Rarity had been in a huff since she and Twilight Sparkle had gotten up. They had eaten breakfast in near silence, and Rarity had only spoken politely to remind her guest to dress inconspicuously so nopony would notice them heading towards the sex shop. So, Twilight had left the Carousel Boutique wearing a borrowed bandana over her mane, celebrity sunglasses and a flowy summer dress to hide her wings.

Rarity hadn't said a thing on the way. Twilight peered over the rim of her glasses, trying to read the unicorn's neutral expression. It was difficult since Rarity was also wearing large sunglasses and a sunhat besides. They were already in the back alley and Twilight knew she wouldn't have another chance to try and figure out what was going through her friend's mind before they spoke with Play Date. “Um, Rarity... I know you're mad at me for hiding what Pinkie did, but-” Rarity spun around on the spot and looked Twilight in the eye, causing her to fall silent.

“Twilight, I am not mad about that,” Rarity explained in a cool, even tone. “You were only trying to look out for a friend; although what she did was serious and we have an obligation to deal with the problem properly.” She paused for a moment, and continued in a strained voice, “I'm upset that you could think she would be capable of hurting Rainbow Dash. You know her better than that.”

Twilight felt ashamed. After confessing everything that had happened with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash at the sex shop and library, Rarity had calmed Twilight down and admonished her for being very foalish before they had gotten out of bed. She had assumed that Rarity was upset over the breach of Club rules. Now it was obvious to her that she had been very paranoid and distrustful for suspecting Pinkie of forcing Dash to have sex with an entire party's worth of unfamiliar ponies. Twilight's cheeks burned with embarrassment over her ridiculous suspicion. “I'm sorry...” she apologized meekly.

Rarity let out a small sigh. “Don't worry about it. Just try not to get so worked up.” She smiled at her friend. “Look who I'm talking to, though. No matter how regal you may become, in some ways you'll still be the same awkward, excitable pony.” Rarity's expression hardened again as she turned towards the seedy store in the middle of the alley. “However, someone still needs to be held accountable for this transgression.”

Twilight knew Rarity was right, but still felt guilty for whatever punishment Pinkie Pie was going to suffer for her slip up. Maybe if Pinkie explains how it happened, the Club officials will be lenient, Twilight thought as the two mares entered the sex shop and went directly to the counter. Play Date was already there, reading a book. She looked up as they entered, then quickly read a few more lines before dogearing a page and putting it away. Twilight frowned at the minor mistreatment.

“Good morning, Ms. Elusive, Ms. Star,” she greeted them. “I'm glad to see you made it before any other customers started coming in. We will have more privacy to discuss your membership.” As she said this, Play Date set two folders on the counter. “How may I be of service?”

“We would like to have Evening Star registered as my sub, please.”

“OH!” An interesting expression flitted across Play Date's features, as though she couldn't decide what emotion to feel. She cleared her throat and tried to continue in a formal manner, even though she was blushing profusely and grinning just slightly. “Well, in that case, Ms. Star, let me go through all the finer points with you before we finalize anything. First of all, your rights as a member will be unaffected by this change, but your privileges will be restricted in line with your dom's preferences.”

“Could you tell me a bit more about what my actual rights and privileges are?”

Play Date stood stiffly and effected a serious expression as she spoke in a practiced tone, “Certainly! Foremost, the Club is concerned with protecting your privacy. Your dom is not allowed to reveal your identity to other Club members without your express permission, nor is she allowed to discuss your involvement in the Club with nonmembers under any circumstances, as usual. Also, you will always have access to basic Club benefits such as discreet medical services, private post delivery, or legal aid should you ever find yourself in a position where you are being sexually harassed or abused by somepony. Further, you can always come to me or another registrar to complain about any kind of mistreatment, and the matter will be investigated and resolved by Club officials.” She paused for a moment, seemingly trying to collect her thoughts. “A~nd... Oh! Yes, I should mention that you can change your being registered as Ms. Elusive's sub at any time without her being present or even involved in the decision, but the registrar that updated your membership will send her a notice of the change.” She paused again before continuing in a more lax fashion, “I think that covers member rights, more or less. If you want to know more about what the Club does for its members I've got some stuff you can read.”

The registrar pulled Rarity and Twilight's respective membership paperwork from the folders on the counter. She flipped to a section that contained a box about relationship status. “Alright, we'll mark each of you as the others marefriend? Or is it more serious than that?”

