To readers who finished the former Chapter 18 before 18 February 2015,

This chapter comprises the revised second part of the old Chapter 18 (now chapters 23 and 24). It is not new to the story.

“Are there any questions now, before I move on to the research?” Nopony raised her hoof, and Twilight inhaled deeply then exhaled, relieved to be through the history portion of her lecture. The lavender mare flipped the chalk board back to the side on which she'd listed the consequences of sex.

Sweetie seemed to struggle a bit for focus, but, as both Rarity and Fluttershy fixed their posture, eager to hear what scientific discovery might contradict what they'd been raised to believe, Sweetie sensed especial importance in what Twilight was about to tell them. Following suit, Sweetie roused herself, sitting up straight next to Fluttershy and drawing energy from her special somepony's close company.

“Due to the pervasiveness—ubiquity, uhm ... the prevalence, or ... commonness of the belief that foalsexuality is wrong, it has been common practice for most researchers to skew their results unfairly, reaching to show what negative impact foal sex leaves rather than just plain facts. The very language used throughout most of their reports is colored with cultural bias. For example, instead of simply saying 'foal sex,' we only see 'foal sex abuse.' Instead of identifying adult ponies with a genuine attraction to foals as 'foalsexuals' or 'foal-attracted,' researchers often lump them together with aggressive sexual opportunists—ponies who force sex on a foal or anypony they can, simply because they're more available or easier targets, and sometimes violently or without any prior relationship. Whether it be a pony like Fluttershy, who's never used force on a pony,” Twilight qualified with a glance at her pegasus friend, “or one of these types, researchers call them all 'predators,' and, every foal they make sexual contact with, they call 'victims' or 'survivors.' Furthermore, any effort to build trust and educate a foal before sex is looked down upon, when done by a pony who wants a willing sexual relationship, and is called 'grooming.'”

Fluttershy grimaced at each mention of force, thinking of her weaker moments, and her frown grew as Twilight listed the labels that were now and probably forever stuck to her and Sweetie Belle. Sweetie wondered at the comparison between herself and some sort of pet, and Rarity, though not visibly, paled as she thought again about the pegasus's confession and wondered again whether there were other foals she might have touched.

“It's this bias that one group of researchers attempted to avoid just fifteen years ago with serious backlash from Separatists and their sympathizers,” Twilight explained. The purple pony summoned a scroll, unraveling it to scan the notes she'd taken and revised over the past week. With her chalk already in position, she drew two partially overlapping circles.

“Typically,” Twilight began, “mental health professionals—those, specifically, who make it their job to treat and research psychological and behavioral issues to help and learn more about the ways in which ponies think and act outside of what's normal or expected—professionals have looked very closely at what's called the clinical population.” Twilight labeled the left circle. “'Clinical population' is another way of saying all ponies who come to seek help from the professionals or are sent to professionals for legal reasons. ... Fairly early on, in the field—er, profession—of psychology, it became apparent that the clinical population was not a good source of information to judge how the general population—ponies who don't usually need help—act and think. Because of the taboo of foal sex, unfortunately, for a long time, research about ponies that had experienced sex as foals was rarely conducted and came almost exclusively from the clinical population.

“The group of researchers I mentioned, named after their lead researcher, Bright Rein—just Rein, for short—decided that they ought to look outside of the clinical population for information to better understand what the effects of foal sex are, without the skew or bias that comes with the generally less-healthy clinical population.”

Twilight labeled the right circle as “Foal Sex Abus—” but stopped and decided to erase the last word.

“Rein suggests in her work that the term 'abuse' be reserved for types of foal sex that show a more significant correlation with harm. For our purposes—um ... the word 'abuse' is best saved for types of foal sex that seem to be correlated, or connected, with harm,” Twilight interrupted herself, drawing her forehooves together for further clarification. Sweetie Belle and Rarity both lowered their hooves. “Instead of 'abuse victim,' Let's refer to foals who've experienced sex as,” she paused to contemplate her word choice, “'sexually exposed foals,'” Twilight completed, erasing the rest of what she'd started to write and replacing it with the new term above the circle, “as in, foals who may have had either positive, negative, or neutral experiences with sex.

“Naturally, there are many ponies who seek and need help dealing with psychological issues who may also have difficulty living with foalhood sexual experiences.” Twilight shaded the intersection between the two circles. “Nevertheless, Rein removes that part of the population from her analysis to see what effect is left without interference from possibly unrelated psychological symptoms.” Twilight ex-ed out the left circle and drew an arrow to the un-shaded part of the right circle. “She's left mostly with data—information—from studies about young adult ponies from academies and trade schools throughout Equestria who've had foalhood sexual experiences growing up. It's not a perfect sampling of the common pony, but they decide to analyze what they can.

