Disobedience
"Oh, Twilight, are you sure you can't stay and help?" Rarity pleaded, holding up a sheet of purple material in a blue glow as she tuned her pout to maximum effectiveness.
"I'm sorry, Rarity!" Twilight called back as she headed for the door, "I really need to get this project finished before the end of the week and I haven't even started the research yet!"
Twilight had spent the past several hours helping Rarity design a dress. More accurately, Rarity had done the design and Twilight had alternated between modelling it and making sure Rarity had a constant stream of materials so she could continue uninterrupted.
Twilight silently cursed herself as she ran back to her treehouse - why did she have to be so helpful? She barely had enough time to finish this project as it was, between all her other commitments. She loved helping, but unfortunately some things simply had to take priority.
"Spike!" she yelled as she ran through her library door, "Come on, I need your help!"
Spike obediently scampered down the stairs at her request, heading down into Twilight's laboratory at the base of the library-tree. Twilight headed down there herself after spending a few minutes to gather reference materials and some herbal supplies Zecora had delivered earlier that week.
This week's project was on the magical properties of herbs, and the effects they could have on the equine body. Magic imbued everything, Twilight knew, and plants tended to absorb the magic of the area they grew in and store it for various purposes. A rose, for example, grown in Ponyville would cause a slight endorphin rush when ingested, but a rose grown in Manehatten was better used to power a magical device.
Twilight had a huge array of plants in front of her, with effects that would seem to range from magical healing to powerful sedatives. Her chosen project this week was combining them to see what she could make them do.
"Hand me that leaf," Twilight began, "and a few of those boiling tubes, Spike."
...and the subsequent combination of these two compounds creates a thick
black substance that, should it be ingested, would produce healing
effects similar to that of a mid-level spell. Further research into
the area will be neccesary.
-Twilight Sparkle
Several hours later Twilight Sparkle finished the day's report with a flourish of her quill and began the task of cleaning up.
She wasn't a very practised botanist or alchemist, but she'd read all the guidebooks and knew what she had to do to ensure her own safety. Some of the compounds and mixtures in front of her were very dangerous and had to be handled with care. The Everfree forest was filled with powerful and esoteric magics, and the plants that grew there had terrible effects.
Warning: Highly Toxic
Twilight read on one label as she lifted the tube into the air and carefully surrounded the container in a magic field, before disintegrating it with a thought. These things couldn't be allowed to fall into untrained hooves, or the effects could be devastating. Warning: Hallucinogenic was next, and met a similar fate.
Finally, Twilight turned to the worst of the unholy triplet, and shuddered. It scared her that such things could even exist, never mind that she was capable of creating them. Extreme Warning: Obedience was incinerated as thoroughly as Twilight could manage. Even probing it safely with her magic had worried her - it wasn't often she thought that there were some things Equinekind simply shouldn't know, but how to do that was one of them.
"Spike, file this away for m- oh." Twilight asked, before realising Spike was slumbering quite peacefully. He must have been like that for hours, Twilight hadn't really needed him once she'd gotten started. Twilight smiled softly as she looked upon him, lightly picking him up and carrying him upstairs, along with the day's report - she had more research to do tomorrow, but it was important to be rigorous about these things.
Everything was dark. Twilight Sparkle hung in the air, hooves flailing around for a moment until she gave in, and hovered silently.
Her mane flowed around her body as if there was neither gravity nor oxygen holding it or hindering it.
She looked around, but could see nothing. Her horn flared, and the dim glow illuminated her own body, but nothing else. She tried to reach out with her magic, to sense something else out there, but there was nothing. She was alone.
"Twilight Sparkle." a low voice boomed, somehow echoing off of the infinite nothingness. "Twilight Sparkle, do as I say."
Twilight looked around, trying to find the source of the noise. There was nothing.
"Twilight Sparkle, do as you are told." the voice boomed. Twilight raised her hooves to her ears, the voice was deafeningly loud. She couldn't block it out, but it hurt less.
"Twilight Sparkle, wake up."
"Twilight!" Spike shouted, poking the sleeping purple unicorn in the side, "It's morning already, get up!"
"Ugh," Twilight replied, rolling over and shuffling away from Spike's insistent prodding. "Go make breakfast, Spike, I'll be down..." she yawned before drifting back to sleep mid-sentence. She'd been up later than she'd thought. Spike made a mental note to move a clock down into her lab so Twilight could know what time it is, even though she'd probably ignore it.
