Friendship is Mind Control: Consequences

by Wintermist

Rating: mature
Tags: Profanity, Princess Celestia, Dark, Zecora, Anthro, Main 6, Princess Luna, Drama, Porn, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fetish, Non-consensual, Sex, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 245453

Twilight didn't intend to hypnotically seduce her friends. At first. She didn't expect to fight a slow, subtle mind control battle for the fate of Equestria. Now the battle is over. But there are... consequences.

It all got out of hand so quickly. Twilight had found the mind control charm purely by accident, had cast it before she even knew what it did. Then she cast it again. And again. Before she knew what was happening, she and her harem of mesmerised friends were locked in a subtle battle for Equestria itself.

Now that battle is finished. But with Twilight's life almost unrecognisable from what it once was, she has barely begun to explore the consequences.

This is a sequel to Friendship is Mind Control, which should be read first.
Cover art cropped from 'Royal Lingerie' by Mirapony

Published 2016-04-07 02:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2020-04-05 17:59:32 UTC

1: Getting to Know Your Princess

Twilight took a deep breath, and let it go. "Obey your Empress," she pronounced carefully and clearly. A tingle flashed through her body, raising goosebumps on her arms, as she watched Celestia's eyes glaze over, and the divine ruler of Equestria dropped smoothly to her knees.

"This slave obeys," Celestia pronounced in tones of divine calm.

For a long moment, there was complete silence as Twilight stared at Celestia. This wasn't a trick, this time. This was real. She was hers. Completely hers. With a few words, the Princess could be altered into anything. Twilight's chest felt tight, her breathing shallow, as the sense of power overwhelmed her. Celestia deserved punishment, too. She'd manipulated Twilight from the start, lying, endangering other ponies to get what she wanted, and that was before the game she'd played with Twilight's heart and mind.

Stop. Stop. Safety first.

"Celestia, you will remember all memories that have been hidden from you, and return any of your memories that have been modified to their original form. Tell me if there are any means for you to free yourself from my control. Tell me if there is anything you have kept from me which you believe I should know now, or would wish to know now."

"I have made no preparations to free myself of the charm. I considered it motivation to win, and a reasonable punishment if I lost. I have been studying you to ensure that no external force was behind your use of the charm. I have been hiding a vault of weapons and artefacts that have the capacity to damage or endanger large areas of Equestria."

Twilight blinked at the last. "You mean the Vault containing the Elements of Harmony?"

"No. There is another. The main vault is a distraction."

Well, she was going to have to have a look at that. But she was getting distracted. "What did you feel when you discovered I had enthralled Luna?"

"I was angry, yet impressed. She belongs to me. No one is permitted to alter that."

Much the same as Twilight felt. "Is that why you didn't accept my offer to submit to me?"

Celestia nodded slightly, as she droned her monotone answer. "Yes, but not the only reason. I am responsible for my ponies. I cannot willingly relinquish the duty to protect them."

"What do you now feel about my ownership of Luna? Outside the trance, I mean."

"I cannot fight you. If she cannot be mine alone, I wish for my sister and I to serve you together."

Twilight paused, then nodded. Her hand fell to her side, and she carefully took out a tiny scroll, marked simply 'Celestia'. Unrolling it, she focused on the small, cramped writing, and began to read. "All commands I have given you are ended. Here are your new orders. You know that you belong to me. You want to obey my commands. Obeying my commands is arousing. You find it very easy not to be jealous of the other ponies I own. You will not say 'awaken' without my direct and immediate command. You will not use any variant of the charm without my direct and immediate command. You will not seek to deceive me. If you find any loopholes in the orders I have given you that allow you to act against me, you will report them to me instead of using them. If I am placed into a focused state without my full and informed consent, you will recast the charm upon me, order me to be free of any orders given under the charm, and release me from the spell."

Celestia repeated the commands, as Twilight listened intently for any evidence of misunderstanding. Finally, Twilight added softly, "While you are charmed, you will refer to me as 'Empress'. You will remember everything that I have just told you. I am satisfied."

Celestia's eyes flickered. If Twilight hadn't been watching for the transition, she might have missed it. As it was, Celestia maintained her pose for a moment, taking in her surroundings, before she slowly rose to her feet. An ambiguous smile curved her lips. "Empress. Your title is ambitious, Twilight. I wonder what your plans are."

Twilight blushed abruptly. "I - I'm not trying to set up a new Empire or anything. I don't want to be in charge like that. Just of a few special ponies I care about."

"You will find that you are in charge 'like that', Empress. You are a Princess, now. With all the power, longevity, rights and responsibilities that come with it." Celestia's tone was gently amused.

"You really don't have to keep calling me Empress."

"Would you prefer Master? Or my Lady?" The elder alicorn infused the words with a deliberate husky desire, mischief dancing in her pink eyes.

"Celestia."

"I'm sure I can think of something to call you."

"Empress is fine!" Whatever Celestia was working her way up to, Twilight didn't want to let her get there. Besides. It really was wonderfully arousing to her for Celestia to address her that way, even if she didn't want to admit it. "But it's not because I think of myself as some kind of crazy overlord. It's from a book."

"The Empress of the Veiled Isles. Oh, don't look like that. I was keeping an eye on you, and you weren't very good at hiding it."

A wave of heat swept over Twilight as she felt every part of her body try to blush at once. "You knew about that?" she asked in a small voice. "You've... read it?"

The divine ruler of the sun smirked.

A sudden premonition hit Twilight, and her mouth fell open. In appalled tones, she breathed, "You didn't."

"I did," Celestia replied calmly. "Miss Snowfeather never existed. I could hardly publish without using a pen name."

"You wrote the dungeon scene."

"Which one? Though yes, all of them."

"You wrote the scene in the guard tower. The one with the three colts, and the off duty guard captain, and the.. the mess..."

"I had it acted out."

Twilight stared at the Princess. Celestia gazed back, a small smile on her lips. A small breeze curled over the balcony, ruffling her white feathers, before settling back to stillness. Her colourful mane drifted slowly through the air.

Finally, Twilight's eyes focused again. "The... the captain, that was... you?" she croaked.

Smiling, Celestia shook her head. "No. I could never do that with my little ponies, it would ruin their image of me, and that matters to them a great deal. It makes them feel safe. No, I placed together ponies I thought would have the best chance of getting a little carried away, made sure plentiful drink was conveniently to hand, and waited to see what would happen. I was sat behind the mirror. The one with the gold carvings."

"That she is, is, pushed up against while he-"

"Your memory of my book is excellent, Twilight. Though perhaps only to be expected when you have read it so many times. Yes. I had an exceptional view."

Twilight turned to look over the balcony, running her hand through her mane as she tried to fit this revelation into her head. Celestia had written... had written all that? All the special scenes, that had been so special, so exciting... and she'd known Twilight was reading it? "When did you find out? That I had a copy."

"Years ago, Empress. I was quite flattered by the intensity of your interest."

"You're enjoying this," Twilight accused her, glancing back at the Princess.

An irrepressible smile curved Celestia's lips. "Of course I am. It appears I've made my own undoing. Oh, dear."

Twilight's mouth opened and closed soundlessly, before she asked plaintively, "Did you really not prepare for what happened if you lost?"

"I considered sending out two ponies with the charm, each to wait for an unpredictable time, then to charm others, teach them how to cast it, and send them back here to reawaken me. It would be impossible to know who was coming. I considered having myself charmed to look in a secret place some time from now, where I would have planted a message to myself. I even considered charming your parents or brother to charm you, when you did not expect it."

Twilight's expression froze at that suggestion, but Celestia shook her head.

"I did none of these. I considered the risk of teaching the charm to ponies that might fall into the hands of others, let alone the charm that was tuned to affect myself, as far too great a risk. Especially when I did not believe you could win. As for using your family against you, I was ashamed to have even thought of it. I would not do such a thing."

Looking abashed, Twilight shook her head. "I am sorry about that, Princess. Celestia. I couldn't think of anything else that might take you off guard." A small, wry smile touched her lips. "I changed the charm, to make it compatible with the ritual energy transformation. If there's one lesson that I have learned very thoroughly, it's that we're better when we work together."

"You learnt your lessons well, Twilight. Including the ones from my literature."

Twilight gazed at Celestia, her purple eyes narrowed. It was ludicrous to ask, but she simply had to put the thought to rest. "Princess - did you intend this? All of this, from the very start? Even letting me have the Empress book?"

"From the start? No. Though that isn't to say I don't leave things lying around to see what happens. You had the potential to go a very long way, and if things played out perfectly, it wouldn't hurt if you developed certain hobbies." Celestia's playful expression drained away, and she added seriously, "I did not intend anypony to ever find that charm, Twilight. That wasn't part of any kind of game."

Twilight gaped. "You - you - even then, you were not just trying to manipulate me into ascending as an immortal Princess, you were thinking about the kind of sex we'd have afterwards? Are you serious?"

Celestia shrugged a bare shoulder, with a look of mock modesty.

Giggling with disbelief, the young alicorn shook her head. "You really are serious. The hubris! Celestia, do you have any idea how much punishment you deserve for this? It could take years!"

Celestia gazed down at her, a distinct challenge in her voice. "Well, Twilight, I've never had anyone to punish me for my hubris. No one had the right. I've never been punished. Not once. So if you are going to do it, Empress, you had better start."

A slow, creeping flush of arousal tingled through Twilight's body as she met Celestia's pink eyes. "You never stop underestimating me, do you, Princess?"

Laugher and music rang down the hallway, bringing life to the eerie quiet of the castle. Stuttering gramophone waltz echoed from the gilt laden walls and ornate pillars, the staccato crack of party poppers punctuating the tune. The emotions carried in the mingled, overlapping voices were discernable, even if the words weren't: giddy relief, happiness, a half-disbelieving celebration.

Twilight drifted towards the sound as if her body were lighter than air, her wings (she had wings) extended, and gently drifting back and forth with each step. She was filled with a trembling delight, feeling giddy on her feet. Her chest felt tight, her nipples standing out sharply against her borrowed dress, and she was incredibly aware of the way her enhanced chest swayed with each step, unrestrained by underwear. Her transformed body was so strange and wonderful that she kept losing her train of thought, distracted over and over by the differences in the way she moved and felt.

She had won, more completely than she'd dreamed possible. She had absolute control of both Princesses, and she just couldn't wait to play with them both together. The sun and moon rose and fell at her command. She was the avatar of magic. She could feel the fresh power bubbling within her, replenishing the reservoirs she'd drained with the titanic, transformative act that had conquered Celestia. She felt drunk with power, enthralled with the possibilities.

In the room ahead, her closest friends, who also happened to be her retinue of slaves, were celebrating that victory. It was high time she joined them. The tall, arched doors ahead of her stood ajar, and she slipped around them, into the noisy chamber beyond. For a moment, nopony noticed her, and she simply grinned at the sight.

Pinkie was cartwheeling across the floor in a blur of pink-on-pink, Rainbow Dash and Applejack gamely trying the same feat with mixed success. Zecora was caught in the moment of laughing, her hand to her mouth, while Fluttershy had cornered Rarity and was talking to her earnestly. Trixie was stood off to one side, her arms crossed and her nose lifted, as though above absolutely everypony present. Twilight couldn't quite suppress a smile. She'd have to make sure Trixie felt included until the others came to forgive her for the trouble she'd caused.

Pinkie tumbled to her feet in an eruption of mysterious confetti, and as she threw her arms into the air exultantly, her eyes met Twilight's. Immediately, she let out a high pitched squeal of delight.

"Master!"

Dashing across the room, she threw herself at Twilight, almost knocking her off her feet, and clung tightly. "Hey, hey, hey, did you do it, is it all done, why did that take so long, is it all finished, are you going to have a party with us, you should have a party with us!"

Giggling aloud, Twilight tried unsuccessfully to pry Pinkie off her. "Pinkie! I need to breathe to answer you!"

"Aww, are you sure?" Pinkie fluttered her eyelashes, before letting go with a pout.

Twilight looked up from her to see that the others were gathering around her in a loose semi-circle, each smiling warmly at her. The sight filled her with warmth, a simple, pure happiness that swelled in her heart and almost brought tears to her eyes. "I love you, all of you," she said sincerely. An irrepressible smile on her lips, she added with glee, "We won!"

An instant cheer rang out, and several celebratory balloons floated up to the ceiling where they bumped gently against the enchanted chandelier. Breaking their self-imposed distance, her friends crowded around her, hugging her tightly one after another. Applejack kissed her square on the lips, and not to be outdone, Rainbow grabbed Twilight's ass. Giggling, Twilight waved them back, slightly overwhelmed. "Okay, okay! I've got some good news for you all."

Fluttershy's head nuzzled against Twilight's hand as the pale yellow pony dropped to hands and knees, and rubbed against her legs. Smiling down at her, Twilight stroked her affectionately, before looking up at the ponies around her. "I had a long talk with Celestia. I know I took a little while, but I had to be completely sure that we were all safe, and that it was over. Even better, I found out that she kept all the special costumes that she confiscated, and you can have all of them back!"

Another babble of excited voices, though Trixie pouted heavily, looking rather left out of the celebration. Reaching out to her, Twilight curled her fingers under the showpony's chin and tickled her there. "It's okay Trixie, I'll have something wonderful and pretty made for you. You too, Zecora, you're going to look incredible!"

Zecora took on a lovestruck smile, her cheeks going pink, and she murmured, "My body is yours to dress how you will, though I hope to be clothed by clever Rarity's skill."

"Darling, it would be my utter delight to create something for you! Oh, your stripes, your curves, so bold, so sensual! You will be the most magnificent mare in Canterlot when I have finished with you. If my Lady desires it, I can even create something fitting for Trixie. I wouldn't want her to shame you with her tawdry carnival outfit."

"Tawdry! The glorious, sensuous, incomparably sexual Trixie is far more lovely than any backwoods clothes mangler could ever appreciate or understand."

Twilight tried not to smile. Oh, dear. Trixie was not endearing herself. "Girls, please. No fighting. I wasn't finished."

Trixie immediately dropped to one knee before Twilight and stretched out her hands before her. "Mistress, please forgive the slutty and submissive Trixie for allowing herself to be distracted from listening to your perfect voice by one of your boorish lesser pets." She glanced up at Rarity, a smug smile on her lips.

Rarity coloured, drawing herself up, before she curtseyed deeply before Twilight. "Oh no, forgive me, my Lady, I understand that your wonderfully generous rehabilitation of this criminal isn't nearly complete yet, and she can't be expected to show the grace that normal ponies would."

It was getting harder and harder not to laugh. Twilight caught Zecora's eye and saw the merriment reflected there, then noticed Rainbow's mouth opening and cut her off before she could add to the spat. "Hush," she said calmly, and tickled Fluttershy behind her ears before stepping to one side of the doors. With a gesture of her horn, the needle of the gramophone lifted from the record, and a velvety quiet fell.

"I'm sure you're all eager to have your lovely outfits again, so you can dress up properly for me. Let me take care of that." Raising her hand above her head, a sharp, breathless thrill racing through her, Twilight snapped her fingers. The click echoed unnaturally loudly in the sudden silence.

A squeaking, metallic sound came from the hallway.

Twilight's smile slowly grew wider. Her violet eyes flicked back and forth from the ponies around her, who seemed frozen by the sound, by the sudden air of anticipation. Moment by moment, the squeaking grew louder, audibly approaching. Finally, with a gesture of Twilight's horn, the double doors swung inwards.

Celestia stepped into the room.

The first thing that the eye was drawn to were her breasts. Her elegant sundress had been roughly tugged down, and her massive white tits were on full display, swaying with each step she took. Each heavy mound was capped with a light pink nipple, sharply erect. Celestia's arms were bound behind her, held together by black leather bands around her wrists and elbows, the pose forcing out her breasts even further for all to see. Matching leather binders pinned her wings against her back.

Celestia's soft lips were parted around a bright red ball gag, dampness flecking her chin as she couldn't entirely suppress her drool around it. Her cheeks were flushed deep pink, her eyelids lowered. A wide leather collar was wrapped around her slender neck, with prominent D-rings at front and back. A chain led back from her collar to a long clothes rack, which she was towing behind her. Her bare feet were soundless on the stone, but the small castor wheels of the clothes rack gave a final squeak as she towed it through the doors, then came to a stop.

Absolute silence fell. Everypony seemed frozen to the spot, not daring to move, or speak, or even breathe. Only Twilight and Celestia herself were exempt.

Finally, a very small, very sincere whimper of lust escaped Rainbow Dash's lips, and she whispered, "Princess Celestia...?"

Twilight stepped forward, pushing the double doors closed with a careless brush of her hand, before moving to Celestia's side. Gazing back at the stunned, wide-eyed ponies, she couldn't hide a growing smile of intense satisfaction, a thrumming jolt of sexual lust shooting up her spine as she met each staring, disbelieving gaze.

Still, the most arousing thing of all was the hazy, glazed look of lust and disbelief in Celestia's hidden eyes.

Lifting her hand to caress Celestia's cheek, Twilight encouraged her, "Well, Princess? Answer Rainbow Dash."

Celestia's eyelids lowered a little more, the flush of her cheeks darkening even further. "Yff, Rrrnnbww Dfff," she groaned into her gag. A droplet of drool slid free of her lips and struck her cleavage.

Another silence, filled with ponies not daring to say a word. Dark blushes marked each of the enslaved ponies staring with terrified awe at the scene. It was left to Rarity to finally clear her throat, and ask in a voice little louder than a whisper, "My Lady - Twilight - is the Princess... unhappy with this situation?"

"I'm glad that you asked, Rarity. I know you care that my slaves are happy, and aren't unwilling." Raising her voice a little, she continued, "You all understand that the most recent command overwrites previous commands. Princess, you will stamp your foot once for no, twice for yes, and you will answer all of my questions with total honesty. Do you understand?"

Celestia nodded quickly, her right foot striking the floor twice.

"Now, Princess. Did you willingly agree to me enslaving you?" Twilight asked the question with a playful trill in her voice.

Stamp, stamp.

"Did I warn you that I would humiliate and use you for my pleasure, Princess?"

Stamp, stamp. Each quick movement of Celestia's leg sent tremors through her exposed breasts, making them sway.

Hot, molten arousal simmered in Twilight's body, her cunt molten beneath her delicate dress. Moving closer, she leaned up to gaze into Celestia's eyes. Her voice came softly, seductively. "Are you turned on by what I'm doing to you, Princess?"

Celestia's eyes squeezed shut, and for a moment, she stayed still.

"I'm waiting for my answer, Princess." There was only one answer Celestia could give, and it was delicious to watch.

The white alicorn's bare foot slapped against the ground. Once, twice.

Twilight's lips curved into a wicked smile, and she reached out to twist Celestia's stiff nipple. Immediately, the elder pony moaned loudly into her gag, head tilting back and her back arching. A soft gasp escaped several of the ponies watching, eyes wide as they watched the untouchable Ruler of the Sun pushing her bared breasts into Twilight's hand. Not one of them seemed able to move or speak, or even to look away.

"I love Princess Celestia," Twilight said lightly into the hush. Her eyes turned to Celestia, and she repeated more fondly, "You are the most incredible pony, Princess. You're my teacher, and my friend, and so much besides. I would never do this if I made you unhappy. I want to spend a lot of time with you, now that we're together."

Perhaps only Celestia understood the true significance of those last words. A different look entered her pink eyes, a soulful look of deep affection, even love. Her head tilted towards Twilight's, and she nuzzled her colourful mane against that of her former student.

Twilight's heart fluttered, unable to keep down the giddy happiness that Celestia's tenderness stirred in her. For a moment she balanced perfectly between tender love and playful cruelty, the two strands mingling into a warm, affectionate sadism that shined so purely within her, she felt like she might glow in the dark.

Her hand slid up Celestia's cheek with profound affection, before she abruptly smacked Celestia's bare breasts twice, with a one-two back and forth of her hand. "You also took over my mind, made me have sex with Cheerilee, and Vinyl, and Nurse Redheart, and that time you made me strip naked and praise you. Not to mention Diorite and Chert. I do intend to put you through a lot of punishment, Princess."

Celestia groaned into her gag, nodding slowly. A tiny, almost imperceptible shiver ran though her body, and her restrained wings fluffed outwards a little, as much as the straps would allow.

Twilight glanced back at her silent audience. Pinkie's eyes were wide, her mouth open, while Applejack beside her was roughly pressing her knuckles against her own pussy through her clothes, and didn't seem to realise she was doing it. Rainbow Dash's wings were jerkily fluttering. Teasingly, Twilight leant towards her a little and breathed, "Rainbow, you're very shy all of a sudden. That's not like you."

Singled out, Rainbow swallowed, her back straightening. Her eyes flicked from Twilight to Celestia, then back to Twilight again, and she visibly fought not to stammer as she asked, "Can I... touch her?"

Rainbow had hesitated over whether to ask the question of Celestia, or of Twilight. That wouldn't do at all. Gently but firmly, Twilight told her, "I own Celestia now, Rainbow. If you want to touch her, or do anything to her, you will ask me."

"Uhh... right." Rainbow glanced nervously at Celestia again, and stayed where she was.

Twilight beckoned her with a single finger. "Come here, Rainbow." Her smile widened as she watched the slim, athletic tomboy slowly approach, and she reached out to caress the side of Rainbow's face. Gently turning her to face Celestia, she said in a playfully soothing voice, "I understand that being in front of Celestia is intimidating. Don't worry. Tell her, 'I'm going to play with your tits'. It's important to be very clear in your intentions."

Quite clearly, telling Celestia that was not going to make this any less intimidating for Rainbow. She hesitated several times, as she jerkily pushed the words out. "Sure. Sure. I'm gonna - play with - your - tits. Princess." Rainbow swallowed.

Twilight's hand slid up Celestia's thigh, caressing her through the dress, and feeling the subtle shiver run though her body. "It's okay, Rainbow. Go ahead." There was something perfect in the shakily nervous expression on Rainbow's face as she slowly reached up towards Celestia's bared chest, something that delighted Twilight to witness.

Rainbow's pale blue hand settled on the heavy curve of Celestia's breast, covering her stiff nipple. A disbelieving, shaky whimper escaped Rainbow, and she murmured mostly to herself, "She's warm..." Her pink eyes flicked up to Celestia's, as if expecting judgement, or terrible punishment, or instant annihilation, but the divine pony's eyes remained lidded, barely open, focused on Twilight.

"That's right. Don't worry, Rainbow. Touch her. Squeeze her, if you'd like." Twilight's tone was gentle, soothing, a pleasant smile on her lips.

"R-right. Sure." Rainbow Dash's other hand tentatively rose to settle on Celestia's chest, and slowly, as if unable to fully believe it was happening, she began to squeeze and knead. For a moment, there was absolute quiet, underscored by the rapid breathing of ponies unable to move or speak for fear of interrupting.

The hush was broken by a long, low moan. Celestia's eyes closed fully, the pink of her cheeks darkening. Rainbow looked up at her, and whispered, "Oh, fuck¸ thatis so hot." With slowly growing confidence, she began squeezing the elder pony's breasts together, their softness overflowing her hands, and pinched her nipples between her fingers. Each firm touch pulled a soft groan from Celestia's lips, and Rainbow seemed to forget her audience, even Twilight, fully absorbed in the sensation of the demigoddess under her hands.

Twilight's smile was distinctly wicked. Celestia's eyes were half open, glazed with unfamiliar arousal, and Twilight met her gaze, thinking as loudly as she could, This is just the beginning. Without looking away, she said lightly, "Rainbow? That's enough."

Rainbow's hands jerked away as if Celestia's body was suddenly red hot, her pale blue face flushed and her wings fully spread. Trying to regain her composure, Rainbow replied with a poor attempt at breeziness, "Oh, sure. Got to give somepony else a turn. Sure."

"Go and take your outfit off the rack. I want you dressed up as my sex slave, Rainbow." The words felt so good. Speaking them in front of Celestia gave Twilight an entirely new thrill, one all the more potent the more casually she spoke.

"Right! Yes, Ma'am." Rainbow saluted instinctively, and darted towards the dangling black uniform, a mockery of the Wonderbolt costume. Without hesitation, she began yanking off her clothes to get changed.

Twilight turned back to the watching ponies, and she couldn't suppress the spark of delight as each inhaled sharply at the mere touch of her gaze. "Now, then. Who shall go next?" she wondered aloud. Even as she spoke the words, she'd already made her decision.

"Rarity. Step forward."

Rarity swallowed, nodding jerkily. Moving to stand before Celestia, her eyes flicked rapidly back and forth between her ruler and her Mistress, replying with a tremor in her voice, "Yes, my Lady. What should I do?"

"I think there's something you want to know, and you don't know you want to know it." Twilight giggled to herself at the expression of confusion on Rarity's face. "Come and stand in front of Celestia, Rarity. That's right. Closer. Closer."

Meekly obedient to Twilight's whim, Rarity tiptoed over to stand in front of Celestia, standing at arm's reach away. With each encouragement, Rarity shifted a step closer, until she was almost touching the elder pony. Each breath Celestia took made her bared breasts rise and fall, directly in front of Rarity's face, giving her nowhere else to look. The dressmaker seemed paralysed by the sight, biting her lower lip without seeming to notice.

"What am I... learning?" she finally murmured, unable to look away.

A wicked smile curved Twilight's lips, and she reached out to wrap her fingers around Celestia's tail, a soft, yet tangible billow of pastel colours. With a silent count to three, she pulled firmly.

"Mmmmrhh!" Celestia gasped into her gag, a sound of surprise mingling with a long moan. Her body arched, thrusting out her chest, burying Rarity's face between her breasts.

A startled squeak escaped Rarity, and she was frozen where she stood for a moment before she instinctively began to pull back. Twilight's hand caught her, and held her still. "Stay where you are, Rarity. Breathe deeply. You're learning what Princess Celestia's body smells like. Feel her skin on yours. Breathe."

Rarity's shoulders slowly relaxed, and she murmured, "Yes, my Lady," into Celestia's body. She leaned forward again, and her hands came to rest on the other pony's waist. Her breathing steadied, deep and slow.

Twilight smoothed her hand up and down Celestia's tail, giving the tall alicorn a look of approval as she meekly posed with her back arched, letting Rarity fully appreciate her cleavage. "Tell me, Rarity," Twilight murmured.

Even with her voice muffled, her far-away, floaty tone came across clearly. "The Princess smells... divine, my Lady. Her skin smells of dew drops and jasmine, and warmth. The scent of a mare," she murmured with a note of distant surprise. "There is something warm and living to her scent, all her own. Just as nopony smells quite like you."

"Tell me about her skin."

"It's... heavenly. So smooth, like silk, but so warm..." Rarity nuzzled her cheek against Celestia's breast, sighing deeply. "She is flawless..."

"How does she taste, Rarity? Try her."

Rarity lifted her head slowly, her pale cheeks crimson. As though in a trance, her pink tongue slid out of her mouth, and she slowly licked a straight line up the centre of Celestia's cleavage. Her soft lips laid a trail of kisses across the alicorn's chest, swirling her tongue against her skin each time until her mouth closed over one jutting pink nipple and lapped at it. A longing, half disbelieving moan escaped her.

Reaching out to take hold of her intricately coiffured mane, Twilight gently and irresistibly pulled Rarity's head back. Yielding to the pressure, Rarity gasped, her dazed blue eyes turning towards Twilight. Abruptly, awareness seemed to sink home, and a brilliant flush darkened her cheeks.

"Go and get dressed in your veils, Rarity," Twilight told her affectionately. Asking her for the exact details of what Celestia tasted like could wait.

"I... I... y-yes, my Lady. I will." Rarity bobbed in a curtsey, then again to Celestia, then escaped to where Rainbow Dash stood, proudly decked out in her black Wonderbolt uniform, with her breasts, ass and sex exposed by the daring cut-outs.

Grinning to herself as she heard Rainbow begin to tease Rarity in an undertone, Twilight looked over the remaining five ponies. Which came next? Trixie puffed herself up, and Zecora merely smiled. Pinkie seemed to be alternating between bouncing with excitement and freezing to the spot wide-eyed, Fluttershy seemed to be somehow hiding behind herself, and Applejack was gazing at Twilight with a half-smile on her lips, even if her eyes did keep glancing to the tied up alicorn behind her.

Twilight's gaze fell to the coil of Applejack's lasso at her side. Yes.

"Applejack. Step forward, please."

Applejack's back straightened immediately, and she swallowed. "Yes, Ma'am! Right away, Ma'am!" Stepping forward, she momentarily met Celestia's lust-fogged eyes, then looked away quickly only to find herself staring at her bare breasts. She jerked to her left to look straight at Twilight, the safer choice.

The little pantomime of awkwardness was profoundly adorable, and yet, Twilight couldn't possibly let her get away with choosing the safe option. "Don't worry, Applejack," Twilight told her soothingly. "You can look at Celestia's body. Watch."

Stepping up against Celestia's side, Twilight reached up and seized a handful of her soft, white breast, overflowing her fingers as they sank into the yielding flesh. A shuddering groan escaped her captive, repeated a moment later, louder, as Twilight squeezed one hard, pink nipple. "Celestia's tits belong to me, now. I can do whatever I like to them."

Applejack's eyes were wide, and she didn't seem able to tear herself away from the sight. "In Celestia's name... Ma'am, are you sure?"

"Completely sure. Celestia's enjoying being shown off like this - aren't you?"

Her eyes glazed and distant, dampness slowly spreading from the crotch of her sundress, Celestia took a moment to seem to hear Twilight, before her bare foot stamped twice on the flagstones.

"There. Celestia needs to be put on display for me, and Applejack, you're going to help me. You're going to take your rope, and you're going to bind Celestia's tits for me, okay?"

It was hard to tell whether Applejack thought those were the very best or the very worst words she'd ever heard, but it was definitely one of the two. With a kind of ecstatic dread, she breathed, "Ah'll do whatever you order, Ma'am," and stepped forward. Uncoiling her lasso, she undid the noose knot with absentminded precision, doubling the rope over and taking hold of the centre. "Can you - make her, uh, kneel? She's kind've tall."

"Of course, Applejack." Twilight's voice shifted to a harder tone, with the thrum of command. "Celestia. Get on your knees."

"Yff, Mmmfffrrrrsss," Celestia mumbled compliantly into the gag filling her mouth, and slowly sank to her knees. The clothes rack rolled a little closer with a squeak as her leash tugged on it.

Applejack took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, then stepped forward with a determinedly matter-of-fact expression on her face. Her body pressed up against Celestia's bare breasts as she reached around her, pinning the rope there with one hand. Guiding the ends around Celestia's body beneath her breasts, Applejack's warm fingers couldn't help but brush and slide against the Princess's bare tits, and a little shudder ran through the farm pony as she pretended to be fully focused on the rope.

Winding bands around Celestia's body above and below her breasts, Applejack guided the rope back down her cleavage, forming an intricate winding pattern over the centre of her chest. As the rope inexorably tightened, Celestia's breasts were slowly squeezed, pushed out more tautly. The divine pony moaned over and over into her gag, showing off her sincere appreciation. Coils of rope wrapped around the base of each outthrust breast, then looped over the Princess's shoulder to tie in a neat knot at the back.

Stepping back, red-faced, Applejack took in the Princess's body with mingled pride, arousal, and slight dread. Her hand slid up to squeeze her own breast through her shirt, and she breathed shakily, "She's all done, Ma'am. Wrapped up like a present f'r you."

Each beat of Twilight's heart made her tinglingly stiff nipples ache with excitement. Slowly and deliberately, glancing at her captive audience, she chose to slide one strap off her shoulder and tug her borrowed dress down a little, baring a single breast. Her hand settled on her own chest and squeezed. Her other hand curled into a fist at her side as pleasure pulsed through her body, her nails pressing against her palm.

"I love the way she looks, Applejack. She's just delightful. I should dress you like this every day, shouldn't I Princess?" Twilight gave Celestia a challenging look, cocking her head as the other pony simply stood where she was, panting slowly as a thin string of drool slid down her chin to fall and strike her bound tits. "Celestia. Say thank you nicely to Applejack for tying up your breasts."

Applejack sucked in a breath as Celestia's glazed eyes focused, turning towards her. Leaning forward, Celestia groaned a few muffled sounds into her gag, seeming to try to sincerely communicate, and shuddering with humiliated arousal when she found she couldn't.

"Rarity. Dress Applejack in her slutty slave outfit, please." Twilight couldn't help the flare of lust that shot through her as she saw Applejack's face colour in embarrassment, the farm pony giving a shaky nod of acknowledgement as Rarity - now wearing her cloud of purple veils that hid and revealed her smooth white skin as she walked - guided her back to the rack where Rainbow stood.

"So, who're you going to set on her next, Twi?" Rainbow asked the question with feigned casualness, seemingly trying to make up for her stammering hesitation earlier.

"Rainbow, come here and stroke my feathers," Twilight told her. "I'd very much like to have you pay attention to my new body, okay?"

"Sure! I am amazing at stroking wings to make you feel good. If I wasn't such an incredible flier, I'd call it my best talent." Projecting smugness, she slipped over to Twilight's side and wasted no time in gently urging Twilight's wings to fully unfold, teasing her with little strokes and touches.

Twilight groaned deeply as her wings trembled, seemingly without her intervention. That was a new feeling, and a nice one... but she was letting herself get distracted. Who was going to be used to toy with the Princess next?

"Fluttershy," Twilight decided aloud.

"M-me? Do you, uhm, need me, for something?" Fluttershy squeaked the words, contorting her body to try to hide behind Pinkie Pie.

"Don't worry. It's going to be fine." Beckoning Fluttershy over, Twilight watched her slowly and hesitantly approaching, as though waiting every moment for the excuse to flee. Lifting a hand to tell Rainbow to stop, Twilight stepped forward and gathered Fluttershy into her arms. A little tremor shivered through the other pony as Twilight held her close, kissing her on top of her head.

Speaking softly, Twilight murmured, "It's okay. Remember, you're my pet. You're not afraid while you're being my good girl. You're not afraid while we play together, and you're not afraid of Celestia. Everything's fine."

The tension tangibly melted out of Fluttershy as Twilight spoke, her tensed shoulders relaxing, and she looked up at her owner with puppy-like adoration. "Thank you, so much. You make me feel so safe... I do feel so much better now. What should I do?" Her ass swayed gently, swishing her tail back and forth.

Twilight placed her hands on Fluttershy's shoulders and turned her towards the kneeling Princess. "Kiss her. I know Celestia is wearing a gag. That doesn't matter. Kiss her, until I tell you to stop."

Smiling bashfully, Fluttershy nodded. "Okay, Twilight."

Celestia's head lifted slightly as Fluttershy approached, leaning up in anticipation. Twilight stepped back to Rainbow and spread her wings, releasing a long, soft sigh as the other pony's dextrous fingers went back to work smoothing and teasing her feathers.

Fluttershy gently placed both hands either side of the divine pony's face. For a moment she simply gazed into her eyes, her fingers tenderly smoothing Celestia's cheeks, before her mouth descended. The gentle pony hummed softly with delight as her lips parted around the crimson ball of the gag, kissing Celestia with sincere enjoyment. Pulling back just a little, her tongue twisted over the slick ball, before she renewed her kiss with the enslaved Princess. Little moans escaped Fluttershy's lips, a soft, "Mh... mhh... mhh..." that she seemed unaware of.

Mouth hanging open slightly, Twilight watched the deeply sensual kiss, so fascinated watching their lips move against each other that she didn't fully notice that Rainbow had slipped a hand around her and begun massaging her bared breast. Fluttershy's ass had begun to squirm back and forth, betraying her growing arousal, and the sight of her huge, heaving tits swelling against Celestia's heavy, tied-up breasts through her simple jumper was entrancing to watch. Both ponies were groaning into each other's mouths now, and the temptation to push things further ached within her.

Twilight resisted the urge, finally ordering in a low, soft voice, "Fluttershy. Go get stripped and leashed, puppy." Other ponies had yet to take their turn.

Wobbling unsteadily as she broke away, Fluttershy turned her flushed face towards Twilight, before nodding obediently. Wriggling her ass, she barked affirmatively, then dropped to all fours and crawled to Rarity's feet.

Applejack stood beside the veiled fashionista, fully suited up now. She stood taller in her knee high boots, her body wrapped slickly with glistening black material. The corset squeezed her tightly, baring her stomach through a heart-shaped cut-out, and exposing her forced-out tits. Elbow-length gloves completed the look, decorated with jingling padlocks. She stood stiffly at attention, her ripe nipples jutting stiffly and a distant, glazed look of arousal on her face as she gazed at Twilight, plainly aching for orders.

Twilight's breath caught in her throat at the sight. "Applejack. Come and help Rainbow touch me. Rainbow, would you please show her how to touch my wings?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Applejack's words smouldered with submissive lust, and she crossed the floor in three quick strides, breasts bouncing with every step.

Twilight's eyes closed in bliss as the two ponies began stroking her back and wings, Rainbow teasing and guiding Applejack in a low voice. Rarity was buckling Fluttershy's collar around her neck, the cute, shy pony already half naked and desperately struggling out of her clothes so her nipples could be clamped with little chiming bells. Celestia swayed slowly where she knelt, her heavy tits - easily the equal of any pony Twilight knew, save for Fluttershy - raised and presented by the ropes that coiled tightly around them. How delicious those hard pink nipples were going to look when she'd pierced them with some nice heavy rings... Celestia's sundress was so wet that it was sticking to her thighs, half-translucent with her dripping juices, and a thin string of saliva traced a line from her tits up to her parted lips, the stark crimson of the ball gag punctuating the black strap that wrapped around her head.

It was too much, oh, it was too much... it didn't matter what she'd had to risk, what she'd had to endure, this was worth it, this was more than worth it. Before this had all began, even her guiltiest fantasies hadn't quite reached this level of depravity, and there was so much more to come. Including the three remaining ponies, each increasingly desperate for their turn.

They each had seemed to decide that they were meant to stay silent until Twilight called them forward, but that didn't stop Trixie leaning forward and pressing both hands to her chest, in silent entreaty. She was clearly desperate for a chance to touch Celestia's bound nudity, almost panting with need.

Twilight smiled to herself. Then Trixie would have to wait a little longer. Zecora, on the other hand, gazed at Twilight with serene tranquillity, waiting her chance to serve her Mistress in any way Twilight desired. That kind of calm loyalty deserved something special. She'd go last. Twilight knew just what to have her do. That left Pinkie, mutely bouncing up and down on the spot, her big blue eyes expressing her delight at the whole situation. Yes.

"Pinkie, it's your turn, now."

"Yaaay! It's my turn, it's my turn! Thank you, Master! What should I do? Should I tickle her? Can I tickle her? Is that what it's my turn to do? Ooh! Is she going to be the dinner table, like you said? Well, I said it, but you didn't say I couldn't have a Princess dinner, so can I? Huh? Please?" Pinkie hopped forward and looked into Twilight's eye from an inch away, with a huge, earnest smile.

Unable to help herself, Twilight broke into laughter, which quickly faded into a lengthy groan of pleasure as Rainbow and Applejack gently stroked her feathers across their bare skin, lightly tugging at her wings. "Mmmm. No, Pinkie, no dinner table yet. Maybe later." It would be delicious to make Celestia their dining table, even if she couldn't be able to hold enough food for all of them. Maybe if she added Luna. Yes. She could have Luna and Celestia on their hands and knees, ass to ass, a double ended toy buried in each of them, gags in their mouths. She saw herself using the humiliated sisters to dine on, eating off their backs. Oh, yes.

"Definitely, later," she sighed in a tone that ached with arousal. Placing a hand on Pinkie's chest, she gently added, "But not now. Go and stand in front of the Princess. Celestia, on your feet."

Snapping out of what seemed to be a distant daze, Celestia pushed herself forward, then carefully gathered her legs under her, her wings flexing instinctively against their bonds to try to help. Her eyelids fluttered as she straightened her back, the ropes straining and digging into her soft skin.

Reaching past Pinkie, Twilight took one of Celestia's pink nipples between finger and thumb, rolling it slightly, with a faint smile on her lips. "You should try to reply to me when I tell you what to do, Princess. Please try harder." She pinched, squeezing firmly, before letting go.

Celestia groaned into her gag, mumbling, "Srrry, Mmmrrrss."

"Dang," Applejack murmured, her eyes on the submissive alicorn's reddened nipple. "That's a sight I never thought I'd see."

"You and me both," Rainbow answered with fervent sincerity.

"Pinkie? I want you to lift Celestia's dress, and play with her ass."

Pinkie squealed in delight, singing out, "Yes, Master!" Skipping forward, she told Celestia, "Oh, we're going to have so much fun, Princess! You look like you're having fun right now. Do you like feeling like this? I've been finding so many new things I like!"

Lifting the white folds of Celestia's sundress to bunch around her waist, Pinkie's hands slid up and down Celestia's thighs, tracing over her golden sunbursts. She cooed happily, "Such pretty, tiny white underwear. It looks really nice! Ooooh, your cutie marks are so warm! Are they warmer than the rest of you? I think they are, but maybe that's just because they're the sun, and the sun is warm, right? It's my favourite. I mean, I love the night sky too, totally, but I like being in the sunshine."

Twilight sighed happily, leaning back into her adoring slaves, a smile rising to her lips. Shaking her head with a soft giggle, she murmured, "Oh, Pinkie. How can anyone take anything seriously around you?"

"Reckon you kept her corked up quiet too long, Ma'am," chipped in Applejack from behind her.

"Mmm. I think you're right," Twilight agreed, nodding.

Pinkie sank down onto her knees and nuzzled her cheek against Celestia's thigh, reaching around her to smooth her hands over the Princess's flawless curves. Tracing the edges of the small triangle of pure white fabric that scarcely covered the valley of her ass, Pinkie gripped with both hands, and began to knead. Her voice sank a notch lower, and she murmured, "Oooh, that's so nice. You're so smooth. You are warm. It's nice. You have the best ass, Princess."

Pinkie's stream of chatter had actually made Celestia smile, even around the gag in her mouth, but as her dress was pulled up, and her body firmly handled without her consent, the distant look of hazy arousal crept back into her eyes. Her body quivered a little with each squeeze of Pinkie's hands, a faint pink flush marking her cheeks.

"Celestia. Push your ass back into Pinkie's hands. Rub against her."

Nodding slowly, the Princess murmured her compliance into her saliva-slick gag, and began to sway, grinding her hips against Pinkie's hands. Pinkie giggled happily and crawled around to behind the Princess, kissing and licking her smooth skin as she kneaded firmly.

"Do you like Pinkie touching you?" Twilight asked the gagged alicorn rhetorically. "I'm enjoying myself, I really am. I can't have my slaves being too afraid to relax around you, and you do need to get used to being played with like a toy. Oh, that little gasp was so cute! Pinkie, see if you can make her do that again."

"Shhhrrr, Mfftrrr," came Pinkie's muffled but enthusiastic response, redoubling the assault of her hands and mouth.

Celestia jerked slightly a second time as the other pony's warm pink tongue caressed her ass. A sharp inhalation lifted her bound breasts, and she froze for a moment before she shakily began grinding back against Pinkie once more, obedient to her orders.

"Oh, that's just delicious," murmured Twilight, sighing languidly as Applejack's hand replaced Rainbow's hand on her bare breast, while the pegasus tugged down Twilight's dress a little more to bare the other. "I could chain you to a wall, and give all my toys instructions to touch you however they wanted. All these years, Princess, watching in secret, but never being involved, never being touched. I really think I have to help you make up for lost time."

"Mistress! Hasn't she waited long enough? When is it the sensual and slutty Trixie's turn to fondle a Princess?"

Twilight turned her head towards Trixie, unable to stop herself grinning at the outburst. "I never said I was going to let all of you touch Princess Celestia."

Trixie gaped, shocked and outraged. "Mistress! How could you! How could you possibly leave Trixie out? Hasn't she been the single best pony you have ever owned? Didn't she single-handedly enable you to emerge victorious over the Princess? Hasn't she-"

"Silence, Trixie."

The show pony's mouth shut with a snap, and Twilight continued more gently, a playful smile curling about her lips, "Of course you've done very well helping me, Trixie. Pinkie, release Celestia and go get changed into your pretty blue costume, okay?"

Pinkie pulled back, sucking in a deep breath, then pouting. "Awww, Master! Okaaay." Planting a quick parting kiss on the smooth white curve of Celestia's ass, she bounced to her feet and skipped over to the clothes rack, where Rarity and Fluttershy waited.

The yellow pegasus was fully naked now, save for her collar and the bells on her nipples, and she panted happily as Rarity stroked her pink mane. Nodding at Twilight, Rarity leant down and told Fluttershy, "There, your Mistress is ready for you to come over now. Off you go, dearest."

"Rff!" Fluttershy barked, pausing to give Rarity's hand a thankful lick before she romped across the floor, bells jingling with each sway of her bare breasts. She skittered past Celestia to screech to a stop at Twilight's feet, panting loudly. Planting her ass on the floor, she rubbed her head against Twilight's legs with joyful, unselfconscious happiness.

"Oh, Fluttershy," Twilight sighed happily. Bending slowly, so as not to dislodge the warm hands caressing her body, she stroked her pet's pink mane fondly. Glancing up at Trixie, she added, "Trixie, I want you to go and play with Celestia's lovely breasts, okay? Use your mouth."

Trixie's eyes sparkled. "Oh, Mistress! Trixie is going to get to taste - she means, yes, the slutty and submissive Trixie deserves this reward. Watch as she brings the Princess to trembling with the mere touch of her talented mouth!"

Striding forward, her shoes clicking on the floor, Trixie stopped in front of Celestia, and hesitated. Her eyes met the Princess's, and a sudden, uncharacteristic look of uncertainty crossed her face. "She is allowed," she told Celestia, shoring up her wavering confidence, before her hand raised slowly. Hesitating again, her fingers trembled, an inch away from the surface of the Princess's thrust-out breast, before she nerved herself enough to suddenly grip and squeeze.

Celestia's expression, despite the damp ball gag forcibly parting her lips, was somehow challenging. Her back straightened a little, and the clothes trolley squeaked as it rolled forward another inch.

Trixie's tail twitched nervously, her voice rising. "Are you trying to suggest Trixie isn't worthy of handling you? The slutty and sensual fucktoy Trixie helped develop the counter-charm rune! She charmed Misty Morning into drawing the ritual circle, right under your nose!"

Celestia shifted her shoulders slowly, her breasts shifting slightly under their bondage, and raised her eyebrows slightly as she gazed at Trixie. Perhaps only Celestia, under the depraved and humiliating conditions she was in, could manage to convey polite, dismissive interest.

"How dare you dismiss Trixie!" demanded the showpony indignantly, and grabbed hold of Celestia's breasts with both hands. Without further hesitation, she lowered her head and begin sucking and biting Celestia's left nipple, teasing and tormenting the stiff pink nub with defiant roughness.

"Mmmhmm..." sighed Celestia into her gag, nodding slowly, her shoulders relaxing as she leant into Trixie's mouth. Small, quick gasps escaped her lips with each nip of Trixie's teeth.

Twilight giggled to herself, though very quietly, so as not to disturb the scene. Even under her current constrained circumstances, the Princess still knew how to manipulate ponies into acting the way she wanted. Especially a walking ball of ego like Trixie. Still... it was hot, seeing Trixie get rough with Celestia. Trixie's blue cheeks were flushed red, half arousal, half anger, and she lapped and licked with furious intensity. Celestia's white skin glistened wetly with saliva, small bites marking her smooth breasts, and by the way her hips bucked slowly, it was clear that she enjoyed the abuse.

Good. Because there was just one mare left, and Twilight knew exactly what she was going to do.

"Trixie. Trixie!"

It took a moment for Trixie to register Twilight's words, and a few seconds longer before she mumbled, as if hoping not to be heard, "...yes? Mistress?"

"That's enough, Trixie. Go and stand with Rarity, and undress. Until you have a lovely outfit of your own, you'll just have to be nude."

Whining in protest, Trixie gave a last, hurried nip with her teeth before she reluctantly pulled away and sighed. "Oh, if you insist, Mistress, the obedient and perfectly pleasing Trixie obeys."

"I may be able to do something with her costume, my Lady, if you'll allow," Rarity interjected.

"That's fine, Rarity. Applejack, Rainbow - sit at my sides, with Fluttershy. You too, Pinkie."

"Sure, Master!" Pinkie bounced over gleefully, her breasts bouncing against the thin blue straps of her impossibly skimpy outfit, and dropped to her knees beside Fluttershy. Applejack and Rainbow each echoed their obedience in slightly disappointed tones, and settled to their knees in poses that were invitingly, blatantly sexual, legs parted wide to show off their bare cunts, chests thrust out.

Twilight took a deep breath. As much as she'd been enjoying their attentions, she wanted to be able to pay her full attention to what was about to happen. "Zecora. Step forward."

The zebra, radiating complete calm, moved to stand between Twilight and Celestia. With unruffled composure, she said demurely to Twilight, "It is your body with which I would prefer to play, but command your slave, and I shall obey."

"Zecora, face Celestia, please." Twilight paused. She had to get this exactly right; to give her motivation without souring the mood. "You see, you were right, I did mess things up pretty badly. But Celestia messed things up too. She really should have been more observant, when I got away with all the things I did. She really shouldn't have given into temptation.

"She's been a bad pony, and what she needs, more than anything... is to be punished." Twilight infused the word with a sensual purr, coaxing Zecora towards the reaction she wanted from the zebra. "I want you to smack her tits, and tell her off. Okay?"

For a moment, it seemed almost as though Zecora hadn't heard the question. She simply gazed into Celestia's eyes, her head tilting slightly, the stripes making her face hard to read. Finally, she murmured, "Twilight speaks the truth, pony Princess. If she deserves to be chastised, you deserve no less."

Almost too quickly to see, Zecora's hand flicked through the air and landed hard on Celestia's outthrust breast, the white skin rapidly growing pink in the shape of her handprint.

Celestia's eyes rolled back with a muffled grunt, and she muttered something unintelligible into her gag. Her hips shifted with a little jerk, and Celestia arched her back further against the tight rope binding.

"You enjoy the hard touch of her hand on your curves? You shall receive the punishment you richly deserve!" Zecora's words were a complex mixture of anger and arousal, and she straightened up to stare at Celestia before backhanding her firmly across her breasts. The crack of skin on skin rang from the walls.

"Don't stop, Zecora. I believe Princess Celestia has a lot of things that she deserves to be spanked for." Twilight murmured huskily. She'd never seen anyone stand before the Princess with such a complete lack of fear or deference, and Zecora showed no trace of the instinctive intimidation that the others had all seemed to feel.

With a steady, measured pace, the flat of Zecora's hand cracked against Celestia's bare tits over and over, sending seismic ripples through the Princess's heavy breasts. Each fresh blow darkened the white skin to a blushing pink-red, the handprints overlapping until they blurred together. Celestia's knees trembled beneath her, her sundress bunched up around her waist, shuddering with each blow. The red gag muffled her moans, her eyes rolled up, and her pure white panties clung wetly to her body, soaked through.

Twilight's slaves were awed to silence by the sight, as thoroughly as they had been when Celestia first entered, neither daring to move nor speak. Even Trixie, now dressed only in a scanty set of lace underwear, was kneeling with the others, her tongue silenced by the almost-blasphemy of seeing Celestia beaten, and seemingly loving every second of her abuse.

Twilight stepped forward slowly, almost tiptoeing, as she moved up behind Zecora.

The zebra was panting loudly, her eyes wild, seemingly no longer conscious of her audience. She started slightly as Twilight's body pressed against her back, before letting her arms drop loosely to her sides. "...Mistress. Do you wish me to undress?" she asked after a moment.

"I want to know how you feel, Zecora. Tell me," Twilight coaxed. The arousal simmering in her slim body was almost unbearable, and she couldn't stop herself rocking her hips against Zecora's firm ass.

Zecora's eyelids flickered, sliding half closed, and a longing groan escaped her as she pushed back against her Mistress. "Seeing you control others is something I truly enjoy, and now I witness the Princess made into your toy. Now she moans with every blow, and so my lust does ever grow."

Squeezing her eyes shut for a moment as a pulse of arousal rushed through her, Twilight leant up and breathed into Zecora's ear, "Celestia's mind is completely under my control. I can make her humiliate herself however I want. "

Zecora shuddered at Twilight's words, a hoarse moan quivering deep in her throat. "Mistress, please, force me to my knees!"

"Not yet, Zecora. Later." Twilight flicked Zecora's ear with her tongue, then lowered herself from her tip toes and stepped beside the zebra, to face Celestia. "Go back to spanking Celestia's breasts, please. Princess? Can you hear me?"

"Yss, mmmffrsss... mmmhh!" Celestia groaned thickly as Zecora's hand cracked against her silky skin once again.

"That's good. I want you to understand what I'm about to do, Princess." Twilight slid down onto one knee before Celestia and ran her small hands up and down the Princess's inner thighs, giving Zecora room to carry on spanking her bared breasts. "I'm going to make you cum. Right here, in front of all my ponies."

Several quiet gasps came from behind her, and the subtle sounds of rhythmic movement as at least one pony gave in to the urge to touch themselves. Twilight smiled, but didn't take her eyes off Celestia's face, barely visible over the heaving curves of her bound tits. "Breathe deeply, Princess," Twilight said softly, and reached out slowly.

The feel of Celestia's silken thighs under her fingers drove a spike of trembling wonder though Twilight, goosebumps shivering up her body. A little gasp fell from the Princess's lips above, and Twilight heard herself echo it. Her voice became softer, more intimate, speaking to Celestia alone despite the watching slaves, and the rhythmic crack-crack of Zecora's hand against the Princess's breasts.

"You're wet, Celestia. I can feel the wetness of your pussy trickling down your thighs, from your sodden panties. You've always stayed one step above the ponies around you, but now you can't. Now you're down here, with us. You're just a horny mare. A mare that's all mine."

Her slim fingers slid higher, and pressed firmly against Celestia's translucent panties. Every tiny detail was outlined in Twilight's vision with unnatural clarity, burning indelibly into her memory. Celestia's panties were subtly patterned, delicate ridges and whorls of lace sliding under Twilight's fingers as she explored them. The Princess's body heat burned through the thin, damp cloth.

"Oh... oh, Princess. You're so soft. You're so soft..." Twilight murmured to herself, lost in exploring the feeling of the tender folds beneath the delicate panties. Hooking her fingers under the edges of the cloth, little by little, she eased it down, revealing the flushed-pink skin beneath. Twilight bit her lip.

"Princess..." she whispered. Every other thought flew out of her mind, every other intention dissolved. She leant forward, light-headed, and nuzzled her lips up and down the perfect sex before her, breathing in the scent of Celestia's arousal. Unable to stop herself, and not wanting to, Twilight's tongue slid out, and to the sound of another slap from above, began to eagerly lap up and down her slit.

"Trrrllllhhh!" Celestia cried into her saliva-slick gag, her pink eyes wild and desperate, unfocused. Her hips began to buck jerkily up and down against Twilight's face, and her rumpled sundress began to slide down to cover Twilight's head.

Zecora seized it and tugged it back up, tucking some of the trailing frills into the rough belt of material bunched around Celestia's waist, chiding, "You have no decency, so shall have no privacy."

Twilight didn't even notice the fabric slipping over her head, entirely consumed by lapping and licking her divine mentor's pussy. Celestia's perfect ass filled her hands, and Twilight began smacking them and kneading them roughly, pulling on her tail, utterly lost in the sheer splendour of the other mare's pure body.

Distantly, Twilight was aware that Celestia's throaty moans were rising faster and faster, approaching an inevitable crescendo, and all at once, realisation of where she was and what she was doing flooded over her. For a moment she stopped licking altogether. She was going to make Celestia cum. Slave Celestia was going to cum for her.

Shuddering, Twilight thrust herself closer, her tongue delving into the Princess's slick, hot cunt, and began lapping for all she was worth. Cum for me, cum for me! she demanded silently, her own body almost too hot to endure. Her heart pounded, her nipples aching, and she swayed in perfect time with the instinctive thrusts of Celestia's hips. A sharp gasp sounded above her, ropes creaking as the Princess sucked in a deep breath.

Everything slowed as Celestia's eyes squeezed shut, goosebumps dimpling her bare arms. "Hhhffff..." she groaned shakily into the gag, a small, anticipatory sound, before a much louder gasp of pleasure escaped her. Her mane billowed back and forth, as though caught in a storm, and Celestia's back arched as she gave voice to a throaty, ringing cry of release that filled the chamber with overlapping resonances. She stumbled slightly, and Zecora swept in to grip the much taller mare's body, helping hold her up.

Breathing heavily, her tongue coated with Celestia's wetness, Twilight gave her mentor's pussy a few quick flicks of her tongue, just to hear the jerky whimpers the Princess made with each one. Finally, she pulled back and looked up at Celestia's bound body, supported by Zecora's strong arms. "That was... amazing..." she murmured. Zecora moved to one side, giving Twilight room as she rose to her feet.

"I hope you liked that," Twilight said softly. She meant it to come out as gently taunting, but the words slipped out laden with true sincerity. This impossibly beautiful creature was all hers, and that was wonderful, exciting, thrilling, but she also felt a deep and profound tenderness to the one pony that had taught her more than any other.

Celestia's eyes slid closed, and she nodded, her cheeks flushed bright pink. She seemed shocked into a distant place, her breaths steadying out, slow and deep. Zecora gently released the Princess, as she seemed more able to stay on her feet, and stepped back to give the two of them room.

Glancing over her shoulder, Twilight pointed to a wide, soft chair. "Bring that to me," she commanded, and carefully reached up to unfasten the chain that bound Celestia to the now-empty clothes rack. Applejack's knot gave her a little more trouble before she identified the right end to pull to release it, but then the intricate rope bondage came loose under her fingers. For an instant, she considered calling Applejack to help her remove it, but no. This was a moment for her and Celestia alone.

With patient care, she unwound the rope from the Princess's soft, rounded breasts, revealing corded indentations in her skin that traced the path of the rope. The tight binders pinning Celestia's arms together came undone, buckle by buckle, and the divine pony murmured a sound of relief as her arms fell limply to her sides. Removing the black binders from her wings, Twilight set them down on the floor, then hesitated. Each piece of bondage she removed seemed to restore a little of the Princess's commanding presence, even if Celestia was still mostly naked, mute, her eyes closed and her dress bunched around her waist. The gag was the last thing that let Twilight feel unquestioningly dominant over her.

She unbuckled it anyway, easing it out of Celestia's mouth carefully. The strap had left plainly visible indents around Celestia's soft lips, like a memory, and Twilight shivered as she gazed at them. She absently handed the dripping ball gag to one of the ponies near her without looking around, murmuring absently, "Take care of this," before she took Celestia's hand.

"I'm going to have you sit down now, Princess," Twilight told her softly. With a swift tug, she freed the tangled folds of Celestia's sun dress, letting the skirt fall down to cloak her damp thighs and exposed cunt, before leading her over and guiding her into the chair.

Celestia followed Twilight's direction without resistance, barely reacting to her dress sliding back down her long legs, and settled into the chair. She leaned back and breathed a deep sigh, before her eyes finally opened.

Twilight found herself frozen by the Princess's gaze. She'd never seen an expression quite like that on her face before, tenderness and fondness, but tempered with something more ambiguous, more wistful.

"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia said softly.

"Was it everything that you... hoped for?" The question fell from Twilight's lips without her conscious intervention.

"Not yet. But oh, it was a start. It's been a very long time since I was touched like that. Everyone has always been a little scared, other than the ponies I used the charm upon, and you are, too. But with time, you will forget those lingering fears and grow truly masterful with me." Celestia's smile widened, and she added lightly, "You may also wish to end your command that I be completely truthful."

Twilight nodded jerkily, a hot flush of embarrassment making her ears burn, cheeks crimson. "I - I think that's best. That order is lifted. Actually, every order I've given you since you entered this room is ended." She didn't think there were any other orders she'd given in the last few minutes that she needed to cancel, but it was best to be safe.

Celestia nodded, and replied smoothly, "Thank you, Empress." Her gaze shifted to the half-naked ponies standing around her, and as one, they shifted nervously.

"I enjoyed each of your contributions to Twilight's game. Thank you." She nodded graciously to the hesitant, awkward medley of meek thanks in return, and went on, "Twilight. If I may dress, it would be best if I return to overseeing the castle. Ponies will be returning now that the evacuation is lifted, and they will want to see I am safe. They will also want to see you, in time. Rumour is spreading as we speak."

Swallowing, Twilight hurriedly agreed, "Of course, Princess. Do as you see fit."

"You may also wish to remove my slave collar. While I address my little ponies, at least. Or do you consider them yours? They are, after all, your responsibility now."

It occurred to Twilight that Celestia was taunting her. The Princess was sitting half naked, her thighs still slick with her own juices, the rope marks still livid against her milky breasts, a slave collar buckled firmly about her throat, and she was taunting Twilight as though she was the one in control. Of course, she was doing that to make Twilight angry, which would push Twilight past her renewed nervousness. Though it did also serve to remind her of the weight of the burden she'd taken on by enslaving Celestia, which reminded her in turn of Celestia's offer to give up and turn control over to her once more.

Twilight knew all of this, and it didn't stop it working. She was reminded of Celestia's offer, she was less nervous, more angry, and Celestia knew full well every thought passing through Twilight's head. The elder alicorn's calm smile was infuriating.

Stepping forward, Twilight hooked a finger into the ring dangling from the front of Celestia's collar and tugged her head forward. Her voice was level. "You know, Princess, you're going to have to stop manipulating me."

"Make me." Celestia's eyes were challenging, her smile growing wider by the moment. "You can command anything of me, Twilight. Though that would be the easy way out. Like ordering me to give you the answer to a test."

And just like that, Twilight could no longer order her to stop. "How did I never notice how infuriating you are, Celestia?"

"You could always gag me again. Though then you would have to deal with the castle clean up yourself. I'm sure there are many questions your new subjects cannot wait to ask you."

Twilight didn't know whether to laugh or spank her again. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed Celestia soundly, giggling into the Princess's lips, before she pulled back enough to undo her collar. "Go, Celestia. Before I change my mind."

"Whatever you say. Empress." Celestia rose from the chair, flicking her billowing mane, and strolled out of the room without troubling to pull up her dress.

The door shut behind her with a soft thud.

Things were quiet for a long moment.

Applejack broke the silence, with a breathed, "I didn't dream that, right? Y'all saw that. All that."

"Did I ever! The Princess has the squoshiest ass!" Pinkie declared brightly, bouncing on the spot. The slim blue straps over her nipples slid to one side as her breasts jiggled, barely holding on to her curves.

"I, uh, don't reckon that's a word, Pinkie."

"How about a word for the hottest thing, and also the scariest thing ever? Terrorboner?" Rainbow asked, shaking her head.

Rarity nodded in agreement, ignoring the indelicacy of the term as she gazed slack-lipped into her own memory.

"Woof."

"I would not object to giving more sensual pain, if you decide the Princess should be punished again," Zecora remarked in tones of amused satisfaction.

"Why didn't Trixie get to spank the Princess? The slutty and sensual Trixie has been spanked enough times that she deserves to do some spanking of her own!"

The renewed chatter of her slaves washed over Twilight as she sank into the chair Celestia had just vacated. She definitely needed a minute to recover after that. Then, perhaps, she could see how many of her slaves she could get to pleasure her at the same time...

A flicker of dark blue pulled her thoughts from the logistics of the problem. At the far end of the room, a small servant's door was fractionally ajar, and she'd caught a glimpse of movement there. Luna. Of course, Luna, where had Luna been all this time?

Pushing herself out of the chair, she said distractedly, "Everypony, stay here and relax. Have a nice time. I won't be long."

Trixie barred her path. Taking a step backwards, away from the others, she hissed, "Mistress? Can the slutty and submissive Trixie please have a word?"

"Quickly, Trixie. What is it?" Twilight looked over at the door again. She was almost sure Luna had been there, but if Twilight waited too long, it might be hard to find her again.

"Surely, Mistress, if you're going somewhere, then your loyal and obedient slut Trixie should be at your side! Trixie deserves to be with you more than anypony, especially now that Princess Spank-Me is no longer a threat to your absolute control of all ponies everywhere."

Twilight blinked, then shook her head. Princess Spank-Me? "I need to make sure everything is secure, Trixie. Stay here with the others until I get back."

Trixie's lips pressed together. "Of course the submissive and slutty Trixie is only too happy to obey your every whim, Mistress, but are you sure she can't come with you?"

This time, Twilight picked up on the faint note of pleading underlying Trixie's voice, and took a longer look at the showpony. She was standing a little awkwardly, and now it occurred to Twilight, she had moved a little out of earshot of the rest of the harem. Of course. The others didn't like her very much - not entirely unfairly, under the circumstances - and she must be feeling very alone.

Twilight's voice softened. "I need to go and find Princess Luna, and I think she might find it harder to talk to me if I'm not alone. I'll come back for you, don't worry. For now - sit over there for a moment, please."

Nodding, with a look of disappointment on her face, Trixie sighed heavily, "Oh, these ponies and their tender feelings. Fine, Mistress, the glorious Trixie will waste her deliciously sensual talents sitting around until you return."

Sighing, Twilight watched her go. There were tensions in the harem now, ones she was going to have to resolve. It had been so easy to forget that just because Twilight was happy to own her, it didn't mean that Trixie would feel welcome when confronted by the others. Turning back towards the knot of happily chatting ponies, Twilight caught Applejack's eye, and beckoned.

Without even stopping to finish her sentence, Applejack broke off and trotted over to Twilight's side, making sure to take high steps along the way that made her warm orange breasts bounce heavily. "What c'n I do for you, Ma'am? Ah'm ready'n eager to obey!"

Oh, Celestia, that tight outfit of glistening black really looked incredible on Applejack's muscled body. Her braided mane, her out-thrust breasts, her eager declaration of obedience... a hot shiver flashed through Twilight. But no, Applejack was for later. For now, she had other needs. "Applejack, I want you to try to make Trixie part of the celebration, make her feel welcome."

From the shift in Applejack's expression, those were not the orders she'd been hoping for. "Aw, Ma'am, c'mon now. Is that rilly what you want out've me right now?"

"She worked so hard for me that she almost passed out, Applejack. I know she's not a good pony, but she's being good for me, and she contributed a lot to us all being here like this." Twilight sighed. "I can see her getting upset because she feels so left out, like none of you like her. I don't want to leave her here like that."

"Well, she's not wrong." Despite the words, Applejack's expression softened as she looked over to the showmare, who sat with her chin resting on her hand, looking into the distance. "Alright, Ma'am, lemme take care of her. If'n she doesn't shoot off that big mouth of hers too much, we might all get along."

"Thank you. I feel a lot better knowing you'll help her feel at home. That's what Apples do best, isn't it?"

"Aw, shucks, now you've rilly gone and done it. She'll be fine, don't you worry. You go do whatever you need to."

Twilight's hand slid down Applejack's cheek, and she breathed, "I love you. You look amazing. I'll see you soon."

A look of transcendent happiness lit up the farmpony's face, and she murmured, "Love you, Ma'am. See you soon."

Lingering a moment longer, Twilight watched Applejack cross the floor towards Trixie, before she nodded to herself and turned away.

Luna could be anywhere by now, having possibly just watched the entire scene between Twilight, her harem, and Celestia. Of course Luna wouldn't have had a problem with anything she'd just seen. It was completely fine. For certain.

Twilight moved faster.

Author's Note

The logistics of Twilight's harem are getting out of hand. The sensible thing to do is to recognise that, and refrain from adding anypony else, ever.

Twilight is getting less and less sensible.

Proofing by the every speedy and vigilant Setokaiva!

2: Emotional Damage

"Luna? Luna! Princess Luna!"

Twilight hurried through the winding corridors of the castle, passing though the sections used by the servants and guards to move between the more decorative public chambers. There was no sign of the missing Princess.

Beginning to wonder if she'd imagined the glimpse of star-speckled mane, Twilight turned to a staircase and began climbing, calling out again. Under normal circumstances, she might have hoped some other pony might have seen where Luna had gone, but with the castle all but empty, she was on her own.

"Luna!"

"I am here, Twilight Sparkle."

The soft voice came from above. Glancing up, Twilight saw a door standing open at the top of the staircase, and took the remaining steps two at a time. Only as her new, longer legs slipped out from beneath her did she realise the mistake she'd made.

A cry of surprise rang in the air as she toppled backwards, her new wings awkwardly paddling at the air without slowing her fall, and she tumbled back down to crash heavily to the ground at the foot of the stairs. Her transformation hadn't entirely erased the bruises she'd suffered at the hands of the guards, and her entire body ached.

"Owww," she groaned, rubbing her head dazedly. Had she sprained a wing? Was that what that pain in her back was?

"Twilight!"

The Princess of the Night crouched over her, sudden worry etched into her proud, noble features. "Twilight, are you alright?"

Oddly, the expression of concern on Luna's face almost made the fall worth it. "I... yes, I'm fine. Sorry, I was hurrying, and I... guess I'm not used to this new body, yet."

Luna's arms wound around Twilight, gathering her into the Princess's embrace, and gently lifted her to a sitting position. "You must be careful, Twilight! You could have been hurt."

"It's fine, I promise. I'm just a bit sore. I'm... glad you care, though." Twilight felt her cheeks heat in a blush, looking to one side.

"You are an enormous fool, Twilight. Of course I care for thee. Have I not demonstrated it enough?" Luna's voice was soft. Gently lifting Twilight to her feet, Luna half-shepherded, half-carried her back up the stairs.

The chamber above was small and domed, gilt coating the stone ribs supporting the ceiling. The dome itself was painted with an intricate mural of stars and nebulae, reaching down to frame a wide pair of doors leading out to a sunny balcony. A long couch took up much of the floor, upholstered in deep blue and strewn with pillows. Luna guided Twilight over to it, and sat down with her.

"How do thy wings feel?"

"Um. A little sore. I think I landed awkwardly on this one." Twilight reached behind her and adjusted it, wincing. "I'm not really used to the idea of having wings."

"You will grow accustomed to them, with time."

"Luna..." Twilight hesitated, then forged on. "Did I see you watching the celebration we were having downstairs?"

Luna's lips pressed together, and she glanced away. After a moment, she nodded.

"Why didn't you join us? Was there something... the matter?" Like the fact I was humiliating your sister in front of everypony?

"It was... strange. To see my sister treated in such a manner. More than that, I had never seen her so exposed, so lustful. I know that she has used the charm upon me in the past, but I do not recall it."

"Do you find it, um, unsettling? To see her that way?"

"Yes. ...no. Perhaps. Certainly I hath seen my sister naked before, but the way she looked under your care..." Luna trailed off, looking steadily into the far corner, away from Twilight's face. Her star-dusted mane billowed softly around her.

Twilight gently laid a hand on Luna's thigh. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, Luna. I really didn't."

Luna blinked, then glanced back at Twilight, with a look of incomprehension. "Why would you assume the fault was thine? It is I that looked upon her, and felt... jealousy."

"Jealousy?" Twilight echoed in turn, her brow furrowing slightly. This was not where she'd feared the conversation was going.

"Yes." Luna bit her lip, then sighed, "I saw you with her, and I felt replaced. It was a foolish emotion, and I am ashamed of it. I had thought myself to have purged such selfishness."

"Luna, no! Of course not, no pony could replace you!" Twilight reached up to turn Luna's head back towards her, and leaned up to kiss her dark lips. She felt the other pony stiffen for a moment, then slowly relax into the kiss. Luna drew her closer, until Twilight was all but sitting astride her lap.

Finally breaking the kiss, Twilight told her sincerely, "Luna, you chose to stay mine. You brought back who I was. I risked you deliberately, I sent you here to be caught, and I'm so, so sorry about that. I couldn't think of any other way. But now everything is over, I want you in my life. I want you to stay with me, all the time that you can. I love you. No matter what happens, nothing will change that."

Luna sniffed, resting her head against Twilight's. "You hath always been closer to my sister than myself. She taught you, all but raised you from a filly. I was merely a scary story, and then a monster. For a while, I became more special to you, one you could depend on when you opposed her. But now my sister has willingly surrendered to thee, you are closer than ever. I would not be offended if you wished to spend more time with her than myself."

Oh, manure. Untangling this was going to be much more difficult, and delicate, than she'd thought. If she wasn't careful to balance the time she spent between the two sisters, she might provoke jealousy between them, or worse, this tragic self-flagellation from Luna. Twilight made a decision, and straightened her back.

"Luna, you're talking complete nonsense," she said firmly.

Luna blinked. "Twilight-"

"No. Listen. I feel different things for you and Celestia. Of course I want to be near her, and we do have a relationship that's built up over the course of my life. She's also been manipulating me that entire time, even if it was done lovingly and for a good reason. I care for her, so much, and I have a lot of feelings bound up in my relationship with her, but it will always be complicated between us. With you, it's... simple. You're noble, and wise, and beautiful, and I trust the purity of your intent, completely. There aren't any layers in the way you speak to me, any cunning tugging of my strings. You always say what you mean."

"You cannot possibly mean such things, Twilight. How could you, or anypony, call me wise? Or noble? I was foolish, and I hurt many. I forced my sister to do unspeakable things to try to contain my darkness, and it broke her heart. You spoke of punishing my sister, but it is I who needs to be punished. I shall always deserve to be punished. Not her."

"Oh, Luna..." breathed Twilight, feeling an aching tightness well up inside her chest. Foolishly, she'd thought that Luna had been cleansed of her guilt by her redemption. Even, if Twilight was honest with herself, cleansed by loving and being loved by Twilight herself. She had been wrong, terribly wrong. "You've been punished enough, Luna! You lost a thousand years, you had everything taken away. Sometimes... sometimes, when ponies get hurt, that makes them wise. You've been hurt so much."

"Not enough. I was banished to save others, cleansed in order to stop my darkness, and when my existence had been nothing but trouble for everypony around me, my sister forgave me. To think that she sought my forgiveness, when the only reason she created such a darkly tempting spell was to try to save me from myself. I have tainted all around me, even thee, Twilight." Luna's voice gathered strength and forcefulness as she spoke, her mane snapping back and forth in agitation. "I can never punish myself enough."

A hollow feeling dropped into the centre of Twilight's stomach. "Luna, are you punishing yourself by giving yourself to me?" It was a ridiculous question, but she couldn't shake the image of Luna secretly using everything they'd done together as a way of hurting herself. Twilight felt tears beading in the corners of her eyes.

Luna jerked, distracted from her deepening pit of anger and despair. "What? Twilight - no! Of course not! I would never have surrendered myself to thee with such false intent. I chose truly to accept thee as my Mistress. You had shown thy love, thy strength in conquering temptation. In conquering myself. I could trust you to guide me, and I would not fear mine own moods and impulses."

"...so you don't trust yourself. Even now."

"How could I, after what came before? I must always be vigilant, for any sign that I could become what I once was."

"Oh, Luna..." breathed Twilight sadly. Lying back along the couch, she gently drew Luna down to lie against her side, and the Princess followed her direction without resistance. "You're not the pony that you once were. You never will be again. I won't let you. Celestia wouldn't let you. But more importantly, you wouldn't do that. You wouldn't. Not after all you've been through. Everypony makes mistakes. But everypony deserves a second chance, too."

Twilight swallowed. "I was going down a path that could have ended badly, when Celestia stopped me. You helped me come back to myself, and made me look at what I was doing. I'm not clean of that temptation. There are times I don't want you to stop me. Oh, Luna, the things I could do... but I'm holding myself back. Ponies deserve to decide what they want."

"Other than Trixie Lulamoon?" Luna murmured.

"...she has six months. Less than that, now. Then she gets to decide what she wants." If she could possibly choose to want anything else, by then. Which, deep down, Twilight knew she was counting on. "She agreed to this in the first place. She's just being punished a little bit for what she was trying to do."

"You know I find such arguments tenuous, Twilight. Six months only." Luna sighed, resting her head on a cushion and gazing quietly into Twilight's eyes. "I do find it comforting. That you can stop me, that you have before and will again, if you must. I cannot relax my grip upon who I am, but it helps to know that others will not suffer if I do fail. But I am not blind to the temptations of thy new power, Twilight. You have proved that you have the strength to defeat myself, and my sister. Not only that, but the ability to turn us willingly to any cause you desire. I shall never stop watching thee for signs of darkness."

"Then we can watch each other. Luna, you must learn to forgive yourself, and I can't do that for you." Twilight hesitated. "I mean - of course I could, but I don't want to. I don't think it would be right. You need to work through this on your own. But being guilty about it won't help you be the pony you want to be. It will only make you obsess about everything that happened, and taint all your happiness. You must stop punishing yourself."

A strange look entered Luna's eyes, something defiant and ashamed in equal measure. "I do not believe I can obey that order, Twilight Sparkle."

There was something wrong with that answer, not just the refusal. There was something wrong with the whole conversation. Something badly wrong, something Twilight couldn't see. She stared at Luna, trying to pin it down. Something that Luna knew, and she didn't. "...Luna, what aren't you telling me?"

Luna's lips pressed together, and she said nothing.

"...Luna. Luna. What are you hiding from me?"

Silence.

"Luna. This conversation isn't going to end, and I'm not going away, until you speak to me."

"It is none of thy affairs, Twilight! It is between myself and my misdeeds alone." Luna's whole body was stiff now, as if she were trying to erect a barrier between them despite their intimate embrace.

Frustration and worry slid towards anger, sharpening Twilight's tone. "Luna, when you gave yourself to me, that wasn't just a game. You're mine. If there's something going on with you that I don't know about, I'm not looking after you properly. I can't protect you from things I don't know about."

Rolling up onto all fours, Twilight planted both hands on Luna's shoulders and stared down at her. "Tell me what you're hiding."

"I will not!"

"You will."

"Wilt thou use thy power upon me to loosen my tongue, Twilight Sparkle? Wilt thou drag it from my lips by force of thy magic? Is that the truth behind thy certainty?" Luna demanded angrily.

"No. I shouldn't need to compel you by force of the charm just to be honest with me!"

That hit home. Twilight saw the defiance in Luna's eyes flicker, a flash of guilt momentarily replacing it. Whatever she was hiding, she was hiding it with a terrible determination that scared Twilight deeply. What was Luna doing that she could be so ashamed of?

Luna bit her lip, and refused to meet Twilight's gaze. "...I cannot tell you," she finally whispered.

"...okay."

Twilight gazed down at Luna sadly, and took a deep breath. "Okay, Princess. I'm not going to force it out of you. But I want you to know that you can come to me, any time, and talk."

Luna looked wrong-footed, a slightly lost expression on her face. "You... are not going to make me comply with thy demand?"

"No, Luna. I won't." Twilight sighed, and pushed herself off the couch. Standing up, she flexed her sore wing slightly, then winced and left it alone. "I'm going back downstairs. You can join us, if you want to."

Turning towards the stairs, Twilight walked slowly, tensed for the sound of Luna's voice calling her back. It didn't come. The stairs spiralled around her, before releasing her into the corridor below, and still, no call came.

Twilight went back to the party.

After that, it hadn't been quite the same. She'd laughed with the others, playing party games, eating the biggest desserts that Canterlot's well-stocked kitchens could provide, then inventing several new ones, hurling ingredients at each other across the pantry, and still, a part of her had been stuck in that tiny chamber, looking down at Luna. Their scanty outfits were wonderful and enticing, reminding her all over again of just how beautiful her friends were, but her appreciation had lacked the spark to drive her to arousal. Perhaps they could tell, for their games had been playfully innocent.

When she'd pictured conquering Celestia, she'd imagined a great pile of her friends and lovers in the aftermath, with Princesses on either side of her, filling up the biggest bed they could find. Instead, despite everything, Applejack had wanted to go back home to check on Applebloom, and to let Big Mac know that everything was alright. Once she'd said that, Rarity had admitted that she wanted to make sure Sweetie Belle was safe, and even Fluttershy awkwardly added that it would be best if she got back to tend to her animals. Pinkie was so torn as to who to go with, she'd grabbed handfuls of her fluffy mane and tried to pull herself into two separate ponies, before Twilight had taken her aside and told her that since Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy might be feeling bad they'd left her side, it would be best if she went with them to keep their spirits up.

That left Rainbow, who was in no hurry to rush back to weather patrol, Zecora, and Trixie. Not to mention Celestia, and Luna. Still enough to fill up quite a large bed, but she hadn't felt like it. Instead, she'd gently sorted out separate rooms near hers for the three of them, and told Celestia that she'd see her in the morning. From the look on Celestia's face, it was clear that she sensed something was amiss, but she gracefully let it go.

And so, Twilight lay in her old bedroom, by herself.

If anything, the familiar bed and the massive exertion of the day ought to have tired her out to the point she couldn't have stayed awake if she tried. That, however, didn't account for the changes in her body. Every time she laid on her back, her new wings were crushed, when she rolled onto her stomach her newly enhanced breasts were flattened uncomfortably, and having grown taller, the bed felt too small, even if there was still plenty of room for her. The tattooed rune circle across her chest ached.

She tossed and turned fitfully, snatching sleep in fits and starts, now and then waking enough to groan in heartfelt protest. Glimpses of the intricate wall clock in the pale moonlight showed that time was passing intolerably slowly. Finally, Twilight sighed deeply and sat up, rubbing her eyes.

Luna was standing by her bedside, clad in a deep blue nightgown.

Twilight's heart juddered in her chest, and she let out an involuntary squeak of surprise. The Princess of the Night looked up at Twilight, and in the tenuous light of the stars, Twilight saw the glistening tracks of tears running slowly down her face.

"...Luna! What's the matter? Are you alright?" Twilight jerked upright, heedless of her nudity, and reached for Luna's hand.

A very small noise escaped Luna's lips, and she squeezed Twilight's fingers hard.

Tugging Luna closer, Twilight guided her down to sit on the side of the bed. Running her free hand gently through Luna's feathers, she asked softly, "Luna, what's wrong?"

Luna gave another tiny, choked sob, before whispering huskily, "I dreamed that you were dead, Twilight. I saw thee broken on the ground, and it was my fault. I dreamt it over and over, finding thy lifeless body a dozen different ways. I had to come and be certain that you yet lived."

"Oh, Luna," whispered Twilight. "It's okay, I'm so sorry, but it's okay, I'm here, nothing is going to happen to me." She crawled out of the blankets and hugged Luna tightly, wrapping her wings and arms around her. Luna closed her eyes, curling into Twilight's body, seeming suddenly small and vulnerable in a way that had nothing to do with her size. Stroking the back of Luna's neck, Twilight murmured small, soothing noises.

After a few moments, Luna's breathing steadied, and she gave Twilight a shaky look of gratitude. It was enough for Twilight to risk asking the question that occupied her mind. "Luna, you... get nightmares?" she asked softly.

Luna's body went rigid in her arms.

Twilight winced, wishing instantly that she'd never asked. "I'm sorry, that wasn't the time to ask that. I'm very sorry."

"You do not understand." Luna's voice was choked with emotion, and she shuddered as she heaved a deep breath. "I choose to. I deserve to."

Something precious, essential, froze solid within Twilight. Her lips parted, but nothing came out.

"The Tantabus. I created it, to, to punish myself. Every night, it gives me the nightmares I deserve to suffer," Luna pushed out in a rush, as though she didn't dare stop talking for fear she would never start again.

Twilight's voice was soft, horrified. "Luna... how long has this been going on? When was the last time that you slept without nightmares?"

"I do not remember." Luna hung her head. "I did not sleep, the night after I was stopped by thee and thy friends. I was too consumed with guilt. The night after, I created the Tantabus. Only then, knowing that I would be punished as I needed to be, could I consign myself to sleep once more."

"So... the night that I woke up to find you sleeping in my bed... you were having nightmares, the whole time you were sleeping beside me? I thought you were happy." Heartbreak filled Twilight's voice, too complete to even try to conceal. Her chest ached, a strange pressure clamping down too tightly for her to draw a full breath.

"I was! When I woke, I was very happy to be occupying thy bed."

"But when you were asleep, you were being tormented. Why didn't you say anything?"

Luna looked aside, and on her face, Twilight saw the same mixture of shame and stubbornness that had defeated all attempts to get have her open up before.

"Okay." Twilight's tone was brittle, and she spoke slowly and carefully. "I'm going to talk now, Luna, and I don't want you to speak. Not a word until I'm finished."

Luna's lips twitched, and she nodded once.

"I'm going to tell you how I punished myself for everything I've done wrong." The words came slowly, toneless. "You see, Luna, I know I've made mistakes, and hurt ponies. They've told me, shown me. Then they told me that because of what I'd done to them, they were forced to forgive me, and be mine anyway. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten that they didn't choose all this. So I got upset. Then, when they were gone, I put my hand flat on a table, and picked up a heavy bookend."

"Twilight!"

"Hush, Luna. I broke my hand. Then I kept smiling and acting normally, and didn't tell anyone. The next evening, I healed it up with magic, and then, I did it again. And again. I-"

Twilight yelped as she was forced onto her back, Luna pinning her down with an iron grip. Tears flooded the Princess's sparkling eyes, and she breathed in tones of frightening determination, "Twilight Sparkle, I swear by all that I stand for, you shalt never injure thyself again! Not ever! I shall ensure it! I will not stand idly by-"

"I didn't! I didn't do it!" Twilight all but yelled.

Sharp, dangerous silence fell.

"I didn't hurt myself," Twilight said more softly. "I wouldn't. But Luna, you are. The way you just felt, the hurt, the horror, the desperation and determination to make me stop... that's how I feel. It frightens me that you're doing this to yourself. It frightens me that you believed me when I said I'd done something like it. Luna, you're hurt. Deep inside, you're wounded, and that hurt is making you hurt yourself more. This has to stop. You have to let yourself heal."

Luna didn't move, her hands resting on Twilights shoulders, her chest rising and falling against the neckline of her dark nightgown with each breath. With a look of terrible loss on her face, she whispered, "You don't know what you're asking me to do, Twilight."

"I'm asking you to forgive yourself. I know. You hurt ponies before, and that can't be fixed. But you've hurt yourself too. You're not a monster, Luna. I wouldn't love you if you were." Twilight hesitated, feeling frustration well up within her. She couldn't argue Luna into forgiving herself by what other ponies thought of her. Luna had to believe in herself.

"Luna - what you've done to yourself. Would you have done that to any other pony?"

"Never! I would never do such a thing." The question seemed to rekindle a little of Luna's customary certainty.

"Even if they had done something really bad?"

"I would not use my power in such a way, Twilight. I understand thy point."

"I'm not sure you do. Why wouldn't you do that to someone bad?"

Luna pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Because my power is a sacred trust, Twilight! It is my role to guard the dreams of all ponykind. I would never bring a single pony to harm, no matter what they had done. But I am betraying no trust when it is myself that should suffer."

"That's not the point." Twilight propped herself up on her elbows. "Luna, no pony could be a more dedicated guardian than you. You're a good pony, and nopony else should be trusted with that power. That's why I'd never interfere with your duty. A pony like that... strong, trusted, faithful to protecting all around her... that's what I see. What we all see. I believe in you."

More quiet. Twilight listened intensely to the sound of Luna's breathing, staring at the dim outline of her face, trying to divine the feelings and emotions moving beneath.

"...and what if thy trust is misplaced?" she asked, finally.

"It isn't. But you have ponies around that could help you, if you ever felt yourself slipping. Celestia would help you. I would help you. I'm going to be around... forever. I won't leave you alone."

"You wish to maintain this arrangement, indefinitely? It was made when thee were mortal. I had thought, with the weight of time settling across your shoulders, you might wish to reconsider." Luna's voice was filled with a carefully constructed calm, one that hid her emotions.

"I want to keep you. I don't know what will come next, and maybe I'm too young to really understand what I'm promising, but I want to keep you."

Luna's shoulders slumped, as if an invisible wire had been cut. "...what would you have me do? Mistress."

Relief flooded Twilight, so powerful that a shudder ran through her. Unshed tears gathered in her eyes. "I want you to destroy the Tantabus, Luna. Right now. Then you're going to sleep in my bed with me, and Luna, you're going to have nice dreams."

Luna nodded, unable to fully meet Twilight's gaze. Her voice hoarse, she whispered, "As you command."

It had taken hours, and Twilight hadn't slept for any of them. She'd wondered if Luna might disappear entirely, her body physically walking into the world of dreams, but it hadn't worked out like that. Instead, she'd lain back and simply glowed, softly. Her expression, at first serene, had quickly become troubled, and groans and whimpers had fallen from her lips, each one making Twilight jerk with nervous worry.

Triumphing over Celestia should have meant she never had to feel helpless again, not with the power of three alicorns and the charm at her beck and call. Of course, that idea was stupid, but she hadn't expected the folly of it to be pointed out to her so quickly. Eventually, with Twilight on the verge of rousing Celestia, Luna's eyes had opened. The Tantabus was gone, she'd said.

It took a lot of willpower not to use the charm to check that Luna spoke the truth, but Twilight managed not to speak the words. Instead, she had simply drawn Luna down beside her, and held her tightly.

Luna had now been sleeping for hours, while the best Twilight had managed was a tentative half-doze, startling awake every so often to make certain Luna looked relaxed and at peace. It was a pretty terrible way to recover from the trials of her battle with Celestia, and ascension to Princesshood.

All the same, it was worth it for the moment that Luna stirred, looked up at Twilight, and whispered, "My dreams were without suffering. Thank you."

Twilight leant down from her sitting position, and gently kissed Luna's forehead beside her horn. "Thank you for telling me. And listening to me. Don't ever do something like that again, okay?"

"I shall not. I promise thee."

Twilight smoothed her hand across Luna's cheek, and down the side of her neck, marvelling at the softness of her deep blue skin. Nopony spoke for a few moments, because nothing needed to be said. Warm sunlight shone gently through the arched windows.

Finally, Luna sighed contentedly and gave Twilight a small, wry smile. "You did not sleep this night, did you, Twilight?"

"Not very much," Twilight confessed.

"Foolish Mistress. Dress and come with me." Luna swung her legs out of Twilight's small bed and stretched magnificently, her wings spreading wide.

Twilight blushed, tugging the sheet a little higher over her chest, and asked, "Um, Luna, where are we going?"

"To breakfast! I shall not take no for an answer!"

Unable to quell a giggle at Luna's imperious tone, Twilight got up and moved to her wardrobe, moving with a trace of shyness as she exposed her nude body. Immediately, a problem presented itself.

"...none of these are going to fit me, are they. Even my clothes from just before I left for Ponyville."

"Where is thy admirable adaptability, Mistress? For shame." Luna smiled, strolling over to stand at Twilight's side.

The gown Luna wore was a little translucent in the daylight, and Twilight couldn't help but be very aware of every hint of her statuesque body beneath. Stealing glances at her, she hesitantly replied, "I could... see if any of this might sort-of fit me. But the underwear really won't."

"Then I shall restrain myself, and not chastise thee for thy lack of decorum, Mistress."

"You aren't wearing underwear, either."

"Do you wish me to change that?" Luna inquired smoothly.

"Um, no. Not at all."

"I did not think so. Perhaps this skirt? It is long enough, and was once loose upon you." Luna took down a purple skirt, that might previously have been knee length, and held it out for inspection.

"Well, I can give it a try..." Twilight accepted the skirt, looking at it dubiously, then unfastened the side and stepped into it. Her face went crimson as it became stuck half-way up her thighs. "This isn't going to work, is it."

"Nonsense, Twilight. Girdle thy determination." Luna gripped the waistband, and tugged firmly, working it up Twilight's legs. "There, it does fit."

Twilight wriggled, trying to get comfortable. The skirt was skin-tight across her ass, and ended several inches up her thigh, clinging to her body with a dedication that suggested a sudden movement might split the entire thing. "I'm not sure I'd really call this fitting." she murmured.

"I consider it most fitting," Luna declared with satisfaction. "Now, my Mistress, what of this blouse? It is elegantly cut."

"It'd end mostly up my stomach. That wouldn't look right."

"Your point is not without merit. What else might you attempt?"

Twilight winced. "Well, there was a top I was given as a present. It wasn't loose before, but it's stretchy?"

"That may do. Bring it out."

Pulling open a drawer, Twilight sorted through the scant contents. She hadn't had much variety in her clothes even before she'd gone to Ponyville and taken a trunk with her, and what was left mostly consisted of things she hadn't worn often, or even at all. Her fingers touched deep blue cloth, and she drew out a strap-shouldered top with a copy of her cutie mark prominently displayed over the left side of her chest. The way it bared her shoulders had previously led to its relegation to the bottom of a drawer, but now offered the best chance of fitting around her new body. Pulling it over her head, she began struggling into it.

Luna's lips parted approvingly. "I have not always appreciated the shifting fashions of Canterlot, but now I see that these modern clothes do indeed have potential."

Twilight looked down at herself.

"No."

"Truly, Twilight?"

"No way."

"Not even at my request?" Luna asked innocently.

The top fit, which is to say, it had not ruptured, nor was it attempting to crush Twilight's rib cage. It was, however, short enough to bare a wedge of her stomach, and made shorter by the way it stretched over her expanded chest. The image of Twilight's cutie mark framed one firm breast with a bright star, and her nipples showed visibly through the cloth.

Twilight groaned. Luna had trumped her. "...fine. For breakfast. I'm not going out in public like this."

"Then let us dine. There is a private dining hall nearby, which I often avail myself of. I trust thee to assist me in avoiding public areas along the way."

"Believe me, Princess, nopony is going to see me like this but you."

Pushing open her chamber door, Twilight peered around it. The top of her little stairwell was deserted. "Okay, Luna. Let's go."

"Are we to play at spies, Mistress?" Luna's tone was gently teasing. "I always enjoyed such games with my sister while we lived at our Castle together. There were marvellously elaborate secret passages! Canterlot Castle appears to have a little less of them, though I suspect I have yet to discover most of them."

Twilight gave Luna a sideways look, thinking about Celestia sitting invisibly behind a two-way mirror as her guards fucked. "I think you'll find there are a lot," she remarked cryptically, creeping up to a corner, then hurrying down the corridor beyond. "Which way is it from here?"

"Up the fourth stairwell for two floors, then down a long passageway with a crimson carpet, and the last chamber on the right."

"Oh! Yes, I know that one. I used to read in there." Twilight smiled in recollection. "It was always so quiet, and you could open the balcony doors to let in the breeze."

Luna captured Twilight's hand and squeezed it. "It pleases me that we have such things in common, Twilight. I enjoy feeling close to thee."

The gentle pink flush on Luna's cheeks was matched by Twilight, a secret, giddy feeling of happiness welling up in her chest. All but skipping down the hall, she took the familiar staircase upwards. After two complete turns of the spiral, she led Luna out and along the deserted corridor. "It seems like the castle is still pretty quiet. I wonder if everypony was let back-"

A door slammed ahead, and the sound of voices came from a side passage.

"-never mind!" Twilight grabbed Luna by the hand and yanked her sideways. The Princess of the Night yelped in protest as Twilight dragged her through a small door and slammed it shut behind them. Darkness. Twilight lit a tiny light at the tip of her horn.

Shelves of mundane cleaning implements, spare curtains and cushions and a rack of candles stared her in the face. There was scarcely enough room for her and Luna to cram into the tiny space between shelves and door.

"Is this the place for a sudden tryst, Mistress? Shall I get on my knees?" Luna inquired calmly, with a glint of mischief in her sparkling eyes.

"Luna. Stop that," Twilight whispered. pressing her ear to the door. Footsteps were approaching outside, at least two voices. Mares. She listened hard.

"-haven't been in there myself, but Crystal Chime says the audience chamber looks like a thunderstorm happened in there, a really bad one."

"I'm glad I don't have to clean that up."

"They have to get a stoneworker first, there's a crater in the floor."

"I mean, it's not the first time there's been a big fight in the castle, but a new Princess? I can't imagine it. That just doesn't happen."

"Well, they say - hang on, let me get some candles from the cupboard."

Twilight's eyes went wide. They were going to catch her and Princess Luna, in a cupboard, half dressed! Seizing the door handle with both hands, she pulled as hard as she could, giving Luna an urgent, panicked look.

Luna couldn't entirely suppress her smile.

The door rattled.

"Oh, this stupid door's got stuck again. Help me get it open?"

Twilight reached back and gripped a shelf with one hand for leverage, hanging onto the door handle with all her might. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her distress must have communicated itself to Luna; the Princess's hand settled over Twilight's, and gripped the handle firmly. Outside, Twilight could hear the two maids straining to pull the door open, but they might as well have been trying to tow a mountain.

"Whew. I don't think it's going to open, this time."

"Maybe we can ask Gilt to do it? He's pretty strong."

"Oh, really? Any excuse to talk to him, right?"

"Like you can talk. At the servants and guards ball, you were-"

The voices faded down the corridor. Twilight became aware that her hand was being crushed beneath Luna's iron grip.

"I think they're gone now. You can, um, let go."

Twilight surreptitiously shook life back into her fingers as Luna released the handle, then eased the door open a fraction. Peering around it, she checked up and down the corridor. "Nopony. Come on, we're almost there."

Leading Princess Luna by the hand, Twilight stepped out of the closet and hurried down the corridor, ears pricked for the sound of the maids returning. Pushing the final door open a fraction, she peered inside and breathed a sigh of relief to find it empty. Sunlight gleamed from the polished surface of the long oak table, broad, comfortable chairs set around it, and the wood-framed balcony doors were ajar, letting in a cool breeze.

Luna closed the door behind them, a smile on her lips. "You are so nervous to be seen with me, Mistress?"

"Well - well, in a cupboard, dressed like this..." Twilight looked down at herself, gesturing mutely at the way the stretchy top strained over her chest. "What would they think?"

"They would think that we were lovers, I would imagine. Is this not the truth?"

"Yes, of course. But..." Twilight sensed a pit gaping open ahead of her, and stopped talking.

Luna looked a little more serious, seating herself at the table. "Twilight, you must understand that thy loves and trysts shall be impossible to fully conceal. Within a castle as busy as this one, furtive movements between rooms are noticed. In Ponyville, too, I should imagine that the intensity of feeling between thee and thy slaves has begun to become apparent. Unless thy earnest wish is to expend all thy efforts concealing the truth and hiding thy affections in front of all other ponies, you must resign yourself to this becoming an open secret, at best."

"...oh," murmured Twilight. "I hadn't thought of that." Of course, everypony had heard of somepony that lived in a complicated relationship, but she hadn't ever expected to end up in one herself, let alone with so many lovers. Even then, her complex relationships with the other Elements of Harmony might go unremarked, but if it came out that she was dating one of the Princesses...

If it came out that was dating both Princesses, at the same time...

She swallowed.

She'd be the subject of gossip for every idle tongue in the whole of Equestria. Which, she had to remember, meant that people would be talking about her lovers as well as her. That might make them unhappy too. She was going to have to talk to them, all of them.

Finally, she looked up. "Luna," she asked plaintively, "what am I going to do?"

Luna's gaze was not unsympathetic. "Rise above it, Twilight. Do not speak of thy relationships unless it pleases you to. You have no duty to confess them to anypony. Let those who will speak of such things guess at thy doings if they must. Thy loves are thine own, not to be held back for fear of what other ponies may think. Lives are too short for such things, both theirs and our own. Act without fear."

"Have you... before"? Twilight asked awkwardly, wincing at her inability to ask a direct question.

"Before the darkness came, I had taken consorts. I did not care to address questions upon the nature of my relationships, and others quickly learned not to ask."

Twilight inhaled deeply, and let the breath go. "You're right. I don't have to tell anypony. I shouldn't be worried."

"You may wish to tell one pony, however. If you seek guidance upon thy love affairs. Thy friend Cadence will be at the castle soon."

"Cadence is coming? Here?" Twilight looked around hurriedly, as though her former foalsitter might burst out of hiding at any moment and catch her and Luna half-dressed together.

"Of course, Twilight," Luna replied patiently. "You have become royalty. She will be coming to attend thy coronation."

"My coronation..." murmured Twilight weakly. Of course, it made perfect sense. She was an alicorn, and that made her royal, and so she would have to have a coronation. In front of everypony. "Is it too late to hide in my room and read books until everypony goes away?"

"You do not mean that. It will be a wonderful occasion, my Mistress. There shall be readings, and celebration, and in all likelihood, a parade in thy honour."

"A parade." Hiding under a pile of books was sounding better and better. No one ever warned her that becoming Empress of all Ponykind was going to involve parades.

"In the meantime," Luna concluded unperturbed, "some breakfast would be best. Shall I summon a servant?"

Twilight opened her mouth to answer, then paused. Think things through. Was it really so bad that somepony saw her in her tight-fitting clothes? ...not really, she concluded, though after a brief internal tussle with herself. Was it a problem if someone saw her with Luna? Of course not, at least, not now they weren't hiding in a cupboard together. "...Luna, do you mind the castle servants seeing you in your nightgown?" she asked finally.

"Not at all. It would not be the first time."

There was probably, Twilight thought, some rather heated competition for the role of tidying Luna's quarters. "Okay," she replied, nodding slowly.

Luna smiled approvingly. "Confidence in thyself, Mistress. With your leave, I shall request some food be brought here."

At Twilight's nod, Luna slipped out of the room, leaving the young pony alone with her thoughts. Cadence. Could she really tell Cadence that she was dating - she actually had to pause to count - nine ponies at the same time? Two of them sisters, not to mention the fact that they were the most powerful ponies in the realm. There was no way she could even hint about all of the twisted games she was playing with them. Except... if she didn't tell Cadence at least something, she was going to figure out something was going on anyway.

And under all of her fretting, a single memory, playing itself out over and over. The half-glimpsed shape of Cadence lying across the couch, her quiet groans hanging in the air. That brief memory, seen though an open door, had stayed with Twilight since she was young. If she truly wanted Cadence, she could have her.

No. She'd never disrupt Cadence's relationship, not when she was so obviously happy, and especially when it was Twilight's own brother that she was dating. The crush she'd nursed through her filly years was never going to be fulfilled, and that's how it was.

The door opened, drawing Twilight from her thoughts, and Luna stepped into the room once more. The sunlight struck her body, her nightgown floating out behind her in the breeze from the balcony. Her mane of stars shifted and danced, and a warm smile graced her lips. She was beautiful. She was nobility and grace incarnate, and she belonged to Twilight alone.

What ridiculous greed, to be pouting over not having Cadence, when she had Luna, and Celestia, and Applejack, and... all the ponies, that loved her more than she deserved. Twilight smiled at Luna in return, and said gently, "You look incredible. I feel so lucky, just looking at you."

"And I, thee." Luna leant down and kissed Twilight, unhurriedly, tenderly.

A long, soft groan of pleasure thrummed through Twilight. Her hands instinctively moved to Luna's sides, smoothing up and down through the thin nightgown, before rising to cup her firm breasts. "Mmm," she murmured against Luna's mouth. "These are so lovely... so full and warm in my hands."

Leaning softly into Twilight's hands, Luna breathed softly, "My body is thy plaything, Mistress. Do with me what you will."

"Oh, I will, I will... I have such plans for you, Luna." Sharp, urgent heat throbbed through Twilight, a rush of goosebumps prickling up her arms. Her nipples jutted against the tight embrace of her overly-clinging top. Kneading Luna's soft breasts, entranced by the feeling of power over the submissive Princess, she spoke softly. "I want to dress you up, like the prettiest, sluttiest maid in the castle. You're going to have such a tiny frilly skirt, and a tiny bodice that you spill out of every time you bend over. Which I will make you do. Often. You're going to be my cute, eager sextoy."

Gasping, eyes wide, Luna nodded jerkily. "As you wish, my Mistress. I shall be thy servant, dressed however would please you. My body is thine own, to do with as your heart desires."

"Yes, it is, and I have such desires for you..."

A clatter came from the corridor.

Before she knew what she was doing, Twilight had hurled herself into the next chair over, making some space between herself and Luna, straightened up, and tried her best to look calm and composed. Her cheeks felt hot, and the tingling in her chest was almost certainly betraying her. Luna, for her part, calmly settled into the chair Twilight had just vacated, seemingly untroubled by the way her nipples clearly jutted against the flimsy gown.

A tentative knock sounded at the door, and it creaked open. A minty-green mare backed into the room carefully, pulling a tray. She had a carefully combed mane of warm orange, and wore a neat maid's uniform.

Even facing away from them, Twilight recognised her.

Immediately, Twilight's thoughts flew back to when she'd infiltrated the castle in disguise with Trixie, gathering components for the new charm. Trixie had lied, and needed to be spanked, and they'd been caught in the act by this very pony. Thankfully, she had just stuttered something embarrassed, and left them to it. Of course, that had given Twilight a pony she knew was currently on the rota to clean Celestia's quarters.

Trixie had been sent to charm her, and instructed her to draw the hidden rune pattern of the defence circle on Celestia's floor, under all the rugs. The maid had chalked the pattern perfectly, and probably had no idea she'd done it. She had no idea how much she'd been involved in the plot to overthrow Celestia, and now, here she was.

"It's Misty Morning, isn't it," Twilight said before she could stop herself.

The maid spun around quickly. "Y-yes, miss! I - I mean..." She trailed off as she stared at Twilight openly, her gaze lingering on her wings and horn, before shifting to her tightly encased bust. Misty's mouth fell open. "P-Princess? I - I'm so sorry!" She immediately flung herself to her knees, and bowed her head.

Twilight frowned. For the first time, someone was kneeling to her because they were nervous of her rank, and it didn't feel good at all. Pushing back her chair, she walked around the table and crouched in front of Misty, careful not to let her skirt ride up her legs.

"Misty?" she asked gently. "It's okay. Hello. My name is Twilight."

Misty blinked, then lifted her head and looked at Twilight's face more carefully. "But - Twilight Sparkle isn't a... but you are. You are Twilight Sparkle, aren't you? I remember seeing you at the unveiling of the windows, after the changelings, I mean, I didn't see you at the time, but I saw you later, and I wasn't around when the fight happened, I was hiding in the bedrooms, and-" She cut herself off, her face crimson.

Plainly, Misty Morning was wishing the floor would open and swallow her up; Twilight recognised the look. "Misty, really, it's okay. I'm just a pony, like you. Something happened to me, and I look different, but... I'm just a pony." Taking Misty's hands, Twilight straightened a little, guiding the maid up onto her feet once more. "You don't have to call me Princess, or bow, or kneel, or anything. Please. Just call me Twilight."

Nervously, Misty Morning let herself be tugged upright, nodding quickly. "Anything you say, Princess! I mean, Princess Twilight. I mean, Twilight. I, um, I, um, I have your breakfast for you!" Dashing behind the trolley, letting it form a tiny barrier between herself and Twilight, she squeaked, and added hurriedly, "Good morning, Princess Luna, I'm sorry for not greeting you sooner!"

"Do not trouble thyself." Luna smiled at her. "I understand that Twilight's transformation is hard to ignore."

"T-thank you!" Swallowing, Misty pulled herself together. Struggling to reassert some professional dignity, she placed her hands on the two silver tureens. "Your breakfast, Princesses." Setting out one before Twilight, and the other before Luna, she laid out knives and forks beside each, then poured two tall glasses of clear water from a jug. About to back out of the room, she hesitated, then asked quickly, "Pr- Twilight, could I ask how you know my... my name?"

At some point, she really ought to tell the girl the truth. Or at least, some of it. But at that moment, Twilight couldn't begin to think how. "I, um, I heard your name. When I was visiting Celestia. I think you tend to some of her suite, sometimes?" She sounded lame in her own ears, but Misty Morning seemed to believe it.

"Oh, um, of course. Sorry. Enjoy your breakfast!" The door shut quickly behind her.

Luna looked sideways at Twilight. "Well, Twilight, that was thy first taste of royalty. How did thee enjoy it?"

"It was awful." Twilight stared at the closed door in borderline-horror. "She was terrified of even talking to me!"

"Not all ponies are like that, Twilight." Luna smiled wryly. "Some are nervous, some ingratiating, but you will find that many of thy subjects are simply delighted by your presence, and honoured by your regard."

"My subjects?"

"Twilight, what I saw did you credit. You did not attempt to play a role for her. Nor did you take pleasure in seeing her tremble before thee. I would not have expected thee to, and yet, it was still good to see. Thy warm heart will hold thee in good stead, as you come to grips with thy new role. Hold onto it." Luna's hand settled on Twilight's, and squeezed reassuringly.

Visions of the various inhabitants of Ponyville bowing down before her flashed before Twilight's eyes, each pony wearing an awkward, slightly unhappy look of confusion and intimidation. Finally, she shook herself free of the images, frowning unhappily. "I'm beginning to see why you really didn't want me to call you Princess. I'm sorry about that."

"Do not let it trouble you overmuch, Twilight. In time, the ponies you know and love will put aside thy change in status, and see the pony beneath the trappings of authority." Luna smiled at Twilight, and squeezed her hand again. "Shall we have breakfast, my Mistress?"

"Yes, I think that'd be best. You know, Luna, Misty Morning is part of how I managed to win. She just doesn't know it." Twilight levitated the lid off her plate, and blinked. Beneath sat a gently steaming pie, with a pair of cupcakes by the side for dessert. "This is an apple and berry pie, with cherry cupcakes, isn't it? I haven't had this for ages!"

Luna beamed. "I asked the castle staff to prepare thee thy favourite meal, from when you were a permanent resident here."

"That was very considerate, thank you! I'm amazed they remembered. This isn't really breakfast food, but I am hungry." Twilight picked up her cutlery and cut into the pie, sighing happily as a fresh curl of steam escaped.

"You underestimate how much people here cared for thee, Twilight. Thy name is also all over the castle, under the circumstances. I expect Misty Morning to fuel such speculation." Luna's expression turned curious as she lifted aside her own tureen, revealing a fresh salad. "In what way did this maid aid thee? You hath charmed her?"

A new voice rang out from the doorway. "Misty Morning chalked a rune circle across my floor, without my knowledge. It was very neatly done."

Twilight jerked. Celestia stood in the doorway, wearing a long dress of simple grey silk. The door stood ajar behind her. "Oh! Princess - I mean, Celestia. Good morning."

"Good morning, Empress. Good morning, sister, dearest." Celestia gave Luna a warm smile as she crossed the room to settle beside Twilight, setting down a tray before herself. Lifting her tureen and uncovering a complex salad, she picked up the delicate porcelain cup beside her plate and sipped the steaming tea within. "Perhaps Twilight could better explain her reasons to you," she suggested mildly.

Twilight swallowed, feeling abruptly self conscious. "Um. Well, I needed to prepare a defensive ward, to stop you immediately charming me. I, um. I never actually broke the charm. All you had to do was get my earmuffs off. I was lying. To you, and through Luna, too. Sorry about that."

Celestia narrowed her eyes, an amused smile spreading across her lips. "Truly, Twilight. The entire rune circle was a ruse?"

"Well, it did protect the other ponies from being charmed by you, but... yes. It was all a big trick. I couldn't break the charm, only change the activation words with the one I made, and I couldn't use that one on myself." Twilight smiled awkwardly as she looked from Princess to Princess.

Luna frowned. "So there is no way to remove the charm?"

"I'm afraid not. Sorry, Luna."

Celestia nodded thoughtfully. "I believed it was impossible to remove. Though you were always special, Twilight. I believed if anyone could do so, it would be you."

"I hoped you'd think that. If you guessed you only had to get the earmuffs off, I wouldn't have stood a chance. Even if you believed you had to charm me first, I had to stop you just doing it, and going straight for the muffs. Trixie helped me create a design that interrupts the charm's binding forces."

Luna gave Twilight a flat look. "Trixie. Truly."

"She did! We worked on it together, but Luna, she really tried hard for me. I didn't order her to do it, and I didn't charm her to want to work that hard, either."

Celestia gave Twilight an interested look. "What did you do to her? I had ponies watching over you in Ponyville, but when you left, they couldn't follow."

"...well, I offered to teach her, if she agreed to be mine for a while. Then when I charmed her, she told me that it was all a trick to steal everything I knew, then charm all my friends and take my place. So I, um. Punished her, a little." The words were getting harder to speak, especially in the face of Celestia's calm curiosity.

"How did you punish her, Twilight?"

"I just - made it so that she couldn't betray me. And she knew I knew what she'd tried to do. And if she lied, she has to ask me to... um." Twilight's face was growing crimson, and she sheepishly pushed one of her cupcakes around on her plate. "...spank her."

"Twilight." Luna gazed at Twilight reprovingly. "Those are not all the instructions she labours under."

"She has to insult herself all the time as well!" Twilight blurted in a rush, hunching her shoulders in embarrassment. Hurriedly, she dug her fork into her pie and ate a bite.

"You surprise me, Twilight." Celestia's tone was amused. "But you did not tell her to fall in love with you, which she plainly has."

Twilight choked, a lump of carrot going down her throat the wrong way.

"The ponies I had asked to watch over you had reported on it. I had wondered if you had gone so far as to compel her unconditional love."

"I didn't!" But now she thought about it, what other word could there be for the way Trixie looked at her? The way she'd given everything she had for her? "...but that's probably because I charmed her, and being charmed feels good."

"Or because you forced her to be trustworthy, and treated her as someone you cared about," Celestia riposted conversationally.

...or that, Twilight conceded. Of course, she'd known that Trixie was attached to her, even been working to make sure Trixie liked being hers so much that she wouldn't want to leave when the 'punishment' period was up, and yet to hear it in those words...

Think about it later.

"Anyway, I had a rune design which would work to block the charm, but I needed to get it into the chamber. I was pretty sure you'd want to confront me there again, the symmetry was just too perfect, and there were lots of rugs and coverings over the floor. If I could get the design chalked there in secret, I thought I could probably get away with triggering it at the last minute. It was a risk, but so was everything I was trying to do."

Twilight shrugged. "I knew Misty Morning was tending to your chambers, so she'd be the most likely to notice if the chalk was put in place, and the best pony to put it there in the first place. So I got Trixie to come to Canterlot in disguise - she changed twice on the train - and charm her. Trixie had very strict orders to only read the script I'd prepared to her."

"My watchers did lose Trixie on the train," Celestia agreed mildly. "Your preparations were very thorough, Twilight. Do you intend to tell Misty Morning what you have done through her?"

"I'm... not sure. I really wanted to let the guards and the Wonderbolts remember a version of what happened, because they fought hard, got hurt, and they deserved it. But for Misty, I think it might just upset her."

"As you wish, Empress. The decision is yours. As are so many others." Celestia smiled serenely.

Twilight pulled a face at her. Glancing at Luna for her opinion, Twilight found her gazing thoughtfully at Celestia. A slight frown touched Twilight's face, and she set down her fork. "...Luna? Is something on your mind?"

Luna nodded, but directed her words to Celestia. "Sister, I wish to apologise. I spied upon thee whilst Twilight paraded you before her friends." Ambiguous emotion rode her words, her expression conflicted.

Celestia cradled her cup in one hand, her gaze shifting slowly from the remnants of her tea to Luna's face. "I did not realise." Her expression remained serene, but somehow, something about it betrayed a hint of unease beneath.

"Sister..." Luna began, then stalled.

Watching the two, Twilight abruptly felt very much like an intruder, especially sat between them. She shrank back in her seat, trying to get out of the way.

"If you have questions, Luna, don't be afraid to ask them. It would be best if we are as open with each other as possible." A small, gently wry smile touched Celestia's lips. "After all the secrets we were keeping from each other, I'd like to clear the air."

"Then... sister. I have never seen thee like that before. I could not deny that you seemed to enjoy such treatment, but I would never have imagined it of you. Was that truly thy desire?" Luna faced the doorway as she spoke, her gaze straying to one side to meet Celestia's.

"Yes. If you were there from the beginning, you know that Twilight warned me of her desires, and that I willingly accepted them. From speaking with you, under the charm's power, I know that you desire to be treated this way as well." Celestia's voice sank to something softer. "I am sorry for using that spell, Luna. I was so enthralled by the game I played with Twilight, I lost all restraint. I shouldn't have intruded."

Luna's lips pressed together, and she glanced away again. "What did you find out? About Twilight, and the way I wished to be with her."

Now Twilight felt really awkward. Flattened against the back of the chair with no more room to retreat, she tried to sink down further out of the way.

"That you had not felt loved and cared for, in the way that she made you feel, for a very long time. That it was a relief to know that you couldn't order her to do as you wished. A relief that she wasn't scared of you. Not simply the fear of what you were, but the little fears of the ponies you speak with every day."

Celestia's tone slowly became meditative. "They fear that if they say the wrong thing, they will upset you. They would not dream of criticising you. You have to speak so carefully. A single word out of place could destroy a pony's heart."

"Sister... these are not my words. They are thy own." Luna spoke softly, her eyes filled with empathy.

A small, wistful smile tugged at Celestia's lips. "Perhaps we both share these feelings." The practiced, perfect calm of her expression didn't waver, but as her eyes flicked up to meet Luna's once more, her voice grew huskier with sincerity.

"I've longed for relief from the weight of responsibility I carry, for a long time. We both wanted to be seen as ponies, instead of Princesses. Luna, having Twilight tear the mask of rulership from my face makes me feel so light. I don't want her to treat me gently. I want her to prove to me, over and over, that she doesn't look at me and see a ruler of Equestria. I will give her anything, with a song in my heart."

Twilight's eyes filled with unshed tears. She'd never heard Celestia speak that way, not with that simple, raw truthfulness. Even if she was speaking to Luna, she had to know she was speaking in front of Twilight too. Her words were meant for both of them.

Luna, too, seemed overwhelmed by her sister's words. Reaching out to take Celestia's hand in hers, she squeezed it wordlessly. "...I understand. I had not thought things through in such a way, but I do understand thy feelings. I, too, wished to be seen as something other than my rank, and my mistakes. You spoke truly, about many things. I do feel looked after, feel loved. More than the pleasure I have taken in Twilight's actions, that is most precious to me."

Celestia's fingers slid across the back of her sister's hand. "I love you too, Luna. I always have."

"I know, sister. I know. I feel the same for thee."

Without releasing Luna's hand, Celestia looked at Twilight, her face full of quiet fondness. "I'm giddy with joy to look at you, Twilight. Until the day you grow tired of the responsibility, I will be yours."

"As will I." Luna's other hand moved to stroke down Twilight's arm. "I have been very foolish. I will serve thee, beside my sister."

Two pairs of sparkling eyes gazed into Twilight's, radiating warmth and love. It was almost too much. Twilight's heart soared, buoyed within her chest by a wash of incredible happiness that was only lightly seasoned by complete terror. She tried to speak, and found herself unable to make a sound past the lump in her throat.

"I, I will do my very best to look after you. Both of you." Twilight flushed pinkly with embarrassment, her shoulders instinctively hunching for a moment, before she breathed in deeply and made herself relax. "It's not like I'm going to take all the decisions away from you both. But I do want you to be all mine." The heat of her cheeks felt as though she must be visibly glowing red, but she forced herself to speak the last little worry that lingered on her mind.

"Will there be any... problem, if I wanted you to both serve me at the same time? Even... perform together?" Twilight managed to ask, her voice breaking slightly with nervousness.

Celestia looked at Luna, and her lips pressed together for a moment. "As other ponies have come and gone, I've grown attached to you. In ways that sisters shouldn't," she finally said. "That doesn't excuse what I chose to do. I am grateful for your forgiveness, Luna, and I want you to be happy. You must ask yourself truly what you want."

A complex expression occupied Luna's face, touched by nervousness and uncertainty. Finally, she straightened her back, with a stubborn look. Speaking as though determined to get to the end of her sentence before she lost her nerve, she said firmly, "I have not been entirely free of stray thoughts about thee, sister. We have been together a long time, and at times, I have felt as though thee were the only other pony in all the world that truly existed. I had always banished such thoughts in the light of morning, but - I will not deny our Mistress in this."

Facing Twilight, Luna addressed her directly. "Command me, and I shalt obey. Do with us both as you desire."

"Um." Twilight found herself at a loss for words. Luna was staring at her intensely, as though she expected Twilight to begin then and there, and under the pressure of that gaze, Twilight's mind went completely blank. The only thing she could think of was 'I order you to eat your breakfast,' which didn't seem as though it was ambitious enough for the occasion.

"Uh... I... think, you should..."

Without warning, the door burst open, and Rainbow Dash exploded into the room in a colourful blur of movement. Twirling into the air and nimbly ducking around the elegant, flower-shaped chandelier, she braked hard, and came to a stop in midair over the table, wings beating. Tugging her tanktop straight, she called out, "Morning, Twi! Hi Princess. Princesses."

Oh, thank goodness. Flooded with relief, Twilight looked up at the cyan pegasus and beckoned her closer. "Hi, Rainbow! How did you find me?"

Rainbow sank down to the ground, landing lightly on bare feet. Taking in Twilight's clinging top, she gawked unashamedly, whistling. "Yow. I am really glad I didn't go back to Ponyville last night." Jerking her thumb over her shoulder, she added with a grin, "Asked someone. They're coming."

Before Twilight could ask who was coming, a familiar voice rang down the hall outside. "Really, the slutty and submissive Trixie deserves far better than being abandoned without so much as a hint of breakfast, or presents, or anything. She didn't even wake up bedecked in jewellery! Everypony knows that all the ponies who stay in the Castle are given the finest of gold and gems, that's just manners."

A distinct smirk touched Celestia's lips, and she caught Twilight's eye.

Twilight cringed with embarrassment. "Okay, maybe I might have gone a little far with what I did to Trixie's vocabulary."

"I find it interestingly revealing, Twilight. Do you intend to do something similar to me?"

Twilight blinked slowly. Irresistible visions of Celestia verbally degrading herself flashed through her mind, and despite herself, she couldn't quite stop herself giving a little whimper.

"You're a very creative and clever pony, Twilight. I look forward to seeing what you come up with," Celestia remarked, and calmly resumed her salad.

The look of total disbelief on Twilight's face was mirrored on Rainbow's. The multicoloured pegasus opened her mouth, but whatever she was about to say was interrupted as the doors were once again thrown open, this time in a haze of pale blue magic.

"Never fear, Mistress! The sensuous and fuckable Trixie is here for you!" the showpony declared grandly, stepping into the room. Behind her, Zecora followed with an amused smile on her lips.

It was possible to see the exact moment that Trixie realised who she'd burst in on. She froze, arms spread wide, and the self-satisfied grin fossilised on her face. Her eyes darted from Twilight to Celestia, then to Luna, then back to Twilight again.

Zecora stepped past the paralysed pony, and greeted Twilight, "Good morning to you, my lovely princess. I have come to serve you; should I undress?" She lightly tugged at the shoulder of her artfully ragged brown top.

"Not yet, Zecora. Won't you join me for breakfast? You too, Rainbow."

Twilight couldn't help but smile at the look of outrage on Trixie's face. Broken from her paralysis by sheer indignation, Trixie strode forward and levelled a finger at Twilight. "Mistress! How could you invite all these ponies to breakfast with you, and ignore Trixie?"

Rainbow dropped into a chair and lounged sideways. "You are a giant pain in the tail."

"Why - you scruffy, dishevelled little barbarian! I put effort into serving my Mistress. When was the last time you woke up before noon? You weren't woken either, while she went off to dine with the kidnapper that stranded me in the woods and the very pony she's spent all this time trying to defeat, not to mention-"

"Trixie!" Twilight cut her off, before she made things any worse. "I was teasing you, I'm sorry. I'm very grateful for all the hard work you did, I know I wouldn't have made it this far without you. Please come and have breakfast with me."

"Well. That's more like it." Trixie fussily straightened her clothes, already in perfect order, before she approached the table and took a chair, radiating smugness. Still, as Twilight watched her, she saw Trixie steal a glance at her from the corner of her eye, with a momentary look of profound yearning for approval.

Oh, dear. Celestia was right.

Trixie was in love with her. That wasn't what Twilight had expected to happen. All she'd intended was to effortlessly enslave Trixie, teach her magic, have her act like she was her apprentice, while simultaneously punishing and humiliating her. Oh, and having sex with her. All through the power of a charm that Twilight fully knew was addictive.

When she thought through it like that, it actually sounded pretty stupid.

Be More Careful.

Darnit.

Author's Note

This was a tough one, and it's dealt with some pretty serious emotional baggage. I was troubled when I saw the Tantabus in-series, and knew it'd have to be dealt with eventually in this continuity too. Fortunately, it came out in this timeline well before it came out in the canon timeline, and was still vulnerable enough for Luna to excise.

Next time, less sadness, more Princess smut.

Proofed by the stupendously speedy Setokaiva.

3: Teasing Trixie

'Dear Spike,

I don't know if the others have told you yet, but I passed my test! There was a big fight, it was more than just a test, but everypony made it through okay. Something amazing has happened, and I really want to show you in person. The others know, because they saw it, but I'd like to show you myself, if you can stop Pinkie Pie telling you.

Please come to Canterlot as quickly as you can, and I'll explain everything when you get here. You'll probably be here for a few days, so pack some spare clothes. Remember to pack a snack for the trip, tidy up before you set off, and don't forget your jacket.

I'll see you soon, Spike. Thank you for always being there for me.

With all my love,

Twilight'

Twilight shook her head as she folded the letter neatly. Sliding it into an envelope, she wrote Spike's name across the front, moving with a distracted air.

She was going to have to tell him about all her lovers, this time. He was going to be confused, and upset. Particularly about Rarity. As for her becoming a Princess... she had no idea how he'd react to that.

She set the letter aside in a tray, to be sent out later, absently tugging her loose white dress straight. It was another of Celestia's; she'd given up on the clinging, barely-there outfit she'd cobbled together from her own clothes, and asked for something proper to wear instead. She and Celestia were very different shapes, but she'd made do. She had other things on her mind. Not only Spike, but Cadence. She was going to arrive within a day or two, as well.

They were going to have to talk, too. With Cadence, she could tell her more of the truth, but she still probably shouldn't let her know about the charm. Twilight couldn't help but feel guilty at the idea of hiding something so important, but instinctively, she was deeply reluctant to reveal what had been happening. Anypony that knew of a spell so powerful would surely have to do something about it, and the last thing Twilight wanted was another tussle over the charm.

Oh, for Celestia's sake, she was going to have to tell her mother and father about her ascension, too... and Shining Armour! Except he probably knew already, since Cadence had been summoned to Canterlot for the coronation. It was so soon!

She'd barely finished breakfast, when Celestia had told her that her coronation was to be held in three days time. The divine pony had been amused by Twilight's wide-eyed panic, playfully telling her that even if Twilight charmed everyone in the castle, she still couldn't stop the preparations that were already underway for her big day. Then, while Twilight was still reeling from that, she'd innocently remarked that while she was more than happy to take care of everything, perhaps Twilight might wish to write some of the invitations herself.

Celestia just shouldn't be allowed to be having this much fun at her expense.

Twilight had spent the rest of the morning writing invitations, including a heartfelt plea to Rarity to consider making her an outfit for her coronation, before she'd finally plucked up the nerve to ask Spike to come and see her. She missed him, of course, but she was also a little uncertain what to do when he arrived.

The distant sounds of hammering broke her train of thought, and she winced again. Celestia had, with a perfectly straight face, remarked that the collection of guest rooms and scarcely-used chambers around Twilight's childhood tower room happened to be just perfect to be adapted into a full suite befitting a Princess. The work was already underway, and would require surprisingly few alterations to the Castle's structure. Almost as if the area had been designed to be repurposed, as far back as when the castle was first built. Celestia certainly did have one eye on the future at all times. It was an admirable trait, and slightly terrifying.

Twilight's ascension hadn't formally been announced yet, but the presence of builders sealing up doorways, knocking through new connecting passages and erecting violet banners had quashed any doubt that something big was happening, and Twilight knew her name was on the lips of everypony in sight. It was only a matter of time before the rumour leaked out into Canterlot city, if it hadn't already.

Celestia had promised to show Twilight some of the secret passages, too. At first, Twilight had hesitated, but the more she thought about it, the more she'd wanted a way to the bedrooms of the Princesses without alerting the entire castle that the three were sleeping together.

She was beginning to find that being a Princess involved a certain amount of pragmatism.

It also involved having personal guards.

Twilight hadn't given in easily on that point. She'd flatly refused to have a royal escort following her around, especially in Ponyville, and had told Celestia that she wasn't above ordering her to drop the subject entirely, before Celestia had shifted the conversation to the topic of how the guards would feel.

Why, if Twilight scorned the idea of having guards - at the very least, for her suite in Canterlot Castle - then they would feel as though Twilight didn't respect them, or the work they did to keep the Princesses safe. They would feel as though Twilight was personally telling them that she didn't need them. They might be right, of course. Twilight was well known for having defeated many enemies of staggering power, and that was before she'd ascended to become the avatar of magic. Why, with the power she now held, personal guards would only get in her way. Everypony could see that.

With a certain amount of grumpiness, Twilight had given in. Celestia really needed to be punished for all this. It was her fault, in so many ways, that Twilight was now stuck waiting for guards to audition, actually audition, to protect her. In theory, the guards wouldn't even know who they were volunteering to protect on special duty, not until they spoke to her.

Well. It was - Twilight consulted her pocketwatch again - a minute before the appointed time for volunteers to see her began, and when she'd peeked out into the hall, there wasn't anypony in sight. No pony was going to give up protecting Princess Celestia to look after some unknown spoiled noble, and that was probably for the best. The second hand curved up to the top of the hour, and ticked past it. Twilight sighed in relief.

A firm knock sounded at her door. Twilight yelped.

"Um - yes? Come in!" she called, resisting the urge to hide behind the table, or better yet, under it. She didn't know how to be a Princess!

The door swung open. Framed in the doorway and nearly filling it was a huge, rusty orange-brown stallion, coated in golden armour, with his helm under one arm. For a moment he froze, before marching up to her writing desk and saluting rigidly.

"Hail, Princess Twilight!" he barked, at deafening volume. "I have come to volunteer for your personal guard, your Majesty!"

Twilight winced at the loudness of his voice, trying to keep her panic off her face. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Twilight Sparkle. You don't need to call me Princess or anything. I've not been officially made a Princess, anyway."

"I would never address you with anything but the full respect for your station, Princess Twilight!" he barked. A thread of dust trickled from the ceiling.

Oh, gosh. A little more of her panic creeping into her expression, she fixed a glassy smile on her face and suggested, "Perhaps you could tell me your name? A little quieter?"

He smote his chest with an armoured fist, producing a loud clang. "As you wish, Princess! I am Guard First-Class Autumn Stone! I am honoured to be in your presence, Princess!"

Was his cutie mark talent knocking down autumn leaves with his voice alone? Twilight peered around him, trying to catch sight of his cutie mark, but the armour covered it. "Really, please call me Twilight," she said weakly. "Autumn - why did you come here today?"

"The guard corps were offered the chance to volunteer to serve as your guard, Princess! After all you have done to protect Princess Celestia, I could not refuse the chance to repay you, Princess!"

"But it was a secret that the assignment was going to be for me," she protested. "No pony would resign from Princess Celestia's guard just to look after me, anyway."

Autumn drew himself up a little straighter, and focused his gaze slightly past her. "Begging your pardon, Princess! Everypony in the castle knows that a new Princess has risen, and it's you. Furthermore! Over a third of the guard wanted to volunteer, so we drew lots, Princess! We did not want too many to volunteer, to protect the feelings of Princess Celestia who we all adore, Princess!"

Twilight blinked. So everypony did know, and... and the guards had been drawing lots for the chance to volunteer? "But - if you love Princess Celestia, how could you volunteer to protect somepony else?"

"Because you are precious to Princess Celestia and everypony knows it, Princess! To protect you is to protect her, Princess!" Before Twilight could think of a reply, Autumn lowered his voice a notch to merely thunderous, and added, "I remember when you were a filly attending Princess Celestia's school, Princess. I will fight to protect you from all harm!"

"You - you do?" The idea wasn't impossible, Autumn did look older than her - perhaps as old as her father, now she looked more closely. Still, it threw her off balance.

Autumn nodded solemnly. "Yes, Princess. I guarded the school many times. I have also seen you visit Princess Celestia, while I was on duty at her side." A small smile tugged at his mouth.

A dim memory came to Twilight, faltering and uncertain. When she was a filly, the guards were mostly lumped into one category, big, stern presences that she didn't speak to, but there was a hint of familiarity about this pony's face. He'd been watching over her for years, long before she was ready to protect herself. Had she ever thought about the ponies that might be unable to protect themselves, that could get hurt while she was busy fighting? She shouldn't be picturing guards that stood around as symbols of status. She should be picturing the Cutie Mark Crusaders, hiding behind a guard who was using his body and life to shield them.

A strange feeling of gratitude welled up inside her, and she suddenly realised that she hadn't even touched this pony, who was earnestly doing his very best to pledge himself to protecting her. Pushing herself out of her chair, she stepped past her little writing desk to take Autumn's free hand in both of hers.

He jerked slightly, taken entirely off-guard, and his rigid posture faltered. His mouth opened, but he seemed momentarily lost for words.

Twilight looked up into his eyes and smiled warmly. "I'm not sure I really understood why anypony would want to come today. Not before I spoke to you. I feel so, so honoured by what you feel, and what you want to offer me. Will you please be my first guard, and protect my friends and I from harm?"

"...Princess," he said more quietly, roughly. Straightening to attention once more, though not daring to pull his hand away from hers, he announced, "I am truly honoured to join your personal guard, Princess! I promise you, I will not let anything happen to you or those you care about!" Rough sincerity filled his voice, and his jaw tensed as he rigidly held his composure.

Twilight squeezed his broad hand again, feeling the strength in it. "Autumn, do you have a family?"

Visibly wrong-footed, Autumn blinked. "I - yes, Princess. A wife, and two fillies. Growing up to be good girls." Pride touched his voice, covering some of the uncertainty.

"I once met a guard, and - for a minute, I thought he wasn't ever going to go back to his family." Because I accidentally wiped his mind so thoroughly, he didn't care about them anymore. "He was okay in the end, but it scared me. Just... don't be too brave. Don't rush into danger. I know you'll protect everypony I ask, and I know it's your duty, but - don't take risks if you don't absolutely have to, okay? I want you to be able to go home to your family, too."

Autumn tensed, then slowly relaxed and declared firmly, "I understand, but I won't hold back in doing my duty, Princess. Thank you for your kindness and consideration!"

His volume was rising again, and it was clear that no matter what she said, nothing would dissuade him. Twilight found herself smiling fondly, and she stepped back towards her desk. "Celestia asked me to send anypony that I accepted down to the armoury. She didn't tell me why. Could you do that, please? Thank you, Autumn. Thank you very much for all you've done to keep the ponies around you safe."

"Yes, Princess! I will not let you down!" He smote his breastplate once more with a ringing clang, then stepped backwards towards the door. "Shall I send the next guard in, Princess?"

"...there are more?" Twilight asked cautiously.

"Yes, Princess!" he bellowed. "For every guard here today there are ten that were willing, Princess!"

"Um. Could you ask the next pony in line to wait a minute, then come in? Thank you. Thank you very much."

Twilight slumped back into her chair as he left, footsteps ringing on the stone. The door closed behind him, and all was quiet.

After a moment, she began to giggle to herself, with a faint note of hysteria. That couldn't have happened. She couldn't have taken the single loudest stallion she'd ever met as her personal guard. She couldn't have a personal guard! This was crazy!

Except, she did understand. Maybe if her life had gone differently, she might have seen little foals grow up, and wanted to protect them. She could have been Celestia's guard, loving her from afar, wanting to protect her. And everything that was precious to her.

Celestia had been right. This wasn't about what she wanted. This was about realising that there were ponies that, even though they didn't know her, wanted to be there for her. And respecting that.

A firm knock sounded on the door.

Twilight straightened up in her chair. "Come in!"

Two interviews later, Twilight was beginning to feel a little frazzled. The second guard had been a neat pegasus, pale blue, called Zephyr. He'd told her about his part in the battle for Canterlot against the changelings, and with rigidly repressed nervousness, had explained that he'd always felt indebted to her for her role in uncovering the treachery of Chrysalis. Now he had the opportunity to repay her.

She'd argued that he didn't owe her any gratitude at all. This had gotten her nowhere in the face of his polite, stubborn insistence that he did. She'd accepted him into her guard.

The next pony through the door had been a crisp white unicorn, slender, with distinct grace. His name was Argent, and he had addressed her as the Princess of Magic. The castle had to be buzzing with gossip. By his account, he was amazed, and honoured, to have lived in the time when a great power of the world had been embodied, and wanted to protect her while she grew into her new role.

That had given her pause for thought. She'd accepted him, too.

As Argent had left, she'd had to ask him to have the next pony wait a few minutes. Apparently, there were two more to come. Well, she'd had an earth pony, a pegasus and a unicorn, all colts, so she was probably due a mare by now.

Two more ponies. If the first three had taught her anything, it was that every guard had a reason to want to do what they did. If the other volunteers had reasons like theirs, then there was no possible way she could turn them down.

Five, that looked at her not just as a pony, but as their task. Their purpose. It was hard to imagine deserving that.

Celestia was adored by every pony in Equestria. How heavy must the sheer sincerity of that love weigh?

A quiet knock sounded. Apparently, her couple of minutes of time to think were up.

"Come in!"

The door opened, and Twilight leaned forward slightly, idly curious to see whether it was an earth pony, pegasus or unicorn this time.

A woman stepped into the room, and closed the door behind her. Her skin was deep blue, a shade darker than that of Luna's body. Two large bat-like wings lay folded against her back, and in place of a mane, she displayed a wing-like crest like a mohawk. Her armour was glistening blue-black, and stark yellow eyes with slit pupils gazed from beneath the brow of her helmet.

Twilight's hand rose to her lips instinctively in surprise. One of Luna's guards.

Coming to attention in front of Twilight's desk, the bat-winged pony lifted her helm free, and held it under one arm. "I am Guard First-Class Ob.. Obscura," she announced, her voice breaking in the middle of her name. Though she was already standing rigidly, she stiffened a little further. Hints of red grew under the deep blue along the lines of her cheeks.

Feeling quite intimidated by the pony, Twilight was snapped back to reality by the stammer, and looked at her more closely. Oh, Celestia, this pony was more scared of her than the other way around. "It's very nice to meet you, Obscura," she said gently, trying to put her at ease. "I'm Twilight Sparkle. Please call me Twilight."

"Yes, Princess Twilight! I will!" she declared firmly, staring a fraction to the left of Twilight's head.

"Just Twilight, please." She hated to correct the jittery guard, but if she caught things early enough, maybe she could avoid spending the rest of her life trying to make them stop.

"Yes, Princess!"

Apparently not.

Twilight looked up at Obscura, and said as gently as possible, "Don't worry. I'd just like to get to know you a bit." She stopped herself from telling the guard to relax. That would only make her more conscious that she couldn't relax, which would make her more tense. Maybe if she ordered clearly, 'Be a nervous wreck,' Obscura might become less nervous out of sheer confusion.

Leaning back in her chair to try to convey lack of tension, Twilight asked gently, "Obscura, could you tell me why you want to be part of my guard? Isn't protecting Luna more important?"

Obscura's eyes widened slightly. She seemed at a loss for words, her lips parting. Twilight waited patiently for her to speak, giving her time. Finally, the bat-winged pony said in a slightly uncertain tone, "Princess Luna wanted one of us to volunteer for your guard, Princess. I volunteered, and I was chosen to come and present myself to you. And it's... you."

Twilight wanted to be slightly cross at Luna's intervention, but she couldn't stop a fond smile from crossing her face instead. Of course Luna would want one of her special guards to come and keep an eye on her. If Twilight was in the opposite circumstance, wouldn't she want somepony she trusted to look after her lover? Still, if Luna had chosen Obscura, it had to be for a reason. And what did 'it's you' mean?

"Did you know who you would be coming to see?"

"Uh - no, Princess!" Obscura stiffened, if possible, slightly more.

"Obscura," Twilight said chidingly.

The dark pony's slit eyes darted back and forth as if looking for a way to escape. "Yes, Princess! Sorry, Princess! The whole castle is talking about you, everypony knew exactly who Princess Luna was talking about, Princess!"

Oh, good grief. "Is the castle, uhm. Saying anything else about me?" Twilight braced herself. If the gossip mill was this efficient, it seemed unlikely Luna's staying in her room for the night hadn't been commented on.

Obscura stayed silent for a long moment. Seconds ticked by. Her lips kept trying to shape the word 'No', but she couldn't quite push it out. Finally, she blurted, "Lately, Princess Luna has been happier than she has been in months and we all know it's because she keeps sneaking away to visit you, Princess!" The instant she finished speaking, she cringed slightly.

A fluttering happiness welled up in Twilight's chest, and she found herself instinctively pressing her hand over her heart. Her voice came softly, as she asked, "Is 'we' the Castle staff?"

Jerking in surprise at the question, Obscura shook her head rapidly. "Princess Luna's personal guards. We would never tell anypony anything about it."

Rubbing her eyes, Twilight murmured, "I'm glad about that. Thank you." She hesitated, but she really had to understand Obscura's reasons. "Could I ask - what did you mean when you said 'it's you'? I didn't understand."

Obscura blinked again, a look of confusion on her face, before she spoke slowly. "Princess, you and the other Elements of Harmony - you brought our Princess back to us. We waited a thousand years for her, and you brought her back. The real her, the way she used to be. I don't - how could you not understand that there is nothing we wouldn't do for you?"

Twilight's cheeks flamed crimson. She'd never even thought about that. After all her lessons in friendship, how had she managed to be so blind to the feelings of the ponies around her? Was there anypony she could speak to today that wouldn't blindside her with feelings she'd never considered?

A thought flashed into her mind. If anypony knew Luna's secret, it would be her guards. But if they didn't know, it wasn't Twilight's secret to give away. Her lips parted, and then, speaking slowly and carefully, Twilight murmured, "Obscura... have you ever watched over Princess Luna's bedchamber at night? Noticed anything... that troubled you?"

Instantly, the expression disappeared from Obscura's face. Her shoulders straightened, and her gaze shifted fractionally to one side of Twilight's head again. Tonelessly, she replied, "I am sorry, Princess Twilight. I do not know what you are suggesting, and I would never betray any confidence my Princess has placed in me."

The flash of fear and unhappiness was impossible to miss. How it must have hurt Luna's guards, knowing she was suffering, and unable to say a word about it. Twilight deliberately shifted to meet Obscura's gaze, and said softly, "It's gone. The thing that was giving her nightmares is gone. I persuaded Princess Luna to destroy it, last night. She won't have any more bad dreams. She deserves better than that."

Obscura jerked in surprise once again, her gaze flicking back to Twilight's. For a long moment, she simply stared, as her eyes welled up, disbelief painted across her face. Finally, she stepped towards Twilight, before hesitating and rigidly snapping back to attention. Her voice shook with emotion. "Princess, if you did this for her - thank you. Thank you. We all - I owe you more than I could ever say." With raw sincerity, she finished, "I pledge my service to you. Please accept it."

Frozen to the spot, Twilight's lips parted, then closed again. She hadn't meant to provoke a reaction like that, she just wanted to let Obscura know she didn't have to worry! But still, Obscura's feelings and wishes were sincere. She couldn't ignore or disrespect that. She had to try to convey what she felt, without hurting or upsetting the guard pony, and she had to get it right first time, because a single wrong word would devastate her.

This was what Celestia had described. The weight of a pony's heart in your hands.

Swallowing her protest, Twilight took a deep breath, then let it go. Resting her hands on Obscura's armoured shoulders, she said softly, "I love Luna. I want to make her happy. I'm so glad she has ponies like you. Obscura, I'm really honoured by the way you feel about me, and my friends. I respect that. I will accept you. I want you to be my friend. But - you don't owe me your life."

Obscura looked up at Twilight, and swallowed. Clearly fighting to maintain her composure, she said in a hoarse voice, "I feel that I do, Princess. Thank you. Should I report to the armoury?"

Twilight lowered her hands, and nodded slowly. "Yes, Obscura. Thank you, really."

Backing up a step, Obscura took her helm and placed it on her head once more, guiding her head crest back into the narrow slot through the metal. The armour seemed to help her self-confidence a little, and she bowed formally before turning to the door and quietly making her way out.

Slumping back into her chair, Twilight rested her head in her hands. She couldn't be a Princess. It was impossible. The pressure of her wings against the chair back nagged at her in mute counterpoint; she was a Princess, and no amount of protest was going to change that. One more candidate to go, too. What in Equestria was it going to be? A bear? A manticore? A manticore with a deeply emotional story that would make Twilight feel terrible for having neglected to consider its feelings and point of view?

A knock sounded on the door. For a moment, Twilight shrank from it, suddenly wanting nothing more than to call out that whoever and whatever stood outside would have to come back later. But she couldn't do that, and she knew it. "...come in," she finally said softly, half-wondering if she'd even be heard through the solid wood.

The door swung inward, admitting a golden-armoured earth pony. She was pale grey, with a cobalt blue mane and tail, and moved with brisk efficiency. Stopping in front of Twilight's tiny writing desk, she saluted crisply, and said firmly, "Guard-Captain Diorite, reporting for duty, Princess!"

Twilight gaped, then desperately tried to hide her reaction. Diorite? Forcing herself not to stammer, she replied as steadily as she could, "Hello Diorite, I'm glad to have you here. We've met, haven't we?"

If the guard remembered what had happened in Celestia's audience chamber, she gave no sign of it. "I have stood guard on some of your previous visits to Princess Celestia, yes, Princess."

She certainly had. Twilight could remember every detail of her body; her dappled flanks, her proud breasts, even the taste of her shaven pussy. Under Celestia's control, Twilight had been blocked from realising anything was unusual, and had explored the other pony thoroughly at Celestia's instruction. In return, Twilight had stood posed, nude, while Diorite had shaved her for Celestia's pleasure, then Twilight had masturbated Chert, Diorite's cousin, to orgasm all over the guard-captain's bare tits.

No one could be remembering all that, and have the kind of calm, confident expression that Diorite wore. She didn't remember a thing. Which meant that only Twilight was staring at her, blushing as the memories unfurled.

Aware that she'd let the silence drag on too long, Twilight added quickly, "Um, please call me Twilight."

"As you wish, Princess Twilight."

Twilight fought the urge to rest her head in her hands. Unable to banish the awkward awareness of her own arousal, she ploughed on, "Could I ask you why you're volunteering, Diorite?"

Diorite nodded, having anticipated the question. "Yes, Princess. I am one of Celestia's most experienced guard-captains. I have been present for every major engagement that has occurred in Canterlot city in recent years, and I have seen you in action. I respect your achievements. You will need a practised hand to guide your new guard unit, which will require considerable guidance and oversight to establish from scratch. I firmly believe that I have the skill, the knowledge and the ability to create a professional guard force in your service, Princess."

She was impressive, Twilight had to admit. She spoke with complete authority, and if she was unsettled by Twilight's transformation, she hid it well. Still...

"Did Princess Celestia ask you to volunteer, Diorite?" Even as she asked the question, Twilight knew, just knew, that Celestia had a hand in this somewhere. She was going to need a bigger paddle.

"I expressed my willingness to volunteer to her, and Princess Celestia agreed that I was highly suited for the task, Princess. I believe she has faith in my abilities."

That was a fair point. Perhaps Diorite simply was the best pony for the job. Twilight mentally downgraded Celestia's punishment a notch. Casting around for a way to check if their mesmerised tryst had influenced Diorite's decision, Twilight asked, "Have you... had any dreams, about me?"

That got a reaction. Even rigidly suppressed and covered with her professional expression, the flare of shock and guilt in her eyes was visible. A trace of pinkness darkened the grey of Diorite's cheeks as she replied, "I couldn't say anything about that, Princess."

Twilight winced. "Yes, sorry. That wasn't appropriate. Please forget I asked." Now there was a phrase that had taken on extra meaning since the charm had come into her life. Hastily moving on, she added, "Is there anything you'd like to ask me, Diorite?"

"There is, Princess. I understand that you have accepted all four candidates you have interviewed. Do you actually approve of them? If you are merely being kind, Princess, and either have problems with them or do not trust their capacity to protect you, please say so. If you cannot trust your guard, you will not bond with them. I will take full responsibility for removing any unsuitable candidates from your service."

Diorite's gaze was level and unflinching, and it was Twilight that felt a little awkward under her stare. "No! I mean, no, I don't want you to reject any of my guards for me." My guards. The phrase lingered awkwardly on her tongue.

"May I ask your reasons, Princess?" Diorite's back was perfectly straight.

"They all - all of them had reasons to volunteer to protect me. All of them believe in what they're doing, and what they want to do. They... surprised me. I still won't want to be escorted everywhere, but I really respect everything they feel. I believe in them." Twilight straightened a little, and said more softly, "I believe in you, Diorite. Please be my Captain."

Perhaps there was just a hint of relief somewhere in the guard pony's rigid body and disciplined expression. Twilight couldn't pin it down. Diorite simply replied, "It is my honour to serve, Princess Twilight. Thank you for allowing me to do so. By your leave, I will attend to your new guards, and arrange a rotating two-guard shift on the entrance to your personal suite. I will arrange an appointment with your scheduler to discuss which ponies are to be allowed unconditional access, and which are to be barred."

"But - I don't have a personal scheduler," protested Twilight.

"Then I advise you appoint one. Once your coronation date is announced, your new status will be official. Many ponies will insist on seeing you." Diorite stepped back, saluted, and exited the chamber. Twilight watched her go, with a slightly dazed look on her face.

She had guards now. Everypony in Canterlot was going to want to speak to her. She had to set up access lists. Oh, Celestia - whose fault all of this was! - this was all going far too fast. Her disorganised, off-balance thoughts were only tugged further off-kilter by repeated, persistent flashes of Diorite's nude, toned body, and the memory of her breathy pants of pleasure. Her body under Twilight's hands. The taste of her.

She really, really needed a distraction. She should go and see how her slaves were getting on! Yes. Some soothing time in the presence of her adoring toys, a long roll of parchment and a proper, organised list would really help matters immensely. Assuming no other prospective guards were lurking outside her door.

Creeping over to the door, she eased it open slightly and peered out. No pony in sight. That made things easier.

Trixie's room was the closest. Stopping outside, she knocked on the closed door, then listened. No answer. She knocked again; straining her hearing, she could make out the muffled sound of Trixie's voice though the thick wood, but not the words.

