The Great and P-Powerful

Chapters

The Great
The Spectacular
The Vulnerable
The Doubtful
The Faithful
The Conflicted
The Powerful

The Great

The stage was set.

Lights shone bright.

Ponies gathered to witness her might.

The cold air was pregnant, the breeze hang heavy, laden by the tiny murmurs of many. Mares and stallions of all ages, gathered from far and wide, crowded the empty stage, their breaths bated as the awaited the faithful moment.

The very rulers of Equestria—some ponies saw, pointed, and gasped—flew over head. Pegasi and guards intertwining in the night, setting lights and speakers, as all the while the Princesses of the Sun, Moon, Friendship, and Love, gathered—quite literally—up high.

Everypony was watching.

They were waiting, ready to witness the great and powerful; the one and only...

~ ~ ~

Trixie Lulamoon sat in the dim lights of her caravan, regarding herself in the yellow and gold of her dressing room table—hyperventilating.

Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha—

“I—” she gasped between breaths, “I—I can’t do this!” Trixie clutched hoof against her chest. She teetered in her chair, gasping for breath. Her mane, still freshly combed, was already coming undone, and her blue and starred wizard’s hat practically jumped from her head as she glanced, frantically, around herself. “Starlight, h-help—I—”

“Relax, Trixie...” Starlight’s voice, calm and restrained, came soothing from the darkness. There was a motion among the piles of discarded cloak and cloth. Ruffling of feathers and overturned boxes, and Starlight Glimmer stepped into the light from behind. “Relax,” she cooed.

With a flicker of her magic, Starlight returned the hat to Trixie’s head, and brushed parts of her mane straight as she went for one of the trunks, flipping it open as she approached. “Just relax, Trixie. Keep breathing—” As she said this, Starlight dipped her head into the trunk. –“You can do this.”

Trixie’s hyperventilating redoubled, and her head turned as she watched Starlight dig into the trunk, rummaging through the contents and discarding more cloth. “B-but, Starlight, what if I do something wrong?”

“Aha!” Finally, Starlight pulled her head free in triumph, ginning, and horn glowing as she levitated out, at last, a fresh cloak. It was crumpled slightly, admittedly, but at least it was clean, far less than she could say for anything else in Trixie’s possession.

She trotted back to her friend’s side with the cloth in hoof, and gently draped it over the shivering mare’s withers. “It’s okay—” She repeated, voice calm. Starlight pressed a hoof into Trixie’s shoulder, steadying her as she set about fastening the clip. “I know this is hard, but you really have to relax. I promised I would help you, and I’m not going to let anything bad happen.

Trixie’s breathing slowed, gradually returning to normal. The tension in her body left her, as she felt the soothing, familiar embrace of the silken fabric running across her coat. Together with Starlight’s firm hoof, it brought a sense of comfort to Trixie, almost so that she could talk again. “I—” The cloak tightened suddenly around her neck. Trixie choked slightly. There was a moment of pause, and then a click and Starlight stepped away releasing the cape.

“How does it fit?” she asked.

“It...” Trixie’s ears flattened. She subconsciously reached to feel under her neck, looking up to see herself—with Starlight behind—staring into the mirror, her signature hat and cape donned perfectly, and feeling the blue gem under her hoof.

Trixie watched her own eyes water, and she quickly averted her gaze, sniffing. “I—” She swallowed, clearing her throat. “No, I-I can’t, Starlight. I-I just. I can’t.”

“Yes.” Starlight’ rushed to her side, kneeling beside the chair to bring their faces closer together. She brought up a hoof, and lifted Trixie’s eyes to gaze her in the face. She had a frown, a kind of determinism behind her eyes as she said, “You can.”

“B—“

“No but!” Starlight grabbed Trixie by the withers, holding her steady by the shoulders, almost bringing their foreheads together as she whispered, almost forcefully. “You’re the Great and Powerful Trixie, a show mare. This is your life. You do this every day!”

“Not like this, Starlight, never like this!” Trixie squeezed her eyes shut. She couldn’t look her in the eye, she wouldn’t. “Ponyville, Stalliongrad”—she shook her head, suddenly trembling—“Gravity Foals, Miltrotsky; all small towns, with small ponies. None of them knew me, and none of them will ever know me. That’s—” her voice cracked as she croaked, “That’s how I live, Starlight!”

“But this was your idea, Trixie! You’re the one who asked for a show in Canterlot, in front of Everypony!”

“But I didn’t think she’d actually do it, Starlight!”

“What did you expect!? We saved all of Equestria, we got the pink hearts—” She waved a hoof in whatever direction Ponyville was now – “Or whatever those things are called. You asked—told—Princess Celestia, in front of everypony; she couldn’t just have gone back on her word!”

“I—”Trixie whimpered, “I don’t know.” Her ears drooped and she, hesitantly, opened her eyes to look up at Starlight. She wasn’t sure what she’d expected but, when she saw those eyes, stern, still just as determined, she couldn’t help but look away again. “M-maybe we should call it off...”

“Horseapples, Trixie,” Starlight swore. She shook the showmare, and brought her to face hers again. By now, they had long since done with whispering, and there weren’t any doubts that somepony outside would have already overheard—and run away if they knew what was good for them. “Listen to me: you’re a strong, confident, young mare. Smart, charismatic, beautiful—”

“You don’t know me, Starlight!” Trixie cried. She screamed, “I’m horrible, I lie, I cheat, I live out of a caravan!” She was trembling, her blood boiling with rage, and tears dribbling down her cheeks as she returned Starlight’s glare. “I-I-I get so hungry I’d even eat a pinecone if I could! I try to look confident, I try to be confident, Starlight, but deep down, I—I, I just—I just can’t—”

Starlight pounced on Trixie. Their lips smacked together, silencing the mare with a startled yelp, and then a moan as Starlight spread her lips, deeply exploring her mouth as she pulled the mare into a deep and passionate kiss.

Trixie felt her cheeks reddening, an unfamiliar tingling rising from deep inside as she watched Starlight press their two bodies together. Her breath hitched, and Trixie’s back stiffened, a slight tremor running through her as Starlight’s hooves traced slowly up her barrel, squeezing her tightly and forming a delicate embrace.

She was poised to push the mare away, to scream at her, to scold her, to tell her ‘No!’ Her hooves were already raised, but something changed as Starlight’s tongue began to dip deeper into her mouth, sliding over her own as they fought for dominance.

The sweet, almost intoxicating, saccharine flavour of bubblegum—no candy floss, something, Trixie couldn’t quite place it, filled her taste buds, forcing another, slightly pained whimper from between Trixie’s lips. Beneath that wafted the familiar tinge of arousal. Not quite as sweet, but delirious all the same. It burned in Trixie’s nose, heightening her senses and urging her on.

Slowly, she started to relax. The world around them faded, their past anger melting as Trixie lean in further to meet Starlight’s advances. Her hooves relaxed and flexed, settling to stroke down Starlight’s mane, and grasp her head, cradling it steady as Trixie reciprocated. She gently widened her mouth, drooling almost, as she allowed Starlight’s entry—and thus her own as she slipped her tongue past the other mare’s teeth and began taking in the stronger sweeter sensation. It exploded inside her, flooding her mouth with saccharine goodness, and yet they continued.

The room quickly filled with the wet slaps of lips against lips, and the constant, repeated, heavy gasps and moans of two mares in heat.

Trixie found herself fighting back against Starlight, pushing with all the force she had just to stand her ground. Their tongues twisted and intertwined over each other, growing rapid with their quickening pants and pounding hearts.

“Mmmf...” Trixie moaned into her lips, soft and restrained. Her brow creased, her grip tightened, and they gradually melted into each other’s embrace. Only the briefest moment of lucidity flitted past Trixie’s mind.

Wh-what am I doing? The question burned itself into her mind. Never—Never had she even thought of looking at another mare, let alone in this way. The thought all but revolted her, and yet here she was, literally making out with Starlight, her best friend—The thought sent twang though her nether, igniting them like never before—like they were two estranged lovers.

She flattened her ears, turning sideways with Starlight, their lips locked. Her hooves subconsciously tightened around Starlight, venturing to explored lower, feeling through the curves of her body, down her back, to her hips, and pausing just above her do—

No, no, she couldn’t. Trixie retracted her hooves.

The moans grew louder, mostly from Starlight’s doing, a slow heat kindling between them as they slowly inched further off the edge of her seat.

That was just it. Trixie’s thoughts continued, lost in her own mind. This was her best friend. Starlight knew her like none other. They were both victims of the same lives, criminals subjected to their own misdeeds, their own evil in their own way. They’d both done things that nopony would admit to—far more than Twilight would ever care to know—but they’d both been given a second chance.

She felt her heart flutter, a smile cracking at the corner of her face. Yes, Starlight and she were... unique.

Trixie let her eyes flutter open, locking them with the mare in front of her. She smirked, and silently cursed. “St-stupid sexy Starlig—”

CREEA-CRACK

The chair bent beneath them, cutting Trixie off with its loud whine. “Ah!” Trixie gasped, panic suddenly creeping into her voice. “Starlight”—she tried to push the mare back—“Stop, the chair’s about to—” The wood began to splint, sending a shudder through their spines as they, slowly, pitched backwards with the chair. Trixie’s back stiffened, the ground lurching and shuddering with every inch the wood gave.

Another, short croak, and the wood gave, dumping them both to the ground. Trixie collapsed to her back, pulling Starlight after, and landing, winded, with the cape and hat gently draping around her. The air was squeezed from her lungs, and Trixie felt herself gasping for breath as Starlight pressed on.

Meeting Trixie’s gaze, Starlight flashed a smile and leaned in fro a kiss, arching ehr back to bring their bellies together, gently rubbing Trixie’s underside as she began to grind into her. Another, soft, moan escaped their lips. Starlight huffed as she leaned in for another kiss.

“Mmmf—“ Trixie felt herself moaning into Starlight’s mouth. Her ears dropped flat against her head and she pushed back, straining her neck to keep Starlight at bay.

A quick kick of hind leg left the broken chair at bay, and Trixie wasted no time in wrapping her hooves around Starlight, and pulling her tight in their embrace. She was stuck, trapped, dominated. Something in Trixie’s mind warned her, if they continued this way, she wouldn’t be able to stop. She had to take control, she had to—

Just as she was beginning to assert her dominance, Trixie shuddered, letting out a gasp as something pressed between her legs. The lights flickered as Trixie’s eyes rolled back in her head, and she forced to break from Starlight’s lips to moan. “Ah—ah—a—” Shuddering, she pulled ever so slightly away from the contact, only to find herself held steady by Starlight’s strong hooves.

The mare leered over her, a smug, knowing smile adorning her face. “Oh, you like that?” Starlight whispered, adding a slight wiggle to her hips as she drunk in the satisfaction, showing the most delicious grin.

Trixie’s brow creased. Her breath hiked in her chest and stuck there and, straining against Starlight’s hooves, she brought her eyes up to meet with Starlight. She grit her teeth as Starlight gently grinded against teats. They were burning. Not hot or anything, but, just—they were so hard, and with every laboured breath, from either of them, Trixie felt the slightest motion as Starlight’s own rubbed against her. “Wh—”

A slight twist from Starlight hips brought her knee back between Trixie’s legs, eliciting a moan from her showmare.

“Ah!” Trixie moaned. Biting her lip, she eagerly nodded, “Oh, ye—ye—” The slight taste of copper crept onto her tongue as Trixie struggled to complete her sentence. All through Starlight’s grinding, she felt a blush spreading through her face. Her ears and cheeks burned, almost as hot as her sweating pussy. “Y—D-Do that,” a grunt, “a-again, Starlight.”

This was wrong; somehow, through the heavy musk of her lust, Trixie’s guilt panged deep inside. Friend or no, Starlight was a mare. They were both mares. She’d never been with another mare before. It was against the unicorn tradition! A warm lick up her side, and the tickle from Starlight’s mane, alerted Trixie to the other mare’s actions. She watched, in silent horror, as Starlight gently worked a way up her neck, peppering it with gentle nips and kisses.

It-It was against her tradition! Just the thought of it made her heart flutter. Her loins ached, and a slight wink escaped Trixie’s attention as her lips parted on their own, adding her own lubrication to their disgraceful act.

Starlight’s knee was already soaked. It was like nothing she’d ever felt before. They could lie here forever, just the two of them. Buck the tradition. She wanted this. No, she needed this.

“St-“ Trixie licked her dry lips, shuddering as the last kiss ended with a sharp bite to her ears. “St-Starlight,” she moaned, “Please, end it now.” A gentle buck of Trixie’s hips added to the sensation, encouraging her to press further. She wanted Starlight inside! “I wa—I need it, Starlight—”

“No.”

The word barely registered through Trixie’s haze. She could barely hear over the noise of her own panting. It only hit home when she felt Starlight pulling away from her, separating their hot sex, and drawing a sad whimper from Trixie. “Wh—“ She huffed, glowering. Trixie’s blush deepened, realisation suddenly hitting her she’d just begged Starlight to rut her, like a mare in heat. Like her first heat. “Wh—“ She was stupefied. And she said ’No’!? “Wh—why not!?”

Any struggles were lost as Starlight held her firm, her strong hips holding Trixie in place. All she could manage was a slight kick of her hind legs, and an inch of movement that brought her lips tantalisingly close to Starlight’s delicate heat.

The dripping, heavy musk only served to worsen her need as she watched Starlight take her time considering this with a knowing smile. “No,” she repeated, before, slowly, gradually, leaning herself down over Trixie.

Starlight pressed down on her mare’s chest, keeping her pinned as she brought her lips to her ears. A leisurely lick up the side of her exposed flesh sent a shudder through Trixie as Starlight silently whispered into her ear. “... not until you...” Biting a lip, Starlight drew it out long, listening to Trixie’s needy whines. It was cute, like a little puppy. “...call me ‘master.’”

“St-Star-Starlight...” Trixie winced. She bit down on her lip, cutting off on the tail-end of another, throaty moan, instead grunting into the closed mouth as she looked up to Starlight. “I—”

“On on, pet,” Starlight insisted. She gritted her hips, just barely grazing Trixie’s marehood with the tip of her dock, and gently caressing the lips or hood with the sticky, wet, strands of her tail. “Do it,” Starlight commanded, adding another, gentle push, “Call me master.”

Trixie felt herself flinch. Tremors of pleasure shook through her body at every delicate tough, the feeling of Starlight’s tail caressing her, teasing her, edging her slowly along towards the inevitable end or her swollen sex. “I—” With a grunt, Trixie pulled herself away, squeezing her eyes shut and carefully avoiding Starlight’s withering gaze. “I—” Another jolt and Trixie could feel her resolve crumbling. With every wink, her breath caught in her throat, and she could feel Starlight’s breathing down her chest. “I—” She could feel Starlight slowly riding her, teasing with every tiny lap of her tail. “M—” Trixie let out her breath and silently relented. “M-master,” she whispered, her ears burning.

Starlight brought herself down on Trixie, drawing their folds tantalisingly close. Trixie felt the heat radiating between them, and the hot, musky scent dripping as Starlight’s lips winked inches from her own. She imagined their mixed fluids building; trickling between her legs—and a twitch of her tail betrayed at least some truth to that.

The heat rose as Starlight leaned over her mare, breathing on Trixie’s trembling, hot, sweaty face. “Did you say something, pet?” Starlight bit on that last word, a coy whispered then followed by a lick of her lips. “Beg me for it.”

A tiny whimper escaped Trixie’s lips. She could feel every bone in her body aching; every nerve was on fire, burning for Starlight’s touch—any touch. She could feel the mare’s weight pressing down on her with those strong, beautiful thighs, holding her, dominating her. She could barely work up the strength to open her mouth, to scream out, “Please, Master!” Trixie whined, and pulled against her restraints.

Starlight held firm. “What do you want, pet?” She smirked.

“Pl-Pl—” Trixie pinned her ears back and licked her lips. Slowly, she let her eyes drift open, turning them up to stare her master in the eyes. “Pl-please,” she begged, “please, Master, f-fuck me n—”

Starlight thrust her hips down, cutting Trixie off as her words turned into a guttural howl. Their lips smacked together with a loud, wet, schlick, and Trixie quickly went to work.

Slowly, she built up her momentum, sliding back and forth against her mare. Gently caressing those lips apart, and slicking their juices, she felt Trixie wink against her clit, sending a shudder up both their spines.

She looked up, glancing to Trixie with a sly, knowing smirk, as if shocked. “My...” she cooed, in her most motherly tone. “What a naughty little filly...” She was answered by a moan from below, as Trixie rocked back to meet her thrusts. Starlight pressed on, diving down to grind their sex together. Another wink waited, and Trixie stiffened below as Starlight’s lips clamped down on the delicate knub. “Ah—” She cut off a gasp—“U-using such vulgar words,” she continued. Trixie’s showed no signs of responding. “Mommy’s going to have to teach you a lesson, isn’t she?”

Trixie let out a long, guttural howl as Starlight’s lips clamped down on her clit. She could feel them sucking in, tugging out, lengthening her spasms far beyond where it was ever meant to go—and every jolt of pleasure that came with it. Starlight’s words barely registered to her, instead Trixie’s mind fogged over by one, single thought: please, please, please let me cum. She barely had the presence of mind to form a response, one she quickly spat out at her captor.

“This isn’t foalplay, you cunt!” Trixie screamed, soon cut off by her own incoherent moans as Starlight’s assault on her senses continued.
“I’ll make it—” Starlight pushed down with on particularly brutal thrust, pulling back on Trixie’s legs as she did so. “Wh-whatever I want, Trixie” she shot back.

She could feel it drawing all the closer, with every rock of her hips, and every heavy press of her mounds. Starlight’s breathing quickened, coming in hot pants and heavy cries. Warm fluids slowly tickled between them, easing the course of their actions.

They both gasped in unison, a shudder running up Starlight’s back, and a tremble shaking Trixie’s legs, as their lips slid past each other. Their mixing arousal filled the air. Trixie mentally picked it to pieces, her mind turning a haze at her mounding orgasm; the tangy, bitter aftertaste of her own sex she knew so well, and the sweet, almost sickeningly, of Starlight’s own ministrations burned through her nose.

Starlight leaned over Trixie, peppering kisses up the side of her pet’s neck, moving higher with each thrust. She pant, hot breaths, over Trixie’s sweating, gasping, face, then leaned in further to add a light nip, and bit at Trixie’s ear, all the while pressing their stiffening nipples against each other with every breath.

It was there, almost, just a little more. Trixie licked her lips, and thrust back against Starlight. Their breath was quickening, and she became aware of her winking, like a constant, ticking clock.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

Her lips parted and stretched, allowing her soft knub a moment of grace as she grazed against Starlight’s lips, dabbing it with moisture.

In.

Out.

She looked up to see Starlight squeezing her eyes closed, her ears slicked back, trailing with sweat.

In.

Out.

A fresh wave of heat passed through Trixie’s body like—there was a sharp pang as something shot up Trixie’s spine. She tense, gritting her teeth. “Ah!” She screamed. Her pussy clenched in on itself, and the paint heightened as something forcefully sucked her clit out back out. It was like a vice, painful pliers, racing through her. Then, just as soon as it was there, the sensation subsided. Trixie slumped onto her back—when had she sat up? She couldn’t even remember. All she knew was that, Celestia forbid, if it happened again—Trixie licked her lips—She was about to cum.

Another, hard, thrust, and she felt the familiar stoked in her loins turn to an inferno. Her entire body trembled, and the pliers returned, this time icy cold as they nipped across her entire body. She felt her winking redouble once, twice, three times, but just not quite catching that same cadence against Starlight’s.

The edge was just there. So close. She felt like she could taste it. All she had to do was—she gyrated her hips, grinding their pussies into each other, smearing their fluids and adding a slight tearing to the motion. That was it.

The burning heightened, and Trixie faintly heard a mare’s voice screaming as if from off in the distance.

Another thrust.

It took a moment, but Trixie soon realised and, licking her lips, she clamped her mouth shut and resumed moaning into her chest.

One more, grinding, motion, and she felt it again, that insatiable heat. It was like something was building inside her, calling to be let out like a beast from the depths. Her pussy winked against Starlight and she heard a mare say something—whatever it meant was completely lost on Trixie as she drove herself further, meeting every one of Starlight’s thrusts with her own; their legs locking together for the ride.

Trixie bit down on her lip. She felt her hooves creeping back up to Starlight’s sides, digging into the rippling muscles as they thoroughly fucked each other. She tasted copper on her tongue, and the sparks began to ignite.

This was it. The cliff was here, she could feel it rushing towards her. There was no stopping, no going back. Nothing could stop her n—”

“Aaaahhh-aaahh—”

Starlight stiffened. She let loose a loud, throaty howl and arched her back, instantly pulling from Trixie and cutting off any progress the mare had hoped to make. She threw her head back, moaning into the hot, sweaty air of the tiny caravan and let loose. “Oooh...” she moaned, “Trixie!”

Trixie mewled. She held firm to Starlight’s trembling form and thrust against her, desperately in search of her long awaited release.

Even now, as she pushed up, Starlight clenched above her and rocked away. Their lips came so close, barely inches apart, but, just—Trixie bit her lip. It was too far. “No, Starlight—” She gasped as Starlight thrust against her, missing by an inch and pressing down between her teats. “Starlight, not n—“

Another moan and a burst of light blinded Trixie. She’d barely a moment to avert her eyes before Starlight’s horn ignited, throwing sparks over her head.

“Ahh—” Starlight moaned. Her pussy clamped

Trixie watched in contempt, in awe, and horror, as Starlight rode through her most violent orgasm. She could feel the hot juices flowing between them, spurting in time with Starlight’s ragged breaths, and convulses that shook her chest.

Clear cum trickled between Starlight’s legs, dribbling and dripping. They matted Trixie’s fur, forming sticky wet splotches as the soaked to warm her flesh. Even as Starlight slowly relaxed, her breath slowing, her legs buckling, Trixie couldn’t help but stare. She watched with wide eyes, her mouth clamped tight and a deep scowl on her face as Starlight collapsed above her in a hot, heaving, messy heap.

“W-wow—” Starlight whispered, too out of breath to move. Between pants, she nuzzled close to Trixie’s side. The warm afterglow of her orgasm added a slight red tinge to her face. “Tri-Trixie—that was...”

Trixie growled a low hum too soft for Starlight to notice— not now, at least.

“A-amazing...”

“Well...”

Trixie pulled her friend into a hug, taking the moment to breathe in the hot, heavy musk. She dug her hooves into Starlight’s coat and felt for her curves—soft and subtle—following the arch of her back down towards Starlight’s dock resting between her legs. She smiled, a half smirk, and gave Starlight a peck on the cheek.

“You’re so going to pay for this.”

~ ~ ~

Starlight moaned louder than she ever thought she could. Her voice cracked and broke, and she bucked her hips back as the orgasm hit her in full force. It was like a fire turned inferno, mixed with firecrackers and volcanoes exploding inside her. She could feel every pulse; every tensing in her muscles, Trixie’s pained squeaked and desperate thrusts against of her hips only drove Starlight to new heights.

Her pussy clenched, contorting in on itself, milking an imaginary stallion for his seed. The world exploded into stars and, just as fast as she had come, it was gone, and Starlight felt all strength leave her muscles. She collapsed, panting, onto top of a flustered Trixie. “W-wow...” she whispered, hardly enough breath to move, she sucked in a deep breath of air, and willed herself to lift her head, to cuddle closer to her mare. “T-Trixie, that was... amazing...”

She felt the gentle caress as Trixie’s hooves explored her back, and then, through the haze, a soft, ticklish peck. Starlight suppressed a giggle as Trixie pulled away from her.

“You’re so going to pay for that,” Trixie said.

