Leaving Dash and Fluttershy to their fun, Star returned to Applejack, as fixed in place as when she had been left, her stagnant body now bathed in the iridescent glow of the stained-glass window that stood behind her.

Since the moment of Star’s arrival, ideas both old and new had been jockeying for position in her mind’s eye, the winged women now behind her proving a perfect distraction while they sorted themselves.

The decorations would be finished, that was a given. The challenge now was to find the way that ensured everyone had as much fun as possible while reaching that goal, and as Star gazed upon Applejack, still and unmoving, she hoped that she had her solution.

It would involve a little extra ‘work’ of course, her time with Applejack was always as performative as it was pleasurable, but if she could manage it would be well worth it.

It was only that ‘if’’ that gave her pause.

Had she known the day would turn out like this she would have come better prepared. As it stood, she would be adapting an idea only half finished, the finer points destined to be adlibbed rather than meticulously planned. It wasn’t how she had imagined her first try at this, but it would have to do. Improvisation had never quite been within her comfort zone, but if she had learned nothing else in the last few hours, it was the joys of spontaneity.

Stretching upward, a thumb swept gently across lightly freckled cheeks, wiping away twin trails of tears that had formed underneath uncomprehending eyes in her absence. They weren’t tears of sadness, emotion of any kind at all was well beyond the blonde at this point, as was, it seemed, the simple act of blinking.

The same hand now ran itself along the profound definition of Applejack’s side, savouring the odd intimacy of the juncture, their game only just beginning. Fishing itself underneath one of the straps that held the tight, white tank top in place, a finger pulled it taught, stretching the fabric upward and wiping away an errant strand of drool, making its way down from lips frozen mid syllable.

Her pendant had come to life again, the act, after such a prolonged absence, becoming so natural that it was all but second nature, suspending itself in midair above both of them where Star’s arms could hardly hope to reach.

“Fluttershy and Dash are gone, you and I are alone in this room.” The mention of their names drew her attention towards the hall’s end, where one, still bestrode atop the other, had a hand buried between sopping wet thighs that wobbled their way forward. “Your eyes might see them, your ears might hear them, you might even feel their touch on your skin, but until I say otherwise, they simply will not exist, understood?”

The hypnotist could see the frozen farmer’s attempt to offer confirmation, a slight twitch in her jaw as conflicting compulsions stumbled over one another. Even her eyes moved only in jerky, awkward fits as they fought over whether to remain locked on the crystal or anchored in place, proof positive of the stubborn singlemindedness that made her such a perfect subject.

“That’s because for all its strength your body is just a slave.” She cooed, walking a slow circle around her fingers drawing lines along the stiff woman’s rigid form. “The mind wills and the flesh merely obeys, and when I speak to you in this instant my voice, and your mind are one and the same…”

The words changed as they left her lips, no longer external, they now emanated from within, ‘thought’ not in Star’s cheery soprano but in Applejack’s own, more restrained alto.

“That’s why, if I told you that your legs were as soft as jelly-.” There was a thump, the monolithic figure, now a heap on the ground. “Exactly.”

Kneeling down the mage laid her hand atop Applejack’s thigh, snickering to herself as she looked upon the farmer’s face, fixed in that same half-finished expression, arms rigid in place even as her lower half lay entirely without purpose.

“All that strength, gone in an instant, all because a little voice in your head said that it was so.” The hand worked its way upward, groping in vain for anything that wasn’t totally solid.

“That voice will remain with you for the rest of the day Applejack, whispering deep and far away, in a place that only your body can hear. It’ll tell you something that, no matter what you remember, or what you think, that deep down, your body knows is absolutely true: ‘you’re weak’.”

There was a token effort made to lift the rancher by hand, the realisation that such a task was utterly impossible coming shortly afterward. Magic made propping up the half-limp woman far easier, the pale cascade taking hold of individual limbs, rearranging her like a marionette until she matched Star’s memory of how she had stood.

“Every second you’ll feel a little bit more of your strength slip away, any reminder, no matter how brief that you are weak will draw you down further, until eventually, there is nothing left.”

Gentle applications made the final, tiny adjustments. A little touch here tilted her subject’s head, a tap there spread her legs shoulder width apart. “Oh! And your legs are solid again.” She offered, feeling the weight of a body totally unsupported fade away without notice.

Drawing the hem of the tank top up just slightly Star made for one final adjustment, her thumb pressed into Applejack’s bellybutton for just a few seconds, watching her face for a telltale twinge that followed shortly after.

One last minute was left to consideration, to making sure that everything was more or less where it was supposed to be, save the pair of women continuing to complete a circuit of the room in the most bizarre fashion imaginable.

The perfectionist in her demanded that everything be just so, particularly now. The irony was not lost on her, that Applejack of all people was the highest maintenance among her friends. If Shy invited the greatest creativity, then AJ required the greatest commitment, but it was a responsibility Star bore gladly.

Satisfied with everything else however, Star was on her toes, hand reaching up as high as she could manage…

“Start.”

“ou doin’ here?”

A wave of unease crashed over Applejack as the sentence passed from her lips. A stiffness from her arms to her jaw and everything in between, her shadow seeming to lurch under her feet.

“You okay?”

It took some time before Applejack had an answer, the whole world settling into place before her eyes.

“Yah… y’just took me by surprise, that’s all.”

“Sorry about that.” She replied, her voice vibrant. “I just need your help finding Rainbow Dash.”

“She’s right over-.” An arm like a tree trunk stretched outward, pointing up to the ceiling squarely at open, empty, air. “That’s weird… I could’a swore…”

Applejacks head turned, scanning the room for any sign of either of the women with whom she was supposed to be working.

“Where in tarnation are they‽”

In truth, both Fluttershy and Dash were closer than Applejack could imagine, passing one another by like ships in thick fog. The athlete for whom the cowgirl searched sat only metres away, perched on top of an absolutely haggard Fluttershy, a long stretch of pink hair clutched in one hand like the reins of a horse, while the other remained buried between her steed’s legs.

“How many people have you let stretch out this fat cunt of yours‽ I can almost fit my entire hand inside!”

An especially violent yank on the makeshift riding aid left the chubby woman collapsed, red-faced, ragged and flat on the floor, or as flat as her most well-rounded parts would allow.

