A Different Kind of Love: The Untold Chapters

by Loyal

Rating: mature
Tags: Original Character, Queen Chrysalis, Other, Adventure, Sex, Gore, Princess Celestia, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Human, Main 6
Length: 38145

The unsung heroes (or villains) get a chance for their stories to be heard...

The story of A Different Kind of Love takes place on many levels at the same time... Liliana, defected changeling lieutenant and all-round horndog, was only one piece in a very grandiose scheme hatched by Chrysalis, and admittedly, the princesses themselves... We follow the adventure of the changeling Lily from three new perspectives.
The Life of A Tyrant: Ajax, Lily's underling and lieutenant-in-training is probably the most fearsome and powerful changeling aside from his elder and Chrysalis herself... Ajax's influence drove Lily to make many of her decisions, and we get to witness what drove the brutal lieutenant to behave the way he did.
The Life of An Addict: Maggie, endearing, charming, and all-round kind soul, has suffered from a very dark past... Not to mention, her abusive relationship. We get to witness the fall of a star...
The Life of A Student: Twilight Sparkle, protoge' to the Princess of the Sun, wielder of the Element of Magic, is pretty helpless. Even her brother managed to find love before she did. That is, until she has a fateful meeting with everyone's favorite lusty changeling lieutenant... We get to witness the birth of true love.

I will release updates for all three individuals simultaneously, so expect triple updates from now until this untold portion of the story has run it's course.

Just because the "Sex" and "Gore" tags have been checked doesn't mean they take place simultaneously. Keep an open mind, folks.

This story is directly related to my two other stories, A Different Kind of Love and A Different Kind of Love: The Lost Chapters, If you haven't read them, I suggest you should, otherwise this would be very confusing for you, the reader.

Published 2012-09-08 14:04:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-23 17:08:14 UTC

Life of a Tyrant: I

------------ Life of a Tyrant: Ajax - Part 1 ------------

Consciousness... It came to him in a moment. Like being born. His infant mind began to process new and interesting things, all around him. They were frightening and exciting at the same time, though he could not begin to comprehend them all. He didn't know the name for them, but what he felt was... Coldness. Discomfort. Warmth.

Pain.

"Oh, you poor, poor thing..." The voice whispered through his mind, sliding through his thoughts like a snake in the grass. It was soothing... Calming...

Motherly.

"Come to your mother, little one... Come to me..." With a shudder, his eyes still closed to the bright and wonderful world around him, he groped blindly. His hands swayed through the air for a few long moments before a presence was before him. Slender arms wrapped around his muscular frame, pulled him tight against a warm and welcoming busom... Soft words of comfort whispered into his ears, coaxing him, ushering him to calm his shivering. "Shh. Shh. It's okay. Relax, you're going to be fine, now... Come, everyone... Say hello to your new brother." He felt more sets of arms wrap around him, more bodies press close. Their soft words of encouragement calmed him. The pain in his body receeded. The confusion and anxiety melted away.

"What is his name, my queen?" Another voice said. Feminine. Light. Tender. He felt soft vibrations against his cheek as the motherly woman stroked a hand back through his hair. His wide eyes fluttered open as he looked up at her. Looking up into the beautiful visage of his mother. Of his queen. Of Chrysalis.

"Ajax."

"Focus now, Ajax." Lily reprimanded him again, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Yes, yes, I understand..." He muttered. Progression had been easy. Under the firm hand of his mentor and his queen, Ajax had excelled at much everything he had done... So far. This one test, however, was tripping him up. Brow furrowed in concentration, he studied the problem.

Okay, so... If I move here, he might move there... If I move there, then he's going to move over there, and trap me here. But I could counter that by moving here, and setting myself up for... He was beginning to get angry. This was foolish! One like him should not be sitting on the other end of a table, staring down at tiny plastic pieces! Another gentle squeeze on his shoulder urged calmness. It seemed Lily was the only one who COULD calm him down.

It worked. Most of the time.

"Queen to E5." He announced, moving the chess piece accordingly. Almost immediately, his opponent spoke and moved his own piece on the other end of the board.

"Bishop to D3. Checkmate." Ajax watched the events unfold, a completely unprecedented move taking him almost entirely by surprise. He hadn't even SEEN that bishop! His mind scrambled to find a way out, a way he could block, a way he could counter and save his king. That pawn? No, it was blocking his king from a threatening rook. His queen? On the other side of an enemy pawn, and she couldn't move properly. His king couldn't move out of the bishop's line of attack without moving in the way of the rook or his opponent's queen. Lily sighed and reached over his shoulder to tip over his king, admitting his defeat.

"What..."

"You would have had him three moves ago if you hadn't moved your knight."

"But they're so useless! They can only move three spaces, and in such a wierd fashion!" Ajax argued, gesturing wildly at the table before him.

"They can attack from angles other pieces cannot. Don't underestimate the power of a knight, Ajax." Lily said quietly.

"This is useless!" Ajax moved on to another argument, sweeping his hand over the board before them. "This is complete... Bullshit! If I wanted to beat a man, I'd do it with my fists! Let's see you stop a punch with your thoughts, or a silly chess board!" He pointed angrily at the other lieutenant, an older changeling named Noth, who smiled up at him with crossed arms.

"If you hit me, Chrysalis will be angry." Ajax was lurching forward to make good his threat when the other changeling's words stopped him. "See. I just used my thoughts."

"Chrysalis wants changelings who can THINK, Ajax." Lily said from behind him. "That's why we're lieutenants, free of the influence of the Hive Mind. Chrysalis values different opinions. Different thought processes. That way she can look at problems from more than one angle. You aren't much good to her if you can't think for yourself, Ajax."

"RRGH!" Angrily, Ajax smashed a large fist into the table, sending pieces flying in all directions across the clearing. They thumped into the grass as he stalked off moodily.

"Well, that escalated quickly..." Noth said, still sitting in his chair. His words chased Ajax off into the trees, the dark shadows concealing him from the bright sunlight. The last thing he heard was Lily's sigh as he slipped off and away.

"What do they know, anyways?" Ajax grumbled, walking inbetween tall, leafy oak trees and thick grass. Drones skittered and rushed along, lowering their heads as they passed. Any who didn't move quickly enough got a swift kick to the ribs in his anger. They didn't do anything more than lift an eyebrow at the hard blow, though he cracked ribs more than once. "Stupid chess... What a silly game." He shoved one drone aside on his way to his favorite brooding place. "It's black and white! Just like the pieces! You advance across the board, kill the enemy's pieces, and take their king hostage! For what it's worth, I could have just choked Noth and dragged him before Chrysalis... Stupid fucking game." Ajax finally made it to the cliffside, feeling the wind rush over his black skin. It whistled through the holes in his arms and legs, pushed and tugged at him as he let it wash over him.

Meanwhile, Lily had to report his failure to Chrysalis.

"He doesn't understand tact, subtelty, or strategy... Ajax feels if he can't sieze it by brute force, then it isn't worth siezing in the first place." She sighed. Chrysalis tapped her chin as she thought long and hard.

"Ajax isn't without his uses, though..." She finally said after a while. Lily arched an eyebrow, interested in her queen's take on the fledgeling Lieutenant's actions. "Brute force, tempered with tact and strategy, as you put it, can be a very valuable thing to have." Chrysalis had been pacing slowly, her slender, holed legs carrying her halfway across the meadow in the span of a single sentence. Lily stayed still, watching her queen think. "I think it's time for his first assignment."

"M-my queen, are you sure?" Lily asked, surprised. "I understand he's passed every evaluation you've had for him yet, but he's still as immature and childish as I was at his age."

"At his age, you could beath Noth at chess, and proved to be a worthy adversary for even myself." Chrysalis chuckled. "But you could hardly make a dent in anything with your punches and would rather dance around your opponent than strike them down. Your mind is keen already, Liliana. But you lack something Ajax has in abundance, and that is physical strength. You are a good balance for Ajax. Indeed, you seem to be one of the only ones who can rein him in. Go to his little brooding place. Tell him I need to speak to the two of you about your first team assignment." Lily sighed. An order was an order, and Chrysalis DID have a point... She saluted and left, her diaphanous wings carrying her above the treetops and off to the cliff Ajax often sulked at...

"Hey."

"What do YOU want?" Ajax snipped, staring off into the setting sun. The trees of the Everfree Forest stretched out underneath him, giving the changeling a view of the brilliant sunset. Lily sat next to him, dangling her legs over the edge of the cliff. "Don't sit next to me, what are you d-"

"Chrysalis wants to meet with us." Ajax stuttered as Lily cut him off, her own eyes focusing on the sunset.

"Wh... What for?" Ajax asked. Lily sighed.

"She's going to be giving us an assignment... I don't know anything more than that. I've come to fetch you." Ajax scoffed and stood, brushing his rear off and giving one last, lingering look at the sunset.

"I suppose we'd best go. Doesn't pay to keep Chrysalis waiting." Lily stood as well, patting his stomach with the back of her hand.

"Glad you see I could teach you SOMEthing in the year I've known ya." She teased, fluttering her wings before taking off. Ajax grumbled and caught up with her, both of them circling the clearing with their queen once before landing smoothly.

"Good. You work quickly, Lily." Chrysalis smiled between the two of them. "How was your chess game, Ajax?"

"Horrible, my queen." Ajax grumbled, glowering.

"So I heard. Don't fret. Chess just isn't your forte. What I have for the both of you next, though... Is." Both changelings waited patiently as their queen walked back and forth a few more times. She finally stopped, smiling at the two of them. "What do you know of Naga?" She asked quietly. Lily and Ajax shared a look before shrugging.

"Never heard of them."

"Nothing, my queen."

"I figured as much." Chrysalis advanced towards the both of them, smiling as she raised a hand to lay on their shoulders. "But that will change. I want you two to fly to Trottingham and begin researching them. Rumor has it there are several important tomes on the subject. While I have a drone who can read and research the books, his power isn't enough to shift INTO the naga. Rendezvous with him, take his place and one other, and begin researching them. When you return, I expect both of you to know enough about Naga to teach myself how to become one. You leave tomorrow morning. Rest up, disguise yourself as husband and wife, and fly to Trottingham. Within a year, I expect you two to have researched the topic and to have returned here." Chrysalis recieved a nod and a salute from both of them before she leaned in to kiss their cheeks. Her thin lips ignited Ajax's flesh, made him feel alive as she turned away and resumed pacing. Together, he and Lily left.

"So..." He said softly, casting a sidelong glance at Lily. "Husband and wife?"

He saw her swallow visibly.

Two days straight as the avian flew over the Everfree forest, and they were past it, headed North-East into the chilly air of the snowy mountains. Ajax wanted to stop off in Stalliongrad, which was a day's flight out of the way, but Lily insisted there would be time enough for a warm bed and food when they arrived in Trottingham. Grudgingly, Ajax followed her command, but only because Chrysalis had warned him not to disobey Lily. They found an abandoned Chimera cave to make camp in for the night, and after diguising the entrance, were able to build a fire to keep themselves warm. Changelings were not unused to sleeping on hard ground, so they curled up for the night and started to drift off.

"You know..." Ajax muttered softly.

"Hmm?" Lily muttered, curled against his chest, her wings tucked to her back.

"We should practice."

"Practice what?" Lily asked, shifting slightly. The feel of her body against his was so... Sexy. He felt the shifted avian inside of him warm to the feel of her slender body against his. "Oh, come on, Ajax..." Lily groaned.

"What? You want it just as much as I do..." His big hand slipped around to lay flat on her stomach, a devious grin spreading across his face. She wouldn't dare deny that she didn't want it. Lily was just as much of a deviant as he was. She shivered pleasurably, though she complained that the fire wasn't warm enough. "C'mon, babe." Ajax teased, propping himself up on his elbows as Lily went to stoke the fire with a thin stick. His desire stood up obvious and big, tenting the front of the tight pants he had shifted with. When Lily turned back, he was smoothly rubbing the shaft through his pants, grinning up at her.

"Ugh. Fine." She groaned, rolling her eyes.

"There's a good girl." Ajax teased, unceremoniously pushing his pants down. The thick length popped free, bobbing lewdly back and forth for a few moments as Lily fumbled at her own pants with numb fingers. She finally stepped out of them and her panties, exposing her crotch to him.

"Ooh... Shaved..." Ajax teased, beckoning her forward. She took a few hesitant steps before Ajax grasped her hips and pulled her forward to his mouth. She gave a soft gasp as his tongue roughly started lapping at her petals, slurping and sucking firmly.

"Aah! Hey, take it e-easy!" She whimpered, pulling at his hair. Ajax countered by shifting the long strands away, his head now covered in a soft fuzz. She had no purchase, so her fingers had to push at him. He muscled his way forward, nipping and sucking her clit. "Aahn!" She cried out, her hands now shaking as they stopped pushing and started scratching. Ajax only grunted and clamped his hands harder onto her thighs, licking even harder. Finished with tasting her, he leaned back, pulling Lily down onto his lap.

"On your knees." He growled. Lily shuddered and shakily fell to her knees, her fingers digging into his broad shoulders. One hand dove inbetween them to adjust, and when Ajax felt her lips spread apart, he roughly pulled her down.

"AAHN! Ajaaaaxx!" She cried out, arcing her back.

"Like that, didja?" Ajax teased, flexing once inside of her. Her face screwed up in pleasure as he laid back. "Well, get to it." He twined his fingers behind his head, looking down to the spot where they met. "Practice." Lily knew better than to disobey him, especially when they got like this. If she didn't, he could get very... Irritiable. Slowly at first, she started moving her hips, gasping as he worked around inside of her. Finally, she got faster, moving better... While the two of them were just about as new to sex as any couple, they were quick studies... Soon enough, Lily was moving fast enough to grant them both pleasure.

"There it is..." Ajax groaned, squirming under her. "Ooh yeah..." He liked talking. It let her know how good she was doing. Lily panted atop him, her skin glistening with sweat now. Her hands rested on his broad chest as she moved faster. "There ya go, Liliana!" His hands unraveled and fell to her thighs, squeezing them with a devious grin. "Good girl. You're almost there..."

"Haahh..." She panted, her skin slippery with exertion now. Her hips were moving as fast as she could manage, bending and twisting him in all the right ways.

"Gonna cum!" He panted, squeezing her thighs. She gasped as he started to release, probably cumming herself, judging by how she shook. "Hnng!" Ajax grunted underneath her, his hips lifting to slide deeper and deeper into her as he came long and hard. "Hooohh..." With a soft moan, he finally relaxed, some of his seed spilling out onto his pulsing shaft. He pulled Lily down harder, flattening their lips with a deep, throaty groan. "That was good, babe." He groaned, feeling the blood leave his crotch. Lily, sweating and panting, could only nod in agreement. he rolled her over, onto her side, their lower halves pressed together still. Ajax fell asleep almost immediately. He held in his arms a shivering Lily, despite the post-sex warmth.

"Come ooooonn..." Ajax groaned, pressing close to Lily.

"Stop it. We're supposed to be brother and sister!" Lily pushed him away just barely, enough to slip inbetween him and book shelf.

"I'm so boored..." He complained, following after her. The Trottingham library was massive, to say the least... It 'Rivaled the great library of Canterlot itself!' Or so one of the many scribes would say... Lily and Ajax had been there two days and already the massive changeling was bored out of his mind. Lily pressed herself, tried to stick to her duties faithfully, but Ajax found it difficult to focus... Their contact, the drone Chrysalis had mentioned, had been forced to leave when questions started getting asked to him. He made the excuse of not feeling well, and put the original man back in his bed, still knocked unconscious. When he woke, he'd have a splitting headache and very little memory of the last few weeks... Meanwhile, Lily and Ajax had had to improvise. They abducted two other patrons, and were now using their nearby home for a de-facto base of operations while they studied.

"Can't we leave early today?" Ajax asked again.

"It's hardly lunchtime!" Lily whispered as loud as she dared in the hushed vault of books. Her fingers ran over the spines of the books, having finally located the section their contact had given them.

"So we call it an early day, go home to fuck, and hit it again tomorrow, refreshed and renewed. Whaddaya say?" Ajax teased, pressing close again. Lily's glare was enough to stop him, but not without a wayward grope of her breast. She swatted his hand and went back to the books.

"Look, you want to leave early, fine. Go walk around town. Get to know the people. But don't forget, you're Isiah Mildew, you live with your sister, and you're a papermaker by trade. No one will think twice of you. Or your smell." Ajax frowned and pinched her rear, rather roughly. The squeal he got in return made his smile grow even wider as he left Lily behind to her books and studies. He walked up and out of the lower recesses of the stuffy library and out onto the cold Canterlot streets.

The gentleman he had chosen was rather short with sandy-blonde hair. He and his sister had been grocery shopping the day he and Lily had nipped into town. Shifted into stray dogs, they followed the two people home, and were graciously invited in for a quick dinner.

"Oh, Isiah! Look! They're shivering with the cold."

"Everything here shivers with the cold, sister..." Isiah had said boredly, pushing open the door to their home.

"We can't just LEAVE them out here! Ooh! We should adopt them! They'll be such good pets!"

"We aren't adopting any pets, sis... We can hardly feed ourselves."

"Nonsense. At LEAST let them come in for dinner. We can't just shoo them off."

"Ugh. Fine. But only a little."

Needless to say, they were able to stay close enough to learn more and more about the brother and sister, enough to take their places. Ajax grinned in memory of thumping Isiah over the head nice and good. He and Lily gagged, bound, and secured the two before taking their place. Now, the for last five days, the visited the Library every day, as apparently Isiah and his sister, Tina did. Still. Isiah had little money, and Tina was musician. They didn't have much to feed their prisoners.

Not that it mattered. Ajax would just as soon they starve than put them back, letting them spread rumors about how two changelings tied them up in their own basement for weeks. Sighing, Ajax turned his feet towards the residential district, deciding it best to just return to their house and wait for Lily. All the while, Chrysalis' final words to him played over and again in his head. It was the morning they left. Chrysalis had pulled him away from Lily just before they took off on their mission.

"Listen closely, Ajax." Chrysalis said softly. "Lily doesn't think you're ready for this mission, that you aren't smart enough. I think you're a perfect balance to her brain. Your strength and her wit. Listen to her orders, for she does know better than you. But don't be afraid to use your strength. To train it..." Chrysalis had leaned close then, whispering into his ear. "I want you... To kill as many as you can, without Lily knowing... Train your strength. Get used to killing others, not just feeding off of them..." Chrysalis grinned as she pulled back, her smile matching Ajax's own. "Go." She said, pushing him along. "And don't tell Lily my secret orders for your mission. She would not approve." Ajax had left, a devious smile on his face, already contemplating how he could get away with killing someone and not letting Lily know...

On his way, the perfect opportunity presented itself. This poor woman was walking her dog down the street, completely oblivious to Ajax or anything else. Dipping into one home's doorway, noting the windows all had closed shades, he shifted into another dog. He padded up behind the woman and her dog, playing the part of a stray.

"Oh, hello, little guy!" She said, just as Ajax went to go familiarize himself with the other pup. They sniffed at one another, even as the woman approached to scratch him on the head. Playing the part of a dumb animal, Ajax let her scratch his head, making a show of panting happily. "You're an awfully beautiful puppy. Where are your owners? You don't have a collar... Hmm... Tell you what, you can come home with us." She smiled and patted her thigh, urging him along. Smiling and panting contentedly, Ajax went along with it, his changeling mind delighting on the love she was pouring into him. It fed him better than a steak dinner. She led him two blocks back to her home, which he was glad to see was actually a fair distance away from any others. She didn't call out when she entered, and there was only one other pair of shoes at the front door... Probably hers.

He entered warily, his head low and ears flat against his head. She noted his hesitation and patted her thigh once more. "Come on, boy!" She said happily, urging him further into her own home.

Like the dumb bitch she was.

Just as soon as she turned her back, Ajax shifted, looming tall and powerful in his natural form. Regular human, male, and just about as bulky as anything, Ajax's muscles rippled as he closed the distance between the two of them in three easy strides. She turned around to see the human-disguised changeling, and just as her mouth opened in a scream, he shut it for her. For good.

The punch landed with a sickening crunch, snapping her head to the side. Her jaw hung at an odd angle as she fell backwards, hitting her head on the counter as she went. Blood sprayed across the countertop as she hit, and began to pool under her head once she fell to the ground. But her chest was still heaving. Ajax's chest was heaving. He looked down at the limp body beneath him, thrill and excitement pounding through his veins like the adrenaline that fueled his next few actions. He lifted her up, one hand across her face, and began ruthlessly pounding her skull into the countertop. Again and again the blows fell, spreading more blood, each blow landing with a sickening, gut-churning noise. He pounded until her body was limp. Until the head in his hands was deformed and bloody.

Until he stopped laughing.

Life of an Addict: I

--------------- Life of an Addict: Maggie - Part 1 ---------------

"Maggie!" She groaned and tried to curl tighter into the threadbare sheets. "Maggie! Git yer ass up, woman!" The first kick to her side made her gasp and her eyes fly open. She rolled away instinctively across the hardwood floor, glaring up at the man who had delivered it to her. "You're gonna be late for school." He growled at her, fire in his eyes. Her own were cold as she rose up, squeezing the growing bruise in her side.

"It's five in the morning."

"And you gotta cook breakfast before you leave."

"Cook it your own damn self." Her words earned her a slap across the face. At least, they would have, if she hadn't have blocked it with a shimmering field of magic.

"Oh ho ho. So you've got some balls after all." The man with his hand encased in an aura of magic, his lips spread in a vicious grin, was her father. He was tall, muscular, and a magi just like her. A fact that was about to become painfully clear. His own hand glowed with a field just as dense as her own, the two forces nullifying one another and allowing his hand to complete the motion. Rather than dance away, as she had every day before, she took the slap and charged forth, catching the man off-guard.

"I've had..." She muttered, ignoring the stinging pain in her cheek. "Just about..." Her magical field quickly enveloped the rest of his body. "Enough of your SHIT!" Lifting him up, Maggie effortlessly threw her father against the far wall, driving the wind from his lungs. Her hands still glowed, this time with a force far more dense than he had seen from her in the past. She grabbed him by the front of his shirt, hauling him up face-to-face with herself.

"I'm eighteen now, FATHER," She spit the word like venom from her mouth after sucking on a snake bite wound. "And I don't answer to you anymore." He wheezed and fought at her hand holding him there, his field too weak to battle with Maggie anymore. "You think," She droped him unceremoniously, glaring down at him. "You can leave for four whole months, come back, and expect to just start kicking me around again? Oh, what about the SIX months you were gone before that? Or the two years that you disappeared before THAT?!" Maggie stood over her father, glaring furiously down at him.

"Get out, then." He offered weakly, still wheezing. "No daughter of mine treats me like this... Get out of my house, you filthy little cunt." He stood up, leaning heavily against the wall. The fog from her sleep gone, Maggie saw now he was drunk. Like always. At five in the morning. "And since you're eighteen, FATHER," He mocked her openly. "You can find yer own way in the world. Don' come cryin' back to me when you can't handle the real world."