“It's fortunate, really, that, by the time Rein conducted this analysis, there had been much more research done outside of clinical samples. A small number of other analyses already existed, but none quite so comprehensive—so thorough as Rein managed to do. With newer studies, they were able to analyze information for over 13,000 young stallions and about 22,000 young mares to determine how commonly foals experience sex. For starters,” Twilight grinned as she finally reached one of her favorite parts of the lesson, statistics, “a little more than one in every four mares has some sort of sexual experience in their youth with an older pony. About half as many stallions, one in seven, also have similar sexual experiences before reaching adulthood.”

Twilight drew two pie charts labeled male and female to the upper-right of her circle diagram. Referring to her notes briefly, she filled in a slice for males with “14%” and a slice on the female pie for “27%.”

“There are more differences between colts and fillies that are rather fascinating, but I'll skip most of them for today.”

In an empty space below the pie charts, Twilight scrawled ...

TYPES OF EXPERIENCE (FEMALE):

- invitation: excluded

- exhibitionism: 32%

- fondling/masturbation: 39%

- oral sex: 3%

- attempted intercourse: excluded

- completed intercourse: 13%

“These percentages are estimates of the rates of experience types that sexually exposed fillies have had in the academic and trade school population—that is, among young adult student females who were exposed to sex as fillies. ... Yes, Sweetie.”

“What's exi—exib—exibit-ishon-ism?”

Twilight looked to Rarity who had again turned somber. She nodded stoically.

“Thank you for asking,” she smiled. “Exi-bition-ism is the sexual practice of flaunting one's genitals at another pony for some reaction. It's usually the pony who wants sex, or maybe just wants a sexual thrill, who shows him-or-herself to another, but in this special case, it also includes an adult pony asking a filly to show herself or trying to spy on her when her tail may be raised or she might be doing something private down there. The act usually has a different name when it involves spying, but that's unimportant for now. Either way, it's done to excite the adult pony sexually.”

Sweetie thought about how looking closely at Fluttershy's private parts had made her feel, and she thought she understood. The filly nodded.

“Something important to note here—Rein compares these statistics to those taken from a combination of surveys that include ponies in the general population from multiple kingdoms, including Equestria, not just the student population that their analysis mostly focuses on. This is to get an idea for how closely young adult students in Equestria compare to ponies across the globe, to better understand whether their analysis of young adult students might apply to everypony.”

Twilight gently peeled the diagram of overlapping circles with her magic as she had before with the list and, focusing, reduced its size and repositioned it. With practiced haste and precision, she drew a bar graph in the newly-freed space next to the percentages to illustrate them.

“They found that, while global and student rates are similar proportionately—they look the same in certain ways,” Twilight paraphrased as she drew new lines past each bar and shaded between the greater and lesser marks to show how the set of global percentages compared to those of the student population, “the magnitude of each type—how much each happened—among the average global population was sometimes much greater than that of the student population—triple, in the case of oral sex.” Twilight tapped each bar of the graph for emphasis. “Fondling and masturbation, however, shows a much more noteworthy difference for its overall magnitude.”

| - invitation

|==========## - exhibitionism

|============########## - fondling/masturbation

|=## - oral sex

| - attempted intercourse

|====# - completed intercourse

“The difference here is an example of how the student sample—I mean, how adult students are both similar to and different from ponies in general, student or not. In other words, the results of Rein's analysis only apply to the general population insofar as average ponies are similar to adult students in Equestria. On top of this, Rein explains in their analysis that, due to the way data was collected by various researchers, the more mild types are underestimated.” Twilight paused to take a breath “Still ... Rein's analysis is among the best information I've found, and, after looking closely at everything in it, I feel it's safe to say that, even if the results might not fit for the average pony, at least Sweetie Belle has a very high chance of fitting, or of being like foals that later become adult students.”

Twilight drew a line, splitting the overlapping circles lengthwise and labeling above and below the line as “Global,” and “Student.” Turning back, she observed her audience for a moment, hopeful that what she was saying registered coherently for each of them. It looked like they were struggling to keep up, and Twilight sweat just a little, anxiously.