Starlight laughed a soft, breathy giggle as she covered her mouth. “Oh... Trixie,” she rolled her eyes, “And to think this all started because you were worried over some silly old performance.” Trixie tensed below her, and Starlight wiggled her hips, giving Trixie a slight saucy look, “Well, I think you’re ‘performance’ was top—”

“The show!” Trixie suddenly blurted out.

Starlight was taken aback. She blinked. “The sh—” A light went on in Starlight’s head, and she quickly shook it away. “Trixie, it’s at 8! We have plenty of time!”

“What time is it now?”

Frowning, Starlight arched her back to glance the wall behind her. “It’s seven fifty— Oooh” Realisation dawned on her, but she’d barely had the time to take this in before she was dumped to the floor.

Trixie shoved Starlight aside, tossing the mare with new-found strength as she leapt to her hooves. She instantly began looking around, gathering her clothes and various odds ‘n ends to attach to her cape. “Where’s my broach!?” Trixie asked, haphazardly tossing various garments over her shoulders. As she looked, the cape and hat levitated their way over to Trixie and took their positions.

Starlight groaned. Rolling over, she rubbed her head, giving Trixie a questioning look, on eyebrow raised. “A broach?” she asked.

“Yeah, you know...” Trixie gestured with her hooves, signing out a small object she could wear around her neck. “It’s, like, about this big—clip on the back, front looks like a—Aha!” Trixie cut herself off as blue, bejewelled clip levitated itself out from under the broken chair. She wasted no time in affixing the item to her cape, and the adjusting it to sit straight as she made her way towards the door.

“Trixie, wait!” With a shout, Starlight leapt to her hooves and took pursuit.

She crossed half this distance, stumbling over a piece of wood and catching herself in stride. She just caught a glimpse of the mare as she disappeared through the door. The last words to be heard were, “Trixie, will see you after the show,” with a waggle of Trixie’s eyes and sultry flick of her tail as the door closed in her wake.

Starlight stumbled to a halt. She glanced behind her, lifting on leg and her tail as she inspected her rear. “But...” She bit her lip as the once sweet, now acrid, smell of mare-cum bit into her throat. “...You’re not even going to clean up?”

Silence was her answer. The empty room suddenly seemed all the smaller. With just her there, it became painfully obvious how much of a mess they’d made. Beside the clothes and chests strewn across the floor from earlier, Trixie’s chair was ruined, the floorboards were stained with their mixed lust, and—somehow—Starlight’s loaned—now seemingly owned by Trixie—hairbrush hung precariously perched from the ceiling fan.

Perhaps they’d gone... a little too far.

Self-doubt crept into Starlight’s mind. She remembered Twilight’s words ‘Ponies aren’t toys for you, Starlight.’ They were like daggers, digging deep into her soul, the very thought of it twisting her insides. She’d never asked Trixie, they’d just...

Starlight lit her horn, and various items began to find their places starting with the hairbrush. Half of her mind focused on the work at hoof whilst the other mulled over the ramifications.

Neither of them asked what the other wanted. It was a fling, a heat in the moment. The tiniest glimmer of a relationship and Starlight had jumped at it, possibly ruined it.

She felt herself breathing quicker, a pain rising in her chest.

Wh-What if Trixie hated her? She seemed to love it in the middle—You’re going to pay for this. The words echoed in Starlight’s mind. Her breathing turned heavier, fasted, shorted, as did the throbbing in her chest.

Did—did this constitute rape? Did Trixie hate her now because she didn’t follow the proper procedure for being a friend? Was she going to Unicorn Prison? There hadn’t been a rape case for a thousand years, not since Night Mare M—

A loud, wooden thump broke Starlight from her thoughts. Her concentration shattered, and items collapsed to the ground around her leaving the room in an ever worse state than before. Her hyperventilation slowed, as did the logical part of her brain.

“Maybe...” She silently whispered to herself, looking around the destroyed caravan. “Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself...” She glanced back to the closed door, then to the clock.

It had only been ten minutes, and already she was a nervous wreck over her first—possibly romantic—relationship.

She stalked towards the door, and gently pushed it aside with her magic, stealing a glanced outside.

The area they’d chosen was a reasonably quiet part of Canterlot. The cart lay among a contingent of similar mobiles, each cloistered on the edge of the park. To her right, the streets seemed mostly deserted, as, Starlight guessed, were the upscale houses around them. The program was advertised for a week to all of Canterlot and most of northern Equestria—the southern part was mostly preoccupied by a ‘Daring Do Festival’, whatever that meant—as a celebration of their latest saviours. It would serve host to the definitive who’s-who of pony higher society.

A distant “Trixie” caught Starlight’s ear. Following it, she glanced to one of the nearest tents just as a couple ponies trotted out of view. Their silhouettes visible through the tarp, she picked out the unmistakable outline of a cape and a hat, and the broken swagger she could only describe as Trixie.

Starlight swallowed the lump in her throat. She glanced back inside then stepped out into the open, closing the door after her with a soft click. She’d might was well go see the show.

The Spectacular

The backstage area was oddly abandoned. Gone were the groupies—though some still remained outside, ready to accost their star upon her return, and the guard ponies had since moved to the exits and entrances for the duration of the show.

That just left Starlight, alone, in the dark, surrounded by the dank smell of mouldy upholstery and that rising sense of dread one also got before doing something they felt like they were really about to regret.

Tremors ran through her body, a clammy, sticky sensation only made worse by the brightly-coloured sparkling garments that currently stuck and pulled on her coat in every uncomfortable way imaginable. The stuffy vinyl felt like a restrictive vice, cutting down on her breathing, and only causing the heated panic to feel all the more real.

Booms and vrooms still shook the air outside, and Trixie’s voice, meek but fearless, could still be heard trembling from behind the red curtain.

Starlight looked to her own hooves. Those hooves, coated in a thin layer of scratchy velvety fabric, glitter and sparkles dancing in the dim light of the back stage, curled into shaking fists.

She steadied her nerves, swallowing hard, and pushed out with all the strength she had.

She parted the curtains and stopped forward into the blinding light and screamed.

“But not without the help of her Lovely Assistant!”

~ ~ ~

The noise washed over her like steel blanked, a wall of percussive force, as ponies’ cheers turned into an uproar that threatened to physically push her out of their sight. The air was deafening, and the spotlights, a blinding white and yellow, slashed across her vision as they swivelled away from the centre of the stage to illuminate their newest arrival.

Starlight stumbled sideways, cupping a hoof over her eyes to blot out the sudden blinding light. Her mouth suddenly became dry and acrid. However much she licked and smacked her lips, she couldn’t feel it getting any easier to speak.

Instead she walked.

She galloped.

In several short bounds, Starlight skidded to a halt behind the giant coffin in the middle of the stage. Throwing a flourish of her bedazzled hooves, she whipped her hair back, and stuck out her chin, fixing the crowd in her gaze as she cried. “I, Starlight the Stupendous, will cut Trixie in half!”

Her voice echoed to the rafters with false confidence, and a deathly silence fell over the room around her.

Starlight’s heart sunk. A cold, icy shard of dread thrust through her chest.

No motions. Not a single voice could be heard, not a single face seen. It was half a blessing and half a death sentence, so Starlight. Not a single pony could be seen past the lights of the stage, only blackness and silhouettes, and not a single one of them had so much as moved, or said anything...

“Starlight.” Something moved beside her. There was a soft rapping against board, and the box nudged her beside Starlight’s side. Trixie’s head, now poking most of the way out of the top of the box, was looking to her with an aggravated glare. She was holding a comically oversized saw in her magic, not the most comforting image, in Starlight’s eyes. “What are you doing!?” Trixie whispered.

Starlight snapped out of her stage fright, just long enough to retreat back behind the box. Her eyes glued to the crowd, she held her hooves in place and leaned down closer to Trixie, whispering back from behind her gritted teeth. “I’m saving your show,” she grunted back, “Now I’d appreciate it if you just play along and—”

“Well.” Trixie huffed. She straightened her hat as she fixed Starlight with a scowl. She crossed her hooves, slumping lower in the top of the box. “You’re doing it terribly and I— ”

A soft clapping started across the stadium. Subtle at first, but slowly their ears picked up to the sound of ponies stomping. First one, then a second, then a dozen, and a hundred as cheer slowly washed over the crowd.

The air surged around them, filling Starlight’s breath with warmth as the cheers returned in full force, like a weight pulled from her shoulders. She couldn’t help but smile, this time a real, genuine grin, as she stepped out back beside the box. She flashed Trixie with a smirk and a half-raised eyebrow as the cheers turned into a chanting.

Trixie was forced back into her box, a sulk on her face, as Starlight grabbed the saw into her own magic. She moved quickly around the back, holding the saw high, as she proclaimed to the crowd. “Behold, and ordinary... ” Starlight grimaced as the saw’s weight was transferred over to her own magic. It was a lot heavier than expected, almost scarily so, and under inspection she was sure she saw some flakes of blood—N-No, it couldn’t be.

Rust was hanging from the uneven teeth of the saw.

She gave Trixie a sideways glance, holding her grin, as she guided the mare into the top of the box. “T-Tri—This isn’t a real saw is it?” she whispered.

“Uh duh.” Trixie rolled her eyes. She slid all of the way into the box, slotting her lower half down the main body whilst she slotted and shuffled back to fit her head through the top hold. Her mane popped through the side, followed soon by the rest of Trixie’s face as she looked up to Trixie with bright eyes. She was grinning. “Why would I use a fake saw for a magic act?”

“This is incredibly dangerous!” she whispered to Trixie. Turning to the crowd, Starlight held her head high and proclaimed to them with a smile. “Behold! The—

“The Great and Powerful,” Trixie corrected beside her.

“The Great and Powerful, Trixie has been placed inside the box! And now...” Starlight paused to look behind the box for the lid, all the while whispering to Trixie. “This is insane! Hat if you get hurt!”

Trixie shrugged. “Trixie has never put herself in the box before. Nor has she ever, um...” Her blush was clear, even under the burning of the bright stage lights. “I’ve never done this before. But what’s magic without a little danger? Right?”

Starlight ducked below the box, out of the public’s eye for moment, just long enough to give Trixie her most serious we are going to talk about this face. She snatched the lid of the box from under the tray and brought it back up with her to the top; where she laid it overtop the opened end of the box.

Smiling, she said. “Now, I will—“

“Shh, shh” Trixie kicked against the inside of the box, whispering frantically. “Do the thing,” she demanded.

“What thing!?”

“The thing!” Trixie gestured around her as best she could. With only her eyes to work with, unfortunately, that wasn’t very much. “Show them that it’s not a trick!”

“But it is a trick!”

“They don’t have to know that!” She put on her pouty face, wide shimmering eyes, lowered ears, and a shaking lip to add the icing to the cake. “P-Please.”

“F-Fiiine” Starlight hissed. She let the saw lower for a minute as she paced around the box. “Behold!” she shouted from the stage, and pulling the box after her as she trotted in a circle, showing all sides to the audience. “It is but an ordinary box! All side are solid, and”—she waved a hoof beneath it—“and no mirrors underneath. There is truly no way Trixie could escape this box.”

“Good, goo—ow!” Trixie screeched out in pain as Starlight pinched her cheek, and pointed to the crowd Trixie’s reaction.

“And this Trixie’s head, is the real Trixie’s head! No trickery here!” She added another slap for good measure.

“I swear to Celestia, if you slap me one more time!”

“Shh...” Starlight shushed her. She brought the saw over to the back of the box, and set it at an angle over the middle seam. “You don’t want to break the illusion, do you?” At this point she couldn’t stop the grin from splitting her face. Oh, but this was going to be a good show...

~ ~ ~

The cold air was chill against Starlight’s coat, a seeping cold that slowly sunk into her bones from all angles as the gentle breeze of an early dawn sapped away her strength. Her eyes were heavy, and her head hung tired. Slowly, she dragged the towel tighter around her barrel and took another low sip of the hot coco cradled over her lap.

The tent still towered behind her, a black obelisk, blight on the horizon, leaning over with as much foreboding presence and weight as it always had, but somehow different. It felt less intimidating. It was less like an unknown, growling giant, and more of sleeping beauty.

It was steady, firm, a mountain, nowhere near as intimidating as it were before. She’d gone inside. She’d conquered the beast, stood before its many eyes and screamed her name proud!

And it left her giddy, almost shaking with excitement. There was a part of her that revelled in the memory, to step out there, in front of everypony. To stand in front of your demons, to conquer them, and revel in their defeat, it felt amazing. Even now she couldn’t stop the energy from surging through her.

A sudden tremor ran up Starlight’s back, as if to remind her of the cold air. She blew back her bang, and took another long sip of the hot chocolate. She re-wrapped the blankets tightly around her withers.

Maybe it was just the cold speaking.

Her shivers subsided for a bit, allowing her to relax against steps and enjoy the warmth of her mux. Her hooves still felt sticky and uncomfortable. The cheap fabric clung to her coat, trapping a layer of sweat against her skin underneath. It made her feel clammy, maybe a little bit itchy, and she was pretty sure she’d be washing glitter out of her mane for the next few weeks, but Celestia—kill me—It was worth it.

“Excuse me, miss.”

A Stallion’s gruff voice broke through her thoughts. Moments before, a flap in the opened, revealing a dark stallion with shades, with another, lighter-built pony behind him as they wheeled a piece of equipment out and over the steps.

“Oh, sorry--” Starlight jolted. Almost spilling her drink she quickly caught up the edges of her blanket in her magic and scooted aside, making way for the group of stallion’s legs as they shoved and pulled the massive box down the small rise.

She momentarily considered helping them—a little unicorn’s magic could go a long way, after all—but was halted when her eyes met the last stallion. He had a serious look, but a small smile as he looked Starlight in the eye over his black shades. “It’s okay, ma’am, we have this covered.”

Starlight relaxed a bit, mouthing a silent ‘oh’ under her breath. She gave Star charmer a nod, and watched them as they continued on their way across the clearing. Three stallions in total, they made quick work of dragging the massive box across the grass, and were soon all the way to their own carriage and unloading the equipment into an already packed wagon.

Once again, Starlight found herself alone with her thoughts. She looked down into her cup—it was half empty, or full, depending how you view things. With another sip, she dragged out her drinking and cast her vision over the rest of park.

There were still some other ponies mulling around, the late-leavers. The drunks, getting over their hangover enough to fly home, the groupies, too eager to meet their stars to sleep, however most of them were the staff and helpers, stars themselves that would remain here until the last bell has been run—and subsequently cleaned then packed into its box, and that box itself into a wagon, and the wagon hitched, and the...

She took another sip.

A deep breath and she was back.

Now, and in the present.

Another deep breath.

The air had changed a little. It was starting to feel less cold, a little more like an early morning—a yawn interrupted her—and Starlight barely had the presence of mind to cover her mouth. At this point she didn’t care who saw. She was exhausted.

The sound of mares giggling caused her ears to prick. They swivelled in search of the sound, more on instinct than anything else. Starlight sluggishly turned her head, following the voices to her left, where she was met by the usual sight.

A group of seven or eight young mares had wandered around the corner of the tent. She guessed they must’ve been there for a while now, but had simply been too far out of hearing range, or otherwise had just chosen now to start making a racket. But that wasn’t what had interested her.

No, it was the ninth pony with them. Standing a good foot taller, Trixie’s hat and cape were unmistakable among the group. They fluttered and shook, and Trixie’s well-known speech sounded over the cheers and giggled. “Thank you, thank!” She bowed to much applause. “The Grrrrreeat, and Powwwwerrrrful, Trixie will be happy to field any questions and compliments!”

The mares around her instantly started yammering over one another, and their hooves rose. For a moment—Starlight sat up straight—for a moment she thought they might mob her, but instead Trixie managed to subdue the group and pointed to the youngest. “Yes, you! What else do you have to ask of The Trixie?”

“Miss Trixie, Miss Trixie!” The mare bounced ecstatically. She was buffeted by the other jealous fillies, but otherwise seemed unperturbed to ask her question. “How did you do it?”

“Yeah!” Another mare—Starlight guessed was in her early teens. It must’ve been a school trip, though that raises the question of where the guardians went. “Your show was amazing, it was genius! How did you escape!?”

“Please, please...” Starlight could feel the hot flush in Trixie’s voice, even from all the way over her. She felt herself smiling, all remnants of tiredness and cold gone for the moment as she turned her attention fully to the group of fillies and one grown mare. Trixie gestured around her, shaking her head with a wide, smug-like grin, as she extricated herself from the group. “A real magician never reveals her tricks.”

She gave a flutter of her cake, spun back on them and raised a hoof over her lips. “But,” she said. “I will say one thing about today’s performance: it could not have ever happened without the help of”—

Starlight felt heart catch in her throat. She inched forward, unintentionally sliding closer to the edge of the cement steps. Her coco was forgotten for the moment, as she hung on Trixie’s words.

—“The Grrrrreeeat, and Powerrrrful Trrrrixy!”

Her heart sank. Trixie. Classif fucking Trixie. She always had to be the centre of attention. She couldn’t admit to being wrong. She was always right. Always perfect. Always—always—Starlight choked. She sniffed, turning her snout up and away from the group of mares.

It wasn’t any of her concern, after all. She—She’d just ignore them. And they’d go away...

~ ~ ~

Starlight was staring into her empty cup, deep in meditation. She barely noticed the movement when another mare slid onto the steps beside her. Trixie leaned close, snuggling into Starlight’s side to share in the warmth.

She was covered in bandages—head to hoof—the remnants of their last show. The bags hung heavy under her eyes, though not without the ever-present sparkle that gave Trixie her charismatic look. “Hey...” she whispered.

“Hey.” Starlight replied. It came out flat, unforgiving. She didn’t dare look Trixie in the eye, instead shuffling an inch away, and turning her back, albeit only slightly. “How was the show?” She feigned interest. The words were sticky, with a thinly veiled malice, but all the same she looked up from her cup, her scowl softening as she inspected Trixie for any response, an explanation.

“It was...” Trixie heaved. For once the tiredness really began to show. She slumped, leaning closer to Starlight’s side as support. Starlight, herself held firm. Resisted the temptation to pull away and scold Trixie.

“I-I saw you had some fans...” she whispered.

“Yeah.” Trixie nodded. Her ears flicked back, and for the first time they could see properly into each other’s eyes. The pause was short before Trixie responded. She retreated away, back behind her protective shell as Trixie intoned. “You should not have come to help Trixie.” She stuck up her nose, back straight and eyes away. It was the show-mare, the unfeeling, perfect, Great and Powerful Trixie as she always was. “She did not need your help. All was going according to Trixie’s plan.”

“Oh...?” Starlight leaned back, staring. She had to raise an eyebrow, as if to ask ‘are you serious?’

Trixie noticed this, however, and her demeanour changed. Returning to her softer self, she gave a tentative smile. “However... She-She—I am to say thank you, Starlight. Celestia forbid what would’ve happened if you hadn’t been there.” She chuckled, holding up her bandaged forelegs. “Hay, I could’ve been even more bandaged...”

Starlight muffled her giggled with a fetlock. “I-It’s nothing, really.” She smiled, a real sincere smile. It felt a relief to talk to the real Trixie for once. “You know...” She blew back her bang, running a hoof over behind her ear she looked the mare up and down. The cup was forgotten, as too was the cold. “It’s what friends do. Friends help friends.”

“You didn’t have to.”

“I wanted to, Trixie. And...” She trailed off. Starlight bit her lip to give herself pause. “I—I actually kind of liked it.” Like felt like an understatement. She suddenly regretted that word choice, but there was no going back now. No changing the past. She looked Trixie in the eyes as she said. “T=To go out there, in front of everyone, and to become somepony else for but a seconds. I-It was exhilarating, Trixie.”

A devilish grin spread across Trixie’s face, the kind that said everything. She looked Starlight in the eyes with a spark of her own, and said, “Oh, well maybe we should do it again...”

A shiver ran up her spine, pricking the hairs on every inch it passed. She felt Trixie’s hoof retract from her thigh as the mare retreated, perhaps misinterpreting her reaction.

“...M-Maybe not in front of so many ponies.” She added. With a shrug, she said. “B-But you know—On a smaller, more private stage. More friends, less strangers—” She laughed. “—and no royals!”

Starlight laughed in turn. She rolled her eyes. “Well, maybe one royal.”

Trixie scoffed. “Pehleease...” She was fit of giggles as she said. “Twilight Sparkle does not count...”

Starlight couldn’t stop herself from grinning. She had to press her hoof over her muzzle as she wheezed. It almost hurt, it was so bad. She just couldn’t stop herself from laughing as she said. “N-No—” She shook her head, her cheeks flushed red. “No, I suppose not...” She broke down into a fit of giggles, joined shortly after by Trixie as they both laughed on the steps together.

The laughter slowly subsided, settling into softer guffaws and then snorts on both ends, and as the moment drew out, times passed, the silence gradually came to reassert its dominance.

A cold wind blew in from the south. There was the flutter of a bat, and the rustling of leaves in the park. Some wheels creaked behind them as one of the carts began the long trek back to town, or to their next destination, at least.

For the first time that night, they finally, truly felt alone.

A shiver ran up Starlight’s back, the first signs of the cold exerting its dominance over them, and she longingly cast a glance to the empty cup beside her—which lay sideways, with barely a drop left of the hot drink. She momentarily considered going back inside to the get a refresher, but by now the stalls would have likely been closed up.

No more cups.

No more chocolate.

At least she still had this.

She adjusted the blanket, pulling it tight around her withers. The night air had sunk in deep to her bones, and even with the thick layers, she was still shivering from exposure. Again, she moved the blanked, and then tentatively inched closer to Trixie, drawing their bodies closer for warmth.

Trixie didn’t seem to notice. For her part, she was still giggling over their shared joke and didn’t so much as react as the fur of their sides brushed together, adding an extra bit of snuggling to warm the cold night.

And as they touched, Starlight felt a butterflies take flight in her stomach. She’d never realised just how soft Trixie’s coat could be, but now, together, as they were pressed together and sharing this moment, she felt like anything could be possible...

“So, um...” The words came out quicker than she’d anticipated. Also louded. Even as a whisper, she felt like the moment would shatter around them. “Trixie?”

Trixie muffled one last laugh, wiping a stray tear from her cheek. She didn’t look at Starlight as she responded, not yet at least. “Y-Yes, Starlight?”

“Um—” Their eyes met. A knot suddenly took hold in Starlight’s throat and she sieves up almost entirely. The cold receded as a burning hot red flushed across her cheeks and her. “Um...

Trixie was looking directly at her, ears forward, eyes wide, and gradually growing wider as her eyebrow slowly arched. All the while, Starlight could only mumble and grunt. “Um—About—Wh-What—Uh—We—”

Oh Celestia, not now. She knew exactly what she wanted to say. The words were right there. They were on the tip of her tongue. All she had to do was say: Trixie, I love you. I want to be with you. I want to cuddle and hug you every night, I want the rest of our lives to be as complete as this moment here now, and I never want to let you go...

Instead, all she could make out was a scared whimper.

“Is everything okay?” Trixie asked. Her brows had gone until full arch mode, and not just that, Trixie was staring at her with a level of concern.

“N-No thing!” she suddenly blurted out. Stupid. “It’s nothing, not important.” She turned away. “L-Let’s just...” She picked up the mug, faking a grin as she tried to take a futile sip from whatever drops it had left. “...Enjoy the night, okay?”

Stupid

She should never have brought it up. Now Trixie’s going to think she was weird. She’d ruined the moment, it was gone forever. It was silly to think that what had happened was anything more than a one-night event. It wasn’t right. Mares and mares were never supposed to be together. It was against the code—And they’d—Nopony would allow it if they found it. ‘Best that she just forget about it and—
“Starlight.” Trixie said, breaking off the internal rant with a levelled stare. Her voice was definite, but not forceful or angry. It was laced with concern, compassion, as she held Starlight by the sides and forced their eyes to meet—a serious look in her eye. Her expression softened in moments. “You know you can speak to me about anything, right?” she said.

