“Aw, Rarity! Them’s for me?”
“All for you, ravishing mare! Oh, please, try them on, do!”
The dress was a dark purple, like a black cherry, and it made Applejack’s tail look even blonder, but its most stunning trick was in its contours. It sheathed her lower back tightly and curved over in cunning seams that defined her dock between the gentle swellings of her rump—but it did not follow those curves down all the way. The dress clung to Applejack’s ass just far enough to hint at covering her, and then curled up in torn-looking angles, like the costume she’d worn on Hearth’s Warming Eve—revealing her earth-toned bottom more enticingly than even nakedness could manage.
Its front puffed out, with a deep vee neck that exposed the strong swelling muscles of Applejack’s chest but made them seem dainty and feminine between the billows of ruffled fabric—and it dropped to her hooves in bell-bottom sleeves that gave elegance to her sturdy forelegs.
Applejack pranced in glee, swishing her tail, waving her forelegs in the air just to feel those bell-bottoms swirl like clouds, kicking out a hindleg so Rarity could ogle her ass peeking from under the ragged peasant hem. It was a whole new level of girly—or marely, thought Applejack, for it filled her with confidence and a feeling of naughtiness.
“Yeeha! Ain’t too shabby, I’ll tell you that right now. Why, look at me!”
Rarity’s head was up, tilted in critical thought. “Yes, yes—you are radiant, simply radiant! But let us take it up a notch—perhaps more than a notch. Listen, Ap.. ahem. Will you stop rearing?!”
Abashed, Applejack dropped to all four hooves, and lowered her head. “Awww…”
“Yes. Yes! No, don’t rear again, darling, show some decorum… and now, the crowning touch!”
It wasn’t a crown, but it was a hat—a soft white wide-brimmed hat, as if a straw hat had gone very pale. The lack of color was offset by a ribbon around it that flashed intense yellows and lime greens, hues that bridged the gap between that eye-searing yellow and the green of Applejack’s eyes. The dullness of the cream-colored white seemed to heighten both the richness of the dress’s dark purple and the glow of Applejack’s supple coat, and gave a sultry gleam to her irises, and a brighter spark to the lights in her eyes.
“If you rear and cavort, it will fall off…” warned Rarity.
“Uh… happens I could tie it on, maybe?”
“No, don’t misunderstand—if you rear and cavort, you deserve to have it fall off. Honestly!”
Applejack hung her head and peered up at Rarity from under the brim, seeking reassurance.
“Oh, yes. Yes! That is the look! This is my gift and lesson for you, beloved… hah, for she who goes about prepared to stomp everything. I shall guide you until you understand what it is to be girly! Think for one moment about our last lovemaking session,” said Rarity. “Did you not observe how erotic it was for me to yield, to defer, to place myself under your power?”
Applejack’s eyes narrowed. “Called yourself ‘mommy’, you did. I ain’t shootin’ for ‘mommy’, sugarcube. Ah’m already a big sister. I had a mommy once and ain’t nopony replacing her…”
“We’re not talking about that,” snapped Rarity. “I believe you have little idea of what it means to yield and consent, other than in bed when provoked beyond belief or wisdom. You should not have to sustain damage to personal areas to get into your girly head-space, Applejack! Now, I’ve made these new clothes, which I think are a rousing success, and I’d like to teach you a little basic deportment. I took pains to ensure they will not be harmed by fits of pony glee, but I’m going to show you how you can move to really show them off…”
Skeptically, but with growing enthusiasm, Applejack listened to her strict lover and crossed forehooves, tilted her head gracefully, allowed her firm hips to rest a little off balance and canted enticingly at an angle, adjusted the angle of her pelvis to poke her rump up a little more…
In the distance, Rainbow Dash muttered under her breath as she approached the Carousel Boutique, flying high through the clouds to get some comfort from their presence.
“So, Applejack, I… no… So, um, Applejack, I just needed to say I was sorry for whatever I… no, dumbass, you know what it is. So, Applejack, I’m really sorry for that time that Big Macintosh needed to… no no no!”
She scowled as she flew, and set her jaw.
“Dig deeper, Rainbow, don’t blame him for it! You know how horny you were, you thought you could get away with it, right? Like you thought you could fucking get away with anything! Start over. So, um, Applejack, I…”
Carousel Boutique approached—and, glimpsed through some low-hanging clouds, something else.
