Chapter Six:
Losing Control

Tears dripped from the blindfold Twilight Sparkle wore. Luna's whipping wasn't any more or less harsh than the last one, but the pain had crossed some threshold with her, melding all twelve lashings into one ball of pain. Her backside pulsed but she didn't dare move for fear of making it worse.

The questioning continued. Twilight didn't know how long for. Through the next set of whippings, Twilight struggled through the haze of pain. Her answers should be getting better, not worse. It was so hard to focus on the questions, rather than the pain.

After a while, she noticed the small pattern in Luna's questions, how she would only change the wording around a few times. Once she noticed the pattern, the focus she needed to reach seemed more visible. Her answers came more confidently and the whippings lessened.

It was only until Luna was able to question her forwards and backwards with no wrong answers did she say, “Enough, Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight sagged onto the table that was barely able to hold her. She had no sense of time in this chamber. She could have been questioned and whipped for hours. For minutes. She didn't know. It seemed like a lifetime.

“I will allow you back your eye sight and voice for now, Twilight. You have earned that.”

She wanted to sob again out of relief. The ball gag was undone first, pried from her teeth that clenched, then relaxed limply as it was pulled. Her mouth felt loose and empty after having the girth of the ball in her mouth for that amount time. It was another relief when the blindfold was removed. Her vision was blurry at first, from tears and from adjusting to what little light was in the room.

Luna stood before her, looking somewhat shaken. If she was upset about her job, she never said so. She cleared her throat and fixed Twilight with a stern stare. “I see that you have learned to focus through pain and oppression. It is a rough job, Twilight. In any event that any of us Princesses are captured, we are expected to be strong. You are already on your way, by learning to focus through punishment. Given enough practice, your mind will be like crystal even when in pain. No pony can break you then.”

Her lucid mind was returning now that she was given orientation once more. Sight deprivation had terrified her. Seeing the wall and the Princess before her made the panic fade. Still, she could only nod in agreement.

“You have two minutes to steady yourself while I prepare what's next.”

Luna was not a pony to explain what she was going to do next. She left Twilight wondering while she vanished out of view, the sound of her hoofs fading as she walked off. Twilight shook her head slightly. This should be time spent regaining her composure. She took in a few deep breaths, steadying herself. She had survived the whippings. Surely she could survive whatever came next.

“I believe Cadence set the beginnings of your teachings in control. I will test to see how well you remember...as well as rewarding you for taking your flogging as you did.”

Control. If Twilight remembered what Cadence did and she was right...then she had a feeling of what was coming up next. A test of control. Possibly in the same light as what Cadence did.

She heard Luna's approach again. Once Luna was in view again, she couldn't help but stare at the addition Luna wore. Similar to the phallic device Cadence used, Luna wore one strapped to her body. It bounced as she walked, never shaken out of the harness that strapped it to the Princess of the night. It seemed smaller because it wasn't a double-ended dildo like the last toy Twilight had encountered, but it seemed bigger at the same time, for some reason. More intimidating, maybe. It wasn't a friendly, cutesy color like Cadence's. It was simple and black, offering no warmth in a softer color.

“I see you looking,” Luna said. “Why not give my friend some love.”

It wasn't a question. Once Luna faced Twilight, she stood up on hind hooves. The toy jutted out right at mouth level. She pushed the toy to Twilight's lips and Twilight opened because she knew what she was supposed to do. The toy was pushed in with little warning. Twilight wasn't expecting that much of the length at once and nearly choked.

Luna only paused for a moment to allow her back the ability to breathe without gagging. Then her hips thrust forward, pushing the toy further into Twilight's mouth. Pushed past the point of comfortable, Twilight visibly gagged on the toy. There was little time to adjust to the toy with the movement of Luna's hips. She took the toy as it came, adjusting to it as it withdrew.

The toy was yanked abruptly away. “Good girl.”

