Moondancer and Twilight entwined their tails around Lemon Heart and Twinkleshine, wrapping their coils tighter and tighter around their hapless, helpless victims, their tails creating an alternating pattern of purple and white for Lemon Heart and Twinkleshine's prison.

Twinkleshine struggled, writhing around in a doomed effort to get free before she met her fate.

"Well, Twinkleshine, old buddy, old pal, I guess this is it. This is the end," Lemon Heart said. "We're gonna get eaten and turned into snake monsters. It's been nice knowing you. The real you."

"That's it, Lemon Heart," Moondancer said. "Give in. Accept your fate. No! Do better than acceptance. Embrace it!"

"The real you, wait, that's it!" Twinkleshine said. "Twilight Sparkle! Listen to me, you have to stop! This isn't you! It's not real! The real Twilight Sparkle I know would never do this to her friends!"

Twilight chuckled darkly, immediately throwing a stone onto Twinkleshine's foolishly rising hopes. "Oh no?" She moved her upper half closer towards Twinkleshine and pressed a finger against Twinkleshine's chin. "Well, let me ask you this; would the real Twilight do anything to make sure she and her friends were as close as possible?"

Twinkleshine gulped at Twilight's reasoning. "Y-yes?"

"And wouldn't going inside me, literally inside me, be as close as you could ever possibly get?"

"I mean, I guess you have a point. Wait, no, I mean! Twilight, listen to me-"

Twilight grabbed Twinkleshine by the cheeks and grabbed her head, bringing her forward so their noses were touching.

"No, you listen to me," Twilight said. "I am hungry. I haven't had anything to eat all day and there's only one meal in all of Equestria savory enough, sweet enough, thick and heavy enough to sate my hunger. That's my friends, my friends who I love so, so much. So much that I would even eat them! Swallow them whole! So I can feel their love for me deep inside my bowels." Twilight growled and hissed, baring her teeth.

Twinkleshine chuckled awkward. "Uh, is there anything I can say to make you change your mind?"

Twilight glared. "No." She began her hypnosis, cupping Twinkleshine's cheeks and filling her vision with swimming spirals of purple and pink.

"Uh? What?" Twinkleshine asked. She'd been expecting it, but she still wasn't prepared for how Twilight's hypnosis drained her mind so quickly and easily. It was so fast, The minute Twilight turned those shining, dark lights on her face, her entire body seemed to numb, and both stiffen and relax at the same time.

"It's so pretty," Twinkleshine muttered, speaking slowly as her higher brain functions were drained down. "It's like looking off a cliff. So beautiful ..."

"That's right, Twinkleshine," Twilight said, "keep staring. Relaxing. My eyes are so pretty, so beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that they turn you on."

"Turn me on," Twinkleshine repeated, and in an instant her snatch was partly wet.

"You can your mind fading away, fogging, clouding," Twilight said. "You're forgetting everything."

"Everything."

"Everything, that is, except for your love for me. Your love for your friends. Your desire to be inside my stomach." Twilight stroked Twinkleshine's chin. "A desire that you've always had, ever since I came back to Canterlot, and you saw a snake eat a snail. Ever since you saw that bulge going down that snail's slithering body, you've wondered what it would be like ... to be eaten. To be consumed like that, body and soul, utterly ... utterly consumed."

"Utterly consumed," Twinkleshine repeated, nodding her head back slightly. Twilight pushed a finger down on her forehead and made sure they maintained eye contact.

"Oh well," Lemon Heart said. "At least I'll get to see Minutte again."

"Minutte? Oh, don't worry about her," Moondancer said. "We've taken good care of her already. Are you ready?"

"No," Lemon Heart answered.

Moondancer chuckled. "I imagine you know I'm still going to do it."

"Yup."

"Look into my eyes," Moondancer instructed, brushing Lemon Heart's hair and cupping her cheek. Moondancer's eyes turned into swirling pools of red and white, like a peppermint candy.

