Though Hell Should Bar the Way

by O

Rating: mature
Tags: Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Anthro, Applejack, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Rainbow Dash, Adventure
Length: 35954

The caribou have enslaved the mares of Equestria and desecrated the land. But they've forgotten that the more you push some ponies, the harder they push back. Applejack and Rainbow Dash didn't forget.

A year ago, Equestria was a beautiful place. Now all of that is gone. The caribou invaded, and used magic and betrayal to mold Equestria in the image of their own society; where males are lecherous, amoral libertines, and females are slaves who exist only at their pleasure. Even Princess Celestia has fallen, and Equestria’s fate seems decided.

But among those who resisted the magical brainwashing are Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and after a year of servitude, rape, and torture, they’re beyond ready to break free. Besides being willing to risk their lives for their own safety and the chance to help Applejack’s family, they decide to reach for something higher by kidnapping the caribou’s favorite brainwashed cheerleader, Twilight Sparkle.

If they can find someplace safe, they can save themselves. If they can find a way to get Twilight back, they might be able to save Equestria. If they fail… their overlords aren’t known for their mercy.

Warning: This fic contains depictions or implications of many forms or sexual abuse, torture, rape, brainwashing/mind break, and the mental trauma associated with those things. This is NOT CLOP, and it’s intended to be difficult to read. I apologize for any days ruined by reading this.

This is an unauthorized, non-eroticized take on the Fall of Equestria setting, created by non_creepy_nickname. Many details and concepts in this fic were invented by the creator of the setting. More information is available in my FAQ blog post.

Published 2014-07-02 21:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-08-26 14:56:56 UTC

Chapter 1

“Oh good, Applejack’s here! We can start now!” Twilight exclaimed as Applejack entered the room.

Applejack watched as Twilight hopped up from where she’d been sitting cross-legged on the floor of the library, talking to Rainbow Dash. Despite not a stitch of clothing covering her light purple body, Twilight moved with a comfort and confidence that came with her red collar and wing sheaths, all showing that Twilight knew her place and was happy there. She even kept her tail raised teasingly as she walked over to a closet and started rummaging around inside with her hands-- her magic was long gone, along with the horn that had been sawed off. Not that Twilight seemed to mind; according to her, mares were for the pleasure of stallions and didn’t need magic or wings.

Applejack was never sure which was creepier: the fact that every mare in Equestria, from Celestia down, had been turned into toys and slaves for the males by the invading caribou, or Twilight’s brainwashed enthusiasm for the new order.

“Howdy…” Applejack waved, carefully keeping her other arm at her side. It took her a long time to keep from trying to cover her naked body, and it was exactly the sort of thing Twilight would get her in trouble for. Dash seemed to be holding her arms behind her back as she sat against the wall, to avoid temptation.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash locked eyes for a moment. It had been over a year now since they’d last seen each other; the day of that brutal, magical coup that turned every corner of Equestria into this living nightmare. That day, the magic had brainwashed most of the stallions into domineering slavers who saw mares as lower than animals. Most of the mares were quickly captured or overpowered by the invading caribou; the princesses were tortured and brainwashed into twisted puppets, while the rest of the mares were offered a choice between relative comfort as a willing sex slave or rape and torture as an unwilling slave. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were among the latter, those with the the willpower to remain resistant in the face of overwhelming odds.

Having Dash see her like this, naked except for her black slave collar, brought a blush to her cheeks for the first time in ages, as if Dash would think less of her. But, she reminded herself, Dash was in exactly the same state. The only difference was the torturous black wing sheaths Dash wore on her back, lined with nails so that the pitiful remnants of her plucked wings wouldn’t be forgotten for a second.

Beyond her own embarrassment, Applejack read the changes in Dash’s face. She’d heard rumors that Dash’s new life was bad, even by the standards of rebellious black-collar slaves, and that seemed to match the pony she could see. There was a tension in Dash that seemed too tightly wound. She reminded Applejack of an injured animal, and Applejack just tried to wordlessly tell Dash that she understood.

“I was thinking that the three of us could put on a little show for my master by rubbing each other down with oil.” Twilight spoke up cheerfully as she looked up from the supply closet, interrupting the moment. Applejack had to wonder if it was intentional or not. “Then he could fuck us, and when he’s done with us we’ll have a chance to catch up. Doesn’t that sound fun?”

Dash hesitated, glancing around nervously. “Could he… not fuck us?”

Twilight rolled her eyes as she brought over a big bottle of massage oil and a stool with two dildos fixed into the seat. “Oh Rainbow, this is why you get punished all the time. You’re thinking about what you want, and it’s never about what we want. It’s about what males want, that’s why they’re the masters. If you thought more about what they want, you’d get more treats like this play date.”

Applejack saw a familiar look cross Dash’s face. That look went with the feeling Applejack got just before she said something to a stallion they were going to make her regret, so she spoke up quickly, “Maybe you could suck ‘im off? He can ride me after, if he’s lookin’ for that.”

Dash’s face softened as she looked at AJ gratefully. “That would be better… you don’t mind?”

“Nah, I’m used to it,” Applejack said with a sad smile.

“You sure? I think he’s really… big…” Dash swallowed.

“Oh, he’s huge!” Twilight added happily. “It took me a while to learn to enjoy it, but it’ll be an interesting experience for you, Applejack. No stallion can really compare.”

“It’ll be okay,” Applejack said to Dash. “Y’all know how often I get apples shoved up there? Some stallions seem to think that never gets old. I’ll be fine.”

Dash responded with a cringe and a sympathetic look.

“Well, it’s good that you’re in shape. Would you like the stool to warm up?” Twilight smiled and motioned to the sex toy. Then she wrapped an arm around AJ and leaned in as if sharing a secret. “If you come now, you’ll be extra sensitive when he takes you and you might even come a few times.”

“Aww, thanks, but I couldn’t when ya’ only got one,” Applejack said politely, unwrapping Twilight’s arm from her waist and sitting down on the floor next to Dash.

“Why not?” Twilight asked suspiciously, hands on her hips. “I can use it later, it’ll be more fun while I’m watching you.”

“Because some ponies aren’t trying to come when they’re being raped?” Dash said, narrowing her eyes.

“She wouldn’t be getting raped if she enjoyed it,” Twilight pointed out.

Dash just smacked her palm into her face and let out something between a groan and a growl.

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned back to Applejack. “I keep writing to Mac and telling him that he needs to take more responsibility for training you, AJ. Maybe he needs to make sure you orgasm a few times every day, so it’s not such a big deal.”

Applejack glared sharply at Twilight. While the exact arrangements at the Dirt Pony Farm were a closely guarded secret between the Apples, it was well known around town that Mac did not use his sisters. “Twilight Sparkle, you leave my master alone and let him run his farm! I can take what I gotta take, and I sure don’t want-- I mean, Master’s got plenty purple collar mares who don’t do nothin’ but beg for him. Those poor things need his kindness more than I do.”

“I’m not saying Mac’s not a good master, AJ. Just that I worry sometimes that he’s not keeping you and Apple Bloom trained as well as he should be. You do have a kind of… reputation for being disrespectful to stallions.” Twilight gave Applejack a disapproving look. “I almost had to cancel this again when you tried to pull away from Flam pinching your nipple.”

Applejack snorted and glared at the ground. “He didn’t have to try and pull it off.”

“And does it matter what you want, or what a stallion wants?” Twilight raised an eyebrow, but Applejack just ignored the condescending question.

“Did you get punished?” Dash asked. Applejack felt Dash’s hand rest on hers and offer it a squeeze.

Applejack just stared harder at the floor. “I… made it up to Flam. Master thought that was enough punishment.”

“Mac sounds like a good master.”

Applejack glanced up to see a sad smile on Dash’s face. She nodded. “As far as that goes, I’m darn lucky.”

“Well, you should act like it more often. You could always just give in and take a red collar. Think of how proud Mac would be, knowing you were submitting to him willingly.” Twilight sighed and looked down at Applejack. “It must be so hard for him knowing you’re still unhappy with your place, when he’s trying so hard to be good to you.”

“Yeah, think of the poor stallions.” Dash gave Applejack a cynical smirk.

Applejack chuckled. “I’ve missed ya’, Dash.”

Twilight frowned and shook her head. “You know I always said that if you’d both take red collars, we could get together more often. I’d love to be able to have all of my friends together again, and all of the other girls are red collars. It would be so much easier if you two would just give in.”

“Do you know how they’re doing?” Dash asked them both.

“Don’t they write to you?” Twilight asked, walking over and grabbing a padded, throne-like chair from next to a pet bed labeled ‘Twily.’ She brought the chair to the center of the room. “I know Rarity and Fluttershy are busy, but I hear from Pinkie all the time.”

Dash shrugged. “I only get letters when I’ve been good.”

“So ya’ never get letters?” Applejack smirked and gave Dash a nudge.

Dash smirked back. “Pretty much.”

“You two…” Twilight sighed, kneeling next to the chair. The frustration on her face was becoming evident. “Maybe I shouldn’t tell you, then.”

“Fine.” Dash raised an eyebrow. “Don’t tell me.”

“Rarity’s workin’ at the boutique…” Applejack spoke up. “She was doin’ okay at first, but then she got in some real bad trouble for somethin’ and spent some time at the farm as punishment. She wouldn’t say a word to me, though. I guess she wanted anypony watchin’ to know she was a good red collar and all that, so talkin’ to a black collar wouldn’t have looked good. Whatever she did worked, ‘cause she’s back there now, makin’ costumes and whatever stallions want. You know she always would do whatever it took to get what she wanted.”

“Yeah…” Dash nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

“Why are you encouraging her?” Twilight said to Applejack, waving a hand towards Dash in exasperation. “It’s bad for her, she’ll just get punished more.”

“I reckon I’m just the encouragin’ sort.” Applejack said, then turned back to Dash. “Now, Pinkie’s… well, she’s half okay. She’s usually a red collar and seems to be havin’ fun makin’ stallions happy, but I hear every now and again… she ain’t. I dunno what that’s about, but I’m pretty sure it ain’t healthy.”

“You think she’s gonna snap for good one day?” Dash asked warily.

Applejack shrugged. “Couldn’t say. She always has had a mind made outta rubber, but even rubber only goes so far.”

Dash nodded, then hesitated. Finally, she took a deep breath and said, “And… Fluttershy? I’ve... heard things…”

Applejack frowned and looked down sadly, taking Dash’s hand again. She knew how close the two pegasi were, but what Fluttershy had become since the fall was sickening. “I’m sorry, Dash. She don’t even need a master. If anything, stallion or beast, seems to want her to fuck it, she’s happy to help. Same with other mares… she’ll bring critters to the park so the stallions can watch ‘em rut their slaves. She don’t bat an eyelash at it.”

Swallowing hard, Dash looked to AJ like she might cry. All Applejack could offer was a squeeze of her hand, a silent promise of strength. Had Twilight not been there, Applejack would have offered so much more.

“See, the rest of your friends are all good mares,” Twilight pointed out.

“Thanks, AJ…” Dash whispered.

“You too.” Applejack said softly back. Then she turned, “Say, Twilight, why don’t ya’ go get Spike, and we can get started?”

“Don’t worry, I can just call him when we’re ready.” Twilight smirked at them, clearly proud of herself as she rose to her hooves. “I promised the guards that since you’re both black collars, you’d be under constant supervision…”

“Oh, good,” Applejack said with a sigh. She really could have used just a few minutes alone with Dash, to explain things. But that was exactly what Twilight wasn’t going to give her, and it just meant Applejack had to count on Dash’s reflexes and wits. Of all the ponies in the world, she felt like Dash was the pony she could count on for that.

“Master?” Twilight called up the stairs. “Twily’s friends are here, and we’d all love to serve you whenever you wish!”

Applejack heard the thump of heavy footsteps on the stairs, and then Spike filled the doorway into the library. Owning Twilight and his other slaves had given him a monstrous growth spurt; he was around eight feet tall and built like a gorilla, with the intelligence to match. But what made Rainbow Dash’s eyes grow wide, while Applejack closed hers in a silent prayer for strength, was the massive cock between his legs. He stroked it with one clawed hand, already half-way hard as he sat on the throne like chair.

He grinned at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, drool dripping from his muzzle, and growled, “Spike want ponies.”

***

Three Nights Earlier

Applejack stood in the kitchen of the farmhouse and stuck her head into the living room. “Master, can I close the windows and lock the doors and all?”

“Eeyup,” Mac said, looking up from his newspaper. He folded it and set it aside while Applejack rounded the room, making sure windows were closed and blinds were tightly drawn. She locked the front door and the door to the kitchen, before turning to look him in the eye.

“Mac, we gotta talk.”

He nodded, and Applejack sat on the couch corner closest to his recliner. She grabbed a large throw pillow and held it in front of herself on her lap, covering her breasts and sex. It wasn’t like Mac didn’t see her naked all day, but when they could talk like this, as brother and sister rather than master and slave, the relative modesty felt more normal.

It was the saving grace in Applejack’s life, and the only thing she thanked the stars for every night, that Mac hadn’t been brainwashed like other stallions. They both knew that if he had been, he probably would have wound up abusing his sisters in ways that made them sick to think of.

As it was, she could talk to him… about most things, at least. She sighed and finally said softly, “Apple Bloom is growin’ up, Mac. It ain’t gonna be long before she’s lookin’ like a mare, and you know what’s gonna happen then.”

Mac cringed. “I don’t wanna think about that.”

“Well it don’t matter if you wanna think about it!” Applejack snapped. “They’re gonna do to her all the things they do to me, and I ain’t got the luxury of not thinkin’ about it, cause it happens every damn day!”

“I’m sorry.” Mac looked down and rubbed his temple with his hand.

“I know you are.” Applejack sighed. “I didn’t mean to shout. It’s just, we gotta do somethin’.”

He looked up and looked her in the eye. “If I knew somethin’ to do, I’d be doin’ it to keep you safe. You’re my lil’ sister too, ya’ know.”

Applejack nodded and was silent for a moment. Finally, she said quietly. “Mac, would you do anythin’ to keep us safe?”

He nodded solemnly. “Anythin’ I can do.”

“Swear it.” She looked him in the eye. “Swear it on Ma’s grave.”

“I swear to you, on Ma’s grave. If there’s something that’ll keep you safe, I’ll do it,” he said, but he was starting to look a little scared.

Applejack just nodded bravely. “I’m puttin’ my life in your hands, big brother…” She took a deep breath, then went on, “I’m gonna run. I’m gonna run away durin’ that play date at Twilight’s, and take Dash if I can. We’ll head for Bayou.”

Mac just frowned, and Applejack nodded.

“I know, we dunno if the rumors are true, that’s why I’m not bringin’ Apple Bloom right now. If it ain’t safe, or I don’t make it… you can do the best you can here. I’ll be runnin’ away on Spike’s watch, so no one can put it on your head. But if I can find a place, I’ll come back for her. And for you too, if you wanna leave.”

Applejack searched his face for a change, but it seemed frozen in that same frown. Finally she said meekly, “So… there ya’ go. You can tell ‘em just where I’m headed, or lock me up. I’ll go fetch the paddle if ya’ wanna beat me. But I know in my soul this is the right thing to do, Mac. Even if I never see this farm again.”

Mac closed his eyes and looked down, that same frown around his mouth. “Applejack, I can’t run this place without ya’. We both know that.” He sighed. “If you get caught, or if ya’ don’t come back, they’re gonna take it away from me and send me and Bloom who knows where. You’re bettin’ everythin’ on this.”

“I gotta try. Apple Bloom can’t grow up to what I am, Mac. If I see a stallion usin’ her, I’ll… they’ll have to make me a purple collar to get me to stop.” She clenched her fists, squinting her eyes shut to block out visions that were too awful to think. “You know it, Mac. Tell me ya’ won’t feel the same.”

Mac thought for a long time, staring at the floor. The rise and fall of his broad shoulders was the only movement. Finally he said slowly, “I guess ya’ better be quick about findin’ someplace else, before they see how bad I am at managin’ the farm.”

Applejack let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. She smiled at her brother with eyes full of love. “They already know it, ya’ fool. Why do ya’ think they let me stay here, as much as I run my mouth?”

Mac smiled back, but Applejack could see the fear in his eyes. “Ya’ think they’re right about Bayou?”

“Hard to say.” Applejack shrugged. “It seems too good to be true, but that place is a son of a bitch to get to, and the ponies almost never come to town. If the spell didn’t take as strong there, maybe the caribou left it be.”

Mac nodded. “Ya’ got a plan for gettin’ away from the library? The dragon might be dumber than a sack of hammers, but Twilight Sparkle ain’t gonna let you two waltz outta there.”

Applejack rested her chin on the top of the pillow and stared into space thoughtfully. “I been thinkin’ ‘bout it. I gotta plan, but it’ll be two on one if I don’t have Dash. If she’s the Rainbow Dash I remember, I know we can do it.”

“It’s been a long time…” Mac pointed out.

“She’s a black collar, I know that much. If we got really lucky, just that’d be enough.” Applejack bit her lip. “If we ain’t that lucky, it comes down to how in shape she is.”

“What happens if she don’t come through?” He raised an eyebrow.

Applejack raised one right back. “Then I’m goin’ up against Spike and Twilight on my own, and I’ll go down swingin’.”

Mac chuckled. “I remember when we were both foals, playin’ horseshoes. Didn’t matter how far behind you were, you’d never give up until you threw that last horseshoe. Hell, a few times there wasn’t even a way for you to win, but ya’ just wouldn’t quit…”

He smiled at Applejack and nodded. “Just let me know how I can help.”

***

Applejack rested on her elbows on the floor of the library, her ass held high, and bit her lip as the rhythmic shoving continued behind her. She knew that the longer Spike kept it up, the more worn out he’d be and the better a chance that this would work.

It didn’t hurt, not really. He was big, but Twilight had talked him into using lube since AJ belonged to someone else. That was more consideration than a lot of the stallions who’d raped her in the past year had, and stretched and wet was better than being pounded dry any day.

She felt his drool drip onto her back, and he reached up with a clawed hand to yank her hair by the ponytail. Her head jolted back, wrenching her neck as the pistoning in her sex just kept on. She snorted, but wouldn’t let herself even grunt. It seemed like after a year of this, stallions needed to push her; to make sure she knew she was being used, to make sure it hurt, to try to make her say something that would give them the excuse to beat her, since most of them suspected that Mac didn’t abuse her often enough… she wasn’t going to give Spike the satisfaction today. She’d waited too long to be here, in the same room as Rainbow Dash.

Twilight sat on the stool, bouncing on the sex toys that filled both of her holes as she watched. “Oh good girl, AJ. Take it all… That looks so good…”

Dash sat just behind Twilight, on the floor. Her face and chest were covered in Spike’s cum, and she alternated between furious glares at Twilight or Spike and longing looks at AJ.

Applejack noticed a change in Spike’s rhythm, an increase in speed, a loss of control, and finally he thrust firmly into her and stopped with a series of grunts and moans. He pulled her ponytail harder as he came, nearly bending her backwards, then he let go as he slumped against her.

She held her breath, moving her arms in front of her. He seemed to lean against her forever, and she was almost hopeful he’d just pass out right there. Then she felt him shift backwards, pulling his softening cock from her body and letting his cum drip down her her inner thighs.

In that moment, Applejack sprung into action. Launching off of her forearms, she kicked backwards with both legs, her hooves slamming hard into the dragon. She glanced over her shoulder and saw him fall backwards to the floor, her heart pounding. There was no turning back now, the punishment would be brutal and the goal was too close.

“What are you--” Twilight started to shout as Applejack leapt to her hooves.

“Dash! Shut ‘er up!” Applejack yelled, on her hooves in a flash and racing towards the toy closet Twilight had been digging in earlier.

Without a moment’s pause, Dash threw herself on top of Twilight, knocking her off the stool and clamping a hand over her mouth. She moved to pin Twilight with her body weight, and Twilight struggled to break free.

“Mmmph-- stop it! You’re going to-- Mmmph! Mmm mmmph!”

Applejack reached in the closet and snatched out what she needed, just as Spike was rising to his feet. Whatever she might think of sadistic bastards, she could count on them to have plenty of rope. While she was there, she grabbed a ball gag and tossed it towards Dash, who caught it easily despite the distraction of a thrashing mare beneath her.

There was no time to tie a lasso, so Applejack held the rope loosely between her hands, watching Spike. She saw the deep breath he took, and she waited for the last second before diving to the right. Spike’s bright green flame followed her path as she tumbled behind Twilight’s sleeping basket and turned it on its side as a shield.

Thank the stars and all the apples in the trees, she guessed right. The whole basket could have burst into flames, but instead it just became blisteringly hot as whatever flame retardant Twilight coated things with started to bubble and melt. Good ol’ Twilight-- selling ponies into slavery for a pat on the head was one thing, but she couldn’t just have a fire hazard sitting around.

As soon as the flame stopped, Applejack was ready. She grabbed a throw pillow that had fallen to the side, rope still in hand, and lept at the dragon. Shoving into his already injured collarbone, he tumbled to the floor, her on top. He inhaled for another try at roasting her, but she stuffed the pillow firmly in his muzzle, wrapped the rope around the back of his head, and tied a quick, tight knot. His eyes went wide as his flame melted the material in his mouth, and he sat up, using raw strength to throw her off.

Applejack slammed into the floor a few feet away, but she smiled. The end of the rope was still in her hand, and the other end was tied around the head of the dragon starting to climb to his feet.

“What’s going on?” Dash said frantically, sitting on top of a gagged Twilight and looking between AJ and Spike.