Twilight's cheeks flushed as she considered what to call their newly complicated relationship. Before she could settle on a label that seemed appropriate, Rarity provided her own term. “It seems to me that 'significant other' would be the best way to put it.”

Play Date nodded and scribbled on each page, then checked a few boxes. She pulled an additional sheet from under the counter and laid it out for Rarity. “OK, now I just need you to specify what restrictions you want to put on Ms. Star's privileges while I explain to her what those typically consist of.” Rarity levitated the quill and began to mark boxes and write specifics down while the toy-loving Club official turned her attention back to Twilight.

“So, a typical member's privileges can be suspended or revoked, either by a dom like in your case, or by Club officials as a penalty for violating our rules or pending an investigation of alleged misconduct. Privileges include hosting events, attending informal events hosted by other members, taking advantage of discounts at businesses associated with the Club, publishing adverts in the Club newsletter and employment through the Club.”

“Employment? You mean like becoming a registrar?”

“Hahah, no, no,” Play Date blurted out before catching herself. She cleared her throat and resumed, “It's not a simple process becoming a registrar. A member could become a registrar, but that's entirely different than what I'm talking about. I mean that businesses with ties to the Club sometimes have opportunities for members, and the Club hires private security and mail carriers and such from amongst its members.”

“Well, who decides to make whom into registrars?”

Play Date seemed confused by the question, and took a moment to answer. “Well, registrars appoint new registrars. There's an application process. Why? Did you want to become one?”

“No, not exactly. I'm just trying to understand the hierarchy. Who is in charge of making sure registrars do their job properly?”

“Um, each other, I guess? I mean...” Play Date furrowed her brow and seemed to be deep in thought.

“What I'm getting at is that the Club had to start somewhere,” Twilight clarified. “I'm trying to understand how this system was put in place and what keeps it organized.”

“Er, it sort of just runs itself. I don't have any idea how long the Club has been going, let alone who started it off.”

“Registrars aren't required to know about the history of the Club, or keep records made by their predecessors?”

“Um, the Club has a mission statement that we all know and rules that we memorize, but I was never aware of any kind of history. Besides, member records are destroyed after they leave the Club – to preserve their privacy – which means that a registrar's successor only gets the paperwork for current members in their district. So... no, there isn't any kind of documents or paper trail to follow.”

“What about records of the businesses associated with the Club? What about buildings the Club owns for use as venues?”

“I only really know about Ponyville. The Glory Hole in the Wall and Lotus and Aloe's spa are the only local businesses that offer deals for members. There's a big house in town that members can lease for events. The Club is definitely older than any of these.”

“Is it older than Ponyville itself?”

“Maybe,” Play Date shrugged. “Have you finished, Ms. Elusive?”

“Oh yes, I made my selections a moment ago, but I thought I'd let Eve finish with her questions.”

“Well, I'll just let you go ahead and explain the limits you'd like to impose while I notarize these changes.”

Play Date seemed entirely too happy to be doing paperwork, but Twilight decided not to press further just then. After all, I occasionally enjoy organizing my own documents. Instead, she turned her attention to Rarity. “Well, what am I missing out on?” she asked with playful mock concern.

“First and foremost, you cannot host or attend an event without my permission. Of course, this means you won't be sending invitations or RSVP in response to any without my say so. I've got to keep an eye on you after all,” Rarity remarked with a wink. “Other than that, I've chosen to have your mass-mail redirected to me. Newsletters, mail promotions and such. Lastly, I've taken the liberty of restricting access to Club-affiliated venues and member discounts without my presence. It may seem petty, but I want to oversee most of your activities within the scope of the Club. Just until I feel that you've earned more leeway.”

“Until I've earned it? Have I done anything to irk you?”

“I suppose you could try addressing me a bit more respectfully, but truth be told, I just believe that privileges should be earned rather than given.”

“I suppose you decided when you'd earned them for yourself?” Twilight joked. She had hardly said it before Rarity's glare turned her stomach to parasprites. Twilight's ears bent flat against her head as she gulped and put on a repentant smile. Rarity looked her up and down and settled into an uncompromising eye contact. Twilight felt as though she were being looked through.

“That deadpan humor will be the first thing to go,” Rarity said in a tone akin to noting a tedious chore to be done later. “Further, I think you should only respond when appropriate and address me as 'Mistress' or a similarly respectful title. Is that clear?”

