The Game of Estrus

by SkyDreamer

Rating: mature
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Discord, Sex, Twilight Sparkle, Main 6
Length: 27679

Discord runs a contest, where the aim is for mares to avoid potential impregnation and enslavement

When Twilight and company decide to investigate a new competition being hosted in town, one that boasts "the grandest prize you can imagine", they find it being run by an old foe.
Now, they must participate in his twisted game, where the cost of losing is worse than any of them could have imagined.

This is a clopfic, it will have sex scenes, both consensual and non-consensual. The main sexual theme running through it is impregnation with a dash of mind-control, so be warned ahead of time if that puts you off.

Note: This story is not canon for "Keep Calm and Flutter On" and all subsequent episodes

Published 2012-09-03 05:04:02 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-29 22:31:29 UTC

Chapter 1 - Prologue

The front door of the Ponyville library swung open, and Twilight trotted drowsily inside. It had been a busy day; Twilight had known organising the entire Winter Wrap Up from beginning to end was going to be a much harder task than just coming in at the end as she'd done last year, but she hadn't realised how much physical exertion would be involved. She'd been run ragged delivering tasks between the three team leaders.

"Next year," she swore, "I'll definitely need to introduce a new team for delivering messages."

She could hear Spike's snoring in her ear, the baby dragon sleeping soundly on her back. It had been a tiring day for him too, made more so by the fact that his sleep had been disturbed a good many times this week, awoken by the sound of Twilight's late-night pacing, as she herself was kept awake by the stress of the job she had been given. With the successful arrival of Spring resting on her withers, she couldn't help but make constant amendments to her checklist, despite the Mayor having claimed it was perfect when Twilight had shown it to her the previous month.

It had all been worth it in the end though, as Spring had not only been welcomed successfully, but had been done so in record time, by Ponyville standards at least. Twilight smiled to herself as she remembered everypony crowding around to congratulate her once it was all over. They all seemed to agree that they couldn't have done it without her, and somepony even suggested giving her the Prize Pony of Ponyville award. She'd turned it down though, arguing she couldn't accept it when it was really everypony's hard work that'd helped pull it off, not just hers.

"Besides," she thought to herself, "right now the greatest reward I can think of is to curl up in my soft, warm bed." Although to be honest, right now she would have been perfectly content to simply lie on the floor and sleep as she was. Yet she persevered, willing herself up each individual step leading up to her room, knowing that the end reward would be oh so worth it. Placing Spike down in his bed, she slipped off her multicoloured All-Team Organiser vest, before flumping down onto her bed.

"Hi Twilight," said Twilight's bed in Pinkie's voice.

"Hi Pinkie bed..." mumbled Twilight.

A moment passed.

Twilight's eyes sprung open. She saw Pinkie looking back at her, lying beside her on the bed.

"Pinkie... what are you doing here?"

"I've come to invite you to a super-duperriffic party I'm throwing to celebrate the start of Sprinter!" Pinkie said with her typical bubbliness, showing no signs of fatigue from the day's work. "Y'see, that's a word I just invented for this season, 'cos Spring isn't 'til tomorrow but we already wrapped up Winter, so this must be a completely new season in between Winter and Spring, so I put the names together and called it Sprinter! And it's funny too, 'cos sprinting is another word for galloping, and we had to gallop all over the place to get Winter wrapped up early enough to have a Sprinter, y'see?"

Twilight was fighting a losing battle to keep her eyes open. "That's great Pinkie, but do you think we could have the party tomorrow instead?"

"No silly, Sprinter will be over by then. Besides, we're all going to enter the competition tomorrow."

Twilight pricked up her ears mid-yawn. "Competition? What competition?"

"'The grandest prize you can imagine?' What the hay is that supposed to mean?"

Rainbow shrugged. "No clue. I just overheard some ponies talking about a contest they were entering, and that's the prize they mentioned."

"And you all knew about this?" Twilight glanced around at her friends as they all nodded, looking ashamed for leaving her out. The six of them were walking to where the contest was supposed to be being hosted, a building on the outskirts of town that was often hired out for social events if the Town Hall and Sugarcube Corner were unavailable.

"I tried to tell you," Rainbow defended, "but every time I saw you you gave me a new task to prepare for my Weather Team. I would've told you at last night's party, if you'd shown up."

Twilight sighed. It was true she'd seen her friends less and less as the Winter Wrap Up approached, too preoccupied with her task at hoof. "So, we don't even know what type of competition it is, and the prize is decidedly cryptic."

"Ah reckon it don't matter what kinda contest it is," Applejack assured Twilight, "if all six of us enter as a team, we're bound tah come out on top."

"Damn right we are!" Rainbow boasted. "It doesn't matter if it's athletic or eggheadic, we got it covered."

"Oh, honestly you two. Did you not even consider that this contest might be every pony for herself?" Rarity chastised the athletic duo. "For all you know we might be competing against one another."

Fluttershy squeaked and started backing away. "Well uh, I didn't really want the prize anyway, so I um, I think I'll just go home now so I don't get in anyone's way, okay...?" She squeaked again as she was enveloped in Twilight's magic aura and dragged back into the group.

"It's okay Fluttershy, we'll stick together no matter what." A thought suddenly struck Twilight. "Do any of you girls actually have your heart set on winning the prize? I know I'm just tagging along for curiosity's sake."

"Competitions are fun, and I loooove fun," Pinkie replied while bouncing alongside the group. Fluttershy said nothing, but the other three raised a hoof in acknowledgement.

"The way ah reckon it," mused Applejack, "the prize must really be a heap of money. That way, yah could buy the greatest prize yah want."

Rarity shook her head. "No dear, it's obviously a grand work of art. After all, nothing takes more imagination to create than a beautiful piece of artwork."

"You're both wrong." Rainbow hovered in front of the group, flying backwards to face them. "The competition's clearly being run by a genie who grants wishes, and whoever wins gets one wish to wish for the most awesome thing they can think of." This was met with incredulous stares. "What? Genies are real. Daring Do totally met some this one time. And kicked their butts!"

The debate quickly heated up, and Twilight sighed and rolled her eyes, knowing it was futile to reason with any of them once they had a strong opinion in their head. They were still arguing when they reached the venue. There were two doors leading inside, with a sign in-between them indicating that mares should enter through the left door, and stallions through the right.

"All right!" Rainbow exclaimed, hoof pumping the air. "If they're dividing it up by gender, that must mean it's athletic, so I'm sure to win!"

"Don't y'all get too cocky now. Unless we're up in the air, I got yah beat," AJ reminded Dash.

Twilight sighed in exasperation. "Girls, can we please stop arguing and just go inside?"

Pinkie had already bounced in of her own accord, and the others followed her lead. They emerged into a large ballroom/auditorium, where a few other mares were already milling around.

"Oh my... I was sure there'd be more ponies here than this..." Fluttershy seemed to withdraw even more into her metaphorical shell. Small crowds were even worse for her than large ones, since at least with large ones she could manage to hide herself amongst the other ponies.

Twilight looked around. Aside from their group, she counted a mere ten other mares gathered in the hall. Amongst these, one pony appeared to be a reporter for the local newspaper, who was probably here to document the event rather than take part. "Well, we don't know what time it's due to start. Maybe more'll get here later."

"My, what a lovely surprise. Are these my friends before my eyes?"

The group turned to look at the mare that had entered the hall behind them. "Zecora!"

Zecora smiled. "Entering the contest too, I suppose? I sincerely hope we-"

Just then, the door behind her slammed shut, causing everyone in the room to jump.

Zecora seemed lost in thought for a moment. "...oh, what a mighty close!" She sighed, then glared angrily around. "Someone has interrupted my flow. This is a crime I cannot let go!"

As if on cue, the lights in the room dimmed, with the exception of those on the stage, and a voice seemed to emanate from the walls.

"Welcome, every pony!"

A number of expressions passed over Twilight Sparkle's face: bemused contemplation, dawning realisation, horrified shock, and finally pure terror. "I know this voice..."

As this was transpiring, a figure materialised on stage. Standing up to his full height, there was a collective gasp, as the citizens of Ponyville stood face-to-face with the being who had once turned their town upside-down:

"Discord!"

Chapter 2 - Let the competition begin!

Discord's laugh echoed throughout the auditorium. "Oh, the looks on your faces. I never get tired of the expressions you ponies can pull."

Twilight was the first to recover from the shock. "Discord!? How can it be...? You should still be imprisoned in stone at Canterlot!"

"Indeed I should, Twilight Sparkle." Discord glared at her. "Thanks to you and your friends, I was once again sentenced to the torturous punishment of doing absolutely nothing for millennia."

"But you escaped. How?"

Discord chuckled again. "Oh, Twilight, you are a hoot. Tell you what, since I know how much you love solving riddles, I'll let you figure that one out for yourself. Besides, aren't you more interested in hearing about the competition you'll be taking part in?"

Rarity spoke up. "Oh, please. Do you honestly believe we'll still take part in this contest, now we know that it's being hosted by a brute like you?"

"You say that as if you have a choice in the matter. Now that you have stepped into this room, you are all participants, whether you like it or not. However, if you wish to leave before hearing the rules, then be it on your own head." With a flash, Discord was behind them, opening the main door and gesturing that the ponies were free to leave.

Twilight frowned. "All right, Discord. What's your game this time?"

"I'm glad you asked!" Discord raised his arms, and a bright flash filled the room. Twilight felt her body tingle, and sensed a large amount of magic around her. When her vision returned, she saw that Discord had returned to the stage.

"The game can be summarised as thus," Discord said, pulling a blackboard out of nowhere, with the words "ELIMINATION BY IMPREGNATION" written on it.

"O-oh m-my..." Fluttershy managed to stammer out before fainting.

Pinkie squinted at the blackboard. "What's iii, imp-reg-nation? Is that like, a country that's regulated by a bunch of tiny demons?" She giggled to herself. "That sounds funny. They'd be bossing all the bigger demons around!"

"Ugh," winced Rarity, wrinkling her nose, "this sounds positively vulgar."

"Complain all you want, my little ponies, but know this. I have just made modifications to each of your bodies." Discord paused, relishing in the ponies' reactions. Twilight gulped, thinking back to the magical tingling she'd felt earlier. She glanced over herself, looking for changes, and noticed other ponies doing the same.

"Oh ho ho ho ho. You won't find the changes by looking, so let me just explain. I have added a total of two new features to each of you. Firstly, I have increased your fertility far beyond your normal levels, to the point where all it would take to impregnate you is for your nethers to come in contact with a single sperm. And secondly, I have introduced a strong hypnotism spell into your subconscious, which will activate itself the instant you are fertilised. Once activated, you will become enslaved for life to the stallion who knocked you up, having no choice but to obey his every command. So, any questions?"

"You're sick," Twilight muttered under her breath. She could see most of the ponies around her starting to freak out.

"That is not a question," Discord whispered into Twilight's ear, having appeared beside her. Twilight jumped, and backed away from him slowly, growling.

With a flash, Discord was on stage again. "Now, as I showed you, this is an elimination contest. You win by being the last one left after everypony else has lost." A thin book and a scroll materialised in front of each pony. "That book contains the full rules, and the scroll will help you keep track of who's left in the game. Good luck, every pony!" With another bright flash, he vanished.

Twilight was amazed the room didn't immediately descend into panicky chaos. Some ponies stood slack-jawed, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Others were nervous wrecks, curled up in the corner shivering. A few, Twilight was impressed to notice, were calmly flipping through the instructions, though they were still showing understandable concern. She opened her own book, and the others peered over her shoulder, including Fluttershy who'd been roused to her senses.

There are four ways to be eliminated from the game:
1. Being impregnated,
2. Telling a non-participant, directly or indirectly, any detail about the contest,
3. Travelling to, or attempting to contact anyone in Canterlot,
4. Death.

Breaking of rules 2 or 3 will result in severe punishment.

"What the hay!? Stay away from Canterlot? But that's where I live!" Twilight looked up, and saw a grey Earth pony in a bow tie glaring at her rulebook. A white unicorn with a vibrant blue mane put a hoof on the Earth pony's shoulder reassuringly. "It's cool Tavi, you can bunk with me 'til this thing blows over." Rule 3 concerned Twilight as well; how would she send her reports to the Princess? She glanced to the next page in the book.

Your scroll will automatically keep itself up-to-date with the status of each competitor, letting every player know when another has been eliminated. In addition, the colour of the square by each pony's name lets you know their sexual status, both at the start of the game and at present. Cyan represents a total virgin, yellow means some light sexual experiences, and pink means that they've had sex at some point.

As she read this, Twilight unrolled her scroll.

It did seem as if every pony present was listed here, along with a couple of squares by each of their names.

"Hey Rainbow." Applejack was indicating her own scroll with a hoof. "What's the meanin' of this here yellow square by your name? Y'all foolin' around with somepony behind your friends' backs?"

Rainbow tried to keep her cool demeanour, but Applejack noticed a faint blush on her cheeks. "Pshaw, what, that? That'll just be from back at Flight College. Gilda and I had a thing for a while during our last few years there. What I can't believe is you guys being all so innocent... well, I can probably believe it from Fluttershy and Twilight, but still."

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie was rolling on the floor laughing, having just had the facts of life explained to her by Rarity. "Hee hee hee hee hee, s-so that's how babies are made? That's so silly!"

"Pinkie Pie, keep your voice down!" Rarity was blushing. "This isn't a very ladylike subject to be discussing."

Fluttershy was curled up in a ball, hiding her face behind her hair. She lifted her head slightly to glance up at Twilight. "T-Twilight... do-does this mean we-we'll... have to... g-go out and... and m-m-mate with somepony?"

Twilight tapped her own forehead with a hoof. "No... it means the exact opposite of that! Girls, don't you see? We've all kept our innocence 'til now, so why would that change any time soon? This game is completely harmless!"

Any joy gained from this revelation was short-lived, as Discord's laugh emanated from the walls again. "Oh, one last thing you should know... I'm currently hypnotising the stallions in the next room as well. Their libido is going up, and their morals are going down. Just so the game has a bit of challenge, you understand."

Applejack kicked a wall in anger. "That damn dirty Discord. He's tryin' tah turn honest ponies into criminals!"

Rarity shook her head in despair. "There weren't enough good stallions in this town as it was. Whatever will become of Ponyville now, if Discord has created a gang of wanton rapists?"

Rainbow took off into the air, flexing her muscles. "That does it! I'm going in there to give him a severe butt-kicking!"

Twilight caught her with her magic before she could fly out the door. "No, Rainbow! If you go in there now, you'll be surrounded by Discord's hypnotised stallions, and then who knows what'll happen to you!"

Rainbow dashed outside, and then back in through the other door leading into the building. Flying down the corridor, she came out into a large auditorium that mirrored the one she had just come from.

Gagging, she put a hoof over her mouth and nose. The room stank of body odour and musk. Every pony in the hall was staring up at the stage, where Discord seemed to have just finished casting his hypnotism spell.

"Ah, the lovely Miss Rainbow Dash." Discord grinned at her, a disconcerting glint in his eye. "Perfect timing. I was hoping I'd be able to give these boys a trial run."

"Oh yeah? Well I was thinking of giving my hooves a trial run, too. Right into you smug face!" Rainbow retorted, miming boxing motions.

She suddenly became acutely aware that every pony in the room was now staring at her. Their shafts were all out of their sheaths, and some of them were drooling.

She snorted. "Dream on boys. I bet I could take you all on myself!" Just then, an overly-muscular white pegasus leapt into the air and tackled her to the ground, pinning her down. "YEAH!"

Rainbow struggled in vain, and looked up at her captor, expecting him to force his way inside her and claim her at any second. Instead, he just kept her legs pinned down, until some other ponies came over and held each of her hooves individually. They lifted her off the ground, so the muscled monstrosity could lie down beneath her, before wrapping each of his legs around hers to hold her in place.

She kept struggling futilely in his grip. "Lemme go! Lemme go! Lemme- ahh!" She gasped as she felt something prodding at her asshole. "N-no way..." With a sudden thrust of his hips, her captor thrust his oversized cock inside her.

"AHHHHHH!" Rainbow screamed out in pain. She tried to rationalise that at least if it was her ass, he couldn't enslave her, but the pain was too great for her to think straight. "Pull it out, pull it out! Your dick's too bucking huge!" The macho stallion paid no heed, roughly thrusting in and out of her ass repeatedly.

With her eyes closed in pain, she didn't notice the other pony walking up to her until she felt the tip of his member poking its way into her other hole. She looked up in shock, and saw a young weedy-looking pony with buck teeth, large glasses and terrible acne standing over her. "No, wait... stop..." she begged, just as his shaft slipped inside her. Her hymen had been broken before, from a particularly rough session with Gilda, so he was able to slide in all the way up to his balls with no problem.