Luna slipped around to Twilight's hindquarters, toy still dripping with moisture from Twilight's mouth. Twilight couldn't help but tense up, especially when she felt the toy probing her. Despite her tense muscles, a shiver ran through her in anticipation.

She moaned as the toy slid into her. Loosened by her session with Cadence, she had no trouble accepting the toy. Luna pushed in until her body made solid contact with Twilight's.

“Oh, so you like that,” Luna observed. “I haven't even begun to move yet.”

Damn. Twilight didn't know why that one push of the toy made her suddenly want more. It wasn't as though it was enchanted. There was no Want It, Need It spell here, yet she couldn't help but do just that. She wanted it...no, she needed it.

Poised over her, Luna moved her hips slowly, drawing the toy out of her, before pushing back in. Twilight felt every inch as it entered her, stretching her flesh so slowly. Sinful, delicious and beyond her control, she couldn't do anything more than accept it into her. She shouldn't have reveled in the feeling as much as she had. Wasn't she always the logical one? Why was she giving into desire so easily?

Luna's hips continued to move. Her breath was hot over Twilight, rushing into her ear. For some strange reason, that sent a wave of shivers through the newly crowned alicorn. That was followed by a small moan as Luna leaned forward to nip at her ear.

“Does that feel good, Princess?” Luna's voice was low and warm in her ear.

Another wave of shivers swept through her. “Yes, Mistress Luna...”

“Good. I wonder how much you can take.”

Twilight never got a chance to ask what that meant, even if she had been allowed to speak freely. The tempo of Luna's hips sped up without warning. It was all she could do to suck in a cry as the toy was shoved into her with more force than before. Pleasure lit her body up from the inside-out, threatening to render her completely thoughtless once more. She grasped at her control but it was like trying to hold water between her hooves. Luna had said this was a test of control. That meant that, like her session with Cadence, she wouldn't be able to come without permission. The thought made her bite her lip. It was hard enough controlling herself with Cadence. With Luna?

She would be whipped for any disobedience, she was sure.

A lick of fear worked its way through her, yet it didn't make the pleasure seem any less than it was. If anything, the fear made the pleasure higher. It raised the stakes further. It seemed so strange, almost sickening, but she felt the pleasure jolt at the thought of being whipped for disobedience. In this strange, pleasure-struck haze she was in, she almost welcomed the thought of being kissed once more by that nine-tailed whip, as long as she didn't stop with the movement of her hips.

What was wrong with her?

Twilight shook herself out of that absurd mindset. Clearly, she was thinking of the wrong thing.

In the midst of Luna's merciless thrusts, the Princess of the night began quizzing her once more. Without the threat of the whip, the answers should have come easier. Yet, all Twilight could think about was the pleasure of the toy. Her answers were sluggish and she was rewarded with harder thrusts and Luna pulling at her mane. Yet, her answers were correct. Every last one was correct. Because of this, Luna was panting heavily in her ear. The toy was making Twilight's moans louder and louder, until they echoed around the empty chamber.

It was so hard to hold back. Twilight's body shook with pleasure, positively quivered from it. The feel of Luna's tongue on her ear or her teeth pulling at her mane only ramped the pleasure up further, out of Twilight's control. She wasn't going to be able to hold back.

She was begging before she was even aware that her mouth was open.

“Mistress Luna, please. I'm going to–”

“Don't you dare, Twilight Sparkle. I haven't given you permission yet.”

Every word was punctuated by a hard, rough thrust.

Twilight's moans were loud and out of control as Luna took her. Yet, her head shook from side to side. “Please, I can't hold it. I need to–”

“You will hold it for as long as We command you to!”

The royal Canterlot voice and formal use of we shook Twilight but didn't shake her free from the building desperation. She shut herself up before she angered Luna. Or tried. Oh, how she tried. As punishment for her request, Luna drew Twilight in close by her front hooves. Twilight cried out as she felt the Princess touching her, all over her body. This was followed by more torture. Luna's tongue slid up her neck, pausing to suck before the motion of her body drew her away.