“With this in mind, seeing how the, um—that is ... keeping in mind that the results probably apply in Sweetie Belle's case,” Twilight tapped the area of her circle diagram that now represented non-clinical students with foalhood sexual experiences and looked at the foal, then at each young mare next to her, “even though they might not fit her situation perfectly, we'll look at what Rein has found to be the most common effects of foal sexual exposure. First, though, I know this is a lot to take in ... so ... do any of you have any questions yet?”

Twilight looked at each of her friends, waiting patiently as long as they examined the board and appeared to mull everything over. Rarity eventually raised a hoof. “Yes, Rarity.” Twilight called brightly.

The unicorn mare spoke slowly at first, still formulating her question. “You said ... Rein suggested not calling ... f—foal sex—” the tasteless term still issued with some difficulty “—not calling it abuse unless it harms a foal?” Twilight nodded and, seeing Rarity meant to ask more, remained silent. “So, do pardon me if I'm jumping ahead, but it sounds like we're about to hear how ... it ... doesn't harm foals. Do I understand that right?”

The lavender pony tilted her head to the side as she considered how best to answer. “You're right that Rein finds no empirical—clearly observable link to the most commonly assumed types of harm to foals, but that's not to say that Rein proves it does no harm or that they find no correlation between harm and foal sex under special conditions.” Twilight resisted the urge to launch into her next segment. It wouldn't help to speed through as she wished she could.

Rarity nodded, and silence settled again between the four ponies.

Sweetie tried out of habit to think of something specific to ask, but it all began to be a bit much for her to grasp. She thought she caught some of it, but talk of types and populations had flown by a little too quickly for her to really feel confident, especially while part of her mind—okay, most of her mind—was still thinking about what Fluttershy's nethers had looked like up close and the unusual sort of energy she now recognized behind her curiosity back then, even before she'd tried to touch herself. Hearing Twilight confirm that this was just another kind of sexual excitement led Sweetie off on a mental tangent to their first date, and she'd decided that kissing was maybe more her thing, at least for now. After that, tuning back in to what Twilight had been saying was only made more of a struggle by the warmth she felt pressed against Fluttershy and the mare's soft, sweet-smelling feathers gathering her tenderly next to her. She began to feel drowsy until she heard her sister's voice next to her and she perked back up, trying to glean enough from Twilight's charts to think of an intelligent question. Deciding it was no use, however, she sighed and leaned into Fluttershy, relaxed.

Almost subconsciously, Fluttershy ran her feathers in smooth arcs, down and across the filly's side. She had no questions yet, and, in spite of her fatigue and the temptation to daydream at the various types of foal sex that she'd read on the board, Fluttershy remained focused, not only because the lecture piqued her interest, but because she had to, she told herself. She could tell the filly next to her wasn't quite so alert, but, thought Fluttershy, she'd already done more than her fair share in fighting for their union, more than Fluttershy would have ever asked. The pegasus mare couldn't help but feel duty-bound to let Sweetie rest a bit while she took care of her.

A couple moments passed, and Twilight assessed and found her two adult friends, at least, to be ready for more. There might not be enough time to help Sweetie fully understand, she thought, especially since the filly's half-lidded eyes and gradually slumping posture queued Twilight to her littlest pupil's lack of attention. No matter. There would be time later if everything went according to plan, and much of the information she was sharing was more for the benefit of the adult ponies, in any case.

“Alright, this next part should be fairly straightforward, but don't hesitate to stop me, of course, for clarification.” Twilight once again levitated the writing from the board's surface, leaving only the old list of consequences from before their break. Carefully, she moved the writing away, flipped the board, and erased the time line on the other side in order to replace it with Rein's prevalence statistics. “We've talked about how often foal sex happens, and, before”—Twilight flipped the board back to the side half-filled with a table listing the consequences of foal sex—“we listed our own ideas about the consequences of sex in general plus foal sex. Now let's look at what possible consequences professionals have studied with respect to adult-foal sexual experiences.”

Twilight marked a new title, “PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT,” and unraveled her notes further to read and copy down the list she'd taken from the analysis, briefly explaining those less commonly understood in laymare's terms.

“Alcohol use, anxiety, depression, dissociation or breakdowns in perception and awareness, eating disorders, hostility, interpony sensitivity, locus of control or the sense a pony has of control over herself and her environment, obsessive compulsiveness, paranoia, phobia, psychotic symptoms or loss of contact with reality, self-esteem, sexual adjustment, social adjustment, somatization or physical ailment from a psychiatric condition, suicide, and, last, wide adjustment or general well-being.”

