My Little Pony: Domestication Is Magic

Chapters

Chapter 1: In Which Twilight Sparkle Gets A Wellness Check
Chapter 2: In Which Rarity Undergoes A Suspect Beauty Treatment
Chapter 3: In Which Twilight Goes Looking For A Friendship Problem
Chapter 4: In Which The Pink One is A Lot
Chater 5: In Which Lilian Ketamina Blows Off Some Steam

Chapter 1: In Which Twilight Sparkle Gets A Wellness Check

Twilight Sparkle was not doing well. There were many reasons to be nervous, but she tried to focus on the one that wasn't related to the alien invasion happening outside.

She hadn't learned a single thing about friendship this week. In fact, she had spent the entire time hiding in her library, watching from the window as classic colonials and barnhouses were ripped away, replaced with larger stacks that defied all material limits Twilight knew, though she was hardly going to go out and ask what they were made of.

Just twelve days ago, a fleet of massive ships had appeared in the sky over all of Equestria. The invaders, apparently named the Affini Compact, had announced themselves as only being here to help. They were apparently not from another kingdom, but from a completely different galaxy altogether. The fighting had lasted only a few days, and when news traveled that the hopelessly outmatched ponies had surrendered and Canterlot was now under Affini control, Twilight had shuttered herself away and refused to come out.

She carefully focused her kinetic magic through her horn to crack the curtain up just a little. A silvery white building covered in deep blue and green foliage larger than town hall had appeared across the street since yesterday. She closed the curtain, and went back to nervously pacing.

The discarded wrappers of compiled hayburgers lay strewn across the room. Twilight had eaten little else in the last week. The compiler in the center of her room was seemingly able to produce any meal she could imagine and countless more she couldn’t. The selection was staggering, and it took very little time for her to decide she’d be better off with what she knew. Her stomach was not pleased with her, but she had bigger things to worry about. Like what, if anything, could be done about the aliens that had invaded and conquered her home. She must have read every book in the library looking for something, anything, that could help… Whatever she was looking for, it just wasn’t here. She bit her lip, nervous energy rising. Everything around her was changing so fast, and she had just started to adapt to her new life here in Ponyville…

A knock at the front door interrupted her train of thought, making her jump. A bit of shame crept through her; she was here in Ponyville to study friendship, surely she shouldn’t be scared of a simple knock at the door? Even though it could be one of… them.

A shudder rippled through her tail as she recalled the most recent interaction she had had with an affini. It was… harrowing. It had let itself in, and its pony-like form had unraveled into a mess of vines as it seemingly scanned through the entirety of her library’s contents in a matter of minutes, all the while conversing with Twilight, and doting on… the pale blue unicorn that used to call herself the Great and Powerful Trixie.

‘The docile and submissive Trixie would like to apologize to you for its past transgressions,’ Twilight’s once-rival had expounded, after launching into an explanation about how she, or, it, had turned over a new leaf, while the mass of flowers beside them had stroked the other unicorn’s horn with what seemed like lust, before going back to rooting through her entire home.

The entire interaction had felt surreal, and Twilight felt like she had barely been present as the uncanny mass of vines and leaves complimented the extent of her collection, patted her head, and did… something that left Trixie whinnying in pleasure. In front of her, while she just gazed on in disbelief. Twilight seethed. She’d never so much as kissed another pony. She’d wanted to recoil, but it felt like something was stopping her. Like a pressure in the back of her mind, a reminder that it would be rude. So she just sat there and watched, then politely said goodbye when the affini had finished perusing her library.

The most horrifying part of all, of course, had been Trixie’s cutie mark, which Twilight shuddered to even think about…

A second knock, this time firmer, more insistent. “Twilight Sparkle, dearest, please open the door. A friend of yours was concerned about your well-being and asked me to check on you.”

Her heart froze in her throat. That was no pony speaking. The strange, melodic quality of the voice left no room for question - ponies didn’t sound that beautiful.

“Petal, I know you’re in there, would you like to let me in, or should I let myself in?”

She shook her head and composed herself. There was time for dealing with that later. “Just a moment,” she shouted down, rising to shaky hooves. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror, and blinked - she looked awful. Deep, black circles under her eyes from falling asleep in the library. Her mane, unkempt and frizzy. It looked like she’d barely eaten or slept in days.

She sighed. She’d seen worse.

She made her way down the stairs.

Lilian Ketamina, 1st Bloom, gazed down at the sophont before her. Twilight Sparkle, apparently the town’s librarian. She sounded delightful - a magical prodigy, a bit high-strung, very loyal to her friends, apparently quite important in the last pre-compact phase of this nation’s history. Beloved by everyone in town, most notably her five closest friends. From the description Lilian had heard, the six of them were apparently a functional part of some kind of magical weapon. Strange, but every indication was that they were genuinely good for each other, and it was clear that they were not to be separated.

It came as no surprise, then, that these friends, after not having seen her for a week, had started to worry about her. They clearly knew her well. Twilight was a mess, and her attempts at feigning annoyance did very little to belie her obvious fear. Lilian felt a few vines twitch at the sight. This sophont clearly needed help. An instinctive urge grew within her, and the sway of her tendrils became more rhythmic. Her core pulsed slightly louder, and, somewhere buried in her vines, flowers started to unfurl.

She hoped she was better at hiding her blatant hunger than Twilight was at hiding her fear.

“Why good morning, petal! My name is Lilian Ketamina, She and Her, but you can call me Lilian. Do you know why I’m here, dear?” She reached a vine out to pet Twilight's mane as a greeting, which the pony recoiled from very slightly.

“I’m Twilight. Twilight Sparkle. No, I don’t know why. Did Princess Celestia send you? I know I haven’t been keeping up on my studies, but I can explain…”

“I don’t think little Cellie has any such complaints, actually, she has much more important concerns now… or perhaps a lack thereof.” Lilian noticed the flash of anger that Twilight tried and failed to suppress with interest. “I’m here to do a little checkup on you! Several of your close friends expressed worries, since they haven’t seen you in a bit!“

The adorable little sophont seemed to twitch, composure slipping for a moment as she gazed up and met Lilian’s massive, deep eyes for a second. And another. And another.

Lilian smirked. Exhausted, analytic minds tended to find it so easy to get lost in the complex, swirling patterns that played across the metallic backdrop of their eyes, and Twilight was very obviously exhausted. Her core twitched - it would be so easy to sweep this adorable little pony up in her vines and give her the care she so clearly needed… Lilian shook off her instincts. She had known Twilight for less than two minutes. It would be downright uncouth to claim and break her right then and there. Even if a part of her core thrummed at the thought.

Maybe more than two minutes. Hmm. No, if her suspicions were true, there was no need to rush things. She slowly and purposefully blinked, and watched as Twilight followed suit, shaking herself from her hyperfixation.

“Twilight, dear, do you know why I’m here?”

This time the question clearly registered, and Lilian chuckled to herself as the little pony in front of her pointedly kept her eyes down.

“You said my friends were worried about me. I really couldn’t tell you why, though. I’m fine. Honestly! I’ve just… been doing a lot of reading.”

Lilian let slip a brusque laugh. “Twi, petal, you haven’t left your home in a week. You look like you’ve barely slept. Are you sure that you’re alright?” A gentle throb of her vines near her core synchronizing pushed the thought into Twilight’s mind with a bit more force.

For a moment, Twilight seemed to ponder the question, before snapping to attention with an anxious expression. “A week?! It’s been a whole week? Of course I’m not alright! I haven’t written my letter to Celestia! I spent all week inside, and I haven’t learned anything new about friendship!”

The warm smile on Lilian’s face lasted roughly a second. She sighed. This was not the answer she had been looking for. “Dear, I really don’t think that’s the most important thing right now…”

But Twilight was undeterred. “I’m supposed to send Princess Celestia a letter on what I learned about friendship every week! If I don’t send it today, I’ll be… Tardy! A bad student!”

Lilian blinked, and laughed. She had visited the former ruler of Equestria before coming to Ponyville, and it was unlikely Celestia had even noticed. “Twilyflower, I don’t know why you’re so concerned about being tardy. I promise it’s not the end of the world, dear.”

Oh roots, that did not reassure the little equestrian. She continued, hesitantly.

“...But if that’s your main worry, it seems like something we can easily solve. You still have most of the day to learn something new about friendship.” She gazed down at Twilight, letting the smile playing across her mask be matched by a thrum from her core, pausing until the pony’s eyes rose to meet hers. “Besides, I can help you.”

Twilight softly murmured back as their eyes met. “You can help me…?”

“Good girl.” Lilian wiggled slightly in glee as she saw Twilight’s breath catch in her throat. Stars, what a seed. She let out another chuckle, then turned before she accidentally entranced the pony in front of her again. “Come, Twi, let’s go see the outside world. You certainly won’t be finding any friendship alone in your library. I’m sure your friends will be glad to see you out and about as well.”

Within her woven body, vines were already reaching for a tablet and beginning to fill out a notice of intent to domesticate. She was going to make Twilight Ketamina the happiest floret in all of Equestria.

The pony sighed, and nervously followed Lilian back outside.

“I guess I could go see them, yes… I wouldn’t want anypony to be worried about me!”

Twilight almost resented how good it felt to stretch all her legs after so long inside. Certainly, Ponyville looked different - even aside from the massive habitation units ("habs", as the Affini termed them) that towered over the few traditional pony constructions the Affini had left standing, the population looked very different. Everywhere Twilight looked, she saw the imposing forms of other Affini, many carrying one of Twilight’s neighbors in their vines. She was briefly stunned at the sight of Mayor Mare, giggling like a child, clearly off of her mind on drugs, as she melted into the headpats and scritches of the massive alien whose back she was riding.

Twilight shuddered, and shifted her focus to… Lilian. The Affini were breathtaking beings. This one was enormous, larger than Princess Celestia, and had four sparkling eyes that looked like metallic gemstones. Lilian stood on legs that looked like tree trunks woven from ivy, and her body was made of some kind of woven plant matter, with many blue and cyan petals fluttering freely, with a few tinged pink mixed in. Her ear-like antennae scanned the wind, and in place of a mane or tail, she had long vines that faded to a bluish tinge at the end. They writhed like tail hair in a turbulent wind. Her mimicry of a cutie mark was a large cyan flower.

Twilight’s first direct interaction with the creatures that had invaded Equestria had been a stock introduction of sorts, given by an enormous mare of vines that showed up at her door. She had called herself Miss Avendula, and been flanked by a sort of handyman that looked like a bumblebee named Byre. He had installed a box in the library that used a form of magic she had never heard of called ‘hypermetric phase crystallization’ to produce any physical object she wanted, or dispose of trash just the same.