Twilight's mind took a moment to thaw under her dom's icy stare, hurried along by a forceful hoof-tapping. “Erm, yes, um, M-mistress. I understand.” Rarity raised an eyebrow as she gave Twilight one last appraising look before turning away. A shudder ran up Twilight's back. That was terrifying! Although, the pliant princess reconsidered as tingling warmth spread through her hips, maybe it wasn't so bad...

“Play Date, there is one more thing I'd like to discuss with you.” Rarity declared.

The registrar had already begun putting away the files while wearing a positively shameful smirk and stealing glances at Rarity's admonishment of Twilight's behavior. She now looked up with a slightly worried face and responded, “Oh, was it something to do with your membership?”

“No. It's more concerned with you than us.”

“Oh? OH!” Play Date suddenly seemed very interested. “Is it my toy design? How are the two of you liking it?”

Twilight's ears perked up. That's right! She doesn't just own this place, she designs some of the products. Rarity had Play Date make the strap-on, I can ask her-, but Twilight's thoughts were interrupted when Rarity spoke again, sounding very agitated this time.

“It's nothing to do with your business, either, I'm afraid. I actually wanted to point out an egregious transgression of Club conduct that occurred just a few days ago, in this very shop.”

Twilight felt her heart sink as she considered what Pinkie's punishment might be. Play Date seemed similarly upset. It must be hard to dole out punishments. That's one thing about being a leader that I'm not looking forward to.

“Um, here in my shop? What do you mean?”

“I mean that you allowed a non-member to be present while you were conducting official Club business and did not warn another member of that pony's presence, which in turn led to that member mistakenly discussing details of Club activities in front of somepony who should not have been privy to such things.”

Twilight and Play Date's jaws both dropped. Oh my Celestia. Rarity, I love you! Twilight thought with relief as Rarity spun the unfortunate situation to Pinkie Pie's benefit.

“I... what!? When – WHAT!?” Play Date stumbled over her words. She looked back and forth between Rarity and Twilight a couple times, eyes wide and fidgeting with her forehooves. “No! I'm a little scatter-brained sometimes, but I'd never let that happen!”

“Oh really? Would you care to explain how it is that you not only registered Evening Star as a member, but also sold supplies for a Club event to Cherry Berry Crumble while a mutual friend of theirs and mine was present without that friend overhearing everything that was said?”

Play Date furrowed her brow as she recalled that days events. “But... she knew you were, well, Elusive. I thought...” she trailed off, looking slightly ill.

“You can't possibly expect anyone to believe that you didn't recognize Rainbow Dash. Nor could you have been unaware that she isn't a member, since you are responsible for the records of every member in Ponyville. I'm sure that isn't a terribly long list.”

“It's not,” the sex shop owner admitted very quietly. She looked extremely nervous at this point.

“So, it seems that we have a problem. My friend, Ms. Crumble, understandably assumed it would be alright to discuss the Club with Evening Star in front of Rainbow Dash. Eve had only just joined, and Dash isn't a member at all, so neither of them could have possibly realized that anything was wrong until it was too late. Clearly, Berry is in violation of Club rules, but I imagine that if she is punished she'll be wanting to appeal on the basis that a registrar was already discussing the Club in front of the non-member in question.”

Play Date seemed to shrink, and for a moment she simply shook like a leaf while giving Rarity a pleading look. Then she swallowed and seemed to find her voice. “There's, uh, there's no reason to assume that anypony will be punished. I mean, I'll need to get in touch with Ms. Crumble and Ms. Dash to ascertain how bad the breach of Club rules is. After that, well, I can take care of it. I'll see to it that Ms. Crumble understands not to discuss the Club with anypony present that she isn't certain is a member. I'll also make sure that Rainbow Dash is aware of the importance of preserving the Club's secrecy and that there will be repercussions for her if she doesn't.”

“Well, in that case I don't see the need for anyone else to know about this little mishap.”

“NO!” Play Date exclaimed, before catching herself. “No, of course not. I can handle this, I assure you. There is no need for concern.”

With that said, Rarity turned to leave and led Twilight from the shop. Once outside, Twilight drew her friend into an embrace. “Rarity, that was brilliant! Thank you for that, I was really worried that Pinkie would get into a lot of trouble.”

“Twilight,” Rarity said sternly as she gently pushed the alicorn away. Twilight stepped back, uncertain and confused. “I do appreciate your gratitude and affection,” Rarity told her soothingly. “However, I must insist on enforcing my direct instructions when nopony else is around.”

