Beginning with Ty...

So far, I’d already managed to get chewed out by my boss for my absence and lose a day’s worth of pay. What a bright first day back on Earth this was turning out to be! In a seemingly record amount of time, I found myself missing my favorite little unicorn. However, my faith in her was strong, and I hoped for the best as I shifted the focus of my thoughts to my job, so as not to worry about Twilight too much…

Meanwhile, in Ponyville…

“Rainbow Dash! Hey, how’s it going?” I greeted in pleasant surprise. I was a little disappointed that it was her instead of Spike at my door, but I was also concerned as she stood there looking at the ground with one of her fore hooves scratching her multicolored mane.

“It’s… great. I don’t have much work to do today, so I decided I’d… just pop in for a surprise visit to my best friend,” she replied as I let her in, sounding suspiciously unsure of herself.

“…Is there something wrong? You seem upset.”

“No! Nothing at all!” she frantically answered.

"You sure? It seems to me that something's bothering you..."

"No, no... I-I'm good. I just wanted to see how my best pal was doing..."

"Just stopping by to see how I was doing...? That isn't like Rainbow at all..."

"Oookay...? Is it... because Ty is gone now?" I guessed.

"Not quite... Sorry about what happened, by the way. Things will... get... better...?" the sky blue mare uneasily consoled.

"Don't worry. I'm not quite done with that issue just yet," I assured, all the while keeping my self-appointed mission secret for now. "In any case, have you checked in with the others to see how they're doing?"

"No. I'm sure they're all fine," she simply answered.

"That doesn't make sense... Why would she care about what I was doing and nopony else...?" I was getting doubtful of her true motive for popping in unannounced. She had to have some reason to come here so suddenly without anypony else, and I was going to find out.

“Alright then…? Are you looking for a new copy of Daring Do? Because the newest one came out about two weeks ago, but I’m pretty sure I already lent it to you.”

“No…”

“Is there something you need to talk about?”

“Kind of…” whatever was bothering her must’ve really been severe if it had her acting more withdrawn than Fluttershy.

“Well… what is it?”

“I… um… I uh…” she stumbled over her words as her eyes darted around the library. Eventually, her gaze turned to the book I’d accidentally left on the floor behind me. “Hey, what’s that?” now it was MY turn to be embarrassed…

“Oh! Nothing! I was just… doing some studying… y’know, boring ol’ egghead stuff,” I hastily answered as I quickly willed the book back into its rightful place. Unfortunately, Dash saw right through my sudden sense of discomfort as she trotted past me to get a better glimpse.

“Whimsical Osculation…? What’s that book about? And why are you so embarrassed about it?”

“Embarrassed? Me?? No, no, I'm not embarrassed at all!" I reasoned, following with a nervous chuckle. I already felt my face getting hotter than a tea kettle as Rainbow picked the reading material up. "It’s um… a book about the wonders of correctly identifying configurations in various constellations in stars during the night that are formed like… like musical instruments!” I grinned sheepishly at her, secretly hoping I’d bored her with my explanation. She stared at me with a deadpan expression that already told me she wasn’t buying it.

“Y’know, you’re almost as bad a liar as Applejack,” she told me as she focused her attention on the book and read a few pages in it. I felt my face become hotter than sweet Celestia’s sun as my periwinkle pegasus friend looked back up at me, snickering. “R-really, Twi? A kissing book??” before I could defend myself, she burst into a fit of laughter.

“*sigh* Yes,” I admitted in defeat. “But it was purely for educational purposes, I promise!"

"Education for what, exactly?" she laughingly asked.

"For... for.... um... *sigh* it doesn't matter," I concluded, shaking my head in annoyance. "ANYWAY, what reason are you here?” I asked, trying not to sound impatient with my inquiry. Nonetheless, Rainbow Dash's laughter stopped more immediately than it began as she threw herself back into her shell. "It's pretty clear to me that something's bothering you, and I'd like to know what, exactly..."

“Oh, right. Well… y’see… I kinda… need advice on something…”

“Oh? Alright...” I replied, my interest piqued. "About what, exactly?"