Twilight tried the handle; the door swung inwards slightly, and she peered around the edge of it. The guest room was comically vast by Ponyville standards, with a four-poster bed, and several comfortable chairs. Trixie's outfit was draped over the dresser, but the showmare was nowhere in sight. Twilight frowned. Then, from out of sight, Trixie's voice rang out again.

"Ow! Curse you, that wasn't fair! I'll find a way to get revenge on you, just you wait - ow!"

Was Trixie fighting someone? Pushing the door aside, Twilight hurried into the room, following the sound of Trixie's voice towards the attached bathroom. The blue mare was visible through the doorway, naked, sat with her back to the door. She was bent forward, and muttering to herself.

Twilight hesitated. "...Trixie?"

Trixie jumped, her hand jerking away from between her parted legs. A small ceramic razor clattered into the granite bath, sliding to a stop among a thin film of damp suds. Jerking to her feet, Trixie tried inadequately to cover herself, and the half-scraped away foam between her legs. "Mistress! I - Trixie wasn't expecting you!"

Twilight hesitated in the bathroom doorway. She definitely felt like she was intruding. Still - "Trixie, are you okay? I thought you might be in trouble."

"Yes! Yes, of course! The magnificently sexy Trixie is just fine! Nothing to worry about! Punish this lying bitch, Mistress, bend her over and spank her till she isn't blue anymore!" A look of furious realisation came over Trixie's face as the words kept coming against her will, and she clenched one hand.

Oh, good grief. Something was the matter with Trixie, too. Twilight stepped forward and took her hand in both of hers. "I'm going to spank you to give you some relief, but then I want you to talk to me, okay? I'm worried."

"...fine, Mistress," muttered Trixie sulkily, turning to face away and bending over slightly. She yelped as Twilight's hand descended once to smack firmly against her exposed ass, then straightened up again without saying anything further.

"Trixie - I need you to think carefully, and tell me what's wrong." Twilight sat down on the edge of the bathtub, and after a moment, Trixie followed suit. The showpony remained silent for a minute, her face working as she tried to find a way to work around the command not to deceive Twilight, before visibly giving up.

"Trixie was shaving herself so you'd pay more attention to her! Okay, Mistress? That's what she was doing." Her tone was sulky.

Twilight blinked. "Why would you think you had to do that?"

"You haven't even fucked her yet! You made Trixie be your submissive sex toy, and you won't use her? She's beautiful! Isn't she? I know you've had sex with all your other slaves, and then yesterday I saw they were all shaven, like you, so I thought maybe if I..." Trixie stared angrily at the floor.

An aching pang lodged in Twilight's chest, thrust there by the words. This is what came of taking a pony to be her enthralled lover, and not actually using her. Once again, and appropriately for her new station, Twilight had royally screwed up.

"Trixie," Twilight began, then paused. Starting over, she tried again, "Trixie, you didn't have to do this. I'm sorry. I got so caught up with thinking about fighting Celestia, I didn't - I'm sorry. I really am." Twilight leaned into Trixie's naked body, wrapping her arms around her.

"Is it because you're still angry with Trixie, is that it?" the showmare asked defensively.

"No. No. Trixie - please." Twilight stroked her hand down the other mare's white mane. "I'm really pleased with you, and I'm so impressed at how clever you are, and how hard you worked for me. You're a very special pony."

A clump of soapy bubbles slowly slid down Trixie's thigh, and dripped onto the floor. Eventually, in a quieter voice, Trixie murmured, "You don't like my body, though."

"That's not true. Not at all. Trixie, you're... you're really beautiful. You have the most kissable lips, and you really light up when you smile at me. I used the charm to make sure there'd be lots of chances to spank you, I... enjoy that way more than I should admit to, really." Twilight's cheeks were growing crimson. "I really like your ass."

Trixie gazed at Twilight, searching her face, before saying in a small voice, "Trixie's body is perfect, you know. You're lucky to have her as your devoted fucktoy."

"I am! I really am. I've been thinking about where I'll have to live, now that everything's changed. I want to be near Celestia and Luna, but I couldn't leave my friends, either, and they're tied to Ponyville. I was thinking about trying a week here, and a week there, going back and forth."

Trixie frowned, looking confused, and opened her mouth, only to be forestalled by Twilight's raised hand.

"Let me finish. The thing is, Celestia and Luna, they have to stay here in Canterlot, at least most of the time. My friends all have reasons to stay in Ponyville, and even Zecora will be needed in the Everfree forest. But you - well, I thought you could stay with me. Travel with me, back and forth. So, you'd get to be with me the most, actually."

Twilight was cut off by Trixie, who seized hold of her and squeezed her tightly. Clinging to her, she declared in a breathless rush, "Trixie will stay at your side, and she'll be the most important pony, and she'll have her very own golden carriage, and-"

Breaking into giggles, Twilight put a hand over Trixie's mouth. "One thing at a time, Trixie. Let me help you, okay? Sit on the back ledge of the bath and part your legs."

"Oh, uh - yes, Mistress." Taken slightly off balance, Trixie stepped into the bath and sat on the rear ledge, parting her thighs to reveal her half-shaved sex. She bit her lip, looking aside in a display of awkward self-consciousness quite at odds with her customary brash confidence.

Turning on the tap, Twilight rinsed her hands as the water grew hot again, then held the small shaving razor under the flow. Smiling up at Trixie, she added, "You really don't have to do this, but now you've started, I'll show you how to do it. If you like it, there's a cream I can give you that will stop it growing back for a while. It stings a lot, though."

Trixie looked to one side, her cheeks growing crimson as she sat with her legs parted. "Do you like that way better?"

"I do," admitted Twilight. "Applejack did it because it made her feel like she was showing she was owned, and I liked it." Picking up a small glass vial, she poured some of the amber liquid within onto her hands, and rubbed them briskly, forming a frothing lather that she began gently rubbing onto Trixie's bared pussy.

"Well, why didn't you tell Trixie to - oooh." Trixie stopped talking as Twilight's warm, soapy fingers began stroking over her sensitive sex, a shiver running through her that raised goosebumps on her arms.

"I probably would have eventually, if you hadn't decided to." A fond smile grew on Twilight's lips as she spread the hot foam across Trixie's tender skin, probing her gently with her touch. Every shiver and short gasp from the showpony sparked a secret delight within Twilight, and she lingered a little longer over lathering her up than she really needed to. Finally, she placed the smooth head of the tool against Trixie, and began very carefully stroking it up and down her body.

"M-Mistress!" Trixie shivered, her eyelids fluttering.

"Stay still, Trixie," Twilight chided her gently. "This is delicate."

"Yes, Mistress!" Nodding hastily, Trixie leant her head back against the wall and concentrated on not moving as Twilight tenderly stroked fresh foam onto her body.

Bit by bit, stroke by stroke, Trixie's soft blue skin was revealed. It was strangely calming, intimate. Twilight lingered lovingly over the task, taking her time, until every hint of white fur was cleaned away. Rinsing the razor clean, Twilight set it aside, then gathered warm water in her cupped hands and gently poured it over Trixie's pussy.

"There. Beautiful," she sighed contentedly.

Trixie looked down at herself, then slowly looked back to Twilight. "Do you mean that?"

"Of course I do. But I'd better make sure I did a good job," Twilight replied with a warm, gently playful smile. Bending down, she nestled her head between Trixie's damp thighs, and gave a soft, lingering kiss to her soft folds. Hearing Trixie's disbelieving, joyous whimper, Twilight smiled to herself, and begin tenderly lapping at her pussy.

"Oh! Oh, yes, Mistress, lick your slutty fucktoy's pussy! Oh, oh yes, lick Trixie's pretty cunt, make her squirm, Mistress!" Closing her eyes, Trixie leaned back and spread her legs a little wider, pushing herself against Twilight's mouth.

Giggling, Twilight nodded her agreement, as she licked more firmly. Encouraging Trixie to use dirty language really had been an inspired decision. Her damp skin was incredibly soft, scented with soap. Every flick of Twilight's tongue drew a fresh, sharp little gasp or needy squirm from the naked mare, and she pursued those reactions with delighted interest, learning which spots made Trixie whimper the loudest.

Trixie's hand settled at the back of Twilight's neck, and in a half-disbelieving tone, she gasped, "Mistress...! Please!" Her free hand rose to her chest and began roughly squeezing, spreading her hand across both breasts and rubbing against her stiff nipples. The smooth stone of the bathroom gave an echoing quality to her sounds of pleasure, amplifying every gasp.

Looking up into Trixie's eyes, Twilight gasped into her body, "Let me feel you cum for me, Trixie! Do that for me!"

"Oh - yes - she, she - she obeys!" Trixie's eyelids squeezed closed, and with a howl of pleasure that rang from the walls, she arched back in shuddering release.

Feeling Trixie cum under her tongue, feeling her former enemy and devoted slave completely surrendering to the pleasure she was given, flooded Twilight with fresh heat. Oh, why hadn't she done this sooner? Panting, delicious shivers running through her, Twilight lifted her head, and breathed, "Did you like that?" Catching Trixie's eye, enthralled with her own daring, Twilight licked her damp lips with playful sensuality.

Stumbling for words, Trixie managed, "I - yes! Yes, Trixie liked that, very much!" Her head sank back to rest against the wall, her pink cheeks hot. After a moment, she gathered herself enough to add, "Now that you've tasted the gorgeous, sensuous Trixie, you will of course taste her lovely body again and again."

Sensitive to the plea under the over-the-top boast, Twilight leaned up to kiss Trixie's parted lips. Smiling against the other pony's mouth, Twilight said softly, "Of course I will. Would you like to come and play a game with me, Trixie? I think you'll really enjoy what I have in mind."

A giddy smile on her face, Trixie nodded dazedly. "The slutty and submissive Trixie would love to... do that thing. That you said."

Twilight grinned, and pushed herself upright, backing away from the bath. Straightening her dress and adjusting the loose bodice to properly cover herself again, she said demurely, "If you'd like to get dressed, just enough so you won't scare the maids if they see you, I'd like to go and speak to a couple of ponies. You'll have fun, I promise."

Shaking herself out of her daze, Trixie grabbed at a towel and began hurriedly drying. "She'll be right there, Mistress! No one can dress quicker than the amazing Trixie!"

"How quickly can you undress?" Twilight teased. "I'll wait for you outside."

"Hey Twi! Hi, Trixie." Rainbow's greeting was slightly more resigned in Trixie's case, but she waved from where she sprawled loosely atop a lounger. She lay stretched out on one of the castle's innumerable balconies, on a delicate piece of furniture she'd probably dragged out into the sunlight herself.

Oh, Rainbow looked good in her tight blue shorts and black tank top.

Twilight's body simmered with arousal, the taste of Trixie's juices lingering on her lips. She was too turned on for shame, or hesitation. She wanted Rainbow Dash. More than that, she wanted her to be a mindless, obedient sex toy. It would only take three words. All she needed was Rainbow's permission, and for that, a little persuasion was required.

Slinking over to sit on the end of the lounger, Twilight purred, "Are you enjoying the sunshine, Rainbow?" With a flick of her fingers, she gestured Trixie to the floor, and the submissive showpony dropped to her knees instantly at Twilight's feet.

Rainbow looked down at Trixie, then back up at Twilight, trying not to show her reaction to the display of obedience. "Uh, sure I am. I flew rings around the castle, watched the Wonderbolts run through a practice routine, and now I'm-"

"You're not doing anything that can't wait, are you Rainbow?" Twilight interrupted smoothly.

"Uh - no, just building up an appetite for lunch. You want to do something?"

Speaking in softly smouldering words, Twilight leaned forward. "I do, Rainbow. I want to do you. I want to play with my wonderslut pony."

Rainbow pressed back against the couch, her eyes widening and a flush rising on her cheeks. Forcing herself not to stammer, she managed, "Yeah, okay. I'm not busy right now. Guess I can fit you in."

"But that's not all. I want to charm you, Rainbow, and play with your mindless body. I know you'd prefer to be awake, but I want you to listen closely to this." Twilight brought her lips to Rainbow's ear, half straddling the other pony on the reclining couch.

In a soft, hot whisper, she breathed, "I'm a pervert. I get off on commanding your beautiful, toned, firm body to obey my every whim, knowing your mind is totally, utterly under my control. It makes me really, really horny. So do this for me. Do this for me, and I promise, you're going to be very glad you did when I reward you later. I'll make you cum, very nicely. So, will you?"

"Hhnng," whimpered Rainbow, her face red, her nipples jutting against her black tank top. Her mouth worked soundlessly, before she finally pushed out, "Yeah. Okay. Do me any way you like."

"I'm so glad you feel that way, Rainbow. You won't regret it." Twilight's voice was suffused with lust, and she seized hold of one of the pegasus's small breasts, squeezing firmly. Rainbow gasped, arching into her hand, only to go rigid as Twilight whispered huskily into her ear, "Obey your Empress."

"This slave obeys," Rainbow Dash recited blankly, in a mechanical monotone that was all the more thrilling to Twilight for the abrupt contrast with how she'd been speaking a moment before. Unable to kneel without disturbing the pony atop her, Rainbow froze in place.

"Oh, Rainbow. You have no idea how good that makes me feel." Pushing herself up off the lounger, Twilight stood straight, and panted, "Rainbow, on your feet. Until your trance ends, you will reply to all orders with 'Rainbow Slut obeys'."

Moving with a smooth, mechanical grace, Rainbow sat up and swung her legs off the couch, standing upright. Her pink eyes were glazed and entirely blank as she droned, "Rainbow Slut obeys."

Trixie whimpered aloud, biting her lip. Her hands clenched at her sides in an effort not to touch herself. "Oh, Mistress. She'd dreamed about it, but the way it makes your submissive and slutty fucktoy feel to see you doing this... Is she - is Rainbow Slut going to play with her? Please let Trixie stay awake for this! She wants to remember everything you do to her!"

Reaching down to her kneeling slave, Twilight caressed Trixie's face affectionately. "Of course you're going to stay conscious, Trixie. I'm going to put on a show for you. Now get up, and follow me. Rainbow Slut! If we meet any ponies in the hallway, you're going to act naturally while you are in sight of them, unless I say otherwise."

"Rainbow Slut obeys," Rainbow recited blankly.

Twilight giggled, placing a finger under Rainbow's chin and leaning in to kiss her. "Yes, you do. Come on, my cute fucktoys. Let's go take control of Zecora."

Getting off the floor, Trixie hurried after Twilight, Rainbow following behind with smooth, mechanical strides. Trixie wore an expression of incredulous disbelief, which made Twilight giggle to herself each time she glanced back.

Twilight knocked hard on Zecora's door. "Zecora? Are you there?"

The door drew inwards, revealing Zecora in her simple brown tunic and leggings. She smiled warmly at Twilight, then her gaze flicked to Rainbow's rigid, empty-eyed body and a subtle tension entered her posture. Stepping back inside, she beckoned them in. "Welcome, Twilight. I had hoped you would call. Is Rainbow Dash now in your thrall?"

Twilight moved into the room after Zecora, pressing up against her without hesitation. One hand rose to cradle the back of Zecora's neck, resting against the gold rings, and she gazed into the zebra's eyes. "Yes, she is. Watch her, Zecora. Watch what she will do for me. Rainbow! Play with your tits."

"Rainbow Slut obeys," droned Rainbow Dash, shoving up her tank top to bare her small breasts. Her hands slid over them, squeezing, before she began to squeeze and pinch her pink nipples.

A visible tremor raced through Zecora, her lips parting soundlessly. Her breath quickened.

Thought so. Even if the command to find mind control arousing had been removed with all the others, it had been in force long enough to leave echoes. Twilight stepped around Zecora, moving up behind her and pressing against her back, delighting in the sensitivity of her newly enhanced body. Speaking softly into Zecora's ear, Twilight murmured, "Don't look away from her. She's completely under my control, Zecora. A pliant, obedient toy. She'll say anything I want, do anything I command. She's my plaything, my Rainbow Doll. It's so arousing, so hot, to see her like this."

Zecora's eyes squeezed shut, the zebra sucking in a breath, but Twilight's finger settled on her lips before she could reply.

"Ssh. Just nod."

Nodding jerkily, Zecora turned her head to glance back at Twilight. Her lip trembled, but she held her silence, face full of yearning.

Twilight smiled, her hands sliding up Zecora's stomach to gently cup her pierced breasts through her top. The other mare's exotic body was hot under her hands, and as she squeezed, Zecora shivered with need again. "Look at her. It turns you on, so much, to see her so helplessly under my control. Completely in my power. Doesn't it?"

Zecora nodded again, jerkily. A small, desperate whimper escaped her lips as she greedily drank in the sight of Rainbow Dash thoughtlessly squeezing her bare breasts.

Twilight crushed Zecora's breasts together through her tunic, luxuriating in the way they filled her hands, and rubbed her palms slowly back and forth over the bumps of the golden rings that pierced her nipples. "But that's not all. You don't want to just watch Rainbow Slut obey me. You want to be like her. You want me to show you how total my control of your mind is... you want to be my enthralled fucktoy. When you look at her, you're looking at yourself. I'm here to do that to you."

"Nnnngh," groaned Zecora, her knees weakening. Small, sharp gasps escaped her lips with every squeeze of Twilight's hands, shuddering. Her hips bucked slowly, grinding her ass against her Mistress.

"Listen. This is what's going to happen. I'm going to say the words, and you're going to stiffen. You're going to sink to your knees, reciting 'This slave obeys'. You're going to be able to focus only on my voice. You'll fuck me any way I want. You'll degrade yourself, fuck yourself for my pleasure. You will be a pliant toy in my hand." Twilight's lips curved into a smile. "I won't leave any lingering orders or changes. I just want to play with your perfect puppet body, and your empty mind. You're going to agree. You're going to agree, and you're going to play with yourself roughly later, knowing how I've used you. You can agree out loud, now."

"Yes! I will be your puppet, my thoughts confined! Take over my body, control my mind!" Zecora half-cried, half-gasped the words, pressing back more urgently in an ecstatic display of need.

Twilight's gaze flashed to Trixie. The blue mare stood by the doorway, her cheeks crimson, unable to take her eyes off the scene. With a conspiratorial smile just for her, Twilight breathed into Zecora's ear, "Obey your Empress," and released Zecora's soft chest.

Zecora immediately froze in place, then, with small, mechanical steps, turned to face Twilight. Sinking to her knees, no longer able to care about the livid lust flooding her body, she recited blankly, "In a mindless daze, this slave obeys."

Catching her lower lip between her teeth, Twilight hissed, "Yess. Rainbow Slut, Zecora, strip naked immediately. I want to see those gorgeous firm bodies on full display. Trixie. Here, now."

Jerking with surprise, Trixie hurriedly crossed to stand beside Zecora, unable to keep herself from glancing at the two enslaved ponies as they stripped themselves with simple, unadorned efficiency. "Y-yes, Mistress! The slutty and submissive Trixie obeys!"

The power. The lust. Twilight's body was on fire with desire, a slick heat aching between her legs, her nipples almost painfully taut beneath her white dress. Reaching out to Trixie, Twilight gently cupped her chin, stroking her thumb across the other mare's lips. "I love this feeling, Trixie. Two naked, mindless fuckdolls waiting for my command, and my pretty blue slave ready to be played with. I'm so, so horny. How do you feel? Truthfully."

Her mouth opening and shutting, it took a minute for Trixie to gather the words. "She - she's turned on, Mistress, Trixie's slave body is so hot for you right now." Hesitating for a moment, she visibly felt compelled words coming, and spoke hurriedly to forestall them. "She's horny, and she's - kind of intimidated. In a good way! The slutty and submissive Trixie still can't believe what she saw you do to Princess Celestia, and now she's seeing it again, with your friends... so powerful, and sexual. Before you enslaved Trixie and made her into your obedient bitch, she thought you were just-"

Trixie cut off the words hurriedly, but Twilight just smiled, and let her hand run down Trixie's body. Without taking her eyes off the showpony, she said, "Zecora, when I command you, respond that my bitch obeys, okay?"

"Anything you say, your bitch obeys." The words came out coloured by Zecora's accent, even through the flatness of her mindless response. Her striped breasts rose and fell slowly with her steady breathing, the golden rings gleaming in the light.

Sighing with pleasure, Twilight nodded. "That's good, Zecora, reply to all commands with that, please. Rainbow, Zecora, take hold of Trixie's arms and hold them out straight."

Rainbow relaxed from her parade-ground attention stance and stepped forward with Zecora, the two slaves droning their overlapping, humiliating compliance. Trixie barely had time to move before Zecora seized one arm, and Rainbow took the other, holding them rigidly outwards from her body. Trixie tugged at her captors, eyes wide, dizzy with fear and need. "M-Mistress?"

Twilight leaned forward and kissed Trixie deeply, breathing a soft groan of delight against the other pony's mouth. Catching at Trixie's lower lip with her teeth, she bit gently before she finally released her to ask in a teasing voice, "What did Trixie think I was 'just'?"

Swaying in the grip of Twilight's enthralled slaves, Trixie's cheeks burned with desire and embarrassment in equal measure. "The slutty and submissive Trixie thought that you were a stupid goody-goody, with no ambition, no skill and about as sexual as the tree you lived in."

"Oh, dear. That's not very nice," chided Twilight playfully.

"She doesn't think that now," Trixieadded quickly.

"Rainbow. Zecora. Strip my cute blue fucktoy of her clothes. Be gentle, please, I don't want them torn."

"Mistress!" Trixie protested over their blank recitations, grabbing at her clothes as Zecora firmly pulled down her skirt and Rainbow began undoing her tight corset.

"Trixie." Reaching behind herself, Twilight pulled a pin free, loosening the oversized dress. Taking hold of her bodice with both hands, she slowly pulled it down. Her rounded breasts fell free, one after the other, the silken fabric slithering off her smooth skin with a sensation that filled Twilight with tingling delight. Cradling them with both hands, she said softly, "Let your arms go limp, Trixie. Let them undress you. You don't need to look away from me."

Frozen to the spot, Trixie stared, completely enthralled by the sight. Her arms slowly fell loose, and she stepped out of her skirt at Zecora's urging in a distant, preoccupied way. "Y-yes, Mistress. Anything you say..."

"Do you want to play with my tits, Trixie?" Twilight asked her pleasantly.

"Yes," Trixie replied hoarsely, nodding. Almost without realising it, she'd been stripped of every last piece of clothing, her warm blue breasts on full display, framed by her tumbling white mane. Her shaven cunt glistened between her legs, still a little damp from Twilight's attention. "Yes! Please!"

Twilight narrowed her eyes playfully, letting her gaze run slowly up and down the trio of nude ponies before her. Squeezing her breasts firmly, Twilight sighed with pleasure. "I'm not sure I believe you. You used to think such unflattering things. Slaves; seize her."

"Rainbow Slut obeys."

"Anything you say, your bitch obeys."

"What- wait!" Trixie protested as Zecora gripped her arm and anchored it against the zebra's grey stomach. Rainbow was even quicker, jerking Trixie's other arm out horizontally and gripping with surprising, wiry strength. The captive mare struggled, her bare breasts jiggling enticingly as she tugged this way and that, to no avail. "You know she's telling the truth! She apologised! She-"

"Shhhh." Twilight's finger came to rest on Trixie's lips. "Celestia took away all of my toys. She took away my ropes, and my strap-on shaft, and all the things I had so carefully, shamefully ordered and hadn't even had the chance to try out. I'm going to have such fun tying you up and teasing you, for hours and hours. You're going to feel things you had no idea you could feel, Trixie. But right now, my cute mindless fucktoys are going to be your restraints. You don't mind, do you?"

"Nuh-" Trixie gulped.

Twilight leaned closer, placing her hands on Trixie's bare shoulders. Her breasts were almost brushing those of her slave, and the tingling tension, the anticipation, was delicious. "What was that?" she cooed.

"Nuh-no, Mistress! I don't - Trixie doesn't mind at all!"

"That's a good little pony." Twilight inhaled deeply, and she felt her stiff nipples brush against Trixie's smooth skin for just a moment. Both ponies shuddered. The temptation to push forward, to grind herself roughly against the captive mare, was almost painfully intense. No. Savour the anticipation. Twilight drew back a little, and Trixie took a shuddering breath as she unfroze.

Looking up at Twilight, Trixie tugged gently at the ponies gripping her arms, in a half-hearted, absent-minded kind of way. After a moment, she blurted incredulously, "You - you have a strap-on, Mistress?"

"Oh, yes." Twilight's hand ran down her own body, to stroke along her thigh. "I did the most wonderful, terrible things with it."

"You - you did?" Trixie breathed.

"I lined up my closest friends... the elements of Loyalty, Honesty, Laughter, Generosity and Kindness. I stripped them naked. Then I bent them over my bed, bare asses in the air, and I fucked them, one after the other. Oh, Trixie. The way they cried out, and begged for me to take them..." Twilight's voice trailed off in a husky whisper, her fingers moving to firmly caress her slick pussy.

Trixie's eyes were huge, her cheeks crimson. Her nipples jutted tautly, her breasts heaving with her panting breath. A single droplet of wetness ran down her bare thigh. "You, you're lying, you wouldn't do that..."

"Oh, but I would." Shifting her gaze briefly, Twilight demanded, "Rainbow Slut! Tell Trixie the complete truth. Did I fuck all five of you with a strap-on?"

"Rainbow Slut obeys. You fucked all of us with a strap-on," the mesmerised pegasus answered.

Twilight gasped softly as her finger slid into her heated cunt. "And what did I do then?"

"You made us fuck each other in front of you."

"And who did you have sex with?"

"Rarity dressed me up in a skirt and fucked me. Then I screwed Applejack."

"Thank you, Rainbow Slut." Twilight couldn't resist Trixie's body any longer, couldn't ignore those round, luscious tits just waiting to be squeezed. Her free hand settled on the proud curve of her slave's breast, and began to knead slowly. Trixie whimpered, a visible shiver running through her.

"It was so cruel of Celestia to take my toys away. Maybe she deserves to be one for a while. A tall, beautiful sex toy, her mind empty and pliant, a tight corset pushing out her bare chest, and a nice big strap-on to use on all my eager, slutty slaves." Oh gosh, that mental image. Twilight buried a second finger within herself, her thighs squeezing together. She had to spend some time with Celestia, soon. "Would you like that, Trixie? Would you like to be roughly fucked by a Princess?"

"Mmmmh," groaned Trixie, nodding urgently. Struggling to find words as Twilight caressed her bare breasts, she finally managed, "Yes, please, Mistress! Trixie would love to be fucked senseless by a Princess!"

Twilight giggled as a thought occurred to her. With a distinct effort of will, she slid her fingers from her tingling pussy, and placed them against Trixie's lips. As her slave whimpered again, lips parting to suck the wet fingers into her mouth, Twilight breathed, "You know, Trixie... I'm a Princess now, too. I don't have a toy to fuck you with right now, but I am still going to make you cum. Mm, your mouth is so warm!"

That was enough anticipation. Twilight wrapped an arm around her captive and crushed her body against the other mare, firmly rubbing their soft breasts against each other. Electric sparks shot through her with each tingling brush of Trixie's smooth skin against her stiff nipples, and she groaned, "That's right... that feels good. I never thought about fucking you before I charmed you, and then, when I had you mindless and obedient, I suddenly realised that I really, really wanted to suck your tits and punish your ass. How did I never notice what a hot, fuckable mare you were when we were fighting?"

"Oh, oh Mistress! Your body feels so good!" Trixie's eyes squeezed shut, and she tried to pull away from her mindless guards, straining to grind against Twilight. "I - I wanted to fuck you! Your horny, desperate bitch fantasised about breaking and humiliating you, forcing you to lick her cunt on stage, so everyone would see she was better! Trixie had no idea that it would feel so good to be your captive! Mistress, please! Bend Trixie over, fuck her, abuse her body, use her for your pleasure! She deserves it!"

Twilight found herself grinding her cunt against Trixie's thigh, smearing wetness against her blue leg as the enslaved pony begged and degraded herself. She couldn't help it, it felt too good! Her hips bucking jerkily, Twilight panted, "You're right, you do deserve this. You've done so well, served me so faithfully, that I really want to show you how much I appreciate you. Girls! Pin her to the ground!"

This time, Trixie didn't even protest. Forced to her knees by the inexorable grip of the entranced ponies, then shoved onto her back, she simply panted raggedly, hips bucking against nothing. Looking up at Twilight, she begged, "Fuck Trixie! Fuck your slutty slave! Please! She's wanted it so long! She's touched herself so many times!"

She was beautiful. Twilight found herself drinking in every inch of Trixie's prone body, gaze trailing over her soft thighs and freshly shaven cunt, up her smooth stomach to the heaving slopes of her breasts, and finally settling on her face. Stripped of her customary arrogance, cheeks flushed pink and eyes glazed with desperate lust, she was deeply enticing. And that wasn't even mentioning the impossibly arousing sight of Rainbow Dash and Zecora, stark naked, holding her down by the arms and shoulders with single-minded focus.

Even so, Twilight felt something more than simple arousal aching in her chest. Trixie had to know what she wasn't being fucked because she was attractive and available. She had to know this mattered.

"Oh, Trixie... " Twilight breathed, gazing down at her. "I want you to believe, really believe, that I'm attracted to you, okay? I really am. And I want you to know that I'm proud of you. You learned so much, so quickly. I couldn't have made all this happen without you. I want you to stay with me, and learn from me, and I think you have things to teach me too. You're special, Trixie."

Taken completely by surprise, Trixie simply stared at Twilight for a moment, before her purple eyes teared up. Panting for breath, she gasped, "Do you mean it? You didn't fuck Trixie for so long! She thought - she thought after everything she'd done, she hadn't done enough to be sorry-"

Twilight grabbed at the white fabric of her dress and roughly tugged it over her head, baring her nude body completely. Dropping to her hands and knees over Trixie, she kissed the prone mare roughly, and panted, "Never think that! I'm not angry with you, I promise, I promise!" She couldn't help the flashes of sharp pleasure that shot through her as she felt her breasts stroke against Trixie's, her hips jerkily bucking once.

"Trixie - Trixie believes you! Oh, Mistress, let Trixie pleasure you, she swears, she'll be your good fucktoy for the rest of her life, she'll try so hard, just let her pleasure you!" Trixie gasped, arching her back and trying desperately to push up against Twilight.

"You will, you will! Rainbow! Get between Trixie's legs and lick her cunt, I want you to pleasure her pussy the best way you know how!" Twilight commanded shakily, pushing herself up and moving off Trixie's prone body.

"Rainbow Slut obeys." Was there a hint of satisfaction in Rainbow's voice as she released Trixie's arm and crawled between her legs? Trixie barely had time to whimper in loss as Twilight moved away before she gasped aloud at the sensation of Rainbow's talented tongue.

"Zecora! Your turn. Sit astride Trixie's stomach on your knees, and play with her tits. Do your best to make it feel good, pay attention to how she reacts to your touch."

"Anything you say, your bitch obeys."

"M-Mistress! You - aaah! You're not going to, to, oooh, to play with Trixie's body? She wants you! So badly! Oh, fuck!" Trixie writhed against the floor as Rainbow's single-minded attention to her cunt made it harder and harder to think. A high, thin cry escaped her as Zecora straddled her stomach and firmly pinched her jutting blue nipples, the zebra's bare cunt rubbing against her body.

Twilight's hand curled into a fist, her nails digging into her palms as she rode out another shock of arousal. It was so hot hearing Zecora's mindless response in her exotic accent. It was almost too much to bear, watching them both pleasure Trixie at her command! With a quiver in her voice, Twilight breathed, "I have something for you to do, Trixie. I'm going to sit on your face and make you lick my pussy."

"Y-yes! Yes! Please! Make Trixie lick your cunt, she wants it, she needs it, she's your slut, Mistress!" Trixie babbled in ecstatic need. Her head tossed back and forth against the soft rug, spreading her white mane around her like a halo. "It - it's too much! Mistress! She-mmmfh!"

Twilight quietened Trixie in a single movement, turning to face Zecora, then straddling Trixie's head and sinking down to press her soft, damp sex against the helpless pony's lips. Immediately, Trixie began lapping at her pussy for all she was worth, moaning and gasping into Twilight's body. The sensation was incredible. No more anticipation, just pleasure, more than she knew how to cope with. Zecora's mindless body was directly in front of Twilight, squeezing and kneading Trixie's breasts, the sight made so much hotter by the desperately needed sensation of Trixie's wet tongue urgently pleasuring her. Grinding her cunt against Trixie's face, Twilight reached out and seized hold of Zecora's proud tits, tugging and twisting her nipple rings.

"Yes! Yes! You're my obedient fucktoys! You belong to me! You all belong to me, you'll obey, you'll be mine, you'll do anything I want, oh yes!" Twilight gasped in a semi-coherent rush of delirious pleasure. Letting her head fall forward, she began tonguing Zecora's stiff grey nipples, grinding her pussy faster against Trixie's mouth and chin. Desperate muffled sounds escaped the captive pony trapped beneath her as Twilight sucked on Zecora's tits, tasting the urgently arousing mixture of her skin, salty perspiration and metal. Unable to restrain herself, she bit gently, and heard the enthralled zebra jerkily gasp aloud.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that dominating and fucking her slaves felt so good. She wanted more, and more, she wanted to fuck Spitfire, and Lightning Dust, she wanted to fuck the maids, Vinyl Scratch, Octavia, anypony, everypony, make them all fall down on their knees and worship her, nothing but sex and pleasure and gags and bondage and obedience, total, absolute obedience, and no consequences ever-

"Ahhhhh!" cried out Twilight, her eyes wide and glazed with lustful abandon. Her release pounded through her like an earthquake, like a fault line releasing a lifetime of accumulated pressure all at once, and it drove every thought totally out of her mind. It took a few moments for her scattered thoughts to coalesce once more, finding her half-slumped against Zecora, coated in sweat.

Muffled, pleading sounds leaked out from beneath her.

Trixie! Rolling off the prone mare, Twilight panted raggedly, "Stop, stop, Rainbow, Zecora. Let go of her, kneel beside her instead."

Trixie slumped bonelessly against the ground as the two chorused their obedience and released her, her head falling to the side and a thin trail of saliva leaking from the corner of her mouth. Her slightly reddened chest rose and fell rapidly with her heavy breath.

Oh, dear. It was just about possible she'd sexed Trixie to death.

"Trixie, are you - are you okay?" Twilight asked, wriggling up to her side.

Trixie's eyelids flickered, and she slowly focused on Twilight. An inarticulate croak escaped her, before she managed, "M-Mistress. Trixie, Trixie has..."

"Yes?" Twilight asked with gentle concern, stroking a loose strand of white hair away from Trixie's lips.

"Trixie has never cum like that before..."

Twilight broke into giggles, and kissed her. "You should get used to it. I'm going to do that a lot more in future, Trixie."

Trixie nodded quickly, before letting her head fall back against the rug. Her arm wrapped around Twilight, and she delicately stroked her fingers back and forth through the ends of Twilight's feathers. "She is... Trixie is really happy. Of course, you were bound to realise that Trixie was sensual and irresistible sooner or later."

"I was," agreed Twilight, stroking a finger over the curve of Trixie's breast and lightly rubbing her dark blue nipple. "You're going to have such fun with me."

Sighing with satisfaction, Trixie nuzzled into Twilight's body. For a moment, she seemed content to simply bathe in the alicorn's warmth, but eventually, she lifted her head. Gesturing with her horn at the kneeling figure of Zecora, she asked, "Mistress, what will you do with your inferior sex toys?"

Looking up at the motionless figures of the two, Twilight smiled to herself. "Well, first I have to make sure I haven't accidentally given them any lasting commands when I got kind of carried away, and then I have to live up to the promise I gave Rainbow. Don't worry, Trixie. You're going to get to see everything."

"Mmmh? Mmff!"

Awareness flashed over Rainbow's face, her eyes coming into focus. For a moment she continued slavishly licking Twilight's bare foot, before realisation set in and she jerked up into a sitting position. Beside her, Zecora was looking around herself, equally disorientated to surface into reality with Twilight's toes in her mouth.

Twilight giggled. She was sitting in a high-backed chair that she'd levitated over to sit in the middle of Zecora's guest room, lounging naked and at ease. Trixie sprawled across her lap and the padded arms of the chair, lazily kicking her heels in the air and grinning with smug satisfaction as Twilight stroked her smooth back and bare ass with one hand.

"Hi, you two. Are you feeling okay?"

Zecora was the first to recover enough to answer, shifting into a more formal kneeling pose and thrusting out her pierced breasts. Her eyes lingering on Twilight's naked body, she replied, "My body tingles with pleasure, I feel fine. I remember nothing, which must be by your design."

"Yeah... whoof. Never knew what hit me, when did I end up in here?" Rainbow asked, rubbing her head and mussing her mane. She couldn't look away from the naked ponies in front of her any more than Zecora could.

"Don't worry, both of you. I have a little reward for you both, to thank you for being such good sextoys." Twilight felt her body tense pleasurably as she looked down at them, then added warmly, "Rainbow, I'd like to start with you, if that's okay."

"Uh, sure. Sure! Whatever happened, I was definitely the best at-"

"Cum," Twilight interrupted her.

Rainbow doubled over, her lips parting in a thin, high gasp. "Uuuuhhhh! Ooooh, oh, oh, oh fuck, oh, nnnngh!" she groaned, rubbing her fist roughly up and down her shaven cunt. The storm passed almost as quickly as it began, leaving her breathing harshly. Looking up at Twilight, she managed, "Okay, that is totally unfair, you know that?"

"Cum."

"Nnnnnghh!" Rainbow's body convulsed again, her wings flaring open, and she cried out a wordless wail of pleasure and release. Sweat stood out on her forehead as the quakes began to die down, leaving her propped on one hand. "Twilight-"

"Cum."

Twilight's smile was pure sadism as she watched Rainbow helplessly writhe, the pegasus's pink eyes wide, unable to help herself desperately pawing at her body as charm-enforced pleasure threatened to overwhelm her completely. Zecora was watching the display of magic-enforced control with one hand pressed to her mouth, the other digging into her smooth thigh, her dark nipples rigid.

"Zecora? I wouldn't want you to feel left out. You may remember, now."

The zebra stiffened in surprise as memories flashed through her mind, revealing every instant of the sex she'd just spent being Twilight's mindless puppet. The sensation of Twilight kissing her, playing with her tits and biting her nipples replayed with perfect fidelity, wrenching a deep, sincere groan from her. One hand rose to her chest and squeezed roughly, tugging at a golden ring.

"I know you really love knowing how easily I can make you an entranced fucktoy, Zecora." Twilight firmly kneaded Trixie's ass as she spoke, prompting a quavering groan from the nude slave across her lap. "It's so hot to know you're under my control. But I still wouldn't want you to feel left out, compared to what I'm giving Rainbow."

Rainbow lifted her head, her eyes widening. "Twilight - Mistress - mercy!"

"Cum," Twilight told them.

This time, Rainbow and Zecora arched and cried out as one, filling the air with overlapping sounds of uncontrollable release. Zecora helplessly humped the air, her pierced breasts swinging freely, while Rainbow rolled onto her stomach, jerking and trembling.

Twilight giggled aloud, and murmured to Trixie, "I'm having a lovely time."

Unable to take her eyes off the display, Trixie breathed, "The slutty and submissive Trixie is in awe. She's never seen anything like it, Mistress."

"I think they're just about ready for the grand finale, too. Rainbow, Zecora - cum. Cum. Cum."

The chamber rang with cries of helpless female pleasure, each pony writhing around on the floor as their bodies were pummelled by shock after shock of pleasure. As the last of the magically-induced orgasms died away, Twilight couldn't help sliding one hand under Trixie and squeezing her round breast. "That was a wonderful show," she said softly, with deep satisfaction.

Rainbow lay on the floor, face down. Her body was coated in sweat, her thighs streaked with wetness, and a small puddle of drool had gathered beneath her slack lips. Zecora was little better, sprawled on her back with arms loosely spread, hips still jerking now and then with aftershocks.

Eventually, Rainbow raised her head slightly, and croaked, "Holy manure."

Giggling, Twilight pinched Trixie's nipple, prompting a low groan from her slave. "Did you enjoy that, Rainbow?"

"I don't know whether to ask you to never do that again, or do it every single day for the rest of my life. Fuck," she concluded, shakily retracting her wings and sitting up a little.

"I'd like you both to go back to licking your Mistress's feet, now," Twilight told them gently.

Rainbow didn't even pause to answer before she got down on all fours in a low crouch, and began urgently lapping at the sole of Twilight's foot. Zecora managed a dazed but sincere, "Anything you say, I obey," before joining Rainbow, her full breasts pressed against the rug as she lay full length and began submissively sucking Twilight's toes.

Twilight's hand slipped down to lazily stroke up and down Trixie's tender cunt, caressing between her thighs, prompting a short, sharp whine from the blue mare. "I think this is going to be a good day," she murmured to herself.

It wasn't until later that a fragment of memory presented itself to Twilight, of Trixie desperately begging to be used.

Let Trixie pleasure you, she swears, she'll be your good fucktoy for the rest of her life, she'll try so hard, just let her pleasure you!

Trixie, now that Twilight thought about it, couldn't lie. The conditions laid on her were loose enough to let her exaggerate a little before her compulsion against lying triggered, but swearing to serve Twilight forever? That was far past the boundaries of what she could lie about, and the charm hadn't demanded she apologise for a lie.

She was going to have to think about that carefully.

Five months to go.

Author's Note

Between her official duties, the explanations she needs to give important ponies in her life, and her harem of glorious sex slaves, Twilight's schedule is getting a little out of hand.

Proofed speedily and superbly, as always, by Setokaiva.

4: Punishing a Princess

"Have you allowed Rainbow Dash to remember what you did to her?"

Twilight shook her head. "No, not this time. I told her about it. But I really like the feeling when you know that no pony will know what happened, other than you. So I want her to know that it will happen that way, sometimes."

"Do you intend to do the same to me, Empress?" Celestia raised her pale brows with polite interest.

"Of course. You did it to me, didn't you?"

"You remembered everything. You simply didn't notice that it was unusual."

"That was mean, you know."

"You have your desires, Empress, and I have mine."

The two of them sat out on the great sweep of Celestia's balcony, on delicately intricate chairs of white-painted wrought iron. A small table sat between them, a teapot and a pair of steaming cups resting atop it. In the distance, a fat orange-red sun sank slowly behind the hills.

Twilight sipped from her cup. Her white dress was pinned back into a presentable shape, one that at least approximated her figure. By contrast, Celestia's dress was comprised of lustrous grey silk, shimmering with subtle reflections as she moved, and fitted her curves perfectly. A slit down one thigh exposed a wedge of one sunburst.

"I'm worrying a little about Luna. And Spike. And Cadence's reaction, really. I haven't told my parents, either, and I don't know if Cadence told Shining Armor yet."

"Take your worries one at a time. What about Luna, Twilight?"

Looking out across the horizon, Twilight felt the rising evening breeze ruffle her feathers, spreading out her mane behind her. "I'm worried that she's only going to perform with you because she wants to prove that she's just as good a slave as you are. I kind of want to play with her charmed, too, and I'm not sure if asking her that will make her unhappy. She's been touched by your charm, then mine, then yours again. I can understand if she wouldn't want it again, even for fun."

"That may be how she feels, Twilight. Be patient with her, and gentle. I'd like her to serve you with me, but I want her to be happy most of all."

"Are you pretending to be happier than you are about anything, Celestia?" Twilight spoke with seeming casualness, despite the weight of the question. For a moment, she considered enforcing truthfulness, then let the thought go. If she used the charm every time she wanted to talk about feelings, she wouldn't deserve to be told the truth anyway.

Celestia paused, her cup halfway to her lips, and gazed towards the setting sun. After just long enough for Twilight to begin to worry, she answered, "No, Empress. I am full of joy that you ascended, and I'm more than willing to be your sex toy for as long as you want me to. I haven't had sex in a very long time. That's something I'm eager for you to change." She paused. "If I had won, I would have had your undivided attention. I would have liked that. But losing your ascension isn't a price worth paying for it."

"Does it bother you? That I have so many ponies that I want to be mine. Sometimes, I feel like I'm being really selfish. Sometimes, I want to just go out and charm so many more. Vinyl. Spitfire. Lightning Dust. Cheerilee. Misty Morning. Diorite. You're kind of responsible for a lot of those, you know."

"I know. You left off Nurse Redheart. Did she not appeal to you?"

A startlingly vivid image flashed before Twilight's eyes, the neat, disciplined nurse wearing an impossibly tight, low-cut white coat, one wine-coloured breast spilling free. Crimson lipstick tracing authoritative lips. Redheart's delicate, assured touch. A distinct flare of arousal rushed through Twilight's body, her chest momentarily feeling tight.

Celestia smiled to herself. "I see that she did."

"...mmh. She did. She's kind of on the list too. I just - if I listed everypony I really wanted to sleep with, I'd look like the worst pony that ever lived. It's just... knowing that I could have any of them. All of them. Make them into anything I want." Twilight's eyes squeezed closed. "That's why I need to keep hold of my self-control."

"Of course, if you'd lost, you wouldn't have to worry about such things," Celestia pointed out lightly. She brought her steaming cup to her lips, and drank. "If you had become my personal sex slave, as well as continuing your studies as my apprentice, I intended to motivate you in all sorts of new ways. For every test you passed, a new pony to play with. Guilt-free, consequence-free sex. There are questions of morals, but those questions would be mine to fret over. If you'd agreed to surrender when I asked, you would even have had all your closest friends as your personal toys as well. How pleasant that might have been."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to persuade me to change my mind?"

"Of course not. You're having so much fun with your new status, I wouldn't dream of taking it away from you." Celestia's smile was serenity itself.

"You - you're taunting me," Twilight accused. "Every time I speak to you, it doesn't seem to matter what it's about, you still find a way to do it."

"Does your slave not please you, my Empress?" Spoken in Celestia's calm, soft tones, the words should have been submissive, yielding. Instead, some trick of her expression and intonation made them playfully insolent.

"Celestia," Twilight warned, putting down her teacup.

"Your slave is very sorry if you aren't totally satisfied with your control of her mind and body. If she doesn't please you, then maybe you need to do something about it." A definite smirk lurked at the corners of Celestia's smile.

Throwing up her hands, Twilight turned back to the railing. Celestia was impossible. Wonderful, and beautiful, and Twilight couldn't ignore the swell of desire and love for her mentor that made her one of the most precious ponies in all the world, but so infuriating! If she kept this up, maybe she'd have Celestia banish herself to the moon for a few days!

Then, as a slow smile spread itself across Twilight's lips, she thought of something better.

"Celestia? You're right. I do need to do something about you." Glancing over her shoulder, Twilight met her gaze, and declared firmly, "Obey your Empress."

Early morning sun filled Celestia's bedroom with golden light, pouring warmly over the gently rumpled sheets of her massive bed. A clear glass dome directly overhead framed pink clouds and the deepening blue sky between spidery struts of gold.

Twilight leant on one elbow, watching the divine pony sleep.

There was something deeply intimate about seeing Celestia so unguarded, her face relaxed. In some ways, she was more exposed than when she'd been nude and bound before Twilight and her harem. Celestia was naked now, too; Twilight had been delighted to discover her mentor slept in the nude, and had chosen to follow suit. Waking up to command the enthralled demigoddess to raise the sun (what) had made it harder for Twilight to go back to sleep, and so she'd been lying beside the warm shape of her enslaved Princess for a while.

It was easy to want the still, quiet morning to never end, but Celestia had slept long enough. It was time to let her wake up, and for the real fun to begin. Carefully gripping Celestia's shoulder, Twilight shook her gently, then let go.

A low mumble of protest escaped Celestia's lips, and then her eyes slowly slid open.

She went from prone to sitting upright in an instant, staring at the rising sun, before looking around the room with evident confusion for a moment. Her gaze passed over Twilight without pausing, without registering.

A little tingle of smug delight danced in Twilight's heart. Reaching out, she gently placed a finger over one of Celestia's pink nipples, and pushed it down. It popped up again as she released it, stiffening slightly, and still, Celestia didn't react.

The Princess of the Sun drummed her fingers on the bed as she gazed into the red-orange orb. Her voice low and matter-of-fact, she murmured, "I see. How considerate of you."

Pushing the sheet aside, Celestia rose to her feet. Her expansive breasts shifted with the movement, mane and tail billowing around her, broad white wings stretching out and folding neatly against her back.

For a moment, Twilight forgot about everything other than the sight of her. Celestia was glorious. Magnificently, incandescently beautiful. It was enough to throw humility into the heart of anypony.

"I know you're here, you know," Celestia remarked.

Twilight blinked, drawn from her rapt appreciation. Celestia couldn't know she was there. She hastily tugged herself free of the silky sheets, quelling her instinctive urge to hide, and naked, she slowly approached the Princess. Celestia's eyes looked anywhere but directly at her, sliding past without registering anything.

Her hand rising to cover her mouth, Twilight giggled. "Do you like things this way around, Celestia?" On a sudden impulse, she drew back her hand, and lightly slapped Celestia's face.

Even though her head was knocked to one side, Celestia didn't seem to notice. Straightening, she stared through Twilight again as she surveyed the room, then pressed her lips together and moved towards the wardrobe.

Twilight's lips curved into a wicked smile of anticipation as her divine slave opened the wardrobe's carved wooden door, and touched one of the elegant dresses within.

Immediately, to Celestia's visible shock, her hand pulled back by itself, and her mouth recited, "Horny fucktoys do not deserve clothes for normal ponies." The instant the compulsion released her voice, she looked around fruitlessly once more, and began firmly, "Twilight-"

The first word was as far as she got. Immediately, she interrupted herself again, announcing, "Fucktoys do not get to address their Empress by name. This is my only warning."

Twilight giggled aloud with delight. Celestia was incredible at always seeming calm and in control, but each new little surprise fractured her air of tranquillity a little more.

Celestia's lips pressed together, thinning slightly, and she reached out towards the dress again. Her hand stopped an inch from touching the fabric, as if it radiated a force field. "Hm," she murmured, glancing around the room again.

Stepping forward, Twilight raised her arms over her head, and began energetically waving them up and down. "I'm right here! Right here, Princess!" Her breasts bounced with each hop, almost unbalancing her, and Twilight's wings flared to help her stay up. "Oh, Princess," Twilight added, patting Celestia's ass patronisingly, "it's not your fault that you're not very observant."

Frowning in thought, Celestia picked up a poker from the fireplace, and bent down. Stretching out one arm beneath the hanging dresses, she reached up with the poker. Prodding the hanger, she watched the dress as it slid halfway off, then, with a second prod, slipped free entirely and landed in her hand.

With a murmur of satisfaction, Celestia stood up with the dress in hand. Then, with a look of visible surprise, she hung it back on the hangar, and declared, "I am not as clever as I think I am."

Before she had even finished speaking the imposed words, Celestia crossed her arms beneath her prodigious breasts in a show of restrained irritation. "I see. How very prepared of you."

"That's right, Princess. I am very prepared. I'm certainly prepared for what you always do when you're feeling stressed," Twilight told the unheeding pony.

Moving to the door, Celestia pressed one ear to it, then eased it open. No pony in sight, neither maid, nor guard. Padding naked into the next room, a small, intimate chamber, she headed directly for the large cabinet against the wall. Twilight followed a step behind her as Celestia exerted her magic to unlock the various wards, and slid the door panel back.

There should have been an old, well-loved kettle sat on the shelf, ready for the familiar ceremony of filling, heating and brewing, as it had been for countless years. Instead, a wide-bottomed black dildo sat prominently in its place.

Celestia picked it up, and without pausing, slid the tip into her mouth. Her full pink lips parted around it, stretching into a whorish 'O' as she pushed it deeper and deeper, before beginning to pump it back and forth. An abstract, faintly puzzled frown touched her face, as though distantly aware there was a wrong note with the scene, but unable to put a finger on it.

"Oh, gosh, that's so hot..." murmured Twilight reverentially. Unafraid of being caught, she strolled up to stand naked before Celestia, dark purple nipples jutting stiffly. Lazily letting the back of her hand slide across her own chest, breathing a little quicker, she leaned in to hear the soft, wet sounds of the dildo plunging in and out of her mentor's mouth. "You look so wonderfully slutty," she breathed, unable to look away. "Oh, Princess, I had no idea you could take such a big cock so deep into your mouth. You must have practised. But," and her voice became a little firmer as she spoke the keywords, "aren't you forgetting something?"

A look of realisation dawned on Celestia's face, and she slowly slid the dildo out of her mouth. "Tsh. I almost forgot the milk." Picking up a small jug sitting on the side, she nestled the dildo between her bare breasts and poured a thin stream of clear lubricating oil over it. Rolling the shaft to make sure it was thoroughly coated, Celestia put down the jug and crossed to the small table. Parting her thighs, she bent over it, ass in the air and heavy breasts mashed against the glass, and rubbed the tip of the dildo up and down her exposed cunt. With barely a moment's pause, she thrust the toy into herself.

"Mmmh!" moaned Celestia as the shaft filled her cunt, resting her cheek on the cool glass. "At least you've, mmmh, allowed me to enjoy my, hmmg, tea..."

"Oh, yes, Princess. I want you to enjoy your tea. I want you to show me just how happy it makes you," purred Twilight. Wrapping her hand around the flowing mass of Celestia's tail, she gripped tightly, then pulled firmly.

"Ahhhnnng!" gasped Celestia. "It's particularly, mmmhh, good this morning. Even if I do have to, hhnnn, drink it naked. Ahhh!"

"That's right, Princess. Fuck yourself. Fuck your royal cunt until you can barely stand," Twilight breathed. Bending down, she kissed the broad white curve of Celestia's ass, sliding her hand over the other quivering cheek. Her free hand rubbed slowly up and down her own pussy as she moaned, "Oh, Celestia, you taste so good. That's my good slave. You're doing so well. Oh, my stars, I want you so badly."

Circling the table, Twilight drank in the sight of the divine pony's breasts flattened against the glass, rigid nipples standing out pinkly against her white skin, and whimpered, "Oh, Princess. I wish I'd brought a camera. I'm going to have to do that next time. I want to capture this for ever. But that's okay. Here. Let me give you something nice for your mouth to do."

Bending over, Twilight sank into a crouch, her legs spread widely to give herself room to keep playing with her increasingly soaked cunt. Roughly rubbing her breasts up and down against Celestia's face, she finally took hold of one and guided her stiff nipple into Celestia's mouth. Without seeming to know what she was doing, the Princess began to suck, gently brushing the tender point with her warm tongue.

"Oh, fuck! That feels so nice! You, hmm, you have no idea that you're fucking your perfect pussy over a table, and sucking my tits, and it's so good, feels so good to control your mind and make you my fucktoy, and oh, oh fuck, that's nice, my fingers in my cunt feel so good, you're doing so well."

"Mmmmgh!" moaned Celestia into Twilight's breast, her pink eyes glazed with lust, staring off to one side as her mind refused to let her register what was happening. The table rocked under her, a sheen of perspiration on her white skin as she fucked herself with unrestrained urgency. Her breathing quick, her legs shivering, it was obvious that she was getting close to her orgasm. Sharp little gasps forced their way out of her, getting closer and closer together.

Regretfully, Twilight pulled away from Celestia's mouth, and stood back. She wanted a perfect view of Celestia's face. Her fingers slid in and out of her flushed pussy, and her free hand replaced the other mare's mouth, tweaking and twisting her nipple. "Come on, you're nearly there, you can do it..." she coaxed huskily, her body livid with arousal and electric anticipation.

Celestia slammed the shaft into herself roughly, her full ass bucking against the air. "This is - so good today," she panted. A shuddering moan filled the air as she rose to the very edge of her release. And, in that moment, triggered by her imminent release, a buried command activated.

As Twilight stared with hungry, cruel delight, an abrupt flare of realisation lit Celestia's eyes.

"-what? What am I - oooohh! Ohhmmgghh!" Obeying her orders to the letter, the Princess realised what she was doing exactly too late to stop the orgasm breaking over her like a tidal wave. She cried out into the smeared glass, grinding her stiff nipples beneath her, too enthralled by lust to stop fucking herself through the long moment of her noisy release. Only as the last wracking shivers ran their course did her hand drop from the sex toy buried in her cunt, and she spoke with a trace of hoarseness.

"I'm becoming impressed. I see that you've had me show you some of the items in my collection. How thoughtful of you to pick one of my favourites. I'm sure my kettle is somewhere safe." Celestia planted a hand on the table, and began to push herself upright.

On a sudden impulse, Twilight firmly shoved her back down again, pinning her to the table with gentle pressure on her back. Celestia didn't react, seeming to not have noticed that she'd stopped moving. "You have no idea what's happening to you, Princess. I could do some very terrible things. You're a bad Princess, tempting me like this. What would Cadence say?"

Gripping the dildo, Twilight drew it halfway out, then idly slid it back and forth a little, fascinated by watching it disappear into the divine pony she respected more than anyone in the world. The room swayed dizzily around her, the young alicorn drunk with giddy delight, and barely able to believe the power she now held. A loud crack rang out as her hand struck Celestia's ass, and still, Celestia remained motionless where she lay, staring around the room fruitlessly for some evidence Twilight was there.

"You're so much fun. I should do this every day." Sighing happily, Twilight stepped back, taking her hand from Celestia's back.

Freed of the pressure that she couldn't consciously register was there, the divine pony slowly rose to her feet, easing the dildo out of herself. "Hff! You aren't going to make me clean this with my mouth? Really, Twilight, I'm surprised at you." Without pause, she continued, "Unworthy slut was warned about speaking her Empress's name, and now she is punished." An unmistakable look of shock flashed across Celestia's face as she carried on talking, looking around as if the words could be coming from somewhere other than her own mouth.

"Unworthy slut sees you've embraced your role as Empress-" Celestia began, then paused. "Unworthy slut's name is unworthy slut. Unworthy slut. Unworthy slut. Unworthy slut!"

Twilight broke into helpless laughter. "I'm sorry, Princess, I didn't quite hear that. Would you like to say that again?"

"Unworthy slut-" Celestia began again, then cut herself off and narrowed her eyes. After an instant's thought, she spoke more slowly. "Hopefully, you're enjoying this, Empress. What other surprises might lie in store?"

Well, seeing as she had asked. Skipping over to the outer chamber door, Twilight softly knocked on it twice. Barely had she stepped back when the double doors rang with the sound of harder, more authoritative knocking.

A familiar female voice rang out. "Princess Celestia, divinity! I am entering with your breakfast!"

The look of alarm that flashed over Celestia's face was priceless. Raising her voice, she began firmly, "Wait where you stand. Unworthy sl-mfff!" Clamping her hand over her own mouth, Celestia hesitated a moment, before nodding. "Enter in one minute. Leave the tray in this room, then return to your post."

Celestia did learn fast. Twilight mentally awarded her a point, crossing over to the doorway to Celestia's bedroom. As the divine pony glanced back at the outer chamber door, Twilight pulled the inner door closed, and held the handle still. What a simply fascinating experiment; would the Princess be able to force the door open without registering the presence of another, or be unable to disturb Twilight's hand?

Crossing hurriedly to the bedchamber door, only the tiniest flicker of reaction touched Celestia's face as she took in the fact that it was suddenly and mysteriously shut. Her hand closed awkwardly around the handle, avoiding Twilight's grip, and tried to push it down with surprising force.

"Oh, no, I don't think so, Princess. You have to stay for breakfast!" Twilight panted in a breathy giggle, shoving upwards with both hands.

"Empress," Celestia protested through her nearly-closed lips as she struggled with the door.

The outer door rattled, and began to open. Celestia's pink eyes widened, and she threw herself behind a low red couch, crouching as low to the ground as possible. Peering out, a distinct look of panic flashed across her face and a golden glow of magic coated the dildo still sitting on the table. The sex toy shot across the room as though fired from a cannon, landing in Celestia's hand. She ducked her head, trying to peer under the couch's legs to catch a glimpse of the pony entering.

Dropping naked onto the couch, Twilight waved lazily as the door opened fully, admitting an armoured unicorn. She was blue, curvy, clad in the armour of one of Celestia's guards. As far as the mesmerised pony was concerned, she was one of Celestia's guards, and always had been. Grinning widely, Twilight called out, "Hi, Trixie!"

Oblivious to the unheard greeting, Trixie marched into the room and neatly laid down a silver tray on the glass table, frowning slightly at the smeared marks left by Celestia's soft body. Looking around the room with a faint frown, Trixie called, "Princess? I've left your breakfast as you asked. Was there anything else you wanted?"

Celestia crouched lower. No sign of recognition touched her face as she carefully peered around the furniture to take in the brainwashed pseudo-guard.

"She wants you to go away, Trixie. But she can't tell you that while she's hiding behind this couch. Let's make this a little more fun. Trixie, command: get a bit suspicious."

A frown touched Trixie's face. "...Princess? Are you alright?" Her hand moved to her belt, gripping the golden rod on her hip. It was a very natural reaction for a guard, and one that made Twilight nod approvingly.

"You have a very good imagination, Trixie. So, Princess. What are you going to do now? This isn't a big room, and she's going to spot you eventually." Half turning, Twilight reached over the back of the couch and patted Celestia's head with playfully patronising care.

"Princess...?" Trixie asked, a warning note of growing alarm in her voice. Moving to the bedroom door, she added, "I'm sorry, your Highness, but I must check you're alright." Pausing a second longer for a response, and hearing nothing, she turned the handle, and pushed the door open.

A small choke of indignation came from behind the couch. Twilight could just about hear Celestia mutter under her breath, "Empress, unworthy slut truly appreciates all the little touches you're putting into this."

"I love you too, Princess. Oh dear, Trixie, there's no one in the bedroom! What now? Do you think it's time to call for some more guards?"

The armoured pony stood in the doorway indecisively, then nodded. "Okay, that's enough." She took a deep breath, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Be quiet!" hissed Celestia loudly, abandoning stealth.

Trixie spun towards the couch, her eyes sliding off to one side as they avoided focusing on Twilight's naked body. "Princess! Is that you? What's going on, should I call the guard?"

"Stay where you are."

Trixie slammed to a halt immediately, angling her head awkwardly to try to peer under the couch.

"Unwor-mmmf, mmhhf! -stand up straight and stop trying to do that. You are dismissed."

"...Princess, are you hiding behind a piece of furniture from me? Is something wrong? I really feel I should make sure you're okay," Trixie said with awkward formality.

"Un-mmmff mmmfff - everything is fine. Please leave, and do not discuss this with anypony."

Twilight giggled aloud. "Oh dear, Princess. I'm docking your point for trying to say 'I' twice. You really should have learned by now."

"...yes, Princess." Trixie bowed formally to the couch, provoking another explosion of laughter from Twilight, then slipped out of the outer chamber door. The door shut behind her with a soft click.

Celestia rose from her entirely inadequate hiding place, dildo in hand, and walked over to her bedroom door. It opened and closed easily under her hand. Celestia's nose twitched with annoyance, and she threw the dildo through the door before shutting it firmly. Sitting herself down at her small table, she picked apart her salad with her fingers, before she spoke again.

"You know, Empress, if unworthy slut was playing this game, unworthy slut would be lying across the very couch her plaything had been hiding behind, enjoying the show." In a lightning movement of her hand, she seized the pitcher of ice-water on her tray, and tossed the contents over the crimson couch.

"Aaaiiiieee!" screeched Twilight as the freezing water cascaded over her naked body, ice cubes bouncing off her bare skin. Panting for breath, she hugged herself, shivering violently, rigid with shock.

Celestia gave the couch a level look, then added, "If you are here, Empress, the least you could do is fetch unworthy slut another drink. You did make unworthy slut waste the last one."

Struggling off the couch, Twilight flapped her wet wings, speechless with indignation. "You - you're the worst!" she spluttered, at a loss for a stronger condemnation. Celestia calmly began eating her salad, humming a pleasant little tune beneath her breath that could only be designed to annoy, and Twilight stared at the tranquil little smile on the Princess's lips for a moment before crossing to the table in three quick strides.

"Command: take everything off the tray, and give it to me," she demanded.

Without seeming to notice she was doing it, Celestia picked up her bowl, and the smaller one beside it, setting them down on the table itself. Sliding the tray out, she laid it in Twilight's hands without looking up, still eating with her other hand.

Twilight swished it through the air, testing the heft of it, and nodded with satisfaction. "Celestia, command: stand up, and bend over while you eat. Thrust your ass out."

Celestia's chair slid back as she stood up, without looking up from her bowl of salad. With her legs straight, she bent slowly forward, heavy breasts dangling beneath her, rounded ass on full display. Her gossamer tail billowed, hiding and revealing the valley of her ass and the hint of her bared pussy gleaming between her legs.

Twilight circled the naked alicorn, her annoyance cooling as she drank in the incredible sight of Celestia presenting her ass and pussy for abuse, without the slightest idea she was doing so. Gathering the flowing tail up in one hand, Twilight smoothed the silver tray across her ass cheeks, saying with more composure, "That was very naughty, Princess. Now I'm going to have to punish you for your impertinence. Command: on your tiptoes."

Watching hungrily as the Princess pushed her ass higher, Twilight purred, "Mmm. That's it. I'd tell you to brace yourself, but you wouldn't hear me anyway, would you? Never mind, Celestia. Let me give you a message in a way you'll really appreciate."

The tray descended, striking Celestia's vulnerable ass with a flat thwack that rang dully. The Princess gasped, momentarily losing the thread of the irritating little tune she was humming, before resuming it as if nothing had happened. Her milk-white skin immediately began to redden in a long rectangle.

"Mmm. Beautiful." Gripping Celestia's tail, Twilight tugged on it firmly, just to hear another unconscious whimper. "Just as I thought. If you're not allowed to register I'm here, you can't tell your ass suddenly hurts either. Not consciously, anyway. ...let's fix that. Celestia, command: on the fifth blow, you're going to realise the position you're in, and feel all the sensations of the spanking I've just given you, okay? You've had one so far. Now, let's count."

The tray thwacked into Celestia's glorious ass, causing seismic ripples through the tender flesh. "Two. You have the most perfect ass for punishment, Princess. You go pink so easily, and the way you quiver... I think I want to see that again."

"Mmmhff!" Celestia groaned, her head snapping back as the tray impacted her for the third time, before leaning forward again to take another bite of salad. Her hand shook as her body absorbed another blow, jostling a slice of tomato free, and she bent lower to pick it up from the table.

It was hard to know whether to stare at Celestia's swaying tits, or reddened, thrust-out ass. Twilight paused, drinking in her body, before finally breathing, "I am the luckiest pony in all Equestria. Are you ready to appreciate your punishment, Celestia? No? That's a terrible shame, but you understand - I have to maintain discipline. This is for your own good." Flipping the tray over to expose a clean expanse of shining silver metal, Twilight raised the tray, savouring the moment, then brought it down hard.

"Aaaahhh!" yelped Celestia, her whole body jerking forward. The bowl of salad thudded to the floor, scattering green leaves everywhere, and the table rocked dangerously under her before she recovered her balance. Reaching back slowly, Celestia rubbed her stinging ass, then carefully straightened up and stood upright. Her pink nipples stood out stiffly, and her breasts heaved with her suddenly panting breath. Wetness gleamed between her soft thighs as she breathed, "You spanked unworthy slut."

Oh, sweet Celestia, that body! Seizing hold of one of the Princess's full, white breasts and squeezing roughly, Twilight panted, "Yes, I did. I bent you over and treated you like a naughty filly. Are you going to behave now, unworthy slut?"

Gazing to the left of Twilight's head, Celestia slowly smiled. "Judging by the way unworthy slut's ass is tingling, you were quite cross. So unworthy slut did catch you with the ice water. Really, Empress. You should try harder to be less predictable. Never mind. Unworthy slut is certain that you'll dry off soon enough, and no pony saw your mistake. You'll do better in future."

Twilight became aware that her mouth was hanging open, and closed it. Celestia was naked, her ass was bright red, and she was completely under Twilight's control. Twilight held every last card, and Celestia was her helpless plaything. She wasn't allowed to be smug! Pointing an accusatory finger at Celestia's face, Twilight opened her mouth to pour out her indignation, then paused, took a deep breath, and lowered her hand.

"You're very clever, Celestia. I'm very interested to see how you deal with your next challenge," Twilight told her in more measured tones. Hefting the Princess's breast, she flicked the rigid nipple firmly with her index finger, then let go. "So. A guard is standing outside your door. You're naked. The longer you talk to your ponies, the more likely 'unworthy slut' is to make an appearance, and if you try the public corridors, somepony is going to see you. So what are you going to do? Command: feel what I just did to your nipple."

"Mhff!" Celestia's hand shot up to cover her left breast, pressing against her soft skin. Glancing around, her pink eyes flickering past Twilight without registering her, she murmured with a smile, "You don't have to become tetchy, Empress."

"You are the most annoying pony in all the world, Celestia. Do you know that?" Crossing her arms beneath her breasts, Twilight stepped to one side. "But I'm still the one having fun. Your move, Princess."

Absently rubbing a hand over her chest, Celestia looked around the room for a moment or two longer, before addressing the air. "Are you going to keep unworthy slut here much longer, Empress? There's so much for you to do to prepare for your coronation." Crossing to a book-laden shelf, Celestia selected one, and settled into a chair. "Unworthy slut, on the other hand, is happy not to have to carry out any royal duties for today. No doubt you will have taken care of it."

"Oh really? That's your plan. Well, Princess, let's see what I can do to make you less comfortable." Twilight strolled across the room to the outer doors, and pulled one inwards slightly. Leaving it ajar, she called softly through the gap, "Command: scene two."

The click of high heels sounded outside the door.

Celestia's eyes flicked towards the doorway, her body jerking upright as she saw the doors were ajar. Before she had time to do more than that, the door was pushed open.

Rainbow Dash walked in. But not Rainbow as Twilight had ever seen her before. This Rainbow tottered on black high heels, fishnet stockings leading the eye up her lean legs to the tiny frilly black skirt she wore. A white apron lay over a close-fitting black blouse, with short, puffy sleeves. Her arms were encased in white, elbow length gloves, and she held a long-handled feather duster in one hand. A small black cap sat atop her neatly combed mane, completing the look.

Her eyes widened as she caught sight of Celestia, who froze in turn. Rainbow's lips parted, and she gasped in a thick imitation of a Prench accent, "Why - Princess! Whatever are you doing naked here? I am so sorry. I will go."

"You should stay," said Celestia quickly, holding the book in front of her bare sex. An instant later, a look of abject confusion crossed her face.

Rainbow hesitated. "Princess, should I not return later? You are clearly - busy."

Nodding her agreement, Celestia replied, "You are here to punish this unworthy slut." Her hand clapped over her own mouth, and she looked around, slightly wild-eyed.

Twilight giggled aloud. "You haven't figured it out yet? Every time you try to talk, you're only going to make things worse. You don't want this strange maid, who you vaguely recognise but don't remember, to see what a total disgrace you are."

"I - what? Princess, I - is this a command?"

"Yes, it is. Unworthy slut orders you to smack unworthy slut's fat tits, and- mmmmh, mhhhm, mmggh." Celestia tried to stop the words coming out, holding on until her mouth stopped moving. Finally, with all the dignity she could salvage, Celestia lowered her hand to her lap.

"Command: resume."

"-smack unworthy slut's fat tits, and fuck unworthy slut's wet pussy with your duster," Celestia finished, before she could stop herself. A deep pink blush coloured her cheeks, and she stared at Rainbow.

Twilight strolled around Rainbow, reaching under her skirt to grab a handful of her ass. "Mm! You're so toned, Rainbow, it's obvious you train hard. I really need to compliment you when you're in your own mind. Though maybe I should let you spend a little time as a cute maid with me. You could be one of a whole maid harem, how about that?" Twilight's gaze flicked back to Celestia's face, and she grinned to herself. "Well, Princess, you really ought to have had your bright idea by now. If everything you say turns out backwards, you should say the opposite of what you mean. Right?"

"Unworthy slut would very much like it if you stayed here, punished unworthy slut's depraved body roughly, then told everypony," Celestia tried.

"Oh dear, that didn't work either. I did tell you that every time you opened your mouth, it would get worse. It's not my fault that you didn't listen." Twilight paused. As pedantic as she was, she couldn't really let that slide, and corrected herself, "Well, it is my fault that you're not listening to me, actually. Never mind. That's enough hesitation, too. Rainbow, command: you can accept her offer, now."

"Ah. Well - if that is your sincere command, my Princess..." Rainbow's accented voice trailed off, and she stepped closer. Reaching out hesitantly, she let the back of her gloved hand trail down the side of Celestia's chest.

Celestia froze in place, catching a corner of her soft lip between her teeth. Her pupils widened as Rainbow's fingers curled around one stiff nipple, and tugged gently.

In a preoccupied voice, Rainbow murmured, "You're very warm, my Princess. I cannot say I have not wondered what it might be like to be touch you. Though..." She hesitated, and looked up into Celestia's face. Her chest began to rise and fall more quickly beneath her formal black blouse as she tried to hold the Princess's gaze. "You speak disgracefully, my Princess."

Nodding mutely, a growing flush of arousal on her cheeks, Celestia released a soft groan of agreement.

"I had always pictured that you would be stern and commanding, or... or seductive, but you have thrown yourself at my mercy, have you not, Princess? My mercy, the mercy of a mere maid in your service." Rainbow paused, then added in a voice that twanged with nerves at her own daring, "But then, a maid is still superior to an unworthy slut, is she not?"

Celestia's eyelids flickered, and a hot pant escaping her parted lips. "...much better than unworthy slut," she replied softly. Her growing arousal and surrender to the situation was plain in her body language; the book slipped from her fingers, and her legs spread wide to expose her bare, glistening pussy.

"That's it, Princess," whispered Twilight. "You know that you have no choice. You know I've made all of this happen to you. Now you're going to get punished. A maid that you don't know is going to beat you, and you're going to be her whore in heat." The glow of Twilight's magic spread smoothly over a small chair, and it levitated over to settle to the ground behind her. Twilight sank back into it without even looking around, her fingers working up and down her soaked pussy with eager abandon.

Rainbow's slim fingers curled under Celestia's full breast, lifting it, weighing her in her palm. "Was I mistaken? I had thought that I saw a Princess when I came in. If you are not a Princess, I am happy to be corrected."

"...there isn't a Princess here," Celestia murmured, her gaze sliding to one side.

"Then what there is, is somepony else, masquerading as a Princess. Is that not so?" Slowly growing confidence underlay Rainbow's voice, and she squeezed, digging her fingers into Celestia's soft chest.

"Mmmhh...! Unworthy slut is the only pony here," Celestia agreed breathily, her cheeks flushed, eyes glazed with desire. The delicate scent of her arousal floated around her, chest rising and falling with her sharp, quick breaths.

"Not the only pony here. Do you not count me? Do I matter so little?"

"Not at all! Unworthy slut cares very much for all the ponies that work in the castle-"

"Do you remember my name, unworthy pony?" Rainbow interrupted.

Celestia's eyes widened, and for just an instant, Twilight saw a moment of unadulterated panic there. "Unworthy slut... your name is..."

"You have no idea!" Rainbow drew back her hand, and smacked Celestia's white breast firmly, the crack of skin on skin loud. Sudden silence followed, and a look of total panic flashed onto Rainbow's face. "Ah- Princess, I am so sorry, I was carried away, I hope that you-"

"Unworthy slut deserves to be beaten! Punish unworthy slut's tits!" Celestia dropped to her knees in front of Rainbow, panting raggedly. Her hands swept under her chest, lifting and presenting her breasts to the maid standing over her.

"Sweet divinity..." breathed Rainbow, before a wild look entered her eyes. She began roughly smacking Celestia's breasts, artlessly rough, handprints overlapping each other. She rapidly began to pant aloud with the exertion, small whimpers escaping her lips. "You are a total and utter disgrace! Is that what you need to hear? A Princess should be pure, above reproach, and instead I find that I am in the employ of a most craven, slutty pony who cares only for the pleasure of her wet pussy!"

Twilight's fingers stilled for a moment, a flash of concern briefly overtaking the fiery lust smouldering in her bared cunt. If Celestia took Rainbow's rebuke the wrong way, if it reminded her too sharply of the expectations on her, Twilight might have to shut down the scene quickly.

Celestia didn't hesitate. "Yes, yes, punish unworthy slut, unworthy slut is naked, and horny, and deserves this..." she panted, shivering with the electric arousal crackling through her.

"Turn around, you total and utter disgrace! If I am to soil my perfect duster with your juices, I shall at least do it properly." Rainbow's voice cracked with mingled nervousness and desperate lust, and one hand slid under her frilly skirt to roughly rub up and down her panties. Suddenly impatient with her elbow-length gloves, she nipped the top of each with her teeth, one after the other, and pulled her hands free.

Wide eyed, Celestia gazed up at Rainbow, blocked from recognising her, and seeing only one of her faithful maids, now standing in judgement over her. For a long moment, she stayed where she sat, quivering slightly, before the last of her resistance collapsed all at once. Dropping onto her hands and knees, she spun around and thrust her ass into the air, reaching back to grab her flowing tail and pull it aside. "Look at unworthy slut's bare ass," she groaned, "see how wet unworthy slut is."

"Why - Princess! You are so pink... are these spank marks?" Rainbow was shocked from her almost obsessive appreciation of Celestia's nudity, tracing the overlapping traces of the impact marks with a fingertip, before a hard look entered her eyes. "You utter disgrace! I am not even the first to punish your fat ass today? How many of your maids have had their way with you? How many guards have fucked your pussy, rammed their cocks into your mouth and sprayed their cum across your ass, Princess? You are truly the whore of Canterlot!"

"That's... completely true, unworthy slut is used over and over, punished, filled with stallion cocks and big, thick strap ons, unworthy slut is such a fucking disgrace, do anything you want!"

"Mmmhhff!" Twilight bucked roughly against her frantically moving fingers as she saw the look on Celestia's face, a glazed look of molten arousal and helpless realisation. "You tried to tell her that wasn't true? Oh, Princess. Minus another point. Minus ten. You're failing. And because you're failing, because you can't control your slutty pussy, you're going to get fucked now."

Tugging the duster from her uniform, Rainbow flourished it, then reversed it, gripping the shaft near the point where the feathers sprouted forth. The smooth tip of the black wooden handle traced up Celestia's inner thighs, then settled against her glistening cunt. "You don't deserve to be fucked by me, whore Princess. But as you have been fucked by everypony else, it would be a waste to ignore your wet hole."

Grinding her massive breasts against the rugs beneath her, Celestia bucked her hips jerkily, begging in an urgent whine, "Fuck unworthy slut's hole, do it, fill unworthy slut with your shaft, please, please do it now!"

Rainbow's small chest rose and fell rapidly as she stood frozen, her eyes screwed shut and her nipples jutting rigidly against her black blouse, before she finally gave a shaky little nod. "Yes," she whispered to herself, "I will." The tip of her duster handle glistened as she rubbed it firmly against Celestia's wet pussy, then slid into the divine pony without resistance.

Twilight's ragged gasp drowned out Celestia's moan. "Oh, oh fuck, oh fuck, I can't believe what I'm doing to you, I can't - I can't cum yet, I have to - have to wait. We're not done, oh Princess, we're not done, I can't yet..." Wrenching her hands away from her body with a supreme effort of will, her hips bucked desperately against nothing, thighs grinding together. Her fingers dug into the arms of the chair as she held on, barely managing to stamp down the orgasm that threatened to break over her like a tidal wave.

If she came too soon, she knew, she'd start worrying about whether she was going too far, feeling guilty, maybe even call the whole thing off early. That was not going to happen. "You've done nothing but dare me to really show you what I'm capable of, Princess. Now you're naked on the floor, ass in the air and a duster handle jammed up your cunt, begging a stranger you don't even know to fuck your brains out." Eyes wild, rocking her hips in an urge she couldn't quell, Twilight panted, "I win. I'm not even done yet, and I win."

"Fuck unworthy slut's cunt harder! Unworthy slut needs to be punished!" Celestia moaned deliriously, writhing against the floor. Her slim, elegant fingers clawed roughly at the rug, her body shaking and coated in sweat. Beads of wetness rolled down her quivering thighs, mane and tail billowing to one side.

"Yes! You must be punished hard, unworthy whore Princess! You have made me think that you were better than me for all this time, and you were a total and complete slut all along! For years I have cleaned up for you, tidied your things, mopped your floors, and you have been lounging around in bed having your guards take turns fucking your fat ass. You are a disgrace! Are you not ashamed? Tell me!" Rainbow Dash's pseudo-Prench accent grew thicker with each word as she clawed at her maid's outfit with her free hand, tugging down her skirt and frantically fingering her pussy. The silk panties stretched over her fingers, soaked and translucent.

"Y-yes, yes, unworthy slut is so ashamed, so ashamed of what a horny bitch unworthy slut has become, her shame is - is dripping down her thighs, and covering your duster, and-" Celestia broke off, her eyes rolling up as a violent shudder ran through her. A throaty howl of pleasure broke from her full lips, ebbing and rising with her heaving breaths. Rainbow's shuddering cry joined Celestia's as the pegasus was triggered into her own orgasm by the sight, losing her grip on the duster and grabbing a handful of the Princess's soft ass to stay upright.

It was all Twilight could do not to cum with the two of them, her nails digging into the chair as she clung on. "So close, so close, so close," she hissed, rocking back and forth. Her nipples stood out stiffly, aching to be touched, but even that much stimulation might send her over the edge. Sweat matted her mane to her forehead.

Rainbow shakily took a step back from Celestia, tugging her rumpled skirt straight. Her pink eyes wide, she looked at the Princess's slumped body with a nervous disbelief, and croaked, "Ah, Princess? Are you alright?"

"Mmmhh," groaned Celestia from the floor, her breath catching as she tried to sit up and the duster shifted within her. "Yes, unworthy slut is... yes. Fine. You can... take your duster, now."

"Ah - yes, Princess. Of course." Rainbow carefully took hold of the feathery end of the duster and pulled gently, provoking a fresh groan from Celestia as the dripping shaft slid free. Rainbow held it by the feathers, not seeming to quite know what to do with it.

Swallowing, Twilight let go of the chair arms, taking deep, calming breaths. "Rainbow," she said in a hoarse voice, "command. Offer to keep this a secret."

As Celestia sat back on her heels and tried to gather some semblance of dignity, Rainbow circled around to stand in front of her, eyes on the floor. "Um. Princess? As I have not heard that you are one to indulge in these activities, I must ask - would you prefer that I keep this a secret?"

Celestia's mouth opened, then she hesitated, and closed it again. Looking up into Rainbow's eyes, she carefully nodded.

"Ah. Yes. Then I will not breathe a word of this. I apologise if I have been too forward."

Shaking her head, Celestia pushed herself to her feet, rising to tower over the smaller mare. Her hand smoothed over Rainbow's cheek, and she smiled approvingly at her.

Looking slightly reassured, Rainbow curtseyed deeply. "Am I dismissed from your presence, my Princess?" At Celestia's nod, she backed towards the doors. Still, as she turned to leave, she paused, and spoke without turning around. "My Princess? Your Empress wishes you to know that you will see her in her chambers. Excuse me."

The door shut behind her.

For a moment, Celestia gazed after the vanished maid, her cheeks flushed pink, before she turned to glance around the room. One hand rose to settle on the curve of her breast, and squeezed. "Are you enjoying your unworthy slut's humiliation, Empress? Unworthy slut wonders if that's all you had to offer. It would be a shame if you'd run out of imagination now. Though you were kind enough to leave unworthy slut an invitation."

Moving back into the bedroom, Celestia reached up, and touched a few seemingly random spots high on one pillar. A narrow section of the wall pulled back, and slid aside. The Princess vanished into it without hesitation.

Darting over to the double doors, Twilight pushed them open an inch and called, "Command: go to scene four!" before pelting back into the bedroom just in time to dive into the secret passageway before it closed.

Twilight rubbed one breast absently as she set off down the narrow passageway, muttering, "Ow. Running naked with these things is harder than I remember." Celestia hadn't gotten far, walking slowly with a subtly cautious air. Twilight padded barefoot after her, one naked alicorn following on the heels of the other, as they crept through the dimly lit corridor.

"I am giving you a chance, you know," Twilight remarked conversationally to Celestia's back. Reaching out, she idly caressed the other pony's snow white wings, gently ruffling the feathers with her fingertips. "All you have to do is take a different route, take one of these side passages, and figure out a different way to get to my room. But I don't think you're going to. I think you're going to walk right past that corridor - like that - and that staircase - like that - and that means you get to play another game."

The corridor took a sharp turn to the left, curving with the outer castle wall. Celestia rounded the corner with brisk steps, then stopped cold. A depraved mockery of a maids outfit hung from a hook in the corridor ceiling. The lace-edged skirt was so short that the slightest movement would reveal the ass or pussy of the one wearing it. The top was as tight as a corset around the waist, and where the bodice should be were merely two tall triangles of lace edging, designed to let her heavy tits fall free through them. A neat little apron was tied around the waist, and a small maid's hat sat loosely atop the collar. The entire outfit was lavishly servile, designed to show off the wearer as a submissive sex object. Glistening black high heels sat on the ground beneath it, a pair of fishnet stockings neatly bundled atop them.

"...really," Celestia murmured. She stared at the outfit, with something like hunger in her eyes. Her breathing quickened. Her hand hesitated, then caressed the line of lace along the edge of the corset. "This is clothing I am allowed to touch, it seems. That is... very pretty, Empress."

Naturally, Celestia would think so. It belonged to her, even if she couldn't remember that right now. As part of the preparations, Twilight had told her to go and fetch a humiliating outfit to wear, and the Princess had been very cooperative. It was going to be quite exciting to find out what other outfits the Princess owned.

Reaching up to the hook, Celestia carefully lifted the dress free, cradling it in her arms. Behind it, pinned to the wall, was a square piece of parchment that read simply, 'Maids only beyond this point'.

"It appears that unworthy slut has no choice," Celestia said with calm composure. Cradling the dress against her nude body with one arm, she picked up the fishnet tights. Bending forward, she worked one foot into them, her generous ass jutting out towards her unseen Mistress, and quivering gently with her movements.

"Oh, Celestia. That's just not fair," breathed Twilight. Drawn forward a few steps almost without realising, she couldn't resist smoothing her hands over those soft cheeks, gently squeezing and kneading their broad curves. A firm slap cracked against Celestia's skin, reddening a fading handprint. "You make me so horny, oh my gosh..."

Celestia murmured a low sound without realising, fully occupied working the tights up her legs without tearing them. At the top, the netting parted front and back, mimicking a thong. A single black strap sank into the valley of her ass, lending definition to it, and at the front, a slit bared the subtly pink lips of her pussy. Sliding the skirt up her thighs into place immediately revealed how totally inadequate it was on her body, doing more to present and accentuate than to cover.

Her breathing heavy and rapid, Celestia tucked the cap into her waistband and pulled the top over her head, adjusting her heavy breasts to fall loose through each triangle of lace. Reaching behind herself, she pulled firmly on the ribbons, tightening the corset around her stomach and unnecessarily forcing her chest even further out. Bending again, she flashed her cunt between her legs as she slid her feet into the high heels, and finally straightened to place the maid's cap in her hair. Her breasts swayed as she turned towards the way she'd come, large pink nipples hard as rocks, and a rich blush heating her cheeks. A shivery desire rode her words, as she breathed, "You're an incredible pervert, Empress."

Twilight pressed urgently against Celestia, wrapping her arms around her. An unstoppable lust burned in her slender body, and she pressed her mouth to the Princess's neck, biting and kissing with desperate need. "You're the pervert, I'm just showing you how nice it feels to be my pervert. Oh, oh Princess, oh Celestia, oh fuck..."

It took almost everything she had to wrench herself away. Celestia would have just stood there, in her depraved maid's outfit, unable to move or understand that anything was happening while Twilight gave in and came, and came, grinding naked against the pony she respected most in the world. But that wasn't the plan. Not yet. Not yet.

"Command; stay there!" Twilight gasped, and pressed her hands against the smooth stone wall, lowering her head and resolutely not looking at Celestia. With strained patience and her self control creaking under the load, she counted to ten. When that didn't help, she went on to twenty, then thirty. The raging fire in her body tapered just a little, just enough to walk without immediately cumming.

Finally, she straightened. Celestia was still standing where she'd left her, looking around vaguely as she sought to justify to herself why she was staying still for no reason. "Command: end last command," Twilight managed more evenly.

Breaking into motion, Celestia strode off down the hall. She wore the tall heels with the ease of long practice, and the shoes clicked loudly against the stone. Her heavy breasts swayed from side to side with every step, and Celestia absently smoothed her pristine white apron without seeming to notice the movement. She was unspeakably desirable, and it took all of Twilight's concentration to pull her attention away from the Princess's ass, hidden and revealed under the skimpy skirt with the billowing of her ethereal tail.

Distracted by her raging desire, Twilight almost bumped into Celestia's back as the Princess came to another abrupt stop. Peering around her, a wicked grin spread across Twilight's face as she gazed at the sign pinned to the wall ahead. It read simply, 'You may not pass.' Anticipating Celestia's reaction, Twilight took a step backwards.

The Princess frowned at the note, then reached out to touch it. As with her clothes earlier, Celestia's fingers simply stopped an inch from the parchment, and an abortive step forward found that she couldn't walk past it either. With a faint frown, Celestia turned to go back the way she'd come, only to find another note pinned to the side of a wooden beam overhead, only visible now that she'd walked under it. It read simply, 'One way forward' and immediately, Celestia found she was just as powerless to touch or defy it.

"No way forward, no way back. Oh, but there is a secret door out of your passageway here," purred Twilight. "It's a pity that somepony has carelessly put furniture in the way of the eyeholes. I guess you'll just have to risk it."

Celestia was rapidly coming to a similar conclusion, sliding aside a small bronze bar to find the subtle pinholes that should have let her see what was in the room outside were blocked and dark. She looked around the seemingly-empty tunnel once more, her bare chest rising and falling rapidly with her breathing. "So you've trapped unworthy slut. No escape. You're going to humiliate unworthy slut all over again, and there's nothing unworthy slut can do about it." A tremor of shivery arousal rode her tone.

Casually, delighting in the thrill of absolute power it gave her, Twilight slapped Celestia across the chest. "That's right, Princess. You're my toy, and I want you to know it. Now, please open the door. It wouldn't do to keep the ambassador waiting."

Looking down at herself, Celestia tugged her tiny skirt down a little, then inadequately tried covering her bare breasts with her hands. She caught her soft lower lip between her teeth, then gave up trying to cover her chest and carefully, listening intently, triggered the latch. A plain wooden panel swung out a few inches, on silent hinges.

Silence, from outside.

Easing herself forward into the tiny gap, Celestia leant her head forward with painstaking care, trying to see around the door without properly opening it. Obviously, despite knowing it was a trap, she was incredibly intent on remaining unseen in her humiliating fetish outfit.

Twilight planted her hand flat on the door panel, and paused. "You know, Princess, it would be really terrible if I lost my balance. If I pushed hard on this panel, it could swing all the way open all at once, and - oops!"

The panel flew open, with a musical crash as something glassy was knocked to the floor. Celestia was left frozen in the open doorway, rigid with shock and completely exposed to the three ponies twisting abruptly towards the noise.

Start with the two dressed as guards; nearest was Rainbow Dash, now in archaic silver armour that looked oddly appropriate on her, with a wine-coloured cloak that featured wing slits. She'd already taken several quick steps across the room towards the noise, before the full vision that was Celestia had struck home, leaving her staring, mouth wide open. By the door, Trixie stood, also now clad in a slightly different design of silver armour that only fit her approximately. She'd moved sharply towards the large chair, where a third mare sat.

Zecora was dressed almost normally, in a brown tunic, belted at the waist, sandals strapped to her feet and up her toned calves. The heavy golden necklaces hanging around her neck were new, though, and she wore a far grander blue cloak than Rainbow's. Still, the biggest difference was in the look on her face. There was a firm, arrogant authority there that didn't match her personality at all.

A hard edge rode her voice. "Who is this disgrace that bursts in so violently? How dare you violate my sacred privacy!"

For possibly the first time, Twilight saw Celestia lock up in complete panic. Hurriedly covering her chest as best she could with her hands, she shook her head slightly. Hissing from the side of her mouth, the Princess whispered, "Empress! You cannot have charmed the Zebra Ambassador!"

Zecora's eyes flashed impatiently. "Guard, seize her. Let me see this saboteur."

"Your grace," Celestia began, "this is an unfortunate misunderstanding." Before she could get much further, Rainbow seized her arm and yanked her forward to stand before Zecora, pulling her hand off her breast with the motion.

Leaning forward, Zecora drank in the half-naked Princess, her eyes flashing hungrily. "Spies would not be so degradingly displayed. Celestia has sent me a concubine maid. I'd thank her, if you weren't such a clumsy fool. Now you are under my rule."

"Unworthy slut is-!" Celestia began to protest, then closed her mouth. Her breathing quickened, a crimson flush of humiliation colouring her cheeks.

Twilight strolled over to stand beside Zecora's chair, watching with interest as Celestia's pink eyes searched the room. "Yes, unworthy slut is Princess Celestia. I don't think you're going to be able to convey that. Do you have any other ideas? I am very interested."

Glancing at the armoured figure of Rainbow, who was still gripping her arm firmly and trying not to stare too obviously at the intruder's lavish bared breast, Celestia gathered her composure. "Apologies, for the breaking of the vase, Ambassador," she said with a semblance of normality.

"Words are said with ease," said Zecora dismissively. "I am not appeased. You will be punished for this affront." Beckoning Trixie with a flick of her finger, she added sharply, "Guard. Bare your cunt."

Trixie bowed her head once, advancing to stand before Rainbow's captive. "Yes, my Lady," she replied in a clear, steady voice, a flare of blue magic peeling the leg armour off her body in pieces. Clad only in her silver breastplate and armoured boots, Trixie spread her feet widely, exposing her freshly-shaven cunt and sky-blue thighs.

Celestia's eyes flicked from Zecora to Trixie and back again, unresisting as Rainbow gripped her wrists and pulled her arms behind her back. A low sound escaped her barely parted lips.

Twilight's voice rang out. "Command: everypony, freeze."

Sudden, complete silence descended as the four mares locked in place, the only movement the slow rise and fall of shallow breaths. Twilight looked from one rigid pony to another, giddy with hot, sensual delight. Turning to Zecora, she smoothed her fingers over the zebra's slightly parted lips.

"You're mean like this, Zecora. I think it's kind of cute," Twilight purred. "How could Celestia have guessed that the new ambassador was such a sadistic pervert? And you, Trixie. I wonder if you're getting off on having your lady make you punish somepony in front of her? If you were really her guards, you'd be zebras, but no pony here is allowed to notice petty details like that." Twilight's fingers slid along Trixie's bare cunt, caressing the smooth, soft warmth of her bare sex. "Mm. You do feel nice like this. There's something very cute about having you half-undressed in armour."

Turning around, Twilight gazed into Celestia's face, and breathed a long, slow sigh of satisfaction. "And look at you, Princess. Arms pulled back, these, mm, beautiful, squeezable tits on full display, frozen just at the exact moment when you know you're going to be used and punished, and you don't want to fight it anymore. You get off on being punished, don't you."

Reaching up, Twilight parted Celestia's soft lips, and gently slid a finger back and forth between them. A violent shudder of desire wracked Twilight's body. "Oh, gosh. You make me so horny, Princess," she gasped. Pulling her hand away, she stepped back quickly, grabbing the arm of Zecora's chair to stop herself reaching down to stroke her own cunt. Voice a little strained, she demanded, "Command: resume!"

Zecora smiled cruelly, capturing one of Celestia's jutting nipples between finger and thumb. Squeezing firmly, she purred, "You must be prove yourself worthy to apologise, don't you agree? Guard, put this concubine on her knees."

Maintaining her grip on the Princess's wrists with one hand, Rainbow grabbed Celestia's shoulder, and shoved hard. For an instant, she strained against the Princess, unmoving as a rock, before the tall mare folded smoothly to her knees, thighs spreading. The tiny skirt rode up, exposing her perfect ass, and the gleaming, bared slit between her thighs. Lips parted, Celestia looked up at the zebra towering over her, her breathing rapid and shallow.

"Unworthy slut understands perfectly. Unworthy slut is dressed disgracefully, entered without your permission, even broke a vase. Unworthy slut must be punished. Unworthy slut must prove she is very, very sorry for intruding..."

Arms trapped behind her by Rainbow's grip, Celestia leaned forward towards the half-naked guard, her heavy breasts dangling beneath her, and brought her soft lips to Trixie's bare sex. Leaning a little closer, Celestia let her eyes slide closed, and she began to kiss up and down her pussy, with tender, submissive care. Her pink tongue slid out, and she began lapping at the mare's folds.

Trixie's hand settled atop Celestia's head, gently urging the captive Princess to keep going. Short, quick little moans escaped her as Celestia's licking grew more urgent, a growing flush darkening her blue cheeks. "That's good, that's very nice... Mmmh. Oh, do that again, suck just there..." she murmured, seeming to have forgotten her audience, stroking a hand through the Princess's billowing mane.

Zecora watched the two with cool amusement, crossing her arms under her breasts as she watched the kneeling mare devotedly licking out her guard. "Guard. Though I see you are occupied, when you are free, I wish to know whether she deserves to apologise to me."

"I-! Yes, my Lady, I - haah! I am sorry. This maid is apologising, hnnng, apologising with great - great sincerity to me, and I must agree that she is talented enough, mmmh, to make a full and proper apology to you, for - for her trespass!" Trixie gasped out the words, rhythmically humping Celestia's face, quivering with arousal. "Do you wish me to, to continue testing her worthiness, my Lady?" Unabashed eagerness rode her words.

Zecora stood up, and snapped her fingers. "Half-naked disgrace. Here is your place," she declared imperiously, and lifted the bottom of her long tunic. She wore nothing beneath, her bared sex framed by the darker grey of curling stripes. Spreading her cunt with two fingers, she beckoned.

Celestia lifted her head immediately at the peremptory words, twisting around to face Zecora without hesitation. Nodding her compliance, she panted, "Yes, ambassador, unworthy slut understands," and leaned forward against Rainbow's iron grip on her arms, struggling to reach the zebra's heated slit with her tongue.

Snorting once, Zecora jerked her head imperiously at Rainbow. "Release this pliant slut, to pleasure me as best she can. You will take her place, and finish what she began."

Rainbow's eyes flashed to Trixie, who nodded urgently in return and parted her blue thighs a little wider. Returning her gaze to Zecora, Rainbow replied smartly, "At your command, my Lady," and let Celestia go.

Immediately, the Princess dropped to all fours, crawling forward to push her mouth more forcefully against Zecora's slit. Wasting no time on delicate kisses this time, she began lapping urgently at the zebra's pussy. Behind her, Trixie let out a sharp gasp as her fellow guard dropped to one knee and began putting her considerable talents in pussy licking to use.

"That was very kind of you, Zecora. It wouldn't do for Trixie not to cum at all in this little game. That just wouldn't be fair." Twilight leaned up and leisurely ran her tongue up Zecora's cheek, catching the other mare's ear between her teeth and nipping gently. "I really like seeing you walk around with no underwear. I love knowing I could just tug up your tunic... and expose you. I love seeing the bumps of those big rings decorating your gorgeous nipples. When I pierce Luna and Celestia, I'm going to have to chain all three of you together, and we're going to have such fun."

Pressing herself against Zecora's side, Twilight wrapped one arm around her and squeezed her right breast firmly through her brown tunic, adding a fresh groan to the rhythmic purr of pleasure being coaxed out of the zebra by the Princess's tongue. "Oh, yes, that's right, Zecora. Keep holding onto her head like that, make her lick you out," Twilight moaned, reaching down with her free hand to help press Celestia's head between Zecora's legs.

The Princess's eyes were glazed over with focused lust, seeing and caring for nothing except the mare she was pleasuring. She looked incredible, the always-controlled, dignified pony panting out her shuddering pleasure, one hand alternately kneading her own swaying tits and roughly stroking between her legs as she desperately moaned into Zecora's body.

It was all too much. A haze of telekinetic magic flared around Twilight's horn, focused on her own pussy. Shuddering and gasping, Twilight helplessly bucked her hips back and forth, rocking urgently against Zecora's side as her pleasure rose dizzyingly within her. With a wrenching effort, Twilight managed to make herself stop before she went over the edge, clinging to the shuddering zebra like a rock in a storm. She had to end this scene before she completely lost control! Raggedly, she called out, "Command! Everypony cum, right now! Cum!"

Her voice was answered by an overlapping, many voiced cry of release, a deafening crescendo of ecstasy. Celestia desperately ground the palm of her hand against her clit, her mouth buried between Zecora's legs, as the zebra yanked at her colourful, flowing mane. Trixie staggered, barely holding onto Rainbow, who shuddered in a completely unexpected orgasm of her own that left her clasping Trixie's leg for support.

Twilight concentrated on breathing steadily, trying not to move as the dangerous fires within her body roared and surged, trying to make that final leap to consume her. Bit by bit, little by little, she pushed them down again, sucking in great gulps of air. By the time her eyes focused again, Celestia was drawing away from Zecora's body, a dazed look on her face and her mouth and chin shiny with the zebra's juices.

"May... may unworthy slut be excused," panted Celestia, looking up at Zecora.

"I am finished with you, indeed. Resume seeking Twilight; you may proceed," Zecora declared with a dismissive wave of her hand.

The sign! Leaving Celestia's side, Twilight hurried back through the door to the secret passage, which still stood ajar, and snatched the sign from the wall which had blocked Celestia's progress. Releasing it, it levitated in a haze of magic to sit out of sight atop a roof beam.

Seconds later, Celestia stepped into the passage, and closed the wall panel behind her. Her mane was mussed, her fetishised outfit slightly askew, and her hips wobbled slightly with each step in her tall black heels. Dampness streaked her thighs. She glanced up, and saw the sign had vanished. With a certain admiration in her voice, she murmured, "Empress, you truly should not have used that spell on an ambassador and her guards. Unworthy slut trusts you will have covered your tracks very thoroughly." She took a deep breath, her magnificent breasts rising and falling. "Oh, Empress... the things you're making unworthy slut do..."

Twilight took hold of Celestia's flowing tail, and gently smoothed her hand down it. "Silly pony. Of course I wouldn't charm an ambassador. Which you'd have worked out the moment you stepped into the room, if I hadn't told you that you know for a fact that Zecora is the ambassador from her people." Patting Celestia's ass with playful condescension, Twilight added, "I know it's not fair. I'll let you realise later."

Completely unaware of what Twilight was doing, Celestia straightened her maid cap, and set off down the passageway. Addressing the air, she remarked with a touch of yearning, "Has unworthy slut earned the privilege of seeing you, Empress?" Humour crept into her melodious voice, and she added, "You have exposed unworthy slut to a guard, a maid, and even an ambassador. Will unworthy slut be placed at the mercy of a cook, perhaps? One to beat unworthy slut's ass with a whisk, and make cake puns?"

For a moment, Twilight found herself regretting that she hadn't thought of that. On the other hand, she'd put her trio of slaves through quite enough costume changes for now. "That's a very sweet idea, Celestia. I might save it for later. But it's time for the grand finale, and I can't have my cake and eat it!" She caught herself giggling slightly manically, and shook her head. Skipping ahead of Celestia, delighting in the scandalous feeling of her complete nudity, she accompanied the charmed Princess towards their final destination: Twilight's own bedroom.

Pausing at the exit from the secret passage, Celestia placed her hand against the latch and murmured with wry resignation, "Naturally, the eye holes will have been sealed."

They had. In fact, Twilight had sealed them as soon as she'd found out the secret door was there, and they were going to stay sealed. There was such a thing as privacy. "Now, now. No peeking, my Princess," Twilight said with gentle playfulness.

"...you are so cruel to your slave," murmured Celestia, a wry smile on her lips. Placing her hand on the latch, she quietly triggered it, and carefully pushed inwards. A finely balanced section of stone blocks swung open soundlessly, opening up a small gap before coming abruptly to a stop against a heavy piece of furniture that hadn't been there yesterday.

"You are endlessly prepared, Empress. Or should unworthy slut go back to calling you Twilight?" Celestia paused, one hand against the stones, then smiled to herself when nothing immediately happened. "Perhaps not endlessly prepared." Moving into the gap, Celestia released an unladylike grunt as she squeezed through, and stepped out into the room. She stopped dead.

Twilight grinned to herself, and pushed through the gap after her. Leaning up to speak into Celestia's unheeding ear, she said brightly, "Guard, maid, ambassador, Princess. I thought that was obvious."

Luna sat in a broad chair, dressed in her customary blue tunic, a book resting open in her hands. The opening of the door had clearly caught her attention, even half-hidden behind a stout dresser. In pleasant, calm tones, she greeted Celestia, "Hello, sister. Art thou here to see Twilight?"

Celestia stood motionless a moment longer, hands catching the edge of her skirt and tugging the miniscule garment down a little lower in a futile attempt at making it more modest. "...you don't find anything... unusual in the way unworthy slut is dressed?" she asked carefully, then flinched as the degrading words slipped out despite herself.

Luna blinked, setting down the book on the arm of her chair. "I don't recognise it. Is it new?"

Celestia's lips parted, then closed again. Hesitating, she took a step closer, and lifted her hands to cup her bare breasts. Her pink nipples peeked between her fingers. "Is there nothing you find unusual here, sister?" she asked, and this time, there was a hint of arousal in her voice.

"Not at all. I confess, I am not certain what it is that you wish to make clear to me," replied Luna with the faintest touch of a frown.

"Nothing at all, sister. Unworthy slut was confused for a moment, that's all." Celestia's eyes narrowed slightly, and a smile stole across her lips. Taking hold of her skirt with one hand, she lifted one edge, just enough to glimpse her still-glistening pussy. "Do you like unworthy slut's skirt? It might be a little daring."

"It is up to thee to decide whether thy clothes suit you, none other. But the lace edging is very fetching," Luna replied with a warm smile. "Will you wear it to the day court?"

"Unworthy slut doubts it. Though, given the way unworthy slut's day is going..." Celestia murmured, half to herself. Her heels clacked against the flagstones as she approached Luna's chair, and bent forward. Focusing on her sister's face, searching for the first sign of awkwardness or hesitation, she took Luna's hand in hers, guided it to the milky slope of one bare breast, and pressed it there.

"This is perfectly normal. Of course. Would you mind kneading here?" she asked, in a voice that shivered with arousal.

"If you would like, sister," Luna replied mildly. Her dark blue fingers sank into Celestia's breast a little as she began to squeeze and knead, her palm rubbing against the delicate pink nipple. Celestia's eyes closed, and she pushed herself gently into her sister's hand.

Luna's eyes flicked to Twilight.

"Don't look at me," Twilight coaxed with a purr of arousal. "Keeping looking at her. You're doing a wonderful job, Luna. Just keep acting like everything is normal, and tell her about the key."

Colouring slightly, the blush hard to detect on her dark blue cheeks, Luna immediately looked back to Celestia's body. Continuing to knead and squeeze her sister's breast, she added, "If thou wert hoping to see Twilight, she wishes you to know that you must insert the key into the lock."

Breathing fast, her lips slightly parted, it took a moment before Celestia's eyes opened. "The key? What key would that be?" she asked breathily.

"It is there, behind thee." Luna pointed past Celestia with her free hand, and Celestia drew back from Luna's touch, turning.

Half-hidden from immediate sight by an adjacent hanging, a pure white dildo was mounted to the wall, jutting out horizontally. Celestia stared at it for a moment, before slowly, step by step, approaching. Her fingers ran smoothly down the length of the shaft, coming away slick with lubricating cream. "Oh, Empress. You are cruel today," she murmured to herself.

"Now now, Celestia, no stalling. You know exactly how you're meant to finish your adventure for the day. I even provided you an audience. Wasn't that nice of me?" Twilight said teasingly, rubbing a hand up and down over her own breast. All of a sudden, she noticed Luna's eyes had flicked to her again, and Twilight felt a hot blush rising on her cheeks. Maybe she had gotten a little too used to no pony being able to consciously hear her.

It didn't stop her touching herself, though. Not for an instant.

"Unworthy slut hasn't given you nearly enough credit," Celestia finally murmured, her fingers sliding along the toy once again. Turning around to face Luna, a fresh flush of crimson humiliation coloured her cheeks, and she added throatily, "Will you be watching unworthy slut use the key?"

"Yes, I shall. I was told that I would find it most instructive," replied Luna, with a serene calm that would have done Celestia herself credit.

"Then... please watch closely, sister, dearest," Celestia breathed, slowly bending at the waist. Her skirt rode up, exposing her glistening sex, and her heavy breasts dangled beneath her as she assumed the position to fuck the toy, colourful tail held high. Eyes half closed, her pink tongue sliding along her full lips, she slowly pushed backwards against the shaft. She paused, squirming a little as the toy pressed against her, then gasped loudly as a further push back slid the tip smoothly into her heated cunt.

"That's it, Celestia. All the way down," Twilight coaxed. Her hips swayed as she approached, thighs sliding against each other, her fingers restlessly caressing her bare sex. A sharp little thrill shot through her as she paused by Luna's side, sharing her view of her sister. "Keep watching her, Luna. Isn't she beautiful when she's like this? She's so... honest, so sincere, in her feelings."

Luna nodded her understanding, breathing quicker and body tensing as she watched Celestia groan and whimper, unable to reply aloud or even look away from the sight before her.

Moving steadily, Celestia eased herself back until her perfect ass kissed the smooth stones of the wall, and the shaft lay fully buried within her. "Hnng! Unworthy slut is... filled," she gasped, her glazed eyes searching the room for Twilight, and sliding past her without registering.

"Oh, Celestia, you're not finished, and you know it." Twilight bent down and leant towards Luna, easing her billowing mane of darkness and stars out of the way with one hand. Baring the slender column of her neck, Twilight began to kiss and bite gently, groaning into her divine slave's dark skin even as her eyes lingered on her sister's pale body.

The Princess of the Moon froze at the brush of Twilight's lips on her skin, trying not to react. A little tremor in her voice, she asked with a semblance of normality, "Art thou having difficulty, sister?"

"No, unworthy slut is - fine," Celestia managed, planting her hands on her knees for support. With a deep breath, she pulled forward, then shoved herself back, her ass slapping against the stone. Her bare breasts swayed under her as she began to slide up and down the length of the glistening shaft, dazed groans falling from her lips.

"Oh, Celestia, that's so pretty..." panted Twilight. Lifting her head, she commanded urgently, "Ask her, now. Do it, Luna. Obey me." Her hot tongue flicked out and ran up the curve of Luna's ear.

A short, sharp whimper escaped Luna's lips, drawing Celestia's gaze. Breathing quicker, Luna asked in the most normal tone she could manage, "Sister. Would it trouble thee if I were to touch myself whilst you are occupied with the key?"

The very idea wrenched a fresh groan from Celestia, and she slammed herself back against the shaft harder. "Please! That's the normal thing to do in this situation, isn't it? Please do!" she all but begged, twitching her tail higher and seizing one swaying breast roughly.

"That is - very gracious of you," Luna replied, her words broken by a sharp inhalation. Undoing the top of the neat, formal leggings that she wore, she tugged them down without fully removing them, exposing lacy black panties that clung to her body. Sliding her fingers into them, she began, a little hesitantly at first, to stroke herself.

"That's very good, Luna. That's right. Keep touching yourself for me. You're doing so well," Twilight breathed huskily. "I'm right here. This is good." Her body felt flushed, feverish, incredibly hot under her own fingers. Every moan from her lips was met by a louder cry from Celestia, urgently, desperately slamming back and forth against the shaft buried within her, and Luna was watching it all. She could barely believe something so perverse was really happening, that she had made it happen.

Lifting her hands to her chest, Twilight twisted her dark purple nipples firmly, biting back a louder cry. "Luna, I'd like it very much if you undid your tunic, and let me see you touch your chest. Would you do that, please?" she panted.

Nodding quickly, Luna pulled her hand from her panties, and with trembling fingers, undid her formal tunic. Her eyes slid sideways, only to snap back to Celestia as she caught Twilight's gaze, and she pulled her tunic wide to bare her generous breasts, displayed and half-revealed by a lacy bra that let her stiff nipples show through.

Celestia gasped, moaning thickly as she gazed up at Luna. "Oh, yes, yes, let unworthy slut see you play with your tits, sister, it's so pretty watching your fingers move under your panties as you watch unworthy slut fuck herself like this..."

Oh, it was too good, it was too good! Twilight grabbed Luna's thigh with both hands, and swung herself onto the Princess's lap, straddling one leg and facing forwards. Grinding back and forth, her dripping cunt spreading her juices across Luna's dark skin, she kneaded her tits roughly, feeling Luna's body shudder beneath her. Oh, spirits, she was so close now! She didn't have to deny herself anymore, this was it, she was almost at the moment-!

"Watch her, Luna - she's almost ready to cum, do you see, she's almost ready, get ready with the keywords, get ready!" she hissed urgently, watching Celestia's quivering body slam back against the unmoving shaft, her face a mask of abandonment and ecstasy.

"Sister! Empress! Unworthy slut is going to-!"

"Now, Luna!" Twilight demanded.

"I'm not charmed!" Luna cried out, her voice shaking. "I saw everything!"

Celestia's head jerked up in shock, her mouth falling open, and for the first time since she'd woken up, looked straight into Twilight's eyes. "You!" she managed, then cried out as her orgasm overtook her, her eyes rolling back. A wavering cry of pleasure piercing the air.

"Yes!" cried Twilight triumphantly, then snapped into a rigid arch as her long-delayed orgasm broke over her with the all-devouring force of a tidal wave. Her mind broke apart, tiny fragments adrift on the surging, booming tide, and she was only dimly aware of the ecstatic wails of pleasure each fresh throb of her body wrenched forth.

Warm arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly as the consuming pleasure finally ebbed, leaving her barely able to move. Luna's face looked down at her, filled with a complex mixture of love, tenderness and caring. The soft, solid warmth of the Princess's body was all around her. Billows of Luna's star-filled mane caressed Twilight's face.

Twilight stirred, reaching up to stroke Luna's cheek with trembling fingertips. "You were perfect. Thank you," Twilight whispered. Slowly pushing herself into a sitting position, she beheld Celestia, hands on knees, still fixed to the wall by the shaft buried in her, sucking in great, heaving breaths.

Slipping off Luna's lap with a final grateful smile at her, Twilight carefully stepped over to Celestia. Sinking to her knees before the Princess of the Sun, bring their faces to the same level, Twilight gently took Celestia's head in her hands and gazed deeply into her mentor's eyes. "I win," she said simply.

Celestia gazed back, her cheeks flushed red, her eyes filled with overwhelming love and acceptance. "Yes, you do. I concede completely. My Empress." Tilting her head, her soft mouth met Twilight's, kissing her deeply.

Twilight leant closer, caressing Celestia's cheek, kissing her open mouthed. It seemed to go on forever, and when they finally parted, Twilight rested one hand on the floor to keep her balance. "You... are a very good kisser," she managed.

"It must be natural talent," teased Celestia. Looking up at Luna, her cheeks abruptly darkened again, and she carefully eased forward, little by little, until the shaft slipped free of her. Straightening slowly, she straightened her scandalous outfit as best she could. "...hello, Luna," she murmured.

Luna rose from her chair, tugging up her leggings with an awkward smile on her face. "Do not... don't be too embarrassed. If thou had seen me, when Twilight had her way with me... she offered to let me see you sincerely enjoying what she did to thee. I hope that when it is my turn to be toyed with, I will be as true to my feelings as thou wert."

Celestia nodded once, a small smile on her lips despite her lingering air of embarrassment, and stepped forward to hug the other alicorn tightly.

Thank goodness. Twilight gazed at them warmly for a moment, content just to see the two embracing, before she stepped forward and gently stroked her hands down their wings. "I love you. Both of you," she said softly. "I hope that you had fun, Celestia. I hope you're both happy."

Almost before she knew what was happening, the two taller alicorns enfolded her into their embrace. Celestia's bare breasts pressed against her from one side, while Luna's chest, still held in a delicate lace bra, pushed against her from another, and their wings folded around her, completely enclosing her in warmth.

"Indeed, my Mistress, I am happy," said Luna softly. "It was just as thou promised. I do not feel as embarrassed as once I did."

"You were most cruel, Empress. I can't wait to see what you do the next time," Celestia replied with affectionate playfulness. "Though you really should show a little more restraint in the ponies you charm."

"Oh! Yes." Twilight paused, marshalling the right words, then asked, "Celestia, who have you seen today?"

Celestia's lips parted, a look of surprise momentarily touching her face, before she focused on Twilight again. "...there is no Zebra Ambassador here. I knew that." A smile breaking out across her face, she added teasingly, "You made Rainbow Dash a Prench maid? Do you believe she will forgive you for the accent, Empress?"

"Um. Well... they're released from the charm, now they're finished playing their parts, and I did tell them beforehand what I was going to do. Roughly. I might have... added in a few details, when I was giving out orders. It'll be fine!" Twilight nodded twice. Definitely fine. "We're all going to have lunch together soon! Breakfast-lunch, maybe. It's still early. But I've got a little time until then, so-"

An emphatic knock rang out from the suite door, followed by several more. Through the thick wood, the words "A Prench maid?" could be made out, followed immediately by, "Why was the Slutty and Sensual Trixie not the sexy maid? A guard, Mistress?"

Celestia and Luna looked at each other, then stepped back in unison, withdrawing their wings. Twilight was left in the middle of the floor, looking at them both as they sat on the end of the bed, side by side. "Um. Princesses...?"

In one voice, they replied, "It's for you."

Author's Note

It's Princess Celestia month!

Proofed by the excellent Setokaiva.

5: Connection Problems

"So... I'm dating Rarity, as well. No. Uh. And Rarity is one of them. Uh. I know you really like Rarity, but it's kind of - Rarity and I are... look, it's really complicated, and... magic?"

Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose between two fingers. This, without doubt, was going to be a disaster.

She was sat in a small room, a sunny balcony outside, the desk before her strewn with parchment bearing crossed out words. She'd set aside time to write out a perfectly cogent and coherent explanation that Spike would find acceptable. Really, she had. But then she'd gotten carried away with Celestia, and then she'd had the lunch with Rainbow and the others, and she hadn't really wanted to lock herself away to figure out how to word things, and when she had sat down to write everything down, she'd found, to her horror, she had no explanation to give.

The train was probably in the station by now! The only reason she wasn't down there to meet Spike was that if she was seen in public, even after all the rumours, she was probably going to get mobbed by excited ponies. She was confined to the castle until the official coronation, something that her guards gently reminded her of every time she seemed about to 'forget'.

She had guards. In purple armour! Deep violet, if she was going to be specific, and she was always specific. It was so embarrassing, too, to see the giant banners bearing her cutie mark being hung up around the corridors near her bedroom - all technically within her remodelled Princess's quarters, she supposed, but it was going to take a while before she thought of all that space as actually hers.

How was she going to explain any of this?

Out in the corridor, alarmingly nearby, a door banged open. The noise of rapid footfalls sounded, growing louder by the second.

Twilight jerked to her feet, stepping out from behind the desk, then hurriedly swept the abortive attempts at explanation under the stack of blank parchment. Surely, they couldn't be here already, could they? She braced herself, with a look of nervous determination.

The handle twisted, and the door was yanked wide. For just an instant, Applejack was framed in the doorway, sweat glistening on her skin, her white and red checked shirt tied under her breasts, worn above long, tatty blue jeans and stout brown boots. Before Twilight could react, the farm pony crossed the room in two swift strides and grabbed hold of her, her firmly muscled body slamming into Twilight hard enough to take her breath away.

Applejack's hat, already askew, slid to the floor. She didn't seem to notice. "Twilight," she breathed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Ah missed you so darn much."

The first thing Twilight was truly aware of was her scent. Applejack smelled faintly of apples, and sweat, and mare. She was so warm. The other pony's muscled arms held on incredibly tightly, and for the first time since her transformation, Twilight felt small, and safe. Burying her head in her lover's blonde mane, Twilight clung to her in return, feeling a surge of emotion that brought tears to her eyes. "Oh, Applejack. I missed you too. I'm so glad you're here."

Their lips met, and for a long, blissful moment, Twilight stopped thinking about anything at all. When Applejack finally drew back, she found herself a little wobbly on her feet, and glad of the other pony's strong embrace. "So - um. How's Ponyville? Is Big Mac okay, did you talk to him?" she asked, suddenly awkward, not knowing what else to say.

"Yeah, Ah talked to him. Seems like he's been pretty worked up. He's real glad to hear you're alright, and Ah'm alright too. Ah didn't know what to say, rilly, when he asked me who'd done all this. Ah mean, Celestia? Ah told him we'd come to Canterlot, had a big fight in the castle, and it was all over. Don't think he'll be properly settled until he hears from you that it's all straightened out, now, mind."

Guilt nibbled at Twilight's conscience. Of course Big Mac wouldn't be able to fully relax when it was Applejack telling him it was over, not after he'd been told Applejack's mind was being manipulated by somepony else. Especially when he could tell that Applejack wasn't telling him everything; it was no surprise the Element of Honesty was lousy at hiding things. It should have been Twilight that told him the truth, long before she'd left to face Celestia, and not pretended she was too busy to risk it because she didn't want to have the conversation. That had been cruel.

"I'm sorry, Applejack. I should never have put you in that position; I feel terrible that I've let him worry for so long." Twilight's head lowered, and she looked down at the floor. "I'll speak to him as soon as I come back to Ponyville."

"Or sooner," Applejack offered. "He's coming here for the coronation. Lots of ponies are, come to that."

"...he knows? I suppose Pinkie has told everypony," Twilight murmured. She'd really wanted to see Spike's face for herself when he found out, but it was always unlikely to have stayed a secret long enough.

"Nope, she hasn't," Applejack declared with satisfaction. "Ah've been actin'."

Twilight blinked, drawing back slightly to look at Applejack searchingly.

"Every day, one of us has gone into Sugarcube Corner, and been all, 'Why Pinkie, you're acting like you know something? What could it be?' and pretending not to know about you, and then she gets to tell us everything, and we're all, 'Mah stars, Pinkie, Ah just can't believe it' and then she's good for about a day or so before she has to tell someone all over again. Fluttershy's idea. It's not like Pinkie doesn't know we know, but it's working."

Applejack grinned. "Ah'm not sure how much longer it would've held, but your secret's safe. All Ponyville folk know is there's going to be this big announcement about you, from the Princess. Ah might have elbowed a few folk, told them to get their asses up here."

"...that's brilliant. That's such a good idea! I mean - thank you, so much, for going through all that effort for me. I really appreciate it." Twilight squeezed Applejack's callused hand in both of hers. "I've been worrying about what to tell Spike. Actually, before you came in, literally all I could think of was 'What do I tell Spike' and I still don't have an answer. Where is he? Didn't he come with you?"

"He's coming. Rarity's promenading up from the station, and Spike's carrying her bags. You know how he is with her. Me? Ah galloped." Applejack grinned sheepishly. "Couldn't hang around when Ah knew you were waiting up here."

"I'm really glad you did," Twilight said softly. Wrapping her arms more tightly around her slave, she squeezed as tightly as she could.

"Hey now. You're getting stronger, you know that?" Applejack tousled Twilight's mane. "Still weird that Ah have to look up at you, now. So how's being a Princess?"

There was definitely a little touch of trepidation in Applejack's voice, under the casual-sounding question. "Um. Kind of... terrifying, actually. There are all these ponies that turned up wanting to guard me, and I wanted to say I didn't need guards, but actually, they really, sincerely want to spend all their time thinking about protecting me, and I have no idea how to cope with that, and I still get frustrated with them sometimes and then I feel bad," Twilight poured out in a rush, glancing around to make sure no purple-armoured ponies were in earshot.

"...huh. Wouldn't have thought of that. But, all the being waited on hand and foot. That's nice, right?" Applejack gazed up into her eyes, searchingly.

"It makes me feel really awkward! They won't stop calling me Princess, even when I ask, and... it really bothers me, having ponies look at me like I'm, I'm so different from them that I just deserve that sort of thing, automatically. I... it's different, with you. With the other ponies. I really feel like we share an incredibly special bond, that you love me and I love you, and I feel so close to you. I, I do like ordering you around. A lot. But with them, it doesn't feel like that, at all. It feels like they're further away from me than ever. A bit scared, even."

Twilight closed her eyes and pressed the side of her head against Applejack's. "I really don't want you to think that I'm the sort of pony that wants this. I'm really scared that when the coronation happens and everypony sees what's happened, none of them will ever treat me like just Twilight ever again."

Applejack's broad hand came to rest against the back of Twilight's neck, and her accented words came soft and sympathetic. "Sugarcube, Ah reckon Ah should know better than to worry all this would go to your head." She hesitated, then forged on, "Ah did worry, a little bit. Ah'm real sorry about that. But you're wrong. There'll be ponies that treat you different, but once they get to know you, most of them, they'll treat you just the way they did before. The ones that don't, the real status-obsessed ones, well. Ah don't reckon they were ever worth getting to know anyway."

Twilight really, really wanted to believe Applejack was right. Maybe she could believe it, just for a little while. Her eyes teared up again. "You really are the smartest pony I know," she murmured.

"Heck of a thing to hear from you." Applejack leant her head against Twilight, then sought her lips again in a gentle, warm kiss.

Lost in the warmth and reassuring solidity of her lover, it was only when Applejack drew back that Twilight registered the sound of more approaching ponies.

"Ah'll go stall them. They want to see you, real bad, but Ah'll send Spike in first, okay? Don't worry none. It'll be fine." Bending to scoop up her hat, Applejack set it back on her head, then resolutely marched out into the hallway. With a final, "Love yah," she was gone.

Twilight braced herself.

A medley of overlapping voices reached her twitching ears from outside. Then, Spike pushed open the door and stepped inside, kicking it shut behind him. He was wearing exactly the same clothes as he had been when she'd left for Canterlot - he had washed them, surely. A green jacket fell loose around his skinny purple chest, and black pants that were just a little too long on him flapped as he moved. His soft green head spikes had been fussed into a semblance of neatness, at least.

"Twilight! How did the test go? Everypony's been acting weird, they wouldn't tell me anything, other than... uh." The sentence ground to a stop as his bag slipped from his fingers, and hit the ground with a soft thud. His eyes widened, almost comically.

Twilight glanced to one side, an awkward blush on her cheeks, and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "So... hi, Spike. How was the train?"

"How was the train? Twilight! What happened? You're so tall! You have wings! You have- uh." He stopped suddenly, then mumbled, "You're different."

Dear Celestia, tell me he wasn't just noticing my... enhancements. "Yes. I am, it's true, but Spike, I'm still me." Twilight approached cautiously, trying not to spook the young dragon. "I promise, it's nothing to be scared of-"

"This is awesome!" Spike burst out, and flung himself at her, hugging her tightly.

"Whuff!" Twilight reeled, trying not to be knocked off her feet by the sudden embrace. "Spike!"

"You have wings! They didn't tell me you had wings! ...no wonder they haven't let me speak to Pinkie lately. This is what the crazy test was about, to see if they'd make you an alicorn? I didn't know the Princesses could even do this!" Spike gazed up at her with shock and delight, his eyes shining brightly.

"They - well, it was more something I did myself. There was a big fight, but Celestia had helped me prepare for it, and she knew it was coming. I absorbed a great deal of magical power from Princess Luna, too, and I think it helped trigger my transformation."

"But this is what Princess Celestia was guiding you to do, right?"

"Oh, yes. I think she's been planning for this for a very long time, actually. So I'm... um. A Princess, too." Twilight's blush grew deeper as she was gripped by an obscure embarrassment, and she held the young dragon more tightly against her.

"You're a Princess?" Spike looked up at her with a confused look, before his gaze moved from her wings, to her horn, and back to her face. "Huh. You are a Princess. You're a Princess!"

Twilight twirled a lock of her mane around her finger, both embarrassed, and a little proud. "Yes. I'm the Princess of Magic."

"That's so awesome! Did you decide you were the Princess of Magic? How did you pick what to be Princess of?" Spike tugged at her dress with both hands, entirely carried away.

"Spike! Um, please don't tug at that. It's kind of pinned in place, it's a bit fragile."

"Huh? Oh, yeah, it is. But couldn't you just get somepony to measure you, and get some new clothes?"

"I... I feel a bit self conscious about my body, right now. It's so different. I kind of wanted Rarity to make my first dress, now I'm a whole new shape." And I love wearing Celestia's dresses. It was probably her imagination that gave each a faint, lingering hint of the Princess's scent, but even so, it made her feel happier. Like she was being held gently. Twilight couldn't help blushing. "And I didn't choose what to be Princess of. It kind of... chose me. I was shown how magic shaped my life. Now it's... it's what I am."

"So, what can you do?" Spike's eyes were enormously round. "Princess Celestia can raise the sun, and Princess Luna can raise the moon, and Cadance can sense true love, and everything, so what new powers did you get? Are they a secret?" He rearranged his expression into one of sober responsibility. "You can trust me with it. I am an adult, you know."

Twilight would have laughed at the pose, had she not been trapped by the innocently asked question that had preceded it. Of course, she'd thought about it, but she'd been so busy thinking about the coronation, and telling everypony she loved about what had happened, and maybe living forever (no, no, that was a freak-out she was saving for later) and... well, having incredible amounts of complicated sex, that she'd not really pinned down what it might mean.

"I don't really know," she said slowly. "I think that if it brings some kind of special power with it, I might not have it yet. Maybe it will develop in time? I mean - what kind of power could 'magic' be? I'm already a unicorn."

"You're actually not," Spike pointed out helpfully.

"...no, I suppose I'm not. I have wings, Spike. I don't even know how to use them yet! I keep knocking things over when I turn around, and it's not always easy to get them to fold flat, and I've got stuck in doorways-" She paused as Spike broke into disbelieving sniggers, and quickly resumed, "-I've been pretty distracted. Maybe it will just make my magic stronger?"

"Hey, given what you could do before this, I'm really excited to find out what you can do now! Of course, you can rely on me to help you figure it out." Spike buffed his green claws against his jacket with faux modesty. "I am your number one assistant, after all."

"You are. I'm very grateful for your help with the rune circle, Spike, it was really important. I wouldn't have become an alicorn if it hadn't been for you."

Spike swelled up so much with pride, it seemed as though his feet might leave the ground. "I wish I'd been there to see it! I bet I could have helped."

Twilight squeezed him tightly against her again. It was so, so tempting to just not tell him about Rarity. He was really happy, wasn't it best for him if she didn't spoil this special moment? There would be another time. Any other time, really. Or never. Did she really have to?

Spike's expression of gleeful enthusiasm diminished, and he frowned. "Twilight? I really could have helped. Why are you looking like that?"

Placing her hand on his shoulder, Twilight glanced back at her writing desk, then shook her head and led him over to a couch by the window. He let himself be tugged along by her hand, looking confused and suddenly uncertain.

Twilight sat, and arranged her dress neatly around her. It was easier to let her eyes linger on the sunlit landscape outside, and she didn't try to fight the impulse. "Spike, there's something else that's happened, that I hope you won't be upset about, but I need you to know."

"...you're getting rid of me, aren't you! Now you're a Princess, you don't need me!" he exclaimed, pointing a claw at her.

Twilight's head jerked around to face him. "What? No! Spike, I would never! This isn't like that at all!" Hugging him around the shoulders, she added with panicked earnestness, "Of course I wouldn't!"

Leaning into her, tangibly still a little unsettled and upset at the idea, he mumbled, "Well, what is it, then?"

"I'm..." she began, then hesitated. Her eyes squeezed shut as she rummaged for the right words. There was no more time to practice. This was it. "You remember that I was dating several ponies? Before? Now there are... more."

Spike blinked, pulling back slightly. Clearly, this wasn't going the direction he'd expected. "You are? But - why? Who else is it?"

"There's kind of... magic involved. It made a connection between ponies that wouldn't normally have made that kind of connection. Which we have, now." She was babbling. Worse, she was skirting the edge of lying to him, and she was certainly giving him the wrong impression, on purpose. Better to blame 'magic' than say it was all her hunger for enthralled, obedient mares to get on their knees before her.

She sighed. "It's... look, you have to keep this a secret, okay? If everypony knew, I think they'd cause a lot of fuss, and I don't think any of us are ready for that. It's..." Well, she was out of ways to stall. "Princess Celestia. And Princess Luna. Zecora, and Trixie, you knew that, and... and, well... the other Elements of Harmony. All of them."

She risked a glance at Spike. His mouth was hanging open, blank disbelief on his face.

"Buh - but you can't be dating the Princess! She's the Princess! And she and Luna are sisters! And - and she's practically your mum!" he spluttered.

"Wh- she is not my mother!" Twilight replied indignantly, feeling her face go crimson. "It's nothing like that! Just because Princess Celestia has a motherly air- that's not important! She and Luna have no problems dating me at the same time."

"But that's ridiculous! And you really are dating Applejack now? You said that would never happen! Not to mention-" he faltered in midsentence, a look of realisation coming over his face.

Twilight winced, bracing herself internally. Here it was.

"All the Elements? But - you don't need that many ponies! No one needs that many ponies!"

"It's more complicated than that, Spike. We're all - connected, and-"

"You can't possibly be able to love all those ponies as much as someone else could! You're - you're stopping all of them from finding someone who really loves them, and would spend all their time with them, and - and it's not fair!" Anger and frustration rode his words, a despairing resentment growing on his face.

"Spike-"

"What do you mean, it's complicated? What magic? Undo it! If it was some stupid magic accident, that's not real love anyway, and you have to undo it, before somepony gets hurt. They could - they could be about to meet their special somepony, and then you swoop in and ruin everything, and now they'll never be together!" His face was becoming flushed in his agitation, growing more resentful by the second.

"Spike. It's not like that! I know it's hard for you to understand, but please, you need to calm down." Twilight reached out towards him, only for the young dragon to push her hand to one side.

"I can't believe you're being this selfish!" he burst out, his eyes reddened and watery at the edges. Pushing himself off the couch, he stormed across the room and yanked the door open, slamming it behind him.

Twilight flinched. The moment was far too reminiscent of the time Rarity had left her, and the echoes of that guilt left her pinned to the couch, unable to chase after him. What else could she say, anyway? From outside, she heard a medley of familiar voices, fading as they followed the angry dragon away from her little breakfast room.

Settling her head in her hands, she rubbed her face. "Haystacks," she whispered, in tired resignation.

Behind her, she heard the door open. Twilight sighed, wondering who'd doubled back to comfort her. "That didn't go very well, did it," she murmured without turning.

"Hello, Twilight," replied a gentle voice. "Are you alright?"

Twilight twisted on the spot. Cadance stood in the doorway, a look of warm sympathy on her face. A simple pink gown outlined her figure, belted at the waist with gold, and twin heart-shaped cut-outs bared the similarly shaped cutie-mark on each thigh.

"Cadance!" stammered Twilight. Jerking off the couch, she tugged her dress a little straighter, and hurried over to the doorway. "I - um, I - sunshine, sunshine..." she began half-heartedly.

Cadance's arms wrapped around her, her wings enclosing them both. "Twilight, what's the matter?"

Twilight rested her head against Cadance's shoulder. What was the matter? What could she possibly tell Cadance? "I... upset Spike. I didn't want to, but I knew he'd get upset when he found out."

Squeezing Twilight more tightly, Cadance murmured, "Is he finding it hard to adjust? It must be so difficult for you, right now. Everything has changed."

"Uh - no, actually. That wasn't it at all. He was..." Twilight found herself giggling shakily. "He was so excited. I really couldn't have hoped for a better reaction. I think some of my friends might be a little worried that this is going to go to my head, but that didn't occur to him for an instant. I don't think it ever would."

Cadance tilted her head slightly, a questioning look on her face. "I'm really glad to hear that, Twilight. Shining Armor can't wait to tell you how proud he is of you, and how happy he is that you've achieved something so incredible. But if that wasn't what upset Spike, then what was it?"

Decision time. Here and now, she had to make a choice.

First option. Tell Cadance everything. She really, really, wanted to do that. Just lay it all out; her sadnesses, her joys. Her new life. But... if she did that, Cadance couldn't ignore it. Especially not if she really understood that Twilight had gotten carried away with her power before, and enslaved Zecora just because it turned her on to do it. Twilight could barely force herself to imagine Cadance's disappointment at learning that her little sister had fallen so far. It would end up like fighting Celestia all over again, except even worse, because Cadance wouldn't be playing a game that she was happy to lose.

Second option. Charm Cadance, then tell her the truth. She wouldn't have to worry about any of the Princesses ever turning against her, she'd be safe. The charm wasn't tuned for Cadance, but if she got Celestia to help fuel her spell, she could probably make it stick. Except, every time she tried to picture herself making Celestia help her, about surprising Cadance and blasting her without warning with a spell that would dominate her mind forever, she felt... sick. It was wrong.

"Twilight?" Cadance asked softly, as the silence stretched.

Third option. Lie.

"Things got complicated," murmured Twilight finally. "I'm not sure where to even begin."

"Let's sit by the window. You can tell me all about it. I want you to know that I'm here for you, Twilight. You're in a really scary place in your life, everything is changing. I want you to rely on me."

Twilight followed Cadance, letting herself be shepherded back to the seat she'd been resting on, and stared at the floor as she began to speak. "It's a long story. I... found a charm, in an old book. I thought I knew what it did, but I wasn't sure, and I... cast it on Applejack. I asked her first, I mean. It... it sort of..." She felt her cheeks beginning to burn with embarrassment, as she tried to force out the words. "...makes... it... really, um, intense."

"What do you mean by 'it', Twilight?" asked Cadance, a touch of concern on her face.

Oh, spirits and rivers, even trying to get across this much was going to make her melt into a little puddle of embarrassment. How could she be so bold with Celestia, and her friends, but so unable to get a word out in front of Cadance?

Because Cadance isn't under your control. That's why.

"I... it's... you know, when ponies... get really close?" she mumbled, completely unable to look up at the other pony.

Cadance blinked. "You're talking about a charm for making love?"

Twilight cringed slightly. "...yes," she lied. "But it didn't stop there. Once Applejack and I... we'd been... I kind of got out of hand. I found out that Rainbow really liked Applejack, and she was kind of attracted to me, and it seemed like we could... that it didn't have to be that one of us lost out. So I offered it to Rainbow."

"The three of you are dating? I see. I'm sure you must be worrying about how this will work, but-"

"That... wasn't all. Rarity walked in on me and Applejack, and I showed her, and then she wanted to be involved too. So, she was."

"Oh. Rarity? Is that why-"

"Then I offered it to Fluttershy, and Pinkie too. I kind of... seduced them." She poured out the names in a rush, trying to get through all of them before she lost her nerve.

"You seduced them?" Cadance looked at Twilight in surprise.

"Then I got Zecora mixed up in everything. She and Rarity decided they didn't want to be part of it for a while, and we had a fight, but after a while they missed the feeling of us being all together, so they got involved with me again."

"Zecora? The zebra in the Everfree forest? Twilight, what kind of fight-"

"Trixie, too. She actually agreed to it thinking she was going to learn what magic I knew and then run off, but that didn't work out. I think she's really much happier, actually."

"The one you wrote me the letter about, with the amulet? Twilight-"

"There's also, um. Luna. She and I are together. ...and I'm dating Celestia, too."

"...Aunt Celestia? And Aunt Luna, too? Twilight, surely-"

"It's fine! They were cuddling me together earlier, there's no jealousy, I don't think, I was worried about that - I mean, there's a history there, but - I trust Luna and Celestia, and I love both of them, and I think they love me, and so it's fine, it's completely fine."

"They - you-"

"But - but that isn't everything." Yes! Just keep telling Cadance new things, and never let her get a word in. That was definitely a sustainable strategy with no downsides!

"There's more?" Cadance's expression had escalated to full-on disbelief.

"Well - I kind of - there's this angle - I mean, it's sort of like a game, but - more serious - but really, there's so much love in it, it's so nice, but - you know, when two ponies kind of - one pony gets kind of demanding, and the other pony likes that, and - only with - more ponies?" Twilight's massive smile was glassy.

Silence fell. Then, Cadance rested her hand on Twilight's and spoke carefully. "Twilight, am I right in thinking that you hadn't dated anyone before you began dating Applejack?"

"Um. Yes. That's right. I always thought I was waiting for the right colt, but actually, it seems like I was waiting for the right mare. Surprise! I was surprised."

"And now you are dating-" Cadance paused fractionally to count, then resumed, "nine ponies at the same time, is that right? Are you still involved with all of the ponies you described?"

"Oh, yes. I, um. Didn't mention a couple of others that were just once." Twilight's words came quickly, accompanied by hurried little nods.

Cadance caught the corner of her lower lip between her teeth, in a momentarily thoughtful expression, then spread one wing around Twilight, curling it around the younger pony.

Oh, gosh, that little bite of Cadance's lip was so cute. Twilight let the familiar warmth of her sister-in-law's feathers settle around her, before murmuring with a high blush, "I... hope that you don't think badly of me."

"Of course not. I'm a little worried for you, though." Cadance rested her hand atop Twilight's, and gazed at her with gentle concern. "I'm really happy that you found ponies that you care about, and that care about you back. Being in love is a wonderful feeling. Being intimate with ponies that you care about is wonderful, too. I'd never think badly of you for exploring your feelings for the ponies around you, in any way you want to.

"If I'm worried, it's because this has come on so quickly for you. I know how tempting it is to rush into love, but if you go too fast, you could get hurt." She hesitated, then forged on, "Twilight... I have to wonder if the charm you talked about is pushing you to do things you might not have chosen, otherwise. Are you using it each time you're together with somepony you're intimate with?"

"Oh, no. Not every time. I know you're worried that I'm addicted to it, like a want-it-need-it spell" - which was nothing compared to the power, sophistication and subtlety of the true charm - "but I use it a lot less than that. It's more that it... let me come to terms with what I really wanted. Once I'd been intimate with my friends, I realised how much I really, truly love them. I think it's the same for them, too. When Rarity and Zecora came back to be with me, it wasn't so I could cast the charm on them again. It was because they missed... being with me. With all of us, together. It's such a warm feeling to be cuddled up with them all, in a big heap. I feel so much love. The charm doesn't come into that."

Twilight gazed at Cadance as the other alicorn paused again, thinking.

Was what she'd said true? Leaving out the massive lies of omission... then yes, mostly. She didn't need the charm to get off. She certainly wasn't addicted to it. She was really enjoying all the wonderful things it let her experience, but that wasn't the same as being addicted. She was showing restraint, too, wasn't she?

...at least, she was far more restrained than she had been with Zecora. Fine; she'd worried Zecora was going to figure out what was happening, but that was a very tiny part of it. All the rest had just been lust, and power, and a hunger to experiment that had completely bypassed her morals. That couldn't happen again. Every pony had to have a choice.

"...there's a lot I'd like to talk to you about, Twilight. Let me ask you this. Are the ponies that you're close to dating each other as well, or is it all revolving around you?"

Naturally, it all revolved around her. They were hers. "...there's some connections between ponies, I think. Everypony is exploring what this means to them," she said slowly, pushing herself to overcome her instinctive reaction. "Rainbow was always more attracted to Applejack than me, I think, and even if that might have changed, she still loves her very much. I don't know if Applejack feels the same way about Rainbow, but she's much happier to be intimate with her. I hope that's enough to make them both happy. Fluttershy is attracted to Rarity, and it's only since all of this started that she could say so. I think Rarity and Zecora have something, but I'm not sure they're in love. It feels more like - they're supporting and looking after each other. They kind of found a bond when it went wrong between us. Pinkie is just really happy to be able to kiss everypony, she's really taken to all this well."

"How are they taking to Trixie as one of your lovers?"

"...I'm the most worried about her, actually. She really cares about me, and I think it's really easy for her to get caught up in thinking about the way things used to be, between us, and get afraid that no pony will ever really like her. I'm trying to encourage everypony to be nice to her."

"Being nice for your sake won't make them like her, Twilight. And she'll sense that they aren't being sincere."

"I... maybe. But it's somewhere to start, isn't it? If they can talk to her a little, see past the bluster and the way she speaks, maybe they'll see how sweet she can be. She's really devoted, and I don't think I deserve that, but I'm going to look after her, and teach her. She could be a very skilled apprentice, if she still wants that."

"I think you'd be a wonderful teacher, Twilight, but please be careful with her. If she's opening up to you, and she feels judged, it would be very easy to really hurt her. Be gentle, okay?" Cadance gazed at Twilight for a moment, before adding with non-committal softness, "There's two ponies you haven't talked about yet."

"Celestia and Luna... it's complicated. Luna fell in love with me hard, and I don't think she expected that to happen. It's... because I don't think about Nightmare Moon when I look at her. That's what I think. As for Celestia, it's been kind of hard to really get to grips with the truth. Since I became a Princess, she's told me a lot of things that she hid from me, for my whole life. She was always trying for this. I feel like I should be unhappy at the way she's always been manipulating me, and maybe a little bit of me is, but mostly, I'm just overwhelmed by the idea that she's wanted me for a really long time."

"Celestia told you all of those things?" The pink alicorn hesitated, before squeezing Twilight's hand again. "I wish she hadn't. I'm worried that you're going to be too overwhelmed by everything that's changed in your life."

"I did ask, but she kind of gave it away without meaning to. She was so surprised and delighted when it happened, I think her guard was kind of down." Was that ever the understatement of the year.

"When it-? Oh, your ascension! Twilight, I'm sorry I'm so distracted by all the changes in your life. I'm so proud of you. How did it happen? Aunt Celestia didn't tell me anything. How are you finding being the Princess of Friendship?"

So Celestia had mentioned what she was trying to achieve, sometime in the past. "I... I'm not the Princess of Friendship, actually. I know that Celestia was hoping for that, but, well, that isn't what happened."

Cadance blinked. "But - what is your element, Twilight? If not friendship, then..."

"It's magic," Twilight confirmed. "I don't know what that means for me yet, though. I'm still getting used to having wings and things, and the changes in my body. I might feel different, but it's kind of hard to tell."

Cadance chewed the corner of her lip again, before hugging Twilight's shoulders with one arm. "You're going to be capable of incredible things, Twi, even more than you are already. I don't think Equestria has ever seen somepony with a gift like yours. I can't tell you how happy I am. How did it happen?"

"Well... Celestia had been expecting a fight for a little while, I think." Softly, softly, tread as close to the truth as possible... "She gave me a message to prepare myself for something big, but I didn't realise just how prepared she was, until she sent a train to Ponyville to collect all of us. The six of us, I mean, though Zecora and Trixie got involved too. I thought we'd use the Elements of Harmony, but Celestia said she'd sent one away to you for safekeeping. Thank you, so much, for keeping that safe."

That thank-you was not totally sincere. The distinct memory of the trap in Rainbow's fake element tickled at the back of Twilight's mind, a short, sharp explosion within her shield that she most assuredly had not enjoyed. She firmly put the memory aside. As much as she didn't want to lie to Cadance, she had to, and it had to be completely convincing.

"I think you're going to hear about it from the other ponies that were there; shadow ponies coming out of a rift in the air. It wasn't looking good. I thought I knew how to end the fight, but I couldn't get my spell to strike, it just kept bouncing off. But I was ready for that, too. I didn't have the power, but Luna did, and she gave me everything I needed. It was incredible." She didn't need to feign the hushed awe in her voice at the memory of Luna's overwhelming power striking her.

"Luna gave you her power? How?"

"I kind of... turned myself into a storage matrix for magical power, actually." Twilight's expression conveyed her slightly guilty satisfaction at her success, tempered by disbelief she'd ever tried something so reckless.

Again, Cadance's mouth dropped open, and it took her a few seconds to find the words. "Twi, that's so dangerous! I'm amazed Luna agreed to it! You could have crystallised! Or just exploded! Normal ponies aren't meant to contain that much power. How did you do it? That kind of magical power storage is mostly a lost art, and even when it was used, it wasn't using a living pony as the medium."

Twilight's heartbeat suddenly accelerated as she realised Cadance was giving her a perfect excuse to do something she'd always wanted to. Her mouth dry, she murmured, "Well, I researched a power conversion pattern. It's rune magic, the ur-sorcery structures that underlie the modern constructs. And then I... well... look." It was an excuse, and she knew it was an excuse, but she couldn't ignore the thrill the idea gave her. Grabbing hold of her loose bodice, before she could lose her nerve, she pulled it down sharply. Her lavender breasts spilled free, unconstrained by underwear, coated in the spidery black lines of the power conversion rune circle.

Straightening up, Twilight entwined her fingers behind her back, gently pushing out her tattooed breasts for Cadance's inspection. Her treacherous nipples started to stiffen, and she tried to think calm thoughts as her former foalsitter stared at her revealed body. "Um, so. That's how. I can absorb raw magical energy, and restructure it. So, what do you think?"

"You did this?" Cadance's eyes flicked to Twilight's, then back to her chest, tracing the lines with her gaze. "I don't know what to say. I'm impressed, and I'm worried, too. This is dangerous magic, Twilight, and it's not like you to take risks like this." Her hand reached out towards Twilight's chest, but stopped just before she stroked along the curve of the circle. "When Luna gave you her magic, is that when you ascended?"

"Almost. I remember converting the power into the spell, and then - well." A strange reluctance seized Twilight, one that had nothing to do with preserving her secret. That time in the starlit void, when she'd truly believed she was dead, was something that was only for her. "Then the floor was a little bit on fire, and I was... like this. And I knew what I was."

She was topless in front of Cadance. All she had to do was lean forwards a little, let the other mare's hand brush her bare breasts. Her fingers would be so warm, and soft.

"You keep surprising all of us, Twilight. Even when we thought we knew how special you were, I would never have expected this. You deserve it, you truly do." Cadence gently took hold of the sides of Twilight's dress, and tugged the fabric back into place. "Shining and I are so happy, we can hardly believe it. Will you have dinner with us later? You can tell him all about it, then."

Twilight became aware that her heart was hammering with excitement and cheated arousal. "Of... of course! It would be wonderful to see my big brother again."

"He feels the same, I know it." Cadance's smile radiated affection, and she squeezed Twilight again. "So Spike is upset because of Rarity? Give him a little time, and he'll get over it. Having somepony to talk it over with, a pony that isn't you or Rarity, will help. Applejack might be best. But in the end, he loves you, Twilight, and this will pass."

