The door to the library swung open with a slam; a remarkable feat considering the exhaustion of the mare who did it. “Ugh!” Trixie groaned as she trudged forward, her every step feeling like a herculean feat of strength and willpower. She felt dead on her hooves and agonizingly weighed down by her newly purchased saddle bags and the contents within. “Kill… me!”

“Get in line,” Spike groused. He pushed past the blue mare and dropped his equally heavy collection of notes on the table as he made for the kitchen. “Dinner will be ready in ten.”

“I don’t know what climbed up your butts,” Twilight chirped, prancing like a giddy school filly behind the pair. “I feel as fresh as a spring daisy.”

Trixie attempted to set Twilight on fire with her hateful gaze. “No pony should be that happy after three Molestia forsaken hours in a government office.”

“Oh, you just don’t appreciate the majesty of the system at work,” Twilight informed merrily. “Perhaps if I gave you the rundown just one more-”

“Whaaaaa!” Trixie cried out, pressing her hooves to her ears. “I beg you! No more!”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “Oh quit being such a baby.” The sound of kitchen noises caused purple smart’s ears to perk and she eyed the closed door to the kitchen. “Speaking of which, shouldn’t you be helping Spike?”

Trixie, mentally and spiritually drained to the point where she was reasonably certain she could probably get herself legally reclassified as a zombie, turned to Twilight with her biggest, wettest, most pathetic pleading eyes she’d every used on anypony ever. If this didn’t work, then surely purple smart had no soul.

“Oh fine,” Twilight relented, cursing her own weakness. “Since I still don’t have the one vibrator Spike left for me, I guess I’ll just have to use your face instead.” She grabbed Trixie’s leash and dragged the mare over to the table. It didn’t take much to push the exhausted mare onto her back with her horn pointed towards the table. This allowed Twilight to plant her purple pussy down right over Trixie’s mouth and her balls over Trixie’s eyes. She hummed her satisfaction. She’d never really done that much experimentation with face sitting – at least not from this end – but the blue mare’s face was warm and perfectly shaped. It applied just the right amount of pressure to Twilight’s tender bits in a sensation analogous to hot dogging.

Trixie, though still drained, found that just enough of her strength had returned to do as she was bid by her master. Or was it mistress? This whole thing was still a little new to her. For now, though, she was grateful for a task with which to occupy her mind that didn’t make her want to take a power drill to the cranium to make the pain stop. She suckled with a hunger that caught even her off guard, lapping up the purple mare’s juices as though they were a refreshing drink. Even the faintly lavender yet pungent scent coming off the purple mare’s scrotum had a peculiar revitalization about it. Trixie likened the sensation to that first cup of morning coffee to put the pep in one’s step.

Twilight adjusted herself on her new seat, testing the feeling of her and it. “The ‘her’,” Twilight muttered to herself, “is in relation to Trixie the pony. She’s still a pony, with thoughts and feelings of her own, but she’s also my property,” she reasoned out as she began perusing through her recently acquired reading material and notes. “The ‘it’, however, is in reference to my feelings on the matter. For instance, should I even be considering the fact that she has a mind, or would it be better to treat her more like a voice activated vibrator?”

“Hrmm?”

Twilight tensed, suddenly going on high alert. She looked down at the blue horn and white mane jutting out from between her thighs and felt her insides twist at the realization that said horn and mane didn’t belong to her trusted Spike. “H-how much of that did you hear?”

Trixie tapped Twilight on the flank, which purple smart interpreted as a request to vacate her mouth. So she did, lifting herself up just enough, although Trixie’s face remained obscured.

Trixie gasped in welcome to the semi-fresh air. “Uh, the whole thing?” she replied sheepishly.

Twilight blushed. “Just, uh…” She dove for one of the magazines Rarity had given her and quickly skimmed for a passage that she felt pertinent to the situation. “As a slave, you’re sworn to keep all of your master’s secrets, right?”

Trixie blinked. “Are you asking Trixie, or telling her?”

Twilight pursed her lips and pressed her face back into the magazine. “I… think I’m telling you?”

Trixie nodded, glad that her smile was hidden beneath her master’s looming bony ass. “Got it. So if anypony asks, don’t tell them how you apparently zone out and talk to yourself.”

Twilight grinned. “Yes. Exactly!”

“What about if Princess Molestia asks?”

Twilight blanched and reread the relevant article. “It, uh, doesn’t say.”

“Well, Trixie is reasonably certain that the Princess is the ultimate master, meaning her authority overrides all others.”