"The real world's the one you've been running from for years, pop." Maggie spun around and grabbed her bag. She kept it packed for whenever he returned. It had her life in it. A portrait of her mother, all the money she had managed to set aside from working after school, supplies she couldn't keep in her locker at said school, and a change of clothes. She threaded her arms through the straps, still in her pajamas as she opened the door to the threadbear room that served as her bedroom. "Good luck with life, pops." Down the stairs, out of the front door, and into the world.

So began the tale of Maggie Yarwick.

"Listen, my dad just kicked me out, I've got nowhere to go, and I'm not asking to stay long... Just a week. Maybe. until I can find a place that I can afford." She leaned against the frame of the pay phone, having just spend the past freezing two hours huddled up in the doorway to a closed restaurant. Once she was sure her one friend, David, had woken, she used the rest of her loose change to call him. He answered, reluctantly, and was now silent on the other end of the phone.

"I'm gonna have to run it by my brother..."

"That's fine. I can wait."

"When he gets home."

"Oh... Look, I'm freezing... Can I AT LEAST come over to warm up before class?"

"Ugh, fine! Look, just... Wait, warm up? How long have you been out there?" She paused, twirling the cord around her finger a few times.

"Since five..."

"Where are you? I'm on my way to pick you up." Relief and thanks washed through her body as she visibly sagged against the side of the payphone.

"Fourteenth and Downing. I'm outside this restaurant... Uuh... The Flaming Pig. Wow. Horrible name."

"I'll be there in five, okay?"

"Thank you, D." She said quietly. "For everything." The line clicked and she hung up, grimacing when the machine didn't give her any change. Instead, she went back to the doorway, shivering despite the shelter from the slight breeze. Canterlot mornings could be a touch cold, even this early in September. Her senior year of school had just begun, and it promised to be a year to remember. Especially since-

The roar of an engine cut off her thoughts, and she looked up the road as a dusty old truck came squealing around the corner. Smoke billowed around the tires as David gunned the engine straight towards the intersection. She walked out to the curb to meet him as he came to a halt.

"Fuckin' A, Mags, get in!" He said, noting how badly she was shivering. The heater was cranked on high, and Maggie was thankful for his haste as she numbly slid into the passenger seat. "You gonna be okay?"

"Trust me. Nights at my place are worse."

"Shit..." He shifted into gear and took off once more, markedly slower this time. Maggie rubbed her hands in front of the vent for the heater, feeling her body slowly soak up the warmth once more. The old truck chugged along faithfully back towards David's apartment that he shared with his older brother. They had been friends all through high school, both of them products of a broken home. For Maggie, it was because her father was a drunk and a wanderer, never faithfully sending money and disappearing for months or even years at a time. He hadn't even really cared when his wife passed away, just disappeared again and left Maggie to fend for herself.

For David... Well, his story was a touch darker. Maggie had never heard the whole thing, and for that she was thankful. But his parents weren't in the equation, either, and his older brother held down two jobs to help make ends meet. Times for them were tough, but they made it through. If the chugging, running beast she was sitting in was any indication, then David was finally coming into his own. He had always been the sort to make things work. Maggie remembered when he had found this old thing, just begging to be dragged away. The owner was actually waiting for the trash company to come and pick it up when Maggie and David had come across him on their way home from school. Rather than lose the thing to a junkyard somewhere, David offered to take it, and using both of their magic, had wheeled the thing back to his place. That was the beginning of last summer, and now, at the end, it looked like he had the thing in running order. He and his brother had no money to spare, so he had to have recovered parts from a junkyard.

"Ever think about working at a mechanic shop or something?" She asked, bracing herself against the rusty interior as they crossed a set of train tracks.

"Heh. Maybe..."

"Well, if you could get this piece of shit working, you could fix anything." She grunted. "I thought that old thing was dead. How the hell did you get this to work?" David had been the sort of magi that could make things work. He would often fix spells, equations, or magical devices with the simplest of ease... He wasn't very original, or even that talented when it came to casting his own. But for one reason or another, he could just look at something... And point out what was wrong. Even if he couldn't fix it himself, which he usually could, he was an extrememely valuable friend to have on homework nights.

"You think so?" He asked, downshifting as they turned a corner onto his home street.

"let's put it this way, if I owned a mechanic shop, you'd be the first motherfucker I'd call. Dude, this thing wouldn't even ROLL right when we picked it up!" She glanced out the window at the smooth, if slightly bumpy, ride. A vast improvement from the loping, frame-shaking ordeal that the old truck HAD been. "Now you got it running, and you've probably got sixteen more things you can fix with some tape and a copper tube." They laughed as he pulled into the driveway of their apartment complex, just another shitty jumble of houses and rooms in the bad part of Canterlot.

"Home sweet home." He teased, locking her door after she slipped out. Maggie followed him up the stairs to a second-story apartment, the simple decorations markedly better than even her own home. Hell, it even had heat. She sighed and slumped into the couch, the morning finally catching up with her. "Hey," he said, nudging her side as he sat. "If you need to shower and change or whatever, feel free. You're still in your PJ's." So she was... The flimsy cotton material probably didn't help with the cold morning, and the idea of at least a warm shower was very enticing.

"Thanks, man..." She groaned, taking her pack with her to the bathroom.

"Just don't use all the hot water!" She waved him off before closing the door. She took a minute to look at herself in the mirror. For a girl of eighteen, Maggie really was attractive. A hard diet and harder work gave her a slender, fit frame, and her hormones at their peak meant her hips were just beginning to flare outwards, her bust was beginning to grow. She didn't seem to suffer from the same acne that other girls her age did, and her straight raven-black hair only ever needed a shower and a brush before laying flat. It might have lacked the luxurious sheen that a good conditioner could give her, but it fell long down her back, almost to her rear. Which, she noted in the mirror, was rather shapely.

David wasn't a bad guy, though... Why hadn't she had sex, like every single other girl in her class already had? In fact, David wasn't even the only one... There were three other really handsome guys she could just as easily have started a relationship with... Was she so stuck-up or bookwormish that none of the other guys would approach her? Sighing, she stripped out of her pajamas and stepped into the shower. She turned the water on just lukewarm and quickly scrubbed herself down. She learned herself the virtues of room-temparature showers done double-time. When she was finished, though, she noticed something...

"Shit, hey DAVID!" She called, standing in the middle of the bathroom, dripping. Through the thin walls came his voice.

"What?"

"There are no towels."

"Shit, HANG ON!" She could hear his footsteps in the hallway, doors opening, muttering and cursing. She opened the door and stood back with just her hand outside the small crack, waiting until she felt him push a towel into her palm.

"Thanks, man."

"No prob. Don't rub that on your snatch or anything, it's the only one we got left." She laughed and closed the door, toweling herself off as best she could without rubbing anything too offensive into the one remaining piece of laundry. The rest would have to stay wet, though admittedly, not from just the shower. Sighing softly, she pulled the change of clothes from her pack, using her old bra and panties before slipping into jeans and a tight blouse. She dried her hair last, though the long strands still clung together as she exited.

"Thank you." She said, tossing him the towel. He smiled and ruffled her hair before slipping into the bathroom himself. David was tall, dark, and handsome. If he had tried out for sports or something like that, he probably would have been the hearthrob all the hormonal girls at school wanted to date. Wide shoulders and prominent pectoral muscles, a flat stomach and a toned butt... Maggie wondered why she hadn't come on to him sooner. Her smile wasn't entirely friendly as he slipped into the bathroom, and unless she was mistaken, he shot her a sly wink before slipping in. His features were strong, ass opposed to Maggie's own, which were more sharp. Especially around the eyes. But he had a wide forehead and a moderate, pointed nose, a double chin and a strong jaw. Puberty was treating him VERY well. Slumping on the couch, Maggie's thoughts wandered to hot showers and tender lovemaking in the hour left until their first class...

"Maggie!" The piece of chalk flew right for her head, and she easily snatched it out of the air. She hadn't been expecting the second one, however... The chalk impacted her skull with the same amount of hilarity a swift kick to the nuts was... For everybody else. The class burst out in laughter as she rubbed the spot, tossing the first piece of chalk back at the teacher. "I SAID, what is the inv-"

"Fourteen, and if you mirror it, the effects are doubled against creatures at or below fourty pounds weight, like most househould dogs and woodland mammals before their first year of life." Maggie said, in a dull monotone. Magic theory was probably the most boring class. Probably because she had already read the textbook over the summer. Memorized it, even... "And for your next question, you're going to ask what the inverse of an invocation of air is on a primal point of the zenith of a seventh quarter Mire spell is. The answer is twelve-point-oh-four, and if you invert THAT point, it's seventeen-point-six-six-two, and will result in a spell failure if countered with even the simplest shields, as it is nullified by the sixteenth aperture on the basic structure. Therefore, it's best used when laid like a trap or will be activated manually." The teacher, and the entire class, were stunned. Not the first time that year, and they were only two weeks into the first semester.

"Go and see the principal." The teacher said quietly, snatching the fallen piece of chalk with a thin thread of magic. Maggie glowered at him but stood and gathered her things nevertheless. On the way out of the door, she shot a withering glare at one of the students sitting in the front row, which changed her expression rather well. Her tennis shoes squeaked a little on the waxed floors leading down the hallway from her first class, and she used the brisk walk to shake her groggy mind of sleep. Work the night before, the rude awakening, and the cold had made her a lot more tired than she should be at that moment. Still, she made good time to the principals office, and was ushered in without a second's wait.

"Have a seat, Maggie." The principal said. He was a middle-aged magi, dressed casually. His office was decorated as she supposed any school official's office should be, with college diplomas and various knick-nacks of magical purposes, she was sure. With a sigh, she took the seat, wondering if they intended them to be uncomfortable or if it was just her nerves. "It's come to my attention-"

"That I'm ahead of the curve of most of my classes." Maggie finished his sentence for him. She had a knack for doing that. The principal, most likely used to such things, just nodded and continued.

"Therefore, I'm recommending-"

"Remedial lessons, extracirricular activities, advanced courses, I've heard it all, principal." She groaned. Her head rolled about lazily as she heaved a hearty sigh.

"I'm recommending, MAGGIE." He re-asserted himself. She arched an eyebrow. She had been wrong? "That you go to this address. And get yourself lunch along the way." Completely taking her by surprise, the principal now pushed a simple slip of paper across the desk, along with a twenty dollar bill. The numbers and street name were hand-written, and the money was enough that she could have fed herself for a week on.

"Uuh..."

"I know you come from a broken home, Maggie. So if you feel like saving the money, that's fine. But I'll have you know that a magi's body can't run on magic and wishes alone. You burn carbs whenever you use your magic, and without any carbs to burn, your magic will fail you." He tapped the bill again. "Eat. Trust me on this." He smiled and sat back in his chair, tenting his fingers to hide his warm smile. Maggie was still shocked as she looked between him, the money, and the address...

"Um..."

"Consider this a direct order from your principal, under threat of disciplinary action, including but not limited to expulsion. Go, Maggie. Make sure you're there by three this afternoon." She looked up at him, his wide smile, his crossed leg one more time. Swallowing, she snatched the money and the slip of paper, stuffing both into the back pocket of her jeans before she left.

What the hell just happened? Her thoughts were racing through her mind as she left the school, practically jumping down the front steps and turning out onto the street. She thought long and hard over what the could possibly be wanting from her, why he would send her here. And more importantly, what did it have to do with her schooling? Alas, over lunch at a cheap fast food place, with sixteen dollars leftover, she couldn't think of a single reason. The person taking her order knew enough to at least point her in the right direction. Stomach full with a greasy burger and salty fries, with a caffiene-laced soda and a fair amount of water to weigh it down, Maggie left for her distination...

Which was, ironically, an open field. Standing on the sidewalk, looking at the chain-link fence with a simple board attached to it, Maggie compared the address with the one on her paper. It was a little past noon, so she was very early, but seriously... An open field? Why the hell did she have to come here? Next to the sign was the simple gate, unlocked, but latched. She picked up the latch and pushed the gate open, dipping inside and closing it again behind her. The next action made her feel very silly.

"Uuh, hello?" She called out, even though there wasn't a soul in sight across the entire field. "Great, now I'm talking to nobody..." She groaned, then cursed herself for doing it again. She walked towards the middle of the field, shuddering in a stiff breeze as it blew past her. Standing about as close as she could get to the middle, Maggie shrugged out of her pack, setting it on the grass next to her feet and turning a slow circle. Still, no one was nearby. Which made it all the more shocking when a voice rang out, clear as day, right behind her.

"My, but you're early!" Maggie whirled around, and thanks to both nerves and anxiety, her hands glowed as she summoned her best shield. Completely uneccesary, as it was, because none other than Princess Celestia stood behind her.

"Princess!" Maggie gasped, quickly dropping both her shield and her head as she bowed low.

"Oh, come on, Maggie Yarwick." The princess teased, a rather interesting display for one so strikingly beautiful. She was barefoot, with a long, flowing white skirt that hung halfway past her knees. She wore a simple white blouse, with a brown sleeveless vest over it. Her long, flowing hair moved, not in the wind, but of it's own accord as she smiled down at Maggie. She was tall. Very tall. And very large-chested, Maggie noted with a blush. In fact, she was probably the very picture of femininity. A sort of regal, beautiful grace and a womanly figure that made her such a strikingly beautiful and at the same time all-together powerful woman. Her teasing smile made it all the easier as she crossed her hands behind her back.

"H-how..."

"The principal of my own school called me this morning, you see..." Celestia said softly, standing perhaps ten feet away from Maggie. "Singing the praises of this talented young mind. A song I've heard, and a dance I've danced, mind you. But he went on to tell me how you do the most complex mathematical equations in an instant, in your head. How you can recite textbook definitions of spells, AND the unincluded application. How the raw force of your power rivals his best student. He also tells me how you sleep in class and disrespect your teachers." Maggie blushed at this, even as Celestia's expression turned from a teasing sort of fun one to something markedly more serious. "But. You are punctual, and if he spoke so highly of you, you must be talented in one form or another. So." Celestia's smile returned, though this time it seemed to be slightly more devious than anything else.

"Prepare yourself."

"What?" Maggie said quietly, not sure she heard correctly.

"I said prepare yourself."

"F-for what, Princess?" The smile widened.

"Your evaluation."

Life of a Student: I

-------------- Life of a Student: Twilight Sparkle - Part 1 --------------

"Hmm... Not good, Twilight Sparkle. Not good at all." Princess Celestia's voice was the only thing Twilight could hear, her work the only thing Twilight could feel... She pulled at the bonds again, her eyes fluttering against the blindfold. "I TOLD you," She felt the riding crop impact the taut flesh of her rear, make her jump and whimper into the ball gag. "To sit still." Despite the shaking in her legs, Twilight managed to still herself, though her abdominal muscles still flexed. Her ears were probably the only part of her senses that weren't inhibited in some way... Aside from touch, of course... THAT one was still working perfectly fine. She was blindfolded, gagged, tied, and suspended. The ties were tight, but not uncomfortably so. In fact, she felt like she could stay like this for a while...

Dare she say she wanted to stay like this for a while.

"Spread your legs wider, Twilight." Celestia's voice was firm. Rough. It may have SOUNDED uncaring, but Twilight knew from experience the princess would never push her past her boundaries. That HAD been a fun week, though... The memory made her flush. Another light tap with the riding crop, this one to her chin, brought her back to the present. She lifted her head and spread her legs at the princess' insistence, feeling drool slide down her chin. Inbetween her parted legs, her sex was on fire, eager for pleasure, dying to be touched. She knew she wasn't worthy, and she would have to beg for it.

But that was half the fun.

"Do you want the gag out, Twilight?" Celestia asked softly.

No. Please, for the love of everything under the sun, no... She nodded her head, knowing the correct answer.

"You're lying, Twilight." Celestia teased. So sue me. "You really want this to stay in, don't you?" Yes. "So you can stay the slobbering little whore you are." Truth. "Dripping all this sweet saliva onto the carpet." Not the only thing I'm dripping... Celestia's tongue dragged up her chin to the hard plastic, her sweet breath smelling like a fresh summer rain and flowers. Oooohh, that's good... I love her tongue... Twilight panted as Celestia licked her face from chin to lips, her skilled fingers working the catch on the ball gag. Once it was loosened, Twilight's teeth clenched for a moment, fighting the urge to keep it in her mouth. But a soft pull from Celestia made her spit it out, the gross strings breaking as her master tossed the gag away.

"Pwaah!" Twilight panted, her breathing ragged as she was held completely helpless against her arousal.

"Don't worry, Twilight. I'll have something to fill your mouth soon enough." Celestia said softly, caressing Twilight's cheek. Her mouth was still hanging open and drooling as Celestia pulled her hair up. Tied back in a tight ponytail, it was easy to grab and pull, so Twilight's neck craned with little effort. Celestia's sweet, wet womanhood smoothly pushed against her open mouth, the juice and saliva mixing already as Twilight hungrily began lapping at her master's sweet, sweet vagina. Just as soon as it began, it was over, the lingering taste making Twilight gasp and arc her tongue, searching blindly.

"Do you deserve to lick me, Twilight?"

"N-no, master!" She gasped eagerly.

"Then why am I letting you?"

"Because I'm a toy, master! A thing! An object!" It was like a mantra. Twilight repeated it again, increasing in volume as she sought to give her master what she desired. "A Toy, A thing! An object!"

"Very good, Twilight. And what do I do with things, hmm?"

"Whatever you want, princess!" It was a routine.

And nothing got Twilight more aroused.

"Truth, Twilight. And what do I want from my things right now?"

"P-pleasure, master! MFF!" Her mouth was invaded once again...

"So get to it..."

"I must say, Twilight..." Celestia unbound her apprentice slowly, taking care not to over-exert the strained muscles. Twilight groaned with each knot that loosed on her body, each hook or clasp that was undone. "That was rather good. You must have been feeling it..." The act was dropped. They were teacher and student again, not master and slave. Twilight was free to express her opinion.

"It's been three weeks since I've done a thing." Twilight groaned, rubbing her irritated wrists.

"And this whole changeling business just HAD to be dreadful, am I correct?" Twilight nodded quietly, lifting the blindfold off of her eyes so she could see once more. Regrettably, Celestia had dressed, wearing a simple skirt and blouse, unblemished, uncomplicated. As always. "Well, Shining Armor isn't the only one who gets to enjoy his honeymoon. I daresay I'm tempted to keep you here in Canterlot."

"R-really?" Twilight whimpered, looking up at her mentor.

"Tempted, but not convinced." Celestia said with a soft smile. She started coiling one of the ropes, tossing it in the 'to-be-cleaned' pile along with one well-used strapon. Twilight's legs still shook slightly. "You still have your studies, and you cannot do said studies without your friends." Her serene smile and wise words rubbed off on Twilight, made her smile as well as she tried to rub feeling back into her quivering thigh.

"You're right... And I can't bring Spike back just yet, either... Ooh, and Rarity told me she needs my figure for some measurements next week..." Twilight sighed. She'd have to re-arrange her schedule. "I don't know how you manage an entire kingdom sometimes... It seems I can hardly manage a simple library."

"I assure you, Twilight. I have my help. Luna returning is more of a boon to my personal schedule than I ever could have hoped. Else we wouldn't be able to have sessions like these." Celestia teased, cupping Twilight's flushing cheek again.

"She's so beautiful..." Twilight muttered. "She must-"

"Quite a bit. Maybe not as much as you and I, but she does. Though... Not, you know..." Celestia gestured around to the well-used room, veritably packed with all sorts of... Devices. "THIS."

"Any reason why? She must know about you and I..."

"Oh, she knows about us. And believe me, we tried, long ago..."

"What happened?"

"Let's just say I don't want to have another miniature Nightmare Moon episode..."

The trainride back to Ponyville was rather relaxing, Twilight had to admit. Everyone was reserved, quiet, even... Pinkie was content to explore the cars of the train, bouncing up and down the halls. Applejack and Fluttershy talked about the food from the wedding, Rainbow Dash was snoring on the next bench over, and Rarity insisted on staying with the shipment of dresses and fabric she had procured. That left Twilight to look out of the window at the rolling landscape and passing trees. Left her thoughts to wander.

How is it that Shining Armor got a bride before she did? Her goofy, awkward brother had always been a joker, a prankster, and a braggart. Happier to put worms in their hair and wipe boogers on their dresses than love a girl... Why was it Shining Armor had Cadence, and she had nobody? She heaved another sigh just as the bench opposite hers was soon occupied.

"Somethin' on your mind, sugar?" Applejack asked. Fluttershy slipped up next to her, both her friends smiling at her knowingly. Curse these friends for reading her like a book.

"Yeah, actually..." Twilight sighed, turning her gaze from the rolling landscape outside of the speeding train. "I just... I don't know, I feel lost lately. Kinda jealous, I guess you could say..."

"Wow, really, Twilight?" Fluttershy said quietly, twirling a lock of her vibrant hair around a finger. "I never thought you'd be jealous of anyone. Who is it?"

"Shining Armor..."

"Aw shucks, hon, don't worry 'bout it. There are plenty of fish out there for yeh still. Yer a pretty girl with lots to offer someone." Applejack draped her arms over the back of the bench, grinning knowingly across at Twilight. Fluttershy squirmed in her seat, glancing between the two girls sitting by her.

"I think you need to get out more..." Twilight and Applejack both stared at their friend. "What? Just because It's not for me doesn't mean others can't enjoy it... Honestly, Twilight, you probably get less sun than I do..." Fluttershy hid behind her bangs and whimpered gently, trying to escape the shocked expressions of her friends. Until Twilight started to giggle.

"Sugar?" Applejack said, concerned about Twilight. She waved them off, her laughter dying to a chuckle.

"She's right," Twilight muttered, flushed from the laughter. "I hardly ever get out... Between studying, running the library, and spending time with you girls, I hardly ever get out to meet anyone else." She finally controlled her laughter, heaving a sigh and watching the landscape roll past mile by boring mile. "Maybe it's about time I made myself available for Ponyville..."

Twilight, naturally, didn't make good on her resolution. Between modeling for Rarity's new line of changeling-inspired dresses ("The holes reveal JUST enough to make everyone wonder what's lying just beyond the edge of the fabric!") and helping Applejack catch up with the harvest, Twilight didn't have much time over the next two months to do much of anything besides work, model, read, and sleep... As luck would have it, she had a day off on the weekend. A late-night cram session had covered some easy material, and her comprehensive report was filed with two hours to spare, meaning she could re-organize the History section and push it's now-vacant time slot into the weekend... While she planned on getting dressed up and meeting Rarity for a few drinks at the local tavern, she ended up sleeping in and feeling just enough under the weather to warrant a warm night in with some extra-cirricular reading...

That particular night, she was wrapped up in a blanket, already halfway through one of Rarity's trashy romance novels. The writing was half-decent and the characters likeable enough... But Twilight couldn't get TRULY lost in the books... So she idly read on, sipping at some cheap wine, and swooning girlishly over the sappy descriptions. Spike was out doing one thing or another, so she had the house to herself. A knock came at her door, and looking at the clock, Twilight noted it was close to midnight.

