Chapter Eight:
Confusion

Twilight Sparkle didn't want to leave Luna. When she awoke, Luna was still sleeping. She didn't want to wake her and tell her that she was moving on to go face Celestia. She stood up and shook her sex-ruffled fur before she leaned down to kiss Luna on the cheek. A small smile flickered across the other mare's face, but Luna stayed asleep.

With a new resolve, Twilight headed to the one door along the wall, opposite of where she had come in from. Beyond this door was Celestia. Despite all of the good that had happened between her and her mentor, Twilight couldn't help but feel a flicker of anger when she thought of what Luna had to have been through. She wanted answers. She wanted to know why Celestia would treat Luna that way...or any of the Princesses this way, for that matter.

The door was pushed open. A long, dim hallway sat before her. Did Celestia not believe in good lighting for this ritual? Why was everything so dark? Her hoof steps echoed throughout the empty stretch of hallway, too loud for her own ears. It only added to the ominous ambiance.

It actually felt odd being without the boots Luna had stripped from her. She had almost gotten used to walking in them. She still felt the metal right around her neck, but she barely felt the leather collar that symbolized submission. She craved having her magic back. It was almost like being blinded, working without a major sense she normally relied on. It made her antsy, even more so when she didn't know what was coming up next. She felt as though she had barely gotten through Luna's training, and she still felt as though she had failed with how she had to stop in the middle. If that was a level up from Cadence's training, then what awaited her in Celestia's chamber?

The end of the hallway glimmered with a bright light. The closer Twilight got, the more she realized that the light shone from the cracks of a large door in front of her, one made entirely from marble and glistening crystal. The white stone only made the white light brighter, amplifying the strength like a magnifying glass. Twilight squinted in the light, then knocked with a hoof.

There was no call to enter, as Luna had done. There was no reply at all. She knocked again, then realized the door was cracked open. It explained all of the leaking light. She pushed the door in and the light grew brighter, blinding her momentarily. She crossed the threshold squinting, her wings spreading to block the light from her face.

The light faded and a familiar voice called out, “Why, there you are, Twilight! You're late!”

What?

As the light faded to a manageable level and her eyes adjusted, Twilight saw Rarity sitting calmly at a table, sipping tea out of a gold-rimmed tea cup. It was impossible. How could Rarity be here?

“Rarity?”

“Well, of course, darling! Were you expecting someone else?”

Reality had to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. Twilight stepped further into the room, unable to shake the feeling that something was off. What was Rarity doing here? How could she know about the ritual? A flash of shame swept through Twilight when she thought about everything she had just done and endured. The collars she wore seemed to weigh heavy on her, in her friend's presence. Her friends were so pure. How could she face them with what she had just done?

“Darling, don't just stand there. Join me. It's a tea party, after all!”

The further Twilight went into the room, the more reality seemed to be tipped on its side. On one side of the room, her other friends occupied the space, tied up in white restraints. Rainbow Dash was hooked up to some sort of white metal rack that allowed her to stand upright, but each hoof was bound to a spreader bar. She was gagged and had a white collar around her throat. The collar glimmered with multicolored gems, a brilliant rainbow of light. Her brilliant eyes shone with defiance across the room, showing that she hadn't been broken yet.

Applejack was on her back next to Rainbow Dash, her hooves bound in a hog tie. She had a blindfold and a leather bit in her mouth. The same white collar was around her neck, this one with golden gems. She seemed somewhat at peace with being bound, or at least, that's what Twilight saw. She wasn't struggling.

Fluttershy was on the opposite side of Applejack, trembling beneath her blindfold and around the ball gag that occupied her mouth. The white collar around her neck sparkled with emeralds. She was otherwise unbound. Except for the cage. She was enclosed in a large cage. Twilight couldn't help but stare at the three of her friends in open disbelief.

That was until she saw Pinkie Pie, suspended in mid air in a complex series of knots and ropes. The ropes hooked to a familiar looking pulley system on the ceiling. Despite the way Pinkie was bound, she was trying to swing her body as if she were on playground equipment. Tiny mewls of joy escaped her from around the ball gag she wore. Each movement of her body caused the pink gems on her collar to sparkle.

What the hell was going on?

Twilight's gaze swiveled back to Rarity, who sat unbound at the table. She seemed completely at peace with the way her friends were bound, as if this were an every day occurrence.

“Why are they bound like that?” Twilight asked, approaching the table.

“Oh, they like it, I assure you. Even if Rainbow Dash is too stubborn to admit it and Fluttershy is over there shaking in her cage. She really is quite submissive once you start with her. It's kind of fun, really.” Rarity spoke with an even tone, as if nothing were out of place. “Oh, don't give me that stare, Twilight. Come, tell me about your adventures so far.”

