sign of low self-esteem or maybe some symptom of depression... I suppose I'll find out for myself by studying his motives, as he seems to be opening up..." I was ready to delve into the psyche of my most recent enemy yet... Admittedly, a somewhat selfish venture, but it was to benefit both of us... Especially him...

"You most certainly are NOT hopeless. Or a nutjob. You just seem to have been led astray," I assured, bringing a hoof to his back, even managing to smile warmly at my captor. "With help, you can find the correct path. Talk to me..."

"*sigh* You don't know what you're getting yourself into, but here goes nothing..." he said, taking a seat on the forest floor. "Where to begin... Ah! It all traces back to my time back in the human world..."

"Jeez, I haven't seen them at all! Where the hay could they be?" I'd been flying around, monitoring the Eastern half of town for what felt like forever, and so far, not a single trace of Twi OR Ty... Some of the townsponies were helping us, but from the looks of it, nopony had seen Twilight or Gillian. Some said they saw Ty blazing through here and that he asked them the same questions about the unicorns, but that they couldn't give him an answer. None of the rest of the search party had had any luck, either: Lyra was getting frustrated trying to teach Rarity that magic-tracing spell, which stopped the two in their tracks... Pinkie had already done her job and was trying to help Spike and Applejack, but did more harm than good when she decided to start intimidating everypony she came across like she was some kind of tough-as-nails detective... Zecora didn't fare much better either, seeing as neither she NOR I could find that hairless monkey anywhere...

"Wait! Gillian's hideout!" I realized. In a flash, I rocketed over there, just KNOWING that somepony had to be there... In as little as three seconds, I'd arrived. Wasting no time, I bucked the door down. "Twilight! Gillian!... Comet...? Ty?" It sure as hay didn't help that the house where Gillian had been hiding before was devoid of any life. Why I didn't try searching there first, I didn't know. It was useless either way, seeing as there was nopony there. Getting just a little discouraged, I went back to searching my half of the town. I was flying over toward the area where I'd told Fluttershy we'd meet up at when...

"Rainbow Dash!" Somepony called. I turned to see Fluttershy flying toward me, seeming to have found something.

"Yeah?" I asked, perking up at my best friend's seemingly happy expression.

"I know where Ty is!"

"You do?? Where is he??"

"Quick! Follow me!" Heeding her instruction, I followed closely behind her. A short time later, we came across the human we were looking for, his clothes a bit dirty like he'd been rolling around on the ground and still equipped with Zecora's potion. What I found odd, though, was that he'd been perched on top of some random pony's house, ready to pounce on whoever he thought was coming out of there.

"Ty? What are you doing?" I asked, confused at the alien as we hovered toward him.

"Shhh..." he replied without looking at us, seeming to be thinking. "I think I found 'em..."

"Seriously...??" I asked in a whispery tone, not wanting to give him away if he was right...

"Yea... I been waitin' here t' catch him by surprise when he steps out... I'mma get the drop on him..."

"Why sit here and wait...? We could just bust in there and grab him...!" I reasoned. "He wouldn't even know what hit him...!"

"Yea, but if he has some kinda trap in store, I ain't tryna be the dummy t' run into it..."

"...Wow. Good point."

"Yea... I might be mad as hell, but I'm not stupid..."

"Heh heh... I suppose I should give credit where credit is due, huh...?"

"Yea... but you can do that when you're doin' me that li'l favor, Dashie..."

"Ugh, why I still let him call me that is beyond me... It just sounds weird coming from a guy... I still can't believe he beat me, though... ME!"

"Right... I guess I will..." I admitted in defeat. "That doesn't mean the favor you already owe me for saving you is nullified... Does it...?"

"Not at all... Jus' means an eye for an eye..."

"...What?"

"*sigh* I mean that we gotta scratch each other's backs... Y'know, mutual benefits..." he explained.

"...Right..." I agreed, although I couldn't make much sense out of why he would want me to scratch his back...

"This must be what Twilight meant about his weird comparisons..."

"Oh...! That reminds me..." Fluttershy quietly began. "Ty... There's something you should know..."

"Yea, 'Shy?"

"Um... You know that spell the Princess used to heal you?"

"Yea...? What about it...?"

"Well... it... it turns out that it--!" *click* *creeeeak* Suddenly, the door of the house began to open, prompting Fluttershy and me to hide behind him. Within seconds, Ty peered over the edge of the building's roof before launching into action. I peered over as well, but I saw that the pony who'd just walked out hardly fit the description of the ones we were looking for.