Miss Avendula had given her a tablet of metal that could display rolling scrolls of information and images, far faster than any dragonfire could transmit. It had been an incredible font of knowledge at first, until she discovered it had a social tab. She had hurled the thing into the closet when she came upon images of Princess Celestia doing things that she would never do with one of the Affini. Twilight didn’t need false information clouding her mind, nor the temptations of drifting thoughts about joining her mentor.

The things she had learned before swearing off touching the tablet again were troubling. About florets, about domestication, about the tendencies of the affini themselves. Twilight wasn’t sure if Lilian was like that or not, but she at least seemed to just be very friendly so far.

In spite of everything changing so quickly, there were still a decent portion of ponies who seemed to be simply… coping with things. Thriving, even. The market was bustling, with ponies and plants alike plying their wares - even though actual payment was a thing of the past. Quite a few ponies weren’t wearing collars, to Twilight’s relief, but most of them were walking. Even pegasi, oddly enough.

“So,” she said, trying to break the ice. “Are you leading me anywhere in particular?”

Lilian’s voice was unreasonably beautiful, an ethereal chorus that somehow reminded her of the Royal Canterlot Voice. “Well, you seemed quite worried about learning a lesson about friendship. I think the best way to deal with that task involves seeing your friends. I bet seeing how things have changed will be quite educational! Plus, we can help reassure them that you’re okay.”

Twilight nodded. It made sense. “Who was worried about me? And… how’s everyone else been handling things?”

Lilian smiled down at her, and Twilight couldn’t help but blush. Why was she so pretty?

“Well, dear, I heard from most of your friends! They really care about you… and I get the feeling this isn’t the first time you’ve spent a week locked in your room.”

Lilian ignored Twilight’s glare and continued: “As for how your friends have been handling things, I’d say, on the whole, very well. Applejack and Rainbow Dash seem to be enjoying a well-deserved vacation together at the Apple farm… Rarity has moved in with her new owner…”

“Rarity got domesticated? What did she do to deserve that?!”

Lilian’s laugh felt soothing. “Oh, Twilight, domestication is not a punishment. Especially in little Rarity’s case. She begged her owner to take her. There’s a video on the Overnet, if you’d like to see it! It’s very cute~”

Twilight blinked, trying to take this in. Rarity, deciding she wanted to be a pet? Giving herself to one of these plants after only a few days?! Her left eye violently twitched at the thought of the Overnet. “No, thank you, I’ll ask her about it myself. It seems like we’re going there first anyways.”

“Ooh, very astute! Good girl. Anyway, Rarity isn’t the only friend of yours who has been happily domesticated. Pinkie Pie was actually the first voluntary domestication in Ponyville, and we’ll be seeing her and her owner later when we pick up supplies for the picnic. It’s going to be a beautiful day for it.” Lilian winked with both eyes on the right side of her head.

Twilight sighed. Rarity had thrown her, she had always been surprisingly grounded, but Pinkie Pie? Twilight was not surprised; that pony loved to party, and apparently xenodrugs made for pretty crazy parties. The only more obvious candidate for domestication was Fluttershy.

Something sparked in Twilight’s brain at the thought of Fluttershy. She looked around again, and, as she had suspected earlier, the skies were surprisingly clear of Pegasi. “What about Fluttershy?” Twilight asked on a whim.

Lilian’s voice felt more dissonant as the two of them came to a stop outside the Carousel Boutique. “Let’s worry about Fluttershy later, petal. For now, why don’t you go inside and say hi to Rarity? I can’t imagine you’ve met many florets hiding in your library; this will be an excellent opportunity to learn something new about friendship!”

Author's Note

Cowritten by me and Sheepwave; art by Sheepwave.

A shitpost that spiraled wildly out of control. We hope you enjoy this deeply cursed piece of smut.

Chapter 2: In Which Rarity Undergoes A Suspect Beauty Treatment

Twilight steeled herself as the oversized door opened. She was here to learn about friendship, and was determined to be supportive. Even if she didn’t understand why Rarity had volunteered for domestication, even if the whole thing sounded completely insane. She focused herself on being a good friend as she entered the newly enlarged Carousel Boutique.

All of Twilight’s resolve vanished as she beheld the scene before her. She blinked, eyes rapidly scanning the room for anything she could even remotely place within her own experience and senses. Rarity’s home, supersized, with counters and tables clearly built for ponies much larger than Twilight. Beautiful dresses in designs she had never seen, which, despite their obvious impropriety, still nonetheless carried the distinctive feel of Rarity. The strange scent bubbling in the air. The massive glass jar, full of an odd, semi-transparent gold liquid, with a stock-still figure in the center. A gigantic grass-green stallion rising high above her, tiny red flowers flowing across his shoulders like a cape, with something Twilight didn’t even want to think about hanging between his legs. His handsome, scruffy face, that was nonetheless made from woven plant matter and utterly alien at a closer look. His deep, lavender eyes… That was a pattern her mind was ready to process. The swirling colored flecks clearly had some pattern to them, and she was sure if she just looked closer, she could…

No!

She quickly shook her head, and turned her gaze down, blushing furiously. Something in the back of her mind told her that this was the right thing to do, and she felt approval flow through her, a confusing feeling given her situation. Before she could spend any time puzzling that out, a deep, rich, flowing voice resonated from the affini above her, and seemed to fully demand her attention.

“Ah! Twilight Sparkle, I presume! It’s good to see you; I’ve heard so much about you from my little princess here. All positive! She was hoping to see you, and I’m glad you dropped by. It’s good to see you out and about again. I’m Wheatley Flunix, Eighth Bloom, and I’m frankly ashamed that it’s taken me so long to meet someone so dear to my floret. You must excuse the state of the hab, we weren’t expecting company.”

Her eyes followed as a thick, green vine reached down into the massive glass jar. It wrapped around the figure contained therein, and retrieved the dripping unicorn, completely covered in a viscous, amber fluid. It sparkled in the light, giving off a sweet, citrusy smell.

Wheatley put her down on the floor in the center of the room, on a small spot that seemed to have been cleared in advance for this. Rarity lay stock-still, not moving a muscle, covered in… thick orange… something. Other vines, splitting impossibly thin, started to comb through her coat, wicking away thick globs, revealing Rarity’s fur, as silky and shiny as ever, below. A mask over her eyes was removed, and she blinked, slowly readjusting to the light.

Were it not for the slow rise and fall of Rarity’s barrel from her breathing, Twilight would have believed she was looking at one of Rarity’s fashion mannequins, rather than one of her closest friends. Rarity did not move her legs. She did not rotate her neck to look at Twilight. Her blown-out eyes met Twilight’s, but she remained perfectly still. What few movements Twilight could see felt sluggish, like Rarity was still moving through the honey-like substance she had been submerged in. Twilight glanced down at the collar on her neck, then back up as she started to feel a bit dizzy.

They stared at each other for a moment, as more and more of the sap was cleaned from her fur. She took a deep breath, and the citrus scent of the sap filled her head in a way that faintly tingled. Twilight’s breath hitched in her throat - Rarity looked stunning. Twilight had always known that Rarity was attractive, but… something about seeing her in this light was… different. Her coat was flawless, free from any stain. Her mane curled beautifully, tumbling down her neck. And her expression… It was serene. As if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. As if there wasn’t a single thing in the world she was concerned about, even as a thick vine tousled through her mane. It was otherworldly, in a way that resonated inside Twilight. Her heart pulsed, as she took in the sight.

She paused. Was she falling in love with her friend?

Rarity’s voice broke the silence, stopping that line of thinking in its tracks. “Twiiiiiiiliiiiight! Daaaaaaarliiiiing! It’s sooo good to see you! I juuuuust got… Ohhhhh… Riiiiiight… Hang on dear…” Her eyes swiveled up towards the Affini gazing down at them. “Please, Daddy, may I pleaaaaase have my brain back?”

She felt butterflies in her tummy. What was happening? Rarity’s voice had always been lovely, but today it was raising feelings in Twilight she wasn’t sure she was comfortable with. She’d never thought about her like that…

The warm chuckle from above felt like the morning sun on her coat.

“Oh, I do so love to see you like this, dear, but how could I refuse such a charming request?” A bright red flower snaked out of a vine and buried itself in Rarity’s flank, just above her cutie mark - the diamonds now surrounded by and partially covered by an artful lattice of plantworks and flowers. Flowers that looked exactly like the ones on Wheatley’s shoulders. At least the plant had seen fit to merely adorn Rarity. Trixie’s cutie mark had been completely erased - and from what Twilight could tell, so had most of her personality.

Rarity carefully, languidly slid into a slump on the floor, bright green eyes staring at Twilight, fur matted with that amber fluid she had been immersed in.

She stretched out one limb, then another, as vines removed the last of whatever was covering her from her tail. “Thank you, Sir,” she chirped, leaning into a vine that nuzzled against her cheek. She turned to Twilight, who was gawping at her, dumbstruck. “Twilight! My dearest! I haven’t seen you… well, since the Affini arrived!”

For how soft her body looked, it moved surprisingly quickly, rising up to hug Twilight, who returned the gesture, blush spreading across her confused face. This was not how hugging your very good friend was supposed to make you feel, right? Because if it was, she’d been doing something wrong up until this point. Wow.

Rarity, seemingly unaware of the effect she was having on Twilight, released the hug, and kept talking. “I will admit I was somewhat caught up in my own things, what with Wheatley here, but after a while, I was worried something had happened… Or, well, tell the truth, I was worried you were stuck in your treehouse, terrified of the outside world.” She laughed, and Twilight couldn’t help but grin stupidly. “And, given that your company is an affini, but has thus far remained outside, I’m guessing they sent someone to check in on you.” A dazed, confused smile drifted across her face for a moment before she continued. “They really do care so much, you know.”

Twilight blinked again, words starting to filter through the confused haze. “Rarity, you’re…” You’re still you. “You look different.” Smooth move, Twilight.

Rarity turned to rub her flank gently against Twi’s. It was unfathomably soft, as if hard muscle and bone had been replaced with velvet and plush. Twilight shuddered against the contact, but ultimately decided to lean into it. This was normal, just standard body contact. She was not going to be weird about it. “You think? It may have to do with this new beauty regimen Daddy has been doing to me. Better than any spa, and I always feel so deeply in love with him afterwards. You just walked in on the end of it, actually!”

“What was that?” Twilight wondered, briefly gazing over at the massive glass jar and the amber fluids congealing within.

