About an hour went by since we started off convincing the townsponies that Ty wasn't dangerous. So far, we (or at least I) surprisingly hadn't run into too much opposition... aside from the ponies who saw him almost vaporize Gillian. Those were the ones I focused on first and foremost while the others went on about their ways of calming the townsfolk down in their respective areas of influence. Nothing too hard of a job to do, but there was still that nagging fact that I couldn't just waltz up to anypony and ask if they saw a furless gorilla throwing a beam of light at a unicorn. I knew I had to be a little more subtle than that, which made this effort take longer than I'd have normally cared for. In any case, I would mainly just ask if they'd seen anything out of the ordinary recently, which nine times out of ten, would be a yes. From there, I'd ask the pony I was talking with to elaborate, and if what they described came out to be an image of what happened not too long ago, then I'd assure them to the best of my ability that they shouldn't be afraid or weirded out.

Taking into account what Ponyville's been through in the past, not that many ponies were that scared by the incident. A good hoof-full of 'em actually seemed more interested than frightened, which I took as a good sign. Still, I had to make sure that everyone I came into contact with in the last hour or so was alright. All that said, things were going for the most-part smoothly until I ran into a certain duo that's probably caused more damage to this town's overall safety and comfort level than Ty ever could.

"Hey! Snips! Snails!" I called as I saw two unicorn colts trotting their way through the area around the Carousel Boutique. They stopped almost instantly when they heard me call them, seeming excited to see me. Typical behavior for foals who know greatness when they see it... Nah, just kidding! I'm not THAT cocky. These two would be excited if they'd just got done watching paint dry, so no biggie.

"Hey, Ms. Rainbow Dash!" greeted the short, chubby grayish-green colt known as Snips.

"Fancy seeing you here, huh?" added the taller, much-thinner dark orange colt by the name of Snails.

"Yeah, sure, good afternoon. I'm a bit short on time right now, so I'll be blunt about it: I was just wondering if you'd seen anything strange around here lately...?"

"Strange?" asked Snips. "Strange how?"

"Like... if you'd seen any unusual creatures running around here or if you heard any rumors...?"

"You mean like a giant three-headed dog from Tartarus?"

"Or an Ursa Minor?" asked Snails right after his friend.

"Or a rampaging horde of Changelings bent on taking over Equestria?"

"Or a rampaging horde of Pinkie Pies bent on taking over Ponyville?"

"*sigh* I don't have time for this... Come to think of it, though, Ponyville HAS been through a lot of unusually sticky situations over the years..."

"No," I calmly answered. "More like... something else... Like a uh... something completely unseen before," I did my best to explain.

"Well... a lot of the stuff we just mentioned, we never saw before the point where we saw them," Snails answered.

"Uh-huh... Technically true, but what I mean is something recent. As in, within the last two or three days..."

"Ooohhh..." Both of them droned in wonder. At that, the two drew a blank that lasted almost too long as the air around us got awkwardly silent.

"Ooh! Ooh! Yeah, we did!" Snails FINALLY answered me after a couple of minutes.

"Yeah! We saw this really huge animal! I think it had... some kind of weird clothing on... plus, when we saw it, it was really mean and nasty-looking and was chasing after some stallion I don't think comes around here a lot," Snips added, scratching his head in thought. "If I could just remember what he looked like..."

"Sounds like they DID see him..."

"And it was really, really huge!" Snails had the courtesy to reiterate.

"I already said that, doofus!"

"Nuh-uh! You didn't describe how big it really was, doofus! And don't call me 'doofus!'"

"Yeah, well I don't need your extra 'really!' So take it back!"

"No! Not until you take back calling me a doofus!"

"Not unless YOU take back that extra 'really!' Now take it back!" Snips ordered in a sudden sense of hostility as he butted heads with his friend.

"I said no!" Snails angrily answered back. The two colts started up a shoving match where they'd been pushing their heads together.

"Boys, boys, relax!" I called to them as I separated the two. "Does it really matter how many 'really's' there were? The case in point is that I just need to know if you saw it or not..."