"Well... it's sort of a long story and I don't wanna bore you with the details... Plus, it's kind of a personal thing, so PLEASE don't let the other girls know I came to you about this..."

"Believe me when I say this, Dash: I have ALL the time you need. But why is it imperative that the others not be informed about it?"

"Because..." she paused to gulp. "I-it's embarrassing..."

"Ah... Okay, I understand. Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye," I Pinkie promised. "Not a word of this will leak to anypony else. Now tell me..." I implored, trotting up to my friend and placing a hoof on her shoulder. "What's on your mind?"

"Well... since you're the only one out of us who probably has any quality experience on it..."

"Yeees?"

STOP! Human time…!

“I heard you telling the boss about a stomach virus, but I’m not buying that. You told me yourself you haven’t had a stomach virus in years. What REALLY happened to you?” my nosey coworker asked.

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. All that matters now is that I’m here,” I answered curtly.

“He was prolly with some girl yesterday,” another coworker quipped solely to antagonize me. “Wha’ss her name? She cute?”

“I told y’all, don’t worry ‘bout it,” I demanded, now getting a little agitated. Well, more than I already was.

“What’re you so afraid of that you can’t tell us who you were with yesterday?” the first prying coworker asked.

“How would yo ass even know if I was with somebody? Stop listenin' t' this a-hole.”

“What, was it a dude you was with?” asked the second coworker, who got enjoyment out of egging me on whenever I got mad. This day was unfortunately no exception. I was already in hot water, so I simply tried to ignore the intrusive remark. “You know, we ain’t got a problem with homosexuals ‘round here. I’ss okay if you are.” He was WAY too good at this.

“Man, I ain’t gay,” I irritably shot back.

“Then why ain’t you tryna tell us who you was with yesterday?” This guy was SO convinced that I was doing something he had no business knowing about with someone he had no business knowing about and there was hardly anything I could think of saying or doing to shut him up.

"Oh, man... You are gettin' me SO angry..." I mumbled as I rubbed a hand on my forehead, which I swore was throbbing from a suddenly heightened blood pressure.

"Well, you wouldn't be if you'd jus' tell us who you was with. Why is it so hard for you t' jus' tell us?"

"Ugh, maybe I NEEDED t' miss work yesterday..." At this point, I could already feel the migraine coming on from the sheer stupidity of the interrogation I was being placed under. So I did what I usually do when I'm faced with an impossibly moronic situation where fighting it only makes it worse; I intentionally lost all sense of caring and decided to go with the Bartleby approach.

“Because… I would prefer not to,” I simply answered after taking a deep breath to simmer down.

“Why the hell not?” asked the first coworker.

“I would prefer not to.”

"Dude, we swear, we won't tell anybody! Can you PLEASE just tell us what you were doing to miss work yesterday?"

"I would pefer not to."

“Get your asses back to work!” shouted a new voice.

“I would prefer not to,” I foolishly answered. I realized my mistake as soon as I turned around to see my boss, a big burly man with a bald head in formal attire that made him look like he was going to court, glaring angrily at me and my “friends”; specifically at me. He walked over to me, looking none too pleased.

“What was that, boy?” He was about my height, but he was much more muscular. Compared to him, I was a walking faggot. (DISCLAIMER: In America, the word ‘faggot’ is --or at least WAS-- the term used to describe a pile or bundle of twigs.)

“Ooh shit, son…!”

“I um… I would prefer not to… let you down, sir! I was jus’ tellin’ these guys the same thing when they was… askin’ me if I would ever slack off on the job!” I nervously lied with a noticeably frightened titter.

“Hm. That’s what I like to hear. You might’ve missed a day without tellin’ anyone, but I see you haven’t lost your work ethic. Keep it up.” With that, he made his way out. I was still shaking in fear at what I could only guess almost happened to me.

“Come on, Twi… PLEASE get done soon…” I murmured.

"...So 'Twi' is her nickname?" asked one of my coworkers. I took that moment to introduce the palm of my hand to my face.