“Oh, it’s plum!”

“It doesn’t smell very much like plums…” Twilight had a very good idea of what Rarity smelt like at the current moment, for some reason, and it certainly wasn’t plums. There was something else, something rich and citrusy, that she couldn’t quite put a hoof on.

“...Err… Yes, never mind. Anyways!”

Rarity’s horn sparked, briefly, and Twilight could sense the field grasp for Rarity’s glasses, high above on the oversized counter, as well as some strange interference before the light surrounding it fizzled out completely. Rarity blinked, and giggled. “Oh dear, I guess I’m not quite as sober as I thought. Wheatley, would you please give me my glasses?”

“Very good, dear,” rumbled the massive colt from above, snaking out a vine to retrieve the glasses and plant them on Rarity’s nose. He turned an eye to Twilight, and chuckled. “Rarity has been adapting to her new life so well. I could hardly be more proud of her. Most unicorns chafe a little when they can’t use their magic, but my little princess here was only too ready to let me take care of her every need.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. She’d heard the rumors - that the drugs the affini carried could disable your magic - but to see it discussed so casually felt borderline sacrilegious. “I can’t imagine giving up my magic,” she said, shrinking back from Rarity’s touch. “It would be worse than going back to magic kindergarten.”

Rarity giggled again. “Well, my Owner takes care of everything for me, and everything is always so much fun, and feels so good… Lately, he’s been turning me into a mannequin for my dresses. I don’t need my magic… I don’t need much of anything! Sir takes care of everything. Most days I don’t even miss my magic. I mean, I can’t even move some days unless Sir poses me, so that should hardly surprise me.” She paused her revelry, noticing the look of shock on Twilight’s face, and pulled back. “Well…. sometimes, when Daddy wants me to, I get to use it. It’s really nice.”

Her face shot up with realization. “He even gave me my new name, so reintroductions are in order! I’m now Rarity Flunix, Fifth Floret, and I have never been happier. Of all the best things that could happen, this is the best possible thing.” She squealed and nuzzled into another round of headpats from exploring vines.

Twilight felt her heart beating in her chest. This was Rarity. This was her friend, Rarity. Her dear friend, who she cared deeply about, in ways she was certainly not going to bury and suppress later. It was undeniably the same pony, even as she was caressed in deeply inappropriate ways by roaming vines. Vines belonging to her… owner. Twilight flinched inwardly at the thought. She’d just barely earned her independence, when Celestia had sent her to Ponyville on this important assignment. The thought of giving that up made her shiver. Never again. What did Rarity even see in this alien, that she would volunteer to be his pet, for the rest of her life, after just a few scant days?

Her eyes roamed over Wheatley - his massive, broad shoulders, the rugged simulacra of feathering on each tree-like limb, the way the flowers flowed over him like a cape - and she couldn’t help but be struck by his majesty. Her eyes ran across his barrel again, and down to the… extension of plant matter hanging between his legs. She couldn’t help licking her lips as she saw it twitch, a short film of amber fluid dripping from the tip to the floor below. It looked… delicious.

Twilight’s eyes went wide as a few things clicked into place.

The first was that, in a matter of seconds, Rarity’s behavior had made more sense to her. This was just what being around an affini did to your brain.

The second: the fluid dripping onto the floor from the thick vine between Wheatley’s hind legs was the same fluid Rarity had just been coated in. The same fluid whose scent was suffusing the entire room.

The third: she really, really wanted a taste.

Twilight had never so much as kissed someone, and yet everything in her body was telling her to kneel before this alien stallion and lap his nectar from the floor, before reaching up to beg meekly for more. She indulged her fantasy for but a moment, and pictured what it might feel like, taste like. She wouldn’t even need to bend down. Her nostrils flared, pulling in more of that scent that sent sparks flying in her head, and she felt a shameful wetness trickling from between her legs.

“Twilight, dear, are you all right? You seem a bit… distracted.”

She paused. When had she walked in front of Rarity? When had ~~Daddy~~ Wheatley gotten so close? What was that hungry glint in his eye?

That was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Her eyes shot wide open. Her breathing became more shallow and rapid, and she barely heard as Rarity said her name. She reared up, spun on her haunches, and fled from the room, bolting as fast as her legs would carry her.

She made it as far as the door before she felt the pinch of an injector flower in her neck and a weave of vines lifting her from below. She felt the cold sensation of the drugs sliding into her system, and, realizing she was getting nowhere, stopped struggling. Instead, she stared up at Lilian, whose face was molded into a caring, matronly frown.

“Twilyflower, what’s wrong? It seemed like everything was going fine in there, and then you just suddenly bolted. Why do you smell so much like bonding accelerants?”

Twilight expected to feel indignation or anger at the sudden, unwanted intrusion into her body, at the drugs coursing through her mind. She reached out, channeling the energy through her horn that would allow her to teleport away, but the magic fizzled and failed. The anger expected again failed to materialize, so she let herself go limp. Her mouth felt sluggish and unresponsive as she groaned, “Why can’t I use my magic?”

“Twilight, dearest, I know your magic is important to you. But right now, you’re panicking, and it’s my responsibility, as would be the responsibility of anyffini, to calm you down. So I gave you a fast-acting class-E anxiolytic to help calm you down, as anyffini would have. What scared you so much, petal? Would you like to talk about it?”

Twilight quickly took stock of her mental state. The indignation, anger, and fear were there. They were just… held at a distance. Something she could consider, but which wouldn’t overwhelm her. She could still think. She was still herself. In fact, she felt remarkably lucid, compared to earlier. She took a deep breath, and murmured, “I think it was just all too much.”

She gazed up at Lilian, and felt the anger drain even further. Lilian was just so beautiful, it was hard to stay mad. She had such beautiful blue flowers poking out of the vines in her coat, and her four eyes were so pretty as they shimmered and flickered in the noonday light. Some part of her wanted to complain about the obvious violation, but another part of her felt a strange sense of gratitude. Lilian had done her a favor, and she did feel better. Much better. It felt right for the next words out of her mouth to be, “Thank you, Miss Ketamina.” Immediately, she felt a pleasant emotional warmth spread through her - she must have done the right thing.

Twilight sighed. This was surprisingly nice. For all the time she’d been afraid of the affini, she had never considered how nice it was to be held in the vines of a beautiful mare like Lilian. It felt… calming. She let her head droop, and felt a vine stroking down her mane. It felt better than it had any right to.

Still, she frowned. A thought had crossed her mind that was not easily discarded. “But… Without my magic, how am I supposed to write a letter? Or hold a quill? Or do anything? How am I supposed to study magic and be a good student?”

A subtle pressure in the back of her head prompted her to look up, to see Rarity and Wheatley standing there, concerned looks on both their faces. Rarity smiled that beautiful smile up at her, and Twilight couldn’t help but blush.

Rarity answered the question. “Well, Twilight, I can tell you exactly how! Affini are the most generous beings I’ve ever known, and I would know.” She giggled softly at her own joke. “I’ve never had to worry about anything when Sir is around. He gives me whatever I need.”

“That’s right, Twilight. If you need anything, you can just ask me for help!” Lilian snaked out a vine to pat Rarity on the head, which brought out a happy little squeal. “Such a clever sophont! You’ve learned one of the most important lessons of the Compact already.” She winked at Wheatley. “Your owner must be so proud of you.”

“I certainly am,” replied Wheatley. “You’re looking well, Lilian, and I’m glad to see you’ve found a floret of your very own!”

Twilight attempted to glare at Wheatley but managed something closer to an annoyed pout. “I’m not a floret,” she said, indignantly. “I’m independent, and I want to be put d-ohhhh…”

A vine behind her ear sent stars across her vision.

“Of course you are, dear. I would put you down, but class-Es tend to be a little hard to move around with, so if it’s all right, I’ll just carry you for now. I apologize for any confusion. I’m so glad you got to catch up with your friend, and I hope you feel a bit less concerned about them now.”

That same prompting feeling came, and it was just all too easy for Twilight to say, “Thank you, Miss.” She wasn’t sure where the thought came from, but the feeling of approval that followed left her warm, fuzzy, and not particularly interested in further self-inquiry. Lilian’s vines felt so warm and soft against her skin, and she just let herself drift. She mused to herself - when was the last time she hadn’t been scared? It felt pretty nice. She sighed, relaxed into the plant’s vines.

She heard Lilian say something. It didn’t quite fully register, but Twilight nonetheless understood, and smiled and waved goodbye to Rarity as Lilian turned to walk away. Gosh, Rarity was so pretty… Twilight wondered if it was appropriate to ask her friend if she could kiss her. Was that a thing friends did? Twilight still had so much to learn about friendship.

Author's Note

Quick note: a sweet citrus smell is commonly used in HDG to indicate the presence of bonding enhancing chemicals. Also, for anyone confused... Plum = Plant Cum. I'm not sorry.

Chapter 3: In Which Twilight Goes Looking For A Friendship Problem

Lilian Ketamina, First Bloom, hummed a soft melody, deep from her core. The sophont wrapped up riding her back was just so precious. She had barely needed any prompting to sink into her vines and just ride out a moment of quiet tranquility as they passed by the outskirts of town, towards the lush apple orchards of the Apple family. She was clearly in dire need of exactly this kind of rest, and part of Lilian wanted to just fill her up with a veritable alphabet of xenodrugs, but there was no need to rush. Twilight needed help, Lilian was all too eager to provide it, and if the earlier interaction with Wheatly was any indication, it wouldn’t take long at all for Twilight to fall into her vines.

And what a catch she was! Twilight Sparkle was, by all accounts, a prodigy of equestrian magic, despite her young age. The subject fascinated Lilian, and she only imagined what kinds of understanding she could forge with such a talented young creature under her hooves.

And yet, in spite of that talent and willpower, she was so… easy. Lilian had been worried that her first domestication might prove challenging, but so far, Twilight had been a near-perfect seed. There was just a hint of feralism, but breaking her of that would be an amusing challenge. She couldn’t help but imagine how pretty Twilight’s cutie mark might look with nice blue flowers outlining the gems once she was implanted. Or perhaps it would be replaced entirely with the likeness of Lilian’s base flowers, how the cutie marks of florets changed was always unique and unpredictable.

Lilian gently flexed the complex set of vines that twisted into a makeshift horn, and pulsed, feeling a tangible field of electromagnetic energy flow through her vines, coiling through the horn, and producing a small, green telepathic hand. She then used this hand to stroke Twilight’s mane, from the tip of her head to the base of her neck. She mused to herself about how interesting and multifaceted unicorn magic could be, and while it was quite difficult to control now, with Twilight’s help, she could understand all the sophonts of this beautiful world that much better.

