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              A Little Pain Never Hurt Anyone              
                       -by Damaged-                        
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     And the World Outside Gets a Little Bit Stranger      
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And the World Outside Gets a Little Bit Stranger
It was both comfortable and not. A duality Twilight Sparkle was finding more and more in her life. The feel of polished wood on her naked flesh was something she'd started to get used to. The way it warmed as the contact persisted and even the way her own flesh strained against it making the timber an old and welcome friend.
Unlike another Timber—that hadn't worked out well.
The wood was her friend. It held her up and, with the slight angle it was on, let her lean against it for support. She was spread out on it, arms and legs out to the sides and wrapped in padded leather that kept her from falling—kept her from struggling too much, too.
All that let Twilight know that there was someone else present was the hand between her legs. The fingers of that purple hand—almost exactly the same colored skin as her own—had curled around and teased at her vulva. She had waxed in preparation, as she always did, so that those delicate fingers could toy with her unhindered.
But as Twilight's pleasure rose, she knew what was coming. The fingers were teasing and guiding, finding all the parts their owner knew would rev Twilight's engine. She knew better than to bite her lip and instead closed her eyes as the inevitable orgasm that was almost upon her was stalled by the hand's removal.
It was coming again. This is why Twilight didn't put anything between her teeth. Sharp hearing could hear bound leather give a trademark squeak and, at last, Twilight felt nine perfectly knotted and oiled strands of leather connect just below her shoulders and begin their journey down her back.
Her resolve shattered. Twilight screamed in joy and pain as pleasure swirled in a masochistic emulsion with the agony of a cat-o-nine drawing lines down her back. Between her legs, her body clenched and squeezed on emptiness while her voice echoed around the basement.
So lost in the pleasure/pain combination was Twilight that she barely felt those devilish fingers smearing a cool gel onto the marks on her back—though before the numbing antiseptic could do its work, it stung her into a second mind-collapsing orgasm that had Twilight slump further into the grip of the cross and straps.
"Are you okay?"
In the afterglow, with the endorphins and dopamine swirling in her head, Twilight managed a small nod.
"Do you want to get down now?"
Another nod.
Strong arms caught Twilight as she was released from the bindings. They held her carefully and lifted her at shoulders and rump and she was carried to the bed. The pain eased at the same rate as her tolerance of it did, the cream working to make the situation far more enjoyable. Reaching out to her lover, Twilight wrapped arms and legs around Aria and pulled them tight together.
The feel of the bed under her was almost as familiar as Aria's body. Soft and cushioning, the covers were an almost sheer weave of artificial fibers designed for easy cleanup. Cleanup from lube, from the antiseptic cream, from the various secretions of saliva and vaginal fluid—and sometimes even blood.
"You're amazing," Aria Blaze said. "I never knew how much I needed this until you told me I could do it."
Nuzzling and nibbling at Aria's neck, Twilight snorted a giggle. "Well, I think we both discovered just as much about ourselves as we did about each other, right?" Twilight traced one hand down Aria's arm, feeling the muscles that were hidden by soft curves and eventually linked her fingers—palm-to-palm—with Aria's.
"You want a little more?" Aria asked. "Less pain, more pleasure?"
Pushing her chest against Aria's, Twilight tried to make as much contact with the siren as she could. "Less, or none?" She could feel Aria's nipples harden against her touch, though her own were already bullets.
"I meant what I said."
The linguistic certainty tickled at Twilight's nerdish sense of humor. She'd understood and used language for most of her twenty years, but Aria was far, far older. "I want to feel your fury at the world. Hurt me a little, but love me a lot."
Her own words surprised Twilight. Being with Aria had inspired her to accept that she enjoyed being hurt while pleasured. In return, she'd watched Aria become more and more adventurous with ways to give just the right amount of pain to push Twilight's masochistic buttons without going too far. Twilight knew that Aria liked to hurt those she loved, and it drove her wild that Aria had found the perfect expression of that in their bedroom.
"You'll have to let go. You know I can't break your grip." Aria had tilted her head so her own teeth brushed along Twilight's jaw and down, pressing against Twilight's soft throat just above the collar that was locked in place.