Sweetie's focus was rapidly declining, now, and despite wanting to keep up, the cozy pegasus next to her clouded her thoughts and made her wish more for a nap. She ought to raise her hoof for some clarification. Twilight seemed vaguely to notice her lapse in good-student behavior, but the alicorn mare said nothing to her about it, and Sweetie couldn't bring herself to shake her drowsiness in light of the past week's strain ... especially when the princess acorn butter coco-roast hay dogs ... Sweetie's eyes closed, and the remainder of her conscious thought fizzled out to nothingness.

As Twilight went on about effect sizes, moderators, self reports, and family environments, Rarity was the last to notice the filly's light breathing. If anything, it came as a relief that her sister needn't be exposed any more to the adult topic. In the back of her mind, Rarity considered whether the familiar cuteness of her sister's sleeping form was at all diminished now by what she knew about the pegasus holding her. She simply couldn't tell anymore, and the thought unsettled her further.

Whether the sexual nature of their feelings for each other tainted the way Rarity felt about them, either individually or as a couple, it sounded more and more like the science of their relationship wasn't what most expected. What seemed to be a black topic turned gradually to shades of gray. No matter how Rarity tried to spin what she heard logically, she couldn't see the sexual relationship that her little sister wanted as purely harmful or safe except, maybe—though she still doubted—as certain circumstances were necessarily met, like Twilight had said.

“... The use of force, lack of consent in the psychological sense, and, most of all, poor family environment, were the only differences Rein found between well-adjusted foals and those who experienced lasting psychological harm.” Twilight indicated various charts and tables as she spoke and paused, not for the first time, to take a drink. “While, for stallions, self-reports were all positive or neutral, in the case of student mares their self-reported remembered immediate reactions and their current reflections back on their sexual experiences are nearly balanced between negative, positive, and neutral, as long as they gave simple, uninformed consent, no force was used, and their family relationships were well adjusted. Those with negative memories or reflections, however, did not suffer any more psychological maladjustment under the same conditions than students with positively reported experiences or who'd never been sexually solicited as fillies,” Twilight qualified.

“Supplementary research I've discovered showed that half of young student mares view their first consensual adult experience with intercourse as negative, and half view it as positive. I'm led to believe that young fillies could experience something similar with regard to sexual satisfaction and discomfort—that the split among self-reports from student mares in Rein's study might be caused in most cases by gender alone and not by the gender-age combination as Rein suggests. In other words,” Twilight didn't feel the need to clarify as much while Sweetie slept but did so in this case for the importance that her conclusion held, “age's importance remains uncertain, but likely diminished for fillies as much as for colts in determining whether they perceive their foalhood sexual experiences positively or negatively.

“Rein's study isn't the only source I managed to find in the restricted section that supports the idea that adult-foal sexual relationships in and of themselves leave no empirically demonstrable harm. I have yet to delve fully into everything I've found, including comments from other professionals that criticize Rein's results and the politically incorrect manner of their presentation.”

Twilight cleared her throat before moving on to her final summation.

“In short ... what we see throughout history is true of what we see in research today. There is conflict and ambiguity about whether or not adult-foal sexual relationships might actually be harmless under special conditions. With willingness on our part to look closely at our values, we might decide foal marriage is alright under those special circumstances, or we might decide otherwise, but, hopefully, if we've been honest with ourselves, we'll have a better understanding as to why we believe what we do, either way.”

Twilight paused to read her friends' reactions. Fluttershy sat straight, perhaps taller than usual, tension apparent in her neck, back, and shoulders. She wore a serious, almost grave, contemplative expression. Rarity's expression seemed no lighter; her posture was slumped and tired, her eyes filled with deep concern and something else.

“I'd like to stress ... I make no pretense of telling you I have a definite answer—only an answer that, after weeks of study, I've come to hesitantly but, with time, confidently accept. For my best friends, I promise,” Twilight locked eyes with Fluttershy, “it's been worth every ounce of trouble to make it to this point, and I'll continue to work for a better understanding. Considering what we're up against,” Twilight shifted her gaze to rest on Rarity's meek form, “it had better be worth it, or all of us will probably regret going any farther.

“My answer to whether or not Fluttershy and Sweetie Belle ought to be together while Sweetie is so young—”

Fluttershy steeled herself and Rarity straightened and leaned in, eager but terrified to hear Twilight's conclusion.

