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 her 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 answered 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.

"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 mare 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 though," 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 grant her amnesty, 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 Rainbow 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 mare 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...!!"

Author's Notes:

Taking a poll here: Who would you MOST like to find Twilight and Gillian first? Ty? Or Rainbow Dash? Or somepony else? And please give your reason why!