"Ty, wait...!" I tried to call. "That isn't--!"

"KYAAH, MOTHAFUCKA!!" he shouted as he jumped off of the building and on top of his prey. But, when Fluttershy and I looked down, we saw that it WASN'T Gillian at all. It was some random tannish-brown Earth stallion with a darker brown spiky mane and a clock for a Cutie Mark.

"You might wanna get your eyes checked..." I joked as Fluttershy and hovered down. "This isn't Gillian..."

"...I realize that now..." he shot back in shame as he climbed off of the poor guy. "*sigh* Shit... Sorry 'bout that, yo. Thought you was somebody else," the monkey apologized as he helped the stallion up.

"I-it's okay, Mr. um... Alien Monkey-Thing, sir... I-I seem t-t-to get that a lot... I-I um... I have to go... do something... somewhere else..." The stallion, scared out of his mind, stuttered as he picked himself up and ran off without another word. After the innocent stallion disappeared from our sight, I looked at Ty to see the most ridiculous look of deadpan disbelief I ever laid my eyes on... Oh man, it was priceless... his eyes were half open and his lips were slightly parted in a way where I thought he would've started drooling from how wrong he was about his hunch. I actually tried not to laugh, given how upset I knew he was, but... but... *snort* :rainbowlaugh:

"BAA-HAHAHAHAHA!!" I fell onto the ground, busting a gut.

"*sigh* Yea, yea, laugh it up..." he mumbled in defeat.

"I-if it's okay to say, Ty... I-I probably would've made the same mistake, too..." Fluttershy said, trying to console him.

"Somehow, I find that hard t' believe..."

"Oh, n-no... I um... I..." even Fluttershy couldn't resist letting out a giggle at his expense. He simply covered his face with one of his... claw-paw things and shook his head.

"Eugh... God, how dumb was that...? This is why I HATE havin' myopia..."

"You're nearsighted?" asked the yellow mare in shock.

"Moderately... I have glasses, but I ain't bring 'em with me."

"May-maybe ya should've..." I joked in between laughs as I picked myself up.

"Nyeh, maybe you should-- Get up!" he ordered after mimicking me in some foal-like teasing tone.

"Heh, yeah... REAL mature response..." Deciding I'd gotten enough of a laugh at him, I fully recovered and took flight. "Heh heh, if it means anything... I liked your battle cry..." From that, he just shot me a sideways glare like I was still joking. "No, dude, I'm being serious. It was pretty cool. You were all like, 'KYAAH, MOTHERF--!'"

"DON'T say it...!" he hurriedly interrupted.

"Why not? You're not THAT embarrassed, are you?"

"No, but I have a strict self-appointed policy against teachin' human world profanity t' ponies... I already got Twi on my back about washin' my mouth out with soap for accidentally teachin' Spike the 'F' word AND for gettin' her int' the habit of occasionally lettin' slip some human cuss words herself... I don't need her puttin' foul-tastin' stuff in my mouth because o' you, too..."

"Wow, it must be a pretty bad habit of his... Heh, I didn't think he had such a potty-mouth... But I wonder what that 'F' word he was talking about is... Guess I'll have to ask Spike about it..."

"*sigh* Great... Tha'ss two hours o' my life I ain't gettin' back..." Ty complained.

"You sat there for two hours?" Fluttershy asked in shock.

"Of course not. I sat there for a half an hour. I spent the other hour an' a half tryna convince the townsponies I wasn't dangerous t' them an' that I was lookin' for a stallion with tan fur an' spiky hair... Guess I shoulda been more specific. Other than that, I saw Pinkie Pie passin' by earlier. She was shoutin' somethin' about a 'rampaging alien monkey equipped with a vial o' green liquid bein' on our side' through a megaphone... Mind explainin' that?"

"Oh! Yeah, um... Seeing as nopony knows what a human is, that's the best description of you I could think of..." I guiltily admitted.

"Of course... I knew I shoulda had you t' thank... Remind me t' choke you for that..."

"Hey!" I yelled in offense. "I was only trying to--!"

"Relax, Dash... I'm jokin'... Sorta... I'm still gonna getcha for that at some point, though."

"I'll clear my schedule, but for right now, we've sat here horsing around long enough. We need to focus on finding Twilight..."