The feeling of relief blindsided Twilight, distracting her from the tangle of emotions that had been building up around and inside her. "You think so? I really didn't want to hurt Spike, but... I don't want to pretend I'm not with Rarity, either."

"Of course not. Lies are really bad for relationships, Twi. Try to stay honest with the ponies around you." Cadance gently withdrew her wing from Twilight and stood up. "Please lean on me, whenever you need somepony to talk to. We're family, and you're my really precious little sister."

Well, Cadance could definitely give her sound advice. Advice like lies are bad. The truth of that was going to be hard to ignore. Twilight looked up at her, and couldn't suppress a pang of sadness for that small distance she was feeling between them that hadn't been there before. "You know how, when you were foal-sitting me, I wasn't allowed cake? Princesses get cake. So, when we have dinner - cake for dessert?"

Cadance broke into a wide smile. "You're right, Princesses do get cake. I can't wait."

Twilight sat quietly in a corner. She was thinking.

The castle had a lot of very large rooms, very wide-open spaces. Balconies, galleries, atriums. All far bigger than her little oak-tree home in Ponyville. She didn't need space, right then. She needed to be somewhere small, and reassuring. So, she was tucked into a corner, in a disused walk-in wardrobe. The empty brass rail stretched overhead, and above, a little skylight let light pour into the narrow space. No pony was likely to find her here, at least not for a while.

She was upset. So. Who did she want to talk to about this?

Applejack was her first love. That could never change. ...even though Applejack hadn't even been allowed to remember that full-time until after Twilight had begun to sleep with other ponies as well. ...no, she couldn't talk about this burden with the Element of Honesty. Either she'd just say to tell Cadance the truth, and Twilight knew she couldn't do that, or she'd feel pressured by Twilight's reluctance, and end up not saying what she really felt. It was bad enough Applejack had had to sort-of lie to her brother. Twilight didn't want Applejack to have to lie to her as well.

Oh, haystacks. She'd been so irresponsible, so casual with the ponies around her.

She didn't really want to have a breakdown in front of the others, either. Rarity and Zecora needed to be reassured it was going to be okay, after they'd left and come back, and she'd promised the others freedom from worrying or unhappiness when she'd seduced them. Of course they'd be there for her if she needed them, they always had been, but...

She definitely wasn't ready to confide in Trixie, either. Trixie looked up to her, thought she was the one who had her life completely together. She couldn't put the weight of her fears and upset on a pony that was so reliant on her right then.

That left the Princesses. The idea of confiding in Luna was appealing. She had set herself the role of Twilight's conscience, after all. But she was very forthright in her feelings, and might not really understand Twilight's hesitation to speak. In some ways, she was just as forthright as Applejack.

...she was going to argue herself out of talking to anypony, wasn't she. She curled her arms around her knees, and hugged them more tightly against her chest.

She looked up quickly as the far wardrobe door slid back.

Celestia stepped in, and slid the door shut behind her again. Ducking her head so as not to hit the clothes rail, she padded quietly over to Twilight and sank down beside her. Her finger brushed Twilight's cheek, wiping away a tear, and Twilight realised with a start that she'd been quietly crying.

"You and I are very similar, sometimes," Celestia murmured.

"How did you find me?" Twilight asked, with a small hiccup in her wavering voice.

"The same way as with the ice water. I knew where I would be." Celestia leaned back against the wall, and sighed. "A little corner in an out-of-the-way room, that no pony ever seems to stay in. I've cried alone here before."

"You - you did?" Twilight stared at her in shock. The idea of Princess Celestia crying in a corner - she just couldn't fit it into her head. It didn't make sense. It was impossible.

"I ruled alone for a thousand years," Celestia said simply. "I've found, as you're finding, that there isn't always a good answer. Sometimes, there isn't an answer that doesn't hurt you. So you do what you can, and when you are finished doing what you have to do... here we are." She glanced up. "I had a skylight installed after a while. Either I had to leave the door open, which defeated the point, or I sat in darkness, and I didn't always want that."

Twilight felt her eyes fill with fresh tears, and this time, they weren't for herself. "Princess- Celestia. I'm so, so sorry. I didn't realise you felt so alone. Please, won't you lean on me when you feel that way? I'm here for you. If the only thing I did with my new life was always be there for you when you needed me, it would be enough."

"I intend to. It's one of the rewards that come from losing to you. You need to do the same, or the burdens of your new role will be overwhelming. You found speaking to Cadance difficult."

It wasn't phrased as a question, but it was an invitation to speak, all the same. "I... I didn't know what to do. Spike is upset about Rarity, and I wasn't ready to have the conversation with Cadance, either. I wanted to be truthful, I really did! She's my friend, and my big sister now, and... I wasn't. I didn't want to charm her, and if I told her about everything I've done, she'd have to do something, or at least watch me constantly. I would, if the positions were reversed."

"What did you tell her instead?" Celestia gently stroked her fingers up and down Twilight's bare arm soothingly.

"Bits of things. I told her I'd found a charm that made sex really good, and then ended up seducing my friends one after another. I told her I was even dating you and Luna, I told her about all the ponies I'm with, but I didn't say how we'd ended up together. I kind of suggested about the whole thing with me in charge, and other ponies doing what I say, but I didn't get specific and she hasn't asked. I went with the story that we gave to the guards and Wonderbolts; some sort of shadowy thing that you knew was coming, and got me prepared for. I'm going to have to tell everypony what to say to her, so they won't accidentally mess up any of the things I told her. More lies! I never used to lie to ponies, Celestia!"

"I'm truly sorry, Twilight. Your life has changed very quickly. I will speak with your ponies if you wish, so that you do not have to. Did Cadance ask you to teach her this pleasure-enhancing charm?"

Twilight blinked, then looked abruptly up at Celestia. "She didn't. Does she suspect already?"

"Perhaps she senses that you're covering something. I will find a suitable charm for you to show to her, if she asks. I know it hurts you, Twilight, and I'm sorry." Celestia shook her head slightly. "I have had to lie to ponies I cared about, many times. Sometimes for the realm. Sometimes for their own good, or their feelings. And yes, at times, simply for my own sake. You know well that I've guided you for a long time, and I haven't always been truthful with you. It still makes me smile that after all my careful work, you found your own path."

"You know that..." Twilight paused, as it occurred to her that maybe, Celestia really didn't know, and continued, "you know I forgive you for that, don't you? You can be infuriating, but in a way that kind of makes me want to kiss you. I'm not unhappy about what you were trying to do. I do love you."

Celestia's shoulders slumped slightly. She hesitated, then resumed gently stroking Twilight's arm. "It means very much to hear you say that, Twilight. I've dwelled on it."

"Although..." Twilight murmured. It was so easy, too easy, to just stop there. She didn't want to upset Celestia. All of their struggle was in the past. She watched Celestia tense again.

"Yes, Twilight?"

Oh, dear. That was the voice of the Princess, the one that was as calm as an underground lake, and revealed nothing. Twilight hesitated again, then finally spoke softly. "I wish you hadn't toyed with me, the way you did. I know it felt fun, like we were having a battle of wits, and you didn't mean any harm by it. But it was scary.

"I was scared out of my wits when I first received my letter saying that someone was controlling my mind and altering my memories. I know you never intended for that to happen. But when you left that message for me, in all my friends? Celestia, I wasn't just scared, I was... angry. Really angry. Upset, too. Because I had all these feelings, and the ponies around me were blocked from feeling them back. I remember asking you to leave Applejack and I feeling something for each other, but you took that away. It... wasn't a game, for me. Not like it was for you."

Celestia nodded once. "I apologise, Twilight. Unreservedly."

A sharp spike of frustration rose in Twilight, and she pushed herself closer. "No. Celestia, you're putting on your Princess face, hiding everything. I'm not - I'm not a diplomat from another country! I'm not some indignant noble complaining he didn't get a ticket to the ball! Talk to me."

There was a pause, and then Celestia's composure crumpled. A wounded look came over her, and her voice deepened and softened with emotion. "I'm sorry, Twilight. I truly am. When you came before me, I was so upset, I could barely think straight. I was remembering everything I'd done to my dear sister, and how I'd hidden it from myself so I didn't have to feel guilty about it. I justified it at the time as hiding the charm from myself and removing temptation, but I could have hidden the charm's workings without making myself forget what I'd done. More than anything, I wanted to not have found out any of it, make it never have happened. And there you were.

"Because of my carelessness, you'd found the charm, and been seduced by it, as I had. Perhaps ruined every intention I'd ever had for you to ascend and live side by side with me. I desperately didn't want to have made that mistake, Twilight, and so I tried my best to erase it, in the hope you'd carry on as before. So you could be untainted by my failures. I never imagined that you'd been so thorough, so prepared. I should have known that if any pony could overcome the charm, it would be you. It must have been horrible, when you found out. The uncertainty."

Biting her lip, Celestia looked aside from Twilight, unable to meet her eyes. "Then, the old temptations were too much for me. I couldn't stop thinking about the things I remembered. I explained it away for a while, that I was just checking things were back to the way they should be, but I became selfish. I wanted to know what it felt like for you to love me. That was foolish of me as well. You cannot command love. Only obsession. But I tried. Then, you reminded me that you were not an alicorn, that you would probably never be one, thanks to my failures, and I couldn't bear to pretend that it was going to be okay.

"...then you stood up to me. Or I suspected you were doing so. I was so intrigued and delighted that you could face me at that level, I didn't stop to think how my moves against you would make you feel." She sighed deeply. "Oh, Twilight. I've made such a mess of things."

Twilight listened quietly, trying not to look as unsettled as she felt by witnessing Celestia's guilt and remorse. Crawling closer in the cramped space, she leant her head on the Princess's shoulder and closed her eyes. "I feel the same way. When I was talking to Cadance - lying to Cadance - I couldn't help thinking about all of the times I was selfish, all the ways I abused the trust of those around me. I never thought I'd do that. I've never wanted something that would hurt the ponies I cared about. But it turns out that, when I did, I wasn't the good pony I thought I was. I've thought and thought about Rarity and Zecora, but all I can do for them is forcibly remove the feelings they have for me, which isn't any more natural than leaving them the way they are. And... and I don't want to. I really don't want them to stop wanting to be near me." Twilight hid her face in Celestia's mane.

Celestia's hand curled around the back of her head, stroking her mane softly. "I understand. Sometimes, the stories we tell about ourselves are put to the test, and we find out we're just ponies after all, with all the frailties and foolishness that go with that. But you and I have powers that allow us to do a great deal of harm if we forget that we have a responsibility. Still. Don't let that paralyse you, Twilight. Remember that there are ponies that willingly chose this, with you, as well. Not everything that has come from the charm is tainted."

"...I don't want to keep lying to Cadance," Twilight whispered.

"I know. Show restraint, be patient, and prove that you are worthy to wield this power. There will come a time when you can tell her the truth without bringing down disaster. But for now, you should give it time."

Twilight lifted her head, unable to hide the rush of guilty relief that flowed through her. "Do you really think so?"

"Be patient, Twilight. Cadance cares about you, as do many ponies that are precious to you. As do I. It will be alright in the end."

"...I like this closet." Leaning up, Twilight angled her head towards Celestia. The other pony's soft lips met hers.

Night draped the countryside in a blanket of deep blue darkness, softened by the silver light of the crescent moon above. Broad, arched windows looked out over it, offering a perfect view of the far-off forests and plains. Within the room, the lanterns were turned down low, so faint that their delicate golden glow barely gave shape to the dimness around them.

Twilight lay nude among the sprawled out, naked bodies of seven ponies, arranged around her on a massive four-poster bed.

The sound of their breathing was comforting, even if their combined warmth had driven her to open the windows slightly and let in the ghostly touch of the night breeze. Each of them had drifted off to sleep hours ago, and she'd pretended to do the same, but as much as she'd urged sleep to come, she'd found herself stubbornly awake. Tired out, but not sleepy.

She sighed, very softly.

It wasn't the sleeping bodies of her friends and lovers that were keeping her awake. It was different to be surrounded by them like this, but a different she could definitely get used to. Her gaze passed over their faces, one after another, taking in their peaceful expressions. It soothed her, deep inside, to see them looking so content after everything that had happened.

She'd asked Rarity to make her some new dresses. Specifically, she'd told Rarity that she'd been refusing to get dresses made for her new body until Rarity herself could make them because she treasured her friend's work so much, and could Rarity please make her outfit for the coronation which was happening... well, tomorrow.

Rarity had almost passed out with delight and adoration, before the word 'tomorrow' had really sunk in. Then she'd panicked, in a very dignified, fashion-conscious way. A room in the palace had been annexed for her to work in, and Canterlot had been scoured for the right fabrics and materials by Rarity, Fluttershy, and a couple of well dressed ponies Celestia had thoughtfully supplied to help.

She'd worked right through dinner and well into the evening, and only Twilight's insistence had finally forced the bedraggled (gracefully bedraggled) mare to finally come to bed. Apparently, the dress was almost done, and it was going to be the most marvellous thing anyone in Canterlot had ever seen, as soon as she finished the stitching and edging, and couldn't she just please spend a few more hours working on it before bedtime, after all, you never knew when you might hit an unexpected snag. Rarity had been firmly ushered into bed.

Spike had missed dinner, too. Apparently not even the presence of Cadance, who he very much liked spending time with, was enough to tempt him to show his face in front of Twilight again.

At Twilight's request, Applejack had gone to speak to him. She'd come back, saying only that he was upset, but she reckoned it'd helped pouring his feelings out into the open to her, and of course he still loved Twilight. He ought to be okay once he'd slept it off. Twilight hoped so, fervently. She couldn't imagine being crowned while knowing Spike was off somewhere, refusing to see her. It would be too sad.

She had to talk to her parents in the morning, too; there was no putting it off any longer. She was probably going to leave out the part about dating all her friends, and both Princesses, though. Shining Armor had handled it pretty well, and having his approval meant so much to Twilight, but he'd no doubt been told beforehand by Cadance roughly what Twilight was going to say.

...she was going to have to speak to Big Mac, too. She had to let him know that all the fear and uncertainty he'd stoically suffered through was, in some ways, more her own fault than anypony else's. He deserved to know that much. And he wasn't the only pony she had to apologise to, either.

"Applejack?" whispered Twilight, reaching out to touch the other pony's blonde mane. Her fingers stroked down the farm pony's smooth cheek. "Applejack, are you awake?"

Green eyes flicked open in the dimness, and Applejack shifted slightly towards Twilight. "Hmm?" she murmured.

Twilight stroked her fingers over Applejack's lips, then slowly pulled back her hand. Letting her gaze shift towards the ceiling, she said softly, "I'm sorry for waking you. There was something I wanted to say."

"Don't you worry none. What's on your mind?" Applejack carefully rolled onto her stomach without disturbing Rainbow and Zecora either side of her, and propped herself up on her elbows.

"I... messed up. Pretty badly."

The worst thing was, she knew Applejack was going to forgive her. It didn't feel deserved. "I've been thinking a lot today about how I got here. I had to talk to Cadance around it, and there was so much I couldn't tell her. Because I was ashamed of it, and it would make her look at me like a different pony, like... a stranger. Because the Twilight she knows would never do those things. So I wanted to say sorry.

"You were the first mare I was ever... intimate with. The first I really wanted to be with me, for always, and I didn't even let you remember that it was happening. I thought I was a good pony, and then, when I had the chance, I changed you and touched you without ever asking what you wanted. I'm so sorry, Applejack." Her voice was low, and she felt a weight on her chest that made it hard to breathe.

"Yeah, you did screw that up pretty badly."

Twilight's head snapped around, and she looked straight at Applejack, caught by surprise.

Applejack's lips spread into a wry grin. "What, do you think Ah'm the Element of Soothing Your Feelings? You messed up hard, Twi. Ah'm happy with where we ended up, and real grateful it worked out this way, but you did things you shouldn't have. Didn't let us protest about it, either, couldn't even put together the idea that maybe you were doing something you shouldn't be. Seems like you've learned better; that's a good thing. You keep on listening to us, because if you don't, don't reckon there's anypony that can stop you, now."

...that's probably true. With Celestia and Luna under her control, and the Elements of Harmony too, and whatever powers she gained from becoming the embodiment of magic, it would take an incredible, Equestria-threatening event to even slow her down.

She frowned. That wasn't necessarily as comforting as she'd once thought it would be. Again, as it had before, the notion occurred to her of using the charm on herself, to shore up her willpower against abusing it, or going crazy with power. But each time, she'd backed off from the idea. Mental alterations often had unexpected consequences - she'd seen that - and altering her own mind was a really scary proposition.

...and yes, she didn't entirely want to stop herself using the charm for her own pleasure again. She should probably keep an eye on that feeling.

"I'm glad that I asked Rainbow, Fluttershy and Pinkie. At least I don't have to feel bad about them. But I do still feel such an awful guilt about the way I took Zecora, and I let myself believe Rarity wanted to be with me when I'd already messed up her thoughts. Trixie wouldn't have agreed to this either, if she hadn't been planning to betray me anyway. I don't know how I should feel about that."

"Don't reckon Ah can talk for them. It's tough, sugarcube, Ah do get that. Don't rightly know what the right thing to do there is. But Ah'll say this. Spike had a bit of a point, maybe. Ah can't picture myself ever loving someone like Ah love you, but mayhaps one of the others will, one day. You haven't ever talked about whether one of yours can go off and have a lover of their own, or if you'd let them go if they asked. There's foals to think about, you know?"

Twilight tried not to look like Applejack's words had driven a spike through her heart. Foals? Well, of course some of her lovers would want foals of their own, one day. And that wasn't something she could give them. There was adoption, of course, or finding somepony they liked to donate the proceeds necessary, but...

Applejack was right. She couldn't satisfy all of them, not all the time, and sooner or later, one of them would want to be loved by somepony that could give them their all. A pony that would grow up with them, the way that Twilight wouldn't. It hadn't even happened yet, and already, she could picture herself releasing them one by one, carefully easing their feelings into loving acceptance of all they'd shared without needing more, and watching them go.

It hurt.

Her voice was thin, and strained. "I'd let anypony go that wanted to. I understand that they might want to be with somepony else. I do. I just... I don't want them to go. Not even Trixie, and I promised her I'd let her go in a few months from now. She's special, too." She sniffled. "I know it's selfish, but I don't want to lose you, or any of them. I'm so stupid, Applejack. I shouldn't have let myself feel like this."

Applejack crawled up the bed a little more, wrapping her arm around Twilight's stomach and looking up at her with gentle reassurance. "Ah know it hurts. But knowing they can go, Ah reckon that might make them more likely to stay, in the end. You're doing right by us, now. Ah'm real proud of you. And Ma'am, Ah'm not going anywhere. You've got my word on that."

Comforted by Applejack's touch and warmth, Twilight sighed, and nodded. "I should make sure the others understand that they're allowed to fall in love, and even leave if they want to. I'll tell them in the morning."

"Reckon you don't have to worry about that. Stop pretending to sleep, darnit. You're terrible at this."

Twilight blinked, and looked around herself. One by one, the ponies around her opened their eyes, with various expressions of sheepishness at being found out.

"Well, you have been talking a rather long time," offered Rarity.

"See?" asked Applejack with satisfaction, "Not a one of these darn ponies was really sleeping."

Rainbow, eyes still closed, chose that moment to roll over. A long, loud snore sounded before her breathing steadied again. The others looked askance at her.

"...well, nearly all of them weren't," Applejack conceded.

"It is good that you feel the weight of the things you have done, but that deed is not your only one. We will speak again in day's full light, but lay aside your burden for this night." Zecora tilted her head back to address Twilight, reaching out to smooth her hand down Twilight's thigh.

Trixie didn't say anything, but curled herself more insistently around Twilight's lower leg.

Well, she wasn't getting that leg back for the rest of the night. "...thank you. I'm sorry that I disturbed you. I guess... I was thinking about a lot of things. Please, go back to sleep if you can. I'm going to try my best to do the same."

Fluttershy kissed her hand, and murmured for all of them, "Okay." There were a few moments of shuffling about as the ponies around her made themselves comfortable again, and silence fell once more.

Twilight closed her eyes, and listened to the breathing of the ponies around her. None of them were asleep though, were they? It wasn't like they could just fall back asleep like turning off a switch. Was there such a thing as a 'going straight to sleep without worrying' spell? Maybe, though that didn't sound completely safe... Zecora could have probably put together something for her that would do the trick. Though it wasn't as though Zecora had access to all her ingredients in Canterlot. Maybe she could buy them at the market, though? Were there any ingredients that could only be gotten from the Everfree forest? ...probably. Maybe that was why she lived there.

Without really noticing, lulled by the sound of the others breathing steadily, she fell asleep.

By the time she woke up, Rarity and Fluttershy had gone - no doubt to continue working on her coronation dress. Nervous, unable to keep her mind off the coming ceremony at midday, she ate a hasty breakfast in the company of the others. Trixie in particular struggled with Applejack for the right to help serve her, and was even trying to take over cutting Twilight's food and lifting it to her owner's mouth before Twilight put her foot down. She didn't need her slaves to do everything for her. Gently, but firmly, she'd dismissed them to go and get ready, while she did the same.

She had to speak to her parents, and Big Mac, and then get dressed for the ceremony. Her stomach churned uneasily at the thought, and there was a prickly hotness to her skin that she'd learned to associate with the edge of panic.

Breathing deeply helped.

"Good morning, Twilight."

Celestia's voice. It seemed like there really was no escaping her slaves today. Well, she had no one to blame for that but herself. "Good morning, Celest-" she began, turning around, then froze. Celestia's lip was a little swollen, with a small cut at one end. "Princess! I - I mean, Celestia, what happened? Are you alright?"

The Princess's hand rose to her lip and stroked along it, with a wry smile. "Don't worry, Twilight. I will have this seen to by the castle healers before the ceremony."

"What happened?" Twilight demanded, stepping towards her. All of her own concerns were completely forgotten, effortlessly pushed aside by the sight of Celestia hurt.

"I changed the time of your appointment with Big Mac," Celestia told her calmly. "I chose to speak to him instead. I made it clear that you had discovered a dangerous piece of magic around the time you began dating his sister, and I had judged it too dangerous for you to keep. So I had blocked your memory of the entire time, and did the same to Applejack, including your entire relationship."

Twilight froze. Big Mac? But he wouldn't...

"I told him I'd underestimated your resourcefulness in trying to retrieve those memories, and in trying to regain your feelings for his sister. You have since proved yourself capable of handling the magic which you'd discovered, and so, I have allowed you to keep your memories, this time." Celestia paused, then added, "He has been under a great deal of stress, which has had no outlet. It was difficult for him to accept that I was responsible. He told me that had I been a colt, he would have taught me a lesson for what I did."

Her smile widened slightly. "I told him that as an alicorn that raises and lowers the sun, I was not in need of delicate handling, and insisted he not spare my feelings out of misplaced concern for my gender or rank. So he punched me in the mouth, and told me not to ever mess with his sister again. Or you, for that matter."

"But- it's my fault-"

"No, it isn't. I was the one who took away your relationship, even when I did not have to, and that was my mistake to have made." She prodded her swollen lip thoughtfully. "It's been a very long time since any pony has been so forthright to me. He's quite admirable."

Twilight paused, as the presence of a certain tone in Celestia's voice threatened to derail her train of thought entirely, then shook it off. "...Celestia, I-"

"I'm not going to sleep with him, Empress. But I may think about him more fondly when I entertain myself." She laughed softly at the way Twilight's mouth hung open, lost for words, and told her, "You had better run along, Twilight. I will see you at your coronation."

"I - yes! Yes. I had better go and get ready. Thank you, Celestia. I really didn't know what I could say to him. Thank you."

Celestia's lips curved into a fond smile. "I would do anything for you, for many reasons. One of which is this: if it were not for you, I would not be so familiar with the sound of my sister's footsteps."

Twilight blinked, and looked around. Luna was advancing down the corridor like the tide of history, an immaculate tunic of dark blue and silver hugging her tall figure, her cloak billowing out behind her.

"Luna! Good mor-"

Without even slowing, Luna scooped Twilight off her feet, effortlessly lifting her up into the air, and kissed her firmly on the mouth.

Twilight felt the world spin around her as the Princess's lips pressed against hers, tasting and caressing. Her hand lifted into the air, though she couldn't have said whether in feeble protest or to reach for a caress, and her eyes slid closed. The end of the kiss caught her by surprise, and she realised all at once how her entire focus had narrowed to the delicious feeling of Luna's tongue exploring her mouth. Breathless, she looked up at the taller mare.

"Good morning, my sister," Luna greeted Celestia cordially, as though she wasn't currently holding Twilight against her, a good six inches off the ground. "Was thy rest pleasant?"

"It was. Thank you for the lovely night."

"You are kind to say so. I see that thy talk with Applejack's brother went well."

"He was expressive of his feelings. I appreciated that."

"I am proud of thy honesty." Luna's gaze shifted to Twilight, held captive in her arms, and she smiled. "Make me proud to be thy possession, Mistress."

"I will!" Twilight squeaked.

Luna leaned her head a little closer, and kissed the end of Twilight's nose, then set her down on the ground. "See that you do." Her cape billowed around her as she strode off purposefully, and swiftly disappeared around the corner.

Mouth open, Twilight stared after her. Heart hammering in her chest, at that moment she yearned for nothing more than to be pulled against that magnificent midnight-blue body once more and lose herself entirely. After a second, she managed, "What."

Celestia smiled widely, then winced fractionally at the tug on her cut lip. "She truly likes you, Twilight. It's been a very long time since I saw her so proud. It's wonderful to see."

"...she's kind of amazing, isn't she." Twilight glanced back towards the corridor Luna had left down, some part of her hoping to catch a glimpse of her again, before looking back up at Celestia.

"She always has been. Now go, Twilight. Your parents are waiting, and Rarity will be chewing her lovely mane if you don't arrive to be fitted soon."

"I will, I will. But - thank you. I know I just said that, but thank you, so much. I'm kind of looking forward to seeing Big Mac now, and dreading talking to him was really... sad. Thank you."

Celestia leant down, and for a moment, nuzzled her smooth cheek against Twilight's in a tenderly affectionate gesture. Her skin was soft, and warm. "You can be very silly sometimes, Twilight. Stop taking everything on yourself. You don't have to do this alone."

The words lingered in Twilight's ears, as she sheepishly endured her parent's half-bewildered, half-joyous shock at her transformation, and echoed in her thoughts as Rarity painstakingly garbed her in an incredibly lovely gown of indigo and gold. The smile on her lips betrayed the quiet warmth in her heart.

I think she's right. I don't have to do this alone.

Author's Note

Some kudos to Nafiruy White this time, who sent me a suggestion that affected the course of the chapter as I'd planned it.

Next time: Twilight gets crowned! New powers! Other things!

Proofing suggestions by Djmill.

6: An Eventful Coronation

Stay calm. Check symptoms.

"...momentous occasion. My student, Twilight Sparkle..."

Symptom 1: an ache in the chest, centred, or to the left. Check. Symptom 2: shortness of breath. Check. Symptom 3: feeling faint. Check. Symptoms 4 and 5: nausea, cold sweat. Check, and check.

"...with my sister, Princess Luna. But today, Twilight..."

She was definitely having a heart attack.

"...crowned Equestria's newest Princess. Fillies and gentlecolts..."

Twilight stood rigidly, her body as tense as a bowstring, a rictus smile on her face as she did her very best to stay still while her thoughts chased themselves backwards and forwards in a frantic, blind rush.

Deep breaths. Deeeep breaths. Don't focus on the voice filtering through the closed double doors, just stay calm, don't look back at the ponies carrying banners with her cutie-mark on them, don't think about what's about to happen, just stay calm.

"...for the first time, Princess Twilight Sparkle!"

That was her cue! Twilight jerked into motion, stumbling briefly in her high heels (why did Rarity give her high heels, why in Equestria's name, why) and barely managed to recover before the vast double doors before her swung open.

She managed not to gape, maintaining her slightly deranged smile as she swept forward.

Somehow, every single pony in the entirety of Equestria was present in the long, broad-windowed hall. All of them. She didn't know how Celestia had done it, but her sun-burst butt was going to pay dearly for this. Later. For now, she just had to get to the stage, be crowned, wings wide, turn around and speak.

Stage, crown, wings, speech.

It was going to be fine.

Her concentration wobbled dramatically as the ponies walking behind her broke into song, a beautiful, sweeping, rising and falling melody that filled the hall with glittering sound.

Oh, you bitch. They sing?

Celestia was stood atop the centre of the dais, tall and imposing in her rarely-worn crown, flanked by Luna and Cadance in beautiful finery that the short-circuited mess of Twilight's brain was completely incapable of properly appreciating at that moment. Off to her left, the five other Elements of Harmony beamed their joy and warmth at her. It helped.

She mounted the dais, step by step, trying not to bite her lip in concentration. Her eyes met Celestia's, which sparkled with delight and yes, the kind of mischief that invited Twilight to beat her until she squealed.

Celestia glanced to one side. Twilight's gaze followed.

Spike walked out from behind Princess Luna. He wore the neatest jacket and shirt she'd ever seen on the young dragon, and he was bearing her elemental crown on a velvet cushion. He approached to Twilight's side, with a wide-eyed look of excitement that threatened to overwhelm his attempt at a dignified expression.

The roar of her terror dwindled. Spike was here. He'd forgiven her. Twilight's eyes filled with tears, rocked by a tremendous rush of unexpected relief and gratitude that struck her like a runaway train. Heedless of the crowd, she dropped to one knee and hugged him, forcing him to hastily move the cushion to one side before she knocked her own crown off it. "I'm glad you're here!" she whispered with fierce sincerity.

Awareness of the crowd slowly leaked back in. She hurriedly got back to her feet, leaving Spike beaming, and faced the trio of Princesses before her.

Celestia's smile was radiant. Stepping to one side to make room at the centre of the dais, she levitated the crown off the cushion, and set it down gently on Twilight's head. A spark tingled through Twilight as the familiar magic of the Element touched her own, a welcome touch of warmth kindling within her. A sneaky glance to her left revealed her friends and lovers radiating their support and happiness. It was strange. Something so simple as donning the crown, something she'd done before, even, and suddenly, she was a Princess. Some part of her was still waiting for the moment to arrive, incapable of recognising that this was it.

Slowly, she turned to face the vast chamber, and in unison with the other alicorns, her wings flared wide. Her gaze moved out over the hall, and all the multitude of assembled ponies there. There were her parents, her mother crying with joy, her father looking as though he might burst with pride. Shining Armor sat beside them, glowing with happiness. There, at the front of the other row, were Trixie and Zecora, leaning forward as if inches from breaking ranks and charging the stage to be with her, and behind them, the Apple family contingent had carved out a space of their own, Applebloom sat on Big Mac's broad shoulder. Everywhere she looked, ponies both new and familiar gazed back with joy and wonder.

It was incredible, overwhelming. She was filled with happiness, and terror, and excitement, so filled with emotion she had no idea which one to try to act on.

The singers were still singing, too. Was she supposed to wait until they stopped to say something, or...? Celestia hadn't said there would be singers, for which she would be punished.

Celestia's magic tugged gently at her wing feathers, and the merest flick of the Princess's head indicated the exit from the stage, beyond where Luna stood. Oh. So there wasn't a speech, or anything she had to say? Well, if she'd wasted her time trying to prepare words, that wasn't the worst thing in the world. In fact, she could forgive the singing entirely if it meant she didn't have to stand in front of all these ponies and try to speak.

She supposed that the speech preparation was another elaborate joke from her former mentor. Well, the joke was on her, Twilight had barely managed to cobble together anything. This was the best surprise possible.

Fresh air flowed down the short corridor before her, a welcome, cool caress against her skin. Sunshine poured through the arched doorway ahead, a small balcony beyond, and she sighed in relief at the idea of a moment outside to catch her breath. She smiled as she stepped out into the warmth and brightness of the day, resting a hand on the golden railing.

Oh.

The hall didn't contain every pony in Equestria. Because, in fact, they were all out here. All of them. Thousands of them.

An echoing roar of cheers rang out, from a sea of waving and pointing figures, eyes bright with anticipation. Twilight felt a glassy grin spread across her face, and she waved feebly back.

This prompted another round of cheers.

"Say something, Princess," Celestia told her lightly, with a perfectly tranquil smile on her lips. "You did prepare a speech, didn't you?"

Oh, Celestia. I am going to get you for this.

She turned to face the vast crowd once more, and raised her voice. An enchantment on the balcony itself picked up her words and amplified them, casting them across the crowd.

"Since a very young age, I have been lucky enough to be tutored in magic by Princess Celestia, who has shown me wonders I could never have dreamed of before I knew her." Try not to think of her naked, that's not what you're talking about... "But one of the most wonderful things she ever taught me was that magic, alone, was not enough. She sent me to Ponyville, and encouraged me to make friends."

Twilight glanced back, and smiled more naturally as she saw the other Elements had gathered at the back of the balcony. Trixie's restraint had finally snapped, and she was jumping up and down at the back, Zecora smiling as she sought to calm the excitable pony down. With a wave of her hand, she beckoned them all forward.

"These ponies taught me so much, about kindness, and resilience, and generosity, and caring for others, and if they hadn't been there, if they hadn't been my friends, I wouldn't be here today. And for every pony that stands here with me, there are many more I owe a deep debt of gratitude to. Magic doesn't come from a lonely place. Magic comes from the heart. I've made mistakes, and I will make more, but I know that those I care about will pick me up, set me back on my feet, and help me when I fall short.

"I am deeply honoured to stand beside the three Princesses of Equestria, who are each so close to my heart." Twilight bowed her head, and tried to calm said heart, which was hammering inside her chest. Cheers and confetti filled the air.

...so. That was her speech done. What happened now? Did she... back away, or stand there for a while until everypony got bored and wandered off, or...? Did she hide behind the balcony railing and pretend she'd magically disappeared? She hadn't been coached on this bit!

"Celestia, help," she murmured through her frozen smile.

Celestia looked over at Luna, and tilted her head slightly with a smile.

Luna nodded. Stepping up to Twilight's side, she announced in a clear, carrying voice that didn't require the balcony's magical amplification at all, "This is a day of great joy, one which will live long in my memory. Let all across Equestria rejoice, at the ascension of the Princess of Magic!"

Raising her hand and spreading her wings, Luna murmured out of the side of her mouth, "Now spread thy wings, wave regally, and walk back inside."

Cheeks hot with self-consciousness, giddy with the sheer, overwhelming excitement and terror of being stood before so many ponies, Twilight spread her wings as Luna directed, and tried a regal wave.

No, no - that was too fast. Slower.

Probably not that slow. She was trying to convey regal warmth, not miming being trapped in treacle.

A quick nudge to her calf snapped her out of her increasingly detailed experimentation with the exact speed of the properly majestic wave, and with a start, she realised that Luna was turning away. Her friends had already led the way back inside. Cheeks burning afresh, she gave a last inexpert wave, and tried not to run as she turned her back on the incredible crowd, and stepped back into the cool shade of the castle.

Flattening herself against the side of the passageway, she sucked in a few deep breaths, briefly indulging the panic that she'd held down the entire time, before she calmed herself. Opening her eyes, she took in the crowd of her friends and lovers around her. "So, um. There's a balcony that way, with all of Equestria outside, and a stage that way with a big hall full of ponies and I don't really want to go either way, so - can I just live in this hall now?"

Luna stepped forward and took Twilight's hand, forestalling several of her other slaves who'd moved to try the same thing, and kissed her fingers. "You acquitted thyself well, my Mistress. There will be time for thee to relax before the banquet in thy honour."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight nodded. "That sounds nice," she replied softly, reaching up to touch Luna's cheek.

...wait.

Twilight's gaze shifted slightly. Cadance was gazing at her with frank interest, an intrigued smile on her face.

Instantly, Twilight blushed so deeply that her head swam with dizziness. Her voice high, she squeaked, "Um - yes, so - please could you show me the way - Princess Luna?"

"As you desire," Luna replied warmly. Stroking the back of Twilight's hand against her cheek for a moment, she turned and led her to a broad, red banner. Luna's horn glowed, and the banner drew aside, tying neatly to a small hook as a curtain would, revealing a smaller arched doorway. Twilight followed behind her, the other two Princesses behind them, and Twilight's collection of sex slaves bringing up the rear.

There was no possible way Cadance hadn't heard the way Luna had addressed her. Was it possible to blush so hard your mane caught fire? Twilight took a few more deep, calming breaths. It was okay, probably. She had told Cadance that she had a dominant relationship with some of her ponies, or at least hinted at it, and even if Cadance probably hadn't expected Luna to be involved, Twilight could always play it off as a less-serious thing than it really was. She could handle this.

The passageway opened out into a broad, sunny room, filled with soft chairs and couches. Several jugs of water sat waiting on low tables, dewdrops of condensation crystallising on their sides. Filled with a sudden thirst by the sight of the water, Twilight moved over and poured herself some with a touch of feverish haste. The cool, crisp liquid soothed her throat. That was better.

Behind her, Cadance addressed the other element bearers. "It's wonderful to see you all again. You've been missed in the Crystal Empire, and will always be welcome there." Shifting focus to Trixie and Zecora, she added warmly, "And though I have only met the two of you today, I'm sure that I will enjoy getting to know you. Now, everypony, I can tell that you're holding back in front of me, but it's okay. I know all about your relationship with Twilight, so please don't feel you should hide it while I'm here."

"Well, why didn't somepony tell the slutty and submissive Trixie before now?"

Twilight choked. Her body entirely rigid, she found that she didn't dare look around. Seconds later, Trixie impacted the back of her legs, nearly knocking her over as the white-maned pony dropped to the floor, grabbed hold of one calf and determinedly rubbed her head against Twilight's thigh.

"You were perfect, and amazing, and the sensuous slave Trixie is apprentice to the new Princess! The best Princess."

Oh, good, thought Twilight distantly. She'd been wondering what Trixie could say that could make things worse after what she'd just burst out with, and there it was.

As if a dam had broken, the others flooded forward, surrounding Twilight with excitable ponies. Applejack seized hold of one hand, pulling it to rest over her heart, and exclaimed, "Ma'am, Ah'm so darn proud of you, Ah could burst."

Pinkie bounced up and down on her toes, bouncing into the air so high that in any normal sized room, she would have been hitting the ceiling. "You're a Master, Princess! I mean - you're a Princess, Master! Whee!"

"Hey, at the banquet, mind if I sit somewhere out of sight? Like, under a table, maybe? There's something I really want to eat, and I bet I could make your banquet a really happy one." Rainbow grinned at her lasciviously, seemingly unbothered by making her suggestion in front of the three most powerful ponies in Equestria.

Fluttershy pressed herself against Twilight's back, the soft warmth of the pegasus's heavy breasts pushing gently against her owner. "If I was sat near you at the banquet, I could... feed you? Or maybe... you could... feed me? If there's no room on the chairs, I could sit on the floor," she murmured, with a hot blush.

"My Lady, you looked simply wonderful! I'm so honoured that you chose me to make your coronation dress! I'm so happy for you! So proud. This dress is going to be the talk of Canterlot for weeks!"

Zecora took hold of Twilight's other hand, guiding Twilight's fingers to her chest in a mirror of Applejack. Unlike with Applejack, however, Twilight felt the hard shapes of the prominent gold rings through the zebra's nipples, barely covered by the cloth of the elegant tunic she wore. "This day has filled me with the deepest joy. Do as you wish with your adoring toy."

...well. The cat was so thoroughly out of the bag, the very concept of 'bag' had been lost to history. Trying to gather her wits, a process not helped by the softness of her slaves pressing their warm bodies against her, Twilight finally managed to turn enough to look over at the three Princesses.

Celestia's expression was perfectly unruffled, a pleasant little smile on her lips that was, in her own way, the equivalent of laughing aloud. Luna's fingers were curled across her lips, hiding a smile behind her hand.

Nerving herself, Twilight met Cadance's eyes.

"I'm... impressed. You've really grown up! A lot." Cadance's gaze shifted from pony to pony, taking in each mare, before finally settling on Twilight again. "You really are very loved."

"I... yes. I know that the way I am - that we are - is kind of, unconventional, but it started with Applejack, and I found that I... really liked it. A lot. So, um. Here we are." She would have rubbed at her burning cheeks, if her hands hadn't been fully occupied resting on the bodies of her slaves. How in the world had she ended up in a situation like this?

Cadance smiled. "Many ponies have confided in me over my life, Twi. I've often found that desires and loves come from unexpected directions. I wouldn't have guessed, but if it makes you happy - if it makes all of you happy - then I couldn't be happier for you." She looked up at Luna, and added, "I'm glad you've found somepony that you can feel this close to. I've hoped for it for a while. You deserve to be loved."

Luna tilted her head down with a rare flash of modesty. "Twilight makes me feel as though I am a young pony again. It is a wonderful thing."

"I think I understand, I really do." Cadance hugged the other alicorn tightly. "Be happy."

"I am. We both are." Luna looked over to Celestia, and Cadance followed her gaze.

Twilight watched the exchange with a growing warmth in her heart, her ponies pressing in around her but not wanting to interrupt. This was going better than she could have expected. Maybe she had been silly for worrying that Cadance would think she was some kind of pervert for the desires she had; Cadance was the Princess of Love, and she would have surely known other ponies that lived the way Twilight now did. Not exactly the way she did, Twilight corrected herself - the magic of the charm was an extra note in her particular relationships. But mostly like this.

She'd heard Luna address her as Mistress, and then all of the others had spoken to her in their own ways, showing they were in her thrall. Obviously, Cadance was wondering whether Celestia, the lone hold-out, was above all of that. It would have sort-of made sense if she was, given her long experience ruling. If Cadance got that idea, Twilight decided, it would probably be better to just let her believe it.

Under Cadance's inquisitive glance, Celestia's smile widened.

The Princess of the Sun stepped forward, towards Twilight. Her voice carried gentle, effortless authority. "Please make room, my little ponies."

No matter that they'd seen Celestia humbled, naked; immediately, every mare around Twilight scrambled to get out of the way, forming a sheepish half-circle a step behind their owner. Twilight searched Celestia's face, trying to divine her mentor's intentions.

Robed in her finest clothing, bearing her royal crown atop her head, Celestia dropped smoothly to her knees before Twilight. A tenuous glimmer of her magic holding her crown in place, Celestia bent forward until her chest kissed the ground. Her soft lips pressed to Twilight's toes, exposed by the straps of her high heels, and she submissively kissed her former student's feet.

"I hope your coronation was fully to your liking, Empress. If any part of it displeased you, please punish your slave fully."

Twilight's gaze flashed to Cadance. Her mouth was hanging open, finally shocked beyond her capacity to maintain her composure. Twilight winced, then looked back down at the kneeling Princess before her.

It was important to recognise that this was Celestia playing games with her again. After misleading her about the ceremony, thrusting her before all the ponies of Canterlot without warning, the unexpected singing - all of it - she now was inviting Twilight to explain what exactly she'd done wrong. In front of Cadance. Naturally, Twilight wouldn't be able to give a satisfying answer, and so she'd stammer and blush, and say it was fine, and then if she tried to punish Celestia later, this conversation would be mentioned.

Twilight rebelled.

Maintaining her composure, she replied in a measured tone, "The ceremony was wonderful, Celestia, and I'm very happy about how it went. Thank you. All the same, I know when you're teasing me, and you definitely pushed things a little too far. I will punish you later."

Oh dear. Cadance's jaw had dropped even further. But Celestia looked up at her, and in her gaze there was a definite flash of respect as she replied, "True, I was. You handled it beautifully. I look forward to being punished as you see fit."

"You may rise, now."

"Thank you, Empress." Celestia sat back on her heels and rose smoothly to her feet. Looking over at Cadance, she added warmly, "I'm glad I was able to make clear how things lie between Twilight and I. Do you have any further questions, Cadance?"

"...Empress?"

"Each of Twilight's possessions address her in their own way. It seems fitting for a pony that owns both Luna and I, wouldn't you say?"

"I... see." Cadance looked back to Twilight, and her mouth opened and shut, before she tried, "Well done?"

Twilight smiled, and stepped forward. Taking both of Cadance's hands in hers, she gazed at her sister-in-law, and said gently but firmly, "I'm very glad that my ponies don't have to hide the way they feel about me in front of you. You're the only one I've trusted with this. I don't believe other ponies would understand, so I'm glad that you'll keep this between us."

Cadance's cheeks darkened, and she nodded. "Of course, I understand."

A pulse of triumph shot through Twilight as she saw the look on Cadance's face. Now it was her turn to blush. "Thank you, very much. You've always been one of the most special, wonderful ponies in the world to me, and that will never change." She squeezed the other alicorn's hands again, before finally letting them go, and turning back to her collection of toys.

"Okay, everypony. At the banquet, Celestia and Luna will be sitting one side of me, and the rest of you will be sitting on the other side, and along the table flanks. Somepony fetch me some parchment, and you can draw lots for who sits where. That's fair." A smile crept over her face, and she added, "None of those seats are going to be under the table, Rainbow. That can wait until later."

"Aw, Ma'am. Come on. It'd be the most fun to get down there with everypony busy making polite conversation, and-"

"Hush," Twilight told her. Rainbow immediately stopped talking. "It's tempting, but not this time. Go help find ink and quill."

"Yes, Ma'am."

Moving to a low couch, with wing indents, Twilight sat down and made herself comfortable. As her ponies sat on the ground around her, and Fluttershy nuzzled her head into Twilight's hand like a puppy, Twilight looked back up at Cadance again. Her former foalsitter didn't seem to quite know what to do, her lips slightly parted again. Twilight smiled widely.

"Cadance, would you like to be in the draw, for which Princess sits next to me?" she asked pleasantly.

"...yes, that would be lovely."

The great banquet hall was filled to capacity. The sound of conversation and the clink of china filled the air, as the myriad finely dressed ponies of Canterlot's elite mingled with the smaller but louder contingent from Ponyville. While it of course would be rude to stare, there wasn't a pony in the hall that wasn't stealing glances at the topmost table, where the newest Princess dined among her peers.

Twilight could feel a thousand gazes, pressing down on her. She tried not to give in to the temptation to shrink down in her seat, and ate very carefully, for fear of embarrassingly spilling something on her dress in front of all Canterlot.

"Are you alright, Twilight? I know this is kind of a new feeling for you." Cadence smiled at her reassuringly.

"I'm fine!" Twilight replied, a little too quickly.

Of the three Princesses, it had been Cadence who'd drawn the mark to sit on Twilight's right. Beyond her was Celestia, and then Luna, who was very subtly pouting, while on Twilight's other side, Rainbow Dash grinned smugly at the world. Beyond Luna and Rainbow, the table bent around at each end, with Zecora, Applejack, Shining Armor and then Spike sat along the flank beyond Luna, and Pinkie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and finally Trixie beyond Rainbow. Trixie was definitely pouting, as she found herself just about as far away from her Mistress as she could have ended up.

Cadance surveyed the table, her gaze shifting thoughtfully from pony to pony once more, before looking back at Twilight. "Can I ask how this all started?"

Twilight glanced out over the banquet hall. None of the guests were close enough to hear her talking, nor were Spike or Shining, especially not with the rumble of conversation filling the vast chamber. The top table was already warded against eavesdropping spells, to discourage the overly-curious. All she had to do was camouflage the movements of her mouth a little, to prevent lip-reading. Accordingly, she rested a hand half-obscuring her mouth as she replied, "Even though I didn't know it at the time, it kind of started with this book I read when I was young. The Isle of Forbidden Wonders. That gave me ideas that stayed with me."

Cadance nodded her understanding, with a warm smile. "I've read that book. It does make it sound pretty enticing."

....no glance at Celestia, no special reaction to the name. Maybe Cadance didn't know her aunt had written it? Twilight met Celestia's eyes for a moment, but all the response she got was a tranquil smile.

"...but I didn't really know what I'd taken from that book," Twilight resumed. "It was only when I started dating Applejack that it got put into practice. I was surprised by the urges I was feeling, but I was really surprised when I found out she felt the same. She'd, um. Been using her ropes for more than just lassoing. Once I realised that, we tried some things, and, well, I bought some things really carefully by mail order that came in brown boxes, and... then it was kind of how it was."

"And the others agreed to these conditions too?" Cadance probed gently.

"Did we ever!"

Twilight twisted around towards Rainbow. She hadn't realised the other pony had been listening in, but judging by her huge grin, she had heard every word. Pushing herself back a little in her chair, Twilight made room for Rainbow to address Cadance, before her brain belatedly questioned whether that was actually a good idea.

Cadance smiled at Rainbow. "Oh? I'm curious about how that went, if you don't mind telling me."

"Oh, heck. So first, I turn up at Twilight's to tell her all about-"

Twilight coughed sharply.

"Uh- anyway, Twilight told me she and Applejack and Rarity were all screwing, and she did a really good job of making it enticing, and I was all, aren't I supposed to be doing the seducing around here, but whatever, I wanted in. So she and I, we had this whole thing on the floor right there. Surprised? I was. But it was the next time that she really hit me with the, 'get down on your knees' schtick."

"I'm picturing a careful technical explanation of the terms, with diagrams," Cadance teased Twilight gently.

Rainbow laughed aloud. "Oh, you think? We had a date set up, I thought it was just her and me. I burst in - okay, so I'd slept late, so what - all ready to sweep her off her feet. Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. So there's Applejack, all strapped into this black corset number with tits out to here and a whole lot of nothing covering the interesting parts, Rarity's wearing this maid outfit that's all see-through up top, and she's got a whole lot to see up there, and she's on all fours, and Twilight - booky Twilight, right? - is wearing nothing at all but this, like, evil black cape and thigh-high boots, boots that she is resting on Rarity, like a footstool, and she's all, 'You're late. I'm going to have to punish you.' I mean, damn, you know?"

Cadance's lips parted slightly, and she gave Twilight another in her award-winning series of assessing looks. "Oh really? How did she punish you?"

Twilight's smile was glassy. She really ought to stop Rainbow. She should. Any minute now, she'd recover the use of her voice, and then she'd stop Rainbow Dash telling Cadance all of the wonderful, depraved details of what she'd done to her. It wasn't turning her on, hearing Rainbow describe it to Cadance. Not at all.

"Well, you know Twilight. Even evil sex-Goddess Twilight is ridiculously prepared." Rainbow's cheeks began to grow a little pink as she continued, "She had all this stuff waiting for me. Got AJ and Rarity to put this ball gag in my mouth, then got me dressed up in these boots and elbow gloves that all locked together behind me. Yeah, my punishment was staying still. But that wasn't much of a punishment, because they were grinding all over me. Then she did get cruel, because she made out with Applejack right in front of me, had Rarity licking and rubbing me, wouldn't let me get off. Thought I'd go nuts. Then she gives the order, Rarity's down there, seriously going at it, and I'm going off like a firecracker. It was like, wow, that was intense. And that was only the second date. So after that-"

"I think that's enough for now, Rainbow," Twilight interrupted quickly.

"Yeah? Sure thing. Guess you get the idea, anyway." Rainbow waved a spoon at Cadance, and went back to devouring the intricate jelly castle in front of her.

"...yes. I do," murmured Cadance. Dropping her voice a notch, she added affectionately to Twilight, "You must be proud of how enthusiastic she is."

"I - yes! Yes, I am." Twilight nodded twice.

"I'm surprised you didn't tell me about this sooner. You must have had questions."

The words were gentle, but behind them, Twilight sensed a touch of hurt feelings. Turning towards Cadance, she took the other pony's hands in both of hers. "I was so caught up in everything that was happening, I didn't really turn to anypony for help. Since I went to Ponyville, I've learned that I can rely on the ponies around me, but sometimes, I need reminding. I was... really embarrassed, actually. It's different, in front of the ponies that I'm with. I don't feel so self-conscious, then."

"I understand, Twi, it's okay." Cadance gently mussed Twilight's mane. "But you can always talk to me about anything! Don't forget that."

Twilight giggled, shaking her head and settling her mane back into place. "Don't do that! Rarity will tell you off. She spent ages on my mane." But it was nice, she added to herself.

Cadance gazed at Twilight with an odd, thoughtful little smile playing about her lips, before she finally added, "Okay, I have to ask. Aunt Celestia? Really?"

Twilight tried not to look away from Cadance, but from the corner of her eye, she was sure she saw Celestia's ear flick slightly. "What I'm coming to realise," she began slowly, "is that Celestia has felt something for me for a long time. Longer than I could have known. I think maybe she was afraid to reach out to me, in case it messed up her plans for what she wanted me to become. But then, she didn't have to worry about that anymore. She could be... honest. She could really let me see her, the real her. She's infuriating. Mischievous. Kind of dreadful, really."

A warm smile curved Cadance's lips. "I think you're right. About all of that. It's wonderful to see how close you two are. Though - I'm surprised that she decided to be part of your special relationships."

Celestia leaned a little closer, a fond smile on her lips. "If that is what Twilight wants, I am more than happy to give it to her. I've found it relaxing."

And it really turns you on, you big liar. Twilight grinned at her. "Oh? It's just indulging me for my own sake? Really, Celestia."

"I enjoy it as well, of course," Celestia replied smoothly. "Twilight has proven herself to be very inventive. I'm impressed."

"When I heard that Twilight had become a Princess, I thought that that was going to be the biggest surprise of my visit. It's really nice to be proved wrong. It's so good to see how happy you are. How happy you all are."

Twilight settled back in her chair, and picked up her cup - or goblet, she supposed - sipping gently. It was nice to talk about this with Cadance. It had even distracted her from all the ponies watching her, right that minute.

Who, now she thought about it, were still there. Watching her. Quite openly, actually, since she'd got distracted and stopped looking out over the hall. Expecting things from her. Who definitely hadn't heard anything that had just been said. Right?

"...they're still staring at me," she murmured to Rainbow.

The pegasus looked up from her cake, which she'd just about finished demolishing. "Well, duh. Of course they are."

"Well - they've seen me, haven't they? Why are they still looking?"

Rainbow Dash stared at her for a moment, then laughed. "What, seriously? You're a new Princess. Like, before today, there were three, and now there's four. That's history. They're gonna talk about being here for the rest of their lives."

"...you think?" asked Twilight weakly.

"Like I said, duh. So the first two Princesses, right, they beat the snot out of Discord and founded the whole of Equestria, and they raise the sun and the moon. With Cadance, there's the return of the Crystal Empire, and Sombra. I know it was us, but come on, she was obviously destined to rule the place, she's even got that big crystal heart of theirs on her butt. Don't get more destined than butts. So what all those ponies are thinking is, what are you gonna do?"

Twilight slowly surveyed the hall, watching pony after pony glance away quickly, then immediately go back to staring at her. Her smile curdled slightly.

"You know, I think I'm going to go - thing. For a minute. Somewhere," she heard herself say, in a slightly too-high tone. "Maybe it's time for the little alicorn's room. Um. Yes! Too much banquet. Excuse me. I'll be right back."

Pushing back her chair, and drawing the attention of everypony in the hall, Twilight stood up. The nearest door was around the side of the vast chamber, past several tables of ponies, but there was a better way out than that. There was a hallway outside that she knew pretty well, she'd just teleport there. Though, honestly, she just wanted to be anywhere but here for a few minutes.

Purple light blazed around her, and Twilight disappeared.

In the corridor outside, the guards continued to watch over the doors, turning away a couple of very determined ponies who had managed to make it that far without invitations. Nothing else of interest happened.

On the outskirts of Fillydelphia, however, far, far up in the sky, a burst of purple light twinkled for a moment.

"Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!" screeched Twilight as she plummeted out of the sky. Wind pulled and tore at her with greedy fingers, catching the billow of her skirt and flipping her upside down. Face first, she stared disbelievingly at the houses below, which were approaching with horrific speed. Flailing and kicking, her unused wings struggling to unfold against the roar of wind, she lost herself to panic.

Some forty feet above the pavement, there was another flash of light.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH!" she continued, more emphatically, as she found herself high above the clouds. She glimpsed a dark and rocky land below, a mountain jutting into the sky, before she flashed out of existence again.

She just wanted to teleport to the ground! Or home! Or anywhere not falling! The world flickered around her like a strobe as she struggled to control her panic. She had wings, didn't she? This was what they were for! With a mighty effort, she snapped them wide against the overwhelming rush of wind, and tried to brake.

One was immediately wrenched backwards, as she cupped far too much air to cope with at her current, indeed terminal, velocity.

A new variety of screech broke from her lips, and she tumbled madly through the air. All of a sudden, she was crashing through trees, branches battering her injured wing and tearing at her dress, before with a final, emphatic thump, she hit the ground head-first.

Leaves and fragments of broken twig slowly settled around her, like ragged green confetti. "Ohhhh, owww," she groaned, unable to focus on the smeary wall of green around her. Eventually, Twilight rolled onto her side, groaning deeply, her right wing held stiffly up in the air. Everything hurt. She lay there for a few minutes, hissing through her teeth as her hammering heartbeat slowly settled back to something approaching normal.

What in the name of teaspoons had just happened? She'd tried to teleport out into the corridor, and instead-

She flinched instinctively at the memory of the world strobing around her, and the falling, endless falling. The sharp movement of her head woke a symphony of aches and pains, and the world swam around her again. This was a very effective way of persuading her to stay very still, and wait for her head to clear.

Okay. So she was feeling shaky, and shivery, and kind of sick. That was okay, that was just her body's panic response wearing off. She just had to lie still and wait for it to pass. Her pulse was... still very fast, but that was to be expected. Time to slow the breathing, before she got hyperoxygenated. Slower, deeper. That was it. There. Good girl, Twilight, she told herself.

After a few minutes, very carefully, she sat up, wincing as a host of bruises and cuts demanded her attention. Her twisted wing throbbed. It didn't seem broken. She carefully felt around her face, where a branch had struck her solidly, and wiped her streaming eyes.

So. On the plus side, she'd never teleported more than thirty feet before, and she'd definitely beaten that record, by a long way. On the minus side, she hadn't meant to, and she didn't seem to have a lot of guidance over the steering right then. Also, she was hurt, and lost, and had no idea which way to go for help. Flying was out, and teleporting again was definitely not on the cards for tonight.

She was missing her coronation party, too. Twilight sniffled, and rubbed her streaming eyes again.

Well, there was no sense sitting around in this forest all day feeling sorry for herself. Assuming no pony had seen her arrive, she'd have to walk until she came across a road, or village, or something. Shakily, with the aid of a tree, she carefully dragged herself to her feet. She didn't have any navigational spells to give her a location or directions. Based on the position of the sun and the time, that was probably west, so that would be north, but that didn't actually help very much. On the somewhat arbitrary basis that it didn't feel cold enough to be north of Canterlot, she turned towards what she'd tentatively identified as north, and began pushing through the trees.

An indeterminate period of marching, walking, and then stumbling later, Twilight hadn't found anything other than more obdurate greenery.

She needed to think clearly.

Start with what was happening back at the party; she'd disappeared, and it was doubtful any pony that knew her would be worried by the sight. They'd assume she'd gone for some fresh air. Say, half an hour for them to become concerned she was paralysed with nerves, and have begun looking for her to calm her down. Another half hour to begin to get actually worried, and have the castle searched. A solid hour after that before the increasing alarm spilled out into Canterlot.

Then... blank. Eventually the search would reach beyond the capital, but Equestria was a big place, and she had no idea where she was. Princess Luna might be able to find her if she slept and dreamed, but now that she thought about it, she'd never actually asked how Luna's power worked. It could be that she narrowed down whose dreams to enter because she knew where the ponies were. Or that some nights, ponies didn't dream deeply enough to be accessible to her. It was certainly worth hoping Luna would find her, but she shouldn't rely on it.

So, she was stuck in a forest, with no idea where she was. No food or water, her wing was injured. She had a few hours of daylight left. When it got dark, she could try sending up light flares to attract attention, but they weren't bright enough to be seen during the day. She didn't have any long-range communication spells; she'd always used Spike for that. Wincing at a stab of pain from her twisted wing, she firmly resolved to remedy all of those flaws in the future, but that didn't help her much right then.

Oh, but there was one spell that was relevant to her current plight. There was the spell used to slow down falling. That could probably have been useful.

There was a soft thud as Twilight gently thumped the side of her head against a tree, sighing deeply. Okay. She could cast the falling spell, and try teleporting again. If she ended up high in the air, she'd just float down to the ground. In fact, if she tried teleporting a few times, maybe she'd wrestle some control over the process, and end up somewhere she recognised.

On the other hand, maybe she'd materialise inside a mountain. Bamf. Instant fossil. The spell was supposed to stop things like that happening, but clearly something wasn't working right, and a malfunctioning teleport spell was the very archetype of magic that would get somepony hurt. That should probably be a last resort.

That gave her a list of actions. First of all, search for signs of other ponies, and follow them if she found any. When it got dark, try sending up flares. When she slept, hope that Luna found her. If she was in sincere danger, or starvation threatened, she could risk trying to teleport again.

Softly, as she pushed aside branches and limped on, she began to sing.

"I'm a long way from home,
And I'm all alone,
And I wonder where I'll-"

"Craww!"

Twilight hesitated, and looked up. There was - yes, there was a large black crow, sitting on a branch high above her.

It looked unimpressed.

"Oh - hello!" she greeted it. "I'm, I'm lost, and I wonder if you could help me? I really need to find somepony, or a road, or something... and if you could please guide me..." Her voice petered out, in the face of the crow's black-eyed stare.

"I... can you understand me? I really would be ever so grateful if you could show me the way. Or bring somepony. Or - or anything, really."

Stare.

"I could get you something nice to eat?" she tried.

Stare.

"Really, I would be so happy if you could-"

Stare.

Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed. "Okay. Nice to meet you." Pushing herself stiffly into motion again, she stepped past the crow's tree, and made her way onwards through a large bush that dragged at her mane and pulled roughly at her tail. Picking herself free, she resumed softly, "And I wonder where I'll-"

"Craaww!"

Twilight stopped, and stared upwards. The crow, glossy and black, was sitting above her again. "Are you following me?"

Stare.

"Apple. Tree. Bicycle. Rhubarb tower custard." She paused, then sang, "I'm a long way from-"

"Crraww!"

"Hey! I - I have a nice singing voice!"

"Craww."

"Everypony thinks so!"

"Craw."

"I break into songs all the time!"

An acorn bounced off Twilight's head.

"I - I don't have to take this from - from a corvid! I'm leaving!"

"Stop following me!"

"Craww?"

"You're probably a hallucination anyway!"

"Craww."

"Go away! I'm tired! I'm lost! It's been hours! I need a drink! I don't have any food! Go away!"

"Crrawww!"

The light was dimming in the sky. It had been a while since she'd last seen the awful crow, but at least watching for it, and waiting for another acorn to bounce off her head, had taken her mind off how stiff and exhausted she was. A little while ago, she'd spotted what looked like a smudge of smoke above the treetops, and with few alternatives, she'd hung her hopes on it. With a target to aim for, the effort of forcing her way through the dense forest was even more trying, but all of a sudden, with little warning, she broke out of the tree line, and emerged into a clearing.

Twilight rocked to a halt, looking around herself. There was the overgrown suggestion of a cart track disappearing off between the densely packed trunks, though in every other direction the trees swiftly closed in again. None of that mattered to her right that moment, though, because there, sat back against one edge of the open, grassy space stood a stout wooden cottage. Smoke curled quietly from the chimney. And there, dozing on the front porch in a rocking chair, was a middle-aged brown colt with a greying mane.

Her heart jumped in her chest. Water! Food! Help! She was still in Equestria! A secret fear, barely acknowledged, had been gnawing at her for a while; she might have teleported so far, she'd become lost in some other country altogether. Stumbling, moving stiff-legged, she approached the house, and sagged against the pillar at the foot of the porch. Her mouth opened, but only a croak emerged.

It was enough to stir the dozing pony from his nap. There was a snort, as a snore was interrupted, and one faded blue eye opened. His gaze travelled over Twilight, taking in her bedraggled mane, the ragged shreds of her dress, and her awkwardly positioned wings, before lingering on her horn.

"Hello," managed Twilight, her voice hoarse.

His other eye opened slowly. He stared at her for a few moments longer.

"Hey, Daisy?" he called back towards the house, without looking away from Twilight.

"What is it?" A voice floated out of an open window, distinctly female.

He shifted position slightly on his chair. "Reckon there's a Princess here to see us," he called back conversationally.

There was a snort from within the house. "Oh, of course there is. Would that be the Sun Princess? Or the Princess of the Crystal Empire come visiting? Or has Nightmare Moon come for tea?"

He gave Twilight another up and down stare. "Don't think it's any of them. A purple one."

"A purple Princess. What kind of colour is that for a Princess, anyway? Have you been drinking that moonshine I threw out?"

"Yup," he confirmed amiably.

"Well, then."

"She's still here, though."

"Oh, of course. What would your imaginary purple Princess want with simple folk like us, anyway?"

"Dunno." His head turned slightly more towards Twilight, and he added at a more normal volume, "Something you need?"

Twilight had watched this back and forth with a kind of flat bewilderment, her body collapsed against the porch post. She considered herself to be a smart, witty pony, and under most circumstances she was, but in her current state, her reaction time was measured in minutes. As she was directly addressed, however, she finally managed, "I - I'm lost. I'm not sure where I am. Could you tell me how to get back to Canterlot?"

"Say's she's lost. Looking for Canterlot."

"Oh, for goodness sakes, Spruce." A white mare stepped out of the cottage, wearing a simple dress with an intricate flower pattern embroidered into it. Her blonde mane and tail were done up in short, practical loops that kept them out of the way. "I threw out that liquor for a reason you... know..."

Her eyes settled on Twilight, and grew wide. "Uh, buh, I - who are you?"

"I'm Twilight Sparkle." That didn't seem sufficient. Twilight considered for a moment, then added a feeble little wave. "Hi."

"Purple. Purple Princess. I - you're purple."

That was definitely true, Twilight concluded after a moment.

"But - but you're an alicorn! How have I never heard of you?" Daisy stammered.

"Told you," interjected Spruce calmly from his rocking chair.

"I, um. Only ascended recently. I don't normally wear a crown." Twilight prodded her crooked crown straight with her finger, nervously. "It's just - I was crowned today. Then I had a little magic accident. Um. Could you tell me where I am, please?"

Given Daisy's natural colouration, it was hard to tell whether she'd gone pale, but there was a certain greyness about her face. Throwing herself down onto her knees and bowing full-length, flat against the porch floorboards, she gasped, "I'm so sorry, Princess! I'm so sorry I didn't know who you were, and I didn't come out, and I... I made fun of you being purple...!" Her voice strangled off into a little squeak.

"Please - don't do that, I'm just another pony, like you. Please, just call me Twilight-" Twilight blurted, appalled by the mare's evident fear and upset. Taking a step away from the post, she was brought up sharply by an agonising twinge that pulled a short, sharp gasp from her.

Daisy looked up, and covered her mouth with one hand. "Oh, my stars. You're hurt. Spruce! I swear, I will kick your tail all the way to Canterlot, why didn't you do something for her? Go and fetch the medicine satchel!"

She approached Twilight very carefully, as if the alicorn might suddenly explode, while Spruce heaved himself out of his rocking chair and disappeared into the house. "Don't mind him, please, Princess, I'm very sorry. Oh, my dear... you're all bruised and scratched. You look like you've been in a terrible fight. Did something happen?"

Twilight let her hand be taken, and followed Daisy into the shade of the porch. Sinking onto a padded bench seat, she repressed a small whimper of relief as her aching body relaxed a little. "A teleportation spell went wrong. I fell into the forest. I really don't know where I am, at all."

"Why - you're in the eastern woods. We're nearly on the border of Equestria, out here. It's a long way back to Canterlot." Daisy seemed to catch herself addressing Twilight casually, and added quickly, "I'm very sorry, Princess. I'll go and help Spruce find the medicine bag. You know how he is. Or - well, you don't, but if you knew him, you would."

Very carefully rearranging her injured wing, Twilight watched her scurry away into the house, with distinctly mixed feelings. She was incredibly glad to have found somepony to help her, but the way her presence terrified Daisy was making her deeply uncomfortable.

What was wrong with being a purple Princess, anyway? She'd never know, she supposed. Asking Daisy would probably make the poor mare implode.

A few moments later, Daisy hustled back out with an old satchel. Spruce followed her, leaning against the doorframe and watching as she approached Twilight. "I've got some useful ointment for scratches and bruises, and I think you're going to need a lot of it. Is your wing hurting you?"

Twilight nodded. "It is. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I really hurt myself on the way down. I'm - they're new. I don't actually know how to fly with them yet. I'm kind of a rubbish Princess."

Daisy blinked, pausing in the act of taking out a pair of jars from the satchel. "You have to learn how to use your wings?"

"Yes, kind of. I was putting it off, but I guess I should have worked harder at it." Twilight winced. "I'm learning a lot today."

"Well... if you can't fly, you aren't going to go anywhere quickly," Daisy replied uncertainly, as she carefully took Twilight's arm. "I can't really do much for your wing, either. I've never had to look after a hurt pegasus before. Or, uh. An alicorn."

That was bad. The longer it went untreated, the more difficult it would be to mend. Hiding her worry, Twilight gently shifted position to make it easier for Daisy to apply cream around her right eye. "It's okay. I'm so sorry to impose, but - if you have any water to drink, and a place to sleep, that would be the most wonderful thing."

"I - yes! Of course. At once, Princess."

That place to sleep turned out to be their own bed. Twilight had hoped for a guest room, but the room that Daisy had shown her to, skittishly and with frequent bobbing apologies for its inadequacy, was unmistakably lived in. Refusing it would have no doubt upset Daisy terribly, so she'd guiltily let the two sort out their own arrangements. They were probably bedded down on the floor somewhere, in a heap of blankets. Surely they'd have plenty of spare blankets. Little isolated homes like this always did, for when winter came.

Twilight rolled over again.

Sleep was important. Dreaming deeply enough for Luna to find her was the best way to let everypony know what had happened. She really didn't want to end up asking Spruce to pull her on his cart all the way to the nearest town, which was apparently a good half-day's travel, and she was in no fit state to walk any further herself.

Unfortunately, sleep was the exact thing that had managed to completely elude her. Her body ached head to toe, and even her magic twinged now and then. Her wing was a bar of fitful pain, spiking every time she shifted even slightly. Together with the unfamiliar surroundings and her racing thoughts, the overall effect was that every time she dropped off to sleep, she jerked groggily back into wakefulness a few minutes later. She grimly suspected that if she did manage to dream, it would involve falling, and birds that didn't appreciate singing.

It had been hours since she'd lain down to sleep. It felt like eons.

She glanced again at the little window. It had to be nearing dawn by now, but it was still incredibly dark outside, and there was only the barest hint of shapes, black on black, shifting slightly in the breeze. Living in the cabin where Luna had kept Trixie must have been like this, a little isolated space of warmth and light with a lot of darkness outside. She'd never actually asked Trixie how it had been, living there. Or, now that it occurred to her, apologised for her kidnapping. It hadn't been on Twilight's instructions, but she had charmed Luna, and if Twilight wasn't responsible for what her ponies did for her, who was?

...in fact, it was so dark out there, it had to be a moonless night. That was what was meant to happen, right? Surely Luna wouldn't have neglected to raise the actual moon.

Twilight tried to remember when the last full moon had been. It had been waxing back when-

A rolling boom of sound rattled the cottage, light flaring and vanishing outside. Twilight jerked upright instinctively, gasping with pain as her stiff body protested. Had that been lightning? There was some kind of lingering glow outside, lighting up the clearing. Shifting shadows played across room.

"Twilight Sparkle! Art thou here?"

The words thundered through the house, rattling the windows, and Twilight found herself giggling in surprise. Either Luna had found her, or she was in the midst of a classically educated thunderstorm. Slowly and awkwardly, she pushed herself out of bed and stood up, clad only in a nightdress that was a lot longer on Daisy than it was on her. The door opened under her hand, and she hurried out through the living room, emerging on the front porch.

A quartet of ponies hung in the air over the clearing. Luna's wide wings moved with majestic slowness, framing a figure armoured in midnight blacks and blues. Her glorious mane and tail billowed, and a light glowed at the tip of her horn. Above her, Rainbow, Lightning and Spitfire hovered, the two Wonderbolts in their uniforms, while Rainbow wore scant more than her underwear.

A shiver ran through Twilight as she took in the look on Luna's face. She was imposing. "I'm here! I'm here," she called out as loudly as she could.

A half-second later, Luna's body impacted hers as the Princess swooped down and seized her tightly. Despite her best efforts, Twilight couldn't help yelping in pain. Luna's embrace loosened instantly, and she stepped back enough to take in Twilight properly. A short, sharp gasp escaped her.

"You are hurt," Luna whispered, her quiet all the more intense by contrast to her thundering words. Behind her, Rainbow Dash landed, leaving the other two watchfully hovering above.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Twi, I didn't - you didn't have to - I didn't mean to make you run off!" Rainbow burst out, her scratchy voice throaty and upset.

Twilight blinked. Oh. Yes, of course, Rainbow had said that, and she'd gone, and so... oh, dear. "It was an accident! It wasn't your fault. I - my magic went out of control, I teleported out here. Well," she added with feeble humour, "I teleported up there, and then I fell down."

Rainbow stared at her. "But-"

"I don't know how to fly," Twilight added quickly. Looking up into Luna's frowning face, she gave a wobbly smile, and carefully leaned her head against the taller mare's breastplate. "I tried to stop myself falling, but I think I might have... broken something." She heard the shakiness in her voice, and her face flushed in quiet embarrassment.

"So, it wasn't... what I said?" asked Rainbow uncertainly.

"No, of course not. I'm so sorry that you were worried about that. I just didn't know how to let you know where I was. How did you find me?"

Luna gestured briefly at the lightning bolt choker around Rainbow's neck. "The Elements reach out for one another when separated. My sister knows the manner in which to make them indicate the direction the others lie, though it took time before the seeking spell stabilised. That is not important. You will come with me to Canterlot, at once."

She'd probably left traces of the Element's presence everywhere she teleported. When she was in a fit state to think about it, she'd have to experiment a bit. But, as Luna lifted her carefully off her feet, she protested, "Wait! I need to say thank you, and sorry, to Spruce and Daisy. They helped me, when I found their cottage."

"Spruce! Daisy! I thank thee from the bottom of my heart for thy aid. I shall take thy cart. It shall be returned swiftly, I promise thee."

Twilight ducked as the Royal Canterlot Voice boomed out above her head, ringing in her skull and reminding her of the rather nasty headache she'd acquired somewhere in the confusion of branches on the way down. It might have been her imagination, but she thought she could just make out, on the edge of hearing, a small voice squeaking, 'Y-y-you're welcome!'

"There, it is done," Luna said firmly. Crossing the clearing in a few strides, she set Twilight down in the broad wooden cart with infinite care. Without looking up, she added, "Fetch Twilight blankets. She will need padding for the journey back to Canterlot."

"At once, Princess," replied Spitfire crisply, who had drifted down to hover barely above the ground. "Lightning, with me." The two Wonderbolts disappeared into the cottage.

"But- I've already caused them such trouble!" protested Twilight feebly. "I can't take more of their things."

"I shall have their cart returned full of bits, Twilight, I promise thee. But for now, I will brook no disagreement. You are torn and bruised from horn to toes. You look as though you have been beaten. You will be returned to where you may be cared for."

There was an intensity in Luna's voice that was actually a little frightening. It looked a lot like she'd guessed that Twilight had been kidnapped, and had garbed herself for all-out combat. She was accompanied by three of the fastest fliers in Equestria, too, which raised the question of how fast, exactly, Luna could fly when she really, really meant it. Then, after working herself up to take on anything, there was nothing to fight. It would not be a good idea for anything to get in their way on the way back.

"Luna? Do you have any way to send word back to Canterlot that I'm okay?" Twilight asked. The others must be just as worried, and without the ability to travel as fast as these four.

"I do not have any treated parchment with me. I apologise for that. I departed in haste."

"Then - Rainbow! I need you. Can you go ahead, and tell everypony that I'm okay?"

"Well - yeah, I could, but-" Rainbow began hesitantly.

"I know you don't want to leave me. I don't want you to go. But think of how worried you were, when you didn't know what had happened to me. The others are all feeling that, right now, and they can't even do anything about it. You're the fastest flier in Equestria. Unless..." It was Twilight's turn to pause. "You did fly all the way out here, and I'm sure you didn't rest on the way, either. Maybe it would be better for you to take a little time to recover." It sounded like a jab at Rainbow's pride, and even though she meant every word, Twilight knew there would be no stopping the flier now.

Predictably, Rainbow vibrated with indignation. "You think I need a nap? I'll be back there before the rest of you are halfway home." Bending over the cart, she leant down and kissed Twilight, moving with a care that was foreign to the pegasus, before she leapt into the air. In seconds she was a fading streak of rainbow light, a low boom rumbling out in her wake.

Luna watched her go, and nodded. "That is as well. My sister was as intent on finding thee as I am, but we dared not leave Canterlot unguarded if some force had chosen thy coronation to strike." Stepping closer to the cart as Spitfire and Lightning Dust returned, she carefully lifted Twilight, and directed the two mares to lay out the blankets beneath Twilight before she set her down again.

Being treated with such care was something between comforting and embarrassing. Twilight chose to go with the former, and relaxed carefully into the nest of thick, old blankets. Catching Spitfire's eye, she murmured, "Thank you, very much, for coming here. Both of you."

Spitfire briefly straightened to attention, and replied firmly, "Pleasure to do our duty, Ma'am."

The two went to take the shafts of the cart, but Luna waved them away with a flick of her hand and moved between the shafts herself. Her vast wings spread. A faint shimmer coated the old wood as magic crawled over it, then she pulled smoothly into the air, drawing the cart after her as if it weighed no more than a feather. Twilight caught a last glimpse of the tiny cottage, its windows glowing in the night, before it disappeared behind the trees.

Well. Her first outing as Princess could have gone better. A lot better. On the other hand, she could have broken her neck on the way down through the trees, but 'I didn't die the first time I stepped outside' was a pretty low bar to clear.

Her head turned towards Spitfire, then Lightning. There was definitely a distance there that hadn't been there before. It made her miss the intimacy she'd felt from them when she was preparing to fight Celestia.

...of course, that was because she'd enchanted them, and rewritten their loyalties to revolve around her. At least she'd managed not to take advantage of them more than that. Again, though, in terms of morals, that was a pretty low bar to clear. Maybe there was a way to recapture some of that, that didn't require breaking her promises to do better. She'd have to think about it.

Landscape rushing by beneath her, Twilight surrendered to sleep.

Author's Note

As I was writing this chapter, I set up a spreadsheet to randomly assign ponies seats. Cadance ended up next to Twilight, where I was going to put her anyway, but Rainbow's assignment next to her really was pure chance, and if it had gone differently, that lovely discussion between them wouldn't have happened. I'm glad it did :twilightsmile:

7: Flirting with Disaster

To Twilight's lack of surprise, her disappearance was the talk of Canterlot. Celestia had covered for her at first, but a search of the magnitude that had hit the castle couldn't be fully hidden. It would be wise for her to make a few further public appearances, just to reassure everypony there wasn't anything wrong. Twilight just couldn't wait.

All of that had been a distinctly secondary concern, however, compared to the way she'd been swarmed by her lovers when she made it back. Rainbow had not only gotten back and told everypony, but had then doubled back and escorted Twilight the last few leagues home as the sun had risen. Her slaves were caught between wanting to rush her and reassure themselves she was safe, and not daring to touch her because of her injuries. Celestia had had the best healers in Equestria waiting to tend to her the moment that she landed, using the perfectly serene Princess expression that told Twilight she'd been just as worried as everypony else. Twilight had gently but firmly placed Rainbow in the care of the healers as well, to make sure she hadn't over-strained her wing muscles.

Then, once her wing had been carefully bound rigid - she might have cracked something, but it seemed more like a bad wrench - she got to see everypony else. Cadance and Shining had been immediately at her bedside, and her parents the next in line. Twilight talked until she started to fall back asleep, despite herself. After that, the healers had insisted that she be allowed to get some rest and kicked everypony out, including lovers, family, the other five Elements and all three Princesses. Twilight had admittedly felt exhausted, and gone along with it without demur.

Though, that didn't mean that she was alone. Her guards hadn't come to visit her, it was just that one of them was going to watch over her for a little while, on duty, and wouldn't you know it, some small matters happened to come up which meant a new guard replaced them every half hour or so.

When she woke late in the afternoon, they each seemed to have something to say to her as well. Despite it being something of a breach of protocol, Zephyr and Obscura, as her two fliers, tried to apologise for not being able to keep up with the rescue party. Twilight carefully accepted their apologies, while soothing their feelings. Argent, her unicorn, was visibly itching to ask about what had happened, and so Twilight indulged him by describing the way her teleport spell had gone wild, and asked him if he would mind doing a little research into any similar incidents for her. Naturally, she wanted to do that herself, but he could surely make a start for her, and he seemed about to burst with pride at the request. Autumn simply remarked, in tones of rolling thunder, that it was good to see her hale and well.

That left Diorite, who had let all of the others go first before she made an appearance at the door and relieved Argent. Diorite's expression was very composed, but not up to the standard of Celestia's perfect calm, and Twilight could sense a certain amount of turbulent emotion under the guard captain's perfunctory, "Good afternoon, Princess."

Twilight assessed herself. She was stiff, and sore, and felt a distinct guilt about having imposed on Daisy and Spruce the way she had. Not to mention the way she'd scared everypony. But paired with that was a certain excitement - she had a brand new magic project to research! She also had to learn to fly, when her wing recovered. Rainbow could teach her. All things considered, then, she was feeling no worse than she might expect, and a lot more clear-headed now that she'd rested. Enough so that the prospect of gently toying with Diorite's unacknowledged attraction to her was quite tempting.

"Hello, Diorite. Could you come over here?"

Twilight smiled as the golden armoured mare walked over. The memory of Diorite's pale grey, dappled body and large, round breasts was vivid, and a sight Twilight very much wanted to see again. Using the charm to get control of her was cheating, but no one ever said anything about seduction. Diorite was a professional guard, though, and if Twilight was going to get anywhere, she had to plant some seeds now, and tend to them with patience.

Diorite stopped at her bedside, and saluted. "Yes, Princess?"

"I did ask you to call me Twilight. Could you give me your hand, please?"

"You did, Princess," Diorite replied. She reached out with her right hand, plainly anticipating Twilight leaning on it to get out of bed.

Instead, Twilight took Diorite's fingers in hers, and guided the back of the guard's hand to press against her smooth cheek. Diorite froze, and Twilight asked innocently, "Is my skin too hot, Diorite? I was wondering whether I was coming down with something."

There was a pause. Diorite successfully hid her reaction, simply replying after a moment, "No, Princess, you seem to be a normal temperature. Would you like me to summon the healers?"

"That's okay. I wanted to talk to you about something private, actually." Twilight let Diorite's hand go, holding back a playful smile. "I've done what I can to keep things discreet, but I think you should know what's going on in my life, romantically, so you can be best prepared to deal with things as they come."

"I appreciate it, Princess. The more I know, the better I can protect you." Diorite straightened slightly, in a posture that clearly signalled her full attention trained on her Princess.

"I am currently in a special relationship with nine ponies, Diorite. That number may change in time. It's not just special because of being a herd relationship, either. I don't know if you've ever heard of relationships where two ponies choose to... one of them takes on more authority, and the other pony prefers to please them? Well, all of my lovers obey me and serve at my whim. It was kind of new to most of them, but they've gotten to really appreciate it."

Twilight had to stop herself grinning as she saw Diorite's expression solidify, her lips parting slightly before closing again.

"I see, Princess."

Twilight mentally awarded Diorite a point for maintaining her composure. Well, it was sensible to let the Guard Captain know, wasn't it? And if knowing that happened to make the dreams Diorite had been having become a little more intense, then that really didn't trouble Twilight at all. "The nine ponies involved are the other five Element bearers, Zecora, Trixie... and both Princesses, Luna and Celestia."

That got a little reaction. Diorite hadn't known about the Princesses. "I know it's a little, um, unusual, but we're all very happy," Twilight added earnestly.

"It isn't my place to judge, Princess. I am your guard captain. It's my duty to ensure your safety."

"I can't tell you how much I appreciate that, Diorite. I'm very grateful that you volunteered to be my guard captain, and I trust you completely." All of that was true, and Twilight meant every word sincerely. All the same, she paused for a few seconds, then added matter-of-factly, "If I choose to have somepony on duty within the room while I'm spending time with my lovers, I'll want it to be you."

With barely a pause for the mental image that conjured up, Diorite replied, "I'm ready to serve however you need, Princess."

This time, Twilight couldn't help the grin spreading across her face, and after a second, Diorite's cheeks slowly flushed darkly as the unintended implication of her words floated free. Twilight let the suggestion linger unspoken in the air, before she finally said lightly, "I won't forget that, Diorite. Thank you."

And you won't forget that, either. Twilight smiled, allowing Diorite to retreat back to the doorway, and settled back into her bed.

Diorite was going to need some time to think about everything Twilight had told her before she'd be ready for the next nudge. It might well be that she never got to the stage where she'd accept sleeping with Twilight; she was a very professional pony after all. That was okay. It was enough to tease her with the option. But if Diorite needed time, there was another pony Twilight had an eye on that could be counted on to move much faster. She was renowned for it.

But still, even before that, there was something else she needed to set in motion. Fun was fun, but this was important. It was time to take some responsibility.

"-course I'll accept earth ponies and pegasi as well. Pegasi can travel huge distances, and I've known a great many earth ponies who were experts in old literature," said Twilight earnestly.

Celestia looked down at the table thoughtfully.

It was a small, round table, covered in Twilight's notes. To her left stood Spike and Argent, the guard pony looking particularly pleased with himself, while Trixie pressed closely against her from the right. Celestia faced her, considering the sheet of parchment in front of her.

"Forty ponies," the Princess of the Sun finally murmured, "to hunt down lost and forgotten magic across Equestria. It sounds like a worthy cause, Twilight. I'd be very interested to see what they return to you with."

"If I can find that many to volunteer. And they wouldn't just be hunting for lost or unusual magic, but also looking for - well - magic being used dangerously. Magic that could get somepony hurt, or make them do things they might not want to do." Twilight flushed slightly. Her own use of the want-it-need-it spell would have certainly qualified, and that was before the discovery of the charm. But knowing such a powerful charm existed meant that she should be watching for signs of other ponies discovering anything similar, always. She saw the flash of understanding in Celestia's eyes, and the elder alicorn nodded her agreement.

"I will have the declaration drawn up for you, and you may amend it, Twilight, before it is proclaimed. I'm sure that many ponies will be very excited about the idea of working with you." Celestia's eyes moved to Argent, who was rigid with mingled delight and nerves at talking to the two Princesses about something other than his guard duties. She smiled.

"What about the Great and Powerful Trixie? What is she going to do?" Trixie was blocked from using her usual degrading language by the presence of Spike and Argent, and Twilight found she missed it slightly. It didn't stop the powder blue magician from pressing herself against Twilight as she spoke, however.

"You're going to help me coordinate all of the findings, as they come in. I'll want to look at everything, but I won't have time - you'll need to help figure out what's most important and bring it to me, with your thoughts on it. It's a really important job, Trixie, and I want to trust it to you. Show me that you can work with other ponies."

Trixie's eyes sparkled as she looked up at Twilight, and spontaneously pushed herself up onto her toes to kiss her. "Yes M- Twilight! I'll show you that I can be trusted, I promise! Trixie is going to be so useful that you'll never want to let her go!"

Spike watched Trixie's show of delight and enthusiasm with deep suspicion, drumming his claws on the table. "Uh, Twilight? Are you sure that's a good idea? Trixie could find all sorts of dangerous stuff in there, and she's not exactly got the best track record in doing the right thing."

Immediately, Trixie twisted towards Spike, while keeping one arm possessively around Twilight's waist. "Listen, you pint-sized pain in the tail, Twilight trusts the Great and Powerful Trixie, as she should, to do the best possible job with this inflow of complicated magic. Magic that might be a little hard for somepony your age to understand."

"Hey! I've been working with Twilight since I was an egg. I know her better than anypony, and I've been her number one assistant always. And I still am. Right Twilight?"

"Well, prepare yourself to make a nice shiny new badge that says 'second-best' on it," retorted Trixie, sticking out her tongue.

"Trixie! That's not a good example of getting on with other ponies. Is it?" Twilight looked sternly at Trixie, desperately hoping to avoid having to answer Spike's question - he probably still was, but announcing it one way or the other would hardly improve matters between the two.

"But he said-"

"He didn't call you a pain in the tail."

"He cast doubt on the Great and Powerful Trixie's character," she muttered, but in a tone of defeat. Letting go of Twilight, she turned fully towards Spike and said with slight exasperation, "Trixie apologises."

"Well... okay," replied Spike, crossing his arms across his chest huffily. Looking back to Twilight, he added, "But what am I doing? Shouldn't I be looking after this? It's exactly the kind of work I've always helped you with!"

"You're going to be my personal scheduler," Twilight replied firmly. Oh, please don't let this be a mistake. "I'm going to have half of Equestria trying to arrange to see me, and I'm really worried about how to handle it. I need you to talk to these ponies, understand what they want, and try to let the most important ones through. You'd better write down notes on the ones you turn away, too, just so I know what's going on. It's a position with a lot of responsibility, and it might not be fun to have to turn ponies away on my behalf. Do you want to do it?"

Spike straightened up and gave a rushed, amateurish salute. "Personal scheduler to the Princess? I'll do it! Don't worry, Twilight, I won't let anypony bother you that I don't think deserves to."

That's what I'm afraid of. "Thank you, Spike. I've got a lot to learn about being a Princess, and having a personal scheduler was one of the first things Diorite suggested to me. You'll have to talk to her, as well, about my schedule."

Celestia smiled to herself. "How are you finding Diorite, Twilight? I believed she was ready for promotion to higher rank."

Twilight gave Celestia a sideways look. The Princess of the Sun gazed back entirely innocently, and naturally, there were things Twilight couldn't mention in front of the others. "I'm very glad of her, actually. I'm sure that she'll do well as the Captain of my personal guard." There. Not a crack in that statement for Celestia to insert a smirk.

"I'm sure she'll serve you with devotion, Twilight, if you allow her to."

Haystacks. She was trying to be good! She did not need Celestia encouraging her bad impulses. At this rate, she was going to need a weekly lecture from Luna to remind her why enthralling anypony she felt like was bad.

Ha. Pencil that in, Spike.

"I really believe she will. But I may have to ask her to adjust her rota for Argent, slightly."

Argent looked up from the table, dropping his pretence of not listening to their discussion about his commander. "She will, Princess?"

"Yes. I'd like you to be part of the vetting process for volunteers. The guard has to do this for new recruits, right?"

"Yes, Princess, of course. Some ponies, despite their best intentions, aren't suited for the life of a guard, and it is best to catch such candidates early. It will be my profound honour to carry out your wishes regarding your volunteers." Argent drew himself up to attention.

"Okay, everypony. Spike, please meet with the schedulers for Princess Luna and Princess Celestia, they'll help you get to grips with your task. Princess, if you could have the draft announcement drawn up, I'd be very grateful. Trixie, we're going to need a storage area organised for the proceeds of the research - please talk to the castle librarians about arranging a space with comprehensive bookshelves and be polite. Argent, please speak to Diorite about setting time aside for this from your rota, and then work on setting up the vetting process in whatever time she gives you."

"You shall not be disappointed in Trixie's work!"

Spike saluted again, nodding rapidly. "I'll get right on it!"

"I'm honoured to be of assistance, Princess Twilight. I will speak to Captain Diorite directly."

Celestia nodded once. "Very well. What will you be doing, Twilight?"

Twilight smiled at her. "I have to have some conversations, too."

Twilight and Rainbow Dash stood huddled in the corridor. Twilight's voice was too soft to be heard clearly, but her playful tone carried.

Rainbow Dash's scratchy voice rose in surprise. "What, seriously?"

A low murmur from Twilight.

"Well, yeah, I've always wanted to, but-"

Murmur.

"Buck, yes, I'm in."

Murmur murmur.

"Hey, I'm fine. I didn't need to go to the healers, even before you had me dragged in there and checked out."

Murmur.

"...yeah, okay. I'll wear it. But she does too, okay?"

Twilight grinned.

One of the advantages of having a Princess-sized suite of rooms was that there was always a nice empty room to meet somepony privately in. Twilight sat by a tall, arched window, sunlight falling warmly across her, and the delicate white dress she wore. It now actually fit her - Rarity had been busy. Rainbow Dash lounged, cat-like, across a well-stuffed armchair.

Twilight's gaze slid again towards a large cabinet, a solid thing of oak and rosewood. She was tempted to check once again everything was there, but firmly desisted. After all, it was time for her guest to arrive.

The second hand of the clock on the wall was just curving up towards the hour when a quick double knock rang out. Exactly on time, though that was almost certainly more down to nerves than devotion to accuracy.

"Come in," Twilight called without getting up.

The door swung open, and a familiar pegasus entered the room. "Lightning Dust reporting for duty, Princess!" she reported crisply.

Twilight regarded her for a moment. The junior Wonderbolt wore her costume of sharp blue and yellow, clinging aerodynamically to the firm body beneath. With a lingering gaze, and a little imagination, it wasn't hard to imagine what the mare looked like naked. Lightning Dust had always had something of a rebellious, casual streak, so if she was being formal, it was because she was nervous. The sharpness of her salute could have sliced bread, too. Definitely on edge. Well, that wouldn't do at all.

"Hello, Lightning. Won't you have a seat? And please call me Twilight. Don't worry, this isn't a formal thing."

"Oh. Okay, sure." Lightning sounded a little puzzled, but she relaxed a little and dropped onto the end of the couch where Rainbow sprawled. "So what did you need me for?"

Praise Celestia, there actually were ponies that would stop addressing her by title when told to. Twilight leaned forward, and spoke warmly. "I'm impressed by you, Lightning. I was impressed when I first met you at the Wonderbolts Academy. Not many ponies can go one for one with Rainbow Dash like that."

"Well - yeah. I did do pretty well," Lightning agreed with cautious satisfaction.

"And then, I chose you to be part of the Wonderbolts team to fight the incursion in the castle. You did well again. Now you helped find me and bring me back to Canterlot. You can be reckless at times," Twilight added, intending to deflate the pony a little before she got totally carried away, "but Spitfire has done a good job of teaching you to rein it in."

Lightning leaned forward a little, glancing at Rainbow Dash. "Yeah, I was pretty happy when you asked for me specifically, and then Rainbow pulled me in for the search. I'll take on anypony in the air, you better believe it."

"I do believe it, and I was glad to see you arrive. So, Lightning, I asked you here because I wanted to ask you a question."

Lightning's burgeoning confidence overcame any natural wariness, and she grinned. "Oh yeah? I'm listening."

Twilight raised a finger. "Before I can ask you the question, I need your permission, Lightning. I want to cast a little charm on you. It will mean you won't tell anyone what we talk about, after. Is that okay?"

The pegasus blinked, a little of her self-assuredness leaking away. "Uh. Seriously? Sure, whatever."

"If you're sure?" Twilight coaxed. Her heart was hammering in her chest, a shivery arousal tingling in her body. Lightning was sitting there, close enough to reach out and touch, so nearly in her grasp that it made her ache. Her gaze fastened on the pegasus's lips. Say it.

"Yeah, do it. I want to hear this question, already."

"Thank you, Lightning." Twilight smiled; a slow, secretive smile. Rainbow Dash sat up, ready, as Twilight said with gentle precision, "Obey your Empress."

Under Twilight's hungry gaze, Lightning's orange eyes emptied of all independent thought. She slid off the sofa, Rainbow duplicating her movements beside her, and the two hit the ground on their knees. Twinned voices rang out, drained of all their customary attitude and defiance, in flat, blank monotone.

"This slave obeys."

"Yess," hissed Twilight beneath her breath, barely aware she'd spoken. "Lightning. Rainbow. You will rise to your feet."

"I'll stand up," echoed Lightning blankly, Rainbow adding her own mindless affirmation beside her. Slowly, with mechanical smoothness, they stood.

Two perfect, obedient dolls, side by side, ready for her orders. Twilight reached out and ran a slow, caressing hand over Lightning's stomach. The pegasus radiated warmth through her thin costume. Slick fabric over soft, smooth skin, and beneath that, the firmness of toned muscle. Twilight's other hand moved gently up Rainbow's body, slowly, possessively. "Mmm. You'd make a wonderful pair of slaves for me," she murmured.

"We would make wonderful slaves for you," Lightning echoed blankly.

Twilight giggled, sliding her hand up to cup Lightning's cheek. The mesmerised mare gazed back at her with perfect, absolute focus. "Oh, dear. I seem to have spoken a little too loudly. Lightning, have your opinions changed?"

"Yes," Lightning answered simply.

"In what way?" Twilight coaxed. Both of her hands were sliding over Lightning's body now, her face inches from the other mare's. She could feel her own nipples aching stiffly beneath her white dress.

"You deserve more than my service. You deserve my absolute, unquestioning obedience. You deserve Rainbow's absolute obedience. I want to be your slave. I will be everything a slave should be."

Twilight leaned forward, pressing her body against Lightning's, a shudder of convulsive lust running through her. The pony's smooth, matter-of-fact words and her blank, empty expression fired Twilight's arousal in ways she could barely stand. "And - and what should a slave be?"

"Obedient. Devoted. Skilful. Completely loyal."

Just for a moment, Twilight considered waking her up just as she was. But no. No, that wasn't what she was meant to be doing.

Backing away a step, Twilight gazed at the ceiling to remove some of the temptation, and said carefully, "Both of you. You feel, believe and remember everything you did at the moment you entered this trance today. Undo any changes that have occurred."

The two confirmed her orders, their words overlapping, and Twilight let herself breathe just a little easier. "Lightning, go to the sofa, and resume the position you were in before you were enthralled."

"I will sit down."

Twilight's hand reached out and brushed over one of Lightning's small breasts through her suit, before she quickly pulled her hand back. This was only meant to be a preparation, not the real thing. Moving beside Rainbow Dash, she breathed into her ear, "I am satisfied."

Rainbow's empty pink eyes unfocused for a moment, then a little shiver ran through her body. Turning to look at Lightning, a low whistle escaped her lips as she saw her sitting motionless on the couch. "Oh, man," she whispered, "when did you even do that?"

"There's no need to whisper, Rainbow. She can't hear you. Go and fetch our outfits from the cabinet, and bring them to me."

"Yes, Ma'am!"

Pulling a piece of parchment from her pocket, Twilight unrolled it and began to read. "Lightning Dust, these orders are for you. The only ponies that are allowed to know what happens between us today are myself, Rainbow Dash, and any pony I specifically add to that list, which I can do at any time. For all other ponies, you will not communicate directly, or indirectly, anything about events from just before the point where I asked your permission to charm you, until you leave this room. You are fully aware that this block is my magic, and it will not worry you."

"I won't tell anyone but you or Rainbow what happens between us from here until I leave, I'll lie if I have to, it's your spell and I won't worry about that."

A nice, succinct summary. Twilight nodded her approval. "When I release you from your trance, you will remember a flash of light from my horn. Everything that has changed in the room and in yourself since the trance began, you will ascribe to that flash of light. Do you understand?"

"There was a flash of light. Everything that changed is your doing," Lightning droned mindlessly.

"Very good. Lightning Dust, I am now talking to Rainbow Dash, and you will wait to be addressed by name."

"You're not talking to me until you say my name."

Oh, stars above it was tempting to play with her mind a little. Twilight turned to Rainbow, who'd stripped naked while Twilight worked, and was watching with interest. "I look like that when you've put the whammy on me?"

"You do. I find it... I like to see it," Twilight replied, her cheeks gently pink. "I like to see you, all perfectly enthralled, and toned, and naked, completely ready to obey me..." she trailed off, as she noticed Rainbow's eyes were lingering on the way her nipples pushed through her sun dress. "Give me your slave outfit, so I can dress you."

"You're such a pervert, Twi, you know that?" Rainbow teased. Setting down the bundle of fabric in her arms, she straightened her back, and presented her naked body to be decorated.

Twilight moved closer.

"I am satisfied."

Lightning blinked, once, then twice, and her eyes refocused on the scene before her.

Her jaw dropped.

Rainbow Dash was sat on the floor, one arm around Twilight's leg, with her cheek pressed against Twilight's knee, grinning with smug satisfaction. She wore a tight black tank top, with an attached collar buckled firmly around her neck. Oval cut-outs bared her small, smooth breasts and rigid pink nipples. A small padlock dangled from two hoops set into the top, locking it in place on her body. Beneath, she wore only thigh-length boots of glistening black. She shifted slightly, revealing a hint of her bare, shaven sex.

Then, there was Twilight. The Princess of Magic sat in her chair as though it was a throne, her hand resting on Rainbow's multicoloured mane possessively. A long black cloak fell from her shoulders, the ties descending to criss-cross her chest, framing her breasts in a diamond pattern of thin rope. Beneath that, she wore a fishnet crop top that hid nothing while heightening the presence of her bare tits. Below her waist, like Rainbow, she wore nothing but thigh-high boots, though hers lacked the straps Rainbow's boots had that could allow them to be tied together. Her stiff nipples jutted through the mesh.

"Wha-" croaked Lightning, pinned to her chair in shock.

Twilight smiled, stroking her fingers slowly through Rainbow's mane. "I think you understand now why I wanted to be sure you didn't talk about this. Rainbow and I have a special kind of relationship, don't we, Rainbow?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Rainbow replied with husky sincerity, looking up at Twilight briefly before settling back to gazing at Lightning.

"What-" managed the stunned pegasus.

She'd gotten all the way to the end of the word that time. Well done. Twilight gently stroked her free hand down her own cleavage, feeling the strands of the mesh beneath her fingers, her body simultaneously thrumming with arousal and twanging with tension. "Rainbow is... I think the best way to describe it is that she's one of my consorts. Obedient. Loyal. Sensual. I know you've been interested in Rainbow, Lightning. Look at her, please. I want you to look at the body you've imagined touching, now that you can really see her."

That was a bit of a gamble. If Lightning had never been interested in Rainbow, not only was this not going to work, but she might have to actually wipe the pegasus's memory to hide how badly she'd misjudged the situation.

Lightning's eyes moved to Rainbow's body, her gaze travelling up and down her, and a small, disbelieving whimper fell from her lips.

Ah. "I want you to think of the way she acts towards me as... as though I were her commanding officer. Can you picture that? I do know you're trained to obey orders, aren't you, Lightning? The academy teaches you to use your judgement, of course, but when Spitfire gives you an order, you carry it out. You've pictured what would happen if Spitfire ordered you to strip and get between her legs. You'd carry out your orders."

"Ghng." The inarticulate sound didn't convey much, but Lightning nodded slowly, as though unaware she was doing it.

Twilight smiled. That had been another gamble, but if Lightning was attracted to mares, it was hard to imagine she wouldn't have fantasised about Spitfire, her truly delicious commanding officer. Twilight continued speaking, soft and encouraging. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. You could just look at us and then go, if you wanted to. You could look at me." Twilight's hands rose to her chest and gently squeezed her breasts together. She felt the mesh tugging at her stiff nipples, and a low little groan escaped her lips.

"I, mmh, found my body was different after I ascended. I was taller. My breasts were larger. And I had these wonderful, sensitive wings... I've really enjoyed exploring how they feel. My skin feels really nice, too." She giggled once as she palmed her breasts and crushed them together again, making sure to show them off between her splayed fingers. "If I didn't have so much to do, I'd just walk around naked all the time. So I'm very happy for you to look at me, Lightning. Both of us, as long as you want. But, if you remember, I invited you here to ask you a question. No, no. Don't look up. Just nod."

Lightning's gaze rose towards Twilight's face, then flicked down to her revealed body again. Her lips parted, and she managed, "But - Princess, you're -"

"I invited you here, Lighting Dust, to ask you this." Twilight paused, enjoying herself immensely. There was a rich, darkly hot satisfaction in watching the pegasus quiver, trapped, unable to move or escape, held by nothing more than a few soft words and the spectacle before her. "Lightning. Do you want me - do you want us - to fuck you?"

"Buh - but you're a Princess! And what happened? I was just sitting here, and there was a flash, and then you were - how did you do that?" Lightning blurted all at once. Half-rising from her chair, she sidled back around it, putting it between her and Twilight. "Look, okay, I'm gonna - this is way too -"

Oh, darn it. She'd come on too strong. Should have spent more time seducing, before the shock of the reveal. But Lightning wouldn't, couldn't tell anypony, and maybe in time, she'd come around...

Rainbow lifted her head and gave Lightning a challenging look. "What's the matter, Lightning? Too chicken to take me on?"

Lightning stopped. "Hey. All I'm saying is-"

"Guess all those looks in the shower room were just looks, huh? Not got the guts to back them up now you've got the chance?" Rainbow turned her head towards Twilight, adding, "Sorry, Ma'am. Guess when I told you that Lightning would be a worthy fuck, I was totally wrong. We can ask somepony else. You know, somepony with a spine."

Unmoving, half-turned away from them, Lightning's body visibly tensed under the taunting. "Rainbow, I'm going to come over there and kick your ass."

"How about Fleetfoot?" Rainbow suggested to Twilight innocently.

Lightning snorted. "Flatfoot? Come on, like that mare would go for this."

Rainbow Dash, you are a genius. Twilight gazed at Rainbow, lazily stroking a hand up and down her own thigh, watching Lightning Dust from the corner of her eye. "You're right. She got hurt fighting with us to take Canterlot Castle, and she's quite shapely for a pegasus. She deserves to be rewarded with the opportunity, now that Lightning has refused her place."

Lightning Dust stomped back across the room, standing squarely in front of Twilight. Her amber eyes were hot with nervous defiance. "Hey. I did not refuse anything. You want to see how a full-time Wonderbolt fucks, you'll see it. What do I have to do?"

Oh, ouch. That jab was intended for Rainbow, and Twilight felt the pegasus twitch under her hand.

"No mare can come close to screwing other mares the way I do," said Rainbow hotly.

That was enough of that. Twilight sat up a little straighter, levelling her gaze at the pegasus before her, and injected pure steel into her voice. "Lightning Dust, you will stand to attention." Instinct took over before conscious thought could catch up, and the pegasus before her stiffened to a straight-backed posture, hands clasped behind her, head up.

Good. Good. She just had to keep Lightning reacting, rather than worrying. Twilight gave Rainbow's head a final caress, and rose to her feet. "Lightning, until you leave this room, you're going to do as I instruct. You don't have to worry about what to do; all you have to do is exactly what you're told. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Princess!" Lightning blurted, her gaze skittering away from Twilight's and flicking up and down her exposed body.

Twilight drifted forward slowly, gazing into Lightning's eyes. Her warm hand rose to stroke Lightning's cheek, sliding down to gently caress the rigid woman's neck. She could feel a subtle tremor under her fingers; Lightning was quivering on the spot with nervous tension. Without breaking her gaze, Twilight commanded softly, "Rainbow Dash, I'd like you to stroke her wings, now."

"Yes, Ma'am!" Rainbow hopped onto her feet with a flap of her wings, and sauntered behind the captive pony. Lightning's tense expression slowly gave way to something softer and more yielding as the other pony's skilled hands began stroking and teasing her feathers. Her wings inched half-way open, gradually fanning out.

"That's very good, Lightning," Twilight murmured intimately. "I'm very pleased with you. Watch my lips, please. That's right. Rainbow's wanted to touch you for a while, and doesn't it feel nice to let her? That's good. I was very interested in you, too, Lightning. I think you're capable of wonderful things. Shhh. Very good. Don't move. Just stay exactly where you are, and let me touch you."

Twilight's hand slid slowly down Lightning's flank, feeling the warmth of the other pony radiating through the thin material of her suit. Her heart was beating so quickly that she felt dizzy, drunk on the rush of power. Lightning's eyes half-closed, and Twilight watched her lips part in a soundless groan.

Moving a step forward, Twilight let her bared breasts press gently against Lightning's body, biting her own lip as she felt the mesh tugging and squeezing her stiff nipples. Rocking her body slowly, she gently rubbed her chest against the other mare. Her hand ran over Lightning's thigh, then cupped her firm, toned ass, and squeezed gently.

A pink flush was rising in Lightning's cheeks, a vulnerable look of half-disbelieving arousal on her face. "Hnn..." she groaned softly as Twilight caressed her ass.

"That's very good," Twilight soothed her again, leaning in to nuzzle her cheek against Lightning's. Turning her head slightly, she began kissing the soft, aqua skin between words. "It feels nice to be touched, doesn't it? My breasts, my tits, feel good pressed against you."

"Yesss..." breathed Lightning, nodding slightly. "Can't believe this is happening. It's like a dream."

Perfect. Lightning was definitely letting her guard down; the brash pony would never normally say something like that. Twilight's hand slid up to capture one breast through the flight suit, and kneaded slowly. "You can think of it that way if you like... a wonderful, sexy dream. All you have to do is carry out your instructions, and good ponies are treated very well. Rainbow? Don't stop teasing her wings, but you can touch the rest of her too, now."

"Mmm. Sure thing, Ma'am." Rainbow pressed forward, letting Lightning's feathers tickle and caress her bare tits where her slave outfit exposed them, and began kneading her toned ass. "You have a really nice ass, you know that?" she added to the pony under her hands. "Feels just as good as I always thought it would."

"Rainbow. Help her out of her suit, please. Lightning, help her strip you."

Lightning's eyes flickered at that command, but before she could really react, Twilight caught hold of one of her hands and lifted it to rest on her mesh-covered breasts, letting the pegasus feel the thin netting and the heat of her bare skin under her palm. Lightning shuddered and began squeezing Twilight's breast, murmuring thickly, "Yes, Princess," as Rainbow undid the suit zipper.

Oh, yes. Lightning was so pliant, so easily controlled. Twilight wanted to enthrall her again, and use her as a mindless, obedient automaton, but right at this moment, the pegasus seemed half-entranced anyway, so carried away by what was happening to her that she could barely think straight.

The suit parted, baring Lightning's small, high breasts and wiry, toned body to Twilight's hungry eyes. Her fingers immediately moved between the mare's legs, caressing her pussy through the haze of golden fur. Lightning shuddered, doubling over slightly, and Twilight's smile widened.

"Oh, goodness. You're so very wet. You're so turned on you don't know what to do. But you do know you want to be fucked. That you need to be fucked. Isn't that right?"

"Y-yes, Princess," Lightning groaned, body quivering as Rainbow's blue hand slid around her and began tugging and twisting one stiff nipple. "Just - tell me what to do. I'll do it."

"Well, you can start by stepping out of your suit... that's right, let Rainbow pull it all the way off... there. Good girl. Now place both your hands on my breasts... that's it, you can squeeze a little harder, I won't be hurt. Mmmh. Yes, that's right... stroke my nipples. You can pinch and tug them a little, just keep listening and I'll tell you if you do something wrong. That's right. I'm very pleased with you."

"You are?" asked Lightning softly, looking up at Twilight as her hands moved over the Princess's body. There was a yielding uncertainty, a need to be guided, that Twilight wouldn't have expected of her.

"Yes, Lighting. You're doing just what I want you to do. Close your eyes. That's right, just let them close all the way down... good. There's no need to be tense. Just take a deep breath, and let it go. Yes, just like that. Relax." Twilight continued to gently soothe Lightning, speaking softly, as her hands drifted over the aqua pony's thighs and caressed her cutie mark. Attentive to the tone of Twilight's words, Rainbow's touches became a little less aggressively erotic, more soothing, though she continued to caress the base of Lightning's wings and stroke her fingers across the other mare's toned curves.

Little by little, the remaining tension in Lightning's body faded. Her nipples stiffened, standing out tautly, and small groans and sighs fell unselfconsciously from her lips. Even the renewed touch of Twilight's hand teasing slowly up and down her glistening pussy only urged a louder sigh of enjoyment from her.

Twilight smiled to herself. She had Lightning literally in the palm of her hand. Keeping her voice soft, she murmured, "I'd like you to just keep breathing soft and slow. Just listen, and agree. Spitfire has taught you the importance of obeying orders, hasn't she? Everypony has to work together."

"Uh-huh," Lightning breathed distractedly, nodding once.

"This feels wonderful, doesn't it? You're feeling relaxed, and calm, and tingly, and you just want this to go on and on forever. It's really important that you follow my orders, Lightning. You'll obey my orders. Won't you?"

Eyes still closed, Lightning replied softly, "Yeah. I'll obey your orders."

"That's right. Do you like Rainbow's outfit? She looks lovely, doesn't she. Athletic, and exposed, and very ready to please."

"Mmmh," Lighting agreed, with a soft moan.

"I'd like to dress you up the same way. I think you'd look really pretty. When you're dressed up, displayed and revealed, it's very easy to just do as you're told. You can stop thinking, and just experience everything your body is feeling." A little husky sincerity leaked into Twilight's voice, remembering the tight little shirt and short skirt she'd been ordered to wear to the hallucinatory dance in Ponyville. The way she'd felt bent over Vinyl's turntable, feeling hands moving over her body, the bass vibrating through the speakers and tingling against her nipples. "So intensely. Isn't that right, Rainbow?"

Rainbow obviously had fond memories of her own slave outfit, too. Nodding in answer, she murmured throatily, "Oh, yeah." Pressing closer, she kissed the back of Lightning's neck, nibbling down the gentle curve of her shoulder.

Lightning quivered, a flush colouring her cheeks, lips softly parted, her amber eyes unfocused. Her hands tensed and relaxed at her sides with each pleasurable nip of Rainbow's teeth, her wide green-blue nipples standing out rigidly under Twilight's fingers. It took a second for her to swallow, and whisper, "Okay. Sure."

Oh, Celestia, it felt so good to control other ponies. Each whispered surrender strummed some deep chord within Twilight, far deeper and more primal than any desire she could have once believed she possessed. Pressing her body against Lightning, Twilight slowly curled her uninjured wing around the trembling pegasus. "Rainbow, fetch Lightning's outfit, please."

With a flash of reluctance, Rainbow slid her hand up Lightning's inner thighs and stroked her heated pussy in a parting caress, before moving over to the cabinet.

"You... had clothes for me to wear?" Lightning's voice was soft, her arms winding around Twilight and holding on tightly.

Leaning down, Twilight nuzzled her cheek against the other mare's face reassuringly. Her hands slid up and down Lightning's back, from the base of her wings down to the gentle curves of her ass. "You're a pretty similar build to Rainbow, and I picked something that's adjustable. I really did hope you'd want this, Lightning. You're impressive, and you're pretty. You're special."

"Well... yeah, I am pretty great," Lightning mumbled into Twilight's body, in an instinctive attempt at her customary bravado. Her embrace tightened a little.

"Got everything, Ma'am. She's gonna be a real sight to see."

"Help her into it," Twilight commanded softly. "Lightning, you'll cooperate with Rainbow as she dresses you."

Lightning's murmur of compliance was muffled as Twilight leant down and kissed the shorter mare, exploring her mouth with gently possessive firmness. The pegasus barely seemed to notice Rainbow sliding her feet into long, knee-high boots that matched the ones the other two already wore, the straps around them tightening to clench the boots snugly against her skin. Dark, gleaming material slid around Lightning's body as Rainbow guided shoulder loops over her arms, then buckled three wide straps around her, the topmost just below her bare breasts, the lowest around her waist. A final pair of loops went around each thigh, chromed rings dangling from them. Studs gleamed in the vertical strips holding the straps together. The effect was several rings of horizontal belts, hugging her body and shaping her like the skeleton of a corset, while exposing absolutely everything.

Twilight held out her hand, and said softly, "The cuffs, Rainbow." Accepting one, she took Lightning's hand in both of hers, then gently wrapped the cuff around her wrist and buckled it. Guiding Lightning's arm down to her side, she snapped the clip dangling from the cuff onto the ring on her thigh strap, trapping her arm there. Lightning's eyes flicked open, seeking reassurance, and Twilight murmured, "It's okay, just relax... relax, that's a good pony. There. Now I'm taking your other arm... and the cuff is nice and padded and comfortable, it doesn't hurt a bit... and there. It's okay that you can't move your arms. It's all okay."

"It's all okay..." echoed Lightning, her shoulders relaxing slightly, and her eyes closing again.

"That's right. Good pony." Twilight carefully stepped back towards her seat, drawing Lightning with her. Placing one hand on Lightning's shoulder, she gently pushed downwards, murmuring, "Down, now. Down on the floor. Kneel. You'll kneel. Good pony. That's right..."

Lightning slowly sank to the floor, settling into a kneel without opening her eyes. Knowing what was expected of her, Rainbow moved to thread the straps on the calves of the boots through the buckles on the thighs and buckled them firmly, locking Lightning's legs in a kneeling position. As her fingers moved, she said softly to the captive pony, "You look really good like this, Lightning. I was watching you in the locker room, too. Not like I meet somepony that can keep up with me every day. You are really fuckable. But I am the best at fucking. Just wait 'til I get between your legs. You're going to cum so hard, you don't know what day it is."

Maybe these two would want to strike up a relationship after this. The thought struck Twilight belatedly, as she sat down on the edge of her chair and parted her thighs widely to expose her glistening, shaved sex. After a moment's thought, she decided that she would be okay with that. As long as Lightning was still happy to come along with Rainbow and play, sometimes.

She reached out, and cradled the back of Lightning's head in one hand. The pegasus's eyes slid open, a faintly dazed look in them.

"Lean in, and lick me," Twilight ordered softly.

Lightning's lips parted, and an uncertain look flashed across her face. Twilight kept her tiny flash of impatience from showing, and added, "Rainbow, guide her please. No pony is better at this than you."

"You got that right. Okay, Lightning, just lean in, and stick your tongue out. You ever seen a cat lapping up cream? Do that. Lots of quick flicks of your tongue, upwards, like you're trying to drink her. Yeah, that's it. Keep your mouth open a bit, and look up at her as you're licking, ponies really get off watching somepony looking up at them while you eat them out. Mmm. Your tits are really nice." Rainbow pressed herself against Lightning's back as she spoke, her hands sliding around the bound pony and kneading her slim, high breasts. Her nipples were wider than Rainbow's, with broad areola, and Rainbow seemed to take delight in teasing them with her short nails.

Twilight's breaths came short and quick as Lightning yielded to the gentle pressure and let her head be guided between Twilight's thighs. The first brush of the other mare's tongue tingled all the way through Twilight's body, a small whine of pleasure escaping her, and her fingers tightened on the arms of her chair. Letting Lightning watch her, she cupped her own breasts through the mesh and began kneading them slowly, brushing her fingers back and forth over her nipples where they jutted through the netting.

"That feels... really wonderful, Lightning, your tongue is just... perfect. Oh, mmmhh..." she groaned breathily. "Oh! Oh, yes..." Lightning had responded to her words by licking harder, her tongue probing Twilight's glistening pussy more deeply, and Twilight felt herself grow a little dizzy with delight and enjoyment. She'd always thought that you'd be surprised what you could achieve with a word or two of encouragement. Squirming pleasurably, she let the athletic pony lap at her for a few moments, feeling her improve little by little as Rainbow guided her, before she decided it was time to let Lightning have a little reward of her own.

"Lightning, mmm, stop for a moment, please." Lightning's head lifted, and Twilight felt another thrum of arousal speed through her at the dazed look in her eyes, and the shiny wetness on her lips and chin. Spreading her thighs more widely, Twilight purred, "Rainbow, undo the thigh straps. Lightning, lean up and rub your cute little tits against me. Suck my nipples."

"Yes... yes, Princess!" Lightning managed, leaning up as the straps came loose and trying to manoeuvre her small breasts to stroke against Twilight's sex. She hesitated a moment, staring at Twilight's breasts as though she could hardly believe what was happening, then abandoned her hesitation and began licking and sucking eagerly. Muffled whimpers escaped her mouth.

Twilight groaned loudly as her slave's soft, pink tongue went to work again, delighting in the gentle pressure of Lightning's stiff nipples against her wet folds. Tilting her head back and arching her back to push her breasts into Lightning's face, she added throatily, "Rainbow, I'd like for you to lie under Lightning and lick her out, please."

"Finally! It's about time." Rainbow pulled her hand from between her legs, licking it clean with a lazy sensuality that showed she was the sexy pegasus slave around here, before she rolled onto her back and pushed herself under Lightning's quivering body. "Get ready to be amazed," she breathed into Lightning's body, then pushed herself up on an elbow and thrust her tongue into the other mare.

"Hhnnmmmgfff!" Lightning tensed up, whimpering into Twilight's body. Her teeth caught Twilight's nipple lightly, nipping, and she lifted her head with a little shiver. "Sorry, I didn't-"

"Hush, Lightning," Twilight murmured with soft approval. "You're doing very well. That didn't feel bad at all. You can nip me a little, if you're gentle." Her hand smoothed through Lightning's short mane of vibrant orange hair, back and forth, as if soothing an animal. The pegasus nodded softly and fastened her lips to Twilight's breast, sucking gently on her rigid nipple and quivering under the eager assault of Rainbow's skilled mouth.

"That's very good, Lightning. Just keep grinding your cunt against Rainbow's mouth, just like that. She's very, very good, isn't she? No pony I know is quite as good at that as Rainbow Dash. It feels really nice to lick my soft tits and hard nipples, doesn't it? There's something so nice, so right, about kneeling in front of me, bound and tied, pleasuring me and being pleasured in return... this feels wonderful, doesn't it Lightning? You can answer now."

"Oh, ohh yeah, yes, yes Princess, it does. Mmmph! Keep doing that, Rainbow, oh fuck, Princess, ohh..." she trailed off, panting, her hips shifting convulsively as Rainbow's tongue danced over her molten cunt. "Never felt anything like this, not ever..." she breathed, eyes half-lidded, before urgently seeking out Twilight's breasts again with her lips. Her arms tensed against the cuffs, hands balling at her sides, a faint sheen of sweat on her skin.

"Rainbow? No more fooling around, please. Bring her over the edge," Twilight ordered pleasantly. As Lightning's knees buckled under the sudden surge in the intensity of Rainbow's tender assault, Twilight reached down and captured the pegasus's stiff nipples, pinching and gently twisting them.

A sharp whinny broke from Lightning's throat, shuddering as if a live electric current was flowing through her from Twilight's hands to Rainbow's tongue. Her hips bucked frenziedly as her head fell forward, and a shaky cry of release rang out. It seemed to go on and on, sharp and high pitched enough to make glass shiver, before abruptly, the sound stopped. Lightning sagged, her head sinking into Twilight's lap, panting in short, sharp breaths.

"You can come up now, Rainbow," Twilight murmured in the sudden quiet, cradling the Wonderbolt against her. "I think she needs a moment."

With an affectionate parting kiss to Lightning's inner thigh - Lightning shivered slightly - Rainbow slid out from under her and sat up. Crawling forward to sit beside Lightning, Rainbow rested her head against Twilight's knee and rolled her eyes. "Psh. She hasn't even finished getting you off. I could have ridden out six of those and still been ready for more." She casually flicked Lightning's fringe with a finger, adding with affectionate playfulness, "You hearing me? I guess it was your first time riding the greatest tongue in Equestria."

Lightning nodded dazedly, agreeing, "Yeah, first time..."

Twilight's hand paused in mid-stroke, and she leaned to the side slightly to get a better look at Lightning's face, where it rested on her lap. "You mean it was your first time riding Rainbow's tongue, don't you?"

A flicker of self-consciousness danced over Lightning's expression, and she replied more coherently, "Uh, sure. Yes." Lifting her head from Twilight's lap, she avoided looking directly at the alicorn, a blush beginning to rise on her already flushed cheeks.

"...and your first time with mares." Twilight searched Lightning's expression, picking up the slight wince that sped guiltily across her features. "Your first time, at all?"

"No!" Lightning Dust lied, immediately and unconvincingly.

Twilight's jaw dropped open.

Rainbow filled in the momentary pause, with her customary lack of tact. "You've never had sex before? You're a Wonderbolt! We talked in the locker room, you said-"

"Well - I haven't gotten that far! Not this far, anyway, okay? Everypony assumes I have somepony, so that's how it is." Lightning sounded defensive now, her arms tugging at the cuffs again.

Twilight struggled to overrule her own shock, trying to think of the right words to soothe the pony between her legs. Lightning had never - never this before? So her first real experience, her first proper experience, was a bondage three-way with a perverted Princess and her chief rival. The first time, the one she'd remember always, and it was that. Even if she could tell other ponies, they wouldn't believe her.

Okay. If this moment had a greater weight than Twilight had realised, that was alright. The thing that mattered now was making it a good memory.

Twilight's arms moved around Lightning, and she gently urged her to kneel up higher, drawing her head to rest between Twilight's breasts. "You're beautiful, Lightning Dust, you really are. You're toned, and athletic, and I'm so impressed with your skill and speed. I want you to know that this isn't something that happens with just anypony. Only the most special ponies in the land, ones that I admire." One hand moved back and smoothed through Lightning's feathers soothingly. "I'm really honoured that you'd choose to be with me for your first time. Me and Rainbow."

Some of the tension in Lightning's body leaked away, her muscles relaxing more with every stroke of her wings. "Princess," she murmured into Twilight's body. "I'm - yeah. Thank you."

Twilight lifted her head and caught Rainbow's eye. The pegasus nodded, and crawled forward, sitting behind Lightning and pressing warmly against her back. "What Twilight said. You're pretty great. Not as great as I am-" she prodded Lightning in the ribs, "-but pretty great. This is good."

Lightning lifted her head slightly, glancing back towards Rainbow. A little more energy in her voice, she replied playfully, "Big words from somepony that hasn't been at practise, slowcoach."

Rainbow spluttered with indignation. "Only because I've been busy saving Equestria." Her hands shifted down Lightning's flanks and began tickling with a vengeance.

"Stop it! Stop, no fair!" Lightning squirmed, tugging at her cuffs. "Princess!"

Twilight giggled. Resting one hand on Lightning's head, and the other atop Rainbow's colourful mane, she ordered, "Stop tickling my captive, Rainbow, that's too cruel. Lightning, are you needed for anything, for the rest of the day? I'm injured," she added soulfully, "and I should lie down. I would really appreciate it if you could both keep me company."

Lightning gazed up at Twilight, her eyes travelling over the soft, lavender breasts up to Twilight's warm, affectionate smile. "I'd have to miss practice. You'll have to put in a word with Spitfire for me later, Princess. But yeah, I can spend a few hours soothing your poor, injured body."

Looking from Lightning to Rainbow, Twilight felt a deep, gentle warmth well up in her. "I can't think of anything I'd like more."

The last rays of sunset streaked the sky with pink and gold. Twilight sat on the side of her bed - not her bed, the one from her childhood, but the big Princess bed she'd been increasingly thinking of as her own. The one with room for lots of other ponies to join her. She was naked, now, but for the white band around her injured wing.

She'd been somepony's first lover. Somehow, it had never occurred to her that was even a possibility. Lightning was like Rainbow, all arrogance and skill. But where Rainbow had had many lovers, Lightning...

Well. She was making up for lost time, now.

Muffled moans came from the pair entwined on the bed behind her, their heads between each other's thighs, groaning and gasping as they rolled back and forth, struggling to be the one on top. Lightning's voice panted indistinctly, "Gonna get you - first, this - time," immediately followed by Rainbow's breathy, "Dream on - dweeb!"

Rainbow was winning their little contest by a high margin. Lightning was definitely learning fast, though. Twilight absently stroked a hand up and down her thigh, a tingle running through her. Yes, in this particular arena, Rainbow was showing herself to be an excellent teacher.

She was going to have to refresh Lightning's commands before the pegasus left; leaving the audience room by the secret corridors had broken the seal of secrecy on what happened after that, and she not only didn't want Lightning bragging about fucking a Princess, she didn't want the passages to be more widely known either. But beyond that... it was becoming evident that if Twilight asked, Lightning would be very happy to come back and play with the two of them anytime. She was even willing to be tied up, and ordered around. All without needing to charm her.

All of that was true, and Twilight was going to have to work on her to persuade her to accept the charm anyway. It was as though Lightning wouldn't be finished, wouldn't be fully hers until she could trigger her at a whim into a blank-eyed fuckdoll without a shred of hesitation. Twilight considered the thought, weighing it. Was that actually bad? If Lightning didn't want to, she wouldn't push the issue, and she'd still be happy to let the lithe Wonderbolt into her bed sometimes. What more could Luna ask for?

But all of that could wait.

Twilight's hand smoothed along Lightning's back, who was currently on top, ruffling her feathers. Lightning groaned as her concentration was broken, followed by a shorter, sharper gasp as she instinctively ground her pussy harder against Rainbow's face in the release she'd been fighting to hold back.

"Nnhhh! Haaa... haaa... no... no fair!"

"Ha! I win - again," panted Rainbow triumphantly beneath her.

"Well you wouldn't, if you hadn't had help-"

"Sore loser."

"Yeah? How about I give you some payback, then!"

"Mmmfh! Yeah, okay... yeah..." Rainbow breathed, sinking back against the bed and letting Lightning renew her attentions.

Twilight shifted up to lie beside them both, continuing to gently stroke Lightning's back as the Wonderbolt pleasured the pony beneath her. Twilight had only intended to spend the afternoon with the pegasus. A little hard seduction, a wonderful session together, and an invitation to do it - to do them - again, sometime. A fun few hours, with no commitments after.

Except, as it turned out, Lightning was far less experienced than she'd expected. Under those circumstances, she could hardly kick Lightning out of her bed after a couple of hours. No, Lightning had to stay the night, and feel properly admired and treasured, otherwise she'd come to regret ever giving in to Twilight's offer. The thought of a pony regretting being with her, wishing it had never happened... no, Twilight couldn't let that happen.

That did mean not sleeping with all her other slaves for the night, though. All of them had to be going a little crazy, having worried themselves sick after her disappearance the day before, then being shut out of her room all day. She couldn't leave them alone for the night, either. But if she brought them into the bed with Lightning, she'd feel... overwhelmed, unimportant.

Every time she started sleeping with a new pony, her life got more complicated. There was an unsubtle lesson in there.

Beside her, Rainbow finally whimpered through a short, sharp little orgasm, panting into Lightning's body. The aqua pony rolled off her, settling into the bed at her side. "Can you pull a muscle in your tongue?" Lightning asked rhetorically.

Twilight smiled, reaching out to stroke her orange and yellow mane. Perhaps it was time to try honesty. It had worked before.

"I'm so happy you're here, Lightning. I'm really glad to see you and Rainbow getting on so well, too."

"I'll say we are..." mumbled Rainbow, her eyes closed.

"...but I have to make a choice, now. My other consorts must be really nervous, since I vanished yesterday and spent all day sequestered away. I need to see them, and let them cuddle up to me, so they know everything will be alright. But I'd like you to stay here, too. Either I can let them in, or if you like, Rainbow will stay with you for the night and keep you company until the morning." Twilight's fingers gently brushed Lightning's lips. "What do you think?"

There was a long pause, before Lightning finally sighed. "Hey, I really like the idea of sleeping with you, but maybe it's been enough new experiences for one day. Mind if I take the Rainbow option?"

"Of course not," Twilight said gently, and was quietly surprised to find she meant it. "Rainbow, do you mind?"

Rainbow's pink eyes opened, and she reached out to stroke Twilight's leg. "...nah. Yeah, I want to keep you, but we've fucked all day. Guess it's time to give the others a go. Besides. I'll still be tasting you by morning." She grinned, then pushed herself into a sitting position and flopped down the other direction, facing Lightning. "I'll keep you company. Dweeb."

"Slowpoke."

Sitting up, Twilight crawled over to the edge of the bed and stepped down onto the floor. Leaning back over the bed, she caressed Lightning's face one final time, then bent lower to kiss Rainbow. "I love you, you know. Please don't let Lightning go in the morning before I have a chance to talk to her. Use whatever measures you have to," she added playfully.

"Yes, Ma'am," Rainbow replied enthusiastically.

"Goodnight, you two. I'll see you in the morning," she told them fondly, moving to the doorway.

"Night, Twi."

"Goodnight, Princess! Thanks for - all of this."

The door shut softly behind her.

Twilight padded naked down the hallway. That was probably the best solution she could have chosen. Of course, that did raise another problem. Where was she going to find another bed as big and soft as her own?

"Good evening, Celestia."

"Good evening, Twilight. And Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy. Not to mention Zecora and Trixie. Is there something you need?"

"Yes, Princess. I need you to remove your clothes, and take us to your bed."

"...whatever you wish. Empress."

Author's Note

This was all originally part of the previous chapter, before I looked around and realised it had gotten entirely too large. Never mind! Double chapter update it is.

8: Premonitions

A double knock sounded on the carriage door. Without opening it, the pony outside called, "Princess Twilight? We will be arriving in Canterlot in the next few minutes."

"Thank you, Clock Watcher," Twilight replied loudly enough to be heard over the gentle creak and rattle of the train in motion, without looking away from the landscape passing by her window. She rested in a heap of cushions and blankets that she'd piled into a bottomlessly soft nest, sprawling over several seats.

She could afford to take the room. Aside from herself, the carriage was empty. As was the next, and the one after that.

To her slightly guilty relief, she'd found that what she needed, really, really needed, was a little time apart from everypony. Especially anypony she'd enthralled and invited to worship and obey her. There were times when the sheer pressure of their happiness at being with her was itself hard to bear, and though they'd done nothing wrong, she'd felt herself getting a little low on patience.

She'd not been a Princess very long, but already she was finding that her initial objections to some of the comforts that came with the rank - like a luxuriously appointed private train, the one Celestia had teasingly sent to meet her before their confrontation - had simply melted away. It was possible she should feel bad about that, but given all of the temptations of absolute power she'd been holding at arm's length, a long, quiet ride from Ponyville to Canterlot in a few carriages of her own wasn't remotely worth worrying about.

Once the train had gotten underway, she'd asked for it to slow down, too, to make the journey last longer. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to take a tour of Equestria by train, and just not get out very much at the stops.

The soft clatter of the wheels over the tracks was slowing perceptibly. The outskirts of Canterlot swept by beyond the wide strip of grassy, open space that bordered the line, and the carriage shuddered as the train drew to a gentle stop. Twilight sighed softly, and pushed herself out of her nest of cushions. Picking up her small travelling bag, she slung it over one shoulder, and moved to the carriage door. The instant her hand touched the handle, it was drawn open from the outside, and Clock Watcher bowed low as she stepped out.

"Princess!"

"It's the Princess!"

"Princess Twilight!"

A sudden rush of voices greeted her from the crowd of ponies thronging the platform, all craning their necks to see her, though held back by the vast, imposing bulk of Autumn in his violet armour. Before her, Diorite and Trixie waited on the platform, looking impassive and desperately eager respectively. Trixie had forgone her star-spangled hat today, though her billowing purple cloak and short, tight blue dress showed she had no intention of simply blending into the crowd.

Twilight paused by the doorway, and said gently, "Thank you very much, Clock Watcher. Please give my thanks to the train staff. I really needed this peaceful journey, and I'd like to ride this train again very soon."

The young-looking colt swelled visibly with pride, nodding vigorously. "We're very happy to carry you, Princess! Thank you!"

Stepping towards her Guard Captain and her slave, Twilight did her best not to feel flustered by the rumble of voices murmuring her name, and greeted them, "Good afternoon, Diorite. Hello, Trixie."

"Welcome home, Princess." Diorite saluted crisply, her face perfectly impassive.

Impassivity not being Trixie's strongest suit, she chose instead to lunge forward and seize Twilight's hand in both of hers, looking as though she was barely restraining herself from dropping to her knees and kissing Twilight's feet. "The Great and Powerful Trixie welcomes you back to Canterlot! You must have suffered terribly without her devoted assistance and perfect body. She is here now, the nightmare is over."

Twilight's lips quirked into a smile, gazing intently at Trixie as she tried to figure out whether the powder blue pony was serious. Good grief, she actually might be. "It's good to see you, both of you. Autumn, too. Thank you for meeting me."

"It's our duty to look after you, Princess. As we would have in Ponyville, if you'd allowed us to accompany you." Diorite's voice was a shade reproachful as she turned towards the exit from the platform, and beckoned Autumn with a brief hand signal to bring up the rear.

"I'm sorry about that," Twilight apologised. She wanted to add an explanation - she didn't want her guards in Ponyville because she was trying to keep her life there as normal as possible, or the more honest but less diplomatic truth that she'd really rather not be surrounded by guards for the rest of her potentially indefinite life - but any kind of explanation invited a counter-argument. Better to stick to just the apology, since she had no intention of changing her mind.

Diorite snorted, but quietly. Waving the ponies entering the station to one side, Diorite led them out into the street, where a coach waited. "Your carriage, Princess," she said in brief explanation.

"-oh. A carriage, for me?" Twilight blinked. "I usually just walk."

"Would you prefer to lead a parade back to the castle, Princess?" Diorite asked the question with a bland lack of inflection, but a flick of her eyes indicated the growing crowd piling up behind Autumn, craning their necks to catch a glimpse of Twilight.

Twilight's face coloured with embarrassment, and she self-consciously straightened under the renewed pressure of dozens of eyes, trying not to fiddle nervously with her mane. Somewhere in the growing crowd, a camera levitated up over the heads of the ponies around her, and the flash cast a brief, actinic glare. "I - yes. I understand. I'd like the carriage, please."

Trixie swept past Twilight, letting one of the carriage ponies open the door for her with the air of a gently put-upon monarch graciously deigning to notice one of her subjects. Sighing, Twilight followed her, pausing to smile gratefully at the carriage pony, and murmur, "Thank you very much." Diorite shut the door behind the two, and she and Autumn hopped onto the back of the carriage as the running team took up the strain and began to move.

Trixie rolled her eyes, flopping sideways and laying her head in Twilight's lap. "Honestly, the slutty and submissive Trixie thought she'd never be alone with you again. It's been days since she could kneel in front of you and debase her glorious body the way you trained her, and it's been awful. Simply awful."

Rolling her eyes, Twilight let her fingers sink in Trixie's mane, stroking gently. "I've missed you too, Trixie," she said gently, and found that she meant it sincerely. "I'm sorry you had to stay behind."

"Your perfect, submissive slut had work to do for you, work that no one else could do." Trixie signed winsomely. "It's the burden of being incredibly talented. At least she has you all to herself, now. Unless... are any of the others coming today?" She couldn't hide the hopefulness in her voice that they wouldn't.

"You and both Princesses," Twilight reminded her. "There isn't anypony else coming for a few days, though. Zecora really didn't want to be apart from me, but she has to go and do all the things she does to keep the Everfree soothed, so it doesn't get too stirred up. Rainbow has weather duty rota to take that she's been avoiding, and she has to keep an eye on Scootaloo, too. Even Spike needs to take a few days to make sure the library is in a good state, and give the Cake family some help. Everypony has a life of their own, and while they're incredibly important to me, I can't take them away from all the ponies that care for them and rely on them."

It didn't occur to Twilight what she was implying before she looked down and saw Trixie's expression had become fixed. A sudden rush of shame and awkwardness flooded her, like a weight dropping into her chest, and she added quickly, "I didn't mean-"

"Trixie understands," Trixie cut across Twilight's hasty words, just a little too quickly. She opened her mouth to say something more, hesitated, then obviously changed her mind and said instead, "Did you enjoy Ponyville, Mistress? Your time could have been much better spent here, of course. Trixie didn't expect you to follow your fawning rabble out of Canterlot."

Considering the misstep she'd just made, Twilight decided to let 'fawning rabble' go. Sighing, she slid her hand behind Trixie's head and drew the smaller pony to lay her head against Twilight's shoulder, gently rubbing the back of her neck. "It didn't go the way I'd hoped, honestly. I thought that if I left Canterlot, everything would be the way it always was. But it wasn't, not really. Everypony in town knew I was coming, the station was packed. I had to make a speech before I could even go home! Every time I stepped outside, there were ponies all over the place suddenly, wanting to talk to me, and - and I'm grateful that they care," she continued wretchedly, "I really don't want to seem ungrateful, but I wish they'd treat me more like - more like just me. The way they did before."

"The devoted and desperate Trixie doesn't care that you're an alicorn, Mistress. She already worshipped you. It does make your splendid and slutty slave proud to be the possession of such a powerful pony, though. Once you have full control of your powers, nothing in Equestria can stand before you! What new secrets have you unravelled in her absence?" Trixie nuzzled her cheek against Twilight's shoulder, kissing the bare skin where the neckline of her Mistress's loose top exposed the curve of her neck.

Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose in exasperation. "I didn't have time to do any experimenting at all! Even when I stayed inside, I couldn't sit down and think for five minutes without visitors knocking on the door, and even with Spike trying to fend them off, I mostly had to deal with it myself. I've no idea how scrambled my magic is right now, and when I levitated an orange to take a bite out of it, I squashed it flat."

She coughed. "So flat that juice and pips went everywhere. Orange juice really stings when you get it in your eyes. I've had to do everything with my fingers. I have to get up, and move around all the time, and I keep running out of hands, and the mess my writing is in, when I have to hold the quill..." Twilight shook her head, frowning.

"Your devoted slave Trixie will scribe for you," Trixie offered. Her hand creeping up Twilight's thigh, she asked more softly, "What does it feel like to be the Princess of Magic? All that power."

The yearning fascination on Trixie's face was obvious. However much she'd become devoted to Twilight, the desire for her own power was still in there, somewhere. Refocused, perhaps, as desire to be stronger for her Mistress, but the alteration to her mind wasn't going to last forever...

Twilight closed her eyes, resting her head against Trixie's, and let herself relax, searching her feelings. Quietly, over the creaking of the carriage and the soft rattle of wheels on cobbles, she said, "I don't feel powerful right now. I can't trust my own magic. It's scary, and kind of sad. I feel... pressure. Pressure inside me, not bad, or good, but just - there."

Reaching up to Twilight's chest, Trixie gently stroked the radiating bars and symbols just visible over the neckline of her shirt. "You will master it, and then you'll be more perfect than ever. Trixie is fascinated by you, Mistress." Her fingertips caressed the curve of the ink across Twilight's skin. "You're so strong. You've always been strong. Strong enough to take all of Luna's power when you were just a unicorn! Trixie would have burnt herself up, if she'd tried that."

Twilight blinked. Humility, from Trixie? "I'm surprised to hear you say that," she confessed.

Wrinkling her nose, Trixie shifted her head slightly against Twilight's shoulder, not looking directly at her face. "The submissive slave Trixie isn't stupid, Mistress. She remembers the amulet. She's not allowed to damage your property like that again."

This time, Twilight managed to hide her reaction a little better, and simply stroked Trixie's hair as her thoughts whirled. Trixie's enslavement was stopping her from taking risks with herself? What did that mean for when Trixie was released? If she took it badly, she could go right back to taking the very worst kind of chances, seeking some way of getting revenge.

It wasn't nice to think of what she was doing right now as something somepony would one day want to take revenge for, either.

"...I'm sorry that-"

The carriage lurched to a halt, and Trixie straightened quickly, seizing Twilight's hand. "This way, Mistress! The slutty and fuckab- the Great and Powerful Trixie has something she wants to show you at once," Trixie corrected herself as the carriage door swung open, and her words became audible to Diorite. Tugging Twilight out after her, she added quickly, "This way, this way, they can put the carriage away, that's what they're for."

Twilight winced again at Trixie's casual rudeness, and dug her heels in this time. Dragging Trixie to a stop, she turned to the carriage ponies and said firmly, "Trixie, that wasn't polite. I'd like you to say sorry."

The nearer of the two carriage ponies looked awkward, and in a sheepish bass rumble, muttered, "Princess, you don't have to do that."

"You see? Even they agree with the Great and Powerful Trixie, and she has something to show you, so-"

"Trixie." Twilight tugged her hand free, and crossed her arms across her chest.

With a loud sigh, Trixie rolled her eyes and turned back to the two carriage ponies, now shifting uncomfortably under the scrutiny. "The sincere and contrite Trixie apologises for - being rude." The momentary pause betrayed the fact she wasn't even aware of what she was apologising for, but general rudeness was usually a pretty safe bet.

Well, that was probably as good as it was going to get. Addressing the two ponies herself, Twilight told them, "Thank you very much for taking me home. I hope I can ride with you again." Turning, she added to Diorite and Autumn, "Thank you for meeting me at the station, I really appreciate it. I'd like to talk to you later, Diorite, so I can hear how things have gone in my absence. I'll also want to talk to Argent about the Seekers later, please."

"As you wish, Princess." Diorite saluted, as did Autumn with hearty enthusiasm.

"Now can we go, Mistress?" Trixie rolled her eyes, and walked off without waiting for an answer.

Leaving the carriage behind before things could get any more awkward, Twilight followed Trixie into the gentle shade of the castle. The silver haired pony grinned smugly as she glanced back at Twilight, all but skipping down the halls ahead of her.

At first, she thought Trixie was heading for her own suite of rooms, but a descending spiral staircase led down into the deep basements of the castle instead. As her footsteps rang on the stone steps and the murmur of voices and movement diminished overhead, she couldn't keep herself from asking, "Trixie, where are we going? There's nothing but food storage down here."

"It's a shame to be so wrong, Mistress. The benevolent and helpful Trixie will help you understand."

Twilight paused at the foot of the stairs, a smile on her lips at the other pony's effrontery. "Trixie-"

"No more questions, Mistress! She isn't going to say a single word more until she's ready to." Nodding to herself in satisfaction, Trixie turned off down a corridor with a low, arched roof, a space that felt more like a tunnel than a passageway. Stopping in front of an anonymous wooden door set into the gently curving wall, she seized hold of the wide iron ring set into the aged, time-blackened timbers and paused for dramatic effect.

"Mistress, the splendid and submissive Trixie is always thinking of how to please you. It must have been hard to be separated from her, but she was thinking of you the whole time, and she's prepared a surprise to welcome you back to Canterlot!" Tossing her hair, she added casually, "You may feel free to lavish praise upon her, now." With a firm push, the door swung inwards on surprisingly silent hinges, and she stepped aside to allow Twilight to go first.

If Twilight wasn't certain that she'd locked Trixie out of using the charm without her express permission, she'd expect there to be a naked pony inside the door. Or several. With a slightly wary glance at Trixie's gleeful expression of self-satisfaction, Twilight stepped past her and through the archway.

Her lips parted in surprise.

A long, broad chamber stretched out before her, much larger than she'd expected. The floor was paved with grey flagstones, worn with time, though they'd mostly been covered by colourful rugs. Great ribs of unadorned white stone supported the gently vaulted ceiling, barely the height of a normal room at the edges but half as high again in the centre. Short, wide windows like horizontal slits studded one wall, high up and near the ceiling, revealing a hint of blue sky, but the main sources of light were cleanly-glowing magical lanterns. Flat topped stone platforms, waist height, occupied the majority of the room in three neat rows of five, narrow ends aligned with the length of the chamber. Bright, shiny new stools of rich brown wood sat beside them in pairs. At the very far end, a large rolling blackboard had been set up, next to a wooden desk and a complicated wooden chair that looked as though it swivelled.

"Trixie! You did this?"

Stepping in beside Twilight, Trixie closed the door behind them with a flick of her horn, glowing with pride. "Isn't it perfect, Mistress? You can use it for magical experimentation, and your Seekers can study here, and it's yours. She had it formally made yours. Trixie spoke to the Princesses, and didn't even mention the time that she played with Princess Celestia's breasts, nor did she go so far as to remind her that she snores."

Twilight laughed gently, shaking her head. "It's beautiful," she told Trixie sincerely. Stepping down the couple of steps onto the chamber floor, she danced down the central aisle delightedly, running her hands over the smooth stone platforms and touching the magical lanterns with her fingertips. A giddy delight came over her, and she grabbed Trixie's hands, tugging the other pony after her. "Oh, it's wonderful! Everywhere upstairs is for living in, there's nowhere I can really practice without worrying I'll break something. You've done so, so well. What was this place?"

Trixie let herself be drawn after Twilight, her eyes sparkling with joy at her Mistress's reaction, and a high blush on her cheeks. "Trixie found - it was an unused storeroom, Mistress! It was dusty, and disgusting, and full of broken furniture, and she could hardly get the door open, and she just knew - because your slave is perceptive, and intelligent, and simply perfect in every way - that you could make much better use of it. So she cleaned everything and had new lanterns put in, and all the furniture, and got rid of all the mess. She wasn't the efficient and hard-working Clean Sweep for nothing!"

It occurred to Twilight - a small thought in the back of her mind, as she laughed again - that she really was enjoying being in Trixie's company again. She was ridiculous, in her puffed-up arrogance, true, but there was a note of humour to it that hadn't been there before. Resting her ass against her new desk, flicking up her tail to lie across it in a broad ribbon of colour, she faced Trixie and took the other pony's hands in hers. A warm smile curled her lips.

A subtle change touched Trixie's expression as her gaze met Twilight's, her eyes widening slightly and her lips parting.

"Ssh. Don't say anything, Trixie. Let me look at you," Twilight said softly. Silence settled across the room, not a sound from the castle above making it through the layers of thick stone. Only the faint, soft sound of wind against the cliff face outside coloured the faint hiss of no sound at all. That, and the soft, almost imperceptible sounds of two mares, barely breathing. She drank in every detail of Trixie's face, suddenly aware of all the subtleties that her eye had glided past without noticing before. Trixie's lips were a little wider than she remembered, soft and inviting, with a coat of some pale blue lipstick that highlighted them against her slightly darker blue skin. Sparkling eye shadow coloured her eyelids, and dark flecks of mascara decorated her eyelashes. A couple of small, darker spots of pastel blue flecked her smooth skin.

Had Trixie always worn makeup like this, or had she put this on specially, knowing Twilight was coming? There was longing in Trixie's wide, purple eyes that couldn't be camouflaged, a quickness of her breath that brought hints of pink-purple to her cheeks. Her tongue brushed her lips, a quick, nervous flick of pink.

"...you're beautiful," Twilight murmured, almost as though realising it for the first time, letting go of one of Trixie's hands to stroke her fingers across the other pony's blushing cheek.