"Who the hell..." A thin thread of magic opened the door, and she peered questioningly out into the night.

"Uum... Hello? Twilight?"

"Oh. Fluttershy. Come in." Twilight sighed, her nerves way too shot to be thinking properly at that moment. She rubbed her eyelids as the avian quietly slipped into the room and shut the door behind her. "What brings you around here so late?"

"Oh, uum... I was... I hope I didn't wake you...?"

"Not at all. What's up?"

"Just... I... Uum, wanted your opinion on something was all..."

"You came to me at midnight looking for advice?" Twilight asked hesitantly, returning to her warm chair. Fluttershy hesitantly took the one opposite her, wringing her hands. "I'm honored, but is it really so important that it couldn't wait until morning? Or... Tomorrow evening?" Twilight groaned, noting the time. She had to be up early to help Applejack set up a market stall...

"Uum, I'm sorry..." Fluttershy muttered, getting up. "I'll just leave, then-"

"No, no! I didn't mean it that way... I mean, I'm not asleep, so why not help? What's wrong?" Twilight fought to keep her friend there, and Fluttershy hesitantly took her seat again. "Is it something with the animals? Maybe a spell you came across? Something else?"

"It's... Uum, it's... About a guy..." Twilight felt her hopes fall. Great. So now even Fluttershy was able to net a guy before she was... She fought to let her sigh become TOO obvious as she sat back.

"Who's the lucky fellow?"

"N-no luck yet... I just... Well, I don't know how I should feel about him. I was hoping you could help..."

"Fluttershy," Twilight groaned, leaning back in her chair. "I can tell you this now, life is too short to spend shacked up somewhere with your own interests and hobbies... If you don't open yourself to something, anything, you won't ever really live..." Twilight leaned forward, tenting her fingers over her knees. "If you think it's safe, go where you can with him. You never know. You might learn something new about yourself. Or about the world." Fluttershy gnawed her lip, but ended up nodding in the end.

"Th-thank you, Twilight... If I see him again, I'll try and... O-open up..."

"Right, glad I could be of help..."

"Thank you, Twilight."

"Fluttershy?" Twilight asked softly.

"Yes?"

"Shut the door on your way out?"

Ten months after that night, Twilight lay in her bed, legs spread wide open and fingers guiding the buzzing toy ever southwards... For the umpeenth time, she was left alone to her own ministrations, no one else there to help her out... "Oh, Celestia..." She groaned, who was probably the only other person to ever give her any pleasure whatsoever. Her thoughts often wandered to her mentor's rought brand of lovemaking, and as she plunged the vibrator lower, it was the princess' hands she imagined as opposed to her own. Whimpering at the shuddering waves of pleasure that washed through her, Twilight gnawed her lip and let her other hand cup her breast.

"Aahn! Oh, Celestia, yes! Yes! Please, yes!" She shamelessly panted out to the empty room, her back arching up off the bed as she waved her hips lewdly up and down. Rotating her hard nipple in a slow circle, Twilight finally pressed the very edge of the buzzing device against her clitoris. With a gasp and a shudder, Twilight surrendered to the pleasure as it crashed through her. "OOooohh, YESSSSSSS!" Her abdominal muscles flexed as the arousal tipped over the edge and pushed her along to an orgasm the likes of which she would never forget.

At least, she wouldn't have, if her brain could comprehend it. Instead, her thoughts turned to mush, and she lay on the bed, twitching and even drooling a little. The vibrator hummed away, having dropped from her uncoordinated fingers onto the damp sheets beneath her. Lucidity returned at last, and she fished the control console from underneath a joint in the blanket. With the flick of a switch, the plastic bud stopped it's motions, became a cool lump of material pressing against her skin. Chest rising and falling a few more times, Twilight stared up at the cieling...

And let the tears flow.

"Why?" She groaned softly, lifting a hand to wipe pathetically at her face. "Why does everything I ever wanted always elude me? Why? Why, why WHY?!" The last lifted into a throat-shaking wail of misery. She was thankful for the sound-dampening barrier on her door and the balcony windows as she slowly curled up. Sniffling, she drew the blanket over her shivering form, crying herself to sleep...

The night passed smoothly, if briefly... The spell faded away after three hours, so when the knock came from the door, Twilight was roused by the noise. "Mff..." She groaned into the pillow. The knock paused for a minute or so, but came back with a vengeance. The clock on her bedside table told her it was seven in the morning... "Spike," She groaned. "What the hell is so important at 7AM on a Saturday that you have to wake me up...?"

"There's a guy downstairs... He says he's Magellan's student." Okay, Twilight was awake now. She rolled over, suddenly aware that she was still nude from last night... Clutching the blankets tight to herself, she fought to banish sleep from her brain and focus on what Spike had just said.

"He said..."

"That he's Magellan's student. I think you're gonna want to talk to him." Twilight tucked the blanket up to her chin and thought, forcing her sleep-addled brain to work.

"Okay. Give me a minute..." Spike closed the door and let Twilight finally pull the blanket away from her nude body. The sheets were raw with the musky scent of her session, and would most definitely require replacement before she slept again. Rubbing her eyes, she hastily dressed, jumping into her jeans as she left the bedroom. Down two stories, she finally saw the gentleman Spike had mentioned.

What a hunk.

She was about to greet him happily, but his eyes slowly roved over her body. Disheveled hair, skipped on wearing a bra and panties, he was probably enjoying the sight of her. Slighlty offended, Twilight started the conversation a little more aggressively than she should have. "Spike tells me you're a student of Magellan's, huh?" She asked. "Who are you?"

"My name's Tobias Woodsworth."

"Tobias. Never heard of you." This guy had to be a phony... No way he was legitimate.

"As you know, Magellan wasn't based out of Canterlot, like many famous intellectuals. I've heard of Celestia's star pupil before, but since I come from Trottingham's outskirts, I'm not surprised you haven't heard of me." Twilight just blinked.

"Not a lot of people know that much about Magellan. Since a wing of the Royal Canterlot Library is named after him, many assume he lived there. You're right, though, he hails from Trottingham. Or rather, did, until he died from cancer-"

"AIDS." Tobias corrected. "Not cancer. Among other things, Magellan was a sexual deviant and a crackhead. Brilliant, but high half the time. It was in his will that his obituary be changed, lest his reputation be ruined posthumously." Twilight blinked again.

"How do you..."

"As I told Spike there, I'm a student of Magellan's. Was. Still am. It's complicated. Look, can I see your collection or no?" He said, standing on his tiptoes to look over Twilight's head into the library. He was actually getting impatient with her! Irritiable, even! Twilight didn't know if it was the lack of good sleep or what, but she felt somewhat apologetic towards him... She mumbled as she stepped aside...

"Uuh, yeah. I guess. S-sorry, I didn't believe you when you said..." Unceremoniously, the other magi brushed past her, scoffing under his breath as he quickly began scanning the walls of her library. "Listen, I don't know who you think you are, barging into my ho-" She was cut off once more, the man quickly wheeling on her and talking very fast, very angrily, like he was upset with her.

"You really DON'T know who I am, Ms. Sparkle. But I know who you are. Twilight Sparkle, star pupil of Princess Celestia, wielder of the element of Magic, banisher of Discord, and all-around nerd! I've been hunting down some VERY specific books for well over seven years, ever since my master and teacher died, and I would VERY much appreciate your cooperation on this matter." Twilight, for the third time that morning alone, just blinked. She watched the poor guy pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh, as if he was incredibly tired... "Sorry," He muttered. "Please, just understand, I've been travelling all over Equestria for many, many years trying to finish my master's work... A small, smoky boutique in Las Pegasus pointed me here, but I couldn't travel here without going to Canterlot first, where I was frisked by security. They took almost everything I had with me. They left my cash, notebook, and bag alone, but all my other luggage and research was taken. It's all up here, And I need to get it down as soon as possible. Please, may I be allowed to peruse your books?"

His short outburst and speech were characteristic of exhaustion. Not to mention, he made a very good argument. It was convincing, to say the least. In fact, Twilight almost felt herself choke up as the poor man in front of her told her about how his research had been taken... Not unlike the Guard to sieze objects of questionable material after the changeling attack... She laid a hand on his arm, calming the man a surprising amount. "Stay as long as you need, Tobias. If you need help with ANYthing, let me know... Spike, could you please make up the guest room? Move my telescope back up to the balcony outside my room, I'm done surveying the western horizon. Thank you, buddy." Spike padded off, content to be away from the argument that was very closely avoided...

"I can pay you for the room and board..." Twilight glanced back at Tobias, who was pulling out an envelope that appeared to be stuffed with cash. Twilight waved him off, flushing just a little.

"Don't worry about it, Tobias. It's exciting having another student here. If you really want to pay me back, let me copy your research notes. I just started reading about Magellan myself, so I'm interested in his work." Tobias still fished a few bills out, waving them at her.

"I can at least pitch in for food and whatnot. But to be honest, Magellan didn't teach me in the field of his own research. I was studying genetics under him. At the time of his death, Magellan was focusing on Astrology and Astrophysicism. He kept a lot of his notes in his head, much like I have had to, so I've been studying his charts and equations. How he came up with them is almost pure speculation. I have to build into his theory backwards, almost. All the while trying to advance my own research on genetics and ancestry, it's very difficult. Honestly, after seven years, I'm maybe halfway complete." Tobias sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose once more.

"Listen, I've a knack for astrology myself. I am Celestia's student, after all... Maybe I can help out?" Twilight asked, her tone sincere.

"That," Tobias smiled. "Would be most welcome. Thank you."

"Right, then. All of my Astrology books are in this section here." Twilight led him towards a separate section of books, suddenly remembering how bad she looked in that moment... "And right now, I'm afraid you've caught me at a bad time. My hair has to be a mess. Ugh." She ran a hand through her tangled head of hair, inhaling through her teeth as she caught one particularly nasty knot. "I'll be back momentarily, alright?" Tobias just nodded and turned his attention to the books Twilight motioned for, and she padded barefoot upstairs to straighten out her hair and put some real clothes on...

Two weeks passed with Tobias, her fellow magi asking her for help here and there, but really mostly just keeping to himself. He ate little, studied late into the night (Not unlike Twilight herself) and was quiet the rest of the time. He didn't really leave much, but he never was in the way, either... This one particular night, though, he had asked Twilight to help him with some readings... They had spent some time recording the Western horizon in the guest bedroom, but it appeared as if they weren't making much progress. So they moved to the Northern-facing balcony. Right outside of Twilight's room.

She had excused herself for a moment... Just one moment, to relieve herself, and upon returning to her room, she was greeted by...

"Well," She said, swallowing. "You know what they say... To each their own?" Tobias had been sniffing around, it seemed, and had discovered her private stash... The toys were all ones she and Celestia had used over the few short years they had been that active, and each one of them bore the signs of proper use. The ball gag she took from his stunned hand had teeth marks in it. Twilight hastily dropped the gag in the box and replaced the lid, flushing as she tried to move on with the awkward moment...

"Right, uh... Shall we... Get back to the, uh, the stars?" Tobias nodded at her question, and they resumed watching the stars, almost as if nothing had ever happened.

To Twilight, that moment was terrifying. Those were the sort of things she reserved to Princess Celestia, the sort of things Twilight had planned on keeping private from... Well... EVERYONE. Now, her house guest knew, and she was flustered beyond belief... Daylight came mercifully, signalling the end to the night so the two of them could finally pack up and get some rest. Some much-needed rest...

Twilight wasn't prepared for what happened next...

Life of a Tyrant: II

------------ Life of a Tyrant: Ajax – Part 2 ------------

The thrill had been incredible. Ajax stood over her bloody, misshapen corpse, his chest heaving and his entire body stained with blood. The dog barked at him viciously, the man who had injured it’s master. Ajax turned his murderous gaze on the mutt, which was enough to stop him from making any noise. The dog whimpered and advanced close enough only to nudge his master.

His master. Ajax cursed himself for forgetting about her. She might have family. Friends. Something of the sort. Then he remembered. He was a changeling. Stepping out of the growing puddle of blood, Ajax shifted into an avian and smiled. There would be no trace evidence. Any witnesses, should there be any, would only have seen a woman walking two dogs into her house…The people who discovered her, if there would be any, would only discover a bashed-in head. It had been clean. Clean for a changeling. Ajax grinned wider, the blood gone with his quick shift. He was completely devoid of any spots, even, as he opened the back door to her home and took off from there, arcing through the sky as he returned to the home he and Lily had found.

Trottingham was a little confusing to get used to, but soon enough Ajax found the area they lived in. He spotted a familiar park, swooped in, and followed the street to their new home. Cutting through a nearby alleyway, Ajax shifted back into the man whose place he had taken, and approached his home… Once inside, he removed his jacket and boots before making it to the bathroom. Shifting into the form used for the murder, Ajax turned the water on hot and began cleaning…

The red faded from his skin and circled the drain as he cleaned himself off. He had had the presence of mind to shift without clothes before attacking. He had been nude the entire time.

And he was still aroused. Groaning, Ajax grasped his thick member, rubbing it once. Twice. No. He had to stop. There was someone else to do that for him… Grabbing the soap, he started lathering up, and took a moment to shampoo his hair, even. Feeling refreshed and renewed after such an intense experience, Ajax exited the shower and dried off before shifting into his normal form. Still aroused.

“C’mon, Lily…” He growled, still drying his hair as he exited the bathroom. He was not disappointed. He had only just started setting out what he needed for spaghetti when Lily came in the back door, brushing a fresh bit of snow from her coat. “There you are.” He groaned, grabbing her wrist.

“Ajax, I-“ He cut her off with a deep, rough kiss, pushing her back against the wall. She pushed at him, but couldn’t do anything against his insistent pushing. His tongue speared her mouth open, forced it’s way inside. She was really warm. She wanted this. Her skin was practically begging for it. Just because her fists uselessly impacted his chest didn’t mean she was fighting it…

“Come on.” He pulled his lips away and quickly swept her off her feet, hoisting her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. “Been all fuckin’ day, I need to get laid…” Lily squirmed and fought, but a rough smack to her backside dissuaded her from fighting too hard. She cried out, but was silent as soon as he dumped her onto the bed. Looking up at him with wide eyes, Lily’s arms splayed out. Look at that… Her stomach peeked out underneath the coat, the edge of her simple t-shirt… Ajax was nude, aroused, and eager for her. She looked him up and down, and in those stoic eyes, Ajax saw lust.

“Off.” He growled, his fingers pulling at the button of her jeans. It gave, thankfully enough, and he didn’t even bother with the zipper. Tugging roughly, he pulled them down her long, skinny legs, thrilling at the sight of her pale flesh. Lily didn’t do anything, just laid there. He hit a snag with her boots, which were still on, still wet…

“Off.” He repeated, pulling at her boots. Her foot twisted, and she grimaced. He didn’t undo the laces at all… She quickly scrambled to undo the knots before he broke her ankle, which he very well could have done. Soon enough, her boots were loose enough that he could take them off without hurting her, and she was left in panties, one sock, her shirt and her coat still… Not that Ajax cared. He ripped her panties off with a single yank and flopped over atop her. Her legs spread listlessly as he guided himself in, not even giving her a moment to get wet.

“Hnn…” Her thin whimper drove Ajax on. Made him smile as he started smoothly sliding in and out. He was fulfilling his desire. Hers, too… She’d never say it. She never did. But Lily loved him. He loved Lily. He knew it. She could turn him on with a look. Even as a changeling, when sex really didn’t have much to do with reproduction or anything other than fun… Even then, she could set him off like a damn rocket.

“I love you,” Ajax grunted, flattening himself out atop her. His hips crudely thrust into her, spearing her abused center again and again. She winced, but never cried out. Never gave anything more than a thin whimper of pleasure. It was pleasure. She loved this. She loved him.

And he loved her with all his heart.

His black, twisted, ugly heart.

So they continued. For one more week, Ajax would cut out of research early to explore the city, and to kill people… In one week, he had killed three more. Growing more and more bold with each one. The last one, in fact, the guard had spotted him. He had shifted into a dog, small as he could manage, and ran. Ducking through the bush, Ajax was gone before the guard could really do anything about it. Stupid avians. All they could do was circle. Ajax laid low, slunk underneath two bridges and through some brush, then into a busy street. He had blended smooth and easy, not a single person raising an eyebrow at him.

Now, he was looking at his fourth kill. The man was a little older than forty, in good shape, and was currently jogging. This was his first kill outside of the normal timezone. Promising Lily he was just picking up pizza for an extended research session, which he really did owe her, Ajax had instead taken a short flight. Now, it was seven in the morning, and this man was a mile from anywhere important. Ajax swept in.

“Guh!” The man cried out as Ajax drove both his feet into the small of his back. The man’s head made a sickening crunch as it hit the concrete foot path he had been jogging on. He didn’t move as blood began pooling around his head… Just to be sure, Ajax stomped on his neck until he heard the crunch, then took off. Fifteen seconds. That’s how long it took. That’s how easy it had been… He was thrilled at what Chrysalis would think of his assignment… He left the man’s corpse in the middle of the trail as he flew off fast and far, keeping just a foot above the treetops as he smoothly went back to the library.

“Where’s the pizza?” Lily, shifted into the twin sister to Ajax’s current disguise, her brother, was skimming over two books at the same time.

“They weren’t cooking this early. Might as well save the money.” He said, trying to hide the excitement in his voice… His heart still thundered.

“Hmm. Well, in any case, look at this.” She tapped a passage, making Ajax lean over to read it.

“Hmm… Naga have a biological defense against magical interference built into their systems… Deep within, at the core of their being, they have a miniature diagram grown into their spine…” He looked over the intricate design drawn out in a grid underneath the passage.

“Get it?” Lily asked.

“So… Because they have this symbol grown into their spines, they resist magic?”

“Exactly. The spell-form is from a nullification spell. Kind of complex, but this is it. This is major. This is the reason Chrysalis wanted us to research naga.” Lily pulled the other book over, tapping both pages at the same time. The diagram beneath the passage from the first book was replicated, larger and with more detail, on the other book.

“So… When we shift, we need to do it with this on our spine…”

“Or magic will affect us the same as anything and anyone. That, mixed with the unique blood type, made naga all but immune to the most powerful spells. We need to work on getting this right…”

“Getting WHAT right, might I ask?” The voice made them both spin around. Ajax was ready to kill. Lily’s hand stopped him. The voice of Chrysalis floated to him, reminding him to follow her orders… He growled and sized the man before them up. He was fairly thin and short, and judging by the massive stack of books he held in midair, he was a magi. The field of his magic was purple.

“Eer, this spell…” Lily said. “I… We were studying.”

“Why would my chief papermaker be studying magic? Don’t you just make paper for the library?” He asked, looking Ajax up and down. “I seem to recall you said your sister here was a musician… Why are you studying spells this far down in the archives?” Ajax’s mind scrambled. Thankfully, Lily recovered.

“Right! My brother makes paper for you. Don’t you remember his name?” She spat, acting annoyed.

“Of course I do! It’s…”

“Huh. So I guess you do care. Maybe if you cared more, you would know I was a magi. While I enjoy playing music, it’s not my calling. Ancient spells are. Which is why we’re down here. Mr. Nosy.” In a brilliant display of little-sister-etiquette, she stuck her tongue out at him. Ajax noticed the book about the naga was gone.

“What was that you were saying about naga, though?” The man asked, taking a moment to levitate the books he was carrying to another nearby table.

“Naga?” Ajax took the lead. “We weren’t saying anything about naga. We said saga.”

“Saga?” The man arched an eyebrow. “I’m pretty sure you mentioned a blood type… What importance is that to a saga?”

“Uuh, DUH!” Lily said, scoffing. “The blood type of the ancestor in the series I’m reading! We were talking about a different book.”

“First you’re researching an old spell, and now a fiction series?” He asked, getting more inquisitive. Ajax found it tough to resist killing him then and there. His fist was tightening slightly.

“No, I’M researching an old spell!” Lily sounded like she was starting to get huffy. “HE came and asked me how the series was going! THEN you butted in, being REALLY rude. What do you even want, mister?!” She advanced on him, pointing a finger. “Hmm? Do you listen to conversations people have? Huhn? Are you a gossiper?” She actually had him backing up, his hands raising defensively.

“S-sorry, milady!” He said meekly, backing away. “I run the library here. I was just curious what you two might be researching… It sounded awfully fishy to be talking about sagas and blood types down here in the old archives…” He bowed several times before seizing his books and slipping away. “I apologize. I’m sorry…” He was gone then. Ajax released a sigh of relief as he was gone, leaving them alone once more. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lily held a finger up, stopping him.

“So, as I was saying, the king wasn’t giving birth to any of the heirs… His queen was sleeping around, getting pregnant, then telling him they were his.” She rolled her eyes, flicking her ears with her fingertips. Ajax connected the two. That magi was still eavesdropping on them!

“Huhn. Sounds interesting. I might read it after all, sis. Now come on, I’m late on my shipment. Let’s get home.” Lily’s face betrayed pure, abject terror, but her voice was happy as she slid both books home. She left the spines jutting out just a little, though… When Ajax looked quizzically between her and the books, she shook her head. The next thing she said betrayed her intention exactly.

“Yeah, you’d probably like it a lot. The prince keeps wanting to take the throne, but it’s never the right time. The reader never knows WHEN it’ll be the right time… I’m hungry, what’s for breakfast?”

“You already ATE breakfast…” Ajax understood. She was telling him it’d look suspicious if they took the books now. She made it so they could find them again, if need be. When they had different disguises…

“That was TOO close, Ajax…” Lily breathed as they slipped inside their de-facto base. Ajax stripped his coat off, resumed the same brooding he had been doing the entire walk home from the library… “If he asked any more questions, we’d have been found out. We need new disguises. Dammit, why didn’t I realize it before? Chief papermaker! Fuck!” She kicked a chair, sending it clattering across the floor. Ajax was still brooding.

“We can’t let them live, though.” He said, trying to make the connection.

“So we keep them tied up. It won’t take us much longer than another week to get the pattern right. We can at least return to Chrysalis with that.” Lily was pacing in the kitchen. She did that often.

“But what about the blood type? We can’t return with just a symbol… That would be a failure. No, we need to return with everything we can possibly tell her about naga. We need to keep researching.” Ajax glowered. “We can’t keep these two alive that long, Lily.” He turned towards the door. The door into the basement. Lily was frozen.

“Ajax…” She said. Her word didn’t even stop him.

“Come on.” He said gruffly, pulling the door open. “We need to feed. We need to top off before we move on.” He shifted smoothly into the brother. The stairs creaked under the stress of his descent. Lily and Ajax had tied the brother and sister up in separate areas of the basement. There was no way they would be able to see or hear one another. Ajax pushed into the room with the younger sister. She looked up at him with a weak gaze, but upon seeing her brother, she brightened.

“Mff! Mff!” She struggled past the fabric gag in her mouth. Ajax crouched next to her and untied it, pulling the saliva-soaked fabric out. “Pwah! Brother, what’s happening?” She asked, her voice high with anticipation and fear.