“We’re gettin’ outta here.” Applejack grinned. She gave the rope a good yank, and combined with Spike’s forward momentum and top heavy body it sent him falling to the floor with a hard thud. Using the other end of the same rope that held his gag in place, Applejack proceeded to bind his arms and legs behind his back with the efficiency of a rodeo champ.

Then she looked up, sweat dripping from her naked body, thighs still wet with cum, and beamed at Dash. For the first time in a year, Applejack felt strong and in control, and she had a friend she could count on. In spite of her collar, and the caribou, and everything that stood between her and real freedom, she felt confidant.

She patted the helpless male on the head as she stood up. “Spike, ya’ might wanna remember that if ya’ rape enough bitches, one of ‘em is gonna bite ya’.”

Dash just stared at her, mouth open. “How-- where-- oh. my. gosh. You don’t mean it. You can’t mean it! Please, please tell me again AJ.”

“We are gettin’ outta this, Dash. We’re runnin’ away. I gotta plan.”

The smile that came across Dash’s face couldn’t half compare to the light in her eyes. “You have a plan? I love plans! What is it?”

“Unh!” Twilight grunted through the ball gag, shaking her head.

“Shut up!” Dash shouted, using Twilight’s hair to turn her head to the side, so that she could at least half see the deathly glare Dash was giving her. “You. Betrayed. Us. You-- you did this to us! You let them rape us. You cut off your horn, and you let them pluck your wings… and you let them pluck my wings. You don’t get a say in anything, ever, understand?”

“Dash! Stop it. We ain’t got time for all that. We gotta get as far from here as we can be.” Applejack went back to the toy closet and grabbed some leather straps.

“Fine. She can rot here--”

Applejack turned and tossed the straps to Dash. “We’re takin’ her.”

“WHAT?!” Dash caught the straps automatically, but otherwise froze with an incredulous look on her face.

“Will ya’ keep your voice down? I said we’re takin’ her. We can use her as a hostage if we have to-- she’s a princess, so they’d probably wanna take her back alive.” Applejack raised an eyebrow at Dash. “Think they’re gonna worry ‘bout that with us?”

“Fine.” Dash roughly pulled Twilight’s arms behind her back and used the straps to bind them, using more force than was probably necessary. “Just so she knows that she’s a traitor and I don’t give one shit about her. Got it, princess? My loyalty to you is dead.”

Applejack offered a hand to help Dash to her hooves, then leaned over and lifted Twilight to hers. “Come on, you two. And please don’t try nothin’, Twilight. I do believe Dash is itchin’ to hurt ya’, and we don’t wanna give her an excuse.”

Chapter 2

Applejack, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash stepped out onto the streets of Ponyville. Applejack slipped an arm around Twilight’s waist to lead her. She knew the three naked, properly collared mares probably wouldn’t alert much attention, even with one of them bound and gagged. The bondage and fetish shops that now took up several prominent storefronts were a clue as to just how normal this sort of thing was.

They moved on past businesses, old and new. A pet shop had opened, and the window displayed a purple collar mare, tortured or raped until she lost her mind, sucking on her own nipple while she fingered herself with vigor. A group of colts stood on the sidewalk outside leering at her, but she’d never know it. Applejack just shook her head. Anyone experienced with purple collars ought to know to keep them from touching themselves all day-- they’d rub themselves raw and end up with all kinds of infections.

Twilight struggled to alert the colts, but they seemed uninterested in the three slaves who weren’t currently in the middle of any arousing acts. As they walked, several stallions turned to look and a few even raised their eyebrows at the girls, but none of them stopped to talk.

The front window of Sugarcube Corner was full of brightly-colored, cock-shaped lollipops (“delicious and educational for fillies and mares!”) while the Carousel Boutique mannequin was dressed in what might have been a tasteful purple silk dress, if it hadn’t been designed to make a mare’s breasts and sex viable and accessible for all stallions, in accordance with the law.

Applejack never thought she’d be happy to leave Ponyville, but right now her hooves couldn’t carry her fast enough.

Dash was looking around as well. At first Applejack thought she might be shocked at what the town had turned into in the year since the fall, but instead Dash leaned in close and whispered, “Where are all the guards?”

“The farm. I’ll explain later.” Applejack whispered. Another change in the town, and all over Equestria, was the presence of guards nearly everywhere. Given the number of black collared mares, and stallions who resisted brainwashing, the caribou who invaded seemed to need tight reins on everyplace, even with their corrupted magic.

“Uh… AJ? We’re headed towards the farm,” Dash pointed out nervously.

“We’re headed ‘round the farm. There were gonna be guards between us and where we’re goin’, either way. This way we deal with ‘em on my home turf,” Applejack explained. “It’s part of the plan.”

“You’re my hero.” Dash grinned and gave Applejack a quick hug as they walked.

Applejack smiled. “I’m just glad ya’ never went red on me.”

Dash nudged her, and Applejack turned to look. Dash just looked her in the eye, dead serious. “I would’ve died first.”

“That’s my girl,” Applejack said with a sad smile, before biting her lip and looking away.

They came to the edge of Ponyville, and Applejack glanced around. She didn’t see anyone, so she lead Twilight off the path, along the edges of other ponies’ property. A lot of it was run down, fields of the smaller farms were overgrown and houses hadn’t received the care that loving families once gave them. A house that used to be shared by Lily, Daisy, and Roseluck was now covered in graffiti that didn’t sugarcoat what the writer thought of the sisters’ bodies or sexual prowess.

As they walked, Applejack glanced at Dash. Dash didn’t seem to have noticed Applejack’s slip up earlier, calling Dash ‘her girl.’ That was good, this wasn’t the time to think about it. A lot had happened in the past year, and neither of them had been sure just how they felt before this nightmare. A few dates and a night in the barn might have been long forgotten, if it wasn’t for the dream of the arms of a strong, loving mare… There would be time for figuring that out later, if she could just focus right now.

By cutting through the properties on the edge of town, they came to a forested area north of Ponyville. These woods ran along the north side of the farm as well, and they were usually safer than the Everfree to the south. Like everything else in Equestria, they’d gone downhill since the caribou came-- the twisted plants and animals they brought with them invaded wild areas all over Equestria.

But at least this close to the farm Applejack was aware of the dangers. The hivers were the worst, but they hunted towards town where they were more likely to find find stray mares to turn into zombie incubators for their eggs. As they entered the woods near the north east corner of the farm Applejack knew of a half dozen patches of rape vines to avoid and led Dash and Twilight carefully towards a dried creek bed that avoided most of the dangers while heading in the right direction.

“We gotta be careful, from here on out.” Applejack said softly to Dash as she carefully helped Twilight down the four foot dip. “There’s guards around the farm, and if they see us we could be in a mess.”

Twilight seemed to have realized that being bound and gagged in the company of two stronger mares meant that escape on her own wasn’t likely to succeed. Since they’d left behind the populated areas, her face had fallen to a constant disapproving glare.

“Are they looking for us?”

“Probably not. They’re lookin’ for some purple collars that got loose. They ain’t had time to find Spike yet, so they likely don’t know we’re gone.”

Dash nodded, and the three walked on in relative silence for a while. The only sound was the crunching of the leaves beneath their hooves and the normal birdcalls of a woodland scene. Brush scraped Applejack’s bare legs, but she was used to it. Twilight seemed to be stepping more gingerly than usual, but Dash was alert and focused on everything around her and didn’t seem to notice anything as mundane as some cuts on her legs.

Over the top of the creek bed, Applejack kept track of their progress. They were tracing the north edge of the farm, about fifty feet into the forest. She could see apple trees through the thinner parts, and she tried to push aside the mix of emotions. She was leaving Sweet Apple Acres, maybe for good. Oh, she’d be back for Apple Bloom, but she knew there was a good chance that she’d never live here again. She hadn’t wanted to live anyplace else, from the time she got her cutie mark until the caribou marched in. But at the same time, she knew this wasn’t really Sweet Apple Acres, it was the Dirt Pony Farm. It was a mockery of everything her family had worked for, for generations, and some part of her angrily insisted that it was good riddance now. The only things worth anything over there were her brother and sister, and they’d be joining her someday. They could build a new farm when they were safe. It would never be the same as Sweet Apple Acres for them, but someday it would be for a future generation, one that they couldn’t even consider while they were struggling for their lives and dignity.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a noise. From the edge of the forest, she heard a stallion’s voice call, “Here, cunts! Come’ere girls, there’s some nice cock for you!”

Applejack froze, along with Rainbow Dash. Motioning for Dash to do the same, Applejack slowly ducked down, pulling Twilight with her.

Twilight’s ears perked up, and her eyes went wide. Suddenly she started kicking her legs in the dry leaves and screaming through her gag, a loud high pitched hum from the back of her throat.

“Hey, what was that?” another stallion’s voice called.

“Probably some animal.”

“Mmmph!” Twilight cried out and continued trying to attract their attention.

Applejack and Dash locked horrified gazes for a minute, before Dash dove next to Twilight and wrapped her hands around her throat.

“Eh, better check it out.”

Applejack just held her breath, staring at Dash and Twilight. Dash wore a mask of furious determination, and her arms shook as her thumbs rested on Twilight’s windpipe. Twilight was wisely frozen and silent, because Applejack was pretty sure Dash was just looking for an excuse to kill her at this point, and Applejack didn’t have time to stop her.

The rustling steps of the guard got closer, and Applejack gave an apologetic look to Dash. She silently mouthed “If I don’t make it, keep going,” hoping Dash would understand. Then she stood up and climbed up the side of the creek bed.

The guards looked at her strangely. They were both stallions stationed in town-- a skinny royal guard named Paperwhite, who got stationed in Ponyville after failing to impress pretty much anyone in Canterlot, and Thunderlane, who joined up because nothing beat the variety of rape offered by a guard uniform.

“What’re you doing here?” Paperwhite asked her suspiciously.

“I live over there, sir.” Applejack nodded towards the farm, her arms by her sides to keep from covering herself and her legs spread. Her heart was pounding, if the guards suspected anything at all not only would the plan fail, but she could easily be taken from Mac. She could be sold to another master, or reeducated into a red or even purple collar.

“Where have you been?” he pressed.

“I had a playdate with Twilight Sparkle,” Applejack answered honestly.

“That’s where Macintosh said she was,” Paperwhite said to Thunderlane.

Thunderlane grinned, running his eyes over Applejack’s displayed body. “You and Twilight, huh? Was it hot?”

Applejack shrugged. “Mostly just got fucked by her master. Then I headed home.”

“I’ve seen Spike fucking Twilight. He’s hung… you like ‘em like that, Appleslut?” Thunderlane smirked and moved towards her, looking her in the eye as he reached out and casually weighed her breasts in his palms.

Applejack didn’t move a muscle except to say clearly, “Yes, sir.” He was baiting her, and as much as she might want to talk back or pull away, if there was any chance that they’d leave her alone she had to convince them she was being a model slave.

Paperwhite frowned at her, then walked around behind. With no warning, she felt his hand under her tail, running towards her core. He roughly thrust two fingers inside and wiggled them before pulling his hand away. Applejack heard him sniff it as he came back to stand next to Thunderlane.

“She’s been fucked, her story checks out.” He held his fingers to her lips. “Lick, bitch.”

Applejack licked the guard’s wet fingers without complaint, tasting her own wetness, Spike’s cum, and the lube he had used as she thoroughly cleaned them.

“Why’d you head for home?” Thunderlane asked, toying with one of her nipples.

Applejack blushed, not from the casual groping, but because she knew she was going to have to lie. “I- I got word that some purples got loose. I figured my master was gonna need me to help round ‘em up.”

Paperwhite looked closely at her face. “So why didn’t you come by the road?”

“I figured y’all woulda checked by the roads already, so I thought I’d head back here,” she said too quickly. She futilely tried to will herself to sound normal. “There’s a patch of wild rape vines yonder, and I know the purples would be all over ‘em like flies on honey.”

She was almost grateful for the jolt of pain as Thunderlane pinched her nipple hard and twisted. Her cringe overrode her nerves, she knew at least this looked honest.

He smirked. “You been figuring a lot of things, Appleslut. You think you’re smart?”

“No, sir. I’m a dumb cunt,” she gasped as he released her.

Thunderlane laughed. “Wow, I don’t think you’ve ever been this reasonable. Twilight must be rubbing off on you. Thinking of taking up a red collar?”

She felt a pang of worry that he knew something was up, so she shook her head. “When every caribou cuts his own cock off, sir.”

“Fair enough. I like a cunt with some fight in her.” He gave her a pat on her cheek and reached down to undo his fly. “Bend over.”

Applejack did as she was told, silently cursing him. The longer it took them to have their fun, the better the chance they’d end up escorting her back to the farmhouse, and her plan would be ruined.

“Thunderlane, leave it,” Paperwhite said with an annoyed sigh. “We can fuck her at the farmhouse later, we’ve got purple collars to find first.”

“Okay, okay.” Thunderlane responded, and Applejack heard his fly zip back up. “Fine. But I get first go at her ass.” He gave her a hard smack on her presented ass then walked back over to his partner.

“Noted.” Paperwhite nodded. He glared at Applejack. “Up, bitch. You said there were some wild rape vines over there? You gonna check it out?”

Applejack nodded as she straightened up. “That’s where I was headed.”

“Great. I hate getting near rape vines, anyway. They remind me of snakes,” he said, and with that he turned around and started walked out of the woods.

“We can head back and check the north orchard on our way,” Thunderlane suggested, then he smiled at Applejack. “If you don’t get home in time for my date with your ass, I’ll come out and make sure you don’t get raped to death.”

“Thanks, sir,” Applejack said, not really trying to hide her sarcasm.

“Anytime, Appleslut.” Thunderlane laughed as he walked back towards the farm after Paperwhite.

Applejack stood there, staring until they were totally out of sight, and a few minutes after that.

Finally, she casually turned around a looked over the ledge of the creek. Rainbow Dash and Twilight were still frozen in place, Dash ready to crush Twilight’s windpipe at the least provocation. Applejack just shook her head at the scene as she made her way down the bank.

“I think we’re good,” she said quietly. “Twilight…” Applejack closed her eyes. She was angry, but she knew that Twilight wasn’t much better than a purple collar. She didn’t know what she was doing. Applejack motioned Dash away from her and leaned over to brush Twilight’s mane back. “Twilight, sugarcube, this is real important. You used to trust me. Look hard in your heart, try and find that again, and I swear to you if you can trust me, I’ll keep you safe. But, if ya’ can’t trust me, I can’t promise that. Understand?”

Twilight nodded, and Applejack lifted her to her hooves.

“So, you wanna explain to me why we didn’t just give the guards the hostage we have who tried to get us found out?”

“Well, first because she woulda told ‘em straight off that we ran away. We need more head start than that.” Applejack said as they started walking again. “And second, she’s our friend.”

“AJ, we have really different definitions of ‘friend,’” Dash said, glaring at Twilight. “As far as I know, you’re the only friend I have in the world right now. And I don’t like ponies who try to get my friends hurt.”

“I’ll explain later, Dash. Not in front of Twilight.”

“It’s a shame Thunderlane’s gonna miss that date with your ass. Maybe the rape vines will give him some love when he comes looking for your body.”

Applejack chuckled and relaxed. “Come on, we gotta double time it. They’re gonna notice me missin’ a bit faster than I planned, and they’ll come lookin’.”

***

It didn’t take long before the creek bed was crossed by a rickety wooden bridge. The bridge sat along a path, the farmhouse was just a few minutes walk south, and to the north… well, that’s where they were going.

But first, Applejack stuck her head under the bridge and grinned. “Dash, come here.”

“What’s up?” Dash said, leaning over her shoulder.

“Take this.” Applejack pulled out a backpack and handed it to Dash, backing out of the shade holding another backpack and a burlap bag. “From here, we’re headed north, through the forest. It ain’t gonna be easy, and to be honest… I dunno if what we’re headed for is even there. But it’s worth a shot, right?”

“Of course it is!” Dash grinned, setting down the bag she was holding and peeking inside. “What are we headed for?”

“Can’t say in front of Twilight. If she runs off, I don’t want her tellin’ the guards.” Applejack laid her own bags on the ground and opened the sack. She glanced up at Twilight. “Sorry, Twi.”

Twilight just rolled her eyes.

“Don’t tell her you’re sorry,” Dash grumbled. “I don’t remember her running the plan by us when she decided to help turn Equestria into rape-world.”

“Anyway, these packs don’t have everything I’d like to have for the trip, but they got enough for us to get by. Startin’ with clothes.” Applejack pulled several items of crumpled clothing out of the burlap sack. She tossed a shirt and pants to Dash.

“Mmph mmph!” Twilight shook her head.

“You’re gonna need ‘em, whether you want ‘em or not. We’re goin’ through some rough forest, and I ain’t havin’ you get beat up on my account.” She set aside a set of clothes for Twilight and started pulling on a pair of pants.

Dash pulled a white shirt over her head. It fell below her cutie mark, far too large, but she just ran her hands over it in awe. “Where did these come from?”

“Later, Dash.” Applejack pulled on a similarly sized shirt. She dug into her backpack and came out with a long length of rope and a sharp knife. “Anyway, they’re all gonna be way too big, but they’re somethin’ at least.”

“Like I care. I don’t have to be naked!” Dash quickly pulled on a pair of pants. They were far too long, and the waist had no chance of staying up. “Um, I mean, as long as I can keep them on.”

Applejack finished looping the rope around the waistband of her pants and tied it off as a belt. Then she used the knife to cut the hems of the pants to where she needed them, before offering the rope and knife to Dash.

Dash worked on her own clothes, and Applejack set about dressing a clearly disgruntled Twilight. Before long they’d tied and cut the clothes for all three mares into something they could move in.

Applejack picked up the burlap sack to stick it in her pack along with the extra fabric they’d just cut off, and the good bit of rope that was left, but she found it wasn’t empty. She fished around to the bottom and pulled out one last thing.

A battered cowpony hat.

“Oh… my…” She bit her lip to keep from crying, but the smile covered her whole face. Usually, the hat was kept away as a ‘reward,’ one that Mac was careful with because other ponies could see it and question him. In all the planning for her escape, it hadn’t even crossed her mind. But her big brother remembered.

“AJ! Oh gosh, that’s awesome!” Dash grabbed the hat and plopped it on Applejack’s head, grinning at her. “Now we’re really ready. And whatever we’re going to is gonna be there, I know it!”

“We’ll have to see, but I sure am ready to find out! Grab your backpack.” Applejack slung hers over her shoulder and started to carefully lead Twilight up the embankment, Dash right behind.

***

They walked until after dark, digging flashlights out of Dash’s pack to keep going. Applejack and Dash agreed that right now the biggest danger was being too close to civilization. As soon as Applejack smelled sulfur they left the path and walked another hour before finally settling on a camping site, and only then because steering Twilight through the underbrush was getting too difficult.

In addition to the flashlights, Dash’s pack held matches, another sharp knife, a large green blanket for them to sleep on, a dozen apples, a loaf of crusty bread, a bag of rice, and a jar of peanut butter. Applejack’s bag contained special supplies for tomorrow, a compass, two canteens of water, and a first aid kit.

After spreading out the blanket, Applejack sat Twilight down.

“Twilight, I want you to listen to me. I’m gonna take out your gag in a second, but I’m gonna leave your hands tied. It would be a real bad idea for you to try to find your way through woods ya’ don’t know with your hands behind your back, full of rape vines and hivers and who knows what else. I know ya’ wanna go back, but I wouldn’t try it tonight if I was you. We clear?”

Twilight nodded, and Applejack reached over and unfastened the ball gag, and offered Twilight a canteen.

After several long swallows of water, Twilight turned her head away, a mask of anger washing over her face.

“The two of you are insane! They’re going to hunt you down, you know. They’ll hunt you down, and they’ll send you both to reeducation centers, and if you’re lucky they’ll turn you into purple collars! Is that what you want? You want to spend the rest of your lives as brainless, sex obsessed animals?”

“You seem to like it okay,” Dash said dryly.

“I’m thinking logically, Rainbow Dash,” Twilight shot back, “Sex feels good. Serving stallions feels good. It’s not like there’s a better option…” Her eyes narrowed cruelly. “I mean, you were having such a good time the last time I visited, when you were being punished.”

“Shut up!” Dash ordered.

Twilight ignored her and continued. “You were strapped into that ass stretching machine with the spiked dildo making you bleed and clamps digging into your--”

“Yeah, and you know what you did?” Dash cut her off and leaned over, pointing a finger right in her face. “You lectured me about how it was all my fault! I was bleeding and screaming into my gag, and my friend told me I should remember that it was for my own good!”

“I tried to teach you…” Twilight just shook her head. “I tried to teach you both. I still love you girls, I want you to be happy, I just don’t know how to make you see.” She closed her eyes in frustration. “And now when they find you I’ll lose you both, and this is your fault!”

“Then help us get free, so ya’ don’t lose us.” Applejack said, calmly. “That’s all we want, Twilight.”

Twilight glared at Applejack. “I think I already did my part. Unwillingly, I might add. I invited you both to play, because I knew how much you’d love to see each other. Even though you’re both black collars, I never thought you’d take advantage of me, of our friendship like this! Why should I help you? You hurt my master and you betrayed me. Not to mention kidnapping me.”

“Say I’m the one who betrayed you again. I dare you,” Dash growled.

Applejack just sighed. “Twilight, I’m sorry I hurt Spike--”

“No you’re not!” Dash spoke up. “He raped you for, like, half an hour! After he raped me! You should have cut off his cock and used that as a gag.”

“Hush.” Applejack laid a gentle hand on Dash’s shoulder. “I am sorry I hurt him. Dash, we both know Spike and Twilight underneath this. I ain’t sayin’ I appreciate what they done since, but I’d rather have ‘em back, the way I love ‘em, then see ‘em hurt or punished for all this.”