No, no, no–

Twilight couldn't help it. She tried so hard to stop the onslaught of feeling but her body denied her the control she had found with Cadence. Her whole body shivered and spasmed out of her control, her eyes squeezed shut as the orgasm wracked her body. She felt her body shuddering around the toy, her back arching as all sense of logic and reality temporarily escaped her.

When the orgasm was finished with her, cold logic set back in. She had disobeyed Luna. Luna wasn't even moving anymore, the toy still within her body. She couldn't see the Princess but she could sense her anger. Oh, man. She had disobeyed Luna. What exactly would happen to her?

“What was that, may I ask, Princess Twilight Sparkle?”

Fear flooded through her, sharp and icy. Luna's voice was cold and formal once more. For all the noise she had been making a mere minute ago, she couldn't seem to find her words now. Speech failed her and she didn't know if it was out of fear, anticipation or a dangerous mix of the two. Twilight could only stare stupidly at the wall in front of her, knowing full well that Luna was expecting an answer.

“Well?”

“I'm sorry, Mistress Luna,” Twilight finally choked out. “I tried to control it, I really did.”

“What did you do?”

The aggression in the Princess's voice made that strange mix of fear and anticipation choke her up more. “I came without permission. I lost control.”

With that, Luna pulled the toy from her body. “Disobedient Princesses need punishment. I told you not to and you did it anyway. That makes you a bad little Princess, doesn't it?”

“I'm sorry,” she repeated, not even knowing why the apology was genuine or why she was so antsy at what punishment Luna had in mind.

“I could whip you,” Luna said as she released the straps from her body. The toy fell to the floor and she kicked it with a hind leg, no longer interested in it. Her focus went to the spreader bars on the ground. She began to undo them, continuing her slow, thoughtful speech. “Yes, I could whip you, but you've already felt my lovely's kisses too many times. That's when it no longer becomes a punishment, when that pain is expected. I need something new, something that will make you obey me. What to choose, what to choose...”

Twilight found relief as the spreader bar was pulled from her and she was able to close her legs. The same relief came when Luna released her front hooves and her wings from the cuffs and she lay limp on the desk.

“Do not get too comfortable yet, you disobedient cur. Get back up on your hind hooves and make your way to the center of the room. There is a stone table. I trust you'll be able to get up on the table without much issue. Lay on your back and wait for me. I know just the thing to use.”

Ashamed at losing control of herself and unsure of why it was anything to be ashamed of, Twilight focused on her new order. After her hind legs holding her weight for such a long time, she was shaky once more. She wobbled to the center of the room and indeed found the stone table Luna spoke of. It was tall enough for her to sit on and hoist herself up the rest of the way, so that was what she did. She saw lengths of chain and cuffs hanging off of each corner and even anchored into the stone slab in two spots in the middle. She fit right between the two middle spots. The stone bit into her wings as she lay on her back, her wings out to the side. It wasn't a comfortable position for someone who still wasn't quite used to having wings after a life time of being a unicorn.

In the center of the room, it seemed darker, with no direct lighting. The only lights in the room were along the walls. For some reason, the darkness and the silence seemed more threatening. Anticipation multiplied within her, biting into her with the sweet pain of a nine-tailed whip. Luna could be getting anything. She could do anything.

She shouldn't have disobeyed.

Similar to what Luna said about focusing through the pain, Twilight should have been able to focus through the pleasure as well. Failure was something that never sat well with her. She was so used to being the top of the class, the proud egghead, that failure was a mark of shame. What was worse, she could still feel the moisture between her legs, marking her for what she was.

Before Twilight could wallow in this line of thought any further, the sound of Luna's approach made its way closer. The Princess of the night wheeled a small dinner cart with her. These were the same dinner carts used around the castle in Canterlot, pushed around by waiters serving food. Twilight could see the silver dome of a plate cover shining in the dim light. Why Luna would have a dinner cart or a covered platter with her made no sense to Twilight. Was she missing something?

