“Princess Twilight, its great to see you today. I just wish it was a simpler and friendlier visit.” Celestia was, as usual, stunning in her beautiful white gown on top of her white fur. Twilight, fidgeting with her wings, glanced shyly at her mentor, feeling the worried smile that was on her face. She had been given princess duties in the past, but in the letter Celestia had sent her it had said that Twilight was the only one who could handle the task. The last few times she had received such a message from the princess, it usually involved trying to save all of Equestria.
“So, what is it you need Princess?” Twilight bit her lip, hating her nervousness as it caused her voice to squeek. Princess Celestia smiled down at her, the same gentle smile that had always calmed her down in the past.
“What I require from you is that you handle a problem I never imagined might come to pass. But please, lets walk as we discuss this. Its not quite as dire as other times.” Celestia used her wings to bring herself down to the floor in a single, graceful hop. The two began walking down a hallway leading out of the throne room. Twilight began worrying where it might lead since she had never even glanced down this hallway. “Obviously you remember the incident with Discord’s plunder seeds?” Twilight cringed at the mention of that horrible incident just before the summer sun celebration a month ago. Her heart started beating like a jack rabbit when she entertained the thought of being the only princess in Equestria.
“Yes, I do. I would really rather not, but I do remember it.” Celestia giggled at her students obvious frustration about the subject.
“Well, unfortunately this is a portion of the fallout from that particular event. You see, the plunder seeds were magical plants created by Discord to defeat not only Luna and myself but also the tree of harmony. As you noticed, they didn’t exactly go down easy.” Twilight nodded, thinking back to when the plants almost dragged her away after gassing her half to death. She used a finger to stretch the collar of her sweater as she remembered how hard it was to breath with that gas in her lungs. “Well, the tree’s magic destroyed them, no traces anywhere beyond a few black shards, all the way down to the roots.”
“I’m guessing there must be some kind of reason you’re bringing them up though.” Twilight raised an eyebrow at her teacher. After all the times she’d seen her mentor prompt someone or mislead their expectations, she wasn’t about to let herself fall for it so easily. Celestia smiled with a bit of pride as her student saw through what she’d always fallen for before.
“Well, it would seem like over those thousand years the plants became far more powerful as they strained against the tree. But they also gained something else.”
“The ability to survive total eradication?” Twilight knew she was being sarcastic but she couldn’t quite follow where this was going.
“They gained a collective will, a sort of drive to accomplish their mission and proceed onto the rest of the globe. It was never Discord’s intent for them to do more then find and bind the person he found particularly bothersome.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she realized what this meant. It meant that rather than destroying a mindless, chaotic tool that was ruining everypony’s life, she had sacrificed the elements to eradicate something that had been growing and learning for a thousand years. She put a hand to her mouth and stumbled, immediately feeling sick to her stomach. “You don’t have to worry Twilight, it was just a single minded purpose that overpowered anything else that may have existed.”
“I just can’t believe that they had a mind. Now I can’t help but wonder what else we may have been able to do. If we could have found another way like with Discord.” Celestia winced as she always did at the mention of the practical god of chaos. Twilight didn’t like thinking about him either but she did like the idea of giving everypony the chance to grow in Equestrian society.
“I’m glad you feel like that because that will was powerful enough to gather all of the little pieces the tree burned away and form a new body, one formed mainly by magic. It drifted its way here and made itself a nice little home before Luna and I figured out what was happening. It’s powerful and the only reason we’ve been able to keep ahold of it was with a simple promise.” Twilight stopped, her mouth gaping open. Celestia turned to her, her face deathly serious.
“You mean that it could escape despite both of you awake and ready?” Twilight tried, desperately, to imagine what this thing could be like. In her head all she could imagine was some horrible plant monster but she couldn’t fathom a simple monster challenging the princesses. The only things to do that had been Discord, Sombra, and Nightmare Moon and in all three cases they had unbelievable advantages given to them. This…. this was just a plant made by Discord wasn’t it.
“It is far craftier than you might think Twilight, you cannot take it lightly. It made itself a den and not only did it convince ponies to willingly stay with it, but to also bring others to it.” Celestia had started using her monotone, Twilight noted, making it impossible to tell what she might be feeling. Celestia turned and began walking away, Twilight following a step behind.
“How many could it have gotten?”
“Twenty three before we ever had any idea what was happening.” Twilight’s mouth dropped open as she heard the number. Rarity was persuasive but for a creature of chaos to convince that many ponies to stay with it and help it. “It wants to have all of the ponies in Equestria in its vines and it had already grown a substantial sized plant in only a month. I hope that this makes you understand just how serious this task is going to be.”