"Ohhh yeah," the younger stallion moaned, "it feels just as good as I'd imagined..." Rainbow struggled against the first stallion with renewed vigour. If she didn't do something soon, she'd be stuck obeying this pathetic egghead for the rest of her life.

"Ohh boy, I'm gonna cum!"

"What?!" Rainbow's eyes widened with fear. "No way, that's way too quick!" Nonetheless, she saw his face contort, as he prepared to fire his seed inside her, claiming her in the process. Rainbow tried everything she could to break free, but she knew it was too late. She felt regretful that she hadn't listened to her friends, that her own headstrongness was what had sealed her fate. She could only bite her lip, tears in her eyes, as she felt the first spurt of his cum inside her, and her free will melted away.

"Wow," panted the geeky stallion, withdrawing from her pussy, "that was amazing..."

Rainbow smiled up at him. "I'm glad you enjoyed it, master."

"Master, eh?" He rubbed his chin. "I like that. Hey, big guy. Get the hay out of my slave." The oversized pegasus reluctantly withdrew from her ass, which had been stretched much wider over the course of his brutal bucking. "Good. Now stand up, slave. We're going to have such fun together, playing chess and reading novels and bucking all day long."

"Do you have Daring Do, master? The last chapter I read ended on a cliffhanger."

"Daring Do?" He sneered. "That poorly written trite? No slave of mine is reading rubbish like that. Just presume she saved herself by some stupid contrived method like she always does, and forget about it."

Rainbow shuddered at the thought. "All right then Twilight, what should we do?"

Twilight considered their options. "...run."

"What? Run away!?" Rainbow was outraged. "Twilight, I know it's dangerous, but we can't just let Discord have his way with Ponyville like this!"

"We won't!" Twilight stamped her hoof. "We will defeat him. But we can't be reckless. Right now we need to get away before he unleashes those hot-to-trot stallions on us. Once I get back to the library, I can look into a way to get us out of this. So for now, you should all prioritise on staying safe." She turned and addressed the rest of the ponies gathered. "Listen up, everypony. You should all head on home right now, and I'd advise staying indoors as much as you can for the time being. I will be looking into a way to fix this whole mess, so just sit tight, and I'll get back to you."

The other ponies looked hesitant. One pony, who the list identified as Octavia, stepped forward to confront her. "How do we know we can trust you? This is a competition after all. You could just be in it for yourself."

A pink unicorn stepped up to place herself between Octavia and Twilight, facing up to the grey Earth pony. Twilight recognised her as Amethyst Star, the pony who'd lead the Animal Team during the Winter Wrap Up. "Are you crazy? If there's anyone we should be trusting, it's them!"

"Oh? And why's that?"

Amethyst looked the Earth pony over. "You're from Canterlot, right? Then I guess it's fair you don't know. The celebrations were only open to Ponyville citizens, and I think the newspapers were forbidden from reporting on it. Isn't that right, photo-girl?"

The journalist looked up from scribbling in her notepad. "Huh? Oh, right, that! Yeah, by order of the Princess no less. Never did get told why."

Octavia was looking severely confused. "What are you all talking about?"

Amethyst gestured towards Twilight and her friends. "Basically, these six, not including the zebra, are unsung national heroes. You've at least heard about the Nightmare Moon and Discord incidents, right? These ponies are the ones who saved the day on both those occasions."

"No way. You seriously expect me to believe that somepony would pull off a feat like that, and then just not tell anyone about it?"

"We had to," Twilight interjected. "If everypony had known, we'd have become celebrities, and I don't think Fluttershy could have handled that. Plus it'd have been a real bother for the rest of us too."

"For most of us, anyway," Rarity pointed out, applying a little extra make-up. "Not all of us are afraid of the bright lights of stardom." She then struck a pose and looked towards the photographer, who quickly took her picture before going back to writing in her notepad.

Amethyst nodded. "I'd say that if you still didn't believe it, then you should go and pay closer attention to some of the stained glass in Canterlot palace, but that's not really a viable option right now."

Octavia was still looking hesitant. "So only Ponyville ponies knew about it..." She furrowed her eyebrows. "Ponyville ponies knew about it, eh?" Slowly craning her neck around, she turned to glare at the pony snickering behind her. "Viiii-nyyyy-llll! Did you know about this?"

Vinyl clutched her stomach, and collapsed to the floor laughing. Octavia sighed, and looked back to Twilight. "Forgive me, I didn't know. I shall do as you ask."

Twilight nodded. "I understand. But now everypony, I strongly recommend you get away from here as fast as possible. Those stallions could be let loose at any second." Needing no more encouragement, everypony fled the hall in unison. Once outside, they all scattered in different directions, heading home as fast as possible. Twilight looked back, and noticed there was still a distinct lack of stallions emerging from the building. Was Discord trying to lull them into a false sense of security?

Twilight's group soon reached the town centre. Unsurprisingly, there was quite a large number of ponies gathered around, going about their business.

"We need to warn everypony," Rainbow realised. "Otherwise they'll be totally unprepared if they get attacked by stallions."

"But how?" Fluttershy asked worriedly. "The rules say we can't tell anyone about the contest."

Twilight tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Then we have no choice but to make something up. Sorry, Applejack."

Applejack shook her head. "I ain't fond of lying, but it's better than leavin' everypony in Ponyville defenceless."

They took a moment to discuss possible stories, before settling on one that wasn't too far from the truth, and should adequately warn everypony. All agreeing that it would sound most convincing coming from Zecora, the zebra situated herself in a spot where she could easily be seen. Twilight concentrated her magic into Zecora's voice, to make it heard across the square.

"Listen up you pony folk! What I have to say is not a joke.
If you do not stay to hear, then for your own safety I fear.
This news could truly not be worse. It seems some ponies have been cursed!
This curse is said to drive them mad, and make them do things oh so bad.
It may cause them to attack, so all of you should watch your back.
While we are trying out some cures, it would be wise to stay indoors.
And if a pony's acting strange, you'd best try to keep your range."

Most of the ponies had gathered around her by now. It looked like they'd understood Zecora's message, but were probably eager for details, which Twilight stepped up to provide.

"You heard her. A bunch of ponies, mainly stallions we believe, have been hit by a strange curse-like affliction. It's not really a curse, of course, because there's no such thing, but for now we can't say what's causing it. We're looking for a way to fix it, so until then, just be wary of any pony acting suspiciously, okay?" There was a general nodding of heads. "Okay, good. Please feel free to resume your business."

As the crowd disperses, the two of them rejoined the rest of the group. "We should probably head on home for now too," Twilight suggested. "Zecora, do you think you'll be safe enough at your place in the Everfree Forest?"

"I can set up many a charm, to keep away those who mean me harm."

"That's a relief. All right, the rest of you, just try being cautious around any pony you run into for a while." They all turned to head off their separate ways, when a thought struck Twilight. "Rarity, could I ask you a favour?"

Chapter 3 - Colours & Style

Twilight sighed in frustration. She was coming up blank. Since she'd got back to the library, she'd read every book on hypnotism magic and every book on fertility magic. She thought if she could find counter-spells to Discord's magic, she could cheat him out of his game.

She had found potential counter-spells, of course, but it had been naive of her to believe it would be so simple. Countering the hypnotism required the caster to precisely locate the spell within the subject's brain. She had attempted to scan her own brain several times, but kept getting disoriented and coming back to the same spots, as if her own mind had become a maze. Contraceptive magic was simpler, but when she tried to cast the spell, she felt it dissolve into nothing as soon as it left her horn.

Discord had clearly done more to them than he'd revealed. Twilight wondered if this was the case with everypony in the competition, or if he'd tailored these spells to her alone, in anticipation of her trying to ruin his game.

"Hoo?"

She glanced up. "Oh, Owlowiscious, you're awake. Is it that late already?" As had become routine, she opened the window for her nocturnal assistant, and he flew out into the night, off to hunt down some breakfast.

Twilight walked back to her desk, but she was at a loss as to how to proceed from here. "Maybe I should sleep on it," she mused. The thought was awfully tempting.

Ting

There was a strange noise from behind her. She looked around for a possible source, before noticing her saddlebag was emitting a slight glow.

She cautiously walked over to where she had hung it, and tentatively opened the flap to peer inside.

The glow had been coming from Discord's scroll, and it quickly faded away as soon as she laid eyes on it. Unrolling it, she saw that it had, as Discord had promised, updated itself.

Somepony had been eliminated already?! Ditzy Doo... what in Equestria could have happened to her?

Twilight shook her head. This was no time to be sleeping on the job! She'd pulled all-nighters plenty of times before, and usually for reasons far more inconsequential than what she was dealing with here. Sure, she was still feeling the effects of her disturbed sleep from the lead up to the Winter Wrap Up, but she'd just have to power through it.

She walked back over to her desk. "If conventional magic won't work, then I'll just have to look into herbal magic. Granted, that's more Zecora's field of expertise, but I can't push this on her in the middle of the night." She noticed Owlowiscious had returned, and looked eager to help as always. "Owlowiscious, I want you to fetch me every book on plant magic that we have."

Rainbow Dash was exhausted.

She hadn't been able to enjoy a single nap all day. The thought of leaving her body completely unprotected, of having somepony come along and claim her while her guard was down, had left her too terrified to sleep.

Even now, in her own home, she was too paranoid to rest. She'd never realised how defenceless her house was before: Ponyville was such a safe town, with such a low ratio of pegasi to other ponies, that she'd never even needed to think about it. But now she was painfully aware of how easily somepony could fly in through one of her large, glassless windows, and just take her as she slept.

She needed to get some air, maybe get some flight practice in. Staying here wasn't getting her anywhere. She took off into the night, and quickly found a suitable air current to ride, letting it carry her along so she didn't have to think too much about controlling her flight.

At a loss for anything else to do, she started looking down at the scenery, on the basis that doing something so utterly boring would surely put her to sleep. She was surprised, then, to find herself actually starting to enjoy it. The moon's light gave everything a significantly different feel to that of the sun. The shadows it cast were much darker, so where the light did hit, it made smaller details much more pronounced. She'd never stopped to admire it before, but the night was actually pretty beautiful, and not in a sappy way. She could see why Twilight liked it so much.

She slapped her forehead for not thinking of it sooner. Twilight! If any pony was going to be up worrying about this whole thing, it'd be her.

"I guess it couldn't hurt to go give her some company," Rainbow reasoned.

It didn't take her long to reach the library. She landed on the upper-story balcony, and was poised to knock on the window when she realised she didn't have a reason to give for her visit. She'd never live it down if she told Twilight she was too scared to sleep.

Before she had time to think, the window opened, and Twilight poked her head out. "Oh, Rainbow Dash! I thought I heard hoofsteps out here. What's up? We're not meant to meet for another few hours yet."

At a loss, Rainbow's mouth hung open for a moment, before she hung her head. "...I can't sleep."

Twilight smiled understandingly. "Coffee?"

"Please."

"Derpy got eliminated?!" Rainbow slammed her hoof against the table, spilling coffee on herself in the process. "Gahh!"

Twilight levitated a cloth over and quickly wiped the hot liquid off of her. "Derpy?"

"Ah..." Rainbow looked away in shame. "That's... kind of a nickname some of us have for Ditzy. She's a bit klutzy, so..."

Twilight lowered an eyebrow. "Don't you think that's a bit mean?"

"Yeah, maybe..." Rainbow's head sank lower. "She never seemed too bothered by it, but we never expected it to stick like it did... Anyway, that's not important right now! Did she really get knocked... out?"

Twilight nodded. "If the scroll updates at the moment of conception, then it happened early last night. Did yours not change? Make a 'ting' noise, give off a glow?"

So that's where that "ting" sound had come from. Rainbow had been jumping at every little noise the entire night, and that one in particular had kept her on guard for a full hour afterwards, convinced it had been some unicorn stallion teleporting himself into her house or something. "I uh, guess I didn't notice."

"Well anyway, if you know her, then that makes things easier. I was hoping I'd be able to pay her a visit, to see the effects of Discord's magic first hoof." Twilight gestured to the large pile of books by her desk. "It'd probably tell me more than any of these books have."

Rainbow looked out the window. The sun had just finished its journey over the horizon, and was now slowly beginning its ascension into the sky. "Hmmm... you've probably missed her by this point."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked, cocking her head.

"Well, she works down at the post office. From what I hear, even though she can be clumsy sometimes, she makes up for it by being one of the hardest workers there. And she always starts work really early. Even if she hasn't left yet, she will have by the time we reach her place."

Twilight rubbed her chin. "On top of that, it's possible she won't live or work at the same places she used to, if she's been stuck with slavery. If she does go to work as normal, do you think we'd be able to catch her if we headed for the post office instead?"

Rainbow spread her wings, before lifting off and hovering a few feet off the ground. "Well, I know I can. If you could keep up with me, we could get there easy!"

Twilight considered her options. Her sleep-deprived mind probably couldn't handle the multiple teleportations it would take to reach the post office. She'd need to find a simpler spell to use...

"FALRLGALGHLAGLHALRRGLAG" was the sound Twilight made as her face was buffeted by the wind rushing towards her, or rather by the wind that she was rushing towards.

Rainbow looked back at her. "WHAT WAS THAT?" she yelled.

"GLAHRFLRLFALGRLALFGRL!" Twilight attempted once more to speak, before giving up and burying her face in the cloud she was riding. She octuple-checked the rope securing her to said cloud, the rope that was also connected to Rainbow Dash as she towed Twilight along.

"Use the walking on clouds spell, she said. We'll get there in no time, she said," Twilight grumbled to herself.

Fortunately, the journey was mercifully short, probably due in part to how fast they had been travelling. Twilight had to pry herself from the cloud, and when she stepped onto solid ground, she nearly fell over from how much her legs were shaking.

She inhaled deeply. "Rainbow... how... do you... cope... with that?"

Rainbow tried to answer, but was impeded by that fact that she was currently rolling on the floor, convulsing with laughter. Twilight pulled a mirror from her saddlebag, and gave herself a look over. She quickly found the source of the pegasus's amusement: her mane was in a worse condition than the time she'd tried the infamous RainBlow-Dry.

She sighed. "Rainbow, I swear I am never following one of your plans ever a- oh!" A certain grey mailmare had just walked out of the post office. "Well, she's here at least. Ditzy!"

Ditzy turned. "Oh, hi Twilight! I like your new manestyle."

Twilight was taken aback. There were often new books coming into the library which she had to sign for, so she had come to recognise most of the mailponies in Ponyville, but she hadn't expected Ditzy to remember her in return. She scrambled for something appropriate to say, given the circumstances. "Uh, thanks. So, how's... life?"

Ditzy beamed. "It's going great, thanks! Oh! I think I have a new book for you. Would you like it now, or should I take it along to the library instead?"

"Oh, it's probably the new Daring Do! I'll take that off your hooves for you. Wouldn't want you to be dragged down by something heavy like that if you didn't have to," Twilight answered quickly. She noticed Rainbow finally break out of her hysterics at the mention of her favourite intrepid adventurer.

Ditzy plucked the package from her satchel, along with a clipboard, both of which Twilight levitated over to herself. She signed the form, and tucked her delivery away into her own bag.

"By the way, Ditzy, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something," Twilight mentioned as she gave her back the clipboard. "I know you're busy now though, so do you think Rainbow and I could meet with you later?"

Ditzy smiled even wider than before. "You want to talk to me? Sure! Just come on by my place later. But yeah, I have to go now, or my boss'll shout at me." Then she took off into the sky, off to deliver the mail to the good citizens of Ponyville.

Twilight paused. "...wait. I don't know where she lives!" She noticed Rainbow rummaging into her saddlebag, and had to use her magic to pry her away from it. "Sorry Rainbow Dash, you can't read it until it's been catalogued at the library."

"Awww, c'mon! I'll tell you where Der- ...where she lives, so you gotta at least lemme read the first chapter!"

Twilight sighed. She looked up to the sky; there was still roughly an hour until the time they'd all arranged to meet at Rarity's. "Alright, Rainbow. We'll go register this at the library, and then you can check it out."

There was a tentative knock on the door of the Carousel Boutique.

Rarity opened it without turning away from her current project. It was only after a few moments of silence that she turned to look at her guest.

"Oh, Fluttershy! You're early."

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I-I'll just come back later..." She turned to leave, before she felt Rarity gently tugging on her with her magic.

"Relax, Fluttershy, it's fine. Besides, I was wanting to see how a certain fabric looked against your coat."

Pinkie and Applejack arrived shortly afterwards, and Rainbow & Twilight some time after that.

"Sorry we're late!" Rainbow declared. "Twilight spent ages doing her mane!"

Rarity huffed. "Well, I'm glad to hear you're making the effort dear, but if I'm brutally honest, it doesn't look any different from your normal style."