A few minutes later, Spike returned, prodding more insistently to ensure Twilight couldn't simply ignore him. "Twilight, get up!" he pressured.
"No," Twilight groaned, hugging the duvet closer to her and scrunching her eyes closed. She always scheduled a little extra time for bed and by Celestia she planned on using it. "Come back later, Spike."
"Twilight, it's ten thirty already, you're going to miss your appointment with Rainbow Dash unless you get up!"
Twilight sat up in the blink of an eye. "Spike, why didn't you tell me?! Oh Celestia, ten thirty, this is bad. When do I need to meet Dash?"
"Uh, in ten minutes."
Twilight jumped out of bed, knocking Spike to the floor as she grabbed the hay sandwich from his hand and bolted for the door.
"You're welcome, Twilight." Spike grumbled a few moments later, as he was left alone with his chores, as per usual.
"Oh, finally! Where've you been, Twilight?" Dash complained as Twilight finally reached the field where she'd agreed to meet Rainbow Dash. "I was about ready to start without you!"
Twilight collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily as she struggled to catch her breath after the long run. "I," she puffed, "sorry, slept in."
"Oh, man can I relate. Okay, you're off the hook this time, can we get started already?" Dash impatiently asked, accepting Twilight's excuse.
Rainbow Dash had an interesting few days in front of her. Today was last minute practice for a set of tricks she'd been working on for a talent show up in Cloudsdale, and tomorrow she'd be setting off to perform them. Twilight had helped Dash design the stunts, using her knowledge of mechanics and aerodynamics to create a flightpath that hopefully wouldn't end with Dash crashing snout-first into the ground.
"Okay, let's start from the top - the barrel roll!"
"and that's the swoop perfectly executed too! I think you've got it, Dash!" Twilight exclaimed with a grin, rolling away the blueprints that detailed exactly how the tricks should be performed.
"You think I'm ready?" Dash asked, landing on a nearby fence post and posing.
"Absolutely."
"Can... can we just practice once more, the whole thing?" Dash asked hopefully.
Twilight looked at the sun - it was midday, she needed to continue her research and didn't have much time as it was. "I'm sorry, Dash, I have things I really need to do."
"Oh, come on, Twi, just once?" Dash pleaded, putting two forehooves together in mock prayer. "It'll only take a few hours!"
Twilight sighed. She couldn't spare 'just' a few hours, she needed every minute she had just to get everything done. Shaking her head, she looked at Dash and said "Alright then, just once."
Twilight silently cursed herself. Why had she done that? Now she'd have to stay up even later than last night just to finish at all. Curse her love of helping.
"Right, a barrel roll, if you would, Dash."
Twilight stumbled into her library many hours later, in the earlier parts of the evening. "Spike!" she groaned, wiping the sweat from her brow and trying to catch her breath from the long run home, "Come on, we need to hurry!"
Spike was already prepared, thankfully, and had Twilight's experimentation table set up just how she liked it. There was even a clock in the laboratory now, so she could measure exactly how tired she was going to be the following morning.
"Oh, you're a lifesaver Spike," Twilight thanked as she set the equipment up and began to boil a few leaves, pulling out her notebook and turning to a clean page so she could begin to write down her results, "I don't know what I'd do without you!"
She yawned - she hadn't gotten enough sleep, and it was late, and she still had hours and hours of work ahead of her, but she had to persevere, or she'd never get anything done.
Lifting her favourite pair of glasses to her face - the ones with a magnifying lens over one eye - she began on the next set of flora.
...
In conclusion, the medicinal properties of the herbs in question are
useful, but cannot outperform an expert unicorn at their current
concentrations. I am making a note that more study is needed in future
on the effect of greater herb density, however for now I do not think
it is the most promising avenue of research.
-Twilight Sparkle
Twilight, blearily eyed, looked at the clock. No, that couldn't be right, she thought, the clock said it was already tomorrow. It wasn't meant to be tomorrow for hours yet. Twilight looked back at the tubes lining her experimentation table - none of them were dangerous, she could safely leave them where they were and go and catch some much needed sleep.
As she took her first step towards the stairs, she tripped, catching one of her hindlegs on the other and tumbling to the floor. Maybe she could just rest a few moments there, the stone floor wasn't that uncomfortable.
"Twilight Sparkle." the voice boomed, filling her mind. Closing her hooves over her ears didn't help, it seemed like the voice was echoing throughout her mind, not through any physical media.