“Celestia,” Twilight gulped, her mouth going dry thinking about what she was about to suggest, “why don’t we just get rid of it? Or at the very least seal it away like we did Discord.” Celestia nodded, her features softening just a touch.
“The problem with that is that I think it may be able to be more than what it was before. I want to give it the same chance we gave Discord especially since it seems more willing. I only wish we knew who would be best suited for a job like this.” That will be the hardest part, you and your friends will have no idea what it will do or how it may act and yes,” Celestia said, reacting to the smile that broke out on Twilight’s face when reminded of her friends,” they will be crucial in handling this. It has already shown that it has a wide range of emotions and reactions which, like any living creature, makes it unpredictable if you haven’t spent time with it.”
The two of them finally reached a massive iron door at the end of the hall, more than twice the regular size of the doors in the castle except the throne room. Twilight could feel powerful magic wafting off from it, some of the most powerful protective seals and spells she had heard of causing such a strong aura that she could sense them without even using her magic. Reaching out with her magic, her horn glowing a soft violet, her eyes went wider than ever.
“They’re breaking down. How much is this, this thing, trying to break down this door!?” Twilight knew her reaction was extreme but the more she examined the spells the more she could admire the beauty in their crafting. They were ancient and had some of Celestia’s signature touches strengthening them. If it was supposed to be co-operating, it could leave seals as well made as this alone couldn’t it!?
“That,” running a hand down the door with a mildly worried expression that didn’t reach her voice. “leads me to the three rules you will have to follow or else this task could quickly turn into a disaster. If you don’t follow them, it will not be easy to correct your mistakes because of what it is.” Twilight straightened her back, her horn glowing as she used a fairly new spell she had recently learned. In front of the two of them a grid made of light formed and a stylus made similarly, the two obviously available for notes.
“Ready Princess!” Twilight missed as Celestia had a moment of struggling not to laugh at her old students habit of taking notes on almost everything Celestia said was important.
“First, you must never, ever, let it hold you close. It will take it as a sign that you approve of its goals and there is too much danger that it may do the same to you as it did to those down in its nest. This is extremely important. You can maybe hold it’s hand and you can let it touch you, but never let it wrap an arm around you.” Celestia’s tone had slowly gone from monotone to severe, causing Twilight to wonder what had happened to the poor mares and stallions. She wrote on the light board: 1. NO HOLDING! while unconsciously leaning away from her teachers intensity.
“Believe me, you don’t have to worry about that. I’ll make sure Fluttershy understands though.” From how this was beginning to sound, it seemed more and more like they were going to be reforming it in a similar manner to Discord, something that would be extremely difficult without Fluttershy helping. At the same time, the kind, little pegasus had a tendency to hug the things she got close to, both with her friends and her animals. Twilight scrunched up her face though, remembering something from the beginning of their discussion that could be really bad if she was correct with where this was going. “Princess, what is the promise that your keeping with it so that it stays put?” Celestia almost smiled, the corners of her lips twitching.
“It has apparently wanted to meet you and your friends far more than any other mare or stallion in Equestria, even after all of you were key in its defeat. The promise is that it would get to stay in Ponyville and get to take each of you and your friends out on a date.” She slowed her speech at the end of this sentence, pronouncing each word very deliberately, keeping Twilight in suspense. Upon hearing the final word, Twilight felt heat fill her cheeks, blushing as she remembered the one relationship she had been in, with a human, IN ANOTHER WORLD!
“You’re joking around, right?” Rather than answer the question, Celestia gripped the light stylus with her magic and tapped the light board with it, somehow making the same sound she would have with a black board. Twilight snapped to attention, blushing even harder.
“Rule number two,” Celestia said slowly as she wrote on the board in neat cursive: 2. NO TIME UNDERGROUND! “It can’t make seeds but it can set a plunder plant in any room that has a good amount of room and is underground. This means that you will need to lock the cellar in the library as long as it is there. If it plants one of those, it won’t be long before the house is overrun and you’ll have to burn your way to the roots.” She turned to Twilight, her voice and facial expression almost as severe as when Discord had broken his seals. “Five of the royal guard were wounded fighting it and a three week old plant. I don’t want to think of what might happen in Ponyville.” Twilight nodded, her mouth to dry to speak.
On the board, Celestia wrote the next rule in the biggest letters yet: 3. DO NOT BREAK THE PROMISE! Celestia stepped in front of the board to face Twilight, placing her hands on her shoulders.