Lemon Heart tried to fight it, or at least delay it as long as possible, by closing her eyes.

Moondancer raised her hand to Lemon Heart's face, but Lemon Heart bobbed her head back and forth like a swinging punching bag and made it as difficult for Moondancer as she could.

"Argh!" Moondancer shrieked in frustration. She used her magic to take hold of Lemon Heart's eyelids and force them open.

"Look into my eyes!" Moondancer snapped, grabbing Lemon Heart by the throat.

"Now, Moondancer," Twilight said softly as she brushed a hand through Twinkleshine's hair. "That's not necessary. You just have to be gentle with her, like the way you would with any friend."

Twilight kept brushing Twinkleshine's hair. Twinkleshine moaned, her eyes totally reflecting Twilight's spirals. A bit of drool was slipping out of her mouth.

Twilight chuckled to herself, then ran her hand through Twinkleshine's hair one more time. She lowered her hand from Twinkleshine's hair to her shoulder, then carried over to Twinkleshine's boob, giving it a poke as if testing it before grabbing it with a firm squeeze. When Twinkleshine's only reaction to the groping was a soft moan, Twilight knew she was ready.

"Okay, Twinkleshine," Twilight said. "I'm going to eat you now, alright?"

"That's fine," Twinkleshine answered, smiling dopily and still drooling.

"I need you to do something for me, though," Twilight said. "When you hit my throat ... when I drop you into my mouth, I want you to cum for me. Cum like you've never done it before and will never do it again. Fill my mouth with your sweet, sweet juices. But that should be easy for it, shouldn't it?" She poked Twinkleshine in the nose. "After all, you've wanted this for so long."

"Yes," Twinkleshine said. "I've always wanted this for so long."

"So very, very long!" Twilight said, her shoulders bouncing as she laughed. "Now, let's get you into my belly."

Twilight relaxed her coils just enough to get Twinkleshine out. She let Moondancer have a minute to adjust her coils to make sure Lemon Heart couldn't get out, then lifted Twinkleshine into the air with unicorn magic.

Twilight grabbed Twinkleshine by the hips, licking her lips to savor the moment. She opened and unhinged her jaw and lowered Twinkleshine into it.

"Ah ... ooh ... oh!" Twinkleshine moaned and shivered, her arousal and anticipating increasing the closer and closer she got to Twilight's mouth.

Twilight threw her head back to make it easier to drop Twinkleshine inside.

Twilight carried Twinkleshine to just shy of touching her mouth. Twinkleshine moaned and writhed, her vagina overflowing with juices of anticipation. Her pre traveled down her stomach, leaving a dark streak through her shirt.

"Ooh! Twilight! Please! I can't take it anymore! Please let me cum inside you!"

Twilight dropped Twinkleshine into her cavernous mouth. Twinkleshine screamed as she traveled down Twilight's throat like a snake sucking up a rat, her tail swishing back and forth as Twilight gulped her down.

Twinkleshine let out a ridiculous amount of cum, squirting and splashing it all over the bottom of Twilight's mouth, some of it shooting over and dripping down the sides of Twilight's mouth.

Moondancer glanced over and saw this, and had an idea for what she could do with Lemon Heart.

"Lemon Heart," Moondancer grabbed Lemon Heart's head and turned it towards Twilight. "Look. Look at that. Look at how happy Twinkleshine is, going inside Twilight like that. Look how satisfying it is to be eaten. Look ... at all that cum."

"Uh?" Lemon Heart asked, in a fugue state. Moondancer's hypnosis hadn't gotten far enough to reduce her to a total slavering wreck like Twinkleshine, but it was enough to leave her in a suggestible state even when she wasn't looking directly at Moondancer.

"See how happy she is?" Moondancer asked.

"Happy," Lemon Heart repeated. Wait, what? No! It's a trap! Don't fall for it! Fight! You can't trust Moondancer! That's not Moondancer! That's not your friend!