“—is that, with whatever knowledge we can gather for our strength and protection, each of us must do what her heart tells her to. ... A relationship with Sweetie is what you both want, Fluttershy.” Twilight affirmed. “If we're careful, I really believe much more good than bad will come to Sweetie through the relationship itself, depending on you and depending on whether her family and friends support you both.”

Twilight faced Rarity boldly but tenderly, wishing that the courage she felt might spark something in her friend as well. “The risk we would take in supporting them, Rarity, if you feel the way I do about what good can come, would be in exposing—” Twilight stopped abruptly and looked at the peaceful foal tucked warmly next to Fluttershy. Her tone softened, and Twilight looked sad, “exposing Sweetie ... and ourselves,” Twilight looked back at Rarity, “to moral outrage from Equestria at large. It could ruin our reputations, make life difficult for our families, and our Ponyville neighbors and friends might be scandalized.”

Fluttershy bit her lower lip to keep from whimpering as Twilight named risks she'd known and feared her whole life.

A shadow fell over Twilight's eyes as she spoke, and she thanked her lucky stars that Sweetie was asleep for at least this part of her speech. “Sometimes, fear drives even peaceful, dignified ponies to violence. That fear won't be helped by the fact that a new princess will be your defense if we fail to keep this away from public knowledge. ... If you feel their love deserves a chance—if it deserves taking these risks and more—then we can work together to avoid public scrutiny and help make sure that their relationship is healthy.”

Rarity seemed transfixed, frozen by each word exiting her friend's mouth.

Twilight's eyes shimmered emotionally at Rarity. “You asked before why your opinion is so important—why what you think matters,” Twilight reminded. “I can't, in good conscience, continue to support their relationship without your help, not just because you're our friend and Sweetie's sister, but because every scholarly source, including those neutral to foalsexuality as Rein's analysis is—everything I've studied hints that a family environment which doesn't support a foal's relationship leads to a staggering increase in likelihood that harm will come to that foal.”

Twilight paused to find the right words, as if what she was about to say felt unnatural to her.

“This conclusion isn't entirely based upon logic or research. Even if research and history didn't leave so much uncertainty, the main reason for my decision is more than that—a strong feeling—a matter of the heart, if you will. ... If you,” Twilight nodded at Rarity, “can't support Sweetie's sexual relationship with Fluttershy, then, Fluttershy,” Twilight addressed the pegasus again, who looked wide-eyed and anxiously back. Her lips pursed, and she frowned, but she listened intently, knowing, after everything she'd heard that day, what was coming. Twilight continued in soft yet resolute tones, “if I know you as well as I think I do, you'll agree ... there can be no marriage while she's underage.”

Though she'd anticipated what Twilight said, Fluttershy flinched. Quickly recovering, she nodded. “Yes. I agree, Twilight.” Her soft-spoken answer was resolute. Though she remembered Sweetie's earlier commitment to wait if necessary, she thought of Sweetie's past desperation, and her eyes stung at the thought that her would-be bride might be so disappointed.

Fluttershy looked toward Rarity who turned her head almost mechanically to look back with the same frozen expression, like a frightened animal caught off guard. Fluttershy's eyes begged desperately, involuntarily, but she nodded bravely again at the unicorn mare. Sweetie Belle let out a short, incoherent, high-pitched noise resembling protest before falling silent again.

Despite her love of knowledge and of sharing that knowledge, Twilight recognized finally how drained she felt from the day's lecture. So much hinged on what she could teach, and she'd pushed herself to her limit to prepare. What's more, taking Applejack's advice and listening carefully to her heart had been no easy task for the princess. What she'd told Fluttershy was true. It had been worth the trouble. Twilight had thought only of her friends and how to ease their burden, but her selflessness had ultimately taken its toll on her. At long last, knowing she'd done her best, regardless of the outcome, Twilight breathed a deep sigh of relief, and then, for a long time, nopony spoke.

Minutes later, Rarity swallowed.

“Please,” Rarity's eyes watered and she looked down, too ashamed to meet either friend's gaze, “don't tell Sweetie Belle what I'm about to tell you.”

Her lower lip quivered and she fought the desire to stop herself. Years ago she'd promised herself never to say it. Now, things had changed. For all of her uncertainty about what to do still with Sweetie, Rarity believed at least part of what Twilight had said was definitely true. Following her heart seemed to be the only way to decide what was best. She didn't understand why it led her to this, but, for Sweetie's sake, and for Fluttershy's, she added to herself, she had to be brave and try. Like her horn had done once so long ago, leading to her destiny, she trusted her heart would lead her to the right answer for her little sister.