Shuddering at the threat, Twilight let go of Aria and rolled aside and to her back. She felt cold on the bed, naked now for not having her close. Looking up, she watched Aria climb off the bed and strut across the room to the cupboard and open it.
Twilight squirmed from side to side. She knew what Aria liked, and already anticipated what toy her lover would be wearing when she came back. Still, Twilight wanted a surprise and closed her eyes.
In the dark of her mind, Twilight's imagination ran wild. Had Aria found a magic device that let her grow a penis? Had she purchased something new to use? In the depths of the night, had her lover browsed the naughty websites Twilight window-shopped and ordered something truly naughty—like an equine cock toy?
"On your belly and get that ass up for me."
The hunger and desire—along with the forceful command—in Aria's voice made Twilight's legs even weak all over again. As she rolled over again, keeping her eyes closed, she could feel another weight settling on the bed. "Don't hold back."
Aria's burst of laughter, pure and full of sincerity, echoed around the room and came at Twilight from every direction at once. She felt the slide of the sheets under her, the way they tugged at her breasts as she got onto her belly, and then they helped keep her from slipping as she brought her knees up and under her.
A hand brushed at Twilight's rear. She let out a soft mewl into the bed as it stroked and patted her rump. The hand moved, slipped down her thigh and along the curve of her ass—then it found the cleft between her legs.
At the touch, Twilight shifted her legs and widened her stance a bit—and she was rewarded by Aria's fingers tracing her slit. It was harder now to keep her eyes closed, so she instead pressed her face into the soft covers and let them blind her.
More movement on the bed, then Aria's other hand on her rear, then the small of her back, then sliding down Twilight's body. It was the pain her lover had promised. The lines on her back now throbbed along with her vagina, the mixed signals coming together in her mind.
"I don't intend to."
Aria's fingers left Twilight, then returned at her asshole. She knew what Aria would do—what Aria loved to do. Relaxing as best she could, Twilight felt slick fingers work at her anal ring and then deeper, pressing into her and rubbing—always rubbing.
Turning her head to the side, Twilight let the sheets caress her cheek as she closed her eyes once more. When Aria's touch left her rear, she knew full well what was coming. Anticipation almost ate away at Twilight's mind until she felt the kiss of the toy's tip against her anus. It wasn't any toy they had—it was something new.
"You look up some weird shit, Twilight."
Before Aria was even done saying Twilight's name, she pushed forward and started to sink the toy in her. Twilight's eyes bulged open and her mouth stretched wide in an almost silent whine. In her head she could see the toy and knew exactly what Aria had gotten. It was the horsecock. The flare was a single thick hammer pushing into her, but it was the overall diameter that had Twilight squirming and twitching.
Leaning forward meant Aria put even more force on Twilight's shoulders. The position pinning her and giving her no way to get away from the shaft her lover was impaling her on. There'd been several sizes, Twilight remembered, and she was sure this was the biggest.
But then Aria stopped. Twilight felt the first tug before Aria's hips dragged what felt like a mile and a half of the toy from her insides—only to shove forward. Yowling like a cat in heat, Twilight felt Aria repeat the action again and again, driving the toy ever deeper until finally Aria's groin pressed flush to Twilight's rear.
It was sore. Not painful, but just stretching and bulging and making it awkward for Twilight to focus on anything but that huge shape inside her. She wanted more than just that, though. "You promised me pain."
There was a pact between them. It was a series of deals about what each considered their limit. Twilight had offered her back to Aria. No marks anywhere but her back, but now Twilight would have given Aria anything she wanted.
Instead of clawing, biting, or even soft-tissue-pressure, Twilight instead felt Aria pull her hips back and shove in again. The pressure inside her rose to a new level, and Twilight wasn't given any time to get used to it or recover before Aria repeated the action.
Now it hurt. Twilight's sphincter was stretched to its limit and she could feel the huge shape pushing around inside her. It was everything she'd hoped it would be and more. "Is—is that all you've got?"
Twilight could feel Aria's fury build with each pile-driving thrust. Her body was on fire with the sensation of being reamed out on the horsedildo, and while the stretching pain was wonderful, she was slowly getting used to it.
