"Okay, is THAT everything?" I asked, my patience as worn out as my ass from sitting on this stage for so long. The crowd was steadily contemplating what else to ask me... as if they hadn't had enough already. In the time I'd allowed them to openly ask me anything their minds could conjure up, I'd already let them know a ton of things. A TON.

Some of these things included that, despite my admitting to them that I ate meat, I DIDN'T eat ponies and never would, I don't have superpowers, I wasn't some deranged monster bent on taking over Equestria (and that the REAL deranged monster had already been captured), that I wasn't technically related to monkeys just because I quote-unquote 'looked like one' (Seriously, this 'monkey' thing was getting older than Applejack's grandmother... and quickly. I swear, it was like if I called them all donkeys because they 'look like them'! But I digress. Anyway...), I was not going to strip naked in front of them because, unlike ponies, human naughty parts don't just vanish when they're not in use, which brought about even more questions on the subject of the human body than I felt like answering...

Oh, and I already sold my services to most of, if not ALL of my fellow speakers... What else...? Oh! And finally, that I was never, ever, EVER going to let them know not one single detail about how, due to my involvement with Twilight, we would handle her heat cycles throughout the spring and summer. I enunciated by telling them that I was going to end the meeting early if they didn't have anything more kid-friendly to ask or if I got too many questions about it... Suffice it to say, they were two strikes down with just one to go.

*POOF*

And then out of nowhere, the mare in question showed up looking like we'd JUST got done remedying that issue... again. So yeah.

"Oh, great... She decided not t' straighten up before she came here... Wonderful..." I was at the end of my rope in terms of my patience (as well as my tolerance for the inconvenience), and this little stunt of hers didn't help... Still, it was at least nice of her to finally join us.

"Twilight!" All of us called at the sudden appearance of the fashionably-late, disheveled-looking unicorn mare.

"Hey, everyone! Sorry I'm late... What'd I miss?"

"Everythin'..." I joked as we went in to hug her.

"Wait, stop! Don't!" she frantically called out, stopping us in our tracks.

"What's wrong?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Don't you want a group hug?"

"Not... um... at the moment... heh... funny story..." Twi nervously stammered. "I uh..."

"*sniff* Eugh, what is that smell?" Rainbow whispered in disgust as she clenched her nostrils shut. The other mares joined her in trying to ward the offensive odor off from their olfactory tunnels as they backed away from her, seeming to identify it as coming from her.

"The smell of a mare in need o' some hot action. I'ss pretty strong, too..."

"Aw, it is, ain't it...? That dream o' hers musta been really vivid..."

"Ooh, I'm so embarrassed..." the poor purple unicorn lamented, the humiliation evident on her adorable blushing face. "I... I thought things would be so much worse out here than they seem right now and I panicked because I thought I didn't have the time to freshen up..."

"I'ss okay, Twi..." I consoled. "The important thing is that you're here now..."

"Yeah..." Applejack concurred, still pinching her snout shut.

"Even if you do smell like the inside of a--!" Pinkie was about to blurt out.

"Shut it, Diane!" I defensively cut the pink mare off.

"Hey! I said don't call me that!" she hissed in offense.

"Yea, sure. Sorry. ANYWAY..."

"It's time I got my segment of speech time with the townsfolk..." Twilight instantly took up the mantle as I got up to place the microphone in its holster for her before sitting back down as the others took their respective places on the side. I took note of the audience as an unsurprisingly, yet nerve-wracking amount of the ponies in attendance staring blankly at her in silence. Although, I'm sure I heard a wolf whistle come from someone, which served to further shake Twilight.

"Umm... *AHEM!* C-citizens of Ponyville! Good afternoon! I know I'm terribly late, and I hope that hasn't been an inconvenience for you. I was... incapacitated during the time this meeting has been taking place, and for that, I sincerely apologize. That said, may I trust that my friends have sated the majority of your concerns regarding the extraterrestrial being that sits atop this stage beside me?" At that, the crowd gave their respective signs of confirming her question. "Excellent... Do... you have any questions for me?"

"Yeah! Why are you like... hooked up with this guy?" asked one of the attendees, a turquoise pegasus stallion with shaggy blonde hair that covered his eyes. "He's, like... not a pony. He even said he was, like, some kind of alien and stuff... Not that I'm judging you or anything, dudette... It's just like... whoa..."

"Um... excellent question, Mister... What's your name, exactly?" Twilight asked, seeming just as thrown off by this guy's demeanor as I was.