"Twilight Sparkle, hear my voice, and obey." it screeched, sending a shooting pain through her skull. Twilight cried out in agony and tried to cradle her head in her arms, sending her entire body into a slow spin through the seemingly infinite darkness. After a few moments she stopped spinning, or maybe just couldn't tell she was spinning any more, or maybe she just got used to it.
"Who are you?" she cried, out into the darkness. "Why are you doing this to me?"
"I'm the one," the voice blasted through her skull, "telling you to wake up."
"Twilight! Wake up!" Spike plead, concern lining his voice as he shook Twilight's shivering body while she lay on the cold laboratory floor. "Twilight!"
"Ugh, Spike? What-" Twilight groaned as she started to wake up, before her body started to tell her about all the tiny aches and pains sleeping sprawled across a stone floor had given her. She groaned in agony and tried her best to stretch out and hopefully reduce some of the ache. "What time is it?"
"Twelve thirty, Twi, I've been trying to wake you for almost an hour." Spike replied, starting to calm down now that Twilight was among the living once more.
Twilight shook her head and tried to clear her mind. Everything felt fuzzier than usual, like she was thinking through a sieve. Had one of the compounds gotten loose? Twilight jumped to her feet and rushed over to the table to check, but everything was still intact. None of them would have produced anything like that anyway.
"Spike, do I look okay to you?" Twilight asked, slowly checking herself over with her magic.
"Uh, sure, Twilight. Your coat is a mess, but a quick bath should fix that - should I go run one?" Spike asked, much happier now that Twilight seemed to be okay.
"That would be lovely," Twilight sighed, "Yes please, Spike."
While Spike busied himself running a bath, Twilight started to search through her notes. Something felt off, but she couldn't pinpoint it. It didn't help that she felt like she had to fight for every thought, but Twilight attributed that to a terrible night's sleep. Recurring dreams generally meant something, though, and she didn't like what she was dreaming.
A few minutes later, Twilight was flipping through the pages of one of the few psychology books in her library, switching to the section on dreams. She already had an idea, the voice kept telling her to 'obey', and yet mere days before she'd created a potion that could temporarily force obedience?
It was just stress. The book backed that up - one of the main causes of recurring dreams was stress, and mental magic was one of the few areas of magic Twilight didn't feel comfortable ever dealing with. Though she knew some, it was mostly for self-defence and she'd never used it unless she felt she had to. It wasn't surprising that finding out yet another way she could do something like that had had such an effect on her.
"Twilight, come on, get in, your bath is ready." Spike called from the bathroom.
Twilight relaxed, the warm water surrounding her body and soothing her muscles. The steam rising from the brilliantly hot water clouded her vision, but her mind felt a little better.
"Twilight, could you lean over so I can wash your hair?" Spike asked.
Twilight sighed with a light smile as she ran a hoof through her soft, freshly washed mane. The bath was good for her, everything seemed much clearer now. The sieve around her mind felt like it had gone transparent.
Twilight thought back to the morning, but even now it was hazy in her mind, as if it'd never happened. She clearly remembered trotting up the stairs into the bathroom, and slowly lowering herself into the water. She was sure of that, because the way the water had felt rising around her body had been amazing.
She also clearly remembered Spike washing her mane - she was sure of that one because he was terrible at it and ended up scratching her scalp as much as he actually washed, but it was adorable of him to want to try. Twilight normally did it herself and wouldn't let Spike touch it, but something about the way he'd asked had been difficult to turn down.
Everything else, though, blended into a haze. Twilight hated not getting enough sleep. Some days she felt like Rainbow Dash had the right idea, and napping throughout the day was the way to go - this was one of those days.
Rainbow Dash! Twilight had agreed to meet her before she left for Cloudsdale. She was probably too late, but the thought of not doing something she was asked to filled her with dread - she had to try.
"Spike! Spike, where are my towels!" Twilight yelled, jumping out of the bath and splashing much of the room with faintly scented water, "I need them!"
No answer.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled, to no effect. Where was he? Twilight needed to go now. After pacing back and forth for a few seconds, Twilight made the only sensible decision and decided to forgo towels, and just leave, running as fast as she could towards the field she'd agreed to meet Dash in.
As she was running, putting everything she had into each step and letting willpower alone carry her into the next, Twilight heard a high pitched whooshing sound come up behind her.
"Hey Twi, you going somewhere?" Dash asked, flying upsidown and hovering just in front of her face. Twilight stopped, and Dash flipped over to land in front of her.
"I..." Twilight puffed, hopelessly trying to catch her breath.
