Twilight hummed happily as she moved around her library, shuffling books from shelf to shelf in a midair ballet of telekinetic magic and dusting each as they passed. She wore a sleeveless vest top over a short sleeved white blouse, and a skirt over long socks in varying shades of purple. The sun was up, the morning was warm and everything seemed right with the world.

Soon, she'd sit down and work on permanently undoing the focusing charm. When she was done with her cleaning, of course. Cleaning was important. And it wasn't like it was harming Applejack, after all. It seemed to make her very enthusiastic indeed.

Several books flew past without her really realising, her feather duster poised in one hand and her eyes distant, before she shook her head briskly. Besides, she still had so much to learn! Her cheeks coloured slightly as she glanced towards the hiding place of her notes. Applejack's last visit had been instructive, but she hadn't written very much down at the time.

She hesitated. Falling asleep in Applejack's arms had taken up much of the day, and once she'd walled off Applejack's memories and set her back to normal, there'd barely been time for a bath before she'd turned in for the night. She hadn't written anything down. She might have learned things that were important, that were going to waste.

The floating books slotted themselves into gaps on the shelves, the aerial ballet ceasing, and she levitated the scroll out of concealment, a quill joining it. "Okay Twilight, what have you learned? This could be very important! Think carefully," she said aloud to herself.

The last line read simply, 'Focused Applejack remembers that her memory has been altered, but not the contents of the block.' Stroking her lips in thought for a moment, her horn glowed and the quill added neatly, 'Memory can be unblocked and reblocked on command.'

Was that all? 'Obedient AJ integrates blocked and unblocked memory smoothly,' she tried, then paused. Did she? She hadn't asked any questions about what Applejack had done between the first... incident, and the second, not when she was awake. Would she have remembered those events? Would it upset Applejack to remember not being obedient when prompted? She carefully added a question mark to the end of the sentence.

Could she alter what Applejack perceived as well as what she remembered? She chewed the corner of her lip thoughtfully. Was that all she'd found out?

"It's not... is it," she murmured. Moving down the scroll a bit, she made a new heading, 'Applejack', and wrote slowly, 'AJ has fantasies of being controlled.'

The words on the page were blunt, but they put a subtle tingle through her body that made her shift slightly in the chair. She'd have never imagined Applejack had those kind of feelings, let alone had explored them. An image flashed before her eyes and she added, 'AJ likes to be tied up.' Her soft orange skin, bound and shaped by her ropes. The aroused look on her face. The feel of Applejack's naked body against hers still hovered at the back of her thoughts. Something forbidden, something she shouldn't know anything of. But just because her desires were shameful didn't mean they shouldn't be documented.

Sinking into a chair, she inhaled deeply. 'Twilight', she wrote. 'T has fantasies of controlling AJ. T is developing an attachment to focused AJ.' The last was added in a rush of instinctive honesty, and she re-read the words carefully. Written objectively, as if somepony else were documenting her, she found she couldn't argue with them.

She really did care about Applejack. That was never in question of course, but it hadn't been like this. Visions of her friend naked, obedient, touching her and being touched, swam before her eyes. Quietly, without really admitting it to herself, she wondered if she knew how to let it all go.

Hours passed. Pushing the tantalising images out of her mind, she determinedly went over the charm yet again. By now, the required movements and intricacies of shaping her magic to fit the charm's form were entirely automatic, but its workings were as impenetrable as recovering an unbroken egg from a finished cake by studying the recipe.

There was always the chance that reversing the charm would simply unlock everything that had happened for Applejack's full recall, too. Twilight winced away from that thought, shaking her head. Research, she could justify. Not telling her about it, she could sort of justify. But the way they'd made love, the way she'd made Applejack want to make love, that couldn't be explained at all. Applejack liked stallions, not mares. Even if she developed a counter spell, she'd have to test that using it wouldn't unveil absolutely everything at once, and that meant casting it on another.

It was all so complicated. She put down the book and rubbed her temples. Perhaps if she-

Her thoughts were derailed by a knock on the door. Tempted for a moment to ignore it, Twilight reprimanded herself sternly for being rude and crossed the library to tug the door open without troubling to look out first.