Silence.

Starlight’s mind was blank. She simply stared. Her mouth dropped open as she took a breath, then closed almost of its own accord. They were so close; she could almost feel Trixie’s breath. “I-It’s just...” The blush returned in full force, and Starlight pulled away, abashed.

Trixie leaned against her side, bringing them side-to-side. She used a little of her magic to pull the blanket over both of their shoulders and draped a limb over her withers to form a rough, awkward hug. “You’re my best friend, Starlight. You can tell me anything, you know that?”

Starlight took a deep breath. She looked back at Trixie—that blue show-mare wrapped in gauze and smiling with the most beautiful smile—and she said, “A-Are we friends? Or are we... something else?”

~ ~ ~

Trixie Lulamoon, magician extraordinaire, mare who had faced off against the changeling swarm alongside Starlight Glimmer and Discord, Lord of Chaos, that same mare who had defeated Chrysalis, saved Equestria, and then come back to face against it herself—She was in the eye of every stallion across the land, recipient to a Purple Heart of Valour, and Celestia had even approached her to form a mural in her honour...

And she was speechless.

She opened her mouth to speak. She couldn’t take the eyes off o the mare in front of her, that beautiful, light-purple mare, and how the soft moonlight glittered off of her eyes, the every-so-slight shimmering of tears forming above her cheeks as she stared just as intently into Trixie’s own gaze. Her mane was frayed, with the front, over-hung bang showing the most wear, and Celestia forbid that costume she was wearing was not flattering in the slightest, but even still she couldn’t help but gawk at the beauty that shone from within.

Starlight was starting to look uncomfortable. She was fidgeting with her blanket again, and looked like she might be shying away—say something, you idiot! Trixie’s stomach did cartwheels. She opened her mouth and croaked. “T-Trixie does not know what you mean!”

Starlight halted her retreat. Her eyes turned back to face Trixie, and again she was under the scrutiny of that deathly gaze. Her mouth turned down slightly, and Trixie dreaded what she might say. “You know what I mean...”

Her voice was a whisper, but here, now, it couldn’t have been any more clear, and she did know. Tartarus know she’d wish she could forget, but she couldn’t forget. She almost forgot in the heat of the show, but now that they were together the memories of their events in the caravan that evening came flooding back. It was a hot stream of want, need, questions and new feeling she hadn’t thoughts she could ever feel for another mare.

Starlight’s admission, how they’d kissed, feasted on each other’s bodies. The surge of adrenaline as their fight turned to lust, and their lust to sex. How Starlight had dominated Trixie, turned her into her willing pet. Her coat was still sticky from where she’d cum on her and now the heat was slowly rising in her own body as the memory of her pent up resurfaced.

They hadn’t finished, how she’d swore she would get her revenge on Starlight—one way or the other—for leaving her high-and-dry. How the arousal had all but ruined her show... Until Starlight was there.

“Um, uh...” She suddenly felt hot. The air burned, like there was a raging bonfire between them, except it felt, inexplicably, like it was coming from inside. Just with a look to Starlight, she could tell the mare was feeling the same. She must have been blushing, because she could see Starlight shying away, too, her face a deep crimson.

She slowly nodded, jerky and unsure. Gone was the confident Trixie, the great and powerful. Here was the shy and meek Lulamoon, mare who was afraid to ask a simple question. “... Did you like it?”

As soon as the words had come out, Trixie’s eyes flipped to Starlight’s ears, watching eagerly for the first response. They twitched, and flicked back, but then turned towards her. Starlight, the rest of her, inched closer to Trixie. She placed a hoof on her thigh as she leaned in, and opened her mouth to whisper. “...”

Trixie leaned closer herself. Turning to face Starlight, she put a hoof on the mare’s shoulder, and brought their muzzles closer.

Starlight paused. Her eyes diverted to the ground, before turning up to look into Trixie’s own. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest, racing a million miles per second. Starlight’s breath felt hot on her muzzle as she whispered. “...yes.” he said.

A tremor ran up Trixie’s back. Starlight quickly retreated, shying away as she returned to her own position across the step. She brushed her bang away from her eyes, leaving it to simply flop down on the other side of her horn. Trixie’s heart skipped a beat—Fuck that was cute. Why had she never noticed this before? Was she so blind that she couldn’t see her best friend even when she was sitting right next to her, or was she too far in her magical kingdom that she couldn’t have the time to even so much as look!?

“Wh-what I said earlier: I meant all of it, Trixie.” Starlight’s voice was still low, almost above a whisper she could barely hear, but her words slowly grew stronger, more confident, as she spoke. Starlight lifted her head, slowly looking into Trixie’s eyes with a growing flame. “I do care about you. I worry about you, I worry about us—

Trixie was thrown aback. That last word had set her off, what did she mean about ‘us’?

“I don’t know when it started, or how, or why. At first I didn’t even realise what it was. I just thought we were a really good match, but last night—” They were close again. She’d barely noticed the movements as Starlight leaned across the step. She was almost fully unwrapped from her town, the dazzling sparkles of her full-body spandex on full display to her as Starlight closed the distance.

She felt herself closing the gap in turn, leaning in to meet Starlight half-way as they brought their muzzles together. She could already sense what she was about to say and, almost on reflex—or maybe it was something deep inside—she moved to say. “Last night it all made sense...” The words sounded foreign, and yet they fit so well. Like she was giving away a part of her he hadn’t acknowledged for so many years. “Y-You realised that this mare, this pony you’ve only known for a few months, was the only thing you could think about...”

“And she was the most amazing thing to happen to you in, so, so, long...”

She could feel her hot breath on her cheek. Her eyes drifted closed. Her heart was beating, fluttering, and a trembling with excitement as their hooves moved to each other.

Slowly, further, longer. Trixie’s mouth was just parting, the moment stretched to an agonising infinity. She could almost feel it, the moment their lips touched, and—

“My, my, my, Starlight Glimmer, and here we thought you’d gone soft.”

A ray of sunshine broke over the horizon. The moment was shattered as Starlight tugged away, and pushed Trixie back in turn. “Wha—” Trixie gawked. Her eyes snapped open, and she was about to shout some profanities against Starlight about edging her again, but she was quickly silenced by the sight of two young mares trotting their way from around the other side of the tent.

It was two unicorns, both about Starlight’s age, and the exact type Trixie knew well from her own years in college. She silently spat, scowling beneath her breath. “Popular Mares.”

~ ~ ~

The sun had just begun to peek its way through the treetops. It cast a sharp glare across Trixie’s as she cast her own glares towards their new company. Who were these ponies, and how dare they interrupt Trixie’s perfect moment? And just when she felt they were about to connect, too!

She was about to stand and give these posh pricks a piece of Trixie’s mind when she was held back by a hoof to her chest, and the briefest whisper in her ear. Before Trixie could even turn to ask Starlight what she’d said, she saw Starlight move to the forefront, putting herself between Trixie and these mares.

Starlight had put on a fake smile, barely containing her annoyance—and a blush. Her voice was brittle as she addressed the mare. “Cherry? Sparkler? Wh-What are you doing here? I thought you were heading home after the show?”

The first mare—Trixie presumed her to be Sparkler—rolled her eyes, though not without checking her perfectly hooficured nails in the light. This was exactly the type of mare Trixie hate, and strived with every fibre of her being not to become. Even if she became the greatest and most powerful magical—or even unicorn—in recorded history, there was no way she would never, ever curl and put her mane up in a bonnet and call herself ‘royal’.

Not now, not ever, not for anypony. It was beneath her.

And judging by the way Starlight tensed up, she shared their sentiment.

“Puhleeease...” Sparkler spat.

She brushed the dirt from her fetlocks—only a stray piece of dirt was dispelled by a light puff of telekinetic magic—and she delicately sidestepped the dusty spot in front of the step. The peach pink mare next to her followed, and added their word. They were truly like two peas in a pod. Trixie smiled. Two blackened peas. “As if we would pass up the chance to meet the real star of the attraction.”

She fluttered her eyes, seemingly looking dead on at Trixie.

Trixie felt her back tense. Her ears pressed back as the mare’s attention drifted past her, eventually lessening the burning weight of her gaze. It wasn’t clear whether that was meant as a compliment... or an insult, or if these mares knew something she didn’t.

However one thing was certain. Knowing mares like there, regardless of intent, there was surely going to be strings attached. She moved ot warn Starlight. “Uh, Star’, I don—”

“Excuse me?” Starlight asked, cutting Trixie off.

She hadn’t seemed to notice Trixie’s raised hoof, and it was already too late when the things began their response.

“Honestly,” Sparkler scoffed. She wiggled her eyebrows at Trixie, turning her full attention onto the mare standing between them—Starlight Glimmer. Berry took a seat alongside them, hanging onto the corner of the steps as she wrapped a foreleg over her shoulders. “We didn’t think you had it in you,” she said.

“We thought you’d gone soft.”

“But now we know you are still one of us. A real villainous mare.“

Starlight’s fur pricked at that remark. Even Trixie could see it. In the dim light of the early morning, they had her on edge. “To go on that stage and steal the spotlight from that Weak and Superfluous Trixie, it was...” Sparkler sucked in a long breath between her teeth. She dragged on the moment, savouring it, drawing all the tension she could out of Trixie and Starlight, before she uttered. “That was devious of you, Star’.”

“Truly, the Starlight Saffron Glimmer we know and love.” Cherry squeezed tightly around Trixie’s barely. She could feel the mare pulling her body in closer to her, encroaching ehr space. The smell of lavender perfume was revolting. To say the least, she was practically quaking to restrain herself.

Just having this mare so close to her, it made her feel clammy, like being in the presence of bucket of live eels and having them draped over her back on by one. Cherry’s hoof rubbed over her back as the other joined against Trixie’s chest.

“So what are you going to have Trixie do for us now, Star’?” she asked.

A tremble ran up Trixie’s spine. Were these ponies serious? Did they actually, just say that? Trixie’s face contorted into scowl. Every part of her body was screaming out against her and she could barely restrain her rage. She was ready to vaporise these ponies, impale them with her horn, and send them back to whatever hole they crawled out of. They had no mind to come here, to her her, push themselves onto her Trixie, and Trixie’s marefriend and then, and then---

“It wasn’t about that!” Starlight snapped, and by snapped she snapped.

Trixie was utterly floored. Starlight could have thrown her off of the steps just by the sheer force of her own voice, it was that powerful. One part of her took satisfaction—and she grinned—in watching Starlight rise from the steps, the rage blazing off of her back like a fiery inferno. Another part of her secretly wished she would never be the target for such ferocity.

“There is no ‘Us’, Sparkler,” Starlight spat. She shoved the other mare back with a hoof pressed to the chest. Trixie could have sworn she saw Starlight physically grow taller than these other mares, or maybe it was a trick of the light. All she knew was that she was sitting in silence, gawking, her mouth drooping as she watched Starlight tower like a domineering monolith over her ‘former friends’.

Luckily Cherry had already seen it coming, and smartly retracted her hoof away from Trixie to join her friend under the onslaught. They both retreated in a staggered gait under Starlight’s wake.

“I don’t do that any more. The old Starlight is dead, do you hear me?”—Shivering, the other mares nodded with hesitation. Trixie found herself involuntarily nodding with them, her eyes fixated on Starlight—a new Starlight. A master Starlight. “She’s dead,” Starlight reiterated. “She died the day Twilight Sparkle forgave me, the day she learned what true friendship means, that you don’t need to take things you need from other ponies, the day she learned it’s not right to brainwash and to manipulate.

“Those days are behind me.” She punctuated with stomp—a deafening thump like the beating in Trixie’s chest. Trixie could have sworn she heard something crack beneath her, like the ground itself had cried out pain against Starlight’s forceful violence. “I cannot, will not, and do not ever want to go back to that life,” she screamed. With another push against a startled Sparkler, she flung her hoof to the horizon and added. “Now get out of my sight, both of you.”

Sparkler and Berry both took a step back. For a moment it seemed like they were about to fold, collapse to the ground and break into tears. For a moment Trixie thought they just might, but they held their line, shared a glance between them, and their ears flattened back with a growing scowl. “Fine.” The former, Sparkler, spoke up with a snirk. She huffed, and they stuck up their noses.

“We’ll leave you with your fillyfriend,” Cherry remarked, and they both left in silence.

And that was it.

No fight. No apology. Nothing.

They just left.

The silence returned like nothing from before had every happened. The air felt clean and crisp. The park around them was just growing light, with the sun beginning to peek over the treetops to cast a shadow at the base of the steps.

As the two silhouettes, dissipated into the distance, the silence grew deafening, like a blanket draped over them to stifle all breath. Starlight still had her back to Trixie when Trixie finally spoke up. “Starlight...” she said. “I-I’m sor—”

“No.” Starlight whispered, but with a certain definitive final tone. Her voice was strained and hoarse. It was soft, but forceful. “This was a mistake.”

“Star...” Trixie stood. She approached Starlight from the back to rest a hoof on her wither. “Are you—“

“No.” Starlight raised a foreleg, halting Trixie in her step. There was a flash of sunlight reflecting off something, and she just caught the faintest glimpse of a tears streaming down Starlight’s face before the mare had turned from her, stepping away. “W-We shouldn’t have been together,” she whispered.

Trixie frowned. She tried to approach Starlight again, but quickly thought better of it. “Is this about what they said?”

Starlight shook her head. She sniffed, and, in silence, started a slow trot back to the train station. “...I’ll see you back at Ponyville,” was all she said.

The chill morning air brushed against Trixie’s breast. Her bandages were starting to itch. The birds had begun to sing their morning song, but Trixie refused to move from the spot. Her eyes were focused on the horizon where she’d last seen her friend. At least, she used to think of her like a friend. Now she wasn’t quite sure...

She wasn’t sure how long she’d been there. Carts had arrived not long ago and pegasus had begin work in taking down the tent and packing up what remained after the staff from the night before. Had it been hours? Minutes?

Nopony knew, but the sun was already well above the trees when Trixie finally spoke.

“B-But...” she said. “I think I love you, Starlight.”

The Vulnerable

Starlight was lost deep in her thoughts, watching, but not really watching as the green, rolling hills of the countryside slowly passed her by. Following her encounter in the park, she’d quickly made a beeline out of there, to get as far away from them as she possibly could in as little time as she could.

She couldn’t stand to be in the same town as them. She couldn’t stand to be around Trixie. She couldn’t stand, period. That was why the first thing she had done was go to the train station and get the first ticket back to Ponyville. It didn’t matter if they gave her the worst seats, or even a position in the hold, all she cared about was that she had to get away.

And thus, here she was, sitting on the train, alone, with nopony else but herself and her own thoughts.

Luckily the train ride wasn’t a long one. It was only an hour back from Canterlot. It wouldn’t have surprised her to get there and find Trixie already set up with her cart behind the castle. In fact she expected it. But it still left her with her thoughts, plenty of time to think.

Time to regret.

And thus, as she sat alone, in the last economy class cabin, watching the land roll by, she couldn’t help but think about how things could have gone differently, and what she could have possibly done to make things better.

What had happened, between her and Trixie was wrong. At least that’s what they taught in school. Every unicorn, young and old, was trained in the laws of their tribe. Thou shall not steal. Thou shall not lie. Do not impose thy will over those more vulnerable than thee.

Those were the first three morals that came to mind, the most important; the most sacred. There was a time, before she formed her own school, when Celestia herself would travel from town to town, visit the local school houses, and teach these same morals to she and her classmates.

That was how she learned them, and again when she’d finally gotten her first casting scrolls. She was sworn by them as a mage, and how many of those same rules had she broken in her—Old Starlight’s conquest?

Probably all of them. Definitely all of them. But she was better now, right? Didn’t she deserve forgiveness for her past actions?

But she did. They had forgiven her, some part of her said, a more hopeful part. Twilight had forgiven her. The old Starlight had died. She’d been reformed. She’d become a hero to equestrian, rather than its tyrant, but why did she still feel this way?

Same-sex couples were forbidden among unicorns. She couldn’t say the same about the other tribes, but to them it was as much a pillar of virtue as all the rest. And she’d broken that pillar. Not only that, but she was sure Sparkler and Berry knew she’d broken that pillar.

She didn’t know how they found out, but there was no doubting their choice of words—‘We’ll leave you with your fillyfriend’ –couldn’t have been a coincidence.

They knew.

It was set in stone, and the only thing she didn’t know was what they were going to do about it. They knew she’d broken that pillar, and with her best friend, no less. Does that make her any less than she was? Is Starlight Glimmer really no different than the Starlight that had enslaved that village all those months ago? Was it all just a ruse? Had she really simply fooled herself into thinking she’d changed when nothing had actually—

Starlight winced. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned against the wall, letting the vibrations and the soothing sound of the train’s motions wash over her. No. She was different. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t be regretting what she’d done.

But that still left the matter of what to do.

This whole situation was fucked up. Whether she liked it or not, she’d been with Trixie. She’d liked it. She was pretty sure Trixie herself had liked it. But it wasn’t right. Not in the eyes of the law, and that wasn’t the worst part of it.

She’d promised Trixie she’d always be there by her side. They were going to make the trip back to Ponyville together, taking turns pulling Trixie’s cart and chatting up a storm. They were going to stop on the way and get some croissants, eat some early breakfast, and then maybe, just maybe, she could get Trixie alone. They could be kissing. She could be caressing Trixie’s subtle flanks, feeling that soft, bristly fur under her frogs, getting a whiff of that mane.

They’d be alone in the cart with nopony around. With the perfect chance, she could pull Trixie’s body against hers, their breaths quickening, their kisses deepening. She’d let Trixie explore her mouth. She’d explore hers, and then, as their hearts beat faster in loving unison, she’d—

The cabin shook. The loud ruffling of baggage, and the sharp clackity-clack-clack-clack-clack brought Starlight violently back into the present.

She was leaned against the corner wall of the Ponyville Express, her cheek pressed against the window with her rump only just on the edge of her seat. Her heart was beating, and her breath felt hot. She became aware of a misted patch against the glass, and the strain of drool dripping from her maw.

Not only that. Her nose twitched—as did something else, something below—to a certain new scent sharing the cabin with her.

“M-Ma’am?” A stallion’s voice spoke up behind her, causing Starlight’s mane to bristle.

She choked. “O-Oh, yes! S-s-sorry!” Starlight sprung off the window, flashing an awkward smile as she returned to her upright position. There was something sticky between her thighs and the chair, and Starlight wasted no time in clamping her legs together and leaning forward to preserve her modesty.

He was a brown, well-dressed stallion who had taken up the seat across from her. She guessed he must have come in without her realising it, because by the looks of things he had just sat down. His mane was carefully combed back, though it hung with long strands that he quickly brushed away before offering a hoof to Starlight. “Hi, uh—” He coughed. “I’m Chocolate Ganaché,” he said.

Starlight hesitantly bumped his hoof. She could feel her blush still receding, though the sticky seat and she fading scent in the cabin still lingered as a reminder of her actions. Had she really just been fantasizing about herself and Trixie? now!? “I-I didn’t notice you coming in.”

“I’m sorry.” He sat up, pulling a briefcase up from the seat beside him. “Th-The door was unlocked. I thought this cabin was unoccupied, but then when I came in here, I-I saw you were sleeping and I didn’t want to—“

“It’s okay.” Sleeping. That was a good excuse as any. She waved him back to his seat and waited until Chocolate had settled back down before continuing. “H-Honestly, you seem like a nice guy—” Smile, damn it, Starlight! She smiled. “And I could use a bit of company right about now.”

~ ~ ~

There was no telling how long she had stayed there on that step, wallowing, and thinking on Starlight’s words. The Starlight Trixie had seen that morning was nothing like the Starlight she had seen before. She was unlike the Starlight she knew. The glimpse of the mare she got was the same time strong and fragile, fixed and broken.

It reminded Trixie of herself, in a way. Every night she thought back to what she’d done with The Amulet—what Twilight had done, she reminded herself. It all had to be Twilight’s fault, she—she... I-If she hadn’t....

Trixie was grinding her teeth when she arrived at the back of her caravan.

She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. In, and out... she motioned a hoof over her chest, mirroring the lesson Starlight had taught her.

In, she breathed, and out again, and Starlight left the tension behind, relaxing her back as she felt every muscle in her being uncoil and unwind.

Once more, in, and she closed her eyes, focusing on the moment, holding it there, pushing all worries out of her with the wind.... out.

She opened her eyes and looked over the door of the caravan, her caravan, the same hunkering beast she’d spent a little over half her life in. It was her home, her sanctuary, her abode where The Great and Powerful Trixie could truly be The Great and Powerful Trixie.

Even through the wear and tear—Trixie acknowledged the tiny nicks and scratches in the paint as she stepped across the wonky step to reach the back door—it had held firm and showed a strength she could only wish she had.

She opened the door with a click and pushed it inside. Almost immediately Trixie was overwhelmed by the veritable wall of musk that flowed out to meet. “Oh—Oh g—“ She coughed and spluttered, falling away from the entranceway—“Oh Celestia, what is that—“ Her nose flared. She gasped for fresh air only for a new gulp of the acrid odour of sex to invade her nostrils. “—That—“ Her eyes began to water, only making the situation worse for Trixie as she squinted and to even see where the caravan was. “—That smell.”

Finally, Trixie stumbled into the dark inside of the caravan, her eyes watering and her nose burning, as she took in the surroundings. Nothing had changed since last night—other than the obvious odour. At the time her performance was the top priority, and thus in their hurry neither of them even stopped to consider the state they were leaving the caravan in, her caravan, Her precious baby.

The curtains were drawn—that was the first thing Trixie made to correct. She tugged them aside with her magic; a stream of sunlight bathed the mess in its radiance. Clothes and random objects lay strewn around. The clothing rack was an utter disgrace, even in comparison to its normally organised chaos. The extra hats and capes lay in a bundle in the corner, positioned perfectly in the corner exactly three inches to the left of her hamper.

Every chest had been opened and its contents unceremoniously dumped on the floor next to them, gutted like a breakfast turkey read to be stuffed. Her brushes and combs, hair spray, and pretty much every other cleansing agent under the sun cluttered the dresser where the dim yellow of her show lights still burned from where Trixie last pitied herself.

And framed in the middle of this—Trixie slowly began to do her paces, carefully side-stepping each garment as she cast her magic forth to begin picking up the pieces—was the last, final, straw.

Her chair lay sideways, toppled with one leg broken and shattered, and the other bent at an odd angle where the wood had clearly splintered. It had a clear darkened patch on the seat, and the scent of arousal wafted off of it like the heady musk of two mares in heat.

The sickeningly sweet smell of candy floss and cum.

~ ~ ~

“So, um...”

It was silent in the cabin, nothing but the repeated clack-clack=clack of the train’s tracks rung in the background. Starlight was sitting awkwardly across the game from her... new friend, she was going to call him. In all honesty, she still didn’t know very much about Chocolate Ganaché. Besides the usual pleasantries, she’d quickly falling back into her same old habit: staring longingly into her cup of tea.

She’d just taken a sip, when the stallion’s words caused her to snap back to attention.

“So, um”—He was scratching his ear to seem nonchalant. “Starlight, how long have you been staying in Ponyville?”

“Oh, you know...” Starlight’s face turned red, and she quickly blew back her back and turned her face away, hopefully hiding her growing blush from the stallion. “I-It’s been about three months,” she said, and then quickly threw in, “S-Since I moved.” She wanted to say something about Twilight Sparkle and the castle, but that was running the risk of revealing too much.