Twilight took that as a compliment. Getting her hair back to "normal" had taken nearly a full hour, but she hadn't wanted to contemplate what Rarity would do to her if she'd seen what it had looked like before.

"Well, no matter. Now that we're all here, I can finally bring out what you all came to see."

Twilight looked up. "You mean you managed to make them?"

Rarity nodded. "That I certainly did, although I'm afraid not even I could make them look fashionable. Therefore, I have also designed us all some elegant yet casual daywear to wear over the top of them. Behold!" She swung back a curtain, revealing six mannequins, each bearing an outfit specifically tailored for the pony it corresponded to. Next to them was a table, upon which lay a collection of black belt-like objects.

Twilight gasped. "Oh Rarity, you didn't have to go to so much trouble just for us!"

"Oh, don't worry about it. Besides, it would've bothered me much more to think what somepony could've been wearing if I hadn't," Rarity said, glancing sidelong at Applejack. "I'd hate to think of anyone going out wearing nothing but one of these." She levitated one of the objects off the table to display her point.

Twilight giggled. "They look lovely. Do you think you could show us all how you use them?"

"Certainly." She wrapped the thinner part of the garment around her flank, and then the thicker part went over her posterior, with a hole at the dock to allow her tail to slip through it. There was a click as it was locked in place. "There we are. Now it won't come off without the codeword. 'Meraki!'" As she said this there was another click, and the belt slipped off.

Applejack lowered an eyebrow. "Me-what now?"

Twilight was smiling in approval. "'Meraki.' It means 'to do something with soul, creativity, or love.' Very you, Rarity. So how did you make it react to your voice?"

Rarity indicated a gem that was set into the buckle of the belt. "I've had these magical gems for ages, but never really found an appropriate use for them before now. I trust you can all remember the catchword? I made sure it was short, sweet, and unlikely to come up in conversation."

They all nodded, before each picking up one of the strips and practising putting them on and removing them.

"Uh, Rarity?" Twilight was looking at hers uncertainly. "Did you not leave any holes for, y'know, going to the bathroom?"

Rarity let out an audible gasp. "Twilight! That's revolting!" She put a hoof over her mouth, and looked like she was going to be sick.

"But all the chastity belts I read about were designed to be worn for great lengths of time!"

Rarity waved a hoof dismissively. "Yes, I am quite aware of those archaic contraptions. But we live in a much different time from the days when those horrid things were used, and these particular belts have a different purpose anyway. It most certainly isn't temptation that we're in danger from right now."

"Speaking of which, I noticed somepony got mighty unlucky already. Any of y'all know about this?" Applejack asked, pulling her scroll from her bag.

"Oh, you mean Ditzy?" Rainbow was careful to get her name right: Twilight had threatened not to take her along later, if she thought she'd call her Derpy to her face. "Yeah, me and Twilight saw her before we came here, and we're going to visit her later so that Twilight can examine her. She hopes it'll give her a clue to fight back against Discord!"

"So when y'all saw her, how was she actin'?" Applejack asked.

Twilight turned to Rainbow. "You know her better than I do; did she seem any different to you?"

Rainbow scratched her head. "No... now that I think about it, she was acting completely normal."

"Hmmm... this is really weird." Twilight furrowed her brow in thought. "Ponyville seems no different; you certainly wouldn't expect this calm from a town filled with hot-to-trot stallions with no morals. And now an apparent victim of hypnosis isn't showing any signs of changes to her personality..."

Rarity was the first to catch on. "You think Discord lied to us about the whole thing, just to throw us into a panic?"

"It's possible... I know he did something to us, because a couple of my spells have been failing when they shouldn't have. But aside from that, we don't have any evidence of Discord doing what he claims to have done."

There was a brief pause as the group considered this scenario, until the silence was broken by Pinkie's giggling. "It would be pretty funny for us all to be worrying about something that wasn't even there!"

Rainbow nodded. "Pinkie's right. We know Discord's a prankster, and pranks are more about the victim's reactions than actually doing anything to them."

"Well, it'd sure be a relief if that were true, but it sure don't seem likely. We already know he has these big flashy powers, this all sounds like somethin' he could do if he wanted to," Applejack pointed out.

"Um, also, I think..." Fluttershy started hesitantly, "I think it's safer to assume that we are in danger, and be pleasantly surprised if nothing happens, than to assume that we're safe and not be prepared for any danger that might come along."

Rarity clapped her hooves. "Fluttershy makes an excellent point. Whether we believe that that ruffian has indeed done that which he claims to have done, or that he hasn't, it won't change the precautions we'll need to take. So worrying ourselves over it won't gain us anything, except maybe an awful pimple or two." She pulled out a few screens to form makeshift dressing rooms. "Now, what better way to take our minds off of our concerns than by you all trying on your new outfits?"

Twilight was still mulling things over, and she guessed the others were too, but she didn't want to take away from the hard work Rarity had put into making their outfits, so she pushed the thoughts temporarily from her mind.

They all took their respective outfits off of their stands, and carried them into the changing rooms to slip into them. Even though they walked around naked the majority of the time, most ponies were still embarrassed when it came to others seeing them get dressed or undressed.

Twilight's outfit somewhat resembled the ensemble Rarity had made her for her previous birthday, a short-sleeved dress that hung down to her mid-cannon, with a pink ribbon draped over her back and tied up in a bow at her chest. The primary difference was that, where her birthday dress had been a pale yellow, this new one was a pastel blue.

By virtue of being able to simply teleport her clothes onto her, Twilight was the first one dressed. She stepped out from the partition, and admired everypony else's outfits as they each emerged.

A fern green sleeveless dress adorned Fluttershy, draping over her entire back legs, the hemline hovering just an inch above the floor, befitting of her modesty.

Pinkie Pie was wearing a short poofy skirt in a pink & black checkered pattern. Twilight noticed she also had black spandex shorts on underneath, presumably to prevent the chastity belt being on display if anypony saw up her skirt, which didn't seem that unlikely given Pinkie's bouncing tendencies.

Rainbow Dash had put on a streamlined set of dark grey tracksuit trousers, with a rainbow racing stripe along the side. Rarity had clearly realised that Rainbow wouldn't accept any clothes that sacrificed her athletic performance.

Applejack was clad in a loose-fitting pair of blue denim shorts, allowing her freedom of movement so as to not impede her in her applebucking duties.

Even Rarity had donned a new outfit, and while she would rather be seen dead than "casual", her attire was at least less extravagant than some of her fancier costumes. She bore a long, plain carnation-pink dress with a Stil de Grain yellow trim, accompanied by a set of matching boots that came up past her elbows.

"Wow Rarity," Twilight said, gazing in awe, "these outfits are perfect! They're all so us!" There was a consensus of nods amongst the other ponies.

"Yeah Rarity, these are awesome!" Rainbow cheered. "I didn't know you could make non-sappy clothes too!"

"Well, I was tempted to give them a little more pizazz, but I know you and Applejack still have yet to develop an appreciation for style," Rarity sighed.

"Well, I sure am glad ah don't have to walk around lookin' all frou-frouy, so I'll let that one slide," Applejack said.

Rainbow poked the white unicorn in the nose with her hoof-tip. "Hey, I do too have style, miss fancy-pants. Awesome is a style as well, y'know?"

Twilight giggled as she thought of the "awesome" outfit Rainbow had created, the time when Rarity had let her dictate how she made her dress. "C'mon Rainbow. It's about time we went to see Ditzy anyway."

"Huh? Oh yeah, it is about that time!" Her grievances quickly forgotten, Rainbow dashed out the door, then flew up into the sky to drag another cloud down to ground level. "C'mon Twilight, we don't wanna be late."

Twilight cringed. "Let's just walk this time, okay?"

Chapter 4 - Derpy's tale

As it turned out, Ditzy lived not far from Fluttershy, in a cottage on the outskirts of town. There was a large deciduous tree growing right alongside to it, so close to the house that Twilight wondered if it wasn't being used as one of the walls.

She knocked on the front door, and it was opened by a pale olive mare with a vivid orange mane. Twilight recognised her as also having been at the contest yesterday.

"Good afternoon. I was wondering if Ditzy Doo was home?"

The mare looked the pair of them up and down. "You aren't more reporters, are you?"

Rainbow looked incredulous. "Do we look like reporters?"

The mare shrugged. "There was this journalist snooping around earlier, I thought she might've roped you into helping her after I sent her away."

"What did she want?" Twilight asked.

"Well, it was that one from the competition yesterday, you see. So when she saw that Ditzy had left this horrendous game, she just waltzed right over and started trying to interrogate her about it. I swear, of all the nerve! What somepony does behind closed doors is their own business, after all!" She shook her head. "Poor Ditzy though, she's too naive. If I hadn't been there, she'd probably have happily told that reporter everything."

"But surely, Miss..." Twilight glanced at her scroll, "Golden Harvest?"

"Oh, please, call me Carrot Top. Golden is such a formal name."

"Miss Carrot Top then. Surely it would be better for everyone in the game to work together and share information, so we can work on turning the tables on Discord as fast as possible. Don't you think?"

Carrot snorted. "Hmph. I most certainly do think, I think that's an awful idea. If we just started revealing our sex lives to every Tom, Dick and Harry that asked, society would quickly crumble into chaos! Which, if I'm not mistaken, is exactly what the instigator of this perverse game wants. Now, if you've no other business here than satisfying your own curiosity, then I bid you good day!" she said, before slamming the door in their faces.

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow yelled. "Well, when we find the way out of this mess, we'll be sure not to let you know!"

"Calm down Rainbow." Twilight sighed. "Though she was kinda rude about it, she does have a point..."

"Don't hold it against her. There's a degree of animosity between her and the reporter that she was talking about, so their meeting earlier probably shortened her temper quite a bit."

They looked round, and saw a familiar pink unicorn walking up the path toward the cottage.

"Oh, hey! You're that pony that stuck up for us yesterday!" Rainbow realised. "Thanks for that."

"And you're the pony that opened the peanut butter for me that one time, so I guess we're even now," the unicorn said with a chuckle. "My name's Amethyst Star, in case you'd forgotten. We have worked together as Winter Wrap Up leaders for two years running now, after all, Rainbow. Nice to see you again, Twilight."

"Nice to see you too, Amethyst. So, do you know Carrot Top then? If so, do you think you could convince her to let us speak to Ditzy?" Twilight asked. "Please. If I can't study her, I'll have to wait until somepony else falls victim to this game, which doesn't even bear thinking about..."

Amethyst walked over to Twilight and put a hoof on her shoulder. "Don't worry. She'll come around. She's just used to looking out for mum. Back when they were at school, Carrot was pretty much her only friend. And also..." She smiled. "While I can't tell you any of the details, I wouldn't exactly say mum was a 'victim' right now."

She then stepped up onto the porch and knocked on the door. "Hey, Carrot, it's me!" After a few moments, the door swung open.

"You're back a little early, aren't you?" Carrot asked.

"I have no afternoon lessons on a Monday, remember? Besides, it's lucky I came back when I did, or else I'd have missed the commotion."

Carrot looked confused, until she noticed Twilight and Rainbow stood to one side of the front garden. "Ahh! You two haven't left yet?! Honestly, would you believe the cheek? These two came strutting over here, and-"

"I know why they're here. Carrot, I can understand why you refused to let Film Reel see mum, after the history you two have, but I don't think you're really being fair on Twilight and her friend."

Carrot looked taken aback, clearly not expecting to have Amethyst side against her. "B-but, it's Ditzy's personal life, they shouldn't just-"

"Carrot, if Twilight can study mum, then it could mean saving a lot of ponies from an awful fate. How do you think mum would react if she found out that by not telling Twilight what she could have, she ended up extending the length of this game, and that in that extra time, somepony had their entire life taken away from them?!" She briefly paused to take a deep breath. "Do you think she could forgive herself for that?!"

Her words hit Carrot like a slap in the face. "I... I didn't... I thought..." she stuttered, before hanging her head in shame. "...I'm sorry. I... please, come in. Ditzy will be back shortly."

Amethyst gave her a reassuring pat. "Sorry I had to be so harsh. I know your heart was in the right place." She then turned to smile at Twilight. "Well, you guys heard her, make yourselves at home."

Twilight returned the smile and stepped up onto the porch. "Thank you, Amethyst. I owe you one."

"I think I'll take you up on that," Amethyst said, her face adopting a more serious tone. "Please, do me a favour: Solve this thing before summer. Thankfully I got my application to the University of Canterlot in early, but if I'm not out of the game before term ends, I'll have no choice but to drop out before I've even started."

Twilight understood her concerns. Canterlot was the most prestigious university in all of Equestria, and if she hadn't been chosen to be Princess Celestia's personal student, Twilight would probably have gone there herself after having graduated from the School for Gifted Unicorns. To have the potential to be accepted there, only to be forced away by unfortunate circumstances... it was too cruel to imagine.

She nodded. "I promise. I'll do everything in my power to make sure that nothing stands in the way of your dream."

There was a yawn behind Twilight. Amethyst leaned over to glance past her.

"I'm sorry, is the future of my education boring you?"

Rainbow shook her head, raising her hoof apologetically. "Ah, sorry, no... well, kinda, but..." she yawned again. "Ouaaah... I didn't get any sleep last night... Twilight, how do you manage it?"

"Oh my, so even the fearless defender of grass is still just a pony after all," Amethyst said with a chuckle.

Rainbow glared at her, but since she was already fighting to keep her eyes open as it was, this didn't create much visible difference. "You're never going to let that go, are you?"

"Heh, nope." She stepped to one side, indicating the entryway behind her. "But I'm not heartless. Feel free to take a nap on the sofa if you want. We want you at your best in case the weeds launch a surprise attack, after all."

Rainbow dithered for a moment as she tried to decide whether to think of a comeback, or just accept the offer. In the end her lethargy won her over, and she settled for simply stepping though the doorway. Pausing once inside, she turned around and gave Amethyst a nod. "Uh, thanks... y'know, you've got a pretty big mouth for an egghead, but you're okay." She then walked over to the couch and lay down on it, falling into a deep slumber almost immediately.

Amethyst shook her head, sighing. "That girl... I can't tell if she was trying to compliment or insult me."

Twilight gave her an awkward smile. "I wouldn't bother thinking too hard about it. Rainbow's not really mean spirited, but she does have a tendency to speak her mind sometimes."

"U-um... would you like anything to eat or drink?" Carrot asked nervously, clearly still shaken.

Twilight gave her the friendliest smile she could muster, in an attempt to put her at ease. "Anything you have would be wonderful, thank you."

Amethyst just stared at Carrot. "Should you really be offering away other ponies' food?"

Carrot gave a little snort of indignation. "Hah. Ditzy treats my refrigerator like an all-you-can-eat buffet whenever she feels like, as you well know. I think I'm entitled to help myself to your kitchen in return, don't you?"

Twilight was confused. "So, wait, does Carrot Top not live here?"

They both gave her a bemused look, until an understanding clicked in Amethyst's mind. "Ah, no no, I can see how you'd think that. No, she lives in town with her husband. She just comes over here quite a lot, because we have a huge garden that none of us have time to tend to, and Carrot loves gardening." She then turned back to the olive mare. "Well, if you insist on using our supplies, then I insist that you make some of your legendary carrot sandwiches, okay?"

"My pleasure," Carrot said, then wandered away toward the back of the cottage.

Twilight lowered her eyebrow. "What could be so legendary about a simple carrot sandwich?"

Amethyst simple giggled. "You'll see," she said cryptically, then beckoned her inside.

As Twilight followed her inside, she noticed that her theory about the tree she'd seen outside had been closer than she'd expected. To one side of the house, the wall was strangely contorted, as if it had been moulded around the tree as it was built. She even spotted a part where there was no wall at all, around a medium-sized hollow in the trunk.

Mounted on the wall next to this hole was a brown box, with a small round opening on the side. As she looked, a light grey squirrel suddenly appeared from the hollow, poked its head into the box, then disappeared away again.

Amethyst walked over to the tree and plucked the squirrel out, resting it on her back as it sat contentedly, munching on a nut. "This is Hopper. Since this house was accidentally built too close to his home, we've sort of adopted him as the family pet."

"Oh wow, he's adorable!"

"Isn't he just?" Amethyst scrunched up her face and rubbed her muzzle against his nose playfully. Hopper seemed happy for the attention momentarily, before losing interest and returning to his nut.

Twilight smiled. Watching Amethyst around animals, she always reminded her of Fluttershy. "You really get on well with animals, don't you?"

Amethyst nodded. "I like looking after things, it makes me feel needed. As well as volunteering to be the Animal team leader, like you know, I'm also a part-time foal-sitter. That's actually how I first met this family, too."

Twilight didn't say anything. She had guessed, from the comparative ages of Ditzy and Amethyst, that Amethyst probably wasn't Ditzy's daughter by blood.

