Chapter 4: Morning Harvest

Evening had fallen not long after the tryst Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash shared. Both of them had been given a taste of Lilith's unholy powers that dusk. Untapped pools of beautifully naughty energy had entered their bodies, driving their minds to indulge in the ecstasy it provided. Twilight had become blessed with her first great boon from Lilith, and the aftermath of her blessing still coursed through her body. If there had been more of it for her to use, she would've eagerly bucked Dashie's brains out.

But, there was no time for that right now. Now, it was time to report her progress to her doting mistress and plan her next big score.

Soon after regaining her senses, Twilight donned her leather robes anew, making sure that they were free of creases and that they could cover Twilight's exertions. She didn't even feel like bothering to wash away the juices that had begun to dry on her coat. To her, the course patches of cum that had begun to dot her coat were a badge of honor. The memory of what she'd done had began to seep back to her. Lilith had taken her body for a joyride, and awakened powers within her she didn't know she had. With this power, she had her first true taste of intercourse.

And it tasted sweet.

As Twilight took a deep sniff of the stank that filled the room, she exhaled a contented sigh still tinted with magenta. “I love the smell of aftersex in the evening,” she hummed as she smiled at her cum-coated self in the mirror. “It smells like...victory.”

Still working on restoring her proper footing, she quickly looked for some way to restrain and conceal her converted companion. With a few bits of lace, a trash bag, and a bit of elbow grease, she fashioned a body bag to hide Rainbow away in. She made sure to cut a few holes so that her dear friend could breathe. After all, no good could come of a new initiate being welcomed with most of her breath already taken away.

She took a look outside, making sure that the night was young and the streets were clear. To both, the answer was “yes”. A dim glow of moonlight and street lamps was all that illuminated the area. Sparse shadows cantered in the cover of darkness. The smell of sweet, lusty exertion hung in the air. This was the signal that the congregation was soon to begin.

Sparing no time to lift Rainbow onto her back, Twilight soon joined her happy herd. The sounds of muted whimpers from her fellow cultists rang like a sweet melody in her ears as she raised her hood. She was so new to this world of sensual delights, yet it all seemed so...familiar to her. The feeling of magic caressing her crotch was one matched by little else. One of her fellows cast a spell upon her loins which began to tickle and diddle them. As Twilight joined the moaning chorus, her eyes drifted down to the source of the stimulation.

A blue shimmer reverberated against her cunt. It shimmered like diamonds and massaged her mound with a tickling sensation that caused it to weep teeny modicums of juice. It seemed as gentle as a mother's touch, yet showed no relent in its intensity. Delicate strokes of such magnitude could only be the work of one mare. As her cock began to emerge where her clitoris would have been, she discovered who that mare was.

“Rarity?” Twilight whispered as she felt a yanking sensation on her penis. “You're the one doing this?”

“But—mmm—of course, darling!” Rarity squealed, her own family jewels blossoming as well. “I thought I'd repay you for the good you did for me not long ago! After all, children of Lilith should look out for each other, shouldn't they?” Her eyes noticed the bag upon Twilight's back, cringing at how base it looked. “What's in that appalling bag, Twilight?”

“Oh, nothing special...” Twilight swooned coyly. “Just our newest member, whom Lilith herself helped me capture.”

“Lilith?” Rarity questioned curiously. “But I thought she wasn't yet complete.”

“She isn't,” Twilight chuckled haltingly. “But recently—oh—I learned that the more I talk about the cult and Lilith to anypony, the more Lilith reaches out to me. I told Rainbow Dash what we were all about, and I started hearing her. She had my lust flow through me, had it change me, had it liberate me. Then, when I followed her orders, I felt her inside me! I felt this...rush. It changed me, Rarity. I'm only starting to remember how, but it changed me. I felt these things come out from between my flanks, and I used them to buck Rainbow so hard, we both ended up passing out!”

A silence soon followed before Rarity chuckled shyly.

