“Wakey, wakey! Eggs’n’bakey!”

Applejack’s headache was excruciating.

Her every heartbeat rattled through her skull like a charging locomotive, anguish left in it’s wake as she struggled to open her eyes.

“There she is! Welcome back, sleepyhead!”

Even in near total darkness, tiny fragments of light burned the farmer’s eyes like acid, leaving her to blink dumbly as the blurry impression before her slowly began to register.

A wide, toothy grin was the first thing to come into focus, hemmed in by lips painted bright orange and resting below eyes of shimmering blue. “Pinkie? Where’re-"

“Mister Flim! She’s awake now!” The sing-songey squeal of her friend’s voice threatened to split her blonde head in two. Hands rushed to cover her ears, but found their attempt thwarted, their failure bringing with it the sudden realisation that she was chained to the chair in which she sat.

“What in the heck…?”

Looking down she caught sight of herself, half illuminated by the dying light from a distant source. The sight of her freckles, dotting her skin threw her slightly, as did that of her toned stomach and pink nipples perched on modest breasts. Groggy as she was, the fact that she was naked only partially registered.

“Oh, really? How wonderful.” A man strode into what remained of her field of view, his presence seeming to draw every last sliver of Pinkie Pie’s attention, her eyes turning almost worshipful as he looked her up and down. “And you, my little employee, don’t you have somewhere else to be?”

Applejack had been half wondering that herself. In the moments when pain and confusion could be put aside, her thoughts had turned to the bright orange shorts that matched her friend’s lips. They sat high on her hips, and on top of pantyhose that clung tightly against creamy legs and thighs. Her top was simple, a plain, white half shirt with text that she couldn't quite make out. Perky breasts and pert, thick nipples were unobscured by tissue-like fabric, her tummy peaking out underneath.

“I’m late for my night shift at the bakery.” She beamed.

The response sat strangely with a still dazed Applejack. The bakery wasn’t open at night. Even if it were, there was no reason for her to be dressed like that to work the back as she usually did – to be dressed like that at all in fact. Dressed like that she looked almost like a… like a…

All at once the memories came flooding back to her, an overwhelming tidal wave of negative emotion washing away the relative calm of the last few seconds. Before she even knew what was happening she could hear the sound of her chair rattling against the hard floor as her limbs struggled against her enclosure, hands reaching in vain towards the man standing opposite her desperate to wring his scrawny neck with his own ridiculous bow-tie.

“I see somebody’s back to her usual energetic self.” His hands took hold of Pinkie’s tummy, turning her already joyous smile into one of pure ecstasy. “I think that might be your cue-“ His left hand bopped her on the tip of her nose while his right slithered over to her rear and grabbed hold. “To get this fat ass of yours back to work.”

“Okie Dokie, Mister Flim!”

The pink-haired party planner began to bound her way beyond Applejack’s view, unresponsive to her groans and grumbles, her voice refusing to come to her as her sore throat struggled to fully form a phrase. The clicking open of a door somewhere behind her came and went, the return of music briefly penetrating the room and driving yet another spike into Applejack’s mind before vanishing and leaving her, to the best that she could tell, alone in darkness with a man she now recognised and loathed.

As the restrained blonde looked him over, she could see little other than the infinite number of ways that she would make him suffer, every horrible punishment and painful bit of retribution that she would personally inflict if only she could break free from her bonds.

“Y’know, you really shouldn’t scowl like that.” He said, his hand running along her face, sending waves of disgust that permeated to the depths of her soul. “You’d look a lot prettier if you cracked a smile once in a while.”

Applejack’s expression only hardened, carving itself into her features as if they were set in stone.

“You never did know good advice when you heard it.” He sighed. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t even be here. I'd be on your farm, and you'd be retired on a beach someplace. I suppose it doesn’t matter too much though, we’ll have you fixed up soon enough.”

Applejack surveyed her environment as best she could. The room seemed large, with a wide hallway to one side, but, unable to turn her head, and still surrounded by inky black, there was little else she could glean. As near as she could tell she was back in the room where she had last encountered the pair, as well as her friends, though even that remained little more than a best guess.

“How’s yer’ brother?” She croaked, trying her best to exude confidence and venom as best she could even as sore throat continued to object.