"Oh, and I'm going to study medicine at University, too," Amethyst continued. "Then I can look after loads of people!"

"Well, as I said, I'll be sure to do my best to ensure you get that chance," Twilight reassured.

"Thanks- ah, hey! Hopper!" Amethyst yelled, chasing after the squirrel that had just dashed from her back and ran into one of the adjoining rooms. "Come on, you know you're not allowed through there!"

Twilight giggled. She trotted over to the couch opposite from where Rainbow was napping, and took a seat. Sighing, she stretched out, and tried to take this opportunity to relax. It felt like a whole new responsibility had been placed squarely on her. Apart from a brief respite the night before, she hadn't been able to stop working for over a week now. She was beginning to worry about the possible long-term effects that could come from being in such a stressed-out state for so long.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the scent of food until it was literally wafted in front of her face. She opened her eyes to see that Carrot had returned, and was setting a plate down on the table in front of her.

Upon the plate lay the most decorated sandwich she'd ever seen. There was a base of leafy salad, upon which lay two slices of fried bread, cut neatly and with a slight orange tinge to them. Nestled between them, she could see a thickly spread carrot paste, which glistened enticingly. Dotted around the sandwich lay large carrot chunks, coated with a shiny, moist glaze.

"Wow..." was all Twilight could think to say. She hadn't expected the sandwich to live up to being called "legendary" as Amethyst had claimed, but she was starting to reconsider after seeing it for herself.

Carrot chuckled. "You're not the first to have the reaction. Now, dig in dear, you look like you could use the energy."

Twilight gave her a weary smile. Apparently her fatigue was showing more than she'd hoped. "Thank you... I've been so busy lately..." She absent-mindedly levitated the sandwich up to her mouth, and took a small bite.

About a minute later, she realised the nagging feeling in her chest was her lungs, reminding her to breath.

What was this?! Twilight had never tasted anything like it! She was sure she had just been thinking about things, important things, but right now every neurone in her brain was so devoted to analysing the sensations coming from her mouth that she couldn't remember any of them.

Twilight chewed more rigorously, intent on finding this legend's secret. It couldn't just be carrots, there had to be spices involved somewhere, exotic ones at that. But what were they?

"Ahhh!" she thought. "I could work this out if my vision would just stop flickering like that!"

She paused, and the rest of the world slowly slid back into her perception. Carrot was waving her hoof in front of Twilight's eyes. She slowly turned her head to look up at her.

"You can swallow that piece you know. There's plenty more where that came from," Carrot said, gesturing to the remainder of the sandwich that was still hovering in the air in front of Twilight.

Twilight blushed and swallowed, returning the sandwich delicately to the plate. "Heh, sorry. I just... what is in this? It's the most amazing thing I've ever tasted!"

Carrot gave her a sly wink. "It's a secret."

"Awww, Carry! You started eating without me!"

Twilight looked up, and saw a familiar grey head poking around the edge of the front door.

"Don't worry Ditzy, I made enough for everyone." Carrot said, patting the pegasus's head as she trotted past her, on her way back into the kitchen. She came out a moment later, balancing two more plates of sandwiches, one in her mouth and one on her head. Twilight quickly levitated them from her and set them gently on the table.

"One of those is for your sleepy friend. I figured it would be a shame for her to miss out." Carrot explained with a smile, before looking a little sheepish, and turning to Ditzy. "Ditzy, would you be alright if I let you talk to Twilight by yourself? I caused some trouble for her earlier, and I don't want to risk repeating it..."

Ditzy beamed back at her friend. "Don't worry, I'm sure Twilight forgives you. She's a good pony, so I'm sure she does," she said enthusiastically, before turning to Twilight expectantly.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Of course!" Twilight nodded quickly. "It was all just a big misunderstanding, after all."

"Besides, I'm not a filly anymore. You don't have to hold my hoof all the time now. Although, you can still hold it whenever you want, of course."

"Oh, right, of course. Well, I'll just be through here if you need me, okay?" Carrot offered, before hesitantly walking away into one of the side-rooms.

"Sure thing, Carry!" Ditzy replied cheerfully.

Twilight could tell from this short exchange that Carrot did truly care a lot for Ditzy. She felt a little guilty for the treatment Amethyst had given her now.

"Tooooo-waiiii-laiiii-tyyyyy!" Ditzy yelled, as she tackled Twilight from the sofa in a hug that would have impressed Pinkie Pie. "You really came!"

Twilight took a moment to catch her breath before replying. "Of course I did, Ditzy. I said I would, didn't I?"

"I know, but you could have just been saying that so you could laugh at me later for getting my hopes up. But I knew you wouldn't do that, because I could tell you were a good pony!" Ditzy spoke so quickly that Twilight almost missed the first sentence, and before she could think of a response Ditzy had already changed topic. "So, did you try this sandwich yet? It's amazing, isn't it?" She released Twilight, and picked up her own sandwich to take a bite out of it. "So, what'd you want to talk to me about?"

There was a short pause before Twilight realised it was her turn to speak. "Oh, uh, well... you see..." She trailed off, staring at her hooves. She was actually blushing over this! She'd handled everything so scientifically up until now, but Ditzy just seemed so innocently childlike that she couldn't bring herself to say anything to do with-

"Is it about sex?"

Twilight looked up, slowly. "...pardon?"

"Is it about sex?" Ditzy repeated. "You started blushing and couldn't finish your sentences, which is what most ponies do when they're thinking about sex, right? Carrot is the same."

Twilight gave herself a mental shake. This wasn't a child she was dealing with. The chart had said Ditzy had lost her virginity before the game had even begun, after all. "As it happens, yes. What I wanted to discuss does have to do with sex."

Ditzy tilted her head a little. "Well, you've probably come to the right mare, but I don't know how much I can tell you. My husband remembers things better than I do, so I'm not sure I could give enough detail about things like first-time sex or first-time making a foal..."

Twilight could see she was on the verge of veering off onto another tangent, so she attempted to guide her back in line. "Actually, I was hoping I could talk to you about something quite recent-"

"Oh!" Ditzy sat bolt upright. "Well if you want recent, I can tell you all about recent!"

You see, it was my day off yesterday, so my we all went along to this competition that was being held on the other side of town. Timey and Dinky didn't come though, because Dinky wasn't old enough to enter.

It was lucky they didn't come, because the competition was secretly... evil!

The rules were-

"Ditzy."

"Huh?" Ditzy looked to Twilight, puzzled at the interruption.

"I already know this part, Ditzy." Twilight pointed out. "I was there."

"Oh, of course you were!" Ditzy smacked her forehead. "If you weren't, I wouldn't be allowed to tell you about this. So anyway..."

Since the bad guy was making bad ponies, we all got away as fast as possible. Once we were far away, we tried to decide what we should all do about the competition.

"Carry," Sparkly said. "You're husband's out of town at the moment, isn't he? You should come stay with us for the time being, so we can all be safe."

Carry agreed to this, and we all started walking back here.

"What should we do about this competition though?" Carry asked.

"Well, I know what me and you should do, because we both have husbands," I said. "But Sparkly's still too young for a husband or a baby."

"I'll be fine," Sparkly replied. "I'm not foolish enough to lose to temptations and mate with somepony under these conditions. So long as I watch out for rapists, I can last until Twilighty fixes this."

"You say you have a plan for us two?" Carry asked.

"Sure," I said. "If we lose, we love the guy forever, right? Well, we should just lose to our husbands! I have no problem loving Timey-Wimey forever!"

Carry seemed unsure, but she said she'd think about it.

Anyway, then we did some more walking, then when we got home we all played together until bedtime. After I tucked Dinky in and kissed her goodnight, I went into my bedroom and pounced on Timey.

"Unf," said Timey. "Someone's sure excited tonight. Did something good happen?"

I winked and said I wasn't telling. He reached over to the drawer with the condoms in, but I put my hoof on his and shook my head. He seemed surprised.

"I've been thinking," I told him. "Dinky went from being an only child to having an older sister. That's not how it should work. And Sparkly is part of our family now, but I'm sure it would help her connect with us if she got to experience having a newborn baby brother or sister."

Timey smiled. "So, what you're saying is, this evening just got reserved as one of my best nights ever. Well, I'd have liked to have scheduled it a little ahead of time, but it doesn't clash with anything, so it's fine."

I slipped under the bed covers with him, and hugged him tightly. I could tell he really liked my idea too, because his baloney pony had gotten really big. I call him Mr Happy, by the way.

Now, normally we'd start off with me taking his Mr Happy in my mouth to make him super-happy, while Timey-Wimey would kiss my Mrs Smiley to give her the biggest smile he could. But this time, we could both tell that they were as happy as possible already.

So, I raised myself up a little on my back legs, and let Mr Happy give Mrs Smiley a kiss. It started off as a gentle kiss on the lips, but then he slowly took her into a deeper, more passionate kiss.

"Now, I should warn you that the rest of this story contains bad language," Ditzy paused to say. "I'm ashamed at myself for doing it, but I just couldn't help myself, I was too aroused. Are you okay with hearing this?"

Twilight, her mouth hanging open slightly, just nodded.

"Good! Then I'll continue..."

It had been a long time since me and Timey-Wimey had had sex without a protective cover on his Mr Happy. By the time he'd only entered halfway, we were already feeling the difference.

"Oh, Timey-Wimey! This feels so good... I can feel your heartbeat throbbing inside me."

Timey's face was scrunched up, as he tried not to lose control of his Mr Happy too early. "Ahh, your pussy is so warm... and you know how much I love this position. If we keep going like this, I estimate it will only last about another four minutes and thirty-two seconds. I should get on top, then we can increase the duration to a potential maximum of seventeen minutes and fifty seconds."

I couldn't help myself at that point, I love it when he talks time to me. I thrust him deeper inside me, and nearly came right then and there. I squeezed him so tight, but I did manage to let go and roll us both over before it was too late.

We stayed still for a while so Timey could recover, then he started slowly thrusting inside me again.

"Talk time to me some more, Timey-Wimey," I said to him. "Tell me how much longer it'll be before your cock explodes inside me, filling me with millions of your babies all racing for the prize. Tell me how long it'll be until one of them wins the race, and I have a brand new baby growing inside me. Tell me how long it'll grow for, how long I'll be able to give my baby a huge hug on the inside for."

And he told me. I don't remember the exact numbers, but when he told me, it made me so turned on.

We kept going for a while, in a few different positions, until Timey said there was about a minute left until he came. So we went back to me lying on my back with him on top, and he did a countdown. Sixty thrusts in sixty seconds, and I almost came on each one. But I held back, so we could do it together.

At ten seconds to go, his thrusts got harder and harder. By the time he reached five, he was going at max power.

"Five!" He shouted, thrusting his entire length inside me. He pulled out a bit, before thrusting in again.

"Four!" His cock had started growing as he was getting ready to cum, so this thrust smacked against my womb.

"Three!" He'd pulled back again, and with this thrust his tip slipped into my womb. It hurt, but it reminded me of how good it felt the first time we'd done it like this. The time Dinky had come into the world.

"Two!" I was barely hanging on, I had my hoof in my mouth and was biting down hard to stop myself cumming too early.

"One!"

"Do it, do it!" I moaned. "Fill my belly full of your baby!"

"Zero!"

At this, I came, hard. I locked my legs around him and pulled him in all the way, with my pussy pulsing around him, trying to milk his babies from him. This made him cum himself, and he shot all of his seed straight up into my baby-room. My pussy kept milking him until there wasn't a drop left.

"Once he had finished letting out his Happy Juice, I felt a bit strange..."

Twilight, who was still wearing the same slack-jawed expression as she had been when Ditzy had started, suddenly pricked up at this. "Strange? How do you mean?"

Ditzy rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Well, I had always loved Timey-Wimey, but after that, I felt like he was even more important to me than my children, who are so precious to me."

Twilight grinned. She finally had a lead on Discord's hypnotism. She was about to press Ditzy further, when there came a shuffling sound from the other sofa.

Twilight looked over, and saw Rainbow stirring awake. She noticed her wings were standing straight up, which seemed rather awkward for sleeping.

"Wow..." Rainbow mumbled. "I had the weirdest dream..." She looked up sleepily, but bolted upright when she noticed Ditzy. Twilight thought she spotted a faint blush on her cheeks.

"O-oh! Hey Der- Ditzy! How's it going?"

"Good morning, Rainby." Ditzy said with a smile. "I was just telling Twilight about the sex I had last night. Did you want to hear about it too?"

Rainbow was understandably taken aback by this, and her face flushed completely red. "You were... telling Twilight about it here? Right now? Right next to me sleeping?"

Ditzy nodded. "Thaaat's right!"

"I think I got the gist, then..." Rainbow mumbled under her breath.

"Pardon?" Ditzy cocked her ear towards Rainbow.

"I- I said you don't need to repeat it! Twilight's the one who cares about that stuff anyway. I uh... can I use your bathroom?"

Ditzy nodded, and pointed towards a corridor leading off from the room. Rainbow thanked her, and walked away. Twilight couldn't quite place it, but he thought there was something slightly odd about her gait.

"Oh! I just remembered one more odd thing about last night!", Ditzy suddenly announced.

"Oh, well, please, go into as much detail as you can," Twilight encouraged her. "Although you certainly didn't hold back in that respect so far," she thought to herself.

"Well..." Ditzy paused. "I'm not certain, since I can't remember the times that Timey said back then, but I think I remember the time between him letting out his happy juice and me feeling strange was a lot shorter than the time he said it'd take for one of his swimmers to win the race."

This was interesting news. Twilight knew that Time Turner, Ponyville's resident time-management pony, was an expert on time. She had gone to him many a time herself, when she was having trouble scheduling in scheduling her schedule. For him to be wrong by a significant margin was unheard of.

"Thank you, Ditzy. I'm sure this information will be very valuable."

There was a yawn from the corner, as Rainbow trotted back into the room. Twilight noticed that her wings were now folded down by her side as usual.

"We about done here, then?" She asked.

"Almost. There's just one last thing I need to clarify." Twilight turned to Ditzy. "Ditzy, would you mind if I ran a quick scan of your brain? You won't need to do anything, it'll just be a quick spell."

Ditzy smiled and nodded. "Sur-"

"Wait a minute!"

Everyone looked over at where the shout had come from, and saw Carrot peering in at them from another room.

"Oh man, are you going to try and interfere again!?" Rainbow yelled in exasperation.

"Not necessarily," Carrot said, stepping into the room. "I just want you to answer me on question, Twilight Sparkle. You want to cast a spell on my friend Ditzy. I ask you... is it safe?"

Twilight furrowed her brow in thought. "It... should be, it's just a simple spell for medical scans, it isn't even that advanced. I have a machine at home which could get me better readings, but I already tried it on myself and the readings made no sense, so I figured at first I'd test-"

"I don't mean the spell in itself," Carrot interrupted. "And I know you are a competent magician, so I don't doubt you can get the spell right under normal circumstances. But these aren't normal circumstances. That villain Discord has done things to our brain! He put us under a spell that grants eternal enslavement, and he loves playing with ponies' emotions. Who's to say he hasn't put another spell in there that'll destroy our brains if anyone tries to scan them?!"

"Oh, c'mon!" Rainbow threw her hooves in the air. "That's completely ridiculous!"

"...no, Rainbow. She has a point."

"Huh?" Rainbow looked back at Twilight in confusion.

"This is Discord we're dealing with," Twilight reminded her. "I wouldn't rule out the possibility of him doing something exactly like that." She lowered her head towards Carrot. "Forgive me, I was thoughtless."

Carrot's expression softened. "Well, I suppose that makes both of us now."

Twilight returned her smile, and turned to give Ditzy a smile too. "Thank you for your time."

"Aww, you're going so soon?" Ditzy looked downcast. "Well, at least take your sandwiches with you."

Twilight lifted some napkins from her satchel bag and wrapped them around the sandwiches, before placing them delicately into her bag. "Thank you again, both of you. And please thank Amethyst for me too."

As she and Rainbow headed out the front door, Ditzy called after them. "Feel free to come back any time!"

Twilight gave Ditzy a big smile, and waved back to her. "I will do! You can come hang out at the library whenever you want to as well!"

"Yay!" Ditzy jumped for joy. She stood in the doorway and waved to the pair of them until they were out of sight.

"So, uh..." Rainbow began hesitantly. "Can I come hang out at the library whenever I want, too?"

Twilight gave her a quizzical look. "Rainbow, you already do that."

"No, I mean..." Rainbow seemed to be having difficulty getting Twilight to understand. "I mean, not just during the day. While this thing's going on, I get... worried... about you an Spike! Yeah! You eggheads are so defenceless and all, so I was thinking-"

"Psst!"

The two of them paused, and looked around for the source of the noise.

"Psst!"

Eventually they noticed a certain bush that was, oddly, wearing a fedora.