“They must’ve wandered off.” Star offered, increasingly sure that their paths would cross again soon enough. “I guess I’ll just need to wait.”

For a few seconds the probing green eyes lingered, following the long slick trail that ran half the room’s perimeter. Arriving at its source they stared vacantly, ‘watching’ as she began raising herself up on wobbly appendages, even as her equestrienne continued to demoralise and tease her pliant body with every free second.

“Is it anythin’ I kin’ help with?”

A smirk was quickly supressed.

Even without a script, leading Applejack on was easy, easier still when she was like this. Admittedly, leading her on was an art in which Star was well practiced, but it was fun all the same. “No, no, it’s really the kind of thing only Dash could help with.”

Applejack’s eye twitched. “What kinda’ thing would that be?”

“Well, you see that big, heavy table over there?”

In the far corner, an impressive slab of marble stood on a single, ornately carved post with infinitely complex designs etched into the pale white surface. A giddy thrill ran up Star’s spine looking at it, more art installation than furniture, the briefest thought spared for the incomparable opulence of it, of how it would feel to know once and for all that it was her own.

Applejack, on the other hand, saw only a table and merely nodded.

“I need it to be wayyyyyyyy over there, in the centre of the room.”

“Y’can’t just magic it over there?” The blonde queried.

“The stone it’s carved from is a bit weird, it doesn’t play well with magic.” A flagrant lie on Star’s part, but Applejack had little inclination to question someone like her on the ins and outs of how magic worked. “And I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m not exactly equipped to move it by hand.”

A bit of embarrassment flared to life as an arm as thin as a branch tried in vain to flex, finding that even with effort the faintest trace of muscle failed to appear. “So, I guess I’ll just need to wait for Dash to get back to help me.”

A heat formed just behind Applejack’s face in an instant, a familiar feeling, a sort of faint pressure building at the back of her neck. “Y’can’t think of anyone else who might be able ta’ help?”

The magus merely looked up at her, offering a quizzical expression, finding it irresistible to see the frustration that she could cause with a simple quirk of an eyebrow.

“Not anyone else‽”

Star just stared at her, stifling a giggle, doing her best to come across as genuinely in the dark, while Applejack felt more and more like a kettle about to boil over.

“ME!” The farmer finally blurted out. “I kin’ do it! I’m way stronger’n Dash!”

“Oh Applejack, Dash is a professional athlete, I don’t think its fair to compare you to her.”

“She’s a professional show-off!” Applejack spat. “Anythin’ she could do, I kin’ do just as well!”

Hands now on her hips, heart racing in her chest, Applejack glared down at Star, indignation rapidly giving way to frustration. To be underestimated was unpleasant, to be underestimated compared to Dash was maddening.

“I dunno… I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself…”

“I could move that thing like it was made’a cardboard!” She huffed. “I mean look at me, you really think I can’t handle it‽”

Star was looking and enjoying every second of it.

Applejack wore exasperation well, bringing with it the increasingly rapid rise and fall of breasts, mid-sized and firm, the sole deposits of fat on a body otherwise sculpted from solid stone. As broad shoulders tapered into gentle curves, terminating in a tight, slim waist, Star couldn’t help but take notice of the white singlet practically painted onto her, and the jeans to match.

To strip her down would almost be unnecessary, anything that was hidden had been done in plain sight, and yet, Star knew it would be fun all the same.

She shrugged. “If you think you can handle it, then I guess…”

Applejack needed no further justification, already halfway across the room, zigging and zagging her way towards the large stone slab, paying not a moment’s thought to the circuity of her route.

Instead, she fixated, eyes locked on her target, thoughts already turned towards a not so distant future, when her superiority was no longer a question, but a fact.

She would savour the look on Dash’s face when she returned. When she saw something that weighed twice what she did had been moved clear across the room, when she heard Star gush about how wrong she had been, when there was one more bit of evidence to prove which of them really was stronger.

Star, meanwhile, trailed shortly after, lacking Applejack’s overwhelming determination, content instead to enjoy the sight of her rugged form in motion. Without missing a beat, the resolute farmer had wound her way around a pair invisible to her, now midway through their circuit of the room, one hurling invective with every breath, the other absorbing it, only simpering in response.

Running a hand through a savagely smiling Dash’s mop of dishevelled hair, Star paused for just a second.

Things were going well so far; but the first act was always going to be easiest. To succeed by her standards what came next would be the true test.

There was a thrill to not knowing, to having a beginning and an end, but no middle to link them. A rare occurrence for her and something worth savouring. Dash, content to ignore the fidgeting atop her head, too engrossed in what was going on directly below her had no idea where Star’s thoughts were leading, how lucky she was to be friends with someone like Star.

But before she could appreciate that Star needed to get there first and so she began to follow after AJ, joining her at the table’s edge, destination secure, but directions very much up in the air.

The stretching was a bit much.

The fact that a thought like that crossed her mind for even a second was enough to remind Star of exactly how spoiled she had allowed herself to become. As Applejack twisted from one side to another, the well-oiled machine that was her body, pressed up against her singlet and packed into her jeans, every motion sending rippling waves of sinew through her exquisitely bronzed flesh… well even ‘a bit much’ could never truly be ‘enough’.

On those rare occasions when Star’s gaze could be pulled from the outline of Applejack’s washboard stomach, it was drawn to forest-green eyes that glowed with purpose. As glances lingered the message became clear that Star was no longer alone in putting on a bit of a show. Both women knew whom Applejack would prefer to have in her audience, though it seemed she was willing to settle.

Lost in thought and lascivious admiration, only the spitting managed to drag Star back to the task at hand. Once onto each palm, before rubbing them together, a nasty habit that had proven nigh unbreakable, even with her mind pried open wide.

Still, bad habit or no, slightly damp hands were soon upon the cool white surface, its wide berth proving no impediment for a woman with a wingspan to match, and seconds later the table was off the ground.

Then it wasn’t.

The table was heavy.

Heavier than Applejack had anticipated.

She had lifted boulders over her head, knocked over trees by accident, and this… this was a table.

There was a lump in her throat as she looked back to Star, a smarmy expression on her face, the words ‘I told you so’ practically tattooed on her forehead.

“Everything alright?”

“S’fine.” She smiled through gritted teeth. “Just gettin’ warmed up.”