"How come?" Snips asked as the two settled down and directed their attention back at me.

"Because I need to--!"

"Ooh! I bet you're on some sort of top-secret investigation! Right?" Snails asked out of the blue.

"No, I--!"

"What kind of question is that, Snails?" Snips asked in contempt.

"Well, if Ms. Rainbow Dash is gathering information on strange animals we haven't seen before, then she must be doing it to gather clues on where it is so she can capture it," the lanky, green-haired foal explained, despite being WAAAAY out of the ballpark.

"Ohh, yeah! Good point!" the portly little colt complimented his friend before turning to me with some shifty look on his face like he was hiding something. "So um... here's the scoop. This 'animal' was big. Really big. And um... it... had some weird clothes on and was chasing this stallion..."

"And don't forget that it looked really angry, too!"

"Ugh, why'd I bother with these two...? Ah well, it's clear that they saw him, and that's all that matters." These two never WERE known for their outstanding smarts, but that didn't rule them out as potential witnesses.

"Right... So uh... Anyway, I'm just here to letcha know that what you saw wasn't dangerous. It's-- HE'S a friend of mine, so don't be scared of him. Okay?"

"Oh, I just remembered! It was a--! Wait..." Snips began in confusion. "You actually KNOW the moose in the top hat and the flower-printed shirt that was chasing Clip Clop the Clown around the train station the other day? That's awesome! Can you get his autograph for us?"

"Yeah, please, Ms. Rainbow Dash? He showed us some really cool tricks with his antlers after he rammed Clip Clop onto the train to Trottingham, but he never got to introduce himself to us!" I just wound up drawing a blank, having NO idea how to respond to something that sounded so... ridiculous!

"...Whelp, that's all, folks!"

"...Yeah, I'm gonna go now. Catch you guys on the flip-side. Stay outta trouble!" and with that, I flew off, looking for more suitable ponies to spread the word to. It was no more than a couple of minutes later that I ran into an acquaintance of mine named Flitter, her sister Cloudchaser, another mare by the name of Raindrops, and my good friend Thunderlane drifting by in the sky together.

"Hey, guys! How's it hangin'?" I greeted as I hovered toward them.

"Other than Ponyville being on high alert because of that weird monkey thing terrorizing the town and attacking that unicorn, we're good," said Raindrops.

"Speaking of which," Flitter began. "I couldn't help but notice earlier this morning that you were carrying it off somewhere, but you went down in the middle of town with it. What were you doing?"

"I was trying to save him from the unicorn he attacked. He's actually a good friend of mine and we'd recently run into a couple of criminals from Saddle Arabia who wanted to get to Twilight through him."

"Whoa whoa whoa... a FRIEND of yours?" Thunderlane asked in surprise. "How are you friends with it?? Do you know what it is?? I saw it last night when that giant boom happened out of nowhere, but when it was talking to Lyra at the time, it said that it didn't know anything about where it was."

"Yeah, about that... You see, it--!"

"But then Fluttershy and some of your other friends came along and dragged it off before it could answer for itself," added Cloudchaser. "What's going on, Dash? Are we being invaded by aliens now?"

"No no, don't be ridiculous. I mean, yeah, he's technically an alien, but I--!"

"And what is it that you and your friends know about it that we don't? I mean, Pinkie Pie was shouting all morning about how it wasn't dangerous, but then the next we see of it, it's all riled up and chasing after some unicorn stallion we'd never seen around here before. Is it some sort of circus act that came into town but got mad at its master after breaking loose?"

"What?? N-no!" I answered, despite getting a sudden urge to chuckle at Cloudchaser's speculation. "Just listen for a sec. He's--!"

"Oh! And you know what else?" Raindrops interrupted me. "I saw Twilight kiss it when you guys were trying to help it fight that stallion. More than once."

"Now THAT'S gonna be a bit tough to explain right away..."

"For all it's worth, they weren't just simple, friendly little pecks. I'm talking full on, 'I love you, now let's r--!'"