“… makes sense.” Twilight conceded ruefully.

“Of course, this seems like a very obscure topic,” Trixie continued while taking another deep inhale through her nose. “The kind that rarely comes up in conversation. Therefore, Trixie believes Twilight’s secrets will be safe with her.”

Twilight gave a sigh of relief, feeling as though a weight had been taken from her shoulders at not having her secrets leaked. “Good. If Molestia found out I did stuff like that, she’d never let me hear the end of it.”

Trixie was about to press the issue further, to ask about Molestia and maybe learn more of what Twilight might not want others to know. However, she was silenced when Twilight shifted back into place and once more dropped her pussy onto her slave’s muzzle. Trixie rolled her eyes and reminded herself to be patient and that any hope of freedom would take a long time to achieve.

Spike returned a short time later with a platter of sandwiches for all, meaning Trixie was granted a grace period to sit at the table and eat actual food instead of pussy juice.

“I’m gonna need your help putting together a new schedule, Spike.”

“T-Tomorrow,” he grumbled tiredly. “That trip to the mayor’s office left me too pooped to poop.” He took a big chomp out of his sandwich. “Although I’m glad to see you’re doing better.”

“Oh.” Twilight looked down at herself. “I guess I am feeling a little better. Well, leave it to good old fashioned learning to put the pep back in my step.”

“I find it mildly disturbing that you seem more lively while the rest of us practically had our souls sucked out,” she griped and bit into her sandwich. “You’re not some sort of energy vampire, are you?”

Twilight smiled good-naturedly. “I think you mean a succubus, and no. As far as I’m aware, I’m just a regular pony.”

“Who vanquished an ursa minor.” Spike reminded. “And before that you were chosen as the Element of Orgasm. And before that you were hoof chosen as Molestia’s prized student and fuck toy. I’m not sure ‘regular’ really applies.”

Trixie rolled her eyes. “Some ponies get all the luck.”

“‘Luck’? You think that was all just given to me?” Twilight countered, giving Trixie a sharp glare. “I’ve worked my ass off, spending more than 76% of my life with my nose buried in books, studying and practicing and just working as hard as I possibly could. Luck had nothing to do with it!”

Trixie ears splayed in apologetic submission. “… s-s-sorry.”

Spike chuckled. “She’s not even exaggerating. I once helped her put together the study that came up with that figure.” And he went back to eating while a satisfied Twilight stuck her nose back in her magazine. “Speaking of which.” He swallowed before continuing. “We wake up at 6 a.m. every morning in this house, so I don’t want to hear any complaints tomorrow.”

Trixie scoffed. “Trixie has spent the majority of her adult life on the road. 6 a.m. might as well be sleeping in for all the prep work Trixie had to do to get her wagon ready for travel.”

“Well that’s good to hear,” affirmed Spike. “We’re still waiting to make the full schedule tomorrow. With Twilight, that’s a pretty involved process,” he informed forebodingly. “But short term, we’ll eat, I guess I can give you a tour and rundown on what needs doing, then bed, morning routine, and schedule.”

“Well said, Spike,” Twilight praised, not looking up from her reading. “According to this article, you’re acting just like what’s called a ‘hoof’. That’s the term for high ranking slaves and servants that are closest to the masters and delegate all the tasks for the other slaves; sort of like the coach of a sports team.”

“So I’m your hoof, huh?” Spike took a moment to ponder this. “I pick up your stuff and jerk you off, so I guess that fits.” He chuckled.

“Alternatively, you could be called the bottom bitch.”

“… I think I’ll stick with being the number one assistant, thank you very much.”

“Out of curiosity, where does Trixie fit in this dynamic?” she asked. Figuring that out had been the whole point of their day trip, after all.

Twilight flipped to the next page. “Hmm. Apparently it’s become trendy in certain circles to refer to new and untrained slaves as ‘newbs’, which is a result of the rising popularity of video games. However, more traditional masters prefer to simply refer to such slaves as bitches or broncos. Although the latter comes with implications of feisty willfulness, which can be either derogatory or complimentary, depending on the context of the situation. There are a few more examples,” Twilight read on, “but I think the most appropriate would be to call you my bitch.”

Trixie sighed despondently. “Trixie regrets asking.”

The trio finished their evening meal and Spike began his tour. He showed Trixie the loft, which also served as his and Twilight’s shared room, the kitchen, two bathrooms, the library which made up the bulk of the house tree, the laundry room, the closets where the cleaning supplies were kept, and lastly the laboratory basement which she was forbidden from entering without an escort. All the while, Twilight remained seated in the library and continued her reading.