Her grip tightened as she stared down at the pristine white surface, her reflection staring back at her and reaffirming her consternation.

She knew any minute now Dash would swoop in, keen to insert herself and take over with or without Star’s invitation. The image flickered to life unbidden, as they so often seemed to: ‘She couldn’t even manage to lift that‽’ A voice rasped at the back of her mind, joined by the feeling of strong, calloused hands, pushing her aside…

She shook the intrusive thoughts from her head, returning to reality, her problem unchanged.

Despite gravity’s staunch objections, the table was soon off the ground again, seeming to have nearly doubled in weight in the brief period between attempts, but insufficient to dissuade the renewed determination of the woman lifting it.

A few metres were all she could manage, the same disheartening thud of stone upon tile rising up a second time as she released it after only a couple steps, but it was progress all the same.

“Think…” Applejack gulped down air, hoping against hope that it wasn’t obvious. “Think Dash could manage that?”

“I’m willing to entertain the possibility that I was wrong.” Star quipped, delighting in the sight of smug satisfaction that lit up Applejack’s face. “But we still have quite a bit of ground to cover.”

“We?” She retorted, the weight, for a third time, taken in hand, a dull ache in her arms proving little deterrent to a desire to finish her task as quickly as possible.

The work was rapidly turning bitter.

A fondness stirred within her for days under the sun’s scorching heat, for afternoons spent trudging through mud that was waist deep, memories that now took on a distinctly rosy hue when compared to her present predicament. Every step stretched on for a kilometre, her teeth gritted and grinding as she willed herself forward, eyes fixed downward, counting the tiles beneath her boots in a futile attempt at distraction.

Driven by the thought of the whole thing soon being over, of having ‘won’ and proven herself, she had managed to lug the compounding weight over one-hundred and fifty-three identical squares of alabaster marble, surer with each passing second that the next would be the final member of her set.

Yet when her eyes finally left the well-polished floor, seeing the room around her more fully, it became stomach-turningly clear that she had barely made progress at all. Not even half the distance had been closed, and as she lifted the weight again, beginning to take another pained, tentative step-.

“Stop!”

A fingertip at her forehead, the powerful woman’s entire world came to a grinding halt, thoughts in a state of suspended animation before the sensation or command could even register.

Circling ahead Star stood for just a moment, hesitating briefly. A long, slow breath helped to calm nerves that thrummed with a slight nervous energy, but keen to get keep momentum Star smiled and spoke.

“Gosh! You sure are determined!”

She dawdled just a second longer, drinking in the view of the petrified woman’s every muscle tensed and rigid, but eventually, and with some difficulty proceeded. Climbing atop the table the lilac-haired mage laid herself flat on her stomach, feet kicked up behind her, all without the surface budging even a centimetre lower.

“Y’know I wouldn’t need to cheat like this if you didn’t have to make this so difficult.” A soft, pale hand ran itself along a particularly impressive bicep, polished to a sheen by the sweat that rolled and glistened along a similarly breathtaking body. “But I suppose you wouldn’t make things so hard on yourself if you didn’t want me to…”

Now on her knees, magenta eyes peering into an opposite pair coloured emerald green, the latter unable to even comprehend her presence, Star’s hands cupped Applejack’s face, turning her from side to side, mesmerised by her complete lack of awareness. When her doll was once again recentred, unblinking eyes once again looking through her, Star’s fingers began to drift, first along a chiselled jawline, then between thin, pink lips, prying them apart without a trace of resistance.

The taste was lost on the blonde, unable to recognise the saltiness of her own sweat upon the fingers that were now moulding her expression anew. When they were done the look upon her face was no longer one of stoic determination but faux-surprise, her eyes wide, mouth gaping, and a long, pink togue lolling out as if by invitation.

“You must be holding up half a tonne right now.” The magician looked down at her own slightly extruded tummy, a faint shade of pink forming along her cheeks. “Well maybe not that much… but still, look at this!”

Star half-leapt to her feet, taking a few hops on a table that remained as level as the ground upon which its bearer stood. “Its not enough to make you feel weak, I have to tire you out on top of that anyway, how is that fair?”

It was a few more hops before Star returned to her seat, her slightly ample rear once again planted against the hard, white surface. “But I guess technically I don’t have to do anything do I?” Budging up as close as she could manage, her legs wrapped themselves around the farmer’s trim waist. “I could do anything I wanted to you, and there’s nothing you could do to stop me is there?”

Her hands fell to the imposing woman’s sides, rolling slowly upward under the constraining, white fabric of her shirt. “Totally helpless.” Gliding up under a bra stretched taught against broad, muscular shoulders. “Completely at my mercy, and you don’t even know it.” Craning her neck upward, Star’s lips met Applejack’s pendulous tongue, sucking briefly, taking more and more of it in until finally joining her in a long, drawn out kiss.

The passion was one sided of course, her tongue’s partner simply going where its more assertive companion directed. The persistent hammering she felt in Applejack’s chest brought a twinge of vanity to mind. The idea that it might be her doing, that a kiss could be enough to melt a heart frozen in time, but of course, Star knew better. The strain of carrying their shared weight was the true cause, no amount of groping or sucking would change that…

But it was still fun to think about.

A pale blue aura engulfed the pair, but Star felt no need to stop what she was doing. One hand found itself atop an ass as hard as rock while the other toyed with a rapidly stiffening nipple, all while the duo began to levitate off of the ground, and then a few metres back towards where they had started.

For every three steps Applejack had taken, Star had erased two, undoing progress that had been the result of unimaginable effort with little more than a thought. It was a long, slow process, one that could be sped up with little more than a tweak of a subconscious command, but she knew that it was what her spectator wanted, and as she moaned softly into Applejack’s mouth the mage felt little need to accelerate the process.

When the pair found land, it was only begrudgingly that Star peeled away, taking her time to wipe away the strand of drool that connected them.

The tension was fading more quickly than she had expected. The actions coming naturally to her even without a guide, though it would still be a while before she could fully judge their effectiveness.

She took her time making the farmhand look presentable again, resetting her expression and putting her clothes back in order. Even after returning to her previous post standing just behind the still frigid subject she waited a few moments more, allowing the weight to drag upon her a little bit longer until…

“Start.” Her chirping, almost immediately drowned out by the dull thud of the table on the floor, followed shortly thereafter the faint sound of cursing under heavy breaths.