“Shh. Shh.” He said softly, laying a hand on her cheek. “I just broke out, listen, I’m going to get you out of here.” The lie was painful. Painfully funny. He fought the urge to break out in laughter with each passing moment she looked up at him with big eyes. “Just… I love you, okay sis?”

“I love you too.” Ajax felt it with her words. The sensation of feeding off her emotions filled Ajax with the feeling of fulfillment, like he had just eaten a large dinner. It warmed him. He fed off of it for a few more moments before standing.

“Ajax, no!” Lily slipped through the door behind him. The feeling of love and caring was replaced with confusion and fear as the visage of herself tried to stop her brother… Swift and easy, Ajax planted the toe of his boot into her temple. “Damnit, Ajax!” Lily cursed as the poor woman’s head snapped back. Her skull was misshapen and caved in, her features distorted as the bone underneath her skin cracked and broke. She fell over, hitting the floor with a sickening thud. Ajax smiled even as Lily started beating on him with her fists.

“You idiot! Damnit, Ajax!” She cursed and screamed, even as blood began oozing out of the dead woman’s nose and mouth, pooling on the floor.

“She needed to die.” Ajax growled coldly, brushing Lily aside as he started towards the other side of the basement. He left her body behind, not even giving it a second glance. Already, killing was second nature to him. It came easy. Almost as easy as breathing. “And so does her brother.” Ajax continued, grasping Lily’s arm. He pushed her towards the door the elder brother was in, glowering at her. “Either you do it, or I will.”

“B-but…” Lily stammered. “There’s only one of them now. We can feed him. Both of us can feed OFF of him. We’ll go, find someone else, and keep coming back here to feed him-“

“Too much hassle.” Ajax cut her off, crossing his arms. “And what’s going to happen when someone comes searching for him, hmm? Certainly they have friends, somewhere… I know we haven’t met anyone in a week they know, but still. What about that man we met at the library today? What happens when he hasn’t seen his chief papermaker in a week? Then what, Lily?” He shook his head. “We need to kill him. If he lives, they’ll ask questions. Our cover will be blown.” She gnawed on her lip, debating one option or the other. Ajax saw the hesitation in her eyes. She was taking too long.

“Okay. But I’m not killing him. You are.” She said, shuddering. “You’ve already done it… With her…” She pointed with her chin back at the room they had just left. “I can’t… I won’t…”

“I haven’t shifted into his sister yet.” Ajax said with a low tone.

“Then… Fucking… Do it as yourself. Just kill him.” Lily shivered. If only she knew how many Ajax had killed already. With a sigh, Ajax dropped the guise of the elder brother and slid through the door, his taut, muscular body making the man jump.

“Who are you?! Why am I tied up?! Let me go, damn you! I said let me GACK!” His feeble words were cut off as Ajax wrapped two big, meaty hands around his throat. The whole ordeal lasted well over five minutes. Ajax wanted to be sure he was dead. The entire time, Ajax held his throat, never once letting up pressure. His hands cramped, his muscles screamed in protest, but he never let the man go. Not even once. This man needed to die, and he needed to die from asphyxiation. The man made gagging sounds, his legs thumping against the ground in a feeble attempt to get away. Ajax gripped him, kept him in place. He wasn’t going anywhere. Not until he was dead. He twitched a few times, his eyes rolling up into his head…

When all tension had left the man’s body, Ajax started working at pulling the knots on his bonds free. “What now?” Lily asked from behind him. Ajax pulled the rope free, tossing it at Lily.

“Now,” He said gruffly, “We hang him.”

“What? What for?!” Lily asked, holding the rope away from her body like it was some sort of living thing that could hurt her, like a snake.

“So it looks like he killed himself. Right after he killed his sister. Go get a chair.”

“But-“

“DO IT!” Ajax wheeled around, his face red as he screamed at her. He was still high from endorphins, from being so in control of the whole situation. Lily shut her mouth and padded up the stairs, dropping the disguise of the dead man’s sister. Ajax grunted and started dragging the man over to the other room. When he arrived, the sister was laying in a pool of blood, her body still on the floor. Looking up, Ajax spied what he was looking for. An exposed rafter. When Lily returned with the chair and the rope, Ajax got to work…

“Wait…” Lily said, watching Ajax loop the rope over the rafter several times. “Are you…”

“Yep.” Ajax started to tie a crude noose, more of just a simple knot. “Make it look like he killed his sister, then hung himself…” It was smart. It was genius. He knew, because Lily just gave a small ‘hmm’ of acknowledgement before depositing the chair on its side underneath the dead man. Ajax hung him, and they left. Lily had a frown on her face.

Ajax couldn’t stop smiling.

Life of an Addict: II

-------------- Life of an Addict: Maggie - Part 2 --------------

Maggie barely slipped to the side as another hissing ball of fiery energy zipped past, tearing up the ground behind her and plowing a rut that was easily a hundred and fifty feet long. She grunted and planted her feet, quickly changing direction as another ball zipped by.

“Good!” Celestia called, her hands pulsing as she wove another two orbs of brilliant golden energy into existence. “Use your speed to your advantage! Evade! No sense in expending your energy blocking or deflecting when you can just as easily MOVE!” She threw another ball straight at Maggie, but this time, the younger magi planted her feet and summoned a cone-like shield before her. The tip of it was sharp as a needle and pointed straight at the approaching ball. Just as it pierced the tip, the magic expanded and dissipated, fading away just as Maggie thrust the entire thing forward. Celestia grinned as she batted the feeble shield away.

The resulting explosion kicked up a cloud of dust that Maggie managed to hide herself in. Celestia, still holding one orb of hissing power, flapped her wings backwards out of the widening cloud. Maggie gave chase, her hands glowing with her own field of magic.

“Oh, hello.” Celestia said with a serene grin. She flicked the ball at Maggie, watching as the image dissipated into nothing. The true Maggie was waiting right behind her, hands shimmering with the deadly force of magic. Celestia smiled as Maggie dealt the blow that ended the evaluation.

“What-“

“Good job, Maggie. Were I anyone else, that blow would have killed me and ended this fight.” Celestia’s hands were wrapped around Maggie’s wrists. All but a whole second had passed since the explosion, but now, in the flurry of motion and magic, the two were standing in front of one another, one of them extremely confused.

“How did you-“

“Come now, Maggie.” Celestia said with a smile. “You’re powerful, but you’re not me.” Her soft smile melted away the tension in Maggie’s form, her tired, wasted body sagging visibly as she relaxed in Celestia’s presence. The entire last half hour had been spent on the run for her life, as Celestia’s idea of an ‘evaluation’ was to try everything she could reasonably do to exterminate Maggie.

“Phew.” She groaned, feeling sore and taxed muscles finally sag with relief. Her knees were shaky as she slowly sank to the ground. Celestia, in a surprising display of un-lady like conduct, sat next to her. Maggie noted that throughout the entire ordeal, the princess’ beautiful blouse and simple white skirt had remained unblemished. As opposed to Maggie, who was dirty, bruised, and unless she was mistaken, sporting a cut on her shoulder.

“You performed admirably, Maggie.” Celestia said, gesturing with a hand. The entire lot that had been fenced off was not gutted and torn in the aftermath of the heated exchange. Long, jagged gashes marred the previously-perfect surface of the cool green grass, huge chunks of earth torn up and tossed aside like nothing more than sand beneath the feet of eager children racing along the beach… Maggie collapsed backwards, her chest rising and falling with deep breaths. The entire ordeal caught up with her then, making her shake slightly…

“Just trying to stay alive…” Maggie grunted, looking up at the clear blue sky as she let her muscles recuperate from the frenzied flurry of fighting and magic.

“As I said, you did well. You played your strengths, used the terrain to your advantage when it was presented to you, and saved your strength for when it would be most advantageous for you to end the fight. Like I said, if I were anyone else, I’d have been dead. Probably a few times over...” Celestia smiled and patted Maggie’s thigh. “I see the principal was not incorrect in his assumption. You would be a fine candidate.”

“Candidate?” Maggie asked, rolling her head to the side and raising an eyebrow at Celestia. “I don’t understand… What do you mean ‘Candidate’?”

“I mean exactly what I said, Maggie. If you would choose to accept, I would make you my personal student.”

Maggie slowly sat up, her brown eyes wide. “Wait… Did you just say student?”

“Indeed I did.”

“As in… Study underneath you, learn magic from you-“

“Among other things, yes…”

“The most powerful magi, and indeed, most powerful… THING… In all of Equestria…”

“I wouldn’t take it that far-“

“But, my princess, I-“

“Please.” Celestia smiled as she raised a finger, hovering just an inch in front of Maggie’s lips. “I typically prefer my students to call me ‘Celestia.’ And don’t you fret about school anymore, either. I assure you, in my classes, there are only two grades. Pass or fail.” Celestia smiled as she leaned back on her palms, turning her serene gaze up to the heavens. Maggie tried to swallow past the lump in her throat, found she couldn’t, and passed out…

Consciousness came to her some time later, in the form of a warm bed and soft covers. An alien feel to her, she was afraid… With a soft groan, she rolled over, fighting her eyes to open. They finally did, and she was greeted with the sight of her current lodgings. The room was square and sparsely furnished. There was a bed with a warm grey comforter and white sheets, two fluffy pillows, and a bedside nightstand with a single, simple lamp. Opposite the bed was a straight, warm wooden desk, the surface laid with a cup holding four pens, a notebook, and another lamp. There were two square windows, one above the bed, and another at the edge of the desk. The windows poured warm golden light into the room, offering the only illumination in the room. Aside from all this, there were only two doors. One of which she had to guess led to a closet, and the other the exit.

Over all this, though, was the faint hum of magic… It pulsed and shifted in no specific pattern… It seemed to work into a high, thrumming fever pitch, then die down or stop almost entirely before starting, swelling, and falling once more… Now and then, it would click or make some audible ticking noise… Maggie had to investigate. No sense in staying in bed any longer… Thankful she was still clothed in the same thing she had worn, Maggie noted her jeans and the shirt had been cleaned… How? She’d rather not know… With a tired groan, she willed her sore, tight muscles to let her stand and stretch. The resulting head rush made her sway, but not fall. Probably because she had put her feet on both her shoes, resting on the floor next to the bed. She steadied herself, slipped into the tattered tennis shoes, and made for the door she guessed was the exit…

Only that one was the closet. The next one she tried was the exit, however, and it led her from the thin carpeted room onto a warm, polished hardwood floor. It stretched off and away in two directions, straight ahead and off to her right. She blinked once and tried to make sense of her bearings… The faint hum of magic came again from her right, so she followed it, still curious what exactly was happening… The floor creaked under her slight weight as she slowly made her way down the hall, her legs still aching from the intense morning of fighting… Not to mention everything else that had happened. As she walked, the intense hum of magic died down and at last faded into nothing. Maggie approached the landing for a stairwell, swallowing slightly as she looked out over the balcony railing…

“Good evening, Maggie.” Princess Celestia said, her back turned to the stairs and Maggie. She stood in the midst of what appeared to be a modest library. The walls were lined with shelves, stacked with books, scrolls and other various things. Maggie swallowed slightly and descended the staircase, trying to comprehend this new development. Wherever she was, it wasn’t her home. Then she remembered she didn’t have a home anymore. In fact, all she had was the clothes on her back and the small pack with her school supplies. Now, down a pack and supplies, Maggie was left with her name and the clothes she wore. Which, thankfully, were at least clean.

“Uuh, hi… Uuh! Your majesty!” She corrected herself as she slowly began to descend the steps. Celestia, the regal princess of Equestria, ruler of the land and all-powerful god-like being, laughed at her. It was the sort of lilting, heart-wearing laugh that even made Maggie smile, despite how her mind was reeling.

“Please, Maggie. You are more than welcome to call me Celestia. Or teacher. Or master. Or whichever you prefer. No need for pleasantries between us.” She smiled and flipped a page in the book before her, chuckling slightly.

“R-right… Uum, where are my-“

“Unless your belongings hold some sentimental value, you’re more than welcome to be rid of them.” Celestia gestured towards a corner of the library. Maggie had to lean around the corner of a shelf of books to see, but there, set in the corner was a comfortable-looking chair, and atop it was her pack.

“Th-thanks…” Maggie said, thankful her pack was untouched. Then again, there really wasn’t much of use to her in there anymore… She awkwardly approached the princess, wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans. “Uum-“

“Yes, Maggie?” I hope you’ll learn soon enough not to act so awkwardly around me. After all, we will be spending a lot of time together.” Celestia never took her attention off the book, her back perpetually turned to Maggie.

“It’s… About that…” Maggie said, perplexed how she was so calm. Then again, Celestia wasn’t the one whose life had changed so drastically in one short day. “What is to become of me?” She asked, lifting and dropping her hands in exasperation.

“A good question. Typical of one in your situation, but good.” Celestia finally turned away from the book, her face split in a serene, soft smile. “As I mentioned before, I would like to make you my student. My protégé. You’re more than welcome to decline, I suppose, but your time and efforts would not go unrewarded thus far.”

“Meaning…?”

“For besting me in the field of battle, taking valuable time out of your busy day to indulge a request of mine, and generally just being significantly talented, I’ve seen fit to reward you.” From a pocket of her white skirt, Celestia withdrew an envelope. She handed it to Maggie, who hesitantly opened it. She stopped counting when the fourth hundred dollar bill peeked out.

“This is-“

“More money than you’re used to seeing, I’m sure.” Celestia said. “And mind you, that is only for your efforts today. Accept, and I’ll see to it that you are well-funded for research and education, house and board, entertainment, clothing and food allowance, et cetera, et cetera…” She rolled her hand as she listed off each item, and Maggie’s blood pounded in her ears.

“Wh… Why?”

“Because you’re talented. So much so, in fact, that I’m wondering if you’re an average magi or something more.” Celestia shrugged, almost as if it was little consequence to herself. “Admittedly, I’ve been too wrapped up in royal affairs to worry about the education of young magi as of late, but the principal was very insistent I at least give you a look.” She smiled and crossed her arms, leaning her weight onto one leg. Her long, billowing hair covered one eye as she let her gaze roam up and down Maggie’s body. “I’m glad I did.” They stood there for a few moments before Celestia continued.

“Nevertheless… I’ve been too busy raising the moon and the sun and attending matters in court to pay any real attention to the education young magi deserve. After seeing the might and prowess of your form in battle, not to mention your application of knowledge in heated or stressful scenarios, I think it’s more than fitting to resume teaching. I see no better candidate than you, my dear.” Celestia lazily pointed a finger at Maggie, smiling in her soft, calming sort of way.

“So… Let me get this straight…” Maggie leaned her shoulder against the nearest book case, thankful for both the support and the brief pause to collect her thoughts. “You’re going to take me, a filthy girl with no home and no family, whose only real talent is spells and equations, under your wing-“ As if to emphasize, Celestia’s wings ruffled. “And teach me the most advanced forms of magic known to Equestria, AND pay me for it?”

“Yes.” Celestia shrugged, as if it were nothing. “In addition to your food, clothing, housing, and other allowances, you’ll be compensated for your time. While you may be learning, you will also be performing tasks beneficial to Canterlot, and indeed, all of Equestria. I should let you know, that in addition to being my student, you will also be my counsel. Should I require input on certain situations, you would he expected to oblige. Matters of law, government, or even magic theory, you would have your input, and said input would be very valuable… Any time you spend working on community projects, teaching, or any other number of things, you would be compensated for.” Maggie listened to her speak, swallowing more than once to try and fight the lump growing in her throat.

“I don’t… I just… What if there’s…” She stuttered, mind racing with the implications. “What about David?”

“David?” Celestia asked, arching an eyebrow. “Who is he?”

“My friend…” My only friend… Her mind echoed her words as she spoke.

“What about him?”

“Will I see him?” Celestia laughed again, the sound filling Maggie’s ears as she watched the princess.

“You sound like I’m condemning you to a life of solitude. I assure you, Maggie, you schooling will have a very open schedule, and any work you do, you do as you choose. You’ll have more than enough time to see your friends, family, and loved ones.” She breathed a sigh of relief at the words, her head hanging slightly, almost as if a weight had been lifted.

“Okay… But, David isn’t without his own fair share of trouble…”

“Maggie,” Celestia sighed. “Love and affection are two of the greatest teachers we’ve ever known… I not only request, but strongly encourage you explore your feelings for this person.”

“WHAT?!” Maggie nearly fell over as the princess spoke her words, her cheeks flushing. “I’m not- We haven’t- He isn’t in my-“ Celestia’s laugh silenced her again.

“Is David on hard times, like you were?” Celestia asked, fighting the smile on her face. Maggie was still flushed, but she nodded slightly. “Well, when I say that you will be compensated for housing allowance, I meant it. And food, and clothing, and all the other things…” Celestia closed the book that she had been reading and set it in it’s proper place on the shelf. “If you think you can support yourself and one other on what I pay you for your living expenses, David is more than welcome to live with you. As well as any others you’d like.”

“A-any others…?” Maggie asked hesitantly.

“Oh. Well, first things first, you’ll have to accept being my protégé.” Celestia smiled.

“I do. A million times over, yes! I do!” Maggie said, her heart thundering.

“Good! It’s settled then!” Celestia smiled as she padded over to the one desk in the room, where a single solitary folder sat on the smooth mahogany surface. Celestia slid it off into her grip, then levitated it smoothly over to Maggie. She took it, flipping the cover open to reveal several sheets of paper with various bits of writing on them.

“I’ll give you a week to review the material, get settled, and accustomed to your new lifestyle, Maggie.” Celestia said, drawing Maggie’s attention away from the paper before she could really get started reading. “At seven next Monday morning, I expect you to be at the Royal Canterlot Library with the materials mentioned in the pamphlet. Have a good night, Maggie.” Celestia said with a smile, patting her newest student on the shoulder as she slipped past, headed for a hallway that Maggie guessed led to the front door.

“Princess?” Maggie said, turning around quickly.

“Hmm?”

“Where am I to sleep tonight?” She asked.

“In your home, I would suspect.” Celestia said calmly.

“H-home…?”

“Uh huh.” Celestia waved a hand at the walls. “Do you like it? I built it for you.”

Maggie passed out again.

“Oh dear…”

“Focus, Maggie.” Celestia said quietly. The fledgling student re-affirmed her attention on the task at hand. “Feel the arcane pulse through you. Magic is more than equations, numbers, diagrams and chants… It’s a force. A living one, at that… It has a mind of it’s own. Some,” Celestia padded around the focusing student. “Force that mind into the path they want. Others,” She tweaked the diagram, making Maggie scramble to fix it. She did so in four easy movements. Celestia nodded as she continued. “Will bend and twist it, offering guidance until the power moves the way they want it to…” Celestia stopped behind Maggie, leaning over to whisper in her ear. “And others still, my student…” Her hands slid down Maggie’s outstretched arms, guiding her into the next part of the spell. “Meld their mind with their power… Become one… So that their will is their magic’s… And the magic’s will theirs… Do this, Maggie.”

“And the power is mine.” She completed the thought and the spell smoothly, the diagram floating in the air before them flashing for a second before it began to condense… Both women watched as the spell summoned a crystalline form that began to coalesce into something tangible… It shuddered and grew, folding in upon itself before swelling and growing more… When it was finished, the whole thing was roughly the size of a boulder, red in color, and pulsed faintly.

“Good, Maggie.” Celestia smiled. “I daresay that’s a perfect gatestone. That will end today’s lesson. When the guard receives this shipment, you will be paid.”

“A lesson AND a job? You spoil me, Celestia.” Maggie smiled, shivering now in the chill air. When she was working her magic, she felt warm and safe. Now that she was devoid it’s substantial power, she felt cold and slightly empty. The feeling passed, but she still shivered. Why they had to summon this particular gatestone in the castle’s highest tower, she would never know… Never one to question the princess’ requests, though, Maggie had obliged and ascended the tower willingly. Their lesson was one on summoning and enchanting, which was imbuing inanimate objects with spell-like abilities… When combined, one could summon magical items, such as the gatestone that pulsed and glowed before them.

“I need to ensure you get by, my student.” Celestia said with a smile, running her hand over the crystal. “Hmm… I’m detecting an anomaly here… Did you change something?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact.” Maggie’s hands blazed again as she began a verification spell. The spell that would allow a magi to see how another spell, or in this case, enchantment, looked. The diagram painted itself in midair before the two of them, pulsing in time with the crystal’s own glow. “See here,” Maggie said, gesturing to one intricate circle with an equation along it’s border.

“Right, the inferior arch.” Celestia said, nodding.

“If you turn it into a superior arch, as I’ve done with this invocation here, it increases stability at the sacrifice of power. BUT.” She swiped a hand and moved the diagram aside to a different level, this one in a star shape. “If you add an invocation of fire into the sub-miodal infrastructure, on the forty-seventh node, you increase power by about twelve-point-seven percent.”

“About?” Celestia arched her eyebrow.

“Right. Uum, twelve-point-seven-two-four-eight.” There was no rounding in magic, no fractions or estimates. Everything was a definitive number. From the smallest computation to the largest equation. There was no room for error.

“Anything else?” Celestia said with a slight smirk. Maggie grinned and swiped the pattern aside.

“You got me, princess.” She said, revealing a whole new layer of the spell. “Gatestones intrinsically have a surplus of arcane leftover, which is usually utilized for stability or extra power… But given the new method I used, there was enough leftover for this.” The spell was a very intricate design, almost as much as the original form. This one, though, twisted and turned in a more graceful script. “The overall percentage was sixty-seven-point-oh-four-two… Giving me enough to weave this. I believe with a similar invocation that I used, but on the pro-miodal arch and another on the minor apex of the major arcane diagram, we could reduce this percentage further, perhaps under fifty percent, which would-“

“Allow us to summon two gatestones simultaneously…” Celestia said, finishing the thought. “Maggie, that’s brilliant… But, what have you done here?”

“Hehe. Well…” Maggie twisted the form and displayed it to Celestia. “You know as well as I do using gatestones is at best an uncomfortable experience.”

“Naturally-“

“Not naturally…” Maggie cut her off. The breach of etiquette was overlooked as Maggie ran through the spell. “They weren’t intended to be so. That’s because we’ve been adding stability webs or more invocations on points that could be utilized for other things. Such as this.”

“Is that…”

“A rejuvenation spell. It counter-balances the negative effects, and gives a sense of well-being upon arrival. More so than that, it makes the user feel empowered, naturally heightening reaction times, heart rate, and generally just helping you feel damn good.” Maggie let the form drop. “With this method, anyone using the stone will be charged, happy, and ready to go. Not vomiting or passing out.”

“Which makes it much more effective when deployed in battle…”

“Or just in general.” Maggie smiled and laid her hand on the gatestone. “When you told me I’d be making one of these, I started studying. Believe me, princess, there are more flaws than those few things with gatestones.”

“That’s incredible, Maggie… Evaluation passed, expectations exceeded by a mile. Fantastic work.” Celestia smiled at her star pupil, the type of smile that made Maggie herself grin wide with the recognition. “We’re finished for today, then. I will inform the captain of your progress, and how he needn’t fear sending his troops to the frontlines with a gatestone any longer… In fact, it may prove very valuable.”