“I was ... touched, once, as a filly, not very nicely.” The room's silence was punctuated by Sweetie's audible, sleeping breath. “She was ... an older cousin, a bit of an odd filly.” Rarity paused contemplatively, remembering her cousin. “Near the end, s-she, um,” her voice trembled, “put some things ... i-inside,” Rarity bit her lip momentarily, “and, when I tried to leave, she stopped me, and she told me that ... if anypony found out, that she'd tell them I—I liked it.”

Tears suddenly streaked down her cheeks. Thanks to a waterproofing spell, no makeup came with them this time, yet, to Rarity's surprise, feelings she'd forgotten seemed to wash up inside of her instead.

“I-I—” She stammered uncharacteristically, barely above a whisper, “I did like it.” Despite what humiliation she felt, Rarity's tone was flat, too tired, and too stressed for even the least of her usual dramatic flair. “I just ... didn't like what happened at the end, and I—I felt ... bad ... dirty ... and I was afraid that, if I told m-mother and father, I'd get into a lot of trouble, so I ... kept it secret, and I never went near her again if I could help it.” Rarity lifted her head and sat straight once more, but still wouldn't look at either of her friends. “Sometimes,” she spoke more normally but still softly, “it's easier to accept that we're victims when others are too.”

Rarity looked at Sweetie, watching her sleep, and she thought of how different things might have been if, maybe, the world hadn't been so cruel about her own fillyhood experience. What if her cousin's threat hadn't held so much dreadful consequence for Rarity? What if a filly being touched or liking the feeling had been no big deal? What if her cousin hadn't felt the need to threaten her at all? What if Violet—Rarity suddenly recalled the name she'd tried to forget—what if her cousin hadn't been pressed by fear to manipulate Rarity into silence, hadn't been afraid of the adults' reaction, but instead known that their parents would simply have treated her mistake with the love, discipline, and understanding of any other poor choice?

Rarity thought on all of this while the room remained still, and she was struck by the sudden anger she felt toward the adults. Wasn't it her parents and teachers who'd been responsible for teaching her to hide and be ashamed? She was struck once more by the sudden sympathy she felt for Violet, of all ponies. If what Rarity had learned today was true, it hadn't been just her cousin's fault that she'd been so afraid of the adults finding out.

Rarity thought of Fluttershy then. “Dirty or not—guilty or not, coming to terms with feelings that—that are just so strong and new, without a caring pony to guide you, well,” Rarity managed to look up at her pegasus friend with folded ears, “I think I know how that feels.”

Fluttershy felt a desperate need to embrace the young purple and white mare, but found herself trapped as long as she didn't want to wake the little filly beneath her wing. The pegasus opened her mouth as if to speak, but words failed her. Instead, she simply looked back, her eyes reflecting everything they saw in the delicate unicorn, her shame and sorrow, her fear and vulnerability. Magically or naturally, Rarity couldn't tell, something in the pegasus's eyes soothed her. Dark thoughts and feelings from which she'd long shied away rose to the surface, and the unspoken empathy in Fluttershy's eyes gave Rarity the permission she'd never given herself to accept them. Finally, there they were, painful and repulsive, maybe, but that couldn't be helped. What could be helped was how she felt about herself now. Shameful or not, what was past was past. Seeing now that Fluttershy still accepted her, cared for her, and loved her, finally, Rarity could begin to do the same for herself, to move on. Though her fight wasn't over, she managed to relax somewhat.

It was irrational, she knew, especially under present circumstances, yet Rarity clung to the root of her shame and fretted over whether Twilight might think less of her for her story. Whether or not she'd felt stifled growing up, how could she have liked something so tawdry? Whatever Violet's motivation or fear, the pubescent, misguided cousin had done things to her rather than with her, made her no better than a simple game or object for her entertainment, and, surely, Rarity had acted the part. She'd let herself be toyed with. It had felt like her own fault. Even the way Rarity had fallen for the older filly's ploy, the threat to expose her, confirmed she'd been no more than a tool to get her cousin off in the end.

Age and experience had informed Rarity that none of this was ever true. She'd made herself into a fine, respectable young mare and a heroine to boot. Still, against her initial feeling, she wasn't sure she ought to have shared the story after all, at least not so much. Her cheeks burned at the thought of what her cousin's hooves and tail had done so long ago and the fact that now she'd exposed the sordid secret to somepony so regal, somepony already better than she was, never mind that part of her virtue had been stolen. Though she knew Twilight would never admit it, now that she'd heard Rarity's confession, surely the intelligent purple mare must realize that Rarity didn't live up to her name's sake. Her worth was diminished, not rare; she was unclean. She'd already been used.