Looking down at the table, at the sweat upon its surface, rolling off of her in buckets, the realisation that only a few seconds exertion had exhausted her sat at the fore of Applejacks mind.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for Dash?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Came a reply thick with disdain, the table taken in hands now stinging with overuse, beginning the long journey to her destination anew.

‘I guess you’re just helpless without me around.’ A voice hissed, an image of herself pressed facedown to the table, arms bound as the weight she carried continued to bare down on her. ‘Too weak to do anything’ She felt a tongue run along the nape of her neck. ‘Too weak to resist.”

Applejack shuddered.

The image lingered with her longer than she cared to admit, each moment spent idle sending ripples through her imagination. The intrusive thoughts weren’t a new phenomenon, but an embarrassing and inopportune one all the same, and while she had come to terms with their presence, and her own way of dealing with them ages ago, that did her no good at present.

But it didn’t matter.

A sound louder than she’d intended echoed throughout the hall. Every inch of her ached and sweat poured out of every pore, but the job was finally finished.

“See.” She half-panted, doing her level best to disguise her lassitude. “Told ya’ I could do it.”

“You’re absolutely right Applejack, I should never have doubted you.”

“Yah well, I won’t hold it against ya’.”

The look on Applejack’s face, the vibrant sheen of accomplishment, of victoriousness, there were few things in the world more satisfying.

“Now that the table is done, I bet the chairs will be easy.”

Crushing it out however, was one of them.

“The chairs…?”

At the corner where she had started, they sat, tucked away and forgotten, three similarly decadent chairs, looking to be made of the same stone as the table. “They’re a bit too much for me, but for someone as big and strong as you, they should hardly take a moment.”

“R – Right…”

The first chair was agonising.

Initially she had meant to take them all at once, to get it over with as quickly as possible, but that plan evaporated almost immediately. Instead, she was reduced to dragging a single seat across the floor, the sound of the legs on the tile a persistent reminder of her inadequacy.

She had needed four separate breaks by the time it was alongside the table, and even then, had only barely remained upright before lugging herself back to the far corner to repeat the process.

Still, somehow the second managed to be worse.

She felt as if she might collapse at any moment, aware even of the weight of her clothes, now pulling her down to earth, standing only by sheer force of will.

Yet even that was beginning to fail her.

Her focus was increasingly split. Every moment’s struggle brought with it intrusive thoughts in need of suppression, proving more forceful with each trespass.

A flickering image at the back of her mind, of being thrown to the floor, head bowed, held downward by a heel jammed against the back of her skull.

“Maybe I’ll let you up if you beg me.” A familiar voice rasped. “If you tell me exactly how powerless you really are.”

It felt beyond her at this point to wish them away, with every passing second, she felt what little remained of her physicality slip, the absence proving ready fuel for images she couldn’t seem to shake.

Even as she found herself sat on the final chair, stranded midway between beginning and end, breaths coming in long, ragged bursts, she knew that this had to be done.

“I think it might be time for a break Applejack.”

“I kin’-“ She sputtered in response. “I kin’ do this.”

“I’m sure you can, but lets just stop – for a second and get you cleaned up a bit.”

Before Applejack could object there was a damp cloth to her face, mopping up sweat as it dragged along, hands that rose in objection, swatted away with just a flick of the wrist. The sensation could scarcely have been more degrading, she felt like a child, a fussy mother standing over her, cleaning her up while all she could manage was to squirm in place until it was done.

When Star had finally finished Applejack felt that pit in her stomach expand, that gnawing feeling of being pushed around, of passivity, of impotence, not at all helped by the condescending smirk on Star’s lips as she tossed aside a white rag that was – that was…

“WHAT THE HECK‽”

Applejack looked from the rag on the floor to herself and leapt from her seat before falling to one knee under her own weight.

“How did y’ – W-What did ya-?”

Star simply smiled wider as Applejack struggled to comprehend why it was that her shirt was now on floor, or, more pressingly, why she was suddenly topless.

Wobbling halfway to her feet again she found her friend drawn up toward her, hands putting pressure on her shoulders, forcing her backward into the chair she had only just vacated. Attempts to rise again were stymied before they could even begin with the mage taking a seat upon Applejack’s lap, weighing on her like a tonne of bricks while arms as thin as twigs restrained her own with no visible effort.

“You-.”

“Shhhhhhh.”

“Why-.”

“Shhhhhhhhhhhhhh.”

There was a long pause.

The kind that seemed to stretch on for hours. Hours of Applejack staring at Star, of Star staring back, hands softer than silk still resting upon her collarbone, her slightly rounded body settled comfortably upon the now fully restrained woman beneath.

In those few seconds of near total silence, punctuated only by the rhythmic slamming of flesh into flesh somewhere off in the distance and audible only to one of them, Applejack’s mind raced. Confusion coloured her every thought as she tried to parse her situation, yet even in her incipient panic the feel of Star’s body baring down on her, pinning her to the chair left other thoughts to fester at her mind’s rear.

“Tell me if this sounds familiar: Rarity asked me t’come over today…” Applejack blanched, instantly recognising the words as her own, helped in no small part by Star’s attempt to mimic her accent. “She asked me ta try somethin’ on…” This couldn’t be happening. “An’ when I didn’t…” Star couldn’t have found them. “She used ‘er magic to hold me down.”

Star leaned closer, hands wrapping more and more tightly around Applejack’s wrists, continuing to recite words never meant to be spoken aloud. “She told me I was gonna’ be ‘er doll for the day…”

Applejack could see a wicked smile expanding on her captor’s lips, the tinge of excitement in Star’s voice only growing as the confined woman recoiled as far back as the chair would allow. “She painted my face with makeup, dressed me up in lingerie, and when she was done… well you know how the rest goes, don’t you?”

“You -You read my journal…?”

“You wound me! I would never invade a friend’s privacy that way…” Applejack felt Star’s weight shift in her lap, leaning in as closely as she could manage, chest now pressing up against her own. “You read it to me.”

“What’re you-.“ A finger was raised to Applejack’s lips, once again taking her silence, but this time by force.

“I thought for sure you’d be one of the boring ones, I didn’t even believe you when you told me.”