Trixie asked few questions during the tour. It all seemed reasonably straight forward. And since Spike had been handling everything himself for a while now, she figured the two of them working together would finish in half the time, leaving the rest of the day to… to… Well, she’d think of something later.

Night came and, much to Trixie’s consternation, she was given a heated blanket and a few pillows and told to sleep in the laundry room. When she protested, trying to insist that she could act as Twilight’s sleep aid, the purple mare explained plainly that she already had Spike for that. Trixie said no more and resigned herself to this humiliation… for now.

***

*Bang Bang*

Trixie shot up like a wounded spring. “I’m up! I’m up!” she declared, looking around for the source of the disturbance. Her eyes landed on Spike and his sinister smirk.

“6 a.m. is sleeping in, huh?”

Trixie glowered, and readied a vicious, scathing retort. However, the slight tinkle of her collar tag made her rethink her options. Instead she opted for a forced smile. “Sorry. Trixie must still be adjusting.”

“Well, whatever. Come on. We gotta get breakfast ready.”

With a tired whicker, Trixie followed Spike to the kitchen. He led her through the motions of making pancakes since she’d admitted to being a little rusty with this particular dish. Out on the road, her wagon had lacked the room for a stove and the ingredients, she’d rationalized, were a luxury she could afford to do without. But that was then, and this was now. Now was the time she could finally enjoy some homemade pancakes.

Spike watched Trixie diligently, but kept his commentary to a minimum. Mostly he hummed to himself and only spoke up on her occasional mistake. A few times she decided a little playful flirting might break the ice, but Spike barely seemed to notice, which was yet another blow against Trixie’s already weakened ego.

Eventually the three sets of pancakes were made. Plain for Trixie and Twilight and raspberry for Spike. The three plates and orange juice were brought out to the table, where Twilight had already been seated with her nose once more buried in a magazine with the others scattered around her. Spike and Trixie set the table wordlessly and Twilight finally poked her head up. Trixie had to restrain herself from giggling at Twilight’s bed head. That mane could have passed for a bird’s nest, assuming said bird was poor and desperate.

“So I made a rough draft for the new work schedule,” Twilight began, setting the magazine down with her hoof. On cue, Spike produced the intended scroll and laid it out for Trixie to see. “It’s only a slightly amended version of the old schedule when it was just Spike. We can make adjustments as needed down the road.”

Trixie ran her hoof down the parchment as she read. “You’re going to see Rarity again?”

“Sure am,” Spike said giddily. “She asked me to be her go-for while she worked on some orders she’d been putting off.”

“Gofer?”

“Ya know. Go for this, go for that,” Spike explained. “She needs some extra appendages while she focuses on her work.”

“Which coincides with Twi-Mistress’,” she corrected while indicating a particular line, “free time. What is Trixie to do during this period?”

Twilight and Spike leaned over to confirm what was pointed out.

“And that’s why it’s called a rough draft,” Spike affirmed. “Its plausible deniability so Twi can say she didn’t make any mistakes.”

“Hush you!” Twilight scolded, but Spike just shot her a playful smirk and her ire quickly evaporated. “But that’s a fair point. Today’s free period was meant for spending time with Rainbow. I was going to-” Twilight’s horn lit, and once more fizzled. She whined at her failure. “At least it didn’t hurt so bad this time,” she said while rubbing her forehead.

“And that’s why we’re doing the exercise before you go out,” Spike emphasized.

Twilight snorted and walked over to the shelf to find her intended book. “I was going to watch some of Rainbow’s stunts and offer some tips from this.” The book she held was called ‘Aero Dynamics and You’. “It’s the perfect blending of otherwise disparate interests. She gets to fly fast and I get to critique while reading.” She smiled, making a proud squee at her accomplishment.

“Then… may Trixie come along?”

Twilight frowned. “And do what?”

“Trixie could… You could use her face as a cushion while working.”

Twilight considered this.

“Ya know, if Gilda’s there, maybe you could ask her or Rainbow about slave stuff?” Spike offered.

“How is that relevant? Rainbow doesn’t own any slaves.”

“Gilda,” Spike reminded.

“But she doesn’t wear a collar. Ergo, not a slave,” Twilight pointed out confidently.

“Except that Rarity said that being a slave was all about being a super submissive,” reminded Spike. “And that’s kind of the vibe I’ve been getting whenever I see those two together.”