With a gentle thrum from her core, she sent a mental nudge to Twilight to wake up. The little pony yawned, sitting up in her vines, a warm smile on her face. Lilian gazed longingly at that face. She knew full well that before long, Twilight would likely realize where she was, and that serene smile would fade. She would love to lengthen her time with that smile by shoving her injectors into Twilight’s soft fur, but she suppressed the instinct. Twilight needed to think clearly if she wanted to understand how independents lived. Lilian chuckled to herself. Not that that information would be of much use to her for long.

Ah. There it is. The flash of realization in the sophont’s eyes. The smile faded, and then so did Twilight, vanishing with a puff of pink glitter and reappearing across the road.

She took a deep breath, shook out her mane, seemed to want to wind up to shout something at Lilian, and then very visibly deflated upon seeing Lilian’s warm smile. Finally, upon a soft prompting, she murmured, “Thank you for carrying me this far, but I can take it from here.”

“Of course, Twilyflower,” Lilian giggled, sparking her horn once again and forming a hand to scratch behind Twilight’s ears again.

Once Twilight had recovered from the impromptu headpats, she gawked at Lilian. “Was that…”

“Unicorn magic? Why, yes, it is!” Her core buzzed for a moment with effort, and she teleported herself behind Twilight. She reached out a vine to scratch Twilight behind the ears. “It’s quite an impressive adaptation; I’ve been studying it since I got here and I still only know the basics! I know a little bit of several different types of magic developed on other worlds, but the kind you use is quite fascinating! It’s part of why I volunteered to check in on you. I read about some of your works from before you moved to Ponyville, and was eager to ask you about… I believe you called it the Pfudor coefficient?”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, smiling in spite of herself, and continued walking down the road. “You read my writing?”

“It’s intriguing stuff!” Lilian followed, again ruffling the pony’s mane. This time, she barely bothered to try to shrug the vine off. She was resisting less and less as time went on, and Lilian was simply enchanted. “It helped me understand enough of the basics of your magic to build this phytograft.”

Anyone but an affini would have missed it, but Twilight’s eyes kept quickly flickering up to her horn, as a small blush spread across her face. Lilian took in every minute signal the pony gave off, focusing carefully as she seemed to become more and more aroused, stealing guilty glimpses at Lilian’s horn. A perfect time to tease the adorable little sophont.

“It’s quite impressive, isn’t it?” she mused, smirking. “I’ve heard that a unicorn’s horn can be quite… sensitive.” Her core briefly pulsed, and a bright-green phantom hand ran its index finger from the base of Twilight’s horn to the tip. Little shivers of pleasure rippled from Twilight’s neck through her barrel to her flank, and she couldn’t hold back a soft gasp. Lilian laughed, and pressed further. “Especially the smaller ones…”

Lilian already knew Twilight’s interests in that area, of course. The erotica novels about unorthodox uses of unicorn magic in her bedstand had been found and documented by her former rival Trixie's owner.

Twilight took a step back, blushing furiously, stammering. Eventually, after a solid thirty seconds of her floret-to-be being absolutely adorable, Lilian prompted an answer, and the pony eventually found something to say. “Size isn’t everything, you know.”

She slammed a hoof over her mouth and blushed an even brighter shade of red, turning away from Lilian. This was going wonderfully! She gasped in mock surprise, and her form reshaped itself in a deeply uncanny way to slither rapidly in front of Twilight. She smiled down at her, razor-sharp teeth shining in the noon sun. “Of course not, darling! In fact, part of why I made mine so large is because I don’t have nearly the fine control that you seem to, and I need a larger channeling vessel to make up for that. There’s certainly nothing to be ashamed about if your horn is a little smaller than the average for your age and gender.”

She saw Twilight’s blush deepen again as she spoke the word ‘ashamed’. The pony mumbled something. “I, um. I suppose you're right…”

“I think it’s absolutely adorable! And you really are so talented, dear.” She gave Twilight space to answer, and her core’s rhythm took on that particular form it did when she expected one specific response.

This time, the blush was slightly less indignant, and Twilight meekly gave the answer she had prompted. “...Thanks, I guess?” She slowly recomposed herself, and pouted up at Lilian. “So, we’re seeing Applejack next?”

Lilian’s massive stride led slowly onwards. She briefly scanned the sky before spotting what she was looking for. “And Rainbow Dash”, she responded, and pointed up to the sky. “They’ve become quite close, you know.” She smirked slightly at Twilight’s confused look, but if the pony didn’t ask her to clarify, she was fine letting her find out on her own. And, as expected, Twilight didn’t.

“All right, Everypony stay back!”

Rainbow Dash’s voice shot through the still midday, before the pegasus took off, taking to the sky with breathtaking speed. Lilian couldn’t help but watch in silence. She knew what was coming, but to see it in action… Rainbow Dash dove towards the ground, on a rapid collision course with the barn, rainbows pulsing out as she broke the speed of sound. Twilight had apparently not been similarly briefed, and her eyes shone with shock as the pegasus hit the massive, red barn, exploding into a rainbow mushroom cloud. Truly, an impressive display of pegasi magic. Her vines hummed with glee.

“Why would Rainbow Dash destroy the barn?!” Twilight muttered to herself. Then, a wicked smile spread across her face. “Rainbow Dash must be angry with Applejack! She must hate her guts! How wonderful, I’m going to be able to learn and write so much about friendship!”

“Petal… that’s a deeply concerning thing to say…” But before she could say more, Twilight had already vanished in a puff of smoke and glitter. Lilian sighed, picking up the trail of the spell, and following briskly on foot. She was eager to see how Twilight handled herself in a slightly lower-stakes social environment.

Twilight materialized in front of the ruined remains of the barn, and immediately rushed to help pick Rainbow Dash up. The pegasus appeared dizzy; stunned, but unharmed. She looked up at Twilight, and a big grin spread across her face. “Well look who finally left her tree. It’s good to see you, Twi!” She reached forward and gave her a big hug.

“Rainbow Dash! It’s good to see you too.” Twilight sunk into the embrace, before shaking her head and reminding herself of what was really important. The friendship lesson! “So why are you fighting with Applejack?”

“Fightin’? We ain’t fightin’. This barn needed tearin’ down, and Rainbow felt like showing off a bit. The ‘finni on the planning committee thought it was real cute.” Applejack clapped a hoof on Rainbow’s flank before joining in hugging Twilight. “Glad to see you out and about, sugarcube.”

Twilight pulled back. “So… you two aren’t fighting?”

“Of course not!” Applejack backed up, smacking her flank against Rainbow’s in a gesture Twilight couldn’t help but interpret as more than friendly. “In fact, since the Affini arrived, we spent a little time reevaluating. We got a bit in our cups with cider, and then Dashie…” She bumped her flank against her again. “....suggested we try this new xenodrug the Affini were handin’ out. apocyneigh, I think it’s called? S’pposed to make everything feel real tingly and sensitive and nice. Dashie had picked up some from Pinkie, and… apparently that trickster snuck some truth serum xenodrug into the mix too. Right matchmaker, she was.”

“Yeah! And it turns out, our Element of Honesty here had some feelings she wasn’t ready to admit.” Rainbow nuzzled up to Applejack as she teased her.

Applejack rolled her eyes, and muttered, “Not like you were any more forthcoming with your feelings, sweetheart.”

“Yeah, yeah. Anyways, certain things were said, and then certain things were done, and done again, extremely well, and… well, we’re together now!”

They nuzzled up to each other, and Twilight couldn’t help but frown. No problem here. Nothing to solve. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were an adorable couple. She shook herself. Why was she upset about that? “That’s… great news! Any… other friendship problems that need solving?”

Applejack blinked at her, then put a consolatory arm around her shoulders. “Well, we can talk about this one friend of mine right here who went and disappeared all week long. What’s been goin’ on with you, Twi?”

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Twilight groaned. “I have been having a surreal day. And I still have to find a lesson on friendship to send to Celestia!”

Rainbow Dash gave her partner a knowing look, then cocked an eyeball at Twilight as they started walking back towards the Apple family townhouse. “Twi… Why are you so focused on your responsibilities to Celestia? It’s the end of the world, babe! Everything is changing, massive plant aliens are giving us boxes that can make whatever we want, the new world is way cooler. Why are you so stressed about it?”

Twilight pouted. She didn’t really want to think about it. She didn’t really want to think about a lot of things. It was all so much. At least she didn’t have to worry about Miss Ketamina’s beautiful face for a little while. At that thought, Twilight stopped short, and Rainbow Dash bumped directly into her flank.

“Twi… Talk to us? Please?”

She tisked. She couldn’t imagine talking about what had happened earlier with Wheatley and his… vine. Instead, she opted for a half-truth. “It’s this affini… Miss Ketamina.” Why had she said it like that? Why had she thought like that?! She coughed. “Miss Lilian Ketamina has taken an interest in my wellbeing, and has been following me around this morning to help me with my research.”

Another knowing look between Rainbow Dash and Applejack, and the orange pony laughed. “Oh, Lilian! We met her just the other day. Seemed real interested in you. We told her we ain't seen you in a while, and were worried… I’m glad she got you out of the house, at least.”

Rainbow smirked at Twilight. “They’re quite something, aren’t they? And here you are, already calling her ‘Miss?’ I wouldn’t have taken you for a seed, Twi.”

“A what?!”

Applejack hit Rainbow Dash on the shoulder, a bit harder this time. “C’mon, Dashie, can’t you tell Twi here’s already having a hard time? No sense teasing her about it.”

Twilight sulked in silence for a moment, running through the day in her head. She wasn’t quite sure why she kept calling Miss Ketamina that. Lilian! Her name was Lilian.

Twilight looked for anything she could find to distract her. She couldn’t help glancing at the affini who was helping Applejack’s brother with the orchard, or at the new hab building that dominated the landscape. The affini in question was using long flexible limbs to pick apples directly from the tree, rather than kicking it as was traditional. It seemed effective, if unnatural.

“You’re letting them run the farm, too?”

“I don’ see why not. Granny was gettin’ up in years anyway, and we ain’t exactly gonna stop growing apples just because the folks making the rules in Canterlot changed. Now come on, let’s go take a seat.”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack began walking back towards the main building, and Twilight trotted after them. The two of them living together was… not terribly surprising, all things considered. Compared to everything else happening, this was a change that made sense to Twilight. The two of them had always been close, and if society being shaken up around them had brought them closer romantically, that wasn’t a bad thing.