“Ah, y’know, a little worse for the ware, but nothing too serious. We do have an excellent nurse on staff after all.”

She cursed under her breath.

“In fact, I’d say you did me a bit of a favour.”

In between heartbeats that rattled through her brain, she tried her best to concentrate. She knew she could figure a way out of this if she could just get a better idea of what she was up against, if she could just keep him talking.

“How so?”

“He tends to get a bit personally invested in our endeavours. I tell him over and over again that business is business, but does he listen?” He shrugged. “But what are ya’ gonna’ do? He’s still my brother. I guess we have difficult brothers in common now, don’t we?”

Applejack growled.

“Hopefully your little temper tantrum taught him a bit of a lesson, but I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“Y’think that was a temper tantrum? Jest’ wait till’ Ah get outta’ this chair!”

“Y’know, it is exactly that sort of enthusiasm and can-do attitude that I hope you’ll bring to your new role in our little social enterprise.”

“Y’think yer’ gonna’ jest turn me in ta’ one’a yer’…”

“Well, we’re going to try. Obviously we have a lot less to work with, but we’re going to do our best.”

“Ah’ve seen yer’ best.” She replied, voice thick with contempt. “Ah’m bettin’ It’ll be quite a while before yew’ kin’ get me in one’a those little outfits’a yers’.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

She heard a pair of clicks behind her that she recognised as the opening and closing a door, the brief sound of music that penetrated the largely silent room offering a fresh reminder of her pounding head.

“You’re not the first one to give us a bit of a hard time, after all.”

As if on cue, Applejack caught sight of narrow hips and a toned rear, locked in a joyous stride as their owner parked herself between them.

“Speaking of which-“ He continued, putting hands on the woman’s shoulders and turning her to face Applejack. “Look who’s here!”

The sight of a familiar face brought no relief.

Starlight Glimmer stood before her, all but dripping with... well Applejack preferred not to speculate. An enormous wad of bills was clutched to her over-ample chest, a beaming smile just like Pinkie Pie’s before her, and arranged beneath eyes that appeared utterly vacant.

“Say hello to the newest member of our staff.”

“Helloooooo.” An exaggerated wave accompanied her proclamation as she perched herself on one toe, a sort of excitement that Applejack had never seen in the normally reserved woman even as her squeal pierced her mind like a harpoon.

“You should go introduce yourself.” She practically leapt toward Applejack, her sudden start and stop giving new life to massive mounds.

“Nice to meet you! My name is-” She said, extending a hand that Applejack couldn’t shake even if she had wanted. A long pause followed, her brow furrowed in concentration.

“Starlight?” She asked, still in disbelief.

Star gasped with nothing but sincerity in her voice. “How’d you know‽ Wait! What number am I thinking of?”

Her hand was still outstretched, trickles of white flowing down her chest and dripping onto Applejack’s lap.

“Three.” Flim interjected from over her shoulder, causing her to spin on her heel.

“How are you two doing that‽”

“Lucky guess. Plus, I’m pretty sure it’s the highest one you know.”

“Nuh-uh! I had-“ She stopped for a second, holding her free hand in front of her face, eyes moving from one finger to the next. “This many customers just now!” She finished, holding her hand up with all five digits extended. “That’s way more than three!”

“That’s very impressive.” He cooed. “Can you show Applejack?”

“Who?”

Applejack saw him point over Star’s shoulder and like a top she spun again, hand still spread and smile still wide. “I sucked and fucked this many!”

Applejack felt a new sensation, a new sort of terror taking hold as she looked into Star’s vacuous eyes and saw nothing of what she had been expecting. Pinkie’s had at least belonged to her, even Rare and Shy still looked themselves, but Star seemed different.

“Isn’t that amazing, Applejack?” He asked, as Star nodded enthusiastically, sending ringlets and curls flying in every direction. “Hard to believe that this one gave us even more trouble than you did, eh?”

His hand slithered underneath Star’s arm, beginning to grope at her chest as Applejack could only sit and watch.

“She was probably our worst acquisition at first. Nearly brought the whole building down a couple times, and even after that we caught her stealing company property too. But look at her now, a model employee.”

His hand found her nipple and began to twist and tug, Starlight’s smile turning wider and more crooked, total ecstasy and pain painting dual portraits on her face.