Twilight had to consider Rarity's words for a moment before she understood. “You want me not to talk unless spoken to first, Mistress?” she asked with a coquettish smile.

“Mm-hm. Whenever I give an order that isn't associated with a particular time or event, you should assume that I mean for you to continue following that instruction until I tell you otherwise. Of course, I don't expect you to act differently in public than you normally would.”

“May I speak unprompted to ask for your permission to do things without being told, Your Highness?”

“If I didn't know better, I'd think you were addressing me that way mockingly rather than taking this seriously,” Rarity accused, albeit with a smile on her face. “What is it that you'd like to do?”

“I'm still a little concerned about Rainbow Dash. I know it's silly, but I want to go check on her.”

“What are we forgetting?”

I think I am forgetting something actually, Twilight pondered. After a moment, she remembered. “Oh, yes! I was supposed to look for a toy Rainbow wanted. Pinkie made her promise not to come back here after...” Twilight trailed off when she saw the unamused look on Rarity's face. “Um. What were you thinking of?” she asked meekly.

“You neglected to address me properly when asking for my permission to run off.”

“Oh! I'm sorry, Rar – er, My Queen,” Twilight corrected with a apologetic smile.

“Better. Go ahead and check in on her if it will make you feel better. You should probably go ahead and make sure that Spike is doing alright as well. Knowing him, the little cutie is probably still asleep this early in the morning, without you there to wake him.”

“You're probably right,” Twilight giggled. “Mistress!” she added hastily. “So, Mistress, would it be really terrible to go back in and try to get-”

“Let's give Play Date a little space for now,” Rarity said gingerly, “poor dear would probably have a heart attack if we went back in right this second.”

Twilight Sparkle followed Rarity back to the Carousel Boutique to return the borrowed garments before making her way to the edge of town and flying up to Rainbow Dash's cloud home. She'd told herself it was silly to think that Pinkie Pie could have actually somehow forced or coerced Rainbow into coming to the party last night, let alone being the ponyata, but that didn't stop her anxiety from bubbling up on the way. This is silly, she chided herself, Rainbow was just joking before. She'll probably laugh at me for even bothering to come and check on her.

Twilight knocked on the door and waited with waning patience for an answer. When another knock and a full minute of anxious silence didn't yield any results, she decided to look through some of the windows. What time is it? she wondered as she started peeking into the house. Maybe she is still in bed.

“Hey!” a familiar voice shouted from behind and above her, “What are you doing?”

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called up to her as she flew higher to hover along side her friend.

“Why were you trying to spy on me?”

“I wasn't! You didn't answer when I knocked, so I decided to try and spot you through the windows before looking elsewhere.”

“Well, duh, I didn't answer. I left to punch in at work at 9. I had to kick a few wandering clouds back into line and help the weather team direct some winds. Didn't you notice it's kinda breezy this morning?”

“I'm not even sure what time it is right now,” Twilight admitted. “Actually, I came to see how you were doing.”

“Why?”

“Oh, um, you just seemed kind of upset when you left last night.”

Rainbow's face darkened just a little as she looked away for a moment. “I'd almost forgot about the party while I was at work. How was it?”

“It was...” –strange, exciting, intimidating, distressingly similar to a scene from a bad spy novel, totally inappropriate for ponies of any age, probably not something I should talk to a non-member about– “fun.”

“You totes sound like you mean that.”

“That observation sounded completely genuine and not sarcastic at all.”

*Pfft* “OK, OK, no more sarcasm," Dash laughed. "I'm fine, and it sounds like you're not too messed up after whatever happened, either. Let's move on.”

Is she hiding something? “I just wanted to know whether or not Pinkie was still harassing you. I know she's our friend and we can trust her, but I'm just concerned that she'll get carried away do something terribly... silly.”

“I haven't seen her today.”

She still sounds evasive. “Did you see her again last night?”

Rainbow gave Twilight a hard look, and seemed a bit unnerved as she asked, “Why are you asking?”

Twilight closed her eyes, took a deep breath and accepted that she was probably about to embarrass herself. “I saw a pony in a skin-tight getup being used as a ponyata on my way out, and there were colorful streamers in her tail, and this morning I woke up and suddenly wondered if it was actually you because of that dumb joke you made yesterday.” Twilight sucked in another breath when she had finished and let it out slowly.