What was she going to say? Hi, I’m Starlight Glimmer, I enslaved an entire town full of ponies and moved here because I vowed revenge to kill Twilight Sparkle with a time spell that ended up destroying the entire universe, but don’t worry, I’m good now! And totally don’t know any other dangerous magic that could—wait where are you going, don’t bring the guard...

She giggled, cracking what she hoped would be a placating smile. Instead the stallion seemed to be staring at her with a look of more concern than composure. “Um...” He leaned forward, but quickly thought better of it and pressed his back against the seat, one ear pricked to the door in case he had to make a dash. “Starlight, a-are you okay?”

“Yes!” She shouted, then quickly backpedalled and repeated more softly. “Yes, yes, I’m fine, sorry.” Her ears drooped—sinking with her heart, but then picked back up as the stallion seemed to relax.

“Sorry, y-you seemed kind of out of it.”

“Yes. I was...” Starlight looked out the window. She glanced past her own reflection to the rolling landscape outside and then back to the stallion. “I was... thinking again.”

“You should stop thinking.”

She snorted. “I agree.” Chocolate Ganaché added his own snicker, and this triggered a full on guffaw from Starlight. “Ha, yeah!” She dismissed the joke with a hoof as she stifled her own snickers. It was a lame joke, and in any other other situation it would have earned a smack out of her, but in this... It was just what she needed. “So yeah, it’s been three months.”Starlight continued, “Y-“she giggled. “You could say I’ve been here a full season now.”

“Oh wow...” Chocolate mouthed a big ‘O’ as his eyes widened in realisation. “So I’m talking to a veteran, then?”

Starlight covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing. “Yes, yeas, but enough about me...” She took a deep breath, restoring her previous composure. “What about you?” Starlight said. “I don’t exactly ride this train very often, but I’m very certain I haven’t seen you around Ponyville before.”

“Oh, well...” This time it was Chocolate’s turn to blush. “Y-You wouldn’t believe—It’s actually a funny story...”

~ ~ ~

The sickeningly sweet smell of candy floss and cum danced its way across Trixie’s nostrils, forcing a tremor to rides it way up the nape of her neck. Her whole body seemed to stiffen, as if turned on by a switched. Her muscles coiled, as is preparing for something as the familiar scent sunk in.

Trixie’s eyes widened. Her breath caught in her throat, and she felt herself suddenly growing hot all over again. That scent was like an old home, something you could never forget, never get away from. No matter where you went or what you did, who she did, Trixie could never forget the memories of that smell.

It was unique, one brought on by the intermingling of two mare’s juices, or the coupling of two souls made for one another. It was like the old family home one could never get back to, and when you smelled that smell, you were instantly teleported back to the last and best moment you had in that place.

Her mouth was dry. Trixie licked her lips, tasting the air as she swallowed to moisten her stiffened tongue. She couldn’t help but have her eyes wander, drawn towards the darkened patch in the clearing of the floor—that one, small, wet patch where their juices had seeped into the oaken wood.

They’d probably never get it out now, not that she’d ever want to get it out.

As she drew closer to the sacred spot, the memories of the night before came crashing down, awash in heat as they rushed through her mind. All the thoughts, or how Starlight Glimmer has so taken control, forced herself upon Trixie, come to take what she wanted—what they both wanted.

It gave her a twist in her stomach a new sensation that was hard to pin down. Sickness? Uneasiness? Excitement and resentment? All of those words seemed to meld together, forming a mesh-mash of different feelings—all distinct but all the same; inseparable but worlds apart at the same time.

Something about how Starlight had acted—combined with how she’d asserted herself against those mares it sent shivers down Trixie’s spine.

She quickly found herself panting, her breath hot and heavy the thoughts and images of Starlight on top of her, Trixie herself pinned on the ground and unable to do a thing about it. How Starlight would use her weight to reassert her dominance, to force herself upon Trixie—upon her—and take what she wanted.

And that was somehow... good. Every fibre in her being was screaming at her in different way, all acknowledging the same truth, the truth that she herself didn’t know if she was ready to admit.

It both scared and excited her, and boy did it excite her. She could feel tension growing in her knees as she trotted, every so slowly, in the direction of the puddle, as if drawn nearer by an unseen force. She was transfixed, her eyes glued to the slight glistening of the scented, unimaginably sweet concoction that had drawn her attention.

Everything about it, she was both infuriated and adored it. As she kneeled at the edge of the small puddle, a small tickle of her sanity squeaked in the back of Trixie’s mine. She almost gave an audible squeak as her cheeks flushed at the thought, and Trixie no time in checking over her shoulder.

The caravan was empty. Of course it was empty. This was her private quarters, after all. Why would anypony else be in here? And yet, she still felt the need to check.

She glanced to the windows, and gently drew them closed with a bit of her magic, then cast a weary eye to the only exit. The front door was luckily locked, though she did double check the latch before turning her attention back to her... devious activity.

Slowly and deliberately, Trixie lowered the edge of her hoof into the middle of the puddle. Just the tip made contact, and it sent a yet another shiver up her spine. It was cold, and judging by the slight crusting around the edges of the floorboards, the majority of it had already dried of seeped away.

Yet there was still enough to sate her curiosity.

The fluid clung thick to her frog, and tiny trail of cum glistened in the light as it stretched across the widening distance to the underside of her hoof. It was thicker than expected, and gave off a strong odour of fresh sweet nectar as she brought it closer to her nose.

She gave it a light sniff and, sure enough, there it was: candy floss, as clear as day, along with anther, more familiar scent. It was sharp, but not altogether unpleasant. More than anything, it was...

Trixie licked her lips. The heat slowly rose around her, Trixie’s breath quickening, growing hotter, and less restrained. She smacked her lips, swallowing as her mouth became dry.

Slowly, gradually, and with practiced precision, Trixie brought the hoof in closer to her mouth. She drew in the scent with every heated breath, thinking of the source, disassembling and deconstructing it in her mind.

It was a mixture of both Starlight’s and her own secretions, a potent concoction that was the product of their love. It was something that they could only ever hope to make together ,and that made it special. This had might as well be liquid gold in Trixie’s eyes, and this, this right here, was the only sample.

The smell of cotton candy had long since been taken over by a strong, more immediate, more needful scent when Trixie, finally, let her tongue out to take a sample of the sweet nectar.

It tasted nothing like what she’d imagined. Not like how it smelled, it was almost bitter, and tasted a lot like hoof, but regardless, she couldn’t deny she’d been worked up.

The scent of a mare in heat hung heavy in the room, and Trixie was forced to widen her stance, spread her legs out to allow some fresh air between her nethers. Her tail hack twitched sporadically all throughout, and she was only now beginning to notice the stray hairs plaid across her flanks, and the unmistakable sensation of something wet trickling down her insides of her thighs.

Trixie flinched when she felt her love bud stretch against her lips. She couldn’t think what it must look like behind there, what any any stallion would think if they’d seen her now. Just the thought of somepony catching her, the Great and Powerful Trixie, acting like a common hoarse was—

She winked again, slathering a fresh splash of juices against the hardwood floor. With it came strong smell of heat, want, and need that all but choked out every other odour in the room.

--Dammit.

She shook her head, almost facehoofed with the soiled hoof, buck luckily thought better of it at the last minute. “St-St-stupid sexy S-Starlight Glimmer...” she swore under her breath, admonishing herself for being so weak. She was the Great and Powerful Trixie, Celestia damn it, she was the one who’s supposed to be having stallions—er—mares falling head over hooves for her! Not the other way around!

Trixie flicked the cum from her hoof and turned it around to wipe the remnants away on her chest. No, this simply could not stand. Trixie Lulamoon was not a plaything for other mare. It was beneath her, she was too good for that. If anything, she should be the one taking top position.

She should be the one taking and dealing pleasure, and if anypony were to be left high-and-dry, it was going to be the other mare, Starlight Glimmer.

It was all just a matter of laying the right foundation, or coming up with the right plan, staying focused and, whatever she does, she couldn’t get distracted thinking about Starlight Glimmer, and just how friggin amazing her tongue would feel pressed between the folds of her pussy right about now, and—Oh, the things she would do, how she’d hold Starlight, kiss her, caress her. About how when their bodies were intertwined, she would love for Starlight to press her down and pin her against the soft fabric of their shared double hotel bed...

They’d lie there for ages, simply whispering little nothings into each of their ears. “Oh, Trixie,” Starlight would say, “I wish we could be here forever,” and then they would kiss, a slow, long, passionate kiss like only true lovers do, the kind of kiss that would make even Rarity swoon.

Starlight would be on top, the master, whilst she lay there, unable to do anything. She’d be at the whims of her lover, utterly defenceless. The Meek and Utterly Defenseless Trixie would be forced to lie there and watch, to beg, if her master so allowed, and simply wait for and take whatever wonderful gifts Starlight Glimmer would bestow on her.

The kiss deepened their breaths becoming hot ad ragged, their tongues dancing over each over as they both crossed into that moment. Trixie felt her hooves start to wonder—they tried to wander, but were halted short by the tight bindings that held her in place on the bed.

Starlight pulled away, looking Trixie over with a knowing smirk, her smile half-cocked, as if she were admiring her work. “Are you comfortable, my dear?” she said. Adding another wiggle to her hips, Starlight ground her marehood against Trixie’s growing, erect teats. She was dripping and hot, and the sensation of arousal dripping and trailing over her own sex was like the soft patter of raindrops against taught canvas. It sent shivers through her whole body, making the black ropes tremble with every motion. “... or must I tighten it some more?”

Trixie started. She shook her head, unwilling to squeak a word. She didn’t know if Starlight wanted her to speak, so perhaps, she thought, t would be better to stay quiet for now. They could always get loud later, after all.

“Good...” Starlight cooed. She looked Trixie over. Her eyes were hungry, and she could feel herself being sized up, meticulously catalogues by the unyielding stare of her mistress.

Starlight inched herway further down Trixie’s body, trailing her hooves over the sensitive parts of her body, pressing firmly on her chest, forcing Trixie’s back to depress the mattress, and then continued down.

Next she was over her stomach, feeling the muscles and tendons underneath before settling to pause, and play with Trixie’s engorged teats. All this while, she had Trixie locked with those eyes: sparkling and hungry with lust, ready and willing to do whatever she wanted to make Trixie feel good.

“Are you ready?” she said, coy with that bubbly, playful tone.

Trixie felt herself squirm. She screwed her eyes shut, biting her lip not to moan as Starlight suckled on corner of her throbbing hot flesh of her hood. It caused her breath to catch, and the bitter flavour of blood filled her mouth as she pressed down on her lower lip.

Starlight stopped. Again looking Trixie in the eye, eyebrow raised. She used the other hoof to stroke her pussy, giving it just enough stimulation to keep her on edge, but not enough to offer any sort of relief. “I said,” she repeated, this time in a more stern tone. “Are you ready, my pet?”

THUD

There was a loud bang as something slammed against the side of the caravan, causing it and everything inside to shake around her. Trixie snapped out of her daydream with a yelp, “Ah!” she gasped, stumbling as the ground shook.

There was a second, less heart-attack-inducing slam against the outside wall, and a stallion’s voice called back. “S-Sorry!”

Another commotion followed and the sun outside seemed to fade. It flickered as something passed the windows, and another vehicle trundled past outside. Trixie silently spat, “D-Dammit, Celestia!” She was flushed red and smelled like heat more than ever before. Her legs were utterly drenched, and Luna forbid anypony catch her now.

She stamped her frustration squeezing her eyes shut as she admonished herself. “Focus!” She stomped and the boards creaked beneath her. “Focus, Trixie, focus!” Another stomp, and her hoof crashed clear through the floor, causing Trixie to jump sideway with a yelp.“Focusssss—a Yah!”

She lurched into the hole and, just as she was about to land smack on her face, she twisted and succeeded a wobbly, albeit awkward, recovery. “I can’t get distracted. Not now, not yet.”

Squinting, she turned to start inspecting the space, strutting proudly as she sidestepped the—now multiple—stains—and holes—in her floor. She whispered, “C-Cleaning up can wait. Right now Trixie has more urgent dealings to take care of, plans to be laid, deals to be made...”

With a flicker of her horn, Trixie sent out a meagre tendril of magic to dig through her belongings. She let it wander under the clothes racks, focusing it as it felt over the various objects of different shapes and sizes.

Her muzzle scrunched in concentration until, finally, her magic grazed across its target. A familiar mottled texture was transmitted back to her over the aether. Soft and flesh-like. Some more exploring revealed more objects, and a wide, devilish grin spread across Trixie’s face as straps, some kind of plastic, or latex—it’s been so long since she’d used it, she wasn’t really sure any more—and so, so much more revealed itself to her magical tendril.

She couldn’t stop herself from grinning as the tendril retracted back with its cargo. A dark, metal black box slid into view, awash with the faint blue tinge of Trixie’s magic. With it came a bundle of black straps, an unmarked plastic bottle, and a packet of peanut biscuit.

The box and the straps were slapped down on the dressing table, shoving any prior arrangements aside. The chair quickly righted and fixed itself.

Trixie took her seat, admiring her collection, as she pulled out the first of several salted snacks, dipped it in the peanut butter, and took a slow, deliberate bite, savouring the creamy delicious coating.

As plots and devices began to take form before her, she templed her hooves with a menacing evil grin. “Oh, my dear, naive little Starlight Glimmer... You made Trixie the sub; you may have made Trixie like being the sub, but now it’s time for Trixie to return the favour.”

~ ~ ~

The deep trebled hiss of the steam train’s brakes riverbed through the cabin, adding its tone to the trundling squeal of the tracks below. The luggage shifted as the entire hulking mass lurched to a gradual halt, and there was the distant yells of stallion-workers outside as they began the first refuelling of job of the day.

Starlight’s eye grazed across the window, her attention caught momentarily as a pegasus mare—one she almost recognised as Rainbow Dash—zipped across the sky with a raincloud to attend the some other part of the carriage. Far behind, the barrel of a slough rolled around on its hinges to feed coal into train’s open maw.

“...and about this stallion,” Chocolate’s voice called her back to the present, and Starlight’s eyes snapped back to the stallion sitting by her side. They’d long since switched seats when the breakfast cart had come, and they both were sitting with the leftovers of a pot of coffee and eggs. He said, questioning, as he lifted the cup to his mouth. “Dickixie, is it?” He took a careful sip. “Did you ever stop to ask what he wanted?”

Starlight winced. She couldn’t have been that stupid, could she? “Well...” Her eyes turned back to her hooves, and to the cup of cold black liquid barely hanging on in her aura. “...N-Not exactly,” she admitted, albeit afraid to look up. “W-We spoke, a bit, b-but then—Everything happened, and then I kind-a...”

She looked Chocolate in the eyes, hoping he would get the idea, but the stallion simply looked back with one eyebrow raised, silently calling for her to continue. He gave his cup a nudge in her direction as a sign of good confidence.

“I kinda left in a hurry,” finally, she admitted, and Starlight winced, turning away ready for his admonishment.

But then nothing came.

Instead, after a short silence filled by the clapping of hooves across the roof—and a featherbrain fluttering past the window—he eventually breath. “Well...” Chocolate heaved. “Let me ask you one question, then.” His voice was soft. Tired, but understanding, like any gentlestallion ought to be. “Don’t think about it; just simply try to answer it as truthfully as you feel in your heart.”

A slight pause gave Starlight the chance to nod in his favour, and he continued.

“Do you love him?”

She didn’t think; she didn’t have to. It just came out. “Y-Yes.” Starlight said. Then, just as quickly as if she’d realised what she’d just said, she doubled back. “I—I mean, I do, but she—“

With a gentle bop to the nose, he silenced her. “No buts,” said Chocolate. He tsked and took a last sip of his drink before setting it back on the tiny tray it had come with. “That is the answer. It’s all you need to know, and it’s all that matters.

“And if he loves you just the same, he’ll forgive you. Your stallion will accept you for whoever you are, flaws and all.”

Giving another pause, Chocolate allowed his words to sink, and Starlight couldn’t help but crack a thin little smile. She looked Chocolate in the eyes—those beautiful eyes, and then brushed back her mane, but then something wretched inside twisted those feelings into regrets. Thoughts, memories, doubts, and the smile all but vanished.

He seemed to notices, and Starlight couldn’t keep him from frowning, as if in sorrow for her. “Listen, Starlight,” he said. He inched closer to her, and the gentle warmth of another body enveloped her as Chocolate squeezed her into a sideways hug. “I know you’re not telling me the whole truth. It’s clear as glass, any foal can see that.”

“Chocolate, I—“

He shushed her. “—and I don’t blame you. You don’t have to tell me. It’s personal. But what if I told you this...”

He moved back away, and Starlight could feel the brightness of a smile shining out of the corner of her eyes. Tentatively, she looked up to meet his gaze.

“You wanted to know why I was coming to Canterlot? Well,” she forced a chuckle—his smile clearly strained as the stallion pushed forward. “I’ve.... been having relationship troubles too. You see, Cream Heart, she, um—” He shook his head, chuckling. “I-It’s not important. The point is: when I get to Ponyville, I’m going to go see Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Her breath caught in her chest. Starlight coughed—she was lucky she’d been neglecting her coffee otherwise it would have been all over the opposite bench. Regardless, she made sure to drop it back to the carrying tray, nearly spilling it, as she jolted back up to question Chocolate—more of a incredulous scream than anything else. “T-T-Twilight Sparkle!?” she almost choked from holding back the laughter.

Chocolate himself, smirked, waving her down as he smile. “Yeah, yeah, I know”—he rolled his eyes—“What’s a ‘handsome stallion like me going to The Princess of Friendship with a love problem, but believe you me, friendship and love are not that dissimilar, and the princess of Friendship is bound to know a little something about relationships.”

“But—” Suppressing a snort, Starlight managed to regain enough composure not to fall off her seat. She steadied herself as she asked, “But why not go to Princess Cadance? She’s the princess of Love.”

“She’s the Princess of Lust, Starlight,” he corrected, with all but a roll of his eyes. “She’d sooner have me getting a dick-enhancement surgery as her way to better pleasure a mare, and that’s the last thing I need right now.”

A wicked grin spread across Starlight’s face, her face reddening as the first through to grace her mind slipped past her lips. “... Y-You got a long Ganaché?”

“No—I mean, yes—I mean—” Chocolate Ganaché’s ears burned bright red, as too did his face. He shook himself, stuttering as he struggled to get past th-that—whatever that was. “Th-That’s beside the point. The point is that Princess Sparkle is better. I’m going to her castle after lunch, and I suggest you come with me, then she can help both of us.”

“Oh, well...” Starlight deflated into her seat. Her ears drooped, and the butterflies in her stomach were screaming at her about how much of a terrible idea this was going to be. “I—I don’t know about that...”

“Come on,” Chocolate egged on. He flashed a grin, before he switched tactics and turned to the puppy dog eyes instead. “You’re not going to leave me to go it alone are you?”

Starlight scrunched her nose up, screwing her eyes tight to keep from looking at the pony beside her. She knew what the puppy dog eyes were going to do to her—she’d been subject to Fluttershy’s rendition one too many times to know the types of horrors that lay in wait for underestimating the powers of Weaponised Equine Cuteness.

She squeaked out one last protest before she was forced to give Chocolate one last look. “B-But will she understand?”

She looked, and like the flaming arrows of Artemares, the cutest face she could ever imagine burned itself into her retinas and her memory forever. It burrowed deep through her soul, cutting straight on a mission to melt the nearest mare’s heart. She’d been just about to clutch at her chest, all but ready to call for an ambulance when, luckily, Chocolate’s expression melted into a more subdued—equally as cute, but less piercing—look of adorable confusion.

“Yeah?” he said, half asked and cocked his head to the side. “Of course.” He blinked. Starlight glimpsed movement as one of his ears flicked casually. “T-This is a Princess we’re talking about, after all. They’re, like, as understanding as a pony could possibly be.”

Starlight leaned in closer, their faces just a few inches apart. This could be a solution or, at least, a math to one.

She had to know.

Starlight’s voice was barely above a whisper as she asked, “And you’re sure?”

“Yes.” He nodded, affirmative. The gap between them was pushed apart as Chocolate, wordlessly, held up foreleg, hoof ready for her to grasp. “What do you say?” He said, smug with a flicker of his eyes to the hoof between them. “Princess Partners?”

“Hrm...” Starlight frowned. She took a deep breath, as if studying the offered leg. She tapped her chin as she considered the options.

On the one hoof, she’d be putting herself out in front of a princess, a measure of authority, and all on the words of a stallion she’d barely had a few hours to get to know. On the other hoof, this was Twilight Sparkle—Bookworm extraordinaire they were talking about. It was doubtful she would have any good advice but maybe she could trust this princess to keep a secret...

Starlight let out a long, defeated sigh.

Her hoof pressed against his and they shook.

“Deal.”

The Doubtful

The castle of friendship stood foreboding on the horizon. Its jagged spires and crystalline branches were misted by distance, and yet Starlight still felt like it was breathing over her back, watching, observing the denizens of Ponyville with an iron-laden hoof, ready to report on their misdeeds like some twisted elder brother.

She could imagine Princess Twilight Sparkle on the throne—no, at the balcony, rather, with a telescope to her eyes as she carefully inspected—judged—the ponies of Ponyville for their misdeeds. Even when she had her back to it, she could still feel it, her mentor’s eyes boring into the back of her head.

Her ears wilted just thinking about what was to come. What would The Princess think about her? What would she say? What would she, herself say?

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Ponies’ voices chattered all around her, unafflicted by the princess’ gaze, all whilst they went about their business eating their—”

“Starlight?” A pony’s voice snapped her back to the present. Starlight almost got whiplash as she tore her gaze away from the castle and snapped to the pony across the table from her. Chocolate Ganaché had a mouth full of hayburger, and was giving Starlight a concerned glare as he wiped the mayonnaise from his lip. “Is everything okay?” His voice was soft, albeit stifled by his chewing. “You seemed rather distant.”

“Oh, y-yeah...” Starlight muttered. She glanced to her own plate—salad and a broccoli casserole. She’d barely touched it. It was probably almost cold.

She levitated her fork and took a small bite of it regardless. Yep. Definitely cold.

“It’s okay, I was just...”

“Concerned?” Chocolate jumped in. He wiped his chin with the napkin and reached across the table, setting his hoof over Starlight’s own. A slight tremble ran up her spine at the contact, and Starlight couldn’t help but stare as Chocolate looked into her eyes, his own soft and filled with—she couldn’t quite put it. Compassion? “I understand, Star. If you’re nervous about visiting The Princess, you don’t have to. I won’t make you do this.”

“I-” Starlight flinched. She jerked her foreleg back, retreating to her side of the table whilst trying to avoid Chocolate’s gaze. “I-It’s not that,” she said. “I still want to go with you. It’s just—I need to tell you the tr—“

“Sir. Madam.” A tall, slender stallion stepped up to their table clad in a smart dress and tie as he cut like butter through their conversation. “If I may?” He gestured to Chocolate’s empty plate, then levitated it out from between them at the latter’s affirmation. He then glanced to Starlight. Their eyes met, and she saw a slight sparkle in his as his moustache turned up into a smirk. “Will there be anything else for the couple, m’lady?”

Starlight’s face instantly turned red. Her cheeks burned as both she and Chocolate shared an awkward glance. The stallion instantly pulled away, coughing, as Starlight rushed to correct. “Oh-Oh-no, no, we’re not—”

“We’re not together.” Chocolate said.

“—together.” Starlight confirmed with a nod. “We’re just friends.” She flashed an awkward smile to the waiter, hoping beyond hope that nopony had noticed her flushed complexion. She then added, “J-Just the bill.”

The waiter’s moustache curled back down and his eyebrows scrunched, but his eyes still had that knowing sparkle to them. He gave a short bow, looking to each pony in turn, and then left to complete the order.