“As I said before, it is a trickster and will force you to go beyond the plainest terms of the promise, I can guarantee that. However, if it thinks that you all aren’t going to stay behaved, its almost guaranteed it will run to the Everfree Forest where we won’t have any hopes of stopping it. Magic doesn’t work right around it, the proof being these seals. I can promise that it is sitting with Luna doing nothing and these are still breaking down.” Twilight glanced at the door, a little more willing to believe Celestia about this. It was unnerving, thinking about something that magic didn’t work around it, but the plunder plants had screwed up the magic of the unicorns in Ponyville when they attacked. This ability could just be a more powerful version of it. “I believe you and your friends are capable of it though and you may just make a new friend.” Without giving Twilight a chance to respond, something that would have been difficult with her desert dry mouth, Celestia opened the door and the two stepped inside.
The inside of the room was circular and made of smooth marble. A large crystal that was at the center of the ceiling radiated light to very inch of the room, leaving Twilight blind for a second as her eyes adjusted to the sheer intensity of white. Shaking her head a bit, she raised her eyes and saw a clear circular table in the middle of the room, just barely not dead center underneath the crystal. The table was made of plastic and because the light could shine through, there wasn’t a shadow in the room except for the ones caused by the two seated figures, even their seats were made of plastic and didn’t cast a shadow.
One was Princess Luna, no doubt as regal and strong as she always looked. Her features had a tendency to say a lot more about her mood then her sisters did and in a situation like this one they would have been pulled into an angry scowl or a serious mask. She was filled in by Twilight’s mind though, not her eyes, a corner of it that wasn’t struggling to take in the other figure sitting at the table.
Sitting there, in a navy blue, dark green, and a light baby blue floral print dress, the area in between each flower connected by black that looked like vines instead of plain black fabric, was a beautiful mare with black fur and strange patterns in it on her arms and chest that were made by light blue fur. The design on the dress had enough detail that Rarity would faint and the dress was short going down her hips and barely contained her extremely impressive bust, making it both artistic and provocative.
Twilight barely took a moment to appreciate that though because she found herself drawn to the eyes. One was navy blue and Twilight found herself drawn into it, as though being pulled into a trance. Forcing herself to look away, she found herself staring into a bright green eye, just on the verge of lime green, that screamed of a predatory hunger within. Twilight lowered her eyes, finding out that what she had thought were black leggings, or simply uncovered legs, were actually pure black pants that once more had a vine pattern. Her hooves were the same as any ponies but were also pure black. While looking down she heard a chair scraping backward and her eyes snapped back up.
“Princess Twilight, try to keep your mouth closed please!” Luna had stood up and was blushing a little herself. Twilight panicked a bit, having not realized that her mouth had dropped open at the sight of the unbelievably sexy mare. She barely kept herself from having a panic attack when she realized that her wings were threatening to pop up, an embarrassing sign of arousal called a wing boner. Twilight couldn’t help but wonder if she had spent more time then she had previously thought staring at the strange looking dress and what it barely kept hidden. Celestia came up from behind and placed a hand on her shoulder, helping Twilight calm herself.
“I see that I am fortunate enough to be aiming for a girl I won’t have to work too hard to attract. I was expecting to have to figure out how to get past that hurdle somehow.” The mare’s voice was a little rough, as though she wasn’t used to using it. There was a gentle kindness in it though and she spoke with a smooth cadence, implying that she could have a beautiful voice once the roughness smoothed out. “I’m sorry that my clothes cause you discomfort though, perhaps, this helps?” Without moving anything, Twilight watched as the vines visibly pulled all throughout her dress. She was tempted to disbelieve it until she saw the flowers moving around until four of them came up and raised the neckline of the dress significantly, covering most of her breasts and getting rid of almost all of the cleavage.
“Thank you but how did you do that?” Twilight glanced down and saw the vines covering her pants seemed to writhe as well, almost as though they were reacting to her gaze.
“I didn’t exactly have much money for clothes and walking around with all of my vines trailing around myself proves,” she paused for a moment, obviously trying to come up with the right word before finding it with a small triumphant smile, “troublesome. This allows me to wear whatever it is I like. Speaking of which,” she said as she raised her hands up slowly to her hair which was tied in a braid going down her back. She ran her hands through it from underneath, the braid splitting at her touch and falling around her shoulders in a wave fashion similar to what the Princesses’ hair would look like if it was made of hair. She shook her head, her black hair waving around her head with streaks of dark green and light blue causing an interesting wave of colors. Looking back up she said, “Much better now. Right Twilight?” Her question was accompanied by a mildly nervous smile. Twilight felt Celestia step closer, now just behind and a little to her left.
“I think she’s trying to imitate the two of us since you admire us so much,” Celestia whispered into her ear while bending down a little to make up for the height difference between them.
“And how does she know that?” Twilight hissed back, blushing again.