"*sigh* Goddammit..."

Back to Twilight…

“Wow, Rainbow… I… I had no idea you had so much trouble with that…” I said in shock after listening to her crisis.

“Yeah. To be perfectly honest with you, I thought you had trouble with the same thing… you know, with you being an egghead and all…” I could see her troubles did nothing to change her somewhat brash thought process.

“Rrrrright... Well in my case, it just kind of… happened. Neither of us really tried to do anything.”

“And that’s what I don’t get!” Rainbow began in stark distress. “How come a special somepony falls right into your hooves without you even trying? I mean, what’s wrong with me that I can’t find somepony like that?” she seemed so distraught. I felt for her, but I was equally as shocked as I was sympathetic.

“Well, he’s from an alternate universe that I accidentally visited, so I think it was more of me falling into HIS hooves. I can’t rightly explain it myself, but… everything just played out the way it did..." At that moment, a sudden thought had hit me. "Rainbow Dash… were you… jealous??”

“No…!"

"Are you certain?"

"...Okay yeah, kind of. I… I just don’t get it. I’ve overheard tons of other ponies talking about how they’d like to go on dates with Fluttershy or Applejack, and even a few that preferred Pinkie Pie. And we BOTH know that Spike obsesses over Rarity. I thought we’d be the only two single ladies out there… then you met Ty. It stinks that he’s gone, but you still had somepony care for you that way.”

“Well I'm sorry to hear about your troubles, but I don't know exactly what I could tell you in terms of solving this dilemma of yours... And speaking of Ty, I was actually going to try and see if I could convince Princess Celestia to change her mind."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's good that you're fighting for somepony you care about. Are you sure you can talk her into letting him back? Do you need any help?"

"No, that's alright," I respectfully declined, considering who (or WHAT) I was going to argue for. "And I'm fairly confident I can change her disposition."

"Oh, alright. How come you aren't in Canterlot now?"

"Trust me, I'd have been there hours ago if I was given the chance. I sent a letter this morning, but before I could get a response, Rarity took Spike off on a date.” In that instant, Rainbow's face contorted to one of total slack-jawed astonishment.

“Are you kidding me!?” Rainbow practically shrieked. “Now THEY’RE dating??”

“Not quite. You see—!”

“I thought I’d be able to find SOMEpony before Rarity ever considered Spike an option!” she almost sounded like she was going to cry.

“You weren’t there when he asked her? He told me he did right after Ty and I left. Besides, I thought you said you didn't have the time to meet a special somepony when Applejack said you were jealous...?”

“No. As soon as you left, I went home. And I only said that to get her off my back. But anyway, how do you expect to change Princess Celestia's mind when you see her again? What makes you want to talk to her about Ty rather than just finding somepony else like him?”

“You and I both know that isn't how something as complex as romantic feelings works. I couldn't just give up on him and decide to be interested in someone else. Especially when he was essentially banished before I even got to know him."

"Point taken."

"Indeed. As for my appointment with the princess, I spent the night in the other universe with Ty. In that time, we started to talk about Celestia’s decisions and how unfair they seemed. We both came to a consensus that she may not have given us all the details for her rules, so I decided to try and pay her another visit in hopes of changing her mind. But thanks to Rarity, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do that today or not because I needed Spike. Until they get back, I’ve got all the time in the world to sit here and wait for them...”

“That’s great!” exclaimed Rainbow.

“Great? I hardly find anything great about—!”

“I mean, it’s great that you have this free time, because I need you to teach me how to be more… appealing.”

“Rainbow, I have nothing to teach you on that subject. I think it’s a matter of preference for everypony, anyway.”

“Yeah, but as you can see, nopony seems to find me very ‘preferable!’ Maybe I’d have a better chance at going to that other universe and finding somepony there…”

"Now THERE'S an idea..."

"I mean, if you could find somepony there, then maybe you could take me there sometime if Celestia DOES change her mind..."

"Huh... I'd never have taken Rainbow of all ponies to yearn for romantic companionship so badly... Still, that suggestion is outright unorthodox..."