That gave Twilight pause and she hurriedly picked up her magazine again. “Hmm. Could Gilda be willfully making the transition to being Rainbow’s slave?” she asked of no one in particular. “That could provide an interesting perspective.”

“Here,” Spike said, handing Trixie a pen and a couple scrolls. “For note taking. Twi will be doing her own, but let’s see how you fare.”

Not certain what else to do, Trixie took the offered implements and nodded. At least she wouldn’t be bored.

The day started off with the implementation of Twilight’s magic exercises. Spike coached Twilight through the prescribed routine of lifting objects of ever increasing size and quantity, starting with paperclips, while Trixie’s face once more served as seating. Next, Spike and Trixie ran through their morning routines much quicker than anticipated. Trixie’s magic, while limited, could still handle three or four small tasks at once, or one big one. The latter would usually leave her winded, so she and Spike agreed to manually share those tasks. Alas, the eternally stubborn Twilight would only agree to make amendments for tomorrow’s schedule. For today, she told the two to just keep themselves busy until the appointed time.

“Lie down,” Spike ordered.

“What?”

“You heard me,” Spike repeated evenly. “Lie down.”

Trixie blinked. “Here?” She gestured at the wooden floor.

“Since we’re still waiting for the sheets to finish washing, yeah.”

Trixie smiled flatly. Spike’s tone was far from authoritarian, but she was still certain she could sense a perverse glee being taken in his being able to boss her around. She complied, lying down on her belly and awaiting Spike’s verdict. Whatever the little guy’s title was, there was no doubt he was her superior in this house’s hierarchy.

“Nice,” Spike praised, turned around, and flopped backwards down onto Trixie’s barrel, making her huff in surprise. “Ahh. Nice and soft.”

Trixie blinked at the drake. “Is Trixie being used as bedding?”

“Basically,” Spike informed as he sprawled himself out to get comfy. “A little bonier than Twi, but you’re not too bad.”

“Then Trixie’s lifelong dream has been fulfilled,” she unabashedly snarked.

“Ah, quit complaining and enjoy it. Twi says I’m super warm.”

“Your spines are also super digging into Trixie’s side.” It wasn’t as painful as she’d feared, but it was far from comfy.

“Oh. Whoops.” Spike quickly adjusted himself. “Better?”

Trixie sighed and smiled appreciatively. “Much.”

“Okay then. Nap time!” And he began lightly snoring in just a few seconds.

Trixie rolled her eyes and rested her head on her fore hooves. She wasn’t tired, and while Spike’s scales chaffed a little each time he moved, at least she could take comfort in his promised warmth. Trixie let her eyes wander around the expanse of the library. Now that she thought of it, the abundance of knowledge presented would ensure she might never get bored again. Then again… “Spike?”

“Hmm?”

“W-would Trixie need Tw-Mistress’ permission to read?” Trixie didn’t know what was in those magazines Twilight was still obsessing over, but yesterday’s talk about freeing one’s self from the burden of making one’s own decisions was starting to rub her the wrong way. A life of comfort and ease sounded pleasant enough, but she’d rather do so as herself and not some mindless puppet.

Spike yawned. “She’s in study mode now. You should ask before we go out, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“You don’t?”

“Nah. Twi loves reading too much to deny it to others.”

“That is… some comfort,” Trixie admitted. As dismissive as Twilight had been so far, it was nice to know that there were some things that wouldn’t be refused.

***

At the appointed hour, the treebrary was vacated and all persons went their separate ways. Spike went’ to Rarity’s while whistling a merry tune. Trixie accompanied Twilight with the latter carrying the former’s leash in her mouth. Trixie had also been weighed down with saddle bags carrying enough supplies for a small camping trip, but she bore it. She reasoned a mare as meticulous as Twilight might come up with a system that granted Trixie only so many complaints in a given day. And if she hadn’t already reached that limit, Trixie didn’t want to tempt fate by bringing it up.

“S’up, Twi,” Rainbow greeted as she hovered overhead and turned a mischievous smirk on Trixie. “Rumor has it you got a new bottom bitch.”

“Actually no. Bottom bitch actually denotes a position of authority, of which Trixie has none,” Twilight lectured. “Technically, she’s just a regular bitch.”

Rainbow chuckled. “Egghead.”

“Say what now?”

“I asked if you brought enough gear.” Rainbow gestured to Trixie’s bags.

