Twilight knocked at the door of the small cottage south of Sugarcube Corner. "Hello? Tulip Blossom?" she shouted, calling out the name that their line of inquiry had uncovered. There was no answer.

"You think we should—" Twilight was interrupted when Flash kicked the door to the cottage in. The two hurried into the cottage, moving through the living room, kitchen/dining room, basement, and the two bedrooms and bathrooms. But Tulip Blossom was nowhere to be found.

"Do you think they've taken her already?" Twilight asked, feeling panic pricking at the edges of her mind. "How long has she been gone? Where have they taken her?"

"Twilight, calm down," Flash said, gripping her shoulders. "There's no sign of a struggle. We can't jump to conclusions."

Twilight took a breath. "You're right. We should look for clues."

The two proceeded to the small combined kitchen and dining room. A narrow hallway was bordered on both sides with cabinets, with a sink on one counter. Next to it was a yellow mug with a teabag and a few dregs of tea in it. Flash placed his hoof on the mug. "Still warm," he said. Turning away, he stumbled over something on the floor, which clattered loudly.

"A dog bowl?" Twilight asked, picking up the object and turning it over to reveal the name "Ginger" etched into the tin.

Flash bit his lip in thought. "There was a hook next to the door with nothing on it. She must have taken her dog out for a walk."

"But where?" Twilight asked. "We don't have time to search all of Ponyville!"

Turning, Flash examined the small circular dining table, pressed against the floor-to-ceiling windows. On top of it was a notepad and pencil. The top sheet of the pad was torn off, and there was a magnet attached to the top of the pad. "This is usually on the fridge," he thought out loud, taking the pencil in his mouth. Carefully, he scribbled over the pad, revealing what had been written on top of it.

"Milk, Quills, Dog Food..." he read. "It's a shopping list."

"This is what we need!" Twilight said, taking the list in her magic. "We can follow this to find her! Come on!" Twilight hurried out of the door and made a beeline for the closest convenience store.

"Wait for me!" Flash shouted, flying out after her. As he did so, he happened to glance up at the stars that they had been gazing at before. He noticed that the sky was darkening as a cloud cover rolled in. A cloud cover that had not been scheduled today.

"I can't decide whether you should live or die," Zugzwang sang to Phillip, dancing before his prisoner's face in the underground research chamber. "Oh, you'll probably go to Heaven, please don't hang your head and cry...oh, don't look at me like that, Phillip," he said in response to Phillip's icy one-eyed glare (his left eye was swollen shut). "You can't win them all, you know."

"How come he's still breathing?" growled the gray gorilla-pony from behind Phillip. "You promised we'd get payback! Most of us here are in this damn place because of him!"

"You'll get yours in due time, mein freund," Zugzwang said calmly. "But as long as you are here, you will do as I say. And I say he is not to be touched. Understand?" The brute growled, but was stilled by the cold look Zugzwang gave him.

Turning away, Zugzwang lifted up Sombra's horn with his magic, spinning it over and over. "You know, it's interesting how the anticipation of something can be more rewarding than actually getting it," he said out loud. "I've been waiting for this for many months. All the plans I made, calling in favors, bribing and threatening the right ponies, setting everything and everypony up and then getting the rare pleasure of seeing everything work out just the way I wanted it to...and now, so close to the goal, all I feel is a vague disappointment that it's over."

He puffed on the cigarette in his mouth, then smirked. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop." He turned to one of his henchponies. "How many hostages do we have?"

"Thirty-eight, sir."

"Gut. Bring them in."

Back in the bunker, Shining paced in a circle. Every eye followed his movements, as if trying to peer into him and decipher the thoughts that raced through his mind in a circular motion, much like his hooves; moving quickly, but going nowhere.

There was a banging at the door, and everypony was forcefully reminded that their captors remained outside the bunker doors. The thick steel might have been almost impenetrable, but it was the only thing that separated the civilians from a painful death, and Dr. Healspark from Zugzwang. But it would not stop anypony armed with the dark magic of Sombra's horn. If Zugzwang did manage to figure out how to use it on his own...

"Doctor Healspark, is there a way to destroy the horn?" Shining asked, turning to the scientist.

Healspark looked up suddenly, his lonely reverie broken. "Well, we found that it was weakened when in close proximity to positive magical energy, a similar kind to the energy found in the Crystal Heart. However, to actually destroy it, one would have to channel a lot of energy, and they'd have to actually be touching the horn itself. Under the circumstances..."

They were interrupted by a loud crackling sound. "Sir, the radio!" one of the Guards shouted, hurrying over to the contraption and grabbing the microphone. "Hello, hello. Manehattan Precinct, is that you?"