“I… wouldn’t bet on it...” I uncertainly countered. I was unsure of how to tell her that the other universe was inhabited by humans, but I realized that my response wasn’t the best one.

“And what’s THAT supposed to mean!?” asked an expectantly offended Rainbow.

“No, I didn’t mean it like that! *sigh* Listen, I don’t really know what to tell you except to be comfortable with yourself and be confident… And um... just... give it a shot. I'm... sure there's somepony out there for you..." I found myself bumbling over my words due to my lack of experience on the subject. "Ohh, Ty knew more about this sort of thing than I do…”

“He did?”

“Well, I THINK he did. He’s really good at giving advice to other ponies... I know that first-hoof. He did a great job at talking to Fluttershy about her reclusive nature when they met, for example... He's definitely taught me a thing or two as well...”

"That right?"

"Don't take MY word for it, but I'm pretty sure he could help you once I'm done with my errand... of course, as soon as Spike gets back here..."

"Uh-huh..." At that, the library went quiet for a brief moment. "…Say, where DID Spike and Rarity go?” Rainbow asked, breaking the silence.

“I believe they said they were headed to the Ponyville café, but that was a few hours ago. Why?”

“Maybe I could go check on them and see if Spike got that letter yet. If he did, then I’ll be back to bring it to you. If not, then… then I’ll take you to Canterlot myself.” My face brightened with joy at Dash’s proposition.

“You would do that for me, Rainbow?” I asked, barely able to hide my new-found excitement, although I figured she was doing this partly to sort out her own dilemma.

“Like I said, I’m not the Element of Loyalty for nothin’!”

“Ohh, thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!” I repeated as I hugged the pegasus mare tight.

“Heh heh, no problem, Twilight,” she answered as she freed herself from my grasp and reared up to fly out of a window. “I’ll be back in a flash!”

“Wait, Rainbow, please use the—!” she disappeared through the window in a polychromatic flash before I could finish. “…door.”

Joining Ty on Earth... a couple hours and a bout of Sailor Mouth later...

FINALLY, my miserable work day had come to a thankfully peaceful close as I looked at the clock to see that it read 4:39 PM. I couldn’t wait to get out of this obnoxious city and back into my comfortable abode almost an hour’s drive away. However, I wouldn’t be getting there as soon as I’d liked, as three ODDLY familiar faces came walking towards me from the other end of the sidewalk. I immediately thought about ducking into the nearest alleyway. It was too late as one of them had already seen me, prompting them all to approach me. I instead froze in place, hoping that they were some kind of dinosaurs and that if I didn’t move, they would stop seeing me and move on.

“Man, today jus’ AIN’T my damn day…”

“Hey, man! I remember you!” said the heavyset guy, now wearing a black “20% Cooler than You” T-shirt.

“Do you, now?” I asked, trying my best to keep calm while playing dumb.

“Yeah,” answered the second guy, the thin one who wore what I could now guess was the Rainbow Dash hoodie. “How could we possibly forget you?”

“Beats the hell outta me… y’know, there’s tons o’ people in this world. I'ss a big place. You prolly saw somebody else. I’m just a stranger,” I replied, still feigning ignorance.

“Sure, but how many strangers are able to magically teleport out of a compromising situation?” asked the third guy, now wearing an orange T-shirt with the design of a trio of red apples on it. If anything, it looked… like Applejack’s Cutie Mark! Nonetheless, these guys were interrogating me, and I wanted out.

“M-maybe there’s actually such things as magicians…?” I was already out of ideas for snippy, yet falsely stupid statements. I was just left with actually stupid statements.

“Listen, you don’t have to play dumb with us. We know you had Twilight Sparkle with you the other day,” said the first guy. He completely blew me away, because I had absolutely NO clue how he could’ve known that. I still felt the need to play dumb, so that’s exactly what I did.