“I'm going to remind you again that you do have a safe word, Twilight Sparkle.” Luna said. Like with the tale before, she began fastening each of the cuffs to Twilight, pulling her limbs into the necessary positions. “And I say this because the punishment I give will seem harsh. It is harsh. But this is what happens when you disobey my orders.”

Twilight was pinned spread-eagle to the table. The two center straps anchored to the flat, smooth stone table were used to strap Twilight's wings down at the base. She saw Luna standing over her with the blindfold once more. Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she was once again denied her eyesight. The dark room became darker as her eyesight was restricted.

“No sight required for this one. All you need is my voice.”

Her voice sounded further away, as if she was moving back. Panic edged its way up Twilight's throat once more, despite how hard she fought against it. She hadn't thought that her eye sight was such an important factor, but with the anticipation already edged up so high, the thought that she couldn't see what Luna was going to do threatened to drive her over the edge.

The sound of the metal plate cover being lifted got her attention. Luna spoke right after. “The old Kings of Canterlot's great past were given a weapon upon their birth, as a symbol of their right to rule. Over time, these artifacts have been carefully preserved. In light of this ritual, my sister the Queen has commissioned similar weapons for each of us by Canterlot's greatest artisans and weapon makers. You may get one of your own, should you pass this test. What I have here is my weapon, my symbol of royal power. She's a beautiful weapon, beautifully crafted art. Over a foot in length, from hilt to the tip of the blade. Can you guess what it is, Princess?”

The fact that Luna had just said she was holding a weapon next to a bound and blindfolded Twilight made the panic crawl back faster. Twilight choked on her answer. “Some sort of knife, Mistress Luna?”

A pleased murmur of approval escaped the Princess of the night. “Smart girl. Yes, this is a knife. A beautifully crafted ceremonial knife with a long, sharp blade. She must be properly maintained at all times, so I keep her blade as sharp as possible.”

To demonstrate, Luna's horn glowed as she lifted the knife with her magic from the plush midnight blue cushion it had been nestled on. The golden weapon was encrusted with dark gems and diamonds that matched the cutie mark on her flank. It was well cared for, as she said. The blade barely had to be moved before it cleanly sliced the blindfold from Twilight without severing so much as a hair.

Twilight trembled as she eyed the weapon in front of her.

“Maybe a bit too powerful with that move. I seemed to have cut straight through your blindfold. Fear not, I have many.”

Twilight was blindfolded once more from a new blindfold that came from the dinner cart. She would have preferred restricted eyesight now, after seeing that weapon. She could still see it in her mind, even if she closed her eyes. The blade was sharp. It could slice her to ribbons if she had so much as flinched.

“Now, for your punishment,” Luna said. “What could I possibly do, with you bound helplessly before me? Especially with this beautiful, beautiful weapon I have...”

She meant to use that knife on her. Twilight felt it instinctively. She feared it.

“Look at you, trembling so hard, my dear Princess. Do you fear the sharp edge of my knife?”

Twilight couldn't answer her, but it didn't matter. Luna set the heavy ceremonial knife back on its soft cushion and picked up a smaller instrument that sat bare on the dinner cart. The small scalpel was medical grade, the same type that the surgeon ponies used in the castle. Not that Luna was going to announce the switch. She ran the safe side of the scalpel over the end of Twilight's nose with the most gentle touch. The way Twilight shivered under her was delicious.

Except, in Twilight's mind, the touch of that scalpel was not of the true instrument Luna used, but of the knife she had just held. Blindfolded from the truth, Twilight trembled as she felt the knife's dull edge run over her. Adrenaline flooded her, her instincts telling her to run despite the shackles around her hooves reminding her that there was no way to escape.