Rainbow slowed and hovered, not sure if she believed what she was seeing. It was a stranger pony in a hot dress and a pretty hat—except there was no mistaking the cutie mark on that glorious rump. It was Applejack, exactly who she’d come to see, and Rarity was with her. Fine, thought Rainbow Dash, I can still do this. I can watch them dressing up Applejack, I can let them have their little moment with her crossing her hooves and taking little steps and swishing her tail around, and I can fly right down there and I can try and make things right.
Rainbow gulped.
…and… why am I not doing that?
She realized that, in her head, the thought ‘I can tell her she looks awesome as a whipped bitch-filly’ was floating around, and that she was really angry, that her heart was pounding a lot worse than she’d feared. ‘What the hell, Dash?’ thought the cerulean pegasus.
Far below, Applejack tilted her head, and batted her eyelashes at Rarity. There was something so odd about the set of her ears; the strong alertness Rainbow had known was softened. Her mane wasn’t tied. When did that start?
Rainbow ducked behind the cloud, realizing that her face was burning, that she was glaring down at the two of them with hooves on her hips when she’d come to apologize. Everything had gone horribly wrong before she was within a hundred feet of them. They hadn’t spotted her, thank Celestia.
Dash thought desperately hard, concealed safely, glancing around to make sure no other pegasus was approaching to greet her. What the hell was so wrong that she was in a rage?
Applejack wasn’t supposed to mare out so easily, that was what.
Rainbow Dash stared at nothing as she figured it out. That was it. She’d been through some stuff with Applejack, heavy stuff, important stuff. She’d been there for Applejack when it seemed like the earth pony didn’t feel safe being girly. Applejack had taken off those hair ties for her and her alone, and it had been a big fucking deal at the time.
Now it was nothing. She was being dressed up by Rarity and carrying on like some Fluttershy, and it meant nothing, what they’d had. She was acting like…
…like the Applejack that Rainbow had loved, wasn’t there anymore.
Rainbow Dash hovered behind the cloud, trembling, for another minute. Voices came faintly to her, too distant to make out words, just tones. Applejack’s twang, softened and made more tender. Rarity’s prim and proper voice, carrying a ring of authority. The voices talked back and forth companionably, not quite understandable, and yet somehow, understood, and nothing contradicted the story Rainbow told herself…
Rainbow Dash flew straight back from where she’d come, silently, her jaw set even harder. Her eyes stared hard and glassy, as they had when she’d left Pinkie and Fluttershy, walling up the pain behind ever-higher barriers.
Rainbow Dash was not about to fuck things up worse for the pony she loved. She was not about to let her temper destroy the apology she’d wanted to bring.
So be it, then.
Another day, or week, or hundred years in bed, wouldn’t hurt anypony.
“And lastly, my piece de resistance! I do hope this worked, darling, I was most daring. Quickly, before we sully our persons with more earthy loving, try them on!”
Applejack blinked. The shapes were familiar, but the colors were not. It was a perfect clone of her wonderful mustard-colored pajamas—but instead of those soft harmonious tones, these pajamas were a patchwork of cyan and navy blues and emerald green, with the trim in mustard rather than cerulean blue and bright red.
“Uh…”
“Oh, please! If I am correct, the blockiness of the shapes will accentuate the contours of your croup and dock. I’d like to see you from behind in them. They’ll fit, I know that. Please, please!”
Applejack glanced questioningly at Rarity, but drew the new pajamas on, this time not stretching sensuously in them—they didn’t seem to invite it, for they were all seams from how the patchwork panels were joined.
She gazed back at Rarity, who studied her fiercely.
“Ah. Hmmm. Yes… though the larger solid areas… and simpler pattern… yes, I must say I could go either way. Applejack? Your thoughts?”
Applejack looked back over herself. She stretched a leg out, and felt the new seams, though they were very delicately made. She gave Rarity a bashful look.
“I’m sorry, sugarcube. I’ll keep them first ones. They’re special to me. Okay?”
This produced an unexpected reaction. Rarity flushed, staring back too directly, biting her lip in anxiety. “I shall get right on it, dearest one. That is a promise…”
“Wait, what?”
“It’ll take a few hours, so I can’t have it ready for you by tonight…”
“You… Rarity, I left ‘em in th’ hamper like you tole me, what could possibly take hours?”
Rarity licked her lips. “If you like, I shall begin now. I have clearly miscalculated…”
Applejack looked at the high-fashion pajamas she wore, a realization coming to her mind. They fit almost exactly like her special pajamas. Too much like them…
“What did you do, Rarity? Jes’ what did you do?”