As they approached the old Apple home, red paint overgrown with green phytotech meshes, Rainbow Dash stopped short. “Say, AJ, isn’t that mailpony still in your bed?”

“I dunno, why do you ask?”

“...Because she’s waving at us.”

Twilight peered around her friends, and saw a gray-coated pegasi with blond hair waving from the window of Applejack’s bedroom. She eyed the pair suspiciously. “Why is she in your bedroom, Applejack?”

“B’cause she’s a pillow princess who didn’t want to get out of bed before noon,” the orange pony replied with a chuckle.

“Why was she in your bed? Isn’t that where Rainbow Dash would be?”

The two of them looked at each other, then back at Twilight, then burst out laughing.

“Oh, I was, Twilight. I sure was. For quite a while, actually!”

Twilight’s eyes popped open in shock.

“You sleep with other ponies too?”

Rainbow Dash snorted. “Well, duh. We’re both tops, you can only switch so much.”

Applejack nodded and winked at Twilight. “Plus, you would not be-lieve the kinda stuff we got from the Affini to help make any mare into a real colt, if you catch my meanin’. Maybe we'll have to saddle up and show you sometime, sugar.”

Twilight was suddenly struck by the sheer intensity of the looks the two of them were giving her, which she had once heard described as ‘hey, we saw you from across the barn’ energy.

Twilight stammered at her friends’ flirtatious looks. She didn't know what half the things they had said even meant, but she knew she was tempted to find out. And also terrified.

Rainbow Dash spotted her reaction, and grinned at her in a way that reminded her, uncomfortably, of Miss Ketamina. Lilian. Argh! “Bottom behavior. You called it, AJ.”

Twilight’s heart was beating faster in her chest. She had too much to think about. She stammered to herself, trying to find something to say. “Um… I… Never really thought of either of you that way?”

Rainbow shrugged. “Really? Well, hey, no pressure. If you’re not into it…”

Her brain was in a state of complete higgledy-piggledy, and she reached for something, anything, to make the situation less terrifying. “I’m not into it,” Twilight blurted out, letting far more anger and disgust into her voice than she intended.

Twilight immediately regretted her tone as her friends’ faces sank slightly. Why did she say it like that? Now she had disappointed her friends. She winced, feeling that disappointment tangibly reflect onto her.

“Petal, why did you say that? Is that really true?”

Twilight turned to gaze up at Miss Ketamina, who had apparently been there the whole time, and met her massive, stunning eyes. The pattern of pink-and-blue flecks that swirled across the warm, glowing background was as captivating as ever. She just looked so beautiful. “Twilight, it’s okay if you don’t want to be intimate with your friends, now, or ever! But I could tell how much you disliked what you just said. Why don’t we take a mulligan on that, petal? Why did you say that? And this time, I’d really like it if you told us the truth.”

Oh no… now she was disappointed in Twilight, too! Twilight didn’t like the thought that she’d disappointed Miss Ketamina. Answering felt easy and natural.

“I was confused, and scared, and I couldn’t answer, and I just wanted everything to stop. I’ve never even kissed anypony before, and my friends are so pretty… I was terrified of what would happen if I said yes, terrified of what would happen if I said no, and I guess… I just said the first thing I could that would protect me.”

The affini leaned down, her waving mane of vines casting a shadow over Twilight. “Protect you from your friends?”

Twilight slouched. “...Buck me.”

“Language, darling.”

Twilight felt the smile before she looked up and saw it, and some of the worry inside her melted away. Part of her couldn’t help but muse, what is this plant doing to me? She looked back over at her friends, who were looking at her apologetically. It felt like a weight had been lifted. Maybe it’s not so bad to do as she tells me? Twilight smiled softly up at her, and felt a sense of approval. You’re doing the right thing.

Applejack broke the silence. “Twi, I had no idea this would be so scary for you. I’m genuinely sorry; we were just pokin’ fun, and would never want to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Rainbow Dash lay a comforting wing over Twilight’s back. “Yeah, sorry, Twi, I guess we just got used to how things have been shaken up, and forgot you've been hiding away and didn't know.”

Twilight blushed, and looked up at them sheepishly. “I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. One big shift at a time, okay?” She felt pride blossom inside her.

“Very good, petal. I’m proud of you for setting healthy boundaries without overreacting.” Vines reached down to pat her head, and Twilight couldn’t quite bring herself to protest. It felt really nice.

Rainbow dash snickered, “I’m not going to apologize for calling you a seed, though. I see how you look at her.” Seeing Twilight’s blush, she pushed further. “Miss Mina, once Twilight is a little more… situated, feel free to remind her of our offer!”

Twilight’s left eye twitched in sync with her left ear. She was sure she had had the measure of the situation for a moment, but now she was once again out of her depth. Instinctively, she turned her gaze up to Miss Ketamina, who pinned Rainbow Dash with a glare, stepping between them. Again, the sheer imposing size of the mare ran through Twilight’s mind. She was breathtaking. Or maybe that was the beginning of another panic attack.

…No, definitely the former. The inaudible thrumming pressure in the air seemed to guide her breathing, a powerful rhythm keeping her in time. It felt surprisingly nice. Once she stabilized, she felt a warm feeling of approval surge through her. She was safe. Her friends weren’t going to hurt her. Even still, it felt like so much…

“I think this has all been a bit much for this little dear. Thank you for your kind offer, but for now, I think we need to canter on. We have to pick up snacks from Sugarcube Corner for the picnic! Shall we say our goodbyes, Twilight?”

Twilight looked at both of her friends, each offering an apologetic smile.

“It’s good to see you both again,” Twilight murmured. “I’m glad you’re doing well. See you at the picnic?”

“Of course, sugarcube,” Applejack responded. “Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Miss Ketamina smiled wide as they walked away. As soon as Rainbow Dash and Applejack were out of eyeshot, Twilight felt the last of her fear leave her, and with it, the last of her energy.

Before she could even grumble, she felt strong vines wrapping around her barrel and lifting her far above the ground, into a nest of vines on her affini’s back. She wanted to protest, but Miss was comfy, and she was pretty tired of walking. Instead, she simply leaned into the mare’s back and murmured, “Thank you, Miss”. A warm throb of energy from her affini’s core told her that this was the right thing to say.

Author's Note

"I guess you could call them... Unicorn Hunters." - Yorw

Art as always by Sheepwave. <3

Chapter 4: In Which The Pink One is A Lot

Lilian carried Twilight back into town on her back, not wanting to wear her little pony out. Twilight seemed deep in thought, and particularly interested in the various non-native species that were out and about. Many had body plans she had never seen before, like the insectile Myrmex or the fungal Ch’thal.

This planet was unusually diverse when it came to sophont species, and it had been quite a challenge to run over a dozen covert cotyledon programs in parallel. Fortunately, over half of the cuties shared common ungulate ancestry, and had nearly identical biochemistry. Some, like the dragons, still hadn't even been fully completed, due to their more difficult nature. But the ponies of Equestria, famous for their naturally cooperative and friendly disposition, were particularly well suited to being pets. They had seemed the perfect place for Lilian to find her first floret.

The changelings of the southwest region had been tempting, but considered to be far more difficult. Better left to the oldblooms. The ease with which Twilight seemed to be falling under Lilian’s sway made her very confident she had chosen correctly. Unfortunately for the mare in question, she had not yet cracked entirely, and was still clearly anxious.

“It's already almost noon, at this rate I'm definitely not going to have something ready for Princess Celestia…”

Lilian let out an amused whinny. “I’m sure it will be fine, Twilight. We still have the picnic, after all.”

It was adorable, how the little unicorn was fixating on the familiar, in an attempt to avoid processing the changes around her. Perhaps it would be best to break her of certain illusions entirely. Lilian manipulated the communications slate tucked away in her chest, shooting an inquiry to Calea in Canterlot to see if the former princess and mentor in question could be brought to Ponyville on one of the new high speed train lines that had just been set up. With luck, the little cutie could be here before sunset.

Twilight sighed, and changed the subject. “So, Pinkie Pie still helps at the bakery? Even though she's a floret?”

Lilian turned her head around and nodded. “Indeed! In fact, she and her owner Ivir, just took over when Mr. And Ms. Cake retired a few days ago.”

Twilight pondered that for a moment. “Everyone seems so happy, even if a lot has changed. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash all seemed to be doing well, even if everyone is a bit… different now. Especially Rarity.”

Lilian chuckled. “We really do want the best for all you little cuties, you know~”

Twilight frowned slightly. “So, what about Fluttershy, then?”

Lilian paused to consider what to say. Twilight probably wouldn't do well being told that her yellow friend was hiding out in the Everfree forest, leading the last vestiges of feralist resistance with whatever allies she could scrounge.

“Don't worry about it, Twilight,” she said, sending a strong pulse of soothing biorhythmic magic through the vines holding the little unicorn in place.

“Okay, yay,” mumbled Twilight as her eyes unfocused for a moment. One day soon Lilian would learn to do that with the unicorn version of magic, but for now the affini variety would do.

Fluttershy was a tricky issue, one best handled delicately. Lilian had met the affini in charge of tracking the rogue pegasus down a few days prior, a ninth bloom named Xylazina Armetisa, whose form resembled an enormous feline. Lilian hoped that the poor little wayward Element of Kindness could be rescued and reunited with the rest of her friends, now that Twilight had been brought back out into the world.

The unicorn’s eyes seemed to come back to reality as they arrived at their destination, and Lilian set Twilight down back on her own shaky hooves.

“Run along, then! I'll be right outside if you need me.”

Twilight seemed hesitant. “Um. Okay…”

Lilian’s woven snout split into a wide, thorny smile. “I can come in with you, if you would like~”

“Yes… Can you come in with me, Miss Ketamina?”

Lilian’s core thrummed in joy as she held the door open, and they entered together. It had been a ploy, she had never expected to stay outside, but making Twilight ask for it was delightful.

The bell dinged overhead as they entered, and Twilight was immediately struck by how much bigger the place was. The displays of confectionery now went up above even Miss Ketamina’s head, and had some kind of stasis magic spell on them to preserve the treats without refrigeration. Twilight looked nervously at her affini, who was hanging back near the doorway, prompting her to walk into the lobby fully with a pointing vine.

The smells in the room were an intense mix. Obviously baked goods, but there was some kind of alien that looked like a three eyed diamond dog with horns sitting at one of the tables that seemed to be the source of certain muskier notes. But rather than getting sucked in by the oddly distracting scent of the biped, Twilight steeled her focus for her friend.