Twilight shrugged. “Well, at first I was going to only bring the essentials. But with an extra set of legs, I thought I’d bring along a little extra, as well as test Trixie’s use as a work horse.”

“There’s an inflatable raft in here,” Trixie deadpanned.

“In case Rainbow needs her emergency landing cushioned.”

“Emergency landing?” chuckled Gilda as she too came to a landing near the others. “That’s a lot of syllables to say ‘crash’, ya know.”

Rainbow’s wing snapped up and whacked Gilda’s chin, all while the cyan mare kept her eyes on Twilight. Gilda rubbed where she’d been hit, and gave a blushing grin. “Whatever you say, Twi. Gil, I want you to help her set up. I’m going to do a few warmup laps.”

“You got it, Dash.”

Rainbow took off, leaving the others to do the manual labor of setting up charts, tools to measure wind, an unfolding chalkboard, a monocular, a device that goes ding, and a few other trinkets Gilda and Trixie didn’t even bother guessing at.

“While we wait, I was hoping to have a word with you,” Twilight said to Gilda.

“Yeah?”

“Well…” Twilight cleared her throat.

Recognizing her cue, Trixie quickly scrambled to get her own note taking gear in order. Spike had given her a few pointers on what Twi would be expecting, as well as what she might do that wasn’t expected but still counted on.

With a satisfied nod, Twilight pulled out her own pen and papers. “Well, for starters, how would you qualify your relationship with Rainbow Dash?”

Gilda’s brow furrowed. “Uh… roomies?”

“No. I meant…” Twilight trailed off and looked around her immediate vicinity. “Where’s the magazine?”

“What magazine?” Gilda asked.

Twilight groaned. “The magazine that somepony should have given me.”

Realizing who Twilight was referring to, Trixie quickly fished out the magazines from her bags. She didn’t know which one Twilight wanted, and so handed her them all. She mouthed ‘sorry,’ and went back to her previous position.

“Is this some kind of role play you’ve got going?” Gilda asked. “Cuz I like it when folks tell me before they try roping me in to something weird, especially if actual ropes are involved.”

“Oh no. It’s nothing weird,” Twilight assured. “Trixie is just my new slave and there’s a bit of, shall we say, growing pains?”

“Okay…? What’s that got to do with me?” Gilda’s eyes trailed down to the magazines now at Twilight’s hooves. “Wait…”

“I’m a little new to this whole ‘owning another thinking creature’ thing,” Twilight continued. “I’ve already spoken with AJ, an experienced slave owner, and Rarity, who seems rather immersed in the culture even though she doesn’t actually own anypony. Now I’d like to get a little perspective from you and Rainbow, if you don’t mind.”

Gilda’s face feathers tinted pink and she shuffled her talons anxiously. “That’s, uh, a little personal.”

Twilight nodded and scribbled something. Trixie did so as well. “Interesting. Rarity used the word ‘intimate’, but it appears the implications are the same,” Twilight thought out loud. “Being a slave seems to hold far more intimate implications than regular fucking. Tell me, would you feel comfortable going into detail about the last time you fucked somepony who wasn’t Rainbow?” Twilight leaned forward with intent.

Gilda, not liking the look in this mare’s eyes, pulled back. “Uh, maybe you ought ta talk to Dashie about-”

“Dashie!?” Twilight gasped. “A nickname implying close familiarity, similar to how others refer to Apple Jack as AJ or myself as Twi. But why call her Dashie? Would that hold a different meaning than referring to her as RD? Do different nicknames denote different levels of familiarity? And how does this system work with names that are already short?”

“Hey!” Rainbow barked as she came to a halt just overhead, hovering next to Gilda. “What are you guys talkin’ about, over here?” she asked in warning.

Gilda, as discretely as she could manage, tried to maneuver herself behind Rainbow.

“I was just interviewing Gilda regarding her position on slavery and how that relates to her relationship with you,” Twilight informed plainly.

“She’s not sick, is she?” Gilda asked. “I know she was in the hospital a while. Did her brain get scrambled or something?”

Rainbow whickered. “Unfortunately, I think this is how she sounds when she’s perfectly healthy.”

Twilight blinked. “How is that unfortunate?”

Rainbow sighed and came to a landing. She faced Gilda. “Don’t worry, Gil. Twilight’s… kind of a thought hungry whore. It’s like being cock hungry. She sees it. She wants it in her. That’s why you can usually find her reading while masturbating.”

Twilight wrote down and considered Rainbow’s comments. She’d never thought of herself as a thought hungry whore, but she couldn’t exactly argue the sentiment.