“It sounds like what happened to me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, the night after you reintroduced me to Fleur—and to the wonders of carnality, I should add—I had a very interesting dream. I dreamed I was lying in a beach of opalescent sand. It was hot, and I had neither a parasol nor a towel to comfort me. Then, all of a sudden, as the waves began to lap at me, they turned white. White as the semen that I'd washed off when I got home. It began to stick to the shore near me. Then, it started becoming cognizant and lurched its way inside of me. All that heat was dissipating like mad, and I came shortly after.

“But for some reason, when I did, the coming never ended. It just kept going. I was feeling everlasting orgasm, yet at the same time, I could control it all. The length of the orgasm itself, the volume of juices and cum I spurt out, the amount of pleasure that spills across my body. I could even orgasm on my own command, if I wanted. That wasn't the strangest part. I could make every last drop of it into a suit, or even cover my whole body in it. That wasn't the strangest part, either. The strangest part was that I could feel every last sperm in my pool of semen. I could hear their cries to be used and helpful. I could single out even a single solitary one, and even hold some conversation.

“Then, once all my discovery was over, I saw something else lurch from that white, gooey ocean. A slender figure that stood upon two legs, and had slim, split hooves that let her touch every last curve of her beautiful body. She was a definitely feminine figure, yet bore genitalia of both genders. Most of her body was completely white—with a few translucent splotches dotting her fluid skin—bearing a striking pair of bright, glowing, magenta eyes. She complimented how even my body could be generous, and told me that as a gift for my service, I could take control of the forbidden fluids in anypony's body, including my own. She wished me good tidings, and before I could ask her anything, she disappeared back from whence she came.

“Then, I woke in my bed with an absolutely massive stain in my sheets. Perhaps the most awkward morning in my life, to be perfectly honest. If I were to guess rightly—and mind you, this is only a theory—that white figure must have been Lilith.”

Twilight's was dumbstruck by the story Rarity regaled her with. She'd had vivid dreams in the past, but never of that sort of detail and volume, least of all a wet dream.

“That's amazing, Rarity!” She quietly exclaimed. “She's blessed you, too!”

“Which only makes me wonder what will become of our dear Rainbow Dash soon,” Rarity wondered aloud. “After all, whatever her boons must be, Lilith seems to grant them according to some form of context. You got yours through piety, and I got mine through just being an ostensibly generous partner.”

“I'm sure we'll figure out Rainbow's soon enough,” Twilight replied with a curt smile.

Soon enough, they reached their secret sanctuary of sexual delights.

**

Business in the COIL compound was as usual. Ponies of all genders bucking each other with reckless abandon. Some were simply stroking their cocks with magic or hooves. Others were licking and kissing them. and others still were stuffing their plots gleefully with them. A rich haze of sexual exertions hung in the air, and the orchestra of moans vibrated the walls.

Twilight and Rarity arrived just in time to catch the conclusion of another round of orgasm, narrowly evading several spurts of cream that shot from their fellow cultists. A few rogue strands hit the flanks and faces of others, but through some miracle, Rarity, Twilight, and their soon to be newest member were the most immaculate of the congregation. Rarity pouted as she saw how clean she remained, while Twilight simply giggled.

“What a shame,” Rarity sighed wistfully. “It seems we've missed out on the fun!”

No sooner than Rarity's complaint had rung in the ears of so many, their heads turned towards them, with a flourish of a pair of alabaster wings abating their gaze.

“Ah, it's good to see you, my dearest friends,” Princess Celestia hummed, nuzzling them both. She gave a probing sniff to Twilight, inhaling the musk that still steamed from her body. “Oh my... What might this lovely stench you're wearing, Twilight?”

“You wouldn't believe us,” Rarity said as she slipped out from her leather garments, wiggling her rear teasingly to her peers.

“Given what we do here, I'd be inclined to disagree,” Celestia replied. “As High Priestess, I'm inclined to believe in any of the deeds we do for Lilith.”