Starlight held her smile, watching the waiter as he cantered away from their table, past another group, and then finally disappeared around the corner, at which point she finally let her face drop and groaned. “Ooooh my Celestia!” She almost slammed her face into the table, but noticing the casserole, thought better of it and instead let herself slide lower against the back of the bench. “That was sooo embarrassing. I can’t believe he thought we were a couple.”

“I know,” Chocolate said with a smirk. “Imagine that.” He set a hoof on the table, the smirk forming into a wily grin as he gave Starlight the googly eyes. “A handsome stallion like me, and a mare like you, a couple!”

He wiggled his eyebrows and Starlight couldn’t help herself but giggle. “Oh-Oh stop it...” She waved a hoof, stifling her laughs as she leaned against the table, pushing the cold casserole aside. “You know what I meant,” she wheezed, and forced her composure again, this time shooting back with her own lidded gaze. “You said it yourself, or do you”—she fluttered her eyes—“Want to take it back?”

A visible red blush rose in Chocolate’s cheeks, and Starlight took pride in watching as the stallion fidgeted uncomfortably. He coughed into a hoofkerchief, and made a move to loosen his collar as he attempted to avoid Starlight’s gaze. “Wh-well—I—It’s not that I don’t like you”

Starlight stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry. She swatted him with a hoof, just missing due to the distance. “Oh come on, I’m just teasing,” she said. Chocolate instantly relaxed, but not before she could sneak in a quick wink and the word. “Or am I?”

He bristled on the spot, and Chocolate immediately broke into a fit of giggles. “Oh, okay, okay fine!” he shouted between laughs. “I get it!”

Starlight could sense other ponies looking in their direction from other tables. She even caught the waiter eyeing them from the kitchen, but she decided to ignore them for the time being. The ponies can gossip all they wanted; it wasn’t going to matter to her. “Good.” She leaned back and crossed her hooves with a smile.

She waited a moment whilst Chocolate calmed down, and watched the stallion slowly catch his breath. He breathed a sigh as the last giggles left him and was wiping the tears from his eyes when she finally decided to return to their previous conversation, this time at a little more ease. “So,” she said, “As I was saying. I am still going with you to see Princess Twilight. I promise,” she insisted with that last word. “It’s just, I feel like I have to tell you the truth, about my relation with the—”

“The bill, madam.” Once again, Starlight was cut off by the coattails as the waiter swooped in between them, this time with a little black book and pen floating at his side. He set it down open in front of her with the slip easily visible. “That will be one thousand, five-hundred bits, for the burger and casserole.”

“Oh, oh, I’m sorry.” Starlight took one look at the bill and her stomach lurched. “I don’t think I have that many—”

“It’s fine.” Chocolate held out his hoof and pulled the booklet over to his side. He lifted a small pouch of bits from under the table and began counting out the amount. “This lunch will be on.”

“Oh, Choc, you don’t ha—”

“I insist” He shot Starlight a glare as the bag of bits left his hoof, swapped for the pen by the waiter’s magic. “It’s my treat.” As he scribbled his name, he cast Starlight a reassuring smile. “And besides, Starlight, you don’t have to confess anything to me. I consider us friends, and good friend doesn’t pressure another to reveal their secrets. If there’s something you don’t feel comfortable telling me, you don’t have to. I won’t press for it.”

“But Chocolate—”

“No buts.” He put his hoof down then pushed his chair back as the water nodded them their farewells. He offered Starlight a hoof. “Now come on, we’d better get going; can’t let the lines be getting too long now, can we?”

~ ~ ~

After a great many hours of work and phone calls, Trixie, The Great and Sexyful beamed with pride as she looked over her assortment of instruments and artefacts. The inside of her caravan was shaking and trembling, jangling, around her as the ponies slowly hauled her and her treasures nearer to her prize.

Everything was falling into place. A flicker of her magic brought the now-repaired chair from her dressing table over to the bed, where she seated herself backwards and leaned against the backrest with crossed hooves to go over her plan one more time.

“Oh Starlight, you’re going to love this,” she whispered, licking her lips as she straightened the straps and lifted her prize from the heavy and worn black box.

~ ~ ~

There was a deep rumble that filled the square outside Twilight’s castle. Mares, stallions, griffons and dragons alike mulled around, some standing, others sitting, or chatting between themselves, adding to the persistent din as they all patiently awaited their turn.

It was already well past noon when Starlight and Chocolate arrived, and by then the line of ponies had already grown outside the door. More than the door, in fact; the entire street was utterly packed with bodies. A veritable multi-coloured mob had come out to see Twilight, a pleasant mob, but a mob all the same—Starlight thought.

She carefully eyed the mares around them as they cantered further into the brightly-coloured crowd. Mares and stallions mulled around them. Some pegasi jumped into the air out of their way, and colts could be heard squealing somewhere behind the living walls of coat and scales.

She spotted, on more than one occasion, a mare’ ears perk backwards and her head turn. Several sets of eyes flickered over her as ponies whipped their attention to the newcomers, some following her with their gaze, and others immediately looking away, back to their own interests upon discerning that Starlight wasn’t, in fact, her mentor, Twilight Sparkle.

After a good few steps, the crowd was growing dense and the murmur had turned to more than a din. Starlight lowered her ears, and she motioned for Chocolate to stop. The wall of flesh was already too thick to see past, and even as she reared to see over their heads, it was getting hard to make out exact where the front of the castle was.

As Starlight lowered herself back to the ground, Chocolate whistled. “Wow,” He mouthed a big ‘O’. “This is...”

“I know.” Starlight nodded. She flicked an ear as she looked back the way they’d come. The path was already closing in around them as more ponies followed their lead. “I’ve never seen the castle quite this full.”

“Do we just... wait it out?”

“I don— Oh!” The mare in front of them started to move and Starlight jumped at the chance to get another glimpse of their target. She reared back up and cupped a hoof to shade her eyes as she squinted ahead.

Some light flashed through the widening gap as somepony else took flight, and the corner of the eastern-most parapet—or was it a guard tower? The gap was so small, it might well have been a window and no pony would even tell. The important part was that she could see the castle, and--

And old stallion shuffled in front of them with a grousing grunt as he squeezed between all the other ponies. His ten gallon hat practically blocked out the sun, filling Starlight’s entire vision with nothing but tanned tree-bark and the smell of cattle manure.

“H-Hey!” She gasped, then, when the stallion made no move to respond, she screamed. “What are you doing!?” She shouted.

He snorted. The stallion’s hat hummed with the faint glow of magic, and a wooden back scratcher levitated up behind him to groom over his flank—right in Starlight’s face.

“Ah-no, no!” She recoiled away, gagging, as she back-pedalled. She’d raised a hoof to punt him out of the way, but instead ended up throwing herself off balance as she tumbled to the ground in a heap against Chocolate’s side. “Hey! HEY!” Starlight screamed from Chocolate’s arms, too red with rage to care about anything else. She waved her hoof at the stallion—by Celestia, if this brute wasn’t going to—

A burly mare with buck teeth, and her group of five children joined the stallion in waiting in front of them.

“Oh COME ON!” Starlight screamed, and facehoofed. “What is wrong with these ponie—“

“Ahem.”

Chocolate coughed, and Starlight went silent. Her ears perked back up as she pulled her face out of her hooves to glance up at the stallion holding her.

Holding.

Her.

She noticed Chocolate blushing and her gaze turned down slightly. The tingly, familiar, musk of something tickled her nose as she spotted something peeking out at just about eye-level.

Oh. Oh no. Oh buck no.

Starlight’s heart leapt into her chest and she leapt out of his hooves, turning beetroot red as she scuttled to put some distance between them. Unfortunately, the smothering crowd of ponies made that virtually impossible, and the smell of the family of nine made that practically impossible. She had to settle for a hair-breadth of distance between them as they both avoided each other’s gaze, challenging each other to see who could flush the deepest shade of red.

Starlight fumbled with her words whilst trying not to look down, knowing perfectly well what she’d see if she did. It didn’t help that she was starting to smell him, and that most definitely meant he could smell here. “I—I’m so-so-so-so, I didn’t mean to—“

“No.” Chocolate cut her off, his ears splayed back as he attempted to step away from Starlight. “N-No. It’s quite alright. I-” Her breathed in, then out. “I don’t mind. It was an accident.”

The crowd shifted around them as they both lapsed into an awkward silence. Starlight averted her gaze, choosing to direct her attention to—well, anything. The ten-gallon stallion, as she’d taken to calling him, seemed interesting enough, even if he was disgusting.

Disgusting was good. Disgusting was great. She couldn’t get off to disgusting.

Together, they took a step forward with the crowd, inching agonizingly closer to the castle. It would only take... a few days, at this rate.

“Um, Star...”

“You know what?” Starlight snapped back around to facing Chocolate, a sly smirk creeping onto her face. “I’m not going to wait in this line, and you shouldn’t either.” Her ears flicked left and right as she checked her surroundings for an easy exit.

“Starlight, what are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking...” She leaned closer to whisper in his ear, cupping her hoof on the other side to make absolutely sure nopony overheard them. The last thing she needed was to be followed. “I might know another way we can get into the castle, without waiting in this line.

Chocolate’s eyes widened and Starlight couldn’t contain her grin as she watched the excitement dawn on him. She continued, “But you have to keep quiet, and promise me you won’t tell anypony, what do you say?”

“OhmyCelestiaI love you, Starlight!”

She frowned. “What?”

Chocolate waved a hoof, as he gave a short bow. “Follow the way, m’lady!”

Starlight giggled. “Okay, okay, Bucko. Let’s get out of this crowd, then.”

~ ~ ~

“The Castle of Friendship has a side entrance for staff and residence to get in and out without anypony noticing.” Starlight Glimmer tip-hoofed around the back of the castle. Her head was low and she held her ears forwards, perked and ready for action, as the two made their way around to the castle’s courtyard. “It also allows them to take deliveries and move furniture without blocking the entrance. I learned that one the hard way when—

“The hard way whilst reading a magazine about it!” Yes, perfect save, Starlight. “It was in a magazine. About castles. And secrets.” She stopped mid-step, her eyes darting round for anypony that might have seen. Chocolate was probably still somewhere behind her, so he might not have didn’t caught her slip up, so long as she continued to act casual. She grinned. “Every castle has one. A side entrance, that is. Everypony knows about it—Hey! Look!” Continuing with a slight beading of sweat, starlight broke into a sprint as they reached the next corner, and then rounded it to arrive at the crook of the castle’s back courtyard.

A wall of shrubbery and hedges were the only thing that stood between them and the castle’s private courtyard. Starlight slowly approached the hedging whilst Chocolate cantered up behind her. She heard the stallion huffing and wheezing as he dragged his hooves and slowly wheezed into position beside her.

There was no way she was going to turn around to check that he was okay now. They were so close she could almost taste it. The castle’s magic was blissfully calm, and if her measurements were anywhere correct, and they mostly were—After all, she’d kept a very accurate measure of the castle. She had to. It was the only way she could even find her way in this Celestia-forsaken maze. Even important things, like finding the bathroom, took at least an hour of surveying broom closets—of which they had too many—and the arcane diagrams predicting where the rooms should have been were unusually complex because it would always be in the last place she’d check.

Starlight squeezed her eyes closed as the memory of trotting into the banquet hall that one time only to arrive in the bathroom, of all places. She suppressed the urge to vomit at the image of Spike ‘cleaning’ his nose hairs, if he could even call them that.

Twilight, Twilight, Twilight...

The distant chanting of the crowd out front slowly drew her back to the present, with her face in the bushes and a hot—Not[/i hot stallion right next to her poking her shoulder. “Starlight? Are you okay?”

“Yes!” She jolted, almost shaking the entire bush in the process. “Yes,” Starlight blurted repeatedly. “I’m fine. I’m fine. Just—” She cast Chocolate a glance. His warm smile washed over her and she couldn’t help but sigh and return with her own. “It’s just—I was remembering something. About this castle...”

She turned back to the bushes to shoved her head inside, and hopefully get a peek through to the other end. “I think we’re almost there. If my calculations are correct, it should only be a few more feet to the back entrance, and then it’s home free to seeing T—” She scrunched her muzzle. “Princess Twilight and getting this nightmare over with.”

Twilight, Twilight, Twilight...

The distant chanting of the crowd called rolled past them, and just barely masked the heavy, monotonous GLOMP, GLOMP, GLOMP of heavy boots from the inside the garden.

Starlight’s ears snapped forward and she shoved her head deeper into the bush. Chocolate did the same, almost stumbling over her as they both squeezed into the confined space to see what it was.

Starlight was pressed forward under his weight and the leaves parted, rustling, against the intruding intruders, just leaving a small enough gap to get a glimpse of the other side. Armour glinted in the sunshine, and the head of a spear swayed past their line of sight as a weathered old stallion trotted lazily along the perimeter.

“Is that—” Chocolate gasped beside her and Starlight shoved a hoof over his mouth, shushing him with the other.

He nodded, and then whispered when Starlight removed her hoof. “I-I don’t know about this, Starlight,” he said, leaning in closer against Starlight’s barrel. His chest was pressed almost completely against her back as they both craned their necks to see more of the courtyard.

Starlight’s stomach tightened at the prickling of his warm fur against her own; the intermingling of their forms. She could feel her breathing catch, but forced the gasp down as she tried to focus on the important matters: Why are there guards here?

She managed to get her eyes to align with a second opening; and eyed the guard as he did his rounds. He looked old, grizzled, even, with a grey and brown beard almost covering his Captain’s chest plate—far from the hulking Adonis that was his predecessor.

A spear hovered lazily in his magic, bobbing with each step and nod of his head like he was about to fall asleep. Meanwhile, several cadets had made themselves comfortable—busily setting up tents, polishing armour, and—in one case—admiring his mane-bun in a wing mirror.

Chocolate leaned in closer. Starlight’s legs locked, and her barrel tightened as she felt his weight shift from his legs to her own. Chocolate was practically mounting her at this point, and she was fighting with herself to stop her tail from flagging with all the mixed sensations. Every time his tail would flick or sway, the hairs would catch and drag against hers, teasing her slit ever so slightly.

“Are you sure this is even legal?” he said.

Starlight’s face exploded into a blush. She spluttered, almost breaking their cover as her heart leapt into her chest. Did—Did he just— She glanced to him, with every hope to read Chocolate’s expression, and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him with his eyes glued firmly against a second opening in the bushes.

Chocolate had a narrow frown as he inspected the guards and their armour, and Starlight took a long, careful, pause to steady her breathing.

He—He wasn’t talking about—“Of course it’s legal,” she said. It didn’t stop her cheeks from burning. “We’re just...visiting. We’re visiting the princess; in an unconventional manner.”

Starlight ran one last scan over the courtyard before backpedalling out of the bush, practically bucking Chocolate off of her back as she did so. The captain had already passed their section and was heading toward the far end of the courtyard, which meant they had a small window of opportunity.

So long as they were quiet, and didn’t try to draw attention to themselves, they should be able to sneak past without anypony noticing.

She gave Chocolate a slight tug of his tail with her magic—a signal for him to follow her, and she hurriedly repeated her plan to him with frantic hoof gestures as she galloped to the side gate, and gave it a s light push with her magic.

Chocolate galloped beside her, and gasped. “Wait, Starlight, it might—“

GGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The old hinges whaled in world-ending agony as the gate shuddered and inched itself inwards under Starlight’s force. The noise cut through the silence like an electric band-saw cuts through butter, utterly shattering any sense of stealth they might have had.

Starlight recoiled away. She gritted her teeth and clapped her hooves to her ears to blot out the unholy matripony of ear-splitting horrors that assaulted their eardrums. “Celestia, dam it, Spike—” Starlight swore unabashedly, but cut her scream short, rather choosing to stare daggers at the gate like it was some haunted freak of nature.

Of all the days he could have shirked his duties, he had to pick today. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, not next week, not even on a Saturday. That useless piece of shit had to do it today. This gate was supposed to be oiled weeks ago. She told him so personally.

The screeching died down as quickly as it had started, leaving both ponies frozen and as pale as Zecora without her stripes. Starlight’s ears pricked back up and she shared a glance with Chocolate, an awkward grin filing the chasm between them. “Y-You didn’t think anypony heard that, did you—”

“STOP! Who goes there?”

“Nope, definitely not!” Starlight yelped. Before Chocolate could even scream for help, she shoved him into the bushes and threw herself into looking casual. Yes, one foreleg over the gate—that unholy abomination from the deepest depths of hell—another crossed with the other, and a grin like a manic mare. Nothing says ‘absolutely casual’, sane mare who absolutely belongs here as much as grinning like an insane pony.

The captain of the guard arrived at a canter on the other side of the gate, his spear at the ready to impale any intruders—or pick up garbage. Probably the latter, given by the empty beer rings currently stick around his shaft.

He was slightly out of breath and looked like he was about to drop as he ground to a halt, eyeing Starlight as he raised a hoof to catch his breath “H-Halt.” He wheezed. “Royal-hhh-guard—” The spear wavered before picking up to point Starlight between the eyes, then he coughed and straightened his back, giving her the ‘you’re in trouble now’ gaze. “Authorized personnel only—”

He squinted, and squinted some more. The old stallion’s mouth turned into a wrinkly old frown and he pulled out a pair of spectacles to affix onto the bridge of his nose. With his glasses in place, he squinted and blinked some more. “Oh, terribly sorry, Miss Glimmer.” He tipped the edge of his helmet and the stallion’s scowl turned into a warm smile, like that of an uncle who was a little too friendly with the kids. “I didn’t realise it was you,” he said, and pat a hoof to his chest, puffing out the golden plating. “Can’t be too careful, these days, you know?” He glanced over his shoulder, and then leaned over the gate, waving Starlight in to tip her ear to his mouth. He whispered, “...what with these riots happenin’ an’ all.”

Starlight frowned. Riots? What riots? She whispered back, suppressing a gasp. “Riots?”

“Mhm.” He nodded. The captain leaned back to his own side of the fence. He set a foreleg over the top of it and set the spear in the ground next to him. “Yes ma’am. Somepony called in earlier sayin’ there’d be a Changelin’ attack. Celestia didn’t believe ‘em, of course. She’s too smart fer that, but she sent Twilight some guards anyway, t’ be safe.” His eyes narrowed again, and the spear picked up off the ground to point past Starlight’s head towards the square outside. “And what’n you know!” he shouted. “I get here and we got already fifty ‘n some ponies lined up ‘side there gate! It’s a regular cat-apostrophe!”

TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT, TWILIGHT

The chanting returned, this time more insistent. It was accompanied by the pounding of excited hooves, and the rise of a dust cloud as—possibly—dozens, if not hundreds, of ponies began their next chorus.

“Oh no.” The stallion blanched.

Starlight frowned. She looked back to the crowd once, and then turned to address the captain. “Um... But they’re just ponies? They’re not a mob.”

The stallion’s horn blazed. He gave Starlight a quick glance as he whispered. “That’s what they want you to think.” He said. “They ain’t fooling me, though. Nopony’s getting in or out of this castle under Captain Rotherford’s watch!”

He whistled over his shoulder, then gave a bellowing battle cry as he vaulted the fence and took off toward the front of the castle—“To Victory!” Somewhere inside the castle, war horns blared, and several cadets emerged from the woodwork in his wake, each one jumping the gate and galloping in step, looking more confused and bewildered than the last.

Starlight watched the last of them pass—a scrawny colt that didn’t look any older than sixteen. He stumbled and vaulted over his own hooves as he lugged a giant sword double his size over his shoulder in his magic.

When they had finally gone, Starlight was left standing flummoxed at beside the open gate, wide-eyed with her mouth hanging agape.

She pressed a hoof against the old gate, releasing one last groan as it pushed out of her way, allowing her to enter the courtyard and take a peek around for the first time proper.

It was like the invasion of the filly scouts—half-assembled tents and empty beer cans everywhere. Discarded armour and medical supplied littered the lawn, leaving barely enough space to trot without stepping on something sharp—or tripping over something blunt and landing on something sharp, which Starlight could already tell had happened at least once in the past hour, given by the assortment of bandages and tarps hanging out of their boxes.

The bushes rustled behind her. “Um, Starlight?” Chocolate’s head poked out—eyes-first—from the bushes beside the gate. Two hooves and a tail followed suit at odd angles as the stallion attempted to swim his way through the thick vegetation. “A little help here,” he yelped.

Starlight took one look at him and almost broke into tears laughed. “Oh mother of—” She swore, almost doubled over with laughter. Starlight covered her mouth and bit her lip as she suppressed the giggles. “Chocolate, wh—pfft—What are you doing?”

The stallion wiggled and flailed, causing the bushes to only engulf him further. He almost managed to get one hoof to the ground, before overcompensating and flipping over backwards. He stared at Starlight, muzzle scrunched indignantly as he hung upside-down. “This is all your fault, you know.” He harrumphed.

“Oh come on.” She rolled her eyes and carefully picked her way back to the gate. She paused just in front of the bushes to look it over with her eyes. They were hedges, perfectly normal—even a short prod with her magic didn’t reveal anything unusual about them, but regardless she wrapped a tendril around his foreleg and gave a helpful tug. “How did I get you stuck in the bushes?”

Chocolate went red. “You pushed me in!”

Starlight waved a hoof, muttering, “Technicalities.”

With another pull of her magic, the bushes finally gave up their grip and began to disintegrate from around Chocolate’s body. He slid forward with a definitive jerk, and flailed as Starlight finally freed him the rest of the way from the garden.

“Besides.” Starlight let her horn fade, a thin smirk spreading across her cheeks. She gestured across the yard, toward the far side of the guards’ ‘barracks’ where a gate to the castle hung ajar, revealing a darkened pathway into Twilight’s castle. “I think we found our way in.”

The Faithful

The inside of the fortress was unusually cold for this time of day. The clammy darkness clung to our heroes’ throats and a chilling breeze blew from the end of the lighted tunnel to rake past their barrels and deliver a startling chill up our heroes’ spines.

The very earth beneath their claws seemed to thrum with its very own life as the oppressive weight of the sleeping giant pressed down on the foundations of the castle beneath.

Slowly, with the careful touch of a feather, Ember the Brave crept through the darkness with her protégé in kind, approaching the gates to Tartarus where the sleeping King lay.

This was it; the time of reckoning. This was the moment that our heroes have been training their entire lives for, the coup de grace. The castle of the seven sisters was nothing compared to this tall order that was the Dungeon Master’s Ke—

CRASH

“Ow!”

The deafening crash of pots and pans, and the loud slam of somepony going through the table jolted Spike out of his seat. The dragon yelped a guttural—manly, not at all girlish in nature—squeal as he flung the controller out of his claws and launched himself away from the gaming screen, toppling the chair backwards in the process.

He landed on his back in the dark with a thud, the blankets draped over him forming a prison from which only the greatest of escape artists could hope to break free, whilst the clattering continued unabated from outside his bedroom door.

A booming mare’s voice croaked with laughter through his electronic headset. “Ha! Ha! HA!”

Spike cupped his claws over his face and moaned. “Noooo! Not now! Can’t I just have one night without this bullsh—”

“The pwnage hast been DOUBLED! Aahahahaha!”

~ ~ ~

The door creaked as Starlight Glimmer pushed it out of the way with her magic, taking the first tentative steps into her own home. The darkness and the cold air felt alien to her. What was normally the warm, welcoming embrace of safety after a long day of work felt hostile and scary. It was unfamiliar and judging; as if ponies were watching the shadows and shaking their heads in shame at the sight of a pony skulking like this into their own little cave. It was truly like she was trespassing in another pony’s yard, and that feeling alone, with the weight of her guilt—and the prospect of facing what she’d never even thought of doing a week ago—had Starlight’s stomach clenching and her gut twisting.