Applejack’s whole body tensed, trying her hardest to do something, anything, but Star paid it no mind, even the blonde’s most concerted efforts proving beneath her notice.

“But then you took me back to your room, and there they were, stashed under your bed like a horny teenager, stacks and stacks of little black books, filled with every lurid, torrid fantasy that perverted little mind of yours could muster.”

Another long pause followed as Star buried her face in the crook of Applejack’s neck, feeling futile attempts at escape ripple through the body she was now sampling.

“So much effort spent acting strong, because you know the second you feel weak, like you’ve lost control even a tiny bit, you’re mind starts to wander off in some interesting directions…” She purred into her unyielding form. “Its no wonder you’re so competitive, if you weren’t always trying win, we’d probably need to cool you down with a firehose.”

“That’s not – I – I - I don’t-“

Coming up for air Star saw exactly what she had hoped for. The look of dawning realisation, the shift along features normally staid and stoical, now fighting not to betray the abject terror within. She studied every line, every bead of sweat, every minor twitch, all of it was familiar to her, it was a scene that, in one form or another, she had created dozens of times before.

“I can only imagine what our friends would think if they knew… maybe I should tell them?”

Applejack felt her heart fall out of her chest, her entire world unraveling, pulled apart at the seams in mere seconds.

“Star…” A deep, rattling breath, an attempt to affect the faintest illusion of calm to her voice even as a cold sweat continued to roll over her.

“I dunno’ what kinda’ joke yer’ playin’ at, but you gotta’ knock’it off right this second.”

“I dunno’ what kinda’ joke yer’ playin’ at, but you gotta’ knock’it off right this second.”

Eyes like twin moons, confusion became shock as her protest turned to a duet without warning, matched perfectly in both cadence and inflection.

“You say that every time, Dear.” That tone only made it worse, a voice that was somehow both playful and serious.

“I don’t know-.”

“I know you don’t know! That’s part of the fun! Because I’ve got another secret to tell you…You’ve been brainwashed!”

She almost sounded like Pinkie Pie, the kind of excitement that would be infectious were it not from someone presently holding her in a way that increasingly felt like captivity.

“What d’you mean I’ve bin’-.”

“I mean that I have completely and totally enslaved you to my will, isn’t that cool‽”

“That’s – what’re you talkin’ about? That’s not-“

Star released Applejack’s wrists; fully aware it would only be temporary.

Leaping from her seat, the mage watched the normally stoic and self-confident woman upon whose lap she had sat struggle to rise to full height, trepidation and uncertainty radiating from her in waves.

She almost looked like another person. The usual proud baring lost as she slouched forward, pulled to the ground by her own weight. Her arms, idle at her sides, rising as best they could to cover her chest, but only with unambiguous difficulty.

“Let me ask you something, Applejack. If you weren’t my little sock puppet, would I be able to do this?”

Her freedom short lived, Applejack felt Star’s aura wrap itself around her wrists, pulling them to either side, her brief return to some semblance of modesty ripped away as her arms spread as far apart as they could manage.

Another mental flex saw the same pale blue aura press itself to AJ’s back leaving her stood bolt upright, her arms fixing themselves to her side so that she stood perfectly at attention.

“See what I mean?”

Applejack glowered down at the woman as she drew closer. “This doesn’t prove anythin’ cept’ that you still got yur’ magic.”

“Oh please, I’m barely even trying. This would hardly be enough to hold Fluttershy in place, let alone you.”

The restraints that held the utterly helpless farmgirl up came to life once more, her hands now drawn in front of her, fixing themselves at waist height while her feet, under the same magical influence turned heel to heel.

Applejack could only watch as Star’s smile grew wider as her limbs further betrayed her. She now stood half naked, emulating a ballerina’s pose with a name she couldn’t place.

“You’re not even going to try to resist?”

A low growl escaped from Applejack’s lips, the provocative pose into which she had been forced completely at odds with the grimace that adorned her face.

“Unless, maybe you don’t want to resist?” Hands once again glided along the woman’s top half, feeling every part of her flex in protest, in pointless attempts to break herself free. “We both know this is what you really want don’t we?”

Star stepped aside, disappearing from Applejacks limited field of view, though her presence was still more than obvious. From behind Applejack could still feel her hands upon her, slithering their way along her skin unfettered.

“Believe me, there’s no point in denying it, I know you better than anyone at this point.”

A shiver rocked Applejack’s entire body, the feeling of arms wrapping themselves around her, of hands cupping themselves underneath her breasts, and of something wet slowly dragging itself along the length of her spine, stopping just below her shoulder blades.

“For example: I know that you and I are a lot more similar than you might realise…”

“WE. ARE. NOT.”

Star merely snickered, her hands dropping lower, caressing the woman’s stomach, coming within a hair’s breadth of her navel. “I know exactly what you’ve been going through, what its like to spend your every waking moment wanting something you don’t think you can have.”

“I don’t want this.”

Star, head still pressed to the blonde’s back, heard her heart race ever faster, critically undermining her hasty attempt at deception. It was exactly the kind of feedback she had been looking for, but hardly enough of a reaction to bring satisfaction.

Without a moment’s warning Applejack found herself marching forward, her feet drawn out in front of her by the increasingly familiar feel of a will that was not her own.

A few steps out her arms spread themselves wide, her head pressed downward by an invisible force into a sweeping bow before rising again, dragged up to her full height by that same odd sensation.

Her eyes met Star’s briefly, but before she knew it that connection was lost as she began to twirl in place on the toe of one boot.

“The only difference between us, Applejack, is ambition. while you were writing about all the things you would want done to you if only things were somehow different, I was making what I wanted a reality.”

“And this - is what - y’came - up with‽” She asked, her momentum arrested, though still not under her own power.

“I’m always open to suggestions.”

“I suggest you stop before I-“

Without waning Applejack found her leg swept out beneath her, held perfectly level behind her while her arms raised themselves above her head in an exaggerated arabesque.

“Buh – Before I –“

Again, control was wrested from her, her foot meeting the ground briefly before rising out in front of her. There was no pain to it, Applejack was remarkably flexible as both women evidently knew, though the sickening sound of fabric tearing at its seams implied her jeans were much less so. When it seemed her position was settled she was in a standing split, one of them beside herself with delight, the other utterly mortified.