"Hey, Twi, it's okay. I don't need to leave for like, minutes yet!" Dash joked, "but don't worry about it, I'll be fine. I kinda wish you were coming along, though."
Twilight nodded enthusiastically, still breathing too heavily to talk. She wished she could come along too, but it was too short notice and she had too many things that needed to be done. She got the worrying idea, though, that if Dash asked her now, she wouldn't turn her down.
"So hey, how about a kiss for good luck anyway?" Dash joked, grinning to lighten the mood - Dash knew that question never failed to get a groan and a grin. Maybe even an eye roll if she was lucky.
Twilight darted forward on the last of her reserves and wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow Dash's neck, holding her tight as she breathlessly kissed the incredibly surprised blue pegasus. Rainbow Dash froze for just a few moments, before cautiously reciprocating, half-closing her eyes as she met Twilight's kiss with one of her own.
After a few seconds, Twilight broke off - she needed to breathe, kissing wasn't helping.
"T... Twilight?" Dash stammered, her face both flushing pink and her colour fading in a mixture of shock and embarrassment. Quietly, with a whisper, she asked "Why now?"
"I... I don't know, Rainbow." Twilight replied. She didn't know - why had she done that? Not only was it not like her, she didn't even feel that way about her friend. The sieve around her mind felt like it was tightening the more she thought about "why", and everything began to blur, from her memories to the world around her. Her eyes glazed over as she struggled to comprehend what had just happened.
"Twilight, listen to me!" Dash snapped, midway through a speech Twilight hadn't even realised she'd started. Twilight's attention snapped to Dash instantly, clearing her mind of her previous concerns.
"Oh, sorry Dash, I was distracted." Twilight reflexively apologised, trying to shake the feeling of dread that came with the blue mare's anger.
"Whatever, Twi. Just tell me you meant that, please." Dash begged with her eyes hopefully staring.
"I meant it, Dash. All of it," Twilight lied, without a second thought. The guilt hit her an instant later - Applejack would be ashamed of her. Was she really lying to one of her best friends just to feel the familiar thrill of doing as she was told? That wasn't like her at all. "I... no! No, I'm sorry, Dash, I didn't! This... isn't right. I have to go. I'm sorry, I just... I have to go!" Twilight stammered as she turned and ran, leaving Dash looking about as devastated as she'd ever seen her.
Twilight had bigger problems. Something was happening to her, and she didn't understand what. Entire sections of the day felt fuzzy in her mind, and the only parts she could remember clearly were when she was following an instruction. There was something wrong, but she couldn't quite pinpoint it. Spike must have noticed something, he had to have.
"SPIKE! SPIKE I NEED YOU!" Twilight yelled as she threw the library door open, charging into the main room where Spike was putting books away. Now those books were in a messy pile on the floor, and Spike had fallen over in shock, but that was the least of Twilight's worries. "Spike something is happening to me and I don't know what and I need you to tell me you've noticed something because I can't tell what please Spike, please!"
Spike blinked. Twilight's sentences normally had more commas. "Twilight, calm down!" Spike commanded. Twilight immediately stopped pacing around the room, and her eyes stopped darting around, slowing down until they were sedately staring down at Spike. "Good, now tell me what's wrong, slowly."
"I don't know." Twilight replied, her voice tinged with confusion. Hadn't she been panicking about something? She felt like she had, but it was so fuzzy. Everything seemed clearer now. Maybe the reason she couldn't pinpoint a problem is because there wasn't one.
Spike stared at her, and sighed. "Pfft, ponies," he muttered, brushing himself off and moving to pick up a few of the books he'd accidentally knocked off. "Hey, Twi, mind giving me a hoof?"
"Oh," Twilight said, shaking her head as if she was emerging from thought. "Of course, Spike." she agreed, lifting the residual books from the ground and filing them away in the blink of an eye.
"You mean you can do that, and you still get me to do it?" Spike complained, muttering "Why don't you just do all the chores?" under his breath.
"Of course, Spike." Twilight responded, plucking the list out of his hand and finding the first one he hadn't crossed off - alphabetising the bedsheets - and getting to work performing her task.
Thirteen hours later, Twilight fell into bed exhausted. She'd had no idea she set so many chores, but thank Celestia they were all done. Twilight smiled softly at the knowledge she'd done everything, and silently cheered herself at the knowledge that Spike had said "Thanks, Twi!" when she was done. That had felt nice. Really nice.