“We almost figured things out too late, but once we did, we knew that big sneaky brain of hers had to go, so we just turned the whole thing off.”

Star’s hand joined his, guiding and encouraging him as he toyed with her further.

“We thought we might’ve gone a bit too far when she couldn’t even remember the stage names we gave her, but better safe than sorry, right?”

“Yer’ a monster.”

“I’m a businessman.” He scolded. “Just like you, I offer a useful service, I give purpose and employment to my loyal employees, and I turn a tidy profit for my troubles.”

“Y’call this purpose‽”

“Wouldn’t you? Look how much happier she is working for me. You’re much happier this way, aren’t you Star?”

Star giggled and groaned, her tongue lolling from between her lips, ropes of drool mingling with ropes of white liquid. “Sooooooooo haaaaaaaaaappy.”

“You, see? That’s what business is all about. I give someone something they give me something in return. Everyone wins. So, tell me, what is it that you want?”

“Ah’ want yew t’rot in Tartarus.”

“Well obviously that’s not going to happen.” The hand that had been on Star took hold of Applejack’s hair, wiping itself off with golden locks. “I get it though, you’re playing hardball and I can respect that. Negotiation is something of a specialty of mine. We’ll get you figured out soon enough.”

Freed from his grasp, Star continued to jiggle and grope of her own accord, as if by instinct alone.

“And speaking of reciprocity, do you have something for me, Starlight?”

“Oh right!” She replied, taking the near-forgotten wad of bills and passing it to him. “Stupid Starlight! Almost forgot.”

Her second hand free, it joined her first, bouncing her breasts up and down, playing with the weight, mesmerised by the sight of her own body in motion.

“Did you make sure to have one of the others count it?”

“Mhmm! I know you don’t want me adding up all the big numbers by myself.”

His thumb ran through the stack. “Verrrrry good. Just what I’d expect from one of our top earners.”

Star giggled. “Everybody loves Stupid Starlight!”

“They sure do. If you can keep this up for the rest of the night, I’ll need to give you a little reward.”

Her face shone brightly, a slight gleam to otherwise empty eyes.

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

“I’d love it!”

“Well then, we’ll have to get you back out there, won’t we?” He turned to the back and called. “We need some help out here, my little Assistant Manager.”

The sound of clicking heels punctuated the brief silence that followed, echoing down the hallway, growing louder with each step.

Applejack had thought that her heart could not possibly sink deeper, yet one final time the pit in her stomach opened wider and swallowed her whole.

Twilight emerged and approached the trio with an eerie air of calm, unlike the manic mien of the two women who had come before. Instead, she arrived without emotion, stopping nearby with hands neatly clasped over her lap.

“Can I be of assistance, Mister Flim?”

The question hung in the air a moment, her ‘boss’ leaving her to stand stock still, as if to delight in the mere sight of her awaiting a reply, or perhaps for Applejack to voice yet more of her disgust.

In truth, there was an odd current of relief that flowed beneath her still overwhelming unease.

Unlike Star, there was no shiny veneer of… something, nor did she seem particularly out of sorts. In that one warped moment, she was glad to see that Twilight looked almost normal.

Still, Applejack knew better.

Though she was far better off than her other friends, this was still far from typical.

Twilight’s outfits, aside from Fluttershy, were the most conservative among their group. The bookish princess had always favoured simplicity bordering on monotony.

There was the briefest memory of a game played with Dash. They had been certain her clothes followed a pattern, that she chose them by way of some complicated equation, going so far as to bet rounds of cider on what the next day’s would be.

Neither would have guessed this one, though.

A blouse, perhaps a size or two too small, considering how it rode up her modest frame, an a-line skirt, though one far shorter than was the norm, an unassuming pair of stockings, and plain black heels. Her long, deep-blue hair was done up in a bun, though her fringe and bangs remained loose, and her pouty lips were painted to match.

“You certainly can!” He exclaimed, pulling Applejack back to the present. He pinched her cheek as he drew closer, eliciting not even the slightest change in her expression as he did. “Would you mind making our merchandise look presentable while I prepare our new recruit for orientation?”

“Of course, Sir.”