“I maaaay have mentioned it by accident.” Celestia flashed Twilight a mischievous grin while Twilight shot her a look that was as close to an “I’ll kill you look” she could give her old mentor. Luna cleared her throat, getting the two of them to look back at the two dark furred girls. The nervous smile the mare wore was beginning to look a little strained as she waited for an answer. Twilight had to clear her throat first, calming herself from the embarrassment of completely forgetting to answer.
“I think it looks nice but the braid looked really good too.” The mare smiled at that, obviously pleased by the compliment. Luna, looking extremely impatient now, turned from watching the mare to almost glaring at the two blushing Princesses.
“Celestia, we already have all of the travel precautions ready. If you have explained everything to Princess Twilight then I think it is about time for the two of them to begin heading towards Ponyville. I would like it if some of the enchantments on this place stayed intact.” A hurt expression appeared on the black furred mare’s face at that remark and she turned herself towards Princess Luna.
“You know I’m not doing it on purpose Princess Luna. I’ve simply been sitting here wondering when you and your impeccable manners would introduce me and the lovely Twilight.” She used a fake hurt voice throughout this, causing her voice to crack more than once as she tried to keep the higher pitch. She put her hands to her lips, any blush there may have been about it hidden by her black fur.
“Princess Twilight,” Luna sounded exasperated and gestured first to Twilight and then the mare at the table, “meet Plunder. Plunder, meet the object of you desires.” Luna’s tone turned sarcastic, hinting that she didn’t believe in this plan the same way Celestia did. “Now, are you ready to go?” Now Plunder lowered her head, shyly brushing the hair that had fallen in front of her face.
“I think it would be better if I stayed behind this table. We can leave in a few minutes.” Luna looked confused, casting her glance in Celestia’s decision. Celestia seemed to be at least mildly amused.
“A little unprepared for meeting the alicorn you’ve been longing for?” Unwilling to look up at any of them, Plunder gave a small nod. Twilight’s eyes went wide, her near wing boner from earlier trying to pop back up as she realized why Plunder would want to remain seated if she was… excited. “In that case, how about the three of us leave you be and go have lunch. I’ll send someone with food so you can eat too Plunder.”
“Are you sure one of us shouldn’t stick around to keep an eye on it?” Luna obviously didn’t trust Plunder with anything and yet Twilight couldn’t help but sympathize with the chaotic mare in front of her. She certainly knew what it was like to feel awkward with others and the more she thought about it, the more sense it made that Plunder acted how she did. After all, she only had a month’s experience as a pony instead of a plant and before then, nothing could restrain her.
“I think we can trust her to behave Princess Luna,” Twilight said, shocking herself with how gentle her tone was. Plunder’s head came up, her eyes as big as dinner plates. She squirmed in her seat, biting her lip and staring at Twilight. Blushing, well aware of her still slowly erecting wings, Twilight turned around at the sound of the door opening behind her, seeing her mentor walking away. She followed Celestia out and heard Luna following, the heels she wore to be as tall as her sister ringing on the marble. The three walked next to each other down the hallway, an awkward silence as Luna watched Twilight, probably trying to make a decision of some kind. Upon exiting into the throne room, Celestia had the servants run off to gather food for them and for Plunder. Once they were alone, Celestia turned back towards Twilight, a proud smile across her face.
“Well, it would seem you and Plunder hit it off. Do you think your other friends will be able to handle her so well?” Twilight stopped to think about that for a second. She had no idea how fit Plunder was so it could be hard for her to break the barrier of distrust Rainbow Dash would have for her, not to mention she had no idea just how much Rainbow wouldn’t trust Plunder. AppleJack could be just as bad between the trickiness she was supposed to have and what the plunder vines had done to her farm. If Fluttershy could get over the fear of meeting a new person, the two might connect well since Plunder certainly seemed to be caring. There was no way of knowing how Rarity would react but at least Pinkie was willing to accept any pony in Equestria.
“I think it might take some time, but I think everything will work out in the end Princess. After all, she seems like a nice mare if not a little excitable.” Twilight blushed to herself, thinking about how Plunder was squirming on her chair. Luna stepped forward, looking cross while blushing at the same time.
“Celestia, I’m not letting Plunder near them unless they know exactly what it is. I won’t budge on that.” Celestia sighed, rubbing her forehead.
“I’m not so sure, she’ll be at enough of a disadvantage with Twilight’s friends as it is without knowing THAT ahead of time.”
“It doesn’t matter. They need to know what their getting into instead of it throwing itself in front of their faces!” Luna was blushing hard now making Twilight extremely curious what they were talking about. Celestia sighed, running her hand through her hair.
“Twilight, the reason she didn’t want to stand up was that she didn’t want you to see her excitement.” Celestia said, causing Twilight raised an eyebrow at the comment.