“There’s stuff she wants to know, so she goes after it like you and pegasus pussy,” Rainbow continued. “She doesn’t mean anything by getting all up in your grill. Got it?”

Gilda, after glancing quickly between the two mares, nodded. “I guess.”

“Good. Now, how about you lie down while I have a chat with the egghead, alright?”

Gilda nodded and rolled onto her back. She gave a quiet purr as Rainbow went to work massaging her well-developed teats.

“Alright Twi. So what’s all this about, anyway?”

Twilight rolled her eyes, already regretting not bringing this up before Rainbow had left so that she only had to tell the story once. “I’m new to being a slave owner,” she gestured at Trixie, who was still scribbling away. “She was sentenced to being my property after the ursa incident. However, since relevant reading material appears to be in distressingly short supply, wanted to get a few perspectives from ponies I trust. I’ve spoken with AJ, Rarity, and you’re next on the list. Being the Element of Domination, I figured your thoughts would be invaluable to my research.”

Rainbow nodded along. “Kay. Makes sense.” She looked over at Trixie. “So you’ve got her taking notes?”

“So far. That and she’s helping Spike clean and do other chores around the house. Rarity said that Trixie is going to be a house slave.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Twenty bits that she also went on some shpeal about slaves having to look all prim and proper for high society guests.”

Twilight chuckled. “Glad I didn’t take that bet.”

“So if I’ve got this straight,” Rainbow went on, “Trixie is your slave as a punishment, not because she chose it?”

“Well, it’s also Molestia’s way of giving me a pop quiz to see how well my studies are going. Also, technically she was given a choice,” Twilight added. “Enslavement or Tartarus.”

“So… no choice at all?”

“Basically,” Trixie spoke up.

“Quiet,” Twilight hissed and held up one of the magazines. “Leather Straps says that it reflects poorly on the master when the slave speaks out of turn.”

“Ugh,” Rainbow rolled her eyes. “I read that too. Honestly, if it weren’t for the pictures and the deals they advertise, I wouldn’t have bothered subscribing. That whole thing is just a bunch of jackasses in a circle jerk cheering themselves on for being slave owners instead of, you know, talking about actually owning a slave.”

Twilight frowned and lifted up the magazine. “Are you sure? Because I’ve found several articles that-Hey!”

“Uh uh,” Rainbow said as she held the pilfered plastic in her wing. “This issue especially isn’t for beginners. Knowing you, you’re liable to try a whole mess of advanced stuff that’s way beyond what you’re ready for.” She glanced at Trixie and amended, “Either of you.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Then… why did Rarity give them to me?”

“Maybe she thinks better of your selfcontrol than I do,” Rainbow offered, leaving Twilight rather perturbed. “Or maybe she’s counting on Spike to give you a crash course in common sense so you don’t make a total ass of yourself.”

“That… is probably it,” Twilight admitted.

“Figures. Look, Twi. Owning a slave is a lot more personal than just some rando saying the ideal number of lashes to keep a slave inline and satisfied.”

“So I keep hearing.”

“For instance, look at my hoof.” Rainbow gestured down to the hoof that was still petting Gilda. “What am I doing?”

“You’re, uh, petting Gilda?”

“Ehh!” Rainbow said in imitation of a buzzer. “Wrong. Try again.”

Twilight nodded and looked again. “Now this is more like one of Molestia’s quizzes,” she said to herself as she crouched down and began her examination. “Look past the obvious.” She stuck her tongue out in a gesture of intense focus. “You’re petting her teats. That’s the action. The teats are an erogenous zone, which feels good.”

“Go on,” Rainbow urged. “I think you’re getting there.” She decided to play along with thinking of this as a quiz. “Remember how Gil looked while you were grilling her?”

“Let’s see here. She was…” Twilight turned back to her notes and furrowed her brow in consternation at the lack of any apparent answer. “She was…”

“Upset,” Trixie cut in. “You were upsetting her.”

“Bingo!” Rainbow cheered.

“Wait! No!” Twilight exclaimed as realization struck. “The petting is just the motion. If she was upset, and your response was to pet her, then that means the action was one of comfort!”

“Double bingo!”

“In that case, going off of Rarity’s assertion that there are different categories of slave and thus different ways of treating them, then it follows that your relationship is more like a friendship than viewing her as property.” Twilight beamed, bracing herself to receive her due praise for correctly answering the question.

“Ehh! Wrong again!”

“What? How?”