Twilight sighed "Oh, hey Pinkie Pie-"

"Wait!" Rainbow Dash eyed the bush suspiciously. "Pinkie Pie would be wearing joke glasses too. Who's there?!"

A light-yellow pony stepped out from the bush, taking the fedora with her. She had an orange mane that was separated into bunches, and she wore a camera around her neck.

"Hey there," the pony said. "My name's Film Reel. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions..."

Chapter 5 - Every picture tells a story

"Would you like some coffee?"

"Don't mind if I do. Black, no sugar, please."

Film Reel took off her hat, and hung it on a hook by the library door. Rainbow was eyeing her suspiciously, as Twilight lit the gas flame beneath a kettle in the corner of the room.

Film Reel noticed Rainbow's glare, and gave her her best reporter's smile. "Is something the matter?"

Rainbow moved her head to stare at her sidelong. "No, not really. I just think you seem pretty fishy to me."

"Give her a chance, Rainbow," Twilight rebuked. "You didn't like it when Carrot was suspicious of us for trying to ask questions."

"Yeah, but that was only because this reporter had tried to ask questions first," Rainbow pointed out. "Carrot must have had a good reason for not trusting her! Animal-team-girl said they had 'history', remember?"

"If I might interrupt?" Film Reel interjected. "The history that Golden Harvest and myself have has nothing to do with my methods of reporting. Had I known she was there, I wouldn't have even bothered trying to get any answers."

Rainbow turned back to stare at her again. "Well then, what is the history between you two?"

"...that's personal."

"Huh. For a reporter, you're pretty suckish at answering questions."

Twilight sighed. "Rainbow, calm down and eat a sandwich. I'll handle this." She pulled one of the carrot sandwiches from her bag, and laid it on a plate in front of her.

"What are you talking about?" Rainbow gave Twilight a bemused look as she lowered her head to take a bite from the sandwich. "Just 'cos I'm eating, doesn't mean I can't..." She trailed off at that point, her taste receptors having registered the object in her mouth.

"Well, that should keep her busy for a few minutes," Twilight chuckled. Hearing the kettle boil, she pulled it over to herself, along with the coffee and three mugs, and poured a cup for each of them.

"Thank you," Film Reel said, taking a sip from the mug. "Now, I'd like to ask you a few things about this competition."

"Okay, but why?" Twilight asked. "One of the rules means you won't be able to report on anything you learn."

"Ah ah ah..." Film Reel tutted, shaking her head. "It means I won't be able to report on anything yet. This game won't last forever. Either somepony will find a way out of it, or everypony, bar one, will be eliminated. I'm sure the world will have been turned upside-down by that time, and ponies are going to want answers."

"That's a good point," Twilight conceded, sipping her own coffee. "Very well then, ask away."

Film Reel grinned at her. "Well, for starters, I noticed you visiting the first pony to fall victim to this-"

"No."

Film Reel blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"No," Twilight said again. "I'm not telling you anything about Ditzy. The only reason I was allowed to talk to her is because her daughter trusts me. I can't betray that trust."

"Aww, c'mon. Not even a little snippet?" Film Reel made pouting eyes at Twilight. "In return, I could give you some of the information I've gathered already..."

Twilight's hoof thumped down on the table. "Might I remind you that you are also at risk from this game? It would be in your best interests to give me any information you can anyway, for your own sake as well as everypony else's."

"Ahhh, but I'm afraid that's not the way my job works." Film Reel calmly sipped her coffee again. "Tell you what, you don't have to tell me anything about your friend. If you can just tell me anything else of interest that you've learned, I'll be happy to exchange info with you."

Twilight sat back down. "That seems far more reasonable, thank you. Let's see..."

She told Film Reel everything she had contemplated over the past day, from her magic being messed with to the surprising lack of rampaging stallions around town. As the journalist was hastily scribbling everything down, Rainbow Dash suddenly leapt up.

"Wooooaaahhhh!" She yelled. "This sandwich is amazing!" She then sat back down and took another bite. "So, what'd I miss?"

"Not much," Twilight said, fishing her own sandwich from her bag and taking a bite. Even gone cold, the explosion of flavour still took her breath away for a moment. "Film Reel and I were trading information. In fact, she was just about to give us her side, wasn't she?"

"Of course. I am a pony of my word." She flipped back a few pages in her notebook. "Let's see... ah, this'll probably interest you."

She paused, and smiled as the two ponies leaned in closer, eager for her information.

"Apparently you haven't noticed, but I can tell you this for sure... Discord wasn't lying about the stallions."

Applejack was out patrolling the orchard. This early into spring, it was difficult to discern between a living tree and one that had died over the winter, as the leaves on the trees were still no more than buds. However, it was also important to find any dead trees as soon as possible, so that when they dug it up and planted a new seed in its place, the new tree would have the optimal amount of time to grow before the next winter rolled around.

So far, it seemed this winter had been kind to their orchard. She hadn't found a single dead tree after a whole day of searching, barring the short break she had taken to visit the Carousel Boutique earlier this morning. Satisfied that she had covered at least half the orchard by this point, she decided to take a brief respite.

She lay down on the grass beneath a tree that was already eagerly sprouting a few leaves, resting against the trunk with her hat over her eyes.

Thunk, thunk, thunk...

A dull thudding disturbed Applejack from her rest. It was on the edge of her hearing, so she could have probably ignored it by moving to a further tree. But avoiding work when there was work to be done simply didn't sit well with her.

"Sounds like Big Mac's found a dead'un," she thought aloud, getting to her hooves before heading in the direction of the noise.

"So you've seen some stallions running rampant then?" Twilight asked enthusiastically. "Because we haven't seen any!"

"Twilight's right!" Rainbow confronted Film Reel. "How do we know you aren't just making it up?"

"Rainbow, that's not what I meant."

Film Reel put her hooves up defensively. "Not to worry, not to worry. I wouldn't make a claim I can't back up." She reached into her bag, and pulled out a collection of photos. "I've gathered an interesting collection of pictures today, that I think you'll want to see."

Thunk, thunk, thunk...

As Applejack got closer, something started bothering her.

"Big Mac's buckin' too quickly... he can't be puttin' barely any strength into his kicks."

Wondering why her brother might be expending energy so needlessly, she increased her pace, galloping towards the source of the noise.

Film Reel placed one of the photos onto the table. It was dark, but Twilight could clearly see two unicorns in the picture, one on top of the other. The mare on the bottom was quite clearly in distress, while the stallion on top had his eyes closed and a vacant smile on his face.

"This was the first event to catch my eye. It happened late last night, in the middle of town." She flipped a few pages in her notebook, before pointing to the mare in the photo. "This pony's name is Sea Swirl. She's a marine biologist, so she often takes trips to the coastal cities, such as Baltimare and Los Pegasus."

Twilight looked at the photo more closely, and noticed that her cutie mark did indeed consist of marine life, specifically a couple of dolphins. She thought she vaguely remembered seeing her around town a few times, but had never properly spoken to her.

"She had probably arrived back in Ponyville on the last train, and was heading home," Film Reel continued, "when she was jumped by this stallion."

The stallion in the picture was more visible, since his horn was giving off a vibrant glow. He was a blue unicorn with a white-and-blue mane, with a safety pin for a cutie mark.

Film Reel flipped to another page in her notes. "Pokey Pierce. No known occupation. His talent is having an unusually sharp horn. Unknown if this is naturally occurring, or sharpened manually."

Twilight looked back at the photo. She couldn't see it explicitly, but from the position they were in, and from Sea Swirl's desperate expression, it was clear that there was now an extra piece of information to amend onto that bio: rapist.

She sighed. "I guess this proves Discord was serious..."

Something was definitely not right. As Applejack got closer to the sound, she noticed a few trees that had already been felled. At least, it started off with a few, but the numbers kept increasing the closer she got, until it looked like a hurricane had swept through this part of the orchard.

"And here ah thought we were havin' a good year..." she muttered to herself. "Looks more like our worst year ever now."

There was a crack underhoof, as Applejack trod on the branch of one of the fallen trees. It was a fresh sounding crack, not the crumbly kind that came from a tree long-dead. She looked down, and her eyes widened at what she saw.

There, on the branch, was a bud. A fresh, healthy bud, frozen in mid-blossom.

"What in tarnation?!" A mix of shock and fury crossed her face. Somepony was uprooting living trees... her trees!

She looked ahead. The sound was close now. The path of destruction curved around, so the culprit was currently obscured by the trees left standing. But they were close, and Applejack knew one thing for sure... either her brother had gone insane, or somepony was vandalising her farm. Either way, they had better be prepared for a severe flank-bucking once she got her hooves on them.

Rainbow stared at Film Reel. "That doesn't prove anything. I've seen that guy at Pinkie's parties, he's always in a world of his own. He probably didn't even have any idea of what he was doing."

Film Reel dropped a couple more photos onto the table. "Well, then perhaps these will convince you?"

She pushed one of the photos across the table. It mostly consisted of blue sky, but Rainbow could see a pink shape that somewhat resembled a pony, who, at first glance, appeared to be riding a cloud.

"What you are looking at took place this morning. Aloe, one of the Earth ponies that runs the local spa, was picked up by an over-muscled white Pegasus named Snowflake while on her way to work. Having nowhere to go once in the sky, she was bucked by him until the local guards showed up." She picked out a few more photos, which depicted Snowflake being intercepted by a selection of guards. He put up a resistance, but was eventually subdued.

"Wait..." Twilight looked concerned. "What happened to Aloe once the guards showed up?"

Film Reel sighed. "He dropped her. She survived, and was taken to hospital, but her injuries weren't light."

Twilight was shaking. Sea Swirl's pained expression, Aloe getting injured... and this was all within a single day. She had thought she'd have more time, but ponies were already having their lives ruined, while she was still trying to work out what to do.

Rainbow shook her head. "Ugh, that big muscle-brain. He's always doing dumb stuff like this. This doesn't prove anything either."

"On the contrary, he's never done anything like this before." Film Reel picked some newspaper clippings from her bag, and laid them down in front of Rainbow. "Snowflake has been in the news for violent behaviour before, granted. But he's also a complete coward who surrenders whenever he's outmatched, and he's never fought the guards before."

Rainbow shrugged her off. "Well, maybe he just finally grew a backbone?"

Film Reel sighed. "Okay, I see you're being difficult for the sake of it now." She placed down three more photos. "This is the last incident that I noticed today, maybe this will convince you."

Twilight was afraid to look. She didn't want to see any more ponies getting hurt over something she should have managed to solve by now.

Film Reel saw the sweat dripping from Twilight. She gave a sympathetic sigh. "These ones aren't so bad, but even so, I'll just describe them to you. Over the course of the day, I noticed a certain stallion courting a number of different mares."

Twilight pricked up her ears. "Courting... you mean, he didn't just pounce on them?" Out of hopeful curiosity, Twilight managed a glance at the photos. Her shaking stopped immediately, her body becoming as rigid as a board once she saw who was in these pictures.

Film Reel took another sip of coffee. "An understandable reaction. After all, who'd have expected Filthy Rich, owner of Barnyard Bargains, to make such a bold move?"

Filthy Rich, well-respected businesspony and father of Diamond Tiara, was indeed in each of the photos. Joining him in the pictures, each clearly flustered and blushing profusely, were three ponies Twilight definitely recognised from around town. They were the flower-selling trio: Daisy Wishes, Lily Valley, and Roseluck.

"Those three appear to be quite close to one another, although I noticed Mr. Filthy only approaching any one of them when the other two weren't around."

Rainbow collapsed to the floor laughing. "Oh no, a wealthy businesspony is having an affair! I guess Discord really must be to blame!"

Film Reel's smile had left completely now, as she glowered at Rainbow Dash. "Listen. Do you know what the statistics are for rape in this town? Very, very low. Rarely ever more than one a year. And now two cases happen within twenty-four hours of each other, and you simply intend to ignore it? Plus, yes, businessponies have rather a reputation for affairs, it's true. But they are also the most careful types when it comes to them, and so romancing three mares at once seems rather out-of-character, don't you think?" She paused, out of breath.

Rainbow sat back up, looking ashamed. "Sorry... I was just poking a little fun, but you're right, this is serious."

Film Reel took a sip of coffee, and steadied her breathing. "Glad I can finally stop fighting with you." Her usual smile returned to her face. She plucked yet another piece of paper from her bag, and laid it on the table. It was her copy of the game scroll. "Now, what do you notice?"

"Huh?" Rainbow stared at the scroll, a look of concentration on her face.

Twilight nodded to Film Reel in understanding. "None of the mares were participants in the game. Meaning the stallions don't know who's playing on the female side, just like we don't know who they are."

"Exactly." Film Reel went to roll back up her scroll, but Rainbow stopped her. "Hey, you have your own, what gi-" She stopped once she saw the expression on Rainbow's face.

It was a look of sheer terror.

"Rainbow?" Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "Rainbow, what's wrong?"

Rainbow simply pointed a shaking hoof towards the scroll. Twilight followed her gaze, and froze.

The second square by Applejack's name was coloured yellow.

"Wh-what? How can-" She froze again.

Before her eyes, the square had just turned pink.

Chapter 6 - Down on the farm

Following the trail of destruction, Applejack charged furiously towards the source of the rapid thumping noise. She was pretty close now, the sound emanating from directly behind a small clump of trees.

Skidding around the corner, she came to a complete halt, and stood slack-jawed at the sight that greeted her.

In front of her was her elder brother, Big Macintosh. He had his forelegs wrapped around the trunk of a tree, and was stood on his hind legs, bucking his hips against the wood. Applejack could see that he had slid his stallionhood into a small hole in the trunk, and with each one of his thrusts, the tree leaned over slightly further, the dirt shifting as the roots were pulled from the ground.

"What in tarnation?!" she exclaimed.

Upon hearing his sister's cry, Big Mac's body went as stiff as a board, ceasing his thrusts. He turned his head slowly, his eyes wide with panic. "A- AJ..."

"Big Macintosh, what the hay's gotten into you?!" Applejack looked perplexed, as she strode slowly towards him.

Big Mac could hear her speaking, but all that he could focus on was how soft her lips looked when she spoke. How good it would feel to have them wrapped around his shaft, bobbing up and down, until-

He slammed his head into the tree, cringing at his own thoughts. "Stay away!" he yelled. "Ah ain't... Ah'm... there's something wrong with me!"

Realisation suddenly clicked in Applejack's mind. "Big Mac, were you at that there contest yesterday?"

"Y-yesterday?" Big Mac paused, and even his lustful thoughts were ignored for a moment, as he contemplated the question. "Ah don't... remember... anything about yesterday."

He turned to look at Applejack, immediately regretting doing so as his libido kicked back into gear. Her rear was emphasised so sexily by the denim shorts she was wearing. His mind was overcome with the urge to see them slide off her rump and slip down her legs, to see her smooth buttocks exposed for all to see. All this, even though he had seen her naked nearly every day before now.

He didn't understand. What had come over him? AJ had mentioned something about yesterday... yesterday... Every time he tried to think, he got distracted by his sister's beautiful eyes. How he wanted to see them looking up at him while he ploughed into her.

"Yah don't remember? Well shoot, that explains it! He musta done wiped yer memories, too." Applejack trotted over to her brother, and put a hoof on his shoulder. "Listen, Ah know what's wrong with yah."

That was enough to tip Big Macintosh over the edge. He had been able to control himself when he was just looking at her, but once he felt her touch, he simply had to have her. She said that she understood, right? Which meant that she knew he wanted to buck her brains out. Since she had come closer rather than backing away, that meant she wanted it too, right?

"Y'see-" Applejack started, but she was interrupted by Big Mac suddenly ramming his body into her, knocking her onto her back. His qualms now pushed aside, he gripped her shorts in his teeth and ripped them from her body, the fabric tearing down the side.

"Whoa Nelly!" Applejack tried to get back to her hooves, but Big Mac pounced on her and held her forehooves down. Before she could voice a complaint, he had leant down and placed his lips against hers.

Applejack was stunned still, her eyes wide with shock. She could hardly believe what was happening. She could feel his tongue pressing insistently against her lips, and it took all of her resistance to keep her mouth sealed shut.

Her first kiss shouldn't be like this. She'd never considered it too important to save things like that for "the right pony", since nopony was perfect after all. But it should at least be able to be something she could enjoy, which given the current circumstances, didn't seem likely.

Without releasing her, Big Mac positioned himself so as to align his stallionhood with her entrance. Applejack's worries were quickly replaced with much larger concerns, as the only thing protecting her now was the hope that Rarity's chastity belt would do its job. She struggled beneath him, but his body was too close for her to lift her hind legs, and her forelegs weren't strong enough to shift the weight Big Mac had on them.

With a single thrust, Big Mac's hips thrust downward, and the tip of his shaft slammed into the fabric covering her marehood. Applejack felt her lower lips spread apart, eliciting a gasp from her before she could stop it. Big Mac quickly took advantage of the opportunity, his tongue darting into her open mouth.