“I consider my gift to be the conceptual idea of pajamas, evolving to new refinements…”
Applejack gasped. “You cut up my special pajamas! To make these ones! Rarity, the hell?”
Rarity couldn’t meet Applejack’s eyes. “I’d made them out of my head, I wasn’t sure if I could do it twice with the more complicated pattern! You have to start from an existing form when you’re joining geometric shapes in that way, it should fit exactly as the first ones had! Does it not? I only wanted to continue to sheathe that delicious body perfectly in silks…”
The praise wasn’t helping. Applejack was glaring as only she could. “You did. You cut up them special pajamas you gave me. They ain’t yours to cut up!”
“‘Aren’t’, darling… er, I’m sorry, that’s still not right, is it? The proper word is,” and Rarity gulped, “‘weren’t’…”
She looked up, her lip quivering, to face Applejack’s irate gaze. Applejack opened her mouth, her nostrils flared, bent her head, seized the collar of the pajamas in her teeth…
“Don’t! Oh, don’t, I’ve got to cut those up now to recreate the original pattern, I beg of you don’t stretch or tear it! It was perfect!”
Applejack hung her head. A tear of frustrated rage dropped to the floor.
“Yeah. Sure was.”
Rarity had begun to weep, standing there. “I am so, so, so sorry!”
Applejack sighed. “Yeah. I’ll bet. Naw, really, I can see that you are, I ain’t joking… Aw, Rarity! C’mere.”
The quivering white unicorn first stepped, then rushed over, and was met with a strong and determined pony hug. Applejack squeezed her tight, patting her back with a firm hoof.
“Y’all jes’ wanted to make it even more special, huh? I do love you, Rarity. You can work on not bein’ too crazy…”
“…mmmphl,” went Rarity.
“What’s that?”
Rarity lifted her face from under Applejack’s chin.
“Don’t reach your forelegs too far, please? I am so afraid you’ll stretch the fabric and I won’t be able to recreate your gift perfectly…”
Applejack rolled her eyes, sighed, and hugged Rarity even tighter, ignoring the advice.
“Rainbow?”
It was Twilight Sparkle’s voice. Dash’s eyes flew open. Unicorn ponies didn’t often visit cloud homes.
“Rainbow? Are you there?”
“What are you doing up here, Twilight?” called Rainbow Dash.
“Checking on you! I mean… it seemed like something was wrong. Will you talk to me?”
Dash sighed. “I might as well. I have a lot to think about. You can help be me brave, okay? But how are you… holy buck!”
Twilight had trotted into her bedroom. “Oh, I’m sorry, should I have asked?”
“No, it’s just… let me guess, your balloon, and then the cloud walking spell? Is that what you used?”
“Exactly!” said Twilight. “Just like your big day at the Best Young Flyers’ Competition.” She smiled.
Rainbow had to smile a little at that, too. “Right. My big day. That was an incredible day, yeah. And here you are again, huh?”
“Look, I have to figure that if even I can tell something’s bothering you, it’s kind of a big deal. So is there anything I can do to help? I don’t really know how this goes, but… well, that never stopped you before!”
Rainbow lifted an eyebrow. “You think I’m gonna clop you, now?”
“Oh, no! Or um… maybe if you really really needed to, because I want to help you feel better. But I thought you might want to just… talk.”
Dash stared thoughtfully. “You’re not so dumb. I mean, foolish… I mean, whatever it is we should call your egghead thing that you do. Uh, sorry? What I mean is, yeah, I think I should talk. I just have the feeling I need to hear myself saying stuff or it’ll echo around in my head until I’m totally crazy, you know?”
Twilight’s smile was fond and wry. “Oh, nobody knows totally crazy like me, Rainbow. And you’re right, when stuff rattles around in your brain, it just hurts and won’t stop.”
Rainbow sighed. “Hurts and won’t stop. Yeah, you nailed it…”
“Is it about Applejack? I’m sorry, maybe I shouldn’t say the name in case it upsets you…”
“No, say it all you want. I’m tough, I can handle it.” Rainbow didn’t look tough, she looked forlorn, but there was a courage there.
“Well,” said Twilight, “if you’re tough… is that your way of telling me you don’t need me? I can go away again if you want, I’m just trying to…”
“No! No, I need to talk to you, I… this is hard for me, okay? I don’t do this. I could say never to tell anypony but at this point what difference would it make? The thing is, it’s me that has to be different. Like, real different—and I don’t know how, Twilight. I really don’t know how.”