The two of them blushed as Twilight also undressed. Celestia's eyes glimmered as she saw the loose strands of matted hair on her coat, and her brow quirked at the still magenta-tinted exhaust from Twilight's breaths. The high priestess took one of the few dollops of juice that had not yet dried and licked it curiously.

“That's part of the reason we're here, Princess – I mean – High Priestess Celestia,” Twilight stammered, trying to control her urges as the haze of much humping clouded around her. “Somehow, Lilith was able to reach out to us. As hard as it is to believe, she blessed us both not too long ago.”

The high priestess cocked her head. “Blessed? How so?”

Twilight looked to Rarity with a tentative glance. She was still fresh into her sexual liberation, and the nature of her blessing made the act of its revelation seem that much more embarrassing. And yet, at the same time, it felt all the more titillating. She internally steadied herself before shutting her eyes and nodding to her friend, fanning her legs out to bring her pussy into total view. Rarity, needing no verbal instruction, began to focus her magic and cast a blue light upon her.

With a moan of delighted anguish, Twilight immediately felt her pleasure spark like the kindle of a flame. The magenta aura began to return as she felt those familiar fleshy flogs return anew, lurching from behind her. Her cunt wept like a fountain as the sheathe of her cock almost seemed to spring out from her. The sudden, yanking pain practically made her scream, yet at the same time fanned the fires of her loins even more. She was Rarity's puppet now, with the seed in her cock and the juices seeping from her pussy acting as the strings, the tentacles moving of their own accord towards Celestia.

The royal priestess was equal parts awed, titillated, and shocked by this display. Soon enough, the seamstress's carnal cantrip spread to her own loins as well, causing her to replicate her graduate student's perverse prostration. Then, to her surprise, the once cognizant tentacles were seized in the same blue light, turning the energy into a deep indigo as they surged toward her. Two kept her legs spread as one shot into her royal bum, whilst the other began to engulf her cock.

Twilight was practically mortified by the action she was committing. It was so wrong, and yet it felt so right. Reduced to a puppet, Rarity had complete agency over her body. She was fucking her former proctor, and she could neither change her pace nor disengage. As the two's eyes met, she was at first beyond any words. All that came from her mouth were moans of horrified pleasure as Rarity slowly began to grind herself against her friend's rear.

But to the surprise of everypony, she was not even close to done.

Rarity soon managed to make contact with Twilight's horn with that of her own, and used hers as a catalyst for an ever stronger magic. Virulently, her mystic molestation spread across the entirety of the compound, reducing the whole room to little more than a well of white noise. Mares, stallions, and all those in between quivered, their legs buckling beneath them as precum and other juices began to flow. The magic had complete control of them. They were all at the mercy of a single mare, and that mare couldn't be happier to hold the reins.

In any other circumstance, Rarity would find such unabashed bawdiness to be deplorable. That Rarity was gone now, pushed away to the darkest corners of her mind. This new Rarity wanted to get wet. She wanted to make everypony in the room orgasm with her, and she wasn't going to make it easy for them. She wanted them moan. She wanted them to whine. She wanted them to beg, plead, and fucking cry for release.

And, of course, in her infinite generosity, she would heed their prayers.

As if she'd been doing it her whole life, Rarity spread the final iotas of her spell to her own nether regions, biting her lip as she did so. Fluids bubbled and ebbed from her loins as she pulled along the invisible strings that surrounded her. Carefully, she positioned them all so that they would assuredly paint the room with their juices. Then, with all her subjects collected in a mass like Hydrogen in a burning star, she went supernova. A final outpouring of magic crossed between the two unicorns' horns as both of them neared the edge.

