Twisted: Four Little Foals

---Chapter 9: Rarity and the Circle---

Rarity was the only one to comply with Fancy's order to close their eyes. None of the foals felt quite comfortable letting their guard down so completely in front of him. Even Pip, who had not seen him grope Twist earlier, could tell that this stallion was capable of anything.

With his own eyes shut, a sky-blue aura began to emanate from Fancy's horn. He started chanting something under his breath.

“Wh...what's he doing?” whispered Twist. “Sweetie Belle, what's he doing?” She took a tentative step backward.

“Shut up, Twist!” Silver Spoon whispered back. “Just stay put! You're safe here!”

But Sweetie Belle recognized the spell Fancy was casting. She had seen Twilight Sparkle perform it on several occasions, though she usually didn't need so much time. Sweetie recognized that brief delay in his spell for what it was: a chance.

Rarity had done what was asked of her, Sweetie thought: she had brought Fancypants four foals. But if one of them were to get away on her own, Rarity couldn't possibly be blamed, right?

“Twist, Silver's lying!” Sweetie said. “You've got to ru-”

A huge flash enveloped Sweetie's world as Fancypants finished the teleport spell. When the light faded, they were at the start of a stone hallway, lit only by a few torches, which burned with bright blue flames. Behind them was a solid wall.

“Ah, there we are,” said Fancy. “Now Sweetie, my dove, I'm afraid I didn't quite hear you just then. Too busy concentrating on the spell, you see. What did you say?”

“Oh, um, nothing important,” said Sweetie. She looked behind her. Twist was still there. Sweetie had been too late.

“Forgive the theatrics, but they were necessary to transport you to the venue for our Gathering,” said Fancy, as he began walking down the hallway. “You see, to ensure secrecy, the Circle actually meets in a structure hidden underneath my estate. We just teleported a hundred feet straight down. Save for magic, there is no means of entering or leaving this place. No doors, no windows. Even normal teleportation does not work. I've had this place enchanted so it will only accept individuals who I personally have placed a particular spell on.”

“My goodness, how ingenious!” said Silver Spoon. Sweetie looked at her and wanted to throw up. If it hadn't been for her, Twist might have gotten away.

“Well, it's important I keep this place secure, my dear,” said Fancy. “It's my private retreat, you might say. I know you've heard stories about it, Rarity.”

“Well, yes,” said the white unicorn, “I'll happily admit that I've dreamed of visiting this place. This is where you house your own...collection, is it not?”

“Oh yes. And of course, Circle members are free to sample of its delights at their leisure,” said Fancy. “But we'll leave that for later.”

As they walked down the hallway, the glow of the torches became brighter. It was Pip who first noticed that the walls weren't just simple, smooth stone. There was artwork here, too. But of a very different variety.

The torch illuminated a small but detailed painting of a filly, who seemed to be about Pip's age. She was sprawled on a bed, with her back legs spread to expose her sex. There was a wanton expression on her face.

Pip gasped at the obscene sight, worried that he was going to get hard again. He stepped back, and ended up bumping into Silver Spoon, sending them both falling to the ground.

“I'm sorry!” Pip said as he helped Silver up. The other two foals stopped walking to see if they were okay. The two adults seemed not to notice, and continued down the hallway, chatting casually.

“Oh, don't worry, Pip, I'm fine,” said Silver. She noticed another painting on the opposite wall, of a young filly being whipped by a grown female unicorn. The foal was in obvious pain and looked like she was screaming, while the adult appeared to laugh.

“I should compliment Fancy on that one,” said Silver. “Gotta love the subject matter.”

“Will you knock it off?!!?” Sweetie said. “What is WITH you? Last night you told me you were scared! Was that a lie? Did my sister put you up to it?”

“Your sister?” Twist asked, “Sweetie-”

“Hold on, Twist,” Sweetie said. “Silver, when this is over, I'm...I'll...you're going to be sorry, okay?”

Silver giggled at the half-formed threat. Sweetie had never been very good at that sort of thing.

“I wasn't lying last night, Sweetie. I was terrified.” she said. “But...now I'm not. Didn't you see how I had Fancypants hanging on my every word? How I made Miss Rarity happy? She actually complimented me, Sweetie! Not faintly, or hurtfully. She was...impressed with me.” Silver was almost quivering with joy as she spoke.

“So what? How does that change anything?” Sweetie said.

“It changes everything,” said Silver, who seemed to be on the verge of giddy laughter. “I finally have a chance to use my special talent to help her! I've made a good impression on Fancypants, so he won't let anything happen to me! And even if he did...”

Twist and Pip both wore confounded expressions as they listened to Silver.

“Even if he did...I'm happy right now. I think I'll be happy no matter what happens. All I have to do...is think back to Miss Rarity praising me...and everything else just kind of...washes away.” Silver closed her eyes and smiled.