Applejack stood at her door, wearing a loose white shirt with an undone waistcoat over it, and blue trousers that displayed the cutie marks on her thighs with frayed oval cut-outs. "Twi? Where've you been?"

"Guh," Twilight responded blankly, then pulled herself together. "Um, I mean, please come in!" she said, stepping backwards. Her scroll of notes was coated with a soft purple sheen of magic as she exerted herself, rolling itself up tightly and darting safely into a bookcase.

Highlights rose on her cheeks with embarrassment, and she rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. "What do you mean?"

Applejack put her head on one side, giving her a look. "You said you'd be dropping by Sweet Apple Acres this morning. Been waiting in an' keeping an eye open for you all day. Twi, did you get wrapped up in that darn charm again?"

Twilight blinked. Surely she'd have remembered that. "I'm sorry Applejack, I don't know what you mean - when did I agree I'd come around?"

"Mah stars, Twilight, it was only yesterday afternoon. When we were talking about the trouble I was having with that new plough? The tree roots? Heck, am I jest not making sense to you all of a sudden?" Applejack's expression changed, and she leant forward with concern. "Twi, are you alright?"

The colour had drained out of her face, and she nodded quickly. "I'm okay, Applejack. It's okay. I just need to sit down." She'd told Applejack that she'd remember them talking, to cover all the time that they'd spent together in her bed. Of course that meant Applejack would remember telling her things that she'd never actually said, and Twilight saying things in return that she had no idea about. What else might Applejack think she'd said, that she'd already told others? How could she keep it all straight?

Applejack's hand closed on her shoulder, and the farmpony drew her into an embrace, hugging her gently. "Heck, I didn't mean to upset you. Don't you worry none. Everypony forgets things."

Applejack didn't know the half of it. Twilight closed her eyes and breathed in the scent of the other mare, clean and fresh and scented faintly with apples. Her body was tingling already, the faint voice telling her that enthralling Applejack was asking for trouble getting fainter and fainter by the second. "Sorry Applejack," she breathed.

"Oh, applesauce. It's nothing," Applejack said with a smile, holding Twilight around the shoulders. "Everything alright, sugarcube?"

Twilight lifted her head. "If I needed you to stay here for a while, would you? Would you stay with me?"

Slightly surprised, Applejack nonetheless nodded. "Course I would. You know there's nothing I won't do for you Twilight," she soothed.

Twilight's shoulders relaxed, and she took a deep breath. "Thank you, Applejack. It's all fine."

Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but Twilight got there first. "Awaken."

Applejack's hands slipped from Twilight's shoulders, her arms swaying loosely as they fell to her sides and her expression faded to simple blankness. "Ah am awakened."

Twilight leaned up to kiss the other pony's unresponsive lips, her heart beating hard and fast. Everything was fine. She just needed to understand better how her words affected Applejack's memory, so she didn't make a mistake again. It was all going to be alright. "We're going to have a lovely morning," she told her.

"We'll have a lovely morning," Applejack echoed.

Twilight breathed in deeply. She couldn't repress her excitement at having the other pony in her hands once more, and turned towards her spare room with a skip in her step, her tail bobbing happily from side to side. "Follow me, Applejack!" she called back.

"Ah will follow." Moving with stiff, mechanical steps, she marched after Twilight into a room where a larger bed than Twilight's own took up much of the floor. Shelves bore ranges of books, but unlike the main room, this one wasn't completely covered by them. Twilight sat down on the bed and looked up at her friend happily.

"Applejack, take off all your clothes, please," she instructed as her notes tugged themselves out of the shelf in the next room and came sailing through the doorway, quill in tow.

"Ah will take off all mah clothes." Applejack shrugged out of her waistcoat and tugged the buttons undone one by one, letting them fall to the ground. Her bra, a dark red Twilight noted with delighted interest, dropped unceremoniously away to reveal her rounded breasts and soft nipples.