"Tidal Wave, my bodacious babe. Gnarly 'do, by the way..." At that, I scoffed in contempt.

"Check yaself before ya wreck yaself, Shaggy..."

"Er... th-thanks... but as for your question, I'm involved with him for more reasons than I can explain... I know that what-- or rather, WHO you see in front of you isn't what you'd initially consider equal to us due to his appearance. However, I've spent a lot of time together with him from the day he and I met. Admittedly, I only considered him an ally and an asset to my research on friendship within the first day or so of my traveling to his world and making acquaintance with him, but... *AHEM*, but as we got to know one another, we sort of... opened up in the sense that we could share compelling, relatable experiences together.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered he possesses the same levels of cognitive function as any of us do. I was even more thrown off-guard when I felt myself... intimately connecting to him. Not just because of his intelligence level or because he is of a species not heard of in this fair land, but also because... because he's charming, humorous, compassionate, and, as odd as this may sound, an excellent foil to me in terms of our contrasting world views. In addition, he's taught me many things about myself. But I digress.

As we derived information from one another about our respective lifestyles and lands of origin, we became friends... and not too long after that, a little more once it became clear we'd connected more than either of us thought..." the mare nervously explained, blushing as she did so. "That said, I hope you all can understand that, despite his physical differences, my significant other of choice is 100% as suitable for me as any pony would be."

"Jeez, she sounds like a politician. I admire the effort, though... At the very least, she has everybody's attention..."

"Is that satisfactory?" she asked Tidal Wave.

"Totally..." he answered, seemingly mesmerized by Twi's explanation.

"Great! Thank you for your curiosity... Anypony else?"

"Hey, Twilight!" called Cheerilee. "Nice hairstyle! Going retro, I see!"

"Cheerilee?" she called back, seeming flustered by the compliment. "Hello. Um... Th-thank you. Is there anything you'd like to ask me?"

"Hmm... No, nothing that hasn't been answered already. The whole town was already debriefed on the alien running amok around here in the last couple days or so. They said you were initially supposed to be up there, but that you were too worn out from dealing with the mysterious ponies that came here and attacked him. Did you run halfway here before you teleported here? You seem out-of-sorts."

"Yeah... I thought I'd at least have enough time to address some of the citizens myself... I take it I'm too late...?"

"Not necessarily. Ty answered as many questions as we had to give him. Speaking of, I have to say... I didn't take you to be the xenophilic type..."

"Oh... w-well, you know..." she murmured, her nervousness spiking as she seemed to temporarily lose the ability to make eye contact with the crowd.

"I understand. It isn't what's on the outside that counts; it's what's on the inside."

"Er... y-yeah... You... don't think any differently of me for it... do you?"

"Not at all! I've taken into consideration everything I've encountered about him whenever he was around as a pony and, from the sound of it in conjunction with how he behaved during the address, he's exactly the same. Plus, he and a couple of the others gave quite the poignant speech about not treating him any differently for being... what was it...?"

"Human?"

"Yes, that. They also stuck up for you when the crowd got rough about you being involved with him. He really seems to care about you, Twilight... Pony or not, don't let anyone discourage you from continuing your relationship... Personally, I think the glaring difference between you two makes it that much stronger."

"Wow... T-thank you, Cheerilee... I don't know what to say..."

"You don't have to say anything. I sincerely wish you the best of luck," she graciously let us know with a smile. "Well, I should get going now. I haven't finished my lesson plan for the week. This meeting was quite informative, though. I might implement it as a part of class. Anyway, have a nice day!" and with that, she was off. I could only wonder in pure surprise at how... how... benevolent she sounded...

"Anypony else?" Twilight asked the crowd, who went into another small bout of contemplation that lasted much longer than the last... In that time, I thought I'd get in a quick word with her.

"Hey, Twi?"

"Yes, hon?"

"Um... You..." I began, but faltered, choking on my own thought. I was about to ask her why she showed up smelling like she needed special attention... which would've invariably led into a discussion about her needing such a thing...

"Drop it, man. Not a good time. I know how fragile she is when she's vulnerable..."

"You... look amazin'..." I half-lied, meaning the compliment, but not intending it to be what I wanted to say to her.

"Ohh, you're just saying that..." she flushed, smiling in a mixture of affectionate joy and stark uncertainty. "My hair's a mess and I look like I just rolled out of bed..."