Breathing deeply, Rarity settled her more irrational fears. A word or two of consolation, she thought, seemed to be Twilight's most likely reaction. Whatever judgment the lavender alicorn had made, surely she wouldn't treat her as less of a friend, at least Rarity hoped as much. The princess had accepted Fluttershy's much graver confessions, after all, she reasoned.

For several seconds Rarity hesitated.

Attempting to push her remaining fear and shame back down once more, the white mare managed to compose a worried smile. “I'm sorry I've burdened you both—” she began, and, pausing, finally she forced her chin to raise and her eyes to meet the regal pony's gaze. For only a split second, Rarity saw tears and recognized the unmistakable longing of a friend who'd waited anxiously her turn to show the hurting mare how much she cared for her.

Rarity never finished whatever apology she thought she owed.

As the princess rushed to embrace her, she understood then what Twilight's true feelings were. Like Fluttershy, Twilight knew her pain. She accepted it. She loved her in spite of everything, and, like the true friend she was, Twilight grieved deeply for Rarity's lost self-worth. Oh! How could Rarity not finally do the same? Failing to push back her feelings any longer, the dam broke.

Rarity and Twilight cried together and held each other tightly; for how long, nopony kept track.

When Rarity felt ready to let go, finally, she released both Twilight and the old pain of her foalhood humiliation with her. Not just one friend but two now knew and accepted her. Knowing her secret, they saw her worth unchanged, and Rarity couldn't disbelieve them any longer. Sure of her friends' love for her, Rarity's self-doubt lifted and, miraculously, so did the burden of deciding whether to support Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy. The young mare no longer slumped, but sat tall and bright, restored and new, if a bit red-eyed from the long-overdue release of emotion. As if Twilight had given her heart wings, Rarity felt light as air.

She smiled and let out a subdued, tearful, happy laugh. “That wasn't so bad, now. Was it, Rarity?!” the little pony spoke cheerfully to herself. Each of her friends readily shared her relief and good humor, chuckling softly with her.

Fluttershy's convulsions, however restrained, awoke a young sleeping belle. Groggily, the little filly opened her eyes. “Wh—oh.” Sweetie slowly came to, and she gasped. “Oh no! I'm sorry! I—I didn't mean to fall asleep! What did I miss!?” The little unicorn squeaked and panicked. She looked across at Twilight and Rarity's tear-stained muzzles, and chill panic gripped her. Whatever she'd missed, Sweetie knew it had to have been extremely important.

Rarity summoned one of her own handkerchiefs to dry her eyes and blow lightly.

“Sweetie, it's alright.” Twilight started.

Before Twilight could continue, Rarity laid her hoof lightly on the lavender mare's shoulder to stop her. “Good news, little sister.” Rarity beamed. “We have a second date to plan for you and Fluttershy.”

A second and a gasp later, the filly glued herself to her sister, and both of Rarity's adult friends were left stunned and silent. At least a minute passed before Fluttershy fully understood and then decided that she wasn't dreaming. Twilight had begun to think that something might be wrong with the pegasus.

“Rarity!” Fluttershy leapt across the small gap between herself and her friends, forelegs outstretched in a manner Twilight thought only Pinkie Pie was capable of until that moment, and Rarity, Sweetie Belle, and Twilight all toppled together in a hug-pile that would have made the pink party pony proud. Twilight made the best of it and, grinning wider than she had since her coronation, she wrapped her arms as best she could around her pile-mates.

“Oh! I-I'm sorry! I'm just ... so ... h—happ—” The normally reserved mare finished with an emotional squeak before breaking down into relieved, joy-filled sniffles, arms still locked around all three ponies.

“Y—yes, Dear,” Rarity wheezed, the weight of all three of them slowly crushing her. “P-please ... get off, now, if it's not too much trouble.” Sweetie giggled perhaps a little too jubilantly at her sister's misfortune.

“O—oh!” The pegasus sniffled. “Of course!”

Fluttershy allowed herself a final group squeeze before fluttering back to her hooves, and, as Twilight teleported with a pop to her own hooves, Rarity gasped for air. Twilight telekinetically lifted the two sisters to their own hooves.

When Rarity had caught her breath and straightened her mane, she smiled at Fluttershy momentarily. Happy didn't do justice to what she felt at seeing both her sister and future sister-in-law so overwhelmed with joy at her decision to support them.