“Thank you, Celestia. Same time next week?”

“Hmm, I’m afraid not. I do have an assignment for you, though… I’ll be gone for the next two weeks, but I’ve something for you to do while I’m away. The details will be mailed to you shortly.”

“Thank you, Celestia. I’ll see you when you return.” They parted ways, Maggie feeling rather giddy that she had done so well… She exited the tower and donned her coat before slipping into the chilly Canterlot streets.

It had been four months since she had become Celestia’s student. The lessons were hard and actually challenged Maggie. They weren’t about memorizing facts or reciting boring, normal spell-forms and equations… Celestia’s form of teaching presented Maggie with a problem, then made her discover her own way to fix or solve it. Sometimes, it involved using obscure spells or even inventing new ones… Many times, she had to adapt old spells with new techniques to find the desired result. There was little guidance. She was given a goal and expected to achieve it one way or another. She struggled now and again, but that’s when Celestia would help. Though ‘help’ was a relative term… More than once, it involved chastising her or scrutinizing her work with a very keen eye. She was even insulted.

But Celestia also praised when it was earned. Which was often. Maggie excelled in her studies, and was becoming ever more powerful with each week she spent. That, on top of the admittedly lavish lifestyle, she was beginning to enjoy herself, and life in general.

She and David had started a relationship. It wasn’t intimate, but it was certainly romantic. David insisted on paying his way, and offered to help with the rent and his portion of the food. Maggie told him time and again the only thing she paid for on the house was utilities. Hot water and electricity. Still, he insisted on pulling his weight, so whatever money he made, he insisted she put towards paying the bills. The few they had. She sighed and reluctantly accepted his money each time, though she’d never tell him she put it towards buying him nice things. His brother, though, had adamantly insisted on staying at their shoddy little apartment. Without David to feed and clothe, though, he was finally able to move elsewhere, and begin saving money. It seemed like becoming Celestia’s student was making everything right for her…

“I’m home!” She called, shaking out the light snowfall from her coat and her hair as she swept through the door. Her home, the one Celestia had built for her, rested on the same lot that her evaluation had taken place on. The ground around the house still bore evidence of their furious fight, the jagged chunks of earth having softened a bit in the time since their passing. Maggie enjoyed the sight. It reminded her of how she had gotten where she was. The house itself was rather large, taking up about half of the lot. While the ground around it was frayed with jagged lines and small craters, it’s foundation had been smoothed out. The main entryway led into a long hall. At the end of a hall, it split into a T, offering two more short halls.

The main floor had seven rooms. The library she had spoken with Celestia in, a massive kitchen, dining room, living room, an exercise room, a guest bath, and a den with a pooltable. Maggie and David enjoyed billiards. Upstairs were seven more rooms. The master bedroom with the attached bathroom and a very nice balcony, three guest rooms, one of which David currently stayed in, a study, and a laboratory of sorts… The last was filled with all sorts of devices and machinery for examining and researching spells and the like. Maggie rather liked it in there… It made her feel warm and at home, and she spent much time researching, practicing, or developing spells there. Between it and the study, where she had taken to studying and writing reports, there was a very lived-in feel already.

“In here!” David’s voice called from the living room, where Maggie could just barely make out the sounds of a radio playing. He was stretched out on the couch, hands resting behind his head. The radio played soft music, and the fireplace crackled happily. “Have a good time?” He asked, smiling as she leaned over the back of the couch to give him a soft kiss.

“I’ll say… My invocation went off without a hitch. Celestia was proud with my progress.”

“She shoulda been.” David groaned with a soft smile of his own. “You worked for two weeks straight on the new gatestone. Was it sound?”

“She ran the verification herself. Said it was probably the biggest discovery in all of Equestrian history.”

“Really?”

“Pfft. No. But she was impressed.”

“That’s great, then!” David smiled and pulled Maggie down for a deeper kiss, smiling against her lips. They separated with a smack, and Maggie was about to go in for another when the doorbell rang.

“Who the hell?”

“Ooh! He’s here!” David sat up from the couch and swept around the back, smiling at her as he went.

“He? He who?” Maggie said, arching an eyebrow.

“Remember when you said I could bring a friend over for some cutthroat?” He said, referencing a favorite pool game of theirs. One they seldom got to play, since they didn’t really know anyone. David’s brother would stop by for dinner now and then, but he was usually the only one.

“Right. Is he coming over tonight?”

“Indeed.” David and Maggie left the living room and went to the front door. When David opened it, Maggie smiled at their guest. “Maggie, I’d like you to meet my co-worker and friend…” The man’s smile was warm. Beaming, even. He was very charming.

“This is Benjamin.”

Life of a Student: II

--------------- Life of a Student: Twilight Sparkle – Part 2 ---------------

Tobias,

Spike and I went to Poker Night with Applejack and Rarity. Spike usually stays at Rarity’s these nights, so you and I can pick up where Magellan left off when I return. Sorry for the inconvenience,

T.S.

Twilight smiled down at the message she had hastily scribbled. Tobias was still asleep, probably from their last research session. Twilight herself had only just woken up a little while ago, upon Spike’s insistence. She never missed Poker Night. Not if she could help it, anyways… Sometimes, the books called out to her, made her stay and read. She heaved a sigh and pinned the note to her door before securing it with a barrier. After his discovery the other day, Twilight wasn’t quite ready to trust Tobias at home alone with her most embarrassing secret just a few layers of fabric away… He had to be powerful. She hadn’t seen his magic, yet though… Which rather worried her. He might be skilled. She cranked up the power on her shield and left, walking to Applejack’s.

It was a warm night, and she and Spike chatted about the things he and Rarity had been up to. Mostly gem hunting. When they arrived, Applejack and Rarity greeted them with hugs. Spike was just old enough to gamble, and he had been saving his allowance for such a night. Twilight assured him they wouldn’t take it easy on the little guy, and he shouldn’t be upset if he lost all his money.

“Don’t worry about it, Twilight.” He reassured her as they started to get settled. “I’ve been reading a book on technique, and I played a practice game with the crusaders.”

“Really? I hope you didn’t use real money, they’re just kids…”

“Naaw, we used candy.” He explained. “I ate a lot that day.” Twilight groaned and ruffled his spiky hair as Big Mac started dealing cards. Right off the bat, Twilight had pocket kings. She raised the blinds, making Rarity and Spike fold out. Big Mac and Applejack called, and the flop revealed a six, nine, and four. Nothing for her, but nothing for them either. She raised the blinds again and watched Mac throw his cards away. Applejack, however, lowered her eyelids.

“Call.” She said. Mac dealt the turn, which was a two. Too far of a stretch for the straight, and still the low pair, Twilight stoically pushed a small stack of chips forward.

“Forty.”

“A hunnert.” Applejack almost immediately raised her and then some, pushing just a little over half her stack forward. Twilight fought her facial expression, willing it to stay rock-solid, avoiding a tell… She had the high pair, that much was true… Unless Applejack had pocket aces, which at this point, would really be the only thing to beat her… Grimacing, Twilight rounded her stack off with another sixty and watched Mac deal the river. A jack. Junk. She checked, and so did Applejack.

“Pocket kings.” Twilight said, flipping her cards over. Applejack folded her cards, grimacing.

“Ah was bluffin’. Fuckin’ A, who calls a hunnert-dollar raise on the first hand?” She grumbled, sitting back as Mac shuffled all the chips towards Twilight.

“Someone with pocket kings.” Twilight grinned as Mac dealt the next hand. Applejack harrumphed and folded out early, grumbling as she went to go get a drink. Rarity, Spike, and Mac all checked, leaving Twilight, the option, to check. She hated raising as the option… Even when you were sitting on a suited seven-eight. The turn came, and she was looking at a nine-six-two. The two was suited, giving her a 3-card flush, but the six and nine were spades. She’d have to fight for the flush, but she was looking at a very strong straight hand. A ten or a five, and she’d have it. She checked, but Spike rose. Mac and Rarity folded, but Twilight was chip leader, so she called his twenty-dollar bet.

Just in time, too… The ten of hearts popped up; giving her the highest straight she could build with this hand. She fought to not give it away with a tell, but nonchalantly pushed thirty dollars forward. Spike, however, raised her again, making the bet sixty. She gave a small “Hmm,” of amusement and called. She had the high straight, and the flush draw wasn’t on the table… What was Spike getting at? The river flipped over, a six of diamonds. There was no flush draw. Unless Spike had another seven-eight, he didn’t have a hand…

“Seventy.” Twilight pushed the small stack forward. Spike still had the regular 200-dollar buy-in, so this would be a major hit to him. It would leave him with fifty chips. Then again, she DID warn the little guy about playing with them…

“All in.” Spike tipped his stack over with a flick of his finger, his blank stare revealing nothing. No way… Twilight had a straight!

“Hate to do this to ya, little guy…” Twilight counted out the rest of the chips she needed to call him, adding them to the stack of chips in the middle of the table. “But I got the straight on the turn.” She flipped over her cards and started to reach for the stack of chips, but Spike stopped her when he flipped his own cards over.

“Four of a kind.” He said coolly, the two sixes from his hand joining the pair on the table. Twilight looked at the cards, her eyes wide with disbelief. Spike chuckled and started shoveling chips towards himself, leaving Twilight with her hands in the air…

“How did you…”

“I had a feeling you turned the straight, but I still had three of a kind by then. I was hoping for another ten, or even a two, so I could get a full house. Imagine my surprise when the six turned up. Here ya go.” He rolled two chips to her, a measly ten dollars. “Consider it a tip.” The table burst out laughing, fists thumping into the fine green velvet as Spike just started stacking his chips.

“The hell happened here?!” Applejack came back with a strong-looking drink, her eyes wide with disbelief as Spike continued to stack his doubled amount of chips.

“I got cleaned by a dragon.” Twilight groaned, sitting back in her chair.

“Yeh ought to invite Spike to Poker Night more often, eh Twi?” Applejack teased, taking her seat as another hand was dealt…

“Good night, Twilight. Be glad you won it all back, huh?” Spike hugged her gently after they were done playing. She had managed to break even, thanks to a foolish move by Rarity and an uncharacteristic loss from Mac. In the end, though, Spike had come out the chip leader, taking nearly five hundred from everyone else, including a little bit more from Twilight.

“Yeah, well, for someone who can’t dust the high cabinets without TWO chairs, you’re awfully lucky to get two four-of-a-kinds in a night. AND a straight flush!” Spike chuckled as Twilight and Rarity both ruffled his hair, the two of them leaving Twilight to drive home in Rarity’s car.

“Ah gotta go into town fer some milk, Twi. Wanna ride?” Applejack offered, jingling her keys as she passed Twilight in the crunchy gravel driveway.

“Sure. Are you okay to drive, though?”

“Ah’m fine, sugar. You magi are too uptight, can hardly handle a few drinks before yeh lose it. Remember that one party o’ Pinkie’s?”

“Yeah, yeah… And I’ll forever be called Twilight Sparkle, Toilet Pillow Extraordinaire by my ‘Friends’.” She groaned, sliding up into the passenger seat. Applejack chuckled and started the clunky old truck. The in-dash radio began playing old country music, and Applejack sang along as she pulled out into the night.

“Ah’d have offered for yeh to stay, but you look like yer in a hurry to git home. Any reason?” Twilight flushed a bit at Applejack’s question, but answered truthfully.

“Actually, I have a houseguest.” She said. “He’s another magi, and he’s been studying astronomy. He and I are supposed to do some studying tonight.”

“Some studyin’ of a different sort, eh Twi?” Applejack teased, nudging her across the center console.

“Oh shut up!” Twilight swatted at her as they both laughed. “You’ll never believe this, though… He actually found my-“ She stopped then. None of the other girls knew about her darker side, particularly what she and Celestia did… Taking the high route, she banked on something most, if not all women had. “My vibrator.”

“Eew, really?” Applejack grimaced. “The hell was he doin’, snoopin’ around like that? Don’t you keep that hidden, or sum’n?”

“Not well enough, I guess…” Twilight groaned. Now that she thought about it, it was a little odd… Why had Tobias been snooping through her stuff? She was hardly gone for five minutes to use the restroom, and she came back to him holding up her… Her…

“Ah hide mine under the mattress. Don’ nobody go liftin’ it up, and yeh cain’t tell it’s there…” Applejack said, turning onto the main road into town. The dull, dim lights of Ponyville were muted tonight, quiet, almost… It looked from here as if the whole town was asleep, no one up to explore the streets at night.

“I don’t think I can hide it under the mattress…” Twilight said softly. There was a lot of it…

“Jeez, Twi. What is it, like, four feet long or sum’n?” Applejack teased. Twilight flushed and gave her a playful punch on the arm as they arrived in Ponyville, Applejack smoothly pulling over into the grocery store’s parking lot. “Hahaha! I jes’ need to grab some milk and whatnot…”

“I can walk from here. I kinda want to clear my mind before we get to studying anyways.”

“You sure, sugar?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks, AJ.” Twilight and Applejack shared a hug, but much to her surprise, the warm woman gave her a firm, open-palmed smack to the rear. She yelped and grasped her cheek, the stinging spank unexpected. “Ow!”

“Get goin’, girlie. Go do yer… Studyin, or whatever.” Applejack’s grin was enough to make Twilight flush even brighter. “And Twilight?” Applejack said softly, stopping her. Twilight quirked an eyebrow at her, urging Applejack to continue. “Life ain’t no fun iffen you don’t find someone else to have fun with. Maybe you ought to let him use it on yeh. Could be fun.” Twilight flushed brighter at her words. If only she knew what ‘using’ her ‘vibrator’ on her meant… She stopped, though, pondering what it meant.

“We’ll see, AJ. Stay safe.” Twilight waved at her as she walked away, turning her feet towards her empty home. Empty of everyone except Tobias… Who would be waiting for her by now… Twilight swallowed the apprehension in her throat and focused on the walk…

The walk was short, brisk, and cool. The summer nights were beginning to wane, giving way to an early September chill. She hummed a tune and looked up at the dark sky, smiling at the stars that were already glimmering in that vast, black expanse… She could almost make out Scorpio from here…

She found her thoughts wandering, though… Back to Tobias. He seemed like a nice enough guy, once you got over the original brashness… He had been anything but kind to Twilight at the beginning, but she found that after some rest and a little bit of good food, he had become kind enough… Maybe not outwardly so, like Fluttershy or Rarity, but a reserved kind… He’d say “Please,” and “Thank you,” when he was helped, and his requests were always humble… Twilight sighed in memory of her completely miserable love life.

“Here I am, sitting on a massive stockpile of bondage toys, toys meant to be used BY someone else ON me, and no one to do so… I mean, come on… How many guys dream about stuff like that? It can’t be hard to find at least ONE who’s into that stuff… A nice guy, with a good body, brains…” She stopped dead in the middle of the road after the solo dialogue. “Oh shit.” She said out loud. She really WAS smitten with Tobias… What’s more, he hadn’t completely freaked out when he had found her stash!

Maybe he was into that sort of stuff… Twilight’s heart hammered against her ribcage as she started thinking about it… Maybe Tobias was secretly a dom? Maybe he really liked what he found? Maybe… Just maybe… He could fulfill the burning ache that Twilight was suffering from… She was swooning over fantasies, now… Tobias, purely naked, standing over her with his erect length, making her lavish attention on it, kiss and lick it smooth and slow…

Would he be rough? Would he make her choke on it, like Celestia did now and then with a strapon? Or would he be gentle, making sure she wasn’t uncomfortable… Pushing just deep enough to push her, maybe make her gag just a little, but she would hold it… Twilight was good at not gagging… Would he cum in her mouth? Would he cum at all? Fright started to make her heart gallop faster and faster…

Stop it, Twilight! She had to reprimand herself. Tobias was a fellow intellectual… Nothing funny about it. Just yesterday she had showcased her own interest, when she had put the eyedrops in. He had hardly responded to her! In fact, if he hadn’t looked at her that entire night, wearing just shorts and a spaghetti-strap top, then he must not be interested. No, Tobias was just a student doing his research. If he hadn’t been looking at her that whole night, he might even be gay…

So why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? He was slender, taller than her but not by much… Despite being studious, he was actually kind of toned… Like he worked out, maybe… He would be muscular, strong… Twilight was frail. Not magic-wise, but she wasn’t physically strong… In fact, she considered herself kind of weak. Quick, with a decent bit of endurance, but not strong enough to lift very heavy objects on her own. She never had need to… So if he wanted, he could probably overpower her. Magic wouldn’t be a factor. She wouldn’t use it…

Or would she? Celestia was powerful. If Twilight ever used magic, the princess would counter it, and then make her pay… But was Tobias stronger than her magic-wise? If she wanted, could she overpower him, make him her own? The thought thrilled her. What would she do if she were the giver, not the taker? She had all manner of devices… Maybe Tobias was into anal? She could use the beads to stimulate him, make him whine and beg for it while she gently massaged his cock with magic…

Stop it! She had to actually stop walking for a moment to reign in her thoughts. As usual, they were running rampant, and her aroused state most definitely wasn’t helping… Not to mention recent sexual frustrations. The poker had been a wonderful distraction, but even in the short fifteen minutes since she’d left Applejack’s company, she was already fantasizing… This was bad. This was very bad… She wasn’t going to be able to control herself before long.

Not an option. Control was what Twilight did best. Her magic wasn’t this fluctuant thing anymore. She was masterful. Powerful. Controlling. So, just like her magic, she had to control her thoughts… She let her mind go blank, as it often did when casting a spell or levitating something heavy, and simply enjoyed the walk…

She made it home at last, the short walk working to refresh her mind, make her feel ready for a long night of studying. “Tobias?” She called out, locking the door behind her. No answer. “Huh.” She said softly, kicking her shoes off. She stretched as she made her way to the stairs, going to the guest room where he had been sleeping. “Tobias?” She asked at the door. He wasn’t in there. “Huhn… He must be out…” She mused softly, going up to her room. Might as well change and maybe grab a quick shower before he returned… Climbing the stairs, Twilight approached her room, taking a moment to dispel the barrier. She slipped inside, taking two steps before it happened.

“MFF!” She grunted as a foul, acrid-smelling fabric was pressed into her face. It completely took her by surprise. The thick scent of alcohol assaulted her senses, made her grunt as it invaded, filled her, made her get dizzy almost immediately. It was so OPRESSIVE. Like she couldn’t get a breath in past it. Already weakened, Twilight tried to fight the attacker off, use magic to pull the hand away. She summoned all of her might, fighting to rip the hand away from her mouth so she could get a full breath. She grunted and struggled, physically, mentally… In her weakened state, Twilight could only try and pull the arm away from her face.

But something fought her off. Even in her weakened state, Twilight could summon a good bit of magic… Surely enough to pull the invading hand away from her. She let her mind blank out as she fought to force the hand away, but something fought back… That one distracting fact, they’re fighting back, permeated through her thoughts… It was a magi. Another magi was the one! They were countering her magic with their own! Grunting and writhing, Twilight fought against them. Darkness enveloped her senses. She fell forward, the grip around her body loosening as she fell. One last glance behind her, the last thing she could bring herself to do in her weakened, dazed state… She saw their face. Saw their bare body.

It was Tobias.

Twilight passed out.

-------------- Notes from the Author --------------

Twilight’s story so far has just been about her and her feelings prior to Lily taking advantage of her. Next chapter will be devoted almost solely to the sex between the two of them.

In the original A Different Kind of Love, I actually skipped over almost the entire scene with Lily shifted into Tobias and Twilight… I’m going to do almost nothing but explore that scene this next chapter, and in the chapters following that, we’ll see more of how Twilight impacted the story.

I was fairly detailed in the scenes following this one, so I’ll glean over them, maybe a few details here and there… Nothing so chapter-consuming that it’ll take away from the story. I’ve discovered that all three stories may very well extend into the 7-chapter range…

I’ve also discovered I cannot write using the word processor at work unless I have at least one Rockstar in my system…

I had been struggling with the ADKoL:TUC updates for a few days now, but one rockstar in my system and I’m writing like a fiend. I finished this and Maggie’s chapter out in a single night. I even had time to start Ajax’s portion, which I had been REALLY struggling with.

Hope you all enjoyed ^.^

Life of a Tyrant: III

--------------- Life of a Tyrant: Ajax – Part 3 ---------------

“What about the nitrogen content in their blood?” Ajax asked. The first question he had made all day. Lily blinked at his sentence, her mind obviously running fast.

“That’s… A really good question. Hang on.” They had been poring over the same three books over and over the past year, all of which had been spent on the run. Ajax and Lily had jumped from home to home, feeding from Trottingham citizens, killing them when their cover was close to being blown. They were running out of time, though. Each new couple they killed did not go unnoticed by the Trottingham guard, nor the head librarian, the one who had driven them to kill the first time.

Eleven months of running, killing, hiding, waiting… They were on the cusp of winter again. Ajax was unsure how much more he could take, shivering in cold homes at night, infiltrating the library again and again… “Here it is,” Lily said, pulling a chart across the table. She tapped an entry, and Ajax considered it.

“So… It’s the same as a deer?”

“Is it?”

“Yeah, four-point-two-two… That’s the same we use for a deer, isn’t it?” Lily’s brow drew down as she concentrated.

“So it is. Huh. I guess there’s hope for you yet, Ajax.” She said softly, smiling at him. Ajax grinned in response, though in the back of his mind, he envisioned smacking her across her smart little mouth. It wouldn’t have been a smart move, thanks to the same magi that had passed by four times since they had dug in down in the old archives. The same one that had been pestering them for a year now… He was there every day, it seemed like… Ajax began to fear he was making a connection between the killings in the city, and whomever was visiting this section of the library. Each time he approached, Lily and Ajax would give a cock-and-bull story, then disappear and take over a new couple…

Ajax almost enjoyed the game, though… Infiltrate, impersonate, eradicate, move on… Like a dance with four really easy steps. Step one, take over someone’s life. Step two, come to the library as much as they could and study. Step three, kill them. Step four, fly around until they spotted a new family to impersonate. Still, in the dozens of families they had killed and impersonated, Ajax was beginning to wonder if there were even any left in Trottingham. Ajax peered over the top of the dusty scroll he had been peering over as the magi chasing them peeked around the corner again. He came back and advanced towards them. The soft sound of his footsteps made Lily pick her head up, both of them looking at the man.

“Are you finding everything okay?” He asked, smiling down at them. Ajax returned the grin in a perfect display of changeling trickery.

“Perfectly fine, thanks. You have a lot of tomes on genealogy down here. I was studying about my uncle,” he glanced at the nearest name in the book he held in his hands. “Windswept, captain of the weather team.” The look on the magi softened but didn’t flee.

“You’re Windswept’s nephew?” He asked, smiling down at Ajax. The changeling smiled and nodded, then furrowed his brow and rolled his hand.

“Distantly… And only through marriage.”