“Twilight what? I don’t read that teenage vampire-werewolf romance garbage…”

“No, not the books! The pony! You know, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, the TV show? Twilight Sparkle? The purple one with the horn and the dark blue mane with the purple and pink stripe in it? Her Cutie Mark is a pink six-pointed star surrounded by a bunch of smaller white stars?” I thought I was blown away by the fact that he knew Twilight’s name, but the fact that he knew ALL of this!? It didn’t make sense…

“Hol’ up… WHAT TV SHOW!?” I asked in utter disbelief.

“Wow, you seriously don’t know about My Little Pony?” asked the guy in the Rainbow Dash hoodie.

“I do, but I guess I ain’t exactly a fan of it…” or was I….? Anyway, I HAD to see what these guys knew. “This… Twilight Sparkle. She’s… a character in this show?”

“Yep. She’s the main one. Her and her five friends, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. She studies for Princess Celestia and has a pet dragon named Spike. They all live in a land called ‘Equestria.’” From there, it ALL became clear to me…If what they were saying was true, then I had LITERALLY spent almost a week with a cartoon character, and two days inside the actual cartoon. A girls’ cartoon that I only knew had a good amount of grown men and women for fans. I went to the world these guys were saying existed only in a TV show, managed to get to know— AND KISS— the main character, and met every pony and dragon they named… and I enjoyed it.

But, if Equestria and all the ponies in it WERE supposed to be fictional, then how… how did Twilight find her way here? How did she have the ability to bring me there and turn me into a pony? I mean, if this all happened to me, and I have vivid memory of it all happening to me, then it couldn’t have been any kind of dream. It wasn’t a drug trip, either because I make it a point to stay away from that. My entire perception on reality was thrown for the loop of a lifetime… Still, little did these guys know… Equestria was an actual place. The ponies were real. I guessed they must be so far away that literally the only thing that could get someone to them… was magic; something that was said not to exist in this world.

I didn’t know WHAT to think… but one thought did come to mind; I wasn’t going to tell these fools anything about my experiences. One, I already knew I’d sound like I was on drugs or I’d gone insane. But then, these three DID see me teleport away from them. Two, I wasn’t going to allow anyone in this world to know about Twilight’s being here at one point. Even if these guys knew who she and her friends were, I wasn’t going to allow them to know about anything I’d learned or experienced with her. For safety reasons, of course. Three, I figured that even if Twilight was able convince Princess Celestia to allow me back to Equestria, she would probably still impose some kind of condition that I be the ONLY human to even know about the factual existence of the place.

“Well… ain’t that nice?” I nonchalantly said. “That show definitely sounds like one t’ watch. But, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’cha talkin’ about. I don’t have any Twilight Sparkle with m—!”

*POOF!* I was interrupted as a sudden magenta flash appeared in front of me. A second later, a scroll with some kind of… royal seal on it manifested itself in front of my face, highlighted in an all-too-familiar purplish-pink glow.

"Ohh, fuck me senseless..." The three strange men and I just gazed at it in awe. I soon snapped out of my trance and grabbed the levitating scroll and slowly put it into my pocket. I figured that Twilight must’ve sent me a message from Equestria by casting the universal travel spell on the letter. Instantly, I knew I was outright boned as I saw the three men giving me the most unsettling crazed looks I’d ever seen.

“Well, aren’t you gonna read it?” asked the Rainbow Dash-hoodied guy.

I responded by taking three steps back, turning around, and hauling ass like I’d never hauled ass before. As I expected, the three guys followed in hot pursuit. There was only one thing on my mind at that moment, and it was this:

“FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—!”

Aaaaand, as for Ponyville…

“There. I hope that gets to him safely,” I said to myself as I waited upstairs in my room after casting the universal spell on a letter I'd written for Ty. I began pacing about with incredible angst. I wanted to get this task done already so I could see him again… The hours of lethargic indolence were taking their toll on me. I’d waited all morning and into the afternoon for either Spike or Rainbow Dash to come bursting in with some kind of message from the princess. “I can’t believe how much I miss him already… Where are you, Spike, or Rainbow Dash or whoever...?”