Still, she couldn't help but notice the streaks of cum trailing down the sides of Twilight's mouth, almost reaching Twilight's neck. Twilight must have done something right to get that to happen.

Fight it, Lemon Heart told herself, you've got to fight it, Lemon Heart! You're Equestria's only hope against these snakes!

"Look back at me, Lemon Heart," Moondancer ordered, twisting Lemon Heart's head back to her. "Look at my face. Look at my mouth." Moondancer smiled broadly, showing off all her pointed fangs.

"Don't you think I can make you feel like that?" Moondancer asked, pointing to Twilight and Twinkleshine, who'd been swallowed up to her thighs. "Just let me try, Lemon Heart. I can make you feel good. I can make you feel fantastic."

"You can ... you can make me feel fantastic," Lemon Heart repeated. Arg, no, it's a trick! A dirty, rotten trick!

"Lemon Heart, Lemon Heart," Moondancer grabbed Lemon Heart's chin. "Look into my eyes carefully and relax."

Despite her warnings to herself, Lemon Heart looked into Moondancer's eyes and ended up letting herself by hypnotized further. Further enough to start believing Moondancer's lies. At least that was how she thought of them, even though Moondancer hadn't told her anything that wasn't technically true since wrapping her huge snake tail around her.

"I can make you feel good," Moondancer said. "Almost as good as Twinkleshine. No! Better than Twinkleshine. But you have to trust me." Moondancer put her finger into Lemon Heart's and began twirling it, spooling a thread of pale-blue hair around her knuckle. "Do you trust me?"

"I ... I!" Lemon Heart stuttered, before the last of her resistance faded away. Must not ... mustn't ... must ... trust her. No choice. Have to trust her.

"I trust you," Lemon Heart said, breaking into a big smile, drooling and looking at Moondancer with absolute adoration in her eyes.

"Ready for me to make you feel good?" Moondancer asked.

Lemon Heart nodded.

"You know what you have to do?" Moondancer asked.

"Let you eat me," Twinkleshine answered.

"That's right! Very good," Moondancer said. "Are you ready?" She breathed in a sultry whisper, all but blowing air into Lemon Heart's ears.

"I'm ready," Lemon Heart answered enthusiastically.

Moondancer lifted Lemon Heart up with her tail. She rotated Lemon Heart upside down, with her feet hanging in the air. Moondancer opened her jaw wide, making an aah noise, and relaxed every coil in her tail at once, allowing Lemon Heart to slide out and drop right inside her mouth.

"MMh!" Moondancer moaned, her eyes fluttering as her mouth was overwhelmed with the taste of Lemon Heart's cum. The taste of Lemon Heart, for that matter. It was almost like eating two snakes eating ponies close together resulted in an exponential increase in pleasure that transferred between them like radio waves.

Moondancer moaned again, lifting her tail and inserting it into her vagina, beginning to pleasure herself. With how good it felt to have Lemon Heart inside her mouth, how could she possibly not? She had to take advantage of it and make the most of the moment.

Moondancer sighed as the last of Lemon Heart went down her mouth and into her throat. Trails of cum leaked down her chin.

"That was so good," Moondancer said as she began to pleasure herself.

Twilight finished up with her meal as well. Twinkleshine's feet and the tip of her tail were still visible, but Twilight soon fixed that, and Twinkleshine went down. A bulge formed in Twilight's throat as her meal was sent on its way.

Twilight noticed Moondancer pleasuring and stroking herself by pumping her tail in and out of her exposed snatch and was offended.

"Hey!" Twilight snapped. "Why do you get to have all the fun? If you're gonna partake in pleasure, I'm going to expect you to share, sister!"

Twilight lunged at Moondancer, tackling her to the ground. She gave Moondancer a kiss as she pulled Moondancer's tail out of Moondancer's vagina and plugged its tip into her own. Moondancer, getting Twilight's message loud and clear, pumped her tail in and out of Twilight. Twilight took her tail and replaced Moondancer's, shoving it far inside Moondancer's snatch and pumping her, the two of them kissing sloppily and occasionally taking their tails to coil them around the other in their cold, scaly embrace, making sweet love inside the protection of their force field.