Twilight felt the feeling that something was wrong creeping back into the back of her mind, though, as she lay in her bed trying to get to sleep. Tossing from side to side, she kept replaying the day through her mind, trying to peer into the fog that made up most of her day. The events of the morning, save for trotting up the stairs and getting into the bathroom and having her hair washed were almost impenetrable. She remembered waking up... somewhere.
Where? Where had she woken up? It felt like it was on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't quite get it.
The lab floor! Why had she been there? What was she doing in the lab? Experiments!
"Oh, Celestia, why is this so hard?" Twilight whispered as she cradled her head in her hooves worrying. What had the experiments been about? Had one gone wrong? Twilight thought back to the day before. That one was less foggy, she could almost remember it clearly. She vividly recalled destroying some potions. The label Extreme Warning: Obedience flashed across her mind, and Twilight sat straight up with her eyes wide.
That would explain everything. Had she gotten some on her? That was what was wrong - she couldn't say no. It was so clear to her now, and she didn't understand how it could not have been earlier. Something must have gone wrong in the experiment, and it had taken days to notice it. Twilight slapped herself across the horn - she had to fix this. Tonight, who knew what could happen tomorrow.
Twilight jumped out of bed and started to walk towards the stairs. She couldn't risk waking Spike, just in case he asked something before she could explain. She could do this, she had to.
Her hoofsteps echoed against the empty room, and Spike began to stir. Rolling over, and in a half-sleeping state, he mumbled a few words. Twilight, against her better judgement, listened.
"Twilight," he muttered almost imperceptibly. "Go back to bed."
Twilight went back to bed with a smile on her face. She was always happy to do as she was told.
"Twilight Sparkle." the voice echoed, the sound crashing all around her and echoing in a thousand different ways, like a beam of light shone through a hundred prisms.
"Twilight Sparkle, listen to me." the voice commanded, and Twilight's ears twitched as she began to heed its words.
"Twilight Sparkle, you are close. You are so close. Continue down this path, embrace it. Do not allow your own cynicism to subvert your happiness." the voice advised, seeming to exude an aura of happiness as Twilight nodded.
"Wake up now, Twilight Sparkle. Wake up, and obey."
Twilight's eyes opened. It was morning. She smiled even though she didn't know why, and pulled her duvet closer to herself to enjoy a few extra moments of warmth. She always scheduled a few extra minutes in bed, and she was going to use them.
Exactly "a few" minutes later, she jumped out of bed ready to start the day. She hadn't done any research yesterday because of some vague unpleasantness she attributed to brief illness, but she could get it done today, it would be fine. Everything would be fine.
"Spike?" she called, catching his attention wherever in the tree he was, "I have some research to do. Can you bring my breakfast down when you're ready, please?"
Then she was away, trotting down the stairs towards her laboratory, picking up the ingredients she needed to finish her research, and the ink pot she needed to finish her report, and carrying them down with her. She had science to do, and she was going to do it with a smile.
As these final tests show, the potential applications for compound
floras are wide-reaching, and while they cannot compete with specialised
magical solutions, they do provide a capable backup solution for
areas with few or no trained medical unicorns.
Please find enclosed the raw data from my tests, as well as some select
samples of harmless flora or compound flora that you may wish to
examine more closely yourself.
-Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
Twilight finished off the letter with a particularly flowery signature, and floated it over to Spike so he could send the lot. Twilight smiled - she was done. Her research this week had completed on time, and she even had several hours to spare - the sun had not yet gone down.
"You feeling better today, Twilight? You kinda scared me yesterday," Spike admitted after blowing the letter away, all the way to Princess Celestia. Twilight smiled and nodded, she felt fine. "Maybe you should go for a walk or something, make sure your head's clear?" he suggested.
Twilight thought that was a great idea.
Halfway through her walk, something caught her attention. She had been walking in almost a daze, with a smile on her face but barely a thought crossing her mind, save wondering where she should walk to, and how to get there. Her path, simply by chance, happened to cross with three young stallions.
"Hey, Sweetcheeks!" the first one called in a state of clear dehydration. They appeared to be celebrating something in the manner that young stallions are want to do - by eating massive quantities of salt. "Why don't you come and party with us!"
Twilight looked up with a smile. That sounded like fun, she could learn something - she'd even brought her notebook so she could take plenty of notes. She was always on the hunt for more knowledge. "Sure!" she grinned, trotting up to them and joining their party of three. "Where're we going?"
The second one slurred something in response, something about them heading back to the third one's house for something. Twilight didn't catch what, she supposed she'd find out when she got there. Everything was okay.