“They aren’t there, AJ.” Dash shook her head sadly. “It’s like a zombie. It looks like them, but there’s no Twilight left. Just a sadistic bitch who likes to watch ponies get tortured and raped.”

“I do not like that!” Twilight blushed. “I understand why they do it, but if you’d just submit, they wouldn’t do it as much! I’ve been trying to tell you that from the start.”

Dash got right in Twilight’s face and said slowly, “We. Don’t. Want. It.”

“It’s not about what we want--” Twilight started, but Dash cut her off, their faces still inches apart.

“If you tell me about the fucking stallions one more time, I’m gonna smack you. I hate stallions now! I wouldn’t let one near me if I was on fire and he had a bucket of water!”

“Not all stallions are bad, Dash,” Applejack said firmly. “Just like not all mares think like Twilight.”

“Name a good stallion,” Dash challenged.

“Some other time, sugarcube,” Applejack said, glancing at Twilight.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I’m not stupid, Applejack. I can see now that Mac is a sympathizer.”

“You’re kidding.” Dash blinked, then looked to Applejack. “He is?”

Applejack just stared at Twilight. “What makes ya’ think that?”

Twilight gave a huff. “To start with, the purple collars got loose when you were with us. At first I thought you must have opened the cages before you left, but you were sure the guards would still be busy there and they were. My guess is that the cages were opened a set time after you left, and one of the girls was probably hidden somewhere, to give you time. The apple cellar would be logical. Then there were the bags. You could have planted them, but you didn’t know your hat would be in there. And these are Mac’s clothes, that’s obvious. Put that together with how he hates to keep you in line, and how gentle he is with the purple collars, and it all adds up.” She nodded. “He’s a traitor.”

“A traitor to the bad guys,” Dash said. “AJ, your brother is the best stallion in the world.”

Applejack just stared at Twilight, not daring to confirm. This made everything much more complicated; she could not let Twilight go back to Ponyville until she got Mac out. The best that would happen, if he was found out, would be him being reeducated… she’d heard rumors that if that didn’t work, the caribou had ways of turning a stallion into a mare. And then treating her like one.

“Applejack, I’ll make you a deal, because I’m your friend,” Twilight said with a sympathetic smile that Applejack almost believed for a second, before she opened her mouth again. “Take us back now and agree to let Spike discipline you and Apple Bloom from now on, and I won’t tell. If they’ve found out we’re gone, I’ll explain that you had a kind of panic attack, and that when you came to your senses you hurried home.”

“How about fuck you and your deal!” Dash suggested.

“And if I don’t agree?” Applejack asked calmly.

“You’ll have to let me go someday,” Twilight pointed out, frowning. “When you do, I’ll go straight to the guards and tell them where you are and what your brother is.”

Applejack considered that for a second, then looked Twilight in the eye. “I could kill ya’.”

“You-- you wouldn’t do that.” Twilight said, but her eyes were darting around and she tried to scoot away from Applejack and Dash. “I’m your friend, and I’m trying to help!”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “You talked about havin’ Spike discipline Apple Bloom. That gonna involve him rapin’ her?”

“Well, until she likes it,” Twilight said nervously, then she took a breath and went on, “She’s old enough, Applejack. Most of the fillies her age--”

Applejack nodded firmly, not needing to hear more. “Yup, I could kill ya’. But I ain’t gonna.”

“Why not?” Dash piped up, sounding less angry than confused. She sighed and shook her head. “Seriously, AJ, it’s like putting down a rabid dog. It just needs to be done before she can hurt more ponies. The Twilight we loved wouldn’t want to live like this.”

Applejack leaned back and thought for a few minutes. “If I killed Twilight, I’d have to admit this is really how she is. That whatever happens next, the caribou stole one of my best friends and I’ll never have her back. That’s a thing I just can’t settle with.”

She looked over to Twilight. “I could kill ya’, but I’m too stubborn. That’s what your life is ridin’ on right now. If I was you, I wouldn’t push me too hard to stop bein’ stubborn.”

Twilight opened and closed her mouth several times. “This entire situation is insane.”

“That’s one thing we agree on,” Dash muttered.

Applejack didn’t respond, she just sat and looked up at the full moon through the trees.

After a long silence, Twilight lay down on the blanket and rolled away from AJ and Dash, not even bothering to say goodnight.

Applejack moved to the other end of the blanket and whispered, “Dash, come’ere.”

Dash crawled over, and Applejack pulled Dash closer and wrapped her in a hug.

Dash laid her head on AJ’s shoulder and closed her eyes.

“Lay down,” Applejack said softly. “Trust me, you’ll feel better layin’ down. On your belly.”

“Okay…” Dash started to lay on the blanket, then she hesitated. “AJ, don’t do anything to me. I’m not ready now.”

“You can trust me, sugarcube. I will never touch ya’ when you don’t want. But I think you’re past ready for this. I’m gonna take off your bindin’s.”

In the moonlight, Dash’s eyes were huge. “It’s been so long… oh gosh, please, AJ. Do it now. I can’t wait another minute.”

Applejack smiled and kneeled next to Dash and grabbed one of the sheaths firmly. “Now, hold still. Soon as I move this, you’re gonna wanna move your wing, but this thing has nails on the inside and if ya’ move it you’re gonna scrape yourself more…”

Applejack slowly inched the boxy cover off of Dash’s right wing. Dash’s body was tensed, and Applejack ignored the tiny whimpering sounds Dash was making. Finally one box was removed, revealing a thin, plucked wing. Applejack ran her hand over it.

“Aah…” Dash gasped at the overwhelming feeling, it was the one place on her body that hadn’t been touched in the past year.

“Shh…” Applejack moved across her body to the next one and repeated the process.

When both wings were free, Dash looked up uncertainly. “Can I move them yet?”

“Slow. They’re gonna be cramped. Lemme rub ‘em while ya’ do.” She laid her hands on the bare skin, working with Dash to spread the limbs.

It was clear there were atrophied muscles, and that the memory of how to use the ones Dash still had was instinctual and unrefined. On top of that was the pain that had her muttering, “Ooow ow ow ow…”

“Take it slow,” Applejack advised, once the wings were spread and Dash gave them a few tentative flaps. “Ya’ ain’t flyin’ anywhere ‘til the feathers grow back, anyhow. You got time to get the strength back.”

For a few moments, Dash lay there with her eyes closed, and the sticks that were her wings twitched and jerked in the night air as she seemed to be trying different movements. After a while she finally opened her eyes and looked behind her.

She smiled, but there were tears in her eyes and a tremor in her voice as she said, “They look so gross. AJ, why did they do this to me? My wings were-- everything. Why did they have to take them?”

Applejack sighed. “I figure it was to show that they can. So if ya’ ever start thinkin’ you’re a pony, with your own body and brain to use how ya’ want, you remember they can take whatever they want away from ya’. It’s like fuck-buckin’.”

“Fuck-bucking?” Dash asked as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

Applejack lay down next to Dash and rested her chin on her folded arms, looking into the darkness. “Workin’ at the farm… with Mac, it wasn’t as bad as it coulda been. We took care of the purple collars and raised up them god awful rape vines, but mostly I was just a farmer, like I been all my life. But ya’ know that wasn’t gonna fly with them caribou. They told Mac to strip me naked, like everyone else, and make me sleep in the doghouse outside unless I earned my bed… and they come up with fuck buckin’ to get the apples from the trees. They blindfolded me and tied me to a tree, and any stallion that wanted could come rut me hard enough to shake the tree, until the apples fell out.”

“AJ… I’m sorry…” Dash’s arm draped across Applejack’s back.

“They did it to all us, sugarcube. But, besides not bein’ too fond of bein’ raped, the real bitch of it is it’s a damned stupid way of gettin’ apples. It takes forever and never gets ‘em all. But it was never about gettin’ apples for them. It was about them makin’ damned sure I knew I was no farmer, I was nothin’ but a tool they could use, for fuckin’ or gettin’ food or whatever they wanted. Provin’ that was more important to them than runnin’ a farm right. That’s why they took your wings, sugarcube. To show what they could do to you, so you’d start to believe they could do it.”

Dash leaned her head on Applejack’s shoulder. “And you proved they couldn’t.”

Applejack smiled a little. “Not forever. Not to us. We’re too much for ‘em.”

“AJ, I’m so proud of you.” Dash ran her hand down Applejack’s blonde ponytail.

“It’s not all that much.” Applejack said with a modest smile. “Like I said, I got lucky out at the farm, compared to how it coulda been.”

“I’m totally jealous,” Dash said with a nod, looking at Applejack but not really focused. “But I’m really happy for you.”

“I know other ponies had it worse than me.” Applejack said, brushing Dash’s red, orange and yellow hair across her forehead. “If ya’ ever wanna talk about it...”

Dash thought for a moment, then didn’t bother to pretend the subject had changed naturally. “What are you gonna do with Twilight? You can’t hold her prisoner forever.”

“I’m hopin’ we can get her back.” Applejack sighed.

Dash glanced over at where Twilight seemed to be asleep, then whispered sharply to Applejack, “She’s the poster girl for the bastards, literally. Every time I went out into an arena I saw pictures of her fucking smirk, telling me to enjoy it! She’s evil, you heard what she suggested with Apple Bloom, a little filly. Of all the ponies we could try to save, why are you wasting your time with her?”

Applejack stared at Twilight’s back. “Because I remember when she was the smartest pony in Equestria. We can run, Dash, and we can hide someplace. And maybe, if we’re damned lucky, we can save a few other ponies we love. Me and you could do that.

“But, I want more. Someday, I wanna go home. And I want it to be like it was, I want the caribou gone. I want my farm, and my family and friends… I got no clue how to do that, Dash. It-- it seems hopeless. But I can’t help thinkin’, ‘Twilight would know what to do.’ If we can get her right, give her time to regrow her horn, maybe, somehow, she can fix this so we can really live again.”

“It’s not gonna work. Equestria is gone,” Dash said softly. “Twilight’s a traitor. Me and you, we’ll get by. We’ll save your family. AJ, this is more than I dreamed this past year. I thought maybe, if I was lucky, I’d get out somehow. I never let myself think I’d get to be with you again, it would’ve hurt too much.” She swallowed hard. “I can’t tell you how I felt when you kicked him and yelled to me… it was like I was flying again. And… I’m going to fly again. That’s all I want. Please, get rid of Twilight.”

“Dash…” Applejack said cautiously. “Are ya’ lettin’ yourself think you’ll get to be with me again?”

“I’m… thinking about it. I’m different, AJ. I just-- I don’t want anypony to touch me now. Not even you. I wanna be my own.” Despite her words, Dash made no move to shift away from where she and Applejack had their bodies pressed next to each other.

“You are your own, sugarcube.” Applejack rested her head on one arm and looked over at Dash. “You’re right, we’re real different ponies these days than how we were before, and we oughta take it slow.”

Dash nodded. “But… you waited for me, AJ. You could have run like this by yourself, couldn’t you?”

“Maybe, maybe not.”

“You didn’t. You saved me too.” Dash looked her in the eye. “You don’t know what this means to me.”

Applejack shrugged, blushing..

Rainbow Dash relaxed onto the blanket, laying with her face inches from Applejack’s. “It means maybe some ponies haven’t changed that much.”

Chapter 3

The next morning, Rainbow Dash woke when someone moved next to her. She kept her eyes closed, hoping that whoever it was didn’t want her to do more of whatever she’d done last night. None of the usual parts of her body were screaming in pain, but the stallion might have been waiting until today to get to the really bad stuff.

She chanced opening an eye and tried to make sense of what she saw. She was outside, it looked like the sun was just coming up. Then someone spoke.

“I was hoping it was a dream.”

“Sorry. How about I untie your arms for a bit and let you straighten out? You gotta be sore.”

“Maybe some mares can’t handle a little light bondage, but I--”

“Then leave it on. I was just tryin’ to be nice.”

Twilight… Applejack… Applejack was here, and here wasn’t Master’s kennel. Dash’s eyes snapped open wide. “I’m… free?”

“Mornin’, Dash. You’re free, and you’re wearin’ clothes, and it’s time for breakfast.”

Dash rolled over to look at Applejack and grinned. “Yesterday really happened!”

Applejack smiled and nodded. She was sitting crosslegged, eating an apple. Twilight was also trying to eat an apple, but she was crouched on the blanket, arms bound behind her back.

Applejack glanced at Twilight and shrugged to Dash. “It’s what she wants.”

Dash sat up and took an apple for herself. “So, what’s the plan for today? Where are we going?”

“First off, we’re gonna head back to the path, then overshoot about an hour past it. That way any one tryin’ to follow us is either gonna have to split up, or guess right if they don’t wanna lose an hour findin’ the campsite here.”

“Isn’t that just going to take us more time to get where we’re going?” Dash asked.

“We got time,” Applejack said with a shrug. “We don’t want to lead ‘em there, so we’re gonna hav'ta wander a bit so we’re sure we ain’t bein’ followed.”

“To be sure we aren’t being followed to the place that might not be there?” Twilight said raising an eyebrow as she looked up from her apple. “Applejack, if you think we’re going to one of those made up towns that somehow weren’t touched by the revolution, you’re dreaming. There aren’t any. Black collars invent them as an excuse not to listen to their masters.”

“That could be,” Applejack admitted.

“Don’t listen to her, AJ. Even if she knew for sure there was a place like that, she’d lie about it so we’d go back.” Dash glared at Twilight. “But we aren’t.”

Applejack nodded. “We’ll be in just as much trouble if we give up now as if we find out we were wrong.”

“Except we won’t be wandering in the dangerous woods for who knows how long,” Twilight pointed out.

“It ain’t that dangerous. Hivers only live near town, and I know how to handle a rape vine. And it just so happens I know these woods. For example, Dash, I got a job for you today.”

“Yeah?” Dash’s ears perked up.

“We’re headed through the fire swamp. I’m gonna have my hands full with the monster that lives there, so I need you to help Twilight through.” Applejack peeked in one of the packs again before letting it go, apparently satisfied with what was in it.

“Fire swamp? Monster?” Twilight tensed and stared at Applejack.

“Don’t worry, Twilight.” Applejack gave her a smirk. “It’s just somethin’ black collars made up to make it hard to get to the town we made up.”

Dash snorted a laugh.

Twilight took a deep breath and shook her head. “So there really is some town out here that you’ve been to?”

“There’s a place we used to deliver pies to. About 500 ponies, and even when things were good I don’t think ten of them ever left the place.” Applejack leaned back and bit her lip. “A few months ago, there was a mare bein’ punished on the farm, and her master had this accent… they got a weird accent out there. Anyhow, he wouldn’t say much ‘bout where he was from, even to Mac, but he said he got run outta town by the whores and homosexuals and was doin’ well for himself out in Equestria.”

She shrugged “I ain’t been there in years. Maybe it’s gone, all the ponies just left. Maybe it’s just like everyplace else thanks to the magic. But I’ll lay bits that the caribou ain’t sent no guards through the fire swamp just to keep five hundred swamp folks in line.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “I’ve never even heard of this place.”

“Good.” Dash shot her a look. “I hope they’ve never heard of you, either.” She paused a moment, then asked, “AJ? You’re gonna fight a monster by yourself?”

“Yup.” Applejack nodded. “I done it before. I know a few tricks, so don’t you worry.”

“I can help.” She smiled hopefully. “You know I’m good in a fight, we make a good team.”

“I’d love to have ya’ sugarcube, but I only got one pair of fireproof boots, and if you’re payin’ attention to the monster and not the fire you’re likely to get burned.”

“I--” Dash stopped and felt the hairs stand up on the back of her neck. Burned. She took a deep breath, then swallowed. “Okay.”

“We oughta get goin’.” Applejack straightened up, then got to her hooves. “Dash, ya’ mind eatin’ while we walk?”

Dash looked at the untouched apple in her hands, then started to stand. “No problem, let’s go.”

Applejack helped Twilight up and Dash repacked the blanket, then they set off through the woods back the way they came.

As they walked, Rainbow Dash stared at the apple in her hand, turning it over and admiring every detail of the fruit. The bread and peanut butter that had been last night’s dinner was the first food Dash had in a half a year that wasn’t covered in cum, or flavored to taste like cum or something worse. She could still remember a half a year ago she’d gotten a stomach flu and couldn’t keep anything down, so they’d actually given her some dry crackers. She figured she must have been close to dying.

She was jealous of AJ. Being on the farm, having Mac for a master… she felt bad because she knew that AJ was still a slave, that she’d still had to do stuff that nopony should ever be forced to do. But there had been someone who cared.

Dash never had that. Just constant pushing, constant pain, constant humiliation. Her master only cared what she could do for him or how he could use her, and the bastard seemed to enjoy whatever pain he had to inflict to get what he wanted from her. Then, when he was done with her, he made sure she knew she was worthless.

Fear and anger were the only things that kept her going. She hated to admit that she was afraid, but… her master could hurt her any way he wanted, and he’d proved that he would. There was nothing she could do, and no way she could fight, and that piled up inside her as a white hot rage at the entire world.

Except for AJ. From the moment they saw each other yesterday, Dash remembered what friendship was. All of a sudden, there was a pony in Equestria who cared about her, who was willing to take the painful part of a rape just because Dash didn’t want to, or who wouldn’t make things she wanted depend on her being ‘good.’ Just having a pony who would hear an awful thing that happened and say they were sorry for her made her happy. She never thought that she, Rainbow Dash, would see a pony pitying her as a beautiful thing, but in her world it meant that she wasn’t garbage, and ponies weren’t all monsters.

Dash’s thoughts were interrupted by a sharp whisper. “Down, now!”

She looked up and saw Applejack dive into some brush, one arm pulling Twilight with her and the other hand drawing her knife. Dash followed her lead, diving to the other side, and looked around nervously.

The woods around them were still, Applejack was keeping Twilight quiet and there didn’t seem to be another pony anywhere around. Then a movement caught Dash’s eye, a shadow, and she looked up to see a pegasus passing over a clearing ahead of them. Her eyes went wide and she held her breath as he continued, flying right over the spot where they hid.

Minutes ticked by. He didn’t land. No one showed up. More time passed. Dash was sure she’d been sitting there for hours, but any time she thought of moving she imagined being the one who gave them all away. Eventually, she saw Applejack slowly look up from her cover and look around. Then she stood and pulled Twilight to her hooves. Finally Dash stood up.

“Search patterns,” Dash whispered. “They’re looking for us.”

“Really?” Twilight gave a mock gasp. “I can’t imagine why, when Applejack kidnapped a princess and is currently holding half of the bearers of the Elements of Harmony. That doesn’t look like something King Dainn would notice at all!”

The look on Applejack’s face said clearly that these considerations hadn’t been a part of her plan, but she took a deep breath and said, “Well, we’re gonna keep on goin’.”

“Hold on.“ Dash pulled her pack off her back and started digging through it for the scraps of cloth they’d cut from their clothes. “I’ve got the brightest hair and tail, I need to get them covered. AJ, you might wanna tuck in your tail. Your hat should cover your hair from above.”

“Great idea, Dash.” Applejack grinned as she tucked some of her hair down the back of her shirt and pulled her tail inside her pants.

Dash grabbed a piece of green fabric and a knife, cutting it into a vague square, and wrapped it around her head, pushing as much of her rainbow hair inside as she could. Then she pulled her tail inside her pants and let it trail down her leg. It tickled and itched a little, but she hoped that anyone scanning from above for a flashy stripe of colors would be out of luck.

“Twilight should be dark enough that no one is gonna spot her from a mile away. As long as we get down in time, we should be safe.” Dash replaced the items in her pack, proud of herself.

“See, Twi? You’re good at this escapin’ thing.” Applejack gave Twilight a slap on the back and started to lead her toward their destination.

“It’s a natural talent.” Dash giggled and caught up with them as Twilight stuck out her tongue at both AJ and Dash.

***

The three walked most of the morning, occasionally taking cover when AJ or Dash thought they spotted a search pegasus. They hid more often than they needed to, but they did confirm three more that passed over them. As they came to the relatively open path, they hid and waited for an opening before making their move.

One thing Dash pointed out was that the searchers all seemed to stop and turn back once they got to a specific point to the north, and that point wasn’t too far away. Dash and Applejack agreed that it must be the edge of the fire swamp. The guards didn’t know they had supplies, and they probably wouldn’t expect three naked slaves to risk the danger to head north, especially if they thought that the plan had to eventually take them to the Everfree in the south, to look for the Elements. This cheered them considerably, they just had to make it across and they’d be in the clear for quite a while.

When AJ decided they’d walked far enough to the west, she left Dash with Twilight while she went to see the layout of this part of the swamp. She normally crossed it at the path and didn’t want any surprises when they were trying to keep safe and out of sight.

While they waited, Dash fidgeted with one of the knives. She tried to look through the forest in the direction that AJ had gone. She tried to scan the skies above that direction. She wondered how long it had really been, and if AJ was safe.

She was making another trip a few steps into the forest to try to see AJ coming when Twilight spoke up:

“Are you going to kill me in the fire swamp?” her head was tilted to the side, like she wasn’t afraid, just curious.

“Huh?” Dash blinked. While it was hardly the craziest thing Twilight had said today, it was a weird question. “AJ told me to keep you safe.”

“I thought you wanted to put me down like a rabid dog.” Twilight raised her eyebrows. “That’s what you said last night.”

“I’m not gonna kill you. And I’m not gonna let you die. I think you’re totally crazy, and you don’t even know what you did to me, or how much you hurt me. I think you’re never gonna be right again, and we’re never gonna be friends again.” Dash sighed and looked in the direction Applejack had headed. “But, AJ wants you alive.”