“In what way?” asked Twilight.
Rainbow sighed. “I saw Applejack outside with Rarity. Trying on clothes.”
Twilight lifted a hoof to her mouth, with a gasp. “Oh, yes. I’m not sure if anypony told you that was happening?”
Rainbow Dash glared at her for a moment. “Hello? Pegasus? I didn’t actually need you to tell me. Is Rarity really as humongous as it looked like she was? I mean, with a bit and all. Because you made one for her, didn’t you?”
Twilight was flustered. “I, I… yes. I mean, yes I made one, though to hear Applejack tell it, yes to the other thing too—though I guess I don’t need to be telling you that part?”
Dash punched her cloud bed with a hoof. “Might as well! It would explain a lot! Right?”
“I’m sorry, Rainbow. I’m not helping. I can leave,” said Twilight.
“No!” snapped Rainbow, and put a hoof to her forehead in frustration. “Just bear with me, okay? I’m all mad again, that’s exactly what I have to stop being. Can you understand that I’m okay with that? What I mean is—Applejack’s with somepony else, and I want her to be with somepony special, okay? I want her to be what she really wants to be—and with whoever she really wants to be with. I really do. Really!”
“Are you okay, Rainbow? You keep looking more and more upset. I won’t leave! I’ll stay with you. But… what are you even working toward? Still not leaving! Just… wondering?”
Rainbow Dash squeezed her eyes shut, gritting her teeth.
“This might not make a lot of sense. It feels like it only just barely makes sense, even to me. Let me explain.”
“I’m listening,” said Twilight, gently.
“Okay… I never thought I would really matter to anypony. That’s why I got so good at sex—if I work at it, I can be pretty sure that at least I can entertain, right? Nopony’s gonna kick me out of bed, not the amazing Rainbow Dash! Except Applejack—and I guess Pinkie and Fluttershy—and Rarity wouldn’t even let us get near her, and you’re kinda spoken for, and it’s kinda scary with Gilda and I don’t want to talk about the Diamond Dog I found…”
Twilight’s eyes widened with each name, but she didn’t interrupt.
“The point is,” said Dash, “what I do doesn’t work anymore. Like, everypony’s outgrown me now and I have to get used to it. It’s hard, Twilight. I used to be somepony, I used to be wanted, now I have no place. It’s like before I started experimenting with Gilda, back at school. There’s nopony for me so I have to be, you know, creative…”
“But you’re a very special pony, Rainbow, and of course there is a pony for you…”
“No there isn’t and you know why?” said Rainbow Dash. “Because I already had that pony and it was Applejack, and everything’s different now. It’s all gone, it’s all broken, and it’s my fault. I don’t understand why ponies freak out about bodysex when it’s not important but I’m not stupid, okay? It’s totally my fault. I ruined everything.”
Twilight was trying to keep up, her eyes earnest and luminous. “We all make terrible mistakes, Rainbow. I… if you knew some of the mistakes I’ve almost made, over the same thing…”
“It’s not about the mistakes!” yelled Dash.
Twilight stopped, abruptly. She stared worriedly at Dash, who was facehoofing again, and after a moment she dared to say “I’m listening. Go on—it’s okay if it doesn’t make a lot of sense, Rainbow.”
“It does. It does make sense, that’s the thing.” Rainbow sighed. She seemed to be forcing herself on, like she was covering ground toward a specific goal. “You see, it’s not all about how I screwed everything up. Because I didn’t always screw everything up, and that’s the hardest part. That’s what really hurts, okay? Let me get to that part, I need to talk about this awful bad.”
Twilight waited.
“So, here’s the thing—I saw Applejack and she was in a pretty dress. Would you think that she would want to be in a pretty dress? Like with her tail all flowin’ loose like Fluttershy? Would you think that she secretly always wanted that?” Rainbow looked challengingly at Twilight.
“Um… as a matter of fact, no. I thought she was about the most amazing stallion a mare could ever be. I got sort of hung up about it… The answer is no, I didn’t see that.”
Rainbow lifted her head, grief-stricken but proud. “Well, you know what? I did. Nopony else saw it, but she was asking me to be sort of both things, and deep inside she was both things too, and she was really confused and upset about it. ‘Cause her family wouldn’t let her be girly, like her mother wouldn’t have approved and stuff. And Granny Smith, real strict, you know? But I’m telling you, we had a secret life together. And with me—Applejack could be a mare. And I mean, whoo! Feminine. It was amazing.”