Applejack braced herself for some new awful, humiliating display. She had seen how they treated her friends, she could only imagine what they would do with Twilight. Yet as he walked away, Twilight didn’t move to lick Star clean. Nor did she strip her down, or even lay a hand upon her. Instead, magic took hold of her, prying her hand from her breasts and fixing her in place.

“Stop it! That tickles!”

Star’s comment didn’t seem to register. The pink aura that engulfed her flared brightly, reviving the slowly receding pain in Applejack’s head, then dulled into nothingness, leaving Star standing right where she had been. Wisps of steam drifted lightly from her body, but everything was gone. Her smile was still there, every curl was in place, the fine meshwork of fabric that covered her from ankle to neck hardly seemed to have changed. In the blink of eye, she looked like a new woman.

“What did you do?” Applejack asked.

Twilight didn’t’ reply, speaking to the open air instead. “She’s been sanitised.”

Applejack was agape. There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Twilight could be capable of something so precise, she would trust her to do almost anything with magic, but to see her do it so casually, something so dangerous had eliminated whatever good faith had remained.

“Pretty cool, eh?" Flim returned from the hall, a rope slung over his shoulder, dragging something large behind him as he went. "She’s quite the time saver.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Whatever was trailing behind him, it was large, hardly managing to fit through the doorway. Though covered by a white sheet, Applejack could make out it's crude shape, along with the creaking wheels beneath it and the wires that hung loosely at its sides as it came to a stop directly in front of her.

“Tell me, what do you think is the best way to get the most out of our girl here?”

Twilight blinked, once, then again, her chest beginning to rise and fall with deep, measured breaths as her eyes shut themselves entirely.

“Recherche and Angelique have been rented to private buyers. All of your top talent is currently in use. Higher bidders are currently spent and won’t be back until tomorrow at the earliest. For maximum profit at this time, the optimal strategy is to prioritise volume of business and extraction from remaining patrons over quality of clientele.”

His teeth shone brightly in the darkness, turning to a grin that sent a chill down Applejack’s spine.

“I couldn’t agree more!” He swept over to the newly refreshed Starlight, and took her face in his hands, smooshing her cheeks and rocking her from side to side. “I don’t suppose you got all of that, Bubble Brain?”

“Whose ‘Bubble Brain’?”

Flim chuckled. "Bubble Brain, is someone whose going to make he a whole bunch more bits tonight with her giant, lewd tits."

"Really?! She sounds nice!"

"Oh, she is!" He replied. "But first, would my Assistant Manager mind grabbing me a marker from my desk?"

Twilight disappeared as quickly as she had arrived, the click of her heels growing more and more faint as she once again vanished from view. To see her this way had left Applejack without words, yet even in her absence they came to her only partially.

“So she – she’s not…?”

“Of course, not! Even businessmen have their limits. Do you really think we would sell out the symbol of our nation for a few bits?”

Applejack’s eyes, wide in disbelief, narrowed slightly.

“Sure, the thought crossed our minds! In early days we may have even made an attempt or two, but financial issues forced us to reconsider, and now we know better.”

“Ah’ guess even the low-lives you work with have some standards.”

“Quite the opposite, actually. For the few times we had her up front she was by far our most profitable attraction.”

The thought sickened Applejack, but she still she pressed on. “Then why-“

“Because that’s the difference between a true businessman, and a poseur like yourself. It’s not about making a lot, it’s about making more.”

Once again he took Star’s chest into his hands, to her evident delight, toying with them as idly as one would a strand of hair. “See, unlike this one.” He said, crushing them together, eliciting a joyous squeal from their host. “The princess took to following orders like a duck to water. All the same brains, but none of that pesky attitude to get in their way.”

Applejack heard the faint sound of heels again, signalling the return of their topic of conversation.

“We brought her back here after a show one night, and before we even knew it, she was filing our taxes.”

“You pay taxes?”

“Not anymore! I think now we’re registered as some sort of charity for wayward girls. It was amazing! Budgeting, resource allocation, just put her in front of a problem, wind her up, and watch her go.”

Applejack almost regretted the relief she felt seeing Twilight as ‘normal’. Knowing she was of more help to them as she was, was almost enough to make her wish she had been turned like Star.

“No matter how much we could make charging people to see her, we could always make more keeping her back here.”