Twilight nodded with a little smile. “That’s interesting.”

“What, her wanting you alive?” Dash said, beginning to wonder if Twilight was losing her mind even more. Maybe she needed to be insulted by a stallion every day or she went nuts.

“No.” Twilight smiled a little more. “You and AJ. Are you a lesbian?”

Dash just stared at Twilight. “I-- don’t know. I used to just not care, but now I don’t even want to see another stallion, ever again.” Twilight rolled her eyes, and Dash went on, “But me and AJ aren’t together. I mean, we were dating a little before things went to hell, but I was just telling her last night--”

“So, what is it about AJ that makes you want her to be your master, and why can’t you give that to the stallion who owns you?” Twilight asked point blank.

“WHAT?” Dash’s mouth fell open, and it took her a few moments to find words. “I don’t want AJ to be my-- my master! I don’t want anyone to be my master!”

“That’s not what it looks like to me. Applejack, sure, maybe… she had the best master she could ask for, and she’s still not happy. She just needs a lot of training on a mare’s place in the world, and obviously Mac wasn’t the one to give it to her. You seem to understand your place when you’re with Applejack-- you do what she asks, even if it’s not what you want. You try to please her… if you could just learn to offer that to a stallion, we’d have a red collar on you the next day!” Twilight finished cheerfully.

“It’s not like that!” Dash snapped. “AJ is my friend, that’s why I like to make her happy. I don’t have to make her happy, and she’d never, ever make me do something! Is that really the only way you can see things?”

“Of course not.” Twilight smiled sympathetically. “I already have a master I’m loyal to, Applejack and I are friends and equals, even if she doesn’t understand that doesn’t make us equal to stallions. But can you really tell me that you wouldn’t love to serve a pony like Applejack and know that she’ll care for you and love you if you just give her everything you are? A pony you could just submit to and never have to worry again?”

A vision of kneeling before Applejack, naked, hoping to receive a proud smile and affection made Dash start to shake. In her heart she knew she needed that affection, she’d do anything for it. She also knew how pitiful that was, what that would make her. And on top of that, the fear of not getting it, of disappointing AJ, was enough to make her heart beat fast. But there was nothing right about this, nothing good...

“Stop it!” she yelled, as much at her thoughts as at Twilight. “That just means I’m really, really messed up and I shouldn’t be with Applejack, or anypony.”

“Or you could just accept that you’re a slave like I am, and you need a master. We just can’t help it, Rainbow, we’re mares.”

Rainbow felt her open palm land hard on Twilight’s cheek. “Shut up! I’m nothing like you, and I never will be!”

“What in Equestria is goin’ on here?” Applejack entered the clearing as Twilight cringed back. “What’d you hit her for?”

Dash’s eyes went wide. “She said… she said stuff. And I got mad.”

Applejack just nodded. “Somethin’ crazy, about how much you oughta love bein’ a slave or somethin’?”

“Yeah, something like that.” Dash decided that she couldn’t explain the conversation. She didn’t want Applejack to know how messed up she was, or that she could have even thought about what Twilight said.

“Well, that makes sense, bein’ as she’s crazy,” Applejack pointed out. “I don’t think hittin’ her is gonna help, though.”

Dash looked down. “I know… I…”

Applejack walked over and put her arm around Dash. “I get it. I really do. Sometimes she says somethin’ and you don’t even realize your hand’s a fist, and it’d be way too easy to put that where it belongs. But you gotta tell yourself, it don’t matter. It don’t matter what she thinks about us, or about the price of muffins. Maybe it mattered back when she was our friend, and maybe it mattered when she had a bunch of stallions with spears who’d agree with her, but out here she can talk herself hoarse, and it’s not gonna do a damned thing.”

“I am right here, you know,” Twilight said, shooting a look at Applejack.

“You sure are.” Applejack nodded. “And I gotta tell you that if you keep pokin’ at me and Dash, all you’re gonna end up with is two ponies you’re countin’ on to keep you safe who really don’t like ya’. Like I said to Dash, out here it don’t matter if you think I oughta have my mouth sewn to a stallion’s cock, there’s no stallions and I ain’t goin’ back. So you can leave off the lectures.”

“I’m just trying to--”

“Help?” Dash glared at Twilight. “No, you aren’t. You’re not trying to help us, you’re trying really hard to convince yourself that you’re right, even when anyone could see that you’re hurting us!”

“Ponies need to be shown what's right. Sometimes the methods hurt, but you do it because you love them,” Twilight insisted. “That’s why we have masters.”

Dash couldn’t help sneering. “I hate you.”

“Dash… come on. This way’s good.”

***

Dash looked out across the fire swamp. She didn’t like it. The ground was covered with a rolling smoke, and the smell… she couldn’t think of that now. There were only a few charred trees for cover, which made sense, since fire and trees weren’t known to go together well. It was too open, even if the pegasus searchers were stopping at the edge, it would be easy to see them, especially if AJ was battling a monster while flames went off all around them.

“It’s now or never,” Applejack said, slapping Dash on the back. “Just keep next to Twilight. You got the reflexes to keep safe, but I doubt she does.”

“Got it.” Dash nodded to Applejack, then rolled her eyes at Twilight as she took her arm.

Applejack took the lead, which made the first part of the journey relatively easy; she caught most of the fire spouts, and between her fireproof boots and quick reactions, she managed to dodge them without a problem. But not long after they entered the swamp, Applejack stopped and looked around.

Dash followed her gaze to the left and saw three sets of glowing yellow eyes approaching through the smoke. As they came closer, Dash could see they were attached to a goat head, a snake head, and a tiger head, which in turn were all attached to the same body.

Applejack stepped towards the monster, her hat drawn low over her eyes. “Howdy.”

“What have we here?” The snake head said to the other two.

“It’s been a long time since we had pony for dinner…” the tiger seemed to smile as it looked at Applejack.

Applejack narrowed her eyes and reached back towards her pack. “Well it’s gonna be a while longer yet, so y’all might as well get on for now”

“Oh, it won’t be that long,” the goat said, licking her lips. “I can wait.”

“I can’t.” The snake head said just before it snapped at Dash, but she darted back. She’d been so focused on Applejack, she didn’t even see it in front of her. As the head made another lunge, Applejack pulled a flute from her pack and played a soft tune, sending the snake to sleep.

Applejack glanced back at Dash as she pulled a wooden object from her pack and with a flick of her wrist snapped it into the shape of a chair. “Get goin’ now!”

Dash nodded, but Applejack had already turned back to the monster, holding the chair between herself and the tiger head.

Dash grabbed Twilight’s arm and took a few steps forward, when a flame shot up just to Twilight’s right.

“Too close!” Twilight said nervously.

“I know!” Dash said, but she caught a glimpse of Applejack on the ground, using the chair and her hooves to toss the monster off of her. She couldn’t look away as she took another two steps. This time a flame shot up in front of her, and she just managed to hop back, grabbing Twilight and whirling her around her back. It had been too close, the heat and the smoke… she couldn’t think of that now. She had to be brave.

Another burst of flame to their left sent Dash running forward, practically dragging Twilight, until a flame that shot up between them forced Dash to leap directly into Twilight to keep from being separated. Twilight fell to the ground, but Dash kept her hooves and grabbed Twilight’s shoulder, rolling her away as the spot where she had landed was engulfed.

“Hurry up!” Dash said, pulling Twilight to her hooves so they could run another thirty feet before being stopped in their tracks by three matching pillars of fire. Dash nearly fell backwards, but she kept her balance and caught Twilight before she could hit the ground. As soon as those flames disappeared, they kept going.

Her nerves were stretched thin as she frantically tried to predict where the fire would come from next and occasionally caught sight of Applejack tumbling and taunting the monster she was fighting. She silently begged Applejack to be okay as she moved towards the thicker forest that would probably mean the end of the swamp.

After a few more minutes of dodging and dancing around the sudden flames, Dash managed to reach the other side of the swamp, with Twilight safely next to her. But her heart was still beating fast, and she turned around and scanned the swamp for signs of Applejack. She couldn’t see much through the smoke, sometimes a flash of Applejack or the monster, sometimes shadows moving quickly.

She was surprised that Twilight stood next to her, watching just as intently. Dash would’ve expected Twilight to go relax someplace, not worrying about whether AJ lived or died. But Twilight had insisted that she still loved her friends, and Dash was forced to admit that it seemed to be true-- at least enough to not want to see Applejack killed by a monster.

Dash had convinced herself half a dozen times that she’d never see Applejack again, when she heard hoofsteps rushing towards them at full speed and saw pillars of flame light up in a pattern that seemed to be moving in their direction. Her heart leapt to her throat as AJ came into view.

AJ seemed terrified, and Dash strained her eyes to see if the monster was still chasing her. Then she saw it, not the monster, but a shape in the sky moving quickly in their direction.

“Hide!” Applejack shouted, barreling out of the swamp. Dash dove for the nearest brush. Applejack grabbed Twilight’s arm, and that second the pegasus hovered over them.

His net dropped on Applejack and Twilight just as Applejack ran for cover.

Dash’s hand flew to her mouth to keep herself from screaming as she watched the white pegasus in royal armor land in front of them, his spear drawn. The stallion neared the net and clearly noticed he was missing a slave. He glanced at the underbrush and trees, then suspiciously back at the swamp. Dash’s heart beat fast every time his eyes swept over the place where she was hidden, even while she was racking her brain for some way to rescue Applejack.

“She’s in those bushes!” Twilight called helpfully to the stallion. She barely got the last word out when she screamed.

There was a burst of movement under the net which distracted the guard, and Dash heard Applejack shout, “You filthy traitor! Ya’ can’t keep your mouth shut once! I’m ready to rip that cum lickin’ tongue of yours outta your throat!”

“Help!” Twilight called desperately. “Please! Applejack, stop!”

Applejack was on top of Twilight, struggling with her. The guard turned back to them and poked the spear into AJ’s side. “You bitches stop that.”

Applejack froze, and Twilight squirmed away from her.

The guard shook his head. “Maybe when we get you sluts back to the base, you can work off some of that energy before you’re punished. Now, get your filthy bodies out of those clothes.”

Twilight started saying something to the guard, but Dash didn’t hear it. She was looking at AJ, and even though she couldn’t see the details under the net, she could imagine the defeat on her face as she took off her clothes for this stallion, knowing with each button what she was going back to. It made her own face burn, and her fists clench until she was shaking.

Everything seemed strange to Dash. Tears were filling her eyes, but she wasn’t sad, or happy. She couldn’t stop the shaking, and every muscle in her body felt so tense it hurt. The only way she could think of to relieve the pressure was to leap out into the clearing, grab the guard, and start smashing his face with her fist.

So that’s what she did.

It really seemed that simple to her. She had to move, so she jumped at the guard. She had to hit something, so she punched him in the muzzle. He needed to be on the ground, so she grabbed his stupid armor and threw him there. She kicked his neck, then turned him over and sat on his chest, punching him over and over in the face.

She thought that somewhere in there he was fighting back, she knew that her ear hurt a lot and her lip was swollen, but that didn’t matter, because she needed to punch something and his face needed to be punched.

At some point she heard a commotion behind her, and she tried to focus on it. After a few seconds, it sounded like somepony yelling her name. Then she felt hands on her shoulders, pulling her roughly off the guard, then holding her to Applejack’s body.

“Rainbow Dash! Stop! Dash, please--”

Dash blinked and the calm certainty disappeared. All of a sudden she could see the bloody guard laying still in front of her, and her own bloody fists, and Twilight cowering, eyes wide.

Pain flooded her, her body ached from the tension and her fists and lip and ear hurt from the fight. She hid her face in Applejack’s shoulder and started to sob, big heaving sobs that soaked AJ’s shirt with tears and snot. Her arms wrapped around Applejack and she clung to her for life. She wanted it all to go away; the guard, Twilight, everything that had ever happened to her, and everything she was feeling. Except for Applejack, she needed Applejack. Applejack couldn’t go away.

“Shh, sugarcube… you okay?”

“Uh-huh.” Dash nodded, but she didn’t look up. She just mumbled into Applejack’s shoulder, “I just… he couldn’t take you, AJ. He couldn’t, and he was gonna, and I had to do something, and then I was doing it, and I-- I killed him, didn’t I?” She felt Applejack rubbing her back, trying to massage out some of the tension.

Applejack’s hands there relaxed her, along with the calm reassurance in Applejack’s voice. “You did, but don’t you worry about that now. It’ll be okay.”

It hurt, hearing another pony tell her the truth: she’d killed a pony. But what haunted her was that she wasn’t sure she had killed him. It was clearly her bruised, blood-soaked fists that had done the job, but she couldn’t remember deciding to jump out of the bushes or deciding to throw a single punch. Everything just happened. In hindsight, it was easy to see that killing him was probably the best thing she could have done, but she’d never even considered a reason to do it.

“He shouldn’t have been trying to take you,” she said softly, still clinging to Applejack.

“That was his job,” Twilight said. “You know that my brother is a guard--”

"Twilight Sparkle…” Applejack growled. “If you so much as open your mouth again before we take care of this, so help me I’ll stick that gag back in it.” She led Dash to a spot under a tree. “Come here, sugarcube, your ear’s bleedin. I think we need to get a ways away and rest for a bit. Just sit here while I take care of things, okay?”

Dash nodded and sat there. She watched Applejack strip the guard, put a few things in her backpack, then hide the armor in the brush where Dash had hid. She rolled the naked guard into the swamp, and as she turned to walk back a flame shot up where she had left him. Dash could smell the burning flesh, and it made her pull her knees up tight to her and hold them there with an iron grip as she remembered the smell and whimpered like a foal.

Applejack didn’t notice, though, she just tossed dirt over the red patch on the forest floor and rolled the net she’d been captured in neatly, then tied it to her backpack. The area looked like nothing had happened.

Then she calmly helped Dash up, wrapping a warm, strong arm around her. With her other hand she grabbed Twilight by the arm, and without a word or backwards glance she led them both away from the spot.

Chapter 4

The group stopped in a clearing near a small stream about an hour later. Dash was slightly less dazed now, but there were still too many things to think about that she didn’t want to. She pulled out the blanket and laid it on the ground.

Applejack helped Twilight to sit down on the blanket, keeping her as far from Dash as she could be. Then Applejack headed towards the stream.

When Applejack came back, she knelt beside Dash and began washing her bloody ear. “Well, that didn’t go just how we planned, but we’re all safe and that what really matters… though, I don’t got a way to give this stitches, so it looks like you might have a big ol’ scar on your ear, Dash.”

“Just make sure it’s a cool-looking scar,” Dash said with a half-hearted smile.

“Will do.” Applejack smiled back. As she started to bandage, she addressed both of the other ponies again, “Now, I been thinkin’ on it, and I’m tellin’ both of you that there wasn’t a thing wrong with what Dash did. She was doin’ what she had to, and it saved me and my family. If you got a problem with that, Twilight Sparkle, you take it up with me. Not Dash.”

Twilight raised her eyebrows. “So your family is more important than someone else’s family or master?”

“Bein’ what he threatened to do to us, and what he’s probably been doin’ to plenty other mares, they’re gonna be better off without him.” Applejack finished with Dash’s ear and sat down next to her.

“I don’t understand why you seem to think that your judgement of how the world should work ought to trump most of Equestria’s,” Twilight huffed. “Ponies are happy like this, but you two do whatever you want to because you think it’s wrong.”

“There’s things that are wrong, no matter how happy they might make some ponies. Makin’ ponies into slaves is just wrong.” The strained patience was evident in Applejack’s voice. Dash was pretty sure that all three of them were at the end of their ropes on this subject.

“No one made you into a slave, you just are a slave -- you’re a mare!” was Twilight’s exasperated reply. “The caribou just tried to let everyone see that. Most of us can see it. You’re the one going around killing and kidnapping ponies to try to make people forget the basic facts.”

“Twilight Sparkle, have you ever, for a second, worried that you’re wrong?” Applejack snapped. “That maybe this ain’t what the mares in black collars want, that maybe we’re mares who ain’t slaves, and you shouldn’t be tryin’ to change that?”

“Well, I-- no. No, I can’t be. I can’t.”

“That’s the difference,” Applejack interrupted and went on. “Me and Dash know what we’re doin’ might not always be right, but we try to do the best with what we got. Us takin’ you ain’t right, and I know it, but you’re one pony and there’s a whole mess of black collar mares and good stallions sufferin’ because you think it’s right to chain us up without even thinkin’ what we might want.

“If we get through this, and get the world fixed, and you still wanna sleep on the floor and have Spike screw ya’ three times a day, that’s your business. A bit creepy, but none of my nevermind. But you don’t get to tell every damn mare in Equestria that’s what we oughta be doin’!”

Twilight glared. “I don’t have to tell every mare in Equestria, just stubborn ones like you who can’t tell right from wrong!”

Applejack rose to her hooves quickly, and stomped to Twilight, leaning down over her. “If I didn’t know right from wrong, Twilight Sparkle, I’d take you over my knee and whoop your ass! Then I’d train you an’ make you my slave, and order ya’ to fix this god damn mess! That’s how it works, right? I’m bigger than you, I’m stronger than you, and it sure as hell seems like I’m smarter than you these days, so I can do whatever the hell I want with you? You think you’re a dumb cunt who needs a master, and if I didn’t know right from wrong I could show ya’ you don’t need no dick to be someone’s master.”

Dash just stared at Applejack’s commanding presence, as her own conversation with Twilight came to mind. She felt her face getting warm, and turned away to stare at the ground as she got up.

As Dash walked away from the blanket, she heard Applejack deflate a little, and go on, “I know right from wrong, and you’d better believe it… Just stay here, okay? Ya’ ain’t gonna make it back through the fire swamp by yourself.”

Ignoring Applejack’s hoofsteps behind her, Dash made her way to the creek and sat down on the bank, watching the water run over smooth rocks and pebbles. When Applejack sat down next to her, Dash turned her head to the other side, examining her plucked wing for any sign of new feathers

"You okay?" Applejack asked gently, but Dash didn’t turn to look at her.

"I dunno. Sure."

"You ain't lettin' Twilight get to you, are ya'?"

Dash looked back at the water, where she could barely see Applejack’s face out of the corner of her eye. "Nah. I mean, I'm not sorry there's one less rapey stallion in the world. And I had to keep you safe, it's not like I go around murdering ponies..." Dash squinted at a gray rock the size of her fist. "I think."

"Of course you don't." Applejack leaned back on her elbows. "You're not a bad pony, Dash. We're just livin' in a time when good means somethin' rougher than a lot of ponies are used to."

"Maybe..." Dash closed her eyes. "AJ, what if I didn't kill him to protect you? What if that wasn’t the reason, I mean."

"Well then I'm mighty happy it worked out that way. What do ya' mean? Why did ya' kill him?"

Dash shrugged, still facing the water with her eyes closed. "I don't know. I mean, I was trying to think of a way to get you out, but then I got... weird. I was so angry I wasn't even angry anymore, and I just... did stuff. I had to hit something, and I didn't even think about stopping. I don't even remember getting hurt."

"Sugarcube, we were really in a corner there. First time I saw you yesterday, I remember thinkin' the look in your eyes was like a hurt critter. I dunno if you ever tried to take care of one, but sometimes they just come after ya', just because they don't wanna be hurt no more and they panic." Applejack gently patted Dash between her wings. "That's all that happened."

Dash almost couldn’t stand AJ’s calm, strong voice, or the show of affection. It made things seem too simple, too normal. "No, I wasn't panicking. It was-- ugh! I can't even explain it. It... wasn't me." Dash finally looked up, and looked back at Applejack.

"It didn't feel like me." Dash sighed. "AJ, I'm messed up. I'm messed up really, really bad. I always thought that if I could just get out, I'd be me again. And sometimes I think I am, but sometimes... I want it to all go away, and never have happened, so I don't have to try to figure out who I am."

"You're gettin' a little confusin' there," Applejack said gently. Her eyes were glued to Dash, searching for a clue.

Dash bit her lip. "When all this started, I knew who I was. I was brave, a great flyer, a top athlete, a pony who helped to save her friends and Equestria... I was an awesome pony, right?"

"Ya’ sure are." Applejack nodded.

"AJ..." Dash warned, cringing a little. She shook her head. "When the caribou came in, you know I fought them as hard as I could, and I failed. I couldn't save my friends, and I couldn't save Equestria. Twilight betrayed me, and they put me in a black collar... and they plucked my wings."

Thinking about that day brought a grim, rueful smile to her face. "It took four stallions to get me tied down, and I bit one so hard it drew blood. I promised myself I'd never give in. I'd fight every step of the way. I'd let the caribou and the stallions know that there was one mare they weren't going to break."

"I'm proud--" Applejack started, but Dash held up a hand.

"Don't be. I never took a red collar, but they still broke me."

She closed her eyes and took a breath. "They sent me to this stallion... I knew him from flight camp, and he was always a bully, but he mostly left me alone because I was way cooler than he was. But when he was brainwashed, and all the mares got knocked out of the way, he decided to put together a bunch of athletes to compete in this… sex contest league. You can guess what that was like… think, fuck-bucking but like the Equestria Games. But I could’ve handled that. I mean, I could’ve been like you, and seen it for what it was, but...” Dash frowned and opened her eyes, staring straight at the rocks.

She could barely see the rocks. Instead she was seeing it all play out again, feeling it play out. Too real, too close, but she was already there and couldn’t stop herself.

"He's still a bully. Worse. He wants me to hurt. I don't know if he has fun kicking me when I can’t fight back, or if that sort of thing is just what gets him off, but he wants to see me hurt and humiliated. He wanted to make sure I knew that he could do anything he wanted to me. I'm not a wuss, AJ! I can get beat up, I was never gonna go red just because of a riding crop, like I saw some mares do.