A moment later, Applejack pushed her trousers and underwear down her legs and freed her feet from her boots to stand nude amidst the pile of discarded clothing. Her sex seemed to have been trimmed again, smoother than the first time Twilight had seen her naked, and with fascination she gently ran her fingers over the velvety softness between Applejack's legs. "Why do you trim between your legs, Applejack?"

"Ah feel like owned ponies should be shaved to be seen. Ah get off feeling the smoothness sometimes, when I'm with folk and they don't know," she replied with thoughtless honesty.

Twilight shivered at that, a tingle running up her spine. Moving around the statuesque figure of Applejack she gathered up her fallen clothes and put them in a pile in the corner, before moving back to stand in front of her. "Okay, Twilight. Let's give this a try," she murmured, before saying more loudly, "Applejack, you believe you are fully clothed. If I touch you, you won't resist or notice that I'm touching you; everything is totally normal, and I'm keeping my hands to myself."

"Ah'm fully clothed. Everything's normal, you're keeping yoah hands to yourself," she replied obediently.

"Well - slumber!" Twilight announced excitedly.

Applejack's eyes flickered, and she shifted to stand more naturally. Her breasts shifted with the movement, and Twilight reflexively looked away before persuading herself that Applejack couldn't realise what she was doing, and looking at her again. Applejack was magnificent, her body fit and toned, muscled from her constant farm work.

Unaware of Twilight's hungry regard, she said cheerily, "So this is the guest room, is it? Don't get much use out've it, do you."

"Not other than when Shining Armor visited, and that wasn't for long," Twilight admitted, barely paying attention to Applejack's words. "Why don't you have a look around?" she added.

"Sure. This big ol' bed is nice, I'll say that." Applejack wandered around to the other side of it, and Twilight trailed after her, watching the other pony's ass flex with each step. Her heart accelerating rapidly, she gave Applejack's oblivious smile another quick glance, then reached out convulsively to seize her ass in both hands.

Applejack didn't twitch, glancing around herself at the canopy above the four posters.

Twilight swallowed, and began squeezing and kneading her ass with firm movements of her hands, trying to keep her expression normal in case Applejack might notice something was the matter.

"Did you, uumh, get Rarity to make these, mmmh, canopies, Twilight?" she asked, without seeming to notice the soft groans mingling with her words.

Twilight's lips parted, and her nipples ached with arousal at the sounds Applejack made, unaware she was making them. Stroking one hand through her blonde tail, her other hand slid under Applejack and began stroking her sex up and down.

Applejack moaned deeply, oblivious to the way her nipples had hardened visibly and her sex had begun to dampen under Twilight's fingers. "Uuuhhmmm... mmm... well?" she groaned, giving Twilight an inquisitive look over her bare shoulder.

Carried away in caressing her friend, Twilight jerked guiltily, then processed the question. "Oh! Oh, I hadn't, no. I'm not sure Rarity would make bed curtains when she could be making beautiful gowns." Letting go of Applejack's ass, she touched her shoulder and applied gentle pressure, turning Applejack towards her.

Rotating naturally, as if turning on her own, Applejack shrugged her bare shoulders. "Reckon she'd, mmm, get you something put together if you asked. Ohhhh, not that you need to. Mmmf!"

Twilight nervously reached up to Applejack's hand and took hold of the back of it. Guiding it down, she replied absently, "She's lovely, but I wouldn't want to take advantage of her." Applejack's hand flattened against her breast without resistance. Twilight kept her own hand over Applejack's, and she began coaxing the other pony's hand to open and close, kneading her own breast.

The power of it, of Applejack standing before her naked with no idea that she was playing with her own breast under Twilight's guidance, that Twilight's other hand was working at her pussy and feeling it rapidly growing wet and slick... it was driving Twilight insane. Her breath came shorter and shorter, feeling the molten heat rising between her own legs but unwilling to let go of Applejack long enough to touch herself. Without meaning to, she released a shuddering sigh of pleasure, only to find the other mare looking at her with mild concern.

Twilight's heart jumped and she stammered breathily, "My apologies Applejack, I was thinking about something else. Could you please say that again." Her finger pushed into Applejack's pussy as the other mare began to speak, wanting to force her to moan again.