Starlight considered for a moment, pulling back, but she knew it was already too late—she’d started this. She had to see it through, even if the ending wasn’t something she wanted to face—even if Twilight might end up rejecting her, she owed that much to herself to even give it a chance.

If they hung around for just a minute longer the guards would surely find them. Ponies would get curious, and then the real trouble would begin. So she steadied her breath, taking a second to clear her thoughts—This is it, Starlight, all you have to do is keep your cool, keep your cover—She took a lung-full of air and the moment her eyes adjusted to the light inside, she pushed the door the rest of the way and stepped through, gesturing Chocolate to her side.

The stallion appeared behind her, stepping lightly on the tiles as he glanced left and right, stammering as he whispered, “St-Starlight?”—His hoof brushed against the mare’s hocks in the dark, causing her to flinch, and he to tense. “A-Are you sure this is the right way?” he whispered.

“Yeah,” Starlight Glimmer hissed, keeping her voice and her head low as she led the way through the castle’s kitchen. Her tail flicked, and a shiver ran up her spine from Chocolate’s breath against her dock—though she ignored it and pushed forward, keeping her tail low against her legs,

There was something strange here.

Pots and pans lay piled high on the countertops around them, most of them in varying levels of use. The ovens were opened, and seemed to be half-primed, and the pantry door was left ajar, a single bag slumped in the gap holding it wide.

A spoon, fresh with lick-marks, dripped cake mix onto the floor below, creating a metronomic tack, tack, tack in the calm and quiet.

What had happened here? The kitchen had never been this dirty, and Twilight, being the neat freak that she was, would never allow any part of the kitchen to fall into disarray—even with Pinkie around the place was left spick-and-span!

There was a loud CRASH and a clattering of pots and pans that sent Starlight flying—“Yah!” She yelped and ducked. A wooden spoon whipped past her head, inches from her mane, and stuck itself into a cabinet door as Starlight spun around to face the racket behind her.

“S-S-Sorry!” Chocolate Ganaché squeaked his apologies as he grappled with several metal pans in his forelegs. As he danced from one hoof to another, the various objects clattered and fell, rattling a deafening blow that caused Starlight’s mane prickle even more than it already was.

“What are you doing!?” she screamed, just barely keeping her voice below a whisper.

“This place was a mess! They were all over the floor and I couldn’t—“

“Stop.” Starlight silenced him with a sharp point of her hoof, and the two of them went rigid as there was a snort and the grumbling of somepony outside.

A guard’s voice cracked through the doorway behind them, grousing in a hoarse tone, “...and no more leaving your posts, Stallions,” he said, talking to somepony on the far side of the wall.

There were several exasperated groans, and a rumbling of hooves—“Eee-” Chocolate squeaked, but was cut off with a hoof over his mouth. Starlight gave him a short glare, holding up her other hoof in a shushing motion whilst the stallion spoke.

She used a little magic to push the door closed, narrowing the beam of light just enough to obscure their forms, moments before a dark shadow moved in front of the light, eclipsing the sun from outside—It looked almost like the captain from before, but this silhouette was taller, more defined, with a more chiselled, muscled visage as he inspected the door.

“And who left the back door open?” he cried—both of their hearts jumped into their throats as the stallion’s form got closer. There was a rattling as somepony grasped the door handle from the other side.

Starlight had to hold her breath, forcing herself to stay still—If they did anything now, if they moved even so much as a single muscle, they guards would have heard them—She cast a glance to Chocolate, his expression grim and creased as their eyes met. She hated to see him like this, thinking it was her own fault in the first place.

“Ch-Chocolate...” she whispered. His ears perked, the pans held tight in his hooves as he looked Starlight in the eyes—tears forming at her own as a magic glow took shape on the door’s lock.The hinges creaked. “...I-I’m sorry. I have to tell you the truth. I—”

The door snapped shut with a shuddering clunk, and the rolling of tumblers, as the lock was set in place with a sealing enchantment, then his voice returned, cutting Starlight off. It was muffled by the thick slab of crystalline gem, yet still clear enough to be music to Starlight’s ears. “Imagine what could have happened if somepony had found this!” he shouted—A thump was felt through the ground as somepony stomped on the pavement outside—“What if somepony had somehow snuck past in the time we’ve been gone and found their way into the castle!”

He stomped again and Starlight and Chocolate shared a glance—her cheeks burning red. Starlight was grateful for the darkness, and the extra-thick foot of solid stone between themselves and the livid stallion outside as he screamed, raged: “This is simple, basic, shi...“

His voice trailed off into the distance as Starlight and Chocolate were left in stunned silence. She breathed a sigh of relief; letting the moment pass and carry with it the heat from her cheeks whilst Chocolate heaved. “Whew...” He let the pans down slowly, clattering them one at a time to the floor in neat piles. “That sure was—”

“Stop,” Starlight repeated, her voice stern, holding up a hoof as Chocolate froze up once again. She wiped her forehead and brushed the bangs out of her face. No big surprises when her hocks came back dripping with sweat. “J-Just stop. I—” She caught herself, then corrected: “We need to think this through.”

“Of course.” Chocolate blinked. He looked at Starlight, and she couldn’t avoid glancing at the slight tinge in his cheeks. “Wh-What were you saying?”

Starlight’s cheeks burst into a deep shade of red and she quickly stammered, her voice cracking as she whispered, almost yelped: “N-n-n-nothing!” she said, then quickly rounded back, sitting on her flanks as she rubbed her hoof against her temples—Breath, Starlight, breath—“I-It’s not important. Listen: we need to break up—”

The room fell into awkward silence as Chocolate’s cheeks burned even redder, almost reaching his cheeks. She could have sworn she saw something move down... below. Starlight quickly backpedalled, waving her hooves as she muttered, “W-w-we need to split up!”—Oh Celestia the flying buck has gotten into you, Starlight! “The castle is huge, a-and the thrones room is on the ground floor.

“Our best chances of finding T—Princess Twilight”—Keep it together, Starlight—“are if we find her first.”—And maybe if I find her before you, I can find a way of fixing this mess without embarrassing myself.

“S-So—” Starlight’s grin widened as she patted down her mane, straightening out the curls and loose ends as she suppressed her jitters. “I can take the east wing, you can take the west, and we can meet up back there in the middle. H-How does that sound?”

Chocolate’s demeanour didn’t seem to change as he mulled over her words. Even in the dim light, she could see the crease form in his eyebrows, and the subtle ‘hmm...’ of thought.

Starlight tapped her hooves together, retaining her nervous grin as she patiently—not so patiently—awaited his response.

The stallion nodded. “I... guess that makes sense...” he said. He glanced to the pans clutched against his chest, breathed in, and exhaled. The next words had Starlight’s heart jump an octave. “But... how do we know where the thrones room is?”

Starlight waved, rolling her eyes. “Pfft—Please. It’s right down the foyer, underneath the stairs on the left. You can’t miss it.” Chocolate’s eyebrows rose slightly, and Starlight coughed into her hoof, widening her grin as she giggled. “...is what the pamphlet said!” She nodded. Yes. “Yes. They have very accurate floor plan diagrams.”

“...Right.”

~ ~ ~

We return to our mighty heroes as they embark on a journey fraught with danger and death-defying feat. Spikitus the dragon-mage wonder, slayer of mares and befriender of foes, snuck heroically through the shadows, his erect staff at the ready, his heart pounding with every step as the castle’s imposing force hung over him like an ever-present, disapproving force.

His claws tightened around the rod, pulling on his shaft with his mighty, shaky tug of bravery, his magics building to overflowing—Spells and incantations, plans that led to disaster swirled through our hero’s vision as he held his breath, brow furrowed, beading with sweat as he lay in wait.

He inhaled slightly. The musty scent of old books, tomes, and scrolls filled his lungs; the burning of incense, jasmine and coriander, burned at the entrance to his nostrils whilst the wizard’s beast, a minotorian guard from the depths lumbered through the shadows.

Its presence was like nothing our mighty saviour had ever experienced—always there, always watching, following with a silent and lumbering gait. It had taken all of Spikitus’ bravery and wit to lead the monster into his trap—the reading chambers were the beast’s one true weakness.

All he needed now was a plan, a spell that would fell the—

“Will you stop that!?” Spike hissed into his microphone as he scurried back into the shadows, just barely missing the pony’s eyes. His spines bristled at the sound of yet more books falling, the scurrying of hooves against the plush of the carpet as whoever was in the room shuffled between the shelves and out of sight.

Taking the chance, Spike jumped from behind the bookcases, ducked, and rolled to a stop behind one of the back pillars, pinning his back to the crystalline formation just as the pony looked up from whatever he had been doing.

Spike squeezed his eyes shut, holding back his panting—he could feel the pony’s eyes burning into the back of his head through the pillar.

There was a sigh, more movement, and the softt shuffling of hooves.

There was another thunk, and the hissing of curses as the mysterious figure moved between the bookshelves, but it was slowly getting further away—thankfully, the library was large enough that more than two ponies could get lost inside. Ignoring the disturbances, Spike let out his breath, sighing as he slid to the floor, back to the wall—both literally and figuratively. He wiped a claw across his forehead, flicked away the sweat, then, taking one more look to be certain, cupped his hooves over the microphone and pressed the speaking button at the side of his head.

He whispered: “There’s somepony in the castle”—A pause—“They’re looking for something, I don’t know what. Think—” There was the shuffling of boxes that interrupted Spike’s thought.

A loud thunk echoed through the library behind him, like something hard against a shin, and Spike’s body tensed when the room was alight with the guttural howls of a creature writhing in pain. The bone-chilling sobbing, and the angry cries of somepony tossing a coffee table out of his way had Spike rooted to the ground.

He blanched, swallowing the lump in his throat again. Voice shaking, he said, “I-I don’t know who it is.”

He released the speaking button, and there was a moment of silence as the speakers crackled with static in his head. The airwaves filled with silence, bound by the thumping of hooves and of Spike’s heart in his ears.

He could have sworn the pony was getting closer—no, he knew the pony was getting closer.

Suddenly the speakers crackled to life with a familiar mare’s voice. “O-Okay,” she said, “Just a sec.” There was another moment of oppressive silence as the pony on the other end got into position. The shuffling of papers and the rolling of a chair were just heard through the static when the voice finally returned, crackling as she said: “Tell me where you are”—A pen clicked—“Describe your surroundings.”

“Uh... uh...” Spike looked up and around, frantically taking in his surroundings. There was nothing but purple shelves upon purple shelves of old books, the shimmering crystalline walls of the castle reflecting his own scared face back at him. A stained glass window shone from the right, bathing the narrow hallway in a shimmering of yellow and gold light whilst a distant chanting far off in the distance reminded him of the outside world and its troubles.

“I—I’m in the library,” he finally said, whispering directly into the mouthpiece as he made himself small against the pillar. “I’m at the back, in the corner behind a support beam.”

“Good”—There was some scribbling, and then she came back. “What about the pony? What do they look like? Describe in as much detail as you can and tell me what they’re doing.”

Spike screwed his eyes shut, probing his mind for what he’d seen earlier. He’d only gotten a glance before he—bravely—turned tail and ran for the library. All he could really make out was that he was a pony, not any he recognised, and he was—“H-He’s tall. Nearly twice my size, b-but shorter than Twilight...”

“Tall. Got it.”

“...a-and—“ There was a clap of hooves on tiles as the pony travelled from the center of the library into one of its farther wings. Spike breathed in, holding the floor-plan in his mind—Everywhere on this side was carpeted, he had to remind himself, the pony wasn’t about to find him now. “I remember he looked heavy built, k-kind of like Applejack, but y-you know, a guy—“

“Strong, yes, and?”

Spike glanced out from behind the pillar, just long enough to get a glimpse of the stallion as he trotted through the center of the library—He squinted to see in the light, and the figure paused in the middle of the open floor, looking sideways like one ought to do.

“Brown. M-Mostly non-descript. I think his mane is a little curly, and it has darker highlights”—When the pony’s head turned, Spike pulled himself back behind cover, panting as he said, “—a-and a nose-ring, I think.”

“A nose-ring? That sounds a little O.O.C but okay.” There was the turning of pages and the discrete creak of a book’s spine being broken—The very sound alone gave Spike chills. “I have tall, strong, and handsome. And weapons?”

“W—w—” Spike’s pupils shrank. “I don’t know! I think he’s unarmed!”

“No, you, STDragon! Look around. Do you see anything you can use to fight back?”

Spike spun around and put his head to the wall, wincing as somepony grumbled a series of words he couldn’t make out—at this rate the stallion was going to find him and he’d be unable to stop him, or warn Twilight, or anypony. But fight? “Fight?” he echoed into the mic, “D-Do you think—“

“Hello?” The mare’s voice cut him off and Spike winced.

Spike took another breath. Holding his head against the cool stone, he pressed a claw down on the speaking button, reserving himself. “O-Okay,” he said, voice trembling.

Releasing the speaking button, his claws traced down the wall, searching for something—He’d seen it before, though it had never registered in his mind that he’d need it, that he’d need to—He swallowed—Fight.

You never expected a baby dragon to fight, for Celestia’s sake! He’d always had Twilight and her friends to back him u—to hide behind, he admitted.

His claws settled on a cold metal object, wrapping around the wooden handle at the top near his waist. It felt old, dusty and dry under his grasp. The wood of the handle had cracked and split over the ages from disuse, but it still did its job, like the faithful assistant.

The metal hooks on the wall resisted, then bent as they gave up their charge.

“I—I think I got something,” he said, finally, pulling the implement up underneath him, in the crux of space between his body and the wall.

“What is it?”

“A metal bar—” Spike said, turning the handle over in his grip—“Has two prongs on the end and a hardened wood handle. Looks like a fork.”

“That’s a flame-poker. You must have a fireplace nearby, that’s good. How strong is it?”

Spike turned back around, putting his back to the wall and turned his eyes down, turning the fork over in his claws. It was black, slightly mottled. “I think it’s cast-iron.”

The other pony sighed, and Spike could have sworn he heard her rolling her eyes through the speakers. “Yes, yes, I get it. But how strong is it? What level?”

“Level?” Spike eyebrows rose, then, remembering the button, he pressed his free claw to the headphones and repeated, deadpanned, “’Level’?”

“Okay, okay, roll for luck then. Maybe if you get a twenty you can—“

“Wh—” Spike did a double-take. He slammed his claw against the speaking button, cupping his other claw over the speaking bit with the fire-poker dangling to the side. He whispered, piercingly, and as harshly as he could without giving away his location. “MySistersAssIsSoFat, do you think this is a game!?” he hissed.

There was an inhale from the other end, but Spike continued unabated. “We’re not playing Dungeons & Discords here, for Celestia’s sake! This is serious! There’s somepony in my house!”

He released the speaking button as the headphones went silent, static filling the space as the other pony took their time thinking.

Pages ruffled and Spike was about to relax when he realised it wasn’t through the headphones. He tensed, looking up to see the pony skulking through the corridor directly adjacent to him—moments before the pony turned right and went down another way, narrowly missing Spike’s position.

Finally, the other pony spoke up. “Wait...” she said, “...we’re not?”

“No!” Spike facepalmed, narrowly missing his eyes with the end of the fire-poker.

He was already fuming when the mare started up again, hurriedly saying, “Oh, uh---I am so, so sorry—I had no idea we were—“

“Buck it.” Spike swore.

“Wait, d—”

He pulled the headphones from his head and tossed them to the ground, breathing in the fresh air, and taking in the silence. Without the muting effects of the gaming set, he was finally able to hear the outside world more clearly—the ruffling of hooves against the carpet, the distant chant of Twilight’s fanbase and the terrified squeals of the castle guards. All of it came back to him loud and clear. Ponies were still lining up outside for Twilight’s first-ever open court, not that he ever thought there was going to be any chance of that happening today. He sighed.

They all should have gone home long ago, but maybe that was just it. Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendship, the only mother Spike had ever known, was never a pony to give up. She always faced adversity, always had a plan and found some way to come out on top.

In a way, it was only fitting that the ponies she led would be like her: stubborn to a T and never willing to back down nor admit defeat, even in the face of certain danger. In a way, maybe he and they could be more alike.

For Twilight.

“I’m going for it.” Spike said, to nopony in particular.

Steadying his nerves, Spike clenched his claws around the rod, pulling on his shaft with the mighty tug of bravery, his magics building to overflowing—His heart was pounding and thoughts swirling through his head. This was it. This was the moment he had been waiting for.

This was the day a baby became a boy.

Spike breathed in, letting the scent of smoke fill his nostrils, and the burning embers of his flame ignite inside his heart. The fire-poker—his weapon of choice, slung over his shoulder, Spike stepped out from behind the pillar.

He threw his head back. Taking a deep breath, and billowing flamed from his nostrils he let loose his mightiest war-cry as Spike barrelled into the open, screaming at the top of his lungs. “AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

His waddle broke into a canter, and then a run as he swooped between bookshelves and bookcases, eyes squeezed shut and fork swinging wildly. He slipped through a box or two, and sent a book flying, pages flying in his wake as he barrelled towards his prey.

Spike heaved, and put all of his strength into one mighty strike, channelling the weight of his ancestors, the power of the Dragon Lord, into his nimble lathe.

The air rushed, his heart pounding and his weapon swooping as it cut through empty air. He took down a stack of books and rounded back, avoiding the couches and cushions as Spike’s assault slowed with his canter.

He came to a halt in the middle of the library's reading section, his heart pounding and his breathing coming in ragged breaths as he surveyed the wreckage. The burning in his lungs was intense, and he had to catch his breath as he looked around himself.

The library was an absolute mess—He gulped down a gasp of air, allowing himself to slump, and his spines to relax back to their resting position—Stacks of books and boxes littered the floor, interspersed by the occasional burning incense and couch cushion—some of which sporting a fresh stab wound.

Aside from the stabbing, it all looked normal, unchanged, business as usual for any living-space one had to share with the princess of friendship, and his resident bookworm of a mother. There was only one thing that was off, one thing that gave Spike pause.

He looked around again, his spines wilting with every pass of his eyes. He frowned, lowering the fork to the ground, and scratched the back of his head in a disappointed—albeit relieved fashion.

Spike was alone.

“Wh-Where did he go?”

Author's Note

Whew. Almost a full year since I last updated this one. So much has changed. Sorry for the delay everyone!

I may have gotten a little side-tracked there into Spike's adventure, but I promise the next chapter will have more Star/Trix/Chocolatey goodness! I swear! :twistnerd:

The Conflicted

...FOR SPARTAAAAAA...

The lone cry echoed through the castle’s cavernous interior, reverberating through the empty hallways, past the abandoned bedrooms, and into the cluttered kitchen. It went through the foyer and past the thrones room, carrying with it the wave of rattling and clattering stones, shifting pebbles, and dusting floors.

Books shook, vials jangled, scrolled unravelled, and the crystalline lattice of the throne room’s chandelier chimed with the thundering applause of something heavy, goliath-like, meeting an unstoppable, immovable, force.

Beneath all of these sounds, Trixie Lulamoon froze in her tracks.

Her heart was pounding, racing in her chest. Her teeth were gritted, frozen with a grimace. She was expecting the worst as the wave of discord passed through her body and had to keep herself from making a sound.

Even the slightest peep, even a chirp, she feared, would alert sompony to her intrusion. She bit her lip and held her tongue.

Her whole body shivered, expecting, waiting for the moment she hoped would never come, but as the seconds ticked by and the castle’s motions settled, slowly silence returned to the dimly-lit room.

The chimes subsided, as did her racing heart, and the tiny refractive shards of the sun’s light danced and flickered, alighting as a million pinpricks that eventually, exhaustively, became calm.

Trixie held her breath a moment longer. Her ears were perked and trained to the air, her spine coiled like a carefully machined spring as she waited, listened, and waited further. She remained like that for what felt like forever as her magic slowly flickered out of the corners of her vision.

The fatigue was starting to catch up with her, but she knew she’d almost made it. Starlight wouldn’t be here for hours—her calculations were flawless, her planning impeccable. All she had to do was get into position and… wait.

She took a deep breath, steadying her nerves. “Okay, Trixie,” she whispered, “It was nothing. Just a tremor, is all. Now all I have to do is be... very...”

Slowly, she lifted her hooves, and started to creep her way forwards. Levitating the black box up and out of her saddlebags, she set it underneath the table for a moment, began undoing the latches as she levitated the contents out and into the light.
She carefully side-stepped the first chair, a hulking goliath with a rainbow bolt and cloud plastered against the headrest as her eyes plastered themselves to the stained glass door.

Between the door over her shoulder, or the furniture-based obstacle course she was currently navigating, her gaze never settled between the two as she levitated the straps and began to lower them into position.

“All I have to be is very… very...Quiet.”

~ ~ ~

Starlight grumbled silently to herself as she went from one drawer to the next, keeping a careful tally in the back of her mind of where she had been and where she was about to go—though that tally was starting to get well into the double-digits. After hours of searching the first floor, going from room to room, routing through every nook and cranny, her legs and horn were beginning to ache with fatigue, heavy from the effort of walking the length of the castle’s ground floor for Celestia-knows how many times now.

It had to have been nearly a hundred.

Okay, maybe not a hundred—probably just two times—but it felt like she had walked the place a hundred times, and so far they hadn’t found any signs of Twilight, nor any indication or where, or why, she had gone. It was almost like she’d vanished out of existence—here one moment, gone the next. There wasn’t any indication of a teleportation, at least not within the last twenty-four hours—There was plenty of residue of both hers and Twilight’s, as well as a few other unicorns she couldn’t identify, but none of it pointed to her teleporting away.

So what could it have been?

Her eyes scanned over the drawer, picking through the various contents. Nothing of interest—just a broken quill, half a dozen inkpots and some blank parchment—yellowed and creased by the effects of frequent use—just like every other drawer she’d looked into.

A disintegration spell? No, that was unlikely. It would take more than a powerful unicorn’s magic to violate the laws of matter conservation, and she highly doubted that Twilight would have disintegrated herself... probably.

Plus whoever would have done it would have had to be here to clean up the messy aftermath, so that—

Starlight cupped her hoof over her mouth, silencing a yawn that threatened to make her eyes water. Her train of thought lost, Starlight blinked and looked up, then around, glancing towards the end of the passageway where light filtered in through the foyer. Judging by how bright it was getting outside, it must have been well past midday by now, and the effects of missing nearly a full night’s worth of sleep were starting to catch up to her.

Even with the slight amount of rest she’d gotten on the train, she’d still been awake for... Had it really been a whole twenty-four hours?

Starlight sighed as she pushed the second drawer closed, more gently this time. The wood made a welcome “click” as it gently settled back into the closed position, and she took a moment to catch her breath and collect her thoughts.

A certain part of her was begging to give up, to call it a night and to drag her broken body up those stairs to the warm embrace of her own bed—Hay, here bedroom was right there. Literally. She was only a few feet away from the stairwell. If she was quiet and moved quickly, nopony would notice if she were to just disappear up there and not be seen for any hour, just one, maybe two.

Even the red carpet was looking especially comfortable right now, with it’s soft bristles that compressed and parted under her hooves with each step—She did a tiny slow trot in place, letting her hooves rest just long enough on the carpet for her to enjoy the sensation of it, like walking on a cloud.

Starlight’s head drooped and she slammed her face into the desk, rattling it and sending a stack of books flying as she dropped to her haunches in front of the slab of mahogany. “Uuuuugh...” she groaned, languid.

In the back of her mind she imagined herself doing an imitation of Rarity’s famous fainting couch routine, though it was too much effort for her. She instead settled for slumping further against the desk, letting her face smoosh into the wooden surface as she let out a long, drawn-out sigh. “This is going...” She inhaled. The scent of fresh parchment and dry wood filled her nostrils. “...Nowhere,” finally she exhaled, letting the words tumble from her tongue.