"Come on, you look good no matter what state you're in..." I flirtatiously countered with a wink, garnering a cutely elated smirk out of her.

"Excuse me!" someone from the crowd called.

"Yes? Berry Dreams?"

"Oh, no..."

"So um... it's the springtime... and--!"

"Nice try, Berry Dreams," I interjected as I hurriedly clamored to the mic. "I said no more heat-related questions! That is none o' your business!"

"Aw, come on! All I want to know is if she's hit her cycle yet!" the mare blurted out, causing a portion of the crowd to murmur in collective interest. Twilight's jaw practically fell to the floor. She was flabbergasted that such a risque question would be directed at her. All I could do is sigh in frustration at the fact that she managed to get that blasted statement out. With that, and a twinge of pain in my temples, I grabbed the mic.

"Tha'ss it! That is the third time somebody asked one of us a question I specifically said didn't need answerin'! Three strikes an' you're out! Meetin' adjourned! Have a nice day, everyone! I'ss over! Go home!"

"But what about--?" another attendant was about to ask.

"Sorry, but rules are rules. I thought I made it clear that we would not answer questions that didn't need answerin', an' that if too many o' those popped up, we were done! If you wanna ask anything else, come find me some other time. Good day, sir!" With that, I waved to the crowd as I dropped the mic. We watched them disperse as a few of them showed varying signs of disappointment while the vast majority of the ponies I saw were either staring back at us as they walked away or were presumably contemplating all the information they'd managed to dig out of us. Within a few minutes, the crowd was gone, leaving only the speakers presently onstage in the vicinity.

"Well, THAT could've ended on a better note," Rainbow remarked.

"Coulda been worse, too... I'm actually glad I did that..." I replied. "We were up here for hours."

"Got that right... My dogs are barkin'..." A.J. agreed.

"I see... So... the townsfolk..." Twilight inquired. "How were they?"

"They seem to be okay with him being here," Fluttershy answered. "It's just that it was a bit harder for them to accept your relationship... Not that they hate you think you're weird or anything."

"I'ss jus' that it took a lot of explainin' for them t' see it our way," I finished. "Nonetheless, the majority of 'em seem t' be okay with it. Not fully acceptin' but just 'okay.'"

"I see... Well, that beats them starting a riot over it..." Twilight mused.

"Yeah, but because you weren't here, you MIGHT have some explaining to do yourself..." Rainbow Dash reasoned to her full understanding. "What took ya so long, anyway?"

"That nap turned out to be much more enjoyable than I'd initially thought..." the purple mare answered to the amusement of her friends, me included. "As you can see, I didn't even give myself the time to freshen up before I got here..."

"I dunno... I think the bedhead style suits you," I countered. "It lets us all know that you FINALLY gave yaself a break for once," I joked, garnering laughs out of the rest of our friends.

"Ha ha, Ty... What are you even doing out here? You couldn't even walk on your own, last I remember. Plus, I don't think I transferred enough energy to you to enable such a spontaneous recovery..."

"Apparently, Celestia healed me part-way before she took Comet an' Gillian away. I still sorta limp when I walk, but I suppose tha'ss my punishment for usin' her magic against him like I did... On top of all the favors I owe..."

"In any case, I'm glad you're okay. How was the meeting before I arrived?"

"It was interesting, to say the least," Rarity answered. "The townsponies were generally very calm, polite, and inquisitive the entire time. In addition, we definitely learned quite a lot about our extraterrestrial friend here..."

"Darn tootin'," A.J. agreed. "Plus, I had t' dig 'im out of a diamond dog-sized hole fer wreckin' Golden Harvest's veggie stand. Two weekends from now, he's all mine, if'in ya don't mind. You'll definitely have yer work cut out for ya, Ty," the farm pony added with a sinister-sounding chuckle.

"And the week after that, he and I have a little score to settle," Rainbow added. "You'll have plenty of time to train for it working with A.J., dude."

"Don't forget that I'm going to tailor you an outfit for practice once you're done with them," Rarity contributed to this apparent to-do list.

"Is that all?" Twilight questioned in perplexity.

"Hmm... Nope! One more thing! Lyra wants to help you run some tests on him or something," Pinkie Pie added even more. "Oh, and he was gonna show me a neat little cake recipe once he was done with everypony else!"

"Jeez, Ty, why so many favors you owe everypony?" Twilight asked, seeming just as surprised as I was exasperated about my now-hefty work schedule.