"Everything - haaah! Mmmh! - alright, Twilight? I was - saying that you should - haaah, mmmmf, come over to Sweet Apple Acres tomorrow. Pinkie's - throwing a -" Applejack's face screwed up and she gasped, small, jerky whines escaping her throat. Her chest heaved with her breaths, and Twilight's hand tightened to force Applejack's fingers to squeeze her own breast harder. Her glistening sex clenched around Twilight's finger and a sweat broke out on her brow, before she finished hoarsely and with an expression of mild confusion, "-party. It'll be fun."

Twilight slowly pulled back her hand from Applejack's pussy, releasing her hand, which dropped from her breast to rest at Applejack's hip. Aware that she was responding too slowly, she began, "That sounds really nice..." before an idea struck her. Lifting her hand to the other pony's lips, she gently slid her wet finger into Applejack's mouth, her own gaze fogged with lust as she slid it back and forth. Tingling all over, her free hand clenching at her side and digging her nails into her palm, she managed to continue, "...um, very nice, Applejack. Will everypony be there?"

The other pony nodded, with a muffled, "Sure will!" around Twilight's finger, which she'd begun to instinctively suck.

"Then I'll - I'll be sure to come." Twilight shivered and gently withdrew her finger from Applejack's lips, wiping the wetness off on the curve of her orange breast.

"Y'know, Twilight-" Applejack began before Twilight interrupted her.

"Awaken!" she said quickly, then immediately thrust a hand down her own skirt and rocked against her fingers for a few seconds, feeling the damp fabric hot against her skin, before she managed to get herself under control. Wrapped up in her own heat and the mare before her, she didn't even hear the polite knock at the door.

The forgotten parchment picked itself up off the floor. 'Applejack's perceptions can be altered as they happen.' the quill wrote carefully. Taking a deep breath, she tried to think what she could test next. "I could try- I could try-" she breathed, then gave up the struggle against her arousal. The parchment rolled up and dropped unceremoniously onto a side table as she said urgently, "Applejack, every instruction I've given you today is ended, okay? You remember everything you've done while you were deeply obedient with me before, you don't care that you didn't remember it the rest of the time, you feel everything for me you felt the last time, you feel good when you obey!"

Applejack shivered, blank eyed and still damp with her own arousal. "All instructions f'r today are over. Ah remember everything from before. Ah don't care I don't always remember it. Ah feel everything I felt for you the last time. Ah feel good when I obey."

"Slumber, Applejack, slumber!" Twilight entreated, breathing heavily.

The other pony blinked, taking a second for her face to light up. Adoration and submissive arousal flooded her expression, dropping instantly to her knees before Twilight. "Oh Ma'am, Ah feel so good. Stars, I'm really wet here. Please let me pleasure you, won't you? Ah'll do anything, Ah'll suck your boobs, I'll lick your pussy jest like before. Please Ma'am!" she entreated.

Twilight undid her skirt with shaking fingers, dropping it to the ground, then tugged down her pale violet panties with a convulsive motion and kicked them aside, standing in her blouse, sleeveless jumper and knee high socks with her soaked pussy exposed. A shiver in her voice, she breathed, "I'll force you to lick my pussy, Applejack; you love being under my control. You're under my spell and you have to obey."

"Yes Ma'am! Ah'm under your spell, I need to obey you, please force me to lick you again!" Applejack gasped, pinching one jutting nipple with a free hand as she reached out entreatingly with the other.

"Twilight Sparkle! What in Celestia's name is going on here?!"

Twilight froze in guilty horror, rooted to the spot for several seconds, and her frantic gaze flashed up to meet Rarity's eyes.

The white pony was standing in the doorway, dressed in an ornate, many-layered dress in pale blue, her hand over her mouth in horrified disbelief. "What have you done to Applejack?! What are you - how could you-"

Applejack jerked around to face Rarity, and scrambled off the floor with her hands spread soothingly. "Now, Rarity sugar, it's not what you think-"

"How can I trust anything you're about to say, Applejack? I just heard Twilight say you were under a spell!"