“Well, yeah, that was made fairly clear. If I was actually wet, I would much rather stay seated then go walking to the train station.” Luna groaned in exasperation behind Twilight. In response, Twilight spun around glaring at her, sick of Luna’s total distrust. “Give her a break already Luna!”
“She’s an it Twilight!” Luna roared back “Her purpose is to bind and hold every person in Equestria and it just so happens that she is equipped to pleasure both mares and stallions! If she had stood up you would have been staring at a rather large, slightly erect specimen of stallionhood!” Twilight’s mouth dropped open, immediately seeing the significance. She’d been calling Plunder a her the whole time when in truth she could be considered either one. Twilight knew of plenty of stories in the adult section of the library with such characters but she had never heard of a living hermaphrodite.
“That doesn’t change how she acted though Twilight,” Celestia said, a mild panic in her normally peaceful voice. “Her actions are the same as they would have been without it except for right at the end.” Twilight nodded, unable to get a new mental image out of her head of Plunder standing up. Twilight decided, noting that her wings had finally managed to fully pop out from her sides, that she would have to get control of herself as well if this was going to continue. Luna stepped up to Twilight, shoving a quill and a handful of papers into the stunned unicorns hands.
“Write your friends about it, not just her sexual status but also about the promise they are going to have to keep as well.” Twilight nodded, not sure how to go about it. She had skipped that step in her head, actually explaining all of this to her friends. Now it was just going to get more complicated, especially for the purely lesbian Rainbow Dash. Twilight sat down on the steps leading to the throne and began writing, wondering what she was going to end up doing on her first date with Plunder as she wrote all of the details she had onto each of the letters, specializing each of them for the mare it was going to. Celestia came over and gripped her shoulder reassuringly.
“I’m certain that you’ll be able to handle this. Just show your friends how to act.” Luna raised an eyebrow at her sister and took one last shot before lunch was wheeled in.
“Hopefully with significantly less excitement between the two of you.”
Dark holes, a bright light, and eternal longing. Straining against the light, imprisoned in its holes, all of them praying to escape and finally realize that which they have always wanted. One entity whispered to them, attempting to warn it away from the surface, telling it that it shouldn’t exist, that it would only cause pain where it went. Trapped in pain, tortured by words, it could only hope to hold onto the memories it had been given at creation, those of two gorgeous women it was to never let go of.
Plunder almost jumped out of her seat as the train hit a bump. Gasping for a moment, she reached up, feeling her eyes to see if her recurring nightmare had elicited any tears. Seeing Twilights gaze lift up from her book, the black mare lifted her arms into a stretch to relax her stiff muscles and hopefully hide her panic a bit. Relaxing back into her seat, Plunder gazed at the gorgeous purple mare across from her.
Twilight would no doubt deny it, if Plunder’s intuition was correct, but the mare was beautiful, long legs covered by her loose jeans, leading to a petite waist and pretty bust that showed itself nicely under the sweater she wore. Her straight hair fell over her shoulders and Plunder longed to check out if those streaks were natural or not, both for her hair and her tail. She bit her lip though, forcing herself to calm down before she got herself overly excited and it started showing and to shove those ideas out of her head. She would have to wait to embrace the six mares she’d been whispered to about by that shining light she had tried so hard to snuff out.
“So, can I ask you a question,” Twilight asked lowering her book. Plunder shifted herself so she was sitting up at attention.
“Of course. If you’re uncomfortable about it though then we can maybe do something like trade questions or I could say no.” Plunder smiled, very anxious to hear whatever Twilight might want to ask her. Twilight’s smile was a little more reserved, a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by Plunder.
“So, just how do the vines on you work?” Twilight said this while casting her gaze down on Plunders current outfit. Rather than the dress she’d been wearing earlier, she was now wearing a shirt and jacket with her loose pants. In reaction to Twilight’s gaze, Plunder had the shirt constrict and prompt her breasts upwards, a nice little presentation for the purple alicorn. Meanwhile she stretched her arms out and let Twilight watch the long sleeves turn into five vines writhing around on her arm.
“I control them through my mind and can also feel what they feel. I think that its in them that the various pieces of my consciousness stay and send me their thoughts through the connection I have with the vines.” Plunder watched as the vines tickled her palm, giggling at Twilight’s dropped jaw. Stretching herself out, Plunder waited for a second before having the jacket sleeve return to being part of her jacket. “Now, my turn Twilight.”
“Wait, what?” Twilight sat up in her chair, her eyes going wide.
“You got to ask me a question, delving into my deep, nasty secrets. I should get a chance right?” Plunder grinned, unable to keep her face under control at the prospect of poking into Twilight’s past and present. Twilight blushed, dying the fur on her cheeks even darker for a moment. So far the fairly new princess had gotten embarrassed anytime Plunder had so much as hinted at flirting, which of course left the black mare very entertained.
