What started out as just another ordinary, awesome day in Maretime Bay quickly became anything but for a group of seven ponies all living together (more or less). And it all began with an audible gasp from none other than Pipp Petals of all ponies. Even knowing that the popstar princess was prone to persistent plights of problems that proved to be mostly personal, her friends nevertheless wanted to make sure she was okay. So they all ran to where they'd heard her sudden gasping and exclaming of shock, and found that she seemed to be shaken up but otherwise unharmed.

"What is this time, Pipp?" Zipp asked in a tone of voice sounding equally concerned and just the slightest bit frustrated. Much as she was used to her sister's sudden outbursts and dramatic exclamations, the tomboyish pegasus still tended to be easily annoyed whenever her fellow pegasus had a meltdown over something on social media.

Pipp had to take a moment to compose herself, taking several deep breaths and putting her hooves to her face to style her frazzled mane back to its normal state of appearance. Then she explained as she held aloft her phone. "I was just looking over some old videos I took and uploaded to all the social media websites. And that's when I saw it."

"Saw what, Pipp?" Misty questioned with concern whilst eyeing the phone's screen. "I'm not seeing anything."

The pudgy pink pegasus groaned, she seemed to be in no mood for patience. "Look closely, very closely! You can't miss it, it's hidden in plain sight! It's so obvious, I don't know how I didn't see it there before!" Then she practically shoved her phone into her friends' faces.

That's when they all saw it. If they squinted, they could just make out the image of a dark blue furred rabbit with long, floppy ears. Said rabbit was standing on two legs, apparently watching the ponies in the videos shown with what was clearly a sinister smile on its face. All knew at once that it was no ordinary rabbit, it was one that they had encountered before and did not have pleasant memories of: It was Twitch, the evil rabbit who was so often seen alongside the magical snow leopard Allura.

"Whoa! Good catch, Pipp!" Zipp remarked with sincere praise for her little sister. "I guess recording all those occasions on your phone wasn't a waste of time after all."

Pipp smiled, but resisted the urge to bask in her older sister's praise. "Well, I only just discovered it myself. Twitch wasn't trying to stay hidden, but somehow even I never noticed he was there," She then dramatically declared. "And there's only one reason why he'd been at all those occasions we had together since we met Comet. Allura must've sent him."

Comet blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Seriously? I thought we'd seen the last of her after she finally came out of that cave she was hiding in. I don't know why she still has it out for us. From what little she told us, it doesn't sound like it was our fault she got separated from her brother."

Misty could only shrug her hooves. "Maybe we don't have the full story. Opaline only told me a little bit about herself when I was with her, and she never mentioned that she was actually banished from Skyros. Maybe we did somehow cause Allura's problem, even if we never meant to."

"Never mind that," Hitch protested with narrowed eyes. "If Twitch has been watching us, then that means he's been breaking the law. Spying on other ponies is a crime. Even if he's a rabbit, he should know better," He sternly declared. "We've got to catch him somehow, no telling what he might have been able to find out!"

Sunny seemed a bit hesitant. "How are we supposed to do that, though? We didn't know he was spying on us until just now. And it's not like he'll just give himself up. He's got to be hiding somewhere, and Maretime Bay's a big place."

Izzy just giggled and grinned. "Duh, we'll set a trap for him. Then we can get some answers out of him. I've been working on my interrogations," She proceeded to stomp a hoof down and adopted the best authoritative voice she could muster up! "Where were you on the night of two nights ago at ten o'clock, mister?! We've got questions and you've got answers, so spill it! We have ways of making you talk!"

Zipp cautiously threw up a hoof. "I think you'd better leave the interrogating to the professionals, Izzy. And that'll have to wait until after we catch Twitch."

At that, Hitch grinned. "Well, it's a good thing I'm such a critter magnet. I know everything there is to know about critters, and Twitch is no exception. No rabbit in their right mind would be able to resist a nice, juicy carrot."

"I see," Sunny realized. "We use it as bait to lure Twitch out into the open, then we nab him and get our answers," However, she was quick to question with concern. "But will it work? Twitch is sure to make it difficult for us, especially if he's not supposed to get caught."