“Before you what AJ?” Star asked, her hands running the length of the long, powerful, upraised limb. “Tell me exactly what you think you can do to stop me.”

The look of struggle on the blonde’s face only grew more defined. The defiance that had shone in her eyes slowly crumbling, giving way to resignation and uncertainty. Star knew it well, could see it clearly, but there was still room to push further.

“The truth is: it doesn’t matter what I make you do.” Her hands moved along the woman’s thigh, now asserting themselves between her subjects legs, into to the denim of her increasingly strained jeans. “I could have you name all the kings of Saddle Arabia, or walk a tightrope in a tutu and it wouldn’t make a lick difference, and do you know why?”

A wet patch was quick to form, the light blue fabric turning dark with little provocation. Her eyes shut, now refusing to meet Star’s own, Applejack could only stand, her position uncomfortable but uncompromising, feeling a hand that was not her own quicken, feeding arousal that she tried her hardest not to acknowledge.

“Its because the only thing that matters is that you know exactly how weak and helpless you truly are for me. Because we both know that’s all you’ve ever really wanted, isn’t it?”

“IT! IS! NOT!” Applejack’s eyes flew open, filled with indignation and fury, a moment Star recognised well as the final throes of resistance, one last obstacle to be overcome. “You did somethin’ t’me! You used yer’ magic on me! That’s why I feel- Why I’m always thinkin’ about…”

“Well you’re half right.” She mused, one hand keeping the same steady rhythm, the other now idle, playing connect the dots with the freckles on Aplejack’s chest. “I have made some minor adjustments, but you’ve always been this a delightful little deviant.”

A tightness to her stomach, Applejack tried to remain indignant, to focus on rage, on disgust, on anything other than Star’s ministrations.

“And when I learned that fact, and told you that I could make every last one of your dirty little secrets come true, do you know what happened?”

There was a pause in her previously steady rhythm, a brief respite from the constant, maddening teasing.

“You begged me.” She whispered. “Begged me to make you my own little puppet.”

Applejack’s leg began to lower itself, accompanied by her arms, the former soon reaching the floor. There was a slight sense of relief that came with it, perhaps becoming slightly accustomed to being a passenger in her own body, as disturbing as that thought was.

“It wasn’t even hard.” She purred. “No tricks, no resistance, just a few minutes and you were all mine.”

A token effort was made, one that even Applejack knew was doomed to fail. Her hands rose, held aloft by limp arms, reaching forward to push Star away only to be carried higher by renewed magical interference.

“And once that was done, once I was inside that pretty little head of yours, that’s when the real fun began.”

Applejack’s hands slid their way under her bra, groping and pawing at her own breasts, her fingers kneading her flesh with an eerie sense of detachment. The spreading warmth along her chest, the tightness in her stomach, both the result of stimulation not of her own volition, and yet she found it harder and harder to keep herself quiet.

“We popped some popcorn, warmed up some cider…” Star continued, hands settling upon Applejack’s hips before meeting at the front and undoing her belt. “Then I sat and watched while you stripped yourself down, spread your legs wide, and came your brains out on your own bedroom floor.”

Applejack yelped, her eyes meeting Star’s, a self-satisfied look plastered on her face, a knowing smile to her lips as she returned to the task at hand while Applejack’s own hands continued apace.

“The whole time reading to me. Page after page about every little thing that managed to get your motor running.”

The belt clattered to the floor, her left leg rising mechanically in front of herself as Star nuzzled her face to her thigh.

“Your mind goes to some pretty weird places too.” The boot slid off without a fuss, the first leg returning to the floor and the second repeating the process. “I didn’t even know what a ‘luh-mee-ah’ was, but a hug from Pinkie Pie lasts a couple seconds too long, and you rush home to write about the feel of rough pink scales slithering along your skin, squeezing the air from your lungs…”

Boots flung aside Star once again disappeared behind Applejack’s back accompanied by the same feeling of unease that arrived whenever she lost sight of the increasingly aggressive magus.

“But of course, you wanted more than fantasies, you wanted the real thing. To know what it would be like to be taken, to be ravaged, to be forced.”

Desperately Applejack tried to get a reaction from limbs that were supposed to be her own. Hands once again wrapped around her waist, her jeans coming undone, she tried to tear her own hands from her chest but found they simply refused to budge.

“That’s where ‘you’ came in.”

She whispered, peeling the shredded denim down to the floor, stopping every few inches to leave a light kiss along the back of her thigh.

“That delicious sense of fear, that trembling, gnawing feeling, that’s the kind of thing you can only get once. After that its just two people playing their parts, and where’s the fun in that?”

Jeans on the floor Applejack’s feet stepped out of them, their defiance of her wishes bringing with it a familiar and unwelcome flutter to her stomach.

“That’s why you’re here. So that AJ can live out every one of her dreams exactly the way she wants to, feeling all the little emotions that make it special for her, and once we’re done, you’ll go right back in your box until you’re needed again.”

“I would-.” Applejack bit her tongue, her voice, to her own surprise, emerging from between her lips as a high-pitched squeal. “I would never want that.” She asserted with only a sliver more authority.

Her hands stopped briefly, returning to her sides, though only long enough for the last scraps to offer her cover fell from her body. Her bra lifted up over her shoulders by traitorous appendages while her shorts were dragged to the floor tossed away.

“Well, you wouldn’t.” Star conceded, rising up and circling back to Applejack’s front. “But let’s see if we can’t find someone a bit more honest.”

“What d’you m-“ All at once Applejack felt the floor fall out beneath her, a plummeting sensation that swallowed her whole for just the briefest moment as her eyes closed, reopening a second later to see Star’s smiling face with a new clarity.

“How do you feel?”

“Weak. Helpless. Wonderful.”

A smile spread across Applejack’s face to match Star’s own. “But y’already knew that, huh?”

“I had my suspicions.” She smarmed, her hand running the length of Appljack’s slit. “But it never hurts to get confirmation, does it?”

Applejack wanted to collapse, to melt into a puddle on the floor, remaining upright only by a force not of her own making. It was wonderful, this sensation, the flood of emotions left over from a moment earlier, the adrenaline, the intoxicating feel to true, utter helplessness.