Trixie's eyes fluttered, a subtle quiver running through her as she leant into Twilight's hand. A tremble in her voice, she whispered, "She wanted to be beautiful for you."

"You are," Twilight replied softly. "Do you find me beautiful, Trixie?" Of course the other pony's opinion was twisted by the orders she'd been given. She was enslaved by the magic in her head, and even if Twilight had never commanded her to find her new Mistress attractive, the feelings that she did have imposed on her would give rise to others. It was foolish to put any weight in what Trixie thought of her, given how hopelessly compromised her judgement was.

Trixie gave a small, jerky nod, her eyes not leaving Twilight's face for an instant. "Yes. Oh, yes. Yes, Mistress. Please." Her hands trembled at her sides, wanting to reach out but unsure she was allowed to.

Foolish or not, Twilight's heart beat faster. "Did you... were you ever attracted to me, before I... charmed you?" The words, barely a whisper, were scarcely audible even in the absolute quiet of the chamber.

Trixie swallowed. "The slutty and submissive Trixie - before you made her what she is - she used to think about you a lot. Vengefully. She wanted to humiliate you, make you bow before her might. She had... fantasies, about making you have sex with her."

Slowly leaning closer, Twilight murmured, "It makes me happy that you wanted me, even then." Was it wrong that the thought of putting Trixie through exactly those degrading experiences made her body tingle? Her nipples thrust against the soft fabric of her loose top, the lacy bra beneath doing nothing to hide them.

A soft, subtle thrill of power ran down her spine as she whispered, "I made you my slave." Twilight's lips met Trixie's, forcefully, needful, and all at once, she was embracing the other pony, holding her tight. Her tongue slid into Trixie's mouth, exploring the hotness of it, the taste of her. Their bodies pressed together, and in a flash of urgent possessiveness, Twilight broke the kiss to say in a low, husky tone, "Mine. You're mine."

Dizzily, her eyes slightly glazed, Trixie moaned in response, "She's yours, Mistress, she's your bitch, your fucktoy, abuse Trixie, keep her, make her yours forever..."

"Oh, my stars," Twilight breathed, her head swimming. One hand moved down to Trixie's ass, squeezing firmly and pulling the other pony harder against her. Twilight's horn ignited, a sheen of violet magic rippling along it. An incandescent glow flared around the fastenings of Trixie's tight blue dress, flickered, then steadied.

In a single moment of blurred motion, the dress tore apart into a dozen fluttering pieces, rags settling around her like pale blue snow. Trixie gasped aloud at the violence of her stripping, abruptly nude but for stockings and garter belt, and the purple cloak which danced and fluttered as though in a gale.

Twilight froze, the glow around her horn dying instantly, an appalled look on her face. "I - I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Stupid! She'd gotten so carried away that for a moment, she'd forgotten how dangerous her magic was, how easily it could hurt somepony.

Breathing heavily, Trixie nodded shakily. Her bare breasts heaving, she managed, "Yes, I'm - she's fine. You're so powerful, so dangerous..." The tone of her voice shifted slowly, growing husky as she continued, "You ripped her clothes off without even trying..."

Shaking her head, Twilight protested, "That wasn't safe!"

"Oh, she knows..." Pushing her body roughly against Twilight, grinding her chest against her Mistress, she hissed, "Fuck her. Strip her. The slutty and submissive Trixie is your slave."

Belatedly, the part of Twilight that always watched the rest of her, even when she was lost in lust, pointed out that Trixie had an exceptionally poor track record of making decisions involving powerful magic. The rest of her was being rapidly seduced all over again by the urgency of Trixie's body. As long as she didn't try to use any more magic... that would be okay, wouldn't it?

Twilight's fingers slid along the tender surface of Trixie's skin, slipping under the edges of her panties and digging into tender flesh. "Yes. You're mine."

Warm lips and hot tongues came together with rough need, and words were a thing of the past. Trixie's hands fumbled urgently at Twilight's shirt, tugging it up and over the swell of her breasts. Struggling with the lacy bra for a moment, Trixie gave up and broke the kiss to tug the crumpled shirt over Twilight's head and pull her bra free down her arms.

Small whimpers of desire escaped Trixie's parted lips as she threw the unwanted clothes aside, panting, "Want you, want you," before pushing Twilight down onto the desk and crawling up to straddle her legs. Ducking her head, she began kissing and licking Twilight's soft breasts, gently biting at her stiff nipples with eager, hungry desire.

"Oh, oh, oh..." breathed Twilight, letting her head sink back against the polished wood. Her back arched, her body feeling hot and tight, her skin taut. Her hands slid under the purple cape and explored Trixie's smooth back, gently clawing at the other mare's skin. The pressure of her damp panties against her increasingly damp skin was becoming unbearable, and she gasped, "Trixie! Lick me!"

"Yes, Mistress!" Trixie's face was flushed, her hair in disarray, a glowing smile on her lips as she lifted her head. Wriggling down Twilight's body, she pushed up the pleated skirt with an urgency matched only by the tenderness with which she slid her fingers into the waistband of Twilight's panties, and slowly tugged them down her Owner's slim legs.

Twilight shifted, turning to lay her body lengthwise along the desk, and parted her legs wide. Trixie crawled between them, on her hands and knees, ass in the air, and planted a long trail of yearning kisses up Twilight's inner thighs. Hot breath tickling Twilight's skin, she slowly, tremblingly, drew her tongue up the slick, glistening folds.

Both mares gasped in unison, perspiration-slick bodies arching. Twilight's hands swept up to cup her own breasts, still marvelling at the way that they filled her hands, and kneaded them roughly. Head tilted back, she closed her eyes and gave in to the sensation of Trixie's mouth on her tender sex. It felt so good! Every swipe of her slave's tongue made her jerk against the smooth wood beneath her, her fingers capturing and delicately twisting and flicking her rigid, deep violet nipples. Whines and moans coloured the air, given a resonance by the echoing stone walls.

It was like... like fucking in a classroom. Twilight's thighs squeezed together slightly, the thought sending an extra little tingle down her as she arched her body and thrust her dripping cunt harder against her slave's mouth. Fucking on the teacher's desk, so depraved. It made her think of Cheerilee, and her red lips, and her wine-coloured breasts, being forced to lick her out, both of them just pawns in Celestia's hands, and she should resent that, but it had been so darn hot...

A fresh shudder wracked her body as Trixie's tongue hit a particularly sensitive spot, and she whimpered aloud. Cheerilee probably had no idea she'd fucked Twilight. Or, maybe more likely, she remembered dressing Twilight in a depraved mockery of a school outfit, remembered spanking her and Twilight's mouth between her legs, and nothing seemed unusual about that to her at all. Oh, stars, that was so hot. Maybe Cheerilee could be talked into something like that again. Maybe she and Celestia could be the naughty students for teacher Twilight...

Trixie was murmuring something. She'd been doing it for a while, Twilight realised, but she hadn't been paying attention, and the words were muffled, barely audible. Now that she listened, though, she could just make out the words that Trixie was breathing into her body between licks.

"Keep me... keep me... keep me..."

Twilight's breath caught. One hand moving down to cradle the back of Trixie's head, she panted raggedly, "I do want to keep you, Trixie, I want to teach you, and keep you near, and I need your help, and I wouldn't be here like this without you..."

Trixie's fingers slid into Twilight's molten cunt, her free hand working urgently between her own legs. Lifting her head just a little, she breathed with desperate sincerity, "Slutty fucktoy Trixie needs you, obeys you, never let her go, Mistress, Mistress, please-"

"My Trixie, my Trixie, my-" gasped Twilight in response, too hot to think straight, wanting nothing more than to hold her slave against her, to writhe against her mouth, to own her completely. A quivering shock flashed through her, pushing her tremblingly close to the edge, and she embraced the feeling with all her heart. Pleasure blossomed within her like a vast firework, an explosion of light that rippled with aftershocks, drowning everything else.

Slowly, little by little, the world ebbed back. The warm length of Trixie's body lay against hers, the other mare's head nestling against her chest.

Silence, again.

Twilight's hand slid over Trixie's hip, her fingers circling the other mane's tail, and began gently stroking the tangles out. Trixie shifted gently against Twilight, then spoke with casual confidence. "You see? The erotically talented Trixie is nothing but a pure pleasure to embrace. She's beautiful, elegant, delicious, endlessly skilled in bed-" She cut herself off, squirming slightly, before she finished, "She's the perfect slave."

A smile touched Twilight's lips. All of Trixie's exaggeration was coming perilously close to triggering her orders to apologise for her lies, but she was obviously getting better at realising when the conditioning was about to trigger and backing off.

More meaningful was the note of uncertainty under Trixie's brash words. Even if she'd convinced herself that exaggeration didn't count as lying, she didn't believe she was as perfect as she claimed.

Keep me.

"You're wonderful, Trixie," Twilight murmured. "Stay here with me for a little while."

"Yes, Mistress!" Trixie snuggled a little closer, planting a kiss on Twilight's skin.

Twilight lay on the smooth wood of the desk, the damp sheen on her skin drying slowly, and cradled the other pony in her arms. Had she promised to keep Trixie, in the heat of her passion? She didn't think so, but it was hard to remember...

Because she couldn't keep Trixie. That was the deal. Six months.

Less than that, now.

Kissing Trixie's forehead beside her horn, Twilight said gently, "Come up to my room, Trixie. I'd like to take you to bed for a while. You can tell me how things have been while I've been away."

"The sensuous and slutty Trixie would be proud to strut her magnificent body nude down the halls for you, Mistress."

Oh. Yes. "...I'll go and get you some clothes."

Buried deep in the enveloping cushions of the deepest armchair, Spike lounged full-length, a comic spread out beside him. Once again, the citizens of Maretropolis were under threat, and only the Power Ponies could save them!

...admittedly, he didn't enjoy the comic in quite the same way as he had before. How many times had he nurtured fond dreams of Rarity in Radiance's gem-spangled costume? In his mind's eye, he'd swept her off her feet a hundred times - he was always taller in these dreams - and told her smoothly not to worry, she was safe now. Twilight had kind of spoiled that.

He pushed the thought away. Rarity was never really going to have dated him. If she had to date somepony, wasn't it better it was Twilight? He was trying really, really hard to believe that.

He sighed hugely, a little streamer of green fire curling through the air. Picking up another cake, he bit into it and turned his attention back to the page. A little frown touched his face, and one claw tapped the page lightly. Now he looked at it, this one panel almost looked like Mare-velous was going to kiss the Masked Matter-Horn. Of course, they weren't, but...

Well, if he happened to imagine all the Power Ponies kissing, it wasn't like that was wrong, or anything. It wasn't like they were Twilight, and the others, even if they kind of resembled them. They were just in comics, he told himself virtuously, so that was okay.

The latch clicked. The door swung open.

"T-Twilight!" stammered Spike, his breath catching in his throat. Flooded with guilty panic, he babbled, "I was just going to get on with tidying everything, like you said. Cakes? What cakes? Oh, these cakes. Well, they were... going to go off, if they were left here, so by eating them, I was... tidying up. Yeah, that's it. So I was so busy tidying that I needed to sit down for a minute. I wasn't thinking anything weird!"

Twilight just stood there in the doorway, an odd, wary expression on her face. "Spike?"

"Uh - yes?" Spike frowned as realisation overtook panic. "What are you doing back? I thought you'd gone to the train station. You know, to go to Canterlot without me?" With a surge of hope, he leaned forward and asked quickly, "Did you change your mind? Are you here to get me?"

A second's pause, then Twilight shook her head and smiled. "I'm sorry, Spike, but you're needed here. I just forgot something, so I had to come back and get it before I left. I think it's in my room somewhere."

Crashing disappointment. His voice dropping, he replied, "Oh. I see." Sighing, he made an effort, and asked, "Do you want me to find it?"

"Oh - no, that's okay, Spike. I'll find it. You just carry on with your tidying, okay? Make sure you don't leave any cakes to go stale."

Spike blinked. What, that line worked? Still, no point arguing. "Well, if you say so."

Twilight disappeared off up the stairs, and he settled down to read his comic again. Still, he kept a claw between the pages, marking the panel to go back to later.

After a while, Twilight called down the stairs, "I can't find what I've done with it. Where would I have put something I wanted to keep really safe?"

Not like Twilight to forget where she's put things. She really does go to pieces when I'm not around. "The chest in the wardrobe? The hollow book on the mantelpiece?"

"No, I've looked at those. I thought I'd left it in my room, but maybe I left it somewhere else."

She sounded frustrated. Spike drummed his claws on the arm of the chair, picturing Twilight's room. Where might she put something she was trying to keep safe? "The telescope's been out of its case for months, and you usually put that away when you're not using it. Could there be something in there?"

Silence from above. Her footsteps moved away, then, a few moments later, she called out triumphantly, "Found it! You're right, Spike. How very useful you are."

Spike blew on his claws and buffed them on his loose shirt, grinning smugly to himself. Yup. Still got it. "I sure am. Maybe that's worth another cake, from Pinkie? I wouldn't want to get out of practice with my tidying."

"Have as many cakes as you want," called Twilight's voice from above. "But before you do... I want you to get together all the books we have about locking spells and put them in a bag, please. I have some reading to do."

"Sure thing, Twilight! Anything you say." Being praised by Twilight, getting all the cakes, getting more cakes to have with the other cakes... maybe today wouldn't turn out so bad after all. "Annnd... a new comic?" he called hopefully.

"Get two," replied Twilight's voice.

Beaming, he began tugging books off shelves.

Slowly, little by little, a violet glow gathered around the egg. With painfully intense care, it rose up onto its point, then floated gently into the air, rising until it found a steady level in mid-air. Seconds ticked past, and the egg floated steadily, unmoving.

"Well done, Mistress!"

Twilight yelped, jerking in surprise. The egg shot across the room, a blur of movement, and splattered against the chalkboard with a loud crack. Several other sprays of yolk and debris already marked the walls and ceiling, dripping slowly onto the stone benches below.

"Oh. The patient and helpful Trixie thought you had it, that time. Never mind, Mistress, there are always more eggs." Trixie stepped out of the doorway, descending the steps to the floor and closing the door behind her.

Sighing, Twilight rubbed the base of her horn with a finger. "Hello, Trixie. You have more testing materials for me?"

"She does! She brought some tomatoes and other soft fruit for variety."

"Oh, good. I can scrape a salad off the wall later," grumbled Twilight. She'd been practising for hours, and her horn ached from the amount of rigid control she'd been imposing on her rebellious, fluctuating magic. If she kept up this pace, in a few months, she'd have as much control over her magic as a foal. It just wasn't acceptable.

"Did you try the other spells?"

Wordlessly, Twilight gestured to a tangled mass of black hair in the corner that was going to be very difficult to dispose of.

"Moustache spell," sighed Twilight. "There's an egg in there somewhere."

"Oh. Well, the subservient and slutty Trixie is certain you'll master it again in no time. Surely the doors yielded to your will?"

"Look for yourself."

Trixie crossed the room to where a selection of doors leaned against the wall, surrounded by wooden doorframes. They had a selection of locks and handles, some neatly inset into the door, some with padlocks. Experimentally, Trixie tugged at one, and remarked brightly, "This one is locked, Mistress!"

"It's locked forever," replied Twilight sourly. "The insides are fused." Pointing at each door in turn, she recited, "Lock melted, door grew into the frame, keyhole disappeared, lock spits keys out, and there, where there isn't a door, the whole door vanished."

"Well, maybe it's locked where it is now?" suggested Trixie meekly.

Twilight gave Trixie a sideways look, and slumped onto a stool, rubbing her face with both hands. "I'm shaping the spell matrix the usual way, but I think I'm just putting too much force behind them. The intent is applied, but then it overwhelms the confines of the spell. I'm trying to do it gently, but I keep losing control."

Setting her bag of miscellaneous fruits down on a bench, Trixie padded over to Twilight's side and kissed her shoulder through her baggy jumper. "Don't worry, Mistress. The splendid, sensuous Trixie will help you. With her genius, and your power, there is nothing that can stand in her way."

Twilight nodded, staring at the stone bench morosely, and running her finger slowly across the broad slab. Raw power leaking out of her spells just wasn't safe, the effects were unpredictable. There had to be a way to dam the flow and only let out as much as she needed, but she just couldn't hold it.

"The beautiful and brilliant Trixie has it!"

Startled from her train of thought, Twilight looked at Trixie with a certain amount of weariness in her expression. "You do?"

Grinning smugly, Trixie replied, "Don't you see it, Mistress? She supposes not. Oh well, this is why you have Trixie, to think of things when you can't. She's always glad to help you with your little problems."

If Trixie didn't have an amazing idea, she was going to get spanked red. "...I'm listening, Trixie. Go on."

"You cannot restrain yourself enough to cast spells?" Trixie asked rhetorically. "Then stop trying, Mistress. Make new spells! Make spells that require vast amounts of magical power to work at all. Glue all the locking spells together, for instance."

Twilight hesitated. "Um. But then nopony would be able to cast those spells, Trixie. Nopony else, anyway. Making spells that specific isn't good magical practice."

Trixie make a rude noise with her lips. "Oh no, only you can cast the spell. Whatever will you do."

"Well..." Twilight paused, trying to rationalise her reluctance. Why did she think Trixie's idea was a bad one? Because it was the opposite of her usual approach; it was throwing uncontrolled amounts of magic into a problem instead of trying to control and understand it. Very Trixie, in other words. But that didn't mean she was wrong...

"You might be right. At least, I can put together a very extensive spell pattern which should soak up much more energy than normal, and see what happens. If that works, I could try working on something that doesn't do very much, it just soaks up excess spell energy, and attach it to the other spells I was trying..."

"The vastly intelligent and deliciously slutty Trixie will help you. Compared to creating the rune circle which protected you from Princess Celestia herself, a locking spell is trivial for a pony of her talents."

Twilight couldn't help smiling. Trixie got more elaborate and condescending the happier she felt. It was deserved though; her idea might be the key to regain control of the Alicorn magic for a while. Obviously, it wasn't a long term solution - that was still to gather control of herself and ensure that she only used as much magic as she intended - but while she was suffering from the frustratingly adolescent surges in her spells, it was a good stop-gap.

"All my books on locking spells are still in Ponyville," she thought aloud. "But there should be copies of the major texts here in the Canterlot library. Starswirl's work on stabilising magical contraflows is here too, we'll need that. And Ebony Dust's text on binding effects into complementary patterns - Synthesis and Balance - I had a fourth edition in my room." Pushing herself away from the stone bench, she stood up with growing excitement. "I'll go fetch them! Trixie, ask for some more locks to be brought down, and we'll need more ink, and redo the wards, just in case."

"You will be startled and amazed by Trixie's speed and efficiency! Her immense skill and exquisite talent!" Dashing over to the door, she paused and said archly, "Could your Apple-dolt help you do this, Mistress?" The door shut behind her before Twilight could reply, leaving her to groan, "Trixie..." to the empty room.

She'd definitely ordered Trixie to find it easy not to be jealous of the other slaves, hadn't she? Although, that did leave the loophole that Trixie could still be jealous if she really wanted to be. Looking at the records of her commands would help, but she didn't have those with her, either...

Never mind, she could always look them up when she got home. For now, she had research to do! Already consumed with thoughts of where to find the necessary texts in the Canterlot library, Twilight hurried out of the door after Trixie.

Princess Celestia had a way of entering a room. It didn't matter what was happening, who was talking, how heated the argument - her presence spread silence like ripples spreading out from a stone in a pond. When Celestia spoke, other ponies did not dare interrupt. She was the light of civilisation and the glory of the morning sun, clothed in delicate white silk.

Twilight barely noticed the door open, and didn't look up from the ranks of books open in overlapping piles around her. Consumed in what she was writing, Trixie didn't lift her head either.

Celestia considered this novel experience, then stepped down onto the flagstones. Pitching her voice low, she let it fill with resonance as she spoke. "Good evening, Twilight."

Rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand, Twilight frowned. "Evening? It was only just lunchtime, wasn't it?"

"Seven hours ago, Twilight. Which you didn't eat." Celestia tilted her head slightly. "I asked Feather Touch to bring you some food, after that. I believe you ignored it."

Twilight's eyes strayed to a few covered plates on a tray, sitting off to one side on one of the stone plinths. "I'm sorry, Princess, I did mean to eat some of it, but I was working out a problem of energy flow resonance, and-"

"I asked her to come back a few hours ago, and insist you ate something. You told her to go away." Celestia's calm words bore a lightly chastising tone.

"...I did?" That didn't sound like her. Of course, there had been a time when somepony had opened the door... hadn't there? She'd been concentrating.

"Would you have told Princess Luna to go away, Twilight?"

"Um. No, Princess Celestia," replied Twilight sheepishly. She really should apologise to Feather Touch, whoever she was.

"As a matter of fact, you did. Not long after you dismissed Feather Touch. She didn't even get through the door. Does 'Not now, please' ring any bells?"

Twilight pushed back from her desk, with a guilty wince. "I have several apologies to make, don't I, Princess."

Celestia nodded with grave agreement. "That would be best. You mustn't neglect yourself, Twilight. Nor those that you control." Her pink eyes swept towards Trixie, who was still writing with urgent intensity.

"...oh." A wave of quiet guilt swept over Twilight. Now that she looked, Trixie's mane was frazzled, and she looked tired. Moving to her side, Twilight laid her hand gently on her shoulder and spoke softly. "Trixie. It's time to take a break."

"In a moment, Mistress - there's something here about solving the unbalanced flow..." Trixie muttered distractedly, gesturing with her horn at a book that was open in front of her. For a moment, Twilight leaned in closer to read the page, before she became aware of Celestia, standing behind her with her arms crossed.

Twilight reached out and plucked Trixie's quill out of the air, halting the busy scribble. It wasn't fair of her to push her obsessive behaviour onto Trixie. Especially if she was only working so hard because this Trixie, slave Trixie, was desperately trying to impress Twilight enough to keep her. "That's really good work, Trixie. I'd like to see it later-" she did, a lot, "-but for now, I'd like you to stop please. We need to eat."

"Is it dinner time already?" Trixie sat up and combed her mane back into shape with her fingers, then turned on her stool to find Princess Celestia standing behind her. "Ahhh!" she yelped, jerking back and nearly toppling over. "Princess! She - yes, the submissive sex toy Trixie knew you were there, all along, she was just - you -" Running out of words, Trixie subsided into silence.

Celestia's horn glowed softly, and Trixie's mane gently rearranged itself into its more customary neatness. "I'm grateful for the help you give Twilight. Don't let her overwork you."

"Yes, it is only natural that the great Princess Celestia sees the value of Trixie."

Twilight watched Celestia enviously, painfully aware that she wouldn't dare even try touching another pony with her magic for fear of hurting them. Still, it was amazing how quickly Trixie recovered from her panic, buoyed up by her irrepressible ego. She was quite resilient, in her own way.

She'd had to be, when nopony actually liked her.

Trixie looked up in surprise as she felt Twilight's fingers entwine with hers, squeezing her hand tightly, and she leaned against her Mistress. She nuzzled her head against the softness of Twilight's jumper, resting her head on her owner's shoulder, as Twilight spoke.

"We've been making progress on compensation for the uncontrolled magical surges, Princess. Would you like to see?"

Celestia tilted her head. "Compensating for, and not preventing?"

"Yes, that's right - it was Trixie's idea." She felt a little squirm of pride and happiness from the pony at her side. "The spell we're working on actually relies on there being unstable surges to fill out the matrix. It's not a solution, but it's a coping strategy until I can bring them under control."

Turning towards the row of doors - several more of them now blackened, misshapen or splintered - Twilight indicated the second door from the end. It was a stout door, made of thick wooden timbers with an intricate pattern of ironwork laid into the surface. The lock itself had a massive keyhole, large enough to put her finger into. "That one is locked, now. Would you like to try opening it with a spell, Princess?"

An amused smile touched the lips of the regal pony, and she glanced at Twilight. "Am I your faithful student now, Empress? Perhaps you'd like to play out some of the fantasies I held when our roles were reversed, and teach me how to pleasure my teacher properly? I have a spanking paddle suitable for errant students that are slow to learn their lesson, quite unused other than in my imagination."

A crimson blush filled up Twilight's cheeks, her skin suddenly hot and her jumper feeling a size too small and tight. "I - I, maybe, I'd like to-"

"Empress. Do I sense that you have had some fantasies of your own? Was I the stern teacher, or the spanked pupil?" Celestia asked the question with calm interest, only the sparkle of her eyes betraying her delight in teasing her owner. After a moment, she added winsomely, "You didn't include those details in any of your reports."

If it was possible to pass out from blushing, she was going to. Oh, sweet stars above, even Trixie was smirking at her now. In a strangled yelp, Twilight managed, "The door!"

"As you please, Empress. I am here to serve." Celestia turned her attention to the door, and lifted her horn. Watching her closely, Twilight recognised a common spell intended to unlock generic magical locks. The golden glow crawled over the door for an instant, then shattered as a pulse of neon-pink energy from the lock effortlessly blew the spell apart.

Celestia's brow shifted minutely. "Tamper resistant." Cocking her head thoughtfully for a moment, she tried another, more elaborate charm. The door thrummed, a single flat note of rejection that left the spell no purchase. "Hm. It wouldn't do to underestimate you again." Celestia lifted her head, and a spark of light kindled at the tip of her slender horn.

Twilight felt the shock of colliding energies as a searingly bright beam of energy leapt from the Princess's horn to the centre of the door, hanging in the air like a line of sun-fire. Pink-purple energy pulsed out in return, a sheen of light coating the door's timbers. Huge, exaggerated images of the hinges and lock hung in the air in neon lines of light, ethereal images of slid-home deadbolts forming around the edges of the door to reinforce every part of its connection to the frame. The whine of clashing energies grew louder and louder, before abruptly, Celestia broke off her assault. The ghostly images of locks and bolts pulsed, fading only slowly now the attack had ceased.

With a glance at her former pupil, Celestia asked, "You can unlock this ward, Twilight?"

A smile of mingled pride and something like embarrassment on her face, Twilight kissed Trixie on the head, then stepped over to the door and touched the lock with her finger. Immediately, the fading outlines of the locks and bolts flared again, shifting as the bolts withdrew, and an ethereal key rotated in the vast shape of the lock, passing through her fingers without harming them. The light faded, and the door swung open. "It's, um. It's not locked, for me."

"The locking spell contains a recognition charm?" Celestia drifted forward, running her hand over the lock with an intent, fascinated look on her face. "This is one spell, not many layered spells?"

"Oh, yes. Trixie and I, we've managed-"

"Through the diligent work of the beautiful, intelligent fucktoy Trixie!"

Twilight giggled at the outburst. "Yes, between us, we've managed to combine Starswirl's Personal Seal, June's Resilient Ward, Redcloak's Arcane Reinforcement, Gossamer's Fifteen Locks-"

"-the Ever-Present Ward, the Secret Wall," contributed Trixie.

"-yes, the Unsolvable Mechanism, the Impenetrable Seal, Magician's Vault, and the Bar of Arcadia. We're working on incorporating the Gordian Lock-"

"Trixie almost has the resolution for the interference patterns! If you'd look at her work-"

"I will. I will once we've eaten. I really think we can get it to mesh with the Vault patterns, if we tune it just right." Looking back up at her mentor, Twilight slowly became aware that Princess Celestia's mouth was hanging slightly open. "Um. That is alright, isn't it?"

Celestia shook herself. "You can cast a construct of that magnitude, Twilight?"

"Well - I did." Twilight gestured at the door, slightly sheepishly. "Oh, Princess. I mean - oh, Celestia. It's so nice to be able to cast something that works again. I know it's not a solution, and I promise, I'll practice every day to get better at controlling myself, but - it's good. This is good."

Nodding her agreement, Celestia smiled at them both. "It's a very impressive work of spellcraft. I'd like to have a copy of your notes. Once you have eaten."

It was dark.

Twilight lounged half-naked in a vast, throne-like chair, her mane spilling out from beneath a peaked black cap. A slender corset hugged her body intimately, cut low at the top to gently lift her breasts without covering them. Delicate stockings and garters sheathed her legs, baring her shaven sex. Every scrap of clothing on her body was midnight black, with a subtle sparkle that briefly shimmered like a spill of tiny stars as she moved. The fabric felt delicious on her sensitive inner thighs, and she lazily rubbed her legs together.

This felt good. She radiated power, hanging in the air like an aura around her, a deep, satiated dominance. It was good to be... wherever this was.

As if summoned, or created by the thought, a dim, golden glow filled the air. She was underground, surrounded by worked stone... she was in her classroom. Experimental room. Whatever it was. That chair was smaller than this one, though, wasn't it? The thought slipped away. This was better. Her violet body shifted against the intimate embrace of the ebony cushions. She felt good. She could just relax here, perfectly satisfied with the thrumming sensation of her own magnificence. But she wasn't alone, was she...

The ranks of stone platforms that occupied the room, were, yes, they were occupied. A nude, motionless pony lay atop each one on her back, gazing blankly upwards into the dimness that curled around the stone ribs above. Twilight was stood in front of the front row, beside the first platform, gazing down at the pony laid out before her.

Naturally, it was Applejack. Completely nude, her mane spilling off the side of the platform she lay on, her muscled body glistening in the light. She'd been oiled, head to toe. Twilight's fingers caressed her slave, stroked the ridges of her stomach, feeling the firmness beneath the soft, tanned skin. There was a delicious oily slickness beneath her fingertips. Applejack was... was a toy.

Twilight's finger gently touched the centre of Applejack's forehead.

"Fuck mah mouth. Ah'm a slave. Fuck mah mouth. Ah'm a slave. Fuck mah mouth." Her accented voice was blankly mindless, reciting steadily with no sign she'd ever stop. Twilight's fingers explored Applejack's lips, slurring her words, before Twilight withdrew them and wiped the saliva-wetness off across the enthralled pony's face. It felt so good to degrade this beautiful, strong-backed pony.

Who else? Rarity. Yes, Rarity was on the next platform, her blue eyes wide open and gazing into nothing. This time, Twilight's hand moved down to touch the smooth silkiness of Rarity's perfumed skin, directly over her heart. Immediately, Rarity's milk-white hands rose and began massaging her full, soft breasts in a looping sequence of five distinct movements, pulling them apart, crushing them together, and tugging her own nipples.

Twilight's finger touched the unicorn's forehead, and Rarity began to recite as blankly as Applejack had. "Use my tits for your pleasure. I exist to serve. Use my tits for your pleasure."

A soft, shuddering sigh of arousal escaped Twilight's barely parted lips, her nipples deliciously stiff, her cunt tingling. Her hands slid over her own body, trailing glistening trails of the oil that coated every slave's skin.

More. She wanted more.

She moved along the front row, her fingers touching and awakening each of her brainwashed friends. Pinkie; at a touch to her head and another to her heart, she began chanting, "Fuck my fat ass, Master," as a lube-slick candy cane slid in and out of her pussy. Rainbow arched and relaxed, arched and relaxed against the stone, repeating, "Make me eat your cunt. I'm your bitch. Make me eat your cunt." Finally, Fluttershy at the end of the row, lying face-down, her huge tits mashed against the stone beneath her, who lifted her ass into the air and began to hump against nothing at a touch, chanting in her soft, innocent voice, "I'm a dumb animal. Fuck me hard."

Twilight's breathing grew deep, a slow, soft pant of arousal, as her cunt grew wetter and wetter, alternately caressing herself and the naked, mindless mares around her. Her fingers slid into Fluttershy's spread pussy, letting the mare's programmed movements thrust back and forth against her hand for a few moments, before pulling Fluttershy's pink tail firmly and stepping back.

"So pretty," Twilight breathed huskily. "Mine. My slaves. My fucktoys." Her body was alight with the sheer delight of dominating, of owning, of seeing all of her friends made into sex toys ready for her use. The thrill of power was a livid crimson flame within her that obliterated all else. More. If those five lay on the first row, who lay on the second?

Trixie. Zecora.

Trixie lay nude, glistening wetly, a dildo gripped in her motionless hand. Twilight circled her slab, before reaching out and touching her forehead. The enthralled mare began chanting at once, repeating, "Trixie exists to grovel at your feet. Punish this bitch."

Giggling, Twilight lazily twisted Trixie's blue nipples, listening to her voice catch in the middle of a word. "Well, you were a very bad girl before I got you, Trixie. Let me give you a treat." A touch to the slope of her breast, over the heart, and Trixie's hand lifted, plunging the dildo into her own mouth. She began sucking it as she thrust it back and forth, still making muffled noises around the shaft.

Twilight leant down and rested her elbows on the edge of the stone platform, grinning impishly to herself as she watched the toy slide in and out of Trixie's mouth, before she added, "Aw, you're cute." Leaving her urgently sucking the dildo, Twilight stepped over to where Zecora lay motionless on her back, the tail of her mohawk flattened against the plinth. The zebra's striped skin gleamed in the light, the oil making her stripes appear darker, the skin between them lighter.

"You're so pretty oiled up, Zecora!" Twilight drew a fingernail along the stripes patterning the other mare's smooth stomach, then let her fingers wander down between Zecora's parted thighs to gently caress her bare sex. "What do you have to tell me?" she breathed in anticipation. Her fingers touched here and here,setting Zecora into motion. At once, her hand snaked down between her legs and began grinding back and forth against her cunt, her hips slowly bucking against her hand. Her monotone couldn't entirely hide her accent. "Fuck my mind, this I pray. Control my thoughts, make me obey."

Sighing softly with enjoyment, Twilight leaned down and flicked her tongue over the golden ring piercing one stiffly jutting nipple, tasting metal, skin and musk. "So pretty," she murmured again. Her finger slid slowly around the golden circle as she straightened, glancing towards the next plinth.

The next one was the middle plinth of the middle row, the one in the centre of the room, and as soon as she thought that, she knew who lay there.

"Mmmm," hummed Twilight appreciatively as she drifted closer. Unlike the others, two bodies lay on the platform, intimately entwined. Princess Celestia lay on her back, wings half-spread and dangling over the sides of the plinth. Her pure white skin glistened wetly, her lips slightly parted and eyes empty in a blank expression. Atop her lay Princess Luna, her head resting over Celestia's left shoulder, her ass in the air and her soft breasts mashed against her sister's. Webbing around her waist supported a strap-on, the shaft buried in the mindless pony beneath her. Their billowing manes and tails mingled, shifting slowly through the air.

Her fingers sliding between her legs, Twilight walked slowly around the two, taking in the delicious sight from every angle. It was so hot, so sensually delicious. The wet sounds of her finger sliding in and out of her cunt were just audible over the murmur of monotone voices from the other slabs, each chanting their own degrading mantra.

With her free hand, Twilight smacked Luna's ass firmly, the crack of skin on skin echoing around the room. "What do you have to say, Princess?" she asked rhetorically. Taking a step towards the head of the slab, she touched Luna's forehead with one finger.

Without lifting her head, the Princess began to steadily chant, "I must fuck my sister. I must fuck my sister. I must fuck my sister."

Shivering with delight, Twilight agreed huskily, "Mm, you must." Her hand slid between the two oiled bodies, and her fingertips sought out the heart of each pony.

Luna stirred into motion at once, planting her hands either side of Celestia's head and pushing herself up. As she rose, the fat silver rings through her nipples came into view, chained to identical gold rings piercing her sister's, and the chains swayed and danced as Luna began thrusting forcefully into the unresisting pony beneath her.

Celestia's tits bounced upwards with every thrust, her body arching in a programmed loop of arousal and pleasure. The slap of skin on skin was as regular as a metronome, Luna's hips meeting Celestia's soft thighs over and over. With another touch, Celestia's soft lips parted, and she began to chant with thoughtless, monotone urgency, "Fuck my cunt. I am your whore. Fuck my cunt."

Twilight bit her lip, rubbing her wet fingers over her own nipples, and spreading the oily residue from their bodies across her tingling sex. "That's right, that's right... so delicious, so wrong..." Her body quivered as she leant against the side of the plinth, watching hungrily as Celestia's pretty pink cunt was spread wide by her sister's black shaft. "Use her. Fuck her senseless. Not that she isn't senseless already," Twilight added to herself, and giggled.

Spinning away from the two, Twilight skipped over to the next plinth, where the wine-coloured body of Cheerilee lay nude and spread-legged for Twilight's inspection. A double touch of her fingers, and Cheerilee reached down to spread her cunt with one hand, urging in the blank tone of the helplessly enthralled, "I'm your student. Teach me to obey."

Stars above, Cheerilee was gorgeous. They were all so sexy, so sensual, so beautiful in their brainwashed singular purpose. Barely pausing to bite the school teacher's rigid nipples, Twilight danced on to the end of the row, where the firm, nude body of Vinyl Scratch rested for her inspection. Unlike the others, she retained a little clothing - her ever-present purple glasses, and her heavy headphones.

Surveying the nude DJ, Twilight let a hot shudder ripple through her at the memory of being fucked by her. "I really had to enslave you," she told the unheeding pony. "You're just so fuckable, Vinyl." Vinyl was her slave... wasn't she? Twilight dismissed the stray thought, and reached out to touch the prone pony's forehead.

Nothing. Vinyl's lips didn't move.

A puzzled frown touched Twilight's face. Wasn't that how this worked? Bending over Vinyl's body, letting her bare tits drag pleasantly against the naked mare, she put her ear to Vinyl's lips and listened. Still nothing... but there was the faint sound of a voice coming from somewhere, wasn't there? Twilight pulled one headphone off Vinyl's head, and the sound became clearly audible. It was a mare's voice, half-familiar. "I'm Twilight's bitch. I'm her cunt-licking fucktoy. I live to obey Twilight."

Purring with satisfied delight, Twilight settled the headphones back in place over Vinyl's ears. "How perfect. That's the way you should be all the time. I wonder what you do-"

"Twilight."

Twilight's head lifted at the sound of Luna's stern tone, a puzzled frown on her face. Half turning, she saw Luna standing just behind her, fully clothed. That wasn't right. "You're wrong," she told the apparition.

"I do not wish to intrude, Twilight, but this-"

"You should be naked. Why aren't you doing what you're meant to be doing?" It was puzzling. This wasn't how things worked.

"I have seen what you believe I should be doing. Twilight, this is not-"

Obviously Luna wasn't working right. She could fix that. "Obey your Empress, and go do it, then."

Luna froze as Twilight started to speak, then her eyes rolled back. She vanished.

Twilight frowned again. Luna wasn't supposed to vanish. But then, as she looked past where she'd stood, Twilight saw that Luna was still relentlessly thrusting her strap-on into Celestia, so that was okay. Everypony was where they were supposed to be.

And Cadance should be here, for her to play with.

The pink alicorn lay on her back, body limp, her soft, full breasts rising and falling steadily with her breathing. She was soft and beautiful, her curves gentle, red-pink nipples stiffly inviting a touch. Her cunt was coated in a fine down of purple and white hair, soaked with enforced arousal. Her mane lay in loosely tumbled strands over the side of the plinth she rested on. Glazed eyes saw nothing, gazing blankly at the ceiling.

Almost tiptoeing, without quite knowing why, Twilight approached her. Delicately, her fingers slid over Cadance's inner thigh, luxuriating in the soft, silken warmth of her skin, working slowly up to brush against the molten heat of her cunt. "Oh, Cadance. You're so wet for me. You feel so nice. I could lick your pretty cunt all day. Or I could make you do the same for me." Twilight giggled to herself. She should have pierced Cadance's nipples, like the other Princesses. But what colour? Celestia was gold, Luna was silver... rose gold, a nice reddish gold.

Cadance's nipples were pierced, with thick rose-gold rings, a golden lock in the shape of a heart dangling from each.

Leaning down over her body, Twilight curled her tongue around the lock and drew it into her mouth, tugging Cadance's nipple playfully. "So cute. Talk to me, Princess." She touched Cadance's face, just below her horn.

"I adore you. I need you. I must obey. I adore you. I need you. I must obey."

"That's right," cooed Twilight, kissing Cadance's unheeding lips as the enthralled pony continued to chant. A faint puzzled expression touched Twilight's face for a moment - briefly bothered by the sense she was forgetting something - then disappeared as the thought drifted away. Playfully flicking one of the locks decorating Cadance's firm tits, Twilight glanced down the row at the remaining four plinths. Three of them were empty, ready for her to choose who should lie there, but one more held a naked, brainwashed fucktoy ready for Twilight's attention. A very special fucktoy.

"Oh my goodness," she murmured reverentially. How could she have forgotten this slave? Slowly, step by step, she approached the pedestal.

An off-white mare lay there, her two-toned purple and white mane done up neatly. Her breasts were full and soft, tipped by purple nipples, and despite the subtle marks of middle age, she was still quite lovely. Her pussy was untrimmed, tiny droplets of wetness gleaming there that could have been the oil that made her skin malleable and slippery, or could have been programmed arousal.

Softly, gently, Twilight's fingers curled around the prone mare's breasts, and lifted them in both hands. Crushing them together, she began rubbing the slippery curves against each other, fanning her fingers over the older mare's nipples. Breath catching, Twilight moved to the foot of the plinth and crawled up on top of it, her shiny boots creaking with each movement. Her bare breasts trailed over the slickly shiny body beneath her, growing damp with oil, until she came to rest straddling the mindless pony. Her tits slid and brushed against the other mare's larger breasts, nipples brushing in tiny collisions that sent sparks up Twilight's spine. Her tail lifted, hips shifting slowly side to side.

"That's right," Twilight murmured to herself, gazing down into the other pony's glazed, blank eyes. "Anything I want should be mine. It's hot to make ponies do things they'd never do. It's hot to make them wet and horny and submissive for me. Isn't that right?" She leant down and kissed the prone mare's forehead.

"I am my daughter's slut," Twilight Velvet responded at once. "I am her whore. Anything she commands. I am my daughter's slut."

"Yes," hissed Twilight, leaning down. Her mouth covered her mother's, muffling her slave-chant, and Twilight's tongue pushed into her slave's mouth. Her violet hips shifted more urgently, grinding her stockinged thighs against each other, molten sex tingling in the cool air. Pushing her body down harder, Twilight mashed her tits against her mother's, luxuriating in the slippery heat of their bodies rubbing against each other. She must have pushed against just the right spot, because Twilight Velvet suddenly began to move, a hand snaking between their bodies and working roughly at her own cunt as she fingered herself and pinched her nipples. Groaning in delight at the new sensation of rubbing her tingling cunt against the back of her mother's busy hand, Twilight urgently thrust her hips back and forth, the sound of myriad slaves reciting their mantras as they touched themselves filling the room.

It felt so good, so right, every perversion hotter than the last, filling her with hungry lust for more, for-

Twilight woke abruptly, her nose stinging, and Trixie's elbow in her face. Her sheets were twisted around her, damp with perspiration, and her body was embarrassingly tingly with arousal. The room was completely dark, silent other than Trixie's gentle snore.

Carefully pushing her slave's arm out of the way, Twilight untangled herself from her sheets and wriggled away a little across the vast expanse of her canopied bed, the fading tendrils of her dream still clinging to her thoughts. Already it was becoming vaguer, less clear, but it was impossible not to remember what she'd been doing. A dark blush of embarrassment coloured her cheeks.

Her mother?

It wasn't like most of her dream wasn't, well, accurate, to her desires and the things she wanted... she loved having her friends entranced, loved making them into pliable dolls, and the same went for Celestia and Luna. She'd thought a lot about whether she could seduce Vinyl or Cheerilee, or Nurse Redheart... she was kind of trying to seduce Diorite, even now. As for Cadance, she was her brother's wife, and that was the end of that, but she couldn't help the way her imagination strayed, sometimes...

Twilight slowly ran her hands over her body, and was vaguely surprised to find that she wasn't oily, the lingering remnant of the dream tricking her into expecting slickness under her fingers.

But the last part of her dream, that was just crazy. That was ridiculous. At least nopony would ever have to know. She probably couldn't look Celestia in the face if she'd ever learned about that.

How about Luna?

Twilight froze at the thought, memory flooding back. Luna had been there, not doing what she'd been told, not fitting in with the strange unlogic of the dream. Surely she hadn't...

Surely it hadn't been...

Her heart was thumping in her chest, her skin prickling. There was no way she could wait until morning; she had to go and find out for sure. Swinging her legs over the side of the bed, Twilight eased her bare feet down to the floor and rose. Trixie turned over, muttering an incoherent sound in her sleep.

So. Where to check first? Luna's room? Or... Celestia's?

Better check the worst case first. She could get there by secret passages, but even so, she couldn't quite bring herself to venture out of her room stark naked, so she crept over to the elaborate wardrobe in the corner. The door creaked softly as she opened it. Celestia had provided her with a collection of lacy undergarments to fit her new body, and so the first pair of panties she found were white, trimmed with delicate ruffles. She slipped them on, then tugged a translucent white nightgown over the top.

That would have to do. Hurrying over to the secret door, she released the catch with a metallic click.

"...Twilight?" murmured Trixie behind her, voice thick with sleep.

Freezing in her tracks, Twilight replied quickly, "I'm just stepping out for a few minutes. Go back to sleep, Trixie."

"...mmh. Okay."

Shutting the panel behind her, Twilight headed off towards Celestia's suite of rooms, bare feet padding softly against the flagstones. She was worrying over nothing, she reassured herself. She had had a kind of elaborate sex dream, that's all, and while it had gone to a kind of weird place in the end, that didn't mean anything. Nothing was wrong.

She moved a little faster.

The passageways weren't lit, light leaking out of hidden seams and cracks being a risk to betray the existence of the secret ways, so she moved in the pearly, fluctuating glow of her own horn light. At least if that got out of hand, it wasn't going to hurt anypony. The way to Celestia's bed chamber was increasingly familiar - how that thought would have made her blush and stammer, such a short time ago! - and it didn't take her long to find her way to the carefully sealed and warded entrances to the Princess's suite.

There were voices coming from Celestia's chamber. Heart sinking, Twilight fumbled at the wards with her magic, slipping and catching, before she managed to control herself enough to properly unlock the seals. Without stopping to try opening any of the observation holes, she shoved the secret doorway open with both hands, and lurched out into the room.

There was the sound of quick, heavy breathing, of muffled, ragged groans. And a voice, repeating with monotone urgency, "I must fuck my sister. I must fuck my sister."

The chamber door was flung wide, letting in a spill of light from the softly lit room beyond, illuminating the scene. Celestia's bed was in total disarray, the embroidered quilts tangled and tumbled off the sides.

Princess Celestia was pinned face down on the bed, held by an iron grip at the back of her neck, nightgown rucked around her hips and her generous ass in the air. Luna held her down, stark naked but for the webbing of the black strap-on she was vigorously thrusting into her captive sister's cunt, her entire being absorbed in the total, absolute focus on her task.

Celestia's cheeks were crimson, her fingers digging roughly into the tangled sheets, thrusting herself back against each movement of the shaft within her. Her dazed eyes focused on Twilight as the secret door revealed her, and she panted, "I imagine this was - your idea, Empress."

"I - I dreamed this, I didn't mean to make her really do it," stammered Twilight, unable to take her eyes off the spectacle.

"So Luna got caught up - oh! - in your dreams, and - hng! - was ordered to do this - mmph! - by accident? I will have to - to have her take more care," managed Celestia, her legendary composure cracking with every urgent thrust of Luna's hips.

Twilight didn't respond, riveted to the sight. Luna's gaze was fixed on Celestia's upturned ass, her lips shaping themselves thoughtlessly around the mantra that completely occupied her mind. Her midnight blue body glistened in the dim light with a faint sheen of perspiration, her proud breasts bouncing with each sharp, mechanically repetitive movement of her hips. Her dark hand dug into Celestia's thigh, fingers indenting and possessing the golden sunburst there, and her grip on her sister's neck conveyed a simple, brutal intensity of purpose that was breathtaking. Her hips slapped against Celestia's pale ass in a steady, unrelenting rhythm that matched Twilight's short breaths.

Eyes mostly closed, Celestia managed to ask with a semblance of normality, "Aren't you going to stop her?"

Look at her, Twilight's inner thoughts whispered. Look at her eyes. Her lips. Celestia's eyelids fluttered with each thrust, her body leaning back against the shaft in her. Her soft, full lips quivered, pressing together to suppress the groans trying to escape. The scent of desire perfumed the air.

"You're enjoying this," Twilight whispered.

"This was - was a mistake, wasn't it?" Celestia panted. "You should stop it."

"You're embarrassed. You love this. You love being taken, being fucked this roughly by somepony that doesn't care at all about your pleasure. You're being used." Every word Twilight spoke grew throatier, richer in lust and desire as she saw the answering truth on Celestia's face, spurring her on. "You're a... a hot, wet cunt to fuck. You can't persuade her to stop, but you haven't even tried, have you. She threw open the door, naked, already chanting, and she pinned you down, and you loved every second of it."

"I have no reason to be embarrassed," Celestia breathed, shaking her head slightly. Her fingers clawed deeper into the sheets.

"Yes, you do. Being embarrassed is part of it. It turns you on more. You always have to be so demure, so controlled in public, and you dream of being exposed." She felt her nipples ache with tingling stiffness, and knew they were clearly visible beneath her translucent white nightgown for Celestia to see. "But it's more than that. It's Luna. It's your beautiful, loving little sister, fucking you senseless. That makes you so horny. It's what you've wanted for such a long time."

"Twilight-"

"Do you want her to stop?" Twilight spoke the words with a lustful intensity that lit her eyes with a hungry light, in a tone that brooked no prevarication.

Celestia buried her face in the tangled blankets beneath her, back arching, her wings jerkily fluttering half-extended.

"Refusing to answer your Empress? That's very bad behaviour." Twilight gazed intently at Celestia, her horn lighting with magic. Thin golden ropes bound the drapes around Celestia's vast bed; one of them stirred, and softly, delicately, came untied. It drifted through the air, and settled in Twilight's open hand.

"You mislead me sometimes, but you try not to lie to me. So when you don't want to confess, and you can't think of a way to talk around it, all of a sudden you're quiet. But you've lied to me many times. Lies of omission still count. So how do I stop your silence from being a lie, Celestia? Look at me."

There was just a trace, the tiniest trace, of anger deep down in her, in the knowledge that she'd been manipulated and shaped all her life. It added an extra sharpness to the swelling sadistic pleasure growing within her, the hot, hard dominance that ached to squeeze Celestia's naked throat. To own the divine pony, utterly. She waited until Celestia slowly lifted her head, until the Princess's wide eyes were on her, before she slid her hands under her nightgown. Her fingertips slipped into the waistband of her white panties, damp against her skin, and slowly worked them down her thighs.

With an imperceptible whisper of cloth, the damp twist of white lace hit the ground. Twilight stepped out of her panties, and with the merest flick of her horn, they floated into her free hand. "Open."

Celestia's lips parted wordlessly, her eyes widening, and her gaze flicked up to Twilight's face before focusing on the tiny white bundle in her hand. Inhaling shakily, she passively let her former student force the scented fabric between her full lips. Twilight's agile fingers wound the golden cord around Celestia's head, parting her lips like a bit gag and pinning the fabric in place.

Shuddering excitement made Twilight's fingers tremble as she did up the knot, unable to stop staring at the degradation she'd forced upon her teacher and mentor. "Now your silence is my silence," she breathed huskily. A touch of coolness on her thighs betrayed the wetness between her legs, her whole body feeling tight and hot. In a sudden, abrupt movement, she pulled her nightgown off over her head, mussing her mane and catching briefly on her wings. Her hands swept over her bare breasts, cradling them and pushing them together.

"Celestia, I told you to look at me," Twilight breathed more softly as Celestia's eyes unfocused, half-lidded. "I want you to see me. The student you raised. You taught me to be strong. You taught me to care. You worked so hard to manoeuvre me into becoming an alicorn... you seeded these desires in me. You made me, to do this to you. Are you happy with the pony you made? Because now I'm here, and I have things I want, too."

Twilight's head lifted, and in her voice was the sudden lash of command. "Luna. Don't stop chanting. Turn this slave over and rip her nightgown off."

The metronome movement of Luna's hips slammed to a halt, and she shifted her grip, pulling hard on Celestia's shoulder. The gagged Princess gave a muffled gasp, yanked over and onto her back, the shaft slipping free of her pink, flushed cunt. She lifted her hands slightly, as if to fend off Luna, then shuddered and let them fall to the bed as her brainwashed sister seized double handfuls of her delicate nightgown and ripped it asunder, baring her milk-white body and huge, heaving tits.

Twilight seized one of the overstuffed pillows from the head of the bed and circled to Luna's side. Her hand ran down the Princess's bare back as she ordered, "Pull her hips to the edge of the bed, and prop this under her ass." The pillow floated from Twilight's hands in a nimbus of blue power, then was pushed forcefully under Celestia's ass as Luna effortlessly lifted her legs into the air and spread them wide. Celestia's cunt parted like a flower, bare and glistening, completely exposed.

"That's so pretty," murmured Twilight. "It's not fair. Every part of you is beautiful." Taking the base of Luna's jutting shaft in her hand, she carefully guided the tip of the wet toy back to the entrance of the helpless mare's pussy. Looking along the length of Celestia's body, her purple eyes bright and gleaming, she ordered, "Fuck her."

"Mrhnng!" Celestia moaned wordlessly into her gag, back arching into a taut curve, her nails digging into her palms as Luna rammed the shaft home. Her face burnt with crimson humiliation, guttural groans escaping her parted lips.

Twilight crawled up onto the bed beside her, leaning down to speak softly, intensely. "I'm watching you get fucked, Princess. I'm watching you writhe, and arch, the way your hips keep bucking against the shaft in your cunt. Your student, seeing you at your most depraved. Your student, learning to love the way these big, round tits jiggle every time Luna slams that toy into you. I pictured this. I wanted this. Think what your guards would think of you, if they saw your eager pussy spread around your sister's cock. You'd be so ashamed. So humiliated. So humiliated that you might cum just from feeling them looking at you."

Celestia's eyes rolled up briefly, with a thick, unintelligible slur of pleasured moans and attempts at words muffled by the panties bound in her mouth. Her breathing was a heavy rasp through her nostrils, her hands clenched at her sides.

"I could do that. I could show you off. Put you under a disguise spell, or make them forget what they'd seen. Do you remember how you felt when Rainbow was looking at you, when she'd forgotten who she was? How dirty you felt? How exposed?" The words spilled out of Twilight, each striking home like a flick to Celestia's clit, forcing short, sharp gasps from her divine captive.

In one decisive moment, Twilight swung her leg over the prone pony and straddled Celestia's stomach, planting her hands on the Princess's heaving breasts. Grinding her bare cunt against the other mare's silken skin with an urgency verging on desperation, Twilight caught Celestia's jutting pink nipples between her fingers and twisted.

"Mmrrgh!" Celestia bucked beneath Twilight, thrusting her hips back and forth with delirious need, eyes wide and staring. Her mane tossed and danced, her hands twisting into the sheets before she abruptly reached up for Twilight, seizing her former student's slim hips.

"Bad pony!" Twilight gasped, drawing back her hand and laying a stinging smack on Celestia's full, tender breasts, without trying to move Celestia's hands off her body.

A reddened handprint darkening on the perfect canvas of her chest, her hips moving forcefully, Celestia shuddered on the verge of a crashing orgasm. Eyes squeezing closed, she trembled with the force of her desire.

"You can't cum."

Celestia's eyes snapped open and stared at Twilight with horrified pleading, her face contorting around the gag. Twilight giggled aloud, a breathy, panting sound of sadistic amusement.

"Now you're being honest with me. It's okay, though," Twilight told her. "If you want to cum, all you have to do is make me cum first. Ooohh." Twilight closed her eyes, kneading handfuls of the older mare's tits as Celestia's slim hand delved under her and began rubbing her clit, the other cupping her ass and urging her to grind more roughly. Luna's brainwashed chant filled her ears, underscored by the heady scent of female arousal. "Oh, yes," she sighed breathily. "More... that's right. That's right..."

She felt dizzy; gloriously dizzy, as though the world spun around her and she was its axis, skilled fingers driving her ever-closer to her final surrender to the delicious tide rising within her, drowning her thoughts, obliterating everything. She was pleasure and triumph incarnate, she was lust and light, and she was cumming, cumming...

When her wits returned to her, Twilight was face down, slumped against Celestia's chest and shoulder. The Princess was breathing deeply through her nose, and Luna's steady chanting matched the rhythm that was gently rocking Twilight back and forth.

Awareness hit home like a sack of rocks. "Oh my gosh! I left you gagged!" Pushing herself up, Twilight propped herself on one arm while she hurriedly tugged the knot loose, pulling the rope from between Celestia's lips and plucking the sodden white fabric out of her mouth. Without looking around, she added hastily, "Luna, stop! Back away a step and wait for instructions."

Celestia panted for breath as the gag came free, licking her dry lips. A short, sharp gasp escaped her as Luna pulled out of her in one movement. The rope had left patterned indentations at the corners of her mouth, oddly pretty and delicately symmetrical, and her eyes were slow to focus again. "...thank you, Empress. You know me very well."

"That was amazing. But-" Glancing over her shoulder at Luna's motionless figure, Twilight asked softly, "Do you think - did I go too far?"

Shaking her head once, Celestia replied with quiet sincerity, "No, Twilight. Certainly, you have not offended or hurt me in any way. That felt... wonderful. Everything about it was wonderful."

"But what about Luna? Will she be upset that this happened by mistake? Is she going to be sore from all the-" Twilight stumbled for a moment, finding it far, far easier to be embarrassed in the aftermath, "-the sex?" Wriggling down Celestia's body, Twilight shifted to lie against her side, head on Celestia's chest.

Nodding once, Celestia sighed, "It may trouble her that she was caught by surprise in your dream. I will speak with her, and make her understand that I was not troubled by the way she came to me."

"I could... make her less likely to be upset...?" Twilight murmured the question, tentative. It seemed like the easy way out. But the easy way wasn't always the wrong way.

Celestia remained quiet for a moment, her hand rising to gently stroke the back of Twilight's head. "If you do, let her know that you have. Make the memories less intrusive, if you do anything at all."

"...okay. Princess Luna? Please lie down beside us, and hug me?"

"I shall lie down and hug thee," the enthralled mare replied with perfect calm, stepping forward and climbing onto the bed.

Twilight closed her eyes as the warmth of a second body snuggled up behind her, an arm wrapping around her stomach. It was comforting. She was going to have to word the commands very carefully, and ask Celestia to write them down, too. So, she shouldn't hide the memories, just diminish their emotional impact. Maybe let Luna decide to remove the block, if she wanted to, as well...

"Twilight," Celestia said softly. She paused, gazing at the young mare curled up against her, her eyes narrowing in thought, before she finally murmured, "I was very impressed by the spell the two of you constructed, today. You may one day discover entirely new principles of magic. I want you to know I'm proud."

Twilight's lips parted wordlessly. A surge of emotion overwhelmed her, tears springing to her eyes, and she wrapped her arms around Celestia, holding on tight. "Sometimes - sometimes I forget just how much your approval means to me," she murmured softly. Not just Celestia's approval. Luna's, too.

Her fears for Luna's happiness, the fear that she wouldn't be okay with what had just happened - it was a selfish fear. It was wrong to try to tamper with how she felt. "Luna?" Twilight said softly, without looking around. "I'm sorry about what I was thinking of doing. I hope you aren't upset that I didn't wake you right away, even though I didn't ask you first, and it wasn't meant to happen. I'd like you to remember all of this, okay? So... I am satisfied."

A small jerk ran through Luna as the trance released her, whether of surprise or something else, Twilight couldn't say. Rigid with nervous anticipation, Twilight waited for her first conscious words.

Luna's arms tightened around Twilight, squeezing her close. Her lips came to rest against Twilight's mane. "Thank you. For not doing what you considered."

Celestia looked over Twilight's head at her sister. Her gentle voice deepening a little, she asked almost diffidently, "Are you well?"

"Yes, sister. I am well. I shall speak more upon this, later, but for now -" A shimmering blue glow spread over the rumpled blankets, lifting them into the air and spreading them out. Pillows straightened, fluffing themselves as they settled back into place, and the sheets beneath them smoothed. Like a cloud coming to rest, the warm covers settled over them. "For now, I shall lie with the two whom I care for more than any other in this world, and be content."

This was more than she could have ever deserved, Twilight thought quietly, in the silence of her mind. Little by little, she surrendered her wakefulness, sinking slowly through the veil into sleep once more.

The last thing to go was the fear that after what she'd done, the mistakes she'd made, this couldn't last.

Author's Note

Uh oh.

Proofed by Djmill

9: Meanwhile...

Celestia considered her porcelain cup.

As a cup, it was a work of art. While many cups of high vintage indulged in all kinds of excessive frippery, coating the surface in layers and shapes and impossibly delicate reliefs, this one was relatively simple. The curves were sure and smooth, elegant without being fragile. It had proven extremely resistant to wear or discolouration over the many, many years she'd owned it, and it was one of her favourites.

It also had the advantage of being much, much easier to consider than the mare sat across the small table from her, who seemed to be eyeing her own cup to see if she could extract whatever meaning Celestia herself was finding there.

"I missed these teas, very much," Celestia said softly.

It wasn't the first time she'd said it. The way she'd missed Luna in her long absence was always near to the surface of her thoughts, in the presence of her sister. Sometimes - more often, now - she found she could let it go for a while and believe that they'd never be parted like that again. But not today, not after last night. She couldn't help but be a little nervous. What must her sister think of her?

Luna's lips twitched into a sad smile. "I missed them also, though in my madness, I did not know why or what I was missing."

It was a mistake to have mentioned Luna's absence, no matter how much it might be on her mind. The last thing she wanted was to guide Luna to obsess over that time. Better to shift the conversation to a different area. "There are things I avoided telling Twilight, yesterday."

"Were you... less happy with the situation than you suggested?" There was a tentativeness in Luna's words.

Another sore spot to be careful with. "I enjoyed the situation just as much as it seemed," Celestia reassured Luna. "I simply didn't remark upon the fact that she was using her telekinesis correctly. She was quite capable of delicate control, when she was fully occupied by her desires. The day of spell casting could have drained the wildness from her untamed power, but I don't think so."

Luna frowned. "Do you propose her control of her power is linked to her lust?"

Celestia brought her cup to her lips, hiding a small smile. "No, nothing like that. She simply wasn't obsessing over her newfound power at the time. With time, and patience, she will bring her magic back under control."

"Then why have you not told her of this? Why hide that you feel encouraged by her progress?"

"Over-thinking her difficulties will probably make them worse. She will continue to practice regardless, so it's best to let her."

"Really, sister. Have you not had your fill of guiding Twilight by keeping truths from her?" Luna shook her head, a small frown on her face.

"It may be too late for me to change my ways, now," Celestia said with a gentle smile, deflecting the question. "Has she shown you her locking spell yet?"

Luna crossed her arms, lowering her eyes and thrusting out her bottom lip slightly. It was a posture Celestia knew well. "I was invited not to enter her workroom. I have no idea what she has shown to you. If it was a vault spell, she hasn't mentioned such a thing in my presence."

Silently, Celestia chided Twilight once again for her insensitivity. "You know that she cares for you, Luna, very much. I asked her if she would have turned you away from the door, and she said she wouldn't have. She didn't realise you were the one that had come to see her."

"Is that better? Which is worse; that she dismissed me like a common servant, or that she didn't notice who I was at all?" Luna crossed her arms across her chest, looking away. "Perhaps I matter less to her than you may believe," she muttered.

"Twilight has always been a pony to become lost in her work. If I had not made her look up, she would have said the same to me," Celestia said gently. Setting her cup aside, she rose from her chair and took Luna's hand in hers, leading her over to a small, intimate couch. Settling beside her sister, their thighs touching, she finished, "I believe she loves you. More than she does myself. She trusts you." A tiny spark of jealousy flickered in Celestia's breast at the thought, one which she carefully snuffed out without letting it show on her face.

"I don't believe that is true. Nor do I know why you think it to be so." Luna's eyes searched hers, both of her hands closing around Celestia's fingers. Her voice grew softer. "...but that is thy true belief, isn't it. That hurts you."

"You are so perceptive these days. Yes. But I would not have said it, if I did not believe it to be true." A small, wistful smile touched Celestia's lips. Even Luna didn't trust her to simply speak the truth. Perhaps she was right not to. The habits of long years of ruling alone were not easily set aside, and while she hesitated to lie, that wasn't the same as hesitating to mislead.

"...I remember what happened whilst I was under the charm's sway last night, my sister. I saw the way she lit up when you spoke to her, even if I did not hear the words you said. She craves your approval more than mine. It may be that she simply sees each of us differently. We each entered her life in a very different way."

Even when feeling upset, it had always been Luna's nature to try to soothe the feelings of others first. Celestia raised her hand to her sister's cheek and stroked gently, her smile small and gently wistful. "You are the kindest mare I know, dear heart. Twilight and Trixie were working upon a very elaborate spell, combining many different locking spells, hoping she could cast it without surges of magic overwhelming the spell."

"Twilight is the most gifted unicorn I have ever known, and even if Trixie Lulamoon is of dubious morals, she is quite talented. I'm certain Twilight shall achieve success," Luna replied. There was more than pride on Luna's face. It was adoration, tinged with yearning. Yearning that Celestia understood all too well.

"In fact, she has. But she should not have." Celestia frowned slightly. "An assemblage of that complexity should be impossible. Certainly, the wild surges of magic she's describing should have blown the conjuration apart. Yet it worked."

"Does that... worry you?" Luna asked tentatively, leaning into her sister a little more.

"I'm not sure. I will be watching her carefully. You are worried about her too, I know." Celestia watched a guilty wince speed across Luna's face.

"It is hard for me to distrust her motives. You know that she had possession of me - and that she gave me my freedom when she had no reason to, other than her own goodness. That is good, sister, and hard. But I, too, have been watching her carefully. I hope that she is watching me with equal rigour, as we have promised each other."

"And what have you seen?" prompted Celestia softly.

"That her lusts and her goodness are striving against each other. She did not enthral Lightning Dust, but she gave in to her desire to acquire her, nonetheless. I fear she hungers for more, constantly. Time and experience may blunt that lust. I hope it is so."

"Is that why you entered her dreams?" Celestia gently stroked her fingers down Luna's wing, a gesture that had always soothed her sister. Her pink eyes were gentle with understanding.

Luna's cheeks darkened purple as they heated, and she looked down, but the instinctive little hunch of her shoulders eased again under the touch of Celestia's hand. "No mare is responsible for her dreams. It was foolish of me to confront Twilight so. I had thought her lucid, since the dream was well structured and naturalistic, so I did not wait for my own presence to stabilise it. That was my own mistake."

Holding her silence, Celestia shook her head, just a fraction. Always so eager to blame herself.

Luna continued, "When she woke up, she may have... have taken advantage of the situation, but she did not alter my thoughts, when she felt she had good reason to do so. Whatever else I may have seen, it is what she consciously chose to do that matters. I... do regret that I intruded the way I did upon you."

There it was, as she'd known it would be. That embarrassment, that touch of shame, even though Luna had had no control of herself. Celestia drew her sister into her embrace, turning towards her. "Please do not regret it. Had it bothered me, I would have had Twilight end the experience when she arrived. My enjoyment was not feigned."

"I... believe thee, of course. But it was the first time I hadst carried out such an act upon thee." Luna closed her eyes, resting her chin on Celestia's shoulders. "I know Twilight desires it, and I am willing to partake in such acts if thy desires match hers. I simply find it... hard to believe."

Oh, Luna. With such simple words, she had made it so hard to speak the truth. "...Luna. My desires, my feelings, are different from those of the ponies we watch over. I care for them, all of them, and I wish each the greatest happiness. Even so, I cannot be myself with them. They look upon me and see only their Princess, and in return, I cannot help but see the briefness of their lives. I treasure them, each day, while they last. But I cannot... easily love with such a shadow hanging over me."

Celestia's lips twisted into a wry, sad smile. "For a long time, I had almost forgotten that there was a 'myself' separate from the Princess of Equestria. Had Cadance not been there to comfort me in the moments I needed it most, I may have done so. Now you are here, and Twilight, and I have found within myself the laughter and the spirit that had waned.

"I love you, sister," she said simply. "I always have. You were my one place of warmth and comfort, the one I could rely on to always stay. My still point. Whether right or wrong, I grew to desire you, to be held by you through your beautiful night. The things I did in pursuit of that desire were not right. But the ache to be closer to you is true."

Luna's sparkling eyes glistened wetly, brimming with unshed tears. "I left you. I'm, I'm so sorry..." she whispered.

"No!" Celestia spoke with unaccustomed sharpness, then her shoulders slumped and she tenderly wiped the creeping trail of a tear from Luna's cheek. "I sent you away. There is burden enough for us both. Stay with me now. Be my wonderful, compassionate little sister again. We don't have to do anything you don't wish to."

"You would refuse Twilight? You would refuse thy own desires?" Luna asked in a voice almost too soft to hear.

"Of course. I would do anything for you, my dearest sister. I would never have you do something you did not want to." Celestia's soft lips tightened slightly as the fundamental untruth of her words struck her. The charm made hypocrites of everypony that used it. "I will speak to Twilight."

Luna hesitated, gazing at Celestia for a few moments longer. There was a strangeness on her face, a look of uncertainty crystallising into a decision. The dark blue mare nodded to herself slightly, just once. Then, all of a sudden, she leaned forward and pressed her lips to her sister's.

Celestia's eyes widened as Luna leaned into her. Her world was transformed in an instant, to a warm, sweet place, the delicate taste of her sister's mouth and the star-dusted darkness of her rippling mane the only things in existence. She came up from the kiss like a mare breaking the surface after near drowning, catching Luna's slim upper arms in her hands and pulling back slightly. Her heart beat with painful quickness in her chest, and she searched the other mare's face, wordlessly.

Her face cast with nervous determination, Luna looked back at her. "I had to know that if I truly did not wish this, I would not have to. I am willing to try."

"I wouldn't want you to do this if you don't desire it." How the words stuck in her throat! How she hated herself for saying them! But she had to.

"I..." Luna caught herself looking down at the floor again, and visibly checked herself, meeting Celestia's eyes. "I would not have come to this by myself. But we have been intimate, my sister. My love. The two I care for most in all the world have opened their hearts, to each other and to me. I want to be part of this triumvirate. I pledge to thee, if I come to find this is not what I truly wish, I shall say so, and trust that you both will not love me any the less for it."

"Never. Our bond is forever." Celestia blinked the moisture in her eyes away, feeling an oddly adolescent, awkward smile of happiness curve her lips. "I accept, then. We will explore this, and we will go however slowly you wish."

"I should like to start by... kissing, I think." Luna visibly reddened once more.

Centuries of self-composure barely held her together. "I should like that too."

Their lips met again.

Guard Captain Diorite lay in her bunk, in complete darkness.

Transferring from Celestia's personal guard had cost her a number of things. Among them was the pride of serving Equestria's ruler, the special feeling of being one of the noble few Celestia could truly count on, the daily companionship of the other ponies of the Royal Guard that she had long grown to know, and her shifts with Chert. Oh, sure, they were still all on duty in the same castle, but the castle was a city unto itself. Unless she made a special effort, she didn't see the others day to day. For Chert, she made the effort. But for many of the others, it was a little sad to find how easily they were falling out of her life.

On the positive side, she had become the head of the guard for Equestria's newest Princess, the first to ascend in centuries. How many centuries, she had no idea; she wasn't a scholar. A lot. Princess Twilight was going to need a lot of protection and guidance in her new life. Powerful or not, she seemed so young sometimes, so full of energy and ideas. Those times made her want to protect Twilight, fiercely.

Then there were the other times.

Diorite's firm hands slid slowly over her dappled flanks, stroking and caressing. She didn't have to acknowledge what she was doing, or thinking. Some part of her, a dignified, disciplined pony remained above it all, while the rest of her indulged in the feeling of thick blankets rubbing against her tender grey nipples with each breath, and the slickness gathering between her thighs.

Becoming a guard captain had brought with it privileges. She now had a room of her own, even if it was small, with a stout wooden door that blocked sound very effectively. She knew that much from her own exploits with some of her fellow guards, in rooms much like this one. If she unwound her iron self-control a little, if she groaned aloud, no pony would hear.

The uncomfortable truth was that she'd had a crush on Celestia's student before the ascension had even taken place. It was hard to say when she'd noticed the young mare, but she'd found herself increasingly distracted from her duties in the last couple of months by the slim unicorn, finding herself switching shifts to be around during Twilight's regular visits to Celestia. A few sharply erotic dreams from that time still lingered in her memory.

All of that was a terrible reason for her to have put herself forward as Twilight's guard captain, but she'd wanted to at least try. It was a harmless crush that would go nowhere, and could be safely ignored outside her own private fantasies.

Of course, that assessment assumed that Princess Twilight herself would never find out.

Twilight had changed. Perhaps it was her ascension, but there seemed to be a new worldliness about her, a confidence in her body and her movements that wasn't there in the slightly gangly unicorn that had come before. Hints of a coiled, lurking sensuality that was almost intimidating. Nine ponies! She was dating nine ponies. Including both Princesses, if Twilight could be believed.

Diorite couldn't believe it. She couldn't. Princess Celestia had always been completely above any accusation of impropriety, and even if rumours had spread occasionally, she, Diorite, had always known better. Princess Luna was more of an unknown, but surely... the two of them together, that was just... the two of them together with Twilight, that was... impossible. Beyond impossible. Crazy. And as for Princess Twilight's suggestion that there was some kind of, of sexual dominance games going on between them, that the divine sisters were obeying her erotic commands...

Three bodies, intertwined, white and deep blue and pale violet...

Diorite's fingers slid and stroked over her pussy, rubbing firmly, a finger slowly working into her heated body.

That couldn't possibly be true. It was hard enough to believe that Twilight was having sex with anypony. But when Twilight described the relationships she supposedly had, she hadn't seemed like she was laughing at her. She'd invited her to watch. Unmistakably, Twilight had been hitting on her. Trying to seduce her.

Palming one breast in the darkness of her room, Diorite squeezed firmly, a low groan escaping her parted lips. Her cheeks burnt with heat, with embarrassment and arousal, mingled with indignation. How dare Twilight act like that? Replace Twilight with one of the stupid, entitled nobility that Diorite had guarded in the past; an unambiguous suggestion that she get involved in their sex games, couched in the language of ordering her to guard them while they fucked - she'd have gone straight to her commander.

Just because the idea turned her on, that didn't mean what Twilight had done was right. As far as she knew, there hadn't been any approaches to the guards serving below her, but she had to talk to the Princess and make certain that things stayed that way.

All of which meant she shouldn't, couldn't, accept Twilight's instruction, or invitation, or whatever it was, to stand guard and watch them strip, and touch, and fuck. Couldn't yield to the image of touching, licking, tasting, kissing... Oh, Celestia's mane, she wanted to see Twilight naked. She wanted to see Celestia naked. There wasn't a pony in the castle that wasn't half-way in love with Celestia, and the Princess had starred in her fantasies many times.

But she couldn't compromise her judgement like that. She'd be a hypocrite if she accepted the offer, while banning Twilight from offering the same to anypony else. So that was that.

Her decision firmly made, Diorite closed her eyes and abandoned herself to a fantasy of throwing aside everything and giving in to Twilight's advances, utterly.

The Great and Powerful (not to mention Magnificent, Stupendous, Superb, Slutty, Submissive, Sensual and Splendid) Trixie regarded her diary mistrustfully. Oh, it was her own diary all right. No other pony was capable of the sheer brilliance of the insights recorded therein, awaiting the glorious day when all ponykind recognised her true genius and they came to her in their hundreds, crying out to learn what her glorious life could teach them. It was a document priceless and unique, a treasure to be preserved for all time.

But most of it was the diary of some other Trixie.

Admittedly, much of that writing was about things that enraged them both. Pages and pages were devoted to the ways that other ponies - lesser, ignorant ponies, that didn't understand or comprehend how magnificent she was - had annoyed or frustrated her. Ponies she met on the road that wouldn't get out of her way, when their stupid carts of cabbages or whatever could clearly wait. Whole villages that hadn't expressed sufficient amazement at her shows, clearly too stupid to recognise the brilliance of her spell casting when they saw it. Jealous unicorns, ignorant earth ponies, feather headed pegasi - idiots, all of them. She'd written a small novel's worth of material about that wretched time she'd auditioned for a stage show in Manehattan and been told that her personality was grating and unappealing, and her magic derivative. The nerve! Even now, it made her hot with anger and indignation.

But there was another thread woven through it, one that was impossible to empathise with, that made the diary seem like it belonged to some other pony entirely. Ever since her first performance at Ponyville, she'd been furiously resentful of Twilight Sparkle. It seemed like there hadn't been a day that had gone by without some bitter comment tossed into her diary about the indignity and the humiliation heaped upon her by 'that mouthy, talentless show-off'. There had been ponies that hadn't appreciated her before, but they were just morons. She'd never felt that outclassed.

To the past Trixie, it couldn't be borne. She had to prove that she was the strongest, smartest, most talented unicorn alive, and she'd hunted down the most powerful artefact in the land to make sure of it. Of course, that had gone terribly as well, which had only deepened her resentment and shame. A lot of the time she'd spent stuck in the cabin had been occupied in ranting about Twilight, blaming her for her predicament, as well as the fossilised, moon-addled maniac that had kidnapped her in the first place and left her to rot in the middle of nowhere. When her diary of those months wasn't ranting about one or the other of those two, it had been mostly about trees, boredom, and occasional bouts of crippling terror that the whispering trees were coming to get her.

Clearly, being left alone had not been good for her. Nor had being obsessed with revenge on Twilight, even if she actually had been correct in blaming her predicament on 'the little purple pain in the tail'. It had driven her to ever-riskier behaviour, and if she'd been freed of the cabin and let go, she probably would have found something else dangerous to play with by now.

The correct way to feel was to be obsessed with serving Twilight.

Even her original self would surely have to concede that by now. Ever since she'd agreed to be Twilight's obedient fucktoy - well, not agreed, exactly, but it was clearly for the best that her Mistress had immediately caught her in a lie and 'punished' her by giving her everything she'd ever wanted - ever since then, she'd had such a better life.

The spells Twilight had had her research were fascinating, and Twilight was so quick and smart, so much fun to work at problems with. Why, the spellwork she'd been doing was orders of magnitude more powerful and impressive than the parlour tricks she had wowed gullible ponies with! As for the pleasure, well. Past Trixie had no idea how badly she'd misjudged Twilight in that arena. The sheer kinkiness of her Mistress was breathtaking. It was almost impossible to believe she, Trixie, had personally touched Celestia's bare breasts, too.

And... and she felt better. About herself. She wasn't alone, and it was only now that she was enslaved that she realised how much having somepony to rely on meant to her. Her Mistress would always be there for her. Or at least, that was how it felt like. When she wasn't distracted by all the other ponies she'd enslaved.

But - they didn't matter. She, Trixie, the Glorious and Perfect, was the best slave. No other pony could have accomplished the feats of spellcrafting she had with Twilight. Certainly her current collection of thick-headed pony idiots - all muscles and speed and primping - weren't capable of it, not even all of them put together. She was perfectly secure in her Mistress's favour, the smartest and most submissive and sensual slave of them all. She had no other ties to distract her from her service. She could be at Twilight's side always, day and night, in her life and in her bed. So that was settled.

Settled for another few months, at least. Then...

Trixie slammed the diary closed with unnecessary force, and pushed back her stool, stamping around the room. "Then the proper Trixie is to be discarded," she muttered aloud, "and this stupid, obsessed Trixie will ruin everything."

She wrenched the book open again, scanning the endless pages of vitriol, trying to think the way she used to. The concept of hating Twilight, of not wanting to serve and obey her, was just too alien. But... well, if she tried to think of somepony else doing this. What if she was captured by - oh, something bad, something that changed the way she thought, and used her body and mind for their own purposes.

Then Twilight would annihilate them from the face of Equestria.

Trixie blushed, feeling the surge of heat to her cheeks at the idea, unable to contain the little quiver of joy at the thought. If she disappeared now, she wouldn't spend months locked up in a cabin in the woods. Kidnapping her would be the last mistake anypony made. Twilight was so powerful, and she, Trixie, was all hers, and she was Twilight's very own slave, and just the thought of being so owned made her squirm, and-

Trixie hates her. She's the most obnoxious, smug, vicious, evil-minded fraud in the whole of Equestra, and she needs to be destroyed, in front of everypony that ever cared about her.

The words almost leapt off the page, such was the sheer venom in the sharp, angry pen strokes, and Trixie's happiness drained out of her, as though cut by them. Old Trixie was going to ruin everything. She was going to be angry, and, and stupid, and not understand what she had been given, and it was all going to be over.

She couldn't let it happen. She had to find a way to persuade Twilight to change her mind, to keep her. She'd been the best possible slave, hadn't she? She'd helped defeat Celestia, and she'd helped Twilight understand how to control her magic, and she'd been the most perfect, devoted sex slave in the whole of Equestria, so she couldn't get rid of her.

Could she persuade Twilight to copy her? She'd read about strange magic that could make duplicates of ponies, so maybe Twilight could free some other Trixie to make horrible mistakes, and she could stay with her Mistress, and be kept forever. She'd tried to think of some way to force Twilight's hand, to make it so it was too risky to turn her back into the pony that was going to make all the worst decisions, but the charm made it impossible. Any changes that needed to be made to her mind would be made, and that would be that.

The urge to go and confess everything trembled at the back of her mind, not quite in force yet, but perilously close to triggering. Even if she did think of something to force her Mistress to keep her, the orders ingrained in her would force her to tell Twilight before she could put them into practice.

There was nothing she could do to force Twilight not to do it. All she had left to her was to try to understand the pony she'd been, and prove to her that she needed to stay this way.

Rubbing her eyes, Trixie bent over the diary again.

Rarity reached out to squeeze Zecora's hand.

The zebra sat daintily on a small sofa, her other hand occupied with a cup of herbal tea. Behind her, through a curved window, Ponyville was spread out below them. It was a beautiful view from the highest room of the Carousel Boutique, which was one of the reasons why Rarity had made it her bedroom. It was good to have somepony to share it with.

"So, how is the forest? Has it been soothed?"

"The forest is well, as far as I can tell. I have found no threats to expel, and my fears are dispelled." Zecora smiled at her, and Rarity couldn't help but notice anew how very long the zebra's eyelashes were.

She truly was a lovely creature.

"Will you be visiting Twilight in Canterlot, now that things are settled here?" Rarity asked mildly, sipping from her own cup. The mixture was a gift from the other mare, and she was deeply enjoying it.

Zecora hesitated. An awkward look stole over her face, and she glanced out of the window, towards the distant shape of the train station. "Canterlot is a place that is harder to face when I am in the mood for solitude. So many ponies, and nowhere to hide. I am yet to decide."

"Oh. I see," murmured Rarity. "I'm sorry. I quite understand your predicament. I hardly fear the crowds - I am quite at home in the glitziest gala," she added, tossing her mane and feeling it bounce once with aesthetic perfection, "-but I do have obligations here. Dear Sweetie Belle missed me awfully while I was away, and the backlog of work that was waiting for me when I returned... there were a great many ponies that I did not wish to let down. Yet... my Lady is in Canterlot."

Hesitating for a long moment, Rarity glanced up to meet Zecora's gentle gaze, and abruptly she couldn't stop herself spilling out, "I ache for her, Zecora, I positively feel as though a part of me is missing every day that passes without seeing her face, or hearing her voice." There was a wobble in her voice, and she shored herself up quickly. It would hardly do to try to comfort Zecora, only to drop her own problems in the other mare's lap.

Zecora's hand squeezed hers back. "I, too, yearn for Twilight's return. Now that she owns the sisters divine, I fear she may be some time."

Sighing deeply, Rarity nodded once. "Yes, I've worried about the same thing. When I - when we returned to her, I thought it would end the misery of missing a pony I cared about. Now, here we are anyway."

"It would be untrue to claim that these feelings are the same. This is not the grief of losing a mate. It is simply hard to make myself wait."

Rarity heaved a sigh, nodding. The zebra's words made her feel embarrassed, and foolish, as though she'd said too much. "I'm sorry, Zecora. You're quite right, of course. Perhaps I do have a tendency towards the dramatic. I'm glad that you're here to help me keep my head." Oh dear, she'd made it all about herself again... "I hope that I've not become tiresome."

"You do not tire me; harbour such fears no longer. Leaning against each other makes us both stronger."

Zecora shifted, leaning towards Rarity and gathered the other mare into her arms, hugging her tightly. Rarity nodded against Zecora's shoulder, comforted by the warmth and strength of the zebra's toned body. "Thank you. This is nice," she murmured.

"Let us speak to her, and she will take heed. It was her deed that decreed our need."

Rarity's lips twitched into a small smile at the chain of rhymes, and she kissed the curling twist of grey across Zecora's shoulder. Yes, Twilight would listen to them, and stop spending all of her time away from them like this. Or, at least, let them know when she intended to return, rather than casually keeping them in the dark. "Do you ever become tired of being right all the time?" Rarity murmured.

The zebra's deep, soft laugh rang through Rarity's body. It felt good.

With a gasping cry of pleasure, Applejack rammed Rainbow's head harder against her wetly glistening cunt and gave in to the cresting thunder of pleasure within her, smearing her feminine juices all over the athletic tomboy's face.

"Ahh! AH! Oh, oohhhfff... fuck," Applejack panted, her face crimson. She lay nude, full length on her bed, mane and tail in tangled disarray, her body coated with a sheen of perspiration. Her round breasts bore the marks of her fingernails, her dark orange nipples rigid and reddened from the rough attentions of her own fingers. "...fine. Ya win, again."

Rainbow lifted her head from between Applejack's legs, panting for breath and grinning with such smug satisfaction that Applejack couldn't decide whether she wanted to kiss her or kick her through a wall. Shoving her short, colourful mane back out of her eyes, Rainbow preened, "Ready to admit you'll never beat me? No pony can beat this tongue. I've won trophies for it."

The flames of her stubbornness flared up within her, hot as the slopes of an active volcano, and Applejack blurted at once, "Not a darn chance," despite knowing full well that Rainbow was baiting her. It wasn't like they needed an excuse to have sex, these days, but it didn't do any harm to have one anyway, and Rainbow did love to turn things into competitions. Especially when she thought she'd win.

"Hey, fine by me. I'm totally willing to let you go to town on me again, even if it is amateur hour." Rainbow reached out and scooped up a silver stopwatch from the bedside table and clicked it a couple of times, resetting it, before laying it down and rolling onto her back beside Applejack. "Five minutes, and if you can't do it, I'm gonna make you cum instead. Again."

Reluctant to even give that much sign of weakness, Applejack panted, "Jest give me a couple of minutes before we go again, will ya?" Her tongue was growing sore from overuse, and though she wouldn't have admitted it aloud, she was simply too fucked out to move.

"Hey, sure. Not like I need to prove anything," Rainbow teased, turning onto her side to cuddle up to Applejack's firm, hot body. "Like I said, if you let me tie you up, I could get you to cum even faster."

Applejack turned her head, gazing at Rainbow's cute, impish expression. A warm surge of affection ran through her, and she sighed happily. Leaning over, she poked Rainbow in the stomach and grinned at the little 'oof' it forced from the other mare, replying, "Now Rainbow, we've talked about this. Twilight's jest fine with us making out with each other, but no dominating or ropes or anything like that. She's still our Mistress, y'know. All that's jest for her."

"Yeah, I know. Hey, it's not like I'm complaining. I mean-" Rainbow hesitated, and didn't finish the sentence, but the way she unconsciously pulled a little closer to Applejack said it for her.

"Ah'm glad it wound up being like this too, Rainbow," Applejack told her fondly. "You'n me, we've always been the two that get into the competitions with each other. Reckon Ah like this kind better."

Rainbow kissed Applejack's shoulder, and her lips pressed together for a moment before she asked, "You think we'd have ended up together, if Twi hadn't whammied us?"

"Don't reckon we would have," Applejack replied frankly. It wasn't what Rainbow wanted to hear, she knew, but that's how it was. "Ah wasn't into mares. Didn't matter how good'n strong or kind or athletic they were, jest didn't figure. Don't reckon Twilight meant to bend me around at first, but she did, and Ah'm not sorry she opened me up to that kind've thing. You're a heck of a marefriend."

Pulling a face, Rainbow muttered untruthfully, "Well, yeah, that's what I thought."

For one, Applejack decided not to call her out on the lie. "Ah reckon it worked out fine. We're working out the kinks, but we'll get there."

Quiet descended. Applejack shifted her hand to gently ruffle Rainbow's feathers, listening to the other mare breathe. Of course Twilight was her Mistress, and her first mare lover, and nothing would ever change that, but she felt pretty darn close to Rainbow, too. The trouble was, she knew that if she ever had to pick between one or the other - as awful as that thought was - she'd pick Twilight. She was beginning to suspect Rainbow would make a different choice.

Abruptly, Rainbow spoke again. "You know how she's been trying out more ponies, right? Like Lightning? What'd you do if she went after Applebloom? When she grows up, I mean."

For a second, Applejack could barely speak, with the sheer visceral intensity of her reaction. Staring at Rainbow, she blurted, "She's way too young for all this business!"

"Yeah, so like I said. When she's older," Rainbow insisted.

"Uh." Applejack frowned as she tried to think past the surprise of it all, and tried not to suspect that Rainbow was trying to push a wedge between her and her Mistress in revenge for what she'd just said. There wasn't really any logic to her own reaction, just a huge, rock-hard certainty that there was no way she was getting Applebloom mixed up in all the weird sexiness that Twilight was into these days.

Finally, she answered, "Ah'll tell her that mah sister is off-limits. Ah mean, Ah'll ask her, and Ah'm sure she'd say that's fine, but if Ah have to, Ah'd be willing to get pretty forceful." Feeling somewhat picked on for her special relationship with Twilight, she added with a trace of petulance, "Well, what about Scootaloo? Would you want her ending up in the middle've all this?"

The pegasus shrugged with practised lack of concern, though to Applejack's eye, it lacked sincerity. "Yeah, I guess I'd let her. Not like I'd have sex in the same room as her, or let her see me the way Twilight does things to me, but if I'm happy to let Twilight do all this to me, guess she gets to do it too. If she wants it, when she's older, like I said. It's her choice."

The conversation was growing increasingly uncomfortable, and it was time to divert it someplace else. "How is that Lightning? She doing okay?"

Rainbow coloured slightly, nuzzling her head into the crook of Applejack's shoulder. "Yeah, she's fine."

"You two dating?" Now it was Applejack's turn to push a little too hard on a slightly sore spot, and she knew she was doing it. Maybe she didn't want Rainbow's answer to be yes, either. Having sex with the ponies in Twilight's herd, that was one thing, but Lightning Dust wasn't one, not really.

"Something like that," replied Rainbow, in a tone designed to end the line of inquiry.

Darn it. Sometimes other ponies threw uncomfortable truths at her, too. "She one of Twilight's?" Applejack tried hopefully. If she was, then that would make things better. No chance of Rainbow changing her mind and leaving the little sisterhood of slaves, that way.

Rainbow huffed a gently annoyed sound, and rolled onto her back. "Yeah, I don't think so. She's not whammied, for one thing, and Twilight didn't tell her she was hers, after. I think she just screwed her, then moved on."

Applejack frowned. "That right? It's not like she's gone and let anypony go she'd had so far. Doesn't seem fair."

"Yeah. It was Lightning's first time and everything."

"What?!" Applejack pushed herself up on one arm, soft breasts shifting with the movement, and looked down at Rainbow. Her frown grew deeper. "She wouldn't just go'n take a mare's very first time, then drop her like a sack of old apples."

"Yeah? Ask her. Lightning doesn't mind, I think. She's, like, kind of into me, and it's like the whole thing with Twilight was this weird episode she can't totally believe happened. So yeah, sometimes we go flying, sometimes we screw."

There was an almost defensive tone to Rainbow's voice, and Applejack was silenced for a moment by it. Eventually, she murmured, "Ah'm sorry, Rainbow, don't mean to pry. You bring her by the farm to say hi, sometime. Haven't seen her since the throne room."

"Sure." Rainbow looked up at Applejack, and visibly summoned up the nerve to ask with forced casualness, "So, you going to say anything about Lightning to Twilight?"

Applejack's mouth set in a flat, stubborn line. "Bet your britches Ah am. Ah'm going to give her a real seeing to about this. Y'don't just use ponies and throw them away like that. Plain ain't right. Look, Rainbow, Ah'm sorry for pushing you about Lightning. You make sure you treat her right."

"Sure you weren't a bit jealous?" Rainbow rolled up onto all fours, crawling over Applejack and looking down at her with a hint of hopefulness on her face.

Colouring slightly, Applejack blustered, "Ah never said anything about anything like that."

"Yeah, that's not a 'no', is it?"

Sometimes, being the Element of Honesty and Straight-talking was downright inconvenient. Seizing Rainbow's slim shoulders, Applejack rolled her firmly onto her back, ending up atop the slender flier. "Right. Ah reckon it's time Ah gave you another seeing to."

"Sure thing, AJ." Rainbow spread her legs, a wide grin on her face. "Clock's ticking."

Applejack slid down Rainbow's body, lowered her head, and got to work.

Author's Note

This was an interesting one! Just because Twilight isn't around, it doesn't mean the stories of the ponies in her life aren't going on without her.

Proofed by Djmill and Trail Cutter

10: Cultural Exchange

It was hard - unfairly hard, unbelievably hard - not to stare at Celestia's cleavage.

Twilight quickly looked back to her salad, her cheeks colouring slightly, then glanced up. Celestia was looking at her expectantly, and a horrible realisation swept over her. She'd missed a question! With a slight stammer, she managed, "I - I'm sorry, Celestia, could you say that again?"

The Princess of the Sun smiled, leaning forward slightly. Her dress was made of many small, overlapping pieces of delicate silk, falling in layers down to her feet. The low-cut bodice exposed an amount of her milk-white breasts that was almost unsuitable for royalty - not that anypony would dare say so - and it was quite unfair how elegantly she carried it off. "I was asking how your spell research has fared, Twilight. I know you haven't slept well of late. And not just because you have spent so much time occupied with those you've dominated."

There had to be a spell to stop herself blushing. "Um, yes. Yes, Trixie and I have been working on a generic spell energy reservoir that can easily be incorporated into other spells, so it's easier for me to cast. But I'm beginning to think that if I worked harder on controlling the outflow, so I could use spells properly again, it'd be more efficient in the end. Altering every spell I know to include a soaking effect would take forever."

"Is there any spell you're working on in particular?" Celestia lifted a forkful of leaves and lightly sauced vegetables to her lips, then clicked her tongue in mild disapproval as some of it slid off. A broad lettuce leaf fell into her cleavage, and a smear of tomato struck the upper slope of her left breast. Moving with delicacy, she picked the leaf out from between her breasts and slipped it between her lips, then wiped off the fragment of tomato with one slim finger and licked it clean.

"I... yes," Twilight mumbled, unable to look away. Her skin felt hot, prickly. Celestia's finger slid between her own soft, warm lips, and Twilight caught a flicker of the other mare's pink tongue as she lapped up the last of the tomato's juices from the backs of her fingers. It wasn't fair.

Celestia's gaze met Twilight's, a gleam of playful teasing in her luminous eyes. "Are you having trouble concentrating, Empress?"

She was being toyed with. Again. Looking back at Celestia, Twilight replied with a smile, "You are terrible. Obey your Empress."

Celestia blinked slowly, and just like that, the mischievous animation was replaced by smooth blankness. Her hand slowly sank down to rest against the table, still holding her fork. "This slave obeys," she responded in a tone of utterly serene compliance.

Twilight nodded, and looked down at herself. She wore a neat blouse, in a shade of berry-purple, that was buttoned up entirely too high for what she now intended. Nimbly, she loosened the top two buttons and drew it open, exposing a slice of her soft lavender cleavage. Much better. "Celestia, each time you look at my chest, you're going to say... boobs. Or other words that mean the same thing. You'll be aware you're speaking involuntarily. This command will end when I tell you that the game is finished, and you won't remember being charmed. I am satisfied."

The Princess had barely begun to recite Twilight's words back to her when the final command struck home, and she sagged slightly. A brief flash of disorientation passed over her face before it erased itself, and she recovered her poise.

Now, what had they been saying? "The charm is the one I'm working on right now, for obvious reasons," Twilight resumed.

"Indulge me, Twilight. What would those reasons be?"

Blinking, not expecting to be challenged on the point, Twilight hesitated for a moment. "I... might need it. In case something happens, to Equestria. And there's all the ponies that the charm has touched. What if I had to... if there was some kind of mistake, and ponies found out, and I had to do something about it..."

She trailed off, and frowned. Now that she said it out loud, none of that sounded convincing at all.

"Should the charm be your first resort in defending Equestria, Twilight? Do you need it at all? You don't need it to control any of the ponies you've enslaved; you can dominate them with a well chosen word. Myself included. Its only purpose is to bring even more ponies under your control." Celestia paused, then went on, "It brings you a sense of security, Twilight, to know that anypony you upset, any mistake you make, can be wiped away with the charm. I am happy for you to command the power of the charm, but you should do so knowing your own motives."

Put that way, it was hard for Twilight to argue. This wasn't about threats to the country. This was about the strange, unsettling sense that knowing she couldn't cast the charm gave her, like realising she'd drifted out over deep water and couldn't reach the bottom anymore.

Celestia's eyes were gentle, though she continued inexorably, "If you needed access to the charm, Twilight, there are other ponies who know it. Myself. My sister. You could order either of us to remember it and use it on your behalf. You've let yourself forget that, because if you cannot cast the charm personally, then those that are charmed aren't yours."

Twilight looked down, a flash of oddly intense shame passing over her. She'd known all along how seductive, how powerful the spell was, but she'd been lying to herself about why she needed it. She'd let the charm become a psychological crutch. As for the orders she'd just given Celestia, it was obvious she was only embarrassing herself. Clearly the Princess was above such petty things as staring down Twilight's top. She sighed deeply.

"Tits."

Twilight looked up. There was an odd look on Celestia's face, her composure failing to entirely cover a flash of bafflement. It was surprisingly endearing.

Unable to entirely suppress a giggle, Twilight put on a serious expression. Celestia did it too! With that realisation lightening her spirit, she found it easier to confess, "I think you're right. I should have been able to come up with a better justification than that. It does bother me not to have it, even if I wasn't going to use it."

"Weren't you, Twilight? Now that it's out of your reach, it should be much boobs to refrain from temptation." Again, there was a little pause as she realised something she'd said was not what she'd intended to say. "Twilight-"

Fully aware that her poker face had nothing on Celestia's, Twilight looked back at her innocently. "Is there a problem, Princess?" Now Celestia couldn't say anything, or she'd lose. Twilight leaned forward, tilting her head back to let Celestia glance down her blouse more easily.

"Of jugs not, Empress." Celestia's eyelids flickered, and then she deliberately raised her head, holding Twilight's gaze without looking away. "I would imagine that there would be difficulty in testing the charm, even if you believed you'd made it safe."

She's worked it out. That was a little disappointing - she'd hoped it would have taken longer. "Yes, I haven't really figured out how to be sure it's safe. I don't know what an overloaded version of the charm would do, but given the power it has to alter the minds of ponies so easily, I'd be afraid of causing harm. That's another reason why I want to get my surges under control, so I can rely on my magic again. It's really bothered me not to be able to use all the small spells I'd gotten used to."

"Is that why you haven't pierced my nipples yet, Empress?"

Twilight felt her cheeks flush pink, and caught herself too late to avoid the instinctive glance down at Celestia's body. A point to the Princess. "What do you mean?" she asked quickly.

"You'd like me to tell you the answer?" Celestia asked innocently, though the smile on her lips grew slightly wider. Not giving Twilight time to react to the devastating blow, she continued, "You wished to decorate my nipples with golden rings. To mark my body, and show that you own it. To use them to tease me, any time you desire. You wished to do the same to my sister, in silver. We would make a wonderful matched pair. Have you set your heart on charming whoever is to carry it out?"

Celestia's fingers described small circles across her chest, drawing the ghost of each ring over the subtle bumps of her nipples through the delicate, clinging silk. It was utterly impossible not to be drawn to the movement of her hands, and all the while, Celestia's gaze didn't waver from Twilight's face.

Twilight knew she was losing, and she refused to lose. Just undoing another button wouldn't be enough; she had to catch Celestia's eye with something more dramatic. Reaching out to her cutlery, she replied, "Giving you and Luna twin piercings is kind of a strange request, don't you think? I was worried that whoever did the piercings would... well, talk about it."

If Rarity could see her right now, Twilight knew she'd never be forgiven. But this blouse wasn't one Rarity had made, and though it was a shameful thought, as a Princess, Twilight could certainly afford to have it fixed later. Trying to maintain a completely innocent expression, she eased the knife up to the underside of a button, and flicked her wrist. The button flew free, her blouse sliding open a little more.

"Twilight, everypony is going to jugs talking about it."

"What was that, Celestia? Are you having trouble concentrating?" Twilight eased the knife a little lower, and flicked off another button. Her blouse was hanging loosely now, exposing a wedge of her delicate white bra and her smooth cleavage. Yes. She could be sexy too, and she could make Celestia want to look at her.

She really wanted Celestia to want to look at her.

"...everypony will notice, Twilight. The rings will be impossible to hide for long, and the smallest change to my routine is the talk of Canterlot. Especially if the details seem salacious, whether true or not. A few months ago, a rumour spread that one of my favourite couches had been intimately stained, and it simply would not die away until I removed the furniture entirely."

Twilight winced slightly before she could stop herself. Of course, Celestia probably didn't know Rarity's quick thinking was behind that rumour, but she couldn't quite contain the guilty reflex anyway. "I, um, imagine that made it hard to find somewhere for it to go."

"I've had it placed in storage until this rumour is forgotten. Though there have been several attempts to bribe servants to retrieve it. Lavish bribes. If you were to start a few more rumours of that kind, the castle could have an auction, Empress Titties."

The idea of Celestia presiding over an official collection of Princess-stained furniture was too bizarre to process. Choosing to move on, Twilight asked slowly, "What will ponies do, if they hear about this? I don't want to give any clues that might give away the charm."

"I imagine there will be several new piercings among the noble classes as a result, hooters."

Twilight shivered. Something about that idea struck a chord deep within her. All the noble ladies of Canterlot, noticing the new piercings amongst the Princesses and dutifully going off to decorate their own breasts with pretty rings. All decorating themselves, unknowingly, for her. Sometimes she forgot just how much power she held over Equestria, in the most subtle of ways as well as the most obvious.

Still, Celestia's 'slips' were becoming a little too well timed. "Princess, did you just call me-"

"Is there a problem with the way I address you, my faithful binyas? I view your incredible titties with the greatest respect and admiration. Since you defeated me with your remarkable grasp of my melons, I will address your regal boobs any way you desire." Celestia's expression was perfectly serene as she spoke, her eyes deliberately flicking down to Twilight's chest and back up with the enviably precise timing needed to punctuate the sentence perfectly.

"...binyas?" Twilight asked resignedly.

"They were a pastry, popular six centuries ago, with gently sloping curves and a cherry at the summit."

"Oh. Historically educational." Twilight pulled a face at Celestia, then shook her head and smiled. "The game is finished - you win. I'll investigate whether there are any trustworthy ponies that could do it, and try not to let anypony know who the clients are until one is chosen. I'll keep this close to my chest," she added in a feeble little joke, and gestured at her open blouse.

Celestia smiled to herself. "I hope our guest appreciates your chest as much as I do."

Uh-oh. Twilight's ears pricked up. The look on her mentor's face was her most unruffled, the perfect serenity of a mare that absolutely should not be trusted. In a tone of mild accusation, Twilight said, "You're not smirking."

"Oh?"

"You only not-smirk this loudly when you're going to spring something on me," replied Twilight, giving Celestia a stern look.

"Oh, Twilight, you know me so well. I received a message this morning; one of the guests for your coronation will be arriving soon. A Princess." Celestia's eyes sparkled, her lips curving up at the edges. "Can you guess which?"

Twilight blinked. A Princess? "She's going to be a bit late, isn't she?" she answered aloud, while wracking her memory for who might be so far behind schedule. Of course, there was someone she could think of that might turn up weeks late, who had a long way to travel through difficult terrain... "Not one of the princesses of Yakistan?" Twilight added reluctantly. Anypony but those yaks again.

Celestia's impish little smile widened. "No, I'm afraid this is a different Princess. It's partly my fault, for not extending the invitation to her father sooner. I found it was more difficult than I remembered to send a message to him; apparently, messengers are reluctant to enter his lands."

Male ruler. Dangerous land. Considerable distance. Celestia hadn't been there in some time. The tumblers were still spinning in Twilight's thoughts when Celestia added lightly, "Dragon Lord Torch has sent his daughter, Princess Ember, to convey his regards."

"A dragon?" Twilight squeaked, hearing her voice break in surprise. "A full-grown adult dragon?" She had to study it! -or, well, her. She had to study her, and ask her questions, and find out about the dragon culture, and what was she going to eat, and how was she going to fit into the palace, and was it Twilight's job to figure that out?

"It's been many years since I last visited Torch, but he was kind enough to notify me when his daughter was born. I believe he sent a message along the lines of..." Celestia frowned slightly in an effort of recollection, then continued smoothly, "'One of these days, me and my new daughter are going to burn that tiny Kingdom of yours to the ground and roost in the ashes.' That would have been around the time Granny Smith was born, I believe."

Eyes widening, Twilight looked up at Celestia in dismay. "He threatened you?"

"Torch does like his little jokes," Celestia replied lightly. "I do hope his daughter has inherited his vivid sense of humour."

Twilight's smile was fixed. She couldn't help remembering the slumbering dragon in the great cave above Ponyville, a vast creature whose smoke threatened to blot out the sun for hundreds of miles. She had to entertain something like that?

"I am going to need some really, really big cucumber sandwiches," she muttered half to herself, then looked accusingly at Celestia. "What date is she arriving? Will she arrive here before the festival?"

"Oh, yes. She should be here in less than an hour."

Twilight's left ear twitched, her face frozen in a disbelieving smile. "Less than an hour... a week from now?"

"Less than an hour, today."

"Oh." Twilight took a deep breath, and stood up. She stared at Celestia, searching for meaning in the mischievous little curl to her lip, and the amusement dancing in her eyes. "Princess, you're... teasing me, aren't you."

"Oh, yes." Celestia watched Twilight begin to sag in relief, and added lightly, "Though it's true, as well."

Twilight's mouth opened and closed. She pointed a finger at Celestia speechlessly, then finally managed in a tone of dire threat, "The reddest ass!" Tugging her blouse together with her hands, she turned and ran from the room, her footsteps echoing on the marble.

"Promises, promises," murmured Celestia to the empty room.

"-and please confirm the marquee has been set up in the courtyard!"

"Yes, Princess!"

The maid bowed hastily and backed away, her lips moving as she tried to keep the list straight in her head, and Trixie stepped up to replace her.

"The efficient and obedient Trixie has succeeded in her task! The store rooms are being ransacked for a meal fit for a dragon. Both for food, and gemstones."

"And-"

"And she has also asked for servants to be sent out into Canterlot to secure additional supplies. They accepted that Trixie spoke with your name. Trixie is so important!" Trixie's eyes sparkled. "How are the other preparations, magnificent Mistress?"

Twilight dragged her fingers through her mane, then shook her head. "This is no good; I look like a haystack. I have a hairbrush - please brush my tail. Is my neckline straight?" She plucked at her delicate blue dress nervously, a floor-length gown, modestly cut.

"Yes, Mistress!" Trixie replied with a flash of delight, and scooped up the hairbrush within a nimbus of pale magic. Levitating it into her hand, she took Twilight's tail in one hand and began smoothly running the brush down it in the other, unable to suppress her smile at being able to do something so intimately caring for her owner. "Trixie thinks you look beautiful, Mistress, and perfectly able to face down some sluggish, over-fed scaly idiot that can't even show the respect to show up on time."

Ambassador Trixie strikes again. "Trixie, don't say anything rude to her while she's here. Contact between Equestria and the Dragon Lands is very, very rare, and if this goes well, we might be able to establish more permanent relations. Imagine it! An embassy in the Dragon Lands! The things we could learn! The books we could write! All the things we could teach each other! This could be wonderful! ...but only if this goes well. It has to go well," she concluded abruptly, as the weight of her responsibilities crashed down on her once more.

Wincing as Trixie's brushing found a knot, Twilight went on, "Obviously she won't be able to stay in the castle, but I've had the Grand Marquee set up and there's a treasure bed being put together from the treasury, and decorative hangings, and - and I've had to ask Celestia for her guards, to guard it all. I've arranged a meeting with the architects later to work out whether there's a large hall we can expose to the outside by breaking down walls, and they're extracting the original architectural drawings from the archives."

Reaching back, Twilight gently took the hairbrush from Trixie's fingers, then absent-mindedly levitated it up in a magical grip to sweep the stripes of colour through her mane into neat order. "If we really work hard, there might be time to-"

A deep, subsonic boom rolled through the castle, vibrating in the stone under Twilight's feet. The hairbrush shot sideways with tremendous force as Twilight lost her grip on the magic, vanishing through an open doorway. A second later, something smashed in the distance.

"She's here!" Twilight wailed, and instantly broke into a flat-out sprint towards the source of the sound. Pushing through the milling guards and servants rather than wait for them to recognise her, Twilight dashed down the corridor and up a flight of steps, Trixie panting for breath behind her. Erupting out onto a broad, semi-circular balcony, Twilight looked up and around herself, trying to catch sight of where the dragon had come to land.

It took a second to register the fact that Princess Celestia was sat calmly in the centre of the balcony, at a little wrought iron table, a teacup steaming before her. "Good afternoon, Twilight. Trixie. Was there something the matter?"

"...dragon," replied Twilight weakly, looking up and around herself once more in a futile hunt for the all-encompassing wings. "She's here. Heard her land."

Celestia's snow-white brows arched in a perfect simulation of polite interest, and then she smiled. "Oh, I see. The sound just now. I'm afraid that wasn't Princess Ember, Twilight." Celestia brought her cup to her lips and sipped, nodding to a small silver spoon on the floor. "I dropped my teaspoon."

The enormity of the lie left Twilight breathless, and she heard herself emit a strangled little squeak. "Princess." Beside her, Trixie burst out, "The slutty and submissive Trixie definitely felt the whole castle shake-"

Celestia bent down, and retrieved her spoon. With perfect composure, she lifted the teaspoon into the air between finger and thumb, and with her eyes on Twilight, let go.

A second heavy, rumbling thud vibrated the rock under Twilight's feet, startling a flock of birds back into the air.

Twilight's mouth dropped open, and she pointed at Celestia, then the spoon, then Celestia again. "What. You. I've never - there isn't a spell for - did you research a spell just to mess with - did you create a spell just to mess with me? Did you research and create a spell and make an enchanted object out of a teaspoon just to mess with me? When did you have time?"

With a serene smile, Celestia replied smoothly, "This is an old spell, Twilight. It has very limited uses. I happened to remember it this morning, and thought it would be useful for spell practice."

Twilight gave her mentor a flat stare. "You needed spell practice."

"I suggested it to another pony who is a little more rusty than I am." Celestia looked over to the doorway.

"Twilight! Hast thou been trying my thunder-spoon? Is it not perfect?" Luna trotted out into the sunlight, a delighted smile on her face. Clad in a neat, formal waistcoat and a white shirt over long pants, she cut a surprisingly dashing figure. Her crown rested atop her billowing mane of stars and darkness, gleaming in the sunlight like a silver supernova.

"I - yes! Yes, it's so impressive. It really sounds like - like something the size of a really big dragon is hitting the ground," Twilight replied weakly. How did Celestia - even the timing of Luna's entrance was just... unfair!

Luna took two quick steps forward and hugged Twilight tightly, lifting her off her feet. Joy in her voice, she exclaimed, "That was exactly the kind of impact my sister suggested that I should aim for! You recognised it!" Setting Twilight down, Luna abruptly stepped back, coughing, and added in a more restrained tone, "I apologise for grasping thee without warning, my Mistress."

"You can always hug me, Luna. You're my very special pony," Twilight told her warmly, aware of Trixie immediately going green with jealousy beside her. "In fact, you can do it again, if you like," she added more softly, and let herself be swept up in Luna's arms again. The tall mare's body really did feel so warm and reassuring against her, and when Trixie hugged her tightly from behind, Twilight didn't feel like protesting. Surrounded by warmth, Luna nuzzling her head, she slowly relaxed from her fever-pitch of nervous anticipation. Her head settled against Luna's shoulder.

"You wanted to do spell practice?" Twilight asked eventually, looking up at her.

The imposing mare coloured slightly, purple shades marking her dark blue cheeks, and she glanced aside as she murmured, "Some of the aspects of that spell are quite delicate. I am out of practice at such subtleties."

I wanted to impress you and make you proud of me. The unspoken words were far louder than anything Luna had said aloud. "I'm very impressed. I'd like it very much if you could teach it to me, later," Twilight replied affectionately.

"And Trixie," the showmare added quickly.

Luna's eyes sparkled, and she hugged Twilight more tightly, squeezing a quiet 'erk' out of her. "Truly? Truly, you would like me to teach you? It would mean so much to me to be able to help you! I hope that it has always been clear that I would be willing to help in thy research in any capacity I might be useful, even if it is simply to fetch and carry."

"That sounds wonderful," Twilight said softly, "I'd really enjoy it if you could spend more time with me."

A swell of emotion filled Twilight's chest and sprinkled her stomach with butterflies as she gazed into Luna's eyes, seeing there all the joy and love and tentative uncertainty that the regal pony often struggled to put into words. Luna was one of the sweetest mares in all Equestria, and Twilight was the luckiest mare alive to have her. She was beautiful, incomparable. Magnificent. Warm.

Moving slowly, Twilight lifted a hand to stroke the back of Luna's neck, and gently guided her head down towards Twilight's own. Their lips met, stroking and caressing, and Twilight lost herself in the divine happiness of their kiss. "Luna..." Twilight sighed longingly into the other mare's mouth. Sounds seemed far-off and unimportant, and when a new voice spoke from behind her, she barely heard a word, wrapped up in a private world of her own.

"...arrived."

Arrived? Twilight reluctantly broke the kiss, holding Luna tightly against her, and looked over at the speaker. He was a guard, dark grey, with a cobalt blue mane that was probably dyed. "Um, could you say that again, please?" Twilight asked distractedly. Arrival. She'd been thinking about something to do with an arrival.

The guard drew himself up to even more rigidly formal attention, as appropriate for a palace guard finding two of the Royal Princesses locked in a steamy, hot-mouthed embrace, while another watched approvingly. "Your pardon, Princess! A guest, Princess Ember, Ambassador from Dragon King Torch, has arrived!"

Realisation crashed home. "She's here?" yelped Twilight.

"Uh - yes, Princess!"

"Where is she?"

"Outside the main hall, Princess!" he managed, leaning backwards slightly from Twilight.

"I wasn't ready! We're late! This is terrible! I - everypony, quickly!"

Pulling herself free from the double embrace of Luna and Trixie, Twilight dove through the double doors, and pelted down the corridor. Flashing past startled courtiers, her thoughts a continuous drumroll of panic, Twilight didn't pause to look back until she finally slapped open the double doors leading into the main audience hall, breathing heavily, and entered on wobbly legs.

The great hall was the largest chamber in the castle, a vast space where the twin thrones of Luna and Celestia stood, overlooking the courtiers and petitioners. Celestia hated it for the distance it implied, and Twilight had steadfastly refused to allow there to be a third throne added. An arched pair of huge double doors half-way down one wall led to the broad courtyard outside, where the marquee was - hopefully! - erected. There was no sign of the dragon through the arched windows, though... was she still outside? Surely she couldn't have left already...

"Has she - been waiting long?" Twilight panted. Straightening up, she hurriedly combed her fingers through her mane again.

"You're the new Princess of Magic, right?"

Twilight turned. There was a golden-armoured figure standing before the twin thrones, a little taller than Twilight. She was a shimmering aqua blue, broad, leathery wings folded against her back, and a long, scaly tail with a deeper blue tip coiled behind her. Matching dark blue spikes crowned her head like a spiky mohawk, above red eyes with slit pupils. Horns curved downwards, echoing her jawline, and her feet ended in broad, clawed toes.

She was definitely, without question, a dragon. Judging by the round curves of her, well, breastplate, she was definitely female, too.

"Mammalian features? But-" Twilight cut herself off abruptly, a crimson blush spreading across her face. This was not the time for that kind of question. Also, Ember was - she was - she wasn't huge! She wasn't so big she couldn't fit through the doors! But Celestia had said...

Celestia hadn't actually said anything about Ember's size. Had she.

It was getting difficult to keep track of all the different things Celestia was going to have to be punished for.

"I - I am Princess Twilight Sparkle! Princess of Magic. Yes. It's a pleasure to meet you, Princess Ember."

The golden armoured figure straightened, spread her wings for effect, and launched into an obviously prepared speech. "I, Princess Ember, Ambassador of the great and powerful Dragon Lord Torch, have come to offer a token of our interest in the ascension of a new power."

Do not snigger. If you snigger, there might be a war. Really, it wasn't Ember's fault that Trixie had said those words so many times no pony could take them seriously anymore. Composed face, composed face.

"I'm honoured that you came all the way from the Dragon Lands to meet me, Princess Ember." Or should she have said Ambassador? She needed being-a-Princess lessons! "We're very happy to welcome you to Canterlot, and we'll do all we can to make your stay comfortable. There are so many things I'd like to talk to you about!"

"Uh- sure. I'm sure you've got all sorts of cuddly pony customs to share," Ember replied awkwardly.

Twilight blinked, then studied the dragon's unfamiliar face. Ember really didn't seem to think that might have given offence. What kind of ideas did they have about Equestria in the Dragon Lands, anyway? Opening her mouth to reply, she was preempted by the door opening once more.

Celestia entered, at a calm, regal pace, followed by Princess Luna. Trixie tagged along behind them, looking a little sheepish and guilty at having let Twilight run off without her. Moving to Twilight's side, Celestia greeted, "Welcome to Canterlot, Princess Ember. I am Celestia, Princess of the Sun. You are welcome in these lands, for as long as you wish."

Ember instinctively stiffened her posture as Celestia's royal presence washed over her, Twilight noticed with a hint of envy, then the dragon paused.

...she's not sure whether to give her speech again or not. Oh dear.

Smoothly, Celestia broke the flicker of awkwardness. "I would like to introduce you to my sister, Luna, Princess of the Moon, as well as Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Magic, whom you have already met. It's been a long time since I had the pleasure of speaking with Dragon Lord Torch. Is he well?"

Ember nodded to Luna, who bowed slightly in return, and replied after an instant's hesitation, "Dragon Lord Torch rules over a vast and prosperous land, Princess. He is in great good health, and conveys his regards."

Celestia smiled. "That is a wonderful sentiment. And what did he really say?"

Twilight's mouth dropped open in shock. You couldn't talk like that to an ambassador! What was Celestia doing?

Ember looked exactly as taken aback as Twilight. Stumbling for a moment, she visibly took refuge in honesty. "My father said to tell you that he still intends to light your pretty mane on fire like a match head."

Celestia giggled, covering her mouth with one slim hand. Her eyes sparkled with amusement. "Princess Ember, would you convey to your father, the Dragon Lord Torch, that I have always been charmed by his boldness, and that I will kick him in the snout should he try."

...this wasn't how you negotiated with the representative of a whole race! Was it? Was this really - maybe she needed those being a Princess lessons more than she'd have ever believed possible. But on the other hand... Ember looked as taken aback by Celestia's casually teasing words as Twilight was, and Celestia was watching the dragon react. Twilight was suddenly certain that absolutely every flicker of expression on Ember's face was being filed away somewhere, awaiting the day that the Princess's relentlessly sharp mind would find it useful.

"We have had a suite put aside for your stay, Princess Ember," Celestia resumed smoothly, as though she hadn't just threatened to kick a head of state in the face, "and there will be a banquet this evening. We would be honoured if you would join us. Chert and Birch will show you to your rooms; and if you require anything, please let them know."

Celestia lifted a hand and beckoned slightly. Two golden armoured ponies approached, a pure white male pegasus and a dappled brown female earth pony, saluting Ember respectfully. "I'll... see you later then. Okay."

"Until later, Princess Ember," replied Luna in her most formal voice.

Twilight stayed very still as Ember was led out of the chamber, then stepped close to Celestia. Luna moved a little closer, and Trixie broke free of the wall where she'd been impatiently waiting and rushed over to Twilight's side.

"Chert," Twilight declared flatly. There were a lot of points to get through, so she might as well tackle them systematically.

Filled with calm innocence, Celestia replied, "Is there a problem with his presence, Twilight?"

"After you had me-" Twilight cut herself off as she realised that both Luna and Trixie were looking at her curiously, and furthermore, she was in the middle of a large, very public room where a loud voice would be overhead. Lowering her voice abruptly, she hissed, "-never mind! Fine. Chert. But - Celestia, you threatened the Dragon Lord!"

"He threatened me first," Celestia pointed out.

Faced with the entirely unfair reasonableness of this objection, Twilight's mouth opened and closed. "Ember was being diplomatic, and you said-"

"I know Dragon Lord Torch well, Twilight. It's been some time since we spoke, but time matters less to beings like him and I." Celestia smiled, and shook her head. "We had a quite wonderful fight, once. He respects that, and so, he respects our border. One day, I may have to have a similar battle with Princess Ember, when she succeeds him. Or perhaps you will take up that particular role, Twilight. I'd quite enjoy watching that."

"The rulership of dragons is not hereditary," pointed out Luna.

"No, it's not," agreed Celestia calmly. "I doubt that will matter. A child of Torch would have to have fallen far from the tree indeed not to have inherited his determination."

"Princess!" protested Twilight again, squaring her shoulders. "What about this suite that you sent Ember to? You knew she was - was going to be tiny! Pony-size! I spent the entire afternoon trying to get everything ready for her, and now I'll have to take the marquee down and put all the treasure away, and - and the castle is going to have enough fresh food to feed the country for a week! You even - the spoon, Princess Celestia!"

"Twilight. How could I possibly stop you? You seemed to be having so much fun." Celestia looked at her soulfully. "I'm not completely heartless, Empress Titties."

Lost for words, Twilight stared at Celestia.

Celestia reached out and gently closed her open mouth with one finger. "A Princess should be seen to be elegant at all times, my faithful student. Not, for instance, like a bewildered goldfish."

A wordless exhalation of outrage escaped Twilight's barely parted lips like steam. Language was no longer capable of conveying her indignation, and so she gave Celestia a look that, if there had been any justice in the world, would have pinned her to the wall.

Instead, Luna failed to entirely hide a snigger, despite strenuous effort.

Twilight's gaze swung to her, and Twilight felt gratified that at least Luna had the common dignity to look abruptly intimidated. "Princess Celestia," Twilight said in a calm voice, "you're being difficult. I'll find the time to deal with you later, and if I have to chain you to a wall to stop you earning any further punishments before you've worked off the ones you've already accrued, I will. But for tonight, you'll have to be satisfied with the knowledge that after dinner, I am taking the lovely Princess Luna to my bed, and Trixie as well, and you don't get to come. In any sense of the word."

It was with tremendous satisfaction that Twilight noticed Celestia pout slightly. "You are so cruel, Empress," she murmured, adding lightly, "I understand that you will be busy. You have much else to worry about."

"Trying to bait me into changing my mind, Princess? For shame. When I'm kissing Luna's soft lips and stroking my naked body against hers, I'll spare a thought for you, sitting in your bedroom with a book to read, whiling away the hours." If any of the guards could read lips, Twilight thought wryly, they would be learning far more about their Princesses than they actually wanted to. "If I wasn't completely clear, Celestia, you're not to cum until I give you permission, too."

"You'll rub against Trixie too?" the showpony asked quickly, leaning closer to Twilight.

Twilight ruffled Trixie's mane affectionately. "Of course I will. I wouldn't leave my slutty and sensual slave out of this evening's playtime. You are very well behaved." Trixie's face lit up like a Hearth's Warming decoration, and Twilight tickled her under the chin, unable to keep a matching smile from her own face. Glancing back to Celestia, she added teasingly, "You do have wonderful lips for pouting, Celestia. I might have to find reasons for you to make that expression more often."

With a certain wry grace, Celestia conceded the ground. "As you wish, Twilight. I will see to the tidying up of your well intentioned preparations, and arrange the ceremonial dinner with Princess Ember. Consider it my sincere apology."

Twilight went to reach out for Celestia, intending to tenderly stroke the other mare's lips, then awkwardly changed the motion into a pat on the arm as she remembered where she was; in public, with an audience. Lowering her voice another notch, she replied fondly, "Apology accepted. I love you, Celestia. Your punishment stands, though. Thank you for taking care of the dinner, I'd really like to go back to work on controlling my spell energy if I won't be needed for a few hours."

"Is there anything you desire of me until this evening, Twilight?" Luna asked diffidently.

"Mm, absolutely! I'd be very grateful if you could join Trixie and I, Luna. You have a lot more practice controlling the levels of magic that an alicorn wields, you can help a lot. Besides," Twilight added warmly, "I'd like to spend more time in your company."

Luna blushed deeply, her cheeks colouring violet. "It would be my honour to assist thee in any way I can."

Twilight gently touched Trixie's arm, smiling from one mare to the other. "Then Trixie, Luna, please come with me. I want to get you both somewhere out of sight so I can work on my magic. And to kiss you. That's very important, too."

"The slutty and obedient Trixie gladly obeys, Mistress!"

"As does thy loyal servant. Wherever you wish me, I shall follow."

Canterlot's Great Hall was packed to the rafters. The most formal, elegant draperies had been put up for the occasion, bringing brilliant colour to the smooth white stone, and long trestle tables groaned with the weight of food and finery. Smaller tables were scattered around them like satellites, the elite of the elite holding court at each, revelling in the unexpected opportunity for a high-society occasion at the Castle so soon after the coronation. A raised dais dominated one end of the room, allowing all below to gaze up at the splendour of their three Princesses dining together, along with their exotic guest.

The bright lamplight sparkled off Ember's golden armour like a beacon, and picking at the platter of gems laid out before her, she tried not to let her shoulders hunch under the unfamiliar pressure of the stares. Set beside her on the table, a smooth, clamshell-shaped jewellery box of warm gold waited, containing Twilight's coronation gift. Speculation amongst the guests was already frenzied, anticipating the presentation.

These ponies were weird, and not what she'd expected.

As far as she knew - as far as anyone in the Dragon Lands had ever said in her hearing - ponies were feeble, silly little creatures that couldn't get anything done without at least five of them chipping in, probably singing nauseating songs about friendship while they did it. The collective noun for a group of ponies was a hug. They had no bold individual spirits, and if you separated them for more than five minutes, they'd start to cry and snivel. They clustered together in little villages of wood and kindling and pastel colours that wouldn't stand up to the average draconic sneeze.

Canterlot had been something of a shock. It was big, and occupied what would have been a glorious sunning ledge, most of the way up a high hill, overlooking wooded valleys. The city was almost all dressed stone, and while the castle looked pretty, and colourful, beneath all of that, it also looked strong.

"How are you finding Canterlot, Princess?"

Jerking slightly in surprise as Princess Twilight intruded on her thoughts, Ember hesitated. "Look, can we just skip the 'Princess' part for today? Otherwise I'll never stop saying it."

Celestia's glance flicked to Twilight, then back to Ember, her full lips quirked in amusement. "Of course, Ambassador. If that would make you more comfortable."

"Uh - yeah, let's leave off Ambassador, too," Ember replied, trying not to pull a face.

"Celestia," Twilight murmured reprovingly, giving the elder Princess a look.

The Sun Princess smiled, and ducked her head very slightly in acknowledgement of Twilight's chiding glance. "Of course, Ember."

"It's... different." Ember looked around herself at the soaring columns and arches. "I can't believe so many of you live all together like this. This would drive a dragon crazy. We don't build castles, or cities; it's all about territory. You find a place you like, claim it as your own, and if you're strong enough, other dragons leave you alone. There's nothing like - all this. All dragons owe fealty to the Dragon Lord, but past that, it's every dragon for themselves."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Twilight said apologetically. "I guess you're kind of uncomfortable with so many ponies in the room."

"Not at all! This is fine," Ember lied immediately. Not liking the stares was one thing, but being pitied by a pony? That was just ridiculous.

"I'm still not used to it," Twilight went on with a wry smile. "I live in a small village, most of the time, and I don't really know what to do when everypony keeps looking at me. I hope it'll get easier."

"I understand also," broke in Luna. "While I have more experience of the rigours of rulership than Twilight, the manner of my return left an impression that yet lingers."

Twilight reached to her left, taking Luna's hand in hers and squeezing it. Her eyes were warm with affection as she said more softly, "Everypony here thinks nothing but the best of you, Luna. We're all very happy to have our Princess of the Night back."

Ember picked up a goblet of wine - pretty good wine actually, these ponies could brew - and decided not to draw attention to the moment. Interesting, though. The way those two looked at each other - were they lovers? She hadn't heard anything like that on her way to Canterlot. Maybe they were trying to hide it, though if they were, they were doing a terrible job of it.

Her gaze drifted from Luna's flushed, happy face, and with an almost physical shock, ran straight into Celestia's eyes. The elder pony was looking at her directly, watching her react to the other two. Ember hastily broke eye contact, looking down at her plate, then felt a belated flush of frustrated embarrassment.

As hard as she was trying to ignore it, as infuriating as it was, Celestia was intimidating her. Every time the Sun Princess spoke, it seemed to push Ember just a little further off-balance, so smoothly and easily it was impossible to protest. There were rare dragons like that, the ones that viewed conversations as complex games rather than blunt instruments, and Celestia gave her just the same feeling of being out of her depth as she'd felt when talking to them. She hated that.

The pony she'd come here to check out, this Twilight, radiated raw, unfocused magic like a heat haze, and she didn't seem to even realise she was doing it. The Moon Princess had an aura of power that would have ensured her the right to make her territory anywhere she felt like. But Celestia... whatever power she held was hidden, withdrawn so perfectly it barely registered to Ember's senses at all. There was something really unsettling about that kind of restraint.

Twilight seemed to have torn herself away from staring fondly into Luna's eyes, and added as though the interlude had never happened, "I think what I'm trying to say is that we can all feel a little uncomfortable being the centre of attention, sometimes."

"How are you not used to that?" Ember asked, picking a bright red ruby from the bowl before her and crunching it satisfyingly between her teeth. "You've been Celestia's apprentice since you were barely more than an egg." ...not that ponies came from eggs, but whatever... "You've got to be used to ponies staring at you by now. There's statues of you, aren't there?"

Twilight's face coloured in embarrassment. "There aren't any statues of me," she replied with a trace of defensiveness. Then, as Celestia smiled to herself, Twilight's expression fell. "You're not serious."

"I'm afraid so. There is indeed a statue of you. And all your friends, of course. You look very heroic."

Twilight looked floored. "You're not talking about the stained glass windows?" She hesitated, searching Celestia's face for answers. "...oh. Really? Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"I didn't wish to embarrass you. So I had it placed at the centre of the hedge maze. What better reward for showing the intellect and spirit of exploration to conquer the maze than a depiction of Equestria's heroic Bearers of the Elements? There is a plaque to that effect."

"Celestia." Twilight turned to Luna, and asked in exasperation, "Luna, is this statue really there?"

"Yes, Twilight, it is. You will find it easier to locate now that you can fly over the maze - I will help you, if you wish."

Twilight buried her face in her hands with an audible groan.

Ember crunched another gemstone between her teeth, her red eyes narrowing with interest. Just who was in charge here, anyway? They might all call themselves Princesses, but there could only be one Queen, or there'd be chaos. That's the way rulership worked. The natural fit for the role was Celestia. She had an air of effortless command, no matter how gentle her tone, one that the ponies clearly couldn't help but respond to. She was intelligent, and even kind of intimidating, the pony that other ponies looked to for answers. And yet...

And yet, there was something else going on here. The connection between Twilight and Luna was obvious, but that didn't necessarily mean anything about who was in charge. What was more interesting was the way Twilight talked to Celestia - scolding her, if lightly. In some way she couldn't quite put a talon on, Twilight had the upper hand here. That made it more important than ever to understand what kind of a pony this Twilight was.

As Twilight shook her head in exasperation and dug into her food as though she had a grudge against it, Celestia returned to Ember's original question. "Twilight has never made a point of flaunting her status. In Ponyville, she has managed the difficult trick of letting others forget her importance to Equestria, as have her friends. It's only now that she has become an alicorn that her rank has become impossible for others to overlook."

"Huh. I see." Ember frowned at her gems again, fiddling with an emerald thoughtfully. Again with this weird idea of hiding your strength from others.

"I would imagine that being the daughter of the Dragon Lord has garnered you much attention in your own lands," Luna added politely.

"Yes. Daughter of the Dragon Lord," Ember repeated, nodding. Then, after a moment, she shrugged, and added, "Well, no, not really. Like I said, we don't get together in big numbers all that often, and when we do, he's the one that everyone's looking at."

Without really noticing it, Ember had cleared her bowl of gemstones. Pairs of ponies in castle livery moved through the throng below, laying down trays heaped with intricate desserts. Two approached to the high table, both bowing their heads to her. "Princess Ember, Ambassador. May we bring your dessert?"

"Uh - yeah, sure," Ember said uncomfortably. Her gaze slid away, moving over the busy room's bustling servants, powerfully armoured guards and brightly-dressed nobles. There was something about this whole setup that was bothering her. It wasn't what she was used to, but at the same time, there was something weirdly familiar about it, like she'd seen it before.

They were like - she paused as she reached out towards the towering confection that was apparently her dessert - like a hive. Like insects. This huge place, filled with ponies that were there to protect and serve the queen of the hive, ponies that were disciplined and rigid and efficient, putting her comfort and survival over their own... it just wasn't how dragons worked. It was kind of spooky, seeing it all in motion.

What could she learn from that? The older dragons could be capable of tremendous things if they worked together. The problem was persuading any of them to cooperate; they'd wander off if they got bored, and when she tried to picture several of them working to a design someone else had come up with, the image simply failed to come.

Dragons didn't work together, dragons didn't share territory, dragons didn't make friends. 'Friendship' was for those too weak to do anything by themselves.

Except... the chattering ponies out there, they weren't strong, but put them together, and you got Canterlot, which was. Then just when you'd gotten used to that concept, started to try to put together the idea that there was a kind of strong that came from putting lots of feeble little parts together, you came up against ponies like these Princesses.

They weren't feeble.

"Would you like to present Twilight with your gift after dessert?" Celestia asked, with a look of mild interest.

Trying to ignore the unnerving feeling that her thoughts were inscribed on her forehead, Ember nodded. "Sure."

"I'm really thankful that you came all this way to meet me," Twilight told Ember warmly. "I'm ever so curious about what you've brought with you."

"Yes, I'm curious about what you've brought from Dragon Lord Torch's hoard as well," contributed Celestia.

The colour of Ember's crest darkened slightly. Did Celestia know she'd taken something without permission? How? She pushed the thought away, chiding herself for letting the white pony spook her into becoming paranoid, and focused on Twilight and Luna instead, trying to keep up the chitchat these ponies apparently considered an integral part of eating. It was honestly a relief when the dessert course ended, and Celestia rose to announce the presentation of the gift from the Dragon Lands.

Ember pushed back her chair and rose, picking up the golden clamshell. It matched her armour, and was itself a rather handsome gift that Torch was probably going to be pretty cross about when he found it gone. Twilight had also risen to stand at the forefront of the dais, and the massed gazes of the hall were fixed upon the two of them. There was a vast silence of anticipation.

"Princess Twilight," began Ember formally, raising her voice to echo throughout the hall, "in the name of Dragon Lord Torch, Lord of all Dragons, ruler of our people, I come to you to bring a token of our regard. From the hoard of my father, I offer you this gift. May it always remind you of the link between your people, and ours."

In other words, thought Ember, as she carefully manipulated the lock of the golden clamshell, we're watching you, Princess, and don't you forget it.

On her way to Canterlot, Ember had stopped now and then to see what more she could learn about this Twilight Sparkle. On the occasions that she could find ponies that didn't simply hide from her, the stories she'd picked up were worrying. Ember had already known that Twilight had cleansed a dark spirit and turned her back into Celestia's sister. She hadn't heard that a single unicorn had created a shield powerful enough to repel an entire changeling army, for days, and that unicorn happened to be Twilight's brother. Then there were the confused stories about Twilight defeating some kind of powerful trickster spirit...

Clearly, Twilight was heir to a family whose blood bore appallingly powerful magic, and that was before she'd ascended. Now she was an aspect, claiming the entire realm of magic as her personal domain. Even if her father grumbled about her determination to travel to Canterlot, and everyone else she'd spoken to in the Dragon Lands thought she was wasting her time, Ember had the imagination to be deeply alarmed by a development like that.

The clamshell's lock clicked, and the upper shell slowly and majestically rose. Within, sitting proudly upon the pearlescent pink silk lining, was a crown. It was an elegant, arched affair, constructed of gold and gleaming silver metals, almost unnaturally light. Pure white gemstones were set either side of the central arch, capturing the light and glittering like captive stars. It had belonged to Ember herself, though like the clamshell, her father wasn't going to like what she'd done with it.

A simultaneous gasp arose from the watching crowd, fading in a kind of communal sigh. Twilight gazed at the crown with wonder in her eyes, then looked up at Ember, her face glowing with wonder and delight. "Ember, it's beautiful!" she exclaimed, then abruptly seemed to recall herself, and straightened her back, facing the assembled ponies squarely.

"Princess Ember, I gratefully accept your gift in the spirit of friendship that it was given, and thank you from the very bottom of my heart for travelling so far to be here. It is my earnest hope that this moment marks a new era of friendship between our people, bringing us closer together. There's so much we can learn. The most important lesson I've ever learned is that we're all different, and embracing the things that make each other different makes us stronger. I will treasure it, always."

Ember's smile became a shade awkward as she nodded in agreement, her red eyes searching Twilight's face. Was it possible that...

...yes, Twilight had totally, utterly missed the subtext. It was meant to be a warning! Subtle! Elegant! That was how the really smart dragons dealt with each other, with extravagant gifts and pointed undertones! Instead, Twilight had taken the entire thing at face value!

And she'd used 'friendship' twice in less than ten seconds, too. With total sincerity.

Ember fought the urge to cause a major diplomatic incident by burying her face in her hands.

Luna's soft murmur distracted her. The deep blue mare spoke out of the side of her mouth, without moving her lips, expression held in a regal pose of noble approval. "It would be appropriate for thee to place thy gift upon her, Ambassador."

Fighting the flush of embarrassment that darkened her crest - what kind of ruler didn't reach out for a crown and take it for themselves? - Ember nodded very slightly, and laid the golden clamshell in Luna's hands. Taking the crown in her talons, Ember raised it slightly, then glanced at Twilight. The Princess of Magic beamed at her brightly, and moved to stand in front of her, facing outwards towards the crowd.

She was crowning the Princess of Magic. It didn't matter that she'd already been crowned; now Ember, as a representative of Torch, was endorsing her position by doing the same. Scat. This wasn't the way this was meant to go at all, and she couldn't think of a way out of it. All she could do was act like this was what she'd intended all along, and make the best of it.

Spreading her wings wide, Ember raised the crown on high, letting the light flare through the embedded diamonds, then lowered it onto Twilight's head. The Princess's mane smelt of lilac, she noticed absently, her eyes on the crowd. At table after table, well-dressed ponies surged to their feet, bursting into a thunderous round of spontaneous applause. Ember stepped forward, standing beside Twilight, and Celestia and Luna moved up to take their places either side of them.

The reaction from the crowd was ecstatic. Ember's tail flicked.

From her position next to Ember, Celestia dipped her head slightly and murmured, "This marks the end of the formal dinner; we shall be withdrawing for the evening. If you'd like to rest, I will guide you to your rooms."

"Okay, sure," Ember replied with a trace of awkwardness, taking a step towards Celestia.

Twilight turned and reached out towards Ember, forestalling her. Her smile was radiant, and the crown atop her mane gleamed in the lamplight. "Ember, I just wanted to thank you so much again for this wonderful gift, and for coming all this way. I'm so excited that you're here! Do you think I could meet you tomorrow morning, so we can talk about your homelands some more?"

"...you're welcome. Come and find me, and we'll talk." Ember searched Twilight's face for any sign whatsoever that she wasn't being as blithely innocent as she sounded, and turned up nothing.

"Have a nice night, Princess," Twilight told her warmly, and turned away. Luna followed her, cradling the golden clamshell, and the two disappeared through a draped archway on the far side of the dais.

"Please follow me, Ambassador," Celestia said softly over the renewed buzz of excited conversation. Ember followed her out of the hall into the sudden velvety hush of a deserted corridor. The thick rug was soft beneath her taloned feet. She took a deep breath, feeling as though a pressure had been lifted, and she could breathe easier once more.

Celestia smiled at her over her shoulder, and set off at a gentle walking pace, moving unhurriedly down the corridor. "Thank you for coming, Ember. I've always had a good relationship with your father. I hope you and Twilight can share one as well."

Ember had to be careful here. Celestia's every word seemed to have layers of meaning and allusion, and she had to think them through before she reacted. "Twilight seems really enthusiastic about my visit," Ember allowed.

"She is. That is completely sincere. I want you to know nothing she said this evening was just for the sake of diplomacy. It would make her very happy to be friends with you, and your people."

There had been the ghost of emphasis on 'your people', as though they belonged to her. What was Celestia implying? Ember gazed at the back of her head, obscured by the flowing curtain of her mane. "I'm here on behalf of my father," she observed.

"Yes. He leads your people well. He's surprisingly good natured, when you get past the tendency to bellow." Celestia gave a small, fond laugh, briefly covering her lips with a slim hand. "But one day, he will step aside, and then, Princess Ember, I look forward to your own elevation."

Ember's scales prickled as Celestia so casually gave voice to her most secret desire. "It's not like I'd be made Dragon Lord just because of my father," she said with a flash of defensiveness.

"Of course not. You'll do it because of who you are, Ember." Celestia paused, and glanced back at her, a smile on her lips. "I have complete faith in you."

Ember's jaw sagged open slightly. No one had ever told her they believed in her future as Dragon Lord. She'd never dared even give voice to the idea. To be endorsed by a ruler like this one... she couldn't help but feel buoyed up by it, even though she scolded herself not to get carried away.

"I'm flattered by your confidence," she said with extreme care.

"Your gift was a very lovely one. I'm glad that you're taking such an interest in Twilight's future," Celestia replied lightly. "I wanted you to know that I have been taking an interest in yours, as well."

There was no warning. Nothing visibly changed, and Celestia's gentle walking pace didn't alter. All the same, in that moment, some internal barrier was lowered. An aura of shocking power swelled out from the tall pony, striking Ember with the force of a tidal wave.

Ember stumbled, almost tripping over her own feet, wings flaring outwards to help catch her balance. Her heart thudded in her chest, and she jerked upright, ready to be attacked.

Nothing. Celestia's aura had vanished, disappearing once again behind walls of iron self-control, and she hadn't so much as looked back. All the same, Ember was abruptly certain that Celestia had been watching the entire thing, was watching her still, to see what she'd do now.

Her instincts urged her to be angry. Celestia had challenged her. But if she tried to do anything about it, she'd look foolish, and she refused to have this pony look down on her. "At least you understood the crown," she said instead. That was good. Acknowledge the message without reacting to it. "I'm pretty sure that went straight past Twilight. She's such an innocent."

Now Celestia did glance around, her full lips curved in an ambiguous smile. "Does she seem that way?" Turning a corner, she paused in front of a door and added lightly, "Your room. I hope you enjoy your stay in Canterlot."

"Yes, I do too," replied Ember quickly, moving to the door. "Goodnight, Princess."

"Goodnight, Ember."

Slipping into her room, Ember closed the door behind her and flattened herself against it, her heart beating rapidly. She pressed her ear to the door, angling her horned head, but she couldn't hear a sound as Celestia presumably walked away.

Okay. So that was the public face of Twilight Sparkle, not to mention Luna as well. Now it was time to see what they really thought, and the quicker she got to it, the better chance she had of finding out something important.

Her father had warned her, after forbidding her from going, and amongst the muttering that she'd be wasting her time, that she was likely to be spied on if she stayed in the castle. That there were secret passages to the guest rooms, behind the walls. He'd seemed oddly pleased with himself when relating the titbit, one of Celestia's secrets. How he'd found out, she hadn't asked. What mattered was that spying went both ways.

Somewhere in this room, if he was right, there was a secret door.

Stupid ponies and their stupid secret catches!

Ember groped up and down the wall, tweaking decorative woodwork and pressing her claws into engraved indentations, trying to find anything that moved or clicked. Her armour lay in a golden pile, put aside for fear a metallic scrape might give her away, in preparation for sneaking silently through the tunnels that she was coming to believe simply didn't exist. At least it was good to feel the cool air against her body again. The pony obsession with covering themselves was one thing she didn't intend to learn from.

She'd been at it for a while, becoming increasingly disillusioned over the idea of there being anything secretive about the room after all. If anything kept her going - aside from her stubbornness, which was a force of nature in itself - it was the ghost of air movement around a slender section of panels. It could be a door. It could also be a subtly ill-fitted section of woodwork onto an old chimney, or any of a dozen other possibilities. It was so slight that finding it had taken her a solid hour of sniffing around, and even now, she wasn't certain she wasn't simply fooling herself.

At least if there weren't really any spy tunnels, she wasn't making herself seem like a fool in front of anyone. She'd had quite enough of that feeling for one day.

A decorative engraving shifted subtly under the pressure of her talon.

Ah.

Nothing immediately happened, but that was fine. She spread her arms, trying to guess at the reach of the average pony. If you assumed the catch couldn't be triggered accidentally, by a careless press of a duster, say, then you'd have two catches that had to be released at the same time. They'd be as far apart as possible, but still within reach of a single pony. So that meant it would be about a pony arm span to the left or right of the catch she'd found...

Another click came from under her probing fingers. She grinned, her muzzle parting slightly, and pushed firmly. The panel before her swung in soundlessly, revealing a narrow stretch of empty grey corridor. Very dim lights gleamed in the distance.

Ember hesitated for a moment, her body tingling with nervous anticipation. If she got caught, it was going to be very hard to explain. But having found the entrance, the thought of not going in was just... intolerable. Ears pricked for the sound of footsteps - whatever pony had been assigned to spy on her could be coming to take up their post - she crept into the corridor, pushing the door shut behind her.

Careful questioning of the overawed, slightly terrified pony that had come to summon her to dinner had told her that Twilight's suites were this way, down a level, and to the west. It would be easy to lose her way in the darkness, but her sense of direction had always been strong. She just had to keep her head.

Still, perhaps she was heading for the wrong destination. Twilight had the potential to wield some dangerous magic, but she really couldn't have been more gushingly harmless. Perhaps it was Celestia's rooms she should really be trying to find. But it was Twilight's ascension, her claim to all magic, that had made Ember nervous in the first place.

Besides, she didn't know which way to go to find Celestia's apartments, so that settled that.

Still, that aura...

Of course, an elder dragon could conquer the country in a week, if they could be bothered. That was practically an article of faith in the Dragon Lands. It would just be a hassle, which was why no one had done it yet.
It was easy to grow confused in the endless warren of narrow grey corridors, but there was a hint of use about this one. The stillness of the air helped scents remain, still tangible even after they'd mingled and spread out almost to nothing. Ponies had passed this way, not too many days ago.

She pursued the subtle disturbances in the air down a tightly spiralling staircase, and followed them down a corridor, seeing more with her nose than her eyes. It took a few moments for the dim, echoey sounds to intrude on her concentration.

Voices. Ember's heart lurched in her chest - she wasn't exactly used to sneaking around. Dragons didn't sneak. There seemed to be a lot of things dragons didn't do, now that she thought about it. Putting that aside for later, she slowed to a tiptoe, and crept towards the end of the corridor. Faint hints of light filtered into the gloom.

That was definitely Twilight's voice. Okay, that meant she wouldn't have the opportunity to rifle through any parchments she'd left lying around, but it was still an invaluable chance to learn what she was like when she wasn't hiding behind a public facade. After the dinner together, she was probably discussing Ember at this very moment! ...unfortunately, the sound was muffled, and she couldn't see anything. A brass plate had been fixed over the spot where the sound and light was coming from, no doubt to make it harder to spy on this particular set of rooms. Very sensible.

Just not enough to stop Ember.

Easing her talons into the gap between the stone and the plate, she pulled. The plate was anchored by four metal spikes driven into the gaps between stones, quite solid, but within the range of Ember's strength. With a soft, feminine grunt, she managed to pry one corner loose, then another. The last two slid out with almost disappointing ease, and Ember had to duck quickly to avoid dropping the plate entirely.

Where the plate had been was an oval opening through the wall onto a sheet of glass - likely the back of a two way mirror. Sounds filtered through clearly. Heart hammering, she stepped closer to the wall and peered out, her slit pupils contracting under the sudden influx of light.

"...what the brimstone," she breathed.

Silently, an alarm went off in Twilight's head. The spell she'd laid on the blocking plate had been a pretty good one; another example of the massively over-layered spell constructs she'd been working with to manage her power overflow. There were triggers for touching it, triggers for moving it, triggers for spells that disarmed alarm spells, triggers for spells that specifically tried to dispel spells that triggered when dispels were cast - by the time she'd finished gluing every spell she and Trixie could find together, it was close to impossible to unpick it without triggering something. Now, somepony had set it off.

Twilight smiled to herself, only just stopping herself from looking directly at the mirror or shaking her head in amusement. She was going to have to dock Celestia several points for being caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She should open up the passageway right away and send her back to her own room, where she'd been ordered to stay. Still... knowing that her perverted mentor was there behind the mirror, settling down to begin masturbating with voyeuristic pleasure...

Maybe she could let Celestia watch, this time.

With lovingly precise cruelty, Twilight's crop smacked Luna's rigid nipple, making her breast jiggle under the blow. A sharp gasp escaped the Lunar Princess's lips.

"Shhh, Luna," Twilight murmured affectionately. "You can bear it. That's right. Good."