“But... when I say he wanted to hurt me, I mean... he had me tied up, with my legs apart, and he... put out a cigar in my... it fucking hurt AJ, I can't even say how much. And I remember the smell of the smoke and the burning skin, and the sizzling sound... but only because I'll never, ever, forget how much that hurt."

Dash could feel her heart pounding, and without thinking she drew her knees tight to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. It didn’t matter that she was free, and that there was no one for miles who would think of doing that to her; she could feel it coming, any time.

"Oh my…” Applejack whispered, leaning in to wrap an arm around her in a half of a hug. “Oh Dash… I didn’t even know a master could do somethin’ like that!”

“Who’s gonna stop it?” Dash snapped to no one in particular. “No one saw him do it, and it’s not like there’s someplace I can send a complaint.”

Applejack went on, softly, almost afraid to ask it, “He didn't... mess ya' up for good there, did he?"

"Just a scar. But if he'd gone an inch to the left he could've. He let me know that. He lit the cigar again and told me he would if I didn't grovel, and call myself all sorts of things, and do stuff to him and his friends. And... I did it. Not all the time, I still fought back whenever I could, but if he wanted to make me do something, he just lit a cigar and raised his stupid eyebrows, and I... was his bitch."

"Rainbow Dash, don't you dare beat yourself up over that.” Applejack just tightened the hug. “We all did that when we needed, every black collar out there, and most of us had a lot less reason for it than you did."

"It doesn't matter. It's not what I would have done. Not if I was the awesome pony I was before. I failed my friends, I failed Equestria, and I failed me. I can't even fly anymore. I'm scared of things, of fire, of--" Dash shoved her knees away from herself and shrugged off Applejack’s hug. "AJ, I'm not the pony I was. I'm just an angry, scared pony, and that's who killed that guard. I wanted to be Rainbow Dash again, but I'm just... not."

They sat in silence for a moment, and Dash didn’t care if that never ended. Maybe if she sat long enough without another pony saying anything or touching her, everything would just disappear.

But Applejack went and said softly, "It's only been a little more than a day, Dash. Yesterday mornin', you woke up with that monster thinkin' he owned you, and you had to play along. You thought you'd be back there now. It's gonna take a while to know you never gotta go back again."

Dash huffed and rolled her eyes.

"Of course, you always have been bad at waitin'.” Applejack smiled a little. “I gotta tell you, I know what you were too, and I see more of that in you than you can let yourself think.”

“I don’t think I could have killed a pony before. Not like that.” Dash shook her head as she looked down at the stream again.

“I know it. And I ain’t sayin’ you’re the same pony. Just that the pony you are still has the old you as part,” Applejack explained. Then she sighed, and laid a hand on the ground near Dash.

They were quiet again. Dash knew the hand was an open invitation, AJ wasn’t going to touch her after she’d been shrugged off, but wanted her to know that another pony was there for her. Dash looked at the hand, considering.

Applejack looked at the sky and bit her lip. “Dash, if I got my wish, and Equestria was right tomorrow… you think that ponies could just go back to normal? That I could go to the library and see Spike, knowin’ that he’d raped me right there in the middle of the room? You think he could look me in the eye after that?”

She looked over to Dash, seeming to know the answer. Dash shook her head no, but she picked up the offered hand and held it.

“We’re all cracked, sugarcube.” Applejack sighed. “Every damn pony in Equestria-- we can fix the magic, we can send the caribou packin’, but unless Twilight has some pretty big trick up her sleeves, we can’t undo what’s been done to us. But if we’re safe… if we can get outta this pit, we can start to settle in with who we are now.”

“You’re not that different,” Dash said softly. “That’s what’s amazing about you.”

Applejack glanced at Dash, then looked down. "Maybe I ain't that different, but that's only 'cause I couldn't let myself be. I had to be able to look Apple Bloom in the eye, no matter what. I had to be able to walk into that house that my great-grandfolks built. I had to do whatever I needed to keep my family safe, but if I ever gave in too much I couldn't have lived with it. I've had to be Applejack every step of the way, but when I was on my hands and knees lickin' some stallion's cum off the dirt... it mighta hurt less if I coulda given up more."

For a minute Dash considered which was worse, to be stripped of her pride and forced to her knees, or to have to hold onto pride in the same position, straining against every new humiliation. Eventually she gave a snort. It was a sick fucking game, either way.

"If you were anybody else, we never would've gotten away," Dash pointed out, giving Applejack’s hand a squeeze.

"It wouldn't have mattered who I was, if I couldn't have counted on you. I sure couldn't have taken on Spike with Twilight runnin' for the guards. And ya' kinda saved my tail today." Applejack smiled at Dash. Dash could have sworn there was a hint of vulnerability in Applejack’s face she hadn’t seen in a long time as Applejack said earnestly, “I needed you, Dash.”

Dash smiled, and it felt… right. Without thinking about it she pulled AJ into a hug. "Whoever I am, the one thing I know is that I'm always gonna be there for you."

"I’ve always known that. It keeps me strong,” Applejack said, returning the hug.

***

While Rainbow Dash and Applejack were off talking, Twilight sat on the blanket and fumed. She couldn’t believe the change in her friends!

Applejack had always been stubborn, of course. It had been so frustrating this past year, trying to explain how much she would like it if she finally gave in and accepted her place, but Twilight knew that Applejack would eventually see reason and come to her senses. This life offered her everything she’d had before and more--hard work like fuck-bucking and learning about rape-vines to challenge her, the chance to see her sister bought by a master who would keep her totally safe and cared for, and knowing that she could serve other ponies and be appreciated without having to act prissy or fancy, with the extra benefit of not having to worry about details that her master would take care of. Instead of appreciating all that, Applejack dug into her extremist views, left the home she loved, put her family in danger, and actually encouraged Rainbow Dash to act just as irresponsibly.

And Rainbow Dash, killing a pony just so she and Applejack could get what they wanted! What she thought she wanted right now, at least. After all, her master had already given her the chance of a lifetime-- she got to perform and compete in front of thousands of ponies, she could easily have become famous if she could have just shown a little discipline and dedication in training on the sexually related parts. And even if her cunt just didn’t have the endurance she needed yet, she was still really popular with the fans! Instead she had to be constantly punished just to get her to bounce on a practice dildo, then she threw her future away for Applejack’s insane rhetoric.

Of course, Twilight had known all of this since they kidnapped her. Being black collars was one thing, Twilight knew that some mares took time to adjust, but that act of defiance was the first red flag for Twilight that something was very wrong with her friends. Even so, she had hoped that with some time to talk to Applejack and Rainbow one on one, in a neutral setting, they might come to their senses. That way, when the guards eventually found them, Twilight would be able to argue on their behalf and save them from the kind of punishment that they probably deserved for this stunt.

Then they murdered a guard! Even over her shock and disgust at her friends, Twilight felt horrible for the poor stallion. He probably had a slave at home, a worshipful red collar who would miss his guidance and control. Tears came to Twilight’s eyes, wondering if he had foals he was guiding to their proper places in the world; now he would never buy his son his first slave, or see his daughter sold to a good master of her own.

It was wrong and horrible to take the life of a good, loyal stallion. But her so-called friends seemed to think it was somehow defensible. Twilight just slumped her shoulders, her ears drooping.

What Twilight wanted, more than anything, was to have her friends back together again, all of them. King Dainn had promised her that if they were all properly tamed, he’d allow them regular visits. He’d even suggested that they might be allowed to put on a show together for his birthday, an orgy on stage to entertain stallions and show the strength of Equestria, that six mares who were so different would happily join together in their role as worthless sluts for the glory of the king. It would almost be like being Elements of Harmony again.

But that wasn’t going to happen. Somehow, their friendship had been lost, and there was nothing Twilight could do about it. Talking to either of them was like talking to a stubborn foal, they just kept coming back to the idea that they were equal to stallions, and that there was something wrong with mares being slaves. There was no way to reason with a pony who thought something like that, and was willing to break the law to act on it.

Twilight felt her shoulders tense, followed by her plucked wings straining at her sheaths, and her breath coming in short deliberate bursts as she realized that she was going to have to leave without convincing them. That meant that she had to decide what to do with them when she got back. Their lives were in her hands, not to mention AJ’s family’s lives… this wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t fair, she didn’t want this… she took a breath and let it out slowly, mentally flopping back and forth about whether to hide them or direct the guards to their destination.

She wasn’t supposed to decide this… they’d said she wouldn’t have to. If she had to make a choice, she could hurt ponies, she could make a decision that would just make things worse. Of course, that was the solution; this was something for a male to decide, just like they told her.

She’d go straight to the guards, so that Macintosh wouldn’t have time to run or to hide Apple Bloom. Maybe he could be reeducated, and she could be placed in a more supportive environment until she was old enough to be auctioned off. Then, after a few days of apologizing and being punished by Master, Twilight would write a letter to the king, telling him everything she knew about where Applejack and Rainbow Dash were headed. She knew that if the guards asked, she’d have to admit that-- that if they caught Applejack and Rainbow Dash, there was no hope for reeducation. They should be made into purple collars, as humanely as possible. As much as it would hurt to see them so broken that they wouldn’t even remember who they were, it was for their own good, and for the good of Equestria.

With some difficulty, Twilight scooted her way over to one of the backpacks, and used her tied hands to feel around inside until she found one of the knives. After another short struggle, she managed to use the knife to cut the leather strap from around her wrists. She cringed as she moved her arms… it wasn’t the worst pain she’d ever felt, but over a day of being bound did leave her with some nasty cramps in her shoulders and wrists.

Luckily, she didn’t need her arms to walk. She got to her hooves and stripped off the embarrassing shirt that she had no right to be wearing. Considering for a moment, she kept the pants on. It might deny stallions the parts of herself that were rightfully for their use, but it also kept her legs from getting all scratched up. She could remove them immediately if she came across a stallion.

Twilight looked around, trying to decide the best direction. She knew they came from the southwest after Dash killed the soldier, but she also knew that they’d been avoiding some kind of path that should be to the east, where they were more likely to be spotted. Being spotted was exactly what Twilight wanted, so she set out to the east. She could allow herself to veer south a little, that way she’d either hit the path or the edges of the fire swamp. She hoped she could avoid trying to cross that herself, and could just signal to a search pegasus.

She started into the woods with a long, backwards glance at the spot where she had left her friends behind.

***

As soon as they got back to the blanket, Applejack noticed the missing captive.

“Damn her,” Applejack sighed.

“She’s gone?” Dash asked, looking around the clearing as if Twilight might be hiding nearby.

“Looks like.” Applejack crouched on the blanket and picked up the cut leather strap. “She got her arms free, and that’s her shirt there.”

“Real smart. I hope she walks into a thorn bush, tits first,” Dash said, giving the shirt a kick. “Where does she even think she’s going? She isn’t gonna make it through the fire swamp.”

“And if she does, we’re both in a load of trouble.” Applejack gave a grimace, then stood up quickly. After looking around for a moment, she started walking south, towards the fire swamp. “Come on, we gotta find her!”

The two walked for a while in silent concentration looking for any sign of Twilight. They were tracing their steps back to the fire swamp, so there were signs of travel, but no signs that she had come back this way. Applejack knew Twilight could have run in any direction, but since Twilight didn’t know the forest she hoped that she was smart enough to go in a direction she knew was safe.

There was only an hour or two before it got dark, Applejack hoped they’d find her before then. Otherwise they’d have to go back to the camp and try to get some sleep before waking early to continue looking. Even looking was a long shot, there was a lot of forest out here, and unless they’d guessed right or something slowed Twilight down, she’d be trying to cross the fire swamp in not too long. From there it was only a matter of time before some guards found her, and… Applejack knew she’d have to head back to Ponyville first thing tomorrow to have a chance at saving her family.

“So, what’re we gonna do with her?” Dash said, breaking the silence.

“I dunno.” Applejack said softly. “I… think I messed up, takin’ her. I reached too far, hopin’ we could make her right, and now she’s ready to rat us out if anyone’ll listen for a second. I just… hoped, ya’ know?”

“I think I remember hope. It was one of those cool things, like flying.” Dash gave Applejack a rueful smile. “I can’t say I blame you.”

Applejack shook her head and sighed. “I ain’t good at this, Dash. I dunno what else to do. I know, I can hurry and get my folks safe, but what about my cousins? What about other foals? If we bring too many folks out here, the caribou would just come find us and take us all back. And I dunno if I could sleep at night, knowin’ that even if Apple Bloom and Mac are safe, there’s still ponies out there I care about who are sufferin’ and I ain’t doin’ a damn thing to help them.”

Dash looked away through some trees, but her next steps took her closer to Applejack until their arms were brushing. Then Dash’s hand latched onto Applejack’s as if Dash wanted to deny it was happening.

“I just wanna be safe with a pony who cares about me.”

“I understand.” Applejack said, giving the nervous hand in hers a squeeze. “You ain’t a bad pony for that.”

“Thanks.” Dash nodded, still looking away. “But we have to find Twilight, before the guards do. She knows too much already. She’s dangerous.”

“I know. I’m sorry I got us in this mess.” Applejack squinted through the trees, looking for anything purple to draw her eye.

“It’s okay… So, what did you hope was going to happen? How did you think we could fix her, just by talking?”

“Nah, I never figured that’d work. I figured…” Applejack sighed and looked down. “I’m a damned fool, Dash.”

Dash eyed her suspiciously. “What did you think, AJ? The magic of friendship or some shit?”

Applejack blushed and looked away quickly, under the cover of intently searching for signs of Twilight.

Dash rolled her eyes. “Seriously? AJ, have you read Twilight’s letters? You know what she thinks friendship means these day. She had Spike show you at the library.”

Applejack shook her head. “I wasn’t countin’ on Twilight. I was countin’ on us.”

“What do you mean, us?” Dash asked, tilting her head. “We only had the Elements of Harmony because of Twilight. The only thing close to magic either of us have ever done on our own is my sonic rainboom, and I don’t know if you’ve noticed my wings these days, but I couldn’t do one of those if I got shot out of a canon. We’re just ordinary ponies, where are we supposed to get magic to cure Twilight?”

Applejack thought for a moment about how to explain.

“There’s magic in Equestria. Not just the Elements of Harmony, or the spells unicorns do. I ain’t even talkin’ about earth pony magic or pegasus magic. All that’s like the parts of a tree anyone can see. Even the caribou can see that, and they keep on pickin’ the fruit and cuttin’ off branches, hopin’ no one will notice it. But the magic that comes from is what they can’t get at, way down at the roots. And sometimes, it just… pops out at us. It’s the magic that stopped the windigo that first hearth’s warmin’, not ‘cause someone knew a fancy spell or had some magic thingamabob. It just came right on out of the ponies…”

She glanced at Dash, whose flat expression indicated that she wasn’t buying it. “Like I said, I’m a fool.”

Dash was quiet for a moment. “Like I said, you haven’t really changed.

“So I always been a fool?” Applejack raised an eyebrow with a sad smile.

“You believed in things when there were things to believe in.” Dash offered a sad smile back. “You just… keep believing, even when there’s nothing left.”

“Yeah,” Applejack sighed.

“It’s cute… in a totally dumb way.” Dash smirked and squeezed Applejack’s hand.

“Thanks, Dash.” Applejack smiled and leaned over, giving Dash a light shove with her shoulder.

“So, here’s what we do,” Dash said, smiling. “If we find Twilight, we take her with us, and we build a cage where ever we end up. She can live in it. I might poke her with sticks sometimes.”

Applejack smirked. “Careful, she seems to like that.”

“Living in a cage and getting poked with sticks is probably Twilight’s dream these days,” Dash agreed. “So it’s a win for everyone!”

“You’re a real angel.” Applejack chuckled.

Dash went on, “If we don’t find Twilight, we’ll go right back to Ponyville for your family. It doesn’t matter if the town is there or not, they won’t be in any more trouble there than back in Ponyville if Twilight rats them out.”

“What about the guards all out lookin’?” Applejack said, motioning to the sky.

“That’s the most important part of my plan: Don’t get caught,” Dash said proudly.

“That’s the plan, huh?” Applejack snorted, grinning.

Dash grinned back and gave her a light shove. “Yeah, and see how I don’t need magic powers for any of it?”

“Oh, I’m takin’ notes.” Applejack wrapped an arm around Dash’s shoulders. “So how big is Twilight’s cage gonna be?

***

A little while later, Twilight was becoming concerned. She wasn’t sure if she should have come to the path yet, and she wasn’t sure exactly how long she had been walking. The great outdoors really wasn’t her specialty, and she really wished she’d had time to do some research on these woods and wilderness survival in general before she left. She had to guess that ponies usually didn’t get that chance when they were kidnapped, of course.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted some kind of movement on the forest floor. She stopped where she was and glanced over cautiously, hoping and praying that it wasn’t a snake.

She remained stock still as something thin and green slithered across the forest floor towards her, her eyes going wide. Applejack hadn’t mentioned snakes. Of course, Twilight was aware that most forests had snakes in them, but Applejack knew how scared Twilight was of them. Surely she would have said something…

But as the thing came closer, Twilight could see that it wasn’t a snake. It lacked a head for one thing, the part moving in her direction ended in a tapered point. For another thing it wasn’t scary at all, it was more like… a vine.

Twilight smiled as the thin green vine curled around her hoof. It was just a rape vine. Twilight had seen smaller ones all the time, they were useful for entertaining and distracting mares. She’d even seen the big ones that Applejack raised on the Dirt Pony Farm, ones that could take a whole mare inside their pod. Of course, not knowing the size of the pod, she knew she should stay clear of this one. She shook her hoof, trying to dislodge it, but instead it climbed up farther, disappearing under her pants leg.

While she couldn’t see the vine, she could feel it. It traveled slowly up the inside of her leg, seeming to tease her. She could feel the pointy tip tickle behind her joints, and the tender area of her inner thigh as it writhed its way towards her sex, not asking her permission or making her decide. She relaxed, letting it do whatever it wanted.

Suddenly arousal hit Twilight like a wave. It was strange that she hadn’t felt it since she had watched Spike riding Applejack, that was the first thing the arrival of the caribou had shown her-- that she was a hopeless slut who could be turned on at the slightest provocation. These days she rarely went a day without serving Master at least once, unless she was being punished. She was his very favorite fucktoy, after all. Since only days after the caribou arrived, Twilight had been filled by cocks or toys every day, usually multiple times, and now…

She was getting wet at the thought of what the little vine was promising. This was just an exploratory tendril, and it was exploring its way towards her pussy. The worker vines and-- she shivered-- the thick feeding stalks would be along in a moment.

There was nothing she could do, really. The larger stalks would be thorned, but it had been two days since she’d been fucked, and the pain would be a good punishment for being a bad slut and a bad friend and a bad pony, in general.

And besides, she’d be getting fucked. She untied the rope that held up the oversized pants and they dropped around her ankles. Then she started rubbing between her legs, enticing the little vine upwards until it poked its way into her slit and flicked gently around the edges of her hole.

The attentions had a noticeable effect on her body; arousal took over and she slipped into what felt like a more natural state. Her actions had attracted the attention of the plant, and soon more tendrils had joined the first, and all of them started climbing her body, encasing her in a writhing mass that seemed to rub and squeeze everywhere. She barely noticed as they lifted her into the air and guided her body towards the core of the plant.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, a nagging voice was trying to tell her that she was in danger and she was running out of time to break free. She could barely grasp the idea through the sensations of the plant pleasuring her, lifting her towards its pod. But the annoyance at her thoughts made Twilight glance around anyway. As she looked down, she could see the gaping, slavering maul of the pod, full of even more writhing tentacles, some of them as thick as her arm. She almost couldn’t wait, the plant would be screwing her senseless for as long as it wanted her…

Until she died. She blinked, and her face fell. Her muscles tensed as the warm feeling of arousal washed away into cold terror. The plants never let mares go, they would feed off their juices as long as the mares were capable of producing them.

Back in Ponyville, there would be someone to wrench the plant open after the fun was over, but here, she was alone. Worse than alone, no one even knew where she was. If the plant swallowed her, she’d die in there, probably of starvation, and probably some time after she lost her mind from the ceaseless stimulation.

This wasn’t what she wanted. She thrashed against the vines, knowing that escape was impossible at this point; she’d watched the plants take in mares stronger than she was. The vines just tightened their grip, pulling her closer into the warm wetness as she felt one of the large, thorny stalks prodding at her sex, slowly pressing into her. She whimpered as the thorns scraped her sensitive flesh, even though she could feel the pleasure fighting with the pain.

The only ponies with a chance of finding her were her ex-friends, extremists who would probably rather see her destroyed or reduced to a purple collar. She cringed, realizing that that was exactly what she’d planned to do to them, but they were her only hope.

“APPLEJACK! RAINBOW DASH! HEEEEEEEELP! PLEASE HEL--!” her screams were cut off as a long thick stalk jabbed into her mouth and part way down her throat, and the light disappeared. The pod closed around her.

Chapter 5

Rainbow Dash looked up as her ears perked. “What was that?”

She and Applejack were on the path back to their camp, having found no sign of Twilight along the route they took, when a distant but distinctly pony-sounding noise rang through the forest.

“Sounded like Twilight, from over there.” Applejack looked to the east. “Think she’s in trouble?”

“Or signaling a guard,” Dash said bitterly.

Applejack squinted at the sky in that direction. “I don’t see no guards flyin’ over there. She must have gotten herself into something.”