“I thought we were takin’ a break from this sorta’ thing, least til’ the coronation.”

“We were… but I had a bit of inspiration, and well, I’m only human.”

Applejack stared downward, forgetting for a moment that her hands remained beyond her control, kneading her increasingly tender breasts. “Just couldn’t help yourself, huh?”

“They tempted me!” She exclaimed. “Pinkie and Spike had these little, itty-bitty shorts on-“

“I wonder why they’d be wearin’ somethin’ like that.”

“Well I might have had something to do with it…” She admitted coyly. “That doesn’t bother you, does it? The way I’ve changed them? made them more like you? more like us?”

A faint haze came over Applejack’s voice, her eyes turning distant. “Course it doesn’t bother me, they’re yur’ friends, I know you only want what’s best for em’.”

The slightest pang of disappointment wended its way through Star. In Applejack she had found something of a kindred spirit, their sole true point of divergence being a difference of opinion on how best to expand their ranks. Honest AJ had been convinced it would be ‘wrong’ to manipulate their friends, to show them good it felt to be liberated. Star knew better though, everyone was happier this way, even Applejack, especially once she saw just how much there was to be gained.

“I knew you’d agree!” She chirped. “and speaking of what I do for my friends…” Appleajack’s hands fled from her chest, clasping themselves behind her back. Her posture straightened, her face locked in position staring straight ahead, her chest thrusting itself forward. “What do you think?”

“Bout’ what?”

A loud crack filled the air accompanied by a pained yelp that more than exceeded it in volume. A large red mark began to form along her ass, the hand that had made rejoining its partner behind her back as if it hadn’t happened.

“Okay! Okay! Calm down.”

Sauntering forward Star buried her head into AJ’s body, resting just underneath her breasts, listening to the rapid beating of her heart.

“Let’s try that again.” Star hummed, hands running along Applejack’s rear. “What have you thought of my little show so far?”

Applejack grinned. The feel of Star’s hair tickling her abdomen, the warm glow that came with being entirely in her power, it was intoxicating. Star had done – was doing so much for her, had given her more than she could have ever hoped for, but she still had to be honest.

“B plus.”

“B Plus‽”

The tickling stopped.

“Well yer’ the one who asked!”

The support disappeared out from beneath her leaving Applejack to fall to her knees, arms hanging loose at her sides as she collapsed into a heap.

“Ughhhhh, I knew I should’ve gone with one of your ideas.” Star moaned. “I should’ve thought this out more, moving furniture I mean what was I thinking?! I – I had this one idea – I thought it was good and-and-and you hate it!”

Applejack snickered. “Only you – well not only you - but what kinda’ person hears ‘B plus’ an’ thinks ‘hate’.”

“Well not ‘hate’-.” She sighed. “But you have all these ideas – like remember that time in the barn?”

Applejack did, like it was yesterday. The familiar coarseness of braded rope pressed against her skin. Her lasso wound around her from her wrists to her ankles, running the entire length of her body. The feel of true and complete terror as she swung from the rafters of her barn like a chandelier. Just the thought of the lone strand that ran between her legs, shifting with every bit of struggle, bringing her closer and closer to the brink, the sight of Star and her brother below, the latter being none the wiser.

“You were so grateful when I cut you down, that look on your face when I finally let you – well I just thought I could figure out something similar.”

“Y’did-“ Applejack paused, her face twisting for just a second. “I’m tryn’a hug ya’ but…”

“Oh – uh – one second.” The blonde woman’s body came to life again, propped up on it’s knees, her arms floating gently upward and draping themselves over Star’s shoulders.

“Y’did good. Y’did great! I think its just the end that needs a bit’a work is all.”

Star looked down at the woman now hanging from her like a necklace, her mouth opening silently then closing again as she regathered herself. “The end?”

Applejack quirked an eyebrow.

“No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no, this isn’t the end, this is intermission!”

A wicked smile curved its way along Applejack’s supple, pink lips. “I’ve still got something very special planned for you tonight, and something extra to tide you over for a while afterward – if you’re still open to changing my grade that is…”

“I could be convinced… if y’throw in some new jeans too.”

Star’s hand slithered downward, inching its way back down to her captive’s core. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Applejack’s smile widened as Star’s had reached its destination, pressing gently against her and watching that lovely, mischievous smirk expel itself from her face an instant later.

“Wha-What’re you-“

“Just getting a better look at my property.” Star interrupted. “Unless there’s something else you’d like to do while we’re so close to each other.”

The farmer spat up at her, having apparently regained at least some of her nerve in her time away.

“That wasn’t very nice...” The hands slung over Star’s shoulders began to move, clumsily wiping away the rope of slime that hung off of Star’s cheek. “But I forgive you.” The hand hung before Applejack’s eyes, lingering briefly before wiping itself off on her own face as penance.

“In fact, I’m even going to give you a present.”

Applejack’s body went slack again, falling to the floor without magic to support it.

“You are free to go!” Star chirped. “Just as long as you can get out the door before I get back.”

Applejack stared up at her, eyes suspicious and uncomprehending.

Star was already walking toward the eastern wall, a saunter in her step and a wiggle to her waist as she went.

“Or you can stay put and take your chances with my little surprise, up to you.”

The tile was cold against her naked and sweat drenched body, but a chance for escape – even a clearly disingenuous one – couldn’t be passed on. In the corner of her eye, she could see Star bent over the decoration table, an almost mesmerising sway to her pert, round ass. It was only a few minutes ago that she was trapped under it, felt it weighing down on her, unable to esc-

No!

Not now.

Propped up on her elbows the proud woman began to crawl her way forward. It was degrading, it was difficult, but if she just focused she could escape, she could warn the others, she could-.

“Oh, so close!” Star, already beside her, chided. “Well not really, but it looks like you tried!”

Applejack once again felt herself pulled upright, now by pale blue strings only faintly visible to her eye.

“Star, please-.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t be keeping you much longer. Its getting pretty late, and I’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

Star reached out and laid hands on Applejack’s still tender breasts, lingering longer than she needed to, toying with them, just to underscore Applejack’s abject helplessness.

“But you’ll be left in good hands, I promise.” When her hands released a pair of star shaped stickers were affixed to the blonde’s skin, covering stiff nipples, barely. “But first we have to make you presentable.”