As if on cue, Aria pounded Twilight's rear as hard as she could and held there. Panting a little at the sudden halt, Aria let out a laugh. "If I keep going, you'll stop feeling sore and uncomfortable. This will all turn to pleasure and that will not do."
Feeling Aria doing something with the strap-on, Twilight desperately wanted more—more of everything, but mostly she wanted her lover to keep thrusting. The first she realized she wasn't going to get that was when Aria shifted behind her and reversed the straps of the toy to fasten first one and then the other around Twilight's thighs.
"There we go. No more humping, I wanna eat you out now—and if you're a good girl, you can return the favor."
Just the motion of Aria on the bed made the huge shape inside Twilight wiggle and move. It was maddening, and it put more pressure on her abused asshole. The real kicker came when Aria shoved her sideways on the bed and onto her back. Staring up into Aria's grinning face, Twilight watched her lover move and turn, swinging her body around and working her face down to Twilight's crotch.
The threat of not letting Twilight reciprocate had been hollow, Twilight realized. She reached up and grabbed Aria's rear and pulled it down, her own mouth pressing to Aria's just as Aria found hers.
Twilight tried to relax her hips and let Aria work, but each muscle twitch or movement made the toy inside her shift. She was quickly losing herself to mix of pleasure and pain, even though the latter was more discomfort and stretching.
She couldn't do it. The expert attention of Aria caused Twilight to squirm too much and she was quick to lose her mind and loose an orgasm to the attention. When Aria seemed unlikely to stop, Twilight pushed past the pleasure and pain and sharpened her mind to a razor's edge.
Picking Aria up with her magic, Twilight turned her in midair and brought her lover down beside her. "Derivative—you damn crazy sadist."
Cozying up in Twilight's arms, Aria didn't say a single thing. Twilight had said her safe word, and that meant it was all up to Twilight to navigate a way out of the headtrip they'd been exploring.
"I just want to cuddle. I'm okay, but I've had enough for the weekend." Even the pressure in Twilight's rear was no match for the lethargy that was crashing down and crushing her ability to resist sleep. "Let me just—"
There was only fullness and cuddles. Twilight was fine with both, but then something else intruded. The walls of her home's basement were well-soundproofed, but the floor that led to the building above was less so, and she faintly heard a repeated buzzing sound.
At first it seemed unimportant, then her brain reminded her that the long weekend had been three days, and she'd spent all three with Aria enjoying themselves. "It's Monday."
The words barely had any effect at first, so Twilight said them again—with more urgency. "It's Monday!"
"What?"
"I have to get ready for school! I'll be late to my first class!" Twilight tried to pull away from Aria, but her lover was stuck to her like a limpet. "Aria, I need to go. I'll be late!"
"Gimme a kiss."
Aria's voice stroked through Twilight's thoughts like a thorn bush against a woolen jumper—gathering all kinds of lewd bits of thread along the way. When Twilight leaned down to kiss Aria, she was brought up short by another request.
"Your other lips."
For this Twilight had to move much more and doing so reminded her of Aria's gift still lodged in her ass. The renewed discomfort only served to make Twilight horny again, but she loved it when Aria got bossy. Kneeling before her lover, Twilight thrust her pelvis forward a little and let out a soft groan when Aria just kissed her vertical lips.
"You might want a shower. Careful of your back."
Genuine concern. It still struck Twilight hard when she heard Aria's softer side. Slipping back a little, she leaned down and kissed her cheek. "I will. Thank you for that."
"I've had a lot of practice with a flogger. I—"
Watching as Aria seemed to bite back further words, Twilight smiled as her lover closed her eyes. "I know. You aren't that person anymore. You are better than that now." Twilight kissed her cheek one more time and then remembered why she was in a rush.
Aria's sigh almost made Twilight surrender her day to being with her girlfriend. It had been an even mix of melancholy and contentment. "You make this hard, you know." Turning, Twilight started walking upstairs to the bathroom and was reminded with every step she had something big in her ass.