*SLAM*

“Twilight! It’s here!” shouted a familiar voice from down below. But it didn’t sound like Rainbow Dash… It sounded like Spike. I was quick to gallop out of my room and down the stairs to see my #1 assistant on the floor and out of breath as he held up the scroll. Eagerly, I magically lifted the scroll from Spike’s claw and unrolled it to read its contents:

Dearest Twilight Sparkle,

I apologize for replying to you on such a late notice, as I was scheduled for a last-minute meet-and-greet with some official ponies from Appleloosa. I presume that by now, you have already fulfilled your task of returning Ty to his home and that you currently wish to speak to me about the matter. I am pleased to inform you that the remainder of my afternoon for today seems to be clear. I am able to make time for a meeting with you, but unfortunately, I cannot send you a chariot. Today is the transportation pegasus guards’ day off and I must stay put in the case that there is a sudden emergency that I must tend to. I am afraid you’ll have to find some other means to get here. Your most accessible and viable option would be the Friendship Express. If that is not acceptable, there is always the choice to wait until tomorrow afternoon. In any case, I look forward to seeing you, my most faithful student.

Kind Regards,

Princess Celestia

“Ohh, GREAT!” I was getting frustrated with all the delays and obstacles that seemed to place themselves right in the way at the very moment I didn’t need them there.

“What is it?” Spike asked as he recovered.

“The princess IS able to see me, but I don’t have an adequate method of arriving there in time! All of the guards usually assigned to carry the chariots are off, she can’t come see me herself, the Friendship Express takes an entire day to get to Canterlot, and since I haven’t learned how to teleport between different cities and towns in the same universe yet, my only other option is to wait! Hmm…”

“Um, Twilight?”

“Oh, I know! I’ll capture a griffin and tie it to my hot-air balloon and that will serve as a chariot! But then how would I get it to stay…?”

“Umm… Twilight? You’re doing it again…”

“For that matter, how would I even get my hooves on a griffin?” I let out an exasperated sigh as I was stumped on what I could do to see the princess.

“Twilight?”

“Oh! Here’s an idea! What if I…! No, that’s completely ridiculous… Come on, Twilight, think. THINK! You can do this… OH, I’ve got it! Spike, what if I gave you wings and made you grow a few sizes so you could—!”

“Twilight!! Snap out of it!!” Spike shouted as he grabbed me by the face and directed my gaze to him.

“Oh, I’m sorry Spike,” I apologized as I came to my senses after Spike released me. “I just don’t know what to do, and I’ve been waiting all day for Princess Celestia to respond, and—!”

*SLAM*

“Rainbow Dash, what is the meaning of this!?” shouted Rarity as she was being held in midair by Rainbow as they barged in through the door. “Let me go this instant!”

“Sorry, Rarity!” Rainbow replied. “But I need your help in finding Spike so I can bring him… to…” Dash trailed off and dropped Rarity as she laid her eyes on the amethyst and green dragon. “Dude! Where the hay were you!? I looked all over Ponyville for you!”

“Well hello to you, too, Rainbow Dash. Can I ask why you’re suddenly so interested in me?” Spike inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“I was looking for you so I could see if you had a letter from Celestia about Twilight’s meeting so I could bring it to her.”

“…and I assume that during your little escapade, you saw me and figured I knew where he was?” asked Rarity as she picked herself up and dusted herself off.

“Yeah.”

“Hold on: How did you even know about the letter?" asked Spike, now confused at Rainbow.

"Or that he was with me today, for that matter?" Rarity added in an equal amount of concern.

“Because I… came here earlier looking for Twilight,” answered Rainbow, now on-edge due to being interrogated.

“For what reason, if it’s not too troubling to ask?” Rarity began. “I thought you were supposed to be on your daily weather patrol duty…”

“Because I… I wanted to… *sigh* Look, that isn’t important right now! Did Celestia give you a letter or not?”

“Yeah, she did,” I answered. “The good news: she IS able to see me today. The bad news: she has no way to get me there any faster than the train, so I may not be able to visit her until tomorrow, and I don’t know WHAT her schedule looks like tomorrow…”

“Plan B it is, then!” announced Rainbow Dash. “I’m taking you there myself!”