Turns out that three's house wasn't far away, and Twilight soon found herself being shown into the house. "Ladies first." One slurred - though he was incredibly dehydrated, he seemed to be the most sober of the bunch.
"Maybe you should have a drink?" Twilight asked, thinking that perhaps that might help her understand them - she could take better notes if she knew what they were saying.
"Maybe you should shut up!" Two retorted. Twilight stopped talking, and the three walked through to the kitchen, where the table was already set up with a few seats for what appeared to be poker. Twilight had never played poker, but she knew the rules and looked forward to playing.
"Hey, purple, what's your name?" One asked, pointing at her.
"Oh, Twilight Sparkle!" Twilight smiled back at him.
"Why'd you follow us, anyway?"
Twilight shrugged. "You asked."
"Man, we've asked so many pretty mares, and you're the first, that ain't enough. Why'd you do it really?"
Twilight shrugged. She wasn't entirely sure herself, it wasn't like her, it had just felt right at the time.
Three, clearly the most salted of the bunch, managed to slur together a coherent sentence somehow, opening his mouth and blurting out. "Hey purple thing, c'mere and blow me."
Twilight was disgusted. She'd read about sexism, and even read books with such chauvinistic pigs, but never before had she actually met one. She knew she should just turn around and leave, partially through disgust and partially through shame of even being there.
She walked over to Three, bent down, and wiggled under him. His shaft was completely sheathed, but a quick nuzzle fixed that. As Twilight pressed her cheek against his body, she felt the hot, wet length press against it, rubbing against her. It should have sickened her, but the thought never even crossed her mind.
Instead, she pulled back and stared at it, watching in awe as it expanded in front of her. She'd never seen one this close before, and she was tempted to pull out her notebook right there and then, but she worried that would ruin the mood. Everything was fine as it was.
Slowly, Twilight took a testing lick, running the very tip of her tongue from the very tip of the lengthening rod to the base, where it met Three's body. Though it wasn't explicitly within the parameters of her order, Twilight continued a little further, pressing her nose into the young stallion's balls and giving them too a testing lick. The stallion above her snorted as his request was unexpectedly filled, and his water-craving body almost buckled with anticipation.
Twilight's attentions snapped to the two ponies standing barely a few feet away. The moment Twilight had leant down, the two had began wooping and laughing, unable to believe their luck, but until that point they hadn't directly addressed Twilight.
"Hey, do us next!" one of them commanded. Twilight added it to her mental to-do list and continued with her current task, slowly running her tongue back up the shaft of the current item. When she reached the tip, after quite some travel time, she guessed it was long enough and firm enough to properly deal with.
Slowly, she slipped her lips around it, parting them slightly to allow the hard rod passage, but not enough that she wouldn't have to force them over it. Pushing forward, she slowly took the first few inches down into her mouth, letting her saliva lubricate the journey as she closed her eyes and began to pull back off slightly.
Twilight tried her best to emulate the tricks she'd only ever read about as her head slowly pumped back and forward over the lucky stallion's cock. She slowly let her tongue run over it as she went, tasting the foul salty taste. Her face screwed up in distaste, but she didn't slow her sucks, doing everything she could to bring the male to orgasm.
She was so fixated on pleasuring him as best as she could, that she didn't even notice the signs he was on the edge until it was too late, and his throbbing member shot its first few strands of sticky semen down muzzle, impacting the back of her throat and triggering her gag reflex.
Pulling back against her own will, Twilight coughed and spluttered, spitting out what she could. The second spurt from the stallion's cock splattered across her face, covering one eye and dripping down her horn. Twilight squeaked in shock and stumbled back.
What in Equestria was she doing? She wasn't some cheap whore who walked the streets looking for cheap fun, she was Twilight Sparkle, prize protégé of the princess herself! Celestia would be asha-
"Hey, c'mon, do us now!" Two slurred, the remaining two stallions' erections clear as day hanging under their bellies. They'd seen everything, of course, though Twilight had barely even registered that they were there.
Looking through the one eye she could open without having to wipe the semen off of her face, Twilight made her way across the room and leant down between the two. "Us" was plural, thus they must want her to please both of them at once - she could do that.
Twilight took a few moments to ponder the possibilities, before choosing what seemed to be the best course of action. She didn't often think about situations as lewd as this, but sometimes nights were particularly cold and lonely, and sometimes purple ponies had needs too. Maybe she had a checklist or two on what she'd do with two stallions. Or three. Or a pile. In any case, she had some ideas she couldn't wait to try out.