Twilight blinked. “I’ll take your word for it! Is that why she’s acting so weird with Rarity? It seemed kind of like… well, it seemed weird. Like not our Applejack anymore, in a way.”
Suddenly, Twilight found herself staring into angry ruby eyes. Dash was in her face, furious—but there was something else buried under the anger that was always Rainbow Dash’s first line of defense.
“Aren’t you listening? Listen, okay? That is still Applejack. I was the one who helped her find that inside herself. I’m fucking proud that I was there to do it, and you’re gonna respect it!”
“Okay, okay!” stammered Twilight. Dash sagged.
“Sorry. But it matters a lot, Twilight! We all have to find out who we really are. Applejack isn’t with me any more. She’s with Rarity, and I’m gonna make sure they have every chance to have a good life with each other. I… love Applejack too much to fail them, so I’m gonna have to be super careful. I’m no good for her, I’m too rough, what I want is too complicated and too much…”
“But what do you want, Rainbow?”
“I want her to be happy!” yelled Dash, and then dropped her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s just not fair—but maybe in a way it is. I was never any good to anypony, Twilight. I just made them excited and got them off, and I never did any real good, I just flew into ponies’ bedrooms and put on a big show. Well… now, Applejack has a real relationship, and she’s all girly. You should have seen her—I bet you will at some point, and don’t act like it’s weird, okay? That’s what she always wanted, deep down.”
Twilight studied Rainbow. “That’s good. Is there some reason why you’re looking sadder and sadder? Besides the obvious, I mean?”
Rainbow Dash couldn’t answer for a moment.
“It… um… the thing is, I need to remember to be proud, even if I have nothing anymore. Can you understand that? There’s more important things than me, me, me. I’ve been thinking really hard. I have nothing, anymore, and it all goes horribly wrong, but I didn’t only do damage. I did some good. With Applejack—even if she hates me now.”
Twilight scooted a little closer, on the bed. “You have to give it time. I don’t think she hates you…”
“No, listen! It’s okay if she does. I did bad things. But what she’s got now? Being really feminine, even in public? She’s like a new pony, and I helped her get to that! I know she needed to get to this place, where she’s happy now, so I’m proud that I was there for her when it really mattered!”
“Rainbow? Take it easy, why are you yelling?” said Twilight.
Rainbow shook her head, technicolor mane flying briefly.
“No, it’s okay—I’m gonna be fine. I needed to get this out, okay? I have to say how proud and happy I am that Applejack is happy, that she’s the mare she wanted to be. I want her to be happy. I’m just glad that for a while I w… w…”
Dash choked on the word. Twilight blinked. “Rainbow?”
Rainbow Dash waved a hoof helplessly. Twilight scooted closer still. “Rainbow, what is it? ‘That’ what? Can I help?”
Rainbow fought to get the quavering words out, the words that spelled out what she never thought she could say, and what she’d never be able to say again.
“That I was USEFUL…”
Rainbow Dash broke down completely, bawling like a filly, and Twilight hugged her close, rocking her.
The little pegasus had a lot of tears locked up in her. Now that they’d burst loose, there was no controlling them, and Twilight sat on the bed, cuddling her shaking, weeping pegasus friend and thinking, for what seemed like hours. Eventually, the torrents slowed, and Twilight decided that it was okay to talk again.
“Rainbow Dash—I do love you. We all love you. We’ll take care of you until you feel better…”
Dash looked miserable at this, for it missed the point—she’d decided that she’d been making demands for love and sex all her life, and her one saving grace was that she’d led the love of her life to a new freedom with somepony else. Being a burden again wasn’t comforting.
“Seriously, Rainbow, we do,” continued Twilight. “I know we can find ways to take care of your needs, because that’s what ponies do for each other…”
“Awesome,” muttered Dash, wiping her eyes.
Twilight cuddled her closer. “I promise. And I’m proud of you. What you told me? About Applejack, and why she’s changed like she has? I didn’t see it.” She winced. “And it might have been good if I had seen it. Maybe I’ll tell you about that someday.”
Rainbow Dash brightened, a little. “I did see it. I helped her see it. I was,” and she sniffled, “useful.”
“Are you going to be okay?” asked Twilight.
Dash looked determined, though her face was streaked with tears. “I’d better be. I mean, yeah. Hey, how hard can it be? I want her to be happy, and she is happy.”