From that point, an epic cacophony sounded. As if their cocks were a series of rifles, cum shot from the endowed mares and stallions, streams of semen crossing and splashing as feminine juices streamed like spring water. Dying moans and whimpers filled the room as Rarity closed her eyes, embracing the chaos she had created with a tongue proudly sticking out. As if a bomb had exploded inside of a paint can, the inside of the compound was coated in a layer of cum, much of it covering the mares and stallions across the room, a few rogue drops caressing the seamstress's tongue.

When the afterglow set in, Rarity opened her eyes. The massive amounts of cum that coated the room seemed to glow with a magenta aura. The violet-maned mare rubbed a hoof by one of the loose strands to collect a dollop for her to taste. As her tongue touched her hoof, she hummed at the wonderfully sweet tastes that fizzed on her tongue. As she eyed Celestia, she gave a curt chuckle. “Was that an adequate demonstration?”

The princess coughed for a moment, making sure the liquid didn't get in her eyes as she brushed her pink mane away from her face. She shared a thousand meter stare with her comrade in carnality. “Yes; I believe that will be all I need to see.”

“But what about her?” Rarity asked, pointing to a gray mare that had been seated in the corner, quiet as a church mouse as her eyes looked in two separate directions.

“You needn't worry about her, Rarity,” Celestia insured, going over to pat the wall-eyed mare on the head. “She's only a kindly stray that we gave the privilege of being our messenger. She's harmless.”

“If you say so,” Rarity sighed, rolling her eyes. “I might as well help with the cleaning.”

“But it's everywhere!”

Rarity gave a cocky grin and lit her horn. “Not a problem.”

A small blue ball appeared above the open cauldron, acting as a sort of magnet to absorb the juices, drawing them all into a central point. Soon, an orb formed above the black iron construct, leaking down into it. It was like watching a ball of white chocolate melt down, trickling more and more. Just watching it dribble down made Rarity want to do it all over again. But for now, she was content with her work.

“Consider it my tribute to Lilith, Princess,” Rarity said with a smile. “Now, then, I believe Twilight had something for you.”

“Oh?” Celestia hummed, staggering onto her hooves. “And what might that be?”

Twilight's eyes shot wide as she recalled why she was there in the first place. She quickly got to her hooves and worked to freeing her forgotten friend from her black plastic prison. She then gripped the bag in her magic like a sheet and cleared her throat.

“Princess, may I present our newest member, Rainbow Dash!” The purple princess proclaimed, flinging the black bag off of her friend with a flick of her horn.

The pegasus shot out from the plastic prison with deep gasps. In spite Twilight cutting holes in the bag, she still seemed out of breath. Furthermore, she appeared to be melting. Sweat was typically not uncommon with Rainbow Dash, but here, she seemed like a wax statue. More and more, her flesh began to slough off into a liquid emulsion, slowly becoming a sentient blob of goo.

“Are you sure that's Rainbow Dash?” Celestia asked. “I don't think she looks well.”

“What are you talking about?” Rainbow asked in reply. “I feel fine!”

“That may be, but you appear to be melting, dear.” Rarity remarked, chuckling a bit.

Curious, Rainbow Dash reached a hoof down to her marehood to attempt to confirm her peers' fears. As she felt that tingle of moist satisfaction, her body seemed to ripple like gelatin. Though many of her colors were still there, her body appeared to be much more featureless. She looked more of a melting statue of herself than the genuine article.

“How did you manage this?” Celestia asked, unsure of what she was seeing.

“That's... kind of why I'm here...” Twilight replied, downcast. “It involves Applejack.”

Celestia quirked an eyebrow.

“See, I knew I couldn't get to Rainbow Dash directly, so I decided to use a proxy. I planted a suggestive trigger inside Applejack's mind, which goes off whenever my name is mentioned. Because of this, I'm not sure if I can go to convert her like I did her, because I'd just have her jumping my bones right out of the gate. So, I was wondering if you could maybe talk to her and clear the air?”

The princess gave her student's words pause for thought. The prospect was risky, but intriguing at the same time. As she gave a passing glance to Rainbow Dash's masturbation, a demure grin came to her face.