“Are you sure, Rainbow? I mean, how are we going to get there?”

“Easy: I’ll carry you!”

“Carry me? That sounds a bit dangerous. Besides, won’t you have trouble holding my weight up along with your own all the way to Canterlot?”

“…Good point. Can’t you just use some kind of weight-reducing spell that makes you light enough that we can make it there?”

“Hmm… Yes, actually! It’s just that last time I tried it on Spike…”

“…It made me float up into the air like a balloon!” Spike finished. “I could’ve wound up floating to the moon if Twilight didn’t know the failsafe for it…”

“Heh heh, sorry about that…” I apologized to the sweet little dragon again. He responded with an assuring smile. “But yeah, that’s the only spell I can think of. I suppose we could tie ourselves together with rope, but I don’t have any lying around…”

“Well then,” Rainbow started. “I guess we’re paying a certain farm pony a little visit before we head off to Canterlot then, huh?”

“If she isn’t too busy with her work around Sweet Apple Acres today, then I suppose…”

“There’s only one way to find out! Let’s go!”

“Okay, hang on tight!” I suggested as Rainbow laid a hoof on my back. “Sorry about messing up your date, guys.”

“It’s no problem, really,” replied Rarity. “There is an important matter afoot and we were glad to take time out of our day to assist you… even IF the assistance came in the form of being kidnapped without an explanation,” she finished, glaring at Rainbow Dash, who could only sheepishly rub the back of her head while offering a shy giggle as an apology.

“Have fun!” I said as Rainbow and I teleported out of the library to Sweet Apple Acres…

Back to Ty’s situation…

I had to get away from these freaks as soon as possible. I’d been running for what felt like all afternoon trying to get away from them. I could tell because when I started running, the sun had already begun to set. At this point, the sky was passing its twilight. All I needed to do was get to my car and floor it all the way home, speeding tickets be damned. I was already halfway to the parking lot where it was parked by the time I began this little cardiorespiratory exercise routine, so I got the idea to just run around in that general area so as not to get lost.

“DAMMIT, DUDE! STOP RUNNING!” called one of the pursuers. I didn’t care worth a damn which one of them said it at this point; I needed to get out of there now! I already had tons of thoughts running through my head about what I’d found out about Twilight’s universe being depicted in a television series and how the hell she managed to send me this letter (at the absolute WORST time, no less). If there was one thing to figure, it was that she and her universe DID exist and that somehow, humans managed to recreate it in the form of a TV show. I decided that was the best explanation to go with as I tried to escape the stooges hounding me like rabid dogs on a cat covered in gravy and bacon grease so I could read what she sent me.

“We already know you met her! That letter is proof!” one of the guys called to me.

“All we want you to do is read it for us!” said another one.

“Yea, well y’all got another thing comin’ if y’all think I’mma—! Oh, shit!!” I yelled as I tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. I fought hard to keep my balance, just barely succeeding to do so as I pushed off of the ground with my hands before my feet gave way. Lucky for me, I was actually slowly losing them as I ran. Problem was that I was almost completely exhausted from running away for so long. My legs felt like somebody had wrapped them in duct tape and ripped the tape off, then decided to pound them into jello with a rubber chicken filled with sand. My lungs and heart felt like someone had opened my chest and proceeded to repeatedly jab at them with their bony fingers as I fought to keep from passing out from fatigue. My throat was bone-dry and begging for water thanks to all the extra air I was pumping in and out of my esophagus that hardly did more than make my head and chest feel like I was mauled by Pinkie Pie. Although, I figured that if I was feeling this tired, the jerks behind me must’ve been just as bad, if not worse. I didn’t turn around to find out. I was worn out and desperate to get home. I managed to make my way to the parking lot, jump into the car, fumble the key around the ignition, start the car, and floor it out of there to get anywhere away from those guys…

“My God…! That was intense…” I thought as I drove home. “I REALLY wish she’d have picked a better time t’ send this letter… But at the same time, I wish she was here t’ bail me out like last time… Dayum…!”