“I think she probably wants you to be happy, too…”
Dash’s eyes narrowed. “How about act happy? Does that work for you?”
Twilight blinked. “Um, that’s not what I said, technically.”
“Okay, let me try that again,” said Rainbow Dash. Her eyes caught and held Twilight’s in an uncompromising gaze, one that seemed to take the bluster Dash had always enjoyed and turn it to hard steel. “I’m fucking proud of what I was able to do for Applejack, and I’m not going to screw it up for her… and even if I am never able to be happy again, let me tell you that I was awesome and I will keep that within my heart.”
The intensity took Twilight’s breath away. “I… wow, Rainbow. It’s true. You really are awesome.”
“Thank you,” said Rainbow Dash, her chin held high, and banners of resolute loyalty waving in her tear-streaked, indomitable ruby eyes. Until I die, she thought. I will defend my love’s freedom to be who she is, while there’s life in me. And that will be awesome… enough.
“Do you feel better?” asked Twilight.
“Yes,” said Dash.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“So… was that what you needed? Do you need me some more? Because it looks like you’re still hurting, and…”
Rainbow interrupted her. “No, really, I’m fine, Twi. I’ll be okay. I promise. Ermm… maybe I don’t want you telling ponies about what we talked about… maybe it doesn’t matter… the important thing is, I’m able to be there for ponies that need me, not just the other way around. Got it?”
“I guess!” said Twilight, perking her ears up.
Rainbow leaned over and hugged her. “And that especially goes for you, okay? You’re pretty awesome yourself, coming up here when you don’t even fly, just to help me out. I really, really appreciate it.”
Twilight smiled.
“Now, I’m sure you’ve got a lot of things to do,” added Rainbow, “so you can go…”
The smile dropped away from Twilight’s face. “But… this is a really difficult time for you, and if you need me more…”
“Are you hitting on me, Twilight?” teased Rainbow.
“No! Um… not that there’s anything wrong with that…”
“Of course not,” said Rainbow. “But I feel nap time calling, so if you’ll excuse me?”
“Oh!” said Twilight. She looked suspicious for a moment, then seemed to consider the likelihood of Dash napping, and found nothing surprising about the prospect. “Okay. You’ve actually given me a lot to think about, too…”
“Good things, I hope!” said Dash, flying on slightly scruffy wings to her door and accompanying Twilight out.
It wasn’t too much trouble to settle Twilight back in her balloon, to wave goodbye as the sweet unicorn valved lifting gases and set about flying her airship back home. Dash held her smile determinedly, as long as Twi was in sight, and a few seconds afterwards, to be sure.
Then, the smile dropped away.
“Urrk…”
Dash’s eyes bugged out and she fought back the nausea that she was certain would sneak up on her, safe in the knowledge that nopony was watching. She flew back into her bedroom, and splatted onto the bed, nuzzling into the covers and thinking unqueasy thoughts.
Then she crawled across the bed, wings drooping, to retrieve from the floor the book that she’d hoped Twilight didn’t spot, for it had been stolen from Twilight’s house. Not a Daring Do book, either, but a book she’d hoped would NOT explain anything to her.
Because if a book entitled ‘Comparative Pregnancy In The Species Of Equestria’ could tell her that she had morning sickness from mating with the Diamond Dog, it would be telling her an awful lot along with that—things that she really didn’t want to know.
And it hadn’t explained anything, either. The timing was all wrong—and the book claimed that Dogs couldn’t make foals inside ponies, anyway.
Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure if that counted for Element Bearers—or magic bit users—and she rested uneasily. It was probably nothing, she told herself. Feather flu? There was evidence to suggest it.
Twilight Sparkle flew home, thoughtful.
The sun was setting. Trixie greeted her at the door with a kiss and her customary deference, perhaps a little extra brightness after her transgression with the mage-meld.
Twilight saw that artificial cheeriness, and remained thoughtful.
She’d lost Applejack—and had never known the country mare’s real needs. She’d just assumed she knew what was happening, and she’d guessed entirely wrong.
Rainbow had also lost Applejack, through going too far, even though she had known her lover’s secret heart.
Twilight looked at Trixie… and wondered. What were her secret needs? Or, perhaps, her needs that weren’t particularly secret at all?
As Trixie looked back with a bright, obedient smile, Twilight’s inner thoughts twisted in nervous knots at the idea that she could be blowing it again.
But she was daring, and resourceful, and a little desperate—and it wasn’t really that hard to figure out.