For a dreadful moment, Applejack had feared that Big Mac had torn straight through the belt. But his thrust had stopped short of getting even the entire tip inside, and as he bucked his hips up and down several more times, this was a result that didn't change.

She sighed in relief, which felt odd with a foreign tongue probing inside her mouth. Allowing herself to relax slightly, now that the prospect of bearing her brother's foal seemed to have been evaded, she noticed that the kiss didn't feel all that bad. She couldn't enjoy it, of course, not with the constant awareness of how wrong it was for a brother and sister to be doing this kind of thing together. But from a purely physical point of view, she realised that her brother wasn't all that bad of a kisser. Not that she had anything to compare it to, but if he was bad at it, then surely her tongue wouldn't be entwining itself with his without any conscious input from her, right?

It occurred to Applejack that, considering the fiasco Apple Bloom and her friends had caused last Hearts & Hooves Day, this was probably the second time that her brother had been hypnotised into kissing somepony.

She felt anger rise up from deep within herself. She would never forgive Discord for toying with her family's emotions like this, of that she was certain.

She felt the pressure suddenly lift from her lips, as Big Mac broke the kiss and stood up, his head turned to stare confusedly down at AJ's crotch. Clearly he had expected the fabric to give out by now.

Taking advantage of Big Mac's hesitation, Applejack quickly raised up her hind legs, and bucked him square in the chest. This staggered him a little, and he released her forelegs, allowing her to quickly roll over and get back to her hooves.

"Listen here, Big Mac! Yah gotta calm down, y'hear?!" Unperturbed, her brother slammed his forehooves into her back, making her cry out and forcing her to bend at the knees. Taking advantage of her bent posture and parted lips, he drove his shaft into her mouth, forcing the entire length inside in a single thrust.

Applejack gagged, and squirmed desperately under her brother's grip. His impact had knocked the wind out of her, and now his member lodged in her throat cut off any chance of her getting her breath back.

Fortunately, Big Mac pulled back before she could completely suffocate, slipping partially out of her mouth but leaving his tip resting on her tongue. She inhaled deeply, getting as much air into her lungs as she could before Big Mac slammed himself back inside, blocking off her airways once more.

This continued for several minutes, with Big Mac gradually picking up speed with his thrusts, giving Applejack less and less time to catch her breath in the process. Eventually, Big Mac started panting deeply, and changed his movements into quick jabbing thrusts, keeping himself inside her throat the whole time.

Applejack's body writhed, her legs frantically kicking the dirt, as her lungs burnt with a desperate need for air. Her eyes rolled back into her head as her vision started to blur. Just before she could pass out, however, she heard her brother let out a loud grunt, and her throat was filled with a hot fluid.

Big Mac pulled his stallionhood completely out of her mouth, and she gasped emphatically, the burning in her lungs finally being quenched. With her mind coming back from the verge of unconsciousness, she realised that she could no longer feel the pressure on her back that had been restraining her. Looking up, she saw her brother curled up into a ball, quietly sobbing and mumbling to himself.

"...monster. Ah'm ah monster..."

She stood up, and trotted over to him, her muscles aching with every movement. She put a hoof on his shoulder, and he looked up at her, tears streaking down his face.

"AJ... Ah'm so... s-so sorry... Ah didn't... Ah couldn't..."

Applejack shook her head. "It ain't your fault."

Big Mac stood up slowly, his legs shaking. He knew his sister was trying to comfort him, but right now he knew he didn't deserve it. "Yeah, it is... Ah'm ah... Ah ain't right. In the head." He averted his gaze from her. "Even now... Ah feel like Ah might do it again..."

Applejack's anger from earlier rose to the surface once more, burning more furiously than ever. It was bad enough that Discord would do this to innocent stallions like Big Mac, but to make them believe it was their own fault? She just couldn't let that go.

She knew there was some risk to what she was about to say, but she couldn't just leave her brother blaming himself like this. "Big Mac, listen... this problem you've got, it ain't you. Somepony made you like this. It's magic!"

Big Mac turned his head, slowly. His sobs had momentarily ceased, and he looked at her with a mixture of confusion, contemplation, and a glimmer of hope. "Magic?"

"That's right," Applejack continued. "Well, it wasn't somepony exactly. Listen, you remember that feller Discord, what made you believe you were a dog? Well, he's up to his old tricks, only this time he's doing awful things like this."

Big Mac sat on his haunches, looking deep in thought. Contrary to outward appearances, the plough-pony wasn't stupid. It would probably take him a while to mull something like this over, but Applejack was confident that, given enough time, this information would probably help him get a grip on his senses.

"Ah'll be heading back to the house now," she announced. She was aware that her presence probably made it more difficult for her brother to think straight. "Feel free to come back whenever you're ready to." She turned and walked away, looking back once she was out of the clearing. She could see Big Mac looking around solemnly at the destruction he had caused. Shaking her head sadly, she turned forward again, only to jump back in surprise, as she came nose-to-nose with a horrifying yellow-and-red-eyed visage.

"Oh come now, 'horrifying' is a little strong, don't you think? I personally think 'fearsome' suits me much better," Discord said with a chuckle. "Oh, hello Applejack, fancy meeting you here!"

"Discord!" Applejack snarled, stamping the ground with her hoof. "Fix what you did to mah brother right now!"

Discord shook his head, taking on an air of sympathy. "I'm so sorry, but I'm afraid I can't do that. If a judge doesn't treat his players equally, well, the whole contest would quite simply be a farce." He then turned to her, as if a thought had just struck him. "Oh yes, that reminds me. I'm going to have to punish you for your little rule-breaking just now."

"Rule-breaking? What rule-breaking?" Applejack knew what he was probably referring to, but she wasn't going to take anything he gave her without a fight. "If'n yah mean what Ah just told my brother, well, he's stuck in this here contest too, ain't he? Don't that makes it all right then?"

"Well, yes, that would be quite alright. But I'm afraid you just weren't quite careful enough." In a flash, Discord disappeared.

Applejack glanced quickly from side-to-side, until a rustling in the trees caught her attention. She looked up, and noticed a couple of branches were bobbing up-and-down of their own accord. They were quite oddly-shaped branches... they almost looked like ears.

Applejack went cross-eyed for a moment as her retinas defocused and refocused themselves. Blinking, she now stared back at the tree in question. The trunk had reformed itself into the shape of Discord's face, and was now quietly chuckling.

"The trees have ears, you see, dear Applejack." The tree then opened its mouth wide, revealing a cowering squirrel inside.

Applejack glared at the tree in irritation. Discord lack of straightforwardness was something that bugged her the most about him. "So what are you saying? That Ah broke your rule just 'cause some squirrel heard me talking?"

The tree lifted out of the ground and floated forwards, its texture rippling as it changed from bark to fur. It shrunk until it was back to his normal-sized head, his body slinking out of nowhere to reconnect itself.

Spitting the squirrel into his paw, he gave Applejack a sinister look. "Are you saying that this squirrel doesn't matter, because he isn't a pony? Well, in that case, I suppose you wouldn't really be bothered by anything I decided to do to him." His paw glowed, and the squirrel looked at her pleadingly, his eyes wide with fear.

"No!" Applejack yelled. Images filled her mind of the countless horrible fates that could await the innocent creature. She couldn't even picture how Fluttershy would react if she discovered that one of her best friends had let a woodland creature get hurt for their own sake. "Alright, alright. Yah got me, Ah broke your rule. So now what?"

The glow in his paw stopped, and the squirrel breathed a sigh of relief. "Now, it's time for your penalty game. Just give me a moment to set things up here." He snapped his talons, and the trees around them burst into life, leaves and apples blooming into maturity before their eyes.

"Hey!" Applejack stomped towards Discord, even more furious than before. "We do not use magic on our farm!"

"Well then, all the more incentive for you. If you succeed at this little game, I'll change all of the trees back to how they were; as fruitless as your purple unicorn friend's efforts to find a way out of this game."

"Now lookee here, Discord." Applejack pointed accusingly at him. "Twilight will find a way to beat you. Ah have faith in her. And so Ah ain't about to get taken out here." She narrowed her eyes, her determination radiating out of her. "Now, what do Ah gotta do?"

Discord brushed a tear from his eye. "Ohh, what a touching sentiment!" Dropping the façade, he cackled ominously. "Let's just see if you can live up to your enthusiasm."

Pulling out a scroll and some reading glasses from thin air, he balanced the glasses on his nose, and unrolled the parchment. "Ahem. Here are the rules. Rule number 1: I am going to turn this squirrel into an apple." This had only a moment to register in the squirrel's mind, before there was a flash, and in his place was an apple, sporting a bushy brown tail. "Rule number 2: I am going to hide this squirrel on one of the trees on your farm." With another flash, the apple was gone.

"Those ain't rules! They're just things you're doing!"

"Oh, really?" Discord mocked being taken aback. "How careless of me. Oh well. Rule number 3: To win the game, all you have to do is knock the squirrel out of its tree before the time is up. If you do that, both the squirrel and your farm will return to normal, and you will escape any further punishment."

"And if Ah fail?" Applejack asked warily.

"Well, obviously, you will be my slave for all eternity," Discord replied nonchalantly.

"W-what?!" Applejack stumbled backwards in shock.

"Oh, right, silly me!" Discord slapped his forehead with his paw. "I forgot rule number 4: I will be bucking you for the duration of the game. The time limit is until the point at which I decide to inseminate you." He smiled innocently at her. "Any questions?"

"Y-yah can't! Rarity made this here protection for us all!" Applejack turned to show him her chastity belt.

"Oh, that's so cute! You really think that's enough to protect you from me." He turned to face her directly, and Applejack's eyes widened at what swung around with him.

Now, Big Mac was a pretty large stallion, and so, assuming that ponies' bodies scaled up in equal measure, that meant that his stallionhood was pretty large, compared to the average pony. It had been large enough to cause Applejack some concern, at the very least.

Discord's phallus was similar in shape to Big Mac's, but it looked to be several inches longer and another inch or two wider. Applejack gulped.

Discord noticed her gaze, and chuckled. "You should feel lucky that this part of me is equine. If it were dragon, I couldn't guarantee that you'd survive."

Applejack was backing away nervously now, but she still clung to the one hope she had left. "I-it don't matter how big it is... if mah brother weren't strong enough to break mah belt, then Ah'm pretty sure you ain't either."

"I never said I needed to." He clicked his talons, and an orb of light appeared before him.

Applejack shivered. Why did she suddenly feel a chill?

Her question was soon answered, as Discord reached toward the ball of light with his paw, and stuck one of his toes inside. Applejack flinched, as she felt the walls of her marehood spread to accommodate an intruding object. "W-what in tarnation?!"

Discord chuckled, and wiggled his toe. Applejack shivered again as the object moved around inside her.

"Confused, Applejack?" Discord chuckled. He removed his toe, and the object inside Applejack disappeared. "Let me show you." The ball of light floated closer to Applejack, until it was right in front of her face. From this angle, she could see some colours mixed into the light; it was mostly orange, with a pink line running down the middle.

"It can't be!" Applejack gasped, and glanced round to her hind quarters. Sure enough, there was another light faintly emanating from beneath her chastity belt.

"Oh, but I'm afraid it can," Discord whispered in her ear. She flinched away, and saw that he now had the ball of light positioned against the tip of his member.

"N-no, wait..." Applejack trembled, as she realised what was to come. "Stop!"

"If I were you, Applejack..." Discord smiled, as the tip of his shaft entered the portal, and brushed against her lips. "I would hurry up and find that squirrel."

Gritting her teeth, Applejack turned and ran from the clearing. She could hear him laughing maniacally behind her, as his tip kept pressed against her nethers, not quite pushing hard enough to slip inside yet.

Once he was out of sight, she slowed to a walk, carefully inspecting each tree for signs of the squirrapple. Her whole body was shivering, and she kept telling herself that it was because of the draught that was blowing between her legs. She refused to acknowledge the small part of her brain that was telling her she was actually feeling aroused by all this.

The path she was walking sloped up into an incline. Reaching the crest, she looked out over the farm, and felt her heart sink at what she saw. It was no mere clump of trees Discord had brought to life; the entire farm was swathed in green for as far as she could see.

Suddenly, Discord stopped teasing his member against the outside of Applejack's entrance, and she felt his tip spread apart her pussy lips as he slowly entered her.

Her breath caught as her mind was overwhelmed by the sensation. With every inch he pushed into her, she could feel her walls spreading apart, stretching to accommodate his large girth. The small part of her brain that had been enjoying itself was now a rather large part, and though she hadn't forgotten the danger she was in, she was having trouble convincing her legs to move forward, rather than spreading themselves apart for him.

She gasped, as she felt his tip bump into something. Her cherry! Coming to her senses, she writhed her hips desperately, trying to dislodge him from inside her, but to no avail. Feeling him pull back slightly, she braced herself, as his cock slammed back inside, hard, tearing straight through her hymen.

"Gahhhh!" Applejack cried out, collapsing to her knees. The stinging pain was agonising, bringing tears to her eyes. She looked back, and saw blood trickling down her legs.

"Congratulations, dearest Applejack," Discord's voice emanated from nowhere in particular. "Today, you have become a mare."

"This is bad, this is bad!" Twilight was pacing back-and-forth frantically.

"Whadda we do, whadda we do?!" Rainbow asked, hopping from hoof-to-hoof urgently.

Film Reel slammed her hoof on the table. "Would you two calm down!? You still have time, y'know." She indicated the still-blank area on the chart, next to Applejack's name.

Twilight stopped pacing, and bit her lip in thought. "She's right. We might be able to save her if we can get to her in time." She looked to the other two. "I'll head down to the farm, but in case she isn't there, I'm going to need your help. Rainbow, you fly around Ponyville and see if you can spot anything suspicious. Film Reel, could I ask you to ask around town for any kind of indication to her whereabouts?"

Rainbow saluted, sticking her chest out. "On it!"

Film Reel nodded. "I'll see what I can do."

Twilight nodded to them. "Alright, then let's-" She was interrupted by a frantic knock on the door.

"Twilight!" That was Pinkie's voice! Twilight swung open the door, and the pink Earth pony leapt into the room.

"Twilight! Awful news!" Her whole body shuddered for a moment. "Something terrible is going to happen at the Apple farm! I think Applejack might be in danger!"

Of course, Pinkie's Pinkie Sense! "We know. Thank you, Pinkie, you've saved us a lot of time." She turned around to beckon the others. "Come on girls. We've got a friend to save!"

Chapter 7 - In the thicket of it

Sprawled across the hilltop, Applejack lay panting, trying to keep a handle on her emotions. Her mind was reeling, trying to comprehend her situation while being assaulted by her own body's senses.

There was pain, a sharp, stinging pain, from where Discord had ripped away her virginity. She tried to cling onto it, like a life ring tethering her to reality, but the waves of pleasure that were washing over her made it increasingly difficult for her to keep a grip.

She felt ashamed of how good she was feeling. Her mind wanted to retch with revulsion, but her body was betraying her. Every inch he pushed inside her was another inch of her pussy spread erotically apart, making her acutely aware of yet another inch she never even realised she had before.

She could feel her liquids running past her nether lips and pooling inside her chastity belt, and felt overall like a complete mess. At this rate, he may not even need to cum in her. All he had to do was stick half of his meat rod inside her, and she was reduced into this-

Wait.

All he had to do? Had she forgotten who she was dealing with?

This was Discord, master of chaos. The entirety of what he was doing at any one time was never clear. Regaining her mental strength, she staggered back up to her hooves, and glared up at the air in general.

"Ah don't rightly remember yah mentionin' using them afro-dese-yaks in those rules o' yours."

There was a moment's pause, before uproarious laughter echoed through the grove. "Oh my, Applejack, could it be that you're enjoying this? I never knew you were that kind of pony!" As always, his sincerity was impossible to determine. "Well, if believing I'm using aphrodisiacs makes you feel better, then by all means go ahead. It doesn't really change the circumstances though, does it?"

Switching gears, Discord suddenly pulled his shaft back a few inches, before ramming it back inside of Applejack. She bit back a moan that tried to escape her lips, and attempted to ignore the sensations from between her legs as Discord started to pick up a rhythm of thrusting in and out of her.

Focusing on the task at hoof, she took a closer look at the trees around her. The apples on the branches seemed to have grown in normally, so she guessed all Discord had done was sped up the process. Closing her eyes, Applejack tried to picture the apple that Discord had transformed the squirrel into... it had been large, unusually so, and bright red, with a shine to it that almost glowed. Basically, the very image of a perfect apple.

Applejack grinned. An apple like that would stick out like a sore wing around most of the farm. Perhaps the situation wasn't so hopeless after all.