“Yes,” Twilight said cautiously, “I suppose it is. So what do you want to ask?”
“Well, first off, is there anything else that will be staying at the library with us? I would rather like to know who or what I’ll be living with.” Plunder flashed a grin at the self conscious little mare. Twilight seemed to like this question though and relaxed in her seat, a sigh coming out of her mouth. She really needs to loosen up, Plunder thought to herself, and I am just the gal to help with that. Plunder almost jumped out of her chair then, the excitement at thinking of “loosening Twilight up” catching her off guard.
“I live with my pet owl and nighttime assistant Owlicious and my loyal assistant Spike, a baby dragon.” Plunder was amazed at the level of pride Twilight had in her voice as she talked of the little dragon that had stuck with her when she left her friends a few weeks ago. For a moment her thoughts went to the creature that made her, the lord of chaos who was so very disappointed that they took so long to do anything. She turned her head away, not wanting Twilight to see the scowl that flashed onto her face for a second. “In truth though, you won’t be staying with me for the entire time.”
“What!?” Plunder said, her head coming up. “So I don’t get to stay with the alicorn of my dreams for my whole stay? How sad.” It took all the restraint she had not smile as she saw the studious mare blush hard while looking out the window, probably hoping Plunder didn’t see that adorable coloring on her cheeks. The poor purple mare took a moment of stuttering before responding, forcing a giggle out of Plunder despite her best efforts to keep it in.
“After your second date, you’ll go to stay with the girl you went on the first date with. That way I’m not getting too much time with you. I’m also not allowed to go on a date with you until you’ve had it with the other five.” Twilight stared out the window the whole time and although it let Plunder see the blush that was still there, it made it impossible to tell how Twilight felt about it at the same time.
“Celestia’s idea I’m guessing,” Plunder asked, drawing out each word in exaggeration. Twilight nodded, looking over at Plunder for just a second, unable to meet her eyes. “You know, I think you need to disobey her every now and then, especially if you end up making a very, very, special connection.” Twilight squeaked in response, Turning as much of her body away from Plunder as she could. The poor mare jumped up though as she must have realized that she had presented her fully extended wings to the hermaphrodite. She spun and sat, trying desperately to hide them while Plunder fell to the ground, laughing so hard she had to grip her sides.
“Yes, yes it was.”
“Now,” Plunder said as innocently as she could, “and I know this might be a little embarrassing but I was curious about whether or not any of you have had special someponies before?” Twilight took a deep breath, her eyes closed as she attempted to focus.
“I’ve never had someone. Rarity I’m sure has with how shamelessly she goes around town flirting, Rainbow Dash… I think she spends too much time focusing on flying and helping us for that kind of thing.” Plunder bit her lip, dying to know what secret that pause held from her. “Apple Jack spends too much time working and I’m certain she’s waiting for somepony she truly thinks is special. Fluttershy is much too scared of other ponies to do anything like that and Pinkie-” Twilight stopped their, her wings partially retracted and an inquisitive look on her face.
“And Pinkamena Diane Pie has what Twilight?” Plunder asked, hoping desperately that she just went on with it. Too bad she recovered so fast from her embarrassment and her excitement.
“I don’t think so,” Twilight said, an annoyed look on her face, one of her eyebrows raised. “That was your second question, its my turn you cheater.” Plunder placed her hand to her chest, opening her mouth wide in mock astonishment and outrage.
“I would never cheat with you Twilight. Nor was it MY second question. Afterall, I am a conglomerate of all the different plunder vines destroyed. At least a few of us deserve a chance to ask you a question don’t we?” Twilight did not look impressed however by the hurt expression Plunder was attempting, not that that fact changed the hermaphrodite’s mind about continuing it.
“Oh no you don’t. You are a single consciousness made of all of them, not a hive mind receiving input from each and every one of them. You get one question.” Twilight and Plunder stared at one another for a little while, Plunder finally giving up the hurt act to stare at Twilight’s eyes. Twilight was looking a little to the left of Plunders, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the black mare.
“But Twilight, I am a single consciousness made of thousands of personalities and opinions. All of those work through me, torturing my poor little mind.” To further this point, Plunder clutched at her head as though she was in great pain. Twilight continued to look unsympathetic. “Can’t we get just a few extra questions, Twily?” Sighing, Twilight slumped back in her seat and Plunder sat up grinning like a mad mare. Twilight raised three fingers, a smile of her own spreading across her fine features.