"I get it, Raindrops," I stopped her from elaborating for the sake of my own imagination. "I saw it. I was there."

"Oh, right... Anyway, what's up with that?"

"Yeah, she seemed awfully attached to that thing even though it was only here a couple days..." Thunderlane added in agreement. "I had no idea Twilight of all ponies would resort to something like dating an animal-- er, alien, or whatever. I mean, she never struck me as the 'normal' kind of mare, but still... Did she have some sort of really bad falling out with that one Earth pony she was with to stoop to that?"

"So many questions, so little time..."

"*sigh* Alright, that's enough. First off, Twilight's my best friend, so lay off. Second, that 'alien' isn't what you think he is. And yes, it's a HE. But we'd be here all day if I tried answering all of your questions myself," I explained before coming up with a last-minute idea. "Tell you guys what: Help me to arrange a public meeting at Town Hall by spreading the word to as many ponies as you can within the hour, and once that meeting begins, you'll get as many answers as you're looking for. Deal?" I offered as I lent out a hoof to shake. Of course, the four other pegasi took a little while to think about the proposal I made, but after a short pause...

"Sure," Thunderlane was the first to agree as he touched his hoof to mine. "I'll do it," he added in a tone of what seemed to be interest. "I really wanna know what that thing is."

"Well if he's gonna help, then I guess I could, too," Flitter followed up as she threw her hoof in, Cloudchaser doing so right after. "All things considered about what we saw in the last day or two..."

"...we want to know exactly how dangerous that alien is... or if it's just one of an entirely new species of animal we're just discovering," Cloudchaser finished.

"And I want to know what you and your friends' connection is to it," Raindrops finished as her hoof found its way into the huddle.

"Trust me, you'll get all the info you need! Thanks, guys!" I said, expressing my gratitude for their cooperation.

"Okay. So what's the plan?" asked Raindrops.

"Just split up and tell as many ponies as you can to meet up outside Town Hall in about an hour, and make sure they spread the word as well. Once you're done, make your way there yourselves. By that time, I should have done my part and hopefully convinced Mayor Mare to let us have our meeting there."

"Alright!" The four other ponies agreed in unison as they took off to fulfill the errand I gave them.

"So far, so good. Now's probably as good a time as any to see how the other girls are doing..." With that thought, I rocketed off to check up on my friends' progress before I finished my part of the job...

"*Yawn* Hm...? Where'd Fluttershy go...?" I asked myself as I suddenly, yet calmly awoke from the nap I'd taken. As I stretched my arms and legs, I noticed something...

"Huh... Nothin' hurts nearly as much as it did before... I guess Twilight's spell worked better than expected... or maybe that nap did the trick...?" With that, I groggily surveyed the library's bedroom to see that Twilight had still been sound asleep on my leg, which prevented me from moving too much and stirring the mare from her peaceful slumber. A few seconds later, the door opened, where I was greeted with the sight of a familiar baby dragon.

"Oh, you're awake already?" asked a slightly surprised Spike as he approached.

"Not really, but... *Yawn* I'm not one for long naps..." I answered as I wiped the cold out of my eye. "Where's everybody else at? I thought you was with them..."

"I was, but we came right back here after we visited the hospital. Right now, everyone should be prepping up for a town meeting to explain why you aren't a threat to anypony." Hearing that was all I needed to fully wake up.

"They are??" I asked in alarm, covering my mouth as I realized I'd almost awakened the sleeping unicorn. "Why are THEY doin' that...?" I asked in a hushed whisper.

"Why not?" he shot back. "I mean, there HAS been a lot going on since you got here... The townsponies would've needed an explanation at SOME point."

"No, I mean I thought that was supposed t' be somethin' for me an' Twi t' take care of."

"Oh. In that case, it's because you and Twi were already asleep when we all arrived here. Rainbow and the others decided to get a head start on calming everypony's nerves while you two rested up from what happened earlier. They left me here to keep an eye on you until you got up."