"*sigh* Because I'm jus' THAT generous..." I sullenly slurred as I sighed in exhaustion, rolling my eyes and shaking my head as they all shared a laugh at my expense. "Le'ss not forget I gotta help Zecora clean up her house, since we're countin' all the chores I gotta do..."

"Hey, where ARE Lyra and Zecora, anyway?" she pondered.

"Lyra went home to get some rest and I think Zecora did, too," Fluttershy answered. "I especially know Lyra didn't get much sleep since she was knocked unconscious and thrown into a bush last night..."

"Yeah... *yawn* I'm pretty beat myself..." Rainbow commented.

"Yea, stoppin' criminals an' hostin' meetin's as big as this one was takes a lot out of a pony," A.J. agreed, followed by concurrent nods from everyone else. On that note, we all said our goodbyes before Twi, Fluttershy and I headed back to the library to sort things out between us while we debriefed the unicorn mare on the events of the public address she'd inadvertently slept through.

A half-hour later

"Y'know, I wasn't gonna say nothin', but... Why was you all sweaty?" asked Ty as we approached the library.

"I was in a hurry to get to you and the others, only to be too late."

"It ain't THAT long a run from your house t' Town Hall, though. It looks like you ran around Ponyville three times before you found us. You gettin' outta shape on us?" he teased as he and Fluttershy giggled.

"Of course not! I maintain my girlish figure on a regular basis, thank you," I shot back in a mixture of ire and humor. "I uh..." I pondered, not even sure myself why I woke up drenched in sweat. But then vague, yet VERY explicit mental images still resonating from my recent dreams presented themselves as a possible reason. "I... did run around town three times looking for you all, though," I lied.

"Really, now? Wow, you didn't notice the crowd?" he asked, seeming to buy my fib.

"Yep. I uh... I tried to teleport to Town Hall, but I only built up enough magic during my nap to transport myself outside the library and... well, the rest is history."

"Please buy it, please buy it, please buy it, please buy it...!"

"Hm. Alright," he accepted, shrugging his shoulders.

"Yes!"

"So anyway, while Fluttershy's here... this... proposition...?" Ty suggested as a conversation topic.

"I'll explain that in a second, but first, how many more favors have you promised?" I questioningly replied.

"Hmm... Well... there's that kid Pipsqueak for helpin' me track down Gillian... There's... Spike for finally droppin' the 'heat' issue, but I'm pretty sure I can call that one back considerin' I promised it to him under the condition that he NOT try t' leave the meetin' early..."

"Why didn't you want him to leave the meeting early?"

"Because you was talkin' in ya sleep again..." at that, I hung my head in humiliation.

"Oh..."

"Yea, but before you could say anything... unsafe in front o' him, I took him with me. He went back while I wasn't lookin' durin' the meetin'."

"I was just waking up when he came back, so I suppose we dodged an arrow there... Thank you."

"Not a problem..." he answered, sounding just as relieved as I was. "Now where was I...? Oh! Then I owe Fluttershy big-time..."

"Me?" Fluttershy commented as she heard her name. "Why would you owe me anything?"

"Because you practically saved me back there... I mean, who else could've given such a powerful speech about treatin' me like an equal an' not bein' so judgmental about Twi an' me? I prolly woulda choked if it wasn't for you."

"No no, you're giving me too much credit," the pegasus mare modestly replied. "It was you who really drove the point home... You gave such a wonderful speech about how much you and Twilight have been through and how much you care for her despite your physical differences and the complications that come with it. You don't owe me anything."

"Interesting..." I commended both of them. "Was it much trouble convincing the townsfolk that you're not a threat?"

"Not really... I mean, I DID get some way-outta-left-field questions about me plottin' some invasion or replacin' everybody with subservient clones or somethin'... but generally, they didn't show a lot o' opposition t' me in that department. I managed to explain t' them how I came t' be a pony in the first place an' what happened t' me that made me lose the disguise. That an' everything that happened with Gillian. They cared more about our relationship than anything else..." the human answered.

"I see... and all of these favors... How exactly did you rack up so many of them?"

"A.J. paid for the damages from when I wrecked Golden Harvest's vegetable stand while I was chasin' Gillian... Rarity wanted t' see if she could make an outfit for me for practice... Zecora's house got ransacked when Gillian showed up there an' we fought... Hmm... Pinkie wants me t' show her a cake recipe I recommended to her, Rainbow wants t' test her strength against me in this form, Lyra wants t' do some research with you... Plus, I know I have t' make it up t' you for everything that's happened, but you said you'd come up with somethin' when I was in a better condition... which, I am now, so... yea. Tha'ss about it," Ty finished up as we finally made it back to the library. We entered quietly and made ourselves comfortable before continuing our discussion.