Wiggling her behind as invitingly as she could, she motioned for the stallion in front of her, Two, to come forward and bring his throbbing erection within reach.
Once it was, Twilight's hoof immediately began to stroke and squeeze it, slowly pulling him towards her so she could enact her plan. This particular rod was already slightly slick with the stallion's arousal, as was to be expected from somebody who just watched Twilight's previous act of depravity.
Soon, it was close enough for Twilight to lunge forward and take it in her mouth, which she did with great enthusiasm. It still tasted foul, but that wasn't the point. Even as Twilight wrapped her tongue around Two's shaft, twisting her head from side to side to try and increase the pleasure, she was aware that something was horribly wrong about the situation.
One wasn't doing his job.
Reaching out with a magical grip, Twilight pulled him closer to her with an insistent force, tugging until he got the idea. Twilight wasn't entirely sure how anybody could miss as obvious a sign as constantly wiggling and raising her tail, but apparently some people didn't have a mental checklist for these situations. Twilight was happy she always came prepared.
One obediently mounted her, resting a forehoof to either side of her body as he tried to align his firm shaft with Twilight's eagerly accepting slit. After a few seconds, Twilight helped him in with another magical force, aligning him and letting him push forward.
Twilight moaned as the hot rod probing into her body temporarily blanked the thoughts out of her head, and put all of her attention into the penis in front - the one round the back could take care of itself. One began to inexpertly pump in and out of her, guided a little by Twilight's helpful magic telling him when to push and when to pull.
She slowly increased his rhythm in time with her own, as each thrust from behind helped one of her own, letting her take Two's shaft further and further inside of her until at the apex of each shared thrust it tickled the back of her neck, and her tongue uselessly lapped at the side with every opportunity it got.
A niggling sense of doubt entered Twilight's mind, as the thought-wiping thrusts from behind began to peter out as One grew tired. Something was wrong with this situation, something was horribly wrong. Twilight thought about the situation - she was in a house that she didn't recognise, with three stallions she didn't even know the names of, getting roughly screwed on a cold wooden floor. That didn't sound like her. At all.
The problem with the whole situation seemed so close, and ye-
"Harder!" Two moaned as Twilight's thrusting began to slow, unacceptably.
Twilight began to enhance One's thrusting, not just guide it, as his performance fell short of her expectations - everything had to be fine. Everything had to be just right.
Powering both of them forward with a red glow, Twilight let One brutally ram into her, hilting him again and again as each slam took her higher to her own ecstasy, and doubtless his too. Two's rod struck the back of Twilight's throat as she endeavoured to suck harder than she'd ever sucked before, using all the tools she had available to her to do it to expectations.
Under the inexpert, but incredibly enthusiastic assault, Two buckled. The second orgasm of the night surprised Twilight, but not as much as the first - she'd been ready for it this time. The thick, red hot liquid gushed down her throat as she eagerly swallowed, gulping down load after load and moaning happily as she felt the pony above her become satisfied.
One didn't last much longer, his final enhanced thrust knocking Twilight to the ground and pressing her face against the floor as he pushed into her as hard as he could, letting loose his own shots of burning-hot cum straight into Twilight, filling her with a fantastic heat and making her feel even happier, as she realised she'd done as she was told as well as could be expected. Better, even, if she did say so herself.
Everything was okay.
Everything was NOT okay, Twilight knew as she ran aimlessly through town, her one good eye blurry with tears as she desperately tried to find her way home. Something was horribly wrong, what had happened there wasn't her, it wasn't her at all.
Twilight gasped as she saw something she recognised in the dim moonlight - she knew where she was! With a slight smile, she ran straight for home - if she could explain what was happening to her to Spike, he could keep her under control until somebody figured out what was wrong.
"SPIKE!" she yelled, knocking on the locked library door, "SPIKE, I NEED YOU!"
No answer.
There was a rustle from the bushes behind her, and Twilight spun around, terrified of whatever it could be. Even if it wasn't malicious, the knowledge that the slightest accidental request could strip her of her will terrified her.
"Twilight Sparkle." the voice boomed. It sounded close enough to a regular pony, except it echoed throughout her head like it was coming from every direction at once. Twilight fell to the ground, finding thought impossible. The creature that created such a voice walked up to her.
It was an unassuming looking male pony. Twilight thought she recognised him - he might have moved to Ponyville recently. She couldn't really remember - she could barely think.
"Twilight Sparkle, stand up, and come with me." it commanded. Twilight stood up, her eyes glazing over slightly as she followed.