"Well, Ah am, that's true, but-"

"Get behind me Applejack! I'm getting you out of here this instant, and then we are going to have to have a very serious talk, Twilight! I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but you truly were enchanting her! I just can't believe-"

"No, look, Ah'm sorry for the no clothes, but if you'd jest listen-"

The panicked reflex couldn't be stopped. Almost before she knew what she was doing, Twilight's horn described the tiny precise movements of the charm and poured power forth.

Rarity's eyes flashed from Applejack's nudity to the glow of Twilight's horn, and she gasped, "You wouldn't dare."

"AWAKEN!" shouted Twilight at the top of her lungs.

There was a sudden silence, broken only by the soft sound of Rarity's arms brushing against her dress as they fell slackly to her side. Applejack's hands dropped from inadequately covering her body, and she turned towards Twilight so that her blank eyes could seek out hers.

"Ah am awakened."

"I am awakened," Rarity spoke in her cut glass accent, her voice mingling with Applejack's.

Twilight put both hands to her head and sucked in a deep breath, shaking with the echoes of her panicked adrenaline. Turning away from them both, she gazed without seeing into the corners and took a full minute to breathe. When her panic calmed, she finally turned around and winced away from the sight of both of her friends mindlessly gazing at her with empty expectation.

"Okay, Twilight. You can sort this out. What you need is a list," she told herself aloud. Fresh parchment. Quill. Yes. With a fresh sheet floating in front of her like a barrier against the world, she immediately felt more able to cope.

"Make sure Applejack isn't upset. Make sure Rarity isn't upset. Make sure Rarity won't worry about this in future. Block Applejack's memory without making her think more conversations have happened. Send everypony home." She drew a neat checkbox by each one, then drew herself up and walked over to the two mesmerised ponies standing in the doorway.

"Rarity, this isn't for you. Applejack, please listen," she said carefully. "Applejack, you won't worry about Rarity having seen us. It doesn't matter; she doesn't mind now."

"Ah won't worry about Rarity seeing us. It doesn't matter. She doesn't mind now."

The floating quill ticked the first box.

"Applejack, this isn't for you. Rarity, please listen. You're not worried about what you've seen. Everything is perfectly normal between Applejack and I, so you don't need to tell anypony about it. You won't mention it to anypony, not even Applejack."

Rarity nodded dazedly. "I'm not worried about anything I have seen. It was perfectly normal, I won't speak of it to anypony, not even Applejack."

Tick, tick. Twilight sank down onto the bed, feeling the fabric against her bare skin, and absently tugged a trapped bit of her tail out from beneath her. "Applejack? Please go and dress fully."

"Ah will dress." She swayed over, naked, and tugged her clothes into place with undemonstrative efficiency.

Twilight released a deep sigh, the spoiled edges of her fading arousal filling her with frustration, and she quickly tugged her underwear up her legs and did up her skirt. Rarity stood gazing blankly at her, heavy breasts pushing against her intricate dress, and Twilight drifted over to look at her closer.

The white pony had some of the largest breasts in town, and though no pony could match Fluttershy, Rarity didn't dress down to hide them. Twilight had occasionally found herself a little envious, but now, Rarity's body was hers to do with as she wished. Twilight found herself running the back of her hand down their curves through Rarity's dress before she caught herself and stepped away.

No. Absolutely not. Rarity shouldn't have been caught up in all this at all! She'd just leave Rarity alone, and when she found a cure for the charm, she'd - really have to hope it didn't unlock repressed memory, that's all.

Applejack was dressed. Twilight turned back to her. "Applejack, this is for you only. All your memories of being under my control are locked up, and only I can unlock them. You feel the same way towards me that you did when you arrived this morning. You remember that I apologised for not coming to the farm this morning, then we had a pleasant talk about nothing much. You won't remember specifics, and we didn't make any plans other than for me to attend Pinkie's Party."

"All mah memories of being under your control are locked up. Ah feel the same way towards you I did this morning. You apologised for not coming to the farm, we talked about nothing, you're coming to the party tomorrow," Applejack recited.

Tick. Now she'd better get Applejack out of her house before she gave in to temptation. There were so many experiments she could try with two ponies under the charm. "Applejack, Rarity, follow me please."