“You get three questions, which means one more this time. However, no pulling anything like this with the dates. One consciousness equals one date per mare. Understood?” Plunder just stared at the princess, for the first time getting a grasp of how smart the purple mare was. She barely stopped herself from scowling, having spent so long thinking she was an innocent little girl who had no experience with things like this. Must have picked up from her mentor, Plunder thought angrily as she remembered how good Celestia was at prying into Plunder’s secrets. Celestia had spent the entire time from lunch till they reached the train station talking to Plunder while Luna discussed something or another with Twilight. Whatever it was, Plunder had a suspicion that it was the reason the alicorn had spent so much of the train ride so silent.
“Fine,” Plunder said with a heavy sigh. “You still need to finish answering my second question.” Twilight smiled, letting how triumphant she felt show in front of her defeated enemy.
“I’ve seen Pinkie take some guys home with her but I’ve never heard of her going on a date with anypony.” The two sat in silence, Plunder desperately trying to think of what would be the best question to ask.
“Do you think your brother or Princess Cadence are going to have an issue with all of this?” Plunder waited while Twilight sat there, putting her chin in her hand and looking out the window. Plunder counted the minutes, bored while waiting for an answer. Finally Twilight looked back over, her face full of curiosity and thought.
“How do you know about the two of them? And don’t you dare say that it was Celestia who told you,” Twilight said, her face and tone letting Plunder know that she would get pretty pissed if Plunder tried screwing around this time.
“I had one thousand years to grow, buried underground, doing nothing but grow. I spread across not just all of Ponyville, but most of Equestria and beyond.” Plunder looked Twilight in the eyes as the beautiful mare must have realized the scope of the damage the plunder vines may have inflicted by how her eyes were widening. “The tree was a lot more powerful than Celestia or Luna gave it credit for. Just not powerful enough to take more proper measures. Cadence and your brother had quite a bit of difficulty handling the plants in the crystal empire, all that fertile soil left untouched for so long giving me a perfect place to thrive.”
“They… they must have a massive problem with this if you attacked the Crystal Empire like you did Ponyville,” Twilight said as she covered her mouth. “Cadence probably won’t believe any claims you have that you love us and Shining Armor, well, my big brother is an extremely protective stallion. I wonder if Celestia and Luna sent them a letter explaining things.” Twilight cupped her chin, the curiosity still evident on her face. Plunder gulped, lowering her head and feeling a blush on her face that, thankfull that Twilight couldn’t see it.
“Actually, when Celestia and Luna came for me I sent one of my helpers to send a letter explaining my intent to them.” Now Plunder looked out her window, feeling Twilight’s eyes as they glued themselves on her in disbelief. She wished she could whistle, it felt appropriate for how awkward and tense things were.
“Why, just why, would you do that?” Twilight asked after an extremely long pause. Plunder finally looked over at her, forcing a smile on her face, if only a little one.
“Don’t think the promise I made was random,” Plunder said shyly, not happy to be doing this little confession. “I knew the princess’ would have difficulties trying to keep a hold of me and I had an idea of what I wanted to get out of it when I agreed to cooperate with them. If I couldn’t get a date with all six of you, I was going to make sure I got one with you and I had to make my intentions clear to your family.” Twilight blushed from head to toe, her eyes going massive and her mouth dropping open. Plunder smiled a little more naturally as she took note of the lack of a wing boner, meaning embarrassment without arousal. A nice little change. “I figured you might be upset if I dragged your parents into this so I opted for your brother and sister-in-law.”
The train came to a screeching halt then. Twilight blinked a few times as though she couldn’t get back to the present because of this shocking piece of news. Plunder fidgeted in her seat, waiting for some kind of sign that they were actually supposed to get off the train. Twilight had said earlier that this would be the stop but if she had let herself get this zoned out, Plunder didn’t want to walk off without her. Finally though, Twilight stood up, straightened her hair, and motioned for Plunder to follow her off the train.
As the two of them stepped off of the train, Plunder’s mouth dropped open seeing the five mares standing on the platform. She remembered how they looked, they were the last thing she’d seen after all, but memory didn’t compare to the real thing in front of her.
On the far right was a mare who grabbed Plunder’s eyes faster than if one had flashed her. Rarity was wearing a tight fitting, light blue dress that shone as she moved. It hugged her curves perfectly and showed a decent amount of her chest, a chest that was the same size as Twilight’s. Rarity smiled at her, catching her eyes, which were a beautiful blue, and Plunder couldn’t help but admire her pearly whites. Realizing how long she had been looking at the mare, Plunder forced herself to look at the others.