Pinkie Pie was bouncing off the walls. That was normal, to some extent, but the white powder covering her snout was not. She was wearing a collar with blue and yellow stripes, seemingly in homage to the cutie mark of balloons that were now instead covered in vines and pink flowers just like Rarity’s had been.

The somewhat shapeless affini covered in pink-magenta flowers sitting at the counter grabbed the bouncing pony, and held her in place with vines that coiled tight around her as she wiggled. Twilight tried not to pay attention to the ones sneaking between Pinkie’s hindquarters or… into her ears?

Seemingly unfazed by the intrusion on her body, the pink pony greeted her with manic excitement. “Hi Twilight! I missed you! I think! I don't know if it's been a million years or five minutes since I saw you!”

She stopped talking and started moaning. Twilight took a sudden interest in staring at the floor, until she noticed there was spilled sap there too.

“It’s been a week, Pinkie. I’m here to uh, get cupcakes, for the picnic?”

“A weee-eeeeeEEEEK?!” The tentacle in her ear throbbed vigorously, briefly interrupting Pinkie as her eyes rolled back in her head. Within a second, though, she continued, “That’s way too - oh god Mxster - long to go without - oh buck why is that an erogenous zone now - seeing a gooooOOOD - BUCK - Friend! BUCK, MXSTER, MY CUPCAKES ARE DONE!” She shuddered so hard that her knees gave out, and her eyes rolled back in her skull. Twilight marveled at the deep-gold liquid slowly oozing from every orifice of her face, to distract herself from how blissful Pinkie looked. Twilight had never even kissed anypony, and here Pinkie Pie was, getting earfucked right in front of her!

Twilight looked to Miss Ketamina, attempting to gauge her reaction to what was happening, but the affini wasn’t even looking at them, instead petting the three eyed creature in the corner while looking at cakes on display.

Twilight returned her focus to her friend. Pinkie wobbled, seemingly held aloft by the still-throbbing tentacle buried in her head. Her eyes glazed over, before there was a soft beep, and her pupils suddenly shrank. Her whole body twitched violently, and she bounced up to full height immediately, a slightly crazed look in her eyes. “Thank you, Mxster! I love it when you fuck my brains in front of my friends!” Within seconds, she hurled herself across the room and into Twilight’s arms for a slightly gooey tackle-hug. “Twi-Twi! I missed you so, so much! Oh my gosh I can’t believe it’s been a whole week since I saw you last! I see you have an Affini with you! I bet it’s cuz I told Mxster I was worried about you! Aren’t they so incredible? Before I got my implant I was nervouscited, but now I don’t think I can even be nervous any more, so I’m just excited!!! It’s so wonderful. It’s the best party ever, and the party never has to end! I get to spend all my time playing with Mxster and doing things we love to do together and playing with my friends and-”

Pinkie pie suddenly went silent, even as her mouth continued flapping, until she noticed she wasn't making sound anymore. She looked back at the affini responsible, who gave her a pat on the head before speaking. “Aren’t you going to introduce me, my little party popper?”

Pinkie looked back, at what looked like a vaguely quadrupedal moving hedge of vines, leaves and pink flowers, with the exact same look of reverent bliss that Twilight had last seen on Rarity. She briefly imagined never being nervous again, and felt very nervous about how badly she wanted it.

Pinkie’s voice was returned to her. “Yes Mxster!” Pinkie turned to Twilight, smile sparkling beautifully. “This is my Owner, my Teacher, my Mad Scientist, my Mxster, Ivir Mectin, third bloom. Xe makes me sooooo happy!” She closed her eyes and started vibrating in a way that seemed to clip her in and out of the floor.

“Pinkie pie, are you… on something?”

She nodded, her hair bouncing rapidly. “Space cocaine!”

Twilight frowned. “Is that a xenodrug…?”

Pinkie sniffed loudly before answering, a manic grin still plastered on her face. “I dunno! Space cocaine!”

“I see,” replied Twilight with an edge of concern in her voice.

“Mxster’s Implant keeps my brain swimming in all kinds of happy chemicals, and since it’s regulating allllll my organs, Mxster can test all kinds of crazy drugs on me!”

Twilight couldn’t tell whether she was more concerned about what Pinkie was saying, or about how gleeful she was saying it. Pinkie’s organs were being controlled by an alien implant in her neck, and she was overjoyed. Twilight simply sat there dumbfounded.

Ivir chuckled, in a sound like dry leaves blown by wind. “I keep trying to find the limits to how hard my little party popper can go, and she keeps surprising me! We haven’t even started on the body mods. I have never in my blooms seen such neurochemical plasticity amongst a sophont. Medically fascinating.”

“Heeeeeeeheheheeeee xe thinks I’m fascinating.” Pinkie swooned, bouncing rapidly around Twilight. “I bet you like yours too, huh? Have you tried the xenodrugs yet? Mxster has been introducing me to class-Ls, and they feel soooo good.”

Twilight tensed up again, unsure of how to answer. Willingly giving up her magic? The thought made her shudder. “It’s… just not for me, I guess?” she said, weakly.

“You should try them,” Pinkie said in a sing-song voice. “I bet you’ll like them! Well, of course you’ll like them, the affini made them to feel good, but like… they’re really fun, Twi. You wouldn’t believe how good it feels to get bucked while flying on apocyneigh!”

Miss Ketamina beamed down at Twilight. “I hear it is… quite an experience, little mare. I’d love to show you. Maybe later, if that’s something you’d like~”

Twilight’s heart pumped in her chest. She gazed between the predatory plant and the friend who seemed eager to throw her to the timberwolves, and offered up a strangled squeak.

“Aww, Khetari got your tongue?” rumbled Ivir, in xer windy, breathy voice.

“Ooh! Oh I know just what to do!” Pinkie was vibrating at a speed that seemed downright absurd. “Mx. Ivir has this great trick for issues like this! Mxster, would you help Twilight be more honest with herself?” In just a second of pleading, her pupils went from tiny specs to pools of inky black Twilight felt like she could drown in, and it only magnified her adorable pout, albeit a slightly twitchy one.

Ivir let out a low rustling laugh that shook xer leaves, and after a barely-perceptible nod from Miss Ketamina, reached towards Twilight with a vine adorned in pink flowers, and she felt a short sting in her flank. Something cool flooded her body, but pressure was building, like there was something inside her that needed to get out,

Twilight turned on Ivir. “Why did you do that? I don’t feel comfortable being given xenodrugs like that. What did you do to me, anyways? I don’t quite feel different, but I know it must do something and I really wish you’d tell me so I could stop worrying about it.”

“Hey Twilight,” Pinkie giggled, “What do you think of Rarity and her new owner?”

Twilight paused to consider, before realizing that she had started speaking, pause be damned. “She’s so beautiful, and he’s… so handsome that it’s terrifying. I wanted to do things with him… Shameful things.”

Miss Ketamina tutted. “There’s nothing shameful about seeking pleasure, petal. In the compact, we have no such taboos. What did you want to do?”

Twilight didn’t want to admit it. It was so shameful, so wrong, but if Miss insisted it was fine… “I wanted to lick up the sap off the floor, then suck more from the source. I wanted to kiss Rarity… It would have been my first kiss… Why am I admitting that?!”

“Very good, petal! I’m proud of you.” The shame seemed to fade slightly under a wave of acceptance and pride. Twilight couldn’t help but feel that she did the right thing, even as her cheeks burned bright red.

Pinkie laughed. She was suddenly very close, and her pupils had grown to encompass most of her eyes as she pouted at Twilight. “Hey Twilight, do you think I look pretty?”

“Yes, I think you look extremely pretty. I don’t know what it is with me today, all my friends are just so pretty, and oh gosh, Applejack and Rainbow Dash wanted to have s-s-sex with me earlier, and I said no, even though I kinda really wanted to so incredibly badly, and now you’re here and you’re so pretty, and so close, and you smell so nice…”

She could feel Pinkie’s breath against her face. Her friend was very close. “Hey Twilight, do you want me to kiss you?”

“More than anything in the world right now. Wait, did I just say that out mffph-?!”

And then Pinkie leaned in those last few inches and brushed her lips against Twilight’s.

Twilight’s brain hitched. Pinkie’s lips were soft and sweet, and her tongue was pressing insistently against Twilight’s lips. Twilight gasped, and Pinkie’s tongue wriggled inside, meeting her own, the powdery residue in her saliva sending potent tingling sensations through Twilight’s mouth and brain.

Pinkie pulled back and shot her a sultry look. “Did you enjoy that, Twilight?”

“Oh Celestia, yes. That was incredible, Pinkie. You’re so hot…”

Pinkie leaned in and kissed up Twilight’s neck, eliciting a shiver. “I know, silly. Do you want more?”

“Yes. So badly. I want you to do whatever you want to me. I feel like I shouldn’t want it, but I do want it, so badly, and I’m so embarrassed to be telling you this, and… wait, what was that drug you gave me?”

Ivir chuckled again. “Just a little something to loosen your lips, only lasts a few minutes. How are you enjoying it that far?”

“It’s incredible… I just got my very first kiss! I feel so alive!”

“Want your second?” Pinkie smirked evilly, pulling a bottle with three Xes on it from behind her at an angle that could not possibly have been hiding an object, then chugging a mouthful and tackling her to the floor for another kiss. This time, it wasn’t just her friend’s tongue inside her mouth, but a gush of liquid that left a feeling like fireworks in its wake. Twilight coughed at the sickly sweet fluid that Pinkie Pie had just shotgunned into her throat. It was too much, too strong, too intense. Pinkie lay on top of her, gazing into her eyes, watching her with a predatory look as she swallowed it down. “Pfft. Rainbow Dash called it, and I can confirm it. Twilight Sparkle is a massive bottom.”

Twilight felt a haze descend over her mind. Doting vines started to play with her mane, untangling it and straightening it, sending surges of comfort through her. Miss Ketamina would take care of her. It felt nice. And Pinkie was kissing her again! Ooh, that felt different! More sparkly.

She heard the Affini speak. “Oh gosh, Twilight, you’re so precious. You’d make such a lovely floret, wouldn’t you?”

Twilight’s mouth felt a little slow and sluggish, but she could communicate a nod to make Miss happy.

“That’s right! You would make a lovely floret. And you want to be my floret, don’t you?”

Twilight murmured, “Yes, Miss Ketamina,” and returned to being doted on. It felt so nice!

Her left eye twitched. Something about what she had said left an odd taste in her mouth. She rewound the moment in her head.

Her right ear twitched.

“So… you wanna be a floret, Twilight?” This time, it was Pinkie Pie, giggling happily.