“It could be a trap,” Dash pointed out. While she did find Applejack’s optimism totally cute -- it was one of those things that made Applejack feel like she always had, and let Dash pretend she could feel the same -- the idea of getting caught and taken back to that life because she trusted Twilight Sparkle made Dash’s fists clench.

Applejack nodded. “It could be. But, if it’s a trap, why ain’t she yellin’ more? I mean, we barely heard her.

“I don’t know,” Dash muttered. “I just know that everything she says or does is poison.”

“Can’t really argue with that.” Applejack sighed and gazed towards where the sound came from. “But, if she’s callin’ for guards, or if guards mighta heard her, we gotta get there first.”

“It’s getting dark…” Dash pointed out. The sun was sinking lower, and especially in the shaded forest it was becoming hard to get around. Then she glanced at Applejack and noticed the worried look in her eyes. “I guess we oughta move.”

Applejack bit her lip and squared her shoulders, setting off quickly in the same direction they’d been headed. “We’ll pass by the camp and grab the flashlights… and the knives.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack did just that, and started hunting in the night time forest to the south east of camp. For half the night it seemed to Dash like there was no way they’d ever find Twilight in this.

Dash hoped they wouldn’t. In the morning they could go back to Ponyville and get AJ’s family, and they could all find someplace to hide, and Applejack would never have to worry again. Dash could spend the rest of her life making AJ happy, and Twilight could rot someplace where they wouldn’t have to see her or talk to her.

But they searched anyway, it was what AJ wanted to do. Shining her flashlight around in the dark at a million shadowy bushes that all looked the same, Dash distracted herself by thinking of all the reasons she hated Twilight. If Applejack was proof that somehow maybe everything in the world wasn’t shit that they would just have to live with until they died, Twilight was the opposite; the symbol of everything that ripped Dash’s world and mind and soul apart. From the moment she was captured, knowing that a pony she would have died to help had betrayed her and everyone in Equestria, everything Twilight said or did felt like the universe mocking her for ever having believed in anything.

Neither Dash nor Applejack talked much as they looked for Twilight, so it broke a long silence when Applejack called as softly as she could, “Dash, careful.”

Dash looked over at where Applejack was holding the beam of her flashlight steady on something. In the dim light, Dash could make out the outline of a weird oval-ish shape, nearly as tall as a pony; the pod of one of the biggest rape vines Dash had ever seen.

“See any vines comin’ at ya’?” Applejack asked.

Dash quickly pointed her flashlight at the ground. At first she waved it nervously, but she quickly realized that made it seem like everything was moving, like anything on the forest floor might be a tendril coming for her. She stopped and held the light steady, then carefully checked each point in the direction of the plant. The ground was still.

“Nope…”

“Must have a pony already… since there ain’t many mares out this way, I’ll bet this is why Twilight was makin’ a fuss.” Applejack kept moving her flashlight around the area, looking for something else on the ground.

Dash just shone her light back on the pod. “Really? We only heard her yell once. I didn’t think these things worked that fast…”

After a few minutes of pacing through the brush, Applejack let out a sigh. “She took off her damn pants. These weren’t ripped off by the vines, she untied the knot and dropped ‘em so the vines could take her easier.”

“So she took a break from escaping to let a plant screw her?” Dash asked, walking over next to Applejack. “AJ, I think I have to agree with the caribou about something… Twilight really is a dumb cunt.”

“I… I don’t get it.” Applejack shook her head. “She knows rape vines are dangerous-- if she’s in there a couple days, she’s gonna die. But she took off her pants to let it take her, then she yelled for help…”

Applejack paused, looking down at the pants before going on slowly, “Dash, ya’ think she was tryin’ to… do somethin’ to herself… then chickened out?”

Dash raised her eyebrows. The thought of any of their friends actually trying to kill herself seemed impossible… not that Twilight was her friend. She huffed and rolled her eyes. “She probably just realized that she forgot to ask her master’s permission to kill herself.”

Applejack shined her light over on the large pod. She was quiet for a long time, Dash figured she was making a plan or something. Applejack farmed these things, and Dash knew the guards sent ponies to the Dirt Pony Farm to be put in them for punishment. She probably knew just what to do.

Finally, Applejack spoke up softly, “You think we oughta get her out?”

“What do you mean?” Dash asked hesitantly. She thought she knew what Applejack was asking, but she wasn’t sure she believed it.

But Applejack answered just as softly, as if Twilight might overhear the discussion from the pod thirty feet away, “Dash, yesterday she invited us over to be raped, tried to get us caught when we escaped, and offered to have my little sister raped by a dragon like it was a favor. Today she said somethin’ that made you mad enough to smack her, she sold you out to that guard, and took off her clothes and walked herself into a rape vine. She’s a bad pony, she’s dangerous, and she’s crazier than a griffon in a catnip patch.

“You’re the one that said she’s gotta be put down, that Twilight wouldn’t wanna live like this…” Applejack swallowed hard and looked Dash in the eye. “Well, all we gotta do to take care of that is walk away now.”

Dash just stared at Applejack. She hated Twilight. The only pony she hated more was her master, and if it was him in the rape plant Dash would’ve set it on fire already just to make certain he died. And… she’d killed a pony with her own fists, and she didn’t even really hate him, not the way she hated Twilight. She didn’t even have to kill Twilight, Twilight basically killed herself.

There shouldn’t have been a question. But, of course, there was. A big question. She knew the pony Twilight could be. Applejack had been right, if they could make Twilight be that pony again, it was their best chance of actually making this a world a pony could live in. Right now, even with Applejack next to her, it was nothing but a place to survive.

Could Twilight be that pony again? She sure seemed to be too far gone to even consider it. Everyone in Equestria was too far gone to be the ponies they were… except for AJ. But AJ was the one who brought it up. Dash couldn’t imagine AJ walking away from Twilight, leaving her to die. She couldn’t imagine any of her friends doing that. She couldn’t imagine doing it herself, except that she was so broken that she couldn’t even care anymore.

She tried to examine Applejack’s face, but with just the indirect light from the flashlights it was impossible to read.

Finally, Dash answered slowly, “I did say that, and… it does sound pretty smart. But… when I said that, that was that scared, angry pony talking.” She took a deep breath. “I don’t want to be that pony, if I can help it. Sometimes I can’t, but I can right now.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow at her.

“She’s had enough fun getting raped for one day. Let’s get her out,” Dash said, starting for the plant.

***

Twilight woke up in the mid-morning sunlight, and something was clearly wrong. There was a pain between her legs like she hadn’t felt since her first training, but without any of the euphoria of knowing she’d pleased her master and would be taken care of. But, remembering what had happened before she passed out, the stranger thing was that she was alive despite having been stupid enough to take off her pants and walk into a rape vine just so that she wouldn’t have to take a stand against a plant.

No, that wasn’t it. Mares were meant to be naked, to be available for sex at any time. If she’d been home, with her master, that would never have happened. It was her place to be a dumb cunt, not to have to make decisions about things… being naked and walking into the rape plant was right, there just should have been a male to take care of her.

But… someone had taken care of her. Not only was she free of the plant, but the thorny vines had been removed, and a bandage was pressed between her legs. And she was pretty sure some of the juices from the plant had been washed off of her coat and hair-- she was messy, but not as sticky as she would have expected.

As Twilight looked around, she noticed the knife and a pile of pieces of thorned plant next to her, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash sleeping a few feet away, Applejack’s arms wrapped protectively around Rainbow. One of her friends must have removed the stalks from where they latched inside of her. Since she wasn’t in nearly as much pain as she logically should be, they must have been as careful and gentle as they could… They’d saved her when she was trying to turn them in.

Twilight frowned, and her ears drooped. Why did everything she decided turn out to be wrong?

It wasn’t always wrong, she reminded herself. Siding with the caribou was right. And after that she wasn’t supposed to be making decisions. She hadn’t decided anything, she was going to let the males decide.

Twilight’s eye twitched.

She gingerly rolled over to her side, and found that not only was there the throbbing pain between her legs, but her whole body felt sore. Probably from straining against the vines, either in orgasm or desperate attempt to escape, or more likely both.

Applejack lay there with her eyes still closed as she spoke. “Don’t you go runnin’ off again. Me and Dash were up all night, and we’re a bit tired for another rescue mission.”

With how her body felt, Twilight couldn’t even consider the idea of leaving now. She just looked at Applejack, and whispered, “You saved me.”

Opening her eyes, Applejack slowly pushed herself up to rest on one elbow, and nodded over her shoulder to Rainbow Dash. “It was Dash’s call.”

“Why did she do it?” Twilight asked, almost fearing the answer.

“Hey, Dash, Twilight wants to know why you saved her.”

“Yeah?” Rainbow mumbled sleepily, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. “Well I wanna know why she walked into a rape plant.”

Twilight blushed and looked down. “It wrapped around me. I didn’t want to fight, so I just… let it make the decision.”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances.

“A plant.” Rainbow said flatly. “You let a plant decide whether it wanted to eat you or not, and you figured you’d be totally cool with that?”

Applejack just looked concerned. “Now, Twilight, I been known to be a bit silly ‘bout plants, but I can’t say I know a single one that I’d think was smart enough to be decidin’ anything life or death.”

Twilight blushed. “I was confused! I’ve been making too many decisions. I didn’t want to make another one.”

“Um, letting a plant kill you when you can try to stop it is kind of a decision. Probably the stupidest one you could’ve made,” Rainbow pointed out. “Sometimes deciding not to do anything is a really big decision.”

Twilight searched for an answer, but there wasn’t one there. She was tired, and in pain, and it felt like her brain was struggling through that, and through too many other trains of thought that all seemed to lead to nowhere. Her eye twitched again.

They were quiet for a moment, but Twilight noticed that Applejack was just staring at her. Twilight raised her eyebrows at Applejack, who finally said gently, “Twilight, sugarcube, can we talk? I don’t wanna fight ya’ over how things oughta be, I just wanna talk about… how things were.”

“Okay,” Twilight nodded. She didn’t really have the strength to resist.

“Do you remember when we met?” Applejack asked. Rainbow frowned and turned away.

“Of course.” Twilight thought about those days, before the caribou, before she was even a princess. They seemed like another lifetime...

“Do you remember bein’ the smartest pony in Equestria?” Applejack went on.

Twilight blushed and shook her head. “I wasn’t that smart. I couldn’t have been, because…” Because a smart pony would never have… “Because I’m a mare and mares are all dumb cunts.”

She was glad that came to mind, because she didn’t know the end of her original explanation and she wasn’t sure she could hold the train of thought to come to it. That was just as true, and so much more simple.

Applejack raised her eyebrows, but just asked calmly, “Is that how you remember it, from back before the caribou came?”

Twilight tried hard to think through the dull, throbbing pain. She didn’t really remember being a dumb cunt, if she was honest with herself. She remembered doing some pretty complicated magic, and reading a lot of books that weren’t about how to please stallions. But she was never as smart as other ponies thought she was. It was all a lie, like Celestia’s power, and ponies were just foolish enough to believe that a bunch of whores were strong and smart enough to lead them. It just… seemed to work… back then. Ponies seemed to think they were happy, from what she could remember…

“I don’t know,” Twilight finally huffed, burying her face in a hand. “Why are you asking me this?”

“Because I wanna know what happened to ya’.” Applejack said simply, ignoring the derisive snort that Rainbow Dash gave. “I wanna know why ya’ changed.”

“Why I changed?” Twilight looked up, shocked. “What about you? You abandoned your farm and put your family in danger!”

“That ain’t my farm.” Applejack frowned. “That’s the Dirt Pony Farm, in case ya’ missed the sign. As for my family, we've been in danger since the caribou came. Even if I didn’t have a problem with all they wanted from me, don’t pretend the caribou couldn’t take me or Apple Bloom away from there, any time they wanted. I’m tryin’ to get my folks outta danger. Maybe I made some mistakes, but I reckon I’ve never been perfect anyhow.”

Applejack was... insane. Changing the sign didn’t make it a different farm, and if she or Apple Bloom had been taken away it would have been for their own good, to a better home for them. But there was no use arguing with Applejack, of course.

“And Rainbow Dash?” Twilight gestured to her. “She murdered a pony!”

Rainbow narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to say something, then she shut it and took a breath before nodding. “Yeah, I did. I’m messed up, Twilight. I know it. The stuff that happened this past year… it made me like this. But I don’t want to be that kind of pony. I don’t think it’s gonna go away overnight, but I made the decision not to let you die, because I’m trying really hard.”

Twilight narrowed her eyes back. So that’s why she was alive, because Rainbow had a sudden crisis of conscious over killing an innocent pony. Well, she deserved it.

“I didn’t change, both of you changed!” Twilight snapped.

“I don’t wanna fight with you.” Applejack said calmly, which just annoyed Twilight even more. “Some things, we just don’t see eye to eye. But I’m feelin’ like if you think real hard ‘bout this, you might see what I’m sayin’...”

Twilight pouted. There was no reason to think hard on it, and she was in no condition to be thinking hard right now anyway. Her body hurt in several ways from her night last night, and now she was getting a headache. Applejack didn’t have to save her life just to torture her with an interrogation. Of course, it wasn’t really an interrogation, it was more of a conversation… but it was the same thing in the end, wasn’t it?

Her eye twitched.

“I feel sick,” Twilight sighed, laying down and closing her eyes.

“You oughta eat somethin’. We’re runnin’ low on food, but I can cook us some of what’s left. After that, I think we oughta move. We could get to the town today, but I wanna be damn sure we ain’t bein’ followed, especially after Twilight’s shout yesterday.”

“I’ll go get some water…” Rainbow offered, and she headed off towards the creek with the canteens.

“Thank you,” Twilight said softly. She wasn’t sure they heard.

***

Several hours later, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had found a new spot for their camp. This one was well hidden, but gave them a good view of the skies over the forest from the branches of a tree they could climb easily. They could make sure no search pegasi started crossing the fireswamp and looking for them, and see if any pegasi visited the area of forest where the town should be. They decided to spend a few nights here, so Dash built a makeshift shelter from branches and netting, while Applejack secured Twilight.

Using some rope, Applejack bound Twilight’s wrists behind her back again, then used the rest of the rope in an intricate series of knots around her arms and torso.

“Too tight?”

“No… this is fine. But only my wrists are really bound.”

“I know it. But them ropes are a back up. You try cuttin’ the rope from your wrists, you’re gonna find that just makes the ropes on your arms tighter. Not that you’ll be able to cut the ropes on your wrists anyhow.”

Applejack stood up and tossed some rope over the branch of a tree, then tied the other end to the straps of the backpacks. She hoisted them up and tied them off just over her head, easy enough for her and Dash to get to, but a few feet above where Twilight’s bound hands could reach.

When she turned back, Twilight was still examining and trying her ropes. “This is a really nice set up. I… don’t suppose you’d continue it between my legs?”

Applejack rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Twilight, you just got ripped up by a rape vine.”

“I know…” Twilight looked down. “I really should be punished right now.”

“I could poke her with sticks.” Dash suggested, nodding to the pile she was laying on the netting to make a roof. “Some of them aren’t even that pointy.”

Applejack just raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Well if you’re askin’ for it, it ain’t much punishment, is it? I reckon maybe it’s worse for you to just not get any.”

“Unh.” Twilight gave a desperate little moan. “Ye--” She cut herself off and blushed.

Applejack walked over to help Dash with the shelter. She gave Dash a smile as she got there, and Dash smiled back. They fell into working closely, side by side, neither of them worrying about personal space as they brushed and bumped each other. Sometimes a playful smirk indicated that Dash might not have needed to reach past for that stick, or that Applejack’s hand sliding over Dash’s back wasn’t a thoughtless gesture.

A comfortable silence settled over them, only to be broken a little while later, by Twilight.

“Applejack? Have you ever wanted to be a stallion?”

“Uh, no?” Applejack looked back at Twilight, confused. “I mean, bein’ a mare ain’t been a barrel of cider for the past year, but I never wanted to be a stallion.”

“I was just wondering. I’ve heard of ponies who feel like they were born as the wrong gender, and I wondered if you were one, because... well…” Twilight trailed off and screwed up her face in distaste mixed with confusion. “I don’t know. It sounds wrong.”

“Go on.” Applejack suggested, turning her attention back to the shelter. It was almost ready for a layer of leaves, in case it rained before they left.

“I know you’re just a mare, but you would make a good master,” Twilight said quietly. “You control things, but you’re fair with discipline even when a mare has been bad. You’re very good at bondage; this is restrictive enough to be uncomfortable, but I could still serve easily, and even a determined black collar couldn’t get out of it… I can see why Rainbow wants to be your slave.”

“Why Rainbow Dash what now?” Applejack arched an eyebrow and looked up, intending to add this to her list of crazy things Twilight said and did in the past twenty four hours. But Dash’s eyes went wide and darted between Applejack and Twilight.

“I’m gonna kill you!” she growled at Twilight, throwing the stick she was holding at the ground. She took a step towards Twilight, then stopped with obvious effort, trying to hold herself back.

“Woah there.” Applejack placed a hand on Dash’s shoulder. “Is she talkin’ sense about something?”

“She’s… NO!” Dash blushed and seemed to avoid Applejack’s eyes, glaring daggers at Twilight. “I mean, she said it before and I slapped her.”

“I’m sorry, Rainbow. I didn’t realize it would upset you. I mean, of course, it isn’t right. No mare should be owned by a dumb cunt, I didn’t mean to imply that.” Twilight said earnestly, shaking her head. “...but I know Shining keeps some slaves for Cadance’s pleasure and lets her supervise them. So maybe it could be something like that?”

“It’s not right because no one should want to be anyone’s slave! It’s pathetic!” Dash shouted, then she clenched her fists and cringed. “That’s not how I want things to be with AJ…”

“It’s not pathetic to give yourself entirely to another pony who can take care of you,” Twilight said gently.

“No, that’s not what’s bad about it.” Dash took a deep breath and let it out with just barely a glance at Applejack, before turning back to Twilight. “What’s bad about it is being scared. It doesn’t matter if you’re scared because the pony could hurt you, or because you know they’re the only pony in the world who cares about you and you have to do anything so you don’t lose that… being scared like that isn’t cool. It shouldn’t be part of being in love.”

Twilight shook her head. “You don’t need to be scared if you’re a good slave, and you trust your master. You might get punished sometimes, but that’s just how you learn to make him happy.”

“No,” Applejack spoke up finally.

“Reinforcement is a very effective method of changing behavior, Applejack,” Twilight pointed out.

“Maybe it is, but no one has the right to make a grown pony change to please ‘em. And that sure ain’t love, if they do it.” She turned and reached out a hand to where Rainbow Dash stood planted, not daring to touch her without invitation. “Dash…”

Dash ignored the hand and looked down. “I’m sorry, AJ. I’m sorry I’m like this. I just-- I don’t wanna feel like this.”

“Dash, it’s--” Applejack started, but it was too late.

Dash turned suddenly and darted into the woods, not even bothering to glance back as she muttered, “Just let me go.”

Applejack stood there, staring at where Dash had disappeared into the woods. She knew that Dash would come back, but everything between them would be different.

She’d worked so hard to make Dash feel strong and safe and free, hoping that as Dash became sure of those things she’d be able to give her love freely, and hoping that maybe that love would be for Applejack. In just a few moments, that plan had been shot to hell. Dash saw her as just another trap.

She turned and blinked blindly at the camp, until she focused on Twilight. “You did that on purpose.”

Twilight’s eyes were wide. “No, I--”

Applejack’s eyes narrowed as she cut her off. “There’s no way two mares can be happy together, so ya’ saw us gettin’ close and you had to end that, huh?”

“I didn’t mean to!” Twilight protested. “I mean, of all the crazy things the two of you think and do, wanting to fuck each other isn’t in the top ten!”

“I don’t wanna fuck her! I wanna love her!” Applejack crossed her arms. “Love, Twilight. It’s when ya’ care more about a pony than you do about their holes. Ever thought about that?”

“A good slave loves her master,” Twilight said softly. “Rainbow loves you, AJ.”

Applejack spat on the ground. “Bullshit. Like Dash said, you can’t love a pony you gotta be scared of. And a master can’t love a pony he really thinks is lower than him. I reckon maybe there’s ponies that can be happy with that, but it ain’t love. Not to me, and not to Dash.”

“You’re talking about a fairy tale, AJ. That’s not how the world works.” Twilight said, furrowing her eyebrows in concern.

“Maybe it ain’t. But it’s the world I’m tryin’ to get back.”

“That doesn’t seem to be making you happy.” Twilight swallowed and seemed to be speaking straight from her heart as she went on, “AJ, I understand. Fighting this is so hard, and it-- it hurts so much. And everything seems to go wrong. But, then you give in, and that all goes away. A master takes care of you, and you don’t need to fight anymore. You can relax and have fun, and not worry about some world that’s supposed to be. You can’t imagine how nice it is until you try it.”

Applejack just stared at Twilight sitting on the blanket, her arms bound. She shook her head. “Dash said the other day that everything you say and do is poison… well, ya’ got us again.”

Then Applejack closed her eyes and clenched her jaw. “But every drop of poison you feed us just reminds me why I’m fightin’. A world that made Dash run scared from lovin’ me ain’t something I’m gonna give into, even if Dash can never think it’s safe to love a pony again.” She opened her eyes and looked straight at Twilight. “No, Twilight, that’s a world I’m gonna rip down, if I gotta do it brick by brick with my own two hands.”

“She’s going to come back. She won’t go back to Ponyville,” Twilight pointed out.

“I know it. But she’s never gonna believe I love her, now that I know I could hurt her.” Applejack sighed. “No matter what I say, in her heart she’s gonna be scared of gettin’ burned.”

Twilight was quiet, then she said softly, “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you or Rainbow.”