"That right...? An' exactly how long ago was that?"

"Hmm..." the reptilian child pondered. "I'd say about... maybe an hour and a half ago?"

"An hour an' a half? Jeez..." I mumbled, surprised at the amount of time that went by. That surprise quickly deteriorated when I went into silent thought about how that meeting would be going without Twilight or myself there to answer the questions they had. In that instant, I was filled with a deep-seated sense of anxious dread that it could quite possibly have not been going well, since there were only three people in this entire world I felt were qualified to answer any of the questions the townsfolk had... Yet, the two MOST qualified of the aforementioned three were lethargically loafing around in the library instead of addressing the town like they were supposed to while everyone else apparently took it upon themselves to do their job for them. But then I remembered what Princess Celestia told me after Twi and I arrived from our short break about she managed to sedate the townsfolk herself since her arrival in Ponyville.

"I take it Princess Celestia has everything under control now?" I hopefully asked.

"No," Spike bluntly added, inadvertently refilling me with the shakiness I'd prematurely disposed of. "The Princess took those two criminals away once we got here. She's back in Canterlot dealing with them. It's just Rarity, A.J., Pinkie, Rainbow, Lyra, Fluttershy, and Zecora out there right now."

"Oh. Alright then..." I murmured as I went into a state of mute pensiveness.

"Ah, so THAT'S where Fluttershy is... Doesn't help in the least though, because she only knows as much as the rest of 'em do... Maybe there's still time t' help them out if I get out there soon enough... OH! Plus, I promised Comet I'd talk t' Celestia t' lighten her sentence! If she's already back in Canterlot sentencin' those two, then the odds are that I missed my chance t' do it... Dammit! I hope it ain't too late t' at least put in an absentee plea bargain or somethin'..." After a short moment to collect my thoughts, I decided on what to do.

"Spike."

"Yeah?"

"Not t' sound bossy or anythin', but I'mma need you t' take a letter. I'ss kinda urgent..." I requested as I carefully lifted Twilight off of my leg in order to bring myself to a stand. Again, it struck me as odd that I'd only felt a far-less intensive fraction of the pain I'd remembered experiencing. It still hurt quite a lot to move, but it felt less like I'd been mauled, then subsequently tossed from the summit of a craggy mountainside, and more like I'd just rested up from a day at the gym. Nonetheless, I was quick to pick my significant other up off the ground and lay her gorgeous sleeping form onto her bed.

"Okay," the dragon complied as he ran toward the nearest drawer to fetch a sheet of parchment and a quill. "What's so urgent about this?"

"I... kinda made a promise t' someone... an' so far, I'm pretty sure I fuc--Ahh, I mean... screwed up my chance t' keep it..."

"Who'd you make a promise to? And what'd you promise them?"

"You'll learn when ya write this letter for me," I answered, growing more anxious as my patience dwindled.

"Alright," Spike agreed as he prepared to script my words. "Ready when you are."

"Okay. Dear Princess Celestia... By now, I understand that you have returned to Canterlot to deal with Ponyville's most recent nuisance. It also comes to my attention that you are PROBABLY pretty upset that I almost vaporized one of the two perpetrators with your magic. I know that that is a TERRIBLE way for me to show gratitude, and I know that a move as idiotic as that could do serious damage to your reputation. I am sorry. Very sorry. I mean, so sorry that I don't think I'd ever be able to make it up to you, no matter how hard I tried. Nonetheless, I ask for one more HUGE favor. If you do this for me, then I will be eternally grateful to the point where you can ask anything of me and no matter what it is, I will fulfill your request to the absolute best of my human ability.