“I’m still scared of parts of it, but you and Rarity seem so happy, and Miss Ketamina is so nice… Yeah, maybe,” Twilight responded.

Her right eye twitched, then her left.

Then she blinked.

And then her eyes shot open.

“I need to go, I need to go, I need to go!” Twilight muttered to herself, her horn sparking. She needed to get out of this situation. She needed to be anywhere else. She pulsed her horn, drawing on unknown reserves to fight through the haze of the xenodrugs, and, with a shout of exertion, she found herself outside Sugarcube Corner.

Another sudden flash, and she felt the spell rewind itself. In an instant, she was right back where she had just come from. She turned, stunned, to see Miss Ketamina’s horn glowing, eyes flashing, frowning down at her, and she felt a second sudden pinch in her flank.

“Oh, petal… Why did you do that? It was very impressive, but still, what’s wrong? We were having such fun. Oh, stars, you can’t understand me, can you…”

Twilight was barely able to let out a stunned “Bwuh” before her legs collapsed beneath her, the sparks around her horn faded, and she was cradled in vines in front of her affini’s chest, so that Pinkie Pie could still reach out to her. But it felt zoomed-out, like she was flying high above. Her limbs weren’t moving; her body wasn’t responding to any command she gave it. She stared in bemused confusion as Pinkie Pie gave her a smile and reached out a hoof to touch her.

Twilight’s mind bubbled and burbled, gaze glazed a soft golden color. Everything felt so far away, save the sensations of Miss Ketamina’s vines against her skin. Somewhere in the distance, Pinkie Pie was running a hoof through Twilight’s mane, evoking warm coos and moans. Her affini was speaking. Twilight couldn’t quite make out the meaning of it, but her voice was so pretty, so she listened eagerly. And either way, it felt like the most important bits were shining through.

“Pardon my impropriety, it just felt so good to take this one’s worries away, I may have given her a slightly stronger dose than I intended. I’ll be honest, I’ve never quite felt like this. This kind of connection with another sophont… It’s truly delightful. Honestly, I think I might be in love. Shewill make a beautiful pet.”

Stroke. Coo. Gasp. Miss loves you! The feeling was so far away, and yet so very large in Twilight’s mind. Just like the vines, covering her, surrounding her, slithering around her soft, comfortable rump.

“I can only imagine the heights of magic we’ll rise to with my implant in her neck. I wonder what her cutie mark will look like with my flowers on it? Ooh, it makes my injectors tingle! It’s only a matter of time before she realizes she already belongs to me.”

Stroke. Coo. Moan. Miss wants to help you learn magic! It thrummed through the reservoir of liquid honey pooling through Twilight’s veins, refracting through in shimmering lights of warmth and bliss. A sudden heat and pressure deep in Twilight’s nethers started to impose on her notion of reality, but it felt so good, it was hard to even think about what that pleasure might mean, and it’s not like she could turn her head to look either way.

“She’s shy, but I plan to break her of that. Look at how much fun she’s having with one of my vines in her ass! She started calling me ‘Miss Ketamina’ after only the slightest biorhythmic prompting, and does it all on her own now! Ooh, I know I’m moving quickly, but I’m just so desperate to have her.”

Stroke. Moan. Gasp. Miss is fun, and desperate to have you! Twilight felt her mind swimming in pleasure. Sensation pooled inside her body, and she stared up at the beautiful, kind mare that was holding her.

“She’s going to make such a perfect little Floret, even if she doesn’t know it just yet. I wonder when she’ll start calling me Mistress. No, she can’t really understand what we’re saying right now. But she sure is adorable!”

Mistress’s giggles spread across Twilight’s consciousness like migratory birds seeking their nesting grounds in fonts of relaxation and contentment. Mistress. Something deep inside Twilight groaned in bliss at that word.

Stroke. Smooch. Oh Celestia, that was my horn. Pinkie pie just stroked my horn and kissed me again. The thought got lost in a sea of giggles shaped like butterflies. It felt so good, like Twilight had been hungry her whole life and just learned what food was. She moaned softly.

“I can’t wait,” chirped Pinkie. “I’m so happy for you, Twilight! Being a floret is awesome, and while I might have the best Owner in the whole wide world, I’m sure Lilian will treat you super super well! Plus, maybe next time, you won’t be scared of a silly little kiss, and I can show you how I party with Tsundra.”

The monstrous, three eyed bipedal fox sitting in the corner wiggled its pedipalps and took a long drink of water. “Pinkie, I dunno if I can keep up with you. Not all of us have haustoria pumping us full of stimulants and artificially managing our heart rates. You party hard.”

Pinkie Pie grinned smugly at Tsundra. “I bet we could fix that if you spoke to Mxter.”

Tsundra laughed nervously, and started to reply… something. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t important. It was all miles away from Twilight. She moaned softly to herself, just letting herself sink into the warm bliss of Mistress’s vines. Pinkie was such a good friend. Mistress was also such a good friend. Maybe more than a friend. Maybe she could be my girlfriend, Twilight mused, and felt a warm glow inside her at the thought. She was learning so much about friendship. And whatever was going on between her legs, it felt unbelievably good. She moaned into Mistress’s vines, and just enjoyed the lightning storm of warm, happy, melty thoughts as Mistress stroked and touched her.

She barely noticed as Mistress picked up the box of cupcakes, and started to carry her away. It felt too nice to think about anything. She was usually so busy studying, but there were diminishing returns, and every bit of progress took longer the greater her skill had grown. This was easy. She squirmed and let out a particularly deep moan as Mistress carried her out of Sugarcube Corner and into town. She barely noticed the shocked gasp a blushing Roseluck gave her.

“My little pony,” Mistress murmured, doing something that made Twilight whinny with delight, “I hope you’re looking forward to today’s picnic. Who knows, maybe we’ll even be able to see your friend Fluttershy there!”

Author's Note

Today's mood: "Not THAT Kind of Party"

Chater 5: In Which Lilian Ketamina Blows Off Some Steam

Five: In Which Lilian Ketamina Blows Off Some Steam

Twilight was floating in a bright golden light. She knew on some level that she was conscious, but none of her limbs wanted to move. Sensory data was coming through in bits and pieces.

The warm stroke of a vine across her head.

An exhale of pure bliss as a throb works its way through her whole body, leaving her mind saturated with warmth.

Bon-Bon asking Mistress if she could pet her, and Mistress letting them.

Thunderlane asking Mistress if he could grope her flank… and Mistress letting him.

Being laid down on a picnic blanket, and enjoying what could have been five minutes or five thousand years of doting and pets from Mistress. Eventually, they slowed, but Twilight was too content to even think about asking for anything. It was just so nice to lie in Mistress’s vines.

Mistress’s scent filled her lungs, deep and floral, with sweet notes that made her drool. A vine brushed over her lips, and the pony blankly took a bite at it, gently chewing and sucking at it while her Mistress giggled at the feeling of her little pony trying to munch on her.

Twilight stared at Lyra and Bon-Bon as they walked past on their way elsewhere. Had Lyra always had such fabric soft skin and sewn seams? That didn’t seem right, but perhaps the affini had used some kind of surgical magic to turn her into a plushie. Good for Lyra… or Lyra Plushie. Twilight quickly forgot about that as her eyes drifted skyward.

Clouds rolled by lazily overhead, a few scattered pegasi swooping in and out of them, joined by a few of the bee-people. There was music playing somewhere. More than just the silent song of Mistress, but too far away to pay any attention to. Every fiber of plant matter that made up the affini she lay across in a jumbled pile felt like an entire symphony of comfort against her coat. The tendrils stroking through her tail and mane were the abstract concept of pampering made physical and combing through her hair. The sun was slowly moving across the sky… Wasn’t that important? There was someone she needed to see… maybe?

“Celestia?” mumbled the unicorn, not even really understanding what she was asking.

“She’s not here, Petal. It’s just me.”

The little pony stared into the swirling eyes above her, attempting to remember something in the vast correlation cloud of knowledge that was currently resting under a blanket of comfort. A slim crescent of the moon was faintly visible, and Twilight tried her best to focus on it until the clouds rolled over it in the gentle breeze. Finally, a neuron fired, seemingly at random, and she spoke again.

“Luna?”

“She’s in Canterlot, sweetie. Do you remember Canterlot? It’s where you’re from.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide as she remembered Canterlot existed, and also that she was from there, and that she existed too. Woah. She almost tried to form a question again, but any hope of that was dashed by another brush of vines behind her ears, and she settled back into the drooling haze of comfort once more.

Her wandering eyes landed upon a stray leaf by her affini’s hooves, and the pattern of veins on the underside enraptured her attention. What was she a student of again? There was so much to study, as the light patterning dripped across her senses like melted paint. Rippling wound vines, brilliant cerulean and violet petals. The leaf moved, and Twilight was astonished to learn it had another side, though she did wonder if the one she had been looking at a moment ago still existed. She couldn’t see it anymore, so it was hard to remember.

Buck, Twilight was so unbelievably high.

“Goodness, you slip so deep so easily. If I told you two plus two was equal to five, it would be true as far as you knew,” muttered the affini. Two plus two? Five? If she said it it must be true, Mistress’s words felt so nice… Twilight was learning so much.

“However, I would like you to be a bit more lucid for the picnic proper, my beloved Twilyflower. Your friends should be arriving soon, after all.”

A gentle pinch in her flank, and the saturated gold honey inside her relented, if only partially. Forming coherent thoughts moved from “impossible” to merely “difficult and vaguely undesirable”. She blinked, feeling her limbs respond to her commands for the first time since leaving Sugarcube Corner. Not that it mattered - she was so comfortable, and had nowhere to go. Her eyes turned towards the shadow that eclipsed the sun above her. She’s so beautiful, Twilight thought to herself, letting that single idea monopolize her shallow brainspace. Thinking about Mistress was so easy right now.

“Are you hungry, dear? You haven’t eaten all day, and it is well after noon…”

Twilight noticed her stomach rumbling, and nodded in assent. It was so nice how well Mistress understood her needs. She smiled warmly as Mistress pulled out a picnic basket, stacked with incredible-looking food, some of which Twilight was familiar with, and some of which she was not. Those sandwiches looked really good right now… She focused on it, her horn sparked, then… fizzled. It was simply too hard to hold together a simple telekinetic spell with how fuzzy her brain felt. She whined, pouting at her affini.

“Mistress, I’m… Oh!” Twilight got two words out before a surge of pleasureand prideflooded through her mind, lighting the gooey, honeyed thoughts ablaze and tossing them to the wind. The smile on her Mistress’s face shined like the sun.