"Ah will follow."

"I will follow you."

Leading them back to the main library room and trying not to notice the tingle she felt at their chorused answer, she told them both, "Slumber, please."

She bit her lip gently as the two of them came back to life at her command, Rarity shaking her head slightly and smoothing down her dress instinctively, and Applejack visibly perking up. The orange pony was first to speak. "Right. I'll be off then, Twilight. Been real nice to see you; don't worry about missing this morning. I'll see you tomorrow for the party."

Rarity smiled. "You're coming to the party tomorrow, dear? I'm very glad to hear it. Pinkie was insistent that we all get together and have a good time, and you could use it, I'm sure." Lowering her voice slightly, she added, "I'm terribly sorry about the fuss I made earlier. I can't imagine what I was thinking."

Applejack gave her a quizzical look. "What fuss was that?"

Rarity dismissed the question with a regal wave of her hand. "It's all in the past now. If you'll excuse me, Twilight, I have a costume I'd like to work on. I look forward to seeing you both tomorrow!"

Twilight ushered them out, watching them stroll off together, laughing, then shut the door behind them and leaned on it heavily.

"Locking the door is very important," she murmured. Now she really had to find a reversal charm.

She lasted a whole hour, and well into the next one, before she began touching herself to the memory of Rarity and Applejack, side by side, mindless and ready to obey.

"Hello?" Twilight called. She was standing in front of the Carousel Boutique, the door half open, looking around for evidence of Rarity.

Twilight had spent the remainder of yesterday working on the charm, though often distracted by fantasies that she'd - slightly guiltily - indulged. She was looking forward to the party with everypony to get her out of her library and clear her head. It would be nice to put the whole problem of the charm aside for a day.

Maybe two days. She needed the break.

Rarity's hand written invitation to drop by the Boutique before the party had taken her by surprise, but nothing about it suggested anything was amiss. It would be nice to talk to her for an hour, and forget entirely about the incident yesterday.

Rarity came into sight, descending the steps. Her outfit today was a shimmering, layered confection of white and lavender veils, and she clacked across the floor with effortless grace in her heels. "Twilight, darling, come in, do," she greeted her.

"Hello Rarity." Twilight smiled. "You look lovely."

"Oh, this little thing?" Rarity put her head on one side with a modest little laugh. "I thought I might premiere it at the party. I've been looking for the right occasion for its debut."

"Not a Canterlot ball?" Twilight teased gently, following Rarity as she turned and climbed the stairs.

Rarity sighed happily. "Of course, I will have to give the cream of society the chance to see my work in good time. But first, I'd like the opinions of my friends. Do tell me what you think, Twilight dear."

Twilight looked over her dress carefully, admiring the way the silks lit up as they emerged from the stairwell into the upper room of the boutique. "The fabric is really beautiful, Rarity; it catches the light wonderfully. You glow!" she said honestly. Seeking something constructive to say, she thought hard. "The two veils here at the back - if they were a little longer, that would give the impression of a bow. Really, though, it's beautiful. You have a true gift, Rarity."

"Oh, you think so?" Rarity swirled on the spot happily. "I had considered lengthening those. Thank you, dear; I'll make that change before we leave for the party. Now come over here! I have a little surprise for you."

Rarity's horn glowed pale blue, and one of the small side rooms opened with a click. "Ah ah! Close your eyes!" she told Twilight as she swept over to her and took her hand in both of hers.

Twilight laughed and shut her eyes as she was told. "I'm excited already!" she declared, and allowed Rarity to lead her across the room. She felt the door close behind her, and Rarity moved away.

"Open them!" Rarity declared.

Twilight's eyes opened. "Guh," she managed.

Rarity was standing proudly beside a mannequin dressed in glistening black. Long boots encased the legs from foot to mid thigh, with a tightly buckled belt circling the top of each. Thin straps either side framed the mannequin's featureless sex while exposing it, melding into a sheen of reflective black coating the stomach, another black belt with a large silver buckle circling the narrowest point of the waist. Sweeping upwards, the shoulders and upper back were exposed, the upper slopes of the breasts covered while full lower curves and nipples were fully exposed. A fourth and final belt circled the chest beneath the breast cut-outs, the silver buckle in the centre of the chest.