Waiting until she was in the shower and had the water flowing, Twilight finally reached down to the clasps on her thighs and undid one and then the other. The toy didn't just pop out, of course. Twilight was sure there was at least ten feet of it inside her, even if she knew the maximum size they came in.
Crouching in the shower, Twilight closed her eyes and tried to remain as relaxed as she could while she started easing the toy out. The issues were twofold—the flare and the medial ring. Both massaged Twilight's colon as she slowly drew the toy out. Inch after inch came free, and she cried out in glorious bliss several times when one or the other tickled somewhere extremely sensitive.
Finally, at last, Twilight was down to just the flare inside her. The problem was it was now acting more like an anal plug than a regular dildo. Her muscles were tense from minutes of having a fake cock pulled from them and seemed reluctant to give up on their prize forever.
Rolling forward onto her toes, Twilight hooked the base of the strap-on between her heels and then stood up. Masochism had definitely helped her become a rip-the-bandaid-off kind of girl.
A hollow feeling—pure emptiness—was her punishment for surrendering the toy. She stood up and tried to encourage her back passage to return to its normal state, and over the course of a few minutes was successful—though the emptiness remained.
Ignoring the toy on the floor of the shower, Twilight rinsed, washed, rinsed, and conditioned her hair. She washed herself—being careful of her still-tender back—and thoroughly worked the smell of sex off herself and got clean.
At last feeling in a position of stability, Twilight looked down at the toy and almost choked. It wasn't ten feet long, of course, but as Twilight reached down and picked up the horsecock look-alike, she judged it was probably twelve. Twelve inches. Twilight mused on how she'd heard porn stars were around that size while she felt the texture of it and climbed out of the shower.
In the next room she could hear Aria. Sounds of normal, human morning activities were in evidence. Aria had gotten something from the fridge and Twilight could hear the blender spin for a few moments before ceasing again.
"You really got this from that site?" Twilight asked down the hallway.
Aria's laughter ticked at Twilight's ears. When they'd first met, Aria hadn't laughed at all. She'd been all business and defensive all the time. Friendship, Twilight knew, was a powerful weapon against loneliness.
"I opened your browser history and didn't even need to go hunting. You'd viewed that page a dozen times in the last month. Of course I got it from there and of course you know that—and fucking loved it."
Drying herself, Twilight thought on the words. She walked down the hall with only her towel around her waist and into the kitchen. There was already a drink sitting on the counter for her. Picking it up, she made an appreciative noise as the smell of fruit and milk hit her nose.
When Twilight looked over the glass at Aria—who by now was wearing a bra and a sarong of white fabric—she was getting a lusty and evaluating look back.
"Have you thought more on cervical impact? Penetration?"
Yup, that was a moment Twilight almost lost all the smoothie in her mouth out her nose. She gulped down the drink and thought about the topic. "It would hurt?"
"Yeah. You'd need to keep your safe word handy. Wanna try it? That toy would do the job."
Excitement. Aria's voice was laden with it and it inspired excitement in Twilight, too. The edge of arousal she'd had when removing the toy was back. "Next Saturday. I want a day to recover if I'm too sore to get up."
As Aria rapidly approached her, Twilight stood her ground and accepted the tight hug—then she returned it. Aria rest her head, sideways, against Twilight's shoulder and they could both feel the other breathing—living.
"Yes? Just like that? You trust me more than I trust myself, Twilight. I promise, if you're that sore, I will be your personal maid on Sunday. I might even get a maid dress."
The hellion in Twilight's embrace had reminded Twilight why this had all been worth it. The days she'd put up with Aria's abusive snarls and angry shouting. Just being there for her and giving Aria an outlet for her needs had transformed her into this. "I'd love to see you in one, even if you weren't being naughty in it."
Twilight caught Aria's smile. It was delicate and fleeting, but she'd been seeing it so much more of late that it made her tingle all over just to catch a glimpse.
"Sounds like a deal. You still in a rush?"
It was a gentle reminder to Twilight that she should be panicking. Tipping the glass back and draining its contents, she rushed to their bedroom and, using her magic, got dressed as quickly as possible. Makeup would have to wait, she decided, but slipped a few things into her handbag for later.
