It would take them hours to reach Sweet Apple Acres. Dash can only walk annoyingly slowly. She can’t see anything, and it’s very hard for Twilight to tell her where to go next. They both are afraid that somepony would see them. If someone saw them now, it would be immensely embarrassing for both of them, but Twilight would suffer more: as a princess, she has an image to maintain. Twilight has to constantly look around, doing her best to spot any trouble. She keeps nudging Dash towards the edge of the road, to keep them close to the bushes in case they would have to hide.
Who could have done this to them? Twilight kept thinking. Was it Discord? Something like this isn’t really his style, and there’s no motive. Why would he do this? What about Trixie? Humiliation definitely is her style, but again there’s no motive. It had to be somepony else. Somepony who wants to publicly shame Twilight.
And on top of everything, Twilight really has to pee. But she can’t bring herself to pee on her best friend…
The sudden sleep spell had hit Dash much harder than Twilight, most likely having something to do with how easily Dash could fall asleep. Even in her drowsy state, Twilight tried to fight against their attacker, but the horn suppressors, ropes and the gag ended all resistance. She was then tied to the saddle and a replica of her coronation crown was tied to her head. Then she could only wiggle a little, and wait for Dash to fully wake up, while her drool soaked up Dash’s back. The horn suppressor was brutally effective, no magic came out of her horn no matter how hard she focused. Whoever captured them had dragged them to the outskirts of Ponyville and left them in the middle of the road to be found. But fortunately no one came.
When Dash finally woke up, maybe an hour later, she panicked and they almost fell over. Only Dash’s superior pegasus reflexes and agility saved them. After figuring out that it was Twilight who was saddled up on her back, and only getting illegible muffled answers to her questions, Dash realized what the situation was. Something similar had happened in one of the Daring Do books.
Twilight could slightly tug her hind legs, allowing simple yes/no answers to questions. Pretty soon they realized they were sharing the same thoughts: going to Ponyville would grant them freedom faster, but it also would be too embarrassing. They wouldn’t do that. Instead they chose to circle around Ponyville, as hard as that would be, and go to Sweet Apple Acres in hopes of finding Applejack. She was the only one who could help them now and keep it hush-hush. So they embarked on their weird journey.
A funny (it felt funnier back then) idea that came to me moons ago. This was made in just a few days and probably has lots of tiny mistakes and oddities here and there, but there shouldn’t be anything big. It’s the first time I’ve drawn a background. Hope you enjoy it!
In case anyone is wondering, TV Tropes calls this situation “Handy Helper”.
Some rejected ideas:
full head harness holding the gag in place
have Twilight in a straitjacket instead of ropes
bridled Dash
more regalia and princess-y dresses
almost drew AJ instead of Dash, but I’m a TwiDasher, so…
Ending: They make it to Sweet Apple Acres and AJ frees them. It takes them over three hours to get there. No one sees them, despite of several unnervingly close calls. Twilight manages to hold it until she can relieve herself behind a tree.