There was still one more thing to address, however. Rarity cleared her voice and squared herself to her would-be family member. “Fluttershy, there's something still that I need to ask you, and I feel I should warn you, although your answer will not affect my decision to let you date my—my sister,” that thought would take some getting used to, “it may affect what kind of dating and correspondences I'll support.”

Fluttershy's enormous smile narrowed slightly at the subject and seriousness of Rarity's tone but remained still almost impossibly wide, and Rarity couldn't help but smile herself at the sight. “Of course, Rarity. You can ask me anything!”

“Have you ... ever touched another foal ... younger than yourself?” Rarity narrowed her inquiry for only the most relevant information.

Fluttershy blushed faintly through her smile, but her answer was immediate. “No. Never, Rarity.”

Rarity sighed, relieved.

If that was all she had to answer, thought Fluttershy, she'd gotten off easy—incredibly easy ... too easy. A thought occurred to Fluttershy. “Rarity.” Fluttershy squared herself this time and Rarity looked back at attention. Fluttershy's smile narrowed a little bit more, but she still felt higher than the time she delivered a perfectly healthy litter of twelve puppies. “I feel I have to be honest with you and with Sweetie.” Her smile finally relaxed to what a smiling pony normally looks like, and her eyes showed the slightest bit of concern—nothing that came close to dampening her spirits. “You both know that the start of my and Sweetie's relationship was, um ... rocky,” Fluttershy started.

Sweetie listened, still grinning ear to ear. Rarity nodded, understanding that Fluttershy meant she'd lost control. She doubted she could ever forget it. Rarity's eyes and smile were compassionate now despite the original shock she'd suffered.

“Well, I've done other things that I regret, and, as my ... my fiancée, Sweetie, and as her guardian, Rarity, I feel you both have the right to know. I'm ready to tell you both, whenever you're ready to hear it, that is, if you want to hear it.”

It struck Rarity as odd that the timid mare smiled through such a serious statement. It struck her as even more odd that she herself kept grinning as well. Such was the power of affirmed love, she guessed. Rarity and Sweetie looked at each other, then back at Fluttershy. “I see.” Rarity sighed lightly. “I appreciate your openness, Darling, and ... as long as Twilight knows—” Rarity guessed she did for the fact that Twilight showed no sign of surprise. The regal mare confirmed, nodding with a delighted expression “—then it can wait.”

Fluttershy nodded, pleased.

“Well, then,” Rarity's smile grew again. “Seeing how the purpose of this meeting, unless I'm mistaken, was to convince me to support the two of you,” Rarity looked between the couple, her tone bright, on the edge of giddy, “and since that's been taken care of, and, I think, we're all a little tired of the scenery—no offense, Twilight, Dear.”

“None taken,” Twilight assured.

“I propose we take our party elsewhere to celebrate!”

Sweetie caught on suddenly, and, snickering, the stylish sister's smaller sibling surmised, “The spa?”

“Of course!”

Author's Note

Last revised 18 February 2015
- for style, voice, and detail
- split from the former Chapter 18 into chapters 23 and 24

Original Note:
You know that feel when you've stared at something for so long you can no longer see it clearly?

Many thanks to Setokaiva for pre- and post-editing.

Announcing hiatus!

Duration: ~~about 2 months~~
(COMPLETED! No longer on hiatus.)

What I'll be doing did in the mean time:
- at least 1 (and as many as 3) one shots
- revising Fallen Angels from the beginning
(The order of events will remain the same unless noted.)
(The development of the characters will remain unchanged unless noted.)
- composing blogs with excerpts of any new or significantly changed content in Fallen Angels
- possibly unpublishing every chapter and then republishing them one by one as I revise
~~- writing a chapter or two ahead in~~ Fallen Angels

Will I be around Fimfiction? I plan to be around a lot, still, yes.

Click here for Twilight's Notes.

Chapter 24 References:
http://www.helping-people.info/rbt/metaana.htm
http://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ220805
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogeneity_(statistics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Effect_size
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analysis_of_variance
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Rind
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somatization
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-dawn/201309/can-pedophilia-ever-be-mild
http://kasz.sweb.cz/pf03/#en-uvod
http://www.helping-people.info/background.htm#harm
http://www.helping-people.info/articles/violent_frame.htm
http://www.helping-people.info/articles/i_did_not_know.htm
http://www.jorisoost.nl/english.html
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3394901/