Despite having to cry myself to sleep over that… that two-timing JERK, I had a somewhat-decent 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-acting 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 is true that he jumped down, and has yet to be 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 last week!” 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 backstabber 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!?”

“We only talked!” she 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 Fluttershy. 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...”

“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-deprecating 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 magnanimous mare 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…!”

Author's Notes:

Goddamn MANGOES!!!!