Now as for this favor... As said before, Comet and Gillian are under your watchful eye, to my understanding. I also understand that it may or may not be too late by the time you receive this letter, but in the case that it isn't, then I sincerely, absolutely, completely beg of you to please, please, PLEASE reconsider your options when you deliver your judgment upon the mare known as Comet Gazer. She isn't a bad mare. She was only placed in a series of situations that drove her to commit the crimes she'd been basically tricked into committing. I won't say she isn't completely undeserving of any blame for her past actions, but she has shown me numerous times that she, if given the chance, could rebuild her status as an upstanding, law-abiding pony. I wish to elaborate further, but at this point in time, I have another taxing goal to accomplish in the form of coming clean with Ponyville's inhabitants. I know it isn't my place to suggest things of royalty such as yourself, but I implore you to please go easy on poor Comet. She's a good mare with a good heart. Your Faithful Subject, Ty."

Within a few seconds, Spike packaged the letter and sent it on its way to Equestria's Sun Princess.

"So... your promise was to that one mare? And the promise was that you'd get Princess Celestia to ease up on her?" Spike cleverly deducted.

"Indeed."

"But... why? After everything she did to us. Why are you trying to help her out?"

"Long story short, she was in a really bad emotional state last time I saw her. She recently got dumped by Gillian at the time an' was bawlin' her eyes out about how she ruined her life. Me bein' the chivalrous guy I am, I promised t' get Celestia t' ease up on 'er. I'd explain more, but I gotta go," I reasoned as I prepared to bolt.

"Go where, exactly?"

"T' help the others explain this mess. If anybody's able t' give the right answers, i'ss me."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Weeeelll... No. I honestly think Twi here's better at public speakin' than me or any o' the others, but I know I'm the second best option in this case."

"So why not wake her up and let her do the talking?"

"She's out like a light that was in a fight at night, Spike. That wouldn't be right." At that, the dragon let out a small titter.

"Heh, I guess that's true."

"So long as tha'ss the case, I suppose it goes without sayin' for you t' look after her while I go an' help them sort this thing out," I reasoned as I painstakingly (and nervously) stretched myself in preparation for the public meeting that had apparently been going on in my absence.

"You sure you should be going out there, dude? You're still moving around like you just got run over by a stampede even though the Princess said she healed you." At Spike's witty remark, I scoffed despite finally being given an answer for my suddenly-improved physical condition.

"SHE healed me?? Again?? Now if that ain't magnanimous, I don't know WHAT is..."

"Har har," I sarcastically jabbed back, shaking my head. "Jus' stay here an' if she wakes up, tell her what happened. She'll understand..."

"I hope..." With that, I wasted no more time flapping my gums with Spike and had begun walking toward the bedroom's entrance...

"Mmm..." I heard Twilight's voice, which froze me in place. I turned to look and see that she'd merely shifted her sleeping position. "Ty..." ...or maybe she'd woken up.

"Twilight?" I called to her. She didn't give a response right away, which prompted me to figure she'd still been asleep.

"Yes... right there... harder... mmm~...!" she moaned in an unexpectedly enticing, yet slurred tone of voice.

"OH, myyy... So much for bein' mad at us, eh?"

"Aw, shit... NOW of all times, does that habit show up again?"

"...Er, on second thought, Spike, come with me," I changed my mind, suddenly flustered and more worried about what the sleeping mare might have inadvertently let slip in her seemingly-peaceful snoozing stupor.

"Ohh... don't stop~..." she moaned again, sending me into a panic.

"Why? She talks in her sleep more often than ya think. You should hear her sometimes. It's pretty funny," Spike naively objected.

"I know that. She USUALLY only does it when she's been too stressed out t' get proper rest, but what she might be dreamin' about this time might not be suitable for young ears..." I anxiously reasoned, suddenly feeling hotter than a tea kettle that had been heated up with a flamethrower.

"Pfft! Oh, brother..." He dismissed with a wave of his claw. "There's nothing I've ever heard Twilight mumble in her sleep in all the time I've spent living with her that would make ANY difference in how I think of her. Or you, for that matter."

"Yes...! Yeah, right there... put it in~... Make me your--!"

"Mother f--!"

"Okay, we're leavin' now!" I frantically sputtered as I scrambled toward Spike in an attempt to shield his innocence.