“How do you know...”

“Everyone knows, silly.” Rarity paused to take a sip of her tea. “Queen Celestia informed us herself about what was going on. Can you believe it? Queen. What a title. Anyway, she invited us back to the castle to congratulate you about your progress so far.”

“Then why are they...why are you...where is Princess Celestia?” Twilight couldn't seem to keep up with what was going on.

A flash of anger slid through Rarity's gaze. “Where are your manners, Twilight? Queen Celestia is around here. And if I were you, I wouldn't let her catch you calling her by that title. Princess. Really. Now, how are you, Twilight? Come sit with me. Have some tea.”

Twilight joined her at the table and Rarity poured her a cup of tea. Her horn glowed as she added sugar to it and she stirred it, passing the tea to Twilight. Twilight tried raising her cup with her magic, but felt that heavy collar around her neck, reminding her that her powers were still bound by Celestia's magic. She was so used to her magic that she didn't even know how to manipulate a tea cup without breaking or spilling it, as earth ponies or pegasi did.

“Oh, your magic is being restricted,” Rarity said. “Let me help.”

Her magic lifted the tea cup and Twilight drank, feeling a tinge of embarrassment heat her cheeks up. Without her magic, she felt crippled, not used to doing things like an earth pony. When she had a mouth full of tea, Rarity was generous enough to lower the cup.

“Well? How have things been so far?”

More embarrassment flooded through her. Rarity sat before her, so pure in comparison to what she had just endured. She swallowed her tea, then blurted, mostly under pressure of her friend's gaze, “It's been good. Hard work learning, but it's been okay.”

It was a generic enough answer that she hoped that it would please her friend.

Rarity's gaze lit up. “Good! Tell me, have you ever thought about the opposite end of what you've endured? Being the dominant one, I mean.”

“Well, it never occurred to me...”

“Oh, it's a blast, Twilight. I've had so much fun so far. You should really try it.”

“When did you pick up on it?”

Rarity's eyelashes fluttered as she blinked at Twilight, her expression one of confusion. “What ever do you mean, darling? I've always done this. Don't you remember?”

“No–”

“Well, let me introduce you around then. Come on.” She stood up from the table and made her way over to where the others were bound. “Rainbow Dash over here is as stubborn as a mule, but she loves it. She wants you to prove your dominance more than anything. As stubborn as she is, her loyalty to me has been quite strong.”

At Rarity's words, Rainbow Dash quit struggling to be free of the spreader bars and stood a little straighter, as if Rarity's praise had filled her with pride.

Rarity moved on to the next pony. “Applejack is quite the hard worker. See how she sits so obediently? She may not share my love of the finer things in life, but she certainly knows how to follow my rules. And she can certainly get any job done, and get it done right, at that.”

Applejack nodded her head as best as she could from her hog-tied position.

With the next pony, Rarity kicked lightly at the bars of Fluttershy's cage. “Now, don't let this one fool you. As much as she trembles in fear, she loves being ordered around. Don't you, sweetie?”

Trembling from ear to hoof, Fluttershy nodded. A whimper was audible from around the ball gag.

“She loves being whipped, that one. Quite surprising really, for someone as shy as herself. But you know what they say, it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for!”

Rarity approached Pinkie Pie and made the makeshift swing stop its rotations. “And this one. She is a wild one alright. I don't think I've ever met anyone else who thought being suspended was fun. Everything is fun to her. Right, Pinkie?”

Pinkie's reply was to open her hind legs, exposing herself to the fashionista pony. Rarity obliged her for a moment, dipping her head between her legs and giving a lick that caused Pinkie to shiver and sigh.

Rarity pulled away and licked her lips, a strange glimmer in her eyes. “She's absolutely insatiable, no matter how much I give her. Maybe you can help me in wearing her out?”

Twilight couldn't help but stare at what Rarity had done. She was in such a state of shock that she almost missed the offer completely. “I'm sorry, what did you just say to me?”

Rarity gave a laugh. “Don't be such a prude, darling! These girls love it! You said you were having a good time, right? It must suck being the submissive all the time. I'm giving you the chance to take control. You don't want it?”

This was not the Rarity she knew. These were not the friends she knew. In what normal universe would any of them consent to this? Why was Rarity acting like this was all normal? Throughout their friendship, not once did Rarity ever mention an interest in dominating ponies, especially not her own friends. None of her friends ever mentioned it either, nor did she ever see anything about it. What was going on?

“Why are you looking at me like that, Twilight? Don't you want to have fun?” When Twilight didn't answer, Rarity leveled a stare at her. “Look, if you're worried about sharing, it's okay. My girls know I'm not abandoning them. Right girls?”