"Alright, then... I'm glad to see you're such a pony of his word that you're actually going to fulfill all of those errands... even IF it might take you all season to do so..."

"I know, I'm dreadin' it already..."

"Plus, there's one thing you neglected to mention."

"Oh? An' what's that?"

"The proposition. After much thought and meticulous consideration, I've finally come up with a way to settle this 'crush' issue once and for all..." at that, Ty and Fluttershy exchanged glances of anxious confusion before staring back at me.

"What's your idea, Twilight?" the kindly mare asked, obviously very curious.

"You two will spend one day together." As I could've expected, I got the blank-stared silent treatment from them, signifying their confusion.

"Uh... An' by 'together,' you mean...?" nudged the human.

"You, plus Fluttershy, equals date," I spelled it out as bluntly as possible, my body heat skyrocketing as I did so.

"WHAT???" Both of them shrieked.

"Ugh, don't make me repeat myself..." I admonished in self-inflicted irritation. "It's hard enough that I'm even considering allowing this, all things considered... But... *gulp* I want you two to spend an entire day... together..."

"But... why??" Fluttershy asked in total astonishment.

"Because... I know you care about him almost, if not just as much as I do... and I'd hate to see anyone suffer... especially my best friend..."

"Well hold the phone here!" the human objected. "Don't I get a say in this? I'm not jus' gonna be handed off like a town bicycle. Not every pony's meant t' get a ride."

"That doesn't seem to be the case with all the favors you owe already," I countered.

"Well yea, but this is different! You're literally offerin' me up to one of your best friends as a suitor! How d'you expect me t' be okay with that? I'm even more surprised YOU of all people could come up with that!"

"I know, I know... Truth be told, I didn't want to..."

"Which is good, because it's more confirmation that I can trust you..."

"But of all the ponies who deserve an apology for our misdeeds, Fluttershy deserves the biggest one... from both of us. Between you making her cry and trying to make up for it with that unauthorized massage, to me lashing out at both of you for the aforementioned massage, and so on... All because she likes you..."

"I kinda see your point, but there is a WHOLE lot more we could do t' make it up to her!"

"I don't need a pity present," the mare in question sternly rebuked. "I'm a grown mare. I know I might come off as soft-spoken and timid, but I can handle circumstance the same way as any other self-respecting, full-grown pony can. Besides, I've already forgiven you both for everything."

"She's got a point," the human concurred.

"Indeed, she does... Sorry, both of you..." I apologized for not considering their feelings. "It's... just that this is the best I could come up with as a method of avoiding a situation between us in the future..."

"As unconventional as it sounds..." Ty interjected.

"Understandable. And before you say no, let me explain: I'm allowing you two to spend a day together to sort this out, not to begin some sort of polygamous herd or anything..."

"Besides, that idea is far too old-fashioned... something mainly needed for copulation above all else back in the olden days. No use for it in this scenario; even if it WOULD be the only way to completely avoid somepony getting hurt... There are some things I'm just not too keen on sharing..."

"I figure that if you spend time together to get to know one another a bit better, then maybe... I dunno... you'd... solidify your friendship...?"

"Well how much more can we solidify our friendship if we all already know what we wouldn't do that would hurt you, Twilight?"

"An' what more would there be t' go over? We already talked about everything when we were here earlier AND at least twice before that... She feels the way she does for the reasons she has, but wouldn't do anything sneaky to either of us, I understand her feelin's, but can't do anything about 'em because I like you, an' you're her best friend who's known her for a few years AND you're with me."

"Yes, but that knowledge isn't going to clear up this infatuation of hers. I want us to be as synchronized on this issue as we possibly can in such a way that nopony is injured... at least, not too harshly... consider this a--!"

"Experiment?" Ty dryly finished, deadpanning as he voiced his discontentment.

"I'd go more along the lines of a... a simulation, of sorts. You two spend a day together, learn about each other, do more-or-less the same thing you and I would do on a date, Ty... and at the end, evaluate how you feel toward each other."

"Minus a couple of things, but I'm sure those can go unspoken. I'm not talking to foals here..."

"Hmm..."