Hitch just replied. "Relax, Sunny. I've dealt with tricker situations than this. It'll be just like the first time I had to give Sparky a bath."

Sparky, for his part, just giggled and blew a bit of smoke out of his mouth. He apparently was quite amused by what was going on.

Then Izzy seemed to get an idea. "You know, it sounds like Sparky wants to help out too. Maybe we could use him as bait. He kept finding ways to elude Misty when she wanted to capture him."

"I don't think that's a good idea. Let's stick to something safer." Misty insisted.

The earth pony stallion nodded ever so firmly. "Exactly. You all leave the baiting to me. The rest of you just be ready to spring in when I tell you to."

So it was that the seven friends not so secretly made their way from the Crystal Brighthouse to Hitch's office, and not far from it they set up the biggest, juiciest carrot they could find. Tying one end to a faintly visible string, they made an incision into it and then left it lying on the ground.

Then the ponies waited, and waited, and waited some more. Minutes seemed to tick by in agonizing slowness with nothing happening. All the while the carrot just lay there, right where anypony could see it. Yet there was no sign of Twitch or any other rabbit anywhere.

"See? I told you we should've sent Sparky instead!" Izzy impatiently complained. "Heck, maybe I should've gone. It always seems like I find things and find other ponies whenever I'm not planning to find them."

Hitch made a shushing motion with his hooves. "Be quiet, Izzy, or you'll give us away! Twitch will pick up even the faintest of sounds!"

Yet several more minutes passed by after the stallion who served as Maretime Bay's sheriff had said this. And still, Twitch didn't come, and neither did anything else happen.

Comet began to fidget with his hooves, trying to keep from showing outwardly how nervous he was. "M-maybe this isn't such a good idea after all. I mean, if we do capture Twitch, what will we do when Allura finds out and tries to rescue him? We all know what she's capable of."

"We'll worry about Allura once we deal with Hitch!" Zipp replied.

Then, suddenly, Sparky let out an audible sneeze that shot a burst of magical fire into the air!

That got a reaction! Within seconds, an unsuspecting Twitch was hopping towards the scene, clearly intent on pinpointing the source of the sneeze he'd just heard. And that's when the evil rabbit's nose got a whiff of the carrot on the string. Either not noticing or not caring about said string, Twitch hopped over to it and began chomping down on it with his teeth.

"Oh no you don't!" Hitch shouted and yanked on the string as hard as he could! Then he quickly gave a whistle as he motioned to his friends!

Almost before Twitch realized it or had a chance to react, an oversized net was brought down right on top of him!

"Gotcha!" Izzy shouted as she held the net tightly within the glow of her horn, refusing to let it go even as Twitch thumped and thrashed about in it in a vain attempt to break free! "You're not going anywhere, mister! Someone's been a very naughty little bunny, and it ain't me."

Twitch was only freed from the net when he was brought into the sheriff's office and thrown immediately into the jail cell in the back. He immediately rushed to the bars to try to slip through them, but one look into the eyes of none other than Sparky deterred him. Something about the way the baby dragon was looking at the new captive made Twitch feel uneasy, almost as if Sparky wanted him to try to run away.

Pipp then took the lead in switching off all the lights in the office, proceeding to use the flashlight from her phone to bathe Twitch in a harsh, interrogating glare. "Well, well, well," She spoke up in the most dramatic, over the top voice imaginable. "Looks like somebunny just hippity hopped his way right into trouble."

The evil rabbit just growled and chattered grumpily, thumping his feet in protest.

"Can you understand what he's saying, Hitch?" Sunny questioned as she looked to her fellow earth pony. "He sounds upset."

"Hold on, I'm trying to listen," Hitch replied as he put a hoof to his ear. If he listened very closely, he swore he could just make out a few words coming out of Twitch's mouth. "I... I think he's trying to insist he's innocent, that we can't prove he's done anything."

Zipp frowned upon hearing those words. "Really? That's the way you wanna play it, mister? We know you've been watching us, and we know Allura sent you to do it. So you might as well talk! Tell us everything, and then we'll think about letting you go!"