Each one of the bound ponies gave some sort of noise that indicated their agreement.

“You see? It's okay to share.”

It might have been okay among them, but it still didn't sit right with Twilight. Her friends. These were her friends in front of her, bound and caged and tied. How was this normal? Thinking about it made her head spin. There was no way that this was real. Any of it.

It's not real, a voice in her mind whispered. A jolt of electricity shot through her, shaking her out of her state of shock.

It's not real.

Her mind seemed to be going in reverse, flashing back all the way to when she and her friends were in the Crystal Empire. She and Spike had been looking for the Crystal Heart. She didn't know why she was suddenly thinking of it, but it seemed to have some kind of importance, some kind of relevance here.

“You're no fun at all, Twilight.” Rarity's voice seemed to mock her, threatening to pull her out of the sudden line of thought she was approaching. “Fluttershy, darling! Maybe we should show her what she needs to do.”

It's not real!

The Crystal Empire. Searching for the Crystal Heart. Finding, instead–

Her whole body lit up as if she was struck with electricity as she remembered. She thought she had failed Celestia's test. She thought Celestia was angry with her. It had seemed so real until Spike had shaken her out of the strange trance...the strange trance of the magical door!

Twilight's body began to glow, starting from her horn and spreading to the tip of her tail. Magic. This was magic, her magic. Her magic! The magic that had been restricted by Celestia was flooding back to her, wild and out of control, lighting her up from the inside out. Her whole body felt like it had been struck by lighting and she felt as though she would vibrate out of her own skin. Her magic was overpowering the restrictions set. She felt the metal ring around her throat heating up to a point where it might actually burn her. Instead, it shattered apart. Hot pieces of glowing metal flew off of her neck, leaving her fur and skin undamaged.

With her magic restored, the room before her shattered apart as well. Her friends disappeared just as Rarity pulled Fluttershy out of her cage for a kiss. Everything lit up with a blinding white light–

* * *

Twilight wasn't sure if she had lost consciousness or not, but when she was able to focus once more, she was back in the hallway she had been in before. As the light faded once more, she stood, still conscious, in front of the same door she had knocked on. There was no room before her. Her friends weren't here. Rarity wasn't kissing Fluttershy.

She had been right. Like her encounter with King Sombra's door of illusions, the door before her contained the same kind of magic. It wasn't dark magic like King Sombra's was. This white light, this white magic, was all familiar to her. Too familiar. It had to be Celestia's magic. She didn't know why Celestia would use something like this on her, either as a distraction or a test of strength or something else altogether, but the magic that had created the illusion was hers, guaranteed.

She knocked on the door again with a hoof. “I broke the illusion, Queen Celestia!”

The Queen title was awkward as it rolled off of her tongue. She didn't know if Celestia had crowned herself Queen, but considering everything Twilight had just been through, it wasn't a title she felt had been deserved. What queen made her subjects endure this?

The door opened without a word. This time, Twilight was able to see the room before she entered. This room was exactly like the room in the illusion. The floor was tiled neatly in bright white and blue hues and there was a table set for tea. Sunlight streamed in through enormous floor-to-ceiling windows. As she looked through the room, she saw no sign of her friends. The illusion was truly broken.

Celestia sat at the tea table, calmly awaiting her.

At the sight of her mentor, Twilight's heart began beating faster. She walked into the room as calmly as she could, even as the door slammed behind her.

Celestia eyed her critically. “You have broken free of your magical bond, I see. Your magic has always been very instinctual. It's grown beyond what I expected and has broken even my magic. Why did it break in that illusion instead of with one of the other Princesses? Interesting. Very interesting.”

Her words did nothing to soothe the panic surging through Twilight. Panic and anger. The two were a potent cocktail within her veins, making her move faster towards the tea table.

“Why did you put me through that? The illusion? The whole ritual? Why? ”

Celestia only sipped her tea calmly, as if she was patiently waiting for Twilight to settle down.

“Why!”

Twilight wasn't aware of it until she had acted, but her magic swept the cup right out of Celestia's magical grip. The cup sailed, airborne until it crashed onto the floor. Tea spilled its way across the clean tile.

“Oh my goodness. I'm sorry.” Twilight said once she realized what she had done. “Queen Celestia, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to. My magic...”

She had done it now. She had just inadvertently attacked Celestia. Even if her cup of tea was the only thing that had suffered, had palace guards been around, they certainly would have intervened. She would have been placed under arrest. With just the two of them, what would Celestia do? Would she fail Twilight on the spot?

Celestia fixed her with a glare. “Your anger is deserved, but misplaced. Do not be angry with me for what you have had to face in the dungeons below mine.”

