The Band of Loyalty

"So, you can heal any injury, prevent them before they happen, sense ponies from half a mile away, and through walls?" asked Rainbow as she flew back toward Ponyville. "Those are some pretty handy powers to have."

"I can have more," answered King. "How would you like to be able to keep yourself active constantly? No need for sleep. Or perhaps magic like the unicorns do, despite not having a horn? Spitting acid, feeding an empire, controlling fertility, all of this and more can be yours as my influence expands."

"Those do sound really nice," smiled Rainbow. "Can you gain those from the Wonderbolts shows?"

"Of course," chuckled King. "That said, it'd be much faster if I had a den of debauchery to draw in the dregs of society."

"Please, don't. You've taken so many good ponies, I'd really rather you didn't take any more."

King scowled. "Only when it benefits you, right? You had no qualms about enslaving that Lightning Dust character. Here I am, about to give jobs to the homeless, provide healthcare to those who are ill, and surround you with nothing but happy ponies, and your response is to leave them as they are?"

"Lightning Dust was a horrible, awful pony. She deserved to be taken down a few notches, but now I'm wondering if she deserved to be brought down as low as we did. Now that I've seen it, I think we overdid it."

"If we hadn't, she'd be worse off. You talked to her after; she was jobless, homeless, and with nowhere else to go. If you wanted her to be okay, you either should have either bowed out of the race or done just as you did. Now she has a house to live in, a good chance at a respectable job, and somepony to satisfy any carnal urges she has. A few months as one of my thralls, and she'll be a functioning, well-respected member of society."

Rainbow paused for a moment. "I would rather we moved slowly. The common citizen doesn't deserve to be enthralled."

"Even if I can make them happy and healthy for the rest of their lives?"

Rainbow nodded. "They should have the right to choose."

"I suppose we'll just have to agree to disagree, then." They landed in Ponyville and walked back toward Sweet Apple Acres. "Since we have a few days before we can rejoin the Wonderbolts, I'll let you run around here in Ponyville for a few days. I'm willing to give Fluttershy back to you now, so if you feel like having sex with your friends, keep in mind that you'll be extending their timers significantly. I'm going to take a nap, so don't almost die on me, okay?"

Rainbow nodded and sat down on the hay bed. She waited a few hours to make sure King was asleep, then went into the farmhouse. "Are you still around? I need your help, King."

When no response came, Rainbow knew she was alone. She walked into the kitchen and pulled out a handful of herbs. She was hoping she remembered the ingredients and their proportions correctly; she definitely should have. It really was a simple mix. It boiled for a few minutes, then was filtered into jars. Granny Smith had no shortage of jars from making zapapple jam, apple sauce, apple butter and many other things, so filling up two dozen jars and sealing them for distribution was no trouble at all.

She stacked the jars into two palettes and carried them into town. She was on her way to have them packaged and shipped, when she ran into Spike in the street. He seemed to be really upset. Rainbow stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Everything alright, bud?"

Spike looked up at her. "Hi, Rainbow. I'm just a little upset, that's all."

"What's bugging you? Anything I can do?"

"It's Twilight and Rarity." He sat down and hunched over. "They've really changed recently. I mean, all of our friends have, and I don't know why."

Sitting down next to him, Rainbow rubbed his back. "I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with their new personalities, Spike. All I can do is promise that I'm doing everything in my power to bring them back to normal."

Spike looked up at her, his eyes wide with shock. "You know what's wrong with them!?"

Rainbow placed a finger against his lips. "I do, but it needs to stay quiet. Too much buzz, and I won't be able to do anything."

Spike, filled with newfound determination, nodded. "Okay, then. I'll keep it under my hat. But if it is a secret, as you say, shouldn't we discuss it somewhere more private?"

Spike lead Rainbow back to the castle, carrying one of her palettes for her. When they arrived, they retreated to a small room and locked the door. "So, what's in theses jars?"

Rainbow set hers on a table. "This is the first step in curing our friends. I could possibly use it now, but it would be best if we waited for the right time. I don't know if I can stop it right now, so we'll have to wait until the conditions are optimal."

Spike looked at one of the jars. "It looks like some kind of tea."

"It is some kind of tea."

"And we just have them drink it to return to normal?"

"According to Zecora, yes."

Spike nodded. "She's usually very knowledgeable about things like this. So she made this?"

"I did," admitted Rainbow. "I tried to remember her recipe from before she changed, too. I hope it works."

Spike put the jar back. "I hope it does, too. I rather liked Twilight and Rarity the way they were." He made his way to a shelf and pulled down a copy of 'Super Naturals.' "If Zecora gave you the recipe, there's a good chance it's in here. I'm not doubting your memory, but I'd like to know for sure."

The book was moved to a lectern, and Rainbow quickly rifled through it, skipping everything that was obviously not what she was looking for. Finally, she found it. "Looking at these ingredients, this is exactly what I mixed up."

Spike read the title. "'A potion to cure incubus or succubus enthrallment.' Is that what's wrong with them? They're under the control of an incubus or succubus?"

"An incubus," confirmed Rainbow. "He's here in Ponyville, and with every passing day, he's growing more and more powerful."

Spike quivered. "How do we stop him? We can't just let him take over more ponies."

"I'm working on that," said Rainbow, ripping out the page and folding it up. "First, we need to ship these somewhere that will take them three weeks to come back to Ponyville. That'll give me plenty of time to pull the Incubus away. While I'm gone, I'll have Twilight drink some of this to cure herself, and also teach her how to make more." Grabbing a pen, she wrote down instructions for Twilight in the empty area at the bottom of the page and stuffed it in with the jars. "She'll have to forgive me for tearing out this page. It's for her own good. Remind me to buy her a new copy."

"Will do." Spike wrapped up the palettes and sealed them tightly. "This is precious cargo. I'll make sure it comes back in three weeks. You can count on me, Rainbow."

Rainbow reached over and patted his shoulder. "I know I can. You weren't given the title of 'best assistant in all of Equestria' just for shits and giggles."