“I knew Windswept. He was good friend of mine. Long ago, he and I served in the guard together. Would you like to hear some of our old stories? I dare say they’re worth it.”

“Uuh-“ Ajax scrambled in that moment, looking between Lily and the imposing magi. In a split second, he did the one thing changelings were meant to do. He lied. “Of course! Hon, you can finish up here?”

“Yeah, I’m digging a little deeper… I think I just found Megan’s father.”

“Wait, Megan…”

“Frazer.” Lily bluffed.

“Ooh! Good job! I’ll leave you to it, then.” Ajax smiled and kissed the top of her head as he stood, folding the chart he had surreptitiously been studying within the genealogy book he had been using for cover. “Lead the way, Mr…?” Ajax and the magi slipped away, around a corner, out of earshot of Lily.

“Sparkle.” The magi said with a smile, offering a hand. Ajax took it, shaking firmly. “Eclipse Sparkle.” The whole situation was remarkably uncomfortable. Ajax did not feel good being around this man. This man who constantly hounded him and Lily, no matter what form they were in. Time and again, he had confronted them when they infiltrated the library, forced them to move on… They had killed more than enough people because of him. Ajax’s mind raced as they walked out of the old archives and into a more mainstream part of the library.

“I’m sorry, mind if I use the restroom before we talk? Sitting down there in the dark, I guess you forget about those sorts of things.” Ajax made the weak excuse as Eclipse paused in front of him. He couldn’t see the magi’s face, but he had to be struggling with the new development. The moments stretched on, threatening to extend into the uncomfortable. Ajax pressed him on. “Excuse me…?”

“You and your partner are not to return to the library.” Eclipse said suddenly. As the magi turned around, Ajax saw his eyes glow mysteriously, his hands clenched into fists. Ajax swallowed at the look he got. It was legitimately frightening. “If I ever see a couple in the old archive again, I will immediately have you turned over to the guards for questioning.” The man stepped forward, the act almost completely gone. Ajax couldn’t say he wasn’t surprised. This was the man who had reliably chased them out twice a month for the past year. He was smart. He was a threat. Ajax just grinned at him.

“The bathroom?” He said, his own eyes flickering with a devious display of mischief. Eclipse stared him down for a few more long moments before gesturing vaguely down a hall and slinking off, straight back towards the old archives. After a moment’s pause, Ajax turned down a different hall and made for the nearest exit. Lily was on her own, and he had to make it back to their latest home to kill the most recent two…

“There’s only one solution.” Lily said later on that evening. They had just used the money they had taken from the last couple to rent a hotel room for a night while they thought about where to live next. Ajax peered at her from under his towel, damp with the leftover of his long, hot shower. The first, it felt like, Ajax had taken in weeks. He plopped on the edge of the bed as Lily looked out of the window at a dark Trottingham skyline.

“That is…?” Ajax said, watching Lily turn around.

“We have to steal those books. There is no way we’re going to complete the research without studying more, and we can’t keep getting caught by him each time. I left almost immediately after he took you. I almost thought he was going to turn you over to the guard. We can’t keep cutting it close like that, Ajax… We need those books, and we need them by tomorrow.” Ajax pondered her words as she spoke, thinking at them from all the angles he could imagine.

“Alright.” He said at last. “How do you plan on taking them?”

“You got a good look at him, right?” Lily said, tapping her finger on her arm. Idly, Ajax nodded, paused, then he caught the drift of her plan.

“Wait… You don’t mean…?”

“That’s exactly what I mean. You need to impersonate that man, get past the guards, get the books, and get out.” Lily said softly, her vision still distant, almost like she was still hashing out the details…

“The old archive books can’t be checked out. We tried. That also means they’re not allowed to LEAVE the old archives section. It’d take a lot of balls to walk past the guards with them.” Verse countered.

“Who do you think restricted that section? Or who’s putting the guards in place as we speak?” Lily said quietly.

“… Alright,” Ajax said. “I disguise myself as our favorite little pest, slip into the library, bold-facedly take three sensitive books from a restricted area, and walk right out the front door. What if he shows up right as I walk in? Or walk away? What then? Or what if they have a pass phrase, or a code, or what if he suspects were changelings already? What then, Lily?”

“We’re going to have to take that risk, Ajax. If all else fails, let the guard take you then slip away when you can. I’ll be watching. I can help if need be.” She said at last. “We can’t continue this research without those books. And you know what happens if we fail Chrysalis. Especially since this is your first assignment.”

“We’ll do it. I know we will.” Ajax said tiredly. It had been a taxing day… Particularly beating the last two people they had been with… That had really taken it out of him. That, and they had just barely beaten the guard out of the house. News of their recent attack would be all over the papers the next day. Which was only going to make their job harder. With a heavy breath, Ajax pushed himself fully onto the cool sheets of the bed, pulled the covers over his head, and drifted off…

This is crazy. Absolute, bat-shit, completely and utterly crazy… Ajax smiled despite his thoughts. If rumor served, Eclipse was actually a friendly guy. Hard to believe, given the cold look and the implied threat he had given both him and Lily the other day. Still, Ajax forced a smile as he ascended the steps to the Trottingham library, waving at someone who looked as if they recognized him. This was very, very bad… If anyone recognized him and even remotely struck up a conversation with him, Ajax was screwed… He didn’t know the first thing about this man’s life. Problems all changelings suffered from when impersonating someone. There came a time when the one they fed off of began asking questions… Began having suspicions… Ajax was thrust straight into the most awkward scenario he could imagine… Impersonating someone of importance. He smiled and waved at the receptionist, who cheerily returned his wave.

“Mr. Sparkle!” He almost didn’t stop when someone behind him called his fake name. Ten damn steps from the stairwell leading to the old archives, too… Damnit… “So glad I caught you. Do you have your answer for my proposition?” The person, a young man who looked no older than twenty, smiled down at Ajax, who was currently shifted into Eclipse Sparkle as he jogged towards him. Ajax scrambled, his mind racing.

“Aah, yes. I have it on my desk.” Ajax said as the man came to a halt before him. “You’ll have to forgive me, though. I have some important business to handle in the old archives. Could you meet me by my office in an hour?” Ajax smiled and patted the man on the shoulder. “You understand how busy it can be around here sometimes.” The man gave a slight chuckle and nodded, returning the pat kindly.

“Of course. I’ll see you in an hour. Oh! Are we on for dinner with the missus this weekend?”

“You know it,” Ajax gave an ambiguous answer as he slipped away. “I’ll see you in a moment.” He slipped into the stairwell, smoothly walking down two levels. Huh. So Eclipse Sparkle had a family… Shame. Lily was going to run into some difficulties with her distraction, then…

Early that morning, Lily had assured Ajax that she was going to help out as much as she could, in that she would attempt to distract Eclipse before he arrived at the library, giving Ajax the time he needed to retrieve the books and leave before the real head librarian entered. Hopefully, by the time any of the library workers or guard had realized the early-morning Eclipse had been an imposter, he and Lily would be halfway to the city limits, and moving fast. The winding stairs led him down to the dank underground of the library, down to where the restricted section was. Rounding the corner, Ajax saw that the man he was posing as had, indeed, posted a guard. They snapped to attention as he approached, and without a word, parted their spears. He smiled at them warmly before pushing the doors open and entering the now-restricted old archives. He knew the path almost by heart… Fifteen shelves in, two shelves down, third row from the top, fourteenth book from the right…

“There you are.” With the spines jutting out maybe a half an inch, there were the three tomes he and Lily had been studying. One of them was an old text about naga physiology, the other a list of important bloodwork of all amphibious creatures in a certain time period, the one that the naga had existed in, and another that had the complex magical diagram for the nullification spell. Smoothly, Ajax took all three, holding them in the crook of his arm as he left the restricted area. The guard, however, called out to him.

“Done already, Mr. Sparkle?” He asked. Ajax paused for a moment before turning around to smile at the two guards at the entrance to the restricted archives.

“These three volumes are due for some much-needed restoration. I just need to deliver them. Thank you, gentlemen. Long night?” He asked. The guard chuckled and nudged his friend.

“Our relief hasn’t shown up yet. We’ve been here since you posted us yesterday night.” Ajax listened to them, then made a show of acting appalled.

“That’s ridiculous! I’m going to go see about getting you two relieved right away!”

“Th-thank you sir!” Both guards snapped to attention and saluted as Ajax spun on his heel and walked away quickly. Smiling all the while. Up the stairs, Ajax paused at the threshold to the dark stairwell… Here was the tricky part… He hadn’t even really thought this far ahead. The receptionist couldn’t be allowed to see him exiting the library with books… If it was Eclipse Sparkle, she would want to say goodbye… If he was anyone else, she would accost him for trying to steal books… Then he saw it. His opportunity. In through the door came a mousy-looking woman carrying an armful of books. She wore an outfit similar to the one Ajax had shifted into, signifying she worked at the library. What’s more, she was walking straight towards him! In the darkness of the stairwell, Ajax set the three books in the shadow, stripped the upper half of his robe off, and waited… The woman advanced towards the dark stairwell, looking preoccupied with what appeared to be a list resting on top of the stack of books. Just as soon as she entered the darkness of the stairwell, Ajax pounced.

“HMM!” She managed a somewhat loud moan, not loud enough to carry, but loud enough to make his heart hammer. His arm quickly shot around her neck, wrapping it into the crook of his arm. He squeezed hard, cutting off her air supply as he kicked her knees out from under her. The books she was carrying tipped over, but didn’t clatter or fall, or even make much noise. Smooth and slow, Ajax choked her until she was still. He used his clothes to bind her nice and tight, her hands and ankles tied together, and a wad of fabric stuffed into her mouth to keep her from making too much noise. Ajax smoothly shifted into her, smiling as he gathered her books. No one had noticed. No one would know until she was either discovered dead or awoke. By then, Ajax would be long gone. This whole episode would be over.

The receptionist barely even glanced at the woman as she slipped back out of the stairwell, looking like she had just forgotten something. Ajax didn’t get a second look as he exited the library. He smiled to himself as he rushed down the wide front steps. Across the street, there was an ambulance… Given the flurry of movement and emotion Ajax was suffering from, he’d rather not pay any attention to emergency personnel… What they could be doing, though, intrigued him… Ajax clutched the stack of books tight as he turned right and walked away from the scene, the library, and towards his freedom…

“Ajax.” Lily’s voice came to him from an alleyway, two blocks from the scene.

“Lily?” He answered cautiously, peering into the shadowy entrance. The soft cloud of white, chill breath betrayed Lily’s presence from behind a nearby trashcan. She straightened up, gesturing for him to duck into the alley with her. He glanced up and down the street before slipping in.

“Did you get them?”

“The one on top, and the two on bottom…” Ajax said, hefting the stack of books.

“Kill anyone?”

“Not sure… I definitely knocked her unconscious… We need to move, and fast.”

“Well our little detective won’t be an issue anymore,” Lily shuffled the books around as she extracted the three they needed from Ajax’s grip. “How was I supposed to know the fucker lived right across the street from the library?”

“Wait,” Ajax said, looking at her with wide eyes. “That was you?” He glanced over his shoulder at the ambulance that was still flashing it’s lights down the street two and a half blocks away. Lily just gave him a quick look before extracting the three they needed. Her hands were shaking. Bad. Ajax grinned and nudged her shoulder.

“You did what was right. Chrysalis would be proud.” The only thing he got in return was a slight ‘Hmmph’ before Lily shifted so wings sprouted from her back. She flapped hard and went up over the roofs. Both of them, it seemed, were keen on getting out of there quickly. Still, Ajax couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder at the ambulance as they flew away… Unless he was mistaken, they were wheeling black bags out to the ambulance. Grinning, he turned his sights forward and followed Lily’s lead over the rooftops of Trottingham… They were headed south. Back home. Back to Chrysalis.

“Not tonight, please, Ajax…” Lily said softly, batting at his hands. They were camped out in some small wood inbetween Canterlot and Ponyville, which they would fly over on their way back to Chrysalis. Their fire burned happily, popping and crackling as the night slowly began to darken.

“Oh? Why not?” Normally, Ajax would have insistently taken her, whether she liked it or not. Tonight, though, he would humor her. Tease her. Women liked to be teased.

“I need to focus. Look, I think I’m about to do it.” She had been religiously reading the three books they had stolen in an attempt to unlock the mysteries of the naga before they arrived back with the horde. Ajax reluctantly stepped back and watched Lily as she furrowed her brow in concentration. Despite his own physical desires, their orders were concrete. He would really like to hand over their findings to Chrysalis as soon as they arrived. It was dangerously close to the year-long deadline they had been given to research the naga.

“Woah!” Ajax stepped back as Lily’s form abruptly changed. In a brief flash of changeling magic, Lily shifted from her regular form straight into a large, undulating mass of reptilian flesh. Ajax stared in wonder as she stretched out in front of him, her entire form easily thirty feet long… Her belly was covered in thin, lighter-colored scales, while all along her back were thicker, spined scales that looked like they could be inches thick in places… After about twenty-five feet, though, her long, sinuous body flared out into a somewhat human torso. It was scaly, like a reptile, but had two arms, a human head, and even a somewhat slender waist… Ajax had seen the drawings before, but seeing it for real was just… Odd.

“Huh…” Lily lifted her arms, each tipped with a wicked claw, looking herself over as best she could. “I think… I got it…”

“I’ll say…” Ajax said, looking her over. Lily slowly undulated, experimentally moving about in a wide circle around the fire. Ajax watched her movements, so graceful… Like water flowing across the ground. She moved smooth, easy, and surprisingly quick… “How does it feel?”

“Powerful.” Lily said, her tone thin… Shifting into a naga had changed her voice, too… “Like… It’sss… It’sss like I can feel everything… The ground beneath me… The ssstrength in my body…” She smiled, a wicked, pointed-tooth sort of affair. “It’sss addictive.” She smoothly shifted back to her real body, clothes and everything. “Really not that difficult to get usssed to… Guh.” She had been drawing her ‘S’ sounds out, like the hissing of a snake. Ajax chuckled at the slip of the tongue as Lily adjusted to being in her own body again. “Okay, as long as we’re here, let’s get you used to changing into one. I think I can coach you through it. And if I can get you to do it, we can both get Chrysalis to do it.” Ajax grinned at her as he relaxed his muscles, let his mind go blank…

“Alright,” He said softly. “Show me.”

------- Notes from the Author -------

I wrote this chapter actually kind of depressed… So I’m sorry if it isn’t what it should be. But this wraps up Lily and Ajax’s Trottingham exploits. In the next 4 chapters, we’ll see Ajax’s role in the Canterlot invasion, straight up to his involvement in A Different Kind of Love.

Life of an Addict: III

-------- Life of an Addict: Maggie – Part 3 --------

“Benjamin.” Maggie said, taking his hand with a soft smile. David grinned between the both of them as the hesitant introduction was shared. “Well, come on in. David tells me you’re our new cutthroat victim.”

“Hey,” The big man said with a teasing grin. “No ganging up on me, now. You two need to play nice.” They all shared a laugh as they walked down the hall, headed for the living room with their well-used pool table. Benjamin was a nice enough gentleman. He was taller than David, and a little bit more thick. She wouldn’t call him muscular, though he undoubtedly had a fair bit of strength. David and Benjamin allegedly worked together at the same mechanic store. Where David sported long, straight brown hair, Benjamin wore his close-cropped and straight. His was a lighter sort of blonde, and it highlighted his hazel eyes well. Maggie could make out the variances between brown and green even from a slight distance.

“No promises, man. Maggie’s a real shark.” David got a teasing glare as she led them into the living room, making a beeline straight for the billiard table. The soft green velvet slid under her fingers, making her smile as she felt the soft fabric glide under her touch.

“Been a while since I’ve played some cutthroat.” She said softly, pulling the triangle from it’s place on the nearby wall. She started racking as Benjamin and David began choosing their cues. “Who goes first?”

“Guest rules.” David said, nodding to Benjamin. “You break first.”

“Aah, shit. Alright, then.” Benjamin chuckled and rubbed some chalk on the joint between his thumb and index finger. He rubbed the cue along the white powder, making his draw much more smoother than if it was the lacquered wood on flesh. Maggie watched him place the ball in a straight line with the leading solid and the back of the table, line up his break, and strike the ball…

“Well shit.” She groaned, watching two balls immediately drop into the corner pockets. He had hit in the seven and the fourteen.

“I guess I’m lows.” He chuckled at them. Maggie got the feeling they were dealing with a man who very well knew how to play pool. Sure enough, Benjamin wasn’t done until he had hit in the ten and the fifteen as well. There were five lows on the table, and only three each of the mids and the highs.

“You or me?” She asked David.

“You go.” He said. Maggie chuckled. Chivalrous. “And no magic.” Damn.

“Wait.” Benjamin said, looking between the two of them. “This is… THE Maggie? Okay, dude… When you said you were dating a magi named Maggie, I seriously doubted you were dating the princess’ own student!” His eyes were wide as he looked between Maggie and David. “How the hell did you manage that?!”

“Oh, you know me…” David said with a teasing smile and a wink towards Maggie. “I have a way with words.” He really did… David could make her heart melt with a single sentence, so much so she wondered why they hadn’t made love yet… Well, David certainly was the one to take things slow… Traditional. She liked it. It made her smile. Even small kisses were a big deal with him…

“Huh. I never did understand any of that…” Benjamin said, watching as Maggie lined up a shot on one of his lows. Smooth and easy, she knocked it in, looking for her next target…

“Hmm… Mids.” She said. Two of her remaining balls were close to the rails, making them tricky shots. She missed a close shot, giving David the next turn. Sadly, the game didn’t last long. David, in a true display of masterful talent, sunk every single ball, one after the other, without so much as a second glance. He never missed. His shots lined him up for the next one, and one after the other, he delivered the strikes to both Maggie’s remaining numbers, and all of Benjamin’s as well. The three balls remaining, the eleven, twelve, and thirteen were all David’s.

“I thought I said no ganging up…” Benjamin said, still shocked at the masterful display of talent David had just gone through.

“He took me out first.” Maggie said quietly. And he had. Her ten and six were against the rail, and he smoothly hit them in with two brilliant shots, one after the other… Unless she was mistaken, he had even put spin on the ball… She was shocked. The whole ordeal took maybe five minutes.

“Again?”

“No!” Maggie and Benjamin both answered at the same time, laughing as they put their cues up. David pouted playfully as he replaced his cue after them, all of them taking a seat in the living room couch.

“So, what’s it like, being Celestia’s student?” Benjamin asked once they were all seated. Maggie sighed and kicked her feet up onto the couch, using David’s lap as a foot warmer. He didn’t complain. He never did. She thought over the question for a few long moments before answering.

“You know in school when the teacher gives you an assignment… He gives you the pages in the textbook you can find the answers, and tells you the book you need to find those pages… Celestia doesn’t do any of that. She asks a question, then expects me to answer it. She doesn’t teach out of a book. Or any book, for that fact… Why, just the other day, she asked me to find the best way to determine the sub miodal interface calculation on a firestorm spell.”

“You use the miodal formula for that, right?” David asked. He was talented, for an average magi… Maggie had been helping him in his studies as well. The benefits of living in the same house as Celestia’s pupil, she guessed. She shook her head, though.

“You’d think so, but no… The sub miodal interface calculation is an entirely different formula. They don’t teach it in any schools, and the damn thing was buried in the archives. Took me a week to find it. So when I found it, I showed it to her. She just said ‘Yes, that’s the correct calculation. Now show me the best way to calculate it.’ I had almost completely forgotten what she said. ‘Find the best way to determine the sub miodal interface calculation…’ Not just find it.” She sighed.

“Sounds tough.” Benjamin said softly.

“Are you a magi?” Maggie asked, arching an eyebrow at him. Benjamin chuckled and shook his head.

“Nope. Just really good with my hands. For those little jobs, they usually call in David here. I handle a lot of the bigger engines out there. Body work and major frame issues, crap like that. Is it okay if I smoke in here?” He asked, smoothly pulling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Maggie arched an eyebrow.

“Uuh…”

“I can go outside if it’s an issue…”

“No, I just realized.” She chuckled. “I haven’t had anyone ask. I don’t see any issues with it. David?” Her boyfriend just shrugged. With a flick of her wrist, Maggie opened a nearby window. A soft breeze fluttered past them, making the flame at the end of Benjamin’s recently-struck match gutter slightly. He inhaled the fire through the stick in his mouth, lighting a burning ember at the end of his cigarette. Maggie was no stranger to them… Her father smoked habitually. Their house reeked of it whenever he was around. If he was around. Now, as the thin white clouds of cigarette smoke filled the air, she inhaled. It was a slightly comforting scent, she would admit… Acrid, stinging… It reminded her of home.

“Anyways, what else?” Benjamin asked, waving his hand.

“What else what?” Maggie asked, rolling her head to look at the bigger man.

“Any other stories? I mean, I don’t know the first thing about sub miodal… Whatever… But I like magic. I think it’s cool. Tell me some more.” Maggie chuckled, even as David set in on giving her feet a gentle massage. He was good at this.

“Well… Okay, here’s one… Like I said, Celestia asks a question or gives me a task, and she expects me to do it. She won’t hold my hand, or even give me any help. She said something once about how it’s that much more rewarding when I accomplish the task on my own, without her help… I gotta say, it really is… For instance, she wanted me to create a gatestone. If you didn’t know, a gatestone is a magical sort of portal. When two of them are linked together, you can move from one to another just by touching it. Human, avian, magi, doesn’t matter.”

“So, wait…” Benjamin cut her off. “These things happen instantly? You can just touch it, and bam?”

“More or less, yeah…” Maggie said with a shrug.

“So why do we still have trains and cars? Can’t we just, like… Link every major city together?” Maggie smiled at him.

“That’s a good idea, and I’d love to try someday. But gatestones typically cause a LOT of nausea. Some people vomit, others pass out, and others still… Well, they don’t live…” She said softly. There was a moment’s pause. “So when she asked me to make one, all I’ve ever heard was stories. I’ve never used one, never even seen one for myself. She gave me two weeks, and what’s more, it was for the captain of the guard. I would be getting paid for it. It had to be perfect.” Maggie sat up, pushing a pillow up against her back so she could sit up without interrupting David’s work. He was really skilled with his hands…

“I started researching immediately…” She continued, relaxing now. “Celestia didn’t say ‘here, check this book.’ She didn’t tell me ‘you’ll find work about gatestones in the old archives.’ Or anything like that. Every little bit of information I now know about gatestones, I had to find out on my own. Well, as it turns out, there were some flaws in modern gatestones. The reason for all the nausea was actually really difficult to find. But when I started studying the diagrams and incantations, I found many of the invocations had been put in the wrong place, or had left a lot of them open… So I started building a new formula.”

“How long have gatestones been around?” Benjamin asked. He had procured a leftover water cup that he was using as an impromptu ashtray. She watched as he flicked ash from the end off into the water, making it hiss a little.

“Well… The first one was developed by Starswirl the Bearded’s apprentice, who was using his formula and research… Close to… I wanna say about fifteen hundred years.”