“It’s both, Twilight,” Rainbow informed. “Gil here is my bitch. To me, owning her means she’s my property and fuck buddy. It’s my job to look out for her, and her job to do whatever the hell I say, whenever the hell I say it.”

Gilda chuckled.

“But right now, I’m not even sure I want her as a real slave,” Rainbow continued. “Right now, we’re… kinda more like dating. Hanging out and catching up. I mean, yeah. I give her orders and she does chores around the place, but no pony is forcing her.” She flicked at Gilda’s nipple, making the griffon squawk in surprise. “She does chores because she wants to make me happy. I give her orders because I know it makes her happy. And, if she starts getting a little uppity, I know it’s because her inner masochist is trying to stir up trouble.” She pressed down extra hard on Gilda’s teat, compressing the mass under her hoof and making the griffon writhe.

“I’m not usually one to get all sappy. However, while I’ll still make bitches out of anypony that catches my fancy, slavery is so much more special. And until Gil and I know for certain this is what we want, I ain’t putting no collar on her.”

“For the record,” Gilda chimed in. “So long as I’m with Dashie, I don’t really care what it’s called.” Her cheeks brightened, but she kept her eyes locked with Rainbow’s. “She’s my top, and I’ll do whatever it takes to be her bitch.”

“See! That right there.” Rainbow gestured emphatically. “That kind of devotion can’t be bought or just assigned,” she said as though the word were derogatory. “It’s gotta be earned. If it isn’t, well, then it’s just another lay.”

“… wow,” Twilight eventually said. To hear Rainbow of all ponies say ‘just another lay’ like that, as if the very concept were something so insignificant as to be worthy of contempt… Well, it certainly said a lot about how she felt about the importance of slavery in comparison. “Hold that thought.” Twilight set everything down and hurried over to Trixie, almost tripping over her own erection in the process.

Trixie pulled away in fear, uncertain of what the other unicorn wanted, and felt a bit of relief when she only took the notes.

As Twilight read, the first thing she noticed was that Trixie’s writing was leagues better than her own, for which she felt only mild resentment. The second thing she noticed was the actual content. Twilight’s own notes had been almost a complete transcript of everything she’d heard. By contrast, Trixie had done much better at summarizing most of the points Twilight considered valid. She’d even included lines about how Rainbow was comforting Gilda instead of simply petting her. “You have a good eye for detail.”

“Uh, well of course she does,” Trixie boasted. “The Great and Powerful-”

“How did you figure out that Rainbow was actually comforting Gilda so quickly?”

Trixie whickered in mourning of her lost boast. “It just seemed rather obvious. Gilda was upset, Rainbow reacted with consoling words and actions, and then she calmed down.” Trixie deduced that her speaking up earlier was one of those moments Spike had mentioned, where her contributions wasn’t necessarily expected but still counted on. Hopefully this would earn her some brownie points with the both of them.

Twilight nodded. “I see.” She carried Trixie’s notes back to her own and quickly compared the two. “Thank you, Rainbow and Gilda. I believe my basis of understanding is much more solid thanks to your contributions.”

Rainbow cleared her throat and motioned to the other blue mare.

“Oh, right. And thank you, Trixie. It looks like I’m finding some use for you after all.”

“Trixie chooses to take that as a compliment,” she said flatly.

“How else would you take it?” Twilight asked.

“Up the ass and all the way out the mouth?” Gilda offered, leading to a round of chuckles.

Eventually the assembled quadrupeds managed to get back on course with improving Rainbow’s flying. Gilda provided support for her top in the air while Trixie did her best to help Twilight down below. Unfortunately, Twilight’s eyes proved much keener when it came to details like wind speed and possible causes of drag, which invariably meant that Trixie’s role was relegated back to face cushion duty.

With their mission to hang out accomplished, the four parted ways. The flyers went to go and practice some of the tips Twilight had offered. The walkers, however, decided to take a leisurely stroll through the town.

“Can we stop for a minute?” Twilight asked after nearly tripping over her own hooves for the third time in the last ten minutes. “Writing notes while walking is a lot harder without magic.”

“How about there?” Trixie pointed to a nearby bench. They were near the park.

“Perfect.” Twilight gave Trixie’s leash a firm tug and trotted over to the prime resting spot, only to stop in contemplation. “Hmm.”

“What?”

“Well, I’m not sure how comfortable it’ll be for you if I sit on your face here. This bench isn’t exactly conducive to that sort of thing.”