Rushing back through the kitchen, she made her way to Aria and steadfastly kissed her on the lips—feeling Aria smile against her—and rushed to the door that led to the garage. "Love you." She paused just long enough for Aria's reply.
"Love you too."
It sounded sincere to Twilight, and made her practically strut to her car. The fact her ass was still sore was also a factor in her strutting.
Pulling up at Canterlot U, Twilight grabbed her handbag, her notebook, and jumped out of her car with only a handful of minutes to go until her lecture was due to start. The click-clack of her heels in the quiet hallway seemed unusually loud until she heard a familiar bark of laughter behind her.
"Nice collar, Twi."
Rainbow Dash was, like Twilight, almost late for their lecture. At least Twilight hoped she was still just almost late. Rainbow was focusing on an engineering major, so they shared a lot of similar mathematics classes—like the one they were now probably not too late for.
What shocked Twilight, however, was that she was apparently still wearing the collar. Her hand rushed up to her throat and she felt the studded leather there. She'd never worn it in public—hadn't even told her friends about Aria—but the problem now was it was locked. There was only two keys for her collar—one was in her basement and the other was in a key-safe in the yard.
Twilight needed to respond, needed to make it as casual as she could, and needed to act cool. "Thanks. I love the way it makes me feel sexy." She paused. If Twilight was at all ponied up right then, she would have tucked her ears back at all the laughs her words had earned from Rainbow.
"Hey, don't let anyone stop ya. We should probably go in."
The lecture had been interesting. Twilight had five pages of notes from it and a head full of imaginary number theory that made her smile. All through the presentation she'd noticed Rainbow tapping on her phone, which some might find rude, but Twilight knew her friend could alternate her attention very quickly.
Speaking of quickly, Twilight thought as she got up and made her way not for the main exit at the front, but the one further to the rear of the lecture hall. She slipped out on her own and rushed to the nearest bathroom.
For a few moments she waited, ears perked to listen for approaching footsteps. When none came, she breathed a sigh of relief and set her handbag on the bench. The long mirror didn't lie—Twilight looked up and saw that she still had that beautiful—to her—collar locked in place around her neck.
Touching the square studs, she felt a calmness pour out from her neck. The gift from Aria, that she only let Aria unlock, centered her and helped her relax after the rush to get to her first lecture. It relaxed her even more—and inspired her.
Without her eyes leaving the mirror's reflection of her throat, Twilight reached a hand into her bag and drew out not the normal, barely noticeable makeup she typically wore at school. Twilight brought the black eyeliner out, unscrewed the brush, and started going to work on her eyes.
Done with that, she got out her deep purple mascara and set to work on her lashes. By the time Twilight was done with her eyes, she looked just like she would have when she went out to parties with Aria. It was the look she'd come to adore when she hung off Aria's arm. It was the look that typified her love for Aria and Aria's for her.
The eyes looking back at her in the mirror made Twilight feel sexy.
There was one more thing she always wore when she was out with Aria and that was the lipstick. The eyeliner, mascara, and lipstick were a set. Dark and Dangerous, it was called. When Twilight put them on she felt the opposite. She felt hungry to be in danger.
Puckering her lips, Twilight closed her eyes and stroked the lipstick one way and then the other before rolling her lips together to get the coat of black even.
"This is a side of you I don't think I've ever seen before, Twilight."
She'd been so focused on her makeup and how it made her feel that Twilight had completely missed Sunset Shimmer entering the bathroom. Her heart raced and she tried to go back over what she'd been doing to figure out how long Sunset had been there. But, unlike normal, Twilight didn't panic. The makeup and the collar combined to give her the confidence to just keep being herself. "I've been trying a few things. What do you think?"
"Well, if I had to say anything, I think it would be that you did a great job of putting that on. A practiced job."
"No other comments?" Twilight turned and looked at Sunset. They were best friends—absolute best—and had pulled each other through some dark times, but Twilight was unsure what Sunset would say about her other side.
Aware of Sunset's eyes flicking over her face and then down to her collar, Twilight realized how little Sunset's look changed. She had a new jacket, new dress, new shirt—but it was a similar pattern to how she'd always dressed. Then Sunset took a step toward her.