Twitch only stuck out his tongue, growling more and turning his back to the ponies.

Pipp replied by holding up her phone, showing off the zoomed in images she'd pulled up and pointing to where she had spotted Twitch in every one of them. "Come on, that's you in these pictures. The silent treatment won't save you here. Just confess!"

Still, the evil rabbit refused to obey.

Sunny opted to step in. "Maybe we're going about this all wrong. We need to appeal to Twitch in a way that he'll understand," She trotted up towards the bars of the cell and locked eyes with the captive rabbit. "Look, Twitch, Allura obviously cares about you if she asked you to do something this dangerous and illegal. She obviously means a lot to you if you'd risk your neck for her."

Twitch turned around and nodded ever so slowly.

Sunny continued in that neutral tone of hers. "Well, we want to know why. It seems she's only ever not mean and nasty towards you. So why is that? Why would Allura want you to spy on us? Did she promise you something if you helped her out?"

At that, as if a switch had been flipped, Twitch started chittering.

Hitch, standing close by, managed to decipher everything the evil rabbit said. "So, you and Allura are friends, good friends?" He received a confirming nod and continued. "You've been together for almost as long as you can remember. You'd do anything for her because she'd do anything for you. And even if you ultimately can't go with her if she ever manages to get back to where she came from, you don't care as long as she never forgets you, because she makes you feel special and appreciated?"

Twitch nodded once more as the evil bunny kept prattling on at length.

The sheriff then sighed as he turned to the others. "He doesn't seem to know exactly why Allura wanted him to spy on us. He says he did it and didn't ask questions because it's what Allura wanted."

"Then, does that mean we're gonna have to ask Allura herself?" Comet nervously asked as a cold sweat worked its way down her face. "I really don't wanna deal with her again. It doesn't seem like she's really a threat to us anymore. Let's just let Twitch go and make him promise not to spy on us again. I'm sure he could get Allura to agree."

Misty nodded ever so slowly. "Yeah, I think I'm with you on this one, Comet. Besides, it's not like Twitch would've picked up anything useful. He never found out about the Brighthouse."

Izzy protested with a shake of her head. "Nah, Allura's just gonna keep sending Twitch to spy on us unless we make her stop doing it. And the only way to do it is to confront her directly, she's not gonna stop just because somepony asks her to. Or somebunny in Twitch's case."

Zipp added her own sentiments. "I actually agree with you on this, Izzy. And it's weird, talking about Allura makes me feel like I've met her face to face somehow, even though it's been a long time since she even did anything."

Pipp squeaked and nervously blushed. "Do we have to deal with Allura? Let's just let her know we know about Twitch's spying, then she'll have to take him back since a spy's not helpful if somepony knows they exist."

Hitch could only stomp his hoof down and say sternly. "Twitch broke the law, and Allura did the same asking him to spy on us. She has to know that doing that isn't going to help her case, assuming she was telling the truth the last time we met."

All eyes then fell upon Sunny, who seemed conflicted and unsure. She could understand where all her friends were coming from: On the one hoof, Allura hadn't been much of a problem since she'd somehow managed to come to Maretime Bay from Starlight Ridge. On the other hoof, the fact that she'd been sending Twitch to spy on the ponies meant that even if she didn't think so, Allura was indeed up to no good. What was the best way to address the problem? What was the best way to try to get some answers out of the magical snow leopard?

After thinking it over in her mind for several minutes, Sunny Starscout came to a decision. "One way or another, Allura's got to come looking for Twitch when he doesn't return to her. If we force her to come to us rather than wait for us to find her, I think we'll have a better chance of getting the answers we want."

"So we're just gonna lure her to Maretime Bay?!" Zipp exclaimed in disbelief! "That doesn't seem very smart. Remember how much trouble Opaline caused when she came to Maretime Bay to steal cutie marks? I don't think we need ponies to be whipped into a panic yet again."

Izzy then spoke up, eagerly exclaiming! "Ooh, I know, we can take Twitch somewhere where nopony else will get in the way! If we go to the outskirts of Bridlewood, Allura won't have anypony else to brainwash."