"Ah, geez," Rainbow Dash groaned, "I still feel really awful about saying all that stuff that I did to Fluttershy. Do you think she can ever forgive me?"

"You did what had to be done, R.D," Applejack said, the wind blowing her hair. "Fluttershy's not herself. Hopefully she'll understand when we fix her. And Rarity and Pinkie Pie too."

"Can we fix her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Can we fix any of them?"

"Rainbow Dash! Don't talk like that," Applejack snapped. "Who was the pony who did the first Sonic Rainboom to save her friend from falling?"

"I did," Dash said.

"And who was the pony who kept the Flim Flam Brothers from poaching Sweet Apple Acres?"

"We did," Dash said.

"And who were the ponies who beat Nightmare Moon, Discord, Sombra, AND were put into this exact position before when Twilight got Fluttershy turned into a vampire fruit bat and cured her?"

"We were!" Dash said.

"So if anybody in all of Equestria fix our friends, it's us!" Applejack shouted.

"Yeah!" Dash said. "We can do this!"

Dash paused for a minute, then she looked to Applejack. "So, uh, how do we do this?"

"Hmm." Applejack pursed her lips. "Well, whoever or whatever did this magic seems to be pretty powerful, and you know who's good with powerful magic?"

"Twilight?" Dash suggested, groaning as she realized the problem with that. "Trixie when she's on a rampage? Zecora?"

"Eh, good guesses," Applejack said, "but I was more thinking along the lines of Princess Celestia."

"Celestia! Of course," Dash said. "We're off to Canterlot!"

Rainbow Dash and Applejack arrived at the castle, causing quite a commotion when Rainbow Dash made one of her Rainbow Dash landings and crashed through a window to get inside. A closed window. But she busted the frame and caused the entire window to fall out instead of shattering, keeping her and Applejack from taking an unwise bath in glass.

"Nice going, Rainbow Dash," Applejack smacked Dash before pulling herself out of the heap Rainbow Dash had put them in.

"What can I say?" Rainbow Dash said. "I can't help bad landings when I'm worried about my friends!"

"Rainbow Dash, you and I both know that's not true. I've seen some of your best landings done when you trying to save your friends from danger," Applejack said.

"Halt! Who goes there?" A trio of guards rushed to the source of the noise, pointing their spears at Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

"Hi, guys!" Dash waved, she and Applejack smiling nervously, not sure how the royal guard would feel about them.

"Oh, it's just you two," the lead guard said, he and his partners putting down their spears. "False alarm, everyone."

"Darn," one of the guards said. "Here I was hoping to finally get some action."

"Sonny, believe me, once you get some action, you'll realize how unwise of a wish that is."

"If you want some action, boy we have got the thing for you!" Rainbow Dash said. "Where's Celestia? We need to talk to her."

"Hey," Applejack interrupted, "I don't mean to take away from a serious moment, but are y'all gonna want us to pay for that?" She pointed both index fingers down at the busted in window.

The guard captain scoffed. "Oh, no. Celestia's got you and your friends covered under a special insurance policy. It'll be fine."

"Goodness," Applejack said. "Ya hear that, RD? We get our own special insurance policy."

"What do you expect from me?" Rainbow Dash said confidently, spreading her wings out. "I'm pretty special. Regular insurance can't cover me."

Applejack smirked, amused, before smacking herself and then smacking Rainbow Dash. "Enough of this! We need to get serious, Rainbow. Where's Princess Celestia?"

"I'm here," Celestia announced her presence as she arrived in the room, her mane flowing ethereally behind her as always. "What brings you crashing into my castle at this hour of day? Something nice, I hope, like a surprise Pinkie Party?" She closed her hands together.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack shook their heads no.