“I really don’t wanna talk to you no more,” Applejack said, turning back to finish the shelter alone.

*

Author's Note

Sorry this one is short and sparse. I plead my belly. I might be late on the next chapter, but I'll try to keep you guys posted.

Chapter 6

Rainbow Dash didn’t return that afternoon, but the next morning Twilight awoke to find Applejack and Rainbow sitting together, focused on tying strips of cloth and rock into impromptu weights for Rainbow’s wings. They never said a word about the previous day, at least not in Twilight’s hearing, focusing all of their attention on discussing the correct starting weight to rebuild muscle without straining or damaging what was there.

For the next three days, morning and evening Rainbow worked her wings, and that was more or less the only quiet moment. While Applejack and Rainbow would each spend a few hours a day in the tree looking for search pegasi, the combination of nervous energy and increasing comfort in their safety sometimes made the camp feel to Twilight more like one of their old picnics. While they mostly ignored her, Twilight watched Rainbow and AJ invent games and contests, tease and encourage each other... and of course bicker over the results.

“It was a trick of the light,” Applejack said as she sat down on the blanket, taking a swig from one of the canteens.

Rainbow smirked and leaned against a tree. “Yeah, the light tricked you into losing.”

“I didn’t lose,” Applejack insisted. “If y’all hadn’t picked up the rocks so fast, you’d have seen that mine was sure as hell closer to the target than yours was.”

“That’s weird, since mine was in the inner ring and yours was in the outer ring.” Rainbow raised her eyebrows.

“Maybe someone can’t draw a circle straight,” Applejack said, shooting Rainbow a look. At first, Twilight had worried about things like that, knowing how much Applejack’s approval meant to Rainbow. But apparently it was different when it came to contests….

“Maybe someone can’t throw a rock straight,” Rainbow replied, shooting her own look at AJ and then sticking out her tongue. .

“If that’s what ya’ think, maybe both of us need to go again.” Applejack rose to her hooves and walked over to Rainbow.

“No way, I won, fair and square!” Rainbow poked a finger into Applejack’s chest to emphasize each of the last three words.

Applejack raised her eyebrows. “And now I’m askin’ you to prove it wasn’t dumb luck, and you turned chicken.”

“Watch it.” Rainbow’s face darkened and her plucked wings folded tighter against her body.

Applejack simply nodded. “Sorry. I mean you’re scared I’ll beat ya’ this time.”

“Why would I be scared of that?” Rainbow said, casually running her fingers through her hair.

“Because ya’ lost the last seven outta ten times,” Applejack pointed out.

“But I won this time. I just needed to get the hang of it.”

“If ya’ had the hang of it, you wouldn’t mind goin’ again.”

“I get bored of games I know I can win.” Rainbow smiled and flicked the edge of Applejack’s hat. “Maybe after you’ve had a chance to practice, you can offer me a real challenge.”

“Oh, I’ll offer ya’ a challenge alright,” Applejack growled, looking for all the world like she might throw a punch. But she just turned up her nose. “How about you try not bein’ a cocky pain in my ass? I bet you can’t do that.”

Rainbow leaned in, getting in Applejack’s face. “I could do that, if you could admit when you’ve been beat.”

Applejack paused for a moment, then she nodded. “Fine, I admit it. Ya’ beat me there... I still don’t think you can do it again.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to prove it!” Rainbow said, crossing her arms in front of her.

“Good! This afternoon?” Applejack offered her fist for a bump.

“You’re on, cowpony!” Rainbow said, bumping fists.

Twilight just lay on the blanket and watched. Over the past few days, she had started to realize that this was part of what they’d said they wanted; neither one was afraid of each other in these interactions. Like the weights on Rainbow’s wings that would eventually make them strong enough to lift her, the occasional argument over a trivial contest was training them to trust one another, showing Rainbow that she could stand up for herself, and showing AJ that Rainbow could withstand a challenge without worrying about the other running off and abandoning them.

This sort of willful posturing would be nothing but trouble for them with their masters, they would both get punished to force them back into their proper places… and for some reason she wasn’t comfortable with that. It almost made her angry. Applejack and Rainbow Dash needed this, she could see that.

Applejack headed off to the lookout tree, and Rainbow walked over to the blanket and sat down across from Twilight, getting ready to start her workout. Twilight noticed a faint sheen of tiny, blue feathers that were becoming visible in certain lights on Rainbow’s wings. It made her smile as she spoke up:

“Your wings are getting blue. Your feathers are growing back.”

Rainbow shot a look at her as she slid the weights on. “Gonna try to pluck them again?”

“I couldn’t if I wanted to,” Twilight pointed out, tugging on the ropes binding her hands. “But… I don’t think I want to.”

“Why not? I thought mares don’t need wings?” Rainbow said as she started her repetitions. The rocks seemed small to Twilight, but there was clear effort on Rainbow’s face as she lifted them with each flap of her plucked wings. Twilight wondered, if Rainbow’s wings were that weak, how bad her own wings must be inside their satin-lined sheaths. Not that she wanted to fly again, of course.

“I don’t know. I’ve been thinking a lot the past few days…” Twilight bit her lip. “I hurt you and Applejack, and even if it was true I never meant to hurt you.”

Rainbow just stared at Twilight. “Yeah, well, you’ve been doing that for a while.”

“I’m starting to realize that, and I don’t like it,” Twilight whispered. “I never wanted to hurt my friends…”

Rainbow’s flaps got faster as her face became agitated. “Then how could you have done all that stuff? You betrayed me, Twilight. I would’ve died to save Equestria from this, I would’ve done anything you asked me to do, and you handed me over.” She paused her wings, and crossed her arms in front of her. “Why?”

“I thought I was doing the right thing.” Twilight said, looking at the ground. She felt a little confused, and tried to explain, “I thought you’d come around, and be as happy as I am with being a slave and having a master to take care of you… and now I think I might have been wrong about that… you and Applejack seem different from other mares.”

“We aren’t,” Rainbow said, resuming her exercises. “All the other black collars feel the same way… and probably some of the red collars too. And the purple collars… Twilight, there are lots of mares like us out there! And you’re hurting them all!”

“No, you two are different. I-- I can’t tell you how sorry I am I didn’t see it sooner.” She shook her head at her failure. “I don’t know why the caribou haven’t seen it… there should be an exception to the rules or something for mares like you.”

“If you let mares decide what they want to do and how they want to live, there wouldn’t need to be an exception!”

“Most mares can’t handle that level of freedom, Rainbow. It’s hard for you to understand, because you’re different, but most mares need a master, even if they don’t realize it yet.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Okay, whatever. So, you get that me and AJ aren’t slaves, and you’re sorry you let them torture us for a year in ways that are probably gonna mess us up forever. Good for you.”

Twilight cringed. She knew Rainbow was right, the logical conclusion of this new way of looking at Rainbow and Applejack was that Twilight had been an awful friend for not seeing it earlier. But she couldn’t change that, it wasn’t her fault that a one in a million anomaly like a mare who wasn’t going to be happy as a slave had slipped her notice. The best she could do now was to try to make amends… somehow.

“I want to help you.”

“Yeah?” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You wanna take down the caribou?”

“No. I don’t know what to do. I want to help you and Applejack be free. You both need it, and you deserve it, and I owe it to you. But I need a master. I need to help other mares learn to be slaves…” Twilight tried to ignore Rainbow’s derisive snort, and hesitated as she went on. “I thought about helping you find a place out here to live, then going back. I wouldn’t tell anyone about you, but I could… I don’t know, I could talk to King Dainn and maybe tell him what I learned? That there might be some mares who just aren’t slaves or dumb sluts, and they shouldn’t be punished for it, and we should just let them be happy… but he’d never listen to that coming from a dumb slut. Maybe… maybe that’s the problem. Maybe my stupid mare brain isn’t thinking right…”

“No!” Dash was staring at Twilight. She let the weights drop from her wings as she carefully went on. “Twilight, you’re totally thinking right… I mean, mostly. You’re not stupid, and some mares don’t want to be slaves, and we should just let them be happy, and you should be able to talk to King Dainn and let him know that! And of course you can’t, and that’s the problem! That’s why we need to get rid of them, because they don’t care about things that are right!”

Twilight frowned. “Rainbow, they care about things that are right for most ponies. They-- they probably don’t realize that there are ponies like you out there. I didn’t.”

“They realize it, Twilight,” Rainbow insisted. “They just don’t care if ponies are happy, as long as they’re getting their cocks sucked. They aren’t even ruling us, they’re… they’re farming us, and they’re shitty about that too. AJ cares way more about her apple trees than King Dainn cares about you.”

“He’s the king!” Twilight shook her head. “He has much more important things to worry about than how a mare feels.”

“Princess Celestia did too, and she still cared.”

Twilight thought of Celestia as she’d last seen her, happily licking the hooves of the guards while they sprayed cum on her face and hair. That was so clearly where she belonged. “Celestia was a weak whore, Rainbow.”

Rainbow shrugged. “I never got raped or tortured when she was in charge. I’m not really seeing the improvement.”

“You’re… different.”

“Am I?” Rainbow raised her eyebrows. “What’s better in Equestria now, except that you’re happier?”

“Other mares--”

“They were pretty happy before too.” Rainbow cut in. “What’s better, for anyone except you?”

Twilight searched for an answer. Life was better for her, but besides that… Equestria was peaceful, but less peaceful than before, thanks to mares like Rainbow and Applejack. Ponies were happy, but Rainbow was right, before the caribou came they were just as happy. Some of the ones who couldn’t just accept the change seemed happier before, even. Life was probably better for some stallions, and the caribou, but she could already hear Rainbow’s curses and shouts if she bothered to argue that.

“I don’t know…” Twilight finally admitted.

“So, on the one hand you tore apart families, let ponies like me and AJ be tortured, let mares and foals be raped, and gave your loyalty to a king who only cares about you or any pony as far as he can ram his dick in… but hey, on the other hand, some ponies are still happy, and it makes you feel better. Good work, Princess.”

“Stop it! That’s not true!” Twilight protested automatically, with a strength that surprised her. “I-- I did something wrong to you and Applejack, and I’m sorry, and I want to fix it. It hurts that a mistake I made hurt my friends. But I didn’t-- I couldn’t have-- I did not hurt Equestria just so I could feel better! That’s not how it happened! It’s not!”

Twilight’s voice was speaking, but something inside her was pointing out that she sounded like a foal stomping her hoof. Rainbow hadn’t said anything that she didn’t know, she had just put it more bluntly, in the worst possible light. But if it was true, it was equally true in the best light and the worst. And in the worst light, what she had done was--

“No! Just stop!” she yelled, cringing. “You don’t understand. We can’t understand each other.”

Rainbow just looked at her and took a deep breath. “Twi, I got mad when you said I wanted to be AJ’s slave. I said it was because that wasn’t what I wanted, but really it was because it is what I want, and I don’t want it to be what I want…” Her face was more sympathetic than Twilight had seen it in a long time as she went on, “I think I do understand you. Are you mad right now because that’s not what happened? Or are you mad because it is what happened, and you don’t want it to be what happened?”

Twilight shut her eyes and jerked her face away from Rainbow’s gaze. “Go away!”

Rainbow sighed and stood up, walking over to the tree where AJ was taking her turn as look-out and leaving Twilight alone.

Twilight tried to clear her mind of the painful thoughts. This was what she got for thinking for herself. She was a dumb slut, she was so much happier as a dumb slut. She didn’t want to be here away from her master, and she didn’t want to think, and all of this guilt and uncertainty and complication was exactly why. This was supposed to go away.

But clearly it hadn’t, no matter how good and dumb she had been for her masters.

***

Rainbow Dash looked up at Applejack in the tree as she approached. AJ was lounging on a branch, scanning the sky. Her hair and tail hung down like ropes, and Dash smirked, considering tugging her down before she knew Dash was there.

But AJ spoke up just before Dash could make up her mind: “Sounds like your work’s done for the day… you got Twilight good and riled up.”

“I think you need to talk to her.” Dash said, leaning against the tree. “I’m kinda bad at it.”

“Everyone’s bad at talkin’ to Twilight these days, unless ya’ speak crazy,” Applejack pointed out.

Dash had noticed that AJ was more terse than usual with Twilight since a few nights ago. If she was honest with herself, she was kind of flattered that AJ seemed to be just as mad at Twilight for humiliating her as she was. But that could just be because she knew how weak Dash was… maybe AJ was trying to protect her.

But that wasn’t how AJ had been acting since Dash came back late that same night. She’d been careful to stay back a little, to let Dash have her own fights with Twilight, and even with AJ herself, and never try to jump in or pull punches. So maybe she was just mad that Twilight had hurt a pony that Applejack cared about, and since Twilight seemed to be trying to apologize...

“I don’t know… I kind of felt like she’s not as crazy as she was.” Dash shook her head, confused. “She doesn’t think we should be slaves, AJ. She thinks all the other mares in Equestria should be slaves, but she thinks we’re different.”

“Really?” Applejack’s eyebrows went up in shock. “That’s… still crazy, but she really said some mares ain’t slaves?”

“Yeah, and I was trying to convince her that maybe things were better before, when no mares were slaves, but then we started fighting,” Dash said with a shrug.

“Well, even so…” Applejack glanced over towards the blanket where Twilight sat. “Somethin’ is gettin’ through.”

“Yeah… maybe it was a good idea to bring her.” Dash smiled up at AJ.

Applejack smiled back and nodded. “And to save her from that plant.”

The smile faded from Dash’s face, and she looked away. “I almost didn’t… I didn’t want to.”

“But ya’ did it anyway.” Applejack pointed out. “Ya’ had faith, even if you were doubtin’ pretty hard. I guess that’s all we got right now, so we’d better hang on to it.”

“Yeah.” Dash nodded. “It’s hard to remember that when everything sucks. It just seems so dumb to think there are good things that could happen in the world.”

“But if there ain’t, what’s the point? We might as well just lay down and die. I thought ‘bout that a lot, this past year, and if it weren’t for Mac and Bloom…” Applejack trailed off, looking at the sky in the direction of Ponyville. “That life wasn’t livin’, it was countin’ days as they passed. The second I decided to leave, when I let myself think things could get better, that’s when my life started again… and look where it’s got us.”

Dash looked up at her again and swallowed hard. Something about how AJ looked just then seemed larger than life, like a statue that represented hope or justice or victory or some other cool idea. And it made Dash want all of those things really badly.

“Okay, fine. I’m sorry I called you dumb for believing in stuff,” Dash muttered.

Applejack chuckled. “Ya’ sorry you called me cute, too?”

Dash blushed and looked down, then said quickly, “Ready to toss rocks again? I’ll let you win this time.”

“Like you let me win best two outta three yesterday?” Applejack smirked.

“I was still practicing then.” Dash relaxed and grinned at AJ. “Since I got it down, I haven’t lost yet.”

“That was one match,” Applejack pointed out.

“Hey, I’m on a roll.” Dash gave AJ’s tail a light tug. “And if you get your butt out of that tree, I’ll prove it.”

“Let’s see what ya’ got.” Applejack leaned forward, preparing to swing down off the branch. She froze as she caught sight of something on the horizon. “What the…”

Dash took a step back, trying to get a view through the tree tops. After a moment she saw what AJ was seeing: A whole troop of pegasi coming from the direction of Ponyville, and heading right for them.

“Oh shit! Hide!” Dash hurried to the camp as AJ swung down from the tree and followed.

“Hurry, in the shelter!” Twilight called, struggling to her hooves. “It’s covered with leaves, they’ll never see it!”

Dash blinked as she realized that Twilight was right, and that was actually the best place to hide. Twilight seemed not to notice that she was actually helping them avoid guards, so Dash shrugged and helped her up, and they both made their way into the rough shelter. It was just large enough for three ponies to lay in, and high enough for them to crawl on their knees. Dash crawled in and lay on her stomach, and helped Twilight to crawl in next to her, with Applejack following on the other side of Twilight.

“Rainbow, you should make a small hole in the roof we can watch through,” Twilight suggested. “AJ, untie me.”

Dash reached up and carefully removed some of the leaves and branches, leaving them hopefully hidden by the shade and the netting, but with a view of the sky and trees around the campsite.

Applejack, on the other hand, just raised an eyebrow at Twilight. “Hold up. Why should I do that?”

“If they land nearby, I’ll run out and tell them I escaped from you days ago, way to the east. They’ll take me back, and they’ll be looking for you in the wrong place. It’ll buy you time to figure something out,” Twilight explained, as though once again failing to notice that she was helping escaped black collar slaves and suggesting that she would lie to stallions for them. Dash wanted to suspect a trap, but given their conversation earlier she wasn’t sure what Twilight was thinking right now.

“How do I know you ain’t gonna turn us in?” Applejack asked.

Twilight just blinked, confused. She hesitated a moment as if she just realized the things she was saying. Then she closed her eyes and went on with resolve. “I won’t. You have to trust me. I want you and Rainbow to be free.”

“That’s hard to buy, after just a few days ago…” Applejack eyed Twilight suspiciously.

“You saved my life,” Twilight insisted. “I won’t let them take you, and I won’t tell about Mac.”

“AJ… trust her,” Dash said, surprising herself as much as she obviously surprised AJ. But Applejack moved quickly to undo the ropes binding Twilight’s arms.

They lay quietly for a few moments, and the pegasi came into the limited view offered by the top of the shelter. They didn’t even slow down, and they obviously weren’t flying search patterns. Dash shifted to try to follow them through the thinned part of the roof, and saw them head in the direction of the town that AJ hoped was there. She felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, but she swallowed hard.

“They passed us. They’re heading towards--”

“Bayou.” Applejack’s mouth was a grim line.

“We should stay in here. They’ll be back when they’re done there, and they might be searching more thoroughly if they don’t find you,” Twilight whispered.

Applejack nodded, distracted by unhappy thoughts.

Dash suspected they were thinking the same things, so she whispered, “Do you think they found it when they were looking for us?”

Applejack cringed, but shook her head. “The only one we saw past the fireswamp never made it back. There’s no way they coulda spotted the town from there.”

“They might have been trying to figure out where you’d go, and found out about the town somehow,” Twilight pointed out.

“Or maybe they already knew about it,” Dash countered. “For all we know, it’s just another brainwashed town like Ponyville. You said yourself that rebel towns don’t exist.”

“Then why’re they sendin’ a whole troop of guards?” Applejack closed her eyes and rested her head on her arms.

Dash just cringed and shrugged. The idea that there was a town full of mares being captured just a few miles away, and what that meant for them, felt like it was twisting everything inside of her. Every thought came with a flood of anger, fear, or guilt.

She shifted to try to get a view of the sky over the town. There didn’t seem to be any signs of a struggle, there was no smoke or flashes of magic, no pegasi diving from the sky… she wasn’t sure if that was a good or bad thing.

Twilight frowned and eyed the sky through the cleared part of the roof. “Well, they weren’t exactly subtle about it. If that is a resistance base, and they’re smart enough to have a lookout, there should be plenty of time for the extremists to hide. Not that I should be second guessing the stallion in charge, of course.”

Dash blinked and looked at Twilight, the tiny ray of hope cutting through the knot of bad emotions. She glanced at Applejack. “See? Even Twilight thinks it’ll probably be okay.”

Applejack just sighed. “And, if it ain’t… it ain’t somethin’ we can worry on. I-- I done my best, right? I tried not to lead anypony there. I had to go someplace… I couldn’t stay where I was…”

Dash nodded, and reached a hand over Twilight to pat AJ on the back. She felt so bad for Applejack, she’d really done everything she could do… she’d done amazing things… and the idea that might have put more ponies in danger had to hurt really bad. Dash hadn’t done half the thinking and worrying that AJ had, when she acted it was with a couple minutes of thought, if that. She knew she would have messed things up even worse if she’d been the one they were counting on. In fact...

Dash swallowed and said hoarsely, “I shouldn’t have killed that guard. I bet they found it when they were looking for him. This is all my fault, AJ.”

Applejack pushed herself up on her elbows and looked over at Dash. “What choice did ya’ have? We could’ve captured him, I guess, but we couldn’t just send him back knowin’ where we were. If they were lookin’ for him, they woulda been lookin’ for him all the same.”

“And more likely he would have captured you and AJ instead,” Twilight added.

“Right.” Dash nodded, trying to convince herself. Those moments of acting without thinking scared her, and it seemed right that they might have led to this. But Applejack and Twilight were right, she was no more to blame than AJ.

“Should we try to rescue them?” Dash asked.

Applejack seemed to consider that for a moment before letting out another sigh. “We don’t even know if they need rescuin’.”

Twilight nodded. “We don’t even know if there’s anyone there to rescue.”

“Yeah, walkin’ into a troop of guards without even knowin’ if we need to ain’t likely to help anyone.” Applejack sunk back down, laying her head on her arms again.

“So we’re just sitting here,” Dash said, looking up at the sky again.

“Guess so,” Applejack said, then she went on softly, “I know, Dash. It hurts me too.”

The three sat there for hours, barely breaking the silence as they watched the sky. Dash let various ideas of what was happening play out in her mind… maybe the resistance was able to hide before the guards got there. Maybe they even set traps and attacked the guards when they didn’t see it coming-- there were more ways to fight than charging in head first.

Of course, the guards could have surprised them… interrupted a sunny morning with a shadow of terror from overhead, easily grabbing mares, chaining them, beating and raping the ones who resisted. She knew every fiber of the mares, their bodies and minds and spirits, would fight back, insisting it couldn’t happen to them, they wouldn’t let it happen… Dash remembered that feeling, and the worse one when she realized that it could, and it had.

It was late afternoon when she noticed movement in the northwest sky. She reached over and shoved Applejack. “They’re coming back.”