Twilight had sidled up behind him, though keeping a respectful distance. Without even turning to acknowledge her, one hand ceased pawing at Star long enough to motion for something, and dutifully, Twilight deposited a silver marker into his waiting grasp.

“So, what do you think we can get out of her?”

“50 bits now, less 10 every hour would likely maximise return for the remainder of the night.”

That horrible smile he wore only seemed to grow, a plague upon Applejack’s vision.

“Think you can remember that?”

“Nuh uh.”

He took the marker between his lips and pulled the cap, spitting it aside, though Twilight was quick to recover it.

One hand under her chin, he tilted Star’s head backward, brushing her hair aside and resting the other on her face.

“Why does everyone keep tickling me!” She giggled as the felt tip pressed to her forehead.

There was no reply. Instead, he simply bent lower, taking either breast in hand, though now holding them steady rather than pawing at them while dragging his marker along his admittedly rather large canvases.

“That should do it.”

He spun Starlight so that Applejack could see his revolting handiwork, somehow seeming to find pride in his degeneracy. Bright, sparkling silver ink had scrawled the words ‘On Sale!’ across her forehead, the number ‘50’ on one breast and ‘bits’ on the other.

“How do I look?” She asked, as Applejack sat agape.

“Don’t ask her that!” He shouted playfully, spanking one of her breasts and pushing her out of Applejack’s view. “Does she look like she has any bits to you?”

His fingers snapped as he continued to steer Starlight from Applejack’s view. Twilight, perked up slightly at the sound, stepping behind and then underneath the white sheet, dredging up yet another ominous feeling within Applejack’s core.

“Now, I want you to go out there and be the best big boobed bimbo you can be! And if you do well, your reward will be waiting for you when you get back, alright?”

Once again, the door clicked open.

“You can count on me, Mister Flim!!”

Then, it closed.

“Make sure to mark her down ten bits an hour from now.” He said, joining Twilight on the other side of the obscured contraption.

“Yes, Sir.”

“And with everyone else out there, making me money, I guess that just leaves you!”

“If you think for one second yer’ gonna’ get me t’go out there-“

“I like your ambition!” He replied, stepping in front of the white sheet and grabbing it by its hem. “But making it out there isn’t as simple as just cramming you into one of our fabulous uniforms! It takes work, dedication, and a bunch of time in front of-“

A dramatic flourish saw the white cover thrown from the large machine, making it wholly visible, or as close as could be expected in the darkness, to Applejack for the first time.

“The Magnificent Mega Mind Melter 7000™"

Fully in view, the machine laid bare before her was perhaps the least surprising thing Applejack had seen since she had awoken. Though the grating reveal was still agony on her aching head, the machine itself did little to impress.

“Seven-thousand tries an’ this is the best y’could do?”

He chuckled and fell to his knees while Twilight continued to adjust knobs and dials.

“I'll forgive that remark because I know you’re a little nervous about joining our team, but I want you to know that, I am a consummate professional.”

His hands ran up and down along her muscular thighs, leaving her to only wish she could crawl out of her skin. “This is going to be quick and painless, that’s a Flim-Flam Brothers Guarantee™.”

He bounced back to his feet and strode over to the ramshackle looking device, apparently unbothered by the duct tape that held the scrap metal together. Instead, his only concern seemed to be with the large, white and black disk that sat on its front, taking a moment to wipe it clean with the cloth before moving aside.

Between that, and the enormous array of lights that flanked it, the whole thing looked as if it would be more at home in one of Spike’s comic books than in her current predicament. Yet, considering her circumstances, Applejack knew better than to underestimate it.

“Just sit back and relax, this will be over before you know it.”

A thrust of his arm forced a large lever forward and Applejack gritted her teeth in anticipation. Expecting the worst, she braced herself as the contraption came to life, the creaking of metal and grinding of gears overtaking the dull and distant sound of music.

But there was nothing.

Had the large plate not begun to lazily turn in one direction, and the lights to blink randomly, she would have been sure that it had broken down entirely.

Her eyes darted from the machine to Twilight, then to Flim, searching their faces for disappointment, for anticipation, for some sign of what was to come.

“HA! An’ I thought yew’ two were bad at yer’ jobs before! That last machine’a yer’s made some piss-poor cider, but at least it worked!”