"And so you think somepony's trying to make a baby with Applejack?"

"Precisely, Pinkie." Twilight poked her head into the open for a moment, feeling the wind hit against her face. "HOW MUCH FURTHER, RAINBOW?"

"ANOTHER THIRTY SECONDS!" Rainbow Dash yelled back, struggling to be heard over the noise of the gale rushing around them.

Nodding, Twilight retracted her head back into the shelter of the cloud. Not having the time to locate enough rope to secure each pony, she had suggested that Rainbow instead find a large enough cloud to hollow out, allowing the passengers to sit inside, secure even without being bound to it.

"But why would Applejack do that?" Pinkie asked. "If she becomes a mommy, she'll have less time to play with her friends. Does she not want to play with us anymore?!" She seemed genuinely worried about this prospect.

"Calm down, Pinkie." Twilight put a hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sure Applejack cares about us just as much as she always did. It seems more likely that, well..." She hesitated, unsure of how to say this to the innocent-minded, fun-loving pony.

"She's probably being forced into it," Film Reel finished for her.

Pinkie's expression became concerned, and she looked to Twilight for assurance. Twilight sighed, and gave a low nod. "Most likely, it's as she says."

A look of confused contemplation crossed Pinkie's face. "So, you're saying that, it's not like this..." Pulling out some sock puppets from somewhere, she wore Applejack on one hoof, and a nondescript stallion on the other. She mimed them kissing, making lovey-dovey cooing sounds, before a baby sock puppet appeared between them, held up by Pinkie's tail. The three puppets then had a group hug, laughing happily, while confetti rained down on them.

"...But instead, it's like this?" Pinkie continued, resetting the scene to just Applejack and the stallion. This time, the stallion let out a roar, and kicked Applejack in the face. Applejack made sobbing noises, before the baby popped up again next to her. The stallion then moved close to them, before bending down, and wiggling it's head against the foal, while Pinkie made "nom nom nom" noises. When he raised his head again, the smaller puppet had somehow disappeared.

Twilight cringed a little. She had clearly underestimated Pinkie's imagination when put to nefarious purposes. "Uhm, yes... sort of... hopefully with less baby-eating, though..."

"But that would make Applejack really sad! We have to save her!"

"Yes, Pinkie, that's why we're- Hey, wait!" Twilight scrambled forwards after Pinkie, who had just leapt completely out of the cloud. She stuck her head out, expecting to see her friend plummeting to her doom, but instead found her with her hooves safely on the ground, only a few feet away from her.

Rainbow fluttered down next to them, wiping her brow. "Phew... We're here!"

Twilight stepped tentatively out of the cloud, with Film Reel jumping out after her. "So what's the plan?" asked the photographer.

"Pinkie, can you tell exactly where on the farm Applejack is?" Twilight asked.

Pinkie shuddered again, before shaking her head. "No... all I know is she's in big trouble."

"No problem," Rainbow said confidently, taking off into the sky once more. "I'll just do a quick flyby over the farm. It can't be that hard to find her." She turned around to dash away, but stopped when she found herself face-to-bark with the trunk of a tree.

Huh, strange. She'd been sure she was above the treetops. Shrugging, she looked up, and saw the leaves not far above her. She flapped her wings, and... the leaves remained above her. In fact, she seemed to be no closer to them than she was before. She took off once more, but no matter how hard her wings flapped, the branches remained relatively stationary.

Rainbow paused, thoroughly confused. Were her wings not working? She looked down, and saw that she was now quite a distance from the ground. Her friends were looking up at her, and they seemed to be just as confused as she was.

"Twilight, what the hay is going on?" Rainbow asked, swooping back down to ground level.

"The trees..." Twilight replied, staring bewildered at the orchard. "They... got taller! As you flew, it was like they were blocking you off! Look, now they've shrunk again!"

Rainbow turned back to look at the tree that had been her obstacle, and jumped back in shock when she did so. The tree was now Discord!

"Hello, everypony!" Discord cheered, raising his arms up high. "So glad you could make it!"

"What have you done with Applejack?!" Twilight yelled, stamping her hoof.

"Now now, all in good time, my impatient little equines," Discord chuckled. "I wouldn't want to spoil the show for you." He mimed drawing a rectangle in the air with his hands, lines of colour following the tips of his digits. Once the lines joined up, the whole shape suddenly lit up, shining so brightly that the ponies had to shield their eyes from it.

"Ahhh! Git off'a me, yah cotton-pickin' varmint!"

Rainbow and Twilight glanced towards each other. "Hey, doesn't that sound like...?"

"Applejack!" Pinkie exclaimed. Her eyes seemed to have recovered the fastest, and she was staring up at the rectangle, mouth agape. "It's Applejack!"

The other ponies squinted up at the projection. Sure enough, a distinct picture started to come into focus. There was a collective gasp from the group as they witnessed the scene that was unfolding.

In the centre of the screen was Applejack, looking quite out-of-breath and dishevelled. She lay face-down on the ground, her front hooves having been tied tightly together and secured to the trunk of a tree. Her back legs fared no better, each of them being bound to separate trees some distance apart, forcing them to remain spread open. She was completely naked, save for her hat, which was still balanced atop her head.

Straddled atop her was another figure, though it was difficult to identify them, since they appeared to be mostly transparent. The only reason they could tell he was there at all was by a faint outline of his body, combined with his "equipment" being the only part of him that was still plainly visible. As the camera panned around, they got a clear shot of his shaft sliding in and out of Applejack's stretched pussy, his balls slapping lewdly against her marehood with each thrust.

"Okay, enough!" Twilight shouted, looking away in disgust. Or, at least, she tried to: when she turned her head away, she found the screen stayed fixed in her vision. Closing her eyes didn't help either: to her horror, even with her eyelids screwed up tight, the image was still there, floating in the corner of her eye. The only thing that didn't seem to affect it was moving her eyeball, allowing her to switch her focus between the screen and the world in front of her. The sound wouldn't stop either, Applejack's moans seemingly being broadcast directly into Twilight's ears.

"Come now," chastised Discord, "this is the important part! I loathe people who look away from movies, so I added the video to your heads-up display. Oh, right, I should mention I gave you all a heads-up display, too. Honestly don't know how you've managed to live without one up until now!"

Rainbow was frantically shaking her head back and forth. "Twilight, what the hay is he talking about? And why won't this damn thing stop following me? I can't stand looking at Applejack this way!"

"Oh no! She sounds like she's in pain!" Pinkie was hopping from hoof to hoof worriedly. "That guy's thing looks too big, it could be hurting her!"

Film Reel, meanwhile, was staring fixated into the corner of her own eye. "To think, you could take so many pictures in a single second, and still have such high quality to your shots... magic really is leagues ahead of technology."

Twilight glared back up at Discord. "Why are you showing this to us?!"

Discord chuckled, spreading his arms dramatically. "Because, my little ponies, I'm hereby setting you a little challenge, and this ought to help you keep your eye on the prize. Now, if you look to your right, you should see a bar of sorts."

Twilight blinked, and glanced sideways. There was indeed a thin rectangle running up the side of her vision. It was an odd fleshy-pink colour, with a small portion of white at the bottom. As she watched, the white began slowly expanding, climbing gradually higher up the bar.

"I'll let you form your own conjectures as to what it represents," Discord continued. "You should just know that once the bar fills completely, your precious little redneck will be lost to you... forever! Muhahahahaha!" Cackling maniacally, he then exploded into light and smoke, vanishing from sight once more.

Twilight snarled, grinding the dirt beneath her hoof. "Discord... You're not going to have your way this time..."

Rainbow was hopping back and forth frantically. "Whadda we do, whadda we do? AJ's gonna die! Or, y'know, not, but still!"

Pinkie Pie was similarly frantic, clutching her head in her hooves. "Twilight, what do we do?!"

If someone didn't step in quickly, the whole group was going to waste too much time panicking to be able to save Applejack, Twilight realised. And it looked like that responsibility was going to fall to her, as per the norm. Celestia, she needed more sleep... She pressed on the bridge of her nose, and tried to think.

"Girls, calm down... it isn't hopeless yet. If we spread out to cover the whole farm, we should be able to find Applejack in time."

"But it's huge!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I mean, sure, I could cover the area from the air pretty quickly, but that's obviously not an option here!"

"Don't worry, Rainbow, we won't have to search every inch of the farm. As we can see here," Twilight tapped just beside her eye, "she's out in the open. We'll be able to spot her from far off once we get anywhere near. It's not a maze, after all."

"Funny you should mention that..."

The ponies stumbled as the ground suddenly started shaking, accompanied by a loud sound of dirt being pushed aside. They watched on, astounded, as the trees before them physically slid across the area, clumping together so thickly in places that it looked impossible to pass through them. Twilight could swear that more trees were showing up out of nowhere to add to the thickness, but it was impossible to keep track. By the time it calmed down, a dense wall of trees had formed before them, with only a few openings that looked possible for any of them to fit through. Five openings in fact, Twilight noted.

"So sorry, I almost completely forgot," Discord's voice chuckled out of thin air. "I prepared a path for you that will lead you straight to your friend. Oh, and four paths that don't. A bit inconvenient I suppose, but then I had been expecting a slightly larger turnout. Oh well. Best of luck!"

Rainbow stamped her hoof in frustration. "He's treating us like we're his toys!"

Twilight bit her lip, thinking hard. "There's two possibilities here... one is that Discord will make the right path simply whichever one we don't pick, in which case it doesn't matter how we proceed. Slightly more optimistic is the idea that there is a fixed right path, but if so, he'd probably design it to be the least likely one for us to pick... Question is, which path would that be?"

"The middle one," Film Reel stated flatly. Upon receiving the questioning stares of the other three, she elaborated: "Well, he's a being of chaos, so we must seem rigorous in our order to him. And what does order love?" She paused, more for effect than actually expecting any responses. "Symmetry. Thus, it stands to reason that Discord would bank on us leaving the central path, to preserve the symmetry of paths travelled vs. untravelled."

"That... is an excellent hypothesis," Twilight admitted. "The middle path also seems far less arbitrary than any of the other paths... All right. Rainbow, you take the central path! If you manage to find Applejack-"

"Then I kick that guy's butt and save her, gotcha!" Rainbow cut in, before spreading her wings and shooting forward, disappearing down the central path. "Hang on AJ, we're coming!"

Applejack was severely lost, something that had never happened to her on her own farm before. "Dammit Discord, are yah messin' with my farm's layout as well?" His only response was to push an extra inch of his cock inside her on the next thrust. She clenched her teeth, an involuntary moan escaping her throat.

That said, his pace had been slowing down within the past minute or so. If he was trying to tease her, then she was determined not to let it get to her.

She tried to regain her focus. She had been banking on getting to the part of the orchard where the best apples grew, since that seemed like the only place an apple like Discord's could be reasonably hidden. But with no clue as to where she was, she was simply wasting energy running on to nowhere. Trotting to a halt, she tried to think of how to change tack.

"Giving up, are we, Applejack?" Discord's voice whispered in her ear, making her shiver. "That's probably wise... I'm sure you'll make a lovely little slave."

Applejack shuddered at the thought. It wasn't hopeless, was it? The last time she'd tried to buck the entire orchard, it had taken her over a week to get through just half of them. She needed a more systematic approach, but how?

As she struggled in thought, Discord's shaft buried itself deeper and deeper inside her, getting ever closer to its sweet release.

The bar was almost half full already. Rainbow had been flying for several minutes, but her speed had been limited by the sharp turns in the walls of the maze. A thick roof of branches above her prevented her from even attempting to get an aerial view of the orchard.

"Ahhhhhnnnn... P-please, stop... don't cum inside... Oh Celestia, harder!"

The live feed of Applejack's torture still hadn't left her eye, though she was trying her hardest to ignore it. AJ was the strongest pony she knew, and yet here she was, moaning like a horse in heat while some asshole had his way with her. If even she could be reduced to that, then what chance did the rest of them stand?

Rainbow screeched to a halt as the maze split off into two tracks before her. She should've known it wouldn't be as simple as just which path to choose back at the start. Well, there wasn't any way of telling which path was the correct one as far as she could see. So if she chose the wrong one, she'd just have to make up for it with speed. With this in mind, she took off down the left path, pushing herself as fast as she could go.

Applejack was still deep in desperate thought. There had to be a way to find that apple in time, there just had to be! If only she could just-

"Time's up, Applejack."

...What? What had he just said!?

"B-but," Applejack protested, "I ain't felt you finish yet!"

"Tut, tut, Applejack..." Discord tutted, materialising in front of her. "You really need to learn to pay attention. I didn't say the time limit was until I inseminated you, I said it was until I decided to inseminate you." He leaned forward 'til they were nose-to-nose, grinning menacingly. "And I've decided that now is the time."

At that moment, ropes shot out of the ground, tying themselves around her front and back hooves. "H-hey!" Applejack yelled, as the ropes dragged her into place before fixing their ends to the nearby tree trunks. Her front legs were fixed together, while her hind legs were spread uncomfortably apart.

Applejack was trembling, her mind frantic. She pulled and tugged on the ropes, but they were tied too tightly for her to overpower. Was this it? Was she really going to lie here and just let him take her whole life away from her?

"Apologies for any discomfort, Applejack, but your friends are almost here, and they'll be expecting to find a certain scene once they arrive." Discord walked around her, stroking his paw along her back and over her rear. "Now then, if you tell me the magic word to unlock your treasure, then I'll hold off my eruption until your friends get here. Otherwise, I think I'll claim you right now." His dick pulsed and expanded inside of her, making her wince.

Applejack questioned why he would want her to take off her chastity belt, but gave the command to do so anyway. If he was just after the codeword, then she wouldn't be able to keep it from him for long anyway, if he did indeed cum inside her. Plus, she was overjoyed to hear that her friends were on their way to help her. If she could just prolong this for as long as possible, then she was sure that they'd find a way to save her... right?

...Well, even if they couldn't save her, she'd at least get to see them one more time before she lost control of her mind.

She felt his shaft withdraw from her pussy, leaving her feeling strangely empty. Looking back, she saw him pulling out of his ball of light, before fizzling it away completely. Stepping up toward her, he lined his tip up with her lips once more. This was it, Applejack thought. Once his dick entered her this time, it wasn't pulling out again until she was his.

"Please girls... get here soon..." she whispered, closing her eyes and bracing herself, before he slid his whole member inside her in a single thrust. His tip slammed into her cervix, and her mind was flooded with pain.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

Twilight skidded to a halt, her ears swivelling around. That scream just now... had she heard it twice? She watched on screen as the stallion slid back, before roughly slamming into Applejack again. Once more, the scream had an odd stereo quality to it... The first one was probably linked to the screen, so the second one... Applejack must be close by!

Twilight ground her teeth in frustration. Even with that as the case, she had no choice but to keep following the path she was on to nowhere. She glanced to her right, and saw that she was running out of time. The bar was nearly full.

Her body shook with anger. Her friend was nearby, in pain, and in danger of losing everything she held dear, and all she could do was run on by?! There had to be something she could do... If only there was some way of knowing Applejack's exact position...

"...relative to myself." Realisation hit Twilight like a hammer. There was a way she could work out exactly where Applejack was! It was a small chance, but she had to at least try.

Craning her neck upwards, she examined the canopy above her, until she found a moderately large gap in the branches. Positioning herself directly beneath the hole, she focused her energy into her horn, took aim, and fired. A small ball of bright purple light shot out of her horn, bursting out through the leaves and into the open sky.

For a brief moment, nothing happened, causing Twilight to panic. If this didn't work, she wasn't sure there was anything else she could do in time. She mentally pleaded with whatever divine forces might be listening, as her eye focused intently on the screen projected onto it.

And after another moment of worry, her hopes shone through: Though Applejack took up most of the screen, the view was angled so as to allow a small glimpse of the sky above her. And in that sky, hovered a small purple light.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. Applejack was close, close enough for Twilight to teleport to. Pushing her sleepy mind to its limits, she quickly calculated the distance and direction, and began charging up her magic once more.

Applejack felt a weight press upon her back, as Discord leaned atop her, wrapping his hooves around her torso and using the leverage to pull his own body forward, increasing the strength of his thrusts.

Wait, hooves? Applejack glanced back at him, and saw that his form had changed into that of a pony, wearing a long cloak & hood that concealed his features.

"I figured you'd be a little more comfortable if I at least looked the same species as you." Discord dismissed her questioning gaze with a chuckle. "Besides, it's not like you really have time to worry about it... in another few seconds, you won't be questioning anything I do ever again."

Applejack could feel his dick throbbing inside her, her walls spreading further apart as he expanded. This was it, her mind screamed, the point of no return! She wriggled and writhed her hips as much as the taut ropes allowed, desperately trying to dislodge his shaft from within her. "Please, no, stop! Ah won't break your rules again, Ah swear!" However, her gyrations were to no avail. All they managed to accomplish was rubbing his cock across her g-spot, making her shudder and moan.