“So you changed a formula that’s been around for centuries.” It wasn’t much of a question, more of a statement of disbelief.

“If you knew enough about spells and saw the forms they were using, you’d see how wrong they were. I changed a few small things, and freed up a lot of space to make the whole thing more stable, and a lot more safe. In fact, I was able to add a spell that made whoever used the stone happier. Stronger. So when they used it, they would not only be perfectly healthy, but stronger and refreshed.” She adjusted a little, giving David a good angle to work at her sore ankles. “In that way, I’m given a goal, and if I meet it, I pass. But I also can exceed it… See, if Celestia had just pointed me to the book, I’d probably have just followed the directions she gave me and not questioned it. Instead, this way, I was able to study where the spell came from. How it worked. All of the little bits and pieces that made it up. It was a much more fulfilling experience, and led to a really important discovery.” She sighed softly and relaxed against the pillow behind her. David, the entire time, had just rubbed her feet, content to help her in some way. She smiled at him, thankful she had just a nice guy to take care of the little parts of her…

“Wow.” Benjamin said softly, looking at her. He idly spun the cigarette around in his fingers before lifting it to his mouth and taking another long drag. “So, what’s that going to change?” He was really inquisitive… Maggie smiled at him before sitting up a little again.

“The captain of the guard wanted this particular stone so we could send troops between here and Eyriewatch. He was worried, though, about the effects it would have. With my stone, though, his troops will arrive without issue, and without fatigue… I dare say they’ll be ready to fight.” She said with a smile.

“And… Are you going to make any more gatestones?” Benjamin asked. He REALLY had a lot of questions. Maggie had to shrug at the most recent one.

“If I must. The theory is new, and Princess Celestia has yet to approve it… I mean, it’s sound… I did the research and checked, double-checked, even triple-checked it all. Still. It’s human lives at risk. I wouldn’t want to use anything that I knew wasn’t safe, so why should we ask the Guard to do the same? Celestia will check it, make sure it’s all okay, then probably tell me the outcome.” Maggie winced as David loosed one particularly nasty knot in her calf, low, close to her ankle.

“Huh… That’s really cool. And you got this whole place to yourself? I saw the yard. Musta been some crazy shit that caused that.” Maggie and David both chuckled.

“That’s another story for another time, Benjamin.”

“Ben.”

“What?” Maggie arched an eyebrow at him. Benjamin just smiled and dropped his cigarette into the water, extinguishing it with a hiss.

“Just Ben. I like my friends to call me Ben.” He stood and walked forward, offering a hand to Maggie. She took it, marveling at how his big, callused hand wrapped almost completely around hers. He may not seem that big, but compared to her, he was actually rather large… She smiled at the tenderness, though. He was very gentle with her, not too rough, but firm… Enough to be felt. It was odd. For such a large man who worked with vehicles, he was kind. And gentle. Not unlike David.

“Well kiddos.” He said, stretching with a groan. “I suppose I’ll see myself off?” To her surprise, Maggie saw it was actually getting late in the evening… The sun was slowly going down, painting the sky a brilliant golden, slowly fading off to a dark, muted crimson and off even more into a beautiful, dark purple… Maggie always loved sunset… Reluctantly, she pulled away from David’s expert touch, standing to bid farewell to Benjamin.

“Was good having you around, man.” David said with a smile as the two of them shared a handshake. Unlike the one he gave Maggie, theirs was crushing, rough, and very manly, she thought. Benjamin grinned and ruffled David’s hair, getting a playful punch on the arm in return. Benjamin left her house, waving as he lit another cigarette, this one apparently for the drive home. He climbed into a worn-looking truck, not unlike David’s own, and rumbled off into the growing night.

“Nice guy.” Maggie said softly, watching the red tail lights shrink off into the distance. She smiled when David bumped her hip, urging the door to close against the encroaching cold.

“Come on,” He said. “I’ll cook dinner.”

“Ooh, I’m starving…”

Benjamin became a somewhat regular visitor after that. Maggie still had her lessons, though the two-week break came with some wonderful shopping, and one rather heated makeout session with David… That had been a good night. The first night she’d actually had to resort to touching herself to relieve stress in a long while. She wasn’t entirely positive David wasn’t doing the same… Still, they blew off steam by working on some of David’s telekinesis problems the next day, the whole thing almost forgotten. That, and David managed to draft three other people for a large, six-person cutthroat game. David and Maggie teamed up against Benjamin and his girlfriend, a nice-looking avian who made deliveries to their mechanical shop. Them and two other guys played a large game, though David and Maggie won most of them. Afterwards, they all shared dinner together, talking and laughing. It was unique… Maggie had never had many friends. One or two through school, and David throughout all of high school… But never a good, big gathering of them…

She was happy.

“So, you two.” Benjamin said with a smile, sitting back in his chair as he lit up another cigarette. David and Maggie looked up at him, arching their eyebrows. “How long have you been together?” They had to share a look at that.

“Uum…”

“Hell, I dunno…”

“Three months? Two?”

“That many? I thought we were under two…”

“Look, question is,” Benjamin cut them off as they scrambled to think of the proper number. “Have you done it yet?” Maggie blushed as she looked at him incredulously. David was suddenly very quiet. The rest of their guests, though, burst out laughing and thumping the table. Just from their looks. Maggie suddenly felt very out-of-place and awkward. Apparently, she and David were the only two virgins there. Benjamin’s girlfriend, the avian, leaned in, wiping tears from her eyes.

“Have you ever done it?” Maggie could only manage a small shake of her head, feeling embarrassed. David, it would appear, was in the same boat as her… Still, she found her hand idly searching for his under the table.

“Hell,” Benjamin said, laughing with bright, flushed cheeks. “I bet they haven’t even kissed.”

“Have too.” Maggie spat in a mock attempt at childishness.

“I won’t believe it ‘til I see it.” One of the others, a guy simply named ‘Joe’ grumbled at them. David squeezed her hand reassuringly, giving her a brief, quick smile. At the insistence of everyone else, they slowly, gingerly leaned in. It was quick. Just a peck. Benjamin groaned and rolled his eyes.

“Oh come on. If that’s what you two call a kiss, you ain’t kissed yet.” David glowered at him, but Maggie squeezed his hand again. They shared a look. An entire conversation could have taken place in that one look.

You sure?

Yeah.

Okay. Not too long… Not too short…

Just enough.

Just like last week.

Exactly… Just-

David’s lips were suddenly against hers. Maggie whimpered as she felt them press against her, flatten her lips… It wasn’t quick. It wasn’t even soft. But it was very passionate, and very… VERY hot… Maggie felt her breath catch in her throat, her chest rising suddenly. They were at an awkward angle, but she leaned forward, slowly pushing herself closer. Like she hadn’t really meant to, but she wanted it… That much was apparent. She whimpered into his lips, eager for more. The rest of the dining room faded away completely. As far as she was concerned, it was just the two of them, kissing in the middle of the dining room.

His tongue brushed her lips. Asking… No, begging for permission. Maggie just HAD to grant it. She met him in the middle, exhaling a shaky, hot breath as his tongue met hers. Thankfully, the others were silent. Maggie was able to focus on him, on all that was happening, every soft, gentle undulation of his slippery, hot tongue…

And then it was over. She sagged visibly as he pulled away, her eyes fluttering as she fought to control her reeling head…

“Oh shit.” Benjamin said softly. “So I guess you two HAVE kissed before…” Maggie absently wiped a bit of saliva from her lips as everyone at the table broke out into knowing grins. David was blushing furiously. “Well… Made me eat my words. Before long, you two’ll be fuckin’ every night.” Maggie blushed deeper at his words, looking down at the table. She’d hate to admit it, but she DID want it… David was remarkably attractive, and she thought about him daily. She wanted him badly… They held hands again, squeezing gently. David spoke through that embrace…

He’s right

I know…

So…

Soon. I promise.

Maggie squeezed harder, shooting him a quick glance… Tonight?

… Maybe.

“All right, you two… No more lovey-dovey shit ‘til we’re gone.” Benjamin draped his arm over his girlfriend’s shoulders, grinning as his other hand dug into his pocket. Maggie watched as he pulled a small plastic bag out, filled to the brim with…

“Is that… No way…”

“What? Pot?” Benjamin popped the seal open. Even from across the table, Maggie could smell it. “You don’t smoke?” He asked, plopping it on the table. Maggie stared at it. She had never seen it before… She’d heard of it, watched other high school students talk about it, or get in trouble for it. While it wasn’t illegal to smoke, grow, or distribute marijuana in Equestria, it was for minors. Just like alcohol or cigarettes. Now that she was older than eighteen, though, Maggie could do all of that, smoke, drink, whatever she pleased… She just hadn’t. She’d been busy with work, studies, and keeping food in her stomach. She swallowed and shook her head at Benjamin’s question.

“Not yet, no…”

“Wanna try?” Benjamin’s tone was low, he delivered it with a smile. Maggie and David shared a look. One that said ‘Sure, why not?’ Benjamin pulled a pipe from his pocket, an odd-looking thing made of colored glass, charred in areas with evidence of it’s use. Maggie watched as he started fishing bits of the green herb from the bag and stuffing them into the blackened portion of the pipe. It wasn’t like a tobacco pipe, the kind she’d seen Canterlot nobles smoke now and then, but was straighter, more full, with a smaller bowl.

“I know David’s smoked before, so he can show you how to run this.” Benjamin nodded to David, who took the pipe from him with a smile.

“Have you really?” Maggie asked as David adjusted their chairs, so they were facing one another.

“A few times. It’s fun, Maggie. You’ll laugh at everything, get REALLY hungry, and your mind will go a million miles an hour. Okay, here,” He rose the pipe inbetween both of them, one hand holding the glass device, and the other holding a lighter. “You put your mouth on this hole. Since it’s your first time, I’ll handle the light and the carburetor for you. You’re gonna let all the air out of your lungs, then you’re going to inhale. When I move my thumb, it’ll hit you. It’s hard, and you’re gonna cough.” She listened intently, nodding now and then. She felt anxious. She was going to smoke pot for the first time! Maggie smiled and nodded at him at the last bit.

“I can handle it.”

“We’ll see about that. Try and hold it in as long as you can. Ready?” She nodded one last time as David pushed the pipe forward. She pursed her lips, blowing all the air out of her lungs as she pressed them against the pipe. David struck the lighter and lowered the flame to the herbs. “Go.” She started inhaling. The first tinge of taste brushed past her tongue as she inhaled, the force of it pulling the flame down into the drug inside the bowl. The tiny, dried leaves caught and began to glow with the fire. David moved his thumb…

It was like getting punched in the chest. Maggie inhaled maybe the first little bit before she had to cough, white smoke billowing from her mouth as she fought to get rid of all of it. The taste was so invasive, covering her tongue and not letting go. Every burst out laughing as she coughed and sputtered, going so far as to gag, even… David laughed along with them as her eyes began to water. She drew in ragged breaths, choking and coughing still.

“Oh fuck!” Benjamin roared. He had actually fallen over in his chair, and was now rolling on the floor in laughter. The acrid, burning smoke stayed with her, made her lungs felt like they were half as big as they actually were. It coated her tongue, though she had to admit, the smell and the taste weren’t entirely un-agreeable… Just the force of the smoke in her lungs. Still coughing, she stood and struggled to the sink, gulping water down. It helped allay the feeling in her lungs, but the invasive taste remained. She started laughing with the rest of them now, still coughing intermittently.

“Fuck.” She managed to gasp, chuckling as she wiped tears from her eyes. “Ow… C’mon, let’s try again.” Already, she was starting to feel giddy. David laughed and held the pipe for her, though he let her work that little hole on the side. She waited until the fire had turned the leaves into red embers before letting go. Now that she was in control, it wasn’t as unexpected. She was able to hold it in for a few seconds before blowing it out, coughing with the exhalation. The smoke washed across the table, engulfing everyone in a cloud of cannabis smoke. David took a drag from the pipe, and then passed it along.

They spent the rest of the night talking, laughing, and eating. Maggie felt ravenous. What’s more, the drug made her feel like she was much smarter. In her head, she started calculating advanced trajectories of planar essences on a substandard arch of the gatestone spell, cranking them out in her head. Soon, though, she’d grow bored with it and move on to something else… Like how she could get this chocolate bar inbetween two slices of cake.

Eventually, Maggie went to sleep… She wasn’t sure where, or when, but she was warm and happy. Something or someone was next to her, and she curled closer to them. Absently, an arm wrapped around her shoulders, waking her out of the long sleep. Her mouth felt musty, the aftertaste of the cannabis still prevalent on her palette. “Mornin’.” The voice said softly. Maggie lifted her head, feeling fuzzy and groggy as she looked up at David, smiling down at her.

“Ugh.” She groaned. “Did we?”

“No.” He said with a soft chuckle. “Ben sure wanted us to, though… They left around one.” He smiled and kissed her forehead. It felt nice. Unlike her mouth. She was torn. She didn’t want to leave, but she didn’t want to go without brushing her teeth… Or showering, for that matter.

“How bad was I?” She muttered, burying closer to him for a few more moments.

“You did fine. Hell, it was hilarious watching you try to teleport from the kitchen to the bathroom. You kept hitting the wall.” His chest jumped as he laughed, making her head jiggle a little. She smiled and nuzzled into the crook of his arm, curling tighter. “You okay?” He asked gently.

“I have a headache and a mean need to brush my teeth and take a shower.” She muttered softly, pressing closer still. Her hair was most likely a mess, and her clothes reeked of pot. That is, if she was wearing any… Maggie suddenly realized she was clothed in just her panties… No shirt, no bra, just her undies… She blushed and buried closer, thankful the blankets were covering her. “Uum…”

“Yeah…”

“Could you…?”

“Yeah, here.” David muttered softly, rolling onto his side. Maggie blushed deeply as she quickly slid away, one arm covering her breasts as she quickly slipped into the bathroom. They were in her bedroom, the master, so she didn’t have to risk the hall to get to the bathroom. She slipped in and closed the door, taking a sneak peek back into the room. David was watching her, if surreptitiously. Maggie found herself smiling as she started brushing her teeth, going once, twice… She had to use mouthwash to get the last bit of the taste out of her mouth, but when she was done, she felt clean, if slightly dirty. Then a thought struck her…

“David?” She said softly, peeking her head out of the bathroom. David sat up on her bed, the covers concealing the lower half of his body. The top half was bare, not unlike her own… She spied his shirt laying forgotten on the ground. And his jeans. David was either nude, or close to it… Apprehension and anxiety welled up within her as she asked the all-important question… The one that would probably change her life for good.

“Wanna… Help me out?”

Life of a Student: III

---------- Life of a Student: Twilight Sparkle – Part 3 ----------

--- Brief Author’s note: ---

You might want to go back and quickly read through the last bit of Twilight’s original chapter in A Different Kind of Love. In fact, writing this, I was reading it off to the side at the same time. A lot of things were made a lot more clear, as I saw the correlation between Tobias’ actions and Twilight’s thoughts.

That being said, there’s going to be some pretty damn heavy BDSM in this chapter. Reader beware.

Consciousness came to her slowly, as if through a haze… Twilight groaned and pinched her eyes shut, trying to get her mind to focus through the acrid, alcohol-like fog covering her senses. She whimpered slightly as she felt ropes dig into her wrists… And her ankles… What the hell had happened? Twilight fought to open her eyes, willing her muscles to open the heavy lids. It didn’t happen, sadly… At least, not without monumental effort. It was like trying to lift a boulder with her neck… It wasn’t going to happen…

She heard rustling, the sound of fabric and other materials being rubbed together in movement… Through the haze of whatever it was flowing through her mind, she couldn’t make out what was happening… In fact, she couldn’t make out ANY of what was happening to her at that moment… So, she focused on one thing. One thing and one thing only.

Open your eyes.

One thought. One goal. One purpose. She bent the will of her mind to that one simple idea. It was a brilliant mind, one blessed by Celestia and praised as the greatest in all of Equestria… She could do this. This was cake. There were some distracting factors… This taste in her mouth that had her worried. The cutting of ropes into her numb wrists and ankles. She pushed them all aside, like the stressors that would muddle a spell. She was practiced at this. Slowly, surely, like a snail making it’s way up a mountainside, Twilight began to regain control of her eyes. At first, all she could make out was a very blurry, dark sliver. But it was progress. She was able to open her eyes, even if just a little…

“Hmph.” The sound came to her, sounding fuzzy and distorted. But it was a sound… A sound she didn’t make. Which meant someone else made it. There was someone else in her room… Focus, Twi… She reprimanded herself, turning her attention back to the task of opening her eyes. With great effort, she managed to open them halfway. Everything was blurry, brown, and warm… Like… Like looking through a very out-of-focus lens… But she was able to open and close her eyes at least halfway without struggling. So she did that repeatedly. Blinking. That’s what it was called. She blinked until the world slowly began to come into focus…

She was sideways on the floor, looking underneath her bed. The warm hardwood floor pressed to her side, hugging her, supporting her very slight weight… Underneath her bed, she could see through to the other side… There was nothing underneath her bed to shield the view of her bedside table and the vanity at the far end of the room… Wait… Hang on…

There’s nothing underneath my bed!

With a gasp, Twilight suddenly sat straight up. An admirable feat, considering just a few moments ago she was struggling to even open her eyes. She blinked wide, the fog of grogginess suddenly gone. The room snapped into focus, her thoughts and memories coming with them. Along with a new feeling. A sort of emptiness… Like a part of her was missing… Then the taste in her mouth was suddenly more defined. She worked her fuzzy tongue around, searching for them… The leaves… She knew what it was. The taste was just like the smell. Celestia had shown her this herb long ago. It was dangerous. It was every magi’s poison. Magesbane.

She looked up at Tobias, standing there… One hundred percent nude. And aroused. Her eyes trailed up and down his form, taking in every inch of his bronzed, god-like skin… He was slender, but toned… Not skinny, that much was certain. Tobias most definitely worked out. He was taller than her by a few inches, not enough to seem overpowering, but enough to hit that target of “Sexy.” What’s more, his was probably the first male penis Twilight had encountered… Not to say she was a stranger to penetration. Her forays in the field of bondage with Celestia had involved more than one strapon or dildo. Her hymen had been ruptured quite some time ago. Putting it in wouldn’t be an issue. He was completely shaven, smooth, and rather thick…

The situation finally became obvious to Twilight. Her groggy head was cleared enough that she could focus on what was happening. Tobias, who had discovered her secret stash the other day, had knocked her out. Probably using chloroform, or some other drug… Then, when she was unconscious, had used magesbane to lock her magic. Her brief studies in horticulture had told her magesbane was a dangerous herb that, if ingested, would lock magic away for approximately three days. If chewed, and the spit swallowed, would lock it away for upwards of ten hours. But, if diluted and mixed with water, then injected intravenously, would last for days… Twilight prayed he hadn’t force-fed her… Being as powerful as she was, Twilight would likely recuperate in six hours. If she had swallowed it, a day and a half. If injected, close to two and a half days. These were all estimates. Still. Twilight was tied, powerless, and alone… With Tobias… Who had just noticed she was awake.

“Fuck. You got me.” She muttered, lowering her head in defeat.

“Not like you didn’t want it.” Truth… Twilight’s gaze landed on the box in his hands. Fuck… He found EVERYthing… “What, pray tell, is this, my dear Twilight?” His voice was so low, so… SULTRY. Twilight would be fooling herself if she said she wasn’t enjoying this already… She was on the cusp, held between discomfort and arousal. No, not discomfort… Submission. Forced submission. Not the kind of ‘I’ll lay down and take it because I secretly want it too’ sort of submission… This was something much, much more serious… Twilight was going to be abused this night. She just knew it. Nothing was going to stop Tobias, and she wasn’t sure if she even wanted him to be stopped… Suddenly, Tobias’ hand was on her chin, wrenching her gaze around up into his eyes. His brilliant, magnificent, amber eyes…

“What. Is in the box.” He meant business. She couldn’t tell him. No way in all of Equestria was she going to tell him what was in the box. She had never used them. Celestia had never used them. They had been in there since she was given them by her mentor. No one should ever use them.

“A-aphrodisiacs.” She said, not even able to stop herself… The words came like water from a popped casket. “A shot of half a syringe will get you horny all night. Limitless energy, quick recuperation from orgasms, eliminates fatigue… But it’ll dehydrate you and give you a massive headache after you’re done…” Tobias listened, still holding her chin as she spoke, but once she was finished, Tobias released her. His grin was frightening. Twilight watched, fear thundering through her veins, as Tobias pulled a syringe and one of the three phials out. “What are you-“

“Shh.” The order might as well have been a commandment from Celestia herself, given not in the heat of passion but as a royal decree, one that demanded utter compliance and total submission. Twilight was wet. Tobias started filling the syringe and injecting himself. Twilight’s eyes widened as he used magic to make a vein pop up in his arm.

“Don’t use it on yourself! What are you-“

“I said Shh.” Tobias glowered at her before turning his attention back to the needle. Smooth and easy, he slid the needle in and pushed the stopper home. Twilight watched as the plunger pushed the drug into Tobias… Into the naked man before her… “According to you, this stuff will keep me going all night. Which is just what I need, if I’m going to have my way with you.” Twilight watched as the drug took hold of Tobias, his thick member swelling even more. She watched, utterly entranced, as a shiny bit of liquid oozed from the tip, glistening on the mushroom-like flesh of his member…

“Tobias, I… I don’t want…” She was going to say she didn’t want him to go easy. But the smile Tobias gave her was nothing short of diabolical. Tobias wasn’t going to take it easy on her. Not in any sense of the word. Twilight was at his mercy. She felt the blood rise to her cheeks as he continued talking…

“I used magesbane on you to lock away your magic. No cheating and cutting yourself free, or casting any spells, or anything.” He dropped the used syringe into the waste bin next to her desk, turning back to Twilight. His smooth steps made his thick cock bounce up and down lewdly, still oozing shining liquid from that slit at the tip… The words he said next, though, struck a chord within Twilight…

“From now until I deem fit, you are mine to do with as I please. As far as I’m concerned, you are just a hole for me to fuck senseless. An object.” He advanced close enough to lift Twilight’s chin with a single finger. Her eyes were wide, her heart thundering as he spoke the two words that flipped that switch deep inside of her. “A toy.”

A toy! A thing! An object! That was her mantra when she was with Celestia… Those three short, clipped sentences… Twilight was a toy. A thing. An object.

Twilight was VERY wet now…

“Y-yes, Tobias.” SMACK! The blow snapped her head around, made her see stars. It wasn’t very painful, if at all… Quite the opposite, really… The heated tingle ran from her cheek through her head, down her neck, and over her body straight to her crotch. Twilight shuddered as she felt more wetness seep from her core. She couldn’t help but give a short yelp of shock and desire…

“You will call me Master.” Tobias growled at her. “Am I clear?” Twilight heard the words, listened to him say them… She was still recuperating as she spoke.

“Y-yes…” She was suddenly wrenched up, her scalp tugged tight as Tobias gripped her hair.

“Yes WHAT?” Twilight felt her chest tighten, the tingle of needle-like pain shooting down her spine straight from her scalp. Her breathing came short as she fought to please Tobias.