“A picnic, Mistress?” said Trixie, puzzled. “We didn’t plan a picnic. Who goes out for a nighttime picnic?”
“We do!” announced Twilight, her horn glowing as she threw assorted foodstuffs in a covered basket—surreptitiously including a few other items, one of which she’d draped in a napkin to be sure it wasn’t spotted.
“Gee, why so sudden, Twilight?” complained Spike. “If you gave me a little warning I could have made us vanilla cream cookies…”
“No no! It’s just us! I mean… I didn’t really plan this, Spike, but me and Trixie are going out for a picnic. Nopony else! Just us two. Okay? Um, and don’t tell anypony where we’re going.”
“Or what you’re doing?” grumbled Spike.
“I didn’t say anything about what we’re doing.”
“I don’t think you need to tell me what you’re doing,” said Spike. “And you didn’t tell me where you’re going, so I guess I’ll just fix dinner for one and we’ll be all set?”
Twilight’s jaw dropped. “Whoa. Um. I’m sorry, Spike, I realize this is sudden…”
“Well, just be good, okay? And don’t tell me anything, that’s all I ask. I’ve got some reshelving I need to do anyway, and then I was going to catch up on some reading. Maybe it’ll be more quiet around here tonight?”
“That’s a promise, Spike…”
Trixie was wide-eyed. “Is this Mistress’s way of forgiving Trixie for her mistake?”
Twilight’s face gradually developed a smirk—and Trixie’s took on a look of delight to match it—and then the two unicorns were hugging, as Spike rolled his eyes and chuckled.
“Eeee! Trixie is going on a picnic!”
“A very special picnic for a very special marefriend!”
“Oh, special? Special how?”
Twilight shushed her, and their hasty packing complete, they trotted out the door, heading up towards the Whitetail Woods and the waterfall.
Far above the woods, Luna soared in silence. The moon was full, and she exulted in the fullness of her powers, even as she pondered the challenges she faced.
As if summoned by her worried thoughts, two little challenges trotted out into a clearing right below her, and she froze, hovering in mid-air—and then cautiously floated nearer, hiding behind a treetop, unseen and unheard.
Twilight Sparkle and Trixie had eyes only for each other as they entered the clearing, the picnic basket floating beside them.
“Mistress packed food so hurriedly! Does she wish to make nice to the Great and Powerful Trixie with ill-chosen fodder?”
Twilight snickered. “Enjoy that attitude while you can! You know this isn’t about eating dinner. Though you could say it’s about getting your fill…”
“Oh? Really? Trixie is to get her fill of her mean and unreasonable beloved? Trixie meant no harm, and Mistress should respect the awesome power she wielded…”
“Yeah, my power!” said Twilight. “And yes, I’m sorry—I’ve been unfair to you, and I’m trying to understand you better, even though it doesn’t come easily to me. I have two things for you that you like. We can have dinner afterwards. Here’s one.”
In the moonlight, the magic bit glinted as it floated free of the picnic basket, and drifted in Trixie’s direction.
Twilight’s heart pounded violently, until she thought she might faint.
Trixie’s eyes lit up, and she trotted forward a step and bit down. Her magic-induced stallionhood surged forth, two pairs of pony eyes drinking in its pleasing contours—it seemed to have swelled to an eager thickness already.
“Sho…” said Trixie through the bit. “The other thing ‘s b’tween your legs, hmmm?”
“Roll on your back,” said Twilight, heart hammering in her chest.
“You d’nt give the orders when…”
A napkin floated out of the picnic basket. The napkin fell away. The thin, whippy rod hovered in the air before Trixie, whose eyes went very wide.
“I think I do,” said Twilight Sparkle.
There was a shocked silence, and then Trixie began to grin around the bit. “Oh, y’ do?”
“Roll on your back.”
Trixie scoffed. “How w’d you reach my rump that way? M’stress has a lot to learn…”
“Ah! Good point!” chirped Twilight brightly.
The rod darted forward, swung, and an audible crack rang out. Trixie squawked, the bit dropping from her mouth. She panted, hopping up and down in place, astonished.
“Pick it up!” demanded Twilight.
“Mistress?” whimpered Trixie, all dominance forgotten. Her butt stung like crazy…
Crack!