"It highlights your eyes and makes your skin seem brighter. I know Rarity would say a hundred more things about it, but that's all I can come up with."
Twilight was also cognizant of Sunset being within arm's reach. She sighed. "Don't, Sunset."
"Don't what?"
It was happening in slow motion. Sunset's arm was raising, hand reaching toward Twilight's arm. It was inevitable that Sunset would touch her. Twilight could fight with her magic, but Sunset had her own tricks now—and she was far more experienced. "I warned—"
Contact was made.
All of Twilight's weight was on her shoulders. Aria held her legs in the air, each knee over a shoulder, and held Twilight in place with one arm pressing down on Twilight's belly. The pressure kept her legs hooked in place and her shoulders planted.
Twilight looked up her body—past her breasts, tummy, and pubic mound. Aria had a beatific grin on her face as she brought the candle down again and tipped it ever so slightly.
Her scream as the burning wax dribbled into every crevice and crease of her vulva died on the sound-deadening of the basement walls. Agony, fire, pain—it was too much and it was—
"Twilight! Snap out of it!"
Eyes closed, Twilight barely heard Sunset's shout. Her toes were curling in her pumps and she had clenched her hands so much that her nails were forming sharp lines in the palms of her hand. It had been two weeks ago that Aria had brought home the candles and played Twilight's pleasure/pain dials like an expert musician. She didn't notice what Sunset was saying or doing until Sunset's hand connected with her cheek.
The impact didn't just rock Twilight out of her fantasy, it felt nice. But this wasn't Aria and she didn't feel anything romantically for Sunset. Stepping back and using her magic to hold Sunset's hand from its second strike, Twilight glared at her friend. "I told you not to."
"That was Aria Blaze! One of the sirens! What has she done to you, Twilight? Is she controlling you and—and hurting you?"
"Sunset—" Twilight released her magical grip on Sunset's hand.
"No, Twilight! This is wrong! She's—"
Twilight had had enough. Sunset was her friend, but Aria was her girlfriend. "She's my girlfriend. We've been dating for nearly two years now."
"But she hurt you!"
A weariness was settling in. Sunset wasn't listening to her and Twilight feared she wouldn't ever listen to her—unless she revealed all of herself. "You saw—you saw what I asked her to do."
"But—"
"Sunset! Listen to what I'm telling you. Aria Blaze was doing that because I like that. Can't you understand? I—I enjoy it." It took way too much out of Twilight to say that. Her pleasure had been a guilty one for so long and to have it just spill out and into the open felt strange beyond belief. "Is that what you wanted to hear? What you wanted to see when you looked in my head—me having sex?"
Twilight felt relief that Sunset took a step back from her. She felt she could breathe again and think again. "Look, I didn't expect all this—I had meant to tell you but—Aria's not the same as when you knew her."
This time Twilight heard the door open. She also saw it was Aria stepping inside. It felt like the tension in the room—already high—skyrocketed. Twilight's blood ran a little cold at seeing Aria's face harden and her whole body seem to go stiff and wooden.
Sunset, Twilight could see, had caught a glimpse of Aria in one of the mirrors. Turning, Sunset faced off with the siren Twilight had come to love.
"You!" Sunset said.
"Sunset!" Twilight stepped to the side and tried to get around her friend, but Sunset shifted to the side to block her. "You don't have to protect me. Not from Aria." This time, when Twilight started to move around Sunset, she used her magic to hold Sunset in place.
Walking up to her love, Twilight held out her arms and hugged Aria to her—but it took several seconds for Aria to hug back. "She found out. I don't think she's taking it well."
"You think? It didn't click until about an hour after you left. Sorry I didn't notice right away," Aria said.
Twilight just pressed her cheek against Aria's and let out a sigh. "It's fine. I'm done hiding this side of myself. I think it's you she has a problem with now."
"I can't exactly blame her. I was an evil monster back then. It's been what, four years? I'd still think I was evil."
"Exactly. I don't trust you. Not with my friend," Sunset said.