It had been impossible to have the workshops of the castle turn out the particular piece of equipment she needed. She'd managed to explain away some things that were intended for her personal erotic use, describing them as experimental equipment, teaching tools, and other paraphernalia. Several lengths of rope and chain, for instance, had come innocently enough from the castle stores, and she anticipated getting more in future from the same place. But some things needed to be made for a purpose.

The fruit of her very careful, discreet inquiries stood before her. A huge metal X leant against the wall at a slight angle from the vertical, anchored by bolts sunk into the stone at the upper tip of each arm. Short lengths of chain led from the ends, leading to stout, thick leather cuffs strong enough to withstand an almost terrifying amount of physical strength. The whole thing was painted a stark red, and Luna was manacled spread-eagled to it, legs wide and arms over her head, a ring upon her horn, completely nude.

The Princess's breasts heaved with her breath, her generous curves and perfect proportions making her into a depraved work of art. Her breasts were marked with hints of deeper purple where the tip of the crop had tenderly darkened the skin, and her nipples jutted starkly under the abuse. A blindfold covered her eyes, and a subtle creamy trickle marked one thigh.

"She looks so pretty when you beat her, Mistress. The slutty and sensual Trixie just adores the sounds she makes."

Trixie lay sprawled on the bed, head propped up against a few pillows, slowly pumping a toy shaft in and out of her pussy. Her free hand slid over her breasts, squeezing and kneading. "Mmmhf... your slutty fucktoy Trixie never thought she'd get to see Princess Luna like this, not even in her favourite revenge fantasies. It was worth being enslaved for this alone."

A quavering tone in her voice, Luna panted, "Whilst I regret thy incarceration in the forest, it was necessary for-"

Twilight placed a finger against Luna's lips, then leaned up and kissed her cheek. "No. This isn't about that. This is you, bound, exposed, completely helpless, feeling eyes on your body and knowing there is absolutely nothing you can do about it... while I beat you. Spank you. Make you cum all over my hand. Or, if you're really lucky... my tongue."

Luna whined deep in her throat, and her body jerked, straining against the chains. The metal cross creaked. "Please! Please, my Mistress, I cannot endure much more of thy teasing. You must touch me!"

"Oh, Luna. There's still a little slack in your chains, isn't there? Let me fix that." Twilight gripped a small handle on the side of the X, and turned it a three-quarter rotation. A ratchet click-clicked within the metal, and the chains withdrew a little further into the cross, stretching Luna's arms even higher over her head. Luna gasped, her head sinking back and her eyelids fluttering.

Rarity had provided a simply wonderful new outfit for Twilight during her time back in Ponyville, and it was her first time trying it out. A skimpy black thong separated her ass, showing off each soft globe to its best advantage, curling under her to split around her pussy in a 'V' that exposed her flushed, glistening folds. Fishnet stockings clung lovingly to her legs, terminating in lacy bands around each thigh, and modest high heels added a couple of inches to her height. A low-cut shelf bra lifted her breasts and put them on full display, showing off her stiff, excited nipples. Elbow length gloves matched her stockings, crafted from the same mesh, and a long, slim riding crop was poised in her fingers, a slender black tool capped with silver. She was every inch a fetish dream, and she knew it. The outfit gripped and squeezed her in unfamiliar ways, constantly reminding her of its presence. Just looking into the mirror had made her heart beat faster as she stared at the strange, sexual pony gazing imposingly back at her.

That was the pony that had calmly stripped Luna and fixed her to the cross. That was the pony that could tease and torment her, cropping and fingering her, until she panted roughly with her built up lust.

The crop cracked against the Princess's other breast, jerking a yelp from Luna's lips.

"You know, Luna, that sounded almost like a demand. I 'must' touch you?" Twilight purred dangerously.

Trixie gasped as she thrust her sextoy deeper into her glistening pussy, her hips bucking jerkily in time with the crack of Twilight's crop against her divine slave. "Yes! Punish her, Mistress! Show her that you own her!"

Luna's lower lip trembled as she gasped for breath, and she nodded urgently. "Yes! Yes, Thy slave Trixie is right, I have spoken out of turn! I am thy property, I dare make no demand upon you! I deserve to be punished to the full extent of thy will!"

Twilight shivered, goosebumps breaking out down her arms at the desperate, almost delirious tone of surrender in Luna's voice. Sliding her finger into her mouth, feeling the texture of the fishnet mesh on her tongue, she wet it thoroughly before reaching out to the blindfolded pony. Her damp finger settled on one proud, stinging nipple, and began rubbing tenderly. Luna gasped, jerking in her chains and emitting a strangled whimper.

"I'm very proud of you, Luna," Twilight praised her, rubbing the individual strands of her mesh glove over Luna's nipple with torturous slowness. "That was exactly right. Although that didn't sound like something that a royal Princess would say..." Her voice trailed off suggestively, inviting Luna to fill the void.

"I am no Princess!" Luna blurted at once, arching her back to try to push her breasts against Twilight's teasing fingers. Her hips jerked, a fresh trickle of wetness inching down her thigh. "I am thy personal concubine, an enslaved plaything for your most carnal desires! My breasts are thy property to whip and abuse any way you wish! My heated slit yours for the taking, to use and fill at thy whim!"

Twilight's thighs squeezed together, her free hand sliding down her own body to gently tease her pussy. It was so delicious when Luna slipped into archaic Equestrian. It made her sound noble, like an ancient knight, which contrasted so beautifully with the words she was speaking... yes, let Celestia watch. The tip of the crop trailed down Luna's cleavage, descending leisurely to rest lightly against the tall mare's cunt. Twilight flicked her fingers and the crop lightly smacked against the incredibly tender folds, wrenching another whimpering moan from Luna's lips.

"That certainly sounded sincere... what do you think, Trixie? Does she look sincere to you? Do you think this depraved, slutty pony really believes what she's saying?" Trixie had a vital role in the scene. If it had been only Luna and Twilight, Luna would have abandoned herself completely long before, forgetting all shame in her desperation to serve. But with an audience, Luna was repeatedly reminded of her humiliation, making her cheeks burn with embarrassment. Each time Twilight called on Trixie, the burning blush on Luna's cheeks deepened.

"Haah... Trixie, mmmh, Trixie isn't sure, Mistress," Trixie lied playfully, then gasped as she went on uncontrollably, "She's a lying, slutty, no-good bitch, mistress, spank her ass!" Her cheeks darkening in embarrassment of her own, she rolled onto her stomach and thrust her ass into the air, without stopping or even hesitating in plunging the dildo in and out of her pussy. "Okay, fine, the slutty and submissive Trixie is sure, but wouldn't it be nice - ow! The crop, Mistress? What did Trixie's perfect blue ass do to deserve that? - wouldn't it be nice if we brought in some of your guards to be sure?"

"N-no!" gasped Luna, straining against the chains again. "Not that! You would not expose me thusly!"

"That's an interesting idea, Trixie. Did you have any one of the guards in mind?"

Settling onto her back again so she could watch Luna's face, Trixie breathed hotly, "Wouldn't it be interesting to bring in that bat-pony, Obscura? She knows Luna best."

Twilight giggled. "You really have a talent for being mean, Trixie."

"Mistress," Luna begged, "surely you wouldst not do such a thing!"

"But if I did? If I chose to let one of my guards see you as the obedient, devoted fucktoy you really are, would you deny me?" Twilight purred.

Luna's jaw tensed, and she closed her eyes, her head tilting to the side as she struggled with herself. Twilight watched with fascination, her eyes alight, lazily rubbing two fingers up and down her own pussy.

Finally, Luna shook her head. "...no," she breathed, "I would obey thy command."

"So what would happen," Twilight murmured huskily as she leaned closer, "if I told you I was going to go and fetch Obscura right now?"

"I would be displayed!" gasped Luna, her body relaxing as she gave in fully. "I would perform before anypony you wished as thy shameless fucktoy-"

She didn't get to finish the sentence. With a wicked grin on her lips, Twilight reversed the crop in her hand, and slid the handle into Luna's dripping pussy. Luna's body bucked hard, her head snapping back."Ooohff! Yes! Yes, fuck my pussy, Mistress, please, please, fuck me, fuck my slutty cunt, Mistress, I love thee, I love thee, fuck me!" she cried out deliriously.

What.

What the-

What.

This was the wide-eyed Princess Twilight? This was not the kind of friendship Ember had been led to expect.

Pressed close to the mirror glass, her head turned to avoid fogging it with her heavy breaths, she watched with disbelieving, avid eyes as the Princess of Magic rammed a riding crop, handle first, into the Princess of the Moon's pussy. Her own body throbbed in sympathetic arousal as Luna threw back her head, gasping obscenity filled vows of obedience and love and desperate need. Her own body felt hot and tight, as though each breath was being squeezed out of her lungs.

This just couldn't be true. She couldn't be watching innocent, pastel ponies carrying out some kind of ritual of depraved sexual domination. If it had been gryphons, maybe she could have believed it, but this?

Ember watched hungrily as a bead of sweat rolled down Luna's forehead and over the smooth, slick blackness of her blindfold, flicked off by the next short, sharp jerk of her head. Twilight's hand was kneading and teasing one of her captive's proud breasts, and without really thinking about it, Ember's right hand slid up her own body in mimicry of it, trying to capture the same feeling. Her talons caught one of her aqua-blue nipples and pinched, guided by Twilight's example. Ember gasped softly.

There had to be things she could learn from this. That was why she was watching this so eagerly. The idea of being turned on by these soft, silly creatures, that was ridiculous. It was just - hard to concentrate.

"You're my obedient fuck pony." Twilight's words filtered through the mirror, lust riding her words. No, Ember corrected herself, more than lust. Certainty. Luna really was under her control, and Twilight was certain of it. All the ambiguous, subtle tensions of the dinner were being played out again, larger and bolder. The apprentice, Trixie, had not been looking at Luna enviously, or even in awe, as many of the dinner guests had been. She had been looking at her jealously, as a rival for Twilight's affections.

Ember breathed a shivery sigh as her talons raked softly across her stomach, mimicking Twilight dragging her nails across Luna's body. If this scene conveyed anything other than lust, it almost certainly meant Luna was truly in Twilight's power. Then there'd been all those little glances from Celestia during the dinner, as if seeking Twilight's permission to make decisions. Ember simply couldn't imagine how such a thing could be possible, but if her suspicions were correct, it would make Twilight the first new ruler Equestria had had in millennia.

That was ridiculous. Twilight had only been an alicorn for a span of a few short weeks; she couldn't have silently conquered the country.

An especially loud gasp drew Ember's thoughts back to the one-way mirror.

"It stings," gasped Luna, her chest heaving. "Mistress."

Twilight giggled. Her free hand drew back once again and landed a cracking spank across Luna's breast, never pausing in the firm movement of the crop handle back and forth in her captive's pussy. Speaking with genuine tenderness, she breathed, "But you can take it, can't you Luna? You're a strong, noble pony. This kind of thing is nothing. Aside from the fact that you're being watched. Eyes lingering on your slick, wet folds leaking all over my nice clean crop... watching those big, soft tits bounce every time you struggle in your chains. My beautiful slave Luna, a molten, fuckable sex toy."

Luna's eyes squeezed closed, and she whimpered aloud. Every degrading word visibly hit home, her hips bucking helplessly against the crop, cheeks dark with humiliation and lust. "Y-yes, Mistress! Any abuse you wish to lay upon me, I shall bear it! I am - I am thy fuckable sex toy! I am watched, and witnessed, and I care not! Do not stop fucking me, Mistress! I beg of thee, I will accept any punishment you desire, but please!"

A tingle ran down Twilight's back at the strength of desperation in Luna's voice, and she felt her nipples stiffen even more, standing out from her smooth breasts. Slinking a step closer, she purred, "Oh, Luna. I love what you've become. I love every inch of your beautiful, dark body. So refined. So strong. So hot, and needy. If anypony knew what I had with you... if they knew the things I get to see... they would be speechless with envy. Almost every pony in Equestria would give their manes to be here, kissing you, touching you... owning you."

Twilight slowly sank to her knees, gazing up the length of Luna's body to the Princess's blindfolded face, her hand still slowly pushing the crop handle in and out of her glistening cunt. "I love you. I'm never, ever letting you go..." Lowering her head, Twilight pressed her soft lips to the top of Luna's slit and began to lap, shivering as she tasted the tangy excitement of the other mare and delighting in the fresh moan that it urged from Luna.

Luna's powerful thighs tensed hard as Twilight's tongue brushed her tender folds, the steel cross groaning softly under the strain of restraining her. "Yes, yes," she gasped in delirious surrender, "I love thee, Mistress, I will protect thee and fight for thee, I will give of my all, my Owner, my love, please, please, yes..."

"I love you too!" blurted Trixie from behind Twilight, her voice rising and falling in rhythm with the movement of the dildo that she fucked herself with. "The adoring and obedient slut Trixie loves her Mistress! Your pliant cunt wants nothing more than to serve you, Mistress! Anything you want!"

First person pronoun, Twilight noted. It was a little unfair to leave Trixie as just a spectator, especially when she'd been doing so well lately, and so Twilight leant forward and parted her legs, exposing the glorious sight of her bare cunt repeatedly revealed and hidden again by the excited swishing of her tail. Lifting her head from Luna's pussy, Twilight gasped, "Come down here and lick me, Trixie!"

"Yes, Mistress!" Trixie all-but hurled herself off the bed, the gleaming blue dildo buried in her cunt and parting her lower lips obscenely. Dropping onto her knees behind Twilight, her own ass rising into the air, Trixie wasted no time in burying her face between Twilight's thighs and beginning to lick with passionate urgency.

"Hhnng!" Twilight gasped as Trixie's tongue worked its way into her, momentarily forgetting to keep the crop moving. Her tail flicked high, moving out of the way, and she let her hips grind back against the showpony's face as she redoubled her assault on Luna's cunt. Her tongue probed down to where the crop handle slid slickly in and out of the Princess's glistening folds, lapping up some of her wetness and feeling the gleaming slickness coat her face. Sex felt so good! Why had nopony ever told her it would feel so good?

Burying her head between her slave's thighs, wriggling back against Trixie's eager mouth, Twilight gave herself over to pleasure.

"Hhaah... haaah..." panted Ember, her breath steaming in the cool, still air. Her crest was flushed dark blue, her knees weak, and her tail lashed back and forth across the flagstones as she urgently touched herself. Leaning against the wall, she twisted and tugged her jutting nipples with one hand while the other ground roughly up and down her pussy. Slick wetness coated her fingers, and her eyes were fogged with lust.

"Yesss..." she hissed under her breath, watching with hungry craving. Shivers of desire wracked her body, prickling her scales. "Fuck her."

It didn't make sense. Obviously Twilight was forcing them to do this. Obviously she had the power to make them do what she wanted, and she was using it. That made Twilight much more dangerous than Ember had imagined. But they were adoring her, and Twilight seemed to be coaxing and supporting them, even as she beat and humiliated them. It didn't make sense. Ember couldn't think straight, and didn't really want to anymore. Later, she'd go over all of this, and think through what it meant. That's why she was here, to learn, and she was learning a lot. But for now, all she wanted - all she could do - was experience.

Their moans were rising to fever pitch, and Ember's talons moved more roughly against her scales, pushing herself towards orgasm with them.

Luna's high pitched, gasping moans urged Twilight to ever rougher strokes with the crop, her tongue prying and flicking into the other mare's glistening pussy with single-minded obsession. She was determined that she was going to make Luna cum before she herself did, but Trixie really, really wasn't making that easy. The knowledge that Celestia was watching all of it only made it hotter.

Some dark, proud corner of Twilight wanted Celestia to see Luna cum. Let her see how Luna begged and writhed at Twilight's command, let Celestia see her sister arch in orgasmic release under Twilight's tongue; that little bit of herself hadn't forgiven Celestia for trying to take Luna away, and wanted to rub it in the elder mare's face. It wasn't a noble thought, and she was barely even conscious of it, but it was there.

And it helped her hold on just long enough. A fresh flow of wetness smeared Twilight's chin and lips as her captive demigoddess bucked violently, filling the room with her inarticulate cries of release. Chains rattled against the crimson steel Luna was bound to, and her mane and tail billowed out, painting the wall with stars and nebulae. Twilight relaxed, and almost instantly was driven over the edge by Trixie's urgent tongue and prying fingers.

Her eyes slammed shut, and her own gasps of pleasure were muffled by Luna's body. Stars burst before her eyes in the crimson darkness, and she felt the crop slip loose and impact the floor. Sweat coated her body, dampening her mane and tail. The urge to simply let herself collapse to the floor and let Trixie ease her onto the bed was intense.

However, that would give Celestia all the time she needed to slip away and deny she'd ever been there. Which was simply unacceptable.

On all fours, gasping raggedly for breath and tasting Luna's precious wetness on her tongue, Twilight focused on the secret door behind her. Exercising delicacy with intense effort, the twin trigger points in the decorative moulding began to shimmer with a sparkle of telekinetic magic, and pressed inwards. One final sharp pull, the strength of her magic more careless, and the hidden door spilled wide open.

Twilight giggled breathily as she heard a throaty gasp of surprise, and the thump of somepony toppling over. Pushing herself to her feet with deliberate effort, she heard Trixie gasp in shock, and grinned to herself with satisfaction. Plainly she hadn't realised she wasn't the only audience watching Twilight fuck and abuse Luna's perfect body. "You should have been in your room, Princess," Twilight said aloud, a wicked smile tugging her glistening lips, "but you sneaked down here to play with yourself, watching us. That was very naughty. I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you."

She turned.

Princess Ember, envoy of the Dragon Lord, was picking herself off the floor. Naked. She was naked, and her thighs were glistening with the wetness leaking from her pussy, and her wide nipples jutted, dark and stiff, and a deep, deep blush of shocked embarrassment coloured her face.

"I - I didn't mean to-" Ember stammered, then visibly pulled herself together. Straightening, she drew herself up formally, and managed in a more composed voice, "I've abused your hospitality. I understand."

It was a close run thing, but Twilight managed not to faint.

Author's Note

I try to stick to being compatible with canon as much as possible, aside from the divergence of events caused by the charm itself. But Ember's presence can't be explained by the charm directly. So what's she doing here?

I envisage that in the canon continuity, Ember heard about a new Princess of Friendship, rolled her eyes, and ignored it. In this story, of course, a Princess of Magic seems far more likely to cause trouble down the line.

I was encouraged to include Ember by an inspiration image sent to me by Grogar, and a further suggestion by DbzOrDie helped me figure out how to get her to Canterlot.

Proof reading and suggestions by Djmill and DbzOrDie

11: A Lesson in Seduction

Twilight stood frozen to the spot, too shocked to move.

Admittedly, she wasn't really dressed to entertain the Ambassador from the Dragon Lands. A tiny thong split the rounded curves of her ass, parting around her sex to put it fully on display. A shelf bra raised and squeezed her breasts together, while showing off their curves and the ripe tautness of her nipples. The spidery complexity of her power-conversion tattoo marked the exposed curves with delicate black lines. Matching fishnet stockings and elbow-length gloves completed the picture of a walking fetish dream, her makeup dark around the eyes, and her lips coated in glossy red.

Behind her, Princess Luna was shackled naked and blindfolded to a crimson steel cross, her full breasts and firm thighs decorated with reddened marks, and her cunt glistening with the slick proof of her orgasm. Trixie half-hid behind a stout bedpost, just as naked, a thick toy still buried in her pussy, looking as though she didn't know whether to hurl a spell at the intruding dragon or simply run away.

Then again, the Ambassador wasn't exactly dressed for a formal occasion either. The tall, slender figure of Princess Ember was completely exposed, rich with obvious arousal. Her crest was a deep and vibrant blue, her nipples crinkled into tight, rigid points, and the softer skin around her sex was gleaming with wetness. Her tail lashed fitfully across the ground as she looked back at Twilight with a mixture of defiance, shame and embarrassment.

"I've abused your hospitality. I understand," Ember said in a tone that struggled to retain dignified poise. She lifted her chin. Her wings flared and settled against her back once more. "State your terms."

Luna jerked hard against her restraints at the sound of Ember's voice, an inarticulate whine of horror and humiliation escaping her lips. The metal groaned, chains chiming as they snapped impossibly taut.

With a vast effort of will, Twilight suppressed her panic to a level that she could function with. She needed to think.

Ember had seen everything; it was impossible to hide it. The only way that she could be persuaded to forget was via the charm. Ember was a Princess of the Dragons, and Twilight had no idea how resilient she might be to the mental compulsion - it might not even work; not without tuning the spell to Ember specifically. Pouring sufficiently huge amounts of power into the casting might overcome that need for tuning, but she'd never proved the concept and this wasn't the time to experiment.

Luna could at least cast the charm, but she'd need to be charmed herself and the protections preventing her from remembering or using the spell undone. If Twilight herself cast it, Luna could help fuel the casting via Twilight's energy conversion tattoo, but Twilight couldn't cast it safely anyway. Besides, what if Dragon Lord Torch found out his daughter had been magically enslaved? There would be war.

It was incredibly hard to persuade herself that the charm wasn't the tool to solve this. That the charm wasn't the answer to every problem. But there had to be other options.

Meanwhile, she'd been silent too long. She had to do something.

Her voice was remarkably steady. "Princess Ember. Close your eyes."

The dragon looked directly at Twilight, and for just a moment, there was a flash of nervous stubbornness on her face. Then, hesitantly, she closed them. "Uh. If you say so," she said awkwardly.

Twilight released a silent sigh of relief. Turning around and leaning up on tiptoes, she tugged the blindfold off Luna's head, and mindful of the fact that she didn't know how sensitive Ember's hearing was, placed a finger to her lips. Her mind whirled, frantically trying to figure out what to do next.

Fact one. Ember had been caught spying. If she was the kind of dragon that roared and bellowed around the place, she wouldn't have been embarrassed, but that obviously wasn't the case. She was trying to be diplomatic, and act as a proper representative of her people. If given a reasonable means to apologise, some kind of concession on her part, that would likely go over better than simply trying to pretend it hadn't happened.

Luna's flowing mane actually managed to look a little dishevelled, and the distress on her face was evident, but she held her silence as Twilight unbuckled the straps. Quiet, unavoidable groans escaped her lips as she flexed her stiff arms and legs, and her luminous eyes pleaded for Twilight to know what to do. Trixie tiptoed over to the two of them, her own panicked look no less eloquent for her silence.

Fact two. Ember had seen some things she really, really, shouldn't have. She'd seen her physically abusing Luna and Trixie, saying and doing things that were so crushingly embarrassing that Twilight could barely resist hiding in her own wardrobe and never coming out. Luna was plainly horrified at having been seen, and Trixie was hardly happy about it either. It was very, very important that Ember never speak of this.

There was only so long Twilight could keep Ember in the dark before it began to look like weakness. Speaking abruptly and clearly, she directed her words towards the naked dragon. "You were very rude to sneak into my rooms and spy on me, Ember. Luna and Trixie aren't happy. I'd like you to say sorry."

Ember's talons tangled around themselves. Clearly she wasn't used to being at this much of a disadvantage, and wasn't quite sure how to handle it. "...I apologise." Her eyes flicked open, then shut quickly again as she saw Twilight gazing steadily at her.

Fact three. Ember had obviously been playing with herself, while watching them. The dragon seemed almost as humiliated by her discovery as they were, even if she wasn't trying to hide her body. Whether she'd been getting off on the voyeurism, the domination or simply witnessing their sex play, Twilight didn't know.

"Luna, Trixie, get into my bed." That would let them cover themselves, and gain some relief from being so exposed in front of a stranger. Without saying a word, Trixie's lingering resentment of Luna quite forgotten, the two of them disappeared under the blankets together with unseemly haste.

Fact four. Ember sincerely believed she'd been caught, and that Twilight had known she was there all along. That was important. Ember thought Twilight was in control of the situation, and that was the single advantage that she, Twilight, had.

Carefully, painfully conscious of how exposed she was, Twilight straightened her back and forced herself not to cringe in embarrassment. No Princess lesson would have covered this eventuality. She was on her own.

In a level, calm tone like a schoolteacher speaking to someone that was about to be in trouble, Twilight told Ember, "Come here and stand in front of the cross."

As Twilight had hoped, Ember looked distinctly nervous at the demand. She opened her eyes, and walked over to stand before the tall 'X', her blue scales contrasting pleasingly with the crimson metal. "Uh. ...why?" she asked carefully.

"I'm asking the questions," the outer shell of Twilight told her with unperturbed calm, while inner Twilight gibbered in panic. "Ember, why did you leave your room, sneak into the private passages of the castle and spy on us?"

"Hey, I wasn't expecting any of this!" Ember replied quickly, gesturing up and down at the cross behind her, then over to the bed where Luna and Trixie were huddling together. "I didn't think anyone would be here!"

"Okay. I believe you." Twilight's gaze caught the gleam of the silver capped riding crop on the ground. On the one hand, picking up a weapon in front of a naked Ambassador was probably on the list of things that you didn't do. On the other hand, 'letting this happen' was also on the list of things you didn't do. The crop levitated into her hand, still slick with Luna's wetness, and Ember's eyes flicked down to it with a hint of nervousness. Twilight tapped it against her palm.

"So you weren't coming to watch Luna, Trixie and I make love. You were still spying on me, and I don't think you came here by accident. What did you hope to find out?"

Ember hesitated. "Look, you're claiming to embody the whole realm of magic, okay? That's a pretty big deal. I want to know more about what you want, and what you're gonna do with it. So yeah, I came to find out."

Twilight maintained her level stare, doing her best not to show her reaction. Actually.. no, maybe it was time to show her reaction. Her shoulders relaxed a little, and she replied wryly, "That makes a lot of sense, actually."

"It does?" Ember blinked at Twilight, seeming confused by the sudden capacity to see her point of view.

"It does. I keep underestimating how much it matters that I've become an alicorn, not just to me, but to everypony. I think it's going to take a while to sink in."

Some of the tension leaked out of Ember as Twilight began speaking to her more like they had at dinner, and her wings settled against her back. She was therefore all the more startled when Twilight's crop flicked up and pointed at her accusingly.

"Still, that doesn't make it okay to spy on me. Now you've seen things that were private."

"It's not like I'd tell anyone," Ember said hastily, holding up her hands palm outwards.

"Do you remember what I said when you fell out of the passage?" Oh, no, what was she saying, what was she going to do? She couldn't really punish Ember, could she? She was an ambassador! The very worst that ever happened to ambassadors was that they were asked to leave, wasn't it?

A distracted, abstract part of Twilight noticed Ember's throat move in a nervous swallow. "You said something about punishment," Ember replied in a low tone. There was something going on behind Ember's expression that Twilight couldn't fully understand, some mix of shame and offended pride and curiosity that was defeating her best efforts to pick apart.

"Yes. I did." Twilight took a slow step closer to Ember, crop gripped in both her hands. She couldn't forget for a moment that Ember was the representative of her people. What happened now would shape Ember's view of all ponykind. A small, strange part of her was oddly excited by the extremity of the stakes.

Ember's eyes widened as Twilight leaned in, the crop held horizontally between them, separating them. The half-naked pony spoke softly. "Princess Ember, of course I wouldn't punish an ambassador from the Dragon Lands. We have too much at stake to let this come between us. I want to get to know your people, and I hope you want to get to know ours, too. We could teach each other so much. So, as the Ambassador, there will be no consequences. Nopony ever needs to be told what happened here."

Ember's lips worked soundlessly for a second, her red eyes flicking away to one side, then moving back to meet Twilight's gaze. "Okay. That's gracious of you. I'll continue my visit, and we can talk. I guess there are some things I'm curious about that I can ask you, tomorrow."

Twilight stepped back, letting Ember past. The dragon walked on tiptoes, looking directly at the entrance to the secret passage and not letting her gaze stray anywhere near the nude ponies huddling in the lavish bed. She was on the verge of stepping off the soft rugs onto the bare stone of the passageway when Twilight's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Ember."

The dragon didn't turn around, but her wings fluffed out warily at the iron note in Twilight's voice. "Yes?"

"That was the Princess of Magic speaking to the Ambassador from Dragon Lord Torch. Officially, we don't ever have to think about this ever again. As Twilight, though, I want you to know something."

Ember's wings hitched slightly higher. "What's that?"

Twilight tensed. She didn't have to do this. She'd already defused the situation; even though Luna and Trixie were horribly embarrassed, they could all just do their best to pretend it hadn't happened. That was diplomacy.

"I'm not finished with you. You, Ember, deserve to be punished for your bad behaviour. So leave, as the Ambassador. Or shut the door, come back here, and take what's coming to you. I won't ever ask you again."

Twilight could barely believe the words passing her lips. A surface part of her was caught in horrified panic that she could have even contemplated saying such a thing to someone uncharmed, let alone a Princess from a powerful land. But deeper down, a hard, sleek determination possessed her. Ember had intruded on something that wasn't hers. If she wanted to be part of Twilight's world, then fine. She would be.

If she didn't walk out of the room.

Ember stood stiffly by the secret door, her wings half-furled. She was almost completely motionless, only the lashing of her tail giving any hint to her thoughts. Silence reigned, so quiet that Twilight held her breath.

Finally, Ember reached out and gripped the edge of the door. Facing into the secret passage, she spoke. "Look-" she began, then stalled, and said nothing for a moment longer. "Look. I might have walked in- I was spying on you. Fine. That doesn't mean- look."

"Do you understand what you saw?" Twilight asked, her tone level and calm.

Ember snorted, shaking her head once. "No, not at all. Ponies, doing that? That's not anything I can understand."

"You wanted to learn about me. That's why you're here, in my bedroom."

"...yeah," the dragon conceded slowly, almost reluctantly, her talons tightening on the edge of the door.

Arching her back and thrusting out her chest, Twilight planted her left hand on her hip. "Shut the door and come here, Ember. If you want to learn, I will teach you."

Ember's tail flicked again. Then, very slowly and carefully, she stepped back, and pushed the door closed. It clicked into place, the seams vanishing amongst the decorative curls and panels, leaving her facing a wall that she didn't know how to open.

Twilight's teeth caught at her lower lip, a sharp, intoxicating triumph flashing through her like a rush of fever, as Ember turned to face her.

"I don't get it," the dragon said slowly. She took a step forward, then another. "You were insulting them. Putting them down. You had Luna chained to that cross thing, and you were hitting her. But you talked like you were proud of them, and they obviously adore you. I don't get what's going on here."

Twilight approached her with slow purposefulness, as though a sharp movement might scare her off. Circling around her slightly as she closed in, Twilight made certain Ember's back was to the bed. Better that she didn't look at Luna or Trixie; they obviously weren't sure what was happening, even if they understood that Twilight didn't want them to interrupt, and the last thing Twilight wanted was for Ember to pick up on their nervousness.

Confidence. Control.

"This will be your punishment, Ember. A lesson. A lesson in just what my ponies feel for me, and how we connect. You will learn what you wanted to know about me. You can leave at any time; but as long as you stay, you will listen. You will learn. And you will follow my instructions."

Ember swallowed. She stood rigidly, her cheeks flushed, her crest a royal blue, vibrant in the lamplight. For a moment, it seemed that she would protest, but the words died without being spoken. "Okay. As long as I decide when I'm done."

Twilight met Ember's red-eyed gaze. "That's the first lesson. You aren't in control, but you can always make it stop. If Luna had asked me to stop, I would have. I'd have held her, and made sure she was feeling okay. Her feelings are very important. So are Trixie's. So are yours."

A baffled look crossed Ember's face. "I still don't get it. You had her chained up, and you were beating her, but you'd let her go if she said so? Why would anyone agree to that to start with?"

"Luna loves me," Twilight said simply. "She trusts me. Giving up control to me is an experience that makes her feel things intensely. She believes that I'll guide her to feel things that she will enjoy, and I'll enjoy. It's very important to her to want to please me."

By the puzzled frown on Ember's face, she couldn't picture that at all. "No offence, but I don't love you. I don't really want to make you happy, either. How are you going to make me understand what they feel?"

That was a really good question. What they needed was intimacy.

"Close your eyes," Twilight said softly. With less hesitation than before, Ember did so, still frowning faintly. Stepping forward, Twilight let the very tips of her nipples brush against the dragon's own chest. "Breathe steadily for me. That's it. Just relax, and breathe. Very good. You can feel the warmth of my body, can't you? Is it nice?"

There was a look of concentration on Ember's face now, her tail settling from a fitful lashing to stillness. After a moment, she murmured, "...yeah, I guess so."

"I'm going to move a little closer now, okay? Just relax. Keep breathing steadily." All of Twilight's attention was focused on the dragon before her, taking in the way she inhaled and exhaled, the little unconscious movements of her tail and her fingers. It was a strange, quiet coming together. Twilight's heart beat rapidly in her chest as she gently pressed her breasts against Ember's, her stocking-clad thigh brushing the other woman's.

"You don't have to talk to me like I'm scared of you or anything," muttered Ember, turning her head slightly away, her eyes still closed.

Ignoring Ember's protest, Twilight leant her head forward, maintaining her soft tone. "I'd like you to breathe in my scent. Just feel my warmth, and my breathing against you, and take in everything about me." She was working purely by instinct, letting what felt natural guide her words. The female dragon was very still, but she didn't pull away.

"...your mane smells like lilacs," mumbled Ember after a moment. "Noticed it earlier. You smell like flowers, and sweat, and... pony, I guess, and yeah. Lilac."

"Is that a nice scent?" Twilight asked gently. Ember's skin was hot against hers, smoother than she'd expected, and she felt a pleasant tingle in her stomach as their breasts stroked against each other with each little movement. It was so strange to be so close to this dragon, this stranger, without the safety of the charm.

"...I guess," Ember replied slowly. "Yeah."

"It's okay. Do you believe me, when I told you that you could leave anytime you liked? That you could walk away if anything happened that was too much?"

Ember's eyes opened slightly, then closed again. There was just a hint of defensiveness in her voice as she replied, "Yeah. I believe that."

"That's fine. That's good," Twilight soothed. "I'm going to ask you to say some things, some true things. They don't have to be true forever. Just true for today, just for while you're with me right now. Okay?"

A faint, puzzled expression touched Ember's face, then smoothed away again. Relaxing against Twilight, her weight shifting slightly to rest against the pony, she murmured again, "Okay."

"I feel safe," Twilight said gently. "Can you say that for me? Can you say it, and mean it?"

"...I feel safe," Ember echoed, nodding slowly. After a brief pause, she said again, more quietly, "I feel safe."

"That's right," Twilight breathed. "You're safe. Nothing bad will happen. I'm going to touch your back, now. It's okay. Relax." Her hand rose from her side, gently settling on Ember's side. There was a subtle patterning to the skin beneath her fingers, and she traced it with her fingertips, working her way around to the centre of Ember's back.

Despite her insistence that she didn't need any reassurance, Ember's breathing caught slightly, then settled again. "That's nice," she finally murmured. Her head tilted downwards, and her shoulders relaxed as she visibly grew accustomed to Twilight's touch.

"Are you comfortable?" Twilight asked softly.

"...yeah."

"Then I'd like you to say, 'I trust you', please. Remember, you're not talking about always. Just for tonight. Just for here. Can you believe it for me?"

Ember nodded slowly. Quietly, but clearly, she murmured, "I trust you."

Twilight breathed in deeply, and let it go, a tingle of warmth glowing in her chest. Very softly, she said, "Open your eyes, please."

Wordlessly, Ember obeyed, her red eyes gazing into Twilight's searchingly. Twilight gazed back, letting herself relax, her eyes full of warmth and affection.

"I'd like you to say it again."

"...I trust you," Ember said quietly, her breathing slow and steady.

Twilight's hand slid gently up Ember's back, stroking the ridge of spines between her folded wings. A note of quiet steel entered her voice. "I'm going to give you some commands, Ember. It might make you nervous, but you can do it. I believe in you."

Ember nodded again, still gazing into Twilight's eyes. "I can do it," she replied softly.

Moving slowly, Twilight lifted her free hand to Ember's lips, stroking along the side of her muzzle. "You'll do as I desire, Ember."

Ember's muzzle parted slightly at the caress, a hint of a blush rising on her aqua cheeks."...yes. I'll do what you want."

"Remember this is a lesson, Ember. I want you to embrace what you feel. Take it into yourself, and really feel it." Tense, and trying not to let it ruffle the air of total confidence she sought to project, Twilight watched Ember's face closely. This was the turning point. She'd stop here, or not at all. Twilight paused, then said with inexorable firmness, "You will obey me, Ember. Say so."

Ember's lips twitched, and for a moment, she said nothing. Her eyes flickered to one side, but were drawn back by Twilight's gaze and captured once more. A touch of hoarseness in her voice, her tail flicking across the floor, she replied slowly, "Okay. I'll... obey you. For tonight."

"Yes. All of this is just for tonight. You trust me. You'll obey me. Again, please."

"I trust you," Ember said, with quiet sincerity. "I'll obey you."

Twilight heard a soft gasp from behind Ember, but didn't want to look away from the dragon's face to find out which of the two ponies sheltering in her bed had released it. Straightening, she arched her back, pushing her chest against Ember more firmly. This was the moment. Now she had to be strong.

"Ember. Put your hands behind your back. Arch your back, and spread your feet. Just say, 'Yes, Twilight', and comply."

Ember hesitated for an instant. Then, slowly, she moved her arms back and crossed her wrists behind her, her taloned feet sliding apart. "Yes, Twilight," she murmured, in a somewhat subdued tone.

Obedience achieved. Now what she needed was a reward. Caressing the side of Ember's face, Twilight said warmly, "That's very good, Ember. That's right. It feels good to please me." Not giving Ember time to react aloud to that, where she might try for an instinctive denial, she let her lecturing tone touch her voice lightly, and went on, "This pose is a very open one. Your hands are moved out of the way, so I can touch you anywhere I want to. Your boobs are pushed out towards me, to show your body off the best way, and your legs are spread nice and wide so I can touch your pussy. It shows a lot of trust. It's nice to be shown off for me. You're very beautiful, Ember, with the wonderful colour of your scales. You're proud."

Nodding slowly, Ember looked down at herself before meeting Twilight's gaze again. "I'm proud. I'm proud you think I'm beautiful. That feels good," she said, with frankness that seemed to take herself by surprise.

Setting her crop aside on the edge of the bed, Twilight ran both hands up Ember's sides. Feeling the subtle grooves and ridges of the dragon's scales under her fingers, her heart hammered in her chest with the precarious joy and lust and terror of dominating the other woman through nothing but force of will. Moving inwards, her fingertips slid over the smoother curves of Ember's chest, and she gently circled the deep blue nipples with her nails. "I'm going to play with your tits now, Ember. Your body is mine to play with, tonight," she told Ember firmly.

Ember stiffened as Twilight's hands moved up her body, but maintained her pose as ordered. Her cheeks grew redder, and her eyelids fluttered at the tender, teasing touch of her nipples. A low, almost disbelieving groan escaped her lips. "...yeah. Okay."

"That's very good, Ember," Twilight told her. "But I'd like you to say 'Yes, Twilight', okay?" Her slim fingers pinched Ember's nipples firmly, feeling them grow harder under her teasing touch. "Try again, please."

"Hng!" yelped Ember at the pinch, her wings flaring open. Her jaws worked, before she found her voice and replied in a low tone, "Yes, Twilight."

"Very good," Twilight murmured again, approvingly. Her touches grew firmer, more assertive, kneading more roughly. "It feels good. I'm being rough with you, I'm making you stand still, at attention, and it feels good. You feel my approval. You want that. It feels good to know that I'm happy with you, that I'm proud of you. That you are obeying. It feels good to obey."

Almost without seeming fully aware she was doing it, Ember had begun to nod along with Twilight's words, low groans escaping her. "This is... crazy. I can't be letting a pony do this to me..." she breathed, her eyes half closed, but seemingly unable to look away from Twilight's face.

Twilight twisted Ember's nipple, wrenching a gasp from the dragon, and let her free hand run down the other woman's stomach to graze her inner thighs. "It feels good to obey me, Ember. I'd like you to say so." She leant closer, her body pressing against the dragon's once more. Her face inches away from Embers, she let her voice harden, and ordered in an uncompromising tone, "Say it now."

"It feels good to obey!" gasped Ember, and her slit pupils widened in shock as she heard the echoes of her own words.

"Yes. It does," Twilight told her firmly, her hand moving up to teasingly caress Ember's damp sex, and scattering whatever thoughts the dragon might have tried to speak aloud next. "That's what I want you to understand, more than anything. I care about the ponies I control. I feel warmth, and tenderness, and closeness..." Her finger pressed against Ember's slick folds, and she felt the other woman's hips jerk in helpless reflex. "...and it feels good to make them obey. It feels so, so good."

Face flushed, her cheeks red, crest a vivid blue, Ember panted, "It - that does feel -"

"I want you to know something," Twilight interrupted her with calm firmness. "I feel very close to you. I feel good at being near you. But there's something more, too." Tilting her head upwards, Twilight breathed into Ember's ear, "I feel so horny, Ember. This is turning me on, so badly. Do you feel how hard my nipples are, pressing against you? Do you feel how hot my skin is? This feels so good. I want to make you obey me, Ember. Just for tonight, I want you to be my eager, obedient sex toy."

"Just for tonight," Ember agreed huskily, as if the words were a mantra that excused anything - everything - she was doing. Her hips shifted from side to side, pushing against Twilight's fingers, and she shivered, her wings trembling. "I get it. A bit. It feels - really good to know I'm turning you on. I want to."

"Obey," Twilight told her softly, her finger sliding into Ember's welcoming pussy and becoming coated with her wetness. Her hand began moving back and forth, curling her finger within the other woman, and with each thrust into her, repeating again, "Obey. Obey. Obey."

"Fuck," breathed Ember, her arms tensing, hands clasping each other more tightly behind her back. "I'll obey. Obey Twilight." She broke off with a gasp, her head tilting back, and another full-body shudder wracked her.

"It feels good to obey," Twilight purred, slowly rubbing her chest up and down against Ember's captive body.

"Feels good," Ember panted, "to obey." The claws of her large feet sank into the rug deeply, piercing through to the stone beneath.

"Yes, it does. That's right. That's right," Twilight encouraged her, letting her caresses grow rougher. Grinding the palm of her hand against Ember's clit, the same way she liked to pleasure herself, she slid a second finger into the yielding woman's heated cunt. She rode atop a giddy rush of power and triumph, letting it overwhelm any hint of hesitation or uncertainty. It was working! She could hardly believe it, but it was working; Ember was feeling the connection, obeying her orders, and the hornier she got, the more compliant she'd be.

She needed draconic dominance signals. Twilight didn't know for sure, but she could guess.Covering the wings, so they couldn't fly. Pinning them down. Biting the neck, probably. With the older dragons, a grip on the neck would stop their own head turning around to defend themselves. "Mm, yes. That's it," she murmured aloud, and angled her head to one side. Her soft, smooth lips moved against Ember's neck, and she felt, with an electric thrill, the sudden flare of tension in the dragon's body. Baring her teeth, Twilight bit down roughly.

A high-pitched, feminine cry escaped Ember's lips, and her clasped hands lost their grip, her arms falling limp by her sides. Her back arched, pushing her breasts against Twilight, and she panted raggedly, whimpering with each movement of the dominant pony's fingers within her. "O-oh, oh fuck, oh, oh fuck," she gasped.

"You're mine," Twilight breathed into Ember's neck. Nothing else existed in that moment. Only the thrill, the hunger, of dominating another. Her body felt as though it was burning, perspiration slicking her skin, a molten wetness between her legs that begged to be touched. Her nipples were as hard as rocks, electric sparks striking through them with every movement of their bodies against each other. A fire burnt within her, her bites becoming rougher and rougher as she felt Ember melt into her hands.

She had been foolish to wonder what Ember had found so erotic. It was power. Now Twilight held the dragon in the palm of her hand, Ember's body a puppet jerking with each movement of Twilight's fingers. The dragon was so hot, so tense, gasping and shuddering in a way that signalled her impending release. It would be so easy to push her over that edge.

And yet... it wouldn't be wise to let Ember cum so quickly. That might let her head clear - she might even leave - and she hadn't experienced nearly enough yet. Ember had to feel herself give in, had to understand what drove a proud, magnificent mare like Luna to surrender her body to another. "Not yet," Twilight breathed aloud, her fingers stilling within Ember. "It's not time for you to cum yet. I'm going to make you beg, Ember. You'll beg me for permission, and when I finally let you, you're going to cum harder than you've ever cum before."

"Don't-" gasped Ember, reaching up to grasp Twilight's wrist with one hand. Her eyes were wide, pupils dilated, and a sheen of faint iridescence glimmered on her delicate scales. Her crest quivered with the subtle jerks running through her body. "You can't," she pleaded.

"I can't?" asked Twilight quietly, her gaze spearing Ember. The tone of warning could have been play-acting, but somehow, it wasn't. At that moment, with that hungry, cruel dominance hammering inside her chest in rhythm with her heartbeat, the flare of danger radiating from her was entirely sincere. Ember swallowed, her grip on Twilight's wrist weakening.

Twilight's gaze flicked to the bed, behind the captive dragon. Her two slaves had the blankets drawn up to their shoulders, giving them some kind of modesty after all Ember had seen. Trixie was watching with wide, disbelieving eyes, her lips parted. Behind her, Luna was spooning the smaller pony, one bare arm lying atop the blanket, her expression more uncertain. It was more than time to draw them back in.

"Luna, I'd like you to come here, please," Twilight told her, her measured words hard and purposeful. "You will stand behind this dragon, and take hold of her wrists. Grip them firmly. I don't want her to be able to move."

Nodding quickly, Luna drew back the blanket, climbing over Trixie, then pulled the covers over the younger pony once more. "As you desire, my Mistress. I shall obey," she replied, her voice soft but clear. She seemed to have recovered her poise, naked and straight-backed as she stepped forward. Her soft, rounded breasts grazed Ember's back as she placed her hands gently on the dragon's upper arms. "I shall be restraining thee, as Twilight wills."

Ember twisted her head around to catch a glimpse of Luna, distracted a little from her trance-like state of lustful desperation by the sudden intrusion of another pony. Her body tensed, but she made no effort to resist as Luna drew her arms behind her, and gripped her wrists. Her mouth opened and closed, before she finally asked huskily, "Is this really okay?"

Reaching up with her free hand to cup Ember's delicately scaled cheek, Twilight held her gaze, her own voice low. "You're safe, Ember. You're safe to relax, and feel everything that's happening. That's another secret. You don't have to decide what to do next. You don't have to worry about how to touch me, or what I might want. I'll tell you what I want. I'll show you how to please me. All you have to do is do what I tell you to."

Ember's breathing slowly steadied, and a little of the tension went out of her arm muscles. In a whisper, she replied, "I do... feel like I want to trust you. I don't know how you did that. I just..." she trailed off, taking another deep breath, and letting it go. "Please... touch me some more. Show me what you want."

"I will," Twilight murmured. Her lips met Ember's, kissing along the side of her muzzle, and exploring the strangeness of her elongated face. Gently, slowly, Twilight's fingers began sliding in and out of Ember again, rubbing over her slick, wet sex. "You're so pretty," Twilight breathed into Ember's mouth. "So strange. I wasn't expecting you to be like this. So curved." Kissing down her captive's neck, Twilight tenderly licked Ember's nipples one after the other, before beginning to suck on them.

"Mmnnnh..." groaned Ember, gently tugging against Luna's iron grip on her wrists. Her eyes flickered half-closed, and she mumbled, "It's the second stage... I'll be like this for, for a while, but one day, I'll be too big to walk on two legs, and I'll... third stage, it all flattens out, and all fours..." Her voice trailed off, clearly unable to focus or even think straight. Her hips bucked jerkily, tail swaying from side to side, mostly held up by the naked pony holding her arms.

Even in the depths of her arousal, Twilight couldn't help but be fascinated by Ember's words. How must it be, knowing that as you grew up, you'd not just grow larger, but your body would change entirely like that? She wanted to know more. Later. Withdrawing her fingers from Ember's cunt, Twilight reached up and touched them to Ember's lips.

"Lick them, Ember. Taste them. Do as you are commanded."

"Yes, Twilight," Ember gasped, her cheeks crimson. Her pointed tongue curled around Twilight's fingers obediently, licking them clean with urgent devotion.

"Trixie, come here." Without even looking, Twilight sensed Trixie jerk in surprise, before she wriggled out of the bed, and nervously approached. Her pale blue mane was mussed, and her sex toy had been discreetly abandoned somewhere in the bedsheets, leaving her shaven sex bare.

Swallowing, her eyes flicking towards Ember, Trixie drew herself up. Visibly donning the air of self-confidence she always sought to project, she lifted her head and asked with a semblance of normality, "How may the slutty and submissive Trixie serve you, Mistress?"

Stepping to one side, Twilight beckoned Trixie to stand in front of Ember. The shorter pony did as she was bid, trying to maintain her self-assured pose, though her cheeks grew red and her gaze flicked awkwardly downwards. Withdrawing her fingers from Ember's lips, Twilight said softly, "I want you to know about these ponies, Ember. Trixie is my pupil. She helps me with my research. She's my slave, too. I'm so, so proud of her. When I needed her help, she worked for days and weeks, pushing herself to the limits of her endurance night after night. She's smart. She's determined."

Twilight laughed softly, and stroked her hand through Trixie's mane. "She's kind of arrogant, and she's not very good at being polite to other ponies. But I'm so, so proud of her. And that's how she is, as my slave. She gives herself to me completely, and she'd do anything to please me. Even if it scares her. She trusts that I care, that I'd help her do what I command of her, if she needs that help. I'm very proud of her as my slave, too. Trixie is a good pony."

Trixie's eyes glistened wetly as she looked up at Twilight, all trace of awkwardness or embarrassment erased by the utter, absolute worship radiating from her. "Yes, yes Mistress... I am! I'll do anything, I promise, I just want - Trixie wants to stay at your side always!" she poured out in a rush.

Ember's red eyes lingered on Trixie, then slowly shifted over to Twilight. Dizzy and breathless, her cheeks still flushed, she panted, "...why are you telling me this?"

"Because I promised to teach you. I really want you to understand," Twilight replied. "What Trixie does for me is more than just do as I command. She works with me, and tells me when I'm wrong, and helps me. But when it comes to being intimate like this, she gives herself over completely, and obeys without hesitation. It couldn't be like that all the time, it wouldn't work. But it's not like she becomes a whole different person when she's my fucktoy, either. The bond between us is the same."

Licking her lips to moisten them, Ember searched Trixie's face. "I don't... you want this?"

"Yes," breathed Trixie, with absolute sincerity. "More than anything."

Touching Trixie's cheek, Twilight flicked her gaze downwards. Her voice quiet and firm, she commanded, "Trixie, I'd like you to kneel down and lick Ember's pussy. If you feel her getting close, back off a little. Don't let her cum."

"Anything you command, Mistress!" Dropping to her knees with unseemly haste, Trixie pushed her head between Ember's legs and immediately began licking, intent on showing her eagerness to obey. Ember gasped sharply, her head rocking back and her arms tensing against Luna's iron grip.

Twilight stepped behind Trixie, straddling the naked pony and pinning her head between them. Caressing Ember's breast as the dragon began to writhe against Trixie's tongue, she went on, "Luna is one of the most noble, kind, magnificent ponies that have ever lived." Her gaze flicked up to meet Luna's eyes for a moment, and she added in a softer tone, "And I love her. Being with her is an honour."

"But you... you were calling her all of those things..." Ember gasped, her head tilting back as she bucked against Trixie's tongue. Her hands clenched, and she had a distracted, breathy tone to her voice. "You were insulting her, weren't you...?"

"Yes," agreed Twilight frankly, "I was. Not because I wanted to hurt her, though. Because... it's sexy, to talk like that. To say terrible things. To tell her that she's an obedient sex toy, a fuckable cunt that I can use any way I want." A smile spreading across her lips, delighting in the sounds of Trixie's urgent lapping at Ember's cunt and the tremors visibly wracking the dragon's body, she leant forward and breathed, "It's sexy to say that you'll obey. That you'll do anything I want. That your tits, and ass, and cunt, and mouth are all mine, to do whatever I want to. That you're my slut now, my pliant fuckdoll. That you can't refuse me anything. Hot. Wet. Obedient. Desperate. You need to cum, so, so badly, it's driving you crazy..."

Ember's jaw clenched, and she emitted a strangled whimper, shaking her head in a tiny, futile gesture of denial.

Twilight's thighs squeezed together, her bare, exposed sex glistening with excitement. There was something almost painfully erotic about Ember's struggle not to quite give in, the fight for the last little scrap of her dignity. Trixie had settled into a steady rhythm, lapping devotedly at the dragon's cunt, and Twilight could feel Trixie's mane nuzzling against her bare thighs with each movement, tickling pleasantly. Luna's lips were curved in a serene smile of purposeful obedience, deep, slow breaths crushing her breasts against Ember's back and wings, her grip unfaltering on her captive's wrists.

Twilight's gaze flicked down to Ember's tail, as a sudden image flashed into the forefront of her mind, and her cheeks reddened in sudden embarrassment that owed nothing to her extravagantly revealing outfit, nor the squirming, moaning women around her.

She couldn't.

She wouldn't know what to do, for one thing. And it was... dirty. She'd read descriptions, in a couple of her profoundly shameful books that featured such things, but she'd never really...

But all the same, the image, the memory, wouldn't go away. Luna on her knees, her large, soft lips pursed into a pout, parted around an imagined shaft as she bobbed her head slowly up and down between Twilight's legs, recreating that long-ago blowjob she'd given Celestia's strap-on. Oh, Celestia, it had been so hot watching the beautiful, dignified Princess of the Moon lovingly playing out sucking on that perfect white shaft.

Breathing quickly, her heart racing, Twilight stepped back, careful not to disturb Trixie where she knelt. Ember's head snapped up, shaking from side to side slightly.

"Don't - don't go," Ember pleaded with a sharp gasp.

"I won't. I'm not going anywhere. I just want to try this," Twilight breathed, meeting Ember's eyes for a moment before looking down at the dragon's tail once more. She felt frozen in place, captivated by the thought of what she was about to do. Then, slowly and smoothly, as if her body wasn't fully under her control, she slid down into a crouch beside Trixie, and reached out to capture Ember's tail with both hands.

It was firm, surprisingly strong, but Ember didn't try to resist as Twilight drew it towards her. Running both hands up towards the end of it, Twilight gripped it just behind the broad, leaf-like tip, and brought it to her lips. Slowly, looking up at Ember's face, Twilight began softly licking it.

The result was immediate. "Gnnngh!" groaned Ember deep in her throat, her tail twitching in Twilight's hands, her hips bucking sharply against Trixie's face. "Oh, fff- my tail, too?" she gasped, her arms tensing against Luna's grip.

Twilight giggled, her confidence growing rapidly. Shuffling forward a little more, she pressed Ember's tail between her breasts, lapping at the tip like a lollipop. "Does that feel nice?"

"Nice? You're sucking on my tail while I'm being eaten out and you ask if it feels nice - gnnh!"

Not waiting for Ember to finish replying, Twilight parted her lips widely, and slid the end of the dragon's tail into her mouth. "Mmmmh," she hummed around it, her tongue flicking and stroking, as she eased the flared tip fully between her lips and let them purse around the comparatively slim shaft. Her shoulder rubbed against Trixie's, and she noticed the showpony's attention flicking towards her longingly before focusing on her task once more.

Pulling her head back, Twilight let Ember's tail slide out from between her lips, glistening damply with her saliva. "I've never done anything like that before," Twilight explained, looking up at Ember. "I've never been with anyone that had a tail like yours before." She giggled, her cheeks red. "I haven't done that with a stallion, either."

Ember whimpered in response, shivering. She tried to say something, but couldn't seem to get the words to come.

"You are really, really cute," Twilight told her, her grin widening. Pushing herself to her feet, she kept hold of Ember's tail, moving closer. With one hand, she carefully guided the broad tip between her own legs, letting the flattened tip brush up and down against her own sex. "Oooh," Twilight gasped at the alien sensation, all the more intense for how badly she'd needed to be touched herself. "Oh, that's nice..."

Leaning up against Ember's side to get as much slack as possible with her tail, Twilight kissed the corner of the dragon's mouth. Her voice husky with arousal, she asked teasingly, "Are you still going to tell me that you're not horny, desperate... so desperate to cum that you'd do anything for me...?"

"Please!" Ember burst out, writhing in Luna's grip. "Please, please, stop teasing me and just let me cum already!"

With alarming suddenness, Twilight's free hand shot out and gripped Ember by the throat, squeezing. Her gaze bored into Ember, and in a voice like iron, she demanded, "Call me Mistress."

"Mistress! Please! Please, please Mistress, let me cum! Stop teasing me and just - just let me cum!" Ember gasped, her crimson eyes wide and slightly glazed.

"You're my dragon bitch," Twilight growled. She was beyond thinking or planning; driven by instinct and lust and hunger to dominate. Her hand tightened, making Ember struggle raggedly to breathe.

"Yes, Mistress! Your bitch!" The words were frantic, any pretence of dignity or reluctance burnt away by the molten arousal coursing through Ember's body.

"Trixie! Make her cum," Twilight ordered, grinding the tip of Ember's tail more firmly up and down her own cunt. Her skin was tingling, her head swimming. All of the layers of thought and self-analysis had been stripped back, leaving her bare, experiencing and feeling everything with a raw intensity that made her knees weak.

Pulling back, her mane mussed and her lips and chin shiny with Ember's juices, Trixie panted, "Yes, Mistress! Your obedient slut obeys!" Burying her face between the dragon's thighs once more, her whole body quivered as she thrust her tongue into Ember's cunt.

A low, guttural snarl escaped Ember as Twilight's grip on her throat eased. Sucking in a deep breath, she let it out again in a heavy moan, grinding her cunt harder against Trixie's face. Her tail twitched and jerked in Twilight's hand, and her wings, pinned against her back by Luna's body, struggled to unfurl. Her vertical pupils wide, driven beyond all rational words, Ember exploded into orgasm, thrashing against the iron restraint of Luna's hands.

"Yes! Yes, Ember, yes," panted Twilight, feeling the dragon's tail trying to pull away and shoving it all the more firmly against her own cunt. Seeing the other woman give in to her orgasm felt like Twilight didn't have to hold herself back anymore, and she shifted her grip to Ember's shoulder for support as she gave in to a rush of pleasure that blew out her thoughts like a candle flame, leaving her gasping raggedly in its aftermath.

Slumped, held up by Luna's strong arms, Ember shook her head slowly. "Fuck," she murmured to no one in particular.

Sitting back on her heels, Trixie looked up at Twilight with a yearning expression on her face, licking her lips. "The sensual and slutty Trixie did as you commanded, Mistress," she declared, obviously craving her owner's praise.

"You did very well, Trixie," Twilight managed, resting one hand atop Trixie's mane. Looking up at Luna's face, Twilight took in her smile and responded with one of her own. "You too, Luna. You were perfect. You can let her go now; but carefully, please. I don't want her to fall."

"As is thy wish," murmured Luna demurely, letting go of one of Ember's wrists, then steadying the dragon by squeezing her shoulder as she released the other. "Are you alright, Ember?"

"I'm okay," managed Ember, straightening up . "I'm okay." Shaking her head in disbelief, she met Twilight's eyes and a darker red flush grew across her cheeks. "Look-"

Twilight pre-empted her. Wrapping her arms around the dragon, she held Ember close against her, their breasts pressed together. "You were wonderful, Ember. Thank you for giving up control, so I could show you what it means to me. It's warm. It's intimate. It's kind of cruel at times, but a fun kind of cruel, that knows when to stop. That was really, really hot," she finished with an embarrassed smile, conscious that Ember's tail still gleamed with the wetness of her sex and her saliva.

"...yeah," agreed Ember. "It was. I just - that wasn't what I expected from you. I just don't get you ponies at all."

Leaning back a little to see Ember's face, Twilight hesitated, then asked, "So it didn't help at all, in understanding?" Beside her, Trixie pushed herself off the floor, wiping her lips with the back of her hand, and Luna moved to squeeze Trixie's shoulder, smiling reassuringly at the younger pony.

"I guess... yeah. It did, actually. It doesn't feel like it looks. I mean, you had me by the throat. That's, like, lay down and give up or die, in Dragonspeak. But it didn't feel like that. It felt... I don't know what it felt. Good," she added, half to herself.

"Ember," Luna said, her tone a little formal. She stood at Trixie's side, tall, naked and magnificent, her ever-shifting mane and tail flowing through the air. "I was embarrassed, to have been seen whilst I gave myself over to Twilight. Thank you for agreeing to do the same. You did not have to remain, but now that I have witnessed thee in her hands, I do not feel ashamed of what you have seen."

"Sorry," replied Ember awkwardly. "I really didn't mean to. I was trying to find out what's going on with Twilight, but - like I said, that wasn't what I was expecting." She took a deep breath, and straightened her back, stepping back towards the blank wall where the hidden door lay. "Okay. So. Thanks for - that. Gave me a lot to think about. You can open the door, now."

"You really don't have to leave," Twilight told her earnestly. Glancing at Trixie, she reached out to the powder blue unicorn and hugged her with one arm, drawing Trixie against her side. The showpony clung to her tightly, resting her head on Twilight's shoulder, and Twilight stroked her head affectionately, looking back at Ember. "What we did, it wasn't just - that, and it's over. Closeness is important afterwards, too. So that you feel... well, cared about. Won't you stay? The bed is big enough for all of us."

"You've never shared a bed with a dragon," Ember pointed out. Still, she hesitated, staring at the wall that concealed the secret passage. Her wings hitched up a little, and her tail flicked once. "That's something that you actually want?" she asked more slowly.

"Well - yes. What we did, it's not just... if there wasn't a connection, it wouldn't work. It's one of the most intimate things I can imagine doing. Of course I wouldn't do it with somepony I didn't like."

"You wouldn't chain up someone you didn't like, beat them with a stick and call them names," Ember replied wryly.

Twilight flushed, glancing at the crop lying on the bed. "...that's how it is," she agreed softly. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to make you feel like you can't leave. I'll open the door, now. But thank you, for staying. That was really special."

"It was something else," agreed Ember after a moment's pause. She looked awkward, turning back towards them, but holding herself in a slightly stiff pose. "Look... you don't have to open the door. If I'm trying to find out more about you, I'll find out more if I stay, right?"

"Of course you will." Twilight smiled, a rush of relief making her giddy. She really wasn't ready for this to be over, and it was so strange that it wasn't even up to her whether Ember stayed or left.

"She snores," Luna contributed calmly.

Twilight turned to stare at her with a look of disbelief. "Luna!"

"Is it not important that Ember knows everything before she decides? Twilight snores, and strikes me across the face with her wings when she rolls around. You would have to tolerate this." A smile touched her blue lips.

"I - I do not snore! Trixie! Do I snore?"

"The submissive and slutty Trixie has never heard you snore, Mistress!" replied Trixie loyally, lifting her head from Twilight's shoulder. Then she winced, and despite herself, leant forward to whisper into Twilight's ear, "Trixie is a lying liar who needs to have her ass smacked, Mistress!"

A crimson blush rose on Twilight's cheeks as she stared at Trixie, who was already guiltily shifting her weight from side to side to lessen the charm-inflicted itching and tingling.

"Indeed you do," confirmed Luna. Despite the lingering embarrassed flush of pink on her deep blue cheeks, her tone was gently playful. "So you see, Ember, these are the trials which you must overcome."

Ember looked at Luna for a moment, her red eyes searching the Princess's face. Then, subtly, her shoulders relaxed and her wings settled against her back. "Well, I was ready to take some risks when I came here."

With a small, grave smile, Luna mimed rolling over in her sleep and throwing out one arm, smacking someone across the face. "You may regret not bringing your armour."

"I guess I'll just push you in the way."

Twilight watched the exchange, open-mouthed and indignant. Clearly, she couldn't trust either of the royal sisters. This was - this was unfair!

"Mistress," Trixie whined in an undertone, pushing against her. "Will you please smack Trixie's ass? She was being good!"

"...yes! Yes, you were," Twilight admitted, reaching down to carefully swat Trixie's ass lightly. After an instant or two of further squirming, Twilight drew back her hand and gave a harder smack.

"Thank you, Mistress!" Trixie whispered, clinging to Twilight harder.

Ember took a deep breath and turned to Twilight and Trixie, nodding. "Alright. I'll stay. Like you said, all that was just for tonight, and it's still tonight, so... sure."

Wrapping an arm around Trixie's smooth back and stroking up and down, feeling the other mare's pale blue mane tickling pleasantly against the back of her hand, Twilight smiled at Ember. "I'm glad. We're not really finished. There's so much more to it than... well, having sex."

Ember gave Twilight a look of flat disbelief. "After all that, after everything I heard you say to these two, did you just start blushing just by saying 'having sex'?" The dragon turned an imploring look on Luna. "She's not for real, is she?"

"Completely and sincerely," Luna replied.

Well, if she wasn't blushing before, Twilight certainly was now. "I -it's different! When everyone's being intimate, it's - it's just different."

"For the sake of my scales. Luna, say 'fucking', will you?" Ember demanded.

"Fucking." Luna managed to invest the word with an odd dignity, as befitted a noble Princess stark naked in her Mistress's bedroom/sex dungeon.

Ember turned, and pointed a talon. "You, Trixie, let's hear it."

"The submissive and slutty Trixie is always ready for fucking, if her perfect, wonderful Mistress wants to fuck her brains out," Trixie replied proudly, nuzzling her head against Twilight's shoulder.

Arching a brow, Ember gave Twilight a sideways look. "Okay, your go. See if you can stop blushing first."

Sensing control of the moment slipping away from her, Twilight straightened her back and looked straight at Ember. Her voice clear, she replied firmly, "Fucking. If I was to use the word in a sentence, it would be, 'I caught Ember spying and gave her a good fucking'." Her lips curved into a smile and she shook her head. "I'm sorry. That makes it sound really one-sided, and like it was a punishment, and it wasn't, really. I'm really glad you decided to stay, and try this with me. With us. It was very special."

Ember gave Twilight a quizzical, amused look, putting her head on one side. "I really can't figure you out. I thought you ponies were all prudes, covering up all the time, afraid of being naked. But look at you. You are so much more exposed than if you weren't wearing anything."

Twilight grimly fought back the rising flush of embarrassment overtaking her. Okay, so now that Ember pointed it out, she was the only one left with any clothes on, and they were incredibly, obscenely revealing. "Well, I should - undress, if I'm getting into bed, anyway. Trixie, a little room, please."

Reluctantly, Trixie unwound herself from Twilight, her tail swishing with a flash of nervousness as she was fully exposed to Ember again. "Anything you say, Mistress. Gaze upon the magnificence that is Trixie's nakedness! Are you not blessed to witness the nudity of a pony such as she?" Planting a hand on the rise of her breast, she fanned her fingers apart to frame her nipple, then squeezed. "Are not her breasts perfectly shaped? Is not the curve of her ass divine?"

"No," replied Ember, grinning. "But they're not bad. Don't feel bad, you're not even my species."

"That didn't bother you when you were fingering yourself watching Trixie and her Mistress," Trixie retorted. "Weren't you too busy playing with your cunt to run away when Mistress caught you?"

This time it was Ember's turn to colour red across the cheeks. "Okay, look-"

"Ember." Twilight spoke calmly, in a tone of authority. "Come here, please."

Distracted, Ember turned to Twilight, and stepped closer. "Yeah? Oh. Uh, right. Still this evening. Yes, Twilight?" At the reminder that their game might not be entirely over, the dragon straightened her back, and focused on Twilight's face. A subtle tension entered her body once more, a readiness to move.

"Kneel down, Ember. I want you to remove my panties."

Nodding quickly, Ember paused, then crouched down in front of Twilight. The tiny thong was right before her eyes, the front of it split into two straps that framed the pony's glistening sex without concealing anything at all. Her voice dropped a little, lower and more husky. "Yes, Twilight." Sliding her hands up Twilight's thighs, over the fishnets, she carefully slid her fingers between the fabric and the domme's smooth skin. Little by little, she began tugging down Twilight's panties.

"But - the submissive slut Trixie should be the one to strip you," began Trixie, frowning in protest, before Luna's hand settled on her shoulder.

Drawing Trixie to face her, the Princess murmured softly, "Trust thy Mistress, Trixie. Our Mistress. She has good reasons for all that she does."

Oh, if only that were true... Twilight's hands tensed by her sides, and her eyelids fluttered as her panties were so delicately peeled off her. She could feel the warm breath of the other woman against her tender, tingling sex. Her voice slightly shivery, she breathed, "The fishnets, too."

"Yes, Twilight." Ember nodded once, then lowered her head, eyes narrowed in concentration upon her task as she eased down Twilight's left stocking. The claws that tipped her fingers scratched gently at the soft purple skin, and as she slid the top of the stocking down, she leaned closer to lick the cutie mark emblazoned across Twilight's thigh. "I guess this is cute," she murmured.

Shifting her balance, Twilight let Ember slide the high heel off her foot, then the stocking too, pleasantly distracted by the brush of the dragon's hot tongue on her skin. Placing her bare foot against the floor, she thrust out her other leg, in an unspoken instruction for Ember to finish the job. Luna and Trixie moved in either side of her, and after a glance from Luna for permission, they each slid the elbow-length gloves off her arms.

"Please, let Trixie help with your makeup," the showpony said softly, and without waiting for permission, her horn lit. An odd tingling touched Twilight's face, and a delicate haze drifted away, gathering into a small, reddish-brown cloud that Trixie floated into a tissue.

Instinctively, Twilight touched her lips, and felt the slight tackiness of her lipstick gone. "That's... a really useful spell, actually. I'd like you to teach me it."

With a beaming smile, Trixie nodded twice. "Of course! The Great and Powerful Trixie knows many intricate spells of great power. She would be glad to share her specialised knowledge with you. One day, you might be as good at stage magic as her. Maybe with a lot of work."

Twilight giggled, shaking her head. Stroking Ember's crest as the dragon looked up at her questioningly, she commanded softly, "Come and undo my bra. Then we can all get into bed together. It'll be nice."

Reaching up, Ember wrapped her arms around the pony's slim body, and unfastened the catch. Kissing the skin between Twilight's breasts where the intricate tracery of the rune tattoo patterned the skin, she let the bra fall into her hands, and laid it aside. "Didn't think you were the type for body art, either," Ember said as she gathered her legs under her and stood up. "But it's not just body art, right?"

"It's not," confessed Twilight. "It's kind of a long story." One she had no intention of telling. "But it's kind of pretty, now that I've got used to it a little bit."

Turning around, and finding that she put a little wriggle into the way her ass moved to swish her tail enticingly - being desired was really, really nice, it was a wonderful feeling - she climbed onto the bed and lay down in the centre. The sheets were cool and soft, and she wriggled happily as she made herself comfortable against the pillows. Smiling at the three of them, she said, "I think it's only fair that Ember gets to lay on one side of me, since she won't get to very often."

Which implied this would happen again, at least once.

"Trixie, you shall lay upon the other side of our Mistress," Luna declared, squeezing Trixie's shoulder.

Blinking, Trixie looked up at her. "You do not want to fight Trixie for the place beside Mistress? -a fight which, of course, the Great and Powerful Trixie would win!" she added quickly.

"I shall soon need to step outside, to raise the moon aloft. I will return, afterwards, but I would rather not disturb thee when I do so."

"...oh. Yes. That... makes sense." Trixie's smile was glassy. "You have to... the moon."

Disregarded by the two, Ember crawled onto the bed, settling next to Twilight. Glancing back at Luna, an odd, preoccupied look touched her face for a moment.

Twilight turned her hand upwards to squeeze Ember's fingers. Pitching her voice low, she murmured, "I couldn't quite believe it when I first lay with Luna. A pony that can raise and lower the moon, in bed with me."

"That's not something we tend to talk about. Dragons, I mean. I knew, but - it's different hearing her talk about it," Ember replied quietly. "So matter of fact, you know?" Belatedly, it seemed to occur to her that she was talking to another alicorn, and her lips pressed together, her jaw tightening slightly.

"I understand, I really do." Twilight squeezed Ember's fingers again, then turned her head to smile at Trixie as the showpony slid into the bed beside her. "Hey. Please make yourself comfortable."

"The adoring and worshipful Trixie is always comfortable in your presence, Mistress!" Grabbing Twilight's other arm, she pulled it against her chest and hugged it tightly.

Luna stepped up to the foot of the bed. Draping a delicate, midnight blue robe around her naked body, she regarded the three lying there with a small smile. "Mistress, I shall return anon, once the Moon is full, and I have satisfied myself that all is well in the realm of the dreamers this night. Ember, I hope to speak with you tomorrow. Trixie, it would be a favour to me if you would keep our Mistress warm in my absence."

"...well. Yes, of course, Trixie will do a wonderful job. She is the best slave, after all."

Tugging the blanket over the three of them, Twilight gazed at Luna with a warm smile. "Please don't take too long, Luna."

"I shall return as swiftly as my duty allows." Luna bowed deeply, and left the room. The door clicked softly shut behind her.

Twilight focused on the lamps, and one by one, a delicate sheen of magic flowed over each. The light began to dim - then flared and flickered as her erratic magic escaped at the edges of her control. Wincing, her cheeks hot with sudden embarrassment, Twilight glanced at Ember to see if she'd noticed. Obviously, she had.

"Trixie, could you turn down the lamps, please," Twilight managed in a level voice, resisting the urge to bury her head under the pillows.

"Of course, Mistress. Watch her delicate control as the subtle and refined Trixie effortlessly complies!"

"...thank you, Trixie."

Closing her eyes, Twilight sank back into the soft pillows, and through her eyelids, she sensed the light smoothly dimming to nothing. She concentrated on the feeling of the two very different bodies pressing up against her, her hand gently wandering down the curve of Ember's tail. It shifted gently under her hand, and Ember drew slightly closer, pulling the blanket more closely around them.

Twilight's thoughts drifted as she relaxed. She'd actually been caught, and instead of using the charm, she'd kept her head, and talked things out like a reasonable, non-tyrannical adult, and somehow ended up having sex with a dragon princess anyway. That was better. She absolutely, positively didn't regret not using the charm in any way. She could have sex with somepony without turning them into a blank-eyed puppet first, and this was the proof.

Sure, she still wanted to use the charm on her. But that wasn't the point.

Ember was probably still awake. Would she be used to a soft bed, or blankets? Dragons had to have some furniture, at least when they were younger, it wasn't like they all grew up in caves on piles of gold. Or, at least, that didn't sound very likely. That was something she could ask Ember tomorrow. There were so many things she wanted to ask Ember tomorrow.

In the dimness, Twilight listened to Ember's breathing, trying to work out whether she was still awake, or just staying still. Twilight was still trying to work out whether to say something or not when, in spite of her own expectations, she fell asleep.

Applejack looked around herself at a ring of determined faces, nodded, and adjusted the lie of her hat. "So we're agreed, then. Ah've been working mah butt off, getting ahead of work on the farm to make time for her, and Ah, for one, am pretty much done waiting for her to pull her head out of the clouds and get her stripy tail back here. No offence meant, Zecora."

"I take no offence, you have said nothing wrong. I, too, have been kept waiting far too long." Zecora spoke calmly, but Applejack was well aware that of all of them, she had been through the worst, left waiting and hoping for Twilight to remember their relationship for months. There was a certain intentness about the set of her expression.

"I don't believe she has been taking responsibility," added Rarity primly. "It is her doing that each of us have ended up in this highly unusual arrangement. If she doesn't give us sufficient attention, we should go and take it."

"You're right!" burst out Pinkie, folding her arms crossly. "She hasn't asked me to arrange a sex party for weeks. I'm going to take off my clothes and sit on her head."

Rainbow sniggered. "That'd get my attention. I still owe her a lightning bolt up the ass for turning me into a maid."

"Which you agreed to, and enjoyed, darling," Rarity contributed calmly.

A bright red blush instantly lit up Rainbow's cheeks, accompanied by an instinctive protest of, "Did not! I mean, I agreed to it, but she's good at talking you into things."

"You were squirming the entire time when you told us about it, we all noticed."

"You okay coming with us, Fluttershy?" Applejack broke in, before Rarity needled Rainbow any further. "I know you're missing her, but you've got all your animal friends to look after."

"Well... it is important to look after your friends and pets," said Fluttershy softly, looking down and to the side. "But that's why I need to make sure Twilight doesn't neglect her... puppy," she finished with a warm blush of her own.

"Raight. If she's not taking the initiative around here, we'll darn well go and do it for her." Applejack nodded decisively. "Tomorrow, we hit Canterlot."

Author's Note

For the next few days, every so often, Ember is going to stop as bits of this evening flash across her mind, and mutter, "What."

Proof reading by Djmill

12: Visiting Hours

Yawning, Twilight stirred under the covers with delicious laziness. She was mostly still asleep, and just awake enough to know it, wonderfully comfortable and relaxed. The feeling of other warm bodies pressing up against hers was becoming as familiar as sleeping by herself ever had, and it was almost strange to remember how recent all of the changes in her life had been.

A matter of mere months had transformed everything. Her relationship with her friends, her mentor, how she thought about herself... at times it was hard to believe it had ever happened, that she hadn't confused some incredibly perverse dream with reality.

Still, if she really had grown uncertain, she would have been reassured by the presence of a naked dragon in her bed.

Ember had twisted the covers around herself, cocooning her body. Fortunately, the quilts of the huge bed were more than ample enough to let her roll herself up while still providing plenty for the rest of them. Luna was fast asleep, no doubt tired from her warding of the night, while Trixie lay between her and Twilight, on her back. A wonderful surge of warmth and happiness filled Twilight's heart as she gazed at their sleeping faces, and she sighed contentedly.

Very carefully, not wanting to disturb any of them, Twilight slowly wriggled up the bed, pushing herself into a sitting position and letting the covers settle around her waist. Now, how was she going to get out of bed without waking Ember? Glancing down at herself, she absently rubbed the back of her hand over one bare breast.

A lot of changes. Good changes.

It took a second for Twilight to fully register the click-clack of the door handle turning, and the catch disengaging.

The door opened. A mint green unicorn pushed a small, rattling trolley into the room, her slim body clad in the uniform of the castle maids, and her orange mane crowned with a little black and lace cap. "Good morning, Princess! Seeing as you didn't come out, I've brought you your... breakfast..."

She trailed off, staring at Twilight, who stared back at her, too startled to move. For a second, the frozen tableau held, then Twilight abruptly jerked the covers up over her chest with a strangled yelp.

"I - I'm so sorry!" blurted the maid, her cheeks flushing crimson. "I didn't expect to-"

"Why can't the slutty and obedient Trixie sleep?" grumbled Trixie, pushing back the covers, and stopping dead as she registered the maid.

"I, I see, I didn't realise you had company, I'll just-"

With an enormous sigh of annoyance, Ember kicked her way out of the blanket, sitting up and squinting against the morning light. "What's all the fuss about?"

"A-Ambassador! I didn't - I thought you were still in the guest rooms!" squeaked the maid.

With the inevitability of the sunrise - or the moonrise - Luna groaned in her sleep and propped herself up on one elbow, asking groggily, "Twilight?"

The maid met Luna's eyes. Then, her mouth opening and shutting, she took a step backwards. "S-so sorry to have disturbed your... rest," she managed, in a strangled squeak. "P-please excuse me... Princess, Princess, Ambassador and, uh... Ma'am," she added feebly, and fled backwards, slamming the door behind her. Her abandoned trolley rolled forward a few inches, then came to a halt.

Yanking back the covers, Twilight sprung over Ember's prone body to land on the floor. Her smile was a rictus. "I think we should do something about that, don't you?"

Ember shrugged. "Doesn't bother me if ponies see me in bed with you."

"The Great and Powerful Trixie always likes to be seen to serve you, Mistress."

"I have been long prepared for our relationship to become public knowledge, as it must eventually be," Luna finished calmly.

Twilight's wide eyes flicked from pony to pony to dragon. Momentarily lost for words, flapping her hands, she protested inarticulately, "Naked orgy!"

"That an offer?" asked Ember lazily.

"I have to go stop her before she tells everypony!" squeaked Twilight, lunging for the door. If she hurried, she might be able to catch the pony - Misty Morning - and do something to defuse the situation before her unconventional living arrangements - okay, call them what they were, her harem - became public knowledge. Whatever Luna said, she was brand new to being a public figure, not at all used to being on a pedestal in front of all Equestria, and she could barely stand the weight of being stared at as it was. If anypony learned what a pervert she was being, she'd never be able to go outside again!

Luna's voice interrupted her frantically accelerating spiral of panic. As Twilight grabbed at the door handle, the Princess of Dreams inquired lightly, "Will you not require clothes, my Mistress?"

Oh. Yes. She was naked.

Throwing up her arms in frustration, Twilight ducked back towards the wardrobe and pulled out the first dress she came to, an overly Princessy gown in white silk, with delicately puffed shoulders and short sleeves. Wriggling into it, heedless of the fact that it sat kind of crookedly on her, she ran for the door again, and yanked it open.

"I'm going to fix this, and then - I don't know what then! Stay there!"

Painfully aware that she didn't actually have a plan for fixing this, Twilight dashed out into the hallway, letting the door bang closed behind her, and looked hastily around herself. The trolley had left twin tracks in the thick, soft carpet, and Twilight followed them backwards, frantically searching every obvious hidey-hole.

Misty Morning was a maid that Twilight had taken a personal interest in. She'd been placed under the power of the charm by Trixie before Twilight's second, decisive confrontation with Celestia, and ordered to chalk the defensive rune circle on the wooden floorboards of Celestia's audience room, below the rugs. Once her task was done, of course, her memory of contributing to Celestia's downfall was excised. She had no idea of the way her loyalties had been temporarily overwritten. All the same, Twilight had wanted to keep Misty Morning close by, on her personal staff.

She was now somewhat regretting that decision.

"Misty? Misty!" she called, tugging at her dress to straighten it. Barefoot, she scurried through the antechamber - a room in her suite that she barely knew, and didn't intend to have much use for - tugging back curtains and peering behind large objects of furniture. No sign of her. Trying a side door, Twilight emerged into a smaller chamber, decorated with unfamiliar ornaments.

Misty Morning was leaning against the wall, hyperventilating into her hands. Her head shot up as Twilight stepped in, and her gaze reflexively flicked down the alicorn's body to check she wasn't still naked before she managed weakly, "I'm so, so sorry Princess. I thought you were - it doesn't matter what I thought, I should have knocked."

Twilight hesitated, her own cheeks growing red as she imagined what the scene must have looked like to the maid. What could she say? Yes, you absolutely should have knocked? That probably wasn't going to make things any better at this point. "Misty-"

"You know my name?" squeaked Misty Morning.

"...yes?" Twilight paused. Should she try to pretend she knew all of the maids by name? "...Misty, I need to talk to you about... what you saw. In there. In my bedroom."

"Y-yes? I didn't see anything! Certainly not - not a bed full of mares! Naked! And if I did, that could have been anything! No one said anything about royal debauchery!" Misty's grin was wide and sickly, and she pressed herself a little flatter against the wall.

Twilight buried her face in her hand. Okay. This was easy to fix. All she had to do was get Misty to come back to her bedroom - scratch that, she wouldn't want to go back in there. All she had to do was to get Misty to stay somewhere where she wouldn't talk to anyone else, and get Trixie to come and trigger the charm and make her forget she'd ever seen it. Problem solved.

Or, part of her pointed out, she could try communicating with the maid. And trusting her. Didn't Misty deserve it, after having been used as Twilight's pawn in the first place?

"...Misty, I'm going to tell you what you saw."

"Yes, yes, I saw nothing, that's exactly what I was going to say, I saw nothing, and-"

"No," Twilight contradicted her gently. "You saw Luna, Ember and Trixie in my bed. It's exactly what you think it is."

Misty's mouth opened and closed. "Buh, but, but she's, and you're, and they're-"

Twilight smiled wryly, waiting for Misty's broken half-sentences to coalesce into something that made sense. She couldn't really blame the maid for being so stunned. If, before she'd discovered the charm, she'd walked in on Celestia, Luna and Cadance together, she'd have been shocked into incoherence too.

"But she's a dragon! And an Ambassador! And she only arrived yesterday! And Princess Luna is - is Princess Luna! She'd never-"

That was probably enough, Twilight decided. "Misty, please. Will you listen?"

"...yes, Princess," Misty agreed meekly, winding down.

Taking a deep breath, Twilight squared her shoulders. "Okay. I'm dating Princess Luna. And other ponies, too. You've heard of herd relationships? It's something like that. It's complicated." Really complicated. "But the only thing that matters is that we're really happy."

The maid nodded mutely, her eyes wide.

"The thing is..." Twilight took a deep breath, "I'm really not ready for other ponies to know about all this, or what that would mean for the ponies I care about. I might never be ready. I'm so new to being an alicorn; it's terrifying standing in front of crowds and having everypony stare at me, and if they were talking about this, it'd be much harder. So - please, Misty, don't say anything about it. I know it's going to be really tempting to tell just one pony, or two ponies, your friends, but if you do, it'll get out eventually. Can you do this for me?"

"Of course, Princess!" Misty burst out. "All of us are ready to keep secrets for you, and the Princesses. That's part of working at the Castle. Sometimes we see things, like letters left on tables and things, that it would be better that we didn't see. Sometimes the Princesses get sick, and grumpy, and yell at ponies, but we'd never tell anypony." She managed a nervously proud smile. "I was approached twice by the Hoof Gazette about the couch story, and I wouldn't tell them anything at all."

Twilight's shoulders slumped with relief, and she let out a breath she hadn't realised she was holding. "Thank you, Misty. You don't know how much it means to me to hear you say that." Otherwise, I'd have to take over your mind and make certain of it. With a wry smile, she added, "But yes, please do knock next time. It might be better to leave the breakfast tray in the antechamber outside, knock and call through, and leave it there."

"...Princess? Can I maybe - ask some questions?" Misty took a step forward, leaving the shelter of the wall behind. Her hands clasped together, fidgeting.

Twilight paused, then turned to one side and sat down in a chair. Her dress hiked up a little, and she tugged it back into place quickly, suddenly aware that she wasn't wearing anything beneath it. "Okay," she replied gently, trying not to wonder whether the shadows of her nipples were visible through the white cloth.

Moving tentatively, as though she were an animal that might be spooked into fleeing at a sudden movement, Misty took the chair opposite where Twilight sat. "Princess, I know it's none of my business, but I couldn't help noticing, and I wanted to know what the- the big red thing was for. The cross." Her green cheeks flushed pink.

"It's for restraining ponies," Twilight replied. She felt a calmness settle over her. Misty had already seen enough to be real trouble, so telling her more wouldn't make things any worse, and as hard as she was trying not to lean on the charm, it was always there as the final resort. In the meantime... it was kind of fun to talk about the things she'd done to a new audience. "I like tying ponies up," she added, beginning to enjoy herself.

Misty's cheeks burned crimson. "You - you do?" she breathed, leaning forward.

"Oh, yes. In fact, you caught me disciplining Trixie once before."

The maid blinked, looking at Twilight questioningly.

"A few weeks ago, you remember walking in on two maids in Celestia's chambers, and one of them was spanking the other?" Twilight grinned at the memory. Trixie had lied in the middle of their mission to steal Celestia's magical signature, and needed to be punished. "You ran off before I could say anything. Well, that was Trixie and I. We were under disguise magic at the time; it's complicated."

Misty Morning stared at Twilight. For just a moment, she looked blankly confused, before she gasped, "That was you, Princess?"

Twilight blushed, nodding with a mixture of sheepish embarrassment and pride. "If you hadn't left, I don't know what I would have done. I wasn't supposed to be in Celestia's chambers just then. Thank you for not telling anyone."

"I... well, I thought that was... I didn't want to get anypony in trouble. It was pretty embarrassing to walk in on you, like that, so..." She paused, then covered her face with one hand. "I've walked in on you twice. I'm so sorry, Princess. I'm never opening a door without knocking again. If you want to reassign me somewhere else, it's - that's understandable."

"Of course I wouldn't do that," responded Twilight instinctively, shaking her head. Reaching out to touch Misty's shoulder, she added, "I'd like you to stay. As my maid, I mean. I've been keeping an eye on you, since you walked in on us, but that's not the only reason I wanted you to be looking after my rooms. You never told anypony what you'd seen, and you didn't have any reason to keep that secret. I knew I could trust you not to say anything, if you ever... saw something more than I meant to reveal."

Nodding jerkily, Misty pushed her little cap back into place atop her ginger mane, and replied after a second's hesitation, "I'm - I have questions. Um. Quite a lot of questions, Princess. I should get back to the kitchen, but maybe you could... talk to me, when I'm not on duty?"

"I'd be glad to talk to you whenever you like, Misty. I'm sure there's much I could teach you." Even as she said the words, Twilight knew that she was suggesting more than just satisfying the maid's curiosity. Bad Twilight, she scolded herself. This has to stop!

Misty's eyes widened, and she nodded twice, jerkily, as if her head was on a string. "T-thank you, Princess! I'll just - I'll go and - um. Enjoy your breakfast!" She slipped out from between Twilight and the wall, all but dashing to the door, then hesitated. "I'll - send up more food! To the antechamber! Please excuse me!"

Twilight reached out as Misty ducked around the doorframe and disappeared, then let her hand fall. In the sudden silence, she heard her own breathing, deep and quick, her breasts rising and falling against the confines of her dress. Her hand trailed up her own body, slowly, finding the twin peaks of her nipples thrusting against the delicate cloth with a little shiver of sudden sensation. "Oh, no, Twilight", she breathed out loud. "You're going to make more bad decisions. Don't charm Misty. Don't have Trixie trigger her. You have enough ponies! Just because you could train her... just because she's so corruptible..."

Gripping the edge of a table until her fingernails went white, Twilight sucked in a few quick breaths. "Okay. Do I have to count to ten? Every time I want to enslave a pony and make her an eager, horny, obedient sextoy, I count to ten. And if that doesn't work, I count to ten again, and remember all the really, really good reasons not to do it."

You are a good pony, Twilight Sparkle, she told herself. You have to stop collecting ponies just because it's hot. No Diorite, no Spitfire, no Cheerilee, no Nurse Redheart, no Vinyl Scratch, no...

In fact, no more lists like that one, either.

Absently combing her mane back into shape with her fingers, she went back to her room.

Ember wasn't there.

In fact, Luna was sprawled across her bed, her long body outlined beneath the covers. Trixie sat naked in front of a mirror, applying makeup from a tiny bag of accessories, though she immediately lowered the powder brush in her hand when the door opened. Of Ember, there was no sign at all.

"Trixie? Where's Ember?" Twilight glanced down at the trolley. Some of the dish covers had been lifted up, and food taken.

"The dragon has returned to her own rooms," Trixie replied, "though she would like you to see her later. Should you have time for such a paltry waste of time as indulging her curiosity about ponykind. Princess Luna is asleep. She was awake most of the day, and most of the night. She would like to sleep in your bed, of course, since it holds your essence. The sensual, slutty slave Trixie is the only pony ready and willing to serve your needs, as she always is. How may she place her beauty and talents at your disposal, Mistress?" She flicked her fall of pale blue hair back over her shoulder, in a manner plainly calculated to show off her breasts to their best advantage.

Despite the increasing familiarity of Trixie's body, Twilight felt a stir of arousal trickle up her spine. Still... "I should have guessed she'd leave, once I wasn't here. But if she wants to see me later, I'm sure it'll be okay. Talk a little more softly, please, I wouldn't want to wake Luna."

"Trixie could tapdance across the room banging a big drum and Princess Night Owl wouldn't wake up," Trixie replied indifferently, but more quietly, as she was instructed. Lifting the brush again, she dusted a subtle highlight onto each cheek, then set down the brush entirely and rose to her feet, turning to her Mistress.

Sliding her hands behind her, Trixie arched her back and thrust out her chest, parting her legs. Her modest breasts shown to their best possible advantage, her tail swishing from side to side, and her shaven sex on full display, she raised her head proudly. "Your obedient fucktoy Trixie is ready to serve you, Mistress. Ready to lend you her genius, or give to you her body in any way you desire. Caress her perfect tits, fuck her glistening cunt, make her bathe your body with her tongue. Trixie is your obedient slave, horny and eager for you. She exists to obey your every word."

Twilight's breath caught. "Um. Wow," she murmured. "You really know how to - that's good." A secret part of her especially enjoyed Trixie's lavish display, knowing that the showpony had once wanted to destroy her so badly. It wasn't a part of her she was proud of, but it seemed to have a distressingly direct connection to her own arousal.

It was a part of her that also relished the thought of punishing a certain royal pony that richly deserved it.

"Fetch me a piece of parchment, Trixie. I have an urgent project, and you're going to help me carry it out."

The morning session of the day court was at an end, and it couldn't have come too soon. Centuries of practice had left Celestia with a self-possession that you could bend iron around, but behind her ageless, immutable smile, she'd been just about ready to start chewing her mane with impatience.

Twilight didn't know - couldn't have known - that each evening, she was in the habit of lazily masturbating in her bed until the stresses of the day leaked away, and she slipped smoothly into sleep, relaxed and satiated. Being forbidden from indulging herself had made her awareness of her own body all the more intense, each little movement of her body shifting against the smooth, soft sheets sparking little tingles of sensation from her tender thighs and round breasts.

She hadn't been forced to obey Twilight's command - there was no charm-compulsion keeping her from caressing her own body - but Twilight was her Mistress now, and while Celestia was more than happy to misbehave, that wasn't the same as disobeying a direct order. Especially for selfish reasons. What had made it even more difficult to comply was knowing that Luna, wonderful, beautiful Luna, was at that moment being fucked senseless by the second most important pony in Celestia's life. Their familiar bodies danced through her thoughts, in a thousand different combinations, stiffening her nipples and heating her sex, and she couldn't touch herself. At all.

Cheated arousal was, behind the impenetrable barriers of her mind, eroding even her famous patience. All in all, Twilight's punishment was actually hitting her far harder than she'd expected.

Her attention was drawn by a soft knock at the door of the antechamber where she rested, away from the eyes of the public. "Please, come in," she invited warmly, her own troubles pushed aside by an ancient reflex.

A liveried pony trotted in, his back straight, and held out his hands. A red-bound scroll lay across his palms. "Your pardon, Princess. A message for you, from Princess Twilight."

Celestia inclined her head, despite her inward flicker of surprise. "Thank you for bringing it to me," she said warmly. It looked a lot like a friendship report, and she felt a touch of nostalgia as she stroked the seal. Nonetheless, drawn by increasing curiosity, she broke the seal and unrolled the parchment, bringing it closer to the light.

Dear slave Celestia,

Today I learned that sometimes, a naughty slave might like to make her Empress think an 'adult' dragon is coming to Canterlot. She might like to tease, and mock, and generally make herself an enormous nuisance.

Princess Celestia paused. This probably wasn't going to go to a good place. Nonetheless, she continued reading.

I think that it's very important, when you're training a pet, to make sure that when they misbehave, you punish them appropriately. Even if it's hard to punish a pet that you love very much, it's for their own good.

That's why I'm going to punish my slave. I'm going to empty out her head, and punish her cunt, and her ass, and her big, white tits. I'm going to punish her until she begs for mercy, and then I'm going to punish her some more. I'm going to turn her into a panting, drooling, whimpering, desperate mess. And that's just what I'm going to do today. I think that for punishment to feel consistent, I'm going to have to apply it regularly until her behaviour improves.

So, slave Celestia, please clear your schedule for the rest of the day. I have a friendship lesson for you that I simply won't allow you to miss.

Your Empress,

Twilight Sparkle

Celestia's hand rose to her lips, and a pleasant little shiver of nervous anticipation ran through her. "Oh dear," she murmured. "I may have pushed her too far."

"Celestia." Twilight's voice was calm, and level.

Celestia stiffened. She was entirely naked, stood rigidly at attention, her hands bound behind her. There was a distinct threat in the flatness of Twilight's tone. "Yes, Twi-

Crack. The sharp sound of skin striking skin rang out, and a handprint began to redden on Celestia's tender breast.

"Ahh!" Celestia yelped, before adding quickly, "Yes, Empress?"

A predatory smile touched Twilight's lips. "Where do you keep your lubricant?"

"Ah'm telling you, she'll want you to let us in!" Applejack said louder, hitching her backpack higher. "Ah get that she's a Princess'n all, but we're her friends f'r goshsakes."

The bat-winged guard stiffened further, her back rigid, wings tightly furled. "I'm sorry! Princess Twilight gave strict orders that she was not to be disturbed for any reason."

Rainbow pushed her hand through her messy, mutlicoloured mane, mussing it further. "Just go in there and ask her!"

"My orders are to stay outside, Ma'am! I cannot do as you request!" Obscura was perspiring under her purple helmet. Clearly when she took a role as Twilight's guard, she hadn't anticipated having to stand in the way of the collected Element-Bearers of Harmony. Her slit-pupilled gaze danced from pony to pony as they crowded angrily around her.

A door opened down the corridor, and a purple-armoured earth pony emerged. "Alright, what's going on out here?"

"Captain Diorite! The Element-Bearers insist upon access to the Princess's suite, but her orders were to-" Obscura began in a rush, her words tumbling over each other in haste.

Applejack turned, and gave the new pony a hard look. "So you're the captain, huh? Now you listen here, missy, we've come all the way from Ponyville to see Twilight, and we're not going to kick our heels in some darn waiting room just because-"

"Yeah! This is stupid! Twilight doesn't want to lock us out, what kind of stupid-" Rainbow spoke over Applejack, flapping up a few feet to hover above the crowd.

"Applejack, Rainbow, please!" Rarity said sharply. She was even more immaculate than usual, wearing an intricate purple gown that flattered the colour of her mane and tail. Turning to Diorite, she said with dignity, "Guard Captain, I apologise for the rudeness of my companions."

"Well, I sure wasn't going to apologise..." muttered Rainbow.

Ignoring Rainbow's contribution, Rarity continued, "I'm aware that Twilight has asked not to be disturbed, by visitors, or by yourselves. However, she wasn't aware that we were coming. If she hasn't left instructions to admit us, it is clearly a trivial oversight. We are her closest confidantes, after all. I would hope that you can exercise your discretion in this matter."

"Please?" added Fluttershy meekly.

Diorite folded her arms across her armoured chest, sweeping her gaze over the collected group. Applejack tried not to bristle at the assessing stare. It wasn't like they were trying to burst in to see Celestia or Luna; this was Twilight! Their closest friend! And, well, their lover and Mistress, too. Not that the guards could be expected to know that, but this was just insulting. The urge to just buck the guards out of the way was an itch in the back of her mind.

After a few seconds that felt longer than they were, Diorite nodded at Rarity. "Princess Twilight has told me previously that you are all to be granted access to her suites without restriction. Her orders today go against that. I will allow you entry. However, show your appreciation by entering quietly, and if she seems occupied upon duties of state, please leave without disturbing her."

"Oh, sure," replied Rainbow sarcastically, "we'll just tiptoe in, in case we're disturbing her majesty."

"Rainbow," Rarity said in a warning tone, then added to Diorite, "Thank you for allowing us in. If Twilight seems occupied, we will give her the space to carry out her duties."

Applejack huffed a breath, blowing a wisp of hair out of her face. "Yeah, thanks," she said, in a less than gracious tone.

Obscura stood aside, and Pinkie leapt at the door, grabbing the handle. "It's Twilight time!" she sang out, then hunched her shoulders and ducked her head, adopting a stereotypical sneaky pose. "Whoops! I mean - it's Twilight time," she whispered intensely, and eased the door open soundlessly. With exaggerated movements, she crept through the doorway and into the suite beyond, her feet soundless on the thick rug.

Applejack sighed, shook her head, and followed. She'd gotten herself all worked up on the train-ride there, ready to leap on Twilight and force her to do something with them, and just when she was at the peak of her excitement, she'd had an argument with a guard that left her tense and frustrated. Now Twilight was probably having some kind of state meeting that they'd be intruding on. Maybe interviewing volunteers for these magic hunters she was apparently getting together; flyers inviting volunteers for 'Princess Twilight's Seekers' had reached as far as Ponyville, but when ponies had asked Applejack what it meant, all she could say was that Twilight had never talked about it with her. Never even mentioned it in her company.

As a friend, a lover, and a Mistress, Twilight had never felt so far away.

The doors closed behind them with a soft click, Zecora pushing it closed behind her. Rarity paused, looking around herself at the lavish chamber. "I'm not sure where to go from here," she confessed. "I'm sure this room didn't look like this the last time we were here."

Rainbow swooped across the room with a few beats of her wings, the downdraft making ornaments tremble on the shelves. "It's this one!" she declared, yanking a door open and sticking her head through. With an irritated snort, she pulled back and shut the door again. "Or not."

"Guess it must be over here, then. And like she said, hush, Rainbow," Applejack chided gently. It was lucky that the doors in the castle were so thick. Padding over to a pair of double doors set into the far wall, Applejack turned the handles and paused. The others crowded around her, pressing in close. Raising a finger to her lips, Applejack pushed the doors inwards.

She'd intended the doors to open only a fraction. The pressure of the other mares crowding in to see through the crack instantly wrote an end to that plan, bumping into the doors and knocking the handles from her hands. Both swung wide open on oiled hinges, offering a clear and unobstructed view of what lay beyond.

There was Celestia's ass, for a start.

The Princess was on her knees, facing away from the door, her gasped moans thick in the air. Her hands were bound behind her back, her wrists roped together tightly. Her upturned ass was a pink-red, the colour of somepony spanked or flogged until she squealed. The flat, rounded bases of a pair of enchanted vibrators stuck out of her ass and dripping cunt, humming in delicious synchronised stimulation. Wet slobbering sounds mingled with her groans, as she slavishly licked and sucked at Twilight's bare toes.

Twilight herself was naked, save for her peaked cap, lounging back in a broad chair and lazily stroking her own breasts. Trixie stood beside her, holding a wide paddle in one hand, wearing nothing but a small skirt. With her free hand, the showpony was openly masturbating, reaching under her skimpy excuse for clothing to firmly finger herself.

Twilight's voice carried. "-the taste of my feet, slut? These are much more appropriate duties for a big-mouthed Princess that doesn't know how to show respect."

Celestia whimpered, her mouth too full to reply.

Applejack's jaw dropped. Matters of state, huh? If this was what the volunteering flyers had been about, then sign her up! No wonder Twilight didn't want anypony walking in on this!

With Twilight gazing down at Celestia, and Celestia herself far too occupied to notice anything, it was left to Trixie to notice the doors swinging soundlessly open, revealing the multicoloured crowd of ponies beyond. Her widening eyes met Applejack's gaze, and her hand stilled between her legs. "Wha- why- Mistress!" Trixie burst out.

"Is something the matter, my little fuckpony?" Twilight asked playfully, looking up.

Like Trixie, her eyes met Applejack's with a shock of surprise, before flickering rapidly over the rest of her slaves crowded into the doorway. Twilight's hand rose to her mouth, and a crimson blush flared into life across her cheeks. "I - h-hello, everypony," she stammered, in a very different tone from the casual purr of command she'd used a moment before.

Rarity's cultured voice was laden with disbelief. "...Princess Celestia?"

"Yes," Twilight replied, a shade defensively. "It's not the first time you've seen me do something like this with her."

Recovering her voice from the far-off lands it had fled to, Applejack replied slowly, "Well - yeah, Ah guess so. Jest been a while, and she wasn't quite like... this."

Rainbow flapped forward a little, her eyes flicking to the paddle in Trixie's hands. "Can I have a go with that?" she blurted.

"Rainbow!" Rarity chastised.

"What? If Trixie gets to smack the Princess's ass, I want a go too," replied Rainbow with a shrug.

"I want a go at being paddled! That looks fun!" Pinkie declared cheerfully, swinging around on the spot and wiggling her well-padded ass towards Twilight.

Twilight glanced down to the floor. Her cheeks still visibly hot, she added more softly, "Celestia, um. Stop. That's enough. Stand up and greet the others, please."

With a small shudder, Celestia released Twilight's bare foot from her mouth, looking up at her pleadingly. A small quiver running through her, she gathered her legs under her and turned around. She was a mess. Her flowing mane was dishevelled, and her large, prominent breasts were spattered with drips of saliva, just as reddened as her ass. Her soft lips were damp with drool, and a glazed, desperate look was in her pink eyes, almost animal in its intensity.

Applejack felt a shock of arousal race through her. Part of her was jealous, and envious, and desperately wanted to feel what Celestia was so obviously feeling, but even so, she felt her nipples stiffen into tight points, and the kindling of a heat between her thighs.

"Say hello, Celestia," Twilight commanded again, her voice growing firmer.

Celestia tugged a little at the bonds holding her wrists tightly together behind her back. "This impertinent slut needs to be punished. This impertinent slut needs to be punished," she gasped.

Applejack felt her mouth go dry, her chest tightening. Her own breathing was loud in her ears. "...oh, mah stars..." she whispered.

"What's your name, Celestia?" asked Twilight rhetorically, from behind the impossibly arousing figure of the Princess. "Tell them."

Swallowing, Celestia managed, "This impertinent slut needs to be punished." The Princess's voice twanged things in Applejack, that divine voice of absolute authority brought down to a humiliated whisper.

"Fuck me..." Rainbow murmured reverentially, in tones of faint disbelief.

Visibly recovering from her surprise, Twilight's smile was growing predatory again. "Celestia? If you can convince them to let you have what you want, I'll show some mercy."

Celestia whimpered aloud, her arms briefly straining at her bonds. A little wobbly on her legs, she moved towards the doorway where the six of them stood, breathing heavily. Wetness slicked her thighs, a droplet running down her silky white skin as she moved, and the humming of the twin vibrators buried in her grew more intense as she got closer. Her breasts swayed with every step, reddened and marked with hand prints and paddle marks, her nipples jutting stiffly. Her tongue flickered over her lips, and there was a desperate look in her eyes.

"This impertinent slut needs to be punished. This impertinent slut needs to be punished. This impertinent slut needs to be punished," she pleaded.

"Oooh! Do you need more spanking? Is that it?" Pinkie squealed cheerfully.

"This impertinent slut needs to be punished! This impertinent slut needs to be punished!" Celestia gasped, shaking her head. She had a ring over her horn, Applejack noticed suddenly.

Breathing heavily, Zecora stepped forwards, her eyes locked on Celestia. One hand crept up under her skimpy brown top, massaging her own breast roughly as she gazed at the Princess. Her voice was breathy with lust. "That is not what she seeks to convey, but those degrading words are all she can say. She begs for her torment to cease, to be granted her release."

Leaning forward, her arms straining against her bonds once again, Celestia nodded urgently. "This impertinent slut needs to be punished!" she moaned, her thighs squeezing together, hips futilely bucking.

"Ah'll be... jest how long have you kept her like this?" Applejack breathed, her eyes flicking to Twilight, then back to Celestia.

"Not long. A few hours. Keeping her at the edge of cumming, but she can't, not without me telling her to," Twilight replied with pleasant cheeriness. Celestia quivered, a wordless groan of protest escaping her trembling lips.

"The slutty and sensual Trixie has been spanking her," Trixie added smugly. "Trixie's perfect, glorious Mistress asked her if she thought that Celestia had earned the right to cum yet. She said no. Princess Celestia has been teasing Twilight awfully. She deserves this."

A shivery, feverish heat churned at the centre of Applejack's chest, and she heard the little tremor in her own voice as she breathed, "So this is punishment f'r misbehaving, huh?" Obviously, she needed to misbehave more often herself.

Rarity's cheeks were red, her thighs rubbing together, and she looked like she might faint, almost unable to cope with seeing her divine ruler degraded and humiliated so totally. Rainbow's face was full of hunger, Pinkie was dancing from foot to foot with excitement, and Zecora was visibly wrapped in a haze of lust, her eyes unfocused and her hands roaming over her own body. Fluttershy was - Applejack's gaze flicked towards Twilight and spotted the yellow pegasus - already naked, her clothes lying in a heap by the door, and she was actually ignoring the incredible spectacle in favour of crawling on all fours up to her Mistress, lowering her head to take Celestia's place lapping at Twilight's feet.

"Celestia has been trying my patience," Twilight agreed with a happy sigh, stretching her leg out and resting her foot between Fluttershy's massive breasts for the submissive pony to obediently lap at. "Though, you know, I am a nice pony, so maybe it's time to be merciful."

"This impertinent slut needs to be punished," Celestia gasped, twisting back towards Twilight so fast her tail whipped out behind her, and nodding urgently.

"She really does," agreed Trixie smugly, and lashed out with the paddle. The broad, flat paddle cracked against Celestia's breast, and the Princess gasped again, head tilting back.

Applejack's eyes squeezed closed briefly. Oh, stars above, she wanted to be in Celestia's place. Tied up, spanked, humiliated, forced down to lick Twilight's feet, desperate to cum, whimpering, panting. "Please, Ma'am. Please let her cum," she breathed, tugging at the open neck of her shirt. "Ah want to see her cum her brains out!"

"Mmmmh!" moaned Celestia in agreement, her hips jerking. "This impertinent slut-"

"Keyword: cum," Twilight interrupted calmly.

A whole body shudder wracked Celestia's body, her eyelids fluttering as a wordless cry broke from her lips, ringing out around the chamber. She was surrounded by a ring of ponies, bright, fascinated eyes drinking her in as she convulsed, breasts swaying and the shafts buried in her humming loudly, as the Princess of the Sun writhed in uncontrollable ecstasy. Finally, Celestia's ragged moans began to settle, and she straightened a little, chest heaving with her breathing.

Twilight rose unhurriedly from her chair, stroking Fluttershy's pink mane as she passed, naked, completely self-possessed, her purple nipples standing out stiffly from the rounded slopes of her breasts. "Keyword, cum," she repeated, a cruel smile playing about her lips.

For just an instant, Celestia's eyes widened in shock before the command struck home and she doubled over, a fresh cry squeezed from her.

"Is something wrong, Celestia? You've been begging to be allowed to cum for hours. Isn't this what you want?" Twilight said pleasantly, over the Princess's breathless, gasped moans. "But two isn't really enough, don't you think?"

Struggling for breath, Celestia managed to shake her head mutely, in denial rather than answer.

"That's what I thought," Twilight said with satisfaction. "Keyword, cum. Keyword, cum."

"Nnngh!" Celestia collapsed to her knees, her legs giving way beneath her, her hips helplessly jerking back and forth in a futile effort to fuck herself against the toys buried in her, a tangled, sweat-coated mess.

Twilight leaned forward, reaching down to caress Celestia's cheek. "Keyword, cum," she breathed, and her smile widened at the despairing moan from her captive slave. Celestia collapsed forward, her heavy breasts crushed beneath her against the floor and her reddened ass in the air, head resting against the rug. Her glazed eyes were half-open, her eyelids flickering now and then, drool leaking from the corner of her lips and her thighs coated in fragrant wetness.

With complete self-possession, Twilight strolled around her and sat down on Celestia's upturned ass like a stool, idly rubbing a hand back and forth across the sunburst marking her thigh. "It's wonderful to see you all," she said, as if nothing was unusual. "I wasn't expecting you today."

Applejack's lips parted, soundlessly. She was hotly aroused, her skin prickling, urging her to strip off her clothes and be naked before her Mistress, but more than that, she was actually feeling intimidated by Twilight. Silence hung in the air, coloured by Zecora's small grunts and gasps as her hand worked frantically under her skirt.

"Hot dang," Applejack finally breathed.

"Can you do that to me?" blurted Pinkie eagerly, bouncing forward on her toes. Her eyes were wide and sparkling, her breasts bouncing under her tight sweater, and her hard nipples showed through the fabric. "That was so, so cool, the way you just - and she fell over, and - I want to try!"

Naked, her ass wriggling as she crawled, Fluttershy sidled up to Twilight's legs again, gently bumping her pink mane against her owner's knee. After a moment, her soft voice murmured diffidently from within her curtain of hair, "That looked... a little intense, for me, I think. Um. Ruff."

Giggling, Twilight reached down and tickled Fluttershy under the chin, making the submissive yellow pony wriggle with delight. "I'd love to. All I need is a little time to make sure you have the right commands, and then I can do it to all of you. I've been thinking of so many things I can do with you all! I'm really glad you're here. I've missed you."

Oh, now this wasn't fair. Applejack felt her iron determination to take Twilight to task for ignoring them wilting, undermined by the treacherous happiness and yearning she felt every time Twilight smiled at her. Scolding herself for letting herself be derailed by such a simple thing as Princess Celestia, ruler of all pony-kind, being magically forced to orgasm until she collapsed into a naked heap on the floor, she opened her mouth to tell Twilight off.

Rarity beat her to it. "Twilight, I'd like you to refrain from using any magic on me at the moment. I want to talk to you. We all want to talk to you."

"We could fit in a quick fuck, then talk," Rainbow murmured, her eyes still on the fallen figure of Celestia that Twilight was using as a stool. "I can do a lot in a few minutes."

"No, Rainbow dear, we cannot. No distractions." Rarity lifted her head, her eyes flicking down to Celestia, then back up to Twilight, obviously doing her best to ignore the fact that Zecora had sunk onto a chair and was urgently masturbating, her whimpers growing louder and louder. "Twilight, we're here today unannounced because we're not happy with the way things have been of late."

Twilight blinked, drawing back slightly with a puzzled frown, before realisation broke guiltily across her features. Leaning forward a little, she replied softly, "Oh. I think I understand."

"Twilight, you've turned our lives upside down, all of them." Rarity paused, her gaze shifting down towards the Princess again before she recovered her focus on Twilight, and continued determinedly, "I'm not saying that I wish things had gone another way, even if you have made some very serious errors of judgement, which you and I and Zecora are all very aware of, but now that you've changed certain parts of my life, and the lives of our friends, and..." she trailed off as her gaze was inexorably drawn downwards, then hesitated before forging on, "The point is that you are now a very large part of our lives, not that you weren't before, of course, but now you have a responsibility to be-"

Rarity stopped, then closed her eyes and burst out, "Twilight, will you please stop sitting on the ruler of all Equestria's ass while she drools naked into the carpet?! I can't focus like this!"

Despite herself, Applejack sniggered. Ducking her head slightly as Rarity flashed a sharp look at her, Applejack agreed hastily, "Well, yeah, she is pretty darn distracting down there. The whole darn show was pretty distracting, to tell the truth."

"In my case, this certainly true," panted Zecora, her mohawk quivering as a fresh shudder ran through her. "She is distracting me from - from you!" The last words were gasped, and Zecora's thighs squeezed together in an unmistakable show of pleasurable release, her top in disarray from twisting her ring-pierced nipples, and the wrap of cloth around her waist marked with dampness.

"Oh, I'm sorry," apologised Twilight. She pushed herself to her feet, and turned to Trixie. "Trixie, could you?" she asked, gesturing across the room.

"Of course, Mistress! The eager and obedient fucktoy Trixie obeys!"

Trixie turned, striking an unnecessary pose to show off her near-naked body, then crossed the room, putting a distinct wriggle into her hips and swaying her tail back and forth as she walked. Pulling a folded dust sheet off a shelf, she trotted back to Twilight with it presented before her like a tray, making sure her blue breasts rested atop it. "As you wished, Mistress."

"Thank you, Trixie," Twilight replied approvingly, stroking Trixie's head like a pet animal. "That was just what I wanted."

"Trixie understands your desires better than anypony, Mistress," Trixie replied with unnecessary emphasis, sneakily poking out her tongue at the rest of Twilight's slaves.

Shaking out the dust sheet, Twilight turned around and let it neatly settle. Celestia managed to protest feebly, "...this impertinent..." before the sheet settled over her, rendering her an anonymous footstool beneath the white linen.

Twilight sat back down and smiled at Rarity. The expression was almost a familiar one, almost her same old friendly, enthusiastic smile, but there was a spark of playfully sadistic humour lurking at the edges. "So, Rarity, you were saying?"

Rarity looked at Twilight with her mouth open. "You... can't," she protested feebly. "You can't treat Princess Celestia like common furniture!"

"Well, I think I can," replied Twilight thoughtfully, crossing one long, bare leg over the other. "Let me check, please. Celestia, keyword: release mantra. Can I do this to you?"

From beneath the linen, Celestia's voice floated out, breathy and exhausted. "It seems... you can, Empress."

"Mm. I thought I could." Twilight nodded. "Princess, would you say that you deserve it?"

"...yes, Empress."

"Yes, you do. So Rarity-"

"Empress, the... the vibrating shafts?" Celestia's voice asked huskily.

"Oh, you're right. I wouldn't want you to think I'm forgetting about them. I suppose you're ready for them to come out, now." Twilight patted the anonymous shape beneath the sheet, somewhere in the region of Celestia's head. Applejack was expecting the edge of the sheet to peel back, and the sex toys to float out, but instead, with an escalating hum, the sound of their vibration simply grew a little more intense. The Princess groaned beneath the linen, half despairingly, as Twilight finished thoughtfully, "But no, I don't think I'm done with them yet."

Applejack glanced at Rarity, who had speechlessly buried both hands in her mane. Yeah, she wasn't going to be capable of putting together a whole sentence for a while. Doing her best to keep focused, Applejack said carefully, "Twilight, Ma'am, what Rarity's trying t'say is that you've kind've been neglecting us. Ah've missed you, a whole lot, and Ah know we've all been feeling that way. It'd be one thing if we knew you were up here, missing us right back and wanting to come home as soon as your Princessy stuff lets you, but - well."

Gesturing at the shrouded shape of Celestia, Applejack finished more diffidently, "Well, you're having sex with, and Ah can barely believe it still, Princess Celestia and Luna. Makes us feel kind've less important."

"She's having sex with the glorious Trixie, too!" the showpony interjected quickly. Drawing herself up, she added in more grandiose tones, "Poor, foolish backwater ponies, trying to compete with Trixie's delicious ass and perfect tits! No pony can challenge Trixie's place in Mistress's heart. Trixie doesn't need anypony but Twilight or to go anywhere without her Mistress, so she gets to stay in Twilight's bed every night and have sex with her whenever she wants."

The stew of arousal, insecurity, love and frustration that seethed within Applejack's chest was complicated enough even before Trixie opened her mouth. But Trixie just wouldn't be Trixie without making everything worse with her big yap, would she? Applejack gritted her teeth, and hung onto her patience. Twilight had previously asked her to be nice to Trixie, to make her feel welcome, and Applejack hadn't forgotten just how lonely she seemed to be, under the rude, obnoxious, in-your-face bravado. After all, what she'd really just said was-

"So what you're saying is, you can trail after Twilight all the time because you never do anything useful and you have no friends," Rainbow retorted.

Applejack winced. Alright, put that bluntly, it seemed a little hard on the girl. Trust Rainbow to blurt out the first thought in her head. It might have been Applejack's imagination, but it seemed to her like Trixie's lower lip trembled slightly, before she lifted her head imperiously.

"You have the body of a teenage colt, and you wouldn't know what it was like to have actual breasts if you were smothered to death by them," Trixie snapped. "No wonder Mistress isn't interested. Why don't you go chase some clouds, and show off your best feature - your ability to go far, far away as fast as possible."

Oh, dangit, Applejack thought. She was going to have to do something to stop this from getting out of hand. Reaching out, she squeezed Rainbow's shoulder. "Hold on, sugarcube. No call to be nasty, alright?"

Rainbow tried to pull away from Applejack's grip, protesting, "You heard her! She was saying Twilight likes her better than us!"

"You know better'n that, and you know better'n to rise to it when she talks like that," Applejack scolded gently.

"Trixie." Twilight's single word was gentle, with only a hint of warning.

The effect was immediate. Lowering her head, Trixie replied contritely, "Sorry, Mistress," without a single hint of resentment or resistance. "Trixie didn't mean to displease you."

Applejack exchanged a glance with Rarity. Trixie sure was quick to obey these days. Rainbow's fluffed up feathers settled down at the sight.

"Aw, you don't have to worry!" Pinkie broke the momentary quiet, bouncing over on her toes to grab Trixie's arm and hug it, pulling it close against her chest. Her large eyes bright, she said earnestly, "We're not here to take Twilight away from you, silly. We can all play together! I know you've been a meanie before, but everypony makes mistakes. Let's be friends, okay?"

Frig. There was a moment there where Trixie's face was an open book. She was definitely afraid they were there to take Twilight away. Applejack stepped forward slowly, her gaze darting over Trixie's face, trying to put aside all of their history, the instinctive dislike and distrust she felt for the obnoxious showpony, and instead see what was really in front of her.

Somepony that was desperately insecure, almost quivering with it, and putting on a brave face.

Applejack sighed aloud. "Aw, Trixie. Don't you know that going off like that never gets you anyplace?" She took Trixie's free hand and squeezed it. By Applejack's feet, Fluttershy glanced up at her for reassurance, her cheeks growing darker pink, then let her side press against Trixie's legs gently.

Rarity shot Applejack a look, conveying in a single glance her reservations about embracing Trixie's presence. Nonetheless, she moved forward to join them, stroking Fluttershy's head soothingly with one hand as she addressed the increasingly surrounded Trixie.

"Darling, insults have never helped ponies to grow closer." Rarity paused for an instant, then added with a faint touch of exasperation, "Nearly never. Going to bed with somepony just because you've spent all night arguing with them and have drunk two bottles of wine doesn't count. And that wasn't me. In any case, you don't have to defend your position with Twilight that way."

Rainbow crossed her arms and huffed. "No way am I being part of this."

Flushed, her mane slightly dishevelled, but with a warm smile on her lips, Zecora shook her head gently, rising from her chair to stand by Rainbow's side. "You will be happier if you put the past behind you. Can you not see she is a slave too?"

Looking slightly hunted, Trixie pulled back from the ponies around her. "Trixie - Trixie doesn't need your pity!"

Twilight rose to her feet, resting one hand on the anonymous, sheet-draped shape she'd been sitting on. "It's not pity, Trixie," she said gently. "These are good ponies. I know things haven't always been well between you and them, but give them a chance - and let them give you a chance - and things can be better. They can be your friends too."

Well, there is a bit of pity in there, thought Applejack, her lips quirking wryly. A fair bit, actually. But it's a start.

Trixie moved closer to Twilight for reassurance, her fingers brushing Twilight's arm, before she straightened. "If... that's what you want, Mistress, then your obedient fucktoy Trixie will try to tolerate these mediocre ponies."

There was an indignant snort from Rarity. Rainbow was already scowling.

Twilight paused, then sighed, shaking her head with a wry smile. "I know you can be nicer than that, if you try, but I'm not going to order you. If you want to be friends with the ponies I care about, you must decide to do it yourself."

Not only was she not going to order Trixie, Twilight wasn't going to use the charm to force a change in Trixie's behaviour either, Applejack noticed. That was pretty interesting.

Gathering Trixie against her side with one arm, Twilight smiled at the six of her friends, sparing an extra-special smile and a gentle pat for Fluttershy, who meekly sat at Twilight's feet, her eyes downcast. Speaking more quietly, Twilight began, "Everypony - I'm sorry. You're right. I'm really sorry; I've been so busy working on my new magic, and trying to organise everything here, I haven't come back to Ponyville. I haven't even had time for some of my own projects. I know you all have your own lives to live, but I'm a big part of that, and you're a huge part of my life, and - I'm sorry. I really am. I want to be close to you, all of you, every day."

Her gaze met Applejack's, and the farmpony felt a shiver of warmth run through her that brought a sheen of tears to her eyes. "Ah've missed you," she heard herself say huskily. "Never realised what a gap there was in mah life before Ah had you to fill it."

"With a strap-on," Rainbow muttered to Pinkie, who giggled aloud.

"Y'all say something, Maid Dash?" Applejack retorted over her shoulder. "You want Twilight to dress you up, get Rarity to show you how t'be a proper slutty servant gal for the Mistress?"

Rainbow's cheeks flushed crimson as she visibly pictured the image, her eyes flicking towards Rarity, before she stammered, "N-no! I don't like all that - stuff."

"Trixie thinks that Rainbow needs to be forced to tell the truth or get spanked," Trixie observed with a smug grin.

Beneath the sheet, Celestia had rolled onto her side and made herself more comfortable as they'd been talking. Now, she wriggled partly out from under the sheet as best she could with her arms still tied behind her back, exposing her face. Her hair was a multicoloured swirl against the rug. Looking up, she remarked playfully, "I thought you were quite a good maid, Rainbow Dash. You seem to have a talent for it. I'd certainly have accepted you for a position in my personal staff if you'd asked in that Prench accent-"

"Keyword, cum," Twilight replied pleasantly without even looking down.

"No - nnngggh!" groaned Celestia, her body shuddering under the pristine sheet. Her breasts heaved beneath the thin linen, her breaths coming in panted, ragged moans. Little by little, the rigid arch of her back relaxed as her moans softened into murmurs, and her eyes slid shut, her lips barely parted.

"That's better. I'm sorry about the interruption, Rarity," Twilight said with a smile, lifting one bare foot and resting it on the sheet-shrouded curve of Celestia's hip. "Was that distracting too?"

"Ah... no, my Lady. Of course not," Rarity murmured, seemingly unable to look away from the flushed face of the Princess. "You must discipline as you see fit."

"Yes, I must," Twilight agreed, and Applejack felt a little frisson of nervous anticipation at the tone of calm confidence in her Mistress's voice. Squeezing Trixie, Twilight went on, "I've been having a lot of trouble controlling my magic. Trixie's been really helpful in getting it back under control. It's been really unsettling, not being able to cast spells and charms the way I'm used to."

"I could be your magic!" piped up Pinkie. "I could be all whoosh, zoom, get the thing you wanted and bring it to you! I could carry you from place to place when you wanted to teleport, too."

"Uh. Reckon you'd better leave that to me," Applejack muttered, trying to resist the blush that advanced across her cheeks. "If'n anyone's going to be carrying Twilight around like her steed, reckon Ah'll do it. Ah've got the muscles to pulls carts and such."

"Yeah, but you're slow," chipped in Rainbow.

Bristling, Applejack replied indignantly, "Ah ran your pants off you during the running of the leaves!"

Lounging against a chair, Rainbow rolled her eyes. "If you call nearly coming in a tie with me-"

"It was a tie!"

"I wasn't even using my wings. Besides. if you'd got my pants off me back then, things would have gone way differently." Rainbow's grin was lecherous.

"Well. I actually feel rather better knowing that you've been working on your magic, Twilight. While the thought of you spending all your time here because you've forgotten about me is completely intolerable, I am well aware how you can become absorbed into your little... projects," Rarity said carefully. "All the same, I doubt there is any concrete reason why you cannot take whatever reference materials you need from the Canterlot library, and practise the precise form of the charms you will be using in the comfort of your own home."

"...you're right," confessed Twilight after a moment. "It's hard not to think about the Princesses - my Princesses - and want to stay around Canterlot. But I have taken out enough reference books to be going on with, and there are actually some useful texts in my library that are either not present on the stacks here, or secretly locked in some huge doom vault. Would it be okay if I came back with you all to Ponyville for a while?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" Applejack blurted in relief, the others joining her in an instant chorus of enthusiastic approval.

Celestia's eyes opened slowly. Her voice considerably more calm and regal than might have been expected of a mare lying dishevelled on the floor, she said quietly, "If that's what you would like to do, Twilight, I can make arrangements."

The tone of Celestia's voice seemed to take Twilight by surprise, but she smiled, shaking her head. Leaning down and dropping to one knee to stroke Celestia's face, she said fondly, "Don't put on the Princess voice with me, Celestia. You're coming too."

Celestia blinked. "Twilight, while that would be lovely, I cannot spare the time. I have duties to perform, daily." She managed to sit up, despite her bound arms, and Applejack couldn't help but stare as the movement caused the white sheet to slide off her chest, baring her magnificent breasts, still decorated liberally with deep pink paddle marks. A small shiver ran through the Princess's body as the change in position shifted the double shafts still buzzing softly within her, but she didn't let it show in her voice as she finished, "There is simply too much to do."

"Hm," murmured Twilight, thoughtfully. Leaning forward, she reached behind Celestia, gripped one end of the rope, and tugged. With a few swift pulls, the knots unbound, and she was able to work the remaining loops off the Princess's wrists.

"Not bad," Applejack remarked to herself. Twilight had clearly been practising her knots. Just not on her, which was frankly pretty darn unfair. Feeling a fresh surge of frustration, she didn't notice for a moment that Twilight was beckoning to her and Zecora behind Celestia's back. With a puzzled frown, Applejack stepped forward.

"Thank you, Twilight," Celestia said pleasantly, rubbing her wrists and stretching her arms. "If you'll excuse me?"

"Celestia, you really are an awfully silly pony sometimes," Twilight told her affectionately. Picking up a corner of the sheet that still lay across the Princess's legs, Twilight clicked her tongue and beckoned Fluttershy, giving the corner to her to bite down on. "Pull, girl! Pull it away! Zecora, Applejack, pin her arms! Pinkie, Rainbow, legs!"

With a joyous 'Rrf!', Fluttershy bit the sheet and tugged backwards on all fours, yanking it away. Catching Zecora's eye and grinning with sudden understanding, Applejack seized hold of Celestia's left wrist and yanked her arm out straight from her body as Zecora did the same, before they shoved her down hard against the floor. Applejack swung her legs over Celestia's arm, straddling it, and used her weight to pin it immovably. She hadn't grown up wrestling Big Mac for nothing!

Pinkie leapt across the room with a joyful cry of excitement as the sheet was tugged off Celestia's legs, pulling on her left ankle and spreading the divine pony's smooth thighs. Rainbow did the same, pouncing on the fallen Princess and gleefully grinding her shorts-clad sex against Celestia's leg as she straddled it. The flat ends of the toys buried in the Princess's cunt and ass were fully on display, completely unmistakable.

"Twilight!" protested Celestia, making a half-hearted attempt to pull her arms free. Her horn sparked as the ring upon it grounded an instinctive attempt at using magic.

Applejack watched the fond smile spread across Twilight's lips, and for a moment felt a touch of wistfulness for the time when it just been the two of them, before turning her attention back to her appointed task. Gripping Celestia's arm with both hands and her thighs, she put her back into holding the divine pony down. Even when she was hardly trying, Celestia was strong. All the same, pinning her was actually pretty fun. There was a thrill of the forbidden in roughly handling the pony that they'd all looked up to for so long.

"Celestia," replied Twilight warmly, "I don't think you understand the position you're in. This isn't a game, my Princess. If I tell you that I am going to drag your fluffy white butt to Ponyville and use you like a repeatedly-orgasming writing desk, that's what's going to happen. Luna can handle the urgent things, and the rest can wait."

"...I understand my position, my Empress," Celestia said slowly, her hips squirming slightly. "But you must understand that I have responsibilities. I trust my sister implicitly, but there are diplomatic tasks to which she isn't suited, and it would be unfair to place certain burdens upon her in addition to her own duties. She-"

"I think Luna is capable of doing a lot more than you think, Celestia, and it's time to find out." Twilight shook her head as Celestia opened her mouth again, and ordered, "Cover her mouth. Rarity, come here, please."

Before Applejack could even persuade herself to move, Zecora leaned forward, her expression filled with blissful happiness, and covered Celestia's mouth with one hand. "As my Mistress commands, I shall obey, and you will have nothing more to say," she murmured to the captive mare.

With a touch of nervousness, Rarity stole closer, her eyes flicking down to Celestia's naked, reddened body. "I... yes, my Lady? Don't you think that you should listen to the Princess? She is very experienced in matters of state, after all. I, ah, wouldn't have thought her judgement is to be questioned."

Twilight leaned up, and whispered something into Rarity's ear. Applejack couldn't hear it, but the effect was obvious. Rarity's shoulders slumped, her lips parting, and her gaze became glassy and unfocused. "This slave obeys," she breathed, in an empty, distant tone, and only Twilight's hands catching her arms stopped her folding to the ground in a kneel.

"That's right," Twilight told her approvingly. Lowering her voice, Twilight added something softly. Applejack strained to hear, but could only make out, "...anything, just listen ... pictured that, haven't you? So you'll ... as degrading as you can, you'll ... everything, you can't stop yourself until I tell you to. I am satisfied." A wicked smile flashing across her face, Twilight added pleasantly, "Zecora, you can let go, now."

Rarity jerked slightly as animation returned to her face, and for a moment, she simply looked confused. Then, with an expression of distinct surprise, her hands moved under her skirt by themselves and tugged her delicate underwear down her legs. Stepping out of it with one foot, the lacy scrap dangled from her other ankle as she unfastened her skirt with smooth, automatic motions, and tossed it aside. Her bare ass was revealed, her jewelled thighs long and perfect, her sex naked.

"Twiliiiight?" Rarity gasped on a rising note as she found herself stepping over to where Celestia lay, planting a foot either side of her head.

"You're really far too nervous around Celestia, you know," Twilight remarked amusedly. "I think that it will really help if you break some of the barriers between you."

"Of course I'm nervous! She's the pinnacle of Equestria! The ruler of the day! The highest and most noble of all nobility!" Rarity protested, then gasped again as she found her knees bending. "You can't be serious, Twilight!"

Celestia gave Twilight a wryly resigned look. "Twilight, I really do have to talk to you-" she managed, before she was smothered by Rarity's sex, her head trapped between the other mare's milky thighs.

"Nnnh!" groaned Rarity as her body shifted to a kneeling position, pressing her bare cunt against Celestia's mouth. Leaning forward to find a better angle on the prone woman, Rarity's chest brushed the Sun Princess's bare breasts. "Twilight, please! I can't possibly- Princess, stop squirming and start licking! I'm not ramming my cunt in your face to get bored."

The look of shock on Rarity's face was almost comical, her hand covering her mouth, her eyes wide. "I didn't say that!" she gasped, the words muffled by her hand.

Twilight giggled. "Yes, you did. Part of you really likes the idea of being the most superior pony around. I'm just helping you be honest!"

Rarity's cheeks went crimson. "I would never!" Without a change in tone, she went on, "Stop just lying there and lick my cunt, you pink-eyed bitch!" Propping herself up with one hand, she smacked the side of Celestia's bare chest, her handprint overlaying an existing pink print of Twilight's fingers. Speaking hurriedly, even as her hand drew back for another blow, Rarity blurted, "Princess, I'm so sorry, it's not me, it's- oh! Ohh!"

Celestia's head had begun moving beneath her. The wet sound of sloppy, messy licking was just audible, and Applejack caught a glimpse of the Princess's pink tongue lapping between Rarity's legs.

Swallowing, her throat dry, Applejack's gaze flicked over to Zecora. The zebra was urgently grinding her sex against Celestia's arm, humping it more than restraining it, her waist wrap pulled aside. Her pierced nipples stood out rigidly through her skimpy brown top, and the mare was panting thickly with arousal, her eyes fixed on Rarity as the fashionista struggled with the compulsion Twilight had planted within her.

Pinkie and Rainbow were doing much the same, gripping Celestia's thighs with both hands as they rubbed themselves against her legs. Rainbow had yanked off her top, baring her small, compact breasts, and Pinkie's clothes were in disarray, her pants pulled down to bare her generous ass. Even as Applejack watched, Pinkie let go with one hand to turn Rainbow's head towards her, and the two of them began kissing hard and hungrily, grinding back and forth in unison.

"Stop trying to talk, you impertinent slut! I haven't pinned you to the floor just so you can waste my time with your opinions!" Rarity groaned, her hands roughly squeezing handfuls of Celestia's breasts and her hips grinding roughly back and forth against the Princess's face, managing to add with a shuddering gasp, "I'm so sorry about this, Princess!" as she smeared her glistening juices across the divine pony's mouth and chin.

"Oh, damn, that's hot," Applejack whispered, barely recognising she'd even spoken. It probably wasn't what Rarity had expected, when she'd demanded they all go and see Twilight, but darned if it wasn't an incredible sight to see her riding Celestia's face like a troublesome steer at the rodeo. Without taking her eyes off her friend, Applejack shrugged one shoulder, then the other, out of her braces. Her fingers worked their way down her shirt, holding her breath for a moment as she tugged the fastenings free, then yanked it open. Fuck, she needed to touch herself so bad. Her body felt like it was on fire, her nipples throbbing, her cunt sparking every time she roughly ground herself against Celestia's trapped arm through her denim jeans.

She tossed her bra aside carelessly, and swept her hands up to cup her bare breasts. "Mmmhh..." she moaned, her bright green eyes half-closing. Damn, but it felt good. Her freckled boobs filled her hands with familiar warmth, her callused fingers kneading roughly. All around her, feminine moans were colouring the air as they worked their way out of their clothes. Zecora was hunched forward, sucking on Celestia's breast, Pinkie and Rainbow had their hands all over each other, Rarity was a spectacle all of her own, Fluttershy was obediently lapping at Twilight's bare cunt while Trixie, at Twilight's command, was rubbing herself gently against Fluttershy's back.

It was a scene of dizzying depravity. It couldn't possibly be happening. A part of her, the Applejack that hadn't really caught up with all the changes in her life, was locked in stunned disbelief at the sight of it all. The rest of her, more than happy to give herself over fully to it, drove her to squirm out of her damp shorts, baring her tingling, shaven sex to the cool air. Without hesitation, she went back to humping Celestia's arm, painting her skin with glistening wetness. "That's it, Rarity sugar," Applejack groaned, her eyelids fluttering. "Oh, mah darn stars. Ride 'er. Hard, jest like that."

"Oh, Princess, oh, oh, Princess..." moaned Rarity deliriously, her eyes rolled up and her hips jerking roughly back and forth, sending quivers through her body. Her elegant top was crumpled, shoved up above her chest, and the delicate, translucent lace encasing her breasts did nothing to hide them, bouncing heavily with the movement of her body. "Stick your tongue deeper in my cunt, you low-class bitch! Are you trying to bore me? Stop squirming and put some effort into it!"

Applejack shuddered helplessly. She wanted more! More of this, more of Twilight, more of nakedness, and obedience, and feeling all her cares and worries blow out of her head, until there was nothing but yielding warmth left. No decisions. No responsibilities. Oh, fuck, she was so wet, so horny. She looked up longingly at Twilight, and felt a little shock race up her spine as her Mistress looked back at her.

...no, Twilight was looking behind her.

Placing a hand on Fluttershy's head and urging her more firmly against her cunt, Twilight said lightly, "Good afternoon, Ember. I was sorry when I came back and you'd gone back to your room."

"So these are the element bearers. Right. Oh, and that's Celestia under there too, isn't it." The voice was unfamiliar, filled with wryly resigned amusement, and Applejack twisted around in shock to see a tall, fully nude dragon entering the room from one of the inner doors, her body coloured in shades of deep blue. With a flash of a smile, Ember added, "Didn't expect this, even after last night. Definitely not what I thought would happen when I made myself ambassador."

Twisting to one side, Rarity gaped at the sight of Ember, whimpering in shock, "Ambassador? I... this isn't what it seems! If this stupid cunt was any good at licking out my pussy, I'd have finished already and got off her face!" As the compulsive words poured out, her face reddened further and further.

"Not Ambassador," Twilight corrected. Smiling at Ember, with only a small, breathy gasp breaking up the flow of her words, she went on, "I don't think Ambassador Ember has any place in the middle of an orgy like this. So, I guess that Ambassador Ember should go... or Ember could stay. There's so much more to learn. Always more to learn."

Applejack blinked. This dragon, whoever she was, was an Ambassador? From the Dragon Lands? And the way Twilight was talking, why, it almost sounded like-

"Yeah, okay. Got to admit, I can't imagine just walking off from this and back to my room, knowing what you're doing in here. So I guess I'm all yours for a little longer... Mistress." The words were casual, but Ember's deep blue nipples stood out stiffly from her rounded breasts.

From beneath Rarity's grinding hips, there was a muffled sound. It sounded rather like Celestia's voice, saying something like, "Mfftrefff?" Zecora half-drowned the exclamation, breaking out in another quick series of gasping wails as the idea of Twilight having conquered another woman pushed her over the edge. Of all the ponies in the room, only Trixie seemed smug rather than surprised.

Applejack didn't know what to think. Twilight had charmed another slave, a dragon? The haze of submissive arousal filling her head was making it hard to form a clear thought.

Twilight's gaze touched Applejack, this time for real, and she smiled. "Ember, this is-"

"Applejack, I know. Did my research. Uh, Mistress."

"Would you play with her beautiful freckled tits for me? I'm occupied with Fluttershy, but I've really missed touching them."

There wasn't really much time to react. Before the surprise had worn off, Ember's aqua-blue arms had wrapped themselves around her from behind, and her slender talons cradled her breasts. A warm, surprisingly soft and smooth body was pressing into her from behind, and a tongue flickered in her ear.

"That Twilight's really something," Ember confided intimately, her breath tingling against Applejack's skin. "Persuaded me to join in with her games, and right now... I want to please her. So I'll do whatever she wants me to do. To. You." The last few words were accompanied by kisses to the side of Applejack's neck, and she felt herself quiver, relaxing back against the dragon whether she wanted to or not.

"Oh, haystacks..." Applejack sighed breathily, unable to focus the will to protest. "Feel so... want to... obey, obey, obey..."

A shiver ran through the dragon embracing her, and Applejack felt her push a little closer. "Yeah, that's... pretty hot," Ember murmured.

With a fresh thrill, Applejack closed her eyes and began grinding back and forth slowly against Celestia's arm, ignoring Rarity's fresh, uncontrolled insults of the Princess eating her out. Letting her firm, muscled ass press back against Ember, she breathed, "See, Ah always knew that Ah wanted something like this. A strong hand, to guide me. Tie me up. Make me jest give up, all mah strength taken away, no responsibility, jest... do what Ah'm told. Feel it. Feel what Ah'm given to feel, so darn strong, feel it so hard that there's nothing else in mah head. Never thought it'd be Twilight. Never thought she had it in her."

A husky note of arousal coloured her words as she breathed, "Oh, but she does. Didn't believe it. Can't believe it. But she's cruel in a way that Ah can't resist, so darn hot Ah can't stand it. Jest being with her, seeing her, hearing that way she talks when she isn't asking me to do something... can't resist it. Ah want to obey her. Have to. Doesn't matter what it is anymore. Pussy's all hot'n bothered, boobs are tingling, and... Ah want to be forced to mah knees and let her pull mah hair, let her rough me up, do anything she darn well wants. Oh, oh fuck but do I want that, so bad, so bad Ah can taste it..."

Her nipples were like rocks, and the rough way Ember was tugging and twisting them was shooting electric sparks up her spine. She knew she was being watched, witnessed by all of them, even Celestia couldn't possibly be ignorant of the way Applejack was grinding against her, and it felt so, so good. Oh, she'd missed this.

"Please," she begged breathlessly, though she didn't know what she was even begging for anymore. Then Ember's touch moved down between her legs, teasing her clit, and all of a sudden she knew exactly what she was begging for. More, and more, and more, and...

She came in a burst of shuddering, wailing release, jerking as the strange dragon's talons toyed with her, tormenting her, drawing out the moment. The world spun dizzily, until she found herself slumped backwards against Ember, her head tilted back and resting against the other woman's shoulder.

In a diffident, breathy tone, Ember murmured, "That was something else... you're really something, Applejack. She's lucky. You all are."

"It's, uh... nice to meet you, too," Applejack managed weakly. "Wheeew." Her eyes flickered open, slowly focusing.

Rarity had slipped off Celestia's face and was lying sideways on the floor, panting for breath. Celestia lay prone, breathing deeply, the twin shafts no longer buzzing. Zecora lay beside her, holding the captive pony's hand in both of hers and lazily sucking on the Princess's fingers one after the other. Rainbow and Pinkie were still rolling around on the floor together, giggling and gasping, their duty of pinning Celestia's legs seemingly forgotten. Fluttershy was hiding her face against Twilight's leg, her face pink with embarrassment and her thighs damp with her juices, while Trixie was hugging her Mistress's other leg, looking up with a mixture of adoration and smug satisfaction.

And Twilight... Twilight was looking at her approvingly. A complicated knot of joy and happiness and envy and love lit in Applejack's heart, feeling a harder beat quiver in her chest.

"You did so, so well," Twilight told her warmly, her hands occupied in fussing Fluttershy and Trixie, ruffling their manes. "I loved to listen to you. That was really hot. I kind of wish I'd had you write it down, so I could keep it and look at it again whenever I wanted to."

"...Twilight," managed Celestia. Her face was flushed, her lips and chin shiny with Rarity's wetness. "I understand that you'd like to punish me at length. But there are matters of state that I can't forswear for the sake of my own desires."

"Luna will handle them. She'll be happy to take care of anything that can't be delayed," Twilight said with gentle insistence. "Really, Princess, you're being a very slow learner. You don't have a choice. You're my fucktoy, and I'm going to treat you that way."

"You may find that Luna is less than pleased-"

"I asked her several hours ago," Twilight interrupted calmly. "The schedule has already been rearranged. Really, Celestia, did you think I was going to let you wriggle out of this?"

The naked demigoddess parted her soft lips, and looked up at Twilight. Applejack felt Celestia's body tense beneath her, a visibly conflicted expression on the Princess's face. Then, all at once, Celestia relaxed, and smiled ruefully. "How many times have I reminded myself not to underestimate you?"

"Obviously, not enough. Maybe you'll do better next time," Twilight replied playfully, then nodded towards Rarity. "Now thank Rarity for letting you stick your tongue inside her," she told Celestia. "A slutty fucktoy like you doesn't deserve it, after all."

Rarity jerked at Twilight's words, pushing herself into a half-sitting position. Struggling to regain her composure, her face crimson, she managed, "Princess, please, there's really no need. No need at all. I'm just a pony from Ponyville after all. I'm sorry for being so, ah, rough in my encouragement. I wouldn't have normally said such things."

Applejack carefully shifted her weight to the side, letting Celestia withdraw her imprisoned hand. Zecora reluctantly did the same, with a final kiss to the Princess's fingers, and sat back to watch as Celestia drew her legs underneath herself, her long limbs quivering slightly. The Princess shifted into a kneeling position, and for a moment, her smile was the gentle, calm smile of the royal pony they had all admired from afar.

Then she bowed down before Rarity, her arms outstretched before her, head lowered. Her glorious mane spread out across her back, floating in shifting curtains either side of her face, and her tail was a fountain of colour draped across the broad curves of her reddened ass.

"Thank you for allowing this unworthy slut to touch your beautiful pussy with her dirty tongue," Celestia breathed. "She is a depraved, horny cunt, fit only for being used and abused by those her Mistress permits. Thank you for spanking her stupid fat tits to encourage her when she failed you, my Lady. Thank you for abusing her, and demanding she try harder. Thank you for feeding this depraved whore your glorious cum."

For a minute, Applejack genuinely wasn't sure if Rarity would faint. The white mare wobbled, then pressed a hand to her chest and sucked in a deep breath. "Ah, thank you. Princess," she managed, with only a small tremor in her voice.

The farmpony was distracted by the feeling of Ember's talons stroking lightly through her blonde tail, brushing and lightly scratching the firm curves of her muscular ass. Addressing Twilight, with a nod down at Celestia, still prone on the floor, Ember remarked, "Talking about underestimating you. I really did. Thought you were just this naive little..." she trailed off as she searched for a word.

"Pony?" suggested Twilight lightly.

"Sure. But you, you're running this whole country. You're the Queen."

"No, I'm not," Twilight said, with a wry smile. "Celestia and Luna are the rulers of Equestria, though Celestia does carry out more of the day to day ruling." She paused, then grinned to herself at the unintentional joke.

Ember's hand paused in its caressing motions, prompting Applejack to gently push back against her talons until the dragon absent-mindedly resumed stroking her ass. "She is the Queen. Celestia. The pony on the floor. Seriously?"

Nodding, Twilight gave the ponies cuddling up either side of her a pat, then moved over to crouch by Celestia's side. Gently stroking the elder mare's flowing mane, she replied, "Oh, yes. She's my mentor. She taught me everything I know, but there's still a lot more I have to learn. I'd never want to rule. I'm happy just being with the ponies I care about, and helping anypony that needs it."

"Did she teach you this?" Ember asked, gesturing loosely at the half-naked ponies draped all over the floor.

"Well, kind of. There's a book, and I didn't know it at the time, but she made sure that I got to read it. It gave me a lot of ideas that I wanted to try out. I think it was maybe like a seed; I read it years ago, and this is all pretty new. I didn't really expect to want this as much as I do," Twilight confessed, running the backs of her fingers along Celestia's lips. "But just because I do this with Celestia and Luna, and my friends, it doesn't mean that I rule Equestria."

Ember gestured wordlessly, then protested, "Yes, it does! She's not your ruler if you can command her to get down on the floor naked and lick you out! If she's running Equestria, that's only because you're letting her in your name."

"No, I really don't think that's true. If Celestia told me that something was important, then I'd accept her judgement on it, of course. I really don't want to be in charge of anything. Other than - well, like this." As Twilight spoke, Fluttershy came crawling around her legs and laid her head in Rarity's lap, who stroked her pink mane distractedly. Little by little, the other mares were moving closer to Twilight, forming a little ring of scandalously undressed, dishevelled ponies around her feet.

Applejack considered moving over there, and perhaps giving Trixie a little affection - the showmare looked a touch uncomfortable to be ringed around by ponies that she hadn't usually had the best of relationships with - but the gentle scratch and caress of Ember's talons across her back and ass hadn't relented, and it almost felt rude to pull away from her touch. Besides, she was honestly interested in what the dragon would say next.

Celestia raised her head, sitting up in a more comfortable position and letting her long legs slide out to the side. "If I told you that I had many tasks to do, and that they were important? I've done just that, Twilight." Her voice was light, and without recrimination. "Ember is right. If I am your slave, then you rule through me, even if you let me rule as I think best. Even if Princess isn't your preferred title-" and here, her tone grew teasing, "-you are in charge of my sister and I, and so Equestria. And all of its ponies. And the movements of the Sun and the Moon, which drive the seasons."

Twilight blinked, twice. Her expression was frozen in the characteristic faint smile which traditionally covered her episodes of total, brain-melting panic. "Oh."

Not wanting to make it worse, but finding herself unwilling to hold her tongue, Applejack added, "She's right, Twi. Ma'am. Ah do a lot of work around the farm, and Ah make the decisions about a lot've things, but Ah know that if Granny says otherwise, then that's what's going to happen. She runs the farm, even when Ah'm deciding what needs doing and how to do it. That's jest how it is."