Celestia sighed. "I was afraid you'd say that. What's going on?"

"Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy have all been turned into those half-pony, half-snake ... things!" Rainbow Dash flailed her hands, not really sure how to describe them. "They tried to eat Applejack, they succeeded at eating Rarity and they said Twilight was one of them, too!"

"That's not the worst part," Applejack said. "The ponies they eat become like 'em! That was what happened to Rarity. And I bet it's what happened to Fluttershy and Pinkie!"

"Hmm," Celestia paused. "I never heard of a pony transforming like that. I would have to do some research to learn why."

"I'll bet Discord's behind it," Rainbow Dash said, slamming her fist into her palm.

"Now why do you think that?" Applejack asked. "Just because he's a snake?"

"Well, the other ideas we have - that we don't know anything and that Princess Celestia, one of the oldest, wisest, and most powerful magic users in all of Equestria, doesn't know what's causing it is too scary to think about," Dash said.

Celestia laid a hand on Rainbow Dash's shoulder. "It is heartwarming to see you so worried about your friends. But calm yourself, Rainbow Dash. Going around and jumping to conclusions won't do anything to help us get Twilight or any of the others back. Brashness solves nothing. I will do some research. Canterlot's libraries contain secrets unknown even to me."

Applejack cleared her throat. "I will point out, in Rainbow Dash's defense, that Discord does have a history of behavior that wouldn't be out of line with doing this for kicks and giggles."

"I'm aware," Celestia said. "Still, we should refrain from accusing him until we have better evidence." She turned to the guards. "You three, go down to the library section and get me every book that mentions transformation magic, snakes, and every book, and I mean every single one."

The guards nodded and ran off to carry out Celestia's instructions.

"You two, with me," Celestia ordered, pointing at Dash and Applejack. "I have a plan."

"A plan? What kind of plan?" Applejack asked.

Celestia smiled. "Twilight never could keep from answering my summons."

Twilight and Moondancer slithered around in Moondancer's laboratory, having retreated back to the underground facility to give "birth" to their new spawn. The process had gone smoothly, and Lemon Heart, Minuette, and Twinkleshine were all currently out on the other side of the wall, working on getting their sea legs, so to speak, practicing with slithering on their tails which matched their coats and manes.

"Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie should be here by now," Twilight said. "I sent them a letter telling us to meet here. What could be keeping them?"

"Calm down, Twilight," Minuette said, playing with the tip of her tail by flicking it with her fingers. "I'm sure they're on their way."

"I hope so," Twilight said, "I'd hate to think something bad happened to them! They're still my friends, despite all this." She gestured to her tail. "Or worse! What if somebody caught them and is trying to cure them? Or the worstest of it all, what if some bad pony caught them and is experimenting on them, with them? Ooh!" As she was prone to do, Twilight's mind began to run wild with possibilities, each more terrible than the last.

Fluttershy burst through the door, putting an end to Twilight's worries. She climbed onto the stair rail, using to guide herself as she traveled down the stairs. Pinkie Pie and Rarity soon followed behind her. "Sorry we're late. This one," she pointed at Pinkie, "insisted at stopping for cream puffs on our way here."

"What?" Pinkie asked through a mouthful of glaze as she chewed before swallowing, reducing her swollen cheeks to normal size. "Cream puffs are good!"

Fluttershy rolled her eyes.

"I'm glad you're all okay," Twilight said, only for Rarity to flail about and fall off the stairs, still not yet used to her moving snake tail.

"Mostly okay," Twilight corrected herself dryly. "But not that you're here, we can - huh?" Twilight interrupted herself when a thin wisp of green fire flew in from the stairs and hovered to her. The fire converted itself into a sealed envelope with Celestia's crest on it.

Twilight squinted at the letter with disdain, knowing what it was. Nonetheless, she held out her hand for the letter to drop inside.

Twilight unsealed it and flicked the paper out to read it.