"I understand, Twilight," Fluttershy responded. "But if you're seriously going to allow this, then... then I would like to do so on friendly terms, not apologetic ones... If you don't mind, that is..." she added, seeming to still want to take us up on the offer.

"You're absolutely correct..." I agreed.

"Yea, it wouldn't make any sense if we did this out o' pity..." Ty also concurred.

"Right. That said, we do this not as a way to apologize for hardships, but as a... deal between friends. Agreed?"

"Indubitably," "Agreed," both of them agreed.

"So... are you two still up for it?" At that, the two moved to give an answer, but hesitated simultaneously before going into thought. Eventually, Ty shrugged as if to imply he was done contemplating.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Well... If it's okay with both of you, then... I guess my answer is yes," Fluttershy answered after him.

"Okay. But you two better not go too far with this!" I warned.

"What counts as 'too far,' exactly?" Ty questioned with a teasing smirk, to which I shot him a glare that could intimidate a Hydra.

"You should know," I sternly rebutted. "The most I'll let slide is a massage, but ANYWHERE further, and I'll be furious... I'm trusting both of you with every last fiber of my being, so please don't take advantage of me."

"Understood," they each concurred.

"You can both do what you want in the time allotted, but not whatEVER you want. I won't repeat myself when I say this, so listen close: If you know I wouldn't be okay with it, then DO NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, do it!"

"Yes, ma'am," "Yes," both of them understood.

"Good. So... With that out of the way... What times have you not reserved for your other errands, Ty?"

"I made sure nobody could touch next weekend. I was gonna use that t' spend some quality time with you... Next week is A.J., the week after that is Rainbow an' Rarity, and--!"

"Hey, Ty!" Spike called as he came practically flying down the stairs, a scroll in his claw. "Celestia just got back to you!"

"She did?? An' so soon??"

"What could she possibly need with you?" I asked in stark skepticism.

"I asked her for a favor," the human replied as he was given the letter.

"And that favor was...?"

"You'll prolly find out once I read this... Now then..." With that, he opened the scroll and read its contents aloud:

Dearest Ty,

I have received your letter and I must say, I didn't expect you to show so much compassion for one of the ponies responsible for all of your most recent troubles. For that, I commend you. Seeing as you seem to be so concerned about the fate of Ms. Comet Gazer, I'll clue you in on something: Remember when I was handing down my verdict during our little impromptu court hearing? How I said Comet Gazer specifically would be reprimanded to the fullest extent of EQUESTRIAN law? If this rings a bell, then I hope it's relieving to you to know that she is currently undergoing the process of being deported from Saddle Arabia, considering she is an Equestria native. She, much unlike her apparently-former significant other, will be staying in Equestria to serve her time.

However, her punishment for hers and Gillian's actions have not been fully decided as of yet, considering I still need to meet with the officials from the region of Saddle Arabia she and Gillian escaped from to contemplate the consequences they face for their scheme. Ms. Gazer has further explained her case to me and, in conjunction with what I've heard about her recent deeds from you and Gillian, I will take into consideration what she must accomplish in order to fulfill her sentence. Again, I find it quite surprising that you care as much as you do about the welfare of this particular mare.

That brings me to the favor you promised in return. As you said, you would do anything within your ability, so I will hold you to it. It should come as no surprise that I ask for an extensive friendship report explaining to me exactly what you learned about friendship. However, I also must ask you to come to Canterlot as soon as you are able to in order to visit each of our nation's intruders and make amends with them; especially Gillian, considering how hostile the two of you have been toward one another. Afterwards, I request that you spend some time with me so that you may educate me further on the human psyche. As I know, both you AND Gillian are human, but you seem to exhibit wildly dissimilar personality traits. However, your most recent misuse of my magic has led me to be a bit curious about your species as a whole and what they are capable of; not to mention your reasoning for such a volatile action.

Yours Truly,

Princess Celestia

The human rolled the letter back up and sighed in what I could clearly tell was heavy vexation.

"Looks like you'll have your hands even fuller than you thought," Spike commented as he headed back upstairs, seeming drowsy. "*Yawn* I'm gonna go back to napping. I'm exhausted... Wake me if you need me." With that, he walked up the stairs into the bedroom.

"You promised that Comet mare that you would get Princess Celestia to lighten her sentence?" I deduced as I brought my attention to the letter.

"Yea..."

"And for yet ANOTHER favor??"

"Yea... I jus' didn't expect the favor t' include for me t' have t' even come within fifty feet of... of... HIM again...!" he spat, his vitriol toward the stallion he despised showing abundantly.