Rarity beamed at Twilight. "Darling, the look on your face is all the reward I need."

Twilight pulled back her scattered wits with extreme effort. "Rarity, what-?"

"It's for Applejack, of course. I'm sure she's going to look just beautiful in it. You really must let me see it when she tries it on."

Twilight's mouth opened, then closed again. "Rarity, what do you think is going on with Applejack and I?"

"Twilight, really, there's no need to be shy. I think it's wonderful that she's your enthralled sex slave; I've never seen her look so happy. She was clearly enjoying herself very much," she replied fondly.

"Sex slave?" Twilight managed weakly. "That's okay with you?"

Rarity gave her a puzzled look. "Well of course, darling. It's perfectly normal for you to control any pony you're attracted to and make them your sexual playthings. It's only natural. You're a very special pony, after all."

Twilight groped for words, hopelessly, overwhelmed by disbelief. Rarity was supposed to have replaced what she'd seen with something perfectly normal, not decided that Applejack being a submissive sex slave was normal behaviour! How had she managed to screw things up so badly? Now Rarity had used rare fabric - she'd never even seen the reflective black cloth before - and mixed all sorts of things she should remember with things she shouldn't remember! How could she untangle it?

Rarity looked at Twilight's bewildered confusion with disappointment, and her slight hurt showed in her voice. "Well, dear, if you don't like it..."

"No, no - not at all! I love it!" Twilight answered hastily. Moving closer, she ran a hand over the cool, smooth outfit and fingered the buckles. A different quality entered her voice, a slightly husky sincerity, as she murmured, "I really do. I've never seen anything like it. Rarity, this is amazing... Applejack would look incredible in this. Breathtaking." It was impossible not to imagine the blonde mare dressed tightly in the outfit before her, and she ran her fingers lightly over the mannequin's exposed breast, picturing Applejack's soft skin.

Rarity moved to Twilight's side with a contented smile, relaxing. "Then it's yours, my dear. I've designed gloves as well, but I simply didn't have enough of this fabric. I've ordered several sorts from Canterlot, some fascinating material I've been looking for an excuse to use. Why, this could be an entirely new range!"

"You can't tell anypony!" Twilight blurted, horrified by the mental image of Rarity parading her new collection before a disbelieving audience.

Rarity gave her a puzzled look. "About you and Applejack? Whyever would I, dear? It's hardly worth mentioning."

"I mean - outfits like this, you can't let anypony see them! They have to stay secret," Twilight pleaded, wondering if it was already too late. How many ponies might she have to charm to clean up the mess?

"Really, Twilight, it isn't as though I would make this clothing for anypony else. Why, other ponies would get entirely the wrong idea!" She laughed delicately at the notion. "This can be just between us, if you like; I won't show this range to anypony. You must tell me whom else you have under your control so I can start some new designs."

"I - just, just Applejack!" Twilight stammered, unprepared for the twist of the conversation.

"You aren't attracted to Fluttershy, or Rainbow Dash? You might be the only one that could calm down Pinkie, of course." Rarity laughed again. "Or am I making assumptions, are stallions more your cup of tea?"

"I - I - I don't -" she protested feebly, her eyes wide.

Rarity swept up to Twilight and squeezed her hand in both of hers. "Dear dear, I've made you self conscious. I'll have this delivered discreetly and you can think about things, hm? Why, you might even decide that I - well. Let's prepare for the party, shall we?"

Twilight allowed Rarity to lead her out of the room in a daze, relaxing slightly as the door locked behind her. She'd never meant to make Rarity a, a willing accomplice in all this! Nonetheless, there was one thing it was impossible to deny.

She couldn't wait to see that outfit on Applejack.

Author's Note

NovemberWolf wins a prize! Rarity is exactly what Twilight needs right now - someone to help her justify everything. With a little encouragement, the sky's the limit...

• Proofing by Djmill and JustTheBast