She laughed, a twinkling pattern of perfection that gently glittered across the air. “Oh, my apologies, my dearest floret. I wasn’t quite able to hold my feelings inside myself. Please, continue.”

Twilight focused up. Mistress wanted her to speak, so she would speak. It really was that simple. It just felt right. She was such a good student, she would get such a good grade in speaking. She definitely wasn’t going to be sent back to magic kindergarten. “Mistress, I’m hungry, and I can’t get anything while my mind is like this…” Her horn flashed again before fizzling out, and she groaned.

“This feels like an excellent time for a friendship lesson, my little pony.” Mistress snaked out a vine to touch Twilight’s cheek, gently stroking her muzzle. “It’s just like Rarity said - you may not have your magic, but you do have a good friend who is all too ready and willing to help you.”

A vine holding a gorgeous-looking cress-and-cranberry sandwich appeared in front of Twilight’s face. Twilight reached for it and almost tipped over, before another vine wrapped around her, holding her in place. She giggled at how clumsy she felt.

“Whoops! That’s okay, cutie, I can help you, if you’d like.”

Twilight nodded eagerly. Mistress’s help had been so nice today. It was easy to just do what she wanted, and somehow, it always just felt like the right thing to do.

A vine tapped the side of her jaw. “Open.” Obediently, Twilight opened her mouth, and was immediately rewarded by a vine sliding a piece of the sandwich between her lips. The same vine tapped the bottom of her jaw. “Close.” Twilight relaxed into it fully, letting her jaw close around the treat. “Chew.” The vine moved up and down in a small circular motion, and Twilight obeyed, letting the complex, sour flavor of the sandwich fill her mouth, slowly extracting every bit of enjoyment from it she could. After a moment of letting the flavor and her Mistress’s radiance fill her with warmth, she heard her Mistress say, “Swallow”, as the vine stroked down her throat, and Twilight eagerly, blissfully, obeyed.

Twilight so often scarfed down food as quickly as she could, to rush to the next thing to research, the next problem to solve. She so rarely slowed down to really appreciate the flavor of the moment. It was nice. It would be a lot harder to end up coughing and choking on her food as she occasionally did with someone helping guide her.

This process repeated on the next bite. “Open.” “Close.” “Chew.” “Swallow.” Each accompanied by a simple motion of a vine. Deep in Twilight’s mind, part of her protested that this was demeaning, but she shushed that part of her. It felt amazing. Why worry? Another vine appeared with a slice of apple dipped in honey and salt, and Twilight understood, intuitively, what was expected of her. At the prompting of the vine, her mouth popped open to receive the treat, and then closed. It tasted amazing… But Mistress had not yet told her to chew, so she simply left it there, saliva pooling in her mouth, staring up at Mistress and awaiting the command.

Having the honor of being Princess Celestia’s direct pupil came with a lot of pressure. Every magic student in Canterlot had wanted her position, after all, and she couldn't slow down, couldn't stop. She had felt, even if the Princess had never said so, that she could always be replaced. She just wanted to be the best student of magic she could be.

Discovering she was one of the six Elements of Harmony had only heightened that pressure. She didn't know how to tell if she was doing good enough on her own, that was why she needed the guidance of someone like Princess Celestia to keep her on track. She needed external approval, because without that it could all come crashing down.

But this? She didn’t need to expend even a bit of effort, and she was getting praised for it. It felt so easy, so natural. Like there was nowhere else in the world to be.

“Stars, you’re so precious,” Mistress cooed at her. Then the vine told her to chew, and she did, and with her Mistress smiling down at her, everything just felt so right. “See, you don’t need to use your horn. You have me to take care of every last little thing. Isn’t that nice? Such a good little student for me.”

She swallowed and nodded, glee spreading across her face. She was a good student! She cooed in pleasure before accepting some sort of soft, squishy berry from one of Mistress’s vines. She followed her instructions dutifully, and was rewarded by a flavor she didn’t quite recognize. It was good. Unbelievably good. She wasn’t convinced that she had ever tasted something better. Her eyes popped open in shock, just in time to see the shadows over her shifting.

She saw Mistress lean down towards her, and her heart skipped a beat. Was Mistress going to kiss her too? It had been so much fun with Pinkie Pie, and Mistress was so pretty… Waves of warm approval saturated Twilight’s addled mind. She closed her eyes in anticipation.

She let out a surprised moan when something firm, yet warm, pressed up against her horn, and slid along it, little spirals in the material carving whorls of pleasure into Twilight’s mind. Her eyes popped open. Mistress was rubbing her horn against Twilight’s, and her ears- or antennae shaped like ears- were leaving trails of muted yellow powder across her fur that made her giggle and made her thoughts pop into empty nothingness.

It wasn’t a kiss, but the tingling sensation was absolutely blissful, and the feeling of her hypersensitive horn being rubbed was enough to make Twilight’s eyes roll back in her head and let out a little keening whinny.

“Gosh, it really is impressive how much control you can exert over your magic with such a tiny amplifier. Even while on drugs, you still somehow managed to teleport. You really will make such a delightful floret.”

Twilight felt sparks of magical pleasure flood through her mind as stray vines wrapped their horns closer together, and Mistress nudged her head forward. The tingling between magic fields as their horns rubbed together was intense. The resonant energies swirled around the spiral, straight into Twilight’s drug-addled brain. She moaned softly. The desire to just melt into her vines and submit was overpowering.

“It’s so soft, and cute. Nothing like my massive tool.” Mistress gazed hungrily into Twilight’s eyes. “You know, I haven’t actually done this before. I knew from my research that unicorns frequently showed affection and intimacy by rubbing their horns together, but before now I could only guess how it felt. This magic feedback resonance… It tingles in my core.”

Twilight responded with as much eloquence as she could with the resonance vibrations shaking through her skull and tingling pollen coating her. “Hsjflkjd.”

Mistress purred softly. “A silly pet doesn’t need to use their cute, soft horn for magic. Not when their Owner is around. You can just relax and let me take care of everything. You know exactly how nice that feels, don’t you? No, the purpose of your horn, at least for the foreseeable future, is not to cast magic.” She leaned in closer, and her disembodied voice whispered into Twilight’s ear. “It’s to be another erogenous zone for me to tease and touch and play with. Not a source of power. Just a source of pleasure. And not even a very big one, at that. Why, look at how mine just eclipses yours!”

Twilight blushed, hungrily.

“In fact… It’s so much stronger than your tiny, weak, soft horn, that I can even do this.”

Mistress’s horn aligned with hers - easily twice the length of Twilight’s - then shivered and flashed, pushing energy… directly into Twilight. She gasped as she felt the pressure of foreign magic slowly violating her, then giggled maniacally. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t supposed to be possible. The power differential between two unicorns was never this great, to be able to push your will on another directly through the organ they used to amplify their power. It was an unproven hypothetical, a scary story to ensure that young unicorns didn’t neglect their magic training, and, of course, the subject of a great many bawdy romance novels, some of which Twilight stored in her bedside table. It wasn’t real. This couldn’t be happening.

One look up at Mistress swept those thoughts away.

It could.

If Mistress wanted it to happen, it would.

Whether or not she fought back.

Her smile had grown distinctly predatory, and Twilight felt her heart beat faster and faster as the pressure in her skull built.

“Struggle, petal,” Mistress ordered. “Come now, don’t just sit there and let it happen, make me work for it.”

Twilight obeyed, rallying what was left of her conscious mind. The pressure grew further, and Mistress’s advance slowed… but did not stop. And it took so much effort. So much energy just to not immediately give in. Her struggles would not protect her, and she could just tell that Mistress was savoring the look of terror in her eyes. Twilight felt her reserves starting to crack under the strain.

Every breath saturated Twilight’s nostrils with air that sparked and tingled, a sweet, floral aroma that weakened her focus. There was a song faintly resonating in the shell of her ears, calling her to give in. The gently swaying vines of Mistress’s body were hypnotic, pulling Twilight in deep. But she had to prove she could do this. Magic was her purpose, she could not let herself fail.

She tried to charge a tiny shockwave that would break the contact between them, but the pathetic puff she managed didn’t even make her affini flinch. Twilight attempted to cast a defensive ward upon herself, but another wave of sheer overpowering will from Mistress blew it away like tattered paper in the wind. Her body felt heavier, glowing as glimmering golden threads slowly wound themselves into her fur, holding her down, showing her that she was weak and helpless against the raw power of her Mistress.

The soft ding of a communicator interrupted her thoughts, and the pressure suddenly relented, as Mistress pulled her horn away, and Twilight gasped in relief, letting herself flop into her Mistress’s vines.

“What’s the phrase… Saved by the bill?” Mistress heaved a heavy, theatrical sigh. “No, not yet. You will not break for me yet, Twilight Ketamina.” She leaned in closer, and whispered, “But from this moment on, some part of you will understand that each independent thought you have is a gift from me. The ability to think is a privilege, one I could revoke at any time. Do you understand?”

Twilight nodded, gazing up reverently at her affini. “Yes, Mistress.” That sent another wave of pride and adoration swimming through Twilight’s mind, and she giggled. It felt so good when she did what Mistress liked. She was immediately rewarded with a slow, languid lick along her horn; a massive, tongue-like vine snaked back into Mistress’s mouth, and Twilight couldn’t help but think about how it would feel to kiss her Mistress.

She whined softly as Mistress put her down. “Now, Twilight, your friends will be here in just a little while. Do you think you’ll be alright with me leaving for a bit? I need to go pick up a little surprise for you, but I promise I’ll be back before too long, okay?”

Twilight pouted. The picnic blanket, while unreasonably soft, wasn’t as nice as Mistress’s vines. But, thinking about it, she smiled. “I’ll be fffffine,” she murmured, nodding politely. It was, after all, a beautiful day. She’d be fine without her affini for a little while. “I’m Twilight Ketamina, a capable, independent pony. I’ll be fine!”

“Of course you are, Twilyflower.” She leaned down and left a soft kiss on Twilight’s cheek before wrapping a vine around Twilight’s throat. “Just gonna be sure you’ll be alright without me.” The vine retreated, but Twilight could still feel a soft pressure against her neck. She giggled at the strange sense of safety that lent her. Mistress gave her one more thorough headpat before turning to canter away.

Twilight blushed even harder. Mistress thinks I’m good at being independent, she thought to herself, and beamed.

Author's Note

Art, as always, by Sheepwave.

We hope you enjoyed this burst of chapters. the story is already fully written, and we will be posting the rest when we return from vacation in December! <3