"I know you can hear me, Captain."

A chill fell across the room at the sound of the familiar voice. "I have somepony who wants to talk to you," Zugzwang continued. There was the sound of shuffling. "Tell them your name."

There was another voice, a female's, quivering with terror. "P-P-Purple Heart. I-I'm an intern nurse here..."

"How are you feeling at this moment, Nurse Purple?" Zugzwang asked, as casually as if he had met her on the street.

"I-I'm...I'm scared," was the whimpered reply.

"And why is that?"

"Because you're holding a knife to my neck," Purple Heart sobbed, her voice breaking down. "Please...I have a daughter at home..."

"You see, Nurse Purple, right now I have your life in my hooves," Zugzwang continued, seemingly oblivious to her sobs. "Right now, I, and I alone can decide whether you live or die."

"Leave her alone!" a familiar voice shouted. Phillip! Shining thought.

"Gag him," Zugzwang said without missing a beat. There was the sound of muffled struggling in the background. "You see? I command, and they obey. With a word, a gesture, I can spare a life...or end a life. Am I not like God?" He paused. "Look at me, Purple Heart. Look into the eyes of your god."

There was a brief, tense silence, punctuated only by Purple Heart's dry sobs. Suddenly, her sobs were replaced by a horrid gurgling cry, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of a blade piercing flesh. There was a ripping tear, the bubbling of blood, and the heavy thud of a body hitting the floor.

"Schweinhund. She got blood on my suit." Zugzwang's voice was still calm and even, carrying only a slight tinge of annoyance. "Now, listen, Captain Armor. You have something that I want. And you're going to give it back. Because if you don't, I will continue to kill hostages, something that I know you cannot allow to happen.

"Also hear me, Doctor Healspark. I will have your daughter soon. If you do not comply, she will suffer.

"I will give you both half an hour to decide." And with a click, the radio signed off.

Healspark began trembling. "Tulip...my daughter..." He got up and bustled towards the door. Shining instinctively seized him in his magic and pulled him back, despite his desperate struggles. "Let me go! I have to go to them! They'll kill my daughter!"

"No, they won't," Shining said. "Your daughter is in Ponyville. My sister, Princess Twilight, lives there. She and her friends will keep her safe. I promise, nopony is going to hurt her."

"You swear?" Healspark said, clinging to him like a drowning sailor clings to a life buoy.

"I promise," Shining said, patting him on the back reassuringly as he looked around the room, making eye contact with everypony else. "Nopony else is going to get hurt."

Releasing the doctor, Shining began to pace again, his thoughts aligning themselves, falling into place. He gazed around the room once more, taking stock of resources, considering the enemy position. Strategies presented themselves for inspection, and he questioned each thoroughly, determining chances of success, weaknesses, possible counters, and building off of each.

Finally, there was only one plan left. For a long moment, Shining simply stood, crushed beneath several dozen gazes, turning his one last hope over in his mind. Finally, he sighed and looked up.

"All right, everypony, I have a plan. None of you are going to like it."

After questioning the neighbors, the general store owner, the grocer, the baker, and the candlestick maker, Twilight and Flash flew over the Whitetail Woods. Dipping down between the branches, they flapped low over the ground, peering in between the darkening trees for any sign of anypony.

"Ginger! Come back here!" a female voice called from up ahead. There was a jingling noise and a small red dog with a leash attached to it's collar burst through some bushes in front of them, yipping happily as it proceeded to pounce on Flash and cover his face with licks.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" a mare said in alarm, running up just as a laughing Flash managed to push the dog off him. "I—Your Highness!" Tulip Blossom stammered out, hurriedly dropping her saddlebags and kneeling before Twilight.

"Tulip Blossom, you need to come with us," Twilight said, crouching down beside the mare. "It's about your father."

"My father?" Tulip asked, looking up in confusion. "Is he in trouble?"

"No, but you need to come with us," Twilight continued. "It's just—"

"Twilight," Flash cut in, placing himself close to the other two mares. All three of them looked around in growing alarm. Several ponies, clad in dark coats, had appeared, walking up from the path, slinking out from behind trees, descending from the darkening sky. Every single one of them stared hungrily at Tulip Blossom, eyes shining like timberwolves.

"Boss wants the flower mare alive," said the apparent leader, a bulky pegasus with helmet-like black hair.

"What about the other two?" one of the other thugs asked.

The leader slowly reached into his coat and pulled out a butterfly knife, which he deftly opened. The distinct clic-clic echoed through the woods.

"Kill 'em both."

Author's Notes:

Good news, and bad news, eh?

Story's reaching the climax...who lives and who dies?