"Wha--? WHOA!" Spike tried to rebut, but in the wake of... WHATEVER it was Twilight was dreaming about, I shut down any chance he may have had as I grabbed him by the sides of his head and carried him off. Within a nanosecond, the two of us were out of the library with him riding on the back of my neck.

"What gives, Ty!?" Spike asked, predictably upset. "Why'd you just yank me along with you?"

"Trust me, boy. It was for ya own good. Now le'ss leave it at that."

"Why?" He asked, my reply seeming only to intrigue him as he simmered down instantly.

"Don't worry about it," I shot back impatiently. "Le'ss jus' go to this meetin' or whatever and focus on that. Hm?"

"Sure, if you tell me what Twilight was mumbling about that was oh-so bad that you didn't want me to hear it..."

"Yea, here's a better idea: How about I DON'T do that?"

"Aw, come on! How horrible could it have possibly been for you to suddenly be so jittery about it?"

"Very. Now drop it."

"Come on, tell me. I promise I won't tell..."

"No."

"What about if I gave you a fire ruby? I bet THAT would--!"

"Bribery? Tsk tsk..."

"Oh, that doesn't grab your attention? What if I tell Twilight that you said that 'bad word' in front of me again? You know the one... It rhymes with 'duck.'"

"Don't you dare. Whatever punishment she dishes out, I'll make sure you suffer through with me for tryna blackmail me."

"Just tell me, then!"

"Okay, I'll tell ya."

"Oh come--! Wait, really?" he asked, getting his hopes up.

"Yea. I'll tell you 'no' for the thousandth time," I wittily replied, shutting him down and gaining some form of amusement out of it.

"D'oh, whatever..." the nosy little lizard finally gave up. At that, things got silent for a few minutes as I walked into the seemingly-empty town, searching for a large gathering I could then assume would be where the meeting was being held. "You know what? I bet it had something to do with that 'heat' thing, didn't it?" Spike blurted out. "That has to be it!"

"Uh, n-no!" I sputtered, shaken by his deduction to the point of stumbling a little as I tensed up.

"Then why is it that whatever it is she was mumbling about isn't 'suitable for young ears,' like you said?"

"I uh... ummm... She was... jus' gonna... ahh, fuck...!" I mumbled as I failed to think up a convincing lie.

"Ah-ha! So I'm right!"

"He done GOT me again!!"

"We ain't doin' this again. Nuh-uh. I'll concede here, but this is where I draw the line, dammit. I ain't turnin' back an' droppin' you back there so you can eavesdrop on her. You're stickin' with me an' we're gonna go t' this meetin' in peace. An' no more questions about Twilight, cuz you ain't gettin' not one answer outta me. Got it?" I demanded like a true authoritarian.

"Yeah, DAD, I got it," he sarcastically acquiesced, presumably rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"Good. Maybe I can make it up to ya sometime after we're done here, eh? I'll add your name to the list o' ponies I owe consolation prizes to..."

"Sounds good to me, I guess..." he nonchalantly agreed, his thoughts already seeming to be elsewhere as we made our way through Ponyville.

"Somethin' tells me he's cookin' somethin' up in that brain o' his... Better keep a close eye on him..."

Author's Notes:

Sorry for the month-long hiatus and short update, everyone! Lots of outside issues needed to be taken care of before I got a chance to draw this tale to a satisfying conclusion (No, the next chapter isn't the last). But in my time editing this chapter, I got an idea...

That idea is: The next chapter will more-or-less involve an extensive Q&A panel where the many citizens of Ponyville ask a plethora of questions with regards to the alien that's been rampaging through their fair town, causing havoc and pandemonium everywhere he went.

Here, I request of you this: Ask any and all questions you think would be relevant in this most prestigious discovery of a new species amongst ponykind, be it questions about it being in hiding as an Earth pony, its intentions for doing such a thing, the connection of it to the select few ponies it was seen interacting with, etc.

I suggest this mainly because there might be some questions I'll likely forget to bring up while I do this next chapter. Ask as many as you'd like! If not, then that's cool, too. Till next time!