"Well, there isn't much I can do to help you there... A promise is a promise... But why would you care so much about Comet's sentence that you would want to help her?"

"Long story short, she was in a bad way, jus' gettin' dogged around by Gillian on a false premise of love that obviously fell apart, evidenced by her cryin' in the forest after tellin' Fluttershy an' me that she broke up with him. I saw her an', feelin really bad for her, I told her I'd promise t' get Celestia t' ease up on 'er."

"Oh. Yeah, I watched their relationship unravel in a matter of minutes. It really wasn't pretty... I understand your sympathy for her..." I reasoned. "I'd have probably vied to do the same if you hadn't."

"Yea... Hey, what DID you see, anyway? I don't know much about what happened between 'em, but Fluttershy an' I found her in pretty bad shape..."

"In a nutshell, when he dragged me into the Everfree, the two of them got into a heated argument about where they wanted to go with their scheme. She wanted to end it and have both of them turn themselves in, whereas he wanted to hold me hostage in a deluded attempt at making Princess Celestia bend to his will. Stemming from their conflicting views on their plot, their argument led from one poignant topic to another until eventually, he lost his temper and yelled at her, making her run off in devastated tears."

"Wow... That bad, huh?" he asked in thought.

"Evidently. Anyway, where do you propose we go from here? We don't have much time left before I have to take you back home and, so long as we've managed to wipe out our most daunting tasks and Celestia is busy processing those two, we don't have much to do with our time."

"True... Though, there's still some things I wanna clarify with you in private before I leave... In the meantime, I'd suggest you go get cleaned up. No offense, but uh..."

"I get it... Thanks for the reminder," I nodded, though slightly embarrassed that he would bring it up in front of Fluttershy. "If you'll excuse me... " With that, I marched upstairs for some much-needed tidying up...

"I should probably get going..." Fluttershy informed as soon as Twi went upstairs. "I'm sure my animals are worried sick about me. I haven't seen them in so long..."

"That IS true, ain't it?" I agreed. "You ain't been home all day."

"Yes. Though, there's one thing I should ask before I go..."

"Yea?"

"Um..." the mare hesitated as she turned away, her cheeks turning a rosy pink as she began to fidget with her mane. "When... when should we schedule... um... our..."

"Date?" I finished for her, causing her to cringe in nervousness as she let out a cute little squeak.

"Um... yes... when?"

"Hmm..." I pondered, unsure of what time I'd have free for her. I didn't want to do next week, because Twilight had self-imposed dibs all over it. The week after, however, was possibly up for grabs if Applejack didn't run me into the ground for all three days... Though, only two of my three days would be tied up for sure for the week after...

"How's about three weeks from now?"

"Three weeks? That's... a little far off, don't you think?" Fluttershy protested as she brought her gaze back to me... Though something was... peculiar about the way she was looking at me... I couldn't place my finger on it, but my heartbeat's pace quickened ever so slightly because of it.

"True... But unless Twi wants t' sacrifice a day next week, then tha'ss all I got."

"Then can you maybe... talk to her about it? I... I want to do this as soon as possible..." she admitted to my shock.

"Oh! Well, uh... sure, I gotcha. I'll talk to 'er an' see if she's alright with it."

"Thank you," she said, her eyes never breaking contact with mine. Her cheeks still glowed with that bright shade of pink, making her seem like she was a teenage girl being asked out on her first date... It was pretty cute, to say the least. Though, the way she was looking at me was sending me signals about how she really felt about this as we went silent...

"Her eyes... I see so much apprehension in 'em... but I swear I see somethin' else... Somethin' I normally wouldn't expect from her..."

"Probably a glimmer o' hope, so far as I could tell. In what, I couldn't say, but tha'ss MY guess..."

"Watch that be the right thing, too..."

"*AHEM!* Oh! My, um... I'm sorry," she apologized, breaking the silence. "I... got lost in thought... I-I should leave now..." she added as she prepared to take a hurried leave without even so much as waving at me.

"Well hold on! Ain'tcha gonna say bye?" I quipped with a chortle as I gestured for a hug.

"Oh! Yes, silly me..." she smilingly agreed as she took flight back over to me and welcomed my embrace. She lay her head ever so softly onto my shoulder, seeming to bask in the moment of our physical contact. I took this moment to tell the mare how I felt about her before she departed.