Trixie managed a smile. Twilight being considerate was a nice change of pace.

“Although, if you were to sit long ways, maybe we could-”

“You can sit and Trixie can blow you,” Trixie quickly offered, wanting to head off the purple mare’s dangerous train of thought before it went anywhere too terrible.

“Okay. That works too,” Twilight agreed and the two took their respective seats.

Trixie parted her lips and – with a level of ease that surprised her – sank her muzzle down on the shaft all the way down to the base. It bypassed her uvula with nary a bother, completely avoiding Trixie’s gag reflex. Despite herself, Trixie found Twilight’s cock to be oddly soothing. There was nothing that overtly made it stand out from other cocks, though. It certainly wasn’t the biggest she’d seen in length, width, or overall girth. It wasn’t significantly hotter, either. Maybe it looked a little cleaner, though. Trixie had never much cared for cocks with blotches on them, always thinking they looked dirty. The taste and smell were a little hard to describe, but all she knew for certain was that she liked them both.

Twilight was having a pretty good day so far. She furthered her understanding with Molestia’s quiz, got to hang out with/critique one of her fuck buddies, and now she was enjoying a bit of decompression with notes in her hooves and an eager mouth around her cock. Truly there was nothing more a mare like her could ask for.

That said, the whole point of the decompression was to help get her notes and thoughts in order. Each pony she’d spoken to had told her very different things. All seemed equally valid, but there was one element of overlap that she was having trouble processing. Namely, the thing about slaves being so close with their masters. There was a level of intimacy in play that Twilight just couldn’t wrap her head around. Looking down at Trixie, Twilight found herself feeling, at best, curiosity, but that was more for the situation around Trixie than the mare herself.

What did Molestia want her to learn? Exactly how was this quiz supposed to be passed? There was no time limit. Were they supposed to just live together indefinitely and see what happened? That was hardly very scientific. Twilight considered simply asking Trixie, but stopped herself. For some reason she imagined the subject’s perspective would be too biased on this particular matter.

Twilight attempted a mental exercise where she imagined every day she’d spent in Ponyville so far, only with Trixie suddenly shoved into the mix. Nothing really changed, as far as she could discern. As she envisioned it, Trixie just stayed home and did extra chores, freeing up Spike to spend his time as he pleased. While the idea of Spike being able to hang out with his friends more had its appeal, it hardly seemed worthwhile to justify an extra body taking up space.

However, that was when Twilight recalled all the little contributions Trixie had made regarding discussions of law and even her perceptiveness in social cues. Twilight usually relied on Spike for the latter. However, the entire point of research teams was to combine expertise in multiple disciplines in pursuit of a singular goal. Perhaps there were other areas where Trixie excelled and Twilight lagged? That could certainly be something.

“Hey.”

“Hmm?” Trixie looked up from her suckling.

“I haven’t been saying any of that out loud, have I?”

A pair of ponies walked past and gave the mistress and slave their nods of approval, but neither noticed.

Trixie pulled the cock free from her mouth. It glistened with her saliva as she inhaled. “Uh, no?”

“Good.” And Twilight grabbed Trixie’s head and shoved her back into place.

As hard as it was to admit, Twilight decided there really wasn’t any other choice in the matter but to wait and see what happened. Maybe Trixie really would prove her worth? Maybe Twilight might finally figure out what this deeper meaning was that everypony was getting at? Maybe Trixie was actually a bomb and just waiting for something or somepony to trigger her activation? With Molestia involved, it paid to expect the unexpected.

Author's Note

And so we get Rainbow’s perspective on slavery while also getting a glimpse as to what daily life in the treebrary is going to look like from now on. So far, we’ve got AJ who seems to treat slaves as a sort of family(pet), Rarity who views them as more of a status symbol or commodity, and Rainbow who seems to be implying a kind of marriage. Obviously slavery is a big deal in this culture with a lot of conflicting views around it.

Twilight, as you might have guessed, has been written to be pretty socially oblivious about a lot of things. She’s learning about fuck buddies/friendship because she genuinely doesn’t know. So far, she’s only really able to pick up social cues from Spike, since they know each other so well, but everyone else is still tricky for her. This is my attempt to capture some of the original premises of the show; that of Twilight being the audience view-point character allowing us to learn about the world with her.

Also, we seem to be drifting more and more from the lighthearted comedy of the original into something that might be taking itself a bit too seriously. I keep doing that for some reason. Oh well. I guess, like Twilight, we’ll just have to keep trying new things and see what works.

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