“Very well, Twilight,” she said, rubbing a hoof through her mane. “I'll head to Sweet Apple Acres come tomorrow.” As she walked by Twilight, her tail flapped across her face, some of the dried cum sticking to her face. “For now, let's make sure our new friend enjoys safely.”

As if on cue, Rainbow tensed up, a gush of rainbow-colored cum spilled out onto the floor. A puddle of ever changing color pooled beneath her loins, lapping at their hooves. As Twilight gazed into it, she simply looked deadpan to Celestia.

“I think she's going to be just fine.”

**

As morning dawned and Applejack set to work, the farmer mare couldn't help but feel a nagging sensation bug her. She couldn't seem to get the fleeting memories of yesterday out of her head. Images of Rainbow Dash appeared in her head, and a word seemed to tingle on her tongue. She tried to ignore it and go to apple bucking, but for some reason, it just kept appearing. She just couldn't seem to recall what happened at all. Only fading memories appeared in her conscience.

That was, until Celestia appeared before her.

“Princess!” Applejack exclaimed, bowing out of instinct. “What are you doin' here?”

“Oh, nothing serious,” the Princess replied. “I just wanted to talk to you about a certain someone.”

“Ya mean Tw—” Applejack stopped herself for a moment. Something spiked in her, and she didn't want to exacerbate it.

“I think you mean...” Celestia hummed, leaning in to whisper to Applejack ear. “Twilight?”

There was that name again. It rang stagnant in her ear and sent another wave of warm pressure to her loins. She saw those familiar images flood her mind again, and she nearly keeled over to the encroaching pleasure. She couldn't help but stare up to Princess Celestia, whimpering like a dog as her legs buckled.

“Do you...” she panted, visibly sweating. “Know anything about this?”

Celestia gave the most impish giggle she could muster and kept near Applejack's ear.

“Oh, I know exactly what dear Twilight has done,” she said, putting heavy emphasis upon her student's name. She now possessed a particularly potent form of torture, and she was going to use it to the absolute fullest to secure her new bounty. “Twilight told me that she wouldn't be able to get Rainbow Dash on her own, so Twilight decided to put a little something in your head that makes you become very horny whenever you say the name 'Twilight'.”

Applejack was practically writhing in sexual agony. Every mention of that mare's name made her loins tingle and her legs buckle. Her pussy looked as if it was melting, leaking more and more apple-scented cum as the princess prodded her with that word like a cattle brand. She was reduced to nothing but moans and whimpers, struggling to get back to her hooves. Yet it wouldn't stop. The princess all but taunted her with that name, and its hypnotic spell began to block out all but the most primal of messages in her head. Her heart was pounding like a drum, and her whole body burned with searing pleasure.

She began to see ropes all around her, just waiting to restrain that impertinent princess and buck her until her body couldn't hold itself up. She saw Her Royal Majesty's member stretching from her clit, and knew that it had to be hers. The urge was building in her like a kindling flame, and it soon roared across her body. It boiled away her conscience, and before she knew, it, a rope dangled between her hooves, and she stared down Celestia with hungry eyes.

As soon as she couldn't take Celestia's name dropping, Applejack lunged at her with an almost feral ferocity. Like a jaguar, she pounced on the princess, making sure that she could keep her down. She felt some sort of vigor flow through her legs, endowing her with the capacity to keep the large mare pinned down as she tied her legs apart. Years of consistent wrangling had made it incredibly easy for her to restrain just about any creature that tried to wander off or stampede on her land. It was a skill that was practically embedded into her subconscious, and it showed as she spread the white mare's body out before her.

"Ah can't take it anymore," she panted, her eyes drifting down to the black stiffness of her sovereign's erect shaft. "Every time you go sayin' her name, it just makes me wanna buck the nearest thing ah can find!” A wicked, almost livid smile crept along her face as her pupils shrunk “And since you're closest thing around here, ah guess that means you're it.”