There was no response, no change in affect between them, the same awful grin on one, the same expressionless mask on the other. Back to the machine, she looked more closely, the lethargic turning of the plate gradually gaining momentum, the black forming a spiral as it went.

“Yew’ almost had me scared there for’a second!” Her eyes lingered on it a bit longer this time, still trying to deduce its purpose, before returning to the pair behind it. Silence was, once again, their only reply, and Applejack’s focus again returned to the machine, this time to the lights that continued to chaotically flicker.

As much as she enjoyed the knowledge that their grand machine was little more than a glorified lamp, it hardly changed her situation. She still needed to find a way out of this. No matter how poor their craftmanship, they had somehow managed to gain power over her brother, her friends, and half the town.

Knowing how was second only to finding a way out, but any extra time to do either was more than welcome.

“Think ya’ might wanna’ take five?” She asked, eyes now darting from one light to the next, trying to track their pattern. “Maybe try unpluggin’ it and pluggin’ back it, that usually helps!”

Charting their path took her back over the plate, still spinning away, occasionally holding her focus for just a moment before she returned to chasing them down.

“Or try hittin’ it with’a-“

Suddenly, all of the lights came to life at once, unleashing a flash of light that engulfed the room and turned everything to white. Starbursts filled her vision, and her head swam in a sea of white, her thoughts receding like shadows until, for the briefest moment, her mind felt utterly clear.

“Try hitting it with what?” She heard Flim’s voice ask from some great distance away.

“Wha – what was I…?”

“Finish your thought. You were saying something about my machine.”

Still half blind, her eyes found blurry outlines of the pair standing ahead of her. They looked to her as if they were kilometres away, like shadows on the horizon, and it took all of her concentration merely to bring them back into view.

“Maybe you’re right, maybe it is broken.” He replied. “If you had a headache, it should be getting better, not worse.”

For the first time since this ordeal had begun, Applejack gave something halfway to a smile, though it quickly faltered as she once more looked to Flim, and saw his own, still fixed and full.

She felt as if she were missing something as her eyes were drawn back to the machine, to the blinking slights and swirling plate, both now faster than she had realised.

The fact that it was broken would buy her time, but she still needed to know how it worked. Though far from mechanically inclined, she found herself studying every aspect of it as it went, looking for-

Another flash stopped her thoughts in their tracks, her eyes feeling the full onslaught of the lights. Everything was further now, not just the room, but even her body. The cool metal of the chair, the thrumming of her heart in her chest, it all felt distant, more like akin to a memory than to the here and now.

“How was that?”

“Huh – how wuh- was wut?” She slurred, trying to find her way back to dark room from her bright, white expanse.

“Your head feels better now, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah – Ah’ – Ah’ guess it does…”

Though her headache was better, it had been replaced by an encroaching fog that made tracking the lights impossible. Their pace was far faster, and their positions even more unpredictable. Just trying to keep track was exhausting, and so, instead, her focus shifted to the spiral.

"I bet you feel much better now."

“But – but that doesn’t mean it’s working.”

“Of course not! If it were really working you’d feel-“

Another flash of light sent her mind reeling ever further from where she had been. The sights, the sounds, the sensations, all the things that had been her guide back were now fainter than ever, so much so that she could only catch them as fragments.

“—warm and fuzzy—"

Struggling to work her way back, she found her progress slowing with each passing moment. The closer she got, the clearer her view of it.

“—————totally empty.”

That whirlpool of black and white that filled her vision, dragging her from its edges into its centre where she remained until the light pushed her further away.

“———orientation———”

Try as she might, she could never seem to get closer.

“——————start tomorrow——————”

The further away she found herself, the harder it was to recall why she was even trying.

“—————too good————won’t resist.”

It felt so much better, wherever she was.

“———whatever she says.”

Perhaps she could stay, just for a little while.

“Forget——————”

She would find her way back eventually.

“——————only when you hear——————”

When it was time.

“—————————”

Until then, she could just stay here and watch the spiral.

“—————————”

And remain in the light.

Author's Note

Hey! Whatd'ya know! It's back!...kinda'

I sure do hope this qualifies as one of those 'good things' that's supposed to come to 'those who wait', but I wouldn't bet on it.

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!

Also: Consider checking out this webcomic I like. I am in no way affiliated with it, I just think it's neat and wish it had more readers ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