"Y'know... After all that's happened, an' no matter how many times I might've said it before, I really appreciate what you've done for me, Fluttershy," I confessed as I kept her close. Whether or not she knew it, I wanted to tell her how invaluable a friend she'd been to me... especially over this dramatic weekend. "You don't know the half of how grateful I am to know someone like you... You've helped me in so many ways in just these last few days."

"I... I appreciate you, too, Ty..." she replied, her voice soft as a welcoming morning breeze. "You're one of the best friends a mare could ask for."

"You, too... An' though you say you don't need repayment, I only wish I knew what t' do for you t' let you know that I mean it when I say you're a truly amazing mare..." I said back as we continued to hug, though I felt her body get significantly warmer. The embrace lasted a bit longer than usual (which was to be expected), but before I let go of her, she lifted her head off my shoulder to gaze into my eyes yet again with those captivating oceans of vibrant turquoise... I felt nearly hypnotized by the whirlwind of unspoken feelings she communicated to me just through her stare... The rest of her blushing, yet non-smiling face made the message all the clearer.

"Hey... A-are you...?" I tried to ask, but my words got caught in my throat... Her half-lidded gaze had all but paralyzed me. To make matters even more unusual, I began to catch a pungent, but unfamiliar scent coming seemingly from nowhere... Granted my recent experience with spontaneously-occurring aromas, I made only one guess as to what it was... and it frightened me stiff. Just when I didn't think this moment would get any more tense...

"*GASP*" I took in a wide-eyed breath of total astonishment as I, frozen in shock, watched as Fluttershy closed her eyes, puckered her lips, and, with a tilt of her head, leaned forward to kiss me on the cheek...

"OH, Myyy...~"

"Wha...?? No... way...! Is this REALLY happenin'?? What do I do here? What do I do in this scenario!? Son of a...!" My mind went WILD with racing thoughts on what was going on and what I should do about it. Push her away? That'd likely hurt her feelings much worse than the last time... Let her keep doing it? Twilight (and possibly Pinkie) would have my head on a pike. Turn my face away? That might yield the same result as my first solution... The only sensible thing I could think to do was to call her attention and hope to Celestia's mother that she didn't do this on purpose. After about four very, VERY pressured seconds...

"Fluttershy...?" I managed to stammer out, finally managing to snap myself out of my confusion, though only temporarily. The shock from it all felt like an out-of-body experience.

"*GASP* Oh my gosh! I-I'm sorry!" Fluttershy frantically apologized as she seemed to realize what she was doing. She jumped out of my grasp like a cat that got drenched in water. I said nothing, totally flabbergasted by her surprise attack. I stared blankly at her, my mouth ajar in alarm as I brought a hand to the cheek she kissed. "I didn't mean to! I-I don't know what came over me...! Oh my gosh..." Before I could get a word in edgewise, she practically vanished through the front door, presumably in a flustered, mortified tizzy, leaving me to contemplate the scenario that just played out before my eyes.

"How do I explain THIS t' Twilight...?"

"All finished!" I heard a voice call from upstairs. I brought my eyes to focus on form of the newly-refurbished mare that had just moments ago been disheveled beyond comprehension. "Where's Fluttershy?" she asked in wonder.

"Uh... she... she went home..." I babbled, my heart feeling heavier than a 10-ton boulder and pounding like a battering ram in my chest.

"Something wrong, honey? You seem tense..." Twilight observed as she approached me.

"*Gulp* Yea, actually..." I gathered up the courage to say, though only the bare minimum. "One more thing I think we should clarify in our discussion... Why... why don't we go out t' the balcony...?"

"Sure. What's on your mind?" she asked, seeming to be in good spirits.

"I'ss hard for me t' put into words, but I'll letcha know when we get out there..."

"Sure. I hope the gravity of what you have to tell me isn't TOO much..." she replied, taking into account the hesitance in my voice.

"The gravity of it might wind up tearin' your balcony to the ground..." With that ominous thought, we made our way out to the balcony where we'd begin a long, arduous, possibly frightening talk...

Author's Notes:

Almost an ENTIRE year in the making, and it ain't even the longest chapter in this story... Holy shit, I really done goofed... In any case, I hope all who see this enjoyed the latest installment of "Ponyville's Provocative Predicament" and I'll be sure to get the last chapter(s) posted in MUCH more reasonable amounts of time. Between this chapter and all of "Restraint, Scorpion!" I think I shook off the rust that came along with my hiatus... Again, hope you enjoyed!

TAP BaDap Out. [ ^_ ' ]b