"Hahahah, that's a nice look for you," Discord teased. "Now, be a good girl, and smile for your friends."

At that moment, the clearing was filled by a bright flash, as Twilight successfully materialised within it. At the same time, Rainbow Dash rounded a corner in the maze, and burst out into the wide open space.

"Twilight! Rainbow!" Applejack shouted, her voice filled with a hopeful joy.

"Applejack!" The two cried out in unison, seeing their friend in the flesh being mounted by a mysterious dark-cloaked stallion. They started to charge towards him, but all of a sudden, everything started to move in slow-motion.

"Congratulations on making it, girls!" Discord cheered, an image of him appearing the lower corner of their eyes. "However, it would appear that you're a little too late to save your friend." As he said this, the bar on the right of their eyes hit its peak. Two more pictures blipped into existence beside it: One was of a pale round shape surrounded on all sides by a world of pink, and the other was of a thick purple stallionhood slowly pushing itself into a tight pink sheath.

In the same instant, the stallion atop Applejack let out a deep groan, his front hooves locking tightly around her body. As the girls watched in horror, a bead of white formed at the tip of his dick, quickly expanding and shooting forward, deep into Applejack's waiting pussy.

"No! NOOO!" Rainbow cried out, desperately trying to will her body to move faster. It felt like she was flying through treacle, unable to get more than a few inches closer to the bastard defiling her friend.

The image on the second screen was made clear, as millions of tiny black shapes swam into view, all headed toward the large pale circle in the centre. Their tails wagged furiously, and they swarmed it in seconds, each one drilling into it with all the force they could muster.

There was nothing she could do. There was nothing she could do, there was nothing she could do! Twilight was being forced to watch her friend being impregnated against her will, and there was nothing she could do to help her!

Applejack seemed to sense that it was all over as well. In what she knew was likely to be her last moment of free speech, she took a deep breath, and shouted.

"When y'all beat Discord, give his flank a good kickin' for me too!"

And then the sperm breached the egg.

In the moments following, a lot of things all seemed to happen at the same time.

Applejack's ropes untied themselves, and the stallion bent down to whisper into her ear. Time sped back up again, and Rainbow Dash charged towards the stallion, eyes ablaze with fury. Applejack slipped quickly out from underneath the stallion, and jumped up in front of him. Unable to stop in time, Rainbow's outstretched hooves collided with Applejack's face, knocking her to the ground.

"Oh nuts, sorry Applejack!" Rainbow hurriedly apologised, landing beside the farm pony and offering her a hoof. "Are you okay?"

"Don't you worry, Rainbow," Applejack laughed it off, taking Rainbow's hoof and getting to her feet. "It ain't your fault. Ah just had to get in your way, on account of my master telling me to protect him."

Rainbow's body froze stiff, her eyes locked on Applejack's. "Y-your master? So, you really are..."

"His slave?" Applejack finished. "Yeah, Ah reckon it looks that way." She looked towards the stallion, who was gesturing towards her. "Oh, looks like he's sayin' we gotta go now." Without hesitation, she trotted over to her master's side.

"Applejack, wait!" Twilight called after her, cantering towards her. "Where are you going?"

The stallion leaned over to whisper into her ear again. Applejack sighed, and shook her head. "Ah can't tell you that, Ah'm afraid. Also, he says not to follow us, or Ah'll have to fight y'all. Please, Ah don't wanna have tah do that."

"But... but AJ..." Dash was still frozen in the same spot, here eyes gazing pleadingly at her friend, her lips trying to find the right words, but coming up blank.

Applejack gave them one last smile. "Ya'll have been good friends to me, and Ah won't forget yah. Dash, Twilight... Ah guess this is goodbye. Tell the others I said bye too... Pinkie, Shy, Rarity... I'm gonna miss you all." With a single tear rolling down her cheek, she turned away, and walked towards the edge of the clearing alongside her partner. As they approached the trees, they parted, the entire orchard resetting itself to the way it was before Discord made a maze out of it. They stepped into a thick grove of trees, and disappeared from sight, the screens in the ponies' eyes disappearing along with them.

Chapter 8 - Aftermath

Before either of them could react, a shrill cry came from behind Twilight and Rainbow.

"AAAPPPPLLLEEEJAAACCCKKK!"

They looked round, and barely had time to leap aside as a pink blur came barreling past them, headed towards the trees that Applejack had just disappeared into.

"Pinkie, stop!" Twilight called out to her. "If you go after her now, she'll be forced to fight you!"

Pinkie screeched to a halt, and turned around slowly, huge tears streaming down her face. "I *sniff* know, Twilight! I saw everything, on *sniff* on that moving picture. I just... *sniff* I couldn't... *sniff* I DIDN'T GET TO SAY GOODBYE!" she wailed, collapsing into a sobbing heap.

Rushing over to her side, Twilight knelt down and wrapped her arms around her sobbing friend. "Don't worry, Pinkie... don't worry, it's going to be all right..."

"Yeah," chimed in Rainbow, "'cos we... uh, why is it going to be okay, exactly, Twilight?"

Twilight's eyes narrowed, her hold on Pinkie tightening. "...Because I'm going to make it all right."

"Well, I'll certainly do whatever I can to help you." Film Reel said, as she came trotting over to join them. "Free of charge, just this once."

Twilight offered her a weary smile. "Thank you, Film Reel, that'll be a big help."

Film Reel returned the smile and shrugged. "Hey, us girls've got to stick together."

"Well, that's certainly a different tune to the one you were humming earlier," Rainbow said pointedly.

Film Reel lowered her shoulders, her smile dropping from her face. "Well, I won't pretend to have a good reason. It just all seems more... real, now." She looked down, placing a hoof to the camera that hung around her neck. "When there's a lens between me and an event, then it's just a story to me. But I wasn't able to get any pictures of this one..."

"I should hope not, too!" Rainbow yelled aggressively. "There's no way I'd let you plaster pictures of AJ in a state like that all over your damn paper!"

"Look, what do you want from me?" Film Reel shouted back. "I just said I'm willing to help, didn't I? Without my observational skills, you still wouldn't have any idea what's going on in this town!"

"That's kind of my problem, actually! You saw all those girls in the pictures you showed us, but did you ever actually try and help any of them? Or would that have spoiled your precious story?"

"What was I supposed to do, fly into the sky and catch Aloe as she fell? Go tattling to a bunch of girls who don't know me about the rich guy courting them all?"

"You could've tried to scare off Pokey Pierce at least!"

"You wanted me to spook a guy with a freakin' weapon attached to his face, while he had hold of a hostage? Gee, thanks chief, what other bright ideas you got for me?"

"Knock it off, you two!" Twilight yelled at them, slamming her hoof into the ground. "Look, I know tensions are high right now, but we all need to calm down. We can't afford to turn on each other now."

They each lowered their eyes to the floor, mumbling something in the vein of an apology.

"That's better," Twilight huffed. "Now you two- ah? Pinkie?"

Just then, Twilight was interrupted as Pinkie stood up, gently shrugging off Twilight's embrace. Brushing away her tears, she walked over to Rainbow Dash, and put her arms around her in a hug of her own.

"Ahh, you... okay, Pinkie?" Rainbow asked uncertainly, awkwardly returning the hug.

Pinkie said nothing, and an awkward silence hung in the air for a minute, until she slowly released Rainbow from her embrace, and turned back to face Twilight. Despite the tear tracks that were still fresh on her face, she managed to force a small smile.

"Don't be too hard on her, Twilight," Pinkie said. Her voice was no longer wavering as it had been a minute ago, although she still had to sniff in-between her sentences. "She's probably gonna miss Applejack the most out of all of us."

"Hey, it's not like I..." Rainbow started, but trailed off, looking down at the ground again. "...Yeah, I guess I will. I mean, even if Twi- Even when Twilight manages to find a cure," she corrected, raising her head back up, "AJ'll still be a mother. We won't really be able to compete with each other like we used to..."

Pinkie put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, and gave her a smile that looked truly genuine for a second. "Even if you can't do the same stuff together anymore, you can still be friends." She then turned her attention back to Twilight. "Sorry for making such a fuss... I was just a bit shocked. I do believe in you, y'know? If anypony can crack this thing, it's you!"

Twilight tensed up. No pressure, eh? Nonetheless, she tried her best to give them a reassuring smile. They were counting on her, and now wasn't the time to let them down!

"Well then!" she announced, clapping her hooves together. "There's not much point in staying here anymore. Shall we head back to town?"

"Sure," Rainbow nodded. "I'll just go get the cloud."

"Ah, you don't have to!" Twilight said hastily. "We could probably all handle walking back."

"Nah, it's fine. Flying helps clear my head anyway." And with that, she took off, up into the sky in search of a suitable cloud.

Twilight squinted up, watching her until she was out of sight. She noticed that the sky was beginning to get its first tint of orange. "Already evening, huh?" she sighed. It had been a pretty exhausting day.

"Twilight."

She glanced down. Over to the edge of the clearing, Film Reel was stood, beckoning her over.

"I found this," she said, indicating what appeared to be a piece of bark that was lying by her hooves. Picking it up, Twilight brought it up to her face for closer examination.

On the inner side of the bark, there were some odd engravings. It took Twilight a moment to realise that this was probably supposed to actually be writing!

"Wow! Nice find, Film Reel. I'll have to try and decipher this later..."

Film Reel shook her head. "Just hold it up for me. I'm used to writing shorthand, so bad hoofwriting such as this is no problem."

Twilight levitated it up to her face. Film Reel's eyes scanned across the bark, her lips moving silently as she mouthed out the words she was trying to read. After a minute, she pulled out her notebook and pencil, and started scratching down notes as she read.

"Okay, got it!" she finally announced.

"What does it say?" Twilight asked eagerly.

In response, Film Reel simply flipped back her notebook, and passed it over to Twilight. One the page there were a lot of crossings out, but below all this was a paragraph of neat writing, detailing the decyphered message.

Heard everything,
will handle telling family.
Please bring AJ back safe.

Mac

The cloud hovered down in front of Sugarcube Corner, and Film Reel stepped out alongside Pinkie Pie.

"You sure you're fine with getting off here?" Rainbow asked. "It's not too much trouble for me to drop you off at your place."

Film Reel waved her hoof dismissively. "Nah, that's fine. The fastest route is usually the least interesting, after all."

"And Pinkie, you're sure you don't want to stay with us for the night?" Twilight's voice was laden with concern.

"Thanks Twilight, but I'm okay, really," Pinkie told her, managing a smile. "Besides, I don't want to worry Mr and Mrs Cake."

"I'll make sure she gets up to her room all right," Film Reel said reassuringly. "You've got enough on your plate without worrying about everypony else. Go home and get some rest, you'll feel better for it."

"Mmhmm," Twilight mumbled quietly, glancing away. "Well then, we'll come see you in the morning, okay Pinkie?"

"Y-yeah, seeya..." Pinkie replied softly.

"Later, Pinkie," Rainbow added, lifting the cloud back into the sky, before adjusting herself, and heading off in the direction of the library. Contrary to earlier, her speed was now barely faster than a brisk trot.

The two of them flew in silence. Even if either of them had known what to say, they probably wouldn't have had the energy to do so.

Twilight leant her head against the cloud, and allowed her eyes to drift closed. She knew that this would probably be one of the few chances to rest that she'd get for a while. She couldn't fall asleep though! Had to keep thinking... everypony was counting on her... had to keep... thinking...

CRACK!

Something hard smacked her straight in the forehead. She yelled out, curling her hooves around the injury.

"Oh crap, sorry, sorry!" Rainbow Dash said frantically. Twilight blearily opened her eyelids, and saw Rainbow's face above her, staring down with profuse concern.

"Owww... what happened?"

"Sorry," Rainbow apologised again, "I accidentally bumped your head against the door frame. You okay?"

Door frame? Twilight panned her eyes away from Rainbow's face, and took in her current surroundings.

The first thing she noticed was that the two of them were currently hovering at the entryway to Twilight's bedroom. There was moonlight streaming through the window, illuminating the baby dragon already curled up in his crib. The second thing she noticed was that they were indeed hovering... her body was being cradled in Rainbow's front legs, whose wings were currently being used to support herself.

"Oh no," Twilight gasped, "I fell asleep!"

"Yeah," Rainbow nodded. "You looked so peaceful that I didn't wanna wake you. Guess that didn't uh, turn out so well though... Sorry again. Guess I'm more worn out than I thought."

Twilight hopped down from Rainbow's grip. "That's all right, Rainbow. In fact, if you hadn't bumped my head, I might have slept for the entire night, so I should probably be thanking you." She covered her mouth as she yawned, then started to slowly trot back down the stairs.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on a sec!" Rainbow planted herself down in front of Twilight, blocking the stairway. "You are going to sleep for the whole night. You need to rest, you look exhausted!"

"I can't, Rainbow. Every second I waste could be a second too late for somepony. I have to figure this out." Her horn sparkled, and she zapped herself down into the main portion of the library.

Rainbow quickly rejoined her. "But you've been working yourself to the bone since yesterday! If there's an easy solution, you'd have found it by now!"

"Exactly why I need to work harder. The solution isn't going to just come to me on its own." She started pulling books from the shelves, piling them up haphazardly.

"But Twilight," Rainbow persisted, "if you're so tired you can barely think, you're never going to get anywhere!"

"I'm fine, Rainbow!" Twilight snapped. "The only thing interrupting my thoughts at the moment is your incessant nagging!"

Rainbow flinched. "...S-sorry... I was just worried about you..."

Twilight sighed. "Look, I'm fine, really. Why don't you just head on home for tonight?"

"H-home?" Rainbow froze up suddenly. "Can't I crash here? I mean," she laughed nervously, "what if you have a break-in? You'll uh, need me here to protect you, right? Safety in numbers, and all that..."

"I'm sorry Rainbow, but I really need to concentrate." Seemingly satisfied with the books she had collected, Twilight picked up one from the top, and started to leaf through it.

"...Please."

Whether she didn't hear her or just chose to ignore her, Twilight continued to flick through the textbook.

"Please!"

Twilight turned towards Rainbow in irritation. "Oh, what is it Rainb-" Cut short, her tone changed immediately once she saw the state her friend was in. "Rainbow?"

Rainbow was shaking uncontrollably, a small trickle of tears streaming down her face. "Please..." she whispered again. "Please, don't make me leave... I'll be quiet, I promise. I just... I don't wanna be alone... I... I..." She trailed off, pausing for a moment, as if she were fighting a battle in her mind regarding what she was about to say.

"I'm scared..."

Thunk.

The book in Twilight's spell clattered to the ground, as in a flash she crossed the room, wrapping her arms around Rainbow and pulling her in tight.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry, Rainbow. I didn't mean to shut you out like that..."

After a moment, Rainbow returned the hug, awkwardly at first, but then tightening her embrace to match Twilight's. "It's 'kay..." she sniffed.

"No, it's not," Twilight said. "Everypony might be counting on me to fix this big problem, but that doesn't mean I should stop paying attention to my friends' own smaller problems." She gave a small half-laugh, releasing Rainbow from her embrace. "Although this is a new one. I always thought you were completely fearless."

Rainbow chuckled too, brushing away a few of her tears. "Well duh, I'm fine when I'm awake. It's being vulnerable while I'm asleep that gives me the creeps. A guy could just come... and cum... without me even realising it." She swallowed, and looked Twilight in the eye. "So please, just until this whole thing's over... could I stay with you?"

Twilight smiled, and gave her another hug. "Of course you can, Rainbow."

"Phew, great! I promise I won't get in your way. We can stay up as late as you... Twilight?"

There was no response for a moment, but Rainbow felt Twilight lean her head against her soft feathered wings, followed by a distinct "zzzzzz..."

Rainbow chuckled. Looks like she had been right after all. But now, what should she do? Twilight might be mad if she let her sleep. But on the other hoof, she really needed this. She was clearly pushing herself way too hard. Yeah, better to let her sleep for now, have her at her full potential by tomorrow.

That did of course lead to another question, that being what she should do with the sleeping Twilight. Last time she'd tried to carry her hadn't gone so well, and she didn't want to risk it again. In fact, even moving her at all might cost her her last chance at sleep for the night.

Sighing, she lay down on the floor, keeping Twilight's head resting against her back. With her wing, she gently guided Twilight down with her, until they were both in a comfortable-ish position, Rainbow's wing acting as a blanket for Twilight, while her body served as the pillow.

It was rather intimate, but given the circumstances, she was too worn out to consider whether this counted as copping a feel, and she doubted Twilight would even think about it that way when she woke up. Still, Twilight's warm breath on her neck was rather soothing, and as she rested her head on her hooves, she felt herself drifting off as well.

Knock, knock.