“All that means is that she's found a new way to use you,” said Sweetie.

“And being used by her is all I've ever wanted,” said Silver.

“Could one of you PLEATHE tell me what's going on?” Twist said. “There's PORN on the walls! And it's WEIRD porn, not like that issue of Rock Hard Stable Studs I stole from the bookstore and keep under my – you know what, forget I thaid that – the point is, this place isn't normal!”

Twist gestured for the other three foals to come close to her, and covered the side of her mouth with her hoof so she wouldn't be overheard. Once they were huddled in, she whispered:

“You know something? I don't think they're really having a fashion show here at all.”

Sweetie Belle patted Twist on the back sympathetically, while Silver Spoon tried to contain her laughter. But Pip just looked perplexed.

“You thought this was a fashion show? Is that why you're the only one who's dressed up?”

Twist looked around at the other three foals, and noticed for the first time that she was the only one wearing anything.

“This could be another clue!” she announced.

Pip shook his head at Twist and looked back at Sweetie.

“Sweetie Belle?” Pip said “I'm not sure, but...I think your sister might be sick...like me.”

Sick? Sweetie's heart sank. What had Rarity done to this little colt? Without thinking, she hugged Pip tightly, as if her embrace could somehow shield him from the world.

“You're not like my sister, Pip,” she said. “Don't ever, ever say that about yourself. You're a good colt. You're not like Rarity. No one in Ponyville is.”

“What a pity,” said Silver Spoon.

“THAT'S ENOUGH, SILVER!” Sweetie shouted.

“SWEETIE BELLE!” Rarity's voice echoed from further down the hall, “STOP LAGGING BEHIND! WE'RE ABOUT TO BEGIN!”

Sweetie Belle sighed, then closed her eyes and ran down the hall as if it were the edge of a cliff. Best to get it over with.

Silver followed, while Twist, unsure of what else to do, chased after them both.

Pip lingered for just a moment, taking another look at the painting of the wanton filly on the bed. He felt his cock harden just a little bit.

“You're wrong, Sweetie Belle,” he whispered. “I'm not a good colt. And I think the other bad ponies want to make me like them...”

And I'm scared I might want to let them, he thought.

Pip ran down the hall after the others. He reached the rest of the group at the end of the hall, where a plain circular stone room awaited them.

“Rarity, my dear,” said Fancy, “since you are a new initiate, you will not join the assembled circle members for the oath. Instead, you will descend along with your offerings. It's a part of the induction ceremony, you understand.”

“Offerings?” asked Twist.

“Hush, Twist,” said Rarity. “I'm afraid I'm a bit confused, Fancy. What do you mean by 'descend'?”

“Well, though I am responsible for its modern incarnation, this little society did not begin with me. It's a revival of a rather ancient order, spanning back to the days of the Lunar Rebellion. There are traditions to be upheld, my dear, and this is one of them. I hope you'll bear with us.”

And with that, Fancy's horn began to glow. A huge slab of stone suddenly rose out of the ground at the entrance to the hallway, blocking it and trapping the six of them in the circular room.

“Um, what was the purpose of that?” asked Rarity.

“Why, to make sure none of you can leave the room, of course!” said Fancy. His horn glowed sky blue again, and without another word, he vanished.

For a minute, the five ponies stood there silently, expecting something to happen. But nothing did.

“What's going on?” Pip asked. “He's coming back, right? He's not going to leave us here, is he?”

“Of course not, darling!” said Rarity, though her voice did not carry a confident tone. “I'm sure he'll be back momentarily...”

Rarity's voice trailed off, and silence once again hung over the room.

Sweetie Belle remembered what her sister had said, about the Circle doing terrible things to ponies who had displeased them. And here they were, alone in a structure with no entrance or exit. Alone in a place where they might never be found.

Was this what the Circle did when someone presented offerings that weren't to their liking? Had Fancy been inspecting them this entire time? Was that why he had touched Twist?

Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen, then thirty. Not a single sound could be heard from outside.

Pip leaned against the wall, looking up at the plain ceiling. He began counting the bricks. It was a boring, pointless task, but it kept his mind off of that painting, off of what he had done with Silver Spoon, off of what he wanted to do with...

Pip sighed as he lost count.

Sweetie Belle sat by herself for a few minutes, consumed with anger at her sister and Silver Spoon. But by the half-hour mark, that anger had turned to fear. Sweetie Belle had lost track of time completely by the time she looked across the room at her sister. Rarity looked back, and Sweetie could see the same fear in her sister's eyes.

Silently, Sweetie walked over to her sister. She still did not speak, but simply looked at her.

Behind the fear in Rarity's eyes, Sweetie could see someone she had been searching for.

There was something Sweetie had always wanted to say to Rarity, and if this was really the end, then she wished she could say it now.