Luna's voice was soft in her ear. “You should fear my blade, Twilight Sparkle. You should fear the wrath of the Princess you had promised you would obey. Yet, you disobeyed me, Princess. You were naughty and you came without my permission. Why should I not give you something to fear?”

“I'm sorry, Mistress,” Twilight whispered, unable to find full use of her voice. Even her voice shook.

“You will be sorry,” Luna said, her soft voice nothing but cold steel. “You shall beg for my forgiveness. Only then will you be released.”

All sorts of apologies built themselves around Twilight's lips, yet she couldn't seem to say any of them. Speech and intelligent thought had abandoned her the moment that the knife had touched her. That was the dull end of the knife that she had felt. What would the sharp end feel like? Her stomach cramped with anticipation.

Luna was still speaking to her, even as she moved away from her face. “I rather like you in this position, dear Princess. So powerless. So helpless. I could do anything to you and you wouldn't be able to stop it. Power in this sense is so delicious. If only you could see the way you shake right now, dear Twilight Sparkle. I haven't even done anything yet...”

Each word Luna spoke drove Twilight down further into this strange spiral she was being pulled into. Without any control of what was happening, Twilight was completely helpless, just as Luna had said. Just as Luna said, she could do anything and Twilight could only take it. It wasn't that different than the previous way she had been bound, except the last table she had been bound to didn't come with the threat of a sharp blade.

She forced her shaking to still itself when she felt the tip of the knife caress her fur. With as sharp as it was, it could cut every hair from her body. Yet, with Luna's lightest of touches, the blade merely shivered through her fur, the tip tickling and scraping. The lightest touch was practiced precision on Luna's part. Any pony with lesser skill would have gutted Twilight right then and there. That knowledge did little to calm Twilight, even as she felt the tip of the blade move towards her exposed wings.

She practically jumped out of her own skin when she felt Luna licking at the base of her wings, next to where the cuffs held her pinned down to the stone slab. The tip of her tongue tickled along with the tip of the knife. Luna's trail of kisses and licks moved up to her ear.

“Do you trust me, Princess?”

Her question sent another shiver through her, but this one wasn't out of fear. The fear returned when the blade continued to tease her.

“Well? Do you trust me?”

“Yes, Mistress Luna,” she choked out. It wasn't as though she could have said no. When she thought about it further, she realized she hadn't been lying. Her instinctive answer was that yes, she did in fact trust Luna, even when Luna terrified her. What did that mean? How could she trust someone she feared at the same time?

“Good.” This was punctuated by a nip at the ear, before Luna commanded, “Now. I advise you not to move for this next part. My lovely blade could slip.”

The fear returned nice and sharp as she felt the blade tickle her fur. There was the slightest pressure. Luna was going to cut her open. A terrified, yet complacent moan escaped her in protest as the pressure increased. She wasn't sure what happened next. The fear reached a level she couldn't take and her mind blanked for the slightest moment. The only thing she was aware of once the pressure was gone was that something warm and liquid dripped down her already sore flank.

She was bleeding. A series of expletives made their way through Twilight's mind but not one was said to Luna. When her mind had blanked, the pain must have been too much for her mind to handle, even as small as it must have been. What was strange was that she felt no pain. Was that supposed to happen? Twilight had read about dire survival situations where the body tricked itself into feeling no pain from the flood of adrenaline. Was her situation so dire that her body was blocking the pain off?

It only added to the strange downward spiral that threatened to pull at her again. She was going to lose it if this kept up. She was going to freak out on Luna. Weakness. To freak out was total weakness. She had to hold herself together–

She cried out when she felt pressure again, this time near the base of her wing. The strangest, wildest cocktail surged through her; fear mixed with equal parts adrenaline and stirred with panic. She felt drunk on all three, drunk on the panic and the ancient fight-or-flight instinct. What did Luna intend on doing to her? Was she supposed to walk out of this chamber in bloody ribbons? Was she meant to walk out of here at all?