Pipp smiled ever so hesitantly. "That... sounds like a good idea, Izzy," She then looked at her phone. "And... I think I know how we can lure Allura out into the open."

Sometime later, everything was set into motion. The seven ponies carefully tied Twitch up with a rope, and brought him onboard the Marestream that Zipp brought right over to the sheriff's office. It was only a short flight to reach the outskirts of Bridlewood, and indeed the entrance to that enchanted forest was void of other ponies. It was an empty grassland where only the faint sound of the wind could be heard.

The ponies disembarked from the Marestream one by one, and they all stood around their captive as Pipp carefully held her phone out to make sure its camera was facing the right way. A quick scroll with her hoof was enough to start it recording.

Sunny took the lead in speaking. "Attention, Allura. You know who I am, and you know about my friends. But now, we know something you didn't want us to find out," She stepped back, allowing the captive Twitch to be presented in full frame. "We have Twitch. He's not harmed, we haven't done anything to him. But we know you've been using him to spy on us. So if you want him back, come to the edge of Bridlewood. And come alone, or else Twitch won't be going anywhere."

"Hope you know what you're doing, Sunny." Comet commented once the video was finished and the message delivered.

Sure enough, mere seconds later, there came a familiar and ferocious roar! And then, swooping down from above was the familiar face of Allura, the magical snow leopard looking rightfully enraged!

Twitch looked up and smiled. Never in all his life was he so happy to see the one creature he'd ever managed to befriend.

"Hold on, Twitch! I'll get you out of this mess!" Allura vowed as she landed on the ground and strolled towards him with narrowed eyes.

Sunny immediately jumped out to block Allura's path, her translucent golden horn and wings shining brightly. "Not so fast, Allura! We need to talk."

The snow leopard growled and tried to swipe at Sunny, only to find herself pushed back by a barrier conjured up by the earth pony turned alicorn's horn. "There's nothing to talk about! I told you everything the last time we met! I said I always get what I want, and I meant it! And what I want right now is Twitch! So hoof him over to me! I'm not scared of one little pony like you."

Yet within seconds, Allura felt a large vine grab hold of one of her paws from behind and pull her down to the ground. And then she felt the faintest tingle of magical energy make contact with her cheeks, to say nothing of the gust of wind bombarding her from above. Much to her displeasure, she saw all of Sunny's friends come trotting out from the trees and stand by her (except for Zipp and Pipp who continued to hover above).

Even Comet looked unusually determined as he tried to maintain his narrow eyed expression. "This has to stop, Allura! You can't keep doing this!"

"Silence!" Allura roared in defiance! "All your silly little tricks just make me mad. And you won't like me when I'm mad!"

"We don't much like you now, Allura," Zipp protested. "You're not like Opaline. You don't seem to want power and control. So why are you always treating us like we're your enemies?"

Misty tried to keep from whimpering. "They're right. The only reason we ever fought you was because you were trying to control other ponies by force. And we know now from Twitch that you don't do that to him. You clearly care about him and want him to be around you."

The snow leopard just hissed, flying up into the sky. "You ponies just can't leave well enough alone, can you?! It's bad enough you broke my spell on that little village back in Starlight Ridge, but now you have to ruin my day here as well."

"We're sorry about you being separated from your brother," Sunny insisted as she flew up to lock eyes with Allura. "Really, we are. But we didn't have anything to do with it, we didn't open up the portal that got you stuck here in Equestria. We found the portal to Starlight Ridge by complete accident."

Allura rolled her eyes in disapproval, flapping her wings furiously as she tried to make icicles form. "You honestly expect me to believe that? You ponies took away the crystal I wanted so badly, then you left the portal from it open knowing that I'd chase after you to get even. And then once you'd lured me to Maretime Bay, that scatterbrained unicorn of yours destroyed the Nova Charm, the only thing that could let me go home."

At that Izzy seemed to gasp and blush. "Wait, is that what you needed it for? I just thought when you were trying to trick me into using it, you were doing so because you wanted its power for yourself. I didn't mean to destroy it, I just didn't want it to be used for evil."