And yet, even with such insane words passing her ears, Celestia wasn't shocked. She wasn't even perturbed. Instead, she was marveling at that familiar aura shimmering off her body, and how its color blended so neatly with the golden morning sun. She knew fully well what she was doing, after all. The mare straddling her body was akin to a bottle of sparkling apple cider. Such abuse of the mare's curse had begun to shake her up, and now she was going to give her the chance to burst.

Applejack lifted herself up with one hoof while she used the other to guide the princess' pristine penis near her pussy. As its head mushed against her marehood, she hissed with pleasure. Then, with a deep breath and a steady hoof, she guided it inside, gasping as it penetrated her, the searing heat of the solar mare's shaft filling her pussy. And yet, such heat didn't bother her. She didn't even flinch. Instead, it only served to fan the fires of her lust and pushed her to keep going.

With an uncanny skill, Applejack began to shunt her hips forward and back, humping her with a determined kind of vigor. Her body steamed with sweat, her breaths hot and heavy as she began to grind her body against Her Royal Highness's coat. The two soon made eye contact as the apple farmer pulled the princess in for a kiss. Applejack probed her mouth with gusto, scraping over her teeth and tangoing with her tongue. With her body already full of lust, the Geas slipped into Applejack with little effort as she sucked on her bottom lip. Then, once their kiss was broken, she resumed her cowgirl stance.

Normally, most ponies could only stay upright like this for a few seconds. And yet, Applejack could remain in such a state as if she'd not exerted herself at all. Sure, her body was steaming on the outside and aflame within, but she seemed to be going at it like a locomotive. The inside of her body was like a steam engine, the heat of her body burning the coals of her lust and steaming like exhaust. She seemed to be able to keep going indefinitely, and Celestia was in gleeful bliss as she thrust her hips as well.

She could feel her cock priming itself again, a new load of semen loading itself as the heat began to intensify. She was on cloud nine, moaning audibly as she felt her asshole pucker. Then, with an almost perfect synchronization, Applejack thrust down just as Celestia thrust up, the two of them feeling the power of orgasm rock their body. Applejack's cunt began to squirt as Celestia's seed shot into her. The two let out a deep, passionate moan , Applejack holding her up for a kiss.

“Ah can't believe it...” Applejack panted, looking at her hooves. “All this strength...all this power... And I ain't even winded!”

“That, my dear, is the power of Lilith at work,” Celestia giggled. “She bestows all of her followers with her power, and frees them of inhibitions and taboos. All through the power of her Erotomancy. Like Lilith herself, it is a magic that doesn't restrain itself to gender, age, or species. All are able to cast it, so long as they open their minds and hearts to its power.”

Applejack wasn't listening to Celestia's lecture as she eased herself off of her royal erection. She was too entranced by both the film of fluid around the dick, and by the dick she herself was growing. Fluid seeped between her thighs, and she looked half-lidded beneath her, seeing a pristine pearly pussy just ripe for the rutting. It was barely even wet, yet it lured her. Her first order of business, however, was to enjoy the concoction she'd made Celestia's cock. She dipped down to lick the slimy skin, sucking it into her mouth as she began to lube up one of her hooves with her own wet pussy. Celestia simply leaned back, trying the ropes with a smile. She had a few tricks of her own left to implement, and she was merely biding her time for now.

With a slurp, the monochrome hunk of meat was sucked into Applejack's mouth, her tongue circling around its circumference. As she wormed it around, savoring the musk the two had made together, she began to nudge the royal labia with her wet hoof, much to Celestia's continued delight. “That's it, Applejack... Feel her power course through you and guide your body. Let your lust see you to bliss,” she sighed, her head leaning further back as her horn began to touch the dirt.