Ember glanced down at Applejack, then back at Twilight, whose expression hadn't moved. With a wry grin on her muzzle, the dragon shook her head. "I was right about you the first time, wasn't I. You really are that innocent. Not with all this," she added, gesturing around with her free hand, "but when it comes to being a ruler, you're still trying to be that innocent student that Celestia's been teaching all your life."

Her face growing red, Twilight stammered, "W-well, what's so wrong with that?"

Applejack sighed, but happily. It was incredibly reassuring to see her friend emerge from behind the perfect, effortlessly controlling dominatrix. "Not a thing, far as Ah'm concerned. No pony said you have to run Equestria if y'don't want to, and honestly, Ah don't want to see you disappear into your royal duties and such any more than y'have done already."

There was a chorus of assent from the ponies around Twilight's feet, though Trixie's expression looked a lot more thoughtful suddenly. Applejack wrinkled her nose. Even if Trixie was apparently trying to be a better pony, that hunger for being on top of the heap was probably never going to go away.

Coughing once, and trying to regain her composure, Twilight switched topics. "I'm not sure if you heard - I was planning to take my friends and go back to Ponyville for a few days?"

"If 'friends' means naked sex slaves, I guess that makes you the Princess of Friendship," muttered Rainbow from around calf height.

Tilting back her head to see Ember's reaction, Applejack saw a flicker of hesitancy on her face. "I don't know. A village? That's not really why I came here."

"Well, I'll be there, and you can see where I live. You can stay with me, if you'd like that, and if that would be too much, I can arrange somewhere you can stay instead. And then you could meet Spike, too. He's a dragon, but a really young one." Twilight grew a little sheepish as she finished the sentence.

Ember blinked. "You live with a dragon? But you don't seem to know anything about us!"

"Well..." Twilight trailed off, then finished hesitantly, "I hatched him. From an egg. So he's kind of grown up around ponies."

Applejack wasn't entirely sure, but the way Ember's long jaw sagged seemed to telegraph blank surprise in pretty much the same way that ponies did.

"You're his mother?" she all but squeaked.

"No, no, not his mother!" Twilight replied quickly, waving her hands frantically. "Just - like his big sister! I was pretty young when it happened, I'm really not old enough to be his mother."

Slowly, gracefully, Celestia rose. She was an incredibly impressive sight, her milky-white skin marked with fading red and pink, her lips and chin still bearing traces of Rarity's juices, and the stilled vibrators buried in both holes. She was a degrading spectacle of herself, and yet, when she held herself in the right way, and began to speak, she radiated the effortless calm and authority of ages.

"An abandoned egg was found, and my inquiries could find no trace of its mother. Nor could I find any dragon wishing to take and raise an egg that was not their own, in the short time I had to search. My own magic would not quicken it. I hoped that a younger pony, one whose magic was still malleable, might be able to bring the spark of magic necessary to awaken the child within, and so I allowed prospective students to try. I doubted it would be sufficient, but I did not yet know of Twilight's potential."

Celestia turned her head towards Twilight, and smiled. "Knowing what she has now become makes it easier to believe what she once achieved. She produced a flare of magic across the aether spectrum, beyond the range ponies usually are capable of. Spike hatched. I know it must seem strange to you that he has grown up with my ponies, but Twilight and Spike have always been inseparable, and she has never treated him with anything but kindness."

Sensing that Ember's attention had shifted fully away from her, Applejack crawled forward towards the others, nestling up against Rainbow's side and stroking her feathers. Rainbow tilted her head back and nuzzled Applejack, and as always, there was a flash of special happiness on the flyer's face at the sight of her.

"I think it would be nice for Spike if you talked to him," Twilight added. "I'm sure he has questions about dragons, too, and he hasn't really had a lot of positive encounters with them."

Ember looked wary and slightly awkward in a way that obviously had nothing to do with the nudity of her body, or the nakedness of those around her. After a moment's pause, she replied slowly, "Okay. I'll meet him. I'm coming to keep an eye on you, though, okay?"

"That's fine," Twilight reassured her. "We can talk, about all the things you wanted to find out."

"That's not what she wants your tongue for," murmured Rainbow, just audibly.

Ember rolled her eyes. "Sure. Are you planning on leaving today? If you've promised the bearers here that you'd come back with them."

Twilight nodded. "This evening, I think we can pile onto the carriage. I can ask for my train to be made ready. Will you be ready to leave?"

"It's not like I was carrying much," snorted Ember.

"I don't believe my opinions on the subject are going to matter," Celestia replied lightly.

"Not even a little bit," Twilight told her fondly. "You're going to be my dinner table. And footstool. And all sorts of things. But first, there's something I have to do. A ceremony, actually, I've been really looking forward to it."

Applejack blinked, looking upwards at Twilight. She hated formal occasions, didn't she?

"Is it a party?" asked Pinkie brightly. "Do you need me to make a cake?"

"Well, actually... did you hear about these flyers?"

Guard Captain Diorite was an intelligent, conscientious pony that took her duties with the utmost seriousness. Her role was the protection of Princess Twilight; not simply from physical harm, but from all manner of difficulties that the royal pony might find herself in as she navigated her new world. Diorite was there to be her shield, in whatever manner the Princess needed.

When the element bearers - and the zebra - had arrived, Diorite had allowed them in. There was more to being a guard than rigidly following the most obvious interpretation of your orders. Going against those orders, however, in the name of anticipating the Princess's desires, meant that she was responsible if she was wrong. And so, quietly, Diorite had followed them into the Princess's suite, hanging back, ready to remove them if it turned out her judgement had been wrong.

That was how she'd heard things. That was how, once the bearers had been welcomed in, she'd stolen a glance into the room beyond.

That was why the gray, dappled pony was pressed up against the wall, her gauntlet stripped off, her hand frantically working between her legs. The mumble of voices from the room beyond were indistinct, but occasional words came loud enough for her to pick out. 'Slut'. 'Obey'. 'Fuck'. And the sight of Celestia, naked, skin reddened from spanking, arms tied behind her. Twilight, naked, dominating, standing over her. The bearers, wriggling out of their clothes, already touching themselves. The single glimpse was branded across the inside of her eyelids, vivid every time she closed her eyes.

It was impossible. It couldn't be true. She should do something. She couldn't imagine what. Something strange was going on. This couldn't be happening. She should do something. But right then, all she could think of were all the vivid fantasies of standing naked before Twilight, letting her touch anywhere she wanted, take anything she wanted...

With a shuddering, muffled moan, Guard Captain Diorite came.

And then, flushed with shame and embarrassment, she straightened her armour, and soundlessly left, leaving the sounds of sex behind her.

It was hard to let go of things, Twilight thought.

She had loved the idea of setting up a group of ponies to scour Equestria, seeking out lost and dangerous magic and bringing it all back to her. It was the sort of mission she'd have dearly loved to have gone on herself, and could have happily spent months, even years, in the pursuit of. Perhaps if she'd been better at making friends from the start, Celestia might have sent her out on that kind of task herself instead of sending her to Ponyville to learn how much better life could be when it was shared with other ponies.

Perhaps not. Celestia had been trying to shape her into a specific aspect, after all.

Regardless, she had high hopes for what she'd decided to call the Seekers. Her flyers had been pinned up across the length and breadth of Equestria, letting everypony know that the new Princess of Magic sought a personal cadre of ponies to hunt down magic, both lost and undiscovered. Many, many ponies had volunteered, a lot of them simply excited by the prospect of seeing her in person. Those offers had been winnowed down, mostly by clerks working under Celestia's direction, leaving only eighteen in the first group.

As Twilight had said to Trixie, the trouble was that she wanted to do, well, everything. She wanted to arrange storage space for strange magical artefacts. She wanted to arrange bookshelves for all the odd manuscripts she hoped would be found. She wanted to research magic dampening spells that she could use to build a vault for the really strange things - certainly she should have inspected the secret vault that Celestia kept deep below the castle, to see how she'd done it. She wanted to interview every volunteer, and find out who they were, and what they hoped for, and why they had stepped forward. She wanted to know each and every pony.

She had, in fact, done almost none of these things. Trixie had taken care of setting up shelf space in a former reading room - smaller than Twilight's grandiose hopes would have chosen, but they could always expand later - and she had managed not to be more than casually rude to anypony in the process. Argent had stepped up in her absence, too, organising the volunteers, interviewing them, and creating dossiers with photographs for her to read through so that she could recognise every pony under her command. At this point, he was only nominally one of her guards, having been released from his important duties of looking fierce and standing around to concentrate on getting things done.

Twilight pulled a face, feeling a stab of self-recrimination. She shouldn't make fun of her guards, even in her own head. They really cared about her, and believed in protecting her, and if their job was dull and thankless at times, it was up to her to make sure they were respected for it. Even so, Argent seemed to have a talent for organisation that was flowering under his new responsibilities, and she was very glad to make use of it.

The tall, wiry figure of Argent stepped through the curtains separating her small preparation room from the much larger audience hall outside. His snow white skin and pale grey mane and tail contrasted sharply with the deep purple armour he wore, her starburst cutie mark prominently emblazoned on the top right of the breastplate. "Princess, the volunteers are assembled. If you are ready, I will announce you," he reported crisply.

Twilight looked up from her notes to the guard pony standing in the doorway, then glanced over at Trixie. "Thank you, Argent," she replied with a quick, slightly nervous smile. "I guess it's time, then."

"Yes, Princess. Excuse me." Saluting, he turned and disappeared through the curtain again. The murmur of conversation outside faded as he began to speak.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie still thinks you should be using your charm on all of them," Trixie complained. "They'll be searching for ponies using spells to control others, and - you're doing that more than anypony! You can't risk them finding out about your slaves, Mistress!"

"I know, Trixie. I know it's a risk, I really do. And I thought about doing it." Twilight hesitated. She still had the charm instructions she had intended to read to them, and it would be the work of moments to fetch them... but no. She shouldn't. "Celestia made me realise I'm trying to solve every problem with it, Trixie. If something happens, I'll explain, that's all. We'd better get out there - come on."

On the far side of the doorway, Twilight could hear the muted murmur of ponies talking. Pausing by the door, she straightened herself up and quickly swept her fingers through her mane - how unfair that the sisters never had to worry whether their mane looked tidy for an audience - then stepped through the curtained arch.

At once, silence fell.

She stood on a low plinth, overlooking a long rectangular room. The walls were lined with bookshelves, each crowded with old, well-bound books, mostly histories of the different parts of Equestria. Small tables and chairs lay here and there around the edge of the room, leaving the central area open. An intricate rug occupied that space, inlaid with fanciful, flowing representations of Celestia and Luna as creatures of light, coiled around each other in perfect balance. It was a beautiful, welcoming room, filled with golden light that streamed from tall, arched windows, and she'd chosen it to be her personal audience chamber once Celestia had impressed upon her the necessity of having one. Not every meeting, the Princess had remarked to her with an ambiguous smile, could be carried out in Twilight's bedroom.

Eighteen ponies of varying ages were standing at the foot of the plinth, radiating nervousness. Ten of them were unicorns, but five pegasi and a trio of earth ponies rounded out the numbers. She hadn't met any of them in person before, but she'd carefully studied the files that Celestia's clerks and Argent had prepared, and each expectant face was familiar.

"Um. Hello everypony. I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle, and this is my assistant, Trixie Lulamoon."

'Um'? Can you imagine Celestia saying 'um'? Her cheeks heated, and she added quickly, "I'd like to thank you, all of you, for volunteering for my Seekers programme. I know some of you have travelled a long way, and I appreciate your willingness to help me. To help everypony, really. That's what this is for."

She was making a hash of it. She'd memorised this speech, but that wasn't the same as getting it to come out of her mouth the way she'd intended. She could feel the creeping tide of her blush of embarrassment getting ever brighter and hotter across her cheeks.

"I should probably tell you all a little about my intentions for your work. It comes in two pieces, really. The first is to seek out lost and forgotten magic, and newly created magic. Canterlot Library is one of the best magical repositories in the world, but I know there are gaps, and things that have been forgotten, and things that ponies are discovering day by day that we just don't have records of. Wouldn't it be wonderful to gather and protect all that knowledge, so that all ponies can learn from it and build on it?" Her eyes sparkled as she talked, leaning forward a little. "It's the inheritance of every pony in Equestria!"

She was interrupted by a round of applause from the ponies before her, including Argent, whose gauntlets added a metallic boom to his clapping. She coloured, happily this time, then continued, "But protecting knowledge without protecting ponies would be wrong. The second part of your duties will be to seek out magic that is being used to harm or abuse others, report it to me, and finally, to help me put a stop to it.

"I've seen good ponies make mistakes-" At her side, Trixie stiffened slightly, though in truth, Twilight was thinking of herself, "-and bad ponies that have hurt those around them because they wanted to. Somepony needs to be there to help when things go bad. I'd like that to be us. Will you help me?"

A cheer rang out from the assembled ponies. Twilight blushed. "It's wonderful to have ponies like you to help me. I'm very grateful. Tomorrow, you'll be departing in your pairs for your very first scouting missions. You'll be ranging far and wide across Equestria! Every single destination is a place that Argent and I have picked out from Celestia's reports with the potential for you to find something unusual. Be brave, be kind, be curious, and help those that you meet. Congratulations, my Seekers!"

The room broke into celebratory tumult, and several vast cakes were rolled in at the back of the chamber for the graduation party to begin. These were good ponies, she was sure of it, and she was going to make time to get to know them. When each pair came back from their first mission, she'd sit down and listen to everything they had to say. Oh, she couldn't wait to see what they'd find.

Author's Note

Project 'make chapters shorter' is off to a poor start.

Explaining Spike's situation to an actual dragon is kind of tricky, and involves a lot of justifying the fact that a dragon egg was being used as an entrance exam for a magic school. Oh well, back to Ponyville!

Proofed by Djmill and Dbzordie

13: A Day in Ponyville

The wheels of the cart squeaked quietly as it rolled through the grass, apple trees whispering overhead with each swell of the breeze. Applejack pulled the little wooden cart with casual ease, pulling on the wooden shafts with her bare hands. She wore a red shirt, tied off in a knot beneath her breasts, knee-length blue shorts that had faded in the sun, brown boots, and her ever-present stetson. The contents of the cart were hidden beneath a blanket, though out in the middle of the orchards, there hopefully wouldn't be any ponies to hide them from.

"Here?" asked Twilight, glancing around herself. An edge of nervousness tightened a knot in her chest, but no matter where she looked, there was nothing but endless rows of apple trees, rising and falling with the gentle curves of the land. Some underbrush broke up the landscape, providing shelter, but even so, there was nopony in sight, and almost certainly, nopony other than the two of them for miles.

If only she could be sure they were safe from being seen. But that risk was part of playing outdoors.

"Naw, not quite yet." Applejack jerked her head back at the cart, as it bounced over an unseen obstacle in the long grass. "Too many roots, hereabouts. Ah know this nice lil meadow up this way that's smooth as Pinkie's butt. That'll do."

Twilight broke into giggles, quickening her pace a little to keep up with the farm pony's strides. "As Pinkie's butt?"

"You put your hands on that ass? We've all got our talents, Twi, but dang, she has a butt that could win prizes." Applejack flashed her a wry grin. "Gonna put on a pervert county fair? Ah'd be a real star. Come in first in the self-hogtie, Ah guarantee it."

Twilight broke into laughter, her nervousness easing a notch. "I think that the ponies of Equestria might not be quite ready for that kind of thing just yet."

There was something faintly regretful in the way that Applejack's green eyes slid away, turning to the greenery all around them. "Yeah, you're right about that."

They walked on quietly for a moment, as Twilight wondered whether to ask what was on her mind. It was so wonderful to just relax, with just the two of them, out in the orchard chatting and laughing together. But she owed it to Applejack - to all of them - not to shy away when she felt like they were avoiding something. "Is there something the matter?" she probed gently.

Applejack sighed softly. "Oh, you know, Twi. Ah was jest thinking about how no folk're supposed to know what's going on with you'n I. Figures that y'don't want to confuse folk, and heck, Ah don't begrudge the others wanting to be with you. But when folk say to me are we dating or aren't we, well. Don't rilly know what to say."

"...you're right. It's not fair," Twilight replied slowly. She'd thought - hoped - that by getting away alone with Applejack for a while, she could put all the complexities of her harem aside for a while. That had probably been hopelessly optimistic. "Applejack, I don't know what to say either. I'm really proud of being with you. I'm so proud," she added more softly, her hand pressing against her chest. "You're incredible. You always have been. My first love. So strong and kind, and you care so much. Yes. It's not fair."

She was coming to a decision, she knew. It was forming as she spoke, growing more and more certain. "Luna keeps telling me that I can't keep this secret forever. I shouldn't be trying. I don't need to tell all the world who I'm dating, but I shouldn't be pretending I'm not." Her eyes moved to Applejack's, and she came to a stop. "Applejack, you can tell anypony that asks about you and I. About you and Rainbow. About the whole thing, if you want to. It's big, and it's complicated, and some ponies might judge us for it, but if you're happy to tell other ponies that we have a circle of lovers, so am I. ...and I hope your family will accept that. Because... when you have your next Apple family gathering, I'd like to go with you. As your date."

The twin shafts of the cart dropped from Applejack's hands as she stared at Twilight, the cart tipping forward with a creak. Her voice went deep and soft. "You really mean that?" she whispered, stepping towards Twilight slowly. "Y'want to be mah partner, at the family gathering?"

Twilight felt a wobbly smile curve her lips, her eyes tearing up. "Yes. I want everypony to know how much I- whoof!" The air was knocked out of her as Applejack stepped up and hugged her hard, squeezing her with surprising strength. Stunned for a moment, she felt Applejack cover her cheeks and lips with kisses, the brim of her hat bumping against Twilight's forehead.

"Oh, Twi, that'd mean so darn much to me. Ah'm proud t'be with you, and Ah want everypony to know. Ah want to dance with you in the circle and have all the Apples'n Oranges'n whatnot know that this here beautiful mare and I, we're made f'r each other. Ah know it ain't how most folks live, but if we're happy, if we love each other, then there's not a pony in Ponyville that'll say otherwise. Not in my family, neither." She kissed Twilight hard, her arms tightening. "An' if they do, well, Ah reckon Ah'll let Big Mac stare at them some. Nopony gets all uppity when Big Mac gives'm the hard stare."

Applejack pulled back from Twilight for a moment to give her a menacing stare, as if to remind her what one looked like. Twilight gulped a mouthful of air, then had it immediately crushed out of her again as Applejack pulled her close once more and lifted her off the ground.

"Oh, sugar, we're going to be such a pair! The whole family's going to think you're the best. Heck, they already do, and that's before Ah tell them how good we are together."

Twilight would have been turning purple, if she hadn't been already. Nonetheless, she managed to squeak, "Breathe!"

"What? Oh. Right." Applejack loosened her grip a little with an abashed look on her face, letting Twilight's feet touch the ground once more. "Sorry. Guess Ah got a bit carried away. But Twi, Ah can't tell you how much Ah've wanted you to jest - acknowledge me. F'r every pony to see that you and me, we're a thing. Ah know it's going to make life more complicated, once ponies know the whole arrangement, but Ah'd rather that than all this sneaking around, pretending nothing's going on."

Twilight's shoulders relaxed, and she shook her head. "I think I'm going to still have to avoid doing anything intimate with the Princesses in public. It might seem kind of strange for me to be dating both sisters, as well as everything else. ...but no, I'll ask them. That's what I always do wrong; I try to make decisions on behalf of everypony instead of finding out what they want. I'll do the same for all of our friends, too. No pony has to be out about dating me unless they want to."

Applejack released Twilight, and a wry grin curved the farm pony's lips. "Twi, turn around f'r a second, would ya?"

Blinking, Twilight nodded. "Uhm. Okay?" She turned around, facing away from Applejack and the cart. The breeze touched her face, ruffling her hair. It really was nice to be-

Smack.

Yelping at the sudden sting on her ass, Twilight twisted back around, her face a portrait of indignation. "Hey!"

Applejack was laughing, leaning against the cart. "Y'keep making the same screw ups, Twi, there'll be more of that."

With a single stride, Twilight closed the distance between her and Applejack. Her left hand gripped the other mare's right breast, squeezing roughly through the fabric of her shirt. The other seized Applejack by the throat, pressing just hard enough to gently restrict airflow. Her voice was light, an arch smile on her lips. "You think you can spank me, Appleslut?"

Rising up on the toes of her boots, her breathing accelerating rapidly, Applejack whimpered, her eyes half-closing. "N-no, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am."

"Are you the one that spanks, Appleslut? Or are you the fucktoy that gets spanked?" Twilight rubbed her palm back and forth over the subtle bump of Applejack's nipple through the cloth, her fingers kneading firmly. A thrill was racing through her body, overlapping and amplifying itself with every hint of her slave's growing submission; the way her lips parted, her eyelids fluttered. Colour crept into the farm pony’s freckled cheeks, growing redder.

"Ah'm your fucktoy, Ma'am," Applejack whispered, swallowing beneath Twilight's hand. "Your bitch. Tamed, made all your own. Oh, Celestia, Ah want this..."

"I want this too," Twilight breathed, a hot, sharp intensity underlying her words. At that moment, nothing had felt more true in her whole life, feeling this mare she loved tremble in arousal, gripping her throat unyieldingly. "I want to force you to your knees. I want to make you beg me for mercy, Applejack. I want to fuck you, oh, how I want to fuck you... it's frightening how much."

"F-fuck me," gasped Applejack, her green eyes rolling back. "Anyway y'want me... Ah'm yours. Can't resist. Must obey. Ah'll do anything you want."

With a twist of her hand, Twilight suddenly released Applejack's neck. The farm pony bent forward, caught off-balance, sucking in quick breaths. In a harshly imperious tone, Twilight commanded, "Strip, slut. I'm done waiting for this meadow. We're doing this here, now."

Applejack moaned thickly, her hands instantly tugging at her shirt and fumblingly undoing the knot she'd tied in the tails. "Yes, Ma'am, Ah'm stripping, Ma'am." Her freckled breasts spilled out as the fastenings parted, smooth and firm, capped with tight, hardened nipples. Shrugging out of her top, clumsy with her haste, she tossed the shirt into the cart and began tugging at her waistband, yanking down the zipper.

"No underwear," purred Twilight. "Very fitting for a horny slut, that's always waiting to be fucked and played with. You're a dirty fuckdoll, pretending to be this perfect, wholesome farm pony. I can't let that go unpunished."

"No, no Ma'am, Ah need to be punished," panted Applejack, tugging down her shorts. Her shaven cunt gleamed in the sunlight, betraying her wetness, as she struggled out of her boots and stood naked before Twilight, completely exposed to the breeze. "Your bitch is naked, Ma'am," she managed, stiffening to a formal pose.

"Mm, she is. But you're not nearly finished getting ready, are you?" Twilight said with luxurious lack of haste. "Let's get out the rest of your outfit." Turning to the cart, Twilight pulled back the blanket that covered the contents. A black, leathery harness lay beneath, fixed together by shining silvery metal rings and studs that gleamed in the sunlight, draped over the back of a comfortable, padded seat that was mounted in the centre of the cart. Various other sexualised tools of punishment lay in the bottom of the cart, arranged neatly so they wouldn't get in the way of whoever sat in the centre.

Lifting up the harness in both hands, Twilight turned to Applejack. Slipping one shoulder strap up her muscular arm, Twilight wrapped the corset-like body of it around Applejack’s body and slid her other arm into the remaining shoulder strap. “Breathe in,” Twilight instructed, then began doing up the myriad tiny buttons that fastened the back together. It was so beautiful watching Applejack’s warm orange body progressively coated by glistening blackness, transforming her nudity into something more sexual than mere nakedness, more fetishised.

The straps over Applejack’s broad shoulders were studded with silver, strands leading down either side of her bare breasts to frame her cleavage while another pair led inwards, to encircle her throat in a broad, tightly buckled collar that kept her head posed upwards. A v-shaped corset pulled her stomach in, forcing her into an hourglass figure that emphasised the fullness of her ass and the fountain of tightly bound blonde hair arcing out behind her. Broad loops either side of her hips were perfectly sized to slide over the cart shafts. The back of the corset was minimal, curving down into a couple of thin straps, leaving as much of her back and ass as possible exposed.

With loving care, Twilight worked long, thigh-length boots up Applejack’s legs, feeling the other mare shift and squirm in anticipation. Elbow-length gloves strapped her wrists back against her shoulders, her hands trapped in broad mittens that made her fingers useless, even if she could have reached anything with her arms bound. Finally, tenderly, Twilight eased a thin headstall made of crisscrossing straps over Applejack’s head, careful to get her ears settled comfortably through it. Small black panels blocked out the wearer's peripheral vision, forcing them to look straight ahead. A bit gag dangled loose, only connected at one side for now, with a set of reins leading back towards the seat.

Few ponies would have even recognised the headstall at first glance; such things were almost forgotten. They were from the secretive, darker corners of history, when pony had fought pony and captives had been forced to work for their jailors. It stripped a pony of her dignity, her autonomy, made her into a beast of burden. It took a scholar, or a pervert, to know it at once. Fortunately, that caught Twilight coming and going.

Applejack’s lips parted yearningly, and she leaned forward, as if trying to take the bit between her teeth before Twilight had even presented it to her. “Mmmn!” she groaned wordlessly, quivering on the spot.

“So desperate,” teased Twilight huskily. “Do you want to be gagged and forced to be a mindless animal for me?”

“Mmmh! Yes, Ma’am! Please, Ma’am!” Applejack panted, her eyes glazed with lust. Wetness gleamed at the tops of her thighs, and her bare tits rose and fell rapidly with her laboured breathing.

“Well, seeing as you asked so nicely...” Twilight purred. “You know I’m your friend, Applejack, and friends help each other be everything they want to be. Just like you want to be a horny, fuckable animal.” Lifting the bit, she eased it between Applejack's parted lips, and clipped the loose end into place. "Perfect. Back up between the shafts, now. That's good."

Lifting the shafts and tilting the two-wheeled cart back to an even keel, Twilight fastened Applejack in place between them, standing upright and ready to pull. "Good pony," Twilight praised her, smacking the other mare's firm ass with her hand as she walked past.

Climbing into the cart, Twilight settled herself on the seat, arranged her skirt neatly, and picked up the reins with one hand. With the other, she bent forward and picked up a soft, many-stranded flogger, swishing it through the air experimentally to test its heft. She wasn't exactly practised with the thing, but it was part of Applejack's fantasy, and even though it flavoured Twilight's arousal with a touch of nervousness, there was a part of her that couldn't wait to try it.

"Is my dumb animal ready to pull her Mistress's carriage?" she asked softly, feeling her nipples ache with stiffness beneath her delicate white blouse.

"Mmfh!" groaned Applejack, trying to twist enough to see Twilight, and shuddering with fresh arousal as she found herself too trapped in her harness and headstall to do more than turn her head slightly. She stamped her booted feet against the soft grass in eagerness.

Crack. The flogger lashed out, strands striking Applejack's ass with a loud, clear sound that was almost covered by the captive mare's muffled cry of agonised pleasure. Jerking into motion, she leaned forward and began to pull, towing the cart after her as she accelerated to a brisk jog.

The cart jostled and rattled, bouncing as it went over small tree roots extending out into the grass between the trees. Twilight didn't care. All that mattered were the little gasps and moans escaping her slave, the way her mane and tail swayed, her ass on perfect display. Twilight caught her breath, dizzy with excitement as she saw droplets of wetness inching down Applejack's inner thighs.

"Anypony might see you," Twilight said huskily, over the rattle of the wheels. "Your pretty tits bouncing, your cunt on display, your ass getting redder with every-" crack, "-strike of my flogger. Dumb animals don't care how exposed they are. But you're just smart enough to know that you're a depraved, horny slut, degrading yourself every moment you're strapped into your suit and made into a beast. This is what your hard, fit body is for. So you can pull my carriage, be my mindless animal. I know you want this, I know you've dreamed about this over and over, night after night."

Her voice grew more throaty, more intense, as she heaped abuse on Applejack, the gagged pony’s moans growing louder and more yearning. Twilight lashed out with the flogger again, every strike cracking louder than the last, burnishing her slave's ass to a warm pink. The surrounding trees parted as they burst out into a clear meadow, and the jolting settled down, the cart rolling smoothly through the grass.

"If you do really well, if you really please me, I'll push you up against one of these trees and fuck you," Twilight promised with a gasp of arousal, wanting desperately to touch herself but needing both hands for the reins and the flogger.

The cart accelerated, Applejack's booted feet hammering into the soft grass. The blonde pony's head tilted back, and though her words were thick and distorted by her gag, Twilight could just make out the yearning words, "Hurt me, punish me!"

A shudder of need ran through Twilight, her fingers tightening around the flogger. "Yes," she breathed, "Oh, yes." The flogger cracked across Applejack’s ass and back, laying reddened stripes across her skin with hungry eagerness, and every moan and cry that the blows wrenched out of the firm-muscled mare thrummed like a caress to Twilight’s clit. It felt so good to hurt her, knowing that Applejack loved it, wanted it, was begging for more.

Every strike urged the gagged, moaning pony to greater efforts, leaning into the drag of her harness to pull the cart faster as they circled the long, oval meadow. Twilight wrapped the reins around her fingers, letting Applejack steer around the curves, and stood up in the cart. The wind of their movement blew her mane out behind her, her tail flicking with each delicious twinge of her arousal, and at that moment, more than any before, she felt like a Princess. An Empress. Some secret, darker corner of herself pictured being drawn through Canterlot by a team of naked, panting mares, in a triumphal parade. She pictured Luna and Celestia, pulling her cart side by side, whimpering and gasping with each crack of a long crop. Though if she was going for a complete set, Cadance should really be there too...

Eventually, despite herself, Applejack began to slow, and sensing her slave had been pushed as far as she could safely go, Twilight lowered the flogger, and tugged gently on the reins. The cart coasted to a stop, Applejack stumbling the last few steps as she came to a halt, flanks heaving. Her head hung low, panting loudly in the sudden quiet, body coated in glistening sweat. Red and pink marks carpeted her back, ass and thighs.

Delicately, Twilight stepped down from the cart. "Good pony, that’s so good," she praised Applejack warmly, stepping around to stand before the panting mare. Her lips and gag were wet with saliva, and her breasts heaved. Her green eyes were slow to focus on Twilight, but as they did, a look of exhausted adoration came over Applejack’s face, and she mumbled something into her gag.

Gently, carefully, Twilight unhooked one end of the bit, and eased it out of Applejack’s mouth. "There... is that better?" Once, she wouldn’t have, couldn’t have understood wanting to hurt somepony she loved. But now, tingling with delight and warmth, she knew better. There was a kind of love in the punishment she’d unleashed, a pleasure in cruelty matched only by the depth of her warmth and caring. To make sure that her lover was safe, that she wasn’t hurt or upset, was just as much part of those feelings as bestowing the blows in the first place.

"...thank you. Ma’am. So much," breathed Applejack, slowly sinking down onto her haunches. The cart tipped forward with her movement. "Love being your beast. Love you. Ah’m yours."

Twilight’s horn glowed. With careful self-control, she levitated a flask of water out of the floor of the cart into her hands, then lifted it to Applejack’s lips, letting her drink a little at a time. Little by little, she was regaining dexterity with her magic, even if it was a constant effort to use only the lightest touch of it. "There. You’re going to need some water after all that exertion. I wouldn’t want you to get too hot." Searching Applejack’s face, she asked with a touch of sternness, "Have you over-exerted yourself? I don’t want to see you hurt yourself showing off what a good pony you can be."

Shaking her head slowly, Applejack tilted her body slightly to let Twilight unhitch her from the cart, collapsing gratefully to rest on the soft grass. "Whew. That was one heck've a workout, Ma'am. Mah thighs are on fire, a bit. And mah ass, come to that. Ah'll be alright. Jest need some time to catch mah breath." Rolling onto her back, her arms still tied up uselessly, Applejack let her legs sprawl loosely across the ground. Looking up at Twilight, she asked softly, "Ah did well?"

"So well, Applejack." Twilight settled into the grass and shifted up to lie against the other mare's side, kissing her shoulder. "Get your breath back. You'll need it in a moment."

"Y'want me to pull the cart some more, Ma'am?" Despite her evident exhaustion, Applejack's face took on a determined look.

"No, no. Not that at all." Twilight smiled, with an edge of predatory playfulness. "I just need you to be able to stand up and bend over. You've earned a good fucking."

Cadance rolled onto her back, shuffling a little to find a comfortable position with her wings beneath her. The enormous bed did all it could to help, as soft and yielding as a cloud. Rainbow shards of light coloured the room, where the sun shone through an enormous stained glass window. Beside her, Shining Armor lay sprawled untidily beneath the covers, murmuring a sleepy sound.

Something that she'd refused to give up, when she'd become Princess of the Crystal Empire, were lie-ins. Not that she could have them every day, but she did try to take at least one a week. It was a time to wake up slowly, luxuriously, and completely forget her cares for a few hours before she took on the mantle of ruler once again. Today, however, something was bothering her. Something that had been bothering her for a while, at the back of her mind.

"Shiny?" she asked softly. "Are you awake yet?"

Shining Armor muttered something into the pillow. Undeterred, Cadance poked his shoulder, then lightly kicked his leg. "Shiny?"

Shining's eyes opened. "Mrrf. Hm?"

"Oh, you're awake. Can I talk to you about something?"

Yawning, Shining turned his body towards her, rubbing a hand over his eyes. "Did you want something, Cadey-wadey?" He grinned as he spoke the noxiously over-sweet endearment, obviously hoping to make her wince, only for his expression to sober as he saw she wasn't rising to the bait. "Is something wrong?"

"No... not wrong, exactly. I don't think." She spoke slowly, shaking her head slightly. Shining moved closer, wrapping his arms around her, and she felt herself relax a little more as his warm, firm body pressed against hers beneath the sheets.

"It doesn't sound like you believe that," he said gently. His broad hand squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Tell me about it."

Cadance hesitated, as she had done several times before. It was probably nothing. But, now that she'd finally broached the subject, perhaps it was best to follow through. "It's about... Twilight."

Shining frowned slightly. "Is she in trouble somehow? Having difficulty coping with being a Princess? I know it's not easy on you."

"Not... like that." She sighed, looking up at the lovingly painted ceiling, with its stars and birds. "Look. How much do you know about Twilight's sex life?"

Shining gaped at her, his mouth open.

Despite herself, Cadance giggled. "I'm going to take that as 'nothing', then."

He coloured. "Well - she wouldn't talk to me about that. Besides, we're talking about Twilight. She doesn't have a sex life." Shining paused, then added more uncertainly, "Does she?"

Oh, Shining my darling, you have no idea. "Yes, she does." It was Cadance's turn to hesitate, trying to figure out how to ease her husband into the discussion. Shining had always thought of Twilight as younger than she really was, and even her ascension hadn't changed his tendency to picture her as barely out of her foalhood.

"Shining, you know those games, we sometimes play...? The kind where I'm a guard recruit under your command, or I'm a terrible tyrant?"

Shining stared at her, a bewildered frown slowly drawing his brows together. "Twilight is dating somepony? And... they're ordering her around in bed? I mean - you can't be serious." Comprehension touched his features, and he leaned up in bed to look down at her, asking more urgently, "Are you worried she's being taken advantage of?"

"No, no. It's okay. Nothing like that," Cadance replied hastily, gently pulling down on his bare shoulder to draw him back into her embrace. Oh well, there was nothing for it but the truth, now. "Twilight is... the one in charge, actually. And it's not just a sex game to her either. I can tell the difference, and this was a full-time kind of thing. She's living the lifestyle of somepony that owns others."

Again, Shining's face went blank as he tried to fit this into his mental model of his sister and found it didn't match anywhere. "Buh- wh- Twilight? But she doesn't have a kinky bone in her body!" he protested, spluttering. "She's not even interested in other ponies that way, let alone... dominating somepony! She... if she was dating somepony, she would have told me! And she just isn't... you can't picture her being commanding, can you? She wouldn't - I don't - Cadance!"

Cadance winced. "Actually, my love, she's not dominating somepony. She's dominating some ponies." She could feel the bewilderment radiating from him, and before he could ask, she said slowly, "All of the elements of harmony. She seems to have turned the elements into her... well, her harem." The words sounded ridiculous in her own mouth, as though they couldn't possibly be true.

Shining Armor stared at her, then slowly rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Cadance waited a moment, then pressed her naked body against his side, hugging one arm.

"Shining?" she asked gently.

"Are you teasing me?" he asked eventually.

"No, I'm really not. I've known about it since the coronation, but I wasn't sure what to think."

"My Twily is... she's, with all those... that's impossible," he said plaintively. "Twily... she doesn't even like mares! And all of them dating her at the same time? She... a herd relationship? Where she's dominating them all? I just... Cadance, this can't be happening. Could it be some kind of Elements thing that's gone wrong? Some kind of magic? Something to do with her being a Princess?"

She'd wondered that, too. "I can't rule it out," Cadance said carefully, "but I felt real bonds of affection between them when they were together. Romantic bonds, not just friendship. Some of them stronger than others, but all of them are more than friends. If there was nothing there but magic, I'd know."

Shining rubbed a hand down his face, shaking his head once more. "But... Twilight hasn't ever looked at another mare that way! Or a stallion, either. And then she's dating five ponies at the same time? And she's..." he trailed off, before resuming awkwardly, "playing... that kind of... that? Cade, it just doesn't... that's not what she'd do!"

"...well. Sometimes, ponies can surprise you," said Cadance slowly. "I've known ponies that were just as outwardly uninterested in romance as Twilight, and behind closed doors, they were - um. Surprising. But, with Twilight, it wasn't just... it's not just the elements of harmony."

Shining let his head flop back against the pillow, then said with a kind of resigned incredulousness, "There's more? You can't be serious."

"...yes. I can't be certain that I've met all of Twilight's lovers, but she is certainly dominating the other elements, and Zecora from the Everfree Forest. And Trixie Lulamoon."

"Trixie? But Trixie hates Twilight! She took over Ponyville with an evil amulet just to get back at her! And Twilight doesn't even like her!"

Cadance bit her lip. There was a tone of pleading disbelief in Shining's voice that suggested he was, on some level, completely unable to process what she was saying, and she hadn't even got to the most unlikely part yet. "I know! But Trixie was there at the coronation, remember, and the bond between them was... it's a sort of devotion that's actually kind of unhealthy. She's completely desperate for Twilight's approval. Zecora was there, too. ...and that's not all of Twilight's herd, either. I'm sorry. There's two more."

He groaned. "Tell me."

Well, here it was. Cadance took the plunge. "She's dominating Celestia. And Luna. Sexually."

He lay in silence for a few moments, and she let him process the thought at his own speed. When he finally spoke, it was as though his words were coming from far away. "My little sister, Twily, is dominating Celestia and Luna, and Trixie, and Zecora, and all of her friends. In a huge lesbian harem. And that's only the ones you know about."

"It seems a little out of character," agreed Cadance meekly.

"They're sisters! They can't both be dating the same pony! And -and they're the Princesses, and, and Celestia has been teaching her for years, you can't tell me it's right for her to sleep with Twily, and - and Luna, she's never - I mean..." he stammered into silence, then rolled towards her, his mouth working as he tried to fit words around his vast, utter bewilderment. "How can you think this?" he finally burst out.

"Because... I saw them with her, after the coronation. And then I sat next to Rainbow Dash at the dinner, who had a lot to say." Cadance hesitated again. "Shiny, do you really want to hear this? I know it's pretty strange to hear things like this about Twilight."

He frowned again, then shook his head stubbornly. "I want to hear it. It just doesn't sound like Twilight. It definitely was Twilight, wasn't it?"

"If it wasn't Twilight, even if she'd tricked other ponies into loving her, she wouldn't love them back the way I sensed. Believe me, it was the first thing I thought of. But that was definitely Twilight." The thought of changelings was always quick to rise, after what had happened at their wedding. "So... I should tell you?"

"Yeah. You should. You'd better start with why you think that Celestia is in some kind of - of that relationship with my sister. Did she say something that makes you think something strange is going on?"

His tone was rich with doubt, but she knew she shouldn't take it personally. He'd always been very protective of his sister. Still, there was a certain selfish satisfaction in answering bluntly, "Celestia said something like that. It was when she dropped to her knees in front of Twilight, bowed her head to the ground, kissed her feet and invited Twilight to 'punish her slave' if her coronation wasn't to her liking."

Shining's mouth opened and closed wordlessly, before he stammered, "Wha-what? I... what did Twilight say?"

"She said the ceremony was wonderful." Cadance paused a beat. "Then she said that Celestia had been teasing her too much, though, and she'd punish her later."

"That was... that must have been a joke, right?" Shining semi-pleaded.

"Luna called her 'Mistress'. So did the elements, mostly. I think Pinkie was calling her 'Master', Rarity... I can't remember. Trixie was pretty frank, though. She was calling herself Twilight's slutty, submissive slave. Rainbow was angling to be ordered to sit under the banquet table so she could eat Twilight out during the meal." Celestia had actually said Empress. Cadance had decided not to mention that; it was troubling her a little.

"...you said that you were talking to Rainbow, during the banquet. Didn't you?"

"Oh, yes," Cadance agreed, a wry smile on her lips. "She had stories to tell, too. She told me about a time when she was going to visit Twilight to have a date with her. She was late. When she came in, I think she said that Applejack and Rarity were there already, both mostly naked. Twilight was using Rarity as a footstool. Twilight gagged Rainbow, and had the other two play with her, stopping her from orgasming until Twilight felt she was properly punished. I think Rainbow described her as 'an evil sex Goddess'."

Eyes closed, Shining had settled onto his back again as she talked, listening closely. He didn't say anything for a moment, before finally asking, "Did she tell you anything else?"

There was a certain tone in his voice that Cadance recognised. Her hand slid over his body beneath the sheet, and gripped his erect cock firmly. "Shiny," she said reprovingly, though with a note of humour in her voice. "You're getting off on this? You pervert."

His cheeks went red. "I'm not! -you know. It's not about Twilight. Just, you know. It's hard not to picture."

"I can tell it's hard," Cadance teased him, giving a firm stroke of her hand. She paused, then added, "I've seen ponies figure out what they wanted, and go for it. It can happen all at once, and very quickly."

It was obviously a struggle for Shining to think straight while Cadance was lazily stroking her fingers up and down his shaft, but he was clearly doing his best. "But this isn't just Twily. This is all the ponies around her, too. It's not like they were all into mares before this."

"Well... Celestia was, at least," Cadance replied slowly. "Once or twice, she and I..." She let the sentence trail off.

He blinked. "But you call her Aunt Celestia!"

"She's not really my aunt. It's just an affectionate thing. She gets lonely, the same as any other pony." Cadance smiled wryly. "Don't be jealous, it was a long time ago. But... I've felt her feelings before. For Twilight. And I know Twilight has always had a crush on her." Not to mention the occasional hints of more-than-sisterly overtones she'd felt towards herself, now and then. "Maybe they just finally got around to... consummating it."

She watched as his expression changed, visibly trying to get his mind around that image, and just as visibly gave up. He'd been introduced to quite enough new concepts without bringing Cadance's past sex partners into it. "Cade, you said that you were worried," he said finally.

Cadance sighed and let go of his cock, smoothing her fingers over his toned stomach instead. "Yes. I've been telling myself everything I've told you, about ponies suddenly finding themselves, and she was close to the other Elements, and Celestia has always felt something pretty strong for her. But Luna too? Zecora, I don't really know, but... Trixie? It seems like too much, too fast. Twilight shushed Rainbow once, and I think she was about to let something slip, but I'm not sure what it was."

Obviously, she'd given Shining a lot to think about. Maybe some of those thoughts might be rather guilty ones about Twilight and her harem - she wouldn't judge him for that. But if there was one thing that would always come to the fore, it was his deep and genuine love for his sister. "I'm worried for her," Shining said slowly. "Even if there's nothing unnatural going on, I don't want to see her go too far and get hurt. And if she's hiding something, especially from me, then I'm worried about that, too."

Cadance's lips quirked with wry humour. "How would you have liked her to have phrased it? No, no, I know what you mean. I think... I think I should visit her again, soon, and try to have a proper conversation about it."

"Not me?"

"She's probably pretty embarrassed about it. Let me talk to her, first. I can gently let her know that she's hurt your feelings a little by not telling her about it all."

"Well... okay. But what if something strange is going on?" he pressed.

Cadance shrugged her bare shoulders, and looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll just have to keep my eyes open."

Rarity was always an impressive sight. Day by day, she came up with new outfits, sometimes bringing out entirely new creations, other times combining elements of previous outfits in novel ways. Today's look was a backless dress in a wine-coloured burgundy, with a straight cut neckline that bared her shoulders, and a pure white sun hat. It looked amazing on her, matching the delicately glittering eyeshadow that enlarged and deepened Rarity's eyes.

Twilight was wearing a grey sweater and some blue jeans. She felt severely outclassed. The only thing that stopped her from feeling downright frumpy in comparison was that her wardrobe was almost entirely filled with clothes from before her ascension, meaning that as sweaters went, it was considerably tighter around the chest than she'd have ever contemplated wearing a few months ago, and bared a small slice of her stomach. At that exact moment, she was sitting peacefully outside her treehouse, listening to the sounds of Ponyville going by.

It wasn't a coincidence to be outside when Rarity arrived; she'd been waiting for her. But even if she hadn't been, it was nice to escape Canterlot for a while and remind herself how quiet it was in the peaceful, frequently-attacked village where she'd made so many friends. And then enslaved them all.

Dismissing the thought, Twilight greeted the other pony warmly, "Hello, Rarity. You're looking lovely this morning."

"Good morning, Twilight," Rarity replied, smiling in response to the compliment. "Where is everypony this morning?" An almost imperceptible change came over her posture as she addressed her Mistress, pushing out her chest a little more and drawing her back up straighter. Twilight wondered if she was even aware she was doing it.

"Well, I've let Spike take Ember for a walk through the forest. He wanted to get to know her a little, and I think she wants to check on how much he knows about - well, dragons. I think she finds it a little weird that he wasn't raised by his own kind. I don't think that anything will cause them any trouble in the Everfree today, but I've asked Zecora not to stray too far from them, so she can help if needed. Trixie is still in Canterlot, as you know. Celestia is inside, but she's a bit occupied. And the others are around." Twilight's smile was playful, and more than a little teasing. It was always pleasant to have a little surprise to unleash, just waiting for the right moment. "But I wanted to sit and talk to you for a little bit before we go in."

"I'd like that too," agreed Rarity, moving around to settle on the prominent tree root beside Twilight. "I haven't really felt like we've talked very much, lately. I'd really quite like to have the chance."

"...I suppose not. Not alone, just the two of us," Twilight agreed. The reason for that was pretty obvious. If she spent a single day with each of her slaves in turn, it'd be a week and a half before she got back around to the first one again. One day in nine wasn't really good enough, which is why she preferred to let her slaves spend time with her together. But even then, all of them needed some time alone with her.

Which is why her faint, nagging desire to take others had to be resisted. She'd made things complicated enough for herself as it was.

Unless it was just a one-time thing, like Lightning Dust. She could probably manage a few more of those, scattered here and there.

Focus! she chided herself.

"How is the boutique?" Twilight asked, aware that a quiet had fallen.

"Very nicely, thank you. As a matter of fact, I have received considerable coverage in the Canterlot newspapers, since I discreetly allowed it to be known that I made your coronation gown. I've been considering expanding into a new location in Canterlot for some time. This may have provided the spur I needed to finally take the last step." Rarity crossed her legs demurely, her hands resting in her lap.

Twilight smiled warmly at her friend and lover. "Could I see the newspapers please? I'd just love to see what they said about your dress!"

Rarity blinked, looking slightly taken aback. "Why, you're interested? I had thought that you were rather too occupied to worry about such things, my dear."

"I'm never too busy to be interested in the things that matter to you, Rarity," Twilight told her earnestly. "If I ever gave you reason to think otherwise... I'm sorry. Really sorry, and for a lot of things. Please, bring them around so I can see."

"Well - I imagine you've seen many of them anyway. They were mostly about you, after all. Only the most fashion-centric news could be purely about your dress, and not about your coronation."

"I didn't read any of them," confessed Twilight with a diffident little shrug. "I knew that the ponies that mattered to me were happy, and that was all that mattered." She paused, then added wryly, "And because I was terrified. I didn't know what people would say, so I kind of hid in the castle and pretended it hadn't happened."

"Darling, really. The entirety of Equestria was united in praise and happiness about you. There was nothing to hide from." Rarity shook her head, and went on wonderingly, "The things some ponies would have done for that kind of coverage, and you didn't read a word of it..."

Twilight became aware that Rarity had an odd little smile on her lips, one Twilight couldn't quite figure out. After a moment, the fashionista shook her head ruefully and went on, "I'm glad, in an odd way. I feared that you'd become too occupied with your new life to trouble yourself with us. But ignoring all of the press is exactly what I'd expect my Twilight to do."

"I am your Twilight. I haven't changed. Well, I have physically changed, that's hard to argue-" she ruffled her wings slightly, the back of her jumper pushed down far enough so that it was below where they joined to her back, "-but I'm still the same pony I always was."

"...no, I don't think that's true," Rarity said slowly. "Darling, a year ago, you could never have imagined using a spell to control other ponies. I imagine that you would have blushed so hard you'd have passed out at the very idea of having sex with Princess Celestia, or Princess Luna. Let alone the kind of kinky dominatrix sex you have with all of us, on a regular basis. Ponies do change, and you've changed more than I could have imagined."

Twilight felt her ears wilting as Rarity went on, a hollow sense of awkwardness growing in her chest. Looking down, her cheeks hot with embarrassment, she said more softly, "You're right. I can't pretend that things haven't changed a lot. That I haven't changed. Or... that I haven't learned things about myself. Things that aren't so good, like how I act when I really want something I know I shouldn't. Sometimes, I wonder if I'm just a bad pony now."

"Oh, Twilight," Rarity said quietly, reaching out to stroke her cheek. Twilight looked up at her, hands fidgeting in her lap. "Twilight, you've done some bad things. I do see you trying to be better than that, though. I don't think you're a bad pony. You're still... you are still my Twilight."

"...thank you. That means an awful lot to me, it really does." Twilight absently rubbed her cheek, remembering the slap that Rarity had given her when the other pony's memories were released, and she'd found out what Twilight had done.

Not a happy memory. But at least the fact that she had let Rarity remember and make up her own mind was something she could cling to when she needed to remind herself that she could be better than her own desires.

Taking the other pony's hands in hers, Twilight asked softly, "Rarity... are we okay? Are things okay between us? I know that... it's complicated. But I really want things to be okay. And if things aren't, we can work together to find a way to make things better. Even if it means you don't want to be part of the sexy side of things, you can still be part of the cuddling and togetherness. And if you don't want to be part of that, and if you want me to, I can make it easier for you not to miss it so much. I really care about you. You're one of my closest friends. I don't want to ever make you do something you don't want to do again."

Rarity squeezed Twilight's hands, glancing aside. She stared at the grass for a few moments, before meeting Twilight's eyes again. "I'm not sure what I want, Twilight. You don't have my love, the way that you have Applejack's. You haven't earned those feelings. But you have my adoration, and my body, and my obedience." She smiled wryly. "I know that those seem contradictory. I can live with things being... not exactly just between the two of us, you know. I know now that Fluttershy carries a torch for me, and even at times, I've felt like Zecora and I..." She trailed off, then resumed slowly, "I simply want to feel that I'm valued for who I am. Not as part of a set. I want to be romanced a little, Twilight. I never had that, from you."

"I'm sorry, Rarity. You deserve more than that. I promise, I never thought of you as just part of a collection. You're special." Twilight blushed as she added diffidently, "And you make me feel kind of embarrassed sometimes, when I'm standing next to you, because I'm wearing comfortable clothes, and you're just so effortlessly beautiful. I think in some ways, you'd have made a much better Princess."

Rarity blinked at her. "Darling, you're beautiful! You may not be wearing the latest in haute couture, but you must never feel embarrassed about how you choose to look. And... well. I don't think I should care to be a Princess." Though despite her words, she looked quite flattered, and rather taken with the idea.

Twilight gave her a sideways look. "You wouldn't enjoy the attention?"

"Well, I might appreciate just a tad more attention. But it's not as though I'd-"

"-fly about in front of everypony, showing off your shiny new wings?" Twilight interrupted, with a playful smile.

Rarity coloured at the reminder of the disastrous occasion she'd been granted magical butterfly wings. "There's no need to be snide, dear," she said with a pout.

"I'm sorry," Twilight apologised. "I didn't mean to be." Leaning closer, without really thinking about it, Twilight gently kissed the other pony. Rarity's lips were soft, yielding, and after a moment's surprise, she melted against Twilight, returning the kiss tenderly. Twilight's hand gently slid up Rarity's back, under her mane, and drew the other mare closer. She felt her heart beat faster, losing the thread of her thoughts as she drank in the taste of Rarity's mouth, and the subtle perfume that scented her skin.

Eventually, Twilight drew back, taking in Rarity's dazed expression and flushed cheeks with a surge of tenderness in her chest. "I love the way you look when I've just kissed you," Twilight murmured. "For just a moment, you look so transported, so far away. Like you're still wherever our kiss takes you. Your cheeks are pink, and your lips are just a little parted, and it makes me want to just kiss you all over again."

Rarity swallowed, nodding slightly. "I, um. Yes. That is... that is the sort of thing that I was talking about."

Wriggling sideways along the tree root they sat on, Twilight pressed her side against Rarity's, her hand trailing down the other mare's back to stroke and toy with her tail. "I was hoping that we could do something special together, today..." she breathed into Rarity's ear, feeling the stirring of a familiar delight. "I've made all the preparations."

A shiver ran down the alabaster mare's body, her nipples pressing visibly against the delicate fabric of her dark red dress. "Something just for me?" she asked, in a voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes. Oh, yes. Won't you come inside with me?" Twilight stood up, holding out her hand, unable to suppress the tingling excitement that raced up and down her body.

"...as you wish. My Lady." Rarity rose, and let Twilight take her hand, guiding her to the crimson doors of the library. A thick iron key slid smoothly into the lock, and small sparkles of energy glittered in the air as a warding spell was disarmed.

It might have seemed a bit much, if the door was only guarding a library. But even by Twilight's standards, there was something inside far more precious than mere books.

Twilight moved aside, letting Rarity step past her, then shut the door and re-sealed it. Silencing spells sealed the little library tight against the outside world, and elaborate illusion spells coated the windows, showing a building empty of ponies to any curious eye looking inwards. There was a deep, velvety hush.

Rarity broke it, her fingers covering her mouth in surprise as she breathed, "My stars."

A satisfied grin curved Twilight's lips. Celestia stood in the centre of the room, stark naked, her milk-white chest rising and falling slowly with her breathing. Her eyes were blank, expression empty, staring at nothing in particular. Every aspect of her was on display, to be touched and toyed with, to be used.

Nor was she alone. To her left stood Applejack, then Pinkie Pie, blank-eyed, bare breasted, and as still as living statues. To her right, Rainbow Dash stood motionless, Fluttershy beside her. The formal, straight-backed posture looked particularly odd on the soft-hearted pegasus, thrusting out her mammoth yellow breasts for inspection. All four of the elements were nude, except for one thing: each wore a thick black strap-on that jutted obscenely from their hips, gleaming with lubricant oil. Only Celestia's cunt was bare and ready to be taken.

"Twilight?" Rarity asked hesitantly, her tone rising with the question.

"They're not under the charm right now," Twilight told her, her grin widening a little. "But I did use the charm to make them very entranced. I gave them instructions on the state they were to enter. Would you like to know why?"

"Why did you need to do that? Isn't the charm potent enough already?"

"Because if they were charmed right now, they couldn't hear you. Tell somepony to do something, Rarity."

Rarity's eyes widened, and she looked back at the motionless ponies, her mouth opening and shutting. After a moment, she said lamely, "Ah- wave to me, please, Pinkie."

Without looking away from the middle-distance that her glazed eyes were fixed on, Pinkie waved slowly, then let her hand fall limp to her side once more.

Prowling closer on soundless feet, Twilight squeezed Rarity's shoulders from behind, and breathed into her ear, "Shall we play dolls with my lovely toys, Rarity? They'll do anything you like. You can touch them, and squeeze them, and have them fuck each other... or fuck you..."

Rarity swallowed. Her breathing quickening, she said in a low tone, "Twilight, I'm not sure..."

Reaching around her, Twilight took Rarity's breasts in both hands, squeezing them through the silky fabric and feeling how incredibly soft and yielding they were. Pressing her own body against the other pony's back, she nibbled at her neck, breathing, "I made you ride Celestia's face before, and she liked it. Touch her. You can look at her all you like, you can take as long as you want to. Touch her."

"I..." Rarity's voice trailed off, and she slowly stepped forward, Twilight's hands slipping from her body. With dreamlike slowness, she moved before Celestia, paying little heed to the motionless retinue of naked, sex-toy bearing mares, and reached up to cup the divine pony's cheek. "She's just... so beautiful, Twilight," she whispered reverentially.

"Yes, she is," Twilight agreed softly. In the face of Celestia's beauty, she couldn't be jealous. She knew just what Rarity was feeling, because she'd felt it herself. That perfect awe at being able to just touch Celestia, to explore her, to gaze at her face without fear of embarrassment and absorb every tiny detail. "The first time I charmed her – or thought I had – I touched her and looked at her just like you are. I kissed her, just where you're touching."

"And then?" Rarity asked, without turning her head, half-hypnotised by simply stroking her ruler's face.

"And then I touched her boobs," confessed Twilight, with a little blush of happy embarrassment.

"Twilight!" protested Rarity, glancing back at her

"Don't you want to do the same? She's not aware of anything right now." Twilight leaned forward slightly, feeling her own body tingling under her tight sweater. She wanted Rarity to know what it felt like. The absolute freedom of complete control; able to do anything, without regret or consequences.

Almost as though Rarity was simply watching her hands move of their own volition, the white unicorn slowly let her hands settle on Celestia's outthrust breasts. She squeezed them, and drew a tiny, shaky breath when the other mare's pink nipples began to stiffen under her fingers. "She feels things?"

"Oh, yes. She's not thinking, but her body is still reacting." Twilight drifted forward, maintaining enough distance to let Rarity have her own space with Celestia. In a tone barely above a murmur, Twilight went on softly, "Spank her. Touch her. Make her respond to you."

"I couldn't, couldn't possibly..." Rarity murmured distractedly, running her hand down the curve of Celestia's hip. Her fingertips slowly moved inwards, seeking Celestia's pink sex, and a tremble ran through her own body as she made contact. Goosebumps rippled up her arm as she began to stroke the Princess's cunt.

"She's already wet... she's so soft, and... hot. Oh, Celestia..." Rarity whispered, her fingers sliding inside the entranced ruler. A small, breathy sigh fell from Celestia's barely parted lips, and her nipples stood out stiffly. Drawing her hand away from the taller mare's sex, Rarity stared at her glistening fingers as though she couldn't quite believe they were real.

Voice quivering slightly, she said aloud, "Celestia, I'd like you to lick your pussy juices from my fingers, if you don't mind."

Smoothly, without a word, Celestia bent forward. Taking hold of Rarity's wrist, she lifted the smaller mare's hand, and slid her lips over Rarity's fingers, licking and sucking with gentle insistence. Her tongue curled around each individual finger, making sure she captured every last trace of her wetness, then Celestia straightened once more, with the complete mindless calm of the entranced.

Rarity released a breath she hadn't meant to hold. "Oh. Oh, my."

Twilight shivered pleasantly. Sliding her hands under her jumper, she unclasped her bra, tugging it loose. Pulling one arm inside her jumper, she worked the strap over it, then pulled her bra out of the other sleeve, leaving her bare chested beneath the top. It felt nice against her nipples, teasing them with every small movement. "You can have her do more for you," she murmured, enjoying her role as the tempting voice on Rarity's shoulder. "She can touch you, or kiss you... lick you. Or you can have her play with one of my other pretty dolls. All here, all ready for you to play with."

Swallowing, Rarity glanced back at Twilight, then up at Celestia once more. Her head turned, taking in the motionless figures of her naked friends. "This is... I don't know where to begin. Twilight, will you help me? What would you do?"

Stepping forward, Twilight let her body press gently against Rarity's back once more. Her hands settled on the other mare's hips, stroking slowly, and Rarity's head tilted back against her with a soft sigh of surrender. "Do you want me to tell you what to do?" Twilight breathed.

"...yes. Yes. Please. Tell me what to do, and I'll do it... my Lady." Rarity shivered once more, and her painted eyelids slowly closed. "Yes. That is what I want."

Twilight's hand ran slowly up Rarity's body, capturing one breast through her silky dress and squeezing possessively. "Command our friends to react to touches to their strap-ons like they're part of their bodies."

"Mhh," Rarity groaned, nodding slowly. Her lipstick-coated lips parted, and she spoke more loudly and clearly, "Applejack, Pinkie, Rainbow, Fluttershy; the sex toys you're wearing are natural parts of your bodies. You'll react to touches on them as though they were your natural endowments." The ponies didn't move or react, but the slight flick of an ear here and there implied her words had been heard.

"That's right," Twilight purred approvingly. "Now, tell Celestia to go give one of them a titfuck. Let's say... Fluttershy. She's so cute and shy. I think it'd be nice to see, don't you?"

"Yes, my Lady," Rarity breathed, her eyes flicking to the yellow pegasus instinctively. "If you wish it, it will be. Celestia! You will wrap your breasts around Fluttershy's endowment and pleasure it. Our Mistress commands it." She jerked as Twilight's fingers pinched her nipple in reward, and groaned aloud. "Thank you, my Lady."

Celestia stepped forward with the thoughtless smoothness of trance, moving to stand before Fluttershy. Sinking to her knees before the blank-eyed pegasus, she leant forward and cupped both breasts in her hands, pressing them together around the oiled black shaft, before beginning to rock up and down. The gleaming black head of the artificial cock appeared and disappeared smoothly into the pillowy whiteness of the divine pony's cleavage, smearing her skin with lubricant.

A deep, husky moan escaped Fluttershy's lips. Her eyelids fluttered, breathing quickening, and her dark yellow nipples grew stiff. A pink flush rose on her cheeks. Each stroke of Celestia's breasts against her shaft forced another groan of wordless pleasure from her.

Sliding her fingers into the top of Rarity's bodice, Twilight peeled down the top of the other pony's dress, releasing her bra-clad breasts. "Isn't that hot?" Twilight breathed into her ear. "Two mind fucked, huge breasted fuckdolls, doing just as they're commanded. But it's a shame to ignore all the other dolls, isn't it?"

Still massaging Rarity's tits through her lacy bra, rocking her hips against the other mare's soft ass, Twilight turned her head towards Rainbow. "Hello, Rainbow. In a moment, when I tell you, you're going to wake up. You'll know you've been in a trance, but it won't matter. As Rarity told you, your shaft is part of your body and always has been, you won't notice it's new. The only thing you'll pay attention to is Celestia and Fluttershy, and what I've made them do. It's so hot, you're going to play with yourself. You're not paying attention to anything else, or thinking about anything else, but if Rarity or I give you a command it'll slide right into your head and you'll obey it. Okay?" Twilight paused, then said with a wide smile, "Wake up, Rainbow."

A spark of awareness flashed into Rainbow's eyes, which immediately turned towards Celestia and Fluttershy. "Oh, wow, that's hot," she breathed, her scratchy voice laden with lust. Stepping out of line, she circled around to the side to see the two of them more clearly, her wings flaring. "Oh, fuck, just look at those tits. I'm so hard," she gasped. Her hand wrapped around the thick shaft jutting from her hips, her fingers unable to fully close around its girth, and began pumping back and forth. Her body jerked, her hips pushing forward against her hand, and she panted, "Fuck, it feels so good to stroke my cock, oh fuck."

Rarity swallowed as she watched Rainbow urgently stroking the strap-on, her tongue flickering over her lips. "There's something almost obscene about watching her do that," she murmured huskily. "That small hand and that large girth. I wonder how it feels." She seemed to be mostly talking to herself, but after a moment, she seemed to realise what she'd said aloud, and a rich, crimson blush darkened her cheeks. "Ah - please forget I said that, my Lady."

"Oh, I don't know if I should..." teased Twilight, grinding her body roughly against Rarity's back. Her hands reluctantly left the other mare's perfect breasts to undo her own pants, wriggling them down her legs and carrying her underwear with them to bare her tingling, damp cunt to the air. "I think you could look wonderfully obscene like that, Rarity. Maybe I'd get down and lick your cock. I've never done anything like that before, but for you..." she trailed off significantly, and was delighted by the shiver of arousal she felt run through her slave.

"I... perhaps that could be... desirable. If I were alone with you. And nopony ever knew," Rarity managed. Her gaze flicked back to Fluttershy, moaning heavily despite her blank, vacant expression, then to Rainbow, who was gasping with arousal as she frantically stroked her gleaming black cock. "Though this is very impressive as well." She bit her lip. "Should I... have the others involved?"

"Do it," Twilight encouraged her, a flare of breathless excitement tingling through her body, her nipples hard as pebbles. "I want you to take advantage of what I've given you."

Taking a deep breath, Rarity said clearly and carefully, "Applejack, Pinkie Pie, I would like you to carry out the commands Twilight gave Rainbow Dash as though she had addressed you by name instead, and wake up now."

The effect was immediate. Applejack let out a deep, low moan of approval, her hands moving to her breasts and her cock as though nothing could be more natural. Stroking her shaft with long, firm strokes, she groaned, "Oh, stars above, that's so darn hot. So, so darn hot. Can't believe Ah'm watching Celestia titfuck Fluttershy. Feels so darn good."

On the other side of Celestia, Pinkie immediately bounced forward, chirping, "Oh my gosh, she's all swirly eyes and naked and Fluttershy is just right there, and oh gosh, I want to see her sucking Fluttershy's cock, and wouldn't that be hot? Wouldn't that be so great?" Her breasts and shaft bobbed with each springy movement, and for a moment, it seemed like she'd forget to touch herself. Then, perching on the end of a sofa arm, she wrapped both hands around her shaft and began sliding them up and down, clear lubricant smearing over her fingers. Her dark pink nipples standing out stiffly, she gasped approvingly. "Ooooh, that's nice. Doesn't it feel nice? I think the Princess would feel really nice against me, too."

"They look like they're really having fun, don't they?" Twilight breathed into Rarity's ear huskily. Her hands stroked up Rarity's thighs, sliding up her silken dress to crumple around her waist. "You seem to be enjoying it, too... all our cute friends, jerking off over Celestia and Fluttershy like that. I almost wish they could cum with those things, and paint the two of them with it..."

Rarity swallowed, her full lips quivering as she whispered, "That would be so depraved..."

"Mm, it would. You're shaking under my hands..." Twilight gently bit Rarity's neck, then again, harder, sucking hard enough to leave a love bite. She wanted to mark the elegant pony as her own, her very own property. "You have a beautiful body, Rarity. I just love to press against you, stroke you, touch you... every part of you." One hand grazed the other mare's soft pussy, finding no panties in the way, and Twilight sighed with delight at the hot wetness that greeted her touch. "Your beautiful cunt, oh, yes... I can't imagine how it felt not to know I wanted this. I'll never have enough of you."

"OH! Ohhh... oh, Twilight..." Rarity's eyes slid closed, and she rocked her hips against Twilight's hand, her ass stroking against the pony behind her. "I think... perhaps... I'll never be able to resist you. Resist this. I feel so... floaty. So terribly turned on, and floating, and... the only thing I can do is surrender. Surrender to you..."

"That's right," hissed Twilight through her teeth, feeling her body tense pleasurably. Filled with hot lust and the craving for dominance, she roughly yanked Rarity's bra undone, tugging the straps down her arms, and tossed it aside. "You'll obey me. Now be quiet and listen. Pinkie, Applejack, Rainbow! You're aware of me and Rarity, and each other. You're still focused on Celestia and Fluttershy, but you'll notice if we touch you. It doesn't matter that you only just noticed we're here."

"If we touch them?" breathed Rarity, her eyes flicking instinctively from pony to pony and drinking in their naked bodies. Without seeming to really think about it, she wriggled out of her crumpled dress, leaving her nude in her tall white heels.

"That's right. I want you to go and stroke Applejack and Rainbow's cocks," Twilight told her with playful casualness. Then, as Rarity hesitated for an instant, she added in a calm, hard tone, "You are my obedient fuckdoll. You will obey."

Rarity gasped with arousal, her tail arching upwards to show off her bare ass. "Yes, my Lady!" Rubbing her thighs together with every step, she swayed over to stand between Applejack and Rainbow, turning to face the same direction as they were. Voice thick with arousal and excitement, she managed to speak in a casual, matter of fact tone. "Let me stroke you instead, darlings."

Her small, elegant hands wrapped around the slick black shafts adorning each of her friends. Squeezing firmly, she began to stroke up and down them, her chest rising and falling rapidly with her breathing. Her long eyelashes fanned her pink cheeks as her eyelids fluttered, her soft, full lips parted in a wordless gasp. Even her nipples seemed to have been delicately brushed with a hint of rouge, darkening their purple.

Rainbow and Applejack groaned in unison, jerking with each stroke of Rarity's fingers. "Oh, yeah, stroke me just like that," gasped Rainbow, her words overlapping Applejack's deeper voiced moan of approval. "Oh, damn," whimpered the farmgirl, her free hand moving up to join the other in twisting and rubbing her nipples. "Y'got such soft hands."

"That's it, my darlings," Rarity panted. "Just let me take care of these big, firm cocks."

"Mmm," hummed Twilight delightedly as she watched Rarity's hands slide up and down the prominent shafts. "It feels good to caress them, doesn't it? It's so nice to hear their gasps and moans, and know that you made them feel that way." In fact, her body was beginning to feel a little lonely, without Rarity to grind against. Glancing over at Pinkie, Twilight commanded coyly, "Pinkie, I'd like you to come and rub your toy - I mean, your cock - up and down against my ass, please. You should play with my breasts, too. But keep focused on Celestia and Fluttershy."

"Whatever you say, Master," Pinkie replied brightly, barely glancing away from the two brainwashed ponies grinding and moaning against each other in the middle of the floor. Stepping behind Twilight, Pinkie pushed herself up against her, and Twilight groaned pleasantly as she felt the cool slickness of Pinkie's oiled strap-on begin grinding up and down against her bare ass. Warm hands slid under her clinging jumper, pushing it up over her prominent breasts to begin kneading them as Pinkie watched the other ponies over her shoulder. Despite hardly paying attention to Twilight, Pinkie giggled at the sensation, and gasped, "It feels really great to rub my cock against your body, Master!"

"Oh gosh, yes, it does, it does," groaned Twilight. For a moment, she abandoned herself to grinding back against Pinkie, feeling a delicious thrill of depravity sweep over her. All these beautiful, brainwashed mares, totally under her control, doing such wonderfully dirty things, watching her Princess mindlessly titfucking a big black strap-on... she needed one. She needed to fuck all her slaves, especially the ones she hadn't before. And Ember, too... that cute dragon would definitely lift her tail if told forcefully to get on her knees and yield her cunt, she just knew it. She could even try out a want it-need it spell on one, that could produce some interesting results, and she was pretty sure she knew what she'd done wrong last time...

Her gaze met Rarity's. The other mare was shivering with need, her eyes unfocused, and her hips squirmed with arousal as she pumped both hands back and forth, gripping the shafts firmly. Applejack and Rainbow jerked and whimpered with enthralled lust under her grip. The white mare seemed lost in her own arousal, almost as entranced as the ponies she was pleasuring.

"Rarity," Twilight said lightly, a depraved smile curving her lips, "don't you think it's a waste for Fluttershy not to be appreciating what she's doing?"

"Yes, my Lady. Of course," replied Rarity compliantly, nodding with dazed agreement.

"I'm so glad you think so," purred Twilight. "Fluttershy - I want you to remember when I had you wear a strap-on before. I want you to remember how forceful and domineering you were. You're going to be that way with Celestia again, right now. Begin."

Watching with fascination, her lips shaping around a moan as Pinkie twisted her nipples, Twilight saw the light of awareness enter Fluttershy's blank eyes. The yellow pony looked down at Celestia as if seeing her for the first time, then her eyes narrowed.

"If I wanted you to be quiet, I'd have put it in your mouth. Praise me while you serve my cock, Celestia."

"Yes, Fluttershy," Celestia replied at once, maintaining the steady strokes of her glorious breasts up and down the pegasus's strap-on. "You are better than me. You deserve to fuck my tits. I look up to you. I adore your breasts. You are superior. You are perfect."

Fluttershy moaned aloud, nodding along to every word that slipped into her ears. "I'm superior, I'm better than you..." Her hands rose to cup and squeeze her mammoth breasts together.

Rarity's lips parted in surprise as she stared at Fluttershy, and for a moment, the pumping of her hands slackened. "She can command Celestia, my Lady?"

"Mmhmm! All of them will do what they're told, though I can override anything anypony else says," confirmed Twilight, shivering with delight. Of course it had the potential to get out of hand, so she couldn't totally relax, but a shout of 'Stop moving! Silence!' would effectively freeze everypony in the room, so as long as she didn't completely lose herself to how good it felt - so good - as Pinkie's hands massaged her breasts and ground the strap-on against her ass, it should all be fine.

"Then..." Rarity hesitated, then glanced at the farm pony she was slowly jerking off. "Applejack, you think that Rainbow should put that shaft of hers inside the Princess. Tell her to, won't you?"

"Mmmh, yeah..." groaned Applejack, her gaze flicking to the colourful pegasus. "Yeah, that'd be so hot. Rainbow, sugar, you see that big assed Princess on the floor right there? You should go fuck her pretty pink cunt. Give her a right good seeing to, right now."

"Oh, wow. I can't believe I didn't think of that before. I'm gonna fuck Princess Celestia's cunt, right now," Rainbow instantly agreed. Stepping forward, heedless of the fact that Rarity's hand slipped from her oiled strap-on, she dropped into a crouch and positioned herself behind the Princess. Gripping her toy in one hand, she guided it to Celestia's entrance, and with a smooth, forceful movement of her hips, shoved it inside the divine mare.

"Nnnhg!" groaned Celestia, her body seizing in place for a second as the shaft thrust forcefully into her. Rainbow's gasp of pleasure mingled with hers, the flier's pink eyes rolling back in her head before she began thrusting firmly back and forth, her colourful tail swishing with the movement of her hips.

"I didn't tell you you could stop," Fluttershy snapped, releasing one breast to grab a handful of Celestia's mane. "What do you think you're doing, Rainbow? I deserve to fuck this cheap whore's tits without interruption."

Before Rainbow could react, Twilight broke in quickly, "Fluttershy, you want Rainbow to keep fucking Celestia while you use her."

Fluttershy's expression shifted, and she glanced at Twilight with exasperated acknowledgement. "Of course I do! Rainbow, fuck her nice and hard! I want you to keep her cunt occupied, understand?"

"Sure thing - Fluttershy," Rainbow panted as she accelerated, grabbing Celestia's hips and slamming the toy in and out of her. A bright pink flush on her cheeks, her lips parted, she trembled with pleasure. The growls and gasps that escaped her betrayed her escalating arousal, wetness drooling down her thighs.

"I can't take it anymore!" gasped Rarity. "Applejack, darling, get on the floor right now, with your head towards Celestia! This very instant!"

"Sure, sugar," Applejack replied, her breathy words oddly casual. She released her own breasts and turned around, putting her back to the spectacle, then settled down on the floor, arms and legs slightly spread. The shaft jutted up from her body obscenely. "Like this?"

Without even bothering to reply, Rarity stood over Applejack's hips, and lowered herself to the ground. Seizing the shaft in one hand, her white fingers standing out starkly against the glistening black surface, she guided it into her dripping pussy and sank down to the hilt. "Oh, oh, oh," she gasped as Applejack arched beneath her. "Oh fuck, oh fuck me, oh fuck me darling, fuck me, fuck me!"

Applejack's firm, calloused hands gripped Rarity's milky thighs, her fingers indenting the identical diamond patterns that adorned her pure white skin. "Whatever you say, Rarity. Can't imagine why Ah've never fucked your brains out before now. Dang but that feels good," she growled, a deep, husky tone of approval. She shifted her back slightly against the ground, positioning herself under Rarity squarely, then her toned thighs flexed smoothly with a single thrust upwards. "Ah'll fuck you," Applejack vowed, her green eyes intense as she began to build a quick, forceful rhythm.

"Oh my stars, oh darling, oh darling," whimpered Rarity. She abandoned herself to the powerful thrusts of Applejack's hips, bouncing like a doll on her lap, tits swaying, her eyes wandering between the farm pony's powerfully built body and the sight of Celestia being fucked roughly by Rainbow.

Twilight sighed a long, soft sound of desire, dreamily grinding back and forth against Pinkie. She simply didn't know who she wanted to be more... Rainbow, fucking Celestia roughly, or Rarity, bouncing up and down on top of Applejack. The farm pony looked so hot like that, focused intensely on the mare she was fucking, not caring about anything else. Not even noticing anything else.

For a moment, she wondered about letting Pinkie fuck her. It felt right to join in with the festival of debauchery she was putting on, becoming a real part of it, and she'd never been more wet. But... even as she tried to persuade herself that it was no big deal, a larger, deeper part of her refused. She wasn't ready for her first time, and not like this. Something else. She could think about it later.

"Pinkie," she said with a shiver of lust in her voice, "it'd be just lovely if you got down in front of me and licked me out."

"That sounds nice, Master! I'm kind of busy watching Celestia, though," Pinkie chirped, squeezing Twilight's breasts together as she continued kneading them.

...right, Pinkie was still entranced, and that hadn't been phrased as an order. "Pinkie," Twilight said with more deliberate authority, "you're going to get on your knees in front of me and lick me out, right now. Play with yourself while you do it," she added dismissively.

"Yes, Master!" Pinkie replied at once, pulling away from behind Twilight and bouncing around to drop to her knees as commanded. She didn't hesitate; the moment she hit the ground, her head was between Twilight's thighs, her tongue prying into her owner's cunt. With a free hand, she grabbed her rubber cock and began stroking it quickly and firmly, groaning eagerly.

"Ohhh, that's it..." gasped Twilight, pulling Pinkie's head against her by the enthralled pony's fluffy mane. "Fluttershy, it's time to fuck her mouth. Fuck her mouth, now."

"I'll decide when- yes, I deserve to fuck that hot mouth too," Fluttershy groaned, her initial objection immediately crushed by the command. "Open your mouth, you lowborn whore. You're a receptacle for my cum."

"I'm made to take your cum," Celestia repeated, before opening her mouth wide and looking up at Fluttershy submissively. The usually meek pegasus pulled her shaft from between her ruler's enveloping tits and slid it between Celestia's divine lips, wasting no time in beginning to roughly fuck the enthralled alicorn's face. Rainbow's thrusts fell into rhythm with Fluttershy's, the two ponies pushing Celestia's body back and forth as their shafts drove alternately into her cunt and mouth. Her tits swayed heavily beneath her, muffled noises escaping her mouth as she mindlessly tried to keep praising Fluttershy.

Twilight's gaze flicked towards Rarity. She was bouncing on Applejack's cock, the two of them moaning and gasping in unison as the brainwashed farm pony convinced herself moment by moment that she could feel every twitch of Rarity's slick cunt. Perspiration glittered on their skin, Rarity's breasts bouncing with every thrust, her expression dazed. She looked so utterly, thoroughly fucked, Twilight could have watched the two of them all day. If she wasn't busy watching Celestia being pounded from both ends, that was.

Her eyes closed, a shuddering moan forcing its way out of her. Celestia's mane, Pinkie was really licking for all she was worth."Are you - having fun, Rarity?" Twilight gasped, feeling her knees weakening. Her free hand gripped the pink pony's shoulder for support, ramming Pinkie's face harder against her cunt with the other.

"Haah, I - I can't - my, my Lady, I - oooh!" groaned Rarity incoherently, her eyes fluttering closed. She bit her lower lip, muffled whines escaping her that rose and fell with each thrust of Applejack's cock.

"I think - that's a yes," panted Twilight with a breathy giggle. She loved, loved seeing all her lovers like this, fucking and moaning, slick with sweat, bodies gleaming, the air full of feminine arousal and the slap of skin against skin. In fact, there was just one thing she could think of to make it better...

"Celestia!" Twilight called out, struggling to speak clearly. "Keyword: moment of clarity!"

Celestia's body fell out of rhythm with her fucking, her pink eyes snapping wide open. Fluttershy's shaft gagged her pretty effectively, but even so, Twilight heard a distinct squeal of surprise.

"Don't you dare stop sucking," Fluttershy ordered harshly. Grabbing Celestia's head with both hands, she yanked the alicorn's head forward, burying her cock to the hilt in her mouth. "Keep fucking this slut, Rainbow!"

"I will! Are you kidding me? Fuck, it feels like she was made for my cock, she's really - fuck, that's good!" Rainbow groaned the words, gripping her Princess's broad thighs for leverage. Her palms were centred neatly on the sunbursts that marked each one. "I wanna cum in her so bad!"

Fluttershy's chin rose imperiously, ignoring the way Celestia was gagging on her shaft. "Are you talking back to me? You're a little bitch compared to me, Dashie, don't forget that just because I'm letting you fuck her!"

Rainbow's eyes fluttered and she bent forwards over Celestia, lowering her head as she focused on fucking the alabaster pony. Her voice softer and more breathy, she answered, "Sorry Ma'am, I'm a little bitch, Ma'am. I'll fuck her good for you, so so good..."

"Oh, yes, yes," gasped Twilight, riding Pinkie's mouth with urgent thrusts of her hips as she watched Celestia surrender to the pounding Rainbow and Fluttershy were giving her, knowing the Princess was fully conscious now but couldn't do anything about the humiliating, depraved position she was trapped in. Twilight's orgasm was breaking over her, unstoppable, undeniable, and there was nothing she could do except give in and embrace it fully. Her voice jerky, she managed to force out, "Everypony! Keyword - cum!"

Instantly, ragged cries of ecstasy filled the air. Fluttershy grabbed Celestia's face with both hands, shoving the full length of her strap-on down the other pony's throat, her back arching and wings flaring wide. The Princess managed to wail in orgasm around the shaft filling her mouth as the enforced orgasm ravaged her body, shoving back hard against the fake cock Rainbow was burying in her cunt. Rarity was caught off-guard by the sudden intensity and release of her own pleasure, collapsing forward across Applejack with desperate, throaty moans of release, even as the muscled farm pony cried out in climax, gripping Rarity's thighs hard enough to leave bruises. Sweat-coated bodies writhed, flushed cheeks and heaving breasts shuddering in release, unfocused eyes wide and lips parted.

For Twilight, it was like bathing in lust as the wave of unstoppable carnal release wracked her slaves, the sensuous tension and release of her own orgasm magnified by the cries of pleasure all around her. She smeared her cum over Pinkie's face and lips, even as the pink pony desperately stroked her own cock and whimpered in helpless orgasm, barely able to keep herself upright.

"Oh, wow," Twilight finally managed hoarsely, dizzy and unsteady on her feet. "That was incredible. Um, Fluttershy, let Celestia breathe now." Immediately, Fluttershy pulled back, her slick cock coming free of Celestia's lips with a pop, and the divine pony sank lower onto her elbows, panting raggedly for air. Before she could say anything, Twilight added, "Celestia, keyword: the moment has passed."

The Princess's expression changed as her true consciousness sank under the spell of the trance once more, her pink eyes flicking back to Fluttershy even as they glazed over, and she managed fawningly, "...thank you for fucking my throat, and bestowing your cum on me."

"You fulfilled your duties as my cum receptacle. Like my little bitch Dashy fulfilled hers in filling you up." Fluttershy replied arrogantly.

That was probably enough of that, Twilight decided. With a little grin on her lips, she declared casually, "Everypony, tell yourself aloud that you're Twilight's mindless fuckdoll and you're ready to obey."

With a slightly confused look on her face, Fluttershy said aloud, "Fluttershy, you're Twilight's mindless fuckdoll, and you're ready to obey." The words had barely left her lips when her arms fell loosely to her sides and her head rose, staring blankly into the distance. All around her, the others were doing the same thing, Celestia still on all fours, Rainbow's cock buried inside her. Pinkie mumbled something about her Master, then sat back on her heels, motionless and gazing at nothing.

Rarity was left bestride Applejack's limp body, supporting herself with one hand. Shaking her head to clear it a little, she looked around herself before her gaze flicked back to Twilight. "My goodness," she said weakly, sitting up straight and suppressing a gasp as the shaft shifted within her. Absently straightening her tangled mane with one hand, she added vaguely, "I wasn't aware that I was enchanted to respond to that particular command, my Lady. Though I must admit that isn't a complaint."

"I added the keywords to you all on the train back to Ponyville," Twilight confessed. Gently easing away from Pinkie, who swayed gently as Twilight's thighs moved away, she moved over to Rarity and bent down to kiss her warmly. Glancing down at Applejack, she added coyly, "I hope you enjoyed what I did with our friends. You certainly made it look fun."

Rarity's cheeks went crimson, but despite herself, she looked down at Applejack with a new note of desire. "She was... rather impressive. Very impressive. I think I may miss stallions less than I'd thought. I must confess, I've always appreciated a firm hand, and hers are very... yes."

"Rise, Rarity," Twilight told her gently.

The other mare nodded, and carefully gathered her legs under her, standing up. She gasped as the shaft slid free, then stroked her abused pussy gently. "No mess," she murmured. "Applejack so convincingly acted as though the toy was part of her, I almost thought she'd cum within me. That was quite something. And... to be the only one awake with you, that does make me feel special."

Rarity glanced to the side, her cheeks still pink from her exertions, her free hand brushing her lips. "Though... I'd like it if you stopped calling us your friends. Our bond is much more intimate than that, now. When you do, it makes me feel as though all of this is something you don't take seriously."

"I will." Twilight nodded in understanding, a wry smile curving her lips. "I suppose I'm still getting used to all of this. I feel a little embarrassed when I say that you're my slave ponies. But even as my slave and my lover, you'll always be my friend too, Rarity." Drawing closer, she gently hugged the other pony, a small part of her registering with a little note of surprise yet again that she was taller than Rarity now.

"And I yours, my dear Twilight, no matter what else time makes of us." Rarity let her head come to rest against Twilight's shoulder, relaxing against her. After a silent moment, she asked, "Will they remember what happened?"

"Mm, they will." This time. "When I release them from the charm, they'll remember all of it, but as though it was a fantasy they had. They'll know it happened, but won't feel guilty or self-conscious about it. Especially Fluttershy - it was part of our bargain that she wouldn't have to feel ashamed or embarrassed about sex anymore."

Rarity turned her head against Twilight's shoulder, glancing at the motionless Pegasus. "...yes. It is good that you can free her from those feelings, as she has asked you to. I wouldn't wish to see anypony changed, but... if you can help her feel happier and more confident, and that is what she wants, I cannot think of anypony that deserves it more."

"Me either," Twilight replied, with a fond glance in Fluttershy's direction. "I'd better clear away any lingering instructions and wake everypony up. Though I should dress them first. Apart from Princess Celestia. Do you think naked chair, or naked footstool?"

But even as Rarity laughed, Twilight's thoughts drifted towards Canterlot. There were other ponies that deeply deserved to be happier, and more confident in themselves. Princess Luna didn't trust herself at all, deep down. Twilight desperately wanted to help her find a deeper happiness. And then there was Trixie, too.

Rarity might not want to see anypony changed, but Twilight certainly couldn't pretend she hadn't changed Trixie.

The door opened under her fingertips. A cool breeze blew past her into the castle as the gap widened, pressing her delicate nightgown against her body and chilling her skin. Slipping out onto the balcony, she caught the door as it tried to slam shut, and eased it closed with a soft click of the latch. A quiet, hard tension gripped her, her movements stiff with repressed emotion.

There was a figure standing in the centre of the vast arc of the balcony, equidistant from the towers that anchored either end. Her star-laden mane danced and shifted against the deeper darkness of the night.

Slowly, quietly, the nightgown-clad mare approached the distant figure, barely noticing the cold that brought goose-bumps to her skin. It seemed at first as though the other mare hadn't noticed she was no longer alone, but when she finally reached the centre of the railing, Luna's eyes opened and turned towards her.

"Good eve, Trixie," Luna said softly. "Should not thou be abed at this hour?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie wasn't sleeping." The words were flat, hard. Trixie moved to the railing, her fingers curling around the metal and gripping it fiercely as she looked out into the darkness.

Luna frowned, taking a step closer to the younger mare. "Trixie, is there something the matter?"

Silence descended, clung, cloyingly.

"...Trixie?"

Author's Note

Proofed by Djmill and Dbzordie

After credits scene:

"Anything unusual? Well, let me see... there's that new village, being set up on the plains, on the other side of the mountains. I know a couple of ponies that went to help out with the building of it, but if they finished, they haven't come back, and that was a few seasons ago. I wouldn't think much of it, but I've heard similar sort of things from a few ponies in neighbouring towns. Perhaps they've all decided to settle there."

The two unicorns exchanged glances. "That sounds worth looking over," one said. "Do you know the name of the village?"

"No, if I heard it, I can't say I recall. I do remember the unicorn that was seeking volunteers to help, though. Her name was something to do with stars. Starlight something or other."

"Thank you for your help, ma'am. It's probably nothing, but we'll check it out."

14: Turnabout is Fair Play

The infinite corridor of dreams stretched out before Luna, ebbing and flowing, both as solid as stone beneath her feet, and as mutable as a thought. She was aware of doors falling away, doors never having been, to be replaced by new doors, moment by moment, as dreams rose and fell. She drifted, as light as air, letting the great flow of unconsciousness brush past her thoughts. It was akin to running soft, incredibly fine sand through her fingers, feeling for sharp little spikes of unhappiness or fear.

Such things were natural, and at times she let them play out as they needed to, but at times, they could be eased. Soothed, into a gentler shape. She knew that the great mass of Ponykind had slept better since her return, and it warmed her to her very heart to know that she was making things better. That she made a difference.

It was her duty, and she welcomed it.

This evening, however, was a gentle night. While some small spikes of anxiety slipped through her fingers, none of them felt wrong, or hurtful. It was better to let such dreams go. Perhaps she could truly and in good conscience let the night proceed for a few hours without her. Perhaps even take a glimpse at Twilight's dreams this eve. She smiled fondly to herself.

As if from a distance, she heard the sound of a door opening. For a moment she tried to seek the source of the sound in the dreamscape, before realisation struck.

Luna opened her eyes. She stood upon a balcony, high over Canterlot and the forest beyond, the lights of the city glittering like a reflection on water of the stars above. The moon shone with a pure silver light, casting gossamer shadows across the ground. For a moment, a haze of dreams clung to everything she saw, painting the world with unreal shades and impossible distances, before solidity reasserted itself.

She was not alone. Another mare stood facing her, her pale blue hair burnished silver by the moonlight. A nightgown draped her body, embroidered with stars and moons.

"Good eve, Trixie," Luna said softly. "Should not thou be abed at this hour?"

"The Great and Powerful Trixie wasn't sleeping."

Her frown deepening at the flat tone in Trixie's voice, Luna took a step closer to her. A fitful breeze blew, shaping Trixie's thin gown against her body. She looked cold, though she didn't seem to be noticing it. "Trixie, is there something the matter?"

Silence. Trixie glanced up at Luna, then out over the balcony, moving to the railing and gripping it with both hands. Gripping it hard, Luna noticed. Getting Trixie to speak wasn't usually difficult, but at that moment, she seemed strangely reticent.

"...Trixie?" Luna probed gently. She was familiar with Trixie's brand of sulks, and this was the opposite of her customary fountain of petty complaints and grievances.

The showmare clenched her teeth, staring out into the darkness for a moment longer before finally turning her head, and skewering Luna with a cold glare. "Trixie hates you," she said abruptly.

Luna maintained her reserved expression, though beneath it, Trixie's words stung. She'd really thought that she was overcoming Trixie's resentment of being stranded in the forest, especially after they'd found common ground in their embarrassment at being caught by Ember.

"I'm sorry to hear you say that, Trixie," Luna replied after a moment. She caught herself drawing up straighter, crossing her arms defensively and hitching up her wings, and tried to slowly undo all of it. Her sister had always been so much better at seeming untroubled by anything she heard. "Is that why you came out to speak to me?"

"...no. Trixie was-" she cut herself off and turned her stare out towards the darkness again, her shoulders knotted with tension. Her lips worked soundlessly as she sought the words to fit to her feelings. Finally, she burst out, "The Great and Powerful Trixie hates competing with you for Mistress's attention! She hates that Mistress says she loves you, and she hates competing with a Princess, it isn't fair! Trixie has worked really hard!" Her tone was bitterly accusatory, though Trixie didn't turn around from the railing, still gripping the metal tightly.

"It doesn't have to be a competition, Trixie," Luna said quietly. A strange, tight guilt curled in her chest at the accusation, unable to stop herself wanting Twilight to love her more than anypony else, but shamed by the other mare's obvious distress. "Twilight cares for you as well, I am sure. She has often said in my hearing how hard you have worked, and she is proud of all you have learned. You make a good pupil."

"Well, if Twilight cares for her so much, why is she sending Trixie away?!" The words came out fast and jagged, freighted with misery, as if escaping under great pressure.

Oh, manure. Luna felt a sudden, horrible certainty that she knew what Trixie was talking about, but she nonetheless took a step closer to the other mare. Dipping her horn, she cast a small charm for warmth around Trixie, concerned about the goosebumps rising on the other pony's arms. With the utmost care, she asked, "Why do you believe Twilight is sending you away?"

"She told Trixie!" the showpony replied miserably. "She's only keeping Trixie for six months, and then Mistress is going to make her go away. She's going to ruin everything!"

"...Trixie," Luna began carefully, "you know that there are things that you feel that are imposed by Twilight, don't you? She has changed you, considerably in some ways. It wouldn't be fair to you to change you forever. It wasn't really fair of her to do it at all."

"She asked first! She made a deal with Trixie!" Her purple eyes were wide as she looked up at Luna, as if trying to convince the taller mare by sheer force of desperation.

"She didn't tell you she would enslave you, Trixie. You would never have agreed to that," Luna contradicted her softly. "I've seen the commands she laid upon you. She ordered you to be her sex slave, and to constantly humiliate yourself. Your true self wouldn't stand for it."

"Well, what does that stupid mare know anyway?!" Trixie demanded in a near-shout. "I know what she's going to do! She's going to hate Twilight for everything, and she already hated Twilight for the most stupid, stupid reasons, and she's going to throw everything that happened in Mistress's face, and she's going to stomp off, and she's going to be lonely forever and never be loved, and never get taught anything, and she'll hate herself, but she'll still do it, because the Great and Powerful Trixie was stupid and spiteful and selfish and never had any friends, and-"

The rest was muffled by Luna's chest as she gathered the smaller mare against her and hugged her tightly. A pang of terrible sympathy shot through her, all the more potent because she knew how it felt to be afraid of one's self, to fear that she could give in to a darker part of her and make all the very worst choices. But in this case, the Trixie that she was holding was an unnatural one, and the selfish Trixie the real personality.

She should never have let Twilight put Trixie in this position.

"I'm sorry, Trixie. I know something of thy fear. Twilight once told me that she was to remove all commands she had laid upon me, at some indeterminate future time, and I found the uncertainty unbearable."

Trixie looked up at Luna, her eyeliner forming dark streaks down her cheeks and her eyes red. "What did you do?" she asked urgently. "What did Twilight do?"

"I... insisted that Twilight brought forward the moment of judgement, rather than postpone it. She agreed."

Trixie's mouth dropped open, then she clenched her fists and shook her head. "What use is that to the adoring and worshipful Trixie? That would only make everything go wrong faster! I don't understand why she won't just keep me!"

Luna winced. This was not going to be a comfortable conversation, and she felt her jaw tense, trying not to give voice to the words. But, still... "That is because of me, Trixie."

Trixie pulled out of Luna's embrace and took a step backwards, staring upwards. Her voice was small. "...what?"

"It is my task to serve as Twilight's conscience, when her own is insufficient. I have allowed her far more latitude than perhaps I should have. Nonetheless, I would not allow her to alter thy mind indefinitely as punishment for what you sought to do to her. I would allow her no more than six months, and even that was with reluctance."

Like a new star flashing to life in the heavens, twin sparks of fury flared in Trixie's eyes. Luna flinched, struck by a tangible wave of hatred, and it was her turn to take a step backwards as Trixie hissed venomously, "It's your fault?"

"Trixie," Luna began, only to be cut off by a peal of sharp laughter, the edges gleaming like broken glass.

"Ha! Of course! Now it makes sense. Mistress is perfectly happy to throw Trixie away, because you told her to. And she loves you. She has a Princess of her very own to fuck. She has two! And all her stupid friends! They were always showing off how disgustingly wholesome they were, and wasn't that a lie. Trixie's never met such perverts in her entire life! Trixie isn't even sure how many fucktoys Twilight has picked up by now, because obviously Trixie isn't being told everything, so what's one more or less?"

Trixie's balled fists thumped her thighs, her body radiating an incandescent rage far too great to be contained within her modest frame. "You told her to do this! She would have kept Trixie! Trixie wouldn't be afraid for who she is, knowing it's all going to end, every day and every night!"

The torrent of bile pouring from the younger pony seemed to have no end, and Luna swayed back, dismayed by the force of it. "Trixie, it isn't right what has been done to you. Twilight-"

"Shut your gaping mouth, Nightmare! You've done enough damage already!" Trixie spat.

Luna's mouth snapped closed, shocked beyond words. It had been some time since anyone had used that name for her, and unbidden, a flood of bone-deep guilt rose up in her, summoned by the name. Her eyes glistened wetly in the moonlight. There was nothing she could say.

"Do you have any idea what will happen? What I'll wake up thinking?" Trixie demanded. Her voice changed in pitch slightly, but the underlying savagery was the same. "'I hate Twilight! She humiliated me! I want to destroy her, and everything she's ever done, and humiliate her, and ruin her!' Do you think I want to go back to that?"

Despite herself, Luna inhaled sharply. "I know that you cannot lie, Trixie, and so you must believe what you are saying, but-"

"I can say things that aren't true to you, you stupid blue moron," Trixie snapped. "It's only Twilight that Trixie can't lie to. The moon is made of cheese! I'm a hundred feet tall! You are a caring and considerate pony!"

Luna's shoulders flinched, as if struck. "Trixie, please. You must calm yourself. We can talk this through."

"That's why I came to you, for help! I didn't know that it was your fault that Twilight is doing this to me! You hypocrite! She enslaved you, and here you are, serving her like a good dog, while you're saying I can't stay!" She dashed tears from her eyes angrily. "I've tried to think of so many ways to force her to keep me like this, but every time I think I've found a way, I know that I'd have to confess it to her before I did anything! Nothing works!"

"Trixie!" Luna seized the younger mare's shoulders with both hands, her voice rising despite herself. "That is enough!" Trixie went rigid under Luna's hands, a flash of fear on her face as her mane streamed backwards from the force of the Princess's voice.

There was a moment of silence. Then, lowering her tone to a less deafening level, Luna added, "I am more than willing to help thee, but it must not be at the price of destroying who you were."

Her voice weary and resigned, her body slumping in Luna's grasp, Trixie let her gaze fall to the floor and replied exhaustedly, "The pony Trixie was will never accept this."

"Are you so sure?" Luna took a deep breath. For a moment, she hesitated. She didn't feel very much like sharing her inner feelings, not when Trixie had just been screaming at her. But if the young mare was hurting like this, and it was even partly her fault - which it was - it was her duty to do all she could. That meant telling the truth. The complete truth.

"Trixie, if Twilight had not conquered me with her spell, I would not be in this relationship with her. I have not said as much to her, but it is true. I would have shied away if she had professed love for me, unable to accept it so easily. I would never have agreed to submit to her the way that I have. I would have considered it perverse. It was her spell that compelled me. But I am not under her thrall now. I am not forced to find these things acceptable."

Luna's grip on Trixie's shoulders loosened, and she lowered her arms. "In truth, when I was given a chance to truly reflect on all I had experienced, I discovered that what I had once thought was wrong. Twilight was capable of loving me. I remembered lying in bed with her, and being held. I was under the spell's compulsion to do as she wished, but I was not ordered to feel... safe. Better. More whole. I remembered being touched and kissed, all of the pleasures I had felt, when I gave myself to Twilight. It was so... freeing, to trust in her and to cease making decisions of my own. Not always - I do not crave to be a puppet - but sometimes. And so, when I truly thought upon all I had felt, I chose to live this way of my own volition."

Touching Trixie's arm again, Luna finished softly, "If you truly believe your former self would be violently against the life you now lead, I will believe you. I am not certain what to do. But consider, first, whether her feelings may have changed."

Trixie looked up at Luna, her eyes reddened. Several times, she began to speak, then stopped, and started over, the words coming out with painful slowness. "The other Trixie would like that she's appreciated around the palace. Ponies listen to her. She is treated with respect. She... I had fun, with Twilight. With the spell researching, I mean. Trixie has never had anypony work with her like that. I... wanted so much to impress her." She sniffled, rubbing at her face with one hand. "I want to stay. I feel - I want to stay. I don't want to be alone. Why are you making me leave?"

"Will not your original self want to stay?" asked Luna softly. "Was she not lonely too?"

"You just - you don't understand what she's like," said Trixie wretchedly. "What I'm like. Because... Trixie is brilliant. She is smart, and powerful, and she can fool any ten stupid backwater hick ponies without even breaking a sweat, and that makes her feel on top of the world!"

A hint of her customary braggadocio leaked back into her voice as she spoke, then it faded as she went on, "That was - is - what makes Trixie special. Then stupid Twilight ruined everything, she sneered at Trixie and made her into a joke, and made everyone think that she was just an embarrassment, and a fraud... and then, and then Trixie had to prove she wasn't a fraud, so she tracked down anything that would give her power, because she was better than stupid Twilight and had to prove it. Then... then when I was more powerful than Twilight, I... lost, anyway. And she forgave me. That really hurt."

A jerk of unexpected fellow feeling ran through Luna. She wanted to ask why Trixie felt that way, wanted to pretend she didn't understand, but she did. Trixie seemed almost startled when Luna spoke, as though she'd forgotten she wasn't alone.

"I know of that pain. I was forgiven for all I had done, when I returned. When I was defeated, by Twilight. I wish I had been punished. If she had castigated me, I would have deserved it. But she didn't, and I still deserved it. So the responsibility to punish me for my misdeeds fell upon me, myself. And that is a terrible weight to bear."

"...which she do you mean? Twilight, or - or Princess Celestia?" Trixie asked, after a moment's silence.

Luna's lips twitched into a wry smile. "I didn't specify? Perhaps I meant both of them, in my heart. Twilight has commanded me to torture myself no longer, but it is not so easy."

Trixie sighed. The frantic, furious energy seemed to have drained out of her entirely, leaving her shoulders slumped and her face tired. "What am I going to do, Luna? Why did you make things be this way?"

"...because I didn't want Twilight to become a monster, as I did. As she could have. You do not realise how close she came to losing herself completely to the intoxication of this power, Trixie. Now that she is the Princess of Magic, I fear that were she to do so again, there would be no stopping her."

"Well, she's not!" burst out Trixie. "She's not a monster. She could have used the charm on Ember, couldn't she? And - and I was cross with her for not doing it! Because Ember saw Trixie exposed, and... and Twilight is supposed to protect her. From feeling bad, and judged. But she... she seduced Ember, and that was... Trixie can't really believe that happened, but if Ember had just left, Twilight would have let her go. She's not a bad pony, Luna! Can't you just... let her have this? Have me?"

Luna sighed, deeply. It had been so much easier to allow Twilight this before Trixie had brought the consequences of it so clearly before her. "I am proud of her for that. I have heard much of how she came to enthrall those around her, and under similar circumstances, she acted in haste. She has learned restraint." Her lips pressed together, and she hesitated for a moment. What she was about to say was only her supposition, and it could make things worse.

Nonetheless, she continued semi-unwillingly, "Even so... I suspect that she hopes to keep you. That Twilight intends to make your time with her so enjoyable that your true self will not wish to leave, even when the commands are lifted. I do not believe she intends to let you go easily."

"That's not fair." Trixie's lips parted, and her eyes filled, glistening in the silvery moonlight. Her voice was shaky as she asked huskily, "Are you lying to Trixie? Are you just trying to make her feel better?"

"No. I swear to thee, Twilight feels a great affection for you, and she fought me upon the subject. She did not agree gladly to the restrictions I imposed upon her, and I am certain that whilst she intends to stick to the letter of what we have agreed, she will seek thy loyalty and companionship nonetheless. She is not casting you aside, Trixie. She cares for you. I vow it."

Trixie gave a half-hiccup, half-sob, and rubbed her face with both hands. "Trixie wanted to believe, so much. I was - if she really didn't want me, if she was treating me like this and she was just going to throw me away, I would have hated her so much, for making me feel this way and not even caring or feeling anything back."

Luna bit her lip, her heart aching for the younger mare. She badly wanted to reach out and hold her, but Trixie had pushed away from her only a moment ago. She saw Luna as the architect of all her ills. Perhaps she was right to. Tentatively, she reached out to touch Trixie's shoulder. "I truly want to help you. It may be that you do not care for me, Trixie, but I do not..." She hesitated, then finished more slowly, "I do not want to see you hurt. If there is a way that I can believe in, a way that is fair to the pony you were, I would see you stay."

"You keep saying that! Just - tell me what I'm supposed to do!" Trixie leaned into Luna's hand, and reached out to touch the Princess in return. "Please!"

"I don't-" began Luna, then stopped herself. It was no use at all saying that she didn't know what to do. Closing her eyes, she tried to clear her thoughts of the cloying guilt and sympathetic sadness. "You do not know for certain how your original self will react to what you have seen, and done. You assume the worst. Twilight can allow you to speak with her. You may share your experiences with her, so that she understands what you have felt."

"But - she'll just-"

"You do not know for sure, Trixie. And you may find out that you are wrong. At worst, you will find that what you already believe is true."

"And what if it is? What then? What will you do?" demanded Trixie.

"I... do not know." It was a useless answer, Luna knew it even as she spoke it, but it was all she could give.

Trixie sniffled, lowering her head again and resting against Luna. "Okay."

The young mare felt very small in Luna's arms. Luna hugged her more tightly, the twin aches of guilt and sympathy carving out a hollow in her chest. Despite everything that separated them, there was something painfully familiar about Trixie's suffering. "...thy bed is very cold and lonely without her, isn't it," she said, after a moment.

Wordlessly, the other pony nodded once, a tiny movement of her head.

"If you wish, you can stay here, with me. And when I retire to my bed, you may accompany me."

Her voice small, Trixie murmured again, "...okay."

Twilight hummed happily to herself as she descended the staircase of the tree house, combing out her mane with a long-handled brush. The young alicorn wore a pair of black tights that clung with dedication to her longer legs, and a skirt that was now rather shorter, proportionally, than it once had been. A once-loose cream and purple t-shirt was filled out nicely by her bust. She looked, and felt, wonderful. Despite all of the amenities in Canterlot Castle, none of them quite matched the comfort of her own personal shower, where she'd spent years perfecting the right flow and temperature. There was nothing like that feeling of steaming hot water cascading down her body to make her feel refreshed and awake, ready to face the day.

"Has Zecora arrived yet?" she asked pleasantly.

Celestia was sat by a window, sunlight cascading across the warm wood of the writing desk before her, a long quill pen wafting back and forth as she wrote. That much was a familiar sight. Where it grew a little more unusual was that Celestia wore a tiny white blouse that was obviously far too small for her, unbuttoned to the point that her heavy tits had spilled out. Each pink nipple was clamped firmly, silver clips joined by a chain that swayed with her every movement. Below the waist, she wore a tiny navy skirt that did nothing to cover her garter belt and stockings. Her cunt was on full display, spread wide by the thick bulk of a dildo, and her ethereal mane was gathered up in two thick, billowing pigtails that completed the image of a fetishised schoolfilly. It was little wonder that Twilight had applied one-way charms to the windows, making sure no passing pony witnessed her depravity.

Still, despite her latest punishment, Celestia's voice was almost challengingly calm and level as she paused in her work and replied, "She is yet to arrive, Empress. Your slave is simply catching up on some documentation from Canterlot."

"It's really very hard to make you stop working, isn't it," Twilight mock-complained, a pleasant tingle of lust thrumming through her body at the sight of her mentor. She looked so good.

"I may be being punished, but the business of Equestria continues," Celestia replied, with the faintest note of reproach. "There are matters of state I should tend to."

"You're still sending all of your correspondence through Luna? And you're checking everypony that knocks before you let them in?"

"As you commanded. I literally can't disobey," the princess answered, with a touch of wryness.

"That's good. Luna is in charge right now, after all." Twilight glanced over Celestia's shoulder at the parchment, and grinned to herself.

...am my Empress's horny, depraved slut. I deserve to be fucked over and over in every hole. I am her fat-assed bitch. She controls my mind. My cunt is so full. My tits ache every time she pulls on my clamps. I'm making this seat wet with my dripping juices. I must obey. I must...

"It looks like you're making good progress," Twilight added with a giggle.

Celestia's eyes narrowed in suspicion. She looked down at her letter, then back at Twilight, then down at her letter again. "...there is something wrong with my letter, isn't there," she said finally.

"I don't see anything wrong," Twilight replied lightly. "It all seems true to me."

Staring at the parchment again, Celestia visibly scanned it, trying to pick out what was wrong, and just as obviously failed. "...Twilight."

"Keyword: moment of clarity," Twilight said pleasantly, leaning forward. She watched Celestia's eyes flick back to her letter, and - wait for it - there. The look of resigned annoyance that flashed across her mentor's face simply lit up Twilight's whole morning.

"I... see." Celestia lifted up a sheet of parchment, then another. "It's addressed to Ambassador I am a Horny Bitch. I suppose if it found its destination, she'd appreciate the content. And the other letters I've sent this morning?"

"Luna is receiving some wonderful progress reports from you on your state of mind." Twilight's grin couldn't have been wider.

Exhaling, the Princess gave Twilight a sideways look. "I'm not going to be permitted to write anything, am I."

"Of course you can! If what you're writing is a long essay on all the ways you've been naughty and need punishing. But other than that, no, not a thing." She grinned at Celestia's expression, then added more sincerely, "Luna can handle it, Celestia, really, she can. I want her to get used to running things a little bit; she needs to feel like she can look after Equestria in the day as well as at night."

Celestia tilted her head, her features taking on the agelessly calm look that she instinctively adopted when she hadn't decided how to react to something. "Is that what this extended punishment is about?"

Crossing the room in two quick steps, Twilight placed her hand on Celestia's shoulder, then leant down and kissed her. The Princess's mouth was warm and yielding under hers, and for a moment, Twilight simply lost herself in the pure, simple joy of being free to do this whenever she wanted. Shaking her head with a fond smile, she broke away to answer, "No, I'm punishing you because you are a giant pain in the tail, and you deserve to be stripped, humiliated, fucked and made to degrade yourself for just as long as I want you to. I'm loving punishing you. You don't get to get away with all your little games, Celestia. You get bent over and paddled until your ass is red."

"...I do have a lot to be punished for," Celestia conceded, with a small, tentative smile.

"You-" Twilight flicked the chain linking Celestia's nipple clamps, forcing a sudden gasp and whimper from the elder mare, "-are being silly. I'm not fucking you into a sloppy, dripping mess because I want to distract you. I mean, I do have to literally chain you down to make you turn over any responsibility for the kingdom, and I want Luna to feel trusted, but none of that changes the fact that you're a naughty little slut that I'm not done fucking."

Breathing quickly, Celestia swallowed, nodding. Reaching up to gently rub her hand over her breast, she murmured submissively, "As you wish, Empress. I serve at your pleasure."

"Mm, that's right. And you know what would please me?" Twilight gazed into Celestia's eyes, and said sweetly, "Keyword: go fuck yourself."

"Wha-" Celestia began questioningly, then gasped as her hand reached between her legs without her conscious intervention, and grabbed the base of the dildo. Pulling the smooth shaft half-way out of her, she took a firmer grip and thrust it back into her cunt again, forcing a whimper from her lips. She grabbed at the chair arm with her free hand to steady herself as she helplessly found herself riding the thick toy, her possessed arm roughly shoving it in and out of her.

"That should keep you entertained for a while. Like I said, do let Zecora in when she arrives!"

"Twilight!" Celestia groaned in protest, her thighs spreading wider.

"I'll be upstairs!"

Twilight skipped up the stairs, followed by the sound of her mentor's thick groans. As fun as it was to keep adding triggers to her ponies - the 'keyword' prefix was really working well to prevent accidents - she really ought to write them all down properly. She had a lot of notes to make from her time in Canterlot, in fact, and it was probably time to transfer her secret journal to somewhere more secure in the capital. Just because she was enjoying herself didn't mean there was any excuse to be getting sloppy.

Pushing open her bedroom door, she sighed happily as she surveyed her neat, tidy room. There was something to be said for all the space the Princess suite offered her, of course there was, and sleeping in her old bedroom tower was really nice, but... this had become her home. The more time she spent in Ponyville, the more ponies would get over her change in status, and go back to treating her as - well, as just Twilight. That would be nice.

Hauling her old telescope case out from its carefully anonymous resting place amongst her other things, she began disarming the lock spells on it one by one. She'd have to recast the ultimate locking spell she and Trixie had developed on it, too, that would certainly stop anypony from... tampering...

The thought trailed off, and she paused, then frowned. Something was wrong.

The locking spells she'd laid on her telescope case were supposed to be disarmed in order of complexity, simplest first, then getting into the interesting ones. The first couple of layers had peeled off okay, but the last disarming charm had done - well, nothing. No answering tingle of magic, no flicker of colour. She cast the disarming spell again, to be sure. No response.

Could she have forgotten to include that one, when she locked it last? That wasn't like her. Keeping her notes secure was important. Her frown deepening, she ran through the remainder of her unlocking spells.

Of the other five spells she expected to be on the box, three didn't seem to be active.

Her heart thumped in her chest, a tense constriction making it suddenly hard to breathe. Probing with her horn, she couldn't pick up any remaining lock spells or traps, and so, with great care, she unsnapped the catches and levered the wooden case open.

Her notes lay there, innocently undisturbed.

With spasmodic urgency, she flicked through them, making sure every sheet of parchment was where it should be, and only when she was certain that not a single page was missing did she let her breath go, and take a gulp of fresh air.

She had to stop panicking, and think about this clearly.

First option. It wasn't impossible that she'd really, really messed up the locking process the last time she'd put her notes away. She couldn't remember exactly when that had been, but she'd probably been in the middle of having sex with somepony. That wasn't really conducive to clear thought.

Second option. Somepony had been trying to get into her box, and managed to disarm several of the locking spells without triggering the incineration fail-safe. That was worrying. It implied that somepony knew where her notes were, and how important they were.

Third option, and the worst: somepony had succeeded in breaking into the box, read or copied everything, then put it all back the way it was to start with, locked it with as many of the original spells as they had access to, and hoped she wouldn't notice the missing spells.

Okay. Running with the worst case scenario: how bad would it be if somepony had access to her notes? If the instructions to cast the charm had still been in there, it would have been catastrophic, but she'd destroyed the original, as well as all of her own notes about the variant charm she'd created. That kind of knowledge was simply too dangerous to exist anywhere outside her own mind; even the other mares that knew how to cast the charm had had that information carefully blocked from their memories.

Without the charm itself, what the notes conveyed was an in-depth understanding of what the charm could and couldn't do, together with a complete list of all the ponies that were afflicted by it. The interconnecting pattern of charms was there, showing the links between her and the other Princesses. ...oh, and it was also a thorough confession of all the terrible things she'd personally done, as well as some of the things that Celestia had done too.

If that knowledge got out, was made public...

No pony would believe it. Surely. No pony would believe that Celestia was using magic to carry out weird, kinky sex games. Although there were probably ponies that would enjoy making snide remarks in her presence, never quite accusing her, but talking obliquely about the shocking stories circulating in the press... there really were some awful ponies in the nobility. And the ponies of Equestria really didn't know all that much about the new Princess of Magic, they probably would believe it of her. After all, it was true, it matched up with all the weird behaviour between the Elements that was increasingly impossible to hide, and the ponies in the castle had at least occasionally come across things that would be hard to explain, like forgotten sex toys that weren't quite put away.

For that matter, they might believe it of Luna, too - which was wildly unfair, she was the only one out of the three of them that had actually held onto her moral compass - and it'd be incredibly hurtful to her.

Could that really be it? Somepony trying to find out more about the new Princess of Magic, and stumbling over a treasure trove of secrets that they couldn't have dreamed of? She'd certainly made a big impact, and it wasn't like it was hard to find out where she lived. But...

But, but, but. She just didn't have enough information. For all she knew, she was getting paranoid over something she'd messed up herself, when she was tired or horny and distracted. It wasn't like she'd never made a mistake before.

She probably shouldn’t say anything. Not until she was sure.

From downstairs, a murmur of voices filtered up. Twilight reacted without pausing to think, thrusting her papers back into the telescope case and slamming it shut. A faint thrumming sound pulsed through the air as her horn swept back and forth, weaving the vast, merged locking spell she and Trixie had created. Ethereal bolts and clamps materialised around the box, wrapping it in chain, before the locks and bonds faded from sight. Let anypony try to open that, or even move it, and not only would they find it proof against almost any magical assault, she'd know the instant they tried.

All the same, it was with a certain reluctance that she pushed the box back into place among her things, and slowly descended the stairs, leaving it behind.

"Vigorous self-fucking and a bare chest are the best way to welcome a guest," Zecora remarked from below, her voice amused, and tinged with arousal.

"The responsibility is Twilight's," Celestia replied, her voice strained and shivery. "If you would like to express your gratitude, she is upstairs."

"I'm right here," Twilight contradicted her, stepping down onto the polished oak floor. Her violet eyes glittered as she drank in the sight of Celestia, dishevelled, her heavy tits jiggling and the chain swaying as she helplessly fucked herself, her cheeks a heated pink and her lips flushed and full. Zecora was obviously just as enamoured by the sight, still swathed in her battered green travelling cloak, and she only tore her gaze away from the Solar Princess with an effort.

"My Mistress true, it is my pleasure to greet you," Zecora addressed Twilight, a smile on her lips. With another glance at Celestia, she added with a trace of huskiness, "I would have made more haste to depart, had I known I would see such a work of art."

"You didn't hurry just to see me?" Twilight retorted playfully. "I may have to punish you for that. Off with your cloak, Zecora. I want to see my gorgeous zebra slave."

A subtle quiver ran through Zecora at the word 'slave', and she nodded jerkily. "As you say, I must obey," she replied softly, her eyes focused only on Twilight now, and she reached up to unfasten the catch over her collarbone. The green cloth rustled as it fell loose from her shoulders, pooling around her feet. Beneath, she was completely, utterly naked, thick golden rings decorating her permanently jutting nipples, and a sheen of dampness between her thighs. Intricate patterns swirled over her nude body, darker grey on grey, in a display that drew the eye near-obsessively to trace them as they curled around thigh and flank. Striking a pose, arms straight and wrists crossed behind her, she arched her back and breathed, "My body is on display."

Twilight stood stock still, struck dumb by the sight. There was something about Zecora's sheer self-possession and lack of self-consciousness that reminded her of Celestia, and her body was simply glorious. When she finally let out a breath, it emerged as a long, low sigh of appreciation. "You were naked under your cloak all the way here?"

"Yes. I kept my cloak tightly closed, but it excites me to be so exposed. Forgive my words if I am too blunt-" Zecora breathed, stepping closer to Twilight, her chest rising and falling rapidly, "-but I love to feel the breeze on my tits and cunt."

There was a soft whimper. For an instant, Twilight thought it had fallen from her own lips, but as she glanced to her left, it was plain that Celestia could barely stand. Her right hand drove the dildo in and out of her mercilessly, pistoning back and forth, and as she shuddered, she grabbed at her soft, exposed tits with the hand she still controlled. "Twilight, please," she gasped, pupils huge and dark.

Twilight giggled. Slinking closer to her mentor, she reached out and ran her fingers lightly up Celestia's thigh, over the famous sunburst cutie mark, up and around to grab a handful of her bare ass, openly exposed by her tiny schoolfilly skirt. Kneading possessively, Twilight purred innocently, "Please what, Celestia? Is there a request you'd like to make?"

Celestia panted a hot gasp, but didn't reply, a flicker of stubbornness on the demigoddess's face, though it came across as more petulant through the heavy, cheap-looking makeup that she wore.

"Aww, don't want to say? Well, I can always take Zecora and go out for a while-"

"Please let me stop fucking myself!" the Princess of the Sun burst out, the slick dildo in her grip pounding in and out of her. "Or just let me cum! Empress!"

"Oh, you feel more sensitive than usual?" Twilight asked lightly. Deliciously aware of her audience, she gripped Celestia's tail and jerked it upwards, making her ageless mentor whimper loudly as the Princess rammed the dildo into herself again. "Your body is aching with every thrust? Your nipples are tingling under your clamps, and your cunt is drooling over your fingers, but you can't seem to cum? Goodness. And you can't stop yourself? Why is that?"

"You ordered me to!" Celestia blurted, her knees quivering, her wings twitching and shivering in jerky little motions, her hips bucking helplessly against the plunging movements of the sex toy.

"And why can't you disobey? Be clear," Twilight breathed, pushing her lips against Celestia's neck and kissing the side of her throat hungrily. It was glorious seeing the Princess losing control like this, barely able to even speak; obviously her mind had interpreted the charmed command to be more sensitive with more intensity than Twilight had expected.

Closing her eyes, her lower lip quivering, Celestia managed to get a grip on herself. When she spoke, it was in a husky, urgent tone, filled with the harmonics of desperation. "I can't, hnn, disobey you. You have total, haah, control of my – my mind and body, Empress, and I must obey. I'm helpless beneath your will, I can't – hnng! Can't resist, so please, please Empress, let me – let me cum for you!"

Twilight pressed herself urgently against Celestia and gave her tail another tug, forcing a sharp gasp from the taller pony's lips. The feeling of power was incredible, every brush of her hand and flick of her tongue prompting barely contained shudders from her captive, over-sexed slave. "I could keep you like this," Twilight whispered hotly into her pointed ear. "I could keep you trembling on the edge of orgasm, being fucked and used, for hours. Days. I could make you lose your mind. What do you think… Zecora?" Her gaze flicked to the zebra, a flash of cruel, conspiratorial merriment in her eyes.

Zecora looked back at her with hazy, unfocused eyes, lips parted, a look of raw, naked lust on her face. Her cheeks flushed darker red under her grey patterning, grinding the heel of her palm against her clit, she panted roughly, "Whether you accept or deny her plea, it is wondrous to see. I urge you to do the same to me."

"No help for you there," Twilight purred to Celestia. "Zecora is usually kind, and giving, but it seems that watching you suffer is just too hot for her to give up so easily." Twilight's hand slid to seize a handful of the Princess's soft, yielding ass again, and Celestia jerked, another desperate whimper escaping her lips. "Perhaps keeping you like this for a little longer is best. I am punishing you for all your bad behaviour, after all. And there's so, so much of it to punish you for. Maybe I should give you some time to think about all the times you've been impertinent to your Empress. I could gag you, and put you in a closet for a while. How does that sound?"

Once again, Celestia held her tongue for a moment, and Twilight's evil smile widened as she watched the struggle on her face, before the Princess visibly chose to stop fighting it. Shaking her head rapidly, her colourful, flowing mane gathered into ponytails that swayed back and forth with the motion, Celestia gasped, "Please not that, Empress!"

"Are you going to promise to be good?" Twilight teased her.

"You wouldn't - want me to, Empress," Celestia replied, her speech jerky as she bent forward, knees shaking. The scent of her arousal coloured the air, and perspiration glistened on her smooth, milk-white skin. Her eyes fluttering closed, hips bucking against her possessed hand, she managed to force out, "You like me to be, be badly behaved, and you know it-!"

"I wouldn't have believed you, even if you did promise," Twilight replied with satisfaction. "But you didn't lie to me about it, so- keyword: full release."

The words had barely left Twilight's mouth before a high-pitched scream of pleasure burst from Celestia's lips, her body snapping into a taut arc, head back, eyes rolled up. Her free hand frantically mauled her own breasts, accidentally tugging one of the clamps off her prominent, reddened nipples and causing her to cry out anew. Jamming the thick shaft as deep into her as she could manage, pressing the heel of her palm to her clit, her legs simply gave out from beneath her, dumping her to the floor in a shuddering, sticky, wordless mess. Her schoolfilly blouse was slightly torn, the victim of her long nails, and the silver chain trailed off her body from the one remaining clamp atop her heavy, curved breast. "Hnng, hnn, hnnn," she groaned as the storm slowly calmed, leaving her chest heaving for breath. Little aftershocks visibly thrummed through her, making her twitch and jerk against the polished floor.

Zecora's warm, nude body pressed gently up against Twilight's back, radiating heat. The zebra's voice was quivery as she whispered, "To witness that was beyond words. I long for the abuse that was so gloriously hers."

"Mm, yes. You do," Twilight breathed, turning to embrace Zecora. The look of glazed lust on the other mare's patterned face was just delicious, and Twilight couldn't help but feel her body react to it with a hungry desire of her own. "It's because I planted those thoughts in your head. Made you come and crawl to me, made you need me to fuck your mind."

She was treading dangerous ground, Twilight knew. Every single word she'd just said was completely true, and not something she should be proud of. Those deeds had come at the nadir of her self-control, when she'd forcibly enslaved Zecora simply because she could. She'd rewritten the zebra's memories to make her desperately lust to be controlled, conditioning her to be urgently aroused by the sight of Twilight controlling others. If Celestia hadn't stopped her, she wouldn't have stopped there, either. She couldn't let that happen, couldn't slip like that again.

But, if Twilight was completely honest with herself…

…the memory was thrilling. Shudderingly arousing. It should have been shameful, and it was, but dwelling on it only fanned the flames of her desire. That was the trap laid for her by the pony she'd been; remembering what she'd done involved remembering how good it had felt. And, like an inverted mirror, though Zecora was free of those commands now, she too remembered the unbridled pleasure she'd felt in their grip.

The zebra's eyes were wide, yearning, her pupils large and dark. "Yesss…" she hissed, her lower lip quivering, pressing her body more firmly against her Mistress. "Your words control and bind, I eagerly embrace them to fuck my mind. To be your puppet fills my loins with fire, I must fulfil your every desire."

"You're a pervert," whispered Twilight in sultry tones. "My pervert. You love being my depraved, entranced slut." Her hand slid up Zecora's flank, capturing a round, firm breast, and she tugged firmly on the thick golden ring through her nipple, forcing another quavering moan from the enslaved mare. "You love watching me turn my lovers into helpless thralls, obedient, mindless puppets… don't you?"

"Mmmh," groaned Zecora, biting her lower lip and nodding slowly. Her legs parted, and she pressed forward, grinding her slick cunt against Twilight's thigh. "More than anything, watching you make them your playthings."

"Oh, Celestia?" Twilight sang out, looking down at the crumpled figure of her mentor. "Obey your Empress."

Celestia's eyes snapped open, blank and unseeing, and she slowly pushed herself upright. Settling onto her knees, thighs spread and tits thrust out, chain dangling from her clamped nipple, she spoke in tones of divine calm. "This slave obeys."

"This slave obeys, in a mindless daze," echoed Zecora.

A sudden, explosive giggle escaped Twilight's lips as she met Zecora's empty gaze, leaning forward to kiss the zebra's motionless lips. "Oops! I should be more careful. Though I know, just know, you'd love to be abused as a mindless hypnotised doll."

"I am filled with joy to be your mindless toy," Zecora droned blankly.

"Yes…" breathed Twilight, capturing Zecora's lower lip and biting it gently. This was power, this was control… her softest word could transform any mare in Equestria into her helpless, eager slave. It was tempting to leave the compulsion as it was, at least for a little while, but altering Zecora wasn't the game today. Lowering her voice to the merest whisper, she spoke directly into Zecora's ear. "The command I just gave you is ended. I am satisfied."

The doll-like motionlessness of Zecora's body melted away, animation flashing over her features. Resuming rubbing herself slowly up and down against Twilight's stockinged thigh, she groaned eagerly, "The mesmerised Princess is a sight that fills my body with heated delight. Now that her thoughts are confined, what will you do to her mind?"

Nuzzling her cheek against Zecora's, Twilight whispered intimately, "I could do anything to her. Anything at all. Watch me transform her. Watch how easy it is." Raising her voice, she added conversationally, "Slave. You're a brainwashed whore."

"I am a brainwashed whore," Celestia repeated with blank lack of resistance. Her ethereal mane was dishevelled, half-escaping the ponytails, her thick makeup smeared.

"And such a cute one," Twilight giggled approvingly. Shaking her head, she countermanded herself, "No. Get up, on your feet. Celestia, you are a magical golem. I made you, right now. You're a thing, an object, that I made. You're a sex construct. You're soft and fuckable and made to be fucked in every hole. You will obey my every command without question or hesitation. You exist to obey me."

Slowly, with odd, mechanical smoothness, Celestia rose to her towering height, her arms dangling slackly at her sides. Her wide, empty eyes remained locked on Twilight, as though she were the only thing in the world. Her subtly aristocratic accent completely absent, words flatly functional, she recited, "I am a golem. You made me. I am a thing, an object, for sex. I am made to be fucked in every hole. I exist to obey you."

"Mm! That's right," Twilight told the elder Princess brightly, over Zecora's frantic whimpering. Cradling the zebra against her, she said firmly, "I am satisfied."

A small shiver ran through Celestia's body. Then, as though she'd practised a thousand times, her back straightened, pushing out her bare breasts, her arms straightened, held rigidly stiff at her sides, and her wings ruffled, then settled neatly against her back. Her expression was reminiscent of a guard at attention; a purposeful, attentive flatness.

"This object is ready to fuck, Creator," she declared, in calm, even tones. "Please state Your will."

"Oh, oh yes, please," panted Zecora, "force me to my knees!" Her body was trembling against Twilight's, her arms wound around her Mistress's waist, and she kept almost tugging at Twilight's clothes before forcing herself not to. Her thick, powerful thighs flexed as she ground her cunt against Twilight's leg, sharp gasps and whimpers forcing their way from her lips. "I submit, I obey, anything you say!"

"Construct," Twilight commanded, a shuddering heat adding a tremor to her voice, "Take this zebra, and fuck her."

"This object obeys," Celestia replied blankly. Reaching between her legs, she pulled the thick, dripping dildo from her pussy in one smooth movement, leaving her pink folds spread wide. Her long, elegant horn swept around in a spell that Twilight, to her surprise and sudden fascination, didn't recognise. Threads of golden energy curled around the base of the dildo, binding it to Celestia's hips and leaving the slick black sextoy jutting outwards obscenely under her tiny, schoolfilly skirt.

Then, with complete lack of hesitation, Celestia reached out, seized Zecora by the arm and the back of the neck, and yanked her away from Twilight with such force that the zebra squealed in surprise. Pivoting gracefully on one foot, Celestia thrust Zecora face first against the wall, stunning her. Before the striped mare could do so much as yelp, the thoughtlessly single-minded alicorn bent her over, and slammed the dildo straight into her soaked, glistening cunt.

"She's forceful, isn't she..." Twilight murmured with delighted approval. Stepping closer, she watched hungrily as the mesmerised pony took a firm grip of the back of Zecora's neck with one hand, seized her hip with the other, and began roughly fucking her captive, her hips thrusting back and forth in a quick, mechanically unstoppable rhythm. Zecora could only groan breathlessly with every thrust, bracing herself against the wall with both hands.

"You know," Twilight added conversationally, crouching beside Zecora to bring her face level with the zebra's, "I did this to Luna, once. By accident. I emptied her mind, and left her with only the words, 'I must fuck my sister'. My goodness. I found her pinning Celestia to her own bed, fucking her senseless. But even then, I don't think Luna was as firm with her as my construct is with you, now. Nothing can stop her, not without my order. Isn't that nice?"

"Nngh..." groaned Zecora as another thrust stole her breath, her patterned, grey on grey tits swaying beneath her as Celestia's hips slapped against hers. "Yes, she would do this all day! At your command, she is... fucking my mind away..." she gasped breathily. Her body jerked back and forth as the Princess thrust into her over and over, unstoppably. A rich crimson blush coloured her cheeks, a dazed, unfocused look in her eyes.

"Celestia's mane, I love to see that look on your face," breathed Twilight, sliding a hand between her legs. She simply watched for a couple of moments longer, letting her own slim fingertips flutter over her tingling, sensitive sex as she luxuriated in the sight, before the urge to reach out and touch the helpless, captive fucktoy before her became overwhelming. Sinking down to her knees, she leant under Zecora, and tilted her head, seeking out her slave's nipple with her lips. Twisting and kneading Zecora's other breast with her free hand, she began licking and sucking, tasting the cool metal of the other mare's golden nipple ring on her tongue. Instantly, Zecora's gasps and ragged moans grew more high pitched and desperate.

"Ha-have mercy, Mistress, it is too much! I cannot cope with her shaft and your lips and touch!" Zecora whimpered, her whole body quivering with every thrust.

Twilight's giggle was pure evil. "That's cute," she replied impishly, then gently nipped at Zecora's nipple with her teeth, twisting the ring through the other. There was a note of desperation in Zecora's wordless, animal sounds of pleasure, muffled as she bit her lower lip hard. All she needed was one more push...

"Construct!" Twilight called firmly, "Pinch her clit and keep fucking her!"

The zebra's cry of release was deafening, drowning the mesmerised Princess's words of compliance, an undulating wail that rose and fell as Celestia mindlessly thrust the shaft in and out of her. Her eyes rolled back in her head, lips gaping, Zecora eventually managed to force out the words, "Mercy, please, before I fall to my knees!"

Sighing contentedly, her own arousal simmering pleasantly, Twilight cooed, "You'll have to make it up to me later..."

"Yes, yes, anything you desire! I swear to you, I am no liar!"

"Mm. You do sound very sincere." Twilight giggled again, then kissed each of Zecora's pretty breasts before squirming out from under the zebra. It was a delight all over again to see the blankly intent look on Celestia's face as she relentlessly fucked the other mare, deliciously incongruous in her half-destroyed schoolfilly outfit. "Construct, stop."

"This object obeys," repeated the Solar Princess calmly, immediately locking in place.

"Remove the shaft from Zecora, and dismiss the spell," Twilight went on. "Then pick her up, and carry her to my bed. You know where it is."

"This object obeys." She pulled back, the shaft sliding from Zecora's abused pussy, then clattering to the floor as the spell holding it to Celestia's hips dissolved. Bending down, she wrapped her arms around the shuddering zebra, then lifted her with seeming effortlessness and turned towards the stairs.

Twilight grinned at the stunned look on Zecora's face. "Yes, she's very strong. She just doesn't like to let ponies know it. Come along, fucktoys! I've got such ideas for you two..."

She was late.

Twilight hated being late.

She was late for three reasons. The first was that her magic was still kind of unpredictable, so she didn't dare use it for transportation yet. That left her with the second reason; she barely knew how to use her wings, and she was still terribly awkward with them. She'd meant to get training from Rainbow by now, but she was always so busy...

'Busy' encompassed a lot of activities, including the third reason: she was late because she'd fallen asleep in bed with Zecora and Celestia, and it wasn't a good idea to tell Rainbow she was late for their special date because she'd been snuggling with two of her other slaves.

Flapping in for a landing on the fluffy clouds surrounding Rainbow's house, Twilight wobbled dramatically, then managed to get her balance. Maybe Rainbow hadn't noticed her lateness. Right? Rainbow was hardly ever on time for anything. A nervous smile on her lips, she tugged her skirt straight, and carefully made her way over to the low, rambling bungalow.

The door flew open before she could even knock, and Rainbow Dash burst out, grabbing Twilight’s hand. The flier was gently dishevelled, as though she'd been exercising recently, and her colourful fringe hung over her eyes. "It’s about time! What happened to obsessively being on time for everything?"

Twilight winced. Being on time was important, and she was late. "I – I'm sorry, I was-"

"Doesn't matter! Come on, we've been waiting!" Impatiently, Rainbow yanked on Twilight's hand, dragging the young alicorn inside after her.

We?

"Dash? What's going on?" asked a half-familiar voice from inside.

Recognition struck Twilight at exactly the same moment as she was shoved through the inner doorway into the living room, finding herself nose to nose with Lightning Dust. The turquoise mare was wearing a light set of workout clothes that clung with dedication to her wiry body; she froze in surprise, and Twilight found herself doing the same.

The pegasus recovered from her paralysis first. "Princess? What – what are you doing here?"

"Lightning? I – sorry, I wasn't expecting anypony to be here. Rainbow knew I was coming, so-"

"Oh manure, this is one of those – you're here to be with – I didn't know, I'll go."

"I didn't know you were here, I can go, and you can-"

"No, no, you're – you're a Princess, I'll go-"

"Everypony shut up!" Rainbow yelled.

Silence descended.

"Okay, Twi, sit down there. Dusty, sit your ass down there, too." Rainbow pointed to her small couch. Lightning grinned nervously, and seemed about to make a joke, but after a moment's pause, simply sat down at one extreme of the couch. Twilight carefully sat down at the other end, feeling a tremor of nervous uncertainty that was mirrored on Lightning's face.

Rainbow nodded. "Right. You, and you, stay quiet and actually listen for a minute, okay?" She hesitated, and seemed to struggle for words briefly, before she tried, "Look. I'm a jerk, alright? Sometimes, I'm a jerk," she corrected quickly, holding up her hands to stop either of them saying anything. "Like, I don't always get it at the time, but when I look back, and I think about some of the stuff I've done then yeah, that was a jerk thing to do. So I know what being a jerk looks like. So… Twi?" Taking a deep breath, she concluded, "You were a pretty big jerk to Lightning."

"What? Hey, that's – that's not true!" For a second, Twilight thought she'd spoken the protest aloud, but it had actually come from Lightning's lips. Glancing nervously at Twilight, she added in a hiss, "That is the new Princess, Dash, it's fine, so just-mph!"

Rainbow Dash shut off her protests with characteristic swiftness, stepping close and kissing the other mare full on the mouth. Breaking away, Rainbow stroked Lightning's cheek and said very softly, "Trust me, okay? Let me talk."

Lightning's orange eyes were wide and vulnerable, and it strained Twilight's hearing to catch the words, "…okay. I trust you."

Biting her lip, Twilight managed not to say anything. An intimacy hung in the air between the two of them, a rightness, and for the first time since she'd discovered the charm, Twilight suddenly felt excluded from Rainbow's life. The two of them so obviously fit together, with the toned, wiry bodies of expert fliers. Obviously they'd been growing closer since the threesome they'd all shared in Canterlot, but Rainbow hadn't said anything, and… this. This had been happening, and she hadn't noticed.

She had no pony to blame for that but herself, either.

Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose, shaking her head slightly. An unpleasant ache lingered in the pit of her stomach, and there was a stiffness around her chest that made it difficult to inhale. Rainbow turned back to her, and Twilight looked up with a trace of reluctance.

Still keeping a hand on Lightning's shoulder, the flier spoke carefully, her words a little gentler than her usual brash rasp. "Twi, look. Yeah, I know you didn't know what her deal was before we were doing it, but you - we - took Lightning's first time, alright? We had it together. Whatever. Look, it meant a lot, alright? And then, after that, you flat dumped her on her ass. Didn't tell her so, but you didn't try to talk to her, and did you think she was gonna come and try to bother you about it? Seriously, you didn't. So that was that."

Lightning seemed about to protest again, but Rainbow quietened her with a squeeze of her shoulder, and went on, "Look, I get it. Seen this kind of thing before. Not like this, obviously-" she snorted, dismissing how ludicrous the whole situation was with a flap of her hand, "-but yeah, I've seen it happen when somepony suddenly gets really popular. Gets to be a Wonderbolt trainee, for instance. All of a sudden, they're the new hotness, and they sleep around a whole bunch because hey, they can now. So, yeah. You've been a jerk."

That stung. Of all the ponies Twilight had expected to get lectured by, Rainbow was probably near the bottom of the list, but with Lightning sat right there, it was impossible to look at her face and not feel bad. Because, well, everything Rainbow had said was true. She could have anypony she wanted, if she really chose to. She'd never felt so sexy, so intoxicated by her own sensuality, as she had since she'd mastered the charm. She couldn't have even imagined feeling like this, not so long ago.

Yes, she'd intended to come back to Lightning and see her again... at first. But as time had passed, and she'd been occupied with other things, she'd more or less let that thought go. But she hadn't told Lightning that. She hadn't even thought to contact Lightning and tell her where they stood. Buck. She was a jerk. Whatever happened to being the nicest pony around?

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, Twilight nodded. "...you're right. You're totally right. I should have made the time, and there isn't any excuse for it." Turning her gaze from Rainbow to Lightning, who had hunched her shoulders slightly in awkwardness, Twilight went on more softly, "You deserved much more than I gave you, Lightning. Please know it wasn't because I didn't think you were worth it. You were incredible, and I'm so glad that you and Rainbow have worked something out."

Lightning looked up uncertainly, sweeping a few strands of her fringe out of her eyes. "You are?"

No, not really.

Everything she'd said about Lightning deserving better, that was true. After all, what kind of jerk would someone's special first-time pony be if they didn't even bother to speak to them afterwards? Twilight's expression fossilised around the edges as the internal jab at herself hit home. But that wasn't the lie. No, it was that, despite knowing it was wrong, she felt jealous. Which was stupid. It was stupid. If dating all the ponies she'd been with had taught her anything, it should have been that love wasn't a zero-sum game, where somepony else's gains were your losses.

Rainbow deserved happiness. Lightning deserved happiness. Focus. "Of course I am," Twilight replied quietly.

"Hey, jerkface," Rainbow broke in, her scratchy voice deliberately light and teasing. Ruffling Lightning's mane, she added, "Didn't actually say sorry yet."

Buck! She actually hadn't! "Celestia's mane, I am so bad at this! I'm sorry, Lightning. Really, I am. Forgive me for being a jerk?" Twilight searched Lightning's eyes, trying to divine her reaction. The often brash pegasus was a good deal more subdued than Twilight was used to, and it really wasn't a fun feeling to know it was down to her own lack of care. Still, for the first time since she'd arrived, Lightning lifted her head and met Twilight's gaze, seeming to actually think about the question.

"...yeah, okay. Princess Jerk." Lightning's chest rose and fell once as she exhaled her tension, then she sat up straighter and smiled at Twilight. "If you'd left it any longer, that would totally have been too late, though, so you better thank Dash for kicking your ass."

Rainbow grinned widely, with more than a shade of relief. Taking Lightning's hand, she looked over at Twilight with a challenging look in her eyes and said in a leading tone, "Hey, hold on, Dusty. You want to forgive her that easy? Because I did have an idea how she could make it up to you. Doesn't involve kicking her ass, but it's near there."

Lightning cocked her head, looking up at her lover, then at Twilight again. A disbelieving look on her face, she replied with frank amusement, "No way. This is what this was all about?"

"No? Yeah, kinda. I figure the best way Twi can apologise is by sticking that royal ass in the air and getting royally spanked." Rainbow nodded firmly at Lightning, though both of them sneakily glanced from the corners of their eyes at her.

No way. The reaction was instant and automatic, and came far quicker than Twilight could find justification for it. Her reaction must have shown on her face, because Rainbow added, "Hey, I deserve to get my ass smacked for setting you both up today without telling you, fair's fair. But you first." The pegasus was grinning, still, and Lightning was beginning to look intrigued, too.

Twilight carefully kept herself from frowning, while interrogating her own feelings. Okay. Why not?

...well, because she was in charge, that was why. Empress Twilight, remember? No one spanked her, that was something that happened to her pets. Or, Twilight conceded internally, if she looked at it another way, it was because she was totally buying into her own 'Mistress of all she surveyed' thing and badly needed to be brought down a peg to maintain some perspective.

Frig.

And the thing was, Rainbow was suggesting all of it pretty lightly, but she was serious, too. She had Lightning to turn to; if Twilight showed she wasn't capable of getting a grip on her ego, they'd end up parting. Maybe not right away, but... eventually. It wasn't like Twilight had any way to stop her leaving. After all, if Rainbow said she didn't want to be part of the harem, but did want to keep sleeping with Applejack, could Twilight even tell her she couldn't? That would be down to Applejack - would have to be, because coming down heavy handed there could end up driving all of them away.

The worst possible thing would be to react with offended dignity. Or - no, actually, the worst thing would be to charm them both and make them surrender to her. She did need to be reminded what consequences felt like. And would it really be so bad to be on the receiving end voluntarily for once?

The moment of quiet had stretched slightly too long; the expressions of the two mares were subtly rigid at the edges. Twilight shook her head, her mane shifting with the motion, and smiled wryly at them, feeling the coil of tension releasing within her. "Okay. I totally, totally deserve it."

Rainbow's relief was tangible, her shoulders slumping. "Yeah, you do. Get on over here, bend over the chair arm. We're gonna really make sure you feel this one."

Twilight stood up, and felt her smile settle into the smugly mischievous expression she'd seen so many times on Celestia's face since her enslavement. Just because she deserved it didn't mean she had to make it easy. "You don't have a spanking bench set up ready? Tsh. You should know how important it is to set up the right equipment before strenuous exercise. It is going to be a proper work out, won't it?" she asked with playful innocence. "You wouldn't want to waste your chance."

Lightning blinked, then looked to Rainbow for guidance. "There's the weight lifting bench, right?" she suggested tentatively.

"...yeah. Yeah!" Rainbow decided, nodding firmly. With a flap of her wings, she shot across the room, disappearing from sight only to return a moment later carrying a padded red bench. Shoving the coffee table aside with her foot, she dumped it in the middle of the floor, and waved at it. "That'll do. Face down and ass in the air, Twi."

"Whatever you say," Twilight purred, grinning inwardly. She had to admit, she could see the entertainment value in playing the smugly superior sub, knowing it was one of the most maddening things Celestia did. Strolling over to the bench, Twilight sank down to her knees - firmly crushing another flash of outraged pride that protested the motion - and bent forward, laying her upper body along the length of the bench. It was soft, and surprisingly comfortable, even though it did tend to compress her breasts under her. That never used to be a problem, not before the changes she'd gone through.

"Well?" She swayed her ass playfully, flicking her striped tail from side to side. "Time is wasting, Rainbow. When you're finished, you should know I am definitely going to spank you redder than Big Mac." Glancing over her shoulder, Twilight's smug smile widened as she saw Rainbow's appalled expression.

"No freaking way have you spanked Big Mac," she spluttered. "Applejack would - she wouldn't stand for it!"

Twilight paused, giving Rainbow an ambiguous smile. Waiting for the exact moment the pegasus opened her mouth to speak again, Twilight preempted her with a calm, "That was just an example. Of course I haven't." Rainbow's expression began to change, and again, she opened her mouth to speak, only to be interrupted with a pleasant little, "Yet."

Naturally, she didn't really intend to do anything of the sort, but the stunned look on Rainbow's face was more than worth it. No wonder Celestia had so much fun being a pain in the tail, it was a positive delight to-

Twilight's skirt and panties were yanked down in a single forceful motion, baring her sex to the cool air. "Eep!" she yelped involuntarily, twisting to look over her other shoulder. Lightning stood there, giving Twilight a look of laughing disbelief.

"Holy buck. You're a huge brat, aren't you Princess?"

Twilight gasped as Rainbow's hands suddenly seized hold of her ass, pushing her forward against the bench, and the familiar, scratchy voice agreed, "Oh, yeah, she totally is. She's really good at talking her way out of things, too. You're not gonna let her talk her way out of her punishment, though, right Dusty?"

Another touch, tentative at first but growing rapidly in assertiveness, joined Rainbow's. "Yeah, no. Like I'm gonna let you have all the fun. Besides, this is supposed to be her apology to me, remember?"

"Yeah, but I made it happen, so I totally get to have the first go-"

Breathing deeply, feeling her chest swelling against the bench with every inhalation, Twilight shivered pleasantly. There was something enjoyably exposing about feeling the two mares stroking and squeezing her smooth ass, and it was starting to make her tail flick involuntarily. Controlling her tone to keep it level and pleasant, she offered, "If I'm causing a disagreement, I could always reschedule. A week next Thursday perhaps?"

A stinging crack landed on her right asscheek, followed an instant later by another on the left. Despite herself, she gasped, biting her lip. "No?" she managed. "I could arrange something for the Tuesday-ah!" Another spank cracked loudly against her ass, and she couldn't hold back the instinctive yelp. "Perhaps you'd like to talk to my scheduler- aah!"

Lightning and Rainbow's differences had obviously been put aside in the face of her taunting. A torrent of blows rained down on her upturned ass, her hips squirming to push herself upwards, and she felt a firm grip yank her tail up and out of the way, exposing her completely. A rich red blush coloured her cheeks, her face growing hot, and to her embarrassment, she felt her body responding to the abuse. Her nipples were growing stiff, rubbing against the fabric of her bra each time she jerked against the bench.

If anything, it reminded her of that treacherous pleasure she'd felt under Vinyl's hands. Despite all the reasons not to be tempted – despite the fact she was in the middle of a lesson in why it was selfish and dangerous – she really wanted to get her hands on that mare again. Gently rocking back and forth against the bench, her tail twitching in the grip of whichever of the two ponies was holding it up, she hazily heard Rainbow say, "Hey, Dusty. Watch this."

Crack!

"Yeeeoww!" Twilight yelped, shocked out of her pleasant daze. "My ass!"

"See?" crowed Rainbow Dash, poking Twilight's tender skin. "Perfect handprint. You can see all the fingers, look. Reckon if I went a bit harder, I could even get the fingerprints."