The tip of the blade kept exploring her body. With each increase of pressure and slice, Twilight's mind blanked out. It was getting harder to breathe. With each caress of the blade, Twilight felt a little more of her rational mind slip away, completely taken over by the strange cocktail of fear running through her veins. Surely this couldn't be real. Surely the pony who was once known as Nightmare Moon was just that, a nightmare. An old pony's tale.

Luna was speaking, but Twilight couldn't hear a word she was saying. Sucked down into the downward spiral once more, she was completely lost to all reason and logic. If Luna was asking her something, she couldn't understand, nor did she want to listen or focus. She could feel her breath coming faster, until she was breathing in short, shallow gasps. She didn't care. Everything was buckling on her at once.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew she had consent and could tell Luna to stop at every time. Yet, with each movement of the blade on her fur, she forgot more and more of that. Consent. The safety word. The scenario spiraled on her too fast and she was sinking deeper into the panic that threatened to swallow her up. This was some kind of threshold for her, a threshold of safety and trust. Pushed over the edge, she didn't feel safe. She didn't feel like she could trust the mare before her, despite how she had felt mere moments ago. Everything was happening too fast. She was buckling too fast, spiraling downward too fast–

“Twilight?” Luna's voice called to her clearly and yet so far away. “Twilight?”

Twilight's mind grasped for any inkling of control that she could get. This was punishment for her bad behavior. Yet, she had the power to stop. She had the power to stop. How? How was she supposed to stop this?

The safety word fluttered into her mind like a frightened bird.

“Banana.”

The moment the word left her lips, Luna pulled the blade away. “What did you say?”

Banana. It was such a stupid word to utter down here in this dungeon of pleasure and torture. Yet, she repeated the word again as she remembered the power the safety word was supposed to carry. Banana. Banana. It fell from her lips repeatedly until she realized she was shaking too violently to speak anymore. Shaking and choked with tears, Twilight could only let the fear wash over her completely.

That was when Twilight gave in to the downward spiral that had been threatening to suck her in. As she broke under the fear, her tears came faster until she was heaving with the effort it took to breathe.

Yet, when she was able to speak, the only thing she could utter was the safety word, over and over, as if it was a key fumbling within the lock meant to free her. Was this part of her punishment? Part of her training?

Cadence's words echoed in her mind. Face this so you will never face it again. She had felt fear before. Fear of her friends getting hurt. Fear of a late assignment. Fear of the Crystal Empire falling. None of that seemed to matter in this moment. This fear had total control over her. It was on a completely different level than the challenges she had faced previously.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was aware of Luna freeing her from the shackles that held her legs and wings down. Once she was free, all she could do was curl up on her side as the tears continued to choke her. A strange sound echoed through the otherwise empty chambers, until Twilight realized the sounds came from her. She was crying loudly, panting and wailing as the terror surged through her, even though she was completely freed of her bonds.

Broken. She had broken under Princess Luna's training.

Author's Note

*takes a deep breath* If you had read the blog I released last night in regard to the writing process behind this, I'm honestly surprised that the end of this chapter affected me so much. But I also say that after sleeping on it. The end really did take a lot out of me, tapping into that fear. Oh, poor Twilight...

I've also seen a few comments asking about Ann Rice's Sleeping Beauty trilogy. I've always wanted to read it in full but I've only read a good portion of the second book, Beauty's Punishment. I think it was the discipline in that book that helped realize that writing something like that was even possible. Before that, the closest thing I've written was "light" BDSM, like maybe a pair of handcuffs or orgasm control at most. This is something totally new for me; probably one of the darkest stories I've written in terms of content. I can only hope that I can keep it up for you guys. Thank you for continuing to stick around and read. (oh and for keeping my butt in line with those error checks. I'm definitely trying to not rush-release my work like I did the last few times around)

For those interested in the last scene of this, knife play has always been an interest of mine, but I've never had the courage to do it myself lol. Twilight is definitely braver than I am, even in the current state she's in...