Applejack didn't heed her as she pressed on, lifting her lips up to lick the tip clean of the last bits of cum before retracting her neck with a sigh. She gulped as she steadied Celestia's amazonian thighs, preparing to stick her dick between those massive, pouting lips. With a deep breath, she thrust her hips forward, feeling the warm embrace of princess pussy. Again, Celestia remained eerily calm as she moaned out, her tongue rolling out. She reciprocated her rutting with a thrusting from her thighs, her ass mashing into the dirt as her wings fanned out, locking in place. Applejack bucked into her with the fury of a lion, and as she undid her ponytail, her mane even looked like one. She rode roughshod into that royal plot, and judging by the way Celestia's face was curling up, she was enjoying it. The folds of her pussy gripped onto the ribs of her erection and made her squirm with delight.

Then the feeling of orgasm sneaked up on her like a hunter in the night. A whole new feeling of warmth spread out from her loins as she felt it tense up, spilling out into a liquid warmth across her lap as Celestia squealed like a pig. A hush fell over them both as they simply panted out, their sweat further muddying the ground. There were two more things on Celestia's body that enticed her even further. One was that gorgeously slender throat that emitted a warm haze. The other was that long, slim horn that sat atop the crown of her forehead, jutting out like an erect cock before her. She began to crawl forward, sliding filth onto her belly as she neared the stiff white mast.

Then, as Applejack presented her pulsing pussy, Celestia's eyes snapped open. As if the ropes were paper, they snapped apart as the Princess's legs wrapped around her prey, rolling through the the dirt. Soon enough, the high priestess had her plump posterior positioned squarely on the apple farmer's face, smiling wickedly. Applejack tried to make an exclamation, but all it did was vibrate her already soaking inner thighs further. The princess giggled like a schoolgirl, closing her thighs around her as she craned down to Applejack's own. She was beholden to finishing her one way or another, and when she started to tease Applejack's twat, a single word uttered from her:

“Gotcha.”

With that, Celestia plunged her muzzle into the moist folds of some apple-scented pussy, the morning sun giving her vigor.

**

Sometime later that night, a gray mare with a mane of jet black was propped on her hind legs. In her left hoof was large cello, and in the right was a rosined bow. She was Octavia Melody, and she was playing the final bars of a concerto of her own composition. Her ensemble flanked her as the bow's slick string dragged across the bass, sending out a deep hum that reverberated through the concert hall. She bore that same blank mask of a face she always seemed to wear. But rather than a face of boredom or disillusionment, it was one of supreme focus. She was so resolute in her song that all else was rendered moot and silent, allowing her to keep herself to her work indefinitely.

With one final stroke, the bow pulled across the string, sending a final droning buzz through the amphitheater, bringing the crowd into an almost deathly silence. The crowd seemed to hang on every last second of vibrato the bass provided, and at its conclusion, there was deafening quiet. The cold air of the ventilation provided a soothing reprieve for the consummate composer. She relaxed her right hoof, letting it sway to the floor as she kept that same face.

The crowd then exploded into a roar of hooves stamping and clopping. Applause drowned the venue as she and her ensemble relaxed into a bow. This was always Octavia's favorite moment in her line of work; The internal bliss that came from appeasing the crowd and washing herself with the praise she received in return. As much as she would have loved to play an encore, she neither prepared a second song nor expected to crowd to beg for more. Were this Manehattan, she may have, but this was Canterlot. There was a certain standard here.

Soon enough, the audience filed away, and she and her ensemble made their way to the Green Room. While she would typically be predisposed to small talk, her bladder had other ideas. She quickly made sure to pack away her instrument and cleared her throat. “If you would excuse me for a moment,” she said, stretching out her back. “I have a few private matters to attend to.”

The resident harpist, simply called Harpo by their peers, simply nodded, as did the rest. Octavia gave a small smirk and made her way to the bathroom. Quickly, she set off for the stall, loosening her choker and letting out a sigh of relief. That done, she made her way to the sink, washing her hooves as she checked herself in the mirror.

“Octavia?” asked a familiar voice. “What are the odds that we'd meet in a place like this?”