“Pick it up!” repeated Twilight. She’d nailed Trixie in exactly the same spot. Her eyes were wild, and she wished she could see the damage she was doing—but in her mind, she was calculating equine hide versus birch rod, and she was almost sure she couldn’t do Trixie serious injury with the punishment toy. And yet, she felt in her bones that this was the missing thing Trixie had wanted and needed and misbehaved to get—and that she’d have to go way out of her comfort zone, convincingly, to deliver Trixie’s payoff.
Trixie grovelled. The second blow had knocked her so deeply into the submissive that she couldn’t even stand—she could feel a welt rising, and the pain seared, told her that the world had become very simple all of a sudden. She scrabbled along the ground until she could spot the magic bit, and grabbed it between her teeth, her sidelong gaze filled with panic, and she hunched against the ground, her erection shoved into the grass, unable to rise beyond her abject cowering.
“Roll over!” demanded Twilight. Crack! Trixie’s ass took another fast, fierce blow, as Twilight strained her magic to its utmost in the service of kinky discipline. Trixie squealed, clamping her teeth desperately on the bit to not lose it twice, and rolled onto her back, hooves up, erect cock jutting up into the air, where two pairs of eyes took in its bulky charms.
“So…” panted Twilight, “think that’s good, huh? You’ve been good, you think?”
Trixie’s eyes stared, terrified, and the erection stiffened further.
“This is for embarrassing me in front of Princess Celestia!”
Crack!
Trixie shrieked, and the stallionhood bobbled, for Twilight had nailed it with a quick blow of the rod. Twilight’s ears were back, and her eyes weren’t quite sane. Her tail flicked—she could feel how turned on Trixie was as if they were wired together, felt Trixie drawing her into some dark realm that was Trixie’s kinky domain, sucking her in through those terrified, yearning eyes…
“Bad Trixie! Don’t do it again!”
Crack! Trixie let out an anguished squeal as Twilight whacked the other side of her stallionhood, tears squirting from her tight-shut eyes, refusing to let go of the bit, for she’d been ordered to hold it—and then, there was a sudden looming presence, and her eyes came open to see a dim purple form straddling her. Twilight could wait no longer.
In a single hungry motion, Twilight Sparkle shoved herself onto Trixie’s inflamed, sore stallionhood, and the delicious anguish was salved by juicy unicorn vagina that squeezed convulsively with orgasm, pent up by the excitement and the intense, twisted, erotic vibes, and released all at once as Twilight bucked up and down on top of her willing victim.
“YAAAAHHH!” screamed Twi, tossing her head, the birch rod forgotten, jamming herself onto the swollen maleness with the same aggressive attitude she’d forced her psyche into.
Trixie banged her head on the grassy ground as lubricated marepussy slid against her wildly sensitive hard-on. It would’ve been overwhelming even without the beating—with the fiery sensations in her cock and across her butt, she stood about three heaving plunges from Twilight’s impaling herself, and then Trixie could stand no more. She let out a shriek and bucked against the ground, blasting ponycome deeply into her Mistress in not just one spasm—but three huge, exhausting bursts, filling Twilight utterly.
Twilight shoved herself down hard and squealed, her head thrown back, and her orgasm accelerated and burst into a flaring white world of ecstatic release.
She collapsed atop Trixie, heaving deep wheezing breaths—and then rolled off to the side, her limbs no longer supporting her. In doing this, she flopped Trixie over to face her, for Trixie had worn herself out completely and was as limp as the forgotten napkin that lay on the ground.
The two ponies panted, gazing into each others’ eyes. Twilight had never seen such devotion in a gaze before.
The bit fell gently from Trixie’s mouth to the ground. Twilight blinked—and realized that Trixie had passed out.
Which was… understandab…
Princess Luna stared in disbelief at the two ponies in their unconscious, post-coital sprawl. Oh, yes, Lulamoons would be Lulamoons, but to think that Sister’s pet was being swayed in that way! Celestia would be destroyed if she knew of this. She had such… noble expectations of her ponies.
Luna did not—but she still had expectations, and reflected wryly upon them.
Enough. There was a solution—and no time to waste.
The dark alicorn took to the air, heading for a place she remembered from long ago, a safe place. She rose nearer to the moon, basking in its rays, gathering her powers, rising higher and higher, and she concentrated.
Behind her, Twilight stirred and did not wake.
Quietly, the Great and Powerful Trixie grew dim—transparent—and disappeared.
For a minute, Twilight lay alone on the grassy ground, under the stars.
The magic bit resting on the ground just in front of her face quietly vanished, as well.
Then, behind her—the birch rod vanished.