"I can't believe that happened," Twilight muttered as she rested her head on the mushroom table. Twelve pairs of eyes stared at the disappointed alicorn in shame.
After Celestia had dismissed them, she brought her friends to the café and ranted about her worries to them. If Celestia wasn't going to listen, at least her friends were around as a backup plan.
"So, you think someone is kidnapping these unicorns?" Fluttershy asked in a terrified manner as she covered her eyes with her wings. Twilight had no idea why she was so deathly scared about it. As far as she knew, she wasn't a planned target due to her kind.
"But why?" Applejack tilted her head. The orange earth pony gave Twilight a concerned look as she ruffled through her hat that lay on her head. "And who would steal 'em?"
"Whoever it is, I would like to come face-to-face with them right now!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she flapped her wings. Twilight flinched at how hard she slammed the table. "I'd like to see them try to take Rarity!"
Rarity's eyes widened when she heard that. She looked around nervously as if expecting these kidnappers to appear at any moment.
"We should add security cameras around Ponyville. Maybe they'll catch the ponynapper!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, despite the fearful mood that hung over the group.
"That could take hours, if not days to do." Spike objected with a sigh. "And it would cost a lot of bits." He said, laying his chin on his hand.
"So, what now? We just can't sit here and do nothing." Rarity asked the group, still looking terrified. "If Celestia can't help us, we might as well do it alone."
"That's the problem, Celestia doesn't want us to help," Twilight told them in an irritated manner. "She believes that we've solved enough of her problems so much that her people are starting to lose their respect."
"Well, yeah. She's supposed to be the protector of Equestria." Applejack responded. "Dealing with criminals is her job."
"So, she wants us to do nothing?" Rainbow Dash slammed the table with her front hooves in outrage once again.
Twilight and Spike shrugged helplessly.
Applejack sighed, taking a sip of her drink. "She'd better stop these thieves before another missing case occurs. Rarity might be next." She noted, eyeing her friend.
"She's not going anywhere as long as I'm around!" Rainbow Dash boasted as she firmly wrapped her hoof around Rarity's neck.
The unicorn now looked very uncomfortable.
"You can't protect her forever," Fluttershy muttered to Rainbow Dash, which took Twilight by surprise.
"Aren't you a ray of sunshine?" Rainbow Dash huffed as she recoiled her hoof and sat back in her seat.
"So, what's the plan?" Rarity asked, seemingly eager to change the subject.
Twilight shrugged again. Normally she would be creating a detailed plan right about now. As much as she wanted to, she knew that this was not the right time.
"I know this may seem bad but... I don't know. Maybe Celestia should handle this on her own." Twilight hesitantly began. When her friends opened their mouths to object, she silenced them by raising her hoof. "I've thought it through, and Celestia is right. We have been taking care of her problems lately, and I think that we should keep out of it."
Her friends were silent this time.
Twilight slammed her face onto the mushroom table again. She was now torn between letting Celestia handle it or doing it herself.
Her friends said nothing throughout the whole dinner, although they were giving each other unconvinced looks.
Twilight and Spike were heading back home. Twilight's head hung low as she walked. Spike took pity on her and began to rub his claw onto her shoulder.
"Cheer up, Twi." Spike tried reassuring her. "I'm sure things will work out in the end. They always do."
"It's not just that, Spike." Twilight stopped walking and looked pitifully at her friend. "I have no idea what to do. If I let Celestia handle it, my friends will object. If I insisted and worked out the problem ourselves, Celestia would object. I'm betraying one of them depending on what I do."
"Twilight, you're not betraying anyone." Spike tried to reassure her, but it didn't seem to work. Twilight continued to walk back to the castle with the same dejected momentum.
Spike shook his head helplessly. He didn't know what to say next that would help, so he followed the alicorn silently into the castle.
However, he saw a dark shape move from the corner of his eye. Spike quickly turned his head to see the shape, but it disappeared as quickly as it reappeared.
That was when he heard low, indistinct voices from the shrubs not too far away.
Without a moment to lose, Spike ran up to catch up to Twilight and gently yanked her tail. "Uh, Twilight?" he said nervously.
Twilight stopped and looked down at the dragon. "What is it?"
"I hear voices," Spike said urgently. "Over there." he pointed at the bushes.
Twilight slowly approached the bush, her ears perked as she listened carefully for these voices. However, she couldn't hear anything but the wind and an owl hooting in the distance.
"I don't hear anything, Spike." Twilight gave him a perplexed look.
"Whoever's making the voices most likely went silent when we were around." Spike marched up to the bushes and dug his claws into the leaves. In a flash, he poked his head into the shrubs.
He found nothing.
Twilight looked a little amused by the scene.
Spike now was very bewildered. "I... I swear I thought I heard something!" he stuttered.
"You most likely imagined it." Twilight came up to him and gently pulled Spike away. "Come on, it's getting late."
At first, Spike didn't want to move away, but he reluctantly followed Twilight back to the castle anyway. He occasionally glanced back suspiciously at the bushes, eager to know what he just heard.
I've sworn I've heard voices. Male, hushed voices. Spike pondered in his mind, still staring at the shrubs, which were now far away.