Her right hoof brushed against something, and there was the short shhhhh-thud as another stack of books tumbled to the ground at her side, and then silence punctuated only by the distant chanting of Twilight’s fans outside and the monotonous clack-clack-clack of an unseen clock.

The castle itself seemed to be alive to Starlight. It breathed with her. Inhaling, exhaling, creaking with the melancholy rumble that only a stone goliath could. If only she could remain here—Starlight’s eyes drifted closed as she found herself getting more comfortable, pulling her tail close as she pressed her rump against the cooling sensation of the castle’s marbled floors, falling deeper into her dream’s warming embrace.

If she were to stay here, not move at all, she could almost imagine she was back in the warm embrace of her own bed. Her worries would start to melt away, lost in the snuggled up deep sleep within the velvety embrace of her pegasus feather duvet, nestled between throw pillows the likes of which only a princess could afford, and with the scent of...sandalwood teasing her nostrils.

A distant click, like the latching of a door, threatened to bring her back to reality, like the clop-clop-clop of hooves. Her ears simply flicked at the intrusive noise, as if to shoo it away, and let her be in her moment of relaxation.

The scent of sandalwood filled her senses, and the creaking of wood—the constant motion and the rumbling of wheels against the rough roads. She was brought back, to another time, another place—

The small, dark abode of Trixie’s cabin was the perfect place to have a sleepover, Starlight thought. It had everything you would have wanted, and a few things... not so wanted, like the constant clattering of pans; the repeated, gnarled, strangled shrieks of wooden hinges just barely holding their own; old cardboard boxes and wooden crates shuffling and shifting in the darkness, and the constant swinging of the hammock that had Starlight lying motionless, wide awake, staring into the inky blackness and waiting for Luna to have mercy on her for her sins.

Her eyes were beginning to sting, so she involuntarily blinked, and rolled onto her side. Struggling against the swinging motion of the scratchy hammock, she grunted and groaned as she did, and once again, tried to go to sleep.

The weight in the hammock shifted under the force of another pony’s weight, and two fuzzy blue ears poked up from below, followed by the dimly-lit visage of a night cap and pyjama-clad magician as Trixie put her weight on the side of Starlight’s hammock. She had a weary smile and bags under her eyes as she said: “Is everything alright?”

Starlight kicked against the end of the hammock, trying to fight against it to get herself facing her friend more directly, but she eventually gave up and sighed. “It’s this—“ she grit her teeth, “—Celestia-damned hammock, Trixie. I can’t sleep.”

Silence ensued, and Starlight tensed up, watching the darkened form of Trixie. Had she said something wrong? She hoped not.

“It’s only a few more nights to Ponyville,” Trixie said. Her ears weren’t visible, but Starlight could tell by the tone of her voice that was concerned. “...Are you sure—” She was cut off as the caravan hit a particularly large stone, sending the both of them swaying and jostling in the night.

Trixie swallowed, and the moment was filled with a pregnant silence as Starlight held her breath, waiting for what her friend was about to say.

At long last, she said, in a low voice, a whisper: “What if we slept... t-together...”

A lump formed in Starlight’s throat, and with it a sudden burning of her cheeks that she was grateful the darkness could hide. She didn’t get a chance to protest, though, as Trixie continued. “The Grrrreat and P-P—” She paused, and corrected, “I have been sleeping in these hammocks for a long time,” Trixie said, “Surely I can show you the... uh, ropes.”

Starlight’s mouth opened. She could feel the butterflies forming in her stomach, and her blush spreading to her ears. She wanted to say no, but the only words that would leave her mouth were, “...Yes.”

Trixie leveraged her weight against the side of the hammock and Starlight shimmied sideways to make room for the other mare as she slid in beside her. The hammock wasn’t nearly big enough for two ponies at once, and the claustrophobic spacing forced their bodies to press close against either other.

The downy texture of Trixie’s pyjamas was warm against her chest and Trixie’s fur was as soft as a cloud. Starlight’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates as she watched Trixie snuggle up against her, their bellies touching and their legs intertwined—her breathing was coming in short pants, warming the air between them and she could smell the sandalwood sawdust in Trixie’s mane.

“There,” Trixie said, smiling. “Isn’t that a lot better?”

Starlight’s heart was still racing, but as she got used to the new situation... “Yes.” She felt her leg twitch, and Trixie cupped a forearm over Starlight, gently stroking her back. “This is much better.”

~ ~ ~

She was shuddered awake by the slam of a door, and the clap-clap-clap of hooves as somepony came trotting down the passage behind her. Starlight’s eyes fluttered open, and she was welcomed to the close-up image of a wooden desk, and what felt like the beginnings of a crick in her neck.

She adjusted her hooves to get leverage and slowly lifted her head from the desk, clicking several vertebrae as she went, and leaving a string of saliva connecting her lips to the small puddle that had formed in front of her. “Uh, wha—“

Her eyes were still adjusting to the light—Had the sun moved?—and she lethargically wiped the spittle from her lip across the back of her foreleg, leaving a long trail of slightly damp fur.

Over her shoulder, a familiar stallion’s voice piped up, pricking Starlight’s ears. “Um...” he said, drawing her attention—As Starlight turned, Chocolate Ganaché slowly came into view, a stack of books cupped under his shoulder and a raised eyebrow as he looked down at Starlight, perplexed. “...Did I interrupt something?”

“Am I... interrupting something?”

Starlight tilted her head, at first not really getting what he was referring to. Had she been doing something important before she fell asleep? Her last memory before waking up had been about searching for something, but that couldn’t be what he was asking about now.

“Wh-Why?”

She hazarded a guess, first thinking of the puddle of drool she had left behind on the table—she checked the backs of her hooves just to be sure, and wiped her mouth with the other. It wasn’t at all necessary: her mouth was all clean.

So what was it?

Starlight stood. She was about to ask Chocolate what he meant when her hind fetlock dragged against something wet on the ground—that was strange. Had she really drooled that m—

Starlight froze, mortification painting its way across her face as the realisation dawned on her.

Th-That wasn’t drool, was it?

She glanced to Chocolate, who had averted his eyes and was trying his best to keep his nose pointed in the opposite direction. He was also blushing something fierce and was using the books as a kind of barrier to hide the rest of his body from her vision, but she couldn’t mistake the slight bulge that was forming between his legs as his sheath parted and a third limb slowly began to make its presence known.

Adding in Chocolate’s arousal only caused Starlight’s own excitement—and her nervousness—to grow with it, stronger with every millimetre of stallionhood that she could peek from between his legs.

Oh Celestia, had she really done that to him? Her cheeks began to tinge red, her heart racing as the realisation of what had happened slowly set in. The flashes of various images from her dreams, fuzzy and obscure, but very much alluring to a hidden meaning flashed through her mind.

That all-too-familiar smell pricked at her nostrils as the room slowly began to fill anew with the faintest whiffs of candyfloss: the sweet mixture of both sweet and tangy, like the smell of a mare in heat, and the scent of a stallion’s arousal hung in the air just strong enough to be noticed by any passersby.

“O-Oh my Celestia—” Starlight gasped, snapping out of her stupor the moment she realised where she was, and what was happening. She covered her mouth with her hooves and recoiled away from Chocolate, clamping her tail tight over her marehood—just the faintest touch sent a shiver of arousal through her nethers, and up her spine, but she bit her lip, and pushed it to the back of her mind. “No, no, no-no-no- NO,“ she shouted and whispered, all the while trying to wrap her head around the situation.

She was tired, she fell asleep, she was drooling on the table, and then—and then—Adding to that the wetness on her fetlocks and the awkward position she must have been in, the whole situation only seemed to look all the worse...

“No, no, no, no-no-no—” She immediately side-stepped the stallion, trying to avoid his gaze, in an attempt to extricate herself from the situation. “Th-Th—This is not what it looks like!” She was definitely not masturbating. “I—I would never, not—and in public, and—”

She glanced around, looking for an escape. Something, anything that could drag her away from this awkward situation immediately.

Her reactions only seemed to make things worse as Chocolate started to snicker, and then laugh.

The books were dropped to the ground and Starlight redoubled her efforts, waving both hooves as she dropped to her haunches, tearing up as her face burned brighter and redder than ever. “Celestia—“ she swore, “I’m serious!” Yey more laughter. “I—I must have fallen asleep, a-and—and—I must have, and my mouth—and then I was—and it—”

As she continued trying to explain, Chocolate’s laughing only became harder, until he was practically hollering with tears at the corners of his eyes. He waved a hoof, begging her to stop. “No, please, stop—” Chocolate clasped at the side of his barrel as he wheezed. Struggling to catch his breath, he stepped closer to Starlight, still with a wide grin on his face. “I-It’s okay,” he said, between gasps for breath.

He paused, trying to catch his breath, and Starlight was left watching, flabbergasted as Chocolate slowly wound down from the high-pitched giggling of a colt fresh out of school to the low, trombone he-he-he-rumph of that same colt's father. “Wh—” She tilted her head. “What do y—“

He raised a hoof for her to be silent, and then said, still slightly winded, but with the widest grin on his face. “Just... Tell me one thing: were you thinking of him?”

Starlight’s heart jumped into her chest. She had to pause as her memories suddenly flashed back to that dream. The image of her cuddling against Trixie’s sleeping form, their bellies pressed against one another, and their hooves gently cupped over each other’s barrels like the way she imagined two lovers would. Their tails intertwined, and, and...

The room started getting hot again and Starlight’s blush made a brief return. She brushed the end of her mane out of her eyes and gently coaxed it back into position as she averted her eyes, looking to the ground long enough for the momentary heat to subside. She could have sworn she felt another, tiny, trickling bead of moisture make its way down the inside of her legs as she spoke, “...m...maybe.”

Another chuckle escaped Chocolate’s lips, but he was otherwise composed again as he ran a hoof through his mane—straightening his own demeanour. The wide grin was replaced with a slightly more refrained, thin smile as he approached Starlight and settled down at her side.

She stiffened at the momentary contact—a glance between his legs revealed that much like his stint of laughter, his stallionhood too had subsided. A shame, she thought.

He put a hoof over her shoulder, and looked Starlight in the eyes, taking a short moment before stating his follow-up question: “...and do you still love him?”

This answer came more quickly than the last, easier, perhaps. “Yes.”

“Then that’s all I really need to know,” he said. His voice lowered to whisper and Starlight felt a shiver run through her spine when he spoke in that deep and chocolatey smooth tone. “It’s perfectly natural for you to have... dreams about your loved ones,” he said, “especially when it’s a new flame like yours.”

“R-Really?” Starlight’s heart fluttered. Her head was swimming with a mixture of feelings, of confusion, of relief, and so many others she couldn’t quite describe. It was like being a school-filly again, having just sat down at the desk immediately opposite to her crush. Her chest was growing tight as she took in the warmth of his fur, the friendly demeanour. She couldn’t help but inch closer towards it, drawn in like a magnet. “Y-You’re not mad?”

Chocolate’s ears flattened and he shook his head. “Celestia no—” His mouth scrunched and he leaned closer, almost conspiratorially so—Starlight had to hold herself back from inhaling his scent. The smell of freshly-baked lindors invaded her senses. “Can you keep a secret?

Starlight’s head jerked, nodding quickly. “I’ve...” His voice lowered, barely a whisper. Starlight felt herself leaning closer just to hear—straining her ears as his breath brushed hot against her cheeks. “...I’ve done the same.” He said, “A long time ago.”

Starlight’s breathing hitched. “R-Really?”

He simply nodded, retreating away to a slightly less... intimate distance. “But you have to promise you won’t tell anypony, okay?”

“O-Of course...” she muttered, breathlessly.

Chocolate smiled.

The gesture alone was enough to send shivers up her spine. The room was starting to get hot and Starlight’s breathing had quickened somewhat as she looked at this handsome, oh, so kind and understanding, soft, perfect gentleman of a stallion.

It made her feel different. Not like how she was with Trixie, but... something else, something that made her smile beside herself with happiness.

The moment didn’t last long, though, as Chocolate’s expression quickly changed to something else, another matter drawing his thoughts. As his smile turned into a frown, and a look of worry crept its way across his features, Starlight felt her own happiness begin to slip. Her smile vanished, and moving almost on instinct, Starlight reached to put a hoof on his shoulder, to comfort her stallion.

“What is it?” she asked.

“It’s just...” Chocolate glanced away, averting his eyes from her as he pulled the stack of books closer. Starlight’s eye followed his hooves as they gripped around the top book, and carefully lifted it up to hold aloft between them.

Chocolate wasn’t looking at her, but just down at the book. His expression was turning grim with worry as his brow furrowed—drawing Starlight’s attention to the tiny tome.

All being honest, she couldn’t quite see what was so special about it. It was just a small red book, barely larger than a journal. Its spine was bound with a thin gold filament weaved to form a criss-cross pattern along the book’s length, and the cover looked to be made from the bark of a redwood tree that gave it that distinctive red glow.

Overall, the tiny thing couldn’t have held more than fifty pages, and yet, the way Chocolate was holding it, she couldn’t help but shake the sensations that there was something familiar about it, that she’d seen a book almost like that one once before.

“I’ve been thinking...” Chocolate squeezed the book one more time before handing it over to Starlight, the cover facing down.

Again, looking even closer, it didn’t seem all that out of the ordinary. Starlight let the book hang in her magical aura for a second before lowering it down to a comfortable height so she could grasp it in her own hooves.

The cover was rough and the pages were soft. They had a little bit of give to them as it bent in her grasp, but then, turning it over, it revealed a sight that made Starlight’s heart stop.

It was bright and clear on the front cover, emblazoned with the charcoal-like grey of a stone press: the clear rough outline of an equality sign. Below it were etched the two words she thought she would never read again.

Sam Equalitatus

She knew what the full title would have been: Sam Equalitatus – Alike We Stand, but it had either been truncated in an attempt to make it shorter, easier to memorise, or because of a misunderstanding between the townsponies operating the printing press. Either way, that was the title they had been left with. A distant memory, a reminder from a life she would much rather forget.

It was the memory of a mare she wished she could have left to die in the icy caverns atop that mountain eons ago, but that only raised more questions. Ideas and scenarios that flashed through Starlight’s mind all at once.

Why does he have this? How did he find it? Could there be others? She could have sworn she’d destroyed every last copy in existence.

Starlight’s mind was still racing through all the options, all the different ways that one of her books could have slipped through the cracks—it was like a sieve. There were millions of ways they could have gone missing, but she had counted them. She, herself, had stood guard at the bonfire the night they burned every last copy of that forsaken book. She had to have destroyed it.

But then how was it here?

“I think it’s time to admit that this was never going to work out between us.”

Chocolate’s words struck like a sledgehammer to the spine. Starlight’s breathing caught on a lump in her throat as she tensed up suddenly, squeezing the book in her grasp.

He simply looked back at her with a soft, neutral expression—something hard to read, nearly impossible to discern, but yet filled with knowing and understanding.

Had he read it? The first inklings of doubt started to creep into Starlight’s might. It hadn’t even occurred to her yet what Chocolate would do. A tiny voice in the back of Starlight’s head was telling her to run, to get away, to hide and never be seen or heard from again.

Her whole body was starting to shiver as the room went from warm to a deep, icy, cold, fathomless depth, and yet Chocolate’s words continued.

“We’ve been searching the castle for hours,” he said, cutting through the dim silence of her thoughts. Wh-What was he—“Starlight, I don’t think we’re going to find the Princess here.”

The world crumbled beneath her as Starlight reeled from the confused feelings inside her. Between the shock of finding out one of her most shameful creations—a remnant of her time in Our Town—was right here in front of her and now, Chocolate was—that he knew—What was he saying? What was he implying? That Twilight would just up and leave them there? That she would just abandon her duties without so much as a note, or a letter, or any kind of message to indicate to them where she could have gone!?

“What do you mean?”

The words came out harsher than she had intended—Starlight almost shocked herself with how suddenly she had snapped—but it still had the desired effect as Chocolate recoiled, holding his hooves up as if to defend himself. “I—I mean,” he stuttered, “She could just be late”—

Horseapples. There was no way she could be intentionally late. This was Twilight Sparkle we were talking about. She was practically the Princess of Punctuality. Her favourite sex toy had an atomic clock, for Luna’s sake! If anything, that would make her even more on time!

—“Or there was something else that came up which would need her attention. Princesses do have a lot of responsibilities, after all.”

“This was her responsibilities,” Starlight hissed under her breath. She was sure Chocolate hadn’t heard her, but she knew it was true. Twilight would never miss the opportunity to meet new ponies and solve their friendship problems in an environment where the fate of Equestria was not hanging in the balance. That was the entire point of her starting these in the first place.

“But...”

Starlight’s ears perked. She glanced up, snapped out of her thoughts and realised that she’d been grinding her teeth. The book was starting to look a little bent, so she carefully set it down on the ground beside her, one ear still tuned to Chocolate’s words as he spoke.

He was staring at her. No. He was smiling.

“But?” she said.

Chocolate reached out and wiped the tear from where it was welling at the corner of Starlight’s left cheek. He then held his hoof there, caressing her cheek like he would to comfort a young foal, all while he shifted his body closer to hers.

The whole thing felt so surreal, like they were poised on a precipice, ready to take the leap—or a plunge—into a much darker depth. The whole thing caused her heart to flutter and her body to shake with anticipation as Chocolate gazed into her eyes.

“But?”

She said again, and Chocolate smiled as he said, “Maybe this was the Princess’ plan all along...” The hoof was removed from her cheek. With it, the moment passed, but the butterflies persisted. “Maybe she knew we were coming and wanted us to work out our issues by ourselves.”

Starlight cracked a smile. She started to shake her head—“N-no, you give her—” She was silenced by a hoof to her lips.

Their bodies were so close together, Starlight could practically feel Chocolate’s heartbeat between them. He whispered, letting his hoof fall and press into her chest, holding her there. “I need you to know that you can trust me, Starlight, and to do that I want to be honest with you.”

“Honest with me?” she asked. Her heart skipped a beat. “About what?”

“Do you remember on the train where we met? I explained to you why I was coming to Ponyville, and I said that it was because of my wife, Cream Heart.”

“Chocolate, you don’t have to—“

Chocolate raised his voice, cutting her off. “But I want to,” then his voice lowered again, almost whispering the last word, “Starlight.”

It was like electricity in the air. Starlight could do nothing but listen, her mouth halfway between open and closed. Was she really going to do this? Just let Chocolate reveal everything to her, a complete stranger?

He picked up her hooves in his own and held them between them, the only thing separating their chests as Starlight’s breathing quickened, returning to its previous pace. His voice came in a steady whisper. “Cream and I, w-we broke up a long time ago. Years, in fact, and I blame myself for everything that happened.”

“It can’t have been your fault, though?”

“But it was. I wasn’t there for her when she needed me. I couldn’t give her the care and attention that she deserved, and then we grew apart. We got into a fight about”—His expression changed, twisted into one of disdain, of regret, and of pain. Chocolate practically spat the words as he said, “All because of that Tartarus-damned fucking chocolate factory.

“We had a son together,” he continued, “and she took him with her and moved to Ponyville. I guess—” A tiny sob rocked chocolate’s chest and he paused for a moment.

The beginnings of tears started to form in the corners of his eyes and Starlight reached out—hesitant at first. “I’m so sorry...” she began, as she wiped the tear away from Chocolate’s cheek.

He immediately grabbed onto her hoof, letting a sniffle escape him as he looked into Starlight’s eyes. She didn’t have the power in her to pull it away, so Starlight stayed her hoof a moment longer.

A second passed between them as Chocolate composed himself, and he sniffed, letting her hoof go, wiping his own tears this time. “I guess that if I followed her here we could have patched it up with the Princess’ help...”

“You still have a chance. Just because today didn’t—“

“No.” Chocolate grabbed ahold of Starlight’s hooves, squeezing them tightly as he stared deeply into her eyes—Starlight’s heart jumped at the motion, her heart racing as she was stared down by this stallion.

Her eyes widened as he leaned closer—one part of her noting how he suddenly seemed larger than her, stronger, and—and—A familiar tingle was spreading from between her thighs as he spoke his next words.

“I’m not going to pursue her anymore,” His voice was soft, tender, but commanding a type of strength she couldn’t quite place. “That all changed when I met you, Starlight.

“When I saw you on that train, how sad you were, how abandoned and downtrodden, I could see a little bit of myself in you, Starlight. I saw how troubled you were. I knew what you must be going through, and so I made a choice.”

“Chocolate, I—“

“I want to be there for you, Starlight, like I couldn’t be there for her. I want you to know that you can trust me.”

“Chocolate, I—“ Starlight’s throat had gone dry. It took her two, three—on the fourth swallow, her tongue was starting to feel less like sandpaper and more like a feather duster. Even now, her loins were screaming at her to say ‘yes, oh fuck yes’ but another part of her knew she couldn’t—she mustn’t.

What would Trixie say? What would Chocolate do if he found out that she was a...

“Chocolate, I—I don’t thi—“

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM

A percussive thumping jolted them both out of the moment as the wall behind them shook and cracked. There was the loud tumbling of heavy furniture and what almost sounded like a mare cursing every Princess under the moon.

Chocolate’s eyes were wide as dinner plates, as were hers, as they both shared a startled glance towards the wall directly in front of them—just in time to see a picture frame shunt off its nail and shatter to the floor.

“What was—”

“Oh buck—“ Starlight swore as she stumbled to her hooves, shouting as her hooves grappled with the carpets to get a proper traction. “That was in the thrones room!”

The Powerful

Trixie trotted wearily through the backstage tent, leaving the entrance-flap to swing shut behind. Her agent had told her everything was ready. All she had to do was step out onto that stage and ‘do her thing,’ whatever her thing was. They’d been so busy doing—Trixie cringed—Stuff, that she’d completely forgotten to form a routine.

Adlib it was then.

Slowly, Trixie trotted through the tent, taking in the surroundings. She was lucky. Everywhere else she had been forced to prepare out in the open behind her cart, to set up her own stage and hire her own henchp—body guards. But tonight, Canterlot had sprung to provide all of that, even including the various accoutrements needed for a budding performance artist.

Soft lanterns swung over head, giving just barely enough light to see, and by it Trixie could easily pick out a slew of furniture and equipment. It had it all, heck; she could’ve mistaken this for a specialised studio. Besides the various props and boxes for her act, ropes, lamps, some weird twisted antenna-things, and microphones lay strewn everywhere out of way. There was barely enough space for her to walk, and as Trixie carefully picked her way to the back, she even saw a set of battered and old couches and chairs. They formed some kind of makeshift waiting area, with a picnic table as playing host to assorted magazine. She didn’t care much for the tabloids, but one cover caught Trixie’s eye—an article by Mrs. Harshwhinney on the latest developments in SpaceZed. She didn’t know much about the subject, but anything with the potential to make her performance more explosive fascinated Trixie.

On her left, Trixie passed a second picnic table, this one laden heavy with assorted drinks, snacks, and fresh water—the second of those two looking like they hadn’t been touched in a fortnight.

Still, Trixie licked her lips, her mouth watering at the thought of the treats, as stale as they were. Trixie wrenched her gaze from the table—such frivolous distractions were below the Great and Powerful Trixie, she scolded herself and veered a wide arc around the table, making a beeline for the back of the tent, where her true target of interest lay, and what a target he was.

“Good evening, Mrs Lulamoon.” He was a deep dark blue stallion, obviously the studio bodyguard. He looked the part, standing stoic, only the barest movement as he tipped his head to Trixie. “All quiet this evening.”

Serious and straight to the point; Trixie could like that kind of stallion.