But she couldn't. No matter how hard she wanted to, Sweetie knew that she could not tell her sister “I forgive you” and really mean it.

But there was something else she could say.

“I love you, sis,” she told Rarity, embracing her. The older unicorn returned the hug, and Sweetie could have sworn she felt a tear fall on her foreleg. The sisters sat down together, awaiting the unknown side by side.

Silver spoon paced back and forth, becoming more and more anxious. It wasn't supposed to go like this. She thought she had charmed Fancypants and won his favor. Had she been mistaken? Had she somehow upset him? Had he left them there because of her?

Had she failed Miss Rarity when she needed her most?

As she grew more and more agitated, she found herself wandering by Twist, who sat on the floor, looking down at her dress.

“Um, hey,” she said.

“Hey Thilver Spoon,” said Twist. “You know what's really going on here, don't you?”

“Yeah, I do,” she said. What was the point in lying anymore?

“I don't know if I want you to tell me,” she said. “I just wish you all hadn't lied to me.”

“Yeah, well...” Silver muttered. “Listen, um...can I ask you something?”

“Thure, I guess...”

“Before, you said that when everyone thought I was dead, there was an assembly at school. What...what was it like?”

“Well, they held it outdoors. It was a real pretty day. Regular class was canceled, so we went to this instead,” said Twist. “The mayor showed up and gave a speech. She said some nice things about you, but it sounded like stuff you'd say for any foal, really. Like 'her life was so short' and stuff. And then Miss Cheerilee spoke, and what she said...well, that's when most of us started to cry.”

“Ponies cried...for me?” Silver said, taken aback.

“Yeah,” said Twist. “Even ponies you used to make fun of...like me.”

“I shouldn't have picked on you. I don't deserve to act superior to anyone. So, um...” Silver awkwardly rubbed her left foreleg, “Do you remember what Cheerilee said, exactly?”

Twist sighed, but did not answer.

“No, huh? That's okay...I guess it was a while ago...”

“I remember.” said Twist. “I don't think I'll ever forget what she said that day.”

Silver's eyes widened.

“She started to say things like the Mayor did...just nice stuff that you could say for anyone,” Twist said, “but then she kind of stopped in the middle of the speech. Her voice changed, too. It got really sad. And she said, 'I should be saying all these kind things about her, but the truth is...Silver Spoon wasn't a very nice pony.'”

“What?” Silver felt her legs go weak. Was this some kind of joke?

“She said, 'We all know it. She was a bully. She picked on ponies with help from her friend, who I won't name today. But sometimes, she would have these moments of such profound compassion. I'll never forget the day Apple Bloom's grandmother spoke to the class. When she was done, Silver Spoon was the first one to applaud, when every other pony was too embarrassed to. That was a brave thing to do. And it was little things like that, which showed me who she really was, deep down. No, Silver Spoon was not a good pony. But I truly believe, that one day, she would have been.'”

Silver was utterly speechless. She wasn't sure what she was feeling, but whatever it was, the emotion paralyzed her.

Twist sniffled a little, then continued quoting her teacher.

“'The terrible thing isn't just that she died young, as awful as that is. It's that she never discovered who she really was. The greatest tragedy here today, is that all of you will forever remember Silver Spoon as the mean little filly she was...instead of the kind, wonderful mare she would have become.”

As she finished the speech, Twist adjusted her glasses with her hoof, mostly for lack of anything else to do.

Beside her, Silver Spoon was in shock.

“I'm sorry if it was hard to hear that,” said Twist. “I didn't want to lie to you.”

Silver shook her head slightly.

“But yeah, that speech really got to us. Of course, no one took it as hard as Diamond Tiara...” Twist continued. “She gave a little speech, too.”

“She did?” said Silver, as the words jolted her out of her previous state, “what did she say?”

“Well, she came out with all these notecards, like she had a big thing planned. But when she walked up to the podium, she looked at them and just...threw them on the floor....and all she said was 'Silver Spoon was my only friend.' She started to say something else, but then she just...broke down.”

Silver's hoof was shaking as she brought it to her mouth.

“She cried so hard, and nothing could make her thop...she ended going home and not coming back to school for days.” said Twist. “I guess all that kind of explainth the way she's been since then...”

“The way she's...been?” asked Silver Spoon, her voice shaking.

“She's...” Twist seemed to be grasping for the right word, “....changed.”

Before she could continue, Twist was interrupted by what felt like an earthquake. The floor beneath the five ponies began to rumble, and then, one of the stones which made up the floor gently flew up into the air, and remained hovering about ten hooves above the ground. Then another stone followed, and another, and another, until there was a sizable hole in the center of the floor.

“Oh wow!” said Twist. “Glad no one fell in!”

“Never mind that!” said Silver. “Answer my question, Twist! Tell me what happened to Diamond Tia-”

“THE NEOPHYTE THINKS HERSELF ABOVE US,” boomed a voice. It was clearly identifiable as that of Fancypants, magically amplified so it filled the room.