"My ass," Twilight repeated, with incredulous indignation. "Do you have any idea how much that stings?" Her pert behind was on fire, burning and tingling in equal measure.

"Wow, yeah, that's pretty good," Lightning agreed, ignoring Twilight. "Oooh, I can even feel her skin is hotter there! Okay, loser, let me show you how a real Wonderbolt does it."

"Lightning, I swear, don't you dare," Twilight gasped, speaking rapidly as she gripped the sides of the bench with both hands, bracing herself. "I'll chain you to the wall – I'll crop your tits, I'll paddle you, I'll – nono, don't you even dare, that's my ass, I'll punish you, I'll- yaaagh!"

"There. That's a handprint."

"Sure, if you hadn't missed off half your thumb, dork. Also, we're both still trainees, so you're not a real Wonderbolt yet, either."

"She jerked!"

"She jerked when I smacked her too!"

"She wasn't expecting it the first time, you had it easy. Okay, watch this-"

"I will flog you naked through Ponyville!" Twilight threatened raggedly. Her ass really stung!

There was a second's pause. Then, Lightning asked, "Yeah, but she wouldn't really, right?"

"Nah."

"Didn't think so."

Twilight screeched again as Lightning's hand cracked across her ass, sending fireworks of sensation exploding up her spine. Her back arched and her thighs quivered, tugging on the grip holding her tail.

"I mean, she probably won't," went on Rainbow.

"Dash!"

"I figure, if she doesn't, you get to spank her good and get away with it, and if she does, I get to watch, so win-win."

"Dash!"

Sucking in deep breaths, Twilight tensed as she felt Rainbow's hand touch her skin again, but to her surprise, the flier's small fingers were gentle this time. Stroking and caressing where her skin burnt the hottest, Rainbow stroked the stinging away, joined after a moment by Lightning's touch. The relief was incredible, and the tension went out of her neck, leaving her head slumped to one side against the bench.

Then the gently caressing, exploring fingers began teasing her throbbing cunt.

A long, wordless moan escaped her as her sensitised, tingling body reacted to the delicate, expert touch. All of a sudden, the heat of her tender skin was throbbing in a different way, in time with her heartbeat, and no pony expected anything from her except to lie there and take it. Over and over again she'd seduced ponies with the sheer, simple pleasure of being her captive, not having to think or do anything except what they were told. Now she was on the receiving end, and despite her stubborn pride, it did feel good...

Rainbow spoke up, a smirk in her voice. "Yeah, this is totally a better look for you."

An instant flare of resistance stiffened Twilight's spine, and her head lifted. Still breathing deeply, she threatened breathily, "Enjoy it while you can, Rainbow Slut, because when I'm done apologising I'm going to spank you so hard you won't sit down for a week-"

A hot, dextrous tongue lapped up the length of her cunt. Twilight's words broke off, and she groaned, half in protest. That wasn't fair. Rainbow had always been the best with her tongue, it was just impossible to concentrate when she was nuzzling and licking like that...

"She's a pretty quick learner, huh?" Rainbow boasted proudly.

And apparently, in her own areas of specialisation, Rainbow was an excellent teacher. "Don't think... this gets you off... the hook... not either of you," Twilight gasped, her thighs quivering with every flick of Lightning's tongue. Soft kisses and cool licks teased her tender ass as Rainbow joined in with her protégé, and low groans hinted that the lithe fliers had begun touching each other. They had passed beyond words now, and there was only sensation, ebbing and surging, leaving Twilight bonelessly limp. Her eyes rolled up, and she shuddered spasmodically.

It felt like her body was melting, her grip on the bench loosening, then failing completely as her hands fell free to dangle below her. Her face rested against the soft, slick redness of the bench, her eyelids fluttering, lips scarcely parted. She might have sighed something encouraging; she didn't even know anymore. When her orgasm broke over her, it wasn't a sharp, sudden release; it was like being picked up by a broad wave, lifted from her feet and carried with the surge, going on and on. When it finally ebbed, she was left beached, limp and completely satiated.

Movement, sensed rather than seen, prompted her to slowly open her eyes. Rainbow and Lightning's faces came into focus, side by side, peering down at her with playful curiosity.

"Do you think we killed her?" Lightning asked, grinning impishly. It struck Twilight, forcefully, just how cute the pegasus was when she smiled like that.

"Nah," replied Rainbow, elbowing Lightning in the ribs. "You're not that good yet. Still got plenty to learn."

"Well, I sure didn't hear any complaints. How about it, Princess? Still alive?"

"Nyaarg..." managed Twilight, trying to assemble coherent words and failing miserably.

Lightning giggled, the sound mingling with Rainbow's raspier snigger. "See? I totally win. Again. Maybe it's you that needs the practice."

"Maybe you need this," retorted Rainbow, and caught Lightning in an inexpert headlock, roughly mussing her mane with her fist.

"Hey, get off! Lemme go, loser!"

"Make me, dweeb!"

Twilight's heart swelled in her chest, overwhelmed by a sudden surge of affection. Pushing herself up with one hand, she reached out and ruffled Rainbow's mane. "Shush," she told the two of them warmly. "Let her go, Rainbow."

"Psh." Rainbow snorted, but let go of Lightning, who straightened up and pushed into Rainbow's personal space, ending up nose to nose.

"Jerk," Lightning accused.

"Poser," Rainbow retorted.

Their lips met in a hungry kiss, their bodies drawing together. Rainbow's hand slid under Lightning's tight work-out top and pushed it up, baring the other flier's small, compact breasts. In return, Lightning slid her hands down to seize her lover's ass, kneading firmly. Small sighs and murmurs escaped them both, and for a moment, they seemed to completely forget their audience.

Pushing herself up off the bench, Twilight moved stiffly, her legs protesting. Shifting her body upright, she rested her weight on her tender, abused ass, and immediately yelped at the fresh wave of stinging sensation.

Rainbow broke away from the kiss to comment teasingly, "Sore ass, Twi? That's like, the least you deserved, you know it."

"Yes, that's actually true," Twilight acknowledged, then winced as she shifted position. Carefully standing up, she rubbed her ass gingerly, and added, "Ow. That doesn't mean-"

"Oh, yeah. I totally deserve it too," Rainbow agreed, catching her lower lip between her teeth. "Guess you'd have to beat me down extra hard, after all the spanking I gave you."

"I intend to." Twilight's voice dropped a notch, to a deeper, huskier note, and she padded closer, her gaze seeking out and holding Rainbow's eyes as if transfixing the other mare. "I think you've gone too long without being shown your proper place as my obedient fucktoy. I'd be glad to remind you."

"Think you should," Rainbow breathed, her body visibly tensing up in anticipation. With a deep breath, she broke their locked gaze, and nodded off to the side. "Dusty could use a spanking too. I think so, anyway."

Twilight turned, taking in Lightning once more. The other pegasus had withdrawn a couple of steps, and there was a complicated expression on her face, one that owed something to awkwardness, longing and yes, a little nervous jealousy. Her eyes had widened at Rainbow's sudden mention of her, and as Twilight looked at her, she hesitantly met Twilight's eyes.

It was funny, really. Everypony in Twilight's harem was under a suggestion not to get jealous of the others, or at least, a carefully worded suggestion that made them inclined not to be jealous. But Twilight herself wasn't under any such command, and nor was Lightning. The two of them could each feel the full range of frustration and possessive longing. Twilight shook her head slightly; she had really messed up by leaving Lightning to languish on her own. And now Rainbow was suggesting that her marefriend submit to Twilight once again. Obviously hadn't discussed it with her, either.

Speaking more softly, Twilight asked, "Lightning? Is that something you want?"

Silence settled. Lightning awkwardly tugged her top back into place to cover her chest, not saying anything, leaving Twilight holding her breath as her tension grew. For once, Rainbow had the sense to stay quiet, her gaze flicking back and forth between them.

Finally, hesitantly, Lightning spoke. "I... look. It's not like I don't get it. From when you and I, and Rainbow, first got together. From then, I knew - Rainbow was really clear about it - I knew about the herd. That you and Rainbow were sleeping together, and with a whole bunch of other mares besides. I knew from the start," she repeated, looking down and to the side, not meeting their eyes, "but I did feel pretty left out after you never came back to me. Like Dash said, you're a jerk, Princess. So I stopped asking about what she did when she was with you."

Twilight took a step towards her, with a touch of trepidation. "Lightning-"

"Hey, hey, hey. Not finished," the pegasus interrupted her without rancour.

"Did I look like I was finished?" quoted Rainbow, in tones vaguely reminiscent of the clipped bark that Spitfire reserved for yelling at the ponies she was drilling.

Lightning grinned at the impression, nodding once, then her gaze turned back to Twilight. "Seriously, I do get it. I know you guys have been through a lot, and that makes you close. That's the way it goes with teams. I'm not gonna try to break you up, because if I tried, it wouldn't work. It's not just you, either. There's that big-ass farm pony that Dash can't stop gushing about, too, and all the rest of it. So if I can't have Dash all to myself-" she took a deep breath, "-then I want in. I'm done watching from the sidelines. I wanna be part of what you guys have. Okay?"

"...okay," replied Twilight gently. Completing her earlier motion, she moved up to Lightning and gently took the other mare's hands in hers, feeling the nervousness radiating from the pegasus. Seen from Lightning's point of view, of course she'd worry that Rainbow would dump her if she made too much of a fuss about Rainbow's other partners. Rainbow was a Princess's consort, after all, and together with the other elements, they'd all been together a long time before she, Lightning, had even met Rainbow. Every fear that had instinctively struck Twilight on learning of just how close the two were must have occurred to Lightning ages ago, and with considerably greater force. She deserved better than that.

All the same, Lightning had to believe, to know, that Twilight would never accept a slave out of sheer pity. Squeezing the aqua pony's fingers, Twilight met her gaze, and spoke sincerely. "Lightning, I didn't choose you on a whim. I chose you because I watched you compete with Rainbow Dash, and it was incredible to see the two of you together. You're toned, athletic, fit, gorgeous, and you're so fast you can give Rainbow a run for her bits." There was a snort from behind Twilight, which she chose to ignore. "I'm sorry I neglected you, I truly am. You deserved better. A lot better. But you always had meaning to me."

"Well... well, yeah. Yeah! That's right. Never doubted it for a minute. Dash told me that you'd picked me out, and brought her in on it. Obviously that was because you were blown away by me," replied Lightning, recovering some of her façade of cockiness.

"I was," agreed Twilight warmly. She didn't really want to get into all the things she wanted Lightning to agree to before formally becoming part of the harem - convincing her that she needed to be a mindless sex doll on command was going to take some doing - but it wasn't fair not to give her any warning at all, either, so she added, "There are some things we should talk about later, things that I ask of the ponies that give themselves up to me long term. But for right now-" she squeezed Lightning's fingers again, then released her hand and smiled at the slim mare. "-do you want to play?"

Lightning glanced at Rainbow Dash, who was shifting from one foot to the other in impatient eagerness, then took a deep breath. "Sure. I can take it. I can take whatever you dish out, Princess."

"You don't think you'll give up before Rainbow?" Twilight asked, teasing gently.

Lightning snorted, shaking her head. "Yeah, right. I can outlast any part-timer without breaking a sweat."

"You wanna get in my face and say that again?" challenged Rainbow, finally unable to keep quiet any longer. "You'll be squealing for mercy when I'm still saying, 'hey, have we started yet'."

"Then let's put that to the test, shall we?" asked Twilight pleasantly. Her heart beat faster as she consciously relaxed, and let her instincts take over. Her back straightened, and she drew herself up, suddenly towering over the two mares. A flare of magic coated her rumpled blouse, buttons slipping loose as she stripped herself, her bra unfastening to release her pleasantly firm, high breasts. Standing with legs parted, her tail flicking, glistening cunt on full display, she spoke again in a huskier, harder tone. "You will both be punished for your impertinence."

"Buck me," muttered Rainbow as she watched Twilight undress, "I forgot what a number that spell did on you. Did all the Princesses get a magic boobjob when they magicked up their alicorn bodies? Guess that'd explain a lot, actually. Celestia sure does have tits you could suffocate in, and Luna's not far behind."

Lightning blushed, elbowing Rainbow sharply in the side. "You don't talk about the Princesses like that!" she hissed, before a sudden look of sharp curiosity flashed over her face. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. You're not - there is no way you're pretending that you've actually seen Celestia's-"

"I said," Twilight interrupted, in tones of smooth menace, "that you will be punished. But it seems you're not paying attention. Stand to attention, and lift your arms above your head. Now." Oh, yes. Yes. This was it, this was the feeling that she knew she had grown hopelessly addicted to, the sensation of that sleek, sadistic cruelty flowing through her, filling her with the urge to dominate and control.

"Actually, I've totally seen-" Rainbow whispered to Lightning, before giving a sudden yelp as violet energy crackled around her wrists and jerked them over her head, pulling her onto her tiptoes. She instinctively struggled against the immovable grip for a moment, then relaxed, her breath growing fast and shallow. Beside her, Lightning was yanked into position in exactly the same way, wings instinctively fluttering as they tried to support her.

"There's something you should understand," Twilight went on calmly, a sharp gleam in her eyes. "When I decide to restrain you, you're helpless to resist me. You're my puppets. My dolls. Living, breathing playthings, utterly at my mercy." Reaching out to Rainbow, she stroked the back of her hand down the captive mare's cheek, then slapped her lightly across the face. "Got it?" she finished, with dangerous sweetness.

"G-got it!" gasped Rainbow, a pink flush rising on her cheeks and across the upper slopes of her chest where her low-cut tank top exposed her blue skin. Her nipples were already jutting through the thin fabric, and her wings were half-spread, jerking inwards as Twilight slapped her again.

"Good. Your name is Rainbow Slut. You seem to have forgotten that. I'm going to remind you. And as for you…" Twilight turned to Lightning, who hung from her magical restraints, eyes wide, and the naked dominatrix stepped closer, raking her nails down Lightning's bared stomach just firmly enough to leave pale scratches on her skin. "What do you think you are?"

Lightning jerked as Twilight's nails ran down her body, a shiver running through her. "I – I don't know, what should I be?" she stammered.

"You're my bitch," Twilight told her with soft firmness. Her smooth cunt glistened anew with fresh excitement, and she reached out to Rainbow with her other hand, stroking both of their firm, toned bodies through the scanty, exposing exercise clothes they'd never quite wriggled out of. "Isn't that right?" She punctuated her words with a jerk of the telekinetic force suspending the two of them, pulling them higher onto the tips of their toes.

"Yes! I'm your bitch, Princess, your Dust Bitch," Lightning panted, shivering again as her body swayed on tiptoe.

Her eyes narrowing, Twilight felt a cool, cruel smile spread across her lips. Leaning closer to Lightning, she said with soft, deliberate precision, "You're afraid right now. Aren't you."

Lightning's whole body tensed, and her mouth closed abruptly, as if she was afraid of the answer that might escape her lips.

Twilight giggled, and shook her head, leaning in to softly bite at the side of Lightning's neck. "It's okay. It's a good fear. You're nervous because you're helpless, completely in my grasp, at my mercy…" she breathed. "Your skin is prickling, your heart is pounding, you're sweating... your head feels light. You can't fight me. I control you. Every part of you belongs to me. Your cute, firm ass, your cunt, your pretty tits... everything."

"I'm not scared!" interrupted Rainbow, her body quivering. A delicious, shivery breathlessness in her voice, she panted, "I'm not scared of anything, neither of us are! You're just a bookworm that thinks she's way more important than she really is! We're Wonderbolts!"

Seizing on Rainbow's defiance, Lightning nodded quickly, her slim shoulders tensing as she tugged at the magic trapping her wrists above her. "Yeah! Nearly! Shouldn't you be writing a book about - about old ruins, or some junk, Princess Jerk?"

"Oh, really. Is that how you’d like it?" Twilight replied, with perfect, silky menace. Raising a finger, she twirled it once in the air. Both of them spun on the spot, twisted abruptly to face away from her, their yelps of surprise mingling as their feet slipped on the floor. Cupping Lightning’s toned, firm ass, Twilight squeezed firmly through her gym shorts, and added huskily, "Gorgeous. I'm going to enjoy punishing you."

"Do your worst!" cried out Rainbow, struggling with the energy clamping her wrists together over her head.

"Hey! That's my ass you're talking about!" Lightning hastily protested in an undertone.

"You can't show her you're scared of her!" hissed Rainbow back.

"Say that when it's your turn!" Raising her voice again, Lightning added loudly, "Yeah! Do your worst, with your feeble, noodle arms!"

"Noodle arms? Seriously, dweeb?"

"Shut up!"

With a considerable effort of will, Twilight managed not to snigger aloud. It was just as well they couldn't see her expression. Taking a deep breath, she asked in calm, pleasant tones, "Are you two done? Good. Then I'll begin." Sliding her fingers into the waistband of Lightning's shorts, she pulled down sharply, revealing the helpless mare's bare ass. Without giving her time to react, Twilight captured their smooth, warm curves in her hands, squeezing and kneading with possessive firmness.

"Hey-" Lightning began to protest, then groaned instead, her wings fluttering. Her legs kicked slightly, her shorts sliding the rest of the way down her slim legs and pooling around her feet, and she murmured, "…okay."

"It's a trick! She's luring you into a – a thing!"

"A false sense of security?" asked Twilight mildly. Lightning's body truly did feel wonderful under her touch, with the tight, compact curves of a professional athlete. Of course, she loved the soft, full asses of several of her other slaves, too, and Applejack managed to combine muscular firmness with considerably more heft than either of the two fliers, but there was a lot to be said for variety… "Mmmh," she murmured, squeezing the other mare's cheeks together and feeling the pleasant urge to kiss them.

"Yeah, that," Rainbow said insistently, craning her neck to see what Twilight was doing. "That's what you're doing!"

Twilight sighed a soft sound of enjoyment, nodding once. "I suppose so," she agreed, straightening up. In a single short, sharp movement, her hand whipped back, and struck Lightning's ass with a resounding crack.

"Ahhh!" yelped Lightning, jerked from her pleasant reverie. "Ow! You – you total-"

Twilight cut her off with another firm smack, giggling. "What was that? I'm a total…" she trailed off suggestively, and as Lightning opened her mouth to reply, she spanked the captive mare firmly again, delighting in the way that it knocked Lightning right off her toes and left her swinging from her arms. Building a quick, forceful rhythm of open-palmed slaps and backhands, Twilight took a wicked, sadistic delight in the way Lightning's ass grew reddened under her rough care. "Well, Lightning? Do you have something to say?" she panted, her own body glistening with a sheen of perspiration, her breasts swaying with every strike.

"Ow! Ahh! You bitch! You evil-minded bitch!" Lightning yelped, desperately trying to squirm away from the fusillade of blows. All the same, even as she wriggled against her bonds, her toes skittering against the floor, her cheeks were growing as pink as her firm ass, and each gasp that escaped her lips was touched by more arousal than the last.

"Mmhm," Twilight agreed smoothly, "That's right." With a last smack that made the helpless mare yelp, she gently stroked her fingers over Lightning's reddened skin, feeling the heat radiating from her. Pressing closer, feeling the pleasant tickle of Lightning's feathers against her bare breasts and taut nipples, she purred intimately into her ear, "But that's what you get off on. Somepony that won't let you talk back to them. Somepony that will punish you. Somepony that will force you to obey, make you her whimpering, panting whore, crawling on the ground before her. Isn't that right? Say 'Yes, Ma'am'."

A deep, deep groan escaped Lightning's body, a new kind of tension coiling within her, her head tilting back and her eyes half-closing. "Yesss… yes, Ma'am," she breathed, her wings quivering.

"What about me?" protested Rainbow, struggling against her magical bonds without success. "I deserve to be punished more than her! Come on, dweeb, don't give in so easy!"

Twilight grinned, deliberately ignoring Rainbow's outburst. Her turn would come. As for Lightning, though, she definitely had a crush on Spitfire, or at least had done, and that left a perfect space in the captive mare's fantasies for her to step into. With a cruel smile playing about her lips, Twilight wrapped one arm around Lightning's waist, her fingertips gently drifting over her soaked, bare cunt. "Do you need to be touched, slave?" she asked archly.

The suspended mare jerked, a whimper escaping her. Trying to grind against Twilight's teasing fingers, Lightning panted, "Pleeease, Ma'am! Please!"

"I don't think you want this badly enough," replied Twilight calmly. "Perhaps I should go and punish Rainbow Slut instead."

"Yes!" cried out Rainbow, jerking back and forth in frantic frustration. "Do me! It's my turn!"

"Nonono, finger me, please!" begged Lightning. "I need it so bad!"

"Me!" Rainbow urged.

Slowly, deliberately, Twilight leant in and nibbled Lightning's earlobe, as she caressed her captive's cunt more forcefully. Delighting in the slick wetness under her fingers, she whispered intimately, "Degrade yourself, Wonderslut. Tell me all the delicious, terrible things you'll do for me... and as long as you do, I'll keep touching you."

"Yes!" whimpered Lightning, her body swaying as her thighs rubbed together. "I'll - I'll do whatever you want, Ma'am, I'll be your bitch, like you wanted. I'll obey, I'll obey orders-"

Seeking out Lightning's slick, tingling clit, Twilight pinched it between finger and thumb, urging a jerky yelp from the submissive mare's lips. "More degrading," the depraved Princess remarked pleasantly.

"I - I, I'll - I'll crawl on the floor, I'll be tied to the wall, where you can fuck me any time you want, I'll - haah, I'll be your whore, I will, me and Dash, we'll be your mewling bitches, please, please Ma'am, don't stop, don't stop!"

"Hey, I never said I'd be her-" Rainbow began, then gasped as Twilight's free hand cracked against her ass.

"But you will, Rainbow," Twilight told her huskily. She laid her head against the back of Lightning's, caressing and teasing her cunt with one hand as she squeezed and kneaded Rainbow's ass with the other. "You will. You gave yourself to me. No tricks, no accidents with spells – I chose you, and you chose me. You were the first pony that just gave herself to me, freely. You're special."

Rainbow sucked in a gulp of air as Twilight tugged her tail firmly, her eyes wide. In a smaller, quieter voice, almost drowned out by Lightning's ragged panting, she whispered, "I was the first?"

"That's right," Twilight agreed huskily. "You gave yourself to me, and I'm not ever letting you go." Her fingers moved between Rainbow's legs, the pegasus instinctively parting her thighs to give her Mistress greater access, and to her hungry delight, Rainbow was just as wet as her marefriend. Twin shudders ran through the two of them in perfect unison as Twilight slid a finger into each of them.

"I don't want you to!" Rainbow gasped, her voice livid with sudden sincerity. "Keep me!" Twisting her head towards Lightning, she added with a note of deep, heartfelt yearning, "Keep us?"

Shakily, struggling to find words, Lightning nodded, her head lolling. "W-want to, be part of it, want to share your whole life, please! Ma'am, keep us!"

An ache anchored itself deep within Twilight's chest, her heart swelling, and wetness glistened in her eyes, overwhelmed by the emotion crackling between her two captive slaves. "I will!" she promised, pressing more tightly against Lightning. "You're special, you're both so special and beautiful! I want to keep you at my side, loving each other, helping each other be better depraved fuckdolls at my feet. I want you to stay together, and be happy, and be mine!"

"Yes, Ma'am!" gasped Lightning, her voice breaking with emotion. "We will! I'll be hers, and she'll be mine and we'll be yours!" Her body quivered violently as Twilight's hand worked at her with increasing urgency, two slickly-coated fingers sliding in and out of her, the heel of her Mistress's palm grinding against her clit and near-tearfully, she panted, "I want to cum so badly!"

"I wanted all of us to be together too!" confessed Rainbow in a rush, her body straining towards Lightning's. Shuddering trembles wracked her, goosebumps rising on her arms, her nipples standing out like tiny rocks from her small tits. "I want this, I want to be fucked, and forced, and used, and – and I want you with me!"

With a convulsive shiver, Twilight slid her fingers out of her two suspended slaves, prompting a double gasp and groan of disappointment and need. Shakily, her chest heaving, she breathed, "Yes, you two should be together." With a gesture of her horn, the two twisted around to face each other, then were drawn inescapably together, slender bodies pressed against one another. The instant the two were in reach, their mouths met, kissing hungrily and urgently.

Embracing both of them, Twilight's hands slid firmly between their parted legs, finding the twinned molten heat of their glistening cunts once more. Kissing and softly biting at Rainbow's shoulder and neck, Twilight panted, "Mine, my pony, my fucktoy, my slave, my slaves, my pretty, athletic fuckdolls!"

"Mmmhf!" whimpered Rainbow into Lightning's mouth, lifting her legs and wrapping them around her partner's waist. The two of them ground frantically against each other, their mingled gasps indistinguishable from each other, growing louder and louder until their slim, firm bodies quaked and shuddered together, spasms within their cunts squeezing Twilight's fingers and coating them with fresh wetness.

Holding onto them both, her own body quivering with sympathetic echoes of their desperate pleasure, Twilight gently lowered their arms and released the magic binding them. Together, on quivering legs, the three of them crawled into Rainbow's small bed, overwhelming it with warm, nude bodies. By unspoken consent, Twilight lay in the centre, flat on her back, while the other two cuddled up either side of her, alternately pillowing their heads on her breasts and kissing each other with satiated passion.

Eventually, Twilight sighed with deep, quiet satisfaction. "My ass is still sore, you know," she complained lightly to the two of them.

"Mine too," Lightning agreed.

"Not mine," replied Rainbow with a smug look on her face.

"Only because she was focused on me," Lightning retorted.

"Yeah, well, she owes me. I taught her a friendship lesson and everything."

Twilight snorted a giggle, nodding her agreement. Gently playing with Rainbow's feathers, she replied, "It's true, you did. Thank you. Well, I don't think Celestia is in any state to reply to letters right now. Luna is still in Canterlot, though. I could write one to her!"

"Princess Luna!" Trixie strutted into the throne room, a letter curled tightly in her hand, and gestured grandly at the pair of courtiers addressing the seated Princess on her high throne. "Begone, menial ponies! The Great and Powerful Trixie must have words with the diarch!"

Luna gave Trixie a long look. She wasn't rolling her eyes, and she wasn't burying her face in her hands, but it was somehow tangible that she was doing neither of these things despite a distinct urge to do so. "Trixie. Is this an urgent matter?"

"The most urgent! Trixie would never interrupt you for something that wasn't important."

Luna's eyes narrowed slightly. "Such as the lack of cream cake in the kitchens?"

"Well, that was important. Just because Celestia isn't here, they think all of a sudden that they can go ahead and run out of cake with no consequences."

"Or thy trouble with the palace laundry," said Luna flatly.

"Her magnificent hat was foalnapped! Somepony must be punished severely, or else how can Canterlot Castle continue to even function?" Trixie demanded, drawing herself up straighter.

"Then what is it this time, Trixie Lulamoon? Please do not describe these hard working, invaluable ponies as menial. They are most valuable to the safe running of Equestria."

"Thank you, Princess. It is our honour to serve," replied the older of the two, with a sidelong glare at Trixie.

Snorting, Trixie dismissed them with a wave of her letter. "Yes, yes, of course, everypony is special in their own way. But she is serious. There is a letter passed on from Argent for Twilight! Two of her finders-"

"Seekers," murmured Luna.

"-sent word they found something suspicious! And then haven't sent any messages since! In Trixie's opinion," the mare said grandly, "the Great and Powerful Trixie, and Twilight, should go at once to rescue these feeble minions. They will be so grateful."

"I wish to see this letter," Luna replied with a small frown. Trixie approached, radiating smug superiority as she walked in front of the older, bearded courtier, and offered the letter upwards. It floated from her hand, unfurling before Luna's eyes.

"A whole village," Luna murmured after a moment, her frown deepening. "Ponies go missing, and arrive there, but never wish to leave. Obscured cutie-marks. A cult of personality? This is troubling." Focusing on Trixie, Luna met her gaze, holding it. "No foolishness, Trixie. What do you believe is happening?"

Trixie gestured extravagantly, opening her mouth to reply, then hesitated as Luna's stare bored into her. Lowering her hands, she paused, then replied in a more subdued tone, "Trixie isn't sure. Nothing good. It reminds her of the… amulet."

"I am forced to agree," Luna said slowly, looking the letter over again. "Trixie, please contact Twilight. At once."

Author's Note

Here we are! More mind control! More friendship!

Definitely more consequences.

I've missed putting this story out there, and I'm enjoying getting fully to grips with it again. It's off to Our Village!

Proofed speedily and efficiently by Djmill
Additional proofing and suggestions by DbzOrDie

15: Welcome to Our Town

"I'm home!" Twilight called, slipping around the edge of her front door and shutting it behind her. It was actually pretty risky to open her own door too widely at the moment, at least when other ponies might walk past behind her and glimpse the interior of the library, and the kind of creative depravity on display within. She'd left Celestia in her pretty little schoolfilly outfit, though she had removed her mentor's nipple clamps before she departed.

She wasn't a monster, after all.

She'd expected to see Celestia, or Zecora if the zebra was still there. Instead, Rarity was sitting daintily upon the couch, sipping tea from a cup and saucer, while Pinkie gestured animatedly as she enthused, "-and then, I pull the cord, and the barrel releases the strawberry-flavour lubricant shower!"

"That sounds like an… exciting party," Rarity replied, her eyes flicking towards the doorway. Breaking into a smile, she added, "Welcome home, my Lady. We've been expecting you."

Perking up, Pinkie bounced up onto her tiptoes and flung herself at Twilight, colliding with a force that nearly knocked the slim alicorn clean off her feet. The pink pony wore a bright blue skirt - cut a little more perilously short than usual, but not so scandalous that she couldn't be seen outside in it - and a tight white t-shirt marked with her balloons cutie mark, stretched out by the braless curves of her chest beneath. "Master!" the pink pony cried out in delight. "You're home! We've got a surprise for you! It's a present! Oooh, you'll never guess what it iiis!"

Giggling, Twilight seized Pinkie and hugged her tightly, delighting in the other mare's bouncy warmth. On impulse, Twilight kissed her, tasting sugar and sweetness, and within instants, Pinkie was returning the kiss open-mouthed and enthusiastically, squirming against her Mistress's body. There was never any hesitation with Pinkie; she was gloriously uncomplicated. Finally breaking away from Pinkie's mouth, Twilight planted a little kiss on the tip of the other mare's nose, smiling. "You've been eating cakes. I can still taste them!"

"You can? That's great! I can flavour my kisses with the right cakes! Does it taste nice? Second opinions are very important. But not as important as more kissing!" Pinkie kissed Twilight again, then began giggling and trying to tickle her as Twilight tried to break away long enough to speak. Struggling playfully, Twilight called over, "Rarity, help! I'm being ambushed!"

"I'd love to help you, my Lady, truly I would," replied Rarity with calm dignity. "However, as you can see, I have tea." She sipped daintily from the cup, smiling regally.

"Yes, but- Pinkie!" Twilight protested, then yelped as Pinkie headbutted her in the side, pushing her off-balance. Toppling onto the floor with a thud, face down, she barely had time to utter, "Pinkie, I'll-" before the pink pony dropped onto her with gleeful abandon, knocking the wind out of Twilight all over again, and began nuzzling her frizzy pink mane against Twilight's head.

"Yes, my Lady?" asked Rarity pleasantly. "Do let me know when you've finished."

Reaching behind her, Twilight grabbed a handful of Pinkie's tail and tugged, prompting a yelp from the giggling pony pinning her to the floor. "Rarity, where's Celestia? I thought you were with Ember and Spike."

"Princess Celestia has chosen to take a bath. Apparently, you left her in something of a mess," Rarity replied archly. "Spike has gone to play with Sweetie Belle and her friends, and Ambassador Ember-"

"I'm here," interrupted Ember's voice, with a trace of defensiveness, from behind the door to the spare bedroom.

Twilight lifted her head and glanced towards the door, open just a crack. Cocking her head, puzzled amusement touching her voice, she replied quizzically, "Ember? Why are you hiding behind the door?"

"That's because she's the present!" replied Pinkie with a giggle, propping her head on top of Twilight's.

"Pinkie," Rarity interrupted. "Please don't spoil the surprise. My Lady, would you like to see your gift?"

"Oh, yes," murmured Twilight, a pleasant tingle of curiosity and anticipation dancing through her. "Yes, I would. Pinkie, let me up. I want to see this."

"Awww!" Pinkie protested with a pout, rubbing her whole body against Twilight's. "But Maaaster," she whined. "You could see her from the floor, couldn't you?"

"Up," replied Twilight firmly, glancing up at Pinkie over her shoulder.

"Aww. Yes, Master," Pinkie replied, rolling off Twilight and standing up.

Twilight blinked as she sat up. "Wait. Pinkie, are you not wearing any panties?"

"Silly Master! Why would I wear panties when I want to show off my pussy and bouncy butt to you?" Pinkie replied cheerfully, flipping up her skirt and thrusting her jiggling bubble-butt at Twilight with a playful wink.

"Uh. I. That's a good question," Twilight stuttered, straightening up and brushing herself down. Pinkie really was gorgeous, and her unfailing good humour was wonderfully contagious. Reaching out, she seized a handful of the other mare's generous ass, squeezing firmly. "Mm! You're so soft and squeezable. You have a wonderful ass, Pinkie."

"Aww, thank you! I like your ass too, Master," Pinkie giggled, "you're really, really pretty."

Rarity set her empty cup and saucer aside, clearing her throat quietly, with a pointed glance towards the door.

Twilight blushed, and let go of Pinkie's behind. "Please sit with Rarity, Pinkie. I'm ready for my present, now."

"Wonderful," Rarity replied smoothly. "Ambassador? The Princess is ready to greet you."

There was silence, and stillness from behind the door. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, only to be quietened by a gesture from Rarity's upraised hand.

Then, slowly, the door opened.

Princess Ember, daughter of the Dragon Lord, Ambassador to Equestria, stood there, blushing hotly. She wore a tiny pair of black panties, with a little pink bow over her mons, and a neat little black bra fringed with white lace atop the cups. Sleek black stockings coated her thighs, frilled with white lace at the top and held firmly in place by a thick band around mid-thigh with a prominent black buckle. The feet of the glistening stockings had been cut to allow her clawed toes to poke free - in fact, they seemed to have been made for her species specifically. Matching black gloves coated her arms to the elbow. As if all of that wasn't enough, a wide collar decorated with prominent spikes was wrapped around her throat, and a matching one fastened around the end of her tail, frilled with lace. It was as though somepony had started with an exotic maid outfit, then refined it down, further and further, until Ember was barely wearing anything at all, but what was left declared 'Maid'.

Twilight swallowed, a hot flush making her skin tingle. There was something deliciously intense about seeing the proud dragon wearing a spiked collar, just for her. She watched with new hunger in her eyes as Ember slowly approached, the claws on her broad, bare feet clicking softly on the wood like high heels.

"Ember, dear?" prompted Rarity.

The deep, vibrant blue of Ember's head crest darkened a little further, her look of embarrassed arousal deepening, and she slowly, inexpertly curtsied. "How may I serve you, Ma'am?" she managed.

"Oh, my stars, yes," murmured Twilight softly. "Ember, you look... wow. Yes. Come here."

Opening her arms, Twilight wrapped them around the pale blue dragoness, feeling the pattern of her tiny, delicate scales under her fingertips, and the heat that burned beneath. "You look wonderful," Twilight breathed.

"You ponies have the whole thing backwards," Ember replied, her tail lashing restlessly behind her. "Being naked isn't embarrassing, it's natural. These clothes are, though."

"Do you know what they mean?" Twilight asked, a teasing note in her voice despite her very real and genuine curiosity.

"...Rarity told me they mean I'm sexually available and devoted to serving you," Ember replied, with a trace of self-consciousness. "Look, that's the kind of thing that dragons don't do, naturally. You crush someone, then they'll do as they're told. But she wanted this to be a surprise, so."

"Is that so?" Twilight asked softly. Reaching up, she stroked her hand along Ember's cheek, then seized hold of one of her curving horns, and breathed, "Do you want me to crush you, Ember? Because I can. I can make you obey."

A delicious tremor ran through Ember, and her voice lowered a little. "...yes. Do it."

Twilight had, for that moment, quite forgotten she had an audience. Rarity's delicate cough abruptly reminded her of the fact, and - still entwined with Ember - she glanced over at the two mares sat on the couch. Pinkie was watching with avid, gleeful delight, but Rarity herself looked a little awkward.

"Ah - my Lady. I'm sorry to bring this up, but I feel I'd be remiss in not mentioning it, before you... we grow distracted." Reaching into her purse, she removed a sealed envelope. "Before we parted, Spike received a letter for you. It is from Trixie. I wouldn't mention it, save for the fact that it is marked Most Urgent. Though goodness knows what qualifies as most urgent to that uncouth showmare."

Squeezing Ember against her more tightly, Twilight shut her eyes for a moment. She didn't, really didn't, want to interrupt what she was doing. And Rarity's scepticism about Trixie's sense of priorities was probably justified. And Ember, glorious and strange and so full of knowledge Twilight hadn't even begun to tap yet, was in her arms.

But, but, but. Most Urgent. And how long would it take, really, to check what it said?

Exhaling deeply, Twilight opened her eyes. "Ember, please fetch it for me."

"...sure." Ember pulled a face, obviously finding the interruption just as unpalatable as Twilight did and far less shy about showing it, but she crossed to the couch in a few long strides, grabbed the letter, then turned to offer it to Twilight.

The envelope read, 'To the Magnificent Princess of Magic, Twilight Sparkle, a Most Urgent Missive from her Faithful and Loyal Apprentice, Trixie Lulamoon, For Her Eyes Alone'. Smiling fondly, Twilight broke the seal - briefly impressed as a flash of magic revealed it had been imbued with a recognition spell - and opened it up.

My glorious, perfect Mistress,

Your eager, slutty worshipper has discovered a matter of incredible importance. Two of the Seekers have ceased sending messages, and furthermore, their last message described a village where nopony ever leaves. All of the villagers have the same cutie mark! In the sensuous and spectacular Trixie's judgement, something very bad is happening there, and we must leave at once. Only the gloriously fuckable Trixie and her magical Mistress can resolve this danger!

Come urgently,

Your Most Perfect Slave, Trixie

P.S. Luna agrees.

P.P.S. Trixie is sick of these boring, mundane ponies, and needs to be at your side. Do not leave her stranded like this again.

Clearly something of what she was reading had shown in her face; Rarity's expression had become worried, and Pinkie was frowning curiously at the letter. Ember crossed her arms, with a growing look of impatience. "Well?" the dragoness demanded.

"…it's not good," Twilight sighed. "Here, you can read it if you like."

Ember snatched the letter and scanned it briefly, then handed it off to Rarity and looked back towards Twilight. "So there are some ponies with the same cutie mark. So? It's bound to happen. Makes sense they'd live together."

"No, it isn't," Twilight corrected her quietly. "Cutie marks are unique. Sometimes twins can have really similar ones, and trends tend to run in families, but to find two unrelated ponies with identical cutie marks would be unheard of. There's simply no way an entire village has the same ones. That means that some kind of magic is altering them, making them uniform, and that's incredibly dangerous. A pony's cutie mark is the very heart of who they are and what they want. To change that is to change everything about them. Even more than-" she broke off, having forgotten for a moment that Ember didn't know about the charm, and shook her head to mask her moment of confusion. "I don't know of any magic that could do it. I need to go and find out what's going on."

She really didn't want to say it. Ember was right there, dressed up for her, ready to please. And then there was Pinkie, and Rarity, and Fluttershy's day out, and she wasn't done punishing Celestia… "At once," Twilight finished, reluctantly.

"You're not serious," Ember replied, narrowing her eyes. Seeing the answer on Twilight's face, the dragoness flicked her tail in visible annoyance, exhaling loudly, then nodded. "…fine. Your subjects are in trouble. I get it."

"But, but – sex party!" protested Pinkie, bouncing off the sofa and tugging on Twilight's blouse pleadingly. "The whole party is ready to go! Everypony is coming!"

"I'm sorry, I really am," Twilight apologised, sighing deeply. "I don't want to go. But I can't ignore this. I sent the ponies that reported this; I have to go make sure they're okay."

"Will you be needing us, Twilight?" Rarity asked, cutting straight to the point. "I was expecting to be in Ponyville for some time longer, but I could find arrangements for Sweetie Belle if you will need the Elements to accompany you."

Good question, Twilight thought. Did she need the Elements? Cutie mark manipulation magic was serious. But on the other hand, she wanted to leave right away, and it could take time for the others to untangle themselves from their responsibilities. Sweetie Belle was just the tip of the iceberg. The truth was, she'd dragged all of her friends and lovers here and there across Equestria recently - was it fair to demand they drop everything and run yet again, on the basis of a single note? Besides, if she turned up with the entire Elements of Harmony, whoever was responsible might flee before she could find out what was happening.

She and Trixie could scout out the place - they'd be less noticeable as a pair, and they could both disguise themselves - and if it did seem too dangerous to deal with herself, she could summon the others. Or one of the Princesses. Besides, it would show faith in Trixie to take her along, and Trixie badly needed to feel trusted.

In the end, she was the Princess of Magic, and she'd fought Celestia to a dead standstill. She'd be fine.

"...no, that's okay," Twilight said slowly. "It wouldn't hurt to make arrangements over the next few days, though, just in case I do call on you. If I run into something I can't handle, I'll send word. Ember, I'm so sorry about this. I'm not sure how long this will take. What will you do?"

Exhaling in annoyance, Ember straightened her back, giving a frustrated flap of her wings. "If you're leaving, I'm not going to stick around waiting. I should go and talk to my father. I'm taking this outfit, though. We're not done."

"It can be something to remind you of all this," agreed Twilight with a touch of relief, thankful that Ember didn't seem to be too insulted. "When you're alone. Touching yourself. In fact-" Twilight glanced across the room, and a swirl of her magic caught hold of the discarded dildo she'd been teasing Celestia with earlier. Levitating it into her hands, a simple cleaning spell ran along it with a ripple of light, leaving it pristine. Kissing the tip playfully, Twilight offered it into Ember's hands. "You can take this with you, too. For when you linger on your fond memories."

A fresh flush of blue pulsed through Ember's head crest, and the dragoness took the toy in her clawed fingers, feigning casualness. "Sure. Yeah. I guess I can take this with me, too."

"Make good use of it," Twilight admonished her playfully.

Ember grinned, then her expression changed, and she added more slowly, "Talking about what I'm taking with me when I leave. I was gonna save this for later, but with things the way they are - there's something else, too. You might not like it."

Twilight rocked in her lounge seat as the train clattered over a set of points, staring out of the window. They were nearly in Canterlot already; her private train was light, pulled by a swift, modern engine, and when both Princesses had made it clear they were in a hurry, the engine driver and engineers had pushed it to the very limits of its capacity.

Ember's voice rang through her thoughts.

"I'm taking Spike back with me to visit the Dragon Lands."

"What? Why? Has he agreed to this?"

"He has no idea about his own species, Twilight. He doesn't know our history, or culture. He doesn't know how his own body works, for smoke's sake, he didn't even know he was going to develop wings. He needs to learn."

"...I see. But he's okay with this?"

"Yes. Look, Twilight, he feels like you don't need him around here. He's growing up, and you're treating him like a hatchling. Trust me, he'll be okay."

"I... okay. But I want to see him, before I go, so he knows I worry about him, and I care about him. I have to give him advice! And a selection of books!"

"He'll be back before you know he's gone. And then - then I'll have a reason to come back, too."

So much had happened, so quickly. She'd had to pack travel gear, and soothe everypony's hurt feelings, and tell the others that Lightning was sort-of part of things now. From their reactions, apparently she'd been the last pony to know Rainbow and Lightning had been having a relationship. That had stung. Despite feeling a little awkward about it, she'd carefully made it clear that if any of her other slaves decided they wanted to have a relationship outside the harem, she'd like to know beforehand.

She didn't want to have that kind of surprise twice.

As for Spike, she had a creeping feeling that he might have been the one to suggest he visit the Dragon Lands with Ember. She'd underplayed the potential risks of the task she was undertaking, not wanting to worry him, and he, in turn, had been studiously casual about the prospect of travelling beyond Equestria's borders. Ember had had a point, though. She hadn't known that Spike would develop wings, as he matured, or how he'd develop at all, in the long term. She didn't have the right to stop him learning about his heritage. If only there'd been more time... there had been so much more she'd wanted to say, so much she'd wanted to reassure him about, but the train was ready there at the platform, huffing and steaming impatiently...

She could fix it all later, when she got back. None of her slaves were happy about being left behind, but it wouldn't be for long. She had to turn her focus ahead, and think clearly.

Turning her head, she caught Celestia's eye. "Do you think a week is an appropriate length of time? Is it too long?"

The elder alicorn seemed to withdraw from her own private thoughts, focusing on Twilight. "I believe it's appropriate. I do appreciate the trust you've placed in me, my little pony. It should not be necessary, in any case."

"I really don't think it will be. But – you know me. I don't like to take risks without making contingency plans."

Celestia's smile was wry. "Yes. I'm aware of your tendency to plan ahead."

Twilight had started with the worst-possible case, and planned backwards: if she was defeated, or even influenced, the best possible pony to rescue her would be Cadance. But Cadance was unaware of a lot of things, and she was far away in the Crystal Empire. Much like the Elements, it would take time to seek her out for her help, and she might be fully occupied looking after her own realm. The second best pony was Celestia herself – if she wasn't bound by all of the charm commands that prevented her from remembering the exact details of the charm, or turning against Twilight. Of course, if Celestia was released from all her commands, she'd be a tremendous danger to Twilight herself, but…

Twilight had chosen to put her trust in her mentor, and amended Celestia's conditioning. If she didn't receive an arranged all-clear signal within seven days, all of her charmed restrictions would shut off. And in return, Celestia had pledged not to abuse the trust Twilight had placed in her. Twilight could have used the charm to check if her mentor was sincere, or made sure she couldn't lie, but hadn't.

There was always the chance it could blow up horribly in her face, but…

"…it feels good to trust you again," Twilight finished quietly, aloud. "Not because of charm compulsion, or because I defeated you. Because you're precious to me, and I believe you wouldn't lie to me, not anymore. You know I love you, Princess. Very much."

Before she knew it, Celestia's smooth arms had encircled her, her wings enfolding them both. Being held that way always made Twilight feel like a young filly again, safe and protected. Celestia said nothing for a long moment, and Twilight nestled her head against the other mare's chest, listening to her heartbeat.

"You will be fine," Celestia finally murmured. "Whatever is happening, I trust you to resolve it, as I have so many threats before. Should you call for me, I will be at your side the moment the words leave your lips."

"Thank you," replied Twilight softly.

She might have said more, had not the train jerked and begun to slow rapidly. Lifting her head from Celestia's pillowy chest, she glanced out of the window at the familiar landscape of Canterlot dazzling under the sun. "We're here," she sighed. "I'll pick up Trixie, and she and I will get going. It shouldn't be too hard to slip away."

Coasting now, travelling at no more than a brisk walking pace, the train pulled into the station. Glancing out of the window herself, Celestia began to smile. "Will it not?" she inquired pleasantly.

Twilight groaned.

A few moments later, Celestia emerged from the carriage, to a grand fanfare. Twilight stepped out after her, prompting another surging musical blast from the assembled trumpeters. The platform was packed, wall to wall with dignitaries, guards, and excitable crowds. A vast banner hung above it all, proclaiming, "Welcome Home, Princess Twilight and Princess Celestia!"

Trixie stood beside Luna, in front of all of it, looking incredibly pleased with herself.

Luna seemed to be trying not to smirk.

"Oh, no," Twilight muttered under her breath, through her fixed smile. "I've got to get out of here! Any minute now, Diorite and the others will try to form up on me, and then I'm going to have to have another 'why don't you trust us to protect you' talk, and I barely managed to get away to Ponyville by myself!"

"How terrible," Celestia murmured politely.

"You hate this sort of thing! It's so boring it drives you crazy!" Twilight whispered fiercely, her awkward smile wedged on her face.

"You make things more enjoyable just by being here, Twilight."

Unable to restrain herself any further, Trixie broke ranks and rushed over to the two of them as the royal band broke into another round of musical accompaniment. "Twilight!" she greeted her Mistress loudly. "The skilfully spellbinding Trixie has missed you so much!"

"As have I," Luna agreed, approaching at a more sedate pace. Smiling at Celestia, she added warmly, "Greetings, my sister. It is good to see you once more."

Hugging Trixie, and only just remembering in time not to kiss her in front of all the cameras in Canterlot, Twilight looked up at Luna and remarked wryly, "Has Celestia's bad behaviour been rubbing off on you?"

"Your royal welcome? It was purely the idea of thy apprentice. Though I shall not pretend not to take some measure of amusement in seeing it done." Turning her head slightly towards Celestia, Luna added, "I imagine you must be eager to assume thy role in guiding the matters of the country, now that you have returned to the capital."

Oh, no you don't, Twilight thought, but before she could speak up, Celestia beat her to it.

"I've no intention of retaking the reins prematurely, I promise. I would like to know a little of what is happening, though. Twilight has been very assiduous in keeping me busy."

"Yes, I'm aware. Your letters were most informative," replied Luna blandly.

Celestia actually giggled, the sound sending a little tremor of happiness through Twilight's heart, then the Princess replied, "So I understand. In any case, once we've caught up, I intend to lounge around my chambers and eat cake while you deal with the difficult business of keeping Equestria on an even keel."

"There are no cakes," Trixie broke in. "The magnificent and influential Trixie sought some out, and was told the larders were out entirely."

Blinking once, Celestia drew herself up to her full, impressive height. "No cakes? That is unacceptable. I will deal with it."

Trixie turned to Luna, and gestured at her sister. "Do you see? Here is a Princess with the correct sense of priorities."

Twilight shook her head, and smiled at Luna. She opened her mouth to speak, then, as a camera flashed, froze. She couldn't really say any of the things she wanted to, not here, in front of everypony. Not now.

"...I've missed you," she managed, awkwardly.

"I know, Twilight," Luna replied softly, her back to the onlooking crowd. "I hear the words unspoken. And I know that you must go. I shall continue to miss thee in thy absence."

Stepping closer, Twilight gave Luna a quick, chaste hug, her body aching for a more substantial embrace. The other mare's midnight blue lips were right there, gently parted, ripe for kissing... and Twilight stepped away, instead.

"Come on, Trixie," she said, in a quiet, carefully controlled voice, turning towards the train. "It's best we leave, before anything else happens."

"Trixie is eager to begin! It was her diligent attention to your correspondence, as you so wisely asked, that led the attentive and efficient Trixie to..."

The carriage door slammed behind them, cutting off the noise of the crowd outside. Twilight looked out through the small, oval window in the door as the train began to huff and chuff once more, and the two Princesses slid backwards, out of sight.

"Darn it," she murmured quietly.

Trixie paused, breaking off in the middle of her rapid flow of self-praise. "Mistress?" The realisation that they were no longer stood in front of a crowd visibly broke over her, and she threw herself at Twilight, nuzzling close and kissing the taller mare's neck. "Mistress! The slutty and submissive fuckdoll Trixie has missed being your obedient whore so badly! Tear off her clothes and show her what she's been missing! Let her strip you, and worship you, and-"

"Sssh," Twilight interrupted, very softly. Taking a deep breath, she wrapped her arms around Trixie, hugging her tightly. "I missed you, too. It's good to have you with me, Trixie. Could you... I'd like it if we could just cuddle for a while. Maybe rub my back."

"Anything you desire, Mistress, Trixie will give to you," the showmare promised sincerely.

A few days later, the two of them stood on a shallow rise, looking down at what, with some imagination, could be stretched to meet the definition of 'a town'. Two short lines of houses jutted out of the scrub, a couple of houses seemingly under construction at the end of each row, with one larger house overlooking the resulting single street. The settlement, whatever it was called - no pony they'd met on the way, and there had been very few of those, had been able to give a name for the place - lay far to the north-west of Manehattan, in an undistinguished, dusty, barren landscape.

It was remote. It wasn't the kind of landscape that brought to mind ascetic appreciation, the kind that expressed a sort of empty, lonely grandeur. Not here. This was dry, and tired, and uninspired. It was a flat, empty nothing, with occasional scraggly trees stuck on it. To the far north, well out of sight, the distant ramparts of the Crystal Mountains began to rear their cloud-topped heads, while to the south, fencing in the plain, another set of lower, lesser mountains walled off the world.

"What kind of pony would actually choose to live here?" complained Trixie, coughing as windblown dust once again agitated her nose. "The sooner that the sensuously slutty Trixie and her glorious Mistress are finished and can leave again, the better." A sly look crossed her face, and she added, "...although, if you'd like to spend some time travelling back the slow way, Mistress, Trixie just loves travelling with you, just the two of us, the way it should be."

Twilight touched Trixie's cheek, stroking with her thumb. The two of them wore travelling cloaks, hoods settled around their necks, over nondescript clothes that they'd purchased on the way. Rucksacks carried travelling provisions - and hid the telltale bulge of Twilight's wings. "Maybe we can go to Manehattan on the way back," she allowed. "It did seem like a shame to get off the train before we even passed through the mountain tunnel."

"And then, when you're no longer worried, you can finally fuck your obedient slut Trixie senseless, the way she deserves," Trixie purred, nuzzling her face against Twilight's fingers.

"I'm sorry," Twilight apologised softly, her gaze drawn back to the solitary town - a village, really, and barely a village at that. She could see the distant figures of ponies moving around, dressed in uniformly grey clothes; there seemed to be rather more ponies than the small number of houses could account for. They had to be sleeping in groups, maybe while they erected more houses. Her chest felt tight with unpleasant anticipation. "I know I've been tense. It's not what you hoped for when we went off together."

"Trixie forgives you," the showmare declared magnanimously. "She will dazzle you with her performance! She will give these ponies a show that they will speak of for-"

"Somepony's coming!" hissed Twilight suddenly, catching sight of movement amongst the rocks. "As we practised - disguises, quickly!"

"Yes, Mistress!"

Two horns curved and dipped in unison, and a sheen of illusion flowed over both of them, transforming them in a hundred subtle ways. Twilight had taken on a pale blue colour, not dissimilar to Trixie's usual tone, her mane fluffed up into pink curls, while Trixie was suddenly white, her hair shifted to a cornflower yellow. It was the small changes to their faces, though, that rendered them unrecognisable. There was no disguising Twilight's height - but unlike Celestia and Luna, she was merely tall for a unicorn, not unmatched by any mortal pony.

A few moments later, regimented footsteps approached, in perfect step. Twilight tensed, her horn lowered slightly as she unconsciously assumed a defensive position. "Take your cue from me!" she whispered.

"Hello?" called a female voice. A pair of ponies emerged from around a dusty, eroded boulder; unicorns both, a stallion and mare dressed in the same grey clothes as the townsfolk below, manes cut to the same pattern. The mare was pale red, with a dull green mane and tail, and a prominent cutie mark of a compass on her exposed thigh where the loose slacks were cut in a u-shaped dip. The male, meanwhile, was a pale tan, with a pastel blue mane, his identical clothes displaying his candle cutie mark.

Lime Fizz, and Burdock, the missing seekers.

"Greetings, travellers," Burdock said warmly. "Are you on the way to visit the town?" His voice lowered a little, and he added, "We don't see many visitors in these parts. Haven't had any for a while, actually. Does anything specific draw you to these parts?"

Twilight opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated. Something felt off about all this. On the other hand, she'd expected to have to scour the village for signs of where the Seekers had gone, and here they were, seemingly unharmed. And if she pretended not to know them, she wasn't going to get to talk to them about what they'd found, which left her investigating the village on her own, so...

"...you're Lime Fizz and Burdock, aren't you?" she asked slowly. "I'm Dewey Drop, and this is Page Turner. We were sent out after your letter came in." Her own voice sounded odd in her ears, subtly tweaked to make it harder to recognise.

Lime Fizz relaxed, and punched Burdock's arm. "See? I told you she'd send somepony." Looking back at Twilight, she added, "We're glad to have you here. I think the Princess needs to hear about what's happening here, and it'd carry more weight from four of us rather than two."

"Has there been a second induction already?" asked Burdock. "Pretty sure we haven't met."

"Of course!" broke in Trixie. "Dewey Drop graduated top of her cohort, you should know. You should be very honoured she is here."

"I guess that explains why Princess Twilight picked you to send out to us," remarked Lime Fizz. "Have there been any other findings yet?"

"Not yet," replied Twilight, casting a sharp look at Trixie. "Can I ask - why are you dressed that way? Are you living in the town?"

"The townsfolk have a guest lodge," Burdock replied. "We camped out here for a while, but we weren't learning anything new, and sleeping on the rocks isn't fun. They haven't asked anything of us, other than helping raise the new buildings, but we've found it easier to wear clothes like they do while we're here. They can be nervous around strangers; it was hard to get anypony to talk to us otherwise."

"Same thing with the manecut," chipped in Lime Fizz. "It's not the style I'd have chosen, but it's just hair, we can always do something else with it later."

"...okay," Twilight allowed, glancing down at the village again, "but why haven't you been writing further reports? We were worried about you."

"We've been waiting for the travelling mailpony that visits every week," Lime Fizz replied blithely. "He didn't show up last week, and for the one before that, we weren't ready to send another follow-up. We wanted to make sure we understood what was going on down there. Besides," she added more sheepishly, "I'm no good at sending spells. I thought I'd have more time to work on it before anything happened, but here we are."

"Then what is happening down there? I, Page Turner, insist on being told what is going on with the cutie marks of these townsfolk!" Trixie demanded impatiently.

Burdock glanced at Lime Fizz. The two seemed to share a moment of wordless debate, then he said slowly, "It's complicated. We don't really get it, and we don't like it. But in short, they've decided to give them up."

Beneath her cloak, Twilight felt all her feathers stand on end. "Given up their cutie marks? Voluntarily? No pony would ever do that," she protested. "How would that even be possible?"

"We're not sure," confessed Lime Fizz. "There's some kind of ritual they carry out in a cave above town, we think, but they don't want to talk about it, no new arrivals have shown up since we started watching the place, and we weren't going to volunteer to find out the hard way."

"Though we were frequently invited," added Burdock.

Twilight bit her lower lip unhappily. "That isn't a lot to go on," she murmured.

"We can take you down there," volunteered Lime Fizz. "The townsfolk won't mind telling you all about why they're doing this; they told us enough times. It's all about everypony being equal. That's what they say, anyway."

Again, Twilight hesitated. She almost wanted to just leave, but obviously she couldn't. There was some kind of magic going on here that she didn't like, or understand. It was exactly the kind of thing she'd created the Seekers to uncover in the first place; she couldn't back away now. "Very well. Who is running the town?"

"They don't really have a leader," replied Burdock. "Everypony is equal; that's the point. But Starlight Glimmer gives advice to help ponies decide what to do."

"We should stay away from her for now, I think," broke in Lime Fizz. "And if you're okay with it, it'd be better if we went in two pairs, not all together. Like I said, they don't like talking to outsiders, much. They know Burdock and I, or at least, they do now, but if we turn up in a big group, they won't say anything."

The tense, gut-churning feeling of wrongness in Twilight's stomach grew sharper. "Page Turner, why don't you stay here? You should be able to keep an eye on what's happening in town. You never know; we might need to leave in a hurry."

"But-" Trixie began indignantly, then subsided as Twilight frowned at her meaningfully. "Fine. I, the mighty Page Turner, will stay here and watch closely."

"I'll stay with you, if you don't mind," Burdock agreed. "I can help identify most of the ponies they talk to from up here."

"Alright, Dewey Drop, that makes it just us. Let's go. See you later, Rock," Lime Fizz remarked to Burdock, turning expectantly towards Twilight.

"...keep your eyes open," Twilight said quietly, touching Trixie's shoulder. "I won't be gone long. If anything happens, send a message back straight away."

Trixie's hand covered Twilight's. She opened her mouth, then paused and filtered whatever she had been about to say, promising instead, "I won't let you down."

Twilight drew away slowly. Lime Fizz was watching the two of them curiously, while Burdock had turned his orange-brown eyes down towards the town in a gesture of privacy. For some obscure reason, Twilight felt a blush heat her cheeks. "Okay. Let's go."

To her credit, Lime Fizz contained herself until they'd walked down the path, out of earshot, before she asked, "So. You and Page Turner. Are you just partners, or partners?"

It really was going to be impossible to hide the nature of her relationships with the ponies she'd taken into her harem forever. If it could be picked out so quickly and easily, by a pony they'd only just met... Twilight walked in silence for a moment, then replied, "It's complicated. It's accurate to say we're more than friends, right now."

"I wasn't judging," replied Lime Fizz nonchalantly.

"Why did you call Burdock Rock?" Twilight asked quickly, changing the subject to something less perilously intimate.

"Oh, that. Well, I started calling him Rock because of the rhyme, and he calls me Scissors."

"Like rock, paper, scissors? Is there a paper?"

Lime Fizz looked almost embarrassed for a moment, then her expression smoothed out, and she shrugged. "Princess Twilight. That's what we call her. Not in the reports."

Twilight coughed, oddly touched by the idea, and tried to keep the little blush from her cheeks. "I think she'd like that, actually. Still - the town. Do you think they'll talk to me? Can you keep us away from this Starlight that Burdock mentioned for the time being?"

"Hm. Well, as long as I'm with you, they should talk to you. Your clothes are different, but not too flashy, that will help. I don't know about Starlight, though. As you've seen, it's not a big town."

As they'd talked and descended the gentle slope, the ponies milling about had become more distinct and recognisable, a healthy mix of earth ponies, unicorns and pegasi. Several of them were working amongst the framework of an unfinished house at the end of one of the twin rows, the sounds of hammering and sawing carrying clearly on the breeze.

It almost looked normal. Then, as Twilight grew closer, she began to pick out their expressions.

Everypony looked happy. Extremely happy. Wide, glistening smiles, left and right, as though every single pony in town just couldn't be happier to be there. And that wasn't the worst of it, because on each thigh, exposed by traditional cut-outs in the drab work clothes, was a plain grey equals sign. They had to have noticed she was there, dressed differently as she was, but none of them were approaching her yet.

A shiver ran through Twilight, a sick feeling in her stomach as they walked into the avenue between the houses. It was wrong, deeply, fundamentally wrong, to see so many ponies with their cutie marks, their individuality, erased. The identical mane cuts and clothes only furthered the impression of unsettling uniformity. She glanced at Lime Fizz's mark for reassurance; she'd have hated to have felt like she was the only pony in town that still had a cutie mark of her own.

"It's horrible," she murmured.

"I'm sorry?" asked a stallion, with a small frown.

Twilight jumped; she hadn't realised anypony was close enough to overhear. Flashing a sickly smile of her own, she replied, "Sorry, I was… thinking of something else."

"Dewey Drop, I'd like you to meet Double Diamond," Lime Fizz cut in quickly. "He's the one that helped Burdock and I find a place to stay while we're in town. Double Diamond, this is Dewey Drop. She's a… friend of mine. From Canterlot."

"Welcome to our town," Double Diamond said politely. He was striking, in his own way, his skin matching his mane in pure white. "Have you come to join us in Equality?"

"Uh… not today," Twilight said, a little too hurriedly. "In fact, I was hoping to learn more about your town?" She finished the sentence on an upward, questioning note, trying not to look at his cutie mark again.

Impossibly, his gleaming smile grew wider. "I'd be delighted to tell you all about it. We have a very special community, here. We're all very happy."

"And… nothing is bothering you? Nothing you feel you're missing?" Twilight asked weakly.

"Why, no. My life is perfectly complete, there's nothing I could possibly ask for. I'm surrounded by good friends, living together in harmony," he replied brightly.

Twilight had once heard of an obscure expression, 'the elephant in the room'. Apparently, elephants were huge, grey animals, and the expression referred to trying to pretend one wasn't there when it was filling a small room to bursting. It had sounded strange to her at the time, but at that moment, she suddenly felt she understood what it was like to have an elephant staring you in the face, and possibly standing on your foot. She simply couldn't ignore it.

"But… your cutie mark. Surely you didn't always have an equals sign?" she asked desperately.

"No, not always. I don't like to think about those times," he replied, with a trace of firmness. "Special talents cause discord, and bitterness. They mean nothing but arguments. I'm much happier since I got rid of mine, and every pony in town will tell you the same thing."

"You chose to give it up? It was a voluntary choice?" Twilight pursued, frowning.

"That's right, I did. Now I'm friends with everypony in town! Our life is so much better."

"But-" Twilight began, before receiving a sharp nudge in the flank from Lime Fizz.

"Welcome to our town," came an aristocratic voice from behind her. "I see you've met Double Diamond and Lime Fizz already. Allow me to introduce myself; I am Starlight Glimmer."

Twilight turned, slowly.

Starlight was tall for a unicorn - though still shorter than Twilight - and slim. She wore the same clothes as all the others, but they seemed somehow better tailored for her, more form-fitting. Her purple mane had a colourful streak through it, over vibrant pink skin that, like all the others, was marked with a prominent equals sign. Compared to everypony else in the town, she seemed somehow more vivid, more real. There was a sharp intelligence in her eyes, an almost predatory element to her smile. "It's so nice to meet you," she said sweetly.

"It's good to meet you, too," Twilight said, with a forced smile in return. "My name is Dewey Drop. I'm visiting Lime Fizz, actually."

"Why, Lime Fizz! You didn't tell me you were inviting guests to our town," said Starlight, without taking her eyes off Twilight. "You must be very curious about our way of life, Dewey Drop. Why don't I show you around? Just the two of us."

"I should probably come," Lime Fizz broke in. "I wouldn't want Dewey Drop to feel like she didn't know anypony."

"I'm sure we'd get to know each other in no time," Starlight replied lightly. "But very well. This way. I'll speak to you later, Double Diamond," she added dismissively.

"Of course, Starlight," he replied, dipping his head, then trotting off.

Hmm. "So you're in charge around here?" Twilight asked innocently.

"No pony is in charge, here," Starlight corrected her quietly but firmly. "We all work together, to make our town better. A society of equals. Equality is the very essence of who we are."

"And what if several ponies disagree over the right thing to do? And there are the same number for and against? Who decides then?" Twilight asked, following Starlight as the other mare strolled unhurriedly down the street, towards the large building at the end of it.

"We would talk over the reasons that lie behind our decisions until somepony is persuaded of the merit of the other course of action, naturally. We don't need somepony to be in charge."

"What about disputes, then? Or resource allocation, like who sleeps where?"

"There are no disputes here, Dewey. May I call you Dewey? A society of equals has no need to argue. Everything is shared - equally. No one has more than any other. There is no resentment, or envy, or jealousy here. It's a paradise," she sighed contentedly. "A paradise of peace, companionship and harmony. There's nowhere else like it in Equestria. At least, not yet."

Starlight paused to wave a greeting to ponies as they passed, each returning the gesture enthusiastically with those ever-present wide smiles. Twilight attempted to hide her frown, but with mixed success at best. It was too unnerving, too unsettling being surrounded by ponies that had apparently given up their cutie marks of their own free will.

And there was that 'not yet', which rang with threat at the back of Twilight's mind.

"Everypony disagrees sometimes," she protested. "You have to have different ideas. The very best ideas are usually synthesised from several points of view."

"We don't disagree, here. When we live in harmony, disagreement is impossible, Dewey. We all work together, flawlessly. It's a lesson for Equestria as a whole, it truly is. We've achieved so much."

Everypony I know would disagree with you. Twilight thought better of protesting it. Starlight would only say it was because other ponies weren't part of their society - yet. Instead, she tried, "Why do you all wear the same clothes? And the same mane cut? What if a pony wants to wear something different?"

"We agreed on the design. We can all make these clothes. There is no need to pay others to make things for you, no accumulation of wealth that breeds resentment, that makes some the servants of others. It's so sad that in the rest of Equestria, some ponies are barely scraping by, while other ponies live like royalty."

Twilight tried to hide the little wince that crossed her face.

"Besides," Starlight went on, "the clothes promote unity. As does the mane style. It's simple, and robust, and reminds all of us that we are part of a team. A unit. Unity in thought and deed is a very important guiding principle."

"But – surely you can't be doing that for everything. Only using tools that everypony can make? Only wearing cloth that everypony can weave?" Twilight protested.

"In fact, we can," replied Starlight with immense calm. "We can teach ponies how to weave cloth, and forge tools. If we didn't, some ponies would have abilities others didn't. They could pick and choose who to help, and who not to help. They'd have power over their fellows. And that stops them being friends. It introduces jealousy, and envy." She stopped walking, and turned to face Twilight directly. "Even one pony that is different is enough to ruin everything," she said softly.

This is madness. Twilight felt a dizzying pulse of cold, tight tension squeeze her chest. More sharply than she'd meant to, she demanded, "And that's why everypony's cutie mark is gone? Because differences can't be tolerated?"

"After we talked, they've all agreed that it was best. These are ponies that have been burned in the past, Dewey. They've seen how terrible pride and jealousy can be. We're all together, now, trusting each other completely, supporting and looking after each other. This is harmony, the purest friendship. We all decided on this." Starlight's stare was piercing, a small smile playing about the corner of her lips. "You seem a little agitated by our town. You shouldn't be. All you see here - our togetherness, our happiness - is the result of our common will. Really, Dewey, open your mind to the possibilities. You could be very happy here."

And that was the worst thing. If Starlight was telling the truth, if they'd really chosen all of this, freely and without coercion, then there was nothing Twilight could do.

If they had.

"I'm interested in how it's possible," Twilight said slowly. "I don't know of any spell that could do such a thing to cutie marks. When somepony joins you, what then?"

"We celebrate! We rejoice, because we've found a new friend," Starlight said, with pleasant brightness. "It's a wonderful day for us all."

"And the cutie mark... removal?"

"Equalisation," Starlight corrected her. "I don't wish to offend, of course, but that is the very heart of what makes our society possible. If you wished to learn by example what it feels like to join us, of course, that could easily be arranged. We'd welcome you! And if you decide that it isn't for you, then the process can be undone easily. No pony is here against their will, of course. Try it. Just for a day or two. You'll be amazed how much better you'll feel."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. Abruptly, she found the idea of bandying words with this pony any further completely intolerable. She should be patient, and methodical, and learn all she could from this pony before she did anything. But in the end? She didn't have to, not with the power she held, and she had had enough. "The houses here - many ponies sleep in each of them, don't they?"

Starlight frowned slightly at the sudden change of topic, though the expression almost immediately cleared as her sunny, bright smile returned. "Yes, they do. We are still growing, and faster than we can build houses. Communal living promotes togetherness, in any case. Solitary houses come to seem positively lonely, in time."

A smile touched Twilight's own lips, one that had not a hint of warmth to it. Starlight had a tendency to use 'they' and not 'we', exactly when a cynical pony might have expected her to. "The houses here form an equals sign, don't they?"

"You noticed? You're very observant, Dewey. Many of our residents didn't notice until it was pointed out to them."

"Yes, I did. But there's one house that doesn't match the pattern, isn't there?" Twilight nodded upwards at the house at the end of the street. "It's bigger than the others. It isn't part of the symbol. May I venture a guess? You live there."

Starlight's expression tightened, around her clean, gleaming teeth. "As it happens, I do."

"In fact, only you live there. Am I wrong? Enduring the solitude, as you put it. And when the equalisation takes place, you lead it. Whatever it is. And ponies around here, when you speak to them, take your suggestions very seriously. There's everypony else, all equal," Twilight launched the word with a spin of obvious disbelief, "and then there's you."

"You know nothing about our ways," Starlight replied in a low, quietly threatening tone. "I'm trying to give you the chance to learn about us, peacefully, in equality-"

"Shut up," Twilight interrupted calmly, then smiled mirthlessly again as Starlight flushed with anger. "You're not used to being interrupted either, are you? This society is nonsense, Starlight. You can choose to live without bits, everypony contributing their skills to the whole, and that's fine. That sounds nice. But you can't bring everypony down to the lowest common denominator and expect things to keep working.

"Pony civilisation only came about through specialisation. To be any good at anything takes time, and hard work, and dedication. As soon as you get beyond the most basic level of subsistence farming, there are more jobs to do than there are hours in the day to learn how to do them. So somepony practices and practices to weave cloth, and another in the forge, and another to carve wood - it's essential."

Twilight gestured around herself, at the double row of houses and the scurrying, forcefully smiling ponies. "These clothes are barely better than sack cloth and rags, and it's not out of disdain for soft cloth and pretty colours. It's because a town, under your rules, can't do better. Has anypony here actually seen a book, since this started? Even knowing things makes you different, and everypony in town can't all know how to build a printing press, so that's out. And then you start thinking about how to build a train, or any other complicated object, and all the specialised skills that takes, or any kind of advanced magic..." she trailed off, then raised a hand sharply, speaking over Starlight as the other pony spat the first few syllables of some furious retort. Stepping forward, she gestured at her own horn, and Starlight's.

"Unicorns use magic. Pegasi fly. Aren't those differences? Starlight, for all your intoning of 'not yet', as though this were the first step in a larger movement, this town doesn't work. It barely gets by as it is. If you were ever imagining Equestria like this, you're hopelessly deluded. You can't run a civilisation like this. You can't run a market stall like this. So no, I am not going to try out your 'equalisation'. Thank you for the offer."

Twilight's chest rose and fell rapidly, a trembling tension shivering through her as she glared at Starlight. The other mare seemed to have passed through those levels of fury that were expressed in screeched words, and had reached some perfect, silent plateau of teeth-grinding hatred beyond. For a moment, the only sound was a little choked noise of disbelief from Lime Fizz, standing a step back from the confrontation.

Slowly, with visible effort, Starlight reclaimed her self-control. "It's a pity that you feel the need to attack our community, who have done nothing but welcome you," she said coldly. "Not to mention your friend, Lime Fizz, and her companion. But you're still welcome to stay here, and talk to anypony you like. Perhaps you will find, in time, you will want to join us after all." She paused, then added more calmly, "I'm sorry I couldn't convince you."

Twilight opened her mouth to retort, only for a hand to settle on her shoulder and squeeze.

"We should go, Dewey," Lime Fizz said slowly and carefully, an awkward, hesitant look on her face. "I don't think this conversation is going to go anywhere good from here."

"...okay," Twilight acknowledged after a moment. Taking her eyes off Starlight, she turned around, and matched Lime Fizz's pace as the other mare led her away, the back of her neck prickling with a lingering unseen gaze. Step by step, little by little, the burst of emotional satisfaction she'd taken from telling Starlight exactly what she thought of her drained away, replaced with a quieter regret.

"I kind of screwed that up, didn't I," she said finally.

"No, not at all," Lime Fizz reassured her. The reddish pink mare hesitated, then added, "Well, okay, yes. When we first came into town, we felt like yelling at Starlight, too, but we didn't; I know it seems weird here, but we won't find out anything by getting hostile. Come on, let's go to the bakery. You can try getting to know Sugar Belle, and something to eat will make you feel better."

"That sounds nice," Twilight agreed with a sigh. Resisting the urge to ruffle her wings under the concealing backpack, she added, "I'd like to get off the street, if we can. I can still feel her staring at me."

"I'm sure we can arrange that," Lime Fizz replied soothingly. Quickening her pace, she trotted forward to a house with a low, crude table set up outside it, and knocked on the door. "Sugar Belle? Are you in there?"

The door swung open. Sugar Belle was a mare of middling height, her skin a washed-out grey-pink, and her mane a dull pastel maroon. She wore a shabby apron over her ubiquitous grey clothing, but it didn't hide the fact that her cutie mark was exactly the same as all the others. A framed equality sign hung on the wall inside. "Yes, Lime Fizz? Is there something you need?" she asked through her smile.

"Yes, there is something you can help me with," Lime Fizz said, with a trace of formality. "This is Dewey Drop. We'd like to come in and have some muffins, please."

"Oh! Ah, yes. Come in. Please, do." She seemed suddenly flustered, casting a fast, nervous glance at Twilight. "Welcome to our town. I'll be just a moment."

She backed inside, and Lime Fizz followed her, beckoning to Twilight. Exhaling softly, still mentally replaying her argument with Starlight, Twilight followed.

Inside, the building was frantically subdivided into several small rooms, with a few awkwardly made tables and chairs crammed together in one of them. Lime Fizz settled into a chair, wedging herself into a corner, and Twilight struggled to find the room to sit down herself.

"You could always take your pack off," Lime Fizz pointed out. "It's not like you'll need travelling supplies for a while."

"I'm happier keeping it on," Twilight replied quickly. She could maintain her cover for a little while, but if she spent much time in the town itself, it was going to get really hard to justify always covering her back.

It was hard, being an alicorn in disguise.

Changing the subject as quickly as she dared, Twilight asked, "Do you know Sugar Belle well? She seems a bit nervous around me."

"It's meeting strangers," Lime Fizz replied with a little shrug. "She felt the same way around me for a while."

"Here are your muffins!" interjected Sugar Belle, stepping into the room. Setting one down on a plate in front of Twilight, she added with forceful brightness, "Eat up!"

Twilight hesitated, picking up the muffin and looking at it. It looked okay, on first glance, but there was a mushiness to the dough, and when she looked closer, it was faintly grey and gritty. Of course. The principle of enforced mediocrity. They'd be no better than the worst muffins anypony in town could make. But Sugar Belle was right there, and she was trying to make friends, so...

Her cheeks bulged as she took a large bite, and tried to chew it into something she could swallow. Choking it down, she cleared her throat, and declared weakly, "Thank you. Lovely."

"Psst!" whispered Lime Fizz, nudging Twilight's leg with a water canteen under the table. Grabbing it gratefully, Twilight unscrewed it and took a few gulps of water, washing down the gritty, sticky crumbs that seemed determined to anchor themselves to the inside of her throat.

Coughing once, Twilight nodded at Sugar Belle. "So, um. Sugar Belle. Have you lived here long?"

Sugar Belle glanced at Lime Fizz, then back to Twilight. "A while," she said meekly.

"Were you here before Starlight came, or was she here from the beginning?"

"She, um. She came with the first settlers, like me," Sugar Belle replied hesitantly.

"Oh, I see. Do you know... know where...?" Twilight began, then found herself stumbling over her own words. A wave of hot dizziness swept over her, almost knocking her out of her chair, and she stumbled to her feet, suddenly claustrophobic.

"Don't worry, Dewey, you'll be okay," said Lime Fizz, rising with her and taking hold of Twilight's arm. "It's all okay. We'll help you."

There was a strange smile on Lime Fizz's lips. A horribly familiar smile.

Oh, no.

"You... somesfhing in the water?" Twilight slurred, wobbling in Lime Fizz's grip.

"And in the muffins," Lime Fizz admitted brightly. "We had to be sure."

"You - how could you!" gasped Twilight, sluggishly trying to strike Lime Fizz with the canteen. It slipped from her numb fingers, water cascading over the other pony. Lime's cutie mark smeared and ran, revealing hints of hard, grey rectangles beneath.

It was too late to argue. Nearly too late to do anything.

Her instincts took over. Her horn swirled jerkily as she tried to frame the right spell glyphs in her mind, her eyes falling shut, and a sputtering, malformed spray of magic leapt from her horn.

"Wha- she shouldn't be able to still cast spells!" she heard a voice protest, but it didn't matter. Wasn't important. Stumbling, she forced herself to think, reaching out for the familiar concepts of the charm once more. Shakily, swishing back and forth, she felt several flashes of magic leap from her horn, as clattering and crashing announced the attempts of the other two to flee the tightly-packed dining room without being struck.

"Obey your Empressh! Obey your - your Empress, obey your Empress, obey your Empress!" she gasped, fighting for self control. A roaring filled her ears, her knees weakening. "Get me out of here! Get me, get me... out of here, away... away..." she mumbled.

Her legs gave out from under her, and her head clipped something hard and wooden on the way down. Blackness rolled over her, filled with flashes of purple. Then nothing.

Author's Note

I've been looking forward to getting here for a while! Shame about Ember, all dressed up with no party to go to, but sometimes even mind-controlling Princesses don't get what they want.

A shorter chapter this time, and a nice quick turnaround.

Proofed speedily and efficiently by Djmill
Suggestions by DbzOrDie

16: You Wouldn't

It was a long, long nightmare.

The world swayed around her, shifting and shaking, filled with thickening bursts of purple darkness. Her throat burned, and she felt her cracked lips slur, "Water..."

Something splashed on her face, briefly cold, then everything faded out again. No matter how she tried, she couldn't fight her way free of the mists entangling her thoughts, couldn't remember why she felt such a terrible, aimless urgency.

There was no sharp transition, no sudden awakening. Eventually, without really knowing when the sound had become distinct, she found herself aware of a nearby wooden creaking. She was being jostled, bounced this way and that. Everything felt awful.

Her eyelids flickered, letting in a searing flash of daylight, and she groaned, thickly. She felt as weak as a foal. Squinting against the glare, barely able to move, she looked around herself.

A cart. She was in a cart. It was being pulled by two blurry ponies.

She jerked fully awake. "Stop, stop!"

Dull, overlapping voices recited, "I will stop." The jostling ceased.

Something was wrong, uncomfortable. She was - a rush of crimson shame boiled up in her, and she forced out jerkily, "Don't look at me!" Ignoring the chorus of mindless assent, she forced herself to sit up in the cart and began wriggling out of her clothes, wincing in disgust. Shaking, her coordination shot, it took Twilight several attempts to manage to properly cast cleaning spells on her clothes, and with her faltering control, the spells struck home far too forcefully, bleaching and tearing the cloth.

Barely able to control her hands, she cleaned herself up with shreds of rag from her ruined travel cloak. The cart had come to a stop amongst a field of ancient, rounded boulders, orange and yellow, with occasional dry bushes spreading spidery root systems across the cracks. Two ponies - mares - stood in the cart traces, covered in dust. One was Lime Fizz. The other... it was the baker, with the terrible muffins. Twilight couldn't remember her name.

Her head was killing her, her heart racing far too fast. Why couldn't she think straight?

Maybe she was dehydrated. That could explain a lot.

She tried to speak, producing a rusty croak. Swallowing on a dry throat, she managed, "Give me water, please."

"I will give you water," replied Lime Fizz, her empty, hoarse voice mingling with those of the pony beside her. They both turned in the traces of the cart, Lime Fizz picking a canteen up from the rough wooden boards, and extending it. The baker reached out for it, placing her hand on the side of the canteen as it was offered. That was interesting, Twilight thought distantly. Plainly the mare didn't have water to give, so she was sharing in the offering of the canteen. Since the command was non-specific, were they aware of each other enough to cooperate? She took hold of the canteen - mostly empty with a little sloshing about in the bottom - unscrewed the cap, then paused.

Wait. Wait, wait, wait.

"Lime Fizz. Is this water drugged?"

"Yes," the other pony replied flatly.

"...have you been giving it to me for a while?" she asked, with a horrible, sick feeling of inevitability.

"Yes."

"Why?" demanded Twilight, sitting up sharply, before she swayed and nearly toppled over again. A low moan of protest escaped her, and she clutched her head in both hands, dropping the canteen. A splatter of water sprayed across the boards.

"You commanded water," Lime Fizz replied, with an empty lack of emphasis.

Buck, manure, dung, damn! "And you gave me the water you had. I thought I threw your water all over you."

"I had two canteens prepared."

"Why?"

"For you and your friend if you did not separate."

"Trixie!" yelped Twilight, trying to stand up, then finding her knees wouldn't cooperate. "Tell me- no. Stop." She took a deep, shuddering breath, trying to wrest control of herself. She had to stop, and think clearly. She needed a list of topics to address, and running around like her tail was on fire wouldn't do anypony any good. Especially seeing as she couldn't seem to stand up right then, and black spots swam before her every time she moved.

There was paper and ink in her pack, but getting to it just seemed too hard. She'd have to remember instead.

Point one. Trixie wasn't here. She'd been left with Burdock. It was possible only Lime Fizz had been... been equalised. Whether Burdock had been through the same process determined if Trixie was in big trouble. That was worth checking.

Trying to keep her speech to a minimum - her throat hurt, and it sounded like Lime wasn't any better off - she asked carefully, "Was Burdock going to drug Trixie?"

"Yes."

"Is he equalised?"

"Yes." The word fell from Lime Fizz's lips, dull and dead.

Panic. The world swayed around Twilight again, and she slowly toppled onto her back once more, her heart hammering. The sky overhead was so blue it was unendurable; she closed her eyes and waited for the sickening sensation of rocking back and forth to die away again.

Point two. Lime Fizz and... and the baker, the name 'Sweetie Belle' kept elbowing its way into her mind, but that wasn't right, and she couldn't untangle it. Those two. They had to be exhausted. They'd been pulling her through the sun for goodness knows how long. That was... that was terrible. They'd been forced to, because of the charm, and she'd hurt them, with her carelessness, and, and who knew how hurt and exhausted they were, and it was her fault, and, and she'd hurt them with her magic, with a spell she'd made-

Another roaring swell of darkness washed over her, and she twisted onto her side, retching. Nothing came up, her gritty, dusty skin growing slick with a new flush of fevered perspiration.

Forcing out the words one by one, she managed, "Have you drank water since I commanded you to take me away?"

"Yes," replied Lime Fizz, echoed by the baker, the two of them still facing forward in the traces.

"Was it from this canteen?"

"No," the two answered, with hoarse emptiness.

"Where?"

"A spring," replied the baker, an instant ahead of Lime Fizz's, "From a spring."

So they knew the canteen was dangerous, or would interfere with their orders, and avoided it. But she didn't come under the same automatic rules. "Have you - messed your clothes?" Twilight asked with difficulty, her throat trying to close up in fresh humiliation.

"No."

"Are you... are you in pain?"

"Yes."

A spasm of vertigo jerked through Twilight again, and she squeezed her eyes closed tightly. Fighting back her panic, she shook her head against the rough wood. She'd learned this before; it was pointless asking charmed ponies if they were in pain, there was always some little discomfort, and the spell made them excessively literal. If she wanted to know how bad it was, she'd have to wake them up.

She wasn't ready for that, yet.

She didn't want to ask this, either, but it was definitely point three, so... "How long has it been?"

"Most of a day," replied the baker, her voice mingling with the scout's more accurate, "Approximately fifteen hours."

Oh, Celestia. Trixie had potentially been in Starlight's hands since yesterday. And these ponies had to be exhausted. They wouldn't have brought food, or water, and they must have been pulling steadily all that time. Though they had stopped to drink, and perhaps – other things – too. Maybe more safety features in the charm, to stop a pony starving herself to death if left on her own too long. That was reassuring, even if it wasn't nearly enough.

Before she went any further, no matter how badly, how desperately she needed to hurl herself back the way they'd come, she had to tend to the victims of her own spell.

Slowly and carefully, moving like an invalid, Twilight drew her discarded pack to her and fumbled the buckles open. Her own water canteen was inside, half-full, and she had to suppress a terrible urge to just drink every drop. Instead, she opened it slowly and sipped as best she could, trying to rinse out her mouth. The merest touch of the liquid within was a benediction, easing some of the jagged heat in her throat.

Holding the canteen out with extreme care, she coughed, then managed, "Don't repeat my commands, just obey them. Lime Fizz. Drink one mouthful, then give it to her. Then you, baker, drink a mouthful, seal the flask, and give it to me."

Silently, the two mares did as they were told. Accepting the flask back, Twilight frowned and asked the baker, "What's your name?"

"Sugar Belle," the other pony replied, her flat tone a little less hoarse than before.

Oh. Yes. Swallowing, forcing herself not to take all of what little remained in the flask, Twilight said carefully, "Unhook yourselves from the cart and lie down."

The two mares let the cart tip forward a little until it settled onto its front legs, then sank down to the ground, out of Twilight's sight. It probably wasn't comfortable, but their bodies had to be aching terribly, and lying down might help a little. When they woke up, they were not going to be in a good place.

Taking a deep breath, fighting to think clearly through the fog in her head and the twisting sensation in her stomach, Twilight said slowly, "Lime Fizz, I'm only talking to you, now. When you awaken, you will not remember anything that's happened since the first time you entered Starlight's village. Your personality will be exactly as it was back then. When I tell you to remember, you will remember everything that has happened since then, but from a distance. You won't let it change who you are. You can't lie about anything that happened during that time. Do you understand?"

"I understand," repeated the Seeker from where she lay.

Twilight paused. That was probably enough to stop Lime Fizz from waking up in her corrupted state, but there was still the matter of how sore and exhausted the mare must be. The amount of exertion she'd undergone was really serious. It was a terrible time to be experimenting with the charm's powers and limits, but there was an idea she'd been wondering about for some time that might help, and she needed Lime Fizz awake enough to describe how badly she was feeling without dropping the full weight of her suffering on her all at once.

"I want you to imagine a big dial, okay?" Twilight said quietly."When you wake up, you can picture turning it up or down any time you like, and the more you turn it down, the less your body hurts. Right now, it's turned down halfway, so any pain you're feeling is soft and diffuse."

It was all she could think of, and her throat hurt from trying to talk. A convulsive shiver ran through her, and she began, "I am-" before cutting herself off abruptly. Using the trigger aloud meant that Sugar Belle would wake up, too, and the baker was in no condition for that yet. "Lime Fizz, stand up and lean over me. Bring your ear to my mouth."

Lime Fizz silently rose to her feet, leaning over the cart's shallow sides. Too exhausted to care overmuch about her nudity, Twilight tugged some of the larger scraps of her destroyed cloak over her chest and sex, and knowing the words had never been further from the truth, whispered, "I am satisfied."

The other mare's blank eyes snapped into focus. For an instant, she seemed frozen in shock, then she jerked upright with a wordless cry of surprise that instantly mutated into a hiss of pain. "What? Wha- what happened?" she gasped. "Where am I?" She seemed about to say more, but a strange expression came across her face, and she grew calmer, more tired. She screwed up her eyes, shaking her head slightly, then managed, in hoarse disbelief, "Princess? What happened to you? What happened to your clothes? What are you doing here?"

"It's okay, Lime Fizz," Twilight whispered. No, it's not. "Stay calm. It's going to be okay."

"I don't understand. I was just entering a town, and-" Lime Fizz broke off, shaking her head slowly again, as if to dislodge something in her ear, and said quietly, "I don't know where I am." All of a sudden, she caught sight of the prone mare on the floor, and squeaked, "Who is that?"

"She's okay, I promise. I promise, she's resting. Trust me. Ssh. Let's take this slowly. Yes, I'm Twilight. I received a letter from you and Burdock." She coughed, a sharp, dry sound, and tugged the remnants of her cloak over her chest further. "You'd found a town. Everypony wore the same cutie mark. Seemed like something was wrong. You investigated. Stopped sending letters. I came with my apprentice to look for you both. Then-"

"But why don't I remember?" burst out Lime Fizz, rubbing a hand through her mane, then jerking in shock as she felt how short and neat it was. She clutched at the side of the cart, then sank slowly to her knees, barely able to keep herself upright. She glanced at Sugar Belle again, seeming to want to say more, but unwilling to argue with the Princess.

"I blocked your memories. Sorry. Please, listen." Twilight paused, waiting for Lime Fizz to nod shakily, then went on, "Something happened to you. You tricked me. Drugged me. You were handing me over to them."

"I would never!" Lime Fizz interrupted, unable to contain herself, then swayed dizzily and held onto the cart more tightly as the animation once again drained from her face. "I wouldn't," she said more quietly.

"Something happened to you," Twilight repeated huskily. "It wasn't your fault. Nothing you did was your fault. But I was passing out, and I didn't know what to do. I cast a spell to force you to do what I said, told you to save me. I'm sorry. Really sorry. I'd never have wanted to do that. I did the same to Sugar Belle, she was helping capture me. But I don't – I don't know what happened to you, to make you do that. I left Trixie with Burdock, and he was going to do the same thing to her that you did to me. I need to find out what you know."

"I don't remember anything, though. Are you going to give my memory back?" Lime Fizz asked, subdued, but adding with a touch of defiance, "Burdock wouldn't hurt anypony, either."

"I'll give you your memory back in a moment. Stay calm. But first – can you picture a dial, in your head?"

The other mare gasped. "I – yes, like it was right in front of me. It's so real."

"You're hurt. I think you've been walking for – for a long time. Not enough water. No food. I turned down how bad you feel; I didn't want to shock you. But if you picture turning the dial back up again, you'll feel it. All of it." Twilight swallowed, her throat dry. "Before you do. How do you feel?"

"Fine," Lime Fizz panted, shaking her head again sluggishly.

"The truth."

"...horrible. My head is pounding, and my whole body hurts. My legs hurt the most. I feel dizzy. I can't - I'm not sure I can stand up," Lime Fizz whispered shamefacedly, looking down.

"...okay. Don't try to change the dial. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. This is my fault," croaked Twilight. "I'm going to release your memories, now. You have to keep your head clear, and not let these memories change you. Remember who and what you are. I really want to give you more time, but - there isn't enough. I'm sorry. Are you ready?"

Lime Fizz glanced down at the prone, blank-eyed figure of Sugar Belle, with a shudder of disquiet, then nodded sharply. "Do it."

Despite her haphazard precautions, Twilight tensed, ready to use the charm's keywords again the instant she felt threatened. Fighting her own reluctance, struggling to speak clearly, she commanded, "Remember, now!"

Horror flashed over the other mare's pale red face, her jaw dropping open, and she twisted, looking down at her own flanks. A wail of despair burst from her lips, and she choked, trying to sob but unable to summon the tears. "She - she t-took my cutie mark! She took it!" Lime Fizz wailed.

Twilight's hand covered Lime's, and she leant up in the cart, forcing back the black spots that crowded around the edges of her vision at the moment. "We'll get it back," she vowed. "I promise, I promise you, I won't let this end like this. But how? What happened to you?"

Lime Fizz rubbed a hand over her stubbornly dry eyes, swallowing hard. Her eyes flicked downwards, and she managed, "P-Princess, you're..."

The remains of the cloak were slipping. Twilight tugged at them, shaking her head. "I know, I'm not really dressed. It doesn't matter. Clothes can wait. Tell me."

"Not that." Lime Fizz gave a wobbly, uncertain smile, and added, "I mean, I don't understand why you're in rags. But - it was you, wasn't it? Dewey Drop? You... I didn't know, I'm sorry!"

"...oh. Yes. Sorry. I wanted to trust you, but things were strange, and I didn't want the townsfolk to know who I was, yet. Please, Lime, we can talk about this later." Trying not to raise her voice, Twilight pleaded, "I need to know what they did to you! You sent me the letter, decided to enter the town- what then?"

"We - we tried to make friends with the townsfolk. They were weird. I hated the smiles, and the equals signs. Some of them are more into it than others. The whole philosophy, I mean. Sugar Belle seemed like she wasn't as happy, I think she wanted to say more to us, but every time she tried to get us alone, some other pony would come over and she wouldn't say anything." Lime Fizz shook her head shakily. "We managed to find out they do the cutie mark removing in a cave out of town. Burdock and I, we - we found it. Went there. Starlight was waiting, she had a staff. She, she just - she used it, and - and she tore our cutie marks away! I felt it go, and my magic went with it, and, and then-"

"It's okay. I'm sorry. I'm here," whispered Twilight, squeezing Lime's hand, feeling a hot, tight fist clench around her heart. She was the one who'd sent the Seekers out in the first place, exposing them to this kind of danger. This, all of this, was her fault.

"...she locked us in a room," whispered Lime Fizz, in broken tones. "There were speakers. They kept repeating her voice, over and over, telling you about Equality, and how happy you'd be if you accepted what she was telling you, and be friends, and be one of them. And - every time I got worked up, or angry, it's like the feelings just drained away. Like there's a hole where my cutie mark used to be, and they leak out. And when you can't stay angry, or upset, it's hard to keep fighting. It just... gets to you. It's easier to accept it than fight it. It's easier to believe it. The whole town lines up outside, and - and they say they want to be your friends, and you should come out and be with them, and they like you, and..."

"Okay. It's okay. I understand," Twilight said, very quietly. "That's enough."

"She told us that you'd come, or you'd send other ponies, and we should be ready. She wanted a Princess on her side. It was the way to show all Equestria that our way - her way - was right. Whoever came, especially if it was you, we should split you up, and bring you to her, and if she - if she said she was sorry she couldn't persuade you, that meant you needed to be shown the right way to live by force, like we had. So then we'd pretend not to trust her, so you'd trust us instead, and- the water, and the... that." Her words choked to a stop, buried under the weight of her wretchedness and misery. "I'm sorry. It's like waking up from a nightmare, and it all happened, and... my cutie mark is still gone, and I think I should be screaming and crying, but it's just... leaking out of me."

Twilight squeezed the distraught mare's hand again. She didn't know what to say. It was possible there were no words she could say. "I will fix this," she whispered, eventually. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Lime Fizz shook her head slowly in silent rejection of the reassurance, but didn't protest. After a moment, she carefully hauled herself to her feet by hanging onto the cart, wincing and sucking in her breath as her wobbly legs protested carrying her. "What... what will you do?"

"I've got to get you back to water, first of all. I don't know how much you've drank, but it wasn't enough. And I've got to do something about Sugar Belle, too." Twilight winced, shaking her head. "Please - look away. For a moment."

"I - yes. Of course, Princess," Lime Fizz said a little too quickly, as if she suddenly felt accused of staring, and turned her back.

Little by little, trying desperately not to show how sick she felt, Twilight pushed herself into a sitting position, then struggled to her feet. Stepping down from the cart was almost too much for her, and the rocky ground seemed to pitch and sway beneath her feet. Tugging a nondescript tunic and pair of loose trousers from her travelling bag, she managed to dress, supporting herself against the cart.

"...Princess?" asked Lime Fizz, in worried tones.

"I'm alright!" gasped Twilight. "You - you can turn around, now. Get - get in the cart. Sugar Belle, you too."

Lime Fizz twisted around to face Twilight once more, shaking her head, even as Sugar Belle silently picked herself up off the ground, and lay down in the cart, glassy eyed and thoughtlessly efficient in her movements.

"Princess, please - what are you intending?"

Straightening up and letting go of the cart, hammering the vertigo into submission, Twilight swallowed dryly. "I have to get you back to water. I'm pulling." Raising her hand to forestall Lime's objection, she added, "You couldn't even stand if I hadn't turned down your pain. If you try to do things in that state, you will hurt yourself. Really, and forever. Please - please lie down."

"I can't let-"

"Do it!" Twilight snapped, briefly cracking. Her throat hurt too much to argue, and the thought of what was happening to Trixie, of what she'd done to these ponies, was a constant, crushing grip on her chest.

Swallowing dryly, Lime Fizz climbed into the cart, struggling to clamber over the side, then toppling in. Her breathing was harsh in the still air.

Carefully, slowly, Twilight moved to the front of the cart and separated the traces, wrapping them around her body. Gripping the shafts, she straightened her back and pulled. The two-wheeled cart rose off its front supports. "Which way?" she asked, in rough, husky tones.

"I'm not sure," confessed Lime Fizz. "Sugar Belle was leading us, I think. It's hard to remember. Since you – did what you did, I can barely remember what I was doing."

Step by step, Twilight dragged the cart in a narrow circle, then leaned into the traces and pulled hard. The wheels creaked, then groaned as they began to turn. The opposite direction from the way they'd been travelling would have to do for now. "I'm going to wake her up. Do you – think she can be trusted?"

"…I don't know. I want to, but I'm not sure how much of that is… what happened to me."

"Okay. I don't think she's in any condition to fight." Nor am I. Bile churned hotly at the back of her throat as she took step after step, trying to maintain momentum across the broken, rocky plain. "I'll make sure she won't lie to us."

There was silence from behind her, but somehow, one that had the quality of something waiting to be said. For a few moments, the only sound was the creak of the cart and the gasp of Twilight's breath, before Lime Fizz said quietly, "…Princess? What did you do to us?"

Twilight was too exhausted to lie. "It's a spell designed to control others. Very old. Very dangerous. I discovered it a few months ago, before I ascended. It's why I set up the Seekers; to make sure nothing like it was anywhere else in Equestria. I didn't want to use it on you, or anypony without their consent. I'm really sorry."

Another pause. Then, softly, "It's okay. I put you in a position where you needed to."

"It's not okay!" Twilight burst out, then winced as her sudden loudness made her throat hurt again. She stumbled, but kept pulling. "It's not okay," she repeated, more softly. "I know better than anypony how dangerous this spell is, and I cast it when I couldn't think straight, much less give commands that were in any way safe or sane. I panicked, and I hurt you, both of you, and I could have done much worse. I never, ever wanted to hurt somepony with my magic like that."

The cart rattled over a few loose rocks, juddering. Twilight pulled harder. If only she had some kind of water-divining spell. After she'd gotten lost, with the teleportation accident, she'd sworn she wasn't going to let this happen again! She had so much to study, when all this was over.

When Trixie, and Lime Fizz, and Burdock, and all of them were safe.

"…do you really think you can… fix this?" Lime Fizz asked, eventually.

"Yes. I will." Twilight was getting the hang of the cart, now. Her head swam, and the world was hazy and too bright, but her legs weren't tired yet, and she just had to keep plodding forward. "I don't know what this staff is; I've never heard of an artefact with such power over cutie marks. But I'll defeat her. I'll do what I have to. But first, I'd better wake Sugar Belle."

Taking a deep, steadying breath, Twilight spoke carefully, her eyes flickering half-shut and letting herself plod forward blindly. "Sugar Belle, I'm talking to you, now. When I wake you up, you won't be able to lie to or deliberately deceive Lime Fizz or I. You'll be completely aware that I've cast a spell to cause that effect, and that you were enchanted to bring me out here."

Wishing she had notes, then wishing she didn't feel so sick and fuzzy-headed, Twilight forced herself to recite as much as she could remember of the pain-control instructions she'd given Lime Fizz, adding another instruction for Sugar Belle to be aware of the dial and how to use it as soon as she awoke. Uncomfortably aware of Lime Fizz listening in, doubtless taking in just how powerful and flexible the charm was, Twilight finally paused, then croaked, "I am satisfied."

The previously silent mare's reaction was shockingly instant. She jerked upright in the cart with a cry of surprise that was almost a shriek, then as the long-deferred exhaustion and long exposure to the sun hammered into her, she collapsed backwards again with an audible thump. Words slurred, sucking in quick, frightened gasps, she panted, "Don't hurt me! Please! I didn't want to do it!"

Twilight's heart broke, cleanly and precisely. She tried to turn around, but the harness shoved her in the back, and so she kept walking, purple splotches decorating the landscape as she screwed up her eyes. She wanted to speak, but it was like the mechanism in her chest that generated her words had seized solid, leaving her stumbling silently on.

"Princess Twilight would never hurt you," Lime Fizz said, quietly but firmly. "She isn't that kind of pony. I wouldn't hurt you either. It's okay, Sugar. No pony's going to do anything bad to you."

Her throat closing up, doubly wordless now, Twilight kept putting one foot in front of the other as behind her, Lime Fizz comforted Sugar Belle, and little by little, coaxed her story out of her.

Sugar Belle had found herself with a broken heart, pining for a stallion that didn't return her affections, and left her village to join a travelling convoy heading north, into the barren plains, to set up a town. Everypony knew it was a dusty, difficult place to live, but that suited her mood, and at times it seemed like the only ponies that joined them were ones that were trying to leave something behind.

Starlight had been among them. She'd joined the caravan before Sugar Belle, though Sugar couldn't say where. She had a way of taking ponies aside, and talking through why they were making the journey without ever quite telling them why she was doing the same. She talked a lot, and when decisions were made, they usually went the way that Starlight was arguing for. They'd stopped to set up the town where she'd wanted, and laid out the houses on the plan she'd suggested. She was hard to disagree with. She'd just keep talking, and sympathising, and soon, it felt like you were actively rejecting her to disagree further.

A handful of ponies hadn't taken well to this. Quietly, with a smile, Starlight had suggested to the others that these ponies were causing disagreements - if they talked to them, they'd see it for themselves - and it was better if they left.

They'd left.

It was a little after that when the townsfolk started talking about equality. Togetherness. Really joining together and sharing their burdens amongst themselves in every way, an equal weight on every shoulder. The topic just seemed to turn up, and grew louder and more insistent with every day that passed. Then Starlight had walked into town one day, her cutie mark gone, replaced by an equals symbol. She'd found a way to truly bring equality to them all, she'd said. Nopony ever had to feel lonely, or not good enough, ever again.

It was the feeling of being not good enough that had snagged Sugar Belle. She didn't want to feel that way. For some time, she and Lime Fizz had been talking in oddly calm voices, all of the desperation and urgency drained out of them, but as she described that decision, a flash of old pain had shown through once more.

Most of the townsfolk had agreed to what Starlight had described as a great coming together, turning their community into a true union. Those that wanted what she'd offered had followed her out of town, to a cave, with a great glass wall embedded in the stone. She said she'd found it, along with the staff of Equality. And then - one by one at first, then several at a time, she'd taken their cutie marks, and stored them - imprisoned them - behind the glass.

It was over surprisingly quickly. Sugar Belle had felt the ache of loneliness fade away, even as she felt tired, drained. The exhausted, empty feeling would pass, Starlight had said. It hadn't. She kept them in the cave, talking and talking, nudging their own conversations in the right direction when she allowed them to speak, making sure everypony was glad and sound in their new resolution. Sugar wasn't even sure how long they'd spent there; time had seemed to just slip away.

All she did know was that when they left, they were all convinced they'd done the right thing. The others in town who'd held back were persuaded, and urged, and promised how much better they'd feel. One by one, two by two, they gave in, and travelled to the cave. When they came back, they were just the same as everypony else.

Soon, everypony wore the equals sign.

Starlight was always the one making decisions, now. It was easier to agree with what she said, and thought, than to disagree. A new house was built; larger, more impressive, standing at the head of the town. She guided them, in their unity. She was first among equals. One of them. Differences were bad. Differences led to discord, and chaos, and anger, and heartbreak. Only when ponies were the same could they truly be friends.

Even so, now and then, ponies would grow unhappy. They missed being able to do what they'd done before. Unicorns missed their magic. Pegasi could barely fly. Sugar Belle herself found that she couldn't bake anymore; no matter how hard she tried, everything turned out grey, and sour. Starlight explained to her that now she understood how hard it was for other ponies to bake the way she had before - that struggling and failing to match her unfair advantages made them resent and hate her. It made sense, but it made Sugar Belle deeply unhappy. She stopped talking about it.

Then Starlight had re-assigned one of the buildings, where the town had once listened to music, as a therapy room for ponies that were struggling to feel better. Ponies that were feeling full of doubt and uncertainty were encouraged to rest there, studying the ways Equality could help them, until they were feeling better. It worked. After a little while, nopony seemed to be unhappy at all.

Starlight often reminded them, all of them, that ponies that were new to the town would find it hard to understand their ways. Equality was such a new idea, so beautiful and powerful, that they needed help to truly embrace it. Visiting travellers were guided to the cave, and then spent a while in the therapy house, recovering and studying. Then they joined the village, having discovered what it truly meant to have friends they could rely on forever.

But the thing was... Sugar Belle still missed baking. She missed her old clothes, which Starlight had told them to throw away. She missed feeling happy. There had been more to happiness than this, hadn't there? A lot of days, she didn't think so, but sometimes, it still felt like something was missing.

There hadn't been any visitors for a while, before Lime Fizz and Burdock had come to the town. For a little while, Sugar Belle felt tempted to talk to them. To tell them... well, not to avoid going to the cave, but just that... she missed things. Because out of everypony in the village, they were the only two that she felt she could talk to about the vacant feeling in her heart.

Then Starlight had gathered the townsfolk together one morning, outside the therapy house, and Sugar knew it was too late for that. It had taken a few days of morning gatherings before the two understood their new community was welcoming them, but soon enough, two new friends were among the townsfolk, helping out and smiling with the others as though they'd been born there.

That was when Starlight had started telling them that the nobility of Equestria didn't like what their town was doing. That they wanted to break up their settlement, and take them all away from each other, because Equality threatened the whole idea of some ponies being more important than others. She made them afraid, and small. Then she told them her plan to save them. The new Princess, the one they'd heard fleeting rumours about from the last couple of ponies to arrive before Lime Fizz and Burdock, was going to become one of them, if they all played their part and did as she instructed.

Sugar Belle had baked the muffins.

Two-thirds of the way through Sugar Belle's story, which had been interrupted occasionally to tell Twilight which way to go, Twilight had painstakingly towed them back as far as a small spring and a trickle of water, leaking from a crumpled, collapsed rock face. The water was dirty, gritty with tiny particles of rock, but Twilight drank until she felt sick all over again. After that, all three of them lay in the shadows cast by the stones, Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle barely able to crawl out of the cart after the rest had caused their legs to seize up, and they gathered water in their cupped hands to rinse their faces once they'd drank enough. That had helped revive them, a little.

Twilight had stayed quiet. Lime Fizz was doing fine coaxing the words out of Sugar Belle, and Twilight was afraid that if she started asking questions herself, the shy, nervous pony would simply stop talking completely. The hazy disorientation of the drug's after-effects had lessened a little, but Twilight still felt sick and dizzy every time she moved her head too quickly, and her heartbeat was still much too fast.

It was probably heat exhaustion, tending to mild sunstroke, she concluded, lightheaded. The other two weren't faring any better.

She needed to think clearly, and she was doing her very best, but it was a struggle. Her head was pounding, and part of her was doing nothing but picturing Trixie in Starlight's clutches, wrapped up in horror at what the maniacal pony was almost certainly doing to her. The corner of her mind still capable of rational thought was isolated, beset on all sides, having to justify over and over why she wasn't running breathlessly towards the town that very second, why wasn't she running to Trixie's side that second?!

Because she'd arrive crippled, or not at all. Flying was out of the question; she barely knew how to use her wings, and in her current state, even trying had set her retching uncontrollably again. Teleporting was far more dangerous than that. All she could do was try her hardest to understand what she was up against, while her body recovered enough to set out on foot again.

What was the staff? Obviously it was horrendously powerful, to allow for such manipulation of cutie marks. The removal damaged the victims, too; their emotions drained, rendering them suggestible and emptily compliant. It seemed a lot like Starlight had been planning something like the enthralled, cult-like town from the very start, but she apparently hadn't been carrying anything that looked like the staff on their journey into the plains.

Could she have found it out here, been unconsciously drawn to it? Twilight had read about occasions where forbidden artefacts had gravitated to ponies that seemed to desire them the most. Or had she been actively searching for the staff when she joined the township caravan? Did it even matter? Starlight had it now, and she had to be stopped. She was the origin and source of the sickness that was gripping the town, that was clear, and whatever effect the staff had had on the others, it only seemed to have made Starlight herself more intensely devoted to her crusade.

With a shaky, awkward imitation of her usual handwriting, Twilight finished the parchment scroll she was working on, and re-read it.

Celestia,

Town leader Starlight Glimmer has artefact staff, is removing cutie marks, controlling victims. Drugged me, Trixie. Trixie was captured. I escaped. Going back to rescue her. Trust nopony in the village. Come quickly.

Copy 5/5.

It was clumsy, and barely comprehensible, but her hands were quivering as she wrote, and she'd had to make several copies, so it had to be as short as she could manage. Folding it several times, she wrote, 'Princess Celestia, URGENT' on the outside, then laid it down in front of her and concentrated. A wavering glow built up around her horn, flaring and flickering as she constantly had to rein it back from surging out of control, then flashed to the parchment. The folded sheet vanished.

It might have actually gone to the right place. It might not. Long-range teleportation was hard, and she was in no state for complex magic. Five tries. All five might be fluttering into lakes, or forests, or into the distant sea. One might be in Celestia's hands, right then. One might have landed on a path, to be picked up, read, conveyed to the capital, passed through the hands of guards… she had no idea. She couldn't afford to wait.

Slumping back against the rocks, she wiped her forehead of the cold sweat that had gathered there.

"Princess?"

It was Lime Fizz. Twilight raised her head wearily, looking over at the Seeker, who herself was flat on her back in the shade. "Yes?"

"I... I'm sorry. That we failed you," the young mare said, her voice quietly hoarse, staring at the sky rather than trying to meet Twilight's gaze. "I want to go back and help Burdock. I want to help your friend. And - and I want my cutie mark back."

"I know, Lime. I know. It'll be okay. I'm ready for Starlight, this time." Half-true. She was much better informed about her enemy, but she was in much worse condition, now, and she didn't have time to get better. And she was on her own. "I'll fight her, and I'll stop her. It's as simple as that."

Half-truths upon half-truths. But if she could hold herself together long enough to cast the charm, she'd won. The original variant of the charm, the one Celestia created. The last thing she needed was to be screaming about obeying and Empresses in the middle of a populated town.

"I'm coming with you." Pushing herself up into a sitting position with both hands, Lime Fizz tried to get to her feet, then slumped back. She'd obviously tried to infuse her voice with determination and forcefulness, but the words emerged flat and empty of emphasis.

"No, you're not. You're going to stay here and look after Sugar Belle," Twilight said, quietly. "You've got water, and shade. I'll leave you the rest of the food in my pack. Give yourself some time to recover. By the time you're ready to travel, I should have come back for you."

She ought to try to sleep. She really should, she knew, and the ever-shrinking rational part of her was telling her to conserve her strength. But she couldn't bear waiting any longer. Digging into her travel pack, Twilight pulled out the rest of her neatly packed preserved food, and set it down on a flat rock, out of the sun. The three of them had already eaten a little, and she'd refilled her own travel canteen.

Rising to her feet, she looked down at the two mares, giving Sugar Belle a reassuring smile before addressing them both. "Stay safe. Keep hold of who you are. I will be back for you."

"Princess, no! Please, I can help-" protested Lime Fizz, trying to get up again.

"Don't try to follow me. That's an order, Lime Fizz." Twilight turned away and started walking, focusing on putting one step in front of the other, and doing her best not to listen to the Seeker shouting after her.

The air smelt baked dry, desiccated, with a powdery aftertaste of hot dust. Small dust clouds stirred and settled with each gust of the breeze.

The town looked deserted. Not a pony stirred anywhere in sight.

It was mid-morning, and Twilight felt terrible. She'd miscalculated badly in leaving all her remaining food behind with the others. Even though there were good reasons to have done so, she hadn't had nearly enough back at the spring, and now her stomach gnawed at her. Such sleep as she'd snatched had come only when she was too exhausted to keep walking, and the broken ground too treacherous in the dark; shallow, restless sleep, without dreams.

Starlight wasn't stupid. She couldn't have achieved all she had done if she was stupid. This had to be a trap.

Picking up a small rock, Twilight took a deep breath, and concentrated. Her magic flared and rippled as she swished her horn through the neat little gestures of a spell - one she'd sworn to herself she was done with - and a brief glow coated the stone. Slipping it into her pocket, Twilight nodded to herself and took a deep breath, then began to creep forward once more. It took clarity of thought and careful restraint to control her massively overcharged magical reservoirs; things that her pounding headache, surging nausea and barely contained panic did not make easy. There were probably a thousand other things she could do to prepare for the inevitable fight ahead, and she just couldn't think straight.

There weren't windows looking out from the rears of the houses; all of them faced inwards, to their single street. That was how Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle had managed to tow her away in the cart before anypony even realised something was wrong. It also made it easier to sneak back, sticking close to the taller spires of crumbling rock wherever she could.

It was possible that the whole town had gone to the caves. Twilight now knew roughly where they were, but she'd hoped that Starlight wouldn't have taken Trixie there, not with the prospect of Twilight herself showing up at any moment. But if she had…

Unscrewing the top of her water flask, Twilight took a measured mouthful of tepid water. Then, ducking her head low, feeling horribly, horribly exposed, she inched forwards through the sparse, dusty scrub and small boulders towards the double line of houses. Her skin prickled, her entire body tensed for the moment of discovery, the first cry of alarm. Her fidgety heart beat too fast in her chest.

Nothing. She covered the last little patch of open ground at a flat run, flattening herself against the back of a building, almost sobbing for breath. Swallowing down the taste of bile, she crouched in the mediocre shadow of a stack of old barrels, slowly letting her body calm and waiting for the world to stop spinning.

Fine. Now what?

She was answered by the clang of bells. A single bell, now she listened closer, probably a hand bell. Sidling into the slim gap between the house she'd been sheltering behind and the next, she inched her way forward towards the inner street, listening hard.

"Well, Trixie? Are you ready to join our community?"

Twilight's heart turned to ice in her chest.

"The – the great – Trixie isn't joining anything! She's – she'll be rescued! And Twilight is going to save her! And, and make you give her her cutie mark back, she will…"

"She left you," countered Starlight's voice, with faux sympathy. "It's been days, Trixie. She abandoned you, and left you behind. We would never do that to you. Let us help you."

Days? It had been a day. Did Trixie have any idea how long she'd been captive?

"She – she wouldn't," sniffled Trixie. "She wouldn't!"

"Then where is she? Do you see her? I'm afraid I don't. None of us have seen her. Perhaps she's gone back to Canterlot, to talk to the other Princesses. You know. The ones she considers important. She probably intends to come back for you – eventually. But you deserve better, don't you think? Be one of us. We care, Trixie."

"Trixie isn't one of you! Not ever! Trixie is magical, and special, and – and – she's special! Let Trixie go!" Her voice rose sharply, cracking.

"Trixie, Trixie. You're not special. You think you are, but you're not. All you're doing is setting yourself apart from all the ponies that want to be your friends, and care about you. You know you're lonely. You know that, deep down, no pony likes you. And your Princess… you'll never be equal to her, not the way she is. You'll never matter to her the way you think you do. And you know it, deep down. Just accept it. But we can fix that, for both of you. You can be together, as equals. You can build a new life, here. All you have to do is say 'yes'."

"Trixie is her apprentice! She, she studied, she learned! She designed whole new spells! She is vital! You don't know anything!"

Twilight reached the edge of the corner, and carefully peered around it. Trixie was restrained by two stallions, gripping each arm, though she hardly looked as though she needed it. She seemed grey, exhausted, her mane drooping limply, cut the same as all the others. Starlight stood in front of her, a satchel over her shoulder, and a long, double pointed staff in one hand, leaning forward to cup Trixie's cheek with the other.

Twilight could barely tear her gaze away from Trixie, feeling herself quivering with furious horror, but there was one more thing she needed to focus on first. The staff.

"No, Trixie. That kind of attitude just won't do. All of that is behind you, now. Do you even remember the things you're talking about? Studying, spellcraft… you don't remember how that even works, do you. It's not as though you have magic."

"You took it! You took it," Trixie panted weakly. "Give her magic back!"

"That's enough of this nonsense, Trixie Lulamoon. It's time for you to go back inside. You'll feel better by tomorrow."

"No! Please – Mistress! Save me!" Trixie wailed.

Twilight moved before she could even think. Leaning further out of the alley, she began swirling her horn through the complex dips and curls of the charm, feeling a sick, hot fury churning in the depths of her stomach. A haze settled over her vision, as she focused as hard as she could on controlling the peaks and surges of her magic.

A voice rang out. "Starlight, she's here! Look out!"

Twilight loosed the bolt of magic, cursing inwardly. Starlight twisted, ducking to the side, and the glimmering, almost invisible shimmer in the air disappeared over Trixie's head. Ponies flooded from the houses into the street, blocking the way.

There was the ambush.

"Trixie!" yelled Twilight at the top of her lungs. "I'm coming!"

"Mistress?! Mistress!" Trixie cried out from beyond the throng. "Help me!"

Townsfolk formed a wall, separating Twilight from Starlight, advancing slowly and nervously, with frozen, desperate smiles. "Sorry, Princess, but we need to stop you," one stallion apologised, as the crowd pressed closer, hands extended towards her. "Starlight will help you; you'll feel better."

Twilight's gaze flashed from left to right, trying to find a way through. There wasn't one. Pegasi flapped out of the crowd, forming a second row above their heads, hemming her in. Black sparkles formed at the edge of Twilight's vision as she felt herself hyperventilating. No. She had to stop panicking. She had a plan, and it was going to work.

"You'll be much happier when you-" the stallion went on, then lunged for her in mid-sentence, obviously trying to take her by surprise. Twisting, with entirely unpractised movements, Twilight kicked him hard, and to her surprised delight, he dropped like a sack of stones, clutching his leg.

"Hah! That's what happens! Who else wants some?" she demanded, delirious with sudden aggressive confidence. Two more ponies threw themselves at her, then one reeled back as she punched the other one – a mare – in the face. The female sat down hard, grabbing at her nose and yowling in pain. Twilight raised her hands in an archaic boxing pose straight out of an old illustration she'd seen once, and declared, "You'd better step out of my way, or I won't go easy on you!"

"How like a Princess, to hurt those you consider beneath you," sneered Starlight's voice, from somewhere behind the wall of ponies. "Threatening and trying to intimidate us won't work. And nor did lying to us about who you were. Your apprentice was quite talkative about your real identity, especially after you ran off and abandoned her."

"You drugged me!" snapped Twilight, spreading her arms warningly as a couple of the ponies seemed on the verge of trying to close in on her again.

"I never touched you. We decided, as a town, that you needed to be helped to understand our way of life. You still keep thinking that one pony is persecuting you, when you're simply going against our community. You don't understand Equality at all," Starlight sneered, from behind the living barrier of townsfolk. "Don't worry, Twilight. I will help you. And then you'll return those ponies you've foalnapped, too."

"They want their cutie marks back! And so does Trixie!"

"No, they don't. None of them do. They just need to be reminded as to why. And you, Princess, will join them." Raising her voice, Starlight cried out, "Now!"

Twilight jerked back, her eyes flashing this way and that, but, too late, she saw the net. More fliers flapped upwards, dragging it over her, and the thick, weighted ropes fell in tangling coils as they let go. Taking their turn, the unicorns and earth ponies surged forward, pouncing on the edges and pulling downwards, forcing Twilight down to one knee.

Struggling to rise, she wrestled with the thick, roughly woven net, then gasped as another ripple of coordinated yanks pulled her down further, forcing her to the floor. "I don't – think – so!" she gritted out from between her teeth, managing to shove her hand into her pocket. Pulling out the rock there, she forced her hand through the broadly woven links of the net, and threw it into the air. "Look up!" Twilight cried out.

The stone twinkled like a star for an instant, shimmering with beguiling magic that reflected in the eyes of every pony that saw it.

"Mine!" gasped a pegasus, grabbing at the enchanted stone, only for another to immediately begin wrestling with her for it. An earth pony grabbed her tail in his mouth, protesting "Mine!" indistinctly, and yanked her out of the air. In seconds, the ponies pinning Twilight down were in total disarray, struggling and wrestling for the rock. The enchantment, the want-it-need-it spell, was far simpler and cruder than the precision instrument of the charm, but it had its own advantages - among them the fact that anypony who saw it, unless they were exceptionally strong-willed or familiar with the spell itself, would instantly fall under its power.

"Close your eyes, you idiots!" Starlight screeched.

Oh, well. It was probably too much to hope that Starlight would have found herself obsessively pawing for the rock amongst the rest of them. Struggling out from under the net, Twilight hurled the heavy ropes aside, straightening up. Starlight was there, revealed through gaps in the swaying crowd as they fought for the meaningless rock, magic flaring as she sprayed a barrage of all-purpose spell-cancellation countercharms, each spending itself uselessly on the struggling mass of ponies without finding its mark on the stone itself. One of the two stallions holding Trixie had clamped a hand over her mouth, but the showmare was squirming and kicking with a renewed, violent ferocity that was taxing them both to their limits.

There were still far too many ponies in the way, moving around all the time; if she started throwing the charm around, she'd have no idea which ponies would end up getting hit. There was only one thing she could do, and her body came to that conclusion several seconds before Twilight's mind caught up again.

Hurling herself forward, Twilight's wings snapped outwards, and a thumping downdraft hammered the ground with a blast of dust as she forced herself up into the furnace-like air. "Trixie!" she cried out, panting raggedly with the unfamiliar exertion of her barely-used flight muscles, struggling to clear the heads of the crowd of tangled, artificially desperate ponies. Her horn jerked through a rough approximation of the charm, but with every beat of her wings, the precise gestures were thrown off, and it was atrociously hard to fix the clean, shining pattern of the spell's complexity in her mind while she struggled to control her unfamiliar secondary limbs.

There wasn't time for a plan B, so it was just as well she didn't have one. As Starlight levelled the staff at her, confounded by Twilight's lurching, veering course, the other mare realised too late that Twilight wasn't going to - couldn't - stop.

The young alicorn crashed into Starlight with a catastrophic lack of control, the wind rushing out of her as she slammed into the ground in a tangle of arms and legs. The world spun around them as they tumbled over and over, struggling for the staff, a shriek of affronted fury almost drowning out Twilight's ragged, panted demand of, "Give it to me!"

"Get her!" cried out Starlight, enraged, clinging to the weapon with both hands and striking at Twilight with berserk strength. Grit filled Twilight's mouth, and a crack of the staff against the side of her head made the world spin around her even more violently than it already was. A roaring in her ears drowned her in static.

Then, abruptly, many hands were pulling her away. "No!" Twilight cried out, not even sure which way up she was anymore, as she was lifted from the ground and dragged backwards. One of Starlight's dispels must have struck the rock; the townsfolk were all over her. Focusing on the staff, she stopped fighting, concentrating solely on her magic. Her horn flared with purple light, and as Starlight struggled to her feet, an overwhelming surge of telekinetic power ripped the staff from her hands.

Twilight didn't hesitate, didn't even stop to think. The staff shot upwards into the cloudless sky, then, as a second flare of Twilight's magic enveloped it, it disappeared entirely.

Starlight kicked Twilight in the stomach.

An agonised moan forced its way out of Twilight's mouth, and she doubled over, hostile hands clutching her arms and legs, even grabbing at her mane and tail, as she tried not to retch. A fist twisted into her mane, jerking her head back, and Starlight was suddenly in front of her, staring into her eyes.

A thick, rough cough shook Twilight's frame as she looked up at the other mare. Twilight would have expected her to be furious, desperate even, and while Starlight did look angry, there was something else there, stronger still: a savage amusement, even glee. There was something in her eye, like she was the only one getting the joke. But - she'd lost the staff, hadn't she?

Something was wrong. Twilight suddenly knew she was missing something, possibly even something fatal, and there was no time left to work it out. She strained to move her head, to crouch forward; anything to get her horn pointed at the other pony long enough to cast the charm. It was no good. She was gripped too firmly, too thoroughly, by horn and chin and mane, and she felt the sharp pain of tugging too hard on her own hair as she fought to escape. Her breath sawed in and out of her throat, and dust in her eyes was making them water and burn.

Starlight smoothed her mane back into place, restoring its neat, uniform appearance. She took a moment to dust herself down, ignoring Twilight's silent struggles, and only when she was clean of dust and dirt did she lift her head once more, meeting Twilight's gaze. "Where's the staff, Twilight?" she asked, in surprisingly level tones. "You're going to get it back for me."

Twilight surprised herself with her own breathy, exhausted giggle, letting herself go limp for a moment in the grip of her captors. "No, I'm really not. I've no idea where it is. It's probably in Canterlot, but who knows for sure? I don't. Nopony does. One-way teleport. Could be anywhere. Ocean. Forest. Entombed in a mountain, bam, instant fossil. You're done with this, Starlight. You won't hurt any more ponies. I'm going to give them all their cutie marks back, and then, I'm taking you back to Canterlot. You've got a lot of explaining to do."

There could have been the ghost of a laugh in Starlight's tone. "Your arrogance is beyond belief, Princess. You've lost, and you will be one of us. Now, stop lying to me. If you consider the staff to be as dangerous as you claim, you wouldn't throw it away, not where anypony could find it. You must know where it is," insisted Starlight, but still with that odd smile on her lips.

"I really don't!" Twilight declared, almost giddy. "I couldn't control the portal even if I wanted to, not in this state. But there is nowhere that staff is more dangerous than in your hands, so under the circumstances, I'll take the chance. I have many Seekers, scouring Equestria. They'll find it. I can even help them look. But for you, it's gone forever. Just give up, Starlight! This community of yours can't live like this!" Her eyes flickered to where Trixie was still struggling against her guards, though more feebly now, and she added softly, "Let her go. Let all of them go. You're done."

Starlight released Twilight's mane and stepped back. The constant pressure on the back of Twilight's head didn't slacken for an instant; other ponies took up grips on her mane. In strangely calm, conversational tones, the other mare asked, "Would you like to know where I found that staff?"

Trying to clear her head of the fog that swirled through it, Twilight did her best to shrug, as if nothing Starlight had to say could conceivably interest her. A lie, obviously; the more she knew about Starlight's former weapon, the easier it would be to pick apart its effects and reverse them. She wanted to know, desperately.

"It doesn't matter," Twilight declared more softly. "It's gone."

"I think it does. Your problem, Twilight Sparkle, is that you never actually listen. You think you're too good for that. Well? Are you listening?"

A ring of silence was spreading out through the crowd. Starlight didn't appear to notice, or care, focused on Twilight alone, an ugly, savage smile curling her lips.

Starlight spoke into that silence, with a sudden, unrestrained flash of pure malignance. "It was an old stick I found in the desert. That's all. That's what you've so proudly managed to take from me."

Twilight blinked; then frowned. "You stumbled across it? I wondered whether you were searching for it, or-"

"No, you idiot pony," sneered Starlight, her expression filled with gloating triumph. Speaking slowly, as though to a foal, she repeated, "It - was - a - stick. No power. No special hidden sorcery. A dead tree branch. Just how simple do I have to make this before it gets through that addled head of yours? It was never the staff. It was me. Always. My special power. So, dear Princess - I'll be taking your cutie mark now."

Starlight's horn lit up.

No more options.

A wild, barely-controlled flare of magic erupted from Twilight, blowing Starlight off her feet and sending the ponies tumbling backwards as though caught in a sudden gale, with a chorus of shocked, panicked cries. Twilight shrieked as desperately grasping hands tore at her mane and tail before they lost their grip, leaving her fighting back the cracking pain that flared in her head and threatened to black out her vision as she exerted herself. It was all she could do to rein in her power, desperately afraid of accidentally hurting somepony, fighting down her flaring, surging sorcery.

Coughing, wiping the palm of her hand over her tunic before rubbing her burning eyes, she struggled to focus. Ponies were strewn everywhere, groaning, shakily trying to rise. Starlight was on her back, scrabbling backwards with a look of pure hatred on her face, fumbling at her satchel one-handed as she snatched a jagged rock from the ground.

Sucking in a deep breath, trying to clear her mind enough to construct the shining complexity of the charm once more, Twilight's horn began to sweep through the pattern.

"Stop!" Starlight screamed. "Stop or I'll smash it!"

Twilight faltered, just for an instant.

Ripping the top of the satchel open, Starlight yanked a plain glass jar out, holding it up. Perhaps it had once held jam, or something similar; it had been washed clean, but there was string around the neck of it that would have once borne a hand-written label. It looked very small, very ordinary in Starlight's hands.

Trixie's cutie mark shimmered within it, twisting and sparkling like a captive rainbow. Magic radiated from it as it spun, etching an echo in the air. It seemed to be brighter than ordinary colours could describe, more vivid with promise and potential. Everything that made a pony special, unique, wrapped up in a simple symbol that glowed with its own inner radiance. To see it stolen, disembodied, caged that way was profoundly, viscerally wrong. Twilight reeled.

Lunging forward against the restraining grip on her arms, Trixie managed to twist her head free of the hand over her mouth, shrieking, "Give it back! Give it back, give it back!"

"I'll smash it!" vowed Starlight, panting raggedly. "I'll smash it and her precious cutie mark will be gone forever! Is that what you want? Point your horn away from me! Right now!"

"You wouldn't," whispered a thin, hoarse voice. It took a second for Twilight to recognise it as her own.

"I wouldn't?" snarled Starlight, raising the jagged rock. "Of course I would! What do you think this has all been about?"

Twilight bit her lip, a sickening, dizzying surge of fear flooding her. It would take only seconds to cast the charm. Starlight was standing stock still, not dodging, with nopony in the way. If she cast it, this very instant, the crazed pony would be defeated before she could even protest.

But not before she could bring down the rock and break the jar, mutilating Trixie forever.

Twilight's lips worked soundlessly, then she swallowed, and tried again. Turning her head away from Starlight - and away from Trixie, so she didn't have to see the expression on her face - Twilight whispered, "You don't get to win like this, Starlight. Even if you capture me, it doesn't mean you've won."

"Maybe it doesn't," Starlight said, straightening up. She held the jar high, a mere slackening of her fingers all that it would take for it to tumble free and smash against the rocky ground. "No, I think that winning is going to be when you join us. And you will. But for now, taking your cutie mark will do nicely. I've never taken an alicorn's cutie mark before. I wonder what it will feel like?"

Bitter ash filled Twilight's mouth, the landscape swaying around her with hallucinatory unease. It all felt unreal; she couldn't think straight, couldn't believe this might be happening. There was no way she was about to lose her cutie mark. She couldn't look at Trixie, couldn't bear to see the look on her face as her apprentice realised she'd lost.

But her treacherous eyes flicked towards her anyway, and saw.

Trixie was motionless, wide-eyed, her own gaze flashing between the jar in Starlight's hand and Twilight herself, her whole body radiating the same desperation that Twilight knew she herself was, the need for this not to be happening.

"Hold her," Starlight commanded.

Nopony moved. Silence hung in the air for a moment, long enough for Starlight's expression to slowly change. Her brows drew down, and her lips drew back from her teeth. Sharply, she snapped, "Isaid, hold her!"

Tentative, uncertain hands took hold of Twilight, gripping her more and more tightly as ponies surrounded her, pulling her arms behind her back and her horn upwards towards the sky. Twilight tensed, straining against them, but as Starlight jerked the jar meaningfully, Twilight bit back the futile words crowding for her tongue, and forced herself to stop fighting back.

"You - you've still got your magic, Starlight," Twilight managed to push out. "You're lying to them, manipulating them, ruling them. You're not equal."

"I am the bringer of Equality, Princess!" Starlight snapped, then added forcefully, "You can stop talking now; I'm really not interested in anything you have to say. I've heard about you. You're everything that we have freed ourselves from; born unequal, with a cutie mark that made everything so easy for you, having your hand held by royalty, and now they've even made you one of them. All that power and wealth and fame, when real ponies like us are still grubbing in the dirt, struggling to make ends meet. The way you've taught your apprentice to refer to you makes me sick! When you're one of us, you'll see how unfair it was that you existed at all. You're going to be our ambassador, to help Equalise the whole of Equestria! Especially the royalty."

"I won't ever help you. It doesn't matter what you do to me; Celestia will stop you," Twilight panted.

"You will. I won't break your precious servant's jar as long as you cooperate, but there's nothing stopping me from breaking yours once I have it. You'll do as you're told. And if Celestia thinks as much of you as you think, she will too."

The image of Celestia, grey and tired looking with a flatly blank equals sign marking her thigh flashed before Twilight's eyes, and she shuddered. She couldn't let herself be used that way! Desperately, she hunted for some way out, something she'd missed. The first sign of magic from her would doom Trixie. Blasting everypony off her would probably break the jar as well; it was a miracle it hadn't done so the first time. There was nothing she could do! There was always something she could do, wasn't there? She wasn't going to lose like this! She couldn't!

Starlight theatrically let the jar slip from her fingers, landing in her other hand. Despite herself, Twilight flinched, then lowered her head as Starlight hissed, "I'm getting bored."

Celestia, please... "Just - don't hurt Trixie, I'll - I'll cooperate," Twilight stuttered out, the roaring in her ears swelling again.

"No!" cried out Trixie, her voice anguished, heart-wrenching. "Don't let her! It - it's okay! Fight her! Trixie will be okay! Please! Don't just let this happen!"

"I'm sorry, Trixie," whispered Twilight hoarsely, looking down at the ground. "I won't let her take your cutie mark from you, not forever. We'll find a way, I promise you. But you have to be strong for a while longer, okay?" Lifting her head, she suddenly snapped at Starlight, brittle hysteria gleaming on the edges of her words, "If you're going to do it, then do it!"

"Yes. I think I will."

Starlight lifted her head, and a shimmering cyan glow swirled around her horn, building in intensity, before flashing across the gap that separated them. A solid beam struck Twilight like a hammer to her chest, smearing over her, coating and permeating her. Coldness wrapped Twilight's body, cutting off the heat of the morning sun, the cruel magic clawing and prying deeper and deeper into her. Flashes of electric purple-white light crackled over her body, her limbs twitching spasmodically as randomised magic filled the air and grounded across her skin. She could feel an agonising tugging and wrenching deep inside her, her horn growing numb and cold as magic bled out of her. Her cutie mark fluttered against her flank.

"No, no, Mistress no!" Trixie begged, "Stop! Stop it!"

"S-stop it, Starlight!" broke in a new voice.

Twilight barely heard the words. All that she was aware of was a shape, a grey-blue stallion, interposing himself between her and Starlight. The torturous cyan magic splashed over him aimlessly, breaking the connection between the two mares, and Twilight sagged bonelessly with a jerky cry as her cutie mark snapped back into place.

Starlight's voice was a growl of pure fury. "Party Favor. Just what do you think you're doing?"

"This isn't right, Starlight! You - you're not trying to help these ponies! Look at what you're doing! Can't you see this is wrong? And - and she's right! You were using your own magic all along? You lied to us!"

Her voice taking on an acidic sweetness, Starlight spoke more slowly, in a calm, excessively reasonable tone. "I've only done what I needed to. I couldn't remove your cutie marks without my own magic, could I. She is the problem. She wants to ruin our entire way of life! No pony asked her to come here! Step aside, and let me handle this."

A strong hand took hold of Twilight's arm, and jerked her fully upright. Her wide, frightened eyes met the hard, orange-brown stare of Burdock.

"Where is Lime Fizz?" he demanded. "What did you do to her?"

"-yes!" interjected Starlight, seizing the moment. Shoving Party Favor aside with her free hand, she stepped forward, Trixie's captive cutie mark held high. "She foalnapped Lime Fizz, and Sugar Belle! And she won't confess where they are! She cast a spell on you all to force you to fight each other! She is the enemy of harmony! Her magic is dangerous! Everything I told you about her is true!"

Twilight gasped as the stallion shook her, her body quivering with exhaustion and shock. "She's safe!" she panted. "They're both safe, I had to leave them outside the town, but they're safe."

Burdock looked over at Starlight, then back at Twilight, an expression of terrible indecision coming over his face. "...did you hurt her?" he demanded.

Twilight opened her mouth, then closed it again, the hands restraining her almost the only thing left keeping her upright. She could lie. It would be so easy to lie. It was what he needed to hear.

She couldn't.

His hand tightening into a fist, Burdock shook Twilight again. "You did! You abandoned us here, and you turned on us! You deserve-"

"We - turned on her - first, Burdock."

With a tottering, exhausted stagger, Lime Fizz limped around the corner of the end-row building, behind Starlight. She looked tired, grey, gritty with windblown dust, and she was walking oddly.

"Lime, no!" burst out Twilight, her voice scratchy. "I told you that you weren't fit for travel!"

"I told you that I – could help, Princess." Lime Fizz panted, a sheen of sweat glistening on her forehead. Turning her gaze to Burdock, she panted, "Everything Starlight said – she hurt us, Rock. Please. Help the Princess."

Burdock's hand fell away from Twilight's arm, and he took a step towards Lime Fizz, then another, the scrape of his boots on the dirt the only sound. "I – Lime!"

"Help her," gasped Twilight. "Somepony! She needs treatment, she's sunburned, and – heat exhaustion, and she's probably – probably hurt her legs-" Lime had used the dial to turn the pain off completely, Twilight could tell, trying to walk normally on legs that were too sore to move smoothly. She'd warned Lime she'd only hurt herself! Abruptly, the hands holding Twilight let go of her, and she staggered, nearly falling. Townsfolk streamed around her, reaching out for the injured mare.

"Stop!" bellowed Starlight, her face distorted with fury. "She doesn't tell us what to do! Stop!"

Some of the townsfolk stopped. Several more didn't. A dark, mint-green pony caught Lime in her arms and steadied her, her expression shifting from concern to anger. "Starlight! I can't treat this pony without my cutie mark. I told you this would happen! Give it back!"

"And I told you that we'd care for each other, communally. We will look after her together. That is what equality means, Mint Balm, as you well know," snapped Starlight, keeping her eyes on Twilight.

"What if that isn't enough, Starlight?" Mint Balm demanded. She was an older mare, dignified in her anger.

"We all have to make sacrifices for the common good! She came here to spy on us anyway; she isn't really one of us."

Lime Fizz lifted her head, and managed, "Sugar Belle is - out in the plains, she needs help - as well."

"Are you going to tell us that she has to make sacrifices too?" Mint Balm snapped. "Starlight, you told us all that we could change our minds if we wanted to, and I have. Give me my cutie mark!"

"Cutie marks are evil! I told you that!" snarled Starlight, twisting towards the former doctor, her knuckles white where she gripped the jar. "You all agreed!"

"…no, no we didn't," protested the young stallion from before, the one she'd addressed as Party Favor. "Not all of us. Some of us just… didn't disagree loudly enough. I miss mine! All this, losing everything that made us special, everypony trying to act the same – it's not what I wanted. It's not what you promised us!"

A tall, pure white stallion emerged from the crowd. Double Diamond, the first pony Twilight had spoken to in the whole village. She tensed, forcing herself to straighten up into a defensive position. She could feel every pony's eyes turning to him, looking for some kind of guidance.

"If she's going to have her cutie mark back - I want my cutie mark back too!" he shouted.

A massed roar broke out as the townsfolk began talking and shouting as one, though the dozens of overlapping voices carried the same, single theme. All of them wanted their marks back. The two stallions gripping Trixie looked at her, then each other, and let go. Trixie staggered, then threw herself forward towards Twilight and Starlight, only to come to a dead stop as Starlight threateningly lifted the jar over her head with both hands.

Twilight drew herself upright and stepped forward, flapping her aching wings once. Dust swirled around her feet. "Give it to me, Starlight!" she demanded over the medley of angry voices. "End this!"

"QUIET!" howled Starlight at the top of her lungs, silencing the crowd. Teeth bared, her chest heaving, she gazed around them all with poison in her eyes. "I will not let you backslide! Not now! You are going to all be quiet, go to your homes, and stay there. I am dealing with this!"

"You're a tyrant, Starlight," Twilight said quietly, into the silence. Her throat was raw, her voice thin. "You'll never rule them again. Not now that they see you for what you are. You were never, ever going to give them back what you took from them."

"No pony gets a choice!" snapped Starlight. "I didn't want to do this, but as it seems to motivate you so well, your precious Trixie's cutie mark isn't the only one I can break! Everypony, go inside and stay there!"

"...no! I'm not gonna!" yelled a dark blue pegasus, flapping up into the air. Despite the sluggishness that seemed to infect all of the town's fliers, she swooped down towards Starlight, hands outstretched for the jar. "Give it!"

Twilight's eyes snapped wide as the descending pegasus grabbed at the jar, and Party Favor twisted around to help try to wrest it from Starlight's grip. Her whole body felt as though it was mired in treacle, her bones filled with lead, everything taking place far away down a shrinking, dark tunnel. Her magic flaring and flashing, she watched in the slow-motion of horror as Starlight's grip slipped, and the jar fell loose, tumbling towards the ground.

"No!" cried out Twilight, Trixie and Starlight in unison.

The jar struck the ground, smashing into a thousand pieces.

Trixie's cutie mark hung in the air for an instant, unsupported. Then, like the sun coming out from behind a cloud, a brilliant glow burst into life around it. The mark surged into the air, shining like a celestial comet, then streaked towards Trixie, leaving a trail of glorious light behind it. The showmare gasped as she was lifted up into the air, her body beginning to glow in sympathy with the ball of light orbiting around her, and then, at last, the orbit of her mark tightened and tightened until it slammed into her.

A pulse of light erupted outwards, etching shadows across the ground that briefly outshone the sun, white, then pale blue.

Trixie's feet settled lightly back to the ground. She was radiant, her skin bright and clear blue, her mutilated mane restored to its natural flowing curls. Everything about her seemed more intense than before; she stood straighter, hands clenched into fists, her eyes blazing.

She was furious.

"You dared oppose the Great and Powerful, the Mighty and Magnificent Trixie?!" she roared.

"No, no, no!" cursed Starlight, backing up a step, her teeth bared.

"...you knew," whispered Twilight, barely able to stand as the wash of relief broke over her. Incredulous, almost speechless, she took a wobbly step forward. "You knew what would happen if you broke the jar. Which means you've tried this before, tried to destroy a cutie mark before. And you can't."

"Shut up!" snapped Starlight, taking another step backwards. "I'll find a way to do it, I'll-"

A whipping curl of rope snapped around her ankles, in a haze of magic. A sheet of green fabric tangled her legs, trying to pin her arms, as an awning disassembled itself and curled around her.

"Not another word to Trixie's Princess! Not one more! You don't have the right!" shouted Trixie, her hands clenched into fists by her side.

Furiously casting cancellation charms, Starlight struggled free as the rope and canvas fell limp. "Don't think I can't take your cutie mark again! I'll-" She was cut off as a glowing lock spell snapped around her ankles, and she almost fell. Twisting around to dispel it, she was caught broadside by another locking spell, and another, pinning her arms. With another wave of Trixie's horn, the awning re-animated, coiling around Starlight and pulling her to the ground. "Let me go!" she raged, her telekinesis yanking and tearing at the tough fabric. "Release me this instant! Help me, you traitors! Don't you - don't you dare abandon me again!"

Limping forward, Twilight ignored Starlight's furiously spat words, barely seeing her at all. All she had to do was concentrate on the charm. The shining pattern formed in her mind, clean, pure, touched by Celestia's hand. The first charm. Drawing her horn through the air in shudderingly careful movements, gripping her magic with iron discipline as it threatened to overflow, she cast the spell. It sank into Starlight, the merest flicker in the air, all-but invisible in the sunlight.

"Trixie," Twilight managed huskily, "gag her."

"Anything for you! Watch the stupendously powerful and shockingly skilled Trixie leap to your every word!" Trixie declared joyously.

"That is everything that is wrong with-mmmfh!" Starlight snarled from the floor, then was stifled as the rope wrapped over her mouth, parting her lips and reducing the rest of her tirade to muffled sounds of fury.

Twilight took a step towards her, then another. Trixie was speaking, and the townsfolk were shouting and her ears were roaring, and it all blended together into an indecipherable thunder that shook her to her very bones. The world was very far away, like looking down the wrong end of a telescope, and her joints seemed only loosely fastened, wobbling and shaking. She dropped to her knees beside the bound, struggling mare, and spoke a single word.

"Awaken."

The mare's struggling stopped.

That was okay, then.

Twilight slumped sideways, unconscious before she hit the ground.

Author's Note

I've done my best to stick to Starlight's show canon, here, fleshing it out where I needed to. Thankfully, before she became Twilight's student, she had a massively more restricted range of powers. She's a master manipulator, though, and she nailed Trixie's deepest insecurities.

Little jokes from chapter 15:
Twilight's alias is an amalgam of Dewdrop, and the Dewey Decimal system for organising libraries.
Twilight is paper, Lime is scissors. Lime was always going to overpower Twilight. Spoiler-joke!

Proofed by the speedy Djmill
Suggestions by the indefatigable DbzOrDie

17: Proportional Response

It was cool. That was the first thing Twilight became aware of.

Her legs hurt. In fact, she was pretty sore all over, but tolerably so. Her head ached, but not as ferociously as before, and as she winced, she felt a cool, damp cloth being smoothed over her brow. She was lying down, under some kind of thin sheet. Oh, and she was naked. The idea of having been exposed to other ponies she didn't know would once have sent her into a frantic tailspin of embarrassment and humiliation; now, it barely registered.

Her lips moved, trying to form words, though all she managed was a blurred mumble, before she coughed and tried again. "…hello?" Her hand rose sluggishly to her face, and she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, blinking blearily.

"Mistress!" yelped the blurry pony beside her, dropping the wet cloth on Twilight's face with a splat. Scooping it up again apologetically, Trixie leaned down and gave Twilight a quick fusillade of kisses over her cheeks and forehead, babbling, "Trixie's so glad you're okay, she's been so worried, don't ever worry Trixie like that again!"

"Miss Lulamoon," scolded a voice, but gently. "A little room, please."

"…yes, doctor," Trixie replied meekly, backing up a step, then grabbing Twilight's hand in both of hers and squeezing it tightly. At some point, she'd shed her travelling disguise, and now she was back in her traditional showmare's outfit, with corset and cloak, missing only her hat.

Another pony leaned over Twilight, dark green, with a white mane. There were several white-maned ponies in town, Twilight thought vaguely. Might be a regional thing.

"Do you know who I am?" the older mare asked Twilight evenly.

Twilight's forehead wrinkled, and she squinted, forcing herself to focus clearly. "You're… the one that wanted to treat Lime Fizz. Starlight was yelling at you… Mint something? Mint Julep?"

"Mint Balm, at your service, Princess," she replied, with a small nod. "Good. You seem to be a lot more clear-headed, now."

"How are-"

"Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle are resting as well. They're quite exhausted, and suffering from sun exposure. Fortunately, I've treated this kind of thing before, and I've applied some remedies to restore the balance of their internal fluids. They will recover. It will take a little longer, but they should be fine. As for the townsfolk as a whole-" Mint Balm's hand shifted to her own thigh and lingered there, "-most of the town marched to the cave, and shattered the prison holding our marks. We are whole again. To think how much we had missed these pieces of ourselves, without even fully knowing it…"

She shook her head. "I don't agree with everything you've done, Princess. Your use of a spell to instigate a fight was reckless, you caused considerable scrapes and contusions with the magic you threw around, and Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle won't even tell me what happened between the three of you. Nor do I appreciate the fact that you won't let us speak to Starlight Glimmer. Nonetheless. I appreciate why you did what you have done. Thank you, for that."

Seemingly unable to contain herself any longer, Trixie burst out, "Twilight could have-"

"Miss Lulamoon, please. You've been quite clear in what the Princess could have done, if she acted without restraint." Her apple green eyes turned down to Twilight, and she added more quietly, "A restraint which I also appreciate. How do you feel?"

"I'm… okay," Twilight began, then winced as Mint Balm frowned at her.

"No false pretence, Princess. You collapsed, and for good reason. I need you to be fully honest with me."