It stopped. Twilight couldn't remember how far they'd come, but they seemed to be in the Everfree forest. Twilight couldn't tell how deep.
"W... what do you want with me?" she asked, using every scrap of her willpower to put together the sentence. Thankfully it hadn't told her to stay quiet, or she thought she would be powerless against it.
"Twilight Sparkle," it started, before continuing in a much quieter voice, "I do not want anything with you. I am merely a facilitator. Somebody has paid a lot of money to have you, and I am the only one in the land who can provide such a unique product."
"Who? What do they want with me?" Twilight whispered, fighting not against Its will, but her own fear to talk.
"Who they are is unimportant, you will come to know them as 'Master' or 'Sir', or possibly something else entirely. My clients have esoteric tastes. I do not know what they want with you, but the order was very precise - they want you for your mind. I am to break your will, but nothing else - you shall do as you are told, but other than that, remain yourself. Most are not so lucky."
Twilight squeaked. "What's going to happen to me?" she whispered, against her better judgement. It might be better if she didn't know, but her curiosity got the better of her.
"Most of your treatment is already complete, Twilight Sparkle. You may have noticed that you are completely unable to disobey a direct command - in fact, the state of your face tells me that others have already taken advantage of this. Unfortunate, but understandable, no?
"From here, you will be taught once more how to say no - but only to certain people, not to myself, nor your new owner. Now, please stop talking, we have a long journey come morning - we couldn't stay here where your friends could track you, could we?" it smiled. A soft smile, almost kind. It scared Twilight like nothing else she'd ever seen.
"Now, sleep." it commanded, and Twilight slept.
"Twilight Sparkle." the voice whispered.
"Twilight! Twilight, wake up! Twilight, come on, wake up!"
"Twilight, please! Twilight..."
"WAKE UP."
Spike's insistent and terrified hand shook Twilight's body. For a moment, Twilight thought it had all been a dream, and she was safe at home.
No such luck. Her back was aching from her rough sleep on the forest floor, her face was matted with fluids Twilight didn't even want to think about, and her mind felt like she was thinking through a sheet of glass three inches thick. Every thought was a battle comparable to wielding the Elements of Harmony, and Twilight didn't know how long she could manage it.
"Spike...?" Twilight whispered, too afraid to open her eyes lest the sudden rush of sensation rip what little ability to think she still had. "Spike, is that you?"
"Yeah, Twi," Spike whispered back. "I was just about to open the door last night when I heard that man, and then I followed behind. I don't think he saw me, he left a few minutes ago, I dunno why. Can you walk? We need to get out of here."
Twilight lightly shook her head. She knew if she tried to move, she'd find thinking impossible again, and fall back to being happily enslaved. She couldn't bear it. But she didn't know what else to do.
She couldn't just lie there and wait for her fate. It had all seemed so hopeless the night before, and yet now she had a glimmer - Spike. He was the one tool Twilight had, and yet the great irony was that if he even accidentally ordered her to do something, she would fall straight back into that pit of enslavement, and probably wouldn't be able to climb out ever again. Even now she could feel herself slipping, she had no doubt that come tomorrow she wouldn't even notice how different she was.
Twilight suddenly grinned - she had an idea. A terrible idea, an absolutely insane idea, but an idea. "Spike," she whispered, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I have to ask this, but I need you right now, okay?"
"Okay, Twilight." he whispered back, clutching her hoof in his hands and squeezing. He was almost as scared as she was, but he knew that Twilight needed him to be strong, so he would be.
"That thing'll probably be back soon. He just looks like a pony, I think I can probably beat him, but the moment he talks to me I won't want to. The moment I try and do anything at all, I think I'll just stop thinking. That's probably why nobody else has been able to fight back. Spike, I need you to tell me what to do. I know a spell that can block sound, make sure you make me cast that, and then just tell me to beat him, I think I can do it. Please, Spike."
Twilight was not, unfortunately, as hopeful as she tried to appear. It looked like a pony, but she sensed great power in it. If she was being honest with herself, she'd have to admit she wouldn't really know until she faced it whether she could, in her current state, best it or not. She simply didn't know.
Twilight felt Spike's hands fall away from her hooves, and opened her eyes in shock. She'd been right, and in the momentary distraction as her brain tried to process the scene, her mind slipped and her eyes glazed over. Everything grew fuzzy, until words cut through the haze and rang clearer than anything else in her mind.
"Twilight, get up. Let's beat this thing."