“THIS IS HER FOLLY,” came a chorus of voices in response.

“LET US STRIP HER OF THE FOOLISH DELUSION CALLED MORALITY,” Fancy's voice replied.

“HER DESCENT BEGINS,” replied the other voices.

Rarity gasped as she felt herself being magically lifted up in the air, and levitated towards the hole in the center of the room.

“Sis! No!” shouted Sweetie. “Come back!”

But Rarity did not seem to hear her. “It's time,” she said. “It's finally time!”

No, thought Sweetie as her sister drifted down beneath the hole. Please don't leave me again...

Rarity drifted downwards, into the chamber beneath the circular room. The massive room boasted extravagance which outshone even Fancypants' mansion. The floor was decorated with an elaborate mural, depicting an orgy, seemingly taking place in ancient times, in which hundreds of ponies were participating, engaging in every depraved act imaginable, from sodomy to foal abuse to elaborate forms of sexual torture. The room was vast, and Rarity could make out elaborate sculptures depicting obscene acts in the distance, and closer by, a beautiful fountain which seemed to use wine instead of water.

There were ornate couches and small beds set up all around the chamber. Most had ropes, chains, or other restraints attached to them. And far off on the end of the room, she could make out a huge, bright red door, which was sealed tight. Behind those doors was the Circle's “gallery,” a magnificent harem consisting of over a hundred beautiful foals, of all ages, genders, and dispositions. Most of them belonged to Fancypants, but any member could enjoy them whenever they liked. Rarity coveted what lay beyond that door with her entire being.

Directly beneath Rarity, a group of around fifty ponies stood in a circle, with Fancypants at the center. Rarity landed right in front of him. She tried to stand, but could not.

“The neophyte has descended!” Fancypants proclaimed, and the other ponies stomped their hooves in approval. Fancy allowed the celebration to continue for a few seconds, then raised his hoof. The crowd instantly went silent.

“We alone are without limits,” he said.

“WE TAKE WHAT IS OURS,” said the others.

“We alone are unshackled by the chains of morality,” said Fancy.

“THE ONLY NOBLE PURSUIT IS PLEASURE,” said the others.

“We alone are enlightened and unafraid.”

“TONIGHT, WE REJOICE IN OUR TRUE NATURE. TONIGHT, THERE IS NO TABOO.”

“Thus we welcome into our ranks another who embraces our ideals. Ponies of the Circle, I give you...Rarity!” Fancy threw up his hooves, then slammed them down on the ground, creating a mighty stomp which echoed through the room. “We alone shall accept her true nature! We alone shall never question her depravities! We alone shall satisfy her boundless lusts, as she shall satisfy ours. And why shall we do these things?”

“BECAUSE WE ALONE...ARE FREE.”

“Rise, Rarity.” Fancy's horn glowed, and Rarity found herself able to move. As she rose, the other ponies stamped their hooves again.

She looked around at her new brethren. She instantly recognized more than half the ponies there, even though she had never met most of them before. This was no mere collection of anonymous perverts. These were some of the richest, most famous and most powerful ponies in Equestria. The amount prestige and wealth assembled in this room was nearly incalculable. And tonight, they would welcome her as their equal. Rarity's place as one of the elite of the elite would be assured.

The group was about evenly split between mares and stallions. Some had foals with them, ranging from ponies younger than Pip to young teenagers. Some of the members wore extravagant outfits, while others wore nothing at all. Many were visibly aroused.

“Rarity,” said Fancypants, “Do you wish to join this Circle?”

“Yes.”

“And what do you offer as tithe?”

Rarity took a deep breath. Fancy had been adamant that she memorize the tithe speech perfectly. A flawed speech would reflect poorly on her as an initiate.

“To prove my devotion to the ideals of the Circle,” said Rarity, “I bring a tithe of four foals, to be used by the ponies of this Circle in any way they desire. Once the evening is done, if you find my tithe pleasing, then to cement my membership, I will be honored to grant this Circle...an offering.”

Rarity scanned the ponies' faces, looking for any sign that she may have misspoken. No problems so far.

“From among the four,” Rarity continued, “One foal shall be selected by the members of the Circle, to become their property, to live out their lives within the walls of the Gallery, and to be our plaything until the day they die.”

The ponies stamped their hooves once in unison. It was a sign of agreement.

Fancy's horn lit up again.

Above them, the four foals suddenly rose in the air and, one by one, were sent gently drifting down through the hole into the Inner Circle's meeting room. When the last of them had passed through, the hovering stones flew back into place all at once, sealing the hole.

As Sweetie descended, she was gripped with a feeling of tremendous fear. From the rapidly approaching ground, a hundred hungry eyes turned and stared directly at her.

And two of them belonged to her sister.