It wasn't just what she had to face in the dungeons. Words spilled from her lips before she could stop herself. “It's not just the dungeons. You kidnapped me! Drugged me! Forced me into this ritual–”

“You consented. ”

“I was coerced! I was told that I would lose my crown if I didn't do this. That I would still be a Princess, but one of lesser importance and responsibility. What choice did I have but to consent?”

Celestia's glare never wavered under the assault of Twilight's words. “This ritual is tough to make it through, yes. However, you had the option to walk away. Before this ritual was established, whenever mares were mere concubines, there was no option to walk away. No one cared about consent. If you cried, you were punished. If you protested, you were punished. If you refused, you could be put to death. I was the first one to break this cycle of abuse. Yes, Twilight. I am the one who created this ritual.”

“Why?”

“I know Princess Cadence explained it to you. I don't feel that she covered all of it, though. When I was a young filly, Princesses were property. Some weren't even of royal bloodline, but were abducted from their homes in the middle of the night and whipped into obedience, just because a stallion wanted a pretty mare he had seen one day. So many of these Princesses were brainwashed into obedience that, by the time I overthrew the system, obedience was all they knew. They couldn't be coddled into a life outside of the horrors they had faced. The ritual was originally designed to help them adjust, by introducing a lighter side to them. It seems harsh to you because you have never been a part of such a culture. This was indeed coddling them. It was a soft, pretty version of what they had endured.”

“Then why keep up the tradition?” Twilight asked. “Why not just end it?”

“You know as well as I do that many of these Canterlot ponies are so stuffy about tradition. This ritual has been dying, yes, but it is still used as an initiation process, to shock you out of the gentle lifestyle you have been living. There aren't many Princesses anymore, considering that they are not sought out as a commodity like they were in those dark days. You and Princess Cadence are our first in a long time.”

“That means other ponies in Canterlot know about this ritual?” Twilight again felt shame flood her. How many ponies at her coronation had known about what she was going to have to endure? How many of them had even thought about telling her about what was to come?

“There are many dark traditions in Canterlot,” Celestia mused. “Many of them are old and dying, and many of them will not be talked about by gossipy ponies. Canterlot has a long history and not all of it is pretty. Not all of it is mentioned in history books, either.”

She was talking like there were secret societies in Canterlot. Secret societies, secret dark rituals. It made no sense. Twilight took such pride in her studies, yet nothing like this had ever been touched on. Had she been lied to from the start, by her own mentor, the Queen of this ritual?

“Now, my question to you is if you want to continue. You haven't finished your training yet and from what I've heard, you had to stop your play with Luna.”

Twilight couldn't help but cringe. “You heard about that?”

“I know of everything that goes on in my own castle.” Celestia cleared her throat. “You still have the option to walk away. Yes, you will be a Princess of lesser responsibility, but it will not because you failed. I will only put the burden of responsibility on those who can prove to me that they will not crack under the pressure. If I understand correctly, you didn't quite fail my sister, did you?”

Twilight shook her head. “No. She said I broke but came back stronger.”

Celestia stood at her full height, her ethereal mane flowing around her. “Yes. That means you have not failed. Should you choose to enter back into the ritual, I will not go easy on you just because you are a student of mine. Understand?”

“Yes, but...” Twilight struggled with her words, not knowing how to phrase it. “I...don't know if I can trust you after this. What Princess Luna said, about using her anger to break me, and how I was meant to be broken from the start. Kidnapping me. Drugging me. How am I supposed to trust you?”

A strange smile was on Celestia's lips. “Know that no matter how much I hurt you while in play, it is not done out of maliciousness or evil intent. Think about my sister. She stopped when you said the safe word. Why do you think that is?”

“Because it means stop.”

“Yes. Anything that we do, we mean to teach, not to harm. You may be punished but your rewards for obedience are great. The trust lies within your ability to trust me.”

It was a non-answer. Somehow, Twilight wasn't very surprised. Celestia routinely gave her non-answers, making her think for herself about what she had said. Even now, in this strange ritual, Celestia still fit in her role as mentor. Even with all of her anger and mistrust, it was hard for Twilight to see Celestia as anything but a mentor. It tore at her, making her doubt Celestia and want to run into her safe embrace at the same time.

Celestia motioned to follow her further into the otherwise empty chamber. “Why don't I show you what's in store?”

Author's Note

This is longgg overdue...so how about an early Christmas present?

Special thanks to The Abyss for checking in on me occasionally and being kind enough to edit for me. Also to Lord Silver, who did inspire the story and serves as my primary beta reader and fellow smut enthusiast :3 You guys are awesome!

Merry Christmas, every pony! <3

PS: How many head canons with the mane six were just horribly violated? How does my vision compare to your own?