Twilight had been napping, but now blinked awake. “Are they coming this way?”

“Looks like.” Dash squinted as the formation of indistinct spots came into focus. Her heart beat fast at simply the sight of the armored males, but she breathed a sigh of relief. “They don’t have any mares with them!”

“Keep it down, featherbrain, or they’re gonna have three,” Applejack whispered sharply, but she was smiling.

“They must have been searching that whole time.” Twilight whispered as she rubbed her eyes. “I wonder if there are regular masters and slaves there, or if they really didn’t find anyone…”

“We’ll find out tomorrow. If we don’t see them pegasi again, we’re headed over there,” Applejack said with a firm nod.

Dash nodded back, watching the pegasi as they retreated back toward Ponyville. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Twilight nod too.

Applejack smiled. “Hey, Twilight? Thanks.”

Twilight bit her lip, frowning. She seemed troubled, but she just said softly, “You’re welcome…”

Finally, the pegasi were out of sight. Dash gave it another few minutes before she spoke up again. “All clear.”

With a sigh of relief, Applejack crawled out of the shelter, followed by Twilight and Dash.

Dash looked around, not sure what to do with herself now. Applejack was stretching, and Twilight walked back to her spot on the blanket automatically.

Twilight looked up to Applejack, and asked hesitantly, “Do you want to tie me up again?”

Applejack glanced over at Twilight. “Do I need to?”

Twilight looked down at her hands, then back towards Ponyville, before looking at Applejack and swallowing. “I guess not…”

Applejack nodded. “If ya’ wanna talk about it, we’re here.”

“No. I need to think right now.” Twilight lay down on her side and rested her head on her hand.

“I gotcha,” Applejack said. “I’m gonna head back up in the tree, and make sure those guards don’t send anyone back.”

Twilight nodded absently, and Applejack headed towards the tree.

Dash watched as Applejack climbed up and settled onto the branch. But she wasn’t looking towards the fireswamp or Ponyville, she was looking towards Bayou, deep in thought. There was a lot to think about, Dash had to admit. Too much.

On the ground, Dash spotted her weights. That was what she needed, something to do. Something other than think, and wonder, and worry. She strapped the weights to her wings and focused on working her muscles, losing herself in the repetitive motions. Repetitive, but productive; feeling the pain of straining against the rocks made her smile.

She could worry right now-- about getting caught again, about what was at Bayou, about if they could trust Twilight, about if she’d ever get to actually use her wings again, or if she’d end up locked away or worse after all this work. But it didn’t matter, because there was a chance she’d fly again, and there was something she could do to make that happen. That was how a pony should live, if a pony got stuck in a life like this, Dash decided. Just keep doing something, keep working towards good things, and stop trying to think about it.

Dash grinned, and almost started to laugh, thinking about something else she could do instead of worrying.

Chapter 7

Late that night, Applejack was finally ready to sleep. She’d carefully checked all the packs for the morning, making sure they had anything useful. They’d taken down the shelter to reuse the netting, gathered the knives, canteens, pieces of rope and scraps of fabric. Everything was ready for the ponies to leave tomorrow, to make their way towards Bayou and safety, or the disappointment and uncertainty of a future they’d have to build.

Applejack was tired in a way she didn’t think sleep would cure, but she knew that without it tomorrow would be even worse. Her hopes for a rest at the end of this road seemed far away right now, so she figured that she’d need all of her strength of body and spirit to face what they found at the town.

Twilight and Dash were already asleep at either side of the blanket and Applejack took her spot in the middle. She felt the worry of the day leave her, and muscles she didn’t know had been tense suddenly ached with the release. A glance towards Dash tempted her with thoughts of a warm body to snuggle against, to relieve some of that ache and calm her mind, but Applejack just took her hat off and closed her eyes.

“AJ.” She heard Dash whisper moments later.

She opened her eyes, and saw Dash sitting herself up.

“AJ… come here,” Dash whispered, motioning to the other side of the blanket.

Applejack moved over and sat down next to her. “What’s-- mmph!” she was cut off as Dash kissed her hard on the lips. Applejack pulled away in surprise.

“Dash… do you-- do you wanna talk?”

“No.” Dash was smiling; in the moonlight she looked more like her old self than she had since the caribou came.

But Applejack wasn’t sure she believed it. Feelings were funny things. “Sugarcube… there’s stuff we oughta talk about. I don’t want ya’ to feel--”

“Pressured? Crazy? Like I owe you? Like I need you?” Dash cut her off. The smile fell away, replaced by a plain, straightforward expression. “I don’t wanna feel any of that either, but that’s how I feel sometimes, and I can’t stop it. But you didn’t make me feel like that. You make me feel free, and good, and like my old self. So, I don’t wanna talk about it. I’m gonna be crazy sometimes, but I want to be with you anyway.” Dash leaned in and kissed Applejack’s neck.

Applejack felt a tingle up her spine, bringing energy back to her tired body. She couldn’t stop herself from wrapping her arms around Dash’s body, or burying her muzzle in Dash’s rainbow hair. Even so, she mumbled, “This ain’t healthy.”

“Compared to what?” Dash breathed against her skin. “The rest of Equestria?”

“You got me there.”

Applejack closed her eyes as Dash’s mouth pressed against her collarbone, biting lightly. Dash pulled up the bottom of Applejack’s shirt and ran her hands up her bare back, massaging the muscles. Applejack reached up and unbuttoned the shirt in the front, giving Dash access to more of her body.

Dash dove right in, kissing and nuzzling down Applejack’s chest, between her breasts, pushing her back into the blanket. Confusion and desire tumbled through Applejack’s mind. She wanted this so badly, but she wanted to know that Dash was okay, that this wouldn’t hurt her more.

But she knew she wasn’t going to get that answer tonight. What she was getting was Dash’s passion and devotion, full force. After a year of having her body treated like a toy, Dash’s hot kisses seemed to appreciate every inch of her, and wake up a desire she wasn’t sure she’d felt in her life. Dash’s mouth traveled over Applejack’s breasts, her tongue caressing each nipple, tracing the rounded bottoms. Her hands moved over Applejack, tracing muscles and curves.

Applejack’s body was burning for more; her hands moved to untie the rope belt holding her pants up. She felt greedy for letting Dash do this when they should be talking about where their relationship was, and guilty for enjoying this while so many mares across the world were still living through that hell. But this felt so right, and it had been so long, and she wanted Rainbow Dash so badly that Dash’s hands plunging into her pants just made her buck her hips towards the pegasus and gasp, “Oh hell yeah.”

Dash’s hands groped their way over her ass and thighs, brushing her cutie mark, before making their way to the front, stroking her mound. Despite everything, Dash paused for a split second and an eyebrow twitched, questioningly. As much as the question obviously didn’t need to be asked, Applejack’s heart melted and she closed her eyes in bliss as she nodded.

Applejack felt Dash’s hand press more firmly, parting her folds. She blushed a little and whispered, “Gentle. I need a light touch, Dash...”

“Oh, I know,” Dash whispered back with a smirk, one finger delving into AJ’s wet slit. “I remember that night in the barn. I barely had to touch you to make you lose your mind.”

The tip of Dash’s finger played over her clit, earning a cry that was louder than Applejack intended, “Aaah! Oh Dash…”

“It’s the sorta thing that sticks in your mind. The big, tough cowgirl…” the length of the finger lightly brushed along Applejack’s clit. “...has her soft spots.”

Applejack shuddered as Dash’s fingers continued to tease, brushing her bud, gliding over her hole, inserting the tip of one finger and wiggling it back and forth. Applejack’s breath came heavy and it was all she could do to keep her voice down. “Oh yeah… please… Oh Rainbow Dash, please…”

“So. Hot.” Dash whispered in her ear as her finger probed deeper inside. Her thumb continued a grazing against the sensitive nub outside, and her finger worked its way deeper, rubbing firmly against Applejack’s inner walls until the pressure hit a spot that made Applejack gasp.

“There Dash… Mmmmm!” Applejack let out a whimper.

Dash lightly bit her ear as she slowly worked her finger against the spot. With her other hand she cradled one of Applejack’s breasts, stroking the nipple with her thumb.

Every nerve in Applejack’s body felt alive, screaming in pleasure that she hadn’t imagined in so long. She was trying to keep quiet, Twilight was asleep across the blanket, but there was no way to avoid the soft moans and grunts of pleasure that escaped. As the wave built within her, she looked up at Dash’s grinning face. They locked eyes, and without breaking the look Rainbow leaned down and kissed her.

The tender feeling of Dash’s lips on hers was enough to send Applejack over the edge, her mind reeling between all of the sensations in her body and the love and care they offered with each stroke and press and kiss. She had no idea how long she rode her orgasm, it seemed like it would never end and Dash seemed determined to make sure of that.

Dash didn’t stop her attentions until Applejack’s body relaxed, limp against the blanket. Then she carefully removed her fingers from her sex, and stopped the movement of her thumb against her breast. Only then did Dash part the kiss, smiling down at Applejack.

“That was amazin’,” Applejack sighed with a smile.

Dash’s smile grew to a grin. “I’ve still got it, huh?”

Applejack tried to catch her breath. “That’s the first time a pony made me come since before the caribou came…”

“Really?”

“Yeah…” Applejack nodded. “I faked it a lot to get ‘em off my back… whenever they’d start tryin’ to make me come, it just hurt. But none of ‘em ever bothered to touch me gentle, and I sure wasn’t about to tell them.” She leaned up and kissed Dash. “So, thank you.”

“Any time you need it,” Dash said as they parted.

Applejack reached up and ran her fingers through Dash’s hair, pulling her face to Applejack’s again. After the next kiss, she held her there and whispered, “What about you?”

Dash squirmed against her, grinning. “You'd better believe I need it.”

Applejack grinned back and threw her weight to the side, rolling both of the ponies over so that Applejack looked down at Dash. She shifted so that she was crouched over the smaller pegasus, and leaned down to kiss her again. “You got it, sugarcube.”

Kissing back, Dash hurried to unbutton her shirt and shimmy out of her pants. Applejack nearly chuckled at her eager lover, but she managed to hold it to a smirking smile and she brushed a hand down Dash’s exposed body.

“Mmm… more, AJ.”

At that Applejack did chuckle, but she obliged, her hands exploring Dash’s torso and opening her shirt more to reveal her lithe, toned body and small, firm breasts. “You are one fine lookin’ pony.”

“I know!” Dash moaned. “Touch me already!”

Applejack couldn’t hold back her laughter. “You bossy lil’ thing. I can’t do this right when I’m laughin’.”

Dash smirked with a devilish gleam in her eye. “It’s not my fault you forgot how to do this.”

“Oh I forgot, did I?” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow. “There’s no damn way I forgot how to love you.”

“Then prove-- oooooh!” Dash’s taunt was cut off as both of Applejack’s hands landed on her breasts, toying with her nipples. Her fingers didn’t let up as Applejack quickly leaned over and peppered Dash’s body with kisses, between her breasts, across her stomach, down to where the soft mound rose up between her legs.

Dash’s hips thrust up as she let out a desperate groan. Applejack slid her hands down Dash’s sides to cup her bottom, spreading Dash’s legs wider. She looked down at the dewey slit, then gave a light lick over it.

“Come on, AJ!” Dash insisted with a thrust of her hips.

“Oh, ya’ want this?” Applejack paused and smirked up at Dash.

Dash slammed a hand down against the blanket. “Yes!”

Applejack gave her a teasing lick, “Nah… I probably don’t even remember how to do it.”

“Urgh!” Dash grunted. “No! You’ve totally got this, now give it to me!”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Applejack said, parting Dash’s lower lips with her muzzle, deeply breathing in Dash’s scent and tasting her juices. Applejack lapped eagerly at the full length as Dash’s hips thrust faster.

“Yeah, AJ… deeper… more… gosh yes…” Dash panted with each movement.

Applejack forced herself to focus, letting her tongue explore Dash’s marehood, looking for the right spots and angles. As she searched, she noticed a spot that felt different, just to the right of Dash’s clit. Applejack fought the urge to cringe or cry, and carefully kept her attention on giving Dash pleasure. Dash deserved pleasure without thinking of that pain, something so good that for a little while she didn’t even remember the scar was there, and Applejack planned to give it to her.

“Applejack!” Dash demanded.

With a flurry of tight, controlled licks Applejack focused on Dash’s nub, making the pegasus squirm and squeal in pleasure. Dash’s legs wrapped over her shoulders, holding herself firmly to Applejack’s face. Lifting up a little, Applejack shifted down slightly, using her tongue to probe into Dash’s hole, while her lips worked in large sucking kisses that caught Dash’s clit each time.

“Mmm! AJ, I’m close… so close…”

Applejack drove her muzzle in farther, her tongue digging deeply, catching the sensitive edges of Dash’s tunnel and working in the twitching confines as Dash’s moans grew louder. Finally she rewarded Applejack with a fresh gush of juices and her legs clamping hard across Applejack’s shoulders as she thrust her hips wildly.

“Yes! Yes! Yes! Uuunh!” Dash screamed, thrashing her head, lost in her orgasm.

Dash trailed off eventually, releasing Applejack and crashing against the blanket.

Applejack crawled back up to lay next to the exhausted pegasus. “Guess I picked that back up pretty quick, huh?”

Dash smirked and wrapped her arms around Applejack. “You could use practice… a lot of practice… like, every night I think.”

“Maybe I wouldn’t mind workin’ on that too much,” Applejack said with a chuckle, leaning her head on Dash’s shoulder.

The two lay in silence for a moment, then Dash said quietly, “I’ve been worried, AJ. I was scared that when we did it, it would feel like-- but it didn’t, at all. It was like the opposite of getting raped. So good… you’re so good. I love you.”

“I love ya’ too.” Applejack said with a nuzzle. “I know just what you mean. They didn’t break us. Not really. We can still feel that.”

Applejack lay with her arms around Dash, her hands stroking the always disheveled rainbow hair. There was a sense of… not peace, but rest. A few moments of right in the world, a break in the rain.

***

Twilight had considered speaking up when Rainbow called Applejack over. She thought that maybe they were going to have a personal conversation, and it wouldn’t be right to listen in on that. But then Rainbow made it clear they were just going to fuck. Twilight had seen ponies have sex in every way imaginable, and done nearly as much herself, often in public. She saw no reason to bother them by announcing that she was awake.

Now, she almost wished she had. She felt strange; confused, really.

That wasn’t just fucking. She’d never seen two ponies do… that.

In some ways it was a little dull. It was missing a spark of excitement she was used to, the danger of punishment for failure to perform. And neither of them were very creative with positions or toys, and they didn’t even take their clothes all the way off. Not to mention Applejack getting the giggles before she went down on Dash. If it had been two mares putting on a show for their master, Twilight would have had to give them some lessons.

Except… that was the problem. There was no show, at all. Just two ponies having fun… showing that they love each other… making love.

The term seemed archaic, but Twilight knew that only a year ago she would hardly have thought of sex as anything else. She’d never considered what it might mean, that it talked about something different from fucking… being able to please someone else and tell them how to please her; being able to tease and laugh, and just be herself without worrying about punishment.

… feeling love that someone offered back in the same way. The other day she told Applejack that was a foal’s story, but now she had seen it with her own eyes. And with the knowledge that love was real came the painful understanding that she’d never feel love like that. She’d never make love. All she had done for the past year would be all she would ever do, the love she felt for her master, and his approval, was the most she could ever hope for.

Twilight started to cry. She tried to hide it, she muffled her sobs in the crook of her arm, but after a few moments she heard Applejack whisper, “Aw, shit.”

Applejack went on in a normal tone, “Sorry, Twilight. We, uh, didn’t mean to get so loud.”

“Speak for yourself…” Rainbow added, but at that moment Twilight sniffed loudly. “Are you okay?”

Twilight tried to gather herself.

“I’m sorry for listening,” she said in a shaky voice. “I would have said something if you were talking, but I thought it was going to be just sex…”

“Yeah, I suppose that don’t matter much to you,” Applejack said. “But… you sound like there’s something botherin’ you.”

“No. Nothing at all.” Twilight looked away to make sure they couldn’t see her face.

“Are you sure?” Rainbow sounded like she wasn’t buying it. “You aren’t, like, mad because there should be some stallion here we have to get off?”

“No!” Twilight snapped. “What you did was amazing. I’ve never seen anything like that. I’ve seen ponies have sex in thousands of different ways, but-- that was different. I don’t know what that feels like… but it looks beautiful.”

“It is,” Applejack said softly.

“So why are you so upset?” Rainbow pressed.

The tears returned and almost overwhelmed her ability to speak, but she fought them back. “Because I’m never going to feel that! M-master doesn’t-- He doesn’t love me. Not like that. And-- I mean, I love him, but…” She paused to sniff, and her brain fed her the thought before she knew what she was saying, “But Spike is a drooling idiot! And I don’t-- I can’t-- feel like that about him.”

Applejack and Rainbow were staring at her, eyes wide. As Twilight realized what she was saying, her own eyes matched theirs, but she went on in a tiny voice, “I’m never going to feel like that, am I?”

“Probably not while you’re listenin’ to King Dainn,” Applejack said plainly.

“No one gets to feel like that now,” Rainbow pointed out. “I don’t think the stallions can feel like that, under the spell.”

Twilight cringed. “But… it’s so safe… and easy… before I submitted, it hurt so much...”

Applejack moved over towards Twilight, sitting down beside her and putting a strong arm over her shoulders. “What hurt, sugarcube?”

“Everything!” Twilight waved her hand absently. “ I didn’t have Celestia or Luna or Cadance, I didn’t have you or Pinkie or Fluttershy, I didn’t have the elements, and they were stronger and had an army! I didn’t know who to trust, and everyone was looking at me… I was weak, we ponies were weak and it seemed so easy to submit when they were so obviously stronger...”

“How’s it feel now?”

“Confused. It still feels safe and easy, but there’s so much… wrong.” Twilight went on in a whisper, “It’s wrong, AJ.”

She swallowed, but it stuck in her throat. That was it, the truth she couldn’t say before.

“It’s all wrong, and it’s all my fault,” she repeated. “I’m…I’m scared of them. If we try to stop them, they’ll hurt other ponies. I don’t want ponies to get hurt. I don’t, but I can’t make them stop it. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just want them to stop hurting ponies.”

“They ain’t gonna, as long as they’re here,” Applejack pointed out. “We gotta get rid of ‘em, cause even if they try to hurt a lot of ponies on their way out, they’re gonna hurt way more if we let ‘em stay here forever. They’ll always be wantin’ to hurt ponies, Twilight, no matter how many mares submit and what they promise ‘em.”

Twilight just stared at Applejack for a moment. “I should have known that. I should have-- I was supposed to be smart, damn it! I was supposed to be the pony who thinks of these things… I was supposed to be a leader… a princess… what happened to me? How am I sitting here with my horn cut off? Why did I believe them?”

“I don’t know, Twilight. I tried…” Rainbow pointed out.

“I don’t know either,” Twilight muttered, before going on at a shout, “I don’t know anything! I tried to keep them from hurting ponies, and I made things a hundred times worse! What am I supposed to do now? I don’t have a horn, I don’t have wings, I don’t have friends, I--”

“Hold up,” Applejack cut in. “You always got friends.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, why do you think we took you?”

“I don’t know. You should hate me even more than I hate myself right now.” Twilight considered that with a frown. ”If that was possible, which it probably isn’t.”

“We should hate you,” Rainbow agreed, “and sometimes we do, but… we can’t really hate you. We have to believe you’re still our friend, and we have to be friends to you. Otherwise, nothing matters.”

“You two matter.” Twilight pointed out. “You’re fighting to keep ponies you love from being hurt, and you have… what I just saw. Love. Real romantic love, and friendship, and… yourselves. You have yourselves, not this stupid, broken puppet that my body is now and this wasteland I made in my mind.” She gestured wildly. “Twilight Sparkle? Who is she? Just a filthy degenerate traitor! I shouldn’t matter to you, or to anyone else. I hope I never matter again.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes and crouched down in front of Twilight. “Twilight, I know who you are and I know what you did. What you did to me. And I am still your friend, and you matter to me. Because if I don’t have faith in you and AJ, all I have left is what they made me into.”

Twilight looked away. “They forced you into that position. I begged for it. It’s all I have left. And it’s disgusting.”

“Are you even listening to me?” Rainbow said, waving a hand in Twilight’s face.

“Rainbow Dash…” Applejack said, motioning for her to quit. Then Applejack turned back to Twilight and pulled her into half of a hug.

“Sugarcube, you listen here, and trust me. All you gotta know right now is there’s love in this world, and there’s friendship, and happiness. And if we work together those are gonna be things that anypony can have, includin’ you. Don’t you worry about what got us here, or what we’re gonna do to fix it, there’s time for that later. Right now, just let your friends take care of you, okay?”

“I don’t deserve this.” Twilight whispered, wrapping her arms around Applejack.

Applejack nodded. “Love ain’t somethin’ you just get when you deserve it. It’s gotta be there when ya’ don’t deserve it, too, or it ain’t love.”

Rainbow wrapped an arm around Twilight from the other side, and her friends held her for hours. In the ruins of the country she was supposed to lead, in the arms of ponies she’d tormented, Twilight’s mistakes seemed to burn into her mind. Every mare in chains, every degenerate act she’d encouraged or performed. The desecration of schools and parks, and of bodies and minds. She had been Equestria’s last defense, and she had been as weak and worthless as the caribou claimed she was.

The only hope she could cling to was that somehow, maybe she could borrow strength from Applejack and Rainbow to fix what she'd destroyed. Safe in the warmth of their forgiveness and love, she almost believed that she could.