Fully honest. Considering the overall situation, and what she'd done to Starlight, the chances of getting out of it without at least some creative misdirection were next to zero. Still, Twilight took the point, and sighed. "I feel… my stomach hurts. I don't feel hungry, but it's the kind of sick feeling I get when I haven't eaten for too long." She gave a feeble smile. "I forget to eat, sometimes, when I'm studying. My legs hurt, a lot. My head feels clearer than it did, much clearer, but I still feel a bit hazy, and I don't think my heart should be beating this fast."

"Better. None of that is unexpected. Once you begin drinking, you'll want to drink too much, too fast; I've given instructions to your guards to bring you small cups of water, and not too close together. Pay attention to what your body is telling you, and don't push yourself too hard. Recovery isn't a race."

Cleaning up the mess she'd made with Lime Fizz, Sugar Belle and most importantly, Starlight herself, was a race, however. A race before something else went wrong, or somepony found out exactly what she'd been doing. All the same, before she could even begin to try to fix all that, there was another question to ask.

"…guards?" asked Twilight, with a puzzled frown. Lime Fizz was too sick to be looking after anypony else, so… what, Burdock? And who else? She looked around the room with a frown; a folding screen closed off one corner of it, so there could be a pony there, but…

"Your guards, apparently," replied Mint Balm, with unruffled calm. "They arrived yesterday, in the company of Princess Celestia. One of them is on duty outside the door."

"Celestia is here?" asked Twilight, with a twinge of mingled relief and guilt. It really would be wonderful to see the elder Princess again, but Twilight knew she'd made such a mess of things...

"Not at the moment. She found our supply situation rather lacking - as do I, frankly - and she has returned to the south to arrange a relief caravan. We're all looking forward to it. Some of us hoarded things from before, such as the clothes I'm wearing now - not all of it went to the bonfires - but even so, such surviving materials are rather thin on the ground."

Bonfires. Twilight exhaled, and shook her head. She hadn't even noticed that Mint Balm was wearing comparatively normal clothes, but of course, under Starlight's regime, nothing like that would have been allowed to exist. "I understand. Thank you, doctor," she replied politely. "I'm very grateful for your help."

"I'll be up later with another batch of medicine. Don't strain yourself!" Mint Balm waggled a finger reprovingly at Twilight, then left the room. A brief murmur of voices came from outside; probably whoever was on duty out there being told she'd woken up.

Trixie managed to wait for at least ten seconds after the latch clicked closed. Then, throwing herself onto the bed, she cried out joyfully, "Mistress! Mistress, you're awake, Trixie is so glad to see you're awake, she's been so worried, you are a giant stupidhead, how could you take risks like that, where did you go, Mistress?!"

Twilight yelped as Trixie crashed into her, then giggled and wrapped her arms around the other mare, kissing her forehead and horn, before working her way down to her lips. "I'm glad to see you too, Trixieslut. I'm so sorry I didn't get back sooner." Her words came slower and slower as she spoke, the weight of her recent failures piling onto them. "I... screwed up. Quite a lot, really. I wasn't there, and you got hurt. I'm really sorry about that," she finished, more softly, "I promised to be there to protect you, and I wasn't."

"So where were you?" Trixie demanded. "Trixie wants to know what happened!"

Twilight winced. "I was drugged. Sugar Belle gave me the worst muffins I've ever tasted, and Lime Fizz gave me a canteen of water. Both the muffins and the water had some kind of sleeping draught in them. I started to pass out, but I managed to stay conscious just long enough to cast a spell. I used the charm on the two of them, and told them to carry me to safety.

"It was a terrible idea," Twilight concluded with a sigh. "I should have done something else, but I'm not sure what. I didn't wake up until... I'm not sure. Most of a day, they told me. Each time I almost woke up, I asked for water, and that knocked me out again." Shaking her head, Twilight added softly, "Once I came around, I came back as quickly as I could. I really am sorry. It must have been awful."

Trixie's grip tightened, and she shook her head. Lifting Twilight's hand to her face, she began quietly nuzzling her Mistress's fingers against her cheek. "You came back for Trixie. She was so afraid you'd thrown her away, but you didn't. And - and you were going to do something really stupid and dangerous to protect her, and don't do that again, Mistress!" With a scowl, she went on, "It was awful. Trixie woke up groggy, and drugged, and her cutie mark was gone. It was gone. Starlight wouldn't leave her alone, and she just kept talking. Trixie didn't know where you were, Starlight kept telling her that you had abandoned her, and..."

Trixie broke off with a low growl. Still, after a moment's pause, her expression shifted, a darkly satisfied smile curling her lips. "Shows what she knows. Stupid pony had no idea the trouble she was getting herself into, daring to lay a hand on Trixie. Now she's a brainless puppet, and the glorious, sensual, mighty Trixie is curled up with her sexy Mistress. Trixie wins, she loses."

"Yes, you do," agreed Twilight after a moment, stroking a hand through Trixie's mane. "Where is Starlight, anyway? I'm sure... I think I charmed her. Didn't I?"

Trixie swung her legs over Twilight's and straddled her, grinning down impishly. "She's waiting for you to punish her. Not a single thought in her head, which is a huge improvement, as far as the sensuously slutty Trixie is concerned. So she can wait. You need to be thanked properly first."

"I really should go and deal with her," Twilight protested, but gently. It did feel nice to have Trixie's body against hers. Her fingers slid down to Trixie's ass, and began lightly toying with the other mare's tail. "Tell me where she is, Trixie."

With a coy look, Trixie purred, "Mistress, your slutty, adoring bitch is going to disobey you now, for your own good." Reaching behind herself, Trixie began undoing her corset-like top. With a few deft movements of her fingers, the rigid fabric fell loose, then dropped to the bed as Trixie shrugged out of it, revealing the powder-blue mare's breasts and eager, cute little nipples.

"Trixie…" Twilight murmured in half-hearted reproval. "I'm not really in a fit state for this kind of thing right now."

"Psh," Trixie snorted, dismissing the complaint with a flick of her mane. "Lie back and let your obedient slave whore show her gratitude, Mistress!" Taking hold of the bed sheets, Trixie pulled them down to Twilight's waist, and cooed happily to herself as she took in the power conversion tattoo that sprawled across Twilight's upper chest. "You're so pretty. And this tattoo is so interesting… Trixie could study it for days. In fact, your attentive fucktoy student should study it. Right now." Bending down, Trixie nuzzled her lips against the intricate black spider web of inked lines that decorated Twilight's cleavage. Her tongue slipped out, beginning to trace every curving line and sigil.

"Ooohh…" sighed Twilight, letting her arms fall back to her sides. Trixie's warm mouth really did feel so good on her bare skin, and it was so nice feeling the other mare's breasts sliding and stroking against her body. "That… is nice," she conceded. Twilight's nipples stiffened slowly, growing darker violet against the softer lavender of her skin, and she shifted slowly, rocking her hips slightly as Trixie's tongue traced rune and sigil. None of the actual lines or symbols intersected her nipples – too likely to be distorted – and as her arousal slowly grew, she protested softly, "You can suck my nipples, too, you know…"

"Trixie wouldn't think of it," giggled the showmare, lifting her head and stroking her fingers along the inked lines instead. "She's studying dutifully, like her perfect Princess-Mistress-Owner taught her. The lying little bitch-whore Trixie is teasing you, punish her tight ass!" Trixie whined in protest as her programmed responses ambushed her, beginning to wriggle her hips. "Oh, not fair! Trixie wasn't even serious!"

"And now Trixie's tight ass needs a spanking," Twilight teased. "My arms are kind of tired. Maybe I should just lie back and relax for a while. Maybe have a nap. That sounds nice."

"Mistress! You're so totally unfair! What's the point of making your slutty fucktoy need spankings if you don't give her any?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you because your mouth isn't full."

"But-" Trixie protested again, then pulled a face and ducked her head. Sucking Twilight's nipple between her soft lips, she began gently lapping and nipping with her teeth, her hips swaying back and forth urgently. Muffled by Twilight's body, she pleaded, "Please spank your depraved whore, Mistress!"

"Well, if you insist," conceded Twilight lightly, with a satisfied smile. Smoothing her hands up Trixie's thighs, she slid her fingers under the other mare's short skirt and flipped it up, exposing her panties and her barely-clad ass. Pausing just a moment longer to enjoy another whimper of protest from her slave, Twilight smacked Trixie's behind with a crack of skin on skin.

"Hnnn! Thank you, Mistress!" Trixie gasped, her eyelids fluttering.

"Now, no more evasions, Trixie. As wonderful as your mouth is – and it is – I need to know Starlight is secure. What happened to her?"

Pulling a face, Trixie gave each of Twilight's nipples a parting kiss and little nip of her teeth before lifting her head. "Oh, fine, Mistress, if you want to punish that evil pink bitch now, your obedient whore won't stand in your way."

A shimmering gauze of magic coated Trixie's horn, betraying a little minor telekinesis, but as Twilight glanced around the room, she couldn't see anything move. Weird.

"Trixie-?"

"Ask again," Trixie replied impishly, grinning. "What was it you wanted to know, Mistress?"

"Where's Starlight?" Twilight asked, with a little frown of puzzlement.

"I am here," droned a female voice from behind the screen in the corner.

Twilight yelped. "Trixie! She's in the room?"

"I am here."

"Tada!" sang out Trixie, and with a wave of her horn, the privacy screen drew back. "Trixie solved everything!"

Starlight was sat motionless on a small chair, her eyes locking onto Twilight the instant the screen was no longer blocking her view of the bed. A half-drank glass of water sat by her feet, and a discarded pair of earmuffs lay on the floor.

Oh. Of course. If Starlight was charmed, then she'd do as Luna and Zecora had. Wherever Twilight went, she'd simulate just enough normality to get to within the same room as her, then lapse back into the charm trance. There was no way to wake her up - not that Twilight knew of, anyway - without either Twilight's command, or by recasting the charm on her to switch owners. With all the ponies who knew the spell conditioned to never cast it without Twilight's permission, it came to much the same thing.

Obviously, the privacy screen was insubstantial enough not to trigger Starlight to get closer. The earmuffs would have prevented Starlight from hearing Twilight's voice, so there were no accidents in front of townsfolk. It was actually very clearly thought out. Though now that the screen was drawn back, it also meant that Starlight was mindlessly staring at Twilight's tits.

Blushing, Twilight wrapped her arms around Trixie and pulled the other mare down against her, then quickly pulled the blanket over both of them. "Where – where did you get the earmuffs from?"

"Princess Celestia brought them. She thought that some crazy evil monster tyrant was using magic on you, and she must have been foolish enough to think you could actually lose." Trixie snorted. "Why are you so surrounded by stupid ponies that underestimate you, Mistress?"

"Well, she was right to be worried," Twilight murmured, casting another look at Starlight. The bluff with Trixie's cutie mark had very nearly worked. Had worked, and it certainly hadn't been Twilight's doing that ended the standoff.

"Now you're being silly, Mistress," Trixie said firmly, and burrowed deeper under the blanket. Twilight gasped as Trixie gently bit at her nipples, her hips instinctively squirming as she felt her slave's hand slide down her stomach towards her sex.

"No, Trixie. That has to wait. I need to talk to Starlight, and - and it's kind of weird with her just sitting there."

"Trixie wants to fuck in front of your brainwashed enemies," protested a voice from under the covers. "Ooh! You could make her masturbate-"

"Trixie!" Twilight reached down and seized a handful of her slave's mane, pulling her head up. Kissing her, Twilight said more gently, "I'm not ready for that yet. I'm still too worried about her, and what to do."

"You just aren't any fun today, Mistress," Trixie pouted. With a long, loud sigh, she rolled off Twilight and cuddled up to her side instead. "You had better punish her really creatively! Trixie wants to see her really pay for all she's done!"

Twilight frowned. She did want to punish Starlight. Not because it was the just thing to do, but because - well, everything Trixie had said. All the things Starlight had done to the townsfolk, manipulating, controlling, mutilating them... every failure Twilight had suffered since she'd arrived, every injury she'd accidentally inflicted on ponies that didn't deserve it, all of it was this pony's fault.

Unfortunately, as much as she wanted to slap Starlight down, the other pony was helpless. She'd lost. That would have to be enough.

"Starlight. You will tell me the absolute truth."

The blank-eyed pony's gaze had never wavered since the moment the divider had been removed, and it didn't now. "I will speak only the truth."

"Tell me what this was all about. Tell me what you were trying to achieve here. And tell me what you'd do next, if you were released."

Starlight began talking.

The room was silent. Twilight's ears lay flat against her head. Trixie was huddled by Twilight's side, her eyes wide.

Somewhere, out of sight, a clock ticked quietly.

"She..." began Trixie hesitantly. "She can't mean that."

Twilight felt her skin prickling, a shiver running through her. She swallowed, wetting her lips with her tongue, trying to ignore the unpleasant twisting she felt in her stomach. "I... think she does. She can't lie. That's what she'd do, if she had the chance. Is - is that true, Starlight?"

Despite herself, despite having stopped to ask the same question several times already and having received the same reply each time, Twilight managed to hope that this time, somehow, the answer would be different.

"Yes. If I had the chance, I would-"

"Stop!" interrupted Twilight, a little too sharply, then repeated more softly, "Stop. That's enough."

"...Trixie would have never gone that far!" blurted Trixie. "Even when she was - even when she had to take revenge on you, she wouldn't - she didn't want to hurt ponies, not like..." she trailed off, and shuddered, clinging to Twilight. "She's crazy, Mistress!"

"You might be right." The words tasted like ashes in her mouth, but Twilight shook her head and tried to think clearly. "She's dangerous. Really dangerous. She won't stop, ever, and she doesn't care at all how many ponies get hurt as long as I do, too. And even without that, to want to strip others of everything that makes them special that badly..."

Her eyes flicked towards Starlight's cutie mark. One mystery solved, at least. It hadn't been an artefact, or spell, or some old book that had given the crazed pony the ability to rip away the magic of others. It was something much more fundamental than that.

Her special talent.

Starlight's true affinity was for manipulating the cutie marks of others. Twilight wasn't an expert on cutie marks - she couldn't be an expert on everything, though she intended to do a lot of research when she got back - but as far as she could remember from her wider reading, that was unheard of.

A cutie mark wasn't enough to do all this by itself, of course. Starlight had assembled a casting framework for the purpose, cobbled together out of fragments of obsessively researched ancient lore, but it was her inherent affinity for the magic that formed the core of it. Without her own special talent to power it, the whole thing was hollow; useless to any pony but her. That much was obvious to Twilight, and even Starlight couldn't deny it.

That had genuinely frightened Twilight. To want to take the abilities of others, so badly, that Starlight's essential nature had developed around it. And that was before they'd gotten Starlight talking about what she'd do if she were allowed to go free...

Silence had settled once again. Trixie didn't seem to know what to say, and in truth, Twilight was finding it difficult to find the words herself. Clearing her throat, she asked carefully, "Starlight, do you remember a time when hurting other ponies would have bothered you?"

"Yes." The word was flat and without emotion. Starlight's gaze remained fixed on Twilight, who squirmed a little uneasily beneath it.

"...well, that's something," Twilight murmured, drumming her fingers on the bed sheets.

"Mistress?" Trixie asked, looking up at her.

"You can't explain morality to a pony with no empathy. No matter how hard you try, they just won't get it. You can give them a set of rules to follow, but sooner or later, you're going to find you missed something, or else you'll have fenced them in so hard they can barely do anything." Twilight drummed her fingers again.

Trixie frowned, then looked over at Starlight again. "Are you going to try telling her to be nice?" she asked in disbelief. "Look at what she did! She deserves to be locked up, where she can't ever hurt anypony ever again!"

Twilight didn't reply; biting her lip. Those were her options. Any kind of long-term imprisonment was really rare, and when it did happen, it was focused on guiding the pony to get better. Starlight, though. She had a real talent for magic, and she was utterly unhinged. She was also an expert manipulator. Regular therapy just wouldn't work; she'd tell her guides what they wanted to hear, then once she was out in the world...

The risk was too great. Twilight shook her head slightly. Either she changed Starlight, made sure she didn't want to do what she'd so disturbingly described, or Twilight would have to block her magic and seal her away.

It'd be easy to just do nothing. Celestia would be back from the supply run soon enough, surely, and the elder Princess could take responsibility for the decision. How much harm could it do to leave Starlight under the charm's power for another couple of days?

No. That was the cowardly way out. Twilight knew she herself had sent out the Seekers; she'd charmed Starlight. She had to take responsibility. Besides... it was a hard decision. Celestia had made a lot of them over her long life, Twilight was sure, and they had to weigh heavily sometimes. She didn't need any more laid on her. It wasn't fair to abdicate decision-making to the older mare any time it got difficult.

"I think... based on her testimony, I think Starlight had some kind of mental break," Twilight said softly. "A while ago. Not when he left. After she left, and couldn't find anywhere she felt at home, and just kept digging and digging into that resentment. Resenting everypony. Everything. She didn't have anypony around to help her, no pony realised how bad she'd gotten, and..."

Twilight exhaled. The problem was that she didn't want to break Starlight, and create a new pony in her place. Celestia knew she'd had more than enough lessons as to why that was a terrible idea. An intractable moral problem was currently cuddled up to her side as it was. And imagine the precedent she'd set... you couldn't just fix ponies when they did something wrong. You had to give them time and the help they needed to see that for themselves. Unfortunately, that just wouldn't work with Starlight.

But there was a compromise, a way to give Starlight another chance.

"Trixie," Twilight said softly, her voice level, "I want you to get ink and parchment from my pack, and write what I say. It's still here, isn't it?"

Visibly hesitating, Trixie gripped Twilight's arm a little harder. "Mistress, are you sure about this? She deserves- she doesn't deserve to be forgiven!"

"I'm not sure this is forgiveness. It's just the best thing I can think of. Trixie, please."

Trixie exhaled, then let go, and pushed herself off the bed. There was a small chest of drawers against the wall; she opened the topmost one, where Twilight's things seemed to have been stored, and removed the writing kit. Opening it up, her bare back to Twilight, Trixie took up the quill and said flatly, "Trixie is ready."

Taking a deep breath, Twilight nodded, and spoke carefully. "Starlight. I want you to think back. Was there a time before you hated cutie marks?"

"Yes."

"Think of the most recent version of Starlight that is true for."

"I have thought of the most recent version of myself that is true for."

"Tell me about her."

"She lives in Manehattan. She is living in a rented room. She is working as a waitress."

"What is she feeling?" probed Twilight.

"She is lonely. She's embarrassed. She's bored."

"Why is she embarrassed?"

"She can't afford nice clothes. Most ponies that sit in the restaurant have really nice clothes."

"Is she... angry?"

"Not yet," Starlight said. Her voice was still as calm and empty as before; perhaps it was only Twilight's imagination that gave the words an ominous ring.

"If that Starlight had heard of a pony doing what you have done, how would she react?"

"She would have cried. She'd be afraid."

"Would she have felt sympathy for the ponies who had their cutie marks taken away?"

"Yes."

"Would she have been afraid of her own mark being taken?"

"Yes."

Twilight glanced over at Trixie, waiting for her to catch up before she spoke again. The showmare was frowning with concentration, her objections put aside as she strove to record their words. The quill came to a stop, and Trixie nodded at Twilight to continue.

"Imagine that version of Starlight-" Twilight paused, about to say 'consults a fortune teller'. No. Given Starlight's later interests... "-uses a time spell to glimpse her own future. She sees what you have done. She believes completely that, unless she changes her mind, this is what will happen. How does she feel?"

Twilight held her breath. For the first time, a hint of expression touched Starlight's features as she struggled with the question, and it took a second for her to answer.

"Horrified. Powerful. Scared. Guilty. Sick. Justified."

Scribbling rapidly, Trixie wrote down the string of monotone words before looking over at Twilight. In an undertone, she hissed, "She is dangerous, Mistress! You should-" Trixie stopped, then her gaze flicked towards Starlight. Her words came a little slower, as she went on carefully, "-you should help her. She probably doesn't want to be as angry and hateful as she is. You just have to be very sure that she can't do anything wrong - doesn't want to do anything wrong, I mean. Trixie means. It would be better for everypony."

Twilight winced. Trixie hadn't forgiven Starlight, nor changed her mind about how much the other mare needed to be punished; it had merely occurred to her that any precedent set in dealing with the petty tyrant of the town could equally apply to Trixie herself. Knowing just how much Trixie wanted to avoid going back to the pony she had once been did not make the moral dilemma any easier.

All the same, Twilight had to put that out of her mind for now. There was too much at stake here already; this had to be about Starlight alone. "Powerful I understand," Twilight said carefully, "you- she would feel powerful because she'd seen the power you now wield. Is that right?"

"Yes."

"But why justified?"

"She is already obsessed with cutie marks. That version of Starlight is seeing how they divide ponies, giving them different levels of talent and importance. She is frustrated that there is no fairness in how they are handed out. She sees that not all ponies like their cutie marks. Most do, and that makes her feel more excluded. She doesn't understand her own. Seeing that ponies can be persuaded to turn over their cutie marks makes her feel like she is right; ponies talk and talk about how important they are, but even they don’t believe it."

Quiet again, underscored by the scribbling of Trixie's quill as she struggled to keep up with the words.

Twilight smoothed her fingers over her own chest, tracing the spidery lines of her power conversion tattoo through the thin sheet. Ponies did dangerous things when driven to extremes; she knew that. There had been no other pony driving Starlight to what she'd done, but inside herself, those thoughts had obviously festered into something terrible. And despite Starlight's obvious hypocrisy, there was something genuine underneath it, too… a belief, no matter how twisted, in her own righteousness.

She was so dangerous.

But was she as dangerous as Twilight herself had been, back when she'd brainwashed Zecora for the sheer pleasure of it?

"So. What does that Starlight do, knowing what she knows? Does she still do it?" Twilight's words came slowly, carefully precise.

"No. She doesn't." Starlight remained perfectly still, her gaze never wavering. "She is horrified. She does not know what to do. She will not go to the town."

Pressing the sheet to her body, Twilight sat up a little higher, leaned forward. "Starlight. I want you to remember that pony's sense of morals. Her judgement of right and wrong. Her concern for the emotions of others. They have replaced the ones you hold currently. They are not locked in place, though, but will develop naturally from this point. It is as though those specific elements of your character have been turned back in time to how they once were. Do you understand?" Despite herself, Twilight felt her heart thudding in her chest, a cool sweat breaking out on her forehead. Every word had to be perfect. Every word had to be recorded, to be improved upon later if she had to.

"I understand. My morals, judgement of ethics and empathy have been replaced with those of the pony I once was, before I hated cutie marks as I now do."

Biting her lip, trying not to betray her nervous anxiety, Twilight asked, "How does your new self feel about what has happened since you came to this town?"

"Sick. Guilty. Horrified. Terrified."

"Why are you terrified? What are you scared of?"

"I am frightened of what the townsfolk will do to me. I am terrified of what you will do to me. You will take my cutie mark away. You will punish me for hurting the ponies you sent here. You will give me to the townsfolk and have them punish me. You will imprison me. You will parade me in chains so that all ponies will know what I have done."

Trixie threw down her quill. "You don't understand anything!"

"Trixie-"

"No! She just doesn't! She's got this stupid picture of you in her head that doesn't match up with you anywhere, and she thinks you'll punish her when you won't, not even when Trixie begged you to! Trixie shouldn't have to listen to this!"

"She can't hear you, Trixie, and you know that," Twilight said quietly. "It's natural for her to be afraid. If I woke her up right now, she wouldn't know what had happened, or why she's changed, or what I'd done. Celestia knows what memories she'd invent to fill the gap. I have to be gentle, and careful. Besides. Starlight - the Starlight that you and I have met - would consider what I'm doing the worst kind of punishment I could possibly impose. I am angry about what she did to you, and to Lime Fizz and Burdock, and the whole town. But I can't let that influence my decisions."

"Well, why not?" demanded Trixie in frustration.

Because she's completely helpless.

There was a cost to the level of control over others Twilight enjoyed; a cost to the power she wielded. She could do an immense amount of harm with a single careless word, a single overcharged spell - and being angry made you stupid. Twilight knew she couldn't afford to make mistakes. It would be easy to throw the whole mess Trixie had made with the Alicorn Amulet in her face, or Luna's descent into Nightmare, or even the things Starlight would have tried if given her own way. But that would be unfair, and it wasn't the point.

"It wouldn't be right. I'm not doing this to punish her. I'm trying to find a way that she can be better, while still being herself. I don't want to see her locked up forever - and Celestia forgive me, if this doesn't work then that's the only other thing I can think of. So I'm doing for her what Celestia accidentally did for me: giving her another chance to make better decisions. I truly believe this is the best thing I can do for her, and if I didn't, I'd do something else. I'm sorry, Trixie, I truly am."

Trixie turned her back again, bending over the dresser. Her voice muffled, she said quietly, "You can be really stupid sometimes, Mistress. Fine. Fix her, then."

Twilight exhaled softly. "Starlight. With your current memories, morals and sense of empathy, would you still blame cutie marks for all your troubles?"

"No."

Of course, 'all your troubles' was a pretty big category. In fact, even if she hadn't changed Starlight at all, the maniacal pony would have blamed some of her problems on Twilight directly. Silly question; retry.

"Do you still hate cutie marks?"

Starlight said nothing for a moment. That was interesting; beneath her blank face, some very animated mental struggling had to be taking place to delay her that way. Finally, unemotionally, she said, "Yes."

"Please give me more detail," Twilight said softly. Starlight really was quite terse under the charm; perhaps moreso than other ponies. Did that mean anything?

"I am very conflicted," Starlight replied, with empty serenity. "I believe that cutie marks separate ponies. They are unfair. Cutie marks are special. I don't want to lose my cutie mark. It hurts others to take their cutie marks. I am horrified at what I have done."

Progress, of a sort. The anger that drove Starlight wasn't so easily defused, but now her morality didn't match the breakdown in empathy that had allowed her to grow to hate everything that made others special, or different. Twilight bit her lip. Did she have to change that? Did she dare? Some things Starlight had said were true, and it was so core to her personality that her own cutie mark had grown around her obsession.

Or... well, had it? Or might there have been other ponies like Starlight, who resented others, but lacked the talent she'd happened to have anyway which allowed her to take that resentment further? Which had determined the other?

I am very conflicted. Did she have the right to inflict that on Starlight either?

Speaking slowly and clearly, giving Trixie plenty of time to take down her words, she said, "Starlight. You accept that cutie marks are not evil. They are not your enemy."

There should have been a convulsion, some kind of violent physical reaction that betrayed how deeply the words must be striking at Starlight. Years of hysterical obsession were meeting their end. Perhaps this, more than anything else, was the key to undermining the sociopathic madness that had overtaken her.

"I accept that cutie marks are not evil. They are not my enemy." The words were unemotional, and without hesitation. Starlight didn't blink.

Twilight pinched the bridge of her nose. "Are you still angry at me? Please give a complete answer."

"I am terrified of you, and what you will do. I do not understand what you have done. I do not understand what happened to me. I am not angry."

And this was why she couldn't have done this while staying angry. The words cut at Twilight's heart.

"When you are freed from the trance state, you will understand that I have used a spell upon you to restore your personality to how it once was, before you were consumed with the emotions that drove you to do what you have done, here. You will have no other memories of your time between the spell being activated and when you are fully conscious again." Twilight paused. "Now answer my previous question again."

"I am terrified of you, and what you will do. I am grateful that you have fixed my mind. I am not angry."

Well, that was some progress at least. Twilight sighed, sinking down a little against the headboard. Should she try to make Starlight less afraid? Or less guilty? Would making Starlight less guilty end up, in the long term, making her more likely to end up redeveloping the same traits that had caused all this? Exhaling, Twilight shook her head. No, meddling more than she absolutely had to would be a mistake. Every word was another chance to cause unintended consequences, undesired changes. However, despite that principle, there were some things that Starlight couldn't be allowed to do, ever again.

"Starlight. You will never again alter, remove, or affect cutie marks without my direct and immediate permission. You will not realise that you have been compelled by an outside force to avoid doing so."

"I will never alter, remove or affect cutie marks without your direct permission. I won't realise you have imposed this on me."

Twilight herself had experienced trying to think past or through a mental block, and once she'd been alerted to the idea she might be under somepony's control, she'd felt out the shape of the compulsion on her own thoughts. Though it was unlikely Starlight would deduce that her mind had been altered to prevent her from repeating her past misdeeds, it was worth including some safeguards. …still, was that it? Was that enough?

Was she so confident enough in all she'd done that she could release Starlight, without overseeing her?

No. Not at all.

"In one month's time, or as soon after as you can safely manage, you will come to me and speak to me. When you do so, you won't then leave my presence until I tell you that you can."

"I will come to you in one month, or as soon after as I can. I will not leave your presence until you say I can."

Trixie looked over her shoulder, with a puzzled frown. "One month, Mistress?"

Twilight rubbed her nose, nodding slowly. "It means she can't just run away and disappear from my sight, then start getting all – you know. All this. Everything she said before. If she can end up like that once, she can do it again. Each time I see her, I can assess how she's doing, and see when the next check-in should be. Not that I'm going to abandon her here; I think she should come back to Canterlot with us. She's going to be a mess, and I want Celestia and Luna to help go over the commands I've given her. But that's the backup."

"So she won't know about the charm?" Trixie asked, giving Starlight another glance, which bordered on the apprehensive.

"…given the circumstances, I should probably make sure of that," Twilight conceded slowly. "Starlight. If you ever suspect or believe that I have been using a mind control spell on others, above and beyond the 'want-it-need-it' spell, you will bring your concerns to me privately within forty-eight hours, or as soon after as is safe, without trying to convey your suspicions in any way to anypony else or suspecting that you are influenced by such a control spell."

"If I ever think you're using mind control spells, other than want-it-need-it, I'll come to you within two days and tell you. I won't try to tell anypony else, or think that I'm under your control."

Twilight winced. Unlike the other instructions, that one felt more self-serving. But if Starlight was in the castle, she was far too likely to eventually see something that was hard to explain away. The fewer ponies that knew of the charm's existence, the less likely it was that things would spiral completely out of control. Fortunately, it was unlikely that the townsfolk realised what had happened; only that Starlight had been knocked out.

That wasn't true of Sugar Belle and Lime Fizz, though.

Which meant, inexorably, she would have to decide whether or not they could be allowed to remember.

Manure.

"That's enough for now, I think. Trixie, have I missed anything?"

With a snort, Trixie half-turned and gave Twilight an incredulous look. "What about telling Starlight she can't lie to you? Or act against you? All the commands you gave Trixie?"

"...I think I went too far with your commands, Trixie. I'm sorry about that." Twilight took a deep breath, then let it go with a sigh. "I've been thinking about the compulsions on you. It's not really fair to stop you from lying at all. I think small lies are necessary for ponies. Like, being able to say, 'I'm fine,' when you're having a difficult day, but you don't want to say so. No pony is truthful all the time."

"B-but-" stammered Trixie, taken aback, "Trixie doesn't want to be able to lie to you! She can lie to other ponies - she doesn't have a problem doing that - but, but she likes knowing that you believe every word she says, because she can't lie to you! Even this, what Trixie is saying right now, you know she believes it!"

"I'd trust you without it," Twilight said softly. Probably. Because even after all the ways she'd changed Trixie, how sure was she that Trixie wouldn't do something dangerous and desperate to stop herself being released from the charm compulsions?

"...well, that's not what Trixie wants," the showmare said with a trace of sullen defiance. "And you should make sure this pony can't betray you, because she really, really hates you."

"She says she doesn't, now," Twilight objected quietly.

"No, she said she isn't angry at you, that doesn't mean she doesn't still blame you! And you told her she can change her mind over time, so there's nothing stopping her deciding that actually, she needs to put some really terrible curse on you without warning! Just because she can't change cutie marks without your permission doesn't mean she isn't really, really dangerous!"

"But-" began Twilight, then stopped. She really didn't want to apply any more hard commands on Starlight, but that didn't change the fact that Trixie was absolutely correct. "...you're right. It's too risky. Starlight - if you decide to attack me or my friends, you'll stop yourself, and just tell me instead. Within forty eight hours, or as close as is safe. You will not deliberately deceive me."

"If I decide to attack you or those I understand to be your friends, I will tell you within two days, and not do it. I will not deliberately mislead you."

Trixie picked up her quill and wrote the precise words down, with a quietly smug air. "Thank you, Mistress. You should always listen to the splendidly slutty and submissive Trixie."

"I do listen to you. You're important. I really do rely on you being here, Trixie." Twilight sighed, and pulled back the sheets. Sitting up slowly and carefully, feeling her head swim queasily, she added, "Trixie, put your top back on, then help me dress, please. I'm going to have to release her, and I don't want to be naked when I do it."

"It would be the worshipful Trixie's honour, Mistress! Let your perfect, adorable fuckdoll dress your amazing body!"

Twilight let Trixie ease her into some clean underwear, then on with a skirt and blouse. It really was relaxing to let Trixie touch her, and every movement the powder-blue mare made was filled to brimming with tender care. Catching Trixie's hand as it moved past her face, Twilight kissed the back of the other mare's fingers. "Thank you. This is... nice."

Trixie blushed happily. "She's always so delighted to look after you, Mistress! The amazingly humble and deliciously compliant Trixie will wait on you hand and foot, any time you desire!"

That sounded really good. In fact, what she wanted, Twilight suddenly decided, was to get back to Canterlot, and have her entire collection of slaves tending to her, day and night, loving and stroking and massaging her. Given what had been happening, coming to the town had definitely been the right thing to do - even if her execution hadn't exactly been flawless - but she was starting to feel quite strongly that she was due some time to relax again.

But first, she had matters to settle here.

Moving to stand at the foot of the bed, Trixie following anxiously a step behind, Twilight gripped the footboard for support and met Starlight's empty gaze. "Starlight. Slumber."

Starlight blinked, once.

The chair rocked and went over backwards as she shot to her feet with a sharp gasp. The half-full glass of water went flying, spilling across the floorboards. "P-Princess!" she stammered, in a strangled tone. "What, what happened?!"

Trixie lunged forward, the motion instinctive in the face of the sudden blur of movement, and took up a protective stance in front of Twilight. "Stay back, Mistress! Trixie told you she's dangerous!"

"Trixie! Please, step to one side," said Twilight firmly. Her gaze switched back to Starlight's face, searching the unfamiliar pony's features for some essential glimmer of truth. "Starlight, how do you feel?"

"I... terrible," replied Starlight weakly. "I feel stiff, and sore, and I'm really, really afraid. You did something to me?" Unable to meet Twilight's gaze, she looked down at her clothes and brushed roughly at them, as though getting rid of the clinging dirt would cleanse herself of her connection to what she'd been doing before. "I feel like I've just woken up from a bad dream." She shivered. "A really bad dream."

The right use of authority was important here, Twilight decided. She was re-establishing their relationship from the beginning, and every detail mattered. Speaking softly but firmly, she told the other mare, "I'm not interested in punishing you, Starlight. I want you to get better."

Starlight made a short noise of disbelief that came too quickly to have been anything but instinctual. Taking another step backwards, she spoke nervously, rapidly. "There's - there is no way that's true. After what I did to your - your whatever she is, your minion there, and the two spies, you're just going to let me get away with it? Uh-uh. I don't think so."

Trixie scowled at Starlight, obviously ready to leap at her the very instant she did anything suspicious. "You don't deserve to get away with it, Trixie agrees."

Twilight spoke over Trixie's words. "Starlight, what you did here was very wrong. Yes. The pony you were was selfish, dangerous, and I'm not sure you were even sane. That's why I've helped clear your mind. But I need you to understand that I haven't changed who you are." Twilight stayed where she was, letting her hands rest at her sides. The last thing she wanted was to seem as though she was about to attack the other pony.

All the same, her words were steady and remorseless.

"There's nothing stopping you from deciding that all this was justified, and trying again. I don't want that. You've been given a second chance, a chance to do things differently. I will be watching you, Starlight. It isn't impossible for you to earn my trust, but it will take time, and it truly will have to be earned."

Starlight's eyes were wide. She'd backed up against the wall, hands flat against the boards, visibly cornered. "You- Are you going to leave me here?"

Twilight glanced at Trixie, who was nodding vigorously. Obviously, as far as Trixie was concerned, if Starlight wasn't going to be punished, a good second best would be to simply get rid of her. Even so, Trixie had to know that wasn't going to happen. It was far too risky.

Addressing Starlight, Twilight began, "I'm afraid that-"

"Please don't!" Starlight burst out. Her eyes darted this way and that, as though seeing straight through the walls to a furious crowd. "They... they've got their cutie marks back, haven't they?" She swallowed. "It's all over. They'll- they'll hate me."

"Oh, so you are sane now," Trixie replied, with acidic brightness.

"Trixie!" snapped Twilight.

"What? That's the first thing she's said that actually makes sense since we met her," Trixie retorted.

Starlight hunched her shoulders. "Look, I... understand that you'll punish me. Just... don't send me out there."

"Listen, Starlight." Twilight folded her arms across her chest. "Sooner or later, you're going to have to see the ponies of this town. They deserve to know what happens next. But when I leave this town, you will come with me, to Canterlot."

"You - you're not taking me before Princess Celestia?" Starlight's voice sank to an appalled whisper.

Part of Twilight sympathised with the look of terror on the other mare's face. But it wasn't that part of her that answered with brusque calm, "She's already come here. You've been out for a couple of days. I sent a message to her for help, after I left town the first time."

"Where?!" Starlight looked around herself with jerky haste, as though Celestia might be standing behind her, or hiding under the bed.

"Not here, not right now," Twilight corrected herself. "I misspoke. She came to rescue me, but since I was okay, she's gone south for a couple of days to secure a caravan of supplies for the town. I'm not sure when she'll be back, but it shouldn't be too long."

Starlight whimpered wordlessly.

"Starlight. I can't say there won't be consequences for what happened here. But I'm not going to punish you for the sake of punishing you, do you understand? And Celestia is the least vengeful pony I've ever met. I can only imagine that the idea of just running for the hills is pretty tempting right now-" a little squeak from Starlight confirmed Twilight had read her mind correctly, "-but I'm asking you to reconsider that impulse. It won't fix things, and I'm sorry, but I will find you. So if you'd like to make a fresh start, the time to start showing you can be trusted is right now."

"I, I understand," stammered Starlight. "What– what do you want me to do?"

"Get some rest, please. I'd like you to go and find something to eat, and get some proper sleep." Maybe a bath, too. "Consider what you'd like to bring with you when we leave. We'll be on foot, so pick things that are portable, okay?"

"Right, I, I understand. But – can I stay here? Please? If I go out there, I don't know what – what they'll do."

"I doubt they'd do anything," Twilight said softly. Instantly, she second-guessed herself – was that really true? Surely they'd have words, at the very least, for Starlight, and a lot of them would be hard to hear.

Starlight's look of wide-eyed desperation conveyed her own doubts more thoroughly than any words could have.

Twilight sighed, and relented. "One of my guards is on duty outside. You can stay here, if you want to, and I'll have some food brought in. If you figure out what you'd like to bring with you – there's no rush, we won't be leaving for a day or two – I can have it collected."

Starlight swallowed. She seemed to be struggling with herself, but, after a long moment, she managed, "…thank you."

Twilight nodded. That would have to do; she had to deal with Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle, before anything else could go wrong. "I'll be back later, to check on you. Come, Trixie."

"Yes, Princess! Trixie is always delighted to be at your side." Head held high, ostensibly ignoring Starlight, Trixie followed Twilight out of the room, leaving Starlight wringing her hands behind them.

Zephyr had been the one on duty outside the door. It had been a little awkward to acknowledge just how distressed he was, though he'd been trying to hide it and project a stoicism that really didn't suit him. He certainly hadn't wanted to leave Twilight to go out by herself, considering all she'd gone through recently, and it had taken some fast, firm words to convince him that his best duty was to keep a watch over Starlight instead. In the end, a direct command from his Princess had done the trick, but it had made Twilight feel a little bad to issue it.

The truth was, however, that she badly needed somepony to keep an eye on Starlight; coming to terms with her freshly-reconfigured morality, against her memories of all she'd done, wasn't going to be easy. Twilight had done what she could to nudge Starlight into a better mindset, but hadn't softened her language at all while speaking to her captive, and she was awkwardly aware that she'd enjoyed being brusquely cavalier with her defeated enemy.

Still, regardless of the worries occupying Twilight's thoughts, outside, the town was in the grip of a full-blown carnival. Ponies milled about everywhere, gleefully flaunting their unique mane styles, talking, arguing, singing and dancing. All the glorious chaos of a fully-functioning town; one that was cresting into the greatest celebration the ponies who lived there had ever known. Not that they had a high bar to clear, but still...

"Princess Twilight! You're back on your feet!"

Twilight blinked, caught flat-footed as she emerged into the street. The voice was sort-of familiar, but she didn't recognise the mare in front of her, bright pink with a wine-coloured mane, her cupcake cutie mark visible through new cut-outs in her town clothes. Then it clicked.

"Sugar Belle?" Twilight asked, disbelieving. "I – you look different!"

"I do, I do!" Sugar Belle sang out delightedly. "Oh, Princess, you have no idea how good it feels to have my cutie mark back again! It's like all the colour has returned to my life!"

Twilight pressed a hand to her own chest, speechless for a moment. Into the gap, Twilight was surprised to hear Trixie reply instead.

"Trixie understands," said the showmare earnestly. "Trixie really does, and she only lost her cutie mark for a couple of days. The splendid and spectacular Trixie is so happy for you!"

"You poor thing!" replied Sugar Belle earnestly, throwing her arms around Trixie and hugging her hard. "Come and have a cake. I promise it's good." Her eyes turned back to Twilight, and she added joyously, "They're good; everything tastes so much better! I just – I'm so happy."

Trixie's stunned expression was a treasure to behold. Moving up beside her, Twilight squeezed her shoulder and said gently to Sugar Belle, "I'd really like to try one too, if that's okay."

"Oh – well, yes! Yes, of course! I wasn't sure if I should offer one to you, after… you know," Sugar Belle replied awkwardly, looking down at her feet. Glancing up, she went on slowly, "But… if you're sure?"

"I'm sure," Twilight reassured her. And later on, I'll work on a detection spell. She didn't want to ever get caught like that again. "Shouldn't you be resting, though? I talked to Mint Balm, and she said you and Lime were still recovering."

"Mint Balm means well," Sugar Belle replied, turning to lead them down the street. "She's just fussing over us a little more than we need. I think she's really happy to have patients to tend to, in a way. Lime Fizz is feeling a lot better! She pushed herself harder than me, though, so she's still resting for now."

Ponies swirled around them, some playing music on real instruments, some improvising with whatever they had to hand, banging out tunes on drums and barrels. One stall caught Twilight's eye, as a shapeless grey tunic was dipped into a vat of orange water, and another was pulled out, dyed a pleasant russet orange-brown.

Sugar Belle noticed the glance, and remarked bashfully, "We're all exploring our talents again, it's been wonderful. Quick Snip trimmed my clothes so I could show off my mark again, and now she's trying to make dyes out of what we've got in the stores. Did you know that Princess Celestia came to see us? And she said she's going to bring back supplies! Clothes, and dyes, and food, and seeds, and paint, and tools, and-" She broke off, hugging herself. "It's all going to be okay. We were really worried that we were going to be in trouble after everything that happened, but the Princess talked to us all, and - she was so nice! I was so close I could have reached out and touched her!"

Twilight's smile grew a little conspiratorial. It really was special to be able to touch Celestia; to be close to her. Luna, too. And all the Elements, and her other lovers... sometimes, she felt as though she needed to copy herself a dozen times just to make sure all of them had the attention they deserved. In fact, if it wasn't for knowing how badly that sort of thing tended to end up, she might have even been tempted to try it now and then. Shaking her head to dismiss the thought, she followed Sugar Belle down the street, smiling at the ponies they passed, greeting and waving. A table was set up outside the bakery, with a couple of baskets that had been thoroughly denuded of their contents by passers-by.

"Every last one taken," said Sugar Belle, in tones of deep satisfaction. "Don't worry, I put some aside especially. They're inside."

The bakery door banged open, framing a dark blue pegasus with a slicked back white mane. Spreading her wings to take flight, she flinched when Sugar Belle called out accusingly, "Night Glider! Have you taken my last cakes?"

"...nope!" Night Glider denied, nodding quickly. Wiping the back of her hand across her mouth to remove a few stray crumbs, she added, "Gotta fly!" and shot up into the air with a fast beat of her wings. She only got a few body lengths, however, before she came to a stop and flapped slowly back down to hover a few feet above the ground.

"So, uh... Trixie, right?" she said sheepishly. "Sorry. About dropping the jar. I mean, it worked out great, and I feel so much better, and if I'd been on form, that would never have happened - it was like flying with lead chains on my wings - but yeah, oops."

"Oops?" replied Trixie indignantly, but then shook her head, tossing her mane. "The magnificently splendiferous Trixie is grateful for your assistance, Night Glider. Starlight was a lunatic that had to be stopped. Now Trixie is restored, her perfect Princess is by her side, and everything is as it should be."

"...well, yeah," agreed Night Glider, her gaze straying towards Twilight. "So, you're a Princess, then. Obviously. It's the wings and the magic that does it. So... what's gonna happen with Starlight?"

Twilight paused. Well, she was going to have to tell the townsfolk something, and though Night Glider had asked the question, she could sense the sudden suction of attentively listening ears, all around her. Sugar Belle wasn't making any show of hiding it, either. "She's coming back with Princess Celestia and me, to Canterlot. Or at least, I've asked her to."

"Uh, you think she's going to come with you willingly?" asked Night Glider, with frank disbelief. Her wings flapping more slowly, she sank back to the ground. "And if she doesn't? Is she going to, you know, stay here?"

"...Starlight is aware that she's not exactly popular around the town, at this time," Twilight said carefully. "We've talked, as I've been recovering. I'm afraid you're right; I've asked her to come to Canterlot with me, and she isn't exactly keen on the idea, but I've made it clear that if she chooses to run, I will come looking for her. I can't exactly call my invitation to her... optional." Sighing, Twilight shook her head. "I want to keep her close by for a while. I hope that, with time, Starlight will come to find peace with herself, and the parts of her personal history that drove her to this."

"Huh. Yeah, okay. That sounds way more plausible. You should have heard her; she really doesn't think much of you, Princess. Spent day and night telling us-" Night Glider stopped, then flapped up into the air again. "You know what - never mind! I'm gonna go fly some super slick curves. Later!"

"What about my cakes?!" Sugar Belle demanded as the pegasus flipped and sped off. Shaking her head, Sugar Belle turned to Twilight and Trixie. "Well, let's see if anything survived." Opening the door, she stepped into the cooler shade of the interior. Trixie followed her in, but Twilight hesitated at the doorway. The memory of a surging wave of dizziness, swamping her, was still a little fresh.

"I'll wait here," Twilight called inside, and turned to rest her back against the wall, flattening her wings. No doubt the news would be spreading through the town already, rippling outwards from pony to pony. Starlight was leaving, as Princess Twilight's captive. Despite avoiding that specific word, nopony was fooled by terms like 'non-optional invitation'.

What would Celestia have said?

…something better, something more reassuring. Something that didn't require her to clarify that, yes, Starlight was effectively a prisoner. Celestia always radiated truth and wisdom, as warm and comforting as the sunlight. She'd have said something that wasn't half-way to being a lie through omission. That was distressingly common, these days. A little internal voice, listening to her own words, adding up the ways she was deceiving others.

Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Lies.

"Well, she did leave one cake behind," Sugar Belle said wryly, as she emerged into the sunlight. Offering a small slice of cake on a wooden plate, she bowed her head slightly. "Would you like to try it, Princess?"

"Mmmf! Hyu should!" Trixie remarked through a mouthful of cake. Swallowing, she added brightly, "The talented and tasty Sugar Belle has done extremely well!"

Sugar Belle blushed, with a little laugh. "Tasty? I'm not sure I'd go that far."

Reaching out, Twilight picked up the slice, and looked into Sugar Belle's eyes. "Thank you, very much. I'm sure it'll be delicious," she said softly. Lifting the cake to her lips, she took a small bite. Her brows rose slightly. "This is good," she declared, and took a larger bite. "I'm amazed you could make something so nice with the ingredients you had left."

"Well, I still had some supplies left from… before. And after the cave, I was ruining everything I touched, so I left those supplies alone. I'm pretty much out, now, but… I'm glad you like it," Sugar Belle said, shyly glancing down at her feet.

"I do," Twilight reassured her, finishing off the slice and licking her fingers. It occurred to her that at that very moment there was probably an etiquette expert in Canterlot feeling odd tremors of unease, as they unconsciously sensed a Princess licking her fingers in public. The thought made her smile a little.

Still. There was the matter of the charm to attend to. Twilight's smile faded, and she shook her head slightly. "Could you show me where Lime Fizz is? I'd like to talk to her. To both of you, actually."

"Oh! Um. Yes, certainly," Sugar Belle agreed quickly. Setting down the plate on one of the little tables set up around her front door, the baker gestured along the street. "She and I are bedded down in one of the upstairs rooms in the Tulip dorm. Mint Balm sleeps there, so she can keep an eye on us. I'm going to move above the bakery again, once we have time to rearrange things, but right now, all the beds are in the dorm houses. Starlight said it was better for us to sleep in dorm groups. So we'd have more community spirit."

Twilight grimaced. That sounded likeanother way of encouraging the ponies of the town to watch each other at all times. Starlight might have been unbalanced, but she had an unpleasantly sharp understanding of how to control other ponies. The damage she could have done if she'd ever had access to the charm was incalculable. It was vital that no enemy of Equestria ever found out it even existed.

A vision of her partially locked telescope case, and the notes hidden within it, passed uneasily across Twilight's mind.

"In here, Princess," Sugar Belle offered, snapping Twilight from her thoughts. She'd almost walked right past the building.

"Oh, um. Yes. Thank you." Following Sugar Belle inside, Trixie trailing along behind them, Twilight noticed that Sugar slowed down as she began tackling the stairs, with frequent little winces as she climbed. For all that she claimed to be recovered, her muscles were definitely still recovering from her ordeal. Though now that Twilight thought about it, Sugar Belle should still have access to the pain-control visualisation... so she either wasn't using it, or she'd only partially turned down her pain, and what bled through was still troubling her.

Better do something about that, too.

Emerging from the top of the creaking staircase, Twilight followed Sugar Belle down a narrow passageway, careful not to rush the other mare. Narrow archways opened into small rooms on either side of the corridor, three beds in each. No doors. All the ponies of the town were busy outside, but at night, the little building had to be packed wall to wall, all within earshot of each other. Of course; privacy was an invitation to foment 'disagreement', so none could be allowed. Twilight felt her anger at Starlight surge again, and had to push it down with an effort of will.

The last room down the corridor actually did have a door. Rather to Twilight's surprise, Argent was standing before it, the neat, toned unicorn wearing his full, official armour emblazoned with Twilight's pink star.

"Princess Twilight," he greeted her, bowing his head. "I'm relieved to see you on your feet again."

That seemed to be that. No recrimination, no reproachful, puppy-eyed looks like the ones she'd received from Zephyr. Argent was as self-possessed and businesslike as ever. With a glance at Sugar Belle, Twilight remarked awkwardly, "I suppose you're here to keep an eye on Lime Fizz?"

"You are correct, Princess," Argent agreed. "Guard-Captain Diorite assigned me to her protection while she recovers."

Twilight glanced around herself. "Where is Diorite?"

"The Guard-Captain is sleeping, to the best of my knowledge, Princess. She, Obscura, and Autumn are off-shift." Catching Twilight's slightly quizzical look, he added, "She finished an extended shift two hours ago. Nonetheless, I believe she would wish to know you've regained consciousness. Shall I have her woken up, Princess?"

"No, don't. I can only imagine how hard she's pushed herself. Let her rest as long as she needs. How about Burdock?"

"He has been spending time with Lime Fizz, but he isn't present right now." Argent paused, then added, "After the events of the last few days, I suspect he may be trying to avoid you, Princess."

Another pony that needed some reassurance. "I understand," Twilight replied. "Please don't allow anypony to enter while we are talking to Lime Fizz, Argent."

"At your command, my Princess." Argent saluted, and reached out to lift the latch, pushing the door inwards for Twilight to enter. Nodding appreciatively and giving him a small smile, Twilight ducked her head, and stepped through the narrow doorway.

Three narrow cot beds were lined up with their headboards against the far wall, almost filling the small room. Lime Fizz lay in the bed closest to a tall, thin window that constituted the room's only light source. Plainly she'd heard voices; she was already sitting up, one leg swung off the bed. "Princess Twilight! If you give me a moment, I'll get dressed, and I can-"

"Stay where you are," Twilight told her gently, but firmly. "Put that leg back in bed right now, and lie down. You're not in any state to go anywhere, yet."

"...okay, Princess. I mean - yes, your Majesty," Lime Fizz added belatedly, with an awkward attempt at a little bow.

Perching on the side of Lime Fizz's bed, Twilight took Lime's hand in hers. With a smile, she chided, "Paper. Remember? Are you feeling better, now that you have your cutie mark back?"

At the mention of her cutie mark, Lime Fizz momentarily lost her nervous look, and sighed with relief. "Yes. It feels so much better, now. I'm still... well, sore, but I can't tell you how much it meant to me, Princess. Um. Paper."

"You don't have to tell the splendid and talented Trixie," the showmare broke in. Rubbing a hand over her thigh, she added, "Trixie knows how good it feels."

"You pushed yourself hard to get back to town in time, I know that," Twilight said softly to the prone mare, stroking the back of Lime's hand. "I know you didn't do what I wanted, and I was upset at the strain you put yourself under, but... you did well. I'm really proud of you. If you hadn't come when you did… that was way too close. I could have lost. In fact, I think I probably would have. I didn't know Starlight was bluffing, and I couldn't risk it. Thank you."

Lime Fizz rubbed her cheek with awkward embarrassment. "Thank you, Princess. I don't really feel like I can deserve praise though, not when I - you know."

"It wasn't your fault, and you know that."

Twilight tried, just for a moment, to picture how guilty she'd have felt if she'd been turned against Celestia by some villainous pony back before she'd had the charm for herself. A simple reassurance probably wasn't going to cut it. On the other hand, what Lime Fizz needed more than anything was just time, and space to come to terms with what had happened. It wasn't, and couldn't, be Twilight's job to fix everypony.

Choosing to switch territory, Twilight asked instead, "How's Burdock? Rock, rather."

"Well, Rock's better than he was. He's got his mark back. I think it..." Lime Fizz hesitated, her eyes shifting to Trixie, then to Sugar Belle, and back to Twilight. Sighing, she continued, "I think it messed him up a bit, having fake painted cutie marks and pretending to be fine. He came closer than I did to refusing to do it, I think, and Starlight leaned on him hard."

"...I see." It was probably better not to ask too much about what that had entailed. Likely to have been a lot of emotional blackmail and unpleasant manipulation. "I'd like you to come with me to find him, later. I'm worried about him, and I want to make sure he's okay. I definitely want him to know that I don't blame him for anything that's happened. I sent the both of you out looking for trouble, and you found it. If anypony's responsible for all this, it's me," Twilight said softly.

Lime Fizz stared at the ceiling for a moment, biting her lower lip. Then, with a nod, she agreed, "...thank you, Pr- Paper. Whenever you want me to come with you, I will. I know some places that he might be."

"I don't want to pull you out of bed yet, but once Mint Balm says you can get up and walk around, we'll do that together." Twilight turned towards Sugar Belle, who was hovering near the door, and beckoned her over. "Sugar Belle, come and sit with us, please. There's something I need to talk to you both about."

A flicker of apprehension crossed Sugar's face, and she met Lime Fizz's eyes as she crossed meekly to the bed, sitting on the opposite side from Twilight. Clasping her hands in her lap, Sugar Belle said softly, "...Mint Balm asked us how we ended up so exhausted. I didn't say anything. It's about that, though, right?"

"I didn't say anything either," Lime Fizz added. "It didn't sound like the sort of thing that you wanted us to talk about. I'm not sure what to say, though. Mint Balm was getting suspicious. Other ponies will ask about it, too. I didn't tell Rock anything, but he asked, too."

"You're both right," Twilight acknowledged. "This is about that spell."

It was painfully simple, really. She couldn't risk ponies with knowledge of the charm wandering around, able to tell others about it. The townsfolk as a whole hadn't seen enough to know conclusively what kind of spell had been used on Starlight, but these two... well. It was her own fault for using it on them, and when Lime Fizz had asked her what had happened, she'd been too tired to lie. Now she had two choices.

Option one. Ask them not to tell anypony and, once they'd agreed, enforce that agreement with the charm itself. That was the kinder option. It gave them more dignity, let them choose to keep the secret for themselves. But the thing was, even if they didn't tell anypony, the fact of Twilight's harem was going to come out, sooner or later. If the two of them began to suspect that the charm had been used to compel the obedience, the love of Twilight's many partners... well, even if Lime and Sugar couldn't tell others about the charm, they could tell others that Twilight was a bad pony, a villain, somepony that couldn't be trusted. They could do a lot of harm. Orders to make them always trust her and her intentions would, in their own way, eventually be even more obvious.

And if they refused to agree, said they didn't want to promise not to tell, Twilight knew she'd have to impose that restriction anyway.

Option two. In some ways it was crueller, and in some ways, it was more merciful. More honest. She could simply tweak their memories; make them forget what kind of spell she'd used, and replace it with something more innocent. It would solve a lot of potential problems later on. But, Twilight knew, it was also the option that betrayed a deep and fundamental mistrust of the ponies around her. A tendency to use magic rather than believe in their good will. Lime Fizz had earned better than that. They both deserved better.

That still didn't mean that being trusted was actually the best thing for them.

"The spell that I used is tremendously dangerous," Twilight concluded aloud. "Even knowing that it exists, that it's possible, is something that could do a lot of harm. I'm grateful that you haven't told anypony what happened; I really am. So..." she took a deep breath, "I need the two of you to promise to never tell anypony of what happened. It's a serious promise, so take a moment to think it over." And if you agree, I'll make certain you can never break your word.

Sugar Belle raised a hand, with a trace of nervousness. "If we don't agree - what then?"

"...I don't know," confessed Twilight, unhappily. "Maybe I'd just have to live with the risk." Would she wipe their memories if they refused? How about if just one refused? Could she just let them be, the way they were? They didn't know the full extent and power of the charm, but what they did know was tremendously dangerous all the same. Please, she inwardly begged, don't make me make that decision.

From by the door, Trixie began indignantly, "How can you even consider defying the glorious-"

"Trixie, please," Twilight cut her off. "It has to be their decision."

"I'll promise," Lime Fizz said strongly, sitting up straight. "I'm your seeker, Princess. I pledged to serve you, and help you recover dangerous magic. I won't ever tell anypony about that spell, I swear it."

Sugar hesitated a moment longer, then nodded. "Okay. If you both think it's the right thing to do, I promise not to tell anypony about it. But what can I tell them instead?"

Awash with relief, Twilight pressed a hand to her own chest. "Thank you. Both of you. If you absolutely have to tell somepony something, you can tell them we were out the back, where the cart is, and I cast a malformed teleport spell as I passed out that dropped us out in the plains. That accounts for the cart being out there, and ending up walking for miles and miles under the sun. There's one more thing, though. The pain cancellation I placed on both of you when you woke up. Are either of you still using it?"

Sugar Belle shook her head; Lime Fizz hesitated, then nodded slowly. "Yes. Is that a problem?"

"I put it in place for good reason, but having the ability to turn off pain, long-term, probably isn't for the best," Twilight said gently. "You'll end up hurting yourself, like you did when you came back to the village. I'm going to remove the block, but slowly. It'll fade away over a couple of weeks. Do I have your permission to do that?"

"Oh. Of course," agreed Sugar Belle. Brushing her mane back from her face, she added softly, "Thank you, for doing that. You were kind."

Lime Fizz bit her lip. "It could be useful in future, though," she protested. "What if I get hurt again, when I'm trying to secure something, and I can't go on because of it?"

"If you get hurt again, I'll be very sad," Twilight replied gently. "Please be careful with yourselves, both you and Rock. But if it does happen... like I said, I'd rather you stop, than make your injuries worse."

"You wouldn't have stopped," protested Lime Fizz. "I mean, if you'd twisted your ankle fighting Discord, would you have sat down and said 'Okay, you win, ice pack please?'"

Twilight laughed, shaking her head once. "I wouldn't have. But I'd have moved more carefully, avoiding doing more harm to it. This isn't like my last request; if you absolutely insist, I'll leave your block intact. But I'd really rather not."

Lime Fizz sighed, lying back against her pillows. "...okay, Paper. If you think it's best, I agree," she said reluctantly.

"Thank you, both of you. I'll remove that block now." Twilight caught a glimpse of Trixie straightening up in anticipation; her apprentice knew the tone in Twilight's voice. With a deep breath, Twilight declared firmly, "Obey your Empress."

"This slave obeys."

And just like that, she was surrounded by kneeling mares. Trixie dropped to her knees by the door, Sugar Belle slid off the bed and knelt on the floor, and Lime Fizz blankly rearranged her legs under her and knelt atop the bed itself, her bedsheets pushed aside.

Silence. Lime Fizz was wearing only a nightgown, and in the pose she was in, it had ridden up to partly bare her ass. Twilight felt a familiar stirring as she looked into the other mare's blank eyes, and reached out to stroke a strand of hair back from her face.

"That's better," Twilight murmured to the mesmerised Seeker. This was the feeling that Twilight had missed; the absolute freedom of being surrounded by ponies that were utterly under her control, the freedom from judgement, or consequences.

Lime Fizz really was very pretty. It was... different, when a pony was entranced. Twilight knew she could look at Lime for as long as she wanted, taking in every little detail of her face and body. It was like being lovers... able to gaze as long as she wanted at the other mare, without a trace of self-consciousness.

Of course, Lime wasn't the only pony in the room...

"Stand up, Sugar."

With a rustle of fabric, Sugar Belle rose from the ground and stood beside the bed, her gaze settling into a vacant stare. "I will stand."

Pushing herself off the bed, Twilight circled around it to stand before Sugar Belle. Reaching out with both hands, she began gently caressing the faces of the two mares, feeling the smooth warmth of their skin under her fingertips. Now that their cutie marks had been returned, their colours were so much more vibrant. Both mares were a similar shade of warm pink, but where Lime's was accented by her spiky, bright green mane, Sugar Belle's was dark purple and curled into fluffy ringlets.

"You're both very pretty," Twilight murmured.

"We are very pretty."

"She and I are very pretty."

Twilight smiled to herself, shaking her head once. It wouldn't do to leave that behind; it sounded harmless enough, but with an unshakable belief in their own beauty, they might end up egotistical. Though they'd have to try pretty hard to reach Trixie's standards.

Very gently, her fingers stroked over their lips, parting them just a little. So soft, and warm.

Enough. This wasn't what she was here for, and she couldn't let herself get distracted. Withdrawing her fingers and wiping them clean on her own skirt, Twilight pushed down the urge to keep touching them. She had to focus.

"All changes I've made to you today are ended," she told Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle. "Tell me the truth: have you told anypony about the spell I used on you both? Have you made any record of what happened?"

"No."

"I haven't."

"Good. Sugar Belle, are you using the pain control visualisation I gave you?"

"Yes. On a low level."

Twilight shook her head. "Okay. Lime Fizz, how about you? How far is the dial turned?"

"The dial is turned to four out of ten," replied the half-naked Seeker blankly.

That was quite a lot of pain suppression. Of course, Lime might have turned her sensitivity down while they were talking, so she could concentrate better. The potential of the technique was staggering, from physical pain to emotional distress, to pleasurable sensations. On the other hand, however, the potential for messing ponies up by giving them direct control over parts of their minds and bodies that were never meant for conscious control was... substantial.

Just as well to catch it now, before it got out of hand.

"Sugar Belle, Lime Fizz, don't repeat this, but listen. The commands I have given you about controlling your pain and visualising a dial are now ended. Whatever position the dial was at, the numbing of pain will be at that intensity when you wake up, and over the next two weeks, the numbing will fade away until you feel sensations normally again. Do you understand?"

"I understand."

"Yes, I understand."

Twilight nodded to herself; one item ticked off her internal checklist. But that still left another, larger entry. The promises.

Of course, she could just wake them up, and trust them. Twilight admired the two of them, she really did. Sugar Belle had come within an inch of defying Starlight and warning Twilight - if Lime Fizz hadn't been right there, she probably would have. And Lime Fizz, once given a way out... she'd done everything in her power to make things better. Neither had said a word about what had happened. They were trustworthy ponies.

But, in the long term, if Twilight was ever going to be able to relax, she needed to be certain.

"Lime Fizz. Sugar Belle. Did you both promise not to tell others about the mental domination spell that I used on you?"

"Yes."

"Yes."

Exhaling, Twilight said quietly, firmly, "You will always keep that promise. You won't tell anypony about it, you won't write it down. You want to keep that secret for me."

There was a lot more she could say, about never suspecting she was abusing the spell, or using it on others. Sooner or later, they were going to hear about her herd relationship, and that could easily make them suspicious. It would be easy to make sure neither of them ever turned on her again. She could even make them pliant, obedient, as her suppressed worst instincts demanded. In fact, despite her earlier decision, she could still block their memories completely and make them believe the cover story after all.

There was a lot more she could do. But, on the other hand, she'd already done more than enough.

"Stand up, Trixie," said Twilight softly, and nodded at the other pony's mindless repetition of her words. There was a mare that she could play with, that she could touch and toy with, and do as she pleased to. An image of the other element bearers flashed into her mind, and Twilight felt a pang of homesickness, not for a place, but for the safety and security of her lovers.

The sooner she went home, the better.

"All of you; I am satisfied."

Author's Note

This was a tough one. Wrote a first draft, didn't like the way it read, and completely dismantled it for a second try. Much happier with this!

Next time: Celestia, a change of scenery, and a return to the sunny plains of BDSM clop :twilightsmile:

Suggestions and proofing by Djmill, JustTheBast, and DbzOrDie!

18: The Way Back

Applejack stalked through the orchard, her heavy boots slamming into the muddy turf as though she had a personal grudge against it. It had rained recently; the clouds lingered overhead in thick blankets, waiting for the pegasi to clear them away. The trees were bare scribbles against the sky, leafless now until spring.

There was a tension coiled within her body, a stiff tightness in her muscles that made every movement short and abrupt. What she needed, badly, was an orchard full of apples to harvest. A day or three of solid bucking always left her too tuckered out for anything else to matter much. Without an outlet, she felt stifled.

"Dang, dang, dang," she muttered to herself, scuffing up a few fallen leaves from the mulch. Exhaling sharply, she stalked towards a stony outcrop that jutted from the endless orchards. A stubby pillar of moss-covered rock, it was merely the tip of a much larger mass beneath the soil, one that even generations of Apples hadn't been able to shift. Well, maybe this was something she could work on. Fetch out the shovels, get digging, clear the soil as far down as it went. Tow it out.

Could take days to clear it. Lots of days. Well, that was fine by her. Though, even if she did dig it out, it might take the whole family clan to drag it away. Would have to wait for the next gathering; not what she wanted. She wanted a task she could finish. Of course, given the way she'd levitated the Ursa Minor, maybe Twilight could help-

A low growl broke from Applejack's lips, and drawing back a step, she kicked out fiercely at the rock. A fractured chunk broke off under the impact of her hobnailed boot, but the stone was too solid to yield satisfyingly to the blow. With narrowed, irritable eyes, she muttered, "Well, to heck with you, then."

"Hrrm," rumbled a deep baritone voice behind her, with overtones of sceptical dubiousness.

"What in tarnation-" Applejack blurted, twisting. She'd thought she was alone; the last thing she wanted was an audience to her own bad mood. Big Mac was leaning against one of the barren trees, mighty arms crossed over his chest. He nodded to her, then indicated the rock with a slight tilt of his head.

"What?" she replied defensively, feeling as though she'd been caught out in some way. "It's just a dang rock."

"Eeyup," Big Mac agreed. His gaze settled on the broken chunk of stone lying on the grass, then he raised his sandy eyebrows at her.

Planting her hands on her hips, Applejack faced him squarely. "If there's something you want to say, Big Mac, you best get on and out with it. And if not, well, Ah'm busy and so should you be. Ah'm sure there's something needs doing. Always is."

He grunted, then nodded once. "You ain't happy."

"Ah'm fine," she contradicted flatly.

"Nnnope," Big Mac rumbled, shaking his head.

Applejack's hands clenched at her sides. Unable to meet his steady gaze, she found herself glowering at his feet. "Well, what business is it of yours anyway?" she demanded, but in a lower, more sullen tone.

"AJ," he rebuked her gently. "We're kin."

Shamed, Applejack heaved an exasperated sigh. "Alright, alright! Fine. Yeah, it's her. All've them. It's this whole dang situation."

Big Mac's silence hung in the air, waiting for her to fill it up.

With a frustrated growl, Applejack moved over to plant her back against the same tree he was leaning against, facing away from her brother. That made it easier to talk, somehow. "You know how things are. The whole herd thing. That, Ah ain't got no problems with. Not what Ah ever thought was gonna happen with mah life, but that's how it is."

Applejack paused, then went on more softly, "Twi's promised she's gonna come to the next family get together, as mah marefriend. Not sure the whole family's gonna rilly understand, not if they know about the others, but Ah reckon it'll smooth over. Long as Twi doesn't panic, anyway. You know how that mare is, when she gets herself worked up into a tizzy." A fond smile shaped her lips for a moment, before Applejack shook her head again and the frown returned. "Thing is- well, d'you know what she's gone'n done?"

The listening silence from the other side of the apple tree continued.

"She's gone off someplace up north, someplace dangerous. Seems like something bad happened, and off she dang well went, her'n that Trixie. Before all this Princess business, she'd have got the six of us together, we'd have boarded that there train together, and whatever's gone bad up there, we'd have faced that together. But now, seems like she doesn't think she needs us. Truth to tell, that downright gets on mah nerves. Last time she just waltzed into danger, thinking she could handle it all by herself, it went south pretty dang hard."

The memory of their collective defeat at Celestia's hands wasn't a sweet one; even though it had all been smoothed over, it still made Applejack's body tense up. "Ah don't know," she muttered, mostly to herself. "She's staying in Canterlot more'n Ponyville, even before she hared off without us. Busy with all this 'Royal Engagements' business, which is a whole bunch of hogwash, far as Ah can see. Never took her for one that'd get sucked in by all the airs and graces, but Ah wonder sometimes."

Applejack huffed, crossing her muscled arms tightly across her chest. Silence descended.

Big Mac broke it. "Why'd you stay here?" The question could have been accusatory, confrontational, but it wasn't. He was just asking her, sincerely.

"What d'you mean?" asked Applejack suspiciously. "She was in a rush, Ah had the farm to tend to, and Apple Bloom to keep an eye on. That's it. She didn't want to wait, and she was fine as she was. That's all."

"Eeyup."

"Now look here, Big Mac," Applejack said more sharply, stung by the patently unconvinced tone in his voice, "Ah'm not one to go where Ah'm not wanted or needed. Twi's got herself magic leaking out of her dang ears, she's got - certain spells, she's got that Trixie as her 'apprentice' and Celestia her own self saw them as far as Canterlot. She doesn't think we're needed on this one, that's just the way it is."

From behind her, Big Mac snorted.

Turning on her heel, Applejack marched around the tree to face her brother, jabbing a finger towards him. "Just what exactly are you trying to get at, you big galoot?"

The big stallion chewed the corner of his lip, his eyes serious. Then he asked slowly, "Not needed or wanted? That how you see it?"

"No! It's just - she's off who knows where, facing who knows what, and that's the kind of thing she thinks she can do on her own, now? It's like she's forgotten how many times we've had to pull her pretty little tail out of the fire. Anything could have happened to her, and Ah wouldn't even know! Would she even tell me? She's not been sending messages or anything, so how am Ah supposed to tell?! She left without even speaking to me!"

Blinking rapidly to clear her eyes, Applejack twisted around and kicked the loose piece of broken-off stone hard, sending the chunk of rock skimming off between the trees.

A pause. And then, from behind her, she heard him ask, "They all feel like this?"

Fists clenched at her sides, her shoulders hunched, Applejack shook her head. "Most've them think she must know what she's doing. Pinkie was there when she went off; Twi said she'd be fine, Pinkie believed her. Same with Rarity, she's thrown herself into work and let Twi get on with it. Rainbow complained 'bout being 'left out of the fun' when she heard, she's off doing whatever with Lightning. Fluttershy heard it was fine from Pinkie, and she's got her hands full with critters. Zecora, she ain't happy, though. Not forgotten how we screwed up before. And Ah'm not okay with the way she left without so much as a by-your-leave t'me. She could have asked."

Big Mac reached out, and planted a large, friendly hand on her shoulder. Squeezing gently, he replied in a low tone, "Ain't like you to fret, and not do anything about it."

Applejack turned, shrugging his hand off her shoulder and opening her mouth to give a sharp retort, then managed to stop herself. The tight, simmering ball of tension in her chest had only grown harder and hotter as they'd talked; she knew she was lashing out. "Ain't nothing to do," she replied, with strained patience. "She's long gone."

Big Mac gazed at her levelly. He was annoyingly practised at those long, steady looks.

Removing her hat, Applejack rubbed her forehead with two knuckles, pressing as if to ward off a headache. "Look, Ah'm sorry. Ah don't know what you're getting at," she said in a low tone, staring at the ground.

Gently, his finger curled under her chin, and lifted her head so he could meet her eyes. "Never known you not to fight for something you cared about."

Applejack blinked, her expression shifting into disbelief. "Not fighting? Ah fought Pri-" Cutting herself off abruptly, she shook her head. Of course she fought for her relationship with Twilight! Not just in fighting Celestia, either. She'd challenged Twi, told her what she wanted, they were gonna be marefriends at the family gathering. She yelled at Twilight, more than a few times, to shove her back towards the straight and narrow when the other mare was getting too drunk off all this magic power of hers to see straight. And now that Twilight and Trixie had run off up north, she was-

Doing nothing. Getting angry and upset, and doing nothing.

"Oh, haystacks," Applejack cursed, in tones that gave the mild expletive teeth. Her expression set firmly, lips thinning into a resolutely determined line. "Right. Ah'm going after her. Today. You'n Apple Bloom gonna be okay taking care of things?"

"Eeyup," agreed Big Mac, breaking into a broad grin. Tugging her hat from her fingers, he set it ceremoniously back on her head, as though crowning a Princess.

"Right. Y'want something to happen, you go make it happen," Applejack declared, her green eyes flashing. Squeezing her brother's hand, she took a deep breath. "Thanks. Darned if you're not the smartest pony Ah know."

He squeezed back, nodding once, his face full of fondness. "Eeyup. Now git."

Twilight sat on the edge of the roof, feeling the faint breeze ruffling her feathers. Below and beyond her, the scrublands stretched out towards the horizon; jutting fingers and pillars of rock, sprinkled with thin trees and dusty bushes. It was very still.

Behind her, over the roof and down in the main street, she could hear ponies moving around and talking, chattering animatedly. The town was bustling, ponies working together, ponies working at cross-purposes, talking, arguing good-naturedly, trying to figure out what their collective home should look like now. It seemed like every single pony had their own ideas about how things could be made better, and none of them were the same.

Good. That was exactly right.

Some five minutes or so ago, a new note had entered the distant jumble of voices. The creaking of carts and a general rise in excitement probably signalled the arrival of the first convoy from the south. That was good, too. The town needed to look outwards, beyond its own little borders. She'd have to see what she could do to encourage more trade in this direction; perhaps even a spur of the train line northwards.

All the same, she stayed where she was, watching the upper branches of the trees lazily shift back and forth, until she felt another pony sit down beside her.

Twilight looked up, with a small smile. "Hi, Celestia. It's good to see you."

Celestia's broad white wing stretched out, then curled around her, enfolding her in its warmth. "I was quite concerned," the older mare said gently, then added, "You look better."

"I feel better. Mint Balm is good at what she does."

"I'm glad to hear that. This town will need a good doctor." Celestia's billowing mane curled and flowed around Twilight. "Guard-Captain Diorite is looking for you," added the elder alicorn.

"I know. I should... probably stop hiding from her," sighed Twilight. "I think she's angry I left her and the other guards behind."

"Yes. I did remind you to take their feelings seriously," observed Celestia without censure.

"...you did," admitted Twilight. Snuggling deeper into the warm embrace of the other pony's wing, she rested her head against Celestia's shoulder. "Oh, Princess. I'm so glad you're here. I made a lot of mistakes."

"I've made many mistakes of my own, Twilight. It is impossible to always make the right choice. All you can do is make a choice." Celestia's gaze, ageless and deeply compassionate, met Twilight's. "And then try to learn to do better, when you realise that you chose poorly."

"I can't imagine how it must have been for you, to rule for so long on your own," Twilight murmured. "I don't think I could do it. I'd just... make mistakes, and keep obsessing over them, and before long, second-guess myself into total immobility. Not that I've ever done that before. Heh." She gave a small laugh, brief and awkward.

Celestia's gaze turned towards the distant, sun-beaten plains. There were times where some internal mask slipped slightly, and at that moment, the weight of long centuries radiated from the elder alicorn. As always, it left Twilight feeling tiny, and frivolously inexperienced. The depth of time hung in the air.

Then Celestia smiled, and her gaze slid sideways towards Twilight. "Oh, yes. It sucked."

Twilight blinked. "It sucked?"

"Yes, that's right. It sucked. It was totally lame." Celestia's grin grew as Twilight's baffled expression deepened. "It was totally the suckiest."

"But - you don't talk like - the suckiest?"

"I don't have to talk like a manual on diplomacy, Empress. As you know very well. In fact, you've had me using some language that was so exciting, I wouldn't be surprised if several etiquette texts in the library have spontaneously combusted."

Twilight blushed, her cheeks heating redly. "I'm sure you must have used that kind of language before. Before me, I mean. There's the whole book you wrote!"

"Writing it down is hardly the same, my Empress." Celestia's gaze drifted away once more, and she added after a moment, "I did, upon rare occasions, take lovers. Once in a great while, I encountered a pony that saw me as a mare, not a Princess. But even then, I held parts of myself back. I'd never treat them harshly, or degradingly, not even for play. The gap in authority was simply too great for it to be fair."

"…never?" asked Twilight. Despite her mildly curious tone, she couldn't help but feel a contradictory surge of sympathy for her mentor's loneliness and jealous gladness that she wasn't just the latest in a long series of kinky love affairs.

"Never," agreed Celestia. "How could I trust their consent was willing when a part of them would always see me as their ruler?" Hugging Twilight against her with her wing, she added more playfully, "That's why I'm so happy that you conquered me, Empress. I'm your bitch. For the first time in my entire life, I don't have to fret about what my lover really thinks or wants, because you will take it. You'll do anything you want to me. Degrade me, fuck me, make me fuck your friends, parade me around at your whim. Oh, it is wonderful…" The word trailed off, a softer, throatier note in the Princess's voice. "I can love you, unreservedly. Thank you."

"…you've never said that before," Twilight murmured. Her arms tightened around Celestia's body. "Never told me you loved me."

Celestia blinked, taken aback. "I have," she protested, but the certainty leaked away from her words. "I'm certain that I have… have I not?"

Twilight shook her head, then gently headbutted Celestia's shoulder. "I've told you I love you, many times, but you never say it back."

"I… apologise, Twilight. I'm sorry. I thought that I had, but… perhaps the habit of keeping such feelings to myself is simply too strong."

Twilight headbutted Celestia's shoulder again. "Do you think 'I'm sorry' is what I want to hear from you, you giant butt?"

Celestia giggled, despite herself. "I love you, Twilight. Empress. Whatever you want to be, I will love you."

"That's better. No spankings for you, then. No," Twilight contradicted herself, "actually, lots of spankings for you, because I feel like it."

"Right here?" inquired Celestia mildly. "I wouldn't mind, Empress, but you should know that a pegasus has been watching us for a few moments now."

Twilight jerked, pulling back from Celestia and twisting around. There was nopony nearby, but across the divide of the main street, there was a mare - Night Glider, again! - peering over the edge of the roof at the two of them. The instant Twilight's gaze fell on her, she guiltily ducked down behind the parapet and out of sight.

"Why didn't you say-" Twilight began, then answered herself with a sigh, "Because we can't hide, anywhere, so there's no point telling me. Because the town has lots of pegasi, and it was inevitable they'd want to see you."

"See us. You're a Princess of the Realm, Twilight, as I am, and you overthrew the one controlling these ponies. Your modesty is a positive trait, but it can lead you astray."

"I think it will be a very, very long time before anypony sees me as your peer, Princess. Celestia. But… yes, I understand."

"I'm glad that you do. I don't wish you to act as though you're due such attention, but the fact of it mustn't be ignored." She rested her head against Twilight's for a moment, exhaling softly. "And now," she went on more quietly, "you should tell me what happened between you and Starlight Glimmer."

"...oh. Yes." Twilight hesitated, a strange, aching unease coming over her. Her chest constricted around her words. "But... you know already, right?"

"I have heard the accounts of the townsfolk. Lime Fizz and Burdock, also. I am asking you, Twilight, what you did, and why."

"...right. Well, I..." Twilight hesitated again, then said softly, "I didn't understand how easily I could lose. That was what got ponies hurt. I've fought all those creatures and monsters, and this was just one pony. I got tricked, drugged, because I was thinking like that. It could have been over, right then, but I charmed Lime Fizz and Sugar Belle, and they took me out into the desert. That hurt them. Trixie got captured, she got hurt too. I came back for her. She was..."

Twilight trailed off, the vision of Starlight tormenting Trixie still vividly sharp at the back of her mind. "I was so angry. And my head was hurting and my body was aching, and I could barely stand or think straight. I was so afraid of hurting ponies by accident. I used want-it-need-it on a rock to distract the townsfolk, but I didn't understand what was really happening. I thought I was trying to disarm Starlight of a dangerous artefact, but it was her power, all along. She threatened to destroy Trixie's cutie mark. I don't think I've ever been afraid like that, not ever before."

"And what did you do?" asked Celestia quietly.

"I... I mean, you know. I stopped. I couldn't risk it. I was going to let her take my cutie mark. I lost. If the townsfolk hadn't intervened, that would have been the end of it." Twilight's voice sank nearly to a whisper. "I should have stopped first, rested. But I saw what she was doing, and-"

"I know. You wouldn't be Twilight Sparkle if you had not acted, at that moment. What will you do with Starlight Glimmer, now that she is overthrown?"

Twilight swallowed, her throat feeling tight and hot. "She's coming back to Canterlot, with us. I reset her morals. I didn't want to change her, like Trixie, but I couldn't leave her the way she was, so I... got her to remember the way she used to think about things. When she would have been horrified by hurting ponies, taking their cutie marks. I told her that cutie marks aren't evil. It's such an obvious thing, but... it was like taking the keystone out of an arch. She isn't the same pony she was. But she remembers being that pony. She's guilty, and afraid, and ashamed, and I wanted her to be, because I'm still angry at her but I can't let myself punish her."

"Why not?" The question was simple, but Celestia's gaze was steady. "Why not punish her for hurting you, and hurting the ones you care about?"

"I want to." The words were raw, frightening in their honesty. "But I have too much power over her. I could do too much harm, so easily. I don't know if she deserves to try again, to try not to become the pony she was, but it's the only thing I can do."

Celestia straightened, nodding once, her expression distant. "Thank you, Twilight."

There was a long pause, a silence that slowly, patiently filled Twilight's chest with dread. "Princess?" she asked softly. "Have I upset you?"

The alabaster alicorn blinked, shaking her head slightly, then looked down at Twilight with a wry smile. "No, Twilight. You haven't. You were furious and vengeful, but your biggest concern was still for the harm you might do to others, even as they fought you. And when you held Starlight's very self in your hands, you shied away from taking revenge. Whatever else happened, I am proud of you for that."

Celestia paused, and for a moment, her gaze drifted towards the horizon once more. "Your letter terrified me, Twilight," she said matter-of-factly. "If she had done what she intended to do to you, if I had arrived to find you as you found Trixie Lulamoon, or worse... I am not certain whether I could have been so restrained."

There was something in Celestia's voice that Twilight didn't recognise, some deeper note beneath those soft, maternal tones that made her feathers stand on end. Unsure how to react, or even what to imagine, she said after a moment, "I should find Diorite, and apologise. But... before I do, do you think you could... tell me that you love me again?"

Celestia's wings curled more tightly around her. "Of course. Any time you like. I love you, Twilight Sparkle. My Empress. I will never stop."

The door closed. The noise of the street outside diminished, muted down to an incoherent rumble of voices, movement and distant hammering. Twilight was left standing, a little awkwardly, in Sugar Belle's bakery. The corner table and chairs were still shoved out of place from the scuffle a few days ago.

Diorite turned, and regarded Twilight with a steady, clear-eyed gaze. The dappled grey mare was older than the new Princess she served, and at that moment, Twilight couldn't help a twinge of guilt as some part of her recognised the feeling of being about to be told off by an adult.

"You wanted to speak to me alone?" asked Twilight tentatively. Oh, this wasn't going to be fun at all...

Diorite nodded. "Yes, Princess. I did. Under usual circumstances, I would now request your permission to speak freely. It shows that while there are times I need to speak in ways unbefitting of your guard, I still show respect."

Twilight nodded, and began, "Diorite, you have per-"

Diorite overrode her, speaking quietly, but intensely. "Princess, you have seriously fucked up. I'm not asking for your permission to tell you that. Respect goes both ways, Princess, and you have shown none to my guards and me."

"...you're right," Twilight sighed, nodding her agreement. Awkwardly squeezing one hand in the other, her gaze dropping to the scuffed floorboards, she went on more slowly, "I know. I know I fucked up. I'm sorry. Not just sorry to you, either."

Diorite frowned. "And who else do you feel you should apologise to?"

"Just... just everypony. I wish you'd been here. I wish my friends had been here. Trixie got hurt. She got hurt, and it was my fault. Lime Fizz. Sugar Belle. Rock - Burdock, I mean. Everypony that got hurt in the brawl. I can't believe I screwed this all up so badly." Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "I don't think winning has ever felt quite this much like losing, before."

Folding her arms across her purple-armoured chest, the guard pony nodded once. "Good. That's a start. I want to know what you knew at the point you decided to come here."

"I... received a report from Trixie, from the Seekers. A village that ponies went to and didn't come back from, ponies that all wore the same cutie mark. And the Seekers that went to investigate hadn't reported in."

"That sounded like a trivial threat to you?" Diorite's tone sharpened dangerously.

"...no. Of course not. Magic that could alter cutie marks is some of the most dangerous. I just... I thought that I could investigate it. Sneakily. I didn't want to bring a lot of ponies with me in case I scared away whoever was behind it." Twilight's face was hot, her chest constricting, and she still couldn't meet Diorite's gaze.

"Do you still believe that was a tactically sound decision?"

Twilight shook her head slowly, biting her lower lip.

Diorite straightened up, and nodded. "When you went to Ponyville, you assured me that nothing dangerous would happen, and despite it being one of the most attacked villages in Equestria, I accepted those assurances. I'm aware that becoming royalty was not something you expected, and adjusting to your new role will take time. I hope you see that that is very different to deliberately avoiding me and your guard cohort on the way to an actively dangerous mission." Diorite's level voice rose just a little at the end, then settled back to something steadier.

"Princess, we're here to protect you. You are important to the safety of Equestria, and you've carried out many impressive deeds, but you can still lose. You nearly lost here, and as I understand matters, it was pure luck that you did not. Half of this town have received injuries, ranging from minor bruises and sprains to exhaustion and exposure injuries that will take significant effort to mend. I don't even pretend to understand what you did to the culprit responsible for the town's misfortunes, but it looked serious, and we had to take care of her until you recovered. You needed us."

Twilight grimaced. They'd seen Starlight, locked in an empty trance for days. How could she explain that away? How much could she tell Diorite? Taking a deep breath, Twilight lifted her head, and said carefully, "I used a subduing spell on her to make her stop fighting." Sighing, she rubbed her face. "I didn't want to; it's not something I took lightly. Especially not when I was too much of a mess to take care of her. I've made sure she's okay, and she's coming back with us to Canterlot." Truth level: correct, but misleading. It'd have to do.

Diorite raised an eyebrow. "She is coming voluntarily?"

Twilight paused, then shook her head. "Not really, but I think she's done fighting. She doesn't want to come with us, but she doesn't want to be left here, either - now that the townsfolk are recovering their independence, she's afraid of what they might do. And I told her that if she ran for the hills… well, I'd find her. She isn't happy about it, but coming with us is the best option she's got right now."

"Thank you for informing me, Princess," said Diorite formally. "I will ensure she is kept under watch while we travel."

"That's… probably for the best," agreed Twilight, with a small sigh. "I want to believe she'll be sensible now, but Trixie isn't at all convinced."

"I agree with Miss Lulamoon." Diorite bowed her head and pressed a hand to her armoured chest. "With your permission, I will go and see to preparations to leave."

"No, wait," Twilight interrupted, without quite knowing why. It took a second for her to work out the origin of the impulse.

The Guard-Captain shifted to attention, clasping her hands behind her back. "Yes, Princess?"

"Two things. I want you to know that I do take you, and the others, very seriously. I'm sorry that I didn't bring you with me; I will do better. I promise." She was so used to thinking of Celestia's guards as… well, ornaments. Castle decoration. It was long past time that she took her own guards seriously, and recognised them for the dedicated ponies that they were.

Diorite nodded once. Her voice was still level and professional, but it was a little less stern as she replied, "I'll hold you to that, Princess."

"And... I apologise. To you, personally. I don't want you to think I'm a spoiled idiot with no respect for the ponies around her. You're amazing, and so are the ponies you command. I won't let you down like this again."

There was a hint of something in the Guard-Captain's eyes that Twilight just couldn't read, but whatever it was, it made Diorite hesitate uncharacteristically. "Princess, I have guarded spoiled nobility. You are not that. All of us know how many times you have risked your life for others. Just don't pull anything like this again, and I won't have to kick your ass."

That was... oddly tempting, actually. A bit of rough physical discipline at the older mare's hands was strangely enticing, and the memory of Diorite's hard, naked body under her hands and tongue didn't help matters. "Guard-Captain Diorite," replied Twilight before she could stop herself, "if I screw up like this again, I give you permission to do whatever is necessary to my ass."

The older mare did pretty well; she barely reacted. All the same, her eyes widened, and a little flush of colour rose in her cheeks. After a moment's pause, Diorite replied, "Are you teasing me, Princess?"

"I mean - yes, a little. Sorry. Though I'm not totally sure I don't mean it." Augh! Was she being compelled to tell the truth? She really needed to just stop talking.

Diorite's cheeks were crimson, now. Drawing herself up, she demanded, "Princess, have you spoken in this manner to any of my subordinates?"

Definitely a red flag, Twilight noted. Shaking her head, she dropped the playfulness and replied, "No, I wouldn't do that. I feel like I can tease you because you're in charge, and you report directly to me, but I couldn't talk to Obscura this way." Suddenly aware of the echo of Celestia's words ringing around her head, Twilight finished more softly, "The power disparity would be too great."

"…yes, it would be. I agree."

"Besides, I hadn't really met any of them before they approached me to volunteer. Autumn was there when I was younger, but I didn't realise until he told me about it. You were the only one I already knew the name of."

A flash of total surprise lit Diorite's eyes. "I was?" she echoed dumbly.

"Yes, I'd noticed you attending Celestia. I liked your dapples," Twilight added. She was semi-lying; she'd known Diorite's name, but only because the two of them had been star performers in a brainwashed sex scene before the Solar throne. All the same, Twilight did like Diorite's dapples, and everything she was saying was true… just misleading, in the way she'd assembled it.

"I… see," replied Diorite, a shade of awkward embarrassment showing through her rigidly disciplined exterior. "In fact, there is something that I should inform you of, Princess."

"Oh?" asked Twilight mildly, trying not to show how suddenly fascinated she was.

"As the Captain of your Guard complement, I must exercise judgement on your behalf," Diorite began. "It is part of my role to understand your desires - your wishes, and fulfil them without requiring you to specify every detail of how your orders are to be carried out."

Twilight's eyebrows raised slightly; if the straight-forward mare felt the need to approach the topic this circuitously, it was going to be something interesting.

"You may recall recently ordering that you were not to be disturbed, but that I chose to allow the other Element-bearers access to your apartments regardless." Diorite paused long enough for Twilight to nod, then forged on, "I followed behind them as they entered your apartments, to ensure that if you wished them to leave, I would be able to enforce your decision. I do not believe they, or you, were aware of my presence. I… witnessed your activities. Briefly."

Twilight froze. Her thoughts flashed backwards, trying to remember exactly what she'd been doing at the moment the others had arrived. Celestia had been naked - in the middle of being spanked? - and it had been a wonderful surprise to have all her other lovers arrive and join in. Diorite had walked in on that? Despite herself, Twilight couldn't help a hot blush of her own.

"So, you saw."

"I did, Princess."

"And you heard?"

"Yes, Princess."

"It was very clear what was happening?"

Diorite swallowed. "Very clear, Princess."

"...did you have a problem with what was happening?" Twilight tensed. It was one thing to have confessed to Diorite that she was in a sexual relationship with multiple ponies, and quite another for the older mare to have actually witnessed the sort of total and utter depravity that Twilight so often enjoyed. Especially when it involved spanking and degrading Celestia, who was a cross between an all-encompassing mother, leader and Goddess to all those who served her.

This could go bad. This could be bad.

There was a silent pause. Diorite turned her head slightly, not exactly looking at Twilight, but not entirely looking away, either. Then, slowly, her gaze met Twilight's once more.

"It isn't my place to ask," Diorite began, her voice carefully level. "Nonetheless, if there is anything you could tell me, Princess, about how those circumstances came to be, it would help me understand."

Twilight bit her lip. Telling the full truth was obviously out of the question. In fact, just imagining Diorite finding out about the charm was enough to make Twilight's horn itch to cast it on the other mare, just to make sure it was in place if she ever needed to make Diorite forget something in a hurry. But even hiding the part that the spell had played, did she have any right to tell Diorite about the innermost desires of the others?

"...I've teased you before, about standing guard while I'm intimate with my lovers," began Twilight, looking down at her hands for a moment. "But I suppose it was inevitable that you really would see something, sooner or later. There are a lot of secrets that I'm honoured to keep, and they're not mine to tell. But at the same time, I... don't want you to think badly of ponies who really, really don't deserve it. So I'll tell you what I can, and I know you'd never say a word to anypony."

Tangling her fingers together, Twilight turned away, beginning to pace up and down the small, cramped bakery. Floorboards creaked under her feet as she tried to find a place to start.

"Ponies can surprise you," she said finally, her gaze seeking through the walls, all the way back to distant Ponyville. "Some of the Element bearers were always kind of... kinky. Secretly. I suppose I was, though I didn't know it for a long time. So it started with just two of us, almost by accident, learning our way around each other in a whole new way. Little by little, I talked to the others about what we were doing together, and invited each of them to be part of it. It was rocky, for a while, it wasn't easy."

Twilight sighed. Part of her wished she could just be honest with this pony, who truly deserved all the trust Twilight could give. But that was the point: all the trust Twilight was capable of still fell short of confessing what she'd really done.

"Some of them are more into it than they ever thought they'd be. Some of them, I think, are having fun but... it's more about being together and sharing our affection for each other, for them." She hesitated, wincing slightly. "I know some of the things I say when we're having sex are pretty appalling. But we really do care an awful lot for each other. I'd be so upset if I ever thought somepony took the things I say to heart, and went away sad. Even so..."

Twilight trailed off, then resumed more slowly, "It must be strange for you to have seen Celestia... like that. For her, it's different than for the others. She's been maintaining the image of the perfect Princess for so long; centuries. Longer. So it's really special for her to get to not be the Princess when she's with me. To not have to make decisions. To not be that pony. I do still keep calling her Princess without thinking, and she tells me off when I do it - she doesn't want me to think of her as royalty. Luna has her reasons, too, but I don't feel like I can talk about those. I guess all of them have their reasons, and they're all different. It's special. I love Celestia. I love Luna. I love all of the bearers, and Zecora, and Trixie, too. Sometimes I think I've taken on too much, that I can't do them all justice, but I just can't imagine being without any of them." And Lightning Dust, too, her conscience chipped in, but gently.

"I'm not telling you everything. I'm not sure if it was right for me to tell you what I have said. But - I'm really grateful that they're in my life, and I would fight to the end for any of them," she finished softly.

"Thank you, Princess," replied Diorite, her voice quietly formal. "I truly appreciate the things you've told me, and I will think on them. I appreciate your trust."

Surprising herself - surprising both of them - Twilight took Diorite's hand and squeezed it. "I do trust you."

Again, an emotion flickered behind Diorite's facade that Twilight just couldn't read. "I'm - glad. Please excuse me."

Twilight let go of the Guard-Captain's hand, and watched, a little unsure of herself, as Diorite briskly marched out into the sunshine without a backward glance.

"I see a train! My Princesses, a royal train is approaching!" Zephyr swooped down from his assigned position high overhead, calling out the sighting excitedly.

"Ugh, at last. The Great and Powerful Trixie has had quite enough of walking. Should not a pony of her magnificence be carried aloft, for all to admire?" With an exasperated flap of her arms, Trixie brushed a little of the orange travelling dust from her elaborate outfit.

"Thank you, Zephyr!" Twilight called, then shook her head in amusement at Trixie's outburst. The two of them were walking beside Celestia at the head of a procession of Twilight's guards, Diorite walking behind them, followed by the looming figure of Autumn. Zephyr and bat-winged Obscura flew overhead. Starlight Glimmer trailed behind, never far from Autumn's watchful eye, withdrawn and uncommunicative.

Glancing up at the taller Princess, Twilight asked, "Will that be the train you took here?" She'd walked much further in the past without complaint, but she had to admit, after a couple of days of walking through the hot, scrubby landscape, her feet were getting sore, and she was entirely ready to resign herself to the comfort and swiftness of the railway. Maybe the privileges of her new position were getting to her, but if so, she was prepared to worry about that from the soft cushions of a royal carriage.

"I'm afraid not, Twilight," answered Celestia, with a small smile. "Once I received your note, I flew to the station and took over the first train ready to depart. It will have gone on to Manehattan by now. If there is a train coming to meet us, that will be my sister's doing."

"I'm going to have to thank her," murmured Twilight sincerely.

"Yes, you shall. Especially since she did not wish to stay behind. She was most emphatic on that point."

"Oh dear. She came for me when I got lost after that teleport accident, too. I really need to stop worrying her." Twilight pulled a face. She hadn't dared try teleportation since. She was getting much better at controlling her magic, but it still tended to slip when she was startled. All it would take was one bad teleport for her to end up falling out of the sky again, and if she panicked, then she could end up anywhere. All the same, it was probably the next spell to work on regaining mastery of.

Celestia smiled her wonderfully mischievous smile. "She very nearly violated the ancient system of 'bagsies' to come and get you herself, despite my claiming the task first. A very serious matter. I told her that she had taken the last Sparkle Disaster, and it was my turn."

"Sparkle Disaster?" Twilight protested.

"The Great and Powerful Trixie would have rescued you after your teleportation! It just would have taken - longer," conceded Trixie, visibly annoyed by having to admit any limitations at all.

Taking Trixie's hand, Twilight squeezed it. Trixie squeezed back, her habitual aloof look melting into an adoring smile.

Celestia nodded with majestic calm. "Yes. I have a log book of Sparkle Disasters, their causes and resolution. It makes instructive study material for younger unicorns. Things to avoid, and how they may be fixed."

Twilight blinked. "Really?"

"Categorised under threats to the building you occupy, the city, the region, and Equestria as a whole."

"…you're making that up."

"I may have to publish a second volume."

"Diorite," Twilight began with a wry grin, "I want you to-" -spank this pony, she managed not to say. For a second, she'd forgotten the audience they had. Not just her own guards, but Starlight Glimmer, too.

"Yes, my Princess?" asked Diorite seriously.

"Do go on, Twilight. Is there some problem?" Celestia asked, raising her snowy brows in polite inquiry.

In exasperation, Twilight gave Celestia an increasingly familiar look, one that both of them knew as another misdeed being added to the ever-lengthening list of royal impertinence that the older alicorn needed to be punished for. Though honestly, Twilight knew she might as well abandon the mental tally. Celestia was forever adding things quicker than suitable punishments could be devised.

"No, there's no problem. Diorite, once we board the train, I'd like as many of the guards to get rest as possible. Minimal ponies on duty, please," Twilight improvised.

"Princess! I am very well rested!" declared Autumn from behind her in his resonant boom of a voice.

"I will see to the disposition of your guards, Princess," replied Diorite. A very polite, non-contradictory reply that nonetheless signalled that she would do as she saw fit.

Deciding not to fight that particular battle, Twilight quickened her steps. Cresting a small rise, she saw a long train steaming up the incline towards them, decked out in white and gold paint.

"Looks like yours," Twilight remarked to Celestia. "Does Luna have a personal train?"

"She doesn't. I offered, but she didn't want one dedicated to her service."

"And she got away with that?"

"She did," agreed Celestia, with unruffled calm. "I'm having yours decorated specially, by the way."

"Princess. I liked it being - you know, subtle! Do I even need a train?"

"Why would anypony not want a personal luxury train?" Trixie demanded. "The Great and Powerful Trixie will take Luna's!"

Twilight glanced back towards Starlight Glimmer. It had suddenly occurred to the young alicorn that if any conversation was going to trigger an outburst, it was this one, reeking of indolent privilege. Surely this was everything that Starlight, in her time in Manehattan, had railed against. Instead, she was gazing at the rocks by her feet as she walked, dragging her heels, in a private world of her own.

Not good. Starlight was definitely going to take some careful watching over. Perhaps Luna would be suitable to act as a non-judgemental mentor; she certainly understood the feeling of horror at and disassociation from actions she'd rather forget.

Descending the final slope, inhaling the welcoming scent of steam on the breeze, Twilight finally came to a stop by the tracks as the train's brakes squealed, slowly bringing the long, lavishly decorated string of carriages to a halt. A few more steps, and she'd be done with the town, with the whole nightmarish mess. Cushions. She was so ready for cushions.

A door banged open before the train had even stopped moving.

"What in the hay were you thinking?"

Twilight's jaw dropped as two very familiar mares burst out of the carriage. "Applejack? Zecora?"

"Didn't need us with you, did you?" Applejack demanded, stomping along the edge of the tracks. "Well, we got as far as Canterlot-"

"You have been hurt, the Lunar Princess said! We have been beside ourselves with dread!" Zecora blurted, slashing her hand through the air in an abrupt gesture. Her travelling cloak billowed in the dusty breeze, exposing a satchel at her side crammed so full of potion bottles that it was straining at the strap not to simply burst.

"Right, and she said Celestia had gone after you days ago-"

"Many Lunar tears were shed. The Princess wished to go instead," interrupted Zecora.

"And she said, according to the messages she'd got back since then, you were in some kind of hospital! So we sent a message back to Ponyville on the express - they should be a couple days behind us, if they set out when they get it and they will - and we came straight here. What're you even doing on your feet? Are you hurt? What happened?" There was a roughness to Applejack's voice, an unhealthy tinge to her normally vibrant skin. She didn't look as though she'd slept properly for some time.

First priority: get these two away from Starlight Glimmer before explaining. Trying to control her own worry for the two distraught ponies before her, Twilight said slowly, "It's... complicated. A lot happened. And ponies did get hurt. Not just me. Can we - please, get inside first?"

"Yes! Get out of Twilight's way, Appleclod! Twilight is exhausted, and needs to rest! The Great and Powerful Trixie demands you clear the way!" Trixie demanded, her voice winding up to full, stage-boom bellow. It wasn't the Royal Canterlot Voice, but in terms of volume and projection, it wasn't bad.

"If'n you think you can demand anything outa me-" Applejack began, bristling.

Zecora touched her arm. "No, Applejack, Trixie is right. Let's get them away from the sun's hot light."

"Everypony, just - wait, please. Just a moment," Twilight managed. She looked behind herself; her guards, and Diorite in particular, had stepped back to allow their Princess her privacy, adopting their more traditional distance now that their trek across the arid land was over.

Celestia had drifted away too, though... that was more of a problem. The Princess wanted so badly to be treated like just another pony, but now that the others had arrived, she was regressing to her more familiar role. Something had to be done about that. And Starlight... Starlight was still staring steadily at the ground, her whole body telegraphing reluctance with every step. She didn't seem like she was about to flee, though. An air of tired defeat hung over her. Better do something about that, too.

Twilight sighed. Responsibility was such a pain.

"Is something wrong?" Trixie demanded, moving a step closer. "What obstacle can the Great and Powerful, Incomparably Mighty Trixie deal with on your behalf?"

"Nothing's wrong," replied Twilight, with a mild shake of her head. Not really true, but on the scale of her recent falsehoods and omissions, it didn't even register.

Golden-armoured guards were spilling from the train, approaching the demigoddess they were sworn to protect. "Princess!" the lead stallion greeted Celestia, saluting with a fist against his chest. "We are here to serve."

"I'm glad to see you," replied Celestia. There it was - the smooth, warm, perfectly unruffled voice of the Princess of the Sun, ruler of uncounted centuries. The guards formed up around her, one detaching to fall into swift, efficient conversation with Diorite as they updated each other, and without a backward glance, Celestia entered the train.

Twilight's lips twitched unhappily. Could the guards hear that shift in Celestia's voice as well? Could they hear the Princess shutting herself behind her honed courtesy? Perhaps. Perhaps not. It was what they were used to hearing, after all.

Applejack's voice broke into her thoughts. "Twi? Are we getting onto this darn train or what?"

"I... sorry, yes. I was thinking about something else." There went Autumn, escorting Starlight Glimmer onto a carriage to the rear of the one they were beside. There was a conversation there that she'd need to have, but... it should probably wait a little. There was no rush. They'd be on the train for a while. "Yes. Let's get in," agreed Twilight.

Making her way down to the still-open carriage door, Twilight let the three mares around her help push her up the steps and through the doorway. Celestia's mane, she was tired, and maybe it was only now that she was safe that she could truly acknowledge it. Staggering slightly, she stepped into the main compartment. It was some kind of guest carriage; elegantly minimal, with soft seats, ornate lamps, and a wide bed discreetly half-hidden behind a set of crimson curtains. Very Celestia.

Sagging onto a wide, padded bench seat, she let her head rest against the cushioned back. "Thank goodness," she breathed.

Applejack dropped to one knee in front of her, grabbing hold of Twilight's hand with both of hers. A wounded look in her green eyes, she said huskily, "Twi. Ah'm serious. Rilly darn serious. Cupcake rammed in your eye so hard you're crying icing f'r a week serious. You didn't ought to go off like that without me. Without us. Ah know you wanted to go right away, but you should have asked."

Beside her, Zecora fell into the seat with a thud, the potion bottles clunking dully in her satchel. It was the first clumsy movement she'd ever seen the zebra make, Twilight realised.

"You left without me, and that should not be," said Zecora quietly. "You left me behind once before, and lost to the Princess of the Sun - this time you had but to beckon, and I would come at a run! Twilight Sparkle, you are so very smart. Can you not tell when you injure my heart?"

"She had Trixie! The slutty, adoring slave Trixie is the only companion her Mistress requires!" snapped Trixie, throwing herself onto the cushioned seat on the other side of Twilight and grabbing hold of her arm possessively. "She can look after her Mistress all by herself!"

"Oh yeah?" Applejack retorted, looking up at Trixie. "Because what Ah heard, Twilight ended up in hospital. So you tell me, do you think you did a real good job of protecting her?"

Trixie's lips pressed together, her jaw clenching, glaring poisonous death at the farm pony.

"Applejack." The name fell from Twilight's lips, cool and distant. "Stop, please."

Blinking, Applejack turned towards Twilight, visibly taken aback by her tone. "But Twi-"

"Trixie," said Twilight, a hollow ache filling up her chest as she held Applejack's gaze. "Tell them what happened. From your perspective."

Shaking her head, Trixie bit her lip and replied, "Trixie doesn't want to. Her storytelling talents are wasted on these mediocre mud-ponies anyway."

"Please. For me."

"But..." Trixie managed, then looked away, turning up her nose. "Fine. But only because you command it. The sensuous, seductive Trixie and her glorious Mistress set off from the laughable collection of sticks and pastel paints its tragic inhabitants refer to as Ponyville-"

"From the point where we parted, please." Twilight didn't look away from Applejack. She knew that the moment she broke eye contact, Applejack was going to protest again. Beside her, she sensed a strange tension from Zecora, but the zebra held her silence as well.

"Well... yes, Mistress. Of course. Of course, Trixie was... getting to that." Awkwardly, Trixie looked down at her hands, then out of the window again. "The glorious, incomparable Trixie was entrusted with watching over the village, with the companionship of the mediocre, treacherous Burdock, whilst her Mistress descended to the interior with the other one, whoever she was."

"Wasn't that one of the two you ran all this way up here to find?" broke in Applejack, frowning.

"Yes, yes! Trixie is talking. Could you stop thrusting your tragic lack of manners in Trixie's face for one minute?" Trixie demanded.

With a low growl of annoyance, Applejack sat back and folded her muscled arms across her chest, saying nothing.

"Thank you. As Trixie was saying- she was to watch over her Mistress as she moved through the town below. And she did so, and watched closely, and was ready at all times to go to her Mistress's aid! But..." Trixie hesitated, then continued in a lower tone, "Burdock offered Trixie a drink, and she drank it. She should have known better. Everything began to sway. The rocks pitched up and down. And then she... fell over. Burdock caught her. It was all black light behind her eyes."

Trixie's hands clenched at her sides. "She woke up... in a room. A little room. Just a bed, and a little table. And... speakers. And her... Trixie's cutie mark, it was... gone."

The simmering grudge on Applejack's face drained away as though it had never been, leaving her eyes wide with horror. Her arms slackened, and one hand rose to cover her mouth.

Trixie wasn't looking at her. She wasn't looking at anypony. "She couldn't... Trixie, the mighty and incomparable Trixie, she couldn't... her magic wouldn't come. And the speakers, they kept talking to her, telling her she was abandoned. That she wasn't important. So, so Trixie told them that she was very important, she was more important than anypony, and her Mistress would save her and, and make them give back her cutie mark."

The carriage jerked slightly as the train began to push, the soft click-click of the rails beginning to pick up speed. Trixie's gaze was on the parched, rocky landscape as it began to slide backwards past the window, but she gave no sign she'd even noticed anything had changed. "They... laughed at her. Told her she didn't matter, not to anypony. She wasn't special. They wouldn't... they wouldn't let her sleep, and her head was spinning all the time, and every time she tried to feel something she just felt sick. It just didn't... stop, and they... they'd open the door sometimes, and the whole village was there, and they told her they wanted to be Trixie's friends, they were all equal and Trixie's stupid ego was keeping her miserable, and all she had to do was accept that Twilight didn't care and was never coming back-"

Quietly, Zecora slid off the seat beside Twilight and crawled around to the floor in front of Trixie, looking up at her, an aching look of sympathy in her eyes. Her lips parted, but no words came forth.

"And... and Trixie wouldn't," insisted Trixie, a shudder running through her. "She wouldn't believe that, she wouldn't. Because Twilight promised. And... it was days, I, I think, but then... Trixie was being yelled at, and told to repent, and Twilight came. She came! She fought the whole village, and she was winning! And, and that evil pony, Starlight, she, she had Trixie's cutie mark in a jar, and she told Mistress to stop fighting or she'd break it and destroy Trixie's cutie mark forever, and Twilight did!"

Trixie sniffled convulsively, grinding the heel of her hand into her eyes one after the other to rub away the tears. "And Trixie was begging her to keep fighting, and not worry about her, but she wouldn't! Mistress was being so stupid, and it was all Trixie's fault, and - and Trixie loves her so much and I can't see Twilight get hurt like that, I can't! But she was going to give up her cutie mark for Trixie, and that's not what Trixie wanted! It isn't!"

Applejack swallowed roughly, as though her throat were full of dry rocks. "Then what happened?"

Gulping for air, angrily rubbing away the wet tracks marking her cheeks, Trixie shook her head. "The stupid ponies that had been fighting Mistress stopped. Even dullwits like them could see who the bad pony was, now. They tried to take back Trixie's jar. It broke. I thought it was gone forever, and I-" Trixie's voice cracked, and her eyes squeezed closed. "At least Twilight could have gone back to fighting! But it came back to Trixie, and it was like waking up and the sun and everything that ever mattered to her, and she - she helped Mistress blast that evil pony in her stupid face. And she won. That's - that's what happened."

Tears dripped to the carriage floor. Not Trixie's, but Applejack's. Pushing herself up, she wrapped her arms around Trixie and drew the smaller pony hard against her, crushing Trixie against her chest. "Ah'm so sorry," she said hoarsely. "Ah'm sorry that Ah ever said one bad word to you. You gave everything, everything you darn had, and Ah swear on the farm, you'll have me on your side for the rest of your born days. Never want to see you hurt like that ever again."

Zecora climbed up, resting one knee on the seat as she pressed her striped body against them both, hugging the powder-blue mare tightly. "I am shamed, for I too have doubted you. But now I can see that your heart is true. From this day until my end, I shall be your ally and true friend," she breathed.

"S-shut up! Trixie wasn't doing it for your approval! Trixie was doing it because she loves Twilight, and, and-" protested Trixie hoarsely, her voice choking to a stop. Burying her head against Applejack's broad shoulders, her slim body shook as she wept.

Twilight rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to keep her breathing steady, doing her very best to hold onto the rampaging emotions shattering within her. The last thing she wanted in all the world was to distract attention from Trixie at that moment. "You did really well," Twilight whispered, reaching out to stroke a hand over Trixie's mane. "My apprentice. My little pony."

Trixie clung to Applejack harder, crying as though she might never stop.

"Okay, okay. Ah'll admit, the animated rope trick, with the guards by the vault? That was pretty darn good."

"Really, Applejack, must the gloriously incomparable Trixie correct you at every turn? It was more than 'good', it was-"

"Great. Ah know, Ah know. You were great, alright?"

"And powerful!"

Applejack grinned, then lightly bumped her head against Trixie's. "Alright! Great and powerful. Grief, you've got such a big head."

"Trixie needs a big head to contain all of her incredible genius!"

Twilight smiled, affectionately watching the two of them squabble on the other side of the table. A late breakfast was spread out before them, a feast of colours and flavours after the enforced grey nothingness of Starlight's settlement. Outside the window beside her, the cloud-topped shapes of distant mountains reared their heads up to the sky, while beyond the other side of the carriage, a broad, grassy plain stretched out into the distance.

"The Neighagra Falls are up there," she murmured, thinking aloud as she glanced out of the window again. "I'd like to see them sometime."

"The slutty and submissive Trixie would love to go there with you!" replied Trixie immediately, lowering a forkful of pineapple from her lips. "What a romantic getaway it would make, the thunder of the falls, the white water, the perfect slave and her beautiful Mistress, all alone-"

"A-hem," said Applejack meaningfully, taking a pointed bite of her apple.

"...except for these two also, whom the generous and forgiving Trixie has chosen to tolerate," Trixie amended, with a roll of her eyes.

"Aw, would y'look at that. You do like us," replied Applejack teasingly, squeezing Trixie's shoulder.

"The splendidly sensual Trixie said no such thing! Trixie doesn't like you, she just finds you - acceptable." Trixie nodded regally, then froze as her expression changed. "Spank this lying bitch Mistress, she wouldn't know the truth if it kicked her in the face! -what? But - but Trixie is allowed to lie to other ponies!"

"Looks like you think lying about something in front of me counts," replied Twilight, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "The position, Trixie."

Wincing and squirming, Trixie climbed up onto the seat and turned around, knees on the seat cushion, pushing her ass towards her Mistress. "This is so unfair!"

"Applejack, her skirt please," Twilight commanded pleasantly.

"Sure thing, Ma'am!" replied Applejack with a grin, flipping up Trixie's purple, star-speckled skirt to expose her pert behind and little black panties. "Ah'm not being smug about this or nothing, 'cause Ah'm the bigger mare, y'see."

"You are gloating! Trixie knows gloating when she hears it!" Sucking in a gulp of air, wriggling side to side, Trixie whined, "Mistress! Please spank Trixie's perfect ass, it's unbearable!"

"Not yet. Trixie, do you like Applejack and Zecora? Bear in mind that that's a direct question from your owner."

"This is so unfair!" she protested. "Fine! Stupid Applejack's big strong arms make her feel safe, and, and Zecora is sexy and intimidating, and sleeping in a heap together made Trixie feel better! Trixie doesn't have friends, but they said they were, and- and will you just spank her ass so she can stop talking?!"

Now that, Twilight decided, was a reasonable request; the flat crack of skin on skin rang out through the carriage. Trixie jerked, her tail hiking up into the air, and protested, "Oww! Mistress!"

"You don't muck about, do you Ma'am? Here, lemme see about that." Applejack reached up and rubbed the flat of her palm over the reddening handprint on Trixie's left asscheek, then bent down to kiss the middle of the mark. "There. All better?"

Trixie twisted around and dropped back into her seat, as flushed in the face as her ass had been reddened. "That was-" she caught Twilight's eye, and finished meekly, "-nice."

"Zecora is sexy and intimidating, hm?" Twilight teased.

Trixie's blush deepened, her eyes darting to Twilight and then away again. "Well... she does have a certain stage presence. With coaching of the standard that the endlessly entertaining Trixie can provide, she could put on quite a show."

"You're not wrong." Twilight turned her head slightly. "Oh, a slice of melon, now."

With a shaking hand, Zecora speared a piece of melon on a cocktail stick and lifted it to Twilight's lips. The zebra was naked; her toned, boldly striped body on full display. Twin vibrating stones were clamped to her nipple rings, humming softly as they tormented her dark grey nipples to constant hardness, and a single strap around and under her waist pinned a thrumming dildo inside her. A silvery ring gag kept her mouth open, leaving her unable to do more than grunt unintelligibly.

Meeting Zecora's eyes, Twilight leant forward slightly and took the segment of melon between her lips. "Mmm. Good. I should keep you like this. A helpless doll, living for the whims of your owner. Conditioned to obey. Enchanted into absolute servitude. My beautiful... brainwashed... bitch," she breathed, a shuddering thrill quivering through her own body as she watched Zecora's pupils dilate.

"Unnnngh," groaned the zebra, her hips jerking as she nodded, her breathing ragged. Slick wetness coated the strap pinning the dildo into her, running in slow droplets down to the seat beneath.

Applejack glanced out of the window, her gaze falling anywhere except the depraved scene on the opposite bench. "Neighagra Falls is up there, y'say? Ah've got a cousin who's been there. Brought a postcard to the last family meet. Looked real pretty like. Might be that it would be good to go someplace without the world trying t'cave in on us."

"The incomparably sensual slave Trixie would enjoy that also. Not that Trixie has your terrible habit of attracting disasters. She suspects they can smell your foolish determination to interfere."

"You're just an object," Twilight murmured lovingly to Zecora, delighting in the way Applejack and Trixie obliviously continued their conversation. "A tool for my pleasure. I've taken over their minds, and they will do anything I want to you, and they won't even realise you're here. You can't resist. You don't want to."

Zecora's back arched against the seat cushion, her head tilting back as she tried to grind her aching cunt against the shaft buried within her. Despairing, ecstatic whimpers escaped her, her hoop earrings swaying with each jerk that shuddered through her body.

Twilight carelessly gestured at a slice of orange, and watched with wicked delight as Zecora tried to pick it up, her fingers quivering. Leaning back, Twilight opened her mouth and allowed the enslaved zebra to slip the treat between her lips, her tongue flickering over the other mare's fingers to capture every last hint of the juice. "Mmm. That was delicious - isn't that right, girls?"

"Sure was, Ma'am. And now that Ah know you're safe, Ah c'n actually enjoy the food."

"It was... passable. Passable, for a mare of Trixie's incredibly high standards."

Applejack prodded Trixie in the ribs, grinning. "You and your playacting. It was good! Can't you jest say it was good?"

Trixie wrinkled her nose, half-closing her eyes, then smiled and gave a sheepish little shrug. "It was good. The food that Trixie has had to endure recently! She would have rather eaten the plate."

Taking hold of Zecora's right breast, Twilight kneaded it lazily, feeling the buzzing of the little enchanted bead under her palm as it relentlessly thrummed through the golden ring. "Celestia's mane, I love seeing you like this. Shaking with how close you are to cumming your brains out, utterly under my control. A hot, dripping, fuckable mess. Maybe I should make you into my throne, grind my pussy against your face whenever I feel bored, and make sure nopony that looks at you even understands you're there..."

Zecora's hands clenched tightly, digging into the seat cushions as her eyes rolled back. The scent of her musk perfumed the air, her ragged gasps growing quicker and shallower. She whimpered something indecipherable in a pleading tone, her eyes tightly closed.

"Oh, that's so cute," breathed Twilight, breaking into a giggle. "I can even hear the rhyming rhythm in whatever that was! Though if I was to make an educated guess, I'd speculate that you want to cum now. On the one hand, I have kept you at the edge for quite a while now. But on the other hand... do mindfucked dolls even deserve mercy?"

For an instant, Twilight's horn shimmered, a glow forming around the base of the dildo buried within Zecora, before realisation struck and she hurriedly released her magical grip. Her control over her own surging magic was getting better, but she did not want to practice telekinesis on Zecora's tender body. Instead, she slid one hand between the zebra's thighs, delighting in the heat radiating from the other mare's skin. Planting the heel of her hand against the strap where it crossed Zecora's clit, Twilight began rocking her hand in the rhythm Rainbow had taught her, and leant down to take Zecora's pierced nipple between her lips.

Zecora screeched into her gag, bucking and jerking as though electrified, her knee slamming into the underside of the table hard enough to make the heavy collection of plates and silverware jump. She didn't even seem to notice, writhing in her seat, grunting and gasping wordlessly in the grip of her explosive release as her long-delayed orgasm broke over her.

Finally, the storm subsided. The zebra slumped backwards, aftershocks visibly making her hands clench anew as the patiently tormenting vibrators teased her over-stimulated body. Perspiration dampened her forehead, her half-open eyes dazed and unseeing.

Twilight bit her lip, whispering, "Fuck, that's so sexy. I just love watching you cum..." Pressing up against the semi-conscious mare, Twilight kissed up her throat, feeling the cool bands of Zecora's golden neck rings brushing her lips. "Trixie was right... you are intimidating. So cool and self-possessed. So knowledgeable. So wise. But not when I break you. Not because you've done anything wrong. Not because you deserve it. Because I love you, and I want you, and that just makes me want to crush you beneath my heel."

Zecora nodded shakily, her unfocused gaze slowly coming to rest on her Mistress. A small whimper escaped her lips, her hands rising a little, then dropping to grip her thighs tightly.

Picking up a glass of fruit juice from the table, Twilight drank deeply. Her own body felt sensitive, and hot. Her nipples rubbed against her bra, and she just wanted to tear her clothes off all over again. But she couldn't, not yet. First, she had a pony to find. "Get up, slave. Stand over there."

With a groan of assent, Zecora wriggled her way out from the bench seat, her legs visibly struggling to support her. Twilight slid along the bench seat after her, trying not to notice the way her own thighs wanted to press together as spikes of heat shot through her.

Applejack looked up. "Done with breakfast, Ma'am?"

"For now, yes," Twilight agreed. "I need to go and find the Princess. She hasn't come to see me since we boarded. I don't think that's acceptable."

"Take the slutty fucktoy Trixie! She can shout these stupid guard ponies into fetching whomever you desire. Nopony can refuse a demand from Trixie's magical Mistress!"

"Not yet - and be respectful to the guards," chided Twilight. "They do a lot for Equestria. They're brave, and selfless, and deserve to be treated with our respect, okay? Now... Zecora, keyword: statue."

With a near-despairing whimper, Zecora got halfway through nodding before losing control of her body, her hands moving to seize her breasts and her back arching to push out her thick ass before she froze helplessly in place.

"Applejack, Trixie; keyword: scene two." The command was spoken casually, though Twilight couldn't help but feel a flicker of fascination as identical looks of focused concentration came over the two mares. Wordlessly sliding out of the bench seat, they moved directly to the captive zebra as though nothing else were real. Trixie dropped to her knees, running her tongue up the other mare's striped inner thighs, while Applejack pressed up against Zecora's back and took firm hold of her exposed ass, kneading as she began to bite gently at the curve of Zecora's neck.

Twilight leaned over Trixie to capture Zecora's lips in a hard, hungry kiss. "I'll try not to be too long. I think I can wring plenty more orgasms from you today."

Pulling back, Twilight turned and walked towards the train end of the carriage, straightening her pale blue dress. It was an elegant outfit, cut like the sun dresses Celestia so often wore, but it was sized to fit her post-ascension body, her tattooed cleavage on full display. Even now, she sometimes surprised herself when she caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. As for why a selection of clothes had been on-board that seemed to have been tailored for her, it could have been Luna's doing, or her mentor's frustratingly unmatchable tendency to plan ahead.

Either way, Celestia had to be up towards the train somewhere. She'd boarded further along, and she certainly hadn't come through the carriage since they'd set off. It wasn't like there could be secret passages on a train.

Unless there was some sort of crawl tunnel beneath the carriage.

No, that was silly.

Twilight stamped her foot a couple of times, trying to hear a hollow resonance, but all she could hear was the soft creaking of the carriage suspension as they rounded a shallow corner, and the tick-click, tick-click of the rails.

Okay. Unless Celestia had secret tunnels beneath her feet, or had gotten back out of the train to board behind her before they'd even set off, or she'd emerged from the roof and flown from carriage to carriage, then she had to be back towards the engine.

Carefully opening the end door of the compartment, Twilight emerged into the little no-pony's-land between carriages. Obscura straightened, the bat-winged pony standing beside the door with her back to the carriage. "Good morning, Princess!" she said, rigidly at attention, her yellow eyes gazing straight ahead.

"Good morning, Obscura," said Twilight politely. Normally the guard was on the night shift, but with all of the disruption of the retrieval mission, it seemed her sleeping cycle had grown confused. It was both exasperating and sweet the way that Obscura seemed so in awe of her. There was a pink blush on the mare's dark blue cheeks, growing brighter by the minute-

Grabbing the half-open carriage door, Twilight shut it hurriedly, cutting off the distant sound of Zecora's shuddering moans. Oops.

A distinct quiet fell. O-kay. What did Obscura need to know? Surely only one thing, and that was- "Luna knows. She's happy with all of this."

"I know, she- yes, Princess!" Obscura cut herself off, managing the physical impossibility of standing to attention with even more emphasis than before.

Oh dear. Obscura knew, or at least knew some of it. Good grief, had Autumn figured out what was going on between them? He'd known her as a foal! It was... it was embarrassing. Celestia had been right; it was going to be impossible to hide it forever.

Rubbing at her own cheeks with the back of her fingers as she felt the heat of her own blush rising, Twilight managed, "You do? Um. Good. Right. I'll - be back soon. Excuse me."

Fleeing through the shifting tunnel into the next carriage, Twilight slid the door open, ducked through, then shut it behind her and sank back against it, her wings flattening.

The carriage seemed to be some sort of diplomatic meeting chamber; down one side, a long, narrow table of beautiful, aged wood was discreetly bolted to the floor, individual chairs ranged along it, while on the left side of the carriage, there were several semi-circular booths fitted out with plush red seats.

"Good morning, Empress." Celestia closed the book in her hands with a snap, setting it aside.

The Princess was seated in the nearest booth, her shimmering mane swaying and dancing over the divider between her booth and the one behind her. Unusually for her, she wore a pure white tunic with elegant golden embroidery along the edges, shaped to billow out over her expansive chest and cut back in to emphasise her waist. Slimline pants hugged her legs, the traditional cut-outs baring her shining cutie mark of the morning sun.

She looked amazing. Twilight licked her lips, her mouth suddenly a little dry. "...good morning."

"I do my best. Are you well rested?" inquired the divine pony politely.

"Yes, thank you. I slept okay." It was amazing how quickly the awe came back. She'd barely been parted from Celestia for a night, and it was like seeing her all over again. Her ageless mentor, wise beyond the dreams of mortal ponies.

"So they didn't spank your cute little ass so hard you couldn't sleep? I understand that is how you apologise at the moment."

...and then she went and said things like that. Twilight's blush flared back up, and she protested, "That was just one time!"

"I anticipated you might apologise to Guard-Captain Diorite that way."

"Celestia!" burst out Twilight. Just because maybe the thought had briefly crossed her mind - that wasn't the point! "Where have you been? You just... walked off, when the train arrived, and didn't come and see me afterwards." Despite her best efforts, there was a subtle note of hurt in her voice.

"Luna did forward some paperwork for my attention along with your friends," replied Celestia mildly, then added, as Twilight's expression changed, "which I did not do. She is running things at present; I'm certain that my dearest sister will handle these matters wisely and well without my input. Your friends needed time with you, without distractions, to come to terms both with what happened, and what might have happened. I hope they now understand what Trixie was willing to give up for you."

Twilight walked over to the edge of Celestia's booth, folding her arms and resting them on the back of the chair. The milk-white alicorn looked up at her, an expression of polite interest on her face.

The thing was... what Celestia had said made sense. Perhaps if she'd been there, Trixie wouldn't have been so forthright with her emotions. Or Applejack and Zecora would have shied away from expressing theirs so freely. Not deliberately, or consciously, but the presence of the Princess was hard to ignore. Twilight could see the sense written all over it.

And yet. Behind the plausible explanation, behind Celestia's serenely diplomatic tone, there was another reason; her age-old instinct to hold herself back from the ponies around her. An instinct Twilight had to break.

"Do you know what Applejack said to me before, when I called her and the girls my friends?" she asked slowly.

Celestia cocked her head. "I do not. I will have to punish the head of my all-pervasive spy network."

Ignoring Celestia's playful deflection, Twilight said softly, "She said that she and the others are my slaves. It's more than just friendship. A lot more. And you, Celestia, are not above that. You aren't separate. You aren't a distraction. You are one of them. You're my slave, too."

A small smile curled the corner of Celestia's lips. "Is that so? Do you intend to enforce that opini-"

She didn't get to finish the taunting question. Magic flared along Twilight's horn, yanking Celestia bodily out of her seat and into the air, her wings compressed by glittering bands of telekinetic force.

"Yes," Twilight told her pleasantly, yet firmly. "I do. You're coming with me."

Stretching, testing the bonds of magic pinning her in the air, Celestia's breathing quickened, slim fingers curling to press her nails against her palms. Swallowing, she replied with a semblance of normality, "You seem to have mastered your magic once more."

"Oh, I haven't. I'd never risk doing this to another pony. But if I slipped, and flung you down the carriage-" Twilight lifted a finger, then turned, gesturing towards the carriage wall. Celestia jerked through the air, a gasp forced from her lips as her back slammed into the wood panelling. "-you could take it," concluded Twilight. "Now, Celestia. Are you going to be a good bitch, or do I have to get rough?"

"I am curious what you would consider rough-" Celestia began, then yelped as she jerked forward, then slammed back against the wall again.

"I'm still waiting for the right answer. I hope you're not going to prove to be a slow student." Twilight smiled, a playful, loving cruelty in her voice. This was what she needed! Degrading the ponies she loved, forcing them to her will, knowing that they were travelling with her to the same destination; a strange, distant land of trust and emotion that couldn't be unlocked any other way.

"I'm going to be a good bitch!" gasped the captive princess, a strange, wild light glittering in her eyes.

Twilight flicked her horn. The magical bonds snapped out of existence, dumping Celestia onto the carpet with a resounding thud. "Get up and follow me. Waste my time, and I'll make you crawl past Obscura naked."

"Yes, Empress," breathed Celestia as she pushed herself to her feet. There was a yearning note to her words that was new; an almost-spoken desire for Twilight to make good on her threat.

The temptation to do exactly that was strong. She wanted to seize her beloved mentor by the throat and drag her. But what she'd said to Diorite still held true; it wouldn't be fair to involve her guards in sex play that they didn't - couldn't - freely consent to. And so, back straight, a subtle edge of arrogant power to her body language, Twilight crossed back through the connecting bridge between carriages with a mere nod at Obscura, Celestia obediently at her heel.

The carriage door slid open, then closed again behind them with a soft click. This time, Twilight noticed the subtle tingle of energy as a quiet spell re-established itself over the end wall. That was reassuring; no matter what noise they made in here, as long as the door was closed, nopony would hear a thing.

In Twilight's absence, Applejack had switched places with Trixie, kneeling in front of Zecora and now busily lapping at her pussy around the dildo and strap. Trixie stood beside Applejack, kneading the zebra's left breast and sucking on her nipples, having shoved Zecora's hands aside. Perspiration slicked Zecora's intricate curls and stripes, her knees quivering. Short, gasping groans escaped her ring gag as she panted for breath, her eyelids flickering open with a look of glazed entreaty.

Celestia exhaled a soft sigh of appreciation, her gaze resting on the tableau in the centre of the carriage. "I always enjoy your attention to detail, Twilight," she murmured, half to herself.

"You do more than appreciate it," Twilight breathed, looking up at the elder alicorn with sharp hunger in her gaze. "You want to be where she is. Trapped. Posed. Fucked and tormented and used at my whim. Isn't that true, my Princess?"

Biting her soft lower lip, Celestia didn't answer, her breathing fast and shallow.

Strolling across the carriage floor to Zecora's side, Twilight added conversationally to the shuddering mare, "Or I could add Celestia to the ponies helplessly pleasuring you. The most powerful mare in Equestria, reduced to a blank-eyed puppet, those huge, gorgeous tits spilling out of her jacket as she mindlessly fingers her cunt and licks you until you cum all over her vacant face, knowing that every pony here is my plaything, utterly under my control-"

A throaty, animal noise broke from Zecora's lips as her body trembled in the grip of the charm's implacable control, a fresh surge of slick wetness spattering across Applejack's urgently working mouth and dripping to the carriage floor. "Hnnng, hnnn, hnnnn," she whined, eyelids flickering closed once more.

"Oh, I could watch that all day..." sighed Twilight, a deliciously hot tingle of pleasure stiffening her nipples beneath her elegant sundress. "Trixie. Applejack. Keyword: scene over."

The change was immediate. Trixie blinked, suddenly aware of the zebra's nipple between her lips, while below her, Applejack gasped in surprise. "What'n the-"

"It's okay," Twilight soothed, placing one hand on Trixie's arm while she stroked Applejack's broad shoulder. "Up you get, girls. I just had you keep Zecora company while I fetched Celestia."

Pushing herself to her feet, Applejack licked her lips, then rubbed the back of her hand over her mouth. Taking in the look of dazed, semi-conscious pleasure on the striped mare's face, the farm pony murmured, "Well. Whatever Ah was doing, looks like Ah was doing a bang-up job of it."

"No doubt it was all the work of the splendidly sensual fuckslave Trixie!" interjected Trixie, turning towards Twilight. Her gaze fell across Celestia, still standing by the compartment door, and a little flash of nervousness darted over her face before she straightened her back and nodded towards the alicorn with studied casualness, "Even Princess Celestia must think so."

Applejack straightened up, a blush colouring her cheeks as she raised a hand and greeted, "Hi, Princess. Uh. Yeah. Guess we're... good morning?"

Celestia inclined her head, a smile breaking across her lips. "Good morning. I hope you're both well rested. I'd say the same to you, Zecora, but I see that Twilight has been busy."

"I have! And I should finish what I started before I begin something else; I don't know what my mom would say if I forgot that. Zecora? Keyword: release."

Zecora's knees gave way instantly. The zebra crumpled to the ground, her ass in the air, tits flattened beneath her, an incoherent sound escaping her ring gag as she quivered and drooled into the carpet.

"There," Twilight concluded, clapping her hands together with a bright smile. "All better. Now for you, Celestia."

"Are you sure you haven't tired yourself out? Would you like a nap first?" asked Celestia lightly. "I wouldn't want you to take on a task you weren't ready for."

"Applejack," countered Twilight, "slap this impertinent slut across the face, please."

Applejack blinked, looking at Twilight as though she'd grown a second head. "Y'all want me to slap Princess Celestia across the face?" she echoed disbelievingly.

"No. I was quite clear." Twilight stepped forward, wrapping her hand around Celestia's smooth throat and squeezing. "I don't see any Princess here. I see a disrespectful bitch that isn't even standing to attention in the presence of her Mistress." Her gaze flicked up to meet Celestia's, and she squeezed a little harder before letting go. "Straighten up. Hands behind your back. You know how a slave presents herself, and you're going to do it."

"...as you wish, Empress," Celestia replied more huskily, straightening and thrusting her heavy chest against the gold-embroidered tunic. Clasping her wrists behind her, she widened her stance, imposingly tall, her mane and tail billowing around her. Her pink gaze lingered on Twilight for a long moment, then shifted towards Applejack with a flash of challenge.

"Trixie will - would do it!" Trixie broke in, though a little catch of uncertainty snagged in the middle of her sentence.

Twilight shook her head, flashing a smile. "Your turn will come, Trixie. But Applejack; Celestia is completely willing, I promise." Her hand rose to rest against the farm pony's cheek, and she gazed into her lover's honest green eyes, seeking what lay there. "If that would make you uncomfortable then of course you don't have to. But I want you to think of her as just another pony, like you, or me, and this is part of that."

Swallowing, Applejack covered Twilight's hand with hers, then nodded, a stubborn look coming over her face. "Yes, Ma'am. If you're sure she's okay with this-"

"I am. I'm becoming a little bored, actually," Celestia broke in, her tone calmly civil. "Empress, may I sit down while I wait? Will this take long?"

"Slap her," Twilight commanded, a sharp, shivering edge of tension thrumming through her body.

With two steps, Applejack stood before the enslaved demigoddess, with the expression of someone taking firm hold of their nerve. Lifting her hand, she hesitated an instant longer, then her open palm cracked across Celestia's face.

The alicorn's gaze never left Twilight, a sly smile curling her lips. "Should I keep waiting, Empress?"

Twilight was delighted to see a flash of annoyance cross Applejack's face. "Again, Applejack. Harder."

"Yes, Ma'am." Applejack's open palm struck Celestia's cheek, less hesitantly this time. Braced for the blow, Celestia's head didn't move an inch; the smaller mare may as well have struck a statue.

Celestia looked down at Applejack. "Your brother was far more vigorous," she confided. "Perhaps it was going to be hard to match up."

"Mah brother?" demanded Applejack loudly, shock and outrage warring across her face.

Oh Celestia, you're playing with fire... "Celestia told him that she was the one that had removed our memories of our relationship," Twilight explained quickly. "He punched her in the face."

"I had to trouble the healers," contributed Celestia, that same, maddening smile curving her lips. "I was quite impressed. I don't think I will have to-"

"Again," Twilight commanded.

Applejack's hand moved in a blur, the crack of skin on skin echoing around the carriage. Celestia's head was knocked to the side, a rush of pinkness colouring her cheek like an asymmetrical blush.

"Oh," the pale alicorn breathed, nodding once. "That was... acceptable."

"Again!"

Beneath Applejack's thick cotton shirt, powerful muscles bunched. The back of her hand struck Celestia squarely across the face, the flat thwack of the impact knocking the alicorn off-balance.

"Nnnnh!" A low, unmistakable moan escaped Celestia's lips, the points of her nipples pushing visibly against her tightly buttoned tunic as she straightened up again.

Yes. Beneath the other mare's arousal, Twilight could see the masochistic joy on the elder pony's face at being handled so roughly, every strike cracking and splintering the elevated pedestal that she couldn't escape. "You see, Applejack? This pony isn't someone to defer to. She's a horny little bitch," Twilight purred, "who keeps acting out until she gets punished for it. Isn't that right?"

"...yes, Empress..." Celestia agreed, nodding as a visible quiver ran through her.

Pressing up against Applejack's back, Twilight wrapped her arms around the muscular pony, one hand sliding under her loose shirt to caress her firm, flat stomach. Feeling her own tattooed breasts crushing softly against her lover, she added huskily into Applejack's ear, "You're so strong. So obedient. You're a good girl. You'll obey. You'll help me teach this disobedient, disrespectful slut a lesson. Five more."

"Yes, Ma'am," Applejack replied huskily, a simmering heat radiating from her body under Twilight's hands. Fear, anger, long-ingrained hero worship; all of it had been transmuted to something else in that moment, something hotter and tighter, closer to the core.

"Should I only count the ones I notice-" began Celestia, the words cut off as Applejack's calloused, work-hardened hand smacked her across the mouth. Another struck the left side of her face, then, as she reeled from the impact, Applejack backhanded her again, harder, pushing her even further off balance.

"Mmmnh! Hnn!" Celestia groaned, short, sharp gasps escaping her with every strike. Another swift, hard blow smashed into the side of her face and she over-balanced, toppling sideways, her wings flaring as she barely caught herself against the side of a seat.

"That's four," growled Applejack. "One left. Get up and take what's coming t'you."

Breathing harshly, Celestia pushed herself back upright, but before she had time to brace herself, the back of Applejack's hand cracked across her cheek like a full stop, jarring her into another stumble in the other direction. Her lips were reddened, her pale skin striped with overlapping pink marks, her eyes glittering with feverish light. "...thank you," she murmured, meekly.

"Oh, fuck, yes," hissed Twilight, her nimble fingers undoing Applejack's shirt to more easily caress the toned body beneath. Tugging Applejack's bra upwards, she felt the farm pony's warm breasts spill outwards into her hands, nipples stiff and eager to her touch. "Good girl. Good girl."

Applejack's hands knotted into fists, and she groaned a low, urgent sound. "Thank you, Ma'am," she breathed. "Ah'm your slave. Ah'll obey."

Shuddering, grinding herself against Applejack's back and feeling the delicious tingling of her own nipples rubbing against the other pony through her silken dress, it took Twilight a moment to gather the self-control to look around for Trixie. The blue showmare had coaxed Zecora up off the floor, and was perched beside her, glancing over with wide, envious eyes as she delicately encouraged the zebra to take sips of water.

That was good. In fact, that was what Twilight probably should have been doing. Reluctantly separating from Applejack, Twilight commanded her lover, "Shirt and bra off. I want to touch you. Undo your shorts, too. Trixie! Unfasten Zecora's gag, and fetch a paddle!"

Startled at being suddenly addressed, Trixie fumbled the cup, spilling a little across Zecora's naked body. "Yes, Mistress! The slutty, submissive, perfect fucktoy Trixie obeys!"

"...yes, Ma'am," Applejack answered, and began to shrug out of her shirt.

Zecora licked her lips as Trixie unbound the ring gag, rubbing her mouth with her fingertips before taking a deeper draught of the water. Swallowing, she managed, "My thanks to you, my friend of blue. It can be thirsty being a statue." Little hitches in her words betrayed the way the vibrating shaft and ring stones still lovingly tormented her.

That had probably gone on for long enough too, Twilight decided; it had been hours since they'd woken. With a wave of her horn, the vibrating toys stilled, and Zecora slumped with a low, whimpering groan. It was dreadfully tempting just to grab hold of the nearest mare and force her to her knees, then ride her mouth until she screamed... but her responsibility to the needs of her slaves came first. Metaphorically, and literally.

Applejack had stripped off her top, her forest-green bra and checked shirt pilled messily on a seat. Her round, generous breasts were on full display, dusted with freckles that just made Twilight want to kiss every single one, shorts undone to reveal her slim green panties, gaze shimmering with love and lust mingled into a single yearning emotion. For an instant, Twilight was overcome with a surge of adoration for the other pony, mingled with awe that she had ever come to a place where they could be together forever.

"I love you," Twilight whispered to her, resting the side of her head against Applejack's, knocking the other mare's hat askew with her horn.

"Oh, Twi..." breathed Applejack with heart-breaking sincerity, "Ah love you too."

"The slutty, studiously searching Trixie has located a paddle!" Trixie broke in, gripping a wide, flat paddle studded with heart-shaped cut-outs down its length. "How may your best and most obedient slave please you now, Mistress?"

A wicked smile curved Twilight's lips, and she kissed Applejack's ear before turning towards Trixie. "Undo Celestia's pants, and pull them down. Panties, too. Celestia, you're going to bend over that seat, ass in the air. Understand, slave?"

"Yes, Empress," replied Celestia huskily, holding her formal, at-attention pose as Trixie eagerly undid her clinging white pants and tugged them down her long legs, only then turning to bend over a seatback. Her smooth, delicately pink sex glittered with moisture between her legs, her soft, round ass thrust into the air.

Stepping over to where Zecora sat slumped back against the cushions, Twilight kissed the exhausted mare on the forehead. "You did really well. Now hold still." Loosening the strap around Zecora's waist, Twilight gently withdrew the dildo from her abused pussy, glistening wetly with the echoes of the zebra's orgasms.

Zecora's breath caught, her spine arching as the shaft slid out, then she flopped back against the seat once more, dazedly shaking her head. "You make me feel things I never knew I could feel. Wherever you go, I will follow at your heel," she murmured.

"There's nothing I'd like more," Twilight replied with loving affection. "Rest, and watch." Straightening up with the toy in hand, she strolled over towards the bent-over figure of her mentor, pulling down the bodice of her silken dress with one hand to spill out her tattooed breasts. "Dear Princess Celestia," she declared, joyful menace in her voice, "perhaps you can help me answer a question. How many times does a slutty, depraved cum-whore need to be spanked before she cums all over her own train?"

With a single, smooth motion, Twilight shoved the dildo into Celestia's sex, the toy instantly beginning to thrum with vibrations once more. With a glance at Trixie, Twilight stepped back and commanded, "Spank this fat-assed bitch until she cums."

Trixie bit her lip, her cheeks crimson, one hand already buried in the waistband of her skirt as she ground against her fingers. "Y-yes, Mistress! Trixie would... Trixie can hardly believe... Princess Celestia," she added, in an almost pleading tone, then brandished the paddle. "Watch your obedient slave punish this impertinent bitch, Mistress, please!"

Applejack's strong arms wrapped around Twilight from behind, squeezing her tightly. Twilight exhaled a little sigh of delight, and as if reading her mind, the other mare circled around in front of her. Their soft, bared breasts brushed each other, electric, tingling shocks sparking through Twilight's nipples, and then Applejack's mouth was against hers, in a sudden, deep kiss. The farm pony tasted sweet, and the warmth and softness of her lips was dizzyingly familiar. No pony in all Equestria kissed quite like Applejack, an intimate directness to her that came out in everything she said and did.

All the different layers of Twilight's thoughts fluttered away, like pages in the wind, leaving her in the warmth and peace of her first lover's arms. Trixie was taunting Celestia, the rhythmic crack of paddle against tender skin rang out through the carriage, as did Celestia's grunted, gasped sounds of need. Applejack's fingers were working under the hem of Twilight's dress, tugging her panties aside and sliding into her, their kiss soul-deep and never-ending.

It could have been moments. It could have been years. Over Applejack's shoulder, Twilight watched Celestia convulse in orgasm, her ass and the backs of her thighs burnished crimson and spattered with hearts etched by the paddle, and with that, Twilight allowed some final internal restraint to relax. Pleasure ripped through her, a carnivorous tide that left her exhausted, hollowed out and exalted.

None of her responsibilities, none of her problems, had gone away. But at that moment, she could allow them to be problems for some other Twilight. Later.

The eldest and newest Princesses of Equestria sat facing each other, milk white and pale violet, talking quietly as the landscape slid by beyond the window. Behind them, at the other end of the carriage, Twilight's trio of slaves chatted to each other, giving them - even if reluctantly, in the case of Trixie - a little space.

The scene could have almost passed for normal. Of course, the casual disarray of their clothes might have caused comment; Celestia's torn-open tunic did nothing to cover her soft curves and pink nipples, while Twilight sat equally exposed, her dress pooled half-undone about her waist.

"I think you might bruise, you know," Twilight remarked, gesturing at Celestia's cheek with her horn.

"I will treasure it if I do," replied Celestia serenely.

"I did enjoy watching them spank you. I think I'd like to spend some time with just you and me, and Luna, when we get back, though. No more excuses: I'm taking you both for those piercings, then we're getting you healed up, and then? Then I'm going to pick out the nicest strap-on in your collection and fuck you both," Twilight said affectionately, with a happy little sigh of contentment.

The corner of Celestia's mouth curved into a little grin. "Did you work out why I was wearing this tunic, Twilight? I rarely wear such clothes."

Twilight blinked, then frowned. There was a reason?

She was still thinking about it when Celestia resumed, "My dear sister Luna likes to wear such garb. You seem to appreciate it on her a great deal. I hope you found it equally flattering on me."

A quick, hot blush coloured Twilight's cheeks, with an obscure feeling of having been caught out. "Of course! It really... it really does suit you. Both of you."

"And of course, I chose it knowing that you would wear a dress akin to those I customarily wear," added Celestia. "It is almost as though I were the younger sister, helpless to resist the power of your spell, and you my domineering older sibling, training me to obey for your pleasure."

A shocking surge of arousal flashed through Twilight, followed almost as quickly by a wave of embarrassment. Covering her mouth with her hand for a moment, she took a deep breath. O-kay. I'm way more into that idea than I would have guessed.

Wait. Twilight knew the look on the other pony's face. Celestia was testing her. What had she missed? What was Celestia-

...helpless to resist the power of your spell.

Twilight froze, eyes widening, locked in place by a flash of realisation. I never gave the all-clear signal! And it had been seven days since she'd put Celestia's contingency in place. More than seven days. Which meant-!

Her lips parted to blurt the charm's keywords, then her jaw clacked shut as Celestia's horn glowed, a gentle pressure holding her mouth closed.

"Yes. I've been free of the charm's compulsion for several days," the Solar Princess agreed calmly. "So, Empress. Before you do anything hasty - shall we talk?"

Author's Note

Hello everypony! A lot of decisions come home to roost this time, but in the end, Twilight once again forgot the most important lesson she ever learned:
Be more careful.

Ceaseless encouragement, flattery, suggestions and proofing by: Equimorto, DbzOrDie, Fylifa and Implausible Deniability.