When she opened her eyes again, Dash was trying to keep a straight face, but not from laughter. “I had a nightmare about that actually. I don't want to talk about it!” she added forcefully as Twilight opened her mouth to speak. “I just need to get Pinkie to stop bugging me. I'll figure it out, don't worry about it.”

Try as Twilight might, she could not get Rainbow Dash to open up about the dream or what she intended to do about their excitable, pink friend. After a little longer, Twilight decided to head home and found that Spike had just woken a little earlier and was getting ready for a late breakfast. As she helped cook and then ate her own lunch a bit early, she was still distracted by the events of the prior night and that morning. Unfortunately, it showed.

“Twilight, you in there?” Spike asked her. “It seems like you're mind's a million miles away. What's got you so fixated?”

“Sorry, Spike, I've just got a lot on my mind.” Twilight considered what she could and couldn't tell Spike. He was too young to discuss the raunchier aspects of what had been going on. Besides which, even leaving the sex out entirely, she didn't know how to break it to him that she had somehow wound up in some kind of close relationship with the one pony he'd ever had a crush on. She didn't know how to explain the situation with Pinkie Pie and Rainbow dash without opening herself up to a lot of uncomfortable questions. That just leaves...

“At the party I went to the other night, there were three ponies from Canterlot who are all involved in politics. Rarity has had to deal with them before, and now she wants my help because she can't stop them from abusing their influence for selfish, harmful reasons. I'm just concerned that I won't be able to have any effect on them, or that they'll trick me into helping them achieve whatever it is they're after.”

“Shyeah, like that could happen. You're the smartest pony around, and a Princess, too! Whoever these guys are, you're way outta their league.”

Twilight couldn't help but smile at Spike's naïve praise. Who knows? Maybe he's right, they didn't seem terribly bright, after all. Maybe everyone they've come up against has been too afraid to do anything.

As the day crept on into the afternoon, Twilight kept busy. She caught up on her correspondence with Canterlot and the Crystal Empire, gave herself a refresher course on the structure of Equestrian government, made a to-do list for the next day and rechecked her to-do list for the next day. After a while, Twilight ran out of things to do and cursed herself for not making a checklist for today yesterday. It occurred to her that she wasn't sure if Rarity had expected her to come back after checking in on Rainbow Dash and Spike and decided to pay the fashionista another visit.

A short walk later, Twilight entered the boutique, surprised to discover that there were no patrons today. “Rarity?” she called out, “Are you home?”

“You don't learn very quickly, do you?” the beautiful unicorn replied in a tone that carried authority and demanded attention. “I thought I made it clear I expected to be addressed with reverence,” she continued as she walked slowly toward Twilight with an unyielding gaze.

Twilight could only meet Rarity's eyes and apologize, “Forgive me, Mistress. I wasn't sure if you were alone.”

“My silly princess,” the dominant pony said before she clicked her tongue against her teeth. “Didn't you see the closed sign on the door? I've been waiting for you to return. For that matter, what took you so long?”

Twilight felt her cheeks burning, she hadn't noticed any such sign, and was uncomfortably aware that she wouldn't be able to give any good reason for being gone so long. “I wasn't certain if I was meant to come back straight away, Mistress. I just busied myself with other things until I had finished everything I needed to get done today.”

Rarity took hold of Twilight's ear with her magic and pulled her along towards the stairs. “So, my princess has better things to do than see to her queen's needs, does she? We'll just see about that!”

Author's Note

Augh, I'm a complete bum. I'm so sorry for being gone an entire month, I don't even have a good reason. I just kind of hit a slump with my writing and couldn't get anything out. I'll try to not do that again, or at least post a blog when I'm going to be late delivering another chapter.

I know that this chapter is a bit all over the place, kinda exposition heavy, and just barely advances the story at all. I'm also aware that there isn't ~~much~~ ANY hot pony action. I promise the next chapter will delve into Twi and Rare's relationship a bit more, have some titillation and even advance the plot a little. I just needed to have a sort of in-between addressing the point at which Pinkie and Dash's side story completely breaks off from the main one. Henceforth, those chapters will have little to do with the rest of the story, but they should be a lot of fun.

As ever, give me criticism. I'm certain this chapter is a weak bit of writing for me, partly because I started it, stopped and came back about 4 weeks later after forgetting what I wanted to do with it. Also, I encourage speculation and wishful thinking. I reserve the right to ignore the ideas I don't like and steal the one's I do.