The typically stoic mare jumped as she saw that familiar figure of Fleur de Lis.

“What are you doing here?!” she shrieked, caught off guard.

“Oh, nothing special,” Fleur chuckled, fluttering her eyes. “I was just gilding the lily, as it were.” She offered a hoof to the gray mare as she attempted to channel a familiar spell through her vision. “I take it you've just completed your set?”

Octavia reciprocated the hoofshake and smiled lightly. “Um, yes... that's correct,” she nervously chuckled back. “Is there any particular reason you've decided to make an altercation with me in a lavatory?”

“I thought that you might be willing to come with me for a drink sometime,” Fleur offered, still trying to fill Octavia with a sensation of bawdiness.

Octavia shook her head. “While it is good to meet you, Fleur, I'm afraid I must respectfully decline. I have to get to my train soon.”

Fleur frowned, but nodded her head. “Far be it for me to stop you, then.”

Octavia gave her farewell and went to join her ensemble. Fleur looked into the mirror with disdain and grimaced.

“How very odd...” she thought aloud. “She almost seemed...immune to my efforts. I'll have to report this to the High Priestess.”

**

The ensemble quickly filed out from the Canterlot Concert Hall and made their way to the Canterlot Transit Station. As they arrived and felt the steam of the stopping train, they sighed in relief.

That was, until a certain mare started shouting.

“Hey, Octy!” shouted a white mare with a rather glaring pair of purple sunglasses. “How'd the show go?!”

Octavia rolled her eyes and dug her hoof firmly into her face.

“I honestly wish that you'd ask me that in a more dignified way, Vinyl,” the cellist groaned. “We are in Canterlot, after all.”

Vinyl Scratch cocked her head. “Yeah, and?”

The hoof in Octavia's face carved an even deeper rut into her hide. “And some ponies in this town have standards?”

A hush fell over them for about ten seconds.

“You're not even listening to me anymore, are you?”

“Nope.”

Octavia groaned a second time and boarded the train with Vinyl, taking her to one of the more empty cars upon the train.

“So how did the show go?” Vinyl repeated as the two of them were seated together.

“Quite wonderfully, actually,” Octavia replied with a smile. “There's just one thing.”

Vinyl cocked an eyebrow.

“After the show, I had to powder my nose, and I happened upon Fleur De Lis. She was friendly enough, and offered to share some drinks with me. Though I declined, something about the way she looked at me seemed...off. I felt a mite strange, and I couldn't piece together why. It was like she was trying to invite me someplace, but I couldn't understand it well.”

Vinyl looked curious. She was pressing her hooves together and looking tentatively ahead of her shades.

“I take it you had a similar encounter?” Octavia queried, crossing her hind legs.

“Kind of, yeah,” Vinyl replied. “I was just finishing up a set and heading home, and I saw these ponies dressed up like they were going to some heavy metal concert. When I went and asked one of them what's up, they gave me a stare down, too. I felt kinda weird, but after a few moments, they turned tail and fled off in the direction I was headed.”

Octavia cocked her head now, a bit curious.

“So we both encountered ponies who've tried to, in some way, seduce us into doing something?” She asked, putting a hoof to her chin. “Quite peculiar behavior. Particularly in that while Fleur may be a trophy wife, I'd hardly think of her as a mare of the night.” She thought for a moment and took a more straight face. “I would think this warrants a bit of investigation.”

“You wouldn't be wrong,” Vinyl said, pushing up her glasses. “Something's rotten in Ponyville, and for once, it's not the baked bads.”

As the train led them back home, they still kept their stories close to mind. While they were certainly on a hunch, they could not anticipate that the answer to their thoughts was a lot closer than they could imagine.

Author's Note

Sorry that this particular chapter took so long to come out. Writer's Block and procrastination both had their vicegrip on me. Enjoy it dearly, my lovelies. This makes four down and two more to go before shit gets real.