Sunny then pleaded. "If you'd just told Izzy why you wanted that charm, she would've let you have it no trouble, Allura. This is all because you can't stop being secretive and distrustful towards us."

Allura roared again and tried to swipe at Sunny, but could only watch as her efforts were effortlessly thwarted and she was once more pushed back. "Why should I trust you ponies? Not trusting you is how I survive."

Comet complained. "No, it just means you're always alone. You took over my village without even asking us for help! And when Sunny and her friends showed up, you tried to brainwash them too! If they hadn't found out about our snow's magical properties, they would've been your mindless servants for forever. But all Violet and I wanted was to have fun and live our lives in peace. That's what Sunny and her friends want too."

The magical snow leopard just coldly hissed. "Why do you care what I do or what I'm like? You only ever found me by accident. And now, whether you meant to or not, you left me trapped here in your realm. I'll never be able to see my brother again! And it's all your fault!"

Sunny continued to insist in a sincere tone of voice. "We're sorry about what happened, Allura. We really are. We never meant for all of this to come between us. And I'm sorry we don't know how to get you home to your realm. But we know from Twitch that you can be nice to other creatures, that you don't always have to push others away and act so cold towards them."

Allura snorted and turned around to avoid looking at the ponies. "And your point is?"

The earth pony turned alicorn tried hard not to sigh. It was getting really difficult to think of what else to say and what else to argue with this hostile snow leopard. "Look, if you just agree to take Twitch back and not send him to spy on us, we promise we won't try to bother you again. We'll pass word along to other ponies not to look for you and to leave you alone if they do find you. That's what you want, right? To be left alone?"

After Sunny finished speaking her mind, an uncomfortable silence filled the air. It was hard to tell what exactly Allura might be thinking or what she might do.

At last, Allura turned around slowly, looked at Twitch, and seemed to relent. But only after she let out a groan and kicked at the dirt. "Alright, fine! If that's what it'll take to get you ponies off my back, I promise I won't send Twitch to spy on you, and I promise I won't cause trouble for you unless you cause it for me first. Now will you please let Twitch go? If you hurt him in any way, shape, or form I'll never forgive you! I mean it!"

"Relax, we haven't hurt him," Hitch replied as he approached the captive rabbit and undid the ropes binding him. To Twitch he then said. "You're free to go. Just remember, you and Allura promised to leave us alone."

Twitch just happily bounced over to Allura and leapt into her open paws, nuzzling into her fur and chittering happily. He seemed greatly relieved, overjoyed in fact to be reunited with her!

The magical snow leopard let Twitch show his affection towards her, gently patting him on the forehead. Then she held him close and said to him. "Alright, Twitch, let's go. We've wasted enough time with these silly little ponies and their silly little games," She humphed. "I never want to see them or even think about them again for the rest of my life. I don't even care anymore if I ever make it back to my realm. As long as I can be left in peace, I'll be happy." Then she unfolded her wings and flew away, soon disappearing over the horizon.

Afterwards, Comet was the first to breath a deep sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's over with. That Allura sure is scary, and complicated."

Sunny just looked down at the ground as she landed, reverting back to her natural earth pony state as her earlier rush of emotions left her. Now they were replaced by one feeling: A deep sense of regret. "I feel like we were on the verge of a breakthrough there for a moment, and then she just walked away from it. She doesn't have to be mean and nasty all the time. I just wish there was a way to get her to understand that trusting others isn't always a bad thing."

"Well, maybe there's nothing we can do about that. If Allura doesn't want to trust us, then that's on her," Zipp replied. "And it doesn't justify all the mean and nasty things she did since before we met her. At least now, hopefully, she won't ever cause trouble for us or anypony else ever again."

The earth pony mare nodded very slowly and reluctantly. "I hope you're right, Zipp. But I also hope that someday, somehow, we can find a way to help her get back to her own realm. It must be very lonely only having Twitch for company, not knowing if you'll ever see the ones you care about again," A tear came into her eyes. "It's a lot like when my mom disappeared. Even though I still had my dad when it happened, Mom just not being around anymore and not knowing what happened to her really hurt. And I feel like... maybe that's what Allura is going through, even if she can't bring herself to admit it."