"’To my precious student Twilight Sparkle,’" Twilight read aloud. "’I have been informed that you've been through some changes in your life. That's quite all right. I know I've done things differently a time or two, but a mid-life crisis is nothing to be worried about.’" Twilight rolled her eyes. "’You are hereby cordially invited to my castle in Canterlot for tea and cake so we can sit down and discuss your current challenges. Hoping to see you soon, with love, Celestia.’"

Twilight furled the letter up. "An obvious attempt to lure us into a trap."

"Oh yes," Rarity agreed.

"Total trap," Moondancer added.

"Trappity trappity trapiity trap-trap," Pinkie added, giving it her own unique flavor and spin to it.

"But this gives us the advantage," Twilight said. "We know it's a trap. But they don't know that we know it's a trap. We can use that against them." Twilight rubbed her chin. "Now if I know Celestia at all, her next move will be to ..." Twilight's eyes widened. "Move!" She hustled up the stairs, using her magic to shove Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy out of her way.

"Twilight?" Moondancer and the other lamia slithered out after Twilight, who was exposing herself on the Canterlot street, even though it had turned dark since they had retreated to Moondancer's lab and ponies would be in their beds.

Twilight was standing in the middle of the street, looking intently at the starry sky, searching for something.

"Twilight?" Fluttershy asked. "What's going on?"

"Yeah," Rarity said. "You're scaring us, darling!"

"Could you at least explain what it is that's got you so uptight?" Moondancer asked sympathetically.

"Where is it, where is it?" Twilight muttered frantically. "Ah-ha! There it is!"

High up in the sky, another wisp of green flame was weaving through the air like a snake slithering over water.

Twilight shot a beam of magic at the wisp, striking it dead on, allowing Twilight to hijack the magic. It turned into another letter and flew straight into Twilight's hands.

Twilight opened and flicked this letter open the same as she did the first and began to read aloud.

"’To Cadence and Shining Armor,’" Twilight read out loud. "’I pray this letter finds you in time. If you should get any correspondence from Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, or Rarity, do not trust it! They have been turned into snake monsters and are on a quest to eat every pony in Equestria and make them like themselves! I will be attempting to deal with the problem momentarily, but you must be prepared if I fail.' Ha! I knew it!" Twilight crumpled the paper up. "Not only did she try to make a trap for us, but she also tried to warn Cadence and Shining Armor! Well, not on my watch!" She tossed the paper into the air and blasted it with magic, disintegrating it and turning into a pile of ash. "Celestia may be smart, but I'm smart, too, see? And I don't have a thousand years of peace and stability making me soft, no! The student has surpassed the master!"

"What's the plan, Twilight?" Minuette asked, she and the rest of the lamia leaning forward eagerly to learn the plans of their mistress.

Twilight motioned for them to huddle. Once they did, Twilight began. "So here's what we're doing to do ..."

"Good night everypony!" Cadence bade the ponies of the Crystal Empire as she retreated back into her palace.

Cadence slammed the door behind her, using her body to blockade in the event any one got wise and tried to put it in any last minute requests. Not that she minded helping ponies with their problems, but a girl has to take a little personal time every now and again or risk going insane. What's the saying? All work and no play?

"Whew!" Cadence wiped the sweat off her forehead and used magic to lock the doors shut. She waved at the guards and bid them goodnight, telling them to shift their posts with the night watch. And if anybody who was scheduled for a shift change hadn't shown up yet, to immediately let her know and she would give them such a scolding the next time they showed up.

"What a long day," Cadence muttered to herself as she went up the stairs to her room. She closed and locked the door to that as well.

She didn't see Shining Armor in the room. He must have been out dealing with some Royal Guard duties he needed to as Captain. It happened sometimes. Paperwork piled up, deadlines needed to be met, new recruits showed up who couldn't quite make the cut. It was normal. Nothing to be concerned about.

Cadence sat by her vanity and began unwinding the hair decorations out of her hair, clips, braiding, the works.