“Greetings”—she tipped her hat, with the usual smirk—“Star Charmer.” Trixie paid special attention to his smart dress. The black tuxedo and slicked back mane perfectly complemented the dark shades and moustache. Her gait wavered as Trixie’s eyes slipped over his withers. “Trixie trusts that everything is ready for Trixie’s grand performance?” she said then quickly added, “Tonight?”

The dark lantern light didn’t give much for to work with, but as Trixie crossed the stallion’s path, she could catch just the barest glimpse of details along his side. The coat was taut, which meant he was strong. Underneath he was probably hiding some thick, sturdy, rippling muscles—the stallion’s nostrils flared causing and Trixie stopped cold.

A chill ran up her spine, a cold breeze blowing between her neither, and Trixie’s ears pricked. The end of her cape flicked back in the updrafts, and on its end drifted the unmistakable scent of sex. It wasn’t strong at first, but with every second that passed, Trixie’s stomach sunk all the deeper as the smell coalesced into a permeating stench. And not just any stench, this was the stench of heat, or a mare in heat.

Trixie flushed red—was she in heat? Impossible, her oestrus had ended last week, which meant it had to Starlight’s. But that still left the matter that she was covered in the scent of a mare in heat, and drenched in her—Oh Celestia.

If she weren’t red, she was now. Trixie’s burned as an inferno as she back one step away from the stallion, her chest throbbing. A second chill breeze between her legs, and she quickly clamped her tail down. She felt exposed.

Somehow, even with the cape, she felt like she needed something to cover herself, to hide the shame. But there was no way to hide the smell, and the feeling.

He coat was tacky. It felt sticky, it felt dirty. Every motion, every attempt to move, Trixie could feel her coat sticking to itself, the hairs clumping together, and crusting, forming little mounds across her entire of her underside as the viscous liquid dried against her skin.

Luna knows, what this stallion must think of her.

“Yes, ma’am,” he replied. She guard nodded his head. Trixie noticed a slight flare of his nostrils, but otherwise he showed no other emotion. “You will see no interruptions tonight.”

Trixie forced a smile. “Th-thank you, St-Star Charmer.” She stammered, not her most convincing, Trixie had to admit, but it was the best she could do given the situation.

She quickly turned away from the stallion, trotting briskly to get past him and onto the stage. There was no telling whether the stallion had noticed her odd behaviour—a quick glance over her shoulder revealed him to be standing the same post, unmoving. Every few seconds he would glance away to check the tent, but still his gaze would return to her. If he had, Trixie was grateful to know he was at least professional enough not to bring it up.

Silently growling to herself, Trixie turned away from the guard and the tent, putting distance between them as she trotted towards the open stage. She mentally seethed, with the sticky feeling of fresh mare-cum still trailing between her legs. The sweet smell of heat returned, stronger this time, as Trixie took her first steps into the blinding light, using her rage to stoke her mind.

Now Starlight was really going to get it.

~ ~ ~

The inside of the main tent was far larger than anything Starlight could imagine, not to say it looked small either. Quite to the contrary, the structure had towered above Starlight, giving her the feeling of being small in the wake of its foreboding presence.

She was undeniably a little pony in comparison, a difference only made all the more striking as she drew nearer. The thick vinyl—normally awash with a multitude of varying colours by day—formed a thick, heavy curtain of muted greys on a backdrop of deep black. Like the shadows around the form of some ominous, sleeping giant, it clung to the earth taking them it all prisoners, with the front opened like a gaping maw ready to consume any ponies that dared wander near its breath.

Even then, it was only once she’d reached the entrance proper, and stepping inside that the true scale of it all truly sunk in. Poles and rafters, girders and pillars, all manner of scaffolding held this monster at bay, or more like supported it, keeping the mouth from snapping shut as she trotted through it lips.

“Thank ye’, miss.” A brown stallion, topped by a wicker hat and handlebars for a moustache, prattled off. He waved on hoof, pocketing his change with the other, and watched as Starlight trotted past his ticket booth.

She was instantly assaulted with all manners of noise. From the cheering or ponies, thumping of various hoof beats and wings, to the laughter and cries of foals, the din only grew louder with every step that she entered. Starlight tried to press it to the back of her mind for the meantime, instead focusing on the world around her. She stared, parts in wonder and awe, and other parts equally as much horrified.

Some part of her wanted to turn back, to get out. It was just too much, her mind was screaming for her to run away, get out of sight of all of these ponies. She was buffeted by a mare and her family, just barely stepping away before some poor colt’s hooves came down under hers, one foal squeaking out a meek “Sorry miss” as they passed.

Starlight’s pursed her lips, forming a slim smile. She made to wave, but when she turned their way, the family was already gone in the seething froth of other mares and stallions. None of them paid her any heed, in fact they all seemed to keep their distance from Starlight, clearing a small circle of empty ground as they mulled towards their seats.

Over head, Starlight caught glimpse of a blue pegasus—Rainbow Dash, she could only guess, as she glided and flitted around the support beams, alighting on one of the several raised platforms. She stared as the pony seemed to fluff her feathers before proceeding inside to join some other group under an enclosed roof.

Some speakers screeched across the crowd, and Starlight’s ears pricked back up. She looked behind her then began to slowly creep towards her own seat.

The noise was stifling; the air was hot. It hung heavy around her, sticky with the scent of cotton candy. Starlight’s mind quickly whipped back to the caravan, the familiar smells and scents, and—of course—the memories of what she’d done to—with—She had to keep that straight, for her own sake. What she did with Trixie was still fresh in her mind, and her muzzle. The pungent odour of their mixed sex still stuck in her muzzle, adding the slight scent of bubblegum to everything she smelled, and cotton candy, she suddenly realised. This whole time, Starlight hadn’t been smelling cotton candy, she been smelling herself. Starlight didn’t know what was more disconcerting, that she could still had a visible funk even after stopping to take a shower and moisturise, or that she smelled like a foal’s delicacy when she did.

Somehow, despite the soaring roof-space, Starlight felt like she was growing claustrophobic. It was smothering her, but this was something she had to do, for Trixie. They were friends after all, that’s what friends did, right?

Starlight flipped the ticket out of her hammerspace, letting it levitate out into the light of her own horn where she could see it more clearly. She squinted to see the smudged, already-faded, lettering.

D17

Not bad.

That put her close to the front, and not too far from the isle either, which meant she had not only her own freedom of movement, should she decide it was too dangerous not to flee, but also amply opportunity t—

“Starlight!”

Buck! Starlight cringed, biting her lip. Not now.

“Sparkler!” Her ticket immediately flickered out of existence, returning to its safe haven as Starlight turned to meet her captors, a pale white unicorn, and a pink-red unicorn, both mares with complementing spiral manes and bonnets that screamed Canterlot Elite. “And Ch... Ch..?”

“Cherry.” The second said, deadpanned, “Cherry Charmané. We had chemistry together.”

“Cherry~” Starlight sang and broke into a slight laugh, “R-right, h-how could I forget...”

Smiling, Starlight turned to greet each of the two mares, stepping close enough to acknowledge their existence and not be rude, but also far enough that she didn’t have to put up with them for long, she hoped. Also the smell, Starlight didn’t want any of them to smell her, or any other mares on her coat.

With that, Starlight took one extra step away. “H-how, lovely to see you,” she said.

“Oh, yes,” Sparkler—the white mare—waved a hoof, delicately priming her perfect perm. “I mean, how long has it been?” She glanced to Cherry. “Eight-Nine, ten years?”

“Twelve.” Starlight spat, “It’s been twelve years.”

“Twelved years,,” Sparkler parroted, turning back to Starlight to look her over, she smirked slightly. “And to think you didn’t even tell us you were going to be in town.”

“Mhm.” Sparkler nodded in silent agreement. She glanced from Sparkler to Starlight, looking the mare up and down. Starlight herself, shivered at the inspection. She felt like a slab of raw meat being meticulously picked to pieces by a skilled butcher. “Funny we should meet you here of all places...”

“Oh, well, you kn-” Starlight stammered, “-know, things happen and—”

She’d almost gotten her ticket out and was about to point her way to the seats when Sparkler sidled up to the right, adding a slight shove to Starlight’s withers. “Come now,” she commanded, more than asked, “Join us in the V.M.P Booth, there’s plenty of space.”

“Oh no,” Starlight shook her head. “I really should—”

Backing up, she was met by a push from behind, and Cherry appeared on the right urging Starlight on. “Palease,” Cherry rolled her eyes, and added another shove to move Starlight along. “A Unicorn such as yourself simply can’t be left ‘mingling’ among common ponies.”

Starlight made on last attempt to resist. She could already feel herself being egged on—dragged, more like it, “But—”

“I must insist.”

~ ~ ~

There was never anything quite like being up on the stage.

Some ponies would try to describe it, to compare it to being the top of the world, or being the centre of attention. Others would say it was like having a conversation with oneself, but Trixie never believed any of those things.

The stage was her life. Trixie had been performing for years, as long as she could possibly remember. Ever since she was a filly, the theatrics had captured her with a certain level of mystery, magic, and majesty. She’d always find some way to get up there, to get before those few that would see her, and just show.

Sometimes it went well; sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes it just straight up blew up in her face, but in the end nothing really mattered, all Trixie could know is that when she stepped up on that stage the world was right.

She could be what she wanted to be. It didn’t matter what she was, where she was, or where she’d come from.

Young, old, experience veteran or youngling starting out, the stage didn’t care.

All that there was, was that moment: you, your hooves, the audience, and the empty air between.

All of these and more were among the thoughts racing through Trixie’s mind as she stepped out into that stage. As soon as she’d passed the threshold, the change was like night and day. The audience’s roar was deafening, the sounds of hundreds, if not thousands, of hooves beating the ground.

She could feel the soil trembling beneath her hooves, and the air itself felt pregnant. Trixie’s breath came short, her entire body felt hot and her hooves began to quack as she took those first, tentative steps.

In the short time since leaving the relative safety of the back stage, she felt like her skin was on fire. And not just that, sweat trickled down her forehead, forcing Trixie to pause, wipe her brow, and re-adjust her hat.

Beneath her, she could feel every tiny motion. She stomps of the crowd, and the sensation as they looked her way only seemed to make it worse. Her lip quivered, and a slick, cool, trail traced its way down the inside of Trixie’s leg.

She almost missed her queue.

Lights dimmed, and the speakers boomed overhead with a mare’s, bubbly voice. The exact words were lost to Trixie, in the throes of her lust-induced trance, but no question remained when they were followed by resurgence in the crowd’s cheers, and a sudden explosion of fog over the stage.

Trixie shook herself, shivering. Her ears perked forwards, and she jumped up the last steps, arriving on the edge of the stage just as the blanket of mist began to take its toll.

For the time being, she pushed all other urges to the back of her mind, clenching her teeth and squinted to see across the stage. The timing had to be precise, too early, and the fog wouldn’t be thick enough to hide her entrance. Too late and, well, you can see how that would go.

She carefully watched for the far side, paying special attention to the thickness of the fog. Trixie stepped slightly higher, leaning on the tips of her hooves to bringing herself as close to the edge without yet revealing herself.

There was a system. Trixie realised long ago. She carefully watched as the previous act disappeared from the far side—a musician she’d been told, either somepony named Lyre or Octagon, one of those fan favourites were there as a pre-act show. The main reason was that Trixie insisted on having somepony to perform before her, precisely for this reason.

The dimmest flicker of green caught Trixie’s eye, and she narrowed in the ears of the last mare carrying her instrument down the far side. She counted the seconds, glancing from her to the audience.

Finally, when she couldn’t see the ear much more than a faint smear, Trixie leapt into action. She jumped across the stage and dashed to the centre, leaping the final distance and rolling her last step.

The audience’s cheers softened, turning to a gradual silence as she stage was enveloped in a blanket of artificial smoke. Trixie could feel the rumble beneath the floorboards as various unnamed stallions worked away at their machines, all just to aid her performance. She found it admiral, if not a bit unnecessary. She could’ve gotten the same effect with herself and one fogging spell.

The speakers squawked, a loud, ear-shattering screech sounding out across the stage and beyond, and this time the announcer’s voice came loud and clear—almost too loud for Trixie’s liking.

“And now,” The mare’s voice screeched, “for the attraction you’ve all been waiting for...” The announcer stopped short, as if waiting for somepony to complete the sentence for her.

The clouds slowly began to disperse and Trixie quickly took up her position, reared on three legs, striking her pose with the hat and cape billowing in an artificial—perfect, as always. She took a deep breath, and,

“BEHOLD THE GREA—”

Trixie’s voice boomed across the stage, crackling as it shattered several octaves and her own eardrums. She instantly recoiled away, stumbling and dropping to all fours with a grimace. “Ah-b—“ Trixie covered her mouth when she realised her swears were magically enhanced as well.

Another peep confirmed Trixie’s suspicions, and she turned back to the stage, putting on a smile and—hopefully—pretending none of the last two seconds had ever happened. Some of the unicorns among the staff must have thought it helpful to magically enhance the air around the stage, she concluded.

It made sense, naturally. This was Canterlot after all. Of course they would have a bunch of unicorn magic over the place. Trixie ground her teeth behind the smile—a feat not even Trixie knew she could accomplish. It was just something that one would normally tell somepony about before starting their performance.

She could feel the silence dragging on and, if it were to go on like this, Trixie feared it might start growing awkward. Or worse, she might just—

“I—” Trixie swallowed. Forcing down the heat between her legs, she subconsciously rubbed her calves together as she stalked up to the head of the stage. “—the Great and P-Powerful Trr-Trixie!” She felt herself stutter, not a good sign.

Trixie pushed on with a quick glance across the stage. The audience’s reaction told her nothing, an ever worse sign, but at least they were forgiving, so long as she made up for it later.

“N-Now,” Trixie plastered a smile across her face, ignoring the dribbles of sweat beading her forehead as she pushed on with the rest of her act. Every second that passed, she could feel heat rising around her, whether from the stage lamps or from something deep inside her.

Dammit, Starlight, why did you have to put me into this situation? Although, admittedly, she wouldn’t have had the courage to come up here in the first place if it hadn’t been for Starlight...

“T-Trixie will show you the w-wonder, and amazement”— Trixie added a flutter and twirl, letting the cape do the heavy lifting as she trained one eye to the crowd. Their eyes subconsciously followed the cape giving her only the briefest moment of respite. In this time, Trixie took a deep breath, steadied her nerves, and reached into her first hidden picket. –“as she performs true Magi—”

Finishing her turn, Trixie presented her finding to the audience. She flipped the hidden catch and the wand exploded.

Literally.

~ ~ ~

The explosion erupted across the stage to a chorus of gasps, runnings like waves across the audience. Starlight Glimmer herself tensed, her eyes going wide as she watched the ball of flames slowly rise from the safety of the V.M.P box.

There was a continued murmuring all around, and she glimpsed several ponies shying away from the front lines with singed manes and collars. She smirked slightly. For once, maybe being sucked into higher society was going to be a good thing. Though, on the other hoof...

“So...” Sparkler hummed next to her, conspicuously unaffected by the potential death of their show runner. Quite the opposite, Starlight should she seemed more bored than anything. “Starlight”—Sparkler leaned closer to Starlight’s side, putting one hoof over her shoulder as she looked over her hungry, lidded eyes. “I hear that you are playing protégé to a Princess now. What does it feel like to be ‘rubbing shins,’ so to speak, with Royalty?”

“I wouldn’t believe how many ponies you must have had to brainwash to get all of the way up there,” Cherry added.

“Hm? Wh-what?” Starlight snapped back to the present, tearing her gaze away from the stage. Her ears snapped forward as she looked to each of her unicorn ‘friends’. “S-sorry, girls,” Starlight muttered. She pushed Sparkler away from her and immediately got up to leave. “B-but I really have to go.”

Sparkler huffed and crossed her hooves, turning her nose up as she watched Starlight shimmy out of her seat. “And why is that?”

Cherry did much the same, joining Sparkler in locking Starlight with a death glare. “You’re not seriously going to help that Trixie filly, are you?”

“Yes,” Starlight said flatly, “Actually, I am.” She huffed, flicking her tail as the girls as she turned away from them. “Trixie is my friend. That’s what friends do for other friends.”

“A friend?” Sparkler hissed as if questioning the very concept.

“A friend,” Starlight confirmed. Not even paying the mare the respect to look her in the face, she continued towards the steps to the exit.

“You were never the one to strike me as having a friend, Glimmer.”

Starlight froze, poised with one hoof raised on the edge of the steps. “Well...” She swallowed. clearing her throat and reconstructing her composure, Starlight whirled back on the two mares. There was a silent thump behind her, and Starlight glimpsed a flicker of motion as the waiter vanished around the corner, his silver tray in tow.

Her ears lowered, and she looked back to Sparkler, lowering her voice to not be overheard. “Things change, Sparkler, which is more than anything I could ever say about you,” she whispered.

Starlight sighed, and, with that, she took her leaved.

Sparkler and Cherry sat together in complete silence, their ears red and mouths hanging agape. The former held a hoof to her chest, whilst Cherry looked to her with dismay. In the seconds that passed, the only sound to be heard were the ponies outside and Trixie’s yelps as she put the stage fire out.

There was a chink of silverware as the waiter delivered their meals, and Sparkler glanced to her plate.

Steamed clams.

Cherry looked to her. Their eyes met, and a wide, devious grin spread across both of their faces.

~ ~ ~

The wand crackled and sparked. It let out a furious hiss and shook violently in Trixie’s hoof. As soon as she’d pressed the switch, she could there was something not quite right. Whether the smoke, the sparks, the acrid smell of a spell gone wrong or the various gasps from the audience, she could only know one thing.

“Oh shi—”

The wand exploded, leaving Trixie precious seconds to jump away before it took her hoof with it. Her fur singed, and the ball of flames erupted out across the stage, blistering Trixie’s eyebrows as it rose into a rough mushroom shape.

She watched with wide-eyes, and gaping in awe at the magnitude of the thing. Normally, the mechanism was meant to release with ease. There would be one, maybe two, seconds of pause, ut then the wand would invert and turn into paper bouquet of flowers. The previous night, she’d inserted just a slight bit of explosives for an added confetti blast. But, now, that somehow seemed too much.

There was a combined utterance from the audience, and more gasps as she flames reached their zenith, then came crashing down to the stage in a pillar of smoke. Trixie, too, snapped back to attention. “I, uh...” She glanced to the stage side. Seeing several ponies waving at her and pointing frantically to the fire raging across the stage, she suddenly got the idea and rushed forwards. “B—b-behold!” she shouted, waving to the audience with a fake smile as she attempted to stomp the fire out.

“The G-g-grrrreat”—Her normal rolling ‘R’s were broken by a prickling heat rushing to Trixie’s cheeks. She could feel herself flushing all the more red as she struggled to keep her composure, stomping the soot-covered stage with her hind legs as she glanced every while to the audience. “And Powerrrrful, Trixie has”—

“Ignited the stage!” she heard somepony shout from the front row. It wasn’t clear if they were laughing or yelling in terror, either way Trixie received several critical glares from the wings.

“She-“ Trixie swallowed.

With the fire quickly stomped into submission, Trixie quickly turned to scan the stage. She could still feel her cheeks burning, both from smiling and from embarrassment, as she looked over the various stares and bored expressions.

“Trixie”– she gulped. This was bad. Worse than her Ponyville visit, worse still than the incident in Stalliongrad, but not the worst, at least not yet.

Taking a deep breath, Trixie steadied herself. Her hooves were blackened, her stage was a mess. She was sweaty and sticky in a various mixtures of heat, but she could do this. All she had to do was imagine them naked.

Yes, perfect.

Trixie cracked a smile, a real one, her usual confident demeanour part-way returning. She held her head high and turned to face the crowd her new image in mind. All of the mares and stallions sat there comfortably reclined in their seats, each one completely naked and utterly revealed, out on display for nopony but Trixie to see. It was perfect, it was hilarious, it was— Trixie’s neck pricked – a horrible idea. Her heart sank as the scene slowly began to sink in, the imagery proving to be no little amount arousing.

All of the stallions and mares were butt-naked.

All other thoughts ground to a halt as Trixie’s mind was flooded by images. Images of stallions sitting, their strong muscles flexing and their chests rising and falling as they slowly breathed. Trixie’s heart skipped a beat as her eyes slowly drew lower, scanning across the crowd, jumping from seat to seat.

The stallions were fully erect. Their horse cocks bobbed beautifully before her, each one subtly moving with the motions of their owner’s breathing. The subtle curves of their shafts clearly defined in the soft light of the stage, veins pulsing, flares trembling. Some of them would flinch, their glands engorged with eager anticipation, whilst many others would leak their beautiful rivulets of pre. Trixie couldn’t stop herself from imagining lapping them up, tasting the salty flavour. She licked her lips. The perfect full feeling of having them inside her, of them each one-by-one, stepping up to the stage and rutting her senseless, all of this, all of this whilst staring directly at her.

Something stirred deep within Trixie, a heat rising back to burn in the depths of her body. She felt herself flinch in the cold air, and the soft, almost sensual motions of the cape of her withers as she trotted wearily across the stage.

There was the subtle trickle of fluid escaping her, and Trixie became distinctly aware of her own juices trickling down between her back legs, and the unmistakable pull of her lips winking beneath the cape.

“I—” she croaked. Squeezing her eyes shut, Trixie pulled her gaze away from the crowd. Of course, she couldn’t do that for long. She was the showrunner, after all. She had to keep her focus and attention on the audience, the entertained. She pointed, raising her voice to be heard clearly, and playing herself as straight as possible.

“Trixie, would like a volunteer from the audience to...”

Glancing back, Trixie caught glimpse of the mares in the first row, and she immediately realised her mistake, as well as just how ‘straight’ she was.

Her mind filled in all the missing details. Their pussies were wet, dripping. The smell of lust was laden heavy in the air, begging to be rutted. It was was overwhelming. Trixie could feel herself swoon drunk in the heat of their passion. Images of them eating her out, of her eating them out, of them forming a mixed and disorderly pile whilst the stallions from before rutted her in every hole.

And all they did was sit there and stare at her with uninterested exp—

Trixie coughed, and pulled her eyes away from the scene. She quickly doubled back on herself, formulating a new plan as she headed back to the curtains. “T-t-to—sit right there and watch in awe as Trixie c—”

Cums.

The word flashed across Trixie’s mind. Too fast for her to see, she was barely prepared by the oncoming crash, and the familiar tingling of magic forcing its way out of her horn. Several spots flashed across Trixie’s vision. She felt her legs tremble and she barely held on by a hair, and several tray particles flashed from her horn illuminating the stage.

Trixie took a deep breath and held it, fighting back against her impending orgasm as she battled to reclaim her composure. She gingerly worked her way back to the curtains, hooking two hooves through the loops of rope, and rearing up to throw her hooves into the air.

“C-c-c-c—C” Trixie shouted, half squeaked through gritted teeth as she forced magic up her horn. She quickly turned the mishap into part of the show, showering the stage in a rainbow of sparks, even adding the after-thought to spell out her name.

‘Tirxe’ burst across the stage as a backdrop as the mare screamed to the rafters, “C-Cuts herself in half!” With a quick tug of her leg, Trixie unveiled her hidden weapon.

An eight-ton wooden box long enough to fit a pony and a half, all suspended on a raised cart burst through the curtains and glided to a stop at Trixie’s side. “I-She will,” Trixie began as she trotted around the box, pulling out the saw and quickly beginning to climb into the open half. “Climb into the b—”The box shook, causing Trixie to yelp and clutch at the sides. “I-I-I-Trixie will climb into the box and—” She glanced to the saw floating in her aura, and hoisted it higher, gesturing with a hoof for the audience to see. “With this saw, Trixie wi-will c—u-t the box with herself inside in half!”

“But not without the help of her Lovely Assistant!”