"Right. But from the looks of it, she ain't anywhere t' be found here... Did ya try checkin'--?"

"Gillian's hideout? Yeah, but there was nopony there."

"Damn...!" he mumbled. "Fluttershy."

"Yes?"

"Any clues on Twi or Gillian?"

"No... I'm sorry... I was busy looking for you..."

"Me? How come?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because I needed to tell you to keep calm..."

"...Okay...? Why?"

"Because Princess Celestia said that the spell she used to heal you isn't completely finished yet and that if you get angry before it's done, something bad might happen to you..."

"Really now??" he asked, raising both his eyebrows in surprise. "Somethin' like what?"

"I... I don't know... It's better for us not to find out. Please don't be too upset with Mr. Gillian..."

"Hm... No promises, but I'mma do my best not t' lose my cool... At least, not more than I already did... I'd hate t' find out what might happen t' me if I do..." he agreed with a nod.

"Ah! For a while, I'd been looking around! Finally, you have been found!" we heard somepony else comment. We turned to see Zecora, followed by Applejack with Spike on her back.

"What in tarnation are y'all doin' just standin' around?" Applejack questioned.

"I thought I found Gillian here, but turns out I was wrong..." Ty answered.

"Yeah," I added. "We were just about to split up and start searching again..."

"Well let's get a move on, then! Twi could be in a heap o' trouble, an' standin' around ain't gonna help find 'er!" With that, A.J. and Spike were galloping off in the blink of an eye. 'Shy, Ty, and I (hey, that all rhymed) turned our attention to Zecora, who made no signs of being in a hurry.

"Since you are finally here, I'd like to make something clear," said the zebra, gesturing a hoof toward Ty.

"Yea?"

"Your target must swallow the serum whole, if nullifying his magic is your goal."

"Get Gillian to drink the potion. Got it," Ty registered loud and clear.

"Good. Now let us continue our search. Finding Twilight is taking a lot of work." Zecora then dashed off in a different direction than Applejack took off in, leaving us three to our plans.

"Y'know, Zecora jus' reminded me o' somethin'..."

"What?" I asked, intent on hearing his thought.

"Come t' think of it, none of us bothered t' check the Everfree Forest," Ty suggested, making me realize something... "Maybe he took her there like he took me a couple days ago..."

"Of course!!"

"Ty, you're a genius!" I exclaimed with a new sense of determination. "Why didn't I think of that!?"

"Because you was too busy thinkin' about what the 'F' word is..." he joked with a short laugh.

"Huh?? How'd you know??" at that, he chuckled some more.

"One o' these three things: One, you jus' admitted to it. Two, a little bitta Pinkie has rubbed off on me. Three, the 'I wonder what this means' look was scribbled across your face." I floated there, shocked that he even knew what I was thinking in the first place. Fluttershy found it in herself to giggle at Ty's little joke.

"*sigh* Whatever the case, fine, ya got me," I conceded. "Getting back to business, since everypony else is searching throughout the town, why don't the three of us go search the Forest?"

"Sounds good t' me."

"Good! But, to be on the safe side, you're being assigned an escort."

"An 'escort'? What, do you think I'm that helpless?" the human remarked in offense.

"No, but you have no idea what's in those woods. I'd rather you be with protection than run in there alone and find yourself in more trouble than you've already been in..."

"True..."

"So I'm assigning Fluttershy to go with you into the Everfree. You two go and search the area closest to your house, Fluttershy. I'll head toward Zecora's place and either find them, or find my way towards you two. Is that clear?"

"Roger that, Commander Dash!" Ty joked with a salute, although I knew he was actually obeying me. Come to think of it, I like the sound of that... Commander Dash... Has a nice, authoritative ring to it...

"Alright, troops! Let's move out!" with that, Ty and 'Shy headed toward the cottage while I headed out to Zecora's house...

"FINALLY, things are moving in the right direction... The sooner I find them, the sooner I get to make Ty my personal servant for a day...! I can hardly wait...!" With that thought motivating me, I sped up, intent not only on finding my friend and bringing her to safety, but also making another friend of mine regret the day he chose to challenge Equestria's Fastest Flier...

How was that?... Yeah it WAS pretty good, huh?... Hm?... HA! If you think you're gonna beat me, Ty, then you've got six other things coming; each and everyone of those things, you'll be seeing in the form of my dust! When you're eating it!

The Hunt! (Pt. 2)