After getting that and her jewelry off, Cadence laid it all down on the vanity. She sighed again, wondering if maybe she needed to take a vacation, maybe go to Appaloosa to pick apples.

There was a light tapping at her window.

"Hmm?" Cadence asked. She got up to investigate, though she made sure to grab a hair pin that would do as a stabbing instrument in a pinch, just in case there was something nasty waiting for her on the other side.

She went over to the window and didn't see anything. She looked at her hairpin and thought about it, then, throwing caution to the wind, certain she could beat any villianous actor who came her way, she opened the window, pointing the hair pin out at whatever danger might dare to threaten her home.

"Hmm?" Cadence asked, confused when she still didn't see anything. She lowered the hair pin.

Which was exactly what Twilight had been waiting for, as she popped up and appeared in the window, giving Cadence quite a fright.

"Ah!" Cadence backed away from the window, dropping the pin. "Twilight! You startled me." She pressed a hand to her chest, then took a deep breath to calm herself down, using the same technique she had taught Twilight where she put her hand out.

"Sorry about that," Twilight said, flapping her wings with her tail hanging off the side of the building. From Cadence's limited view of her, she looked completely normal, no hint of scales or transformation or cannibalistic hunger anywhere to be seen.

"What are you doing in the Crystal Empire so late at night?" Cadence asked. "That's not like you, to show up unannounced and when you could be stargazing in your home instead."

"You know how it is," Twilight said. "One day, you'll just be reading your books, and then suddenly you'll get struck by an overwhelming desire to see your old foalsitter ... and part of your family," Twilight said.

Cadence tilted her head and grinned, amused. "Now, the Twilight I know would never put down her books for anything, except maybe to go save the world with her friends now and again."

"You got me there!" Twilight said, throwing her hands up into the air.

"Come on, Twilight," Cadence said, walking up to the window. "What's really going on here, huh? You can trust me, can't you?"

"I know I can," Twilight said with a smile. She twiddled her fingers. "That's why I came to you, actually."

"Why me? Twilight, what's wrong?" Cadence asked.

"I've going through some ... changes lately in my life," Twilight admitted. "Been getting snippy with my friends. Irritable. Short-tempered when I'm hungry. I think I'm having a midlife crisis. I thought I might be able to talk to you about it, and you could help me out."

"You don't strike me as the type of pony to have a midlife crisis, Twilight," Cadence said. "Besides, we all get short-tempered when we're hungry. Seriously, Twilight, what can I do for you? Do you want to me to get Shining Armor? I think he's doing paperwork in the den."

"No!" Twilight snapped with an intensity in that surprised Cadence. "Uh, I just mean ... this is more like a girls' problem, you know? Something we talk about lady-to-lady. I don't really thinking Shining Armor can help with it."

"Twilight, could you stop speaking in riddles?" Cadence asked. "What is it that you need to me to do?"

"A little favor," Twilight answered, gripping the windowsill. "You can't tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay," Cadence said, filled with nostalgia for when Twilight was a small filly trying to keep secrets from her parents. "What's the favor, Princess Twilight??"

"Could you ..." Twilight leaned forward, cupping Cadence's chin and holding Cadence's head steady while her eyes turning into purple and pink spirals. "Relax and look into my eyes?"

"Twilight?" Cadence asked, feeling woozy. "What are you ... what's going on? Do I need to get Shining? Shining Armor ... help."

"Shh," Twilight cooed to her. She cupped Cadence's cheeks and held her still. "You don't need Shining Armor. You just need to look into my eyes and trust me."

"Yes," Cadence said with a moan as her eyes adopted Twilight's spirals. "Trust you..."

Twilight chuckled.

Author's Note

I can't believe I didn't name the previous chapters. I should go and fix that.

Apologies if the ending seems a little anticlimatic, but the commissioner wanted to leave on an open ending with clear room for continuation and has in fact already discussed some ideas for the next installment which I'm sure will be thrilling.