“Yes master!” She panted, her chest rising and falling in lewd, quick motions. She babbled, saying anything that came to mind to give him what he wanted… “Y-yes, Master. I’m sorry, please forgive me.” Don’t. Don’t forgive me. Punish me. Please… She almost groaned as Tobias’ hand caressed her cheek, massaging away the dull ache of the slap he had delivered earlier…

“Good girl, Twilight.” Anything but. “I’m going to untie you now.” Why would you ever want to do that? “Are you going to try and fight me?” No promises I won’t. She shook her head anyways. “Are you going to run?” Away from you, the person with the dick? Hardly. She shook her head more firmly this time. “Will you do everything I tell you to? Like a good little girl?” Oh I am anything but good, Tobias… You’ll see… I’ll show you everything.

“Yes Master.” She answered obediently. Twilight knew better than to voice her thoughts during these sessions… Doing so normally either resulted in pain, which she wasn’t TERRIBLY keen on, or a lessened sense of satisfaction when her secret desires were ignored, neglected, and pushed aside. Twilight had to rub her thighs together to try and stop the spread of her arousal… Of the wet juice that seemed to flow almost freely from her vagina… Reluctantly, Tobias began untying her. The smooth rope loosened and finally gave, freeing Twilight’s hands. True to his words, Tobias had locked her magic away. She couldn’t summon a thing. Not a single spark. Against him, the larger and more buff man, she didn’t stand a chance. Suddenly, Tobias was gone. She watched his firm, toned ass as it walked away, plopping bare into her favorite chair. He spun around, and spoke the first command she had received all night.

“Strip.” Her heart hammered in her chest. She slowly rose to her feet, feeling weak and uneasy on her shaking muscles. Her clothes left her body one by one, though she paused at her underwear. Half of it was because she was acting coy, something that would have earned her a smack and a rough deepthroat with a strapon from Celestia. But with Tobias, he just seemed to grow impatient. He rolled his hand, signifying her to continue. “Get on with it.” He said gruffly. She popped the clasp and exposed her chest to him, her nipples puckered with gooseflesh, hard as diamonds already. Tobias shifted, exposing his cock once more, still hard and pulsing, glistening with that telltale liquid… Precum, if her addled mind recalled correctly… She stepped out of her soaked panties, now completely and entirely bare before Tobias’ gaze. Tobias, the man that had barged into her home, accused her of idiocy, who she’d studied with… Who she’d opened her home to.

Things sure escalated quickly in Twilight’s life…

“Tell me now, Twilight.” His low voice drew her attention away from his crotch. His gaze, though, was on hers. The thin strip of hair she kept neatly trimmed. Celestia liked it that way… “What you want me to do to you. Tell me what is going to give you the most pleasure.” What? This is new… It’s never been about me before… Twilight gnawed on her lip as she struggled with the muddled mess of desires inside of her body. Her vagina called for one thing, her breasts another, and her mind a third. She wanted so much from him… She wanted so much for herself… She never told anyone, though… So much better when they discovered it on their own… “I-I want…” She was hashing it out, hoping he would allow her to talk through it. No such luck. He was right there in that moment, his hand in her hair.

“You want WHAT?!” He growled, his face hovering so close she could feel his hot breath against her face… She gasped as he pulled, making her entire body tense before him. Unless she was mistaken, his penis was touching her. TOUCHING her! In that moment, she had to answer with the part of her that was crying out the loudest… The part that required the most attention.

“AAHN! I want you cock!” She let it flow then… Let it all go. Babble, completely unintelligible, with absolutely no thought… It poured fast and free from her mouth, betraying the deepest, most innermost thoughts of her nasty, dark, hidden core… “Please, Master! I want you to stick it in me! Fill me up with your cum! Use me in any way you want, but please, put your cock inside of me!” It wasn’t unlike when she begged Celestia to put it in… But for one reason or another, she was crying… Tears welled in her eyes, tears of frustration and desire…

“Good girl,” Tobias finally said, releasing her hair. “When I ask you a question, you answer it. Was that so hard?” Fuck! Yes! Harder than anything I’ve ever done! Her mind cried out in frustration and anger, her scalp tingling in the aftermath of his rough, teasing tug on her hair… “Now, put that harness on as only I know you can…” Tobias went and sat back down, and Twilight found her gaze directed to the bed… Fuck. Tobias had EVERY toy she owned pulled out and spread out on the bed… Every dirty little secret she kept from her friends was there, laid out on her purple comforter, organized and spread out… Every vibrator, whip, length of rope, even her body harness… With trembling hands, she started pulling it on. The tight garment hugged her body, restricted her breathing, made her whimper and gasp slightly with every new strap that fell into place… She was wrapped up, spun out, and oh so sopping wet… Just the act of putting the harness on made her whimper with pleasure. When she was finished putting on the admittedly slutty outfit, she turned back to Tobias, who started pacing around her… When he came around to her front, Twilight couldn’t help but watch his dick bob up and down…

“D-does Master approve?” She asked quietly. She was quivering… Shivering… Not from the cold, it was actually a very warm night. No, she was excited… Painfully so.

“Very much so.” Tobias’ hand slid up her back, making her shiver more, but the shivering stopped as he gripped her hair. “On your knees.” The command came with a rough tug, smooth and fast, that forced Twilight down. She hit the floor with a painful thump, her knees knocking painfully against the hard wood. She gave a thin noise from her throat, but managed to keep from crying out with pain. “So you said this aphrodisiac will keep me cumming all night, right?” Tobias asked, looking down at her. She put on her best face, wide eyes and a fearful expression.

“Y-yes, master… All night. Well past normal limits, but not outside the realm of possibility. There’s… There’s only so much s-sperm you can produce before there’s no more…”

“Good. Then you can start with your mouth.” Tobias growled, pulling on her hair more. Twilight had a high threshold for pain. She really did… But he was pulling so HARD! She opened her mouth to gasp, which must have been his aim… Smooth and easy, Tobias’ cock invaded her mouth. The first thing to hit her was the scent… This wasn’t plastic or rubber… Or metal, that one time… When Celestia wore a strapon, it was always scentless, tasteless, and smooth… Not so with Tobias… He had this thick, musky scent about him… The salty taste of his precum assaulted her tongue, made her throat contract as it filled her nostrils and her mouth… She almost bit down, but he was filling her mouth so completely she couldn’t have willed herself if she wanted it. He brushed the entrance to her throat with the tip, making her convulse before smoothly pulling out.

“Auck!” Twilight gasped and spit up a wad of saliva that fell onto her bare, heaving breasts… Lewd strands of saliva stretched between her panting, open mouth and his thick cock. Tobias relentlessly pushed back into her open mouth, spearing her straight back to her throat. The hand in her hair kept her from pulling away, but that didn’t mean Twilight wasn’t trying… He assaulted her, the taste and smell of his cock robbing her senses. He was making her choke and gag, the lewd noises accompanying the wet, slick sounds of his cock sliding in and out of her mouth… Twilight flushed, felt her jaw start to go slack with the constant, repeated invasion… She could hardly hold out any more. Her eyes rolled back in her head as he pulled out. She couldn’t even watch as he came the first time.

But she smelled it. The thick, heady scent filled her nostrils as the first shot of cum landed in her hair. She kept her mouth open, slack, drooling a little, as he emptied shot after shot onto her face… Some of it fell to her breasts, some of it to the floor… There were a few bits that landed in her mouth. The taste filled her tongue, robbed her senses… It was salty, and mildly revolting… She almost spit it out. But that would displease him. She didn’t let the taste bother her… She couldn’t. Instead, she focused on the act. He was degrading her completely, breaking her down to the most basic, primal level of existence. She was nothing more than an outlet to him. A thing. An object. A toy. Idly, she swallowed the few strands of cum in her mouth, feeling the sticky fluid cling to her throat on the way down…

She didn’t open her eyes until he pulled her up by her hair. “Did you like it?” Tobias growled, his hot breath teasing the thick liquid on her forehead. Again, she babbled, saying what she could to please his demands.

“Yes master!” I don’t deserve your cum, thank you! Thank you so much!” With the words came the desire. She couldn’t get enough of his cum suddenly. The disgusting taste was addictive… She had to have more… Her tongue lashed her lips, seeking those delicious droplets she had missed.

“No, you do deserve it.” Those words preceded another slap. Twilight didn’t even see it coming. It took her completely by surprise, spun her around until she landed roughly on the bed. The clatter of plastic and rubber sounded as her toys fell to the floor, some of them trapped under her weight, others tossed from the bed to fly to the ground smoothly. She relished the tingle of pleasure in her nethers, the throbbing in her cheek… “A little cumslut like you deserves every single drop of cum that she gets. Am I right?” Tobias’ rough words were lewd, dirty, and oh so arousing… Twilight felt more wetness pulse as she agreed with him.

“Yes, master! I deserve all this cum! Please, give me more!” She wanted more, right? Yes. More. She needed more. She deserved it. She was a filthy, wet little slut…

“That’s what I thought… What to do with you?” Tobias began walking around the bed, around her. It was excruciating… She could feel his gaze roam over her ravished body, taking in the gentle curve of her form completely encased in leather. He was watching her, looking at her… In her most weak, vulnerable state, he was just walking around her… She whimpered. “I guess it’s time we get you some pleasure, hmm? Pick your ass up, show me that hungry little pussy.” His words sent a shiver down her spine. Twilight automatically felt her knees walk up the bed, almost not by her own device. She spread her knees apart, standing on all fours as Tobias leaned in to look at her crotch… Without any sort of warning, Twilight felt two fingers plunge into her wet, twitching cunt…

“Look at that,” Tobias teased, rolling his fingers about inside of her. He hit her from an angle she could never achieve on her own. Her own fingers paled in comparison to his skilled, muscular touch… He flexed, spread her apart, worked inside of her in a way that she never could. Not even Celestia was this good… “You get so wet from a simple blowjob. Just a dirty, wet little slut…” Twilight flushed at his dirty words, felt his weight sag into the bed behind her… He was getting behind her… He was… He was getting ready to go in! Twilight felt his head part her wet lips, slick and easy… She could almost feel the rest of his shaft, lined up just perfectly…

“N-no! Give me ti- AUGH!” Twilight grunted as he drove into her. The invasion was so sudden, so rough, she lost feeling in her legs… Her hands were caught between pushing back at him and grasping the covers… He was so THICK! Oh sweet Celestia, forgive me… This is so… Soo… Tobias started thrusting, sliding in and out with the greatest ease. Her own wetness betrayed her. Twilight was resigned to it, now… She gripped the comforter in her fists, and let loose. SO GOOD!

“Ooooohh, so tight. But so wet… You’re just loving this, aren’t you?” Yes. Please. Yes. I love it. I love it. I love it! I love it! I LOVE IT! She wanted to scream it out at the top of her lungs. She was just about to when he pulled out, just his head spreading her entrance apart. She wondered what was happening-

*SMACK*

“AAHHN!” Twilight cried out as he spanked her, making her entire body jump with the force of the impact. That blow sparked deep inside of her, made her twitch as it reached the very depth of her being… Twilight whimpered helplessly, answering him as best she could. “Y-yes…”

“Oh, and I forgot to mention…” Tobias’ long fingers wrapped around her throat, pulling her up. She had to release the comforter or risk dragging it with her. He pulled her up, up, up, until her back was against his chest. His flat, muscled, toned chest… “If you don’t ask for permission before you cum , you won’t walk right for a week.” She shuddered. Hard. Tobias wasn’t lying… He would make good on his promise.

“P-please…” Twilight whimpered, her body falling forward again. She was so close… It was like trying to hold back a dam. A dam that was very rapidly about to break. “Please, may I cum?” Tobias stopped. Twilight wasn’t sure if she was thankful or resentful…

“So soon? Hmm, I don’t know… What’s in it for me?” That was it. An ultimatum. Pleasure now, but she would owe him… Twilight wasn’t so sure she didn’t already owe him… The babble returned. Though this time, Twilight meant every single word.

“I-if you let me cum now, I’ll… I’ll… I’ll suck you off again. I’ll let you put it in my ass… Please. I’ll do anything.” She wasn’t kidding. As she looked back at Tobias, her entire body stretched out underneath him, she meant it… She would do anal for him. Celestia had trained her. She had done an enema in the shower just before leaving for poker. She was clean. She wanted it. She needed it.

Twilight, the dirty little slut, deserved it.

“Like I needed your permission to do any of that anyways. If I so wanted, I could penetrate your anus right now, no questions asked. And you couldn’t do a damn thing to stop me. You’re going to have to do much better than that if you want me to let you cum.” Tobias left… He fucking LEFT! Twilight’s gaping hole was vacated, leaving her empty, panting, wanting more. That gap couldn’t be filled. Twilight deliberately pushed her fingers deep into her twitching core, flexing back and forth.

“Haaahh…” The first orgasm came with glorious relaxation, her muscles melting under the force of her skilled fingers. Smooth and easy, Twilight felt her orgasm pulse through her, leaving her senseless in the aftermath… She even drooled a little bit…

“Did you just cum…? You… You used your fingers to get yourself off without my permission.” Twilight smacked her lips together, controlling the saliva from her mouth. “Wrong move, Twi. On the floor.” Tobias left her then, his weight making the bed rise slightly. Twilight stayed there, fighting to control the pleasure still flowing fast and free through her. Maybe a minute passed. She was feeling playful. If Tobias wouldn’t let her cum, then he was soft. A good dom would have made her cum, made her whimper and beg and plead as she helplessly came at his touch. Tobias was no dom. He gave her pleasure. He asked her questions. She could control this situation still. Tobias looked back at her, seeing her defiant form still on top of the bed. “I said get on the floor.”

Twilight grinned at him. Her lips split in a grin. There, straddling her darkest secret, recovering from the post-orgasmic bliss, Twilight defiantly grinned at her captor.

“No.”

The slap hurt. A lot.

Almost as much as the fall to the floor did.

Twilight’s senses blurred over as she felt her body tugged and pulled in one way or another, lifted, twisted, manipulated… Her joints ached, her cheek stung, and she was weak. Very, very weak… Maybe she had hit her head… All the while, Tobias was growling in her ear.

“You.” He tugged her hair. “Don’t.” Her wrists were bound behind her back with handcuffs. “Tell me.” Twilight felt the gag fill her mouth, spreading her jaws apart. “No.” Twilight couldn’t see anymore… She was blindfolded, cuffed, and stretched out…

“Hmmf!” She grunted against the gag.

Apparently, Tobias WAS a dom… His heavy breathing filled the air, along with the sound of… What was that…? It was wet… Sounded almost like flesh… The breathing came faster, then came out in a thin sound… Along with it, came the wet warmth. Sperm. Tobias had just came on her. He had masturbated and selflessly came right on Twilight’s chest. Her breasts were covered in it, the wet, slippery, sticky strands of cum on her skin… Twilight was left there, on her knees, completely devoid of any contact… She couldn’t see, she couldn’t hear much of anything… She could smell, though… She smelled his cum. She could feel. She felt helpless. Tied, bound, objectified… Twilight was alone, afraid, and powerless… Then she heard something…

Clinking… Mettalic clinking… He wasn’t… No… He couldn’t be! Twilight almost moved, but Tobias’ touch returned in a moment. The cold metal clamped around her ankles. Twilight fought him, but couldn’t do a single thing. Tobias spread her apart, cuffing both of her legs… His hands left her skin, but the metal remained… She tried to close her legs, but couldn’t… There was a solid bar of metal inbetween her ankles, attached to both of the cuffs… She couldn’t close her legs. She was completely open to him now.

She felt wetness trickle down her thigh.

“Right then.” Tobias groaned… Tobias, the dom. Her dom. Her master. “Let’s get to making sure you can’t walk.” Twilight’s face hit the floor roughly, dulling her senses with the rough pain.

She was at his mercy now. Shame, since Tobias had absolutely no mercy. His finger speared her asshole roughly, even as he pushed that thick, throbbing shaft back into her dripping cunt. The gag kept her from crying out. The cuffs kept her from closing her legs. Another set of cuffs kept her from using her hands. Twilight couldn’t stop him as Tobias thrust deep and smooth into her wet, dripping pussy. The double pleasure made Twilight cum then and there. She couldn’t even ask for permission… Helplessly, she was thrust into her orgasm, held there by the firm, choking sensation of his authority, and wasn’t allowed to come back up for air until she finished. Breathing heavy through her nose, Twilight could only flex her abdominal muscles as Tobias finished inside of her. The sticky warmth filled her middle as Tobias emptied a huge orgasm into her pussy.

“What, didn’t want me to cum inside? You were begging for it earlier.” Tobias teased, pulling all of his appendages out of her. Twilight was barren for but a moment before Tobias shoved two fingers roughly into her dripping cunt, swirling the sticky strands of cum around inside of her. He started digging it out… The wet, splattering sound was so… So… EROTIC! Twilight nearly came just from the feeling of her wet hole dripping with his seed… “And I can keep cumming all night. We’ve hardly begun, and you’re already begging for the end. Oh, poor Twilight, you’re in for a shock…” Tobias teased her. His words were anything but true… Twilight couldn’t stop her thoughts as they thundered through her mind.

Liar. You’re a liar, Tobias. I want it. I need it. More cum. Please! More cum! Give me more! Put it in my ass, put it in my throat, use me, abuse me, make me cry and moan. I want to pass out. Fuck me! Put your dick inside of me and FUCK ME! PLEASE! I want it all. Every little bit. Use every little toy on me. Fill me to the brim and pull it all out. Make me suck your dirty cock. Make me taste your cum. Fill my belly with your sticky, smelly seed… Whip my ass, fill me with vibrators and beads and toys… Shove that dildo in my pussy, please… I want it all. I want every bit of punishment you are going to give me. Take every secret I’ve ever kept and LITERALLY SHOVE IT BACK INTO ME!

Twilight was not left wanting for long. Tobias used probably half of the lubrication she had in her large bottle, pouring a huge stream of slippery, oily liquid onto her. She felt it ooze down past her dripping cunt, onto the floor… The wetness spread until it touched her knees, until it was almost completely underneath her. She flexed, feeling some of it spill into her ass… Spread into her cunt… Just like his cock was… Twilight grunted as he pushed into her, spreading her back door apart. This… This was an entirely different sort of pleasure… Anal stimulation was the ultimate for Twilight. She couldn’t handle it… Almost immediately, she came. The thin liquid mixed with the lubricant, dripping down her shining thighs and covering the floor even further.

“There we go.” Tobias grunted. “Let’s get both your holes filled.” Twilight felt her vagina filled once more. Only this time, it was a vibrator… And it made her cum again. She flexed, whimpering and drooling helplessly as the vibrations pulled another twitching orgasm from her muscles. Tobias relentlessly plunged his thick cock into her ass, thrusting and pumping smoothly. The vibrator made Twilight into a blubbering, drooling mess… She couldn’t help it as she came. And again. And again…

Keep going. She was loving it. Don’t stop. Everything was perfect. More. She needed more. More cum. She DESERVED more.

More…

“Fuck…” Twilight said. It was about two hours later. She was nude again. All around them, toys and evidence of rough, sticky, dirty lovemaking littered the room. Here, a riding crop shining with a bit of lubricant… There, the cat-o-ninetails lay crumpled on the floor where Tobias had thrown it. Shining on the floor, in a puddle of ejaculation, a set of anal beads lay coiled up slightly. The rope was tangled, with more than a few knots left in it. “I mean, seriously, fuck… I was NOT expecting that…” Twilight grunted. She really hadn’t been… Tobias was inexhaustible. Seriously, he couldn’t be done with her if he wanted to… It was close to dawn then. Twilight was weak, Tobias was flagging… It was all she could do to start gathering the soiled toys and throwing them back into the empty plastic bin… She would have to do some serious cleaning… “Tobias…”

“Yes, Twi?” Her master, her partner, her… Her dominator… Tobias. She slowly advanced towards him, wrapping him in a soft hug. They were done. No more master and slave. No more fake faces or dancing around the situation. Twilight spoke her heart to him them.

“That was… The absolute best fuck I’ve ever had. Ever. Every single thing about what you did was one hundred percent perfect. I mean, that thing with the anal beads AND your cock in my ass… Fantastic.” It really had been… Tobias had filled her to the brim, over and again, left her whimpering and shuddering as she helplessly came time and again to his ministrations. She hadn’t even noticed when her magic came back. She hadn’t cared. They embraced for a few long moments, Twilight’s chest rising and falling, her muscles shaking now and then. Eventually, Tobias muttered to her.

“Sleep, Twi.” It sounded like Tobias was concerned for her, but also concerned for himself.

“Right. See you tomorrow.” She managed to say softly. Twilight left him, managing a few limping steps towards her bed… Her ass stung with the aftermath of a really rough smack he had given her, and it made walking a painful experience… She fell forward onto her bed, the sound of her door closing the last thing she registered before she passed out…

She slept sound for a full ten hours. That was unheard of for her. Twilight prided herself on functioning off of six hours perfectly fine. It gave her more useable hours in the day, hours she could spend studying, being with her friends, or other things… Her schedule was so far off now… Her clock betrayed it to be late evening, close to six… The sun was slowly sinking down, making her room glow with a soft sort of warmth that she was not unused to waking up to. That, of course, was after she went to bed well into the morning… Twilight groaned and fought to roll onto her back. Seriously, Tobias had done her over good… She was embarrassed to admit, he had fucked her until she couldn’t walk. Flushing at the memory of all that had gone on last night, Twilight adjusted herself until she was laying with her head on the pillow. Her muscles were weak, tired, and fatigued… It was all she could do to summon a plate of crackers and a glass of water from the kitchen downstairs. Apparently, she was taking the night to recuperate.

Twilight laid there, still nude, feeling her muscles slowly recover with the gentle sips of water and half a cracker every fifteen minutes… She didn’t even read. Tobias had fucked her up real good. She found herself idly wondering how Tobias felt after last night… The aphrodisiacs were powerful, and he had taken a full syringe… Almost twice the recommended dosage. Idly, Twilight remembered to shield her door, just in case Spike came home and checked in on her. Wouldn’t do to have the poor little guy walk in on her butt-naked, still sticky from the violent night of lovemaking, and surrounded by various bondage devices. She groaned, then, when the door knocked.

“Twi? It’s Tobias.” She blinked. How could he be so strong? Twilight idly dropped the shield, letting him in.

“Come in.” Twilight smiled as he slipped in, standing on both his legs. He didn’t look any worse for the wear… In fact, he looked just as sexy, sleek, and muscular as ever. Though, he did have bags under his eyes. “Hey. You look good.” Twilight smiled as she beckoned Tobias over. He crossed the room and leaned over to kiss her softly, smiling against her lips. When he pulled away, though, his face was rather serious.

“We need to talk.” Twilight’s heart stopped.

Tobias was a changeling.

Standing before her, black and shiny, was a changeling. Holes in her arms, long, teal hair, diaphanous wings… A fucking changeling.

“It’s about Chrysalis.”

Twilight screamed.