She was caught, Twilight realized. Here, in her college's bathroom, she was trapped between her best friend and her lover. "Don't make me choose." She could feel Aria and Sunset's attention on her. "Sunset, I love Aria. Aria, Sunset's my best friend—when she isn't trying to do what's best for me without asking."
The silence was palpable. Twilight felt at the point where she might just try the teleportation spell she'd been working on when the sensation of Aria taking a deep breath gave her some hope.
"I don't know what Twilight's told you, but I'd never do a single thing she didn't want me to. I—I love her, I love her more than all the rest of my life combined. I love her more than I hate you—a lot more."
Aria was practically hyperventilating at the end of her words. Twilight leaned her head back just a little and kissed her cheek.
"Your powers—?" Sunset asked.
"Gone. You broke my gem. We tried to keep going, but the only thing that held the Dazzlings together was their hunger," Aria said. "You freed me from that."
The last words sounded airy and light to Twilight. It was almost like Aria had revealed a secret even she didn't know.
"I never thought of it like that before. You—you freed me from being a siren."
Twilight had to fully lean back to look into Aria's eyes now. Her lover looked startled and surprised. "Bit of a revelation?"
"Y-Yeah."
But Twilight realized that Aria wasn't looking at her now, she was looking at Sunset. There was no longer any hate, just curiosity.
"Thanks, I guess," Aria said.
Looking over her shoulder, Twilight spied Sunset behind her—also looking surprised.
"I'd be a complete and utter hypocrite if I didn't accept that you could change. Before you arrived in Canterlot, I planned to raise an army of mind-controlled humans and storm Equestria by force."
Twilight snorted. "All three of us did bad things. It's not what we did that shapes us, but who we are and who we become." She noticed dark marks on Aria's cheek and a big black smear on her lips. For a moment Twilight wondered if she should tell Aria about it. Instead, she kissed her lover once more, just a quick one—and made it worse.
"Look, I think I should go and let you talk this out. Hold still and I'll unlock the collar."
Shaking her head and trying to suppress a giggle at all the black smudged lipstick on Aria, Twilight said, "You know what, I think I'm okay with letting this side of me show a little. I shouldn't have been hiding us, Aria." The surprised smile she saw on Aria's face made up for everything.
"I'm cooking dinner tonight—Actually, forget that. We're going out to dinner tonight."
Aria's eyes looked so intense and into her that Twilight shuddered before she turned and started toward the door. "Love you!" Twilight said.
"Love you too."
The door closed slowly behind Aria and Twilight was again surprised that she hadn't had any hint of Sunset having come in given it actually made a thud when it closed. Turning, she looked at her friend. "Thanks for not freaking out too much."
"Not freaking out? Twilight, I was about to fight her! When I saw what was happening, I jumped to conclusions—conclusions that I shouldn't have. Is it—No. You said this is what—this is personal. You didn't have to tell me. You could have told me to shut up and never be friends again."
Tilting her head up, Twilight found Sunset's eyes full of tears. Reaching out a hand, Twilight held it out to Sunset. Twilight remembered how much Sunset had saved her, how much she'd cared for Twilight—even in her darkest moment.
The hug, when Sunset stepped forward and took her hand, was one of relief. There was no sexual attraction here, just Twilight being deeply thankful her best friend had understood.
"I'm so sorry, Twilight."
"It's alright. You were worried about me—for me." Twilight hugged her friend, uncomfortably aware that Sunset's arms were linked around her back—her back that still had healing lines of fire from the flogger Aria had used.
"Can you just answer one thing for me?"
Letting go of the hug, Twilight turned back to the mirror and her smudged lipstick. She drew it out again and prepared to reapply it. "I'll try."
"How did she find you in here?"
Pausing, Twilight shook her head and looked back at Sunset for a moment. "She's still a siren. She still sees in the dark, prefers seafood, and has a nose sharper than any dog's." Turning back to her reflection, Twilight expertly applied fresh lipstick and looked at her appearance. "I think I need a new dress. This one doesn't match me anymore."
"Don't tell Rarity that," Sunset said. "Or, maybe you should. If you want to explore a new wardrobe, who would be better than her?"
It made enough sense to Twilight that she made a mental note to call Rarity and make a shopping date. "I could bring Aria, too."
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