“C’mon Star – I – I get it alright?” Star brandished a plastic streamer roll covered in the same gawdy design as the stickers that were now fixed to Applejack’s chest. “You – you wanted to show off some new spell er’ somethin’ and you did, and now you can stop… right?”

Applejack’s hands yanked themselves behind her back, stuck together, wrist to wrist by a force she was powerless to resist. Star followed soon after, disappearing behind her, the proof of her continued presence now the feeling of cool plastic wrapping itself around her forearms.

“Sorry Applejack, but I can’t stop, this is for your own good.”

As Star worked the thin strip of plastic, first around her forearms, then down to her wrists, her magic began to fade, before disappearing completely. Her final touch, a delightful little bow that tied the whole thing together.

The moment the magic was gone she was reminded of exactly who it was she had managed to restrain. The wall of muscle before her came to life, every magnificent bit of sculpted steel flexing and straining in concert against the thin sheet of plastic that held them in place.

“What d’you mean ‘my own good’?” The false effort intensified, her body coming to life in an even more impressive, yet still futile effort.

“The more you struggle, the better it’ll feel Applejack.”

That seemed to bring pause, albeit briefly. All the stress and strain melted away as Applejack, whether willing to admit it or not, thought on which was more humiliating, but that lasted only a second.

As Star reappeared in front of her, roll in hand. Like a spider, the web she had begun to weave only continued to spread across Applejack’s body. Soon strands had bound Applejack’s biceps in place, her chest now thrust forward as her arms dug into the small of her back.

Next it wound its way around waist, trailing up between her breasts, their keeper taking every opportunity to poke and prod as she went. Over her shoulders, then under her arms, until the pattern was complete, a delightful little star on her broad chest’s centre, one more humiliating little flourish.

“Just – Just let me go, Star.”

The roll was at her neck now, a single wrap making a neat little collar, completed by a long trail down that made for an excellent leash. A gentle tug brought the monolith to her knees again, magic no longer necessary to exert control.

“It’s only plastic. If you really wanted this to stop, you’d have shredded it the moment my magic went away.”

The glare that had only a few minutes earlier lived in Applejack’s eyes was gone now, reduced to something pleading and desperate. She was close, Star knew it, but one last nudge would take her over the edge.

Back at the rear star pressed her hoot to Applejack’s back, forcing her fully to the floor, then joined her on her knees. One strand went over the farmgirl’s eyes, leaving her to only glimpse the world in vague undefined shapes.

“Can’t forget these!” Star sang, grabbing the discarded pair of leather boots and sliding them back onto Applejack’s feet. “I know someone who just loves to see you in them.”

They were quickly joined by another layer of plastic, pulling them up and fixing them together in place followed by a final length that bound them back to her arms, leaving her effectively hogtied.

Star, on her feet now, took a look at what she had managed, a sense of pride within her as Applejack still tried in vain to squirm in place against the cold tile of the floor.

It was amazing, the things she was capable of. Holding her position would be extraordinarily difficult for someone not of Applejack’s… physical means, there was, in truth, noting holding her in her current position. Plastic wrap couldn’t hope to restrain someone like her for even a moment, let alone hold her so firmly in place, and yet there she was, the effort of keeping everything in tact, of maintaining the illusion that she was weak was the most irrefutable proof that she was anything but.

A hand traced the length of her thigh, fingers wriggling themselves between legs that were firmply clamped shut, muscles tensing at the slow, deliberate intrusion.

“If you just admit that you’re enjoying this, that this is what you want, I might let you have it.”

Applejack felt the fingers come closer, the last dregs of her composure, draining away as they crept near to her slit.

“Is this what you want Applejack?”

“N-.” Star fingers were massaging her inner thigh now. “Nuh-.” They were so close.

“Yes.”

The words were treachery. She didn’t want this, she couldn’t want this, but she needed it.

One finger arrived first, brushing up along her lips, sliding just along the outside and bringing with it a tremor that resonated throughout her entire being.

“Say that again for me.”

Applejack bit her tongue, desperate not to give in again.

“I want it. Please.”

A second finger made its way in, though still lingering just outside, teasing her, pressing her to her wits end.

“Its all you think about, isn’t it?”

“Yes!”

A third, so tantalisingly, maddeningly close.

“You want it more than anything?”

“Yes!”

Then they were gone.

“Well, that’s too bad.”

She a hand, warm and damp drag along her back, wiping itself with her hair.

“Wuh? – what?”

“You forget, Applejack. I know everything there is to know about you.” Star’s voice had begun to move, no longer behind the blinded woman, but in front. “And I know that as much as you’d love for me to do the honours, that there’s someone you’d want even more.”

The pit in Applejack’s stomach grew wider, threatening to swallow her whole. Star looked over her shoulder, taking note for the first time in a while of the pair still circling the room, both red faced and drenched, but persisting all the same.

“Her name comes up a lot more than mine does in that little library of yours.”

“Star, please…”

Star stretched out and grabbed Applejack’s shorts right where they had been left, stained with her arousal and, a second later, crushed into a ball.

“And it just so happens that you can be very useful to me like this…”

“She – she can’t see me like this please. She can’t-.”

The wadded-up pair of shorts were crammed into Applejack’s mouth without ceremony, once more taking her silence. Muffled words tried and failed to filter out but Star was confident she could guess their content.

Her aura began to engulf Applejack, lifting her body from the floor and walking it back towards the opposite end of the room.

“Don’t worry, you’ve never looked better…”

Author's Note

Happy Labour Day! (Internet points to anyone still around who gets that)

Good GOD writing this sucked. There are basically 3 different versions of it floating around now, all with bits and pieces I really liked that are now just gonna rot away, very dispiriting.

But its done, I’m done with it, I’m never going so much as glance in its general direction again

I think it’s a bit too busy, I worry I’ve missed some stuff but its been forever and I’m sick of this chapter so I’m dumping it out like a tv off of an overpass and I guess just hoping it doesn’t land on any oncoming traffic

ANYWAY we're in the home stretch now, 3 more chapters and then an epilogue, and then maybe a sandwich.

I say this every time, but the gap shouldn't be quite so long this time, in the time between getting this published I had time to think about how the rest of this will play out so barring any more stupidity on my end the pipeline should be a bit smoother