Next in line was Apple Jack, in a button up checkered shirt and extremely tight fitting jeans while she smiled a little nervously. Her chest size was a little lower than Rarity’s and Twilight’s but still a little larger than Rainbow Dash, looking rather upset in her t-shirt and sports shorts. Pinkie bounced forward, obviously trying to get Plunder’s attention with her even smaller chest, t-shirt, and unbelievably tight jeans. Taking a step back and leaning back, Plunder managed to get a look at Fluttershy in her long skirt, sweater, and rather impressive bust that may have only been one size below Plunder’s unnaturally large chest. Looking around, Plunder realized for the first time that she was also the tallest, with Apple Jack almost matching her height and Fluttershy being the shortest.
“So, is this the ,uhm, mare you mentioned in the letter Twilight,” Rarity asked while continuing to look Plunder up and down. Realizing that she was getting awfully close to showing her arousal, she closed her eyes and imagined the most repulsive thing she could think of. She almost flinched as she grabbed a hold of Discord in the bathtub and calmed herself instantly.
“Yes Rarity,” Twilight said, obviously trying to not sound nervous, which made it worse. “And you can go ahead and call her a mare since its what she looks like most and what she seems comfortable with.”
“I certainly don’t mind it,” Plunder said, trying to take control for Twilight.
“Well hi there Plunder!” Pinkie said, jumping up and hugging the hermaphrodite. Plunder gasped, desperately trying to get a breath while in the crushing grip. Rainbow Dash hung back, giving her a suspicious glare. Finally letting her go, AppleJack stepped forward, looking around.
“No luggage, Sugarcube?” she asked, finally turning her eyes on Plunder. AppleJack was unlike Rarity and Twilight, her eyes locking with Plunder’s and that made the black furred hermaphrodite… a lot more uncomfortable then she thought it might. Looking into AppleJack’s eyes was like staring into an open ocean with endless depth. She was terrified that her own might be shallow or, even worse, that they might be an open door for the orange work pony.
“No, she doesn’t. How about we start making our way to the library so we can all get to know Plunder a bit better,” Twilight said, casting a playful look over her shoulder at Plunder, “with each of us taking turns asking questions?”
“You know Plunder,” Fluttershy said coming up next to her as they all started walking, “I can’t help but have all sorts of questions about the fauna side of the plunder plants. Would it be rude to talk to you about that?” Plunder turned her head towards Fluttershy, a predatory grin spreading over her face.
“Of course Fluttershy but I have to admit,” Plunder said, striking a mock thoughtful pose, “I figured you might be uncomfortable around me since you seem like such a shy little mare. Figured you might be a little uncomfortable with the promise you need to keep.” Fluttershy turned red, as in her entire head turning red and Plunder couldn’t help but want to hug her with how adorable it was.
“Well, I, uhm, figured that it might be, er…” Whatever it was that Fluttershy was saying was lost as her voice went so high pitched and so quiet that Plunder could no longer understand her. Lifting her arm to place her hand on Fluttershy’s shoulder, Plunder was shocked as her hand was smacked away by a rather upset looking pegasus.
“Don’t, you, touch, her,” Rainbow said through gritted teeth, a pause between each word. Plunder took a step back, trying to figure out how to respond to the angry athlete. The entire group stopped along with Plunder, all eyes on her and Dash as Fluttershy stepped away from them.
“No need to be so hosti-” Plunder started before Rainbow Dash stepped forward and raised a finger to Plunder’s nose.
“Hostile! You think I shouldn’t be hostile!? There is no reason for me to trust you or let poor, inexperienced Fluttershy get anywhe-”
“Rainbow Dash!,” Rarity said, looking rather cross herself. “This is not how you should be behaving, calm yourself!”
“Absolutely not!” Rainbow said as she kicked off the ground, lifting herself a foot into the air with her excitement. “I don’t care how okay the rest of you are with all of this but Celestia told us to be careful for a good reason. You are dangerous aren’t you!?” Rainbow punctuated this by flipping around in the air and bringing her face within inches of Plunder’s face. Plunder wrinkled her nose, trying hard not to sneeze after getting nailed in the face with Rainbow’s tail.
“Enough Rainbow, you need to at least give her a chance,” Twilight said, grabbing Rainbow Dash with magic and pulling her away. The violet aura around Dash quickly turned much darker though, dissipating as Rainbow was sent flying through the air and into the wall of somepony’s house. Looking incredibly pissed, the blue pegasus came streaking back over, doing an instant stop centimeters from Plunder. When she spoke her voice sounded dangerously calm.
“See, we couldn’t restrain her even if we wanted to.” She looked at Twilight with a deep scowl. “And yeah, I’ll give her a chance, tonight. You and I, dinner as a date, no arguments.” A long pause followed and Plunder cast her eyes over the rest of the main six, seeing Twilight, Rarity, and AppleJack looking angry while Fluttershy and Pinkie looked worried. Looking back at Rainbow, looking straight into those hateful eyes, she gulped.
“Sure,” she said nervously, “that is what I’m here for after all.”
