…will
obey the
instructions
and now you will
WAKE…

The morning was real fuzzy. Applejack shook her head. Her eyes wouldn’t quite focus. She wriggled in bed, and chuckled, and yawned, stretching, her stallionhood rubbing against Rainbow Dash’s pert rump.

Dash turned around and gave her an open-mouthed kiss. Her eyes shut in bliss, but when they opened, they too weren’t quite looking at the world around her. She too yawned, sleepy, her stallionhood jutting out in cocky Rainbow Dash fashion.

They got up. Dash snickered, sleepily. “En garde!” She used her hoof to direct her cock, as if preparing to battle Applejack’s cock, fencing-style.

“Ya silly! Come on, then,” said Applejack. “We have to go.”

“Of course,” said Rainbow Dash obediently. She blinked, and looked puzzled for a moment, and then the dazed look came back. They trotted out the bedroom door, heading downstairs.

Behind them, the magic bit gleamed smugly on the pillow, with its string still tied around it.

As Applejack and Rainbow Dash departed Sweet Apple Acres, they heard a squeak from the bushes. Applejack glanced over and laughed. “Come on, Fluttershy! It’s time! …for somethin’! Can’t ya feel it?”

“Nooo!” whimpered Fluttershy. “I daren’t!”

“You have to!” laughed Rainbow Dash. “Here, wait, I know. Walk between us! We’ll hide you until you get there!”

“Get where?” squeaked Fluttershy, but she crept out of the bushes, sporting her titanic, outlandish stallion-meat, and took her place between them, blushing.

Applejack was the one to look puzzled this time, but she quickly came up with an answer. “Get there, obv’sly! Ya know—there? Can’t ya feel it?”

“Oh yes,” said Fluttershy, and stopped arguing—she just pressed herself against Applejack, and Rainbow Dash filled in on the other side, even petting Fluttershy’s back with her wing—something that caused her to look puzzled with herself again, and she didn’t repeat it.

As they got into town, heading through it to the northern outskirts, Applejack laughed. “Dashie! Don’t do that! You have to wait!”

Rainbow Dash, who’d been playfully mounting Fluttershy, looked abashed. “Oh, right. Yeah. Obviously. Hey, look, there’s Twilight…”

“Guys! Stop!” cried Twilight Sparkle, even as she trotted out to join them, elegant purple cock swinging below her.

Pinkie Pie poked her head out of her door. Her eyes bugged out. “Aaaaah!”

“Seriously, stop!” begged Twilight. “You have to stop, please?”

“Aw, Twi, we can’t do that!” protested Applejack.

Twilight let out one of her cute cries of frustration. “Gahh! I know that, I can’t either! Don’t you think I’ve tried? I hoped that your willpower might be able to do it!”

“Do what, Twi?”

“Break the spell, of course! Of all the times for Spike to be away in Canterlot! I can’t resist it either, this is big! …whoah!” She’d spotted Fluttershy between Applejack and Dash. So had Pinkie, who gulped but stepped a few paces closer, looking distraught.

Applejack chuckled. “Yep, that’s big too! Big but impractical! Don’t you tease her, we’ll be late.”

“But late for what?” screamed Twilight Sparkle.

Across the plaza, two ponies stopped in astonishment, staring. One was a spring-green unicorn, and the other bore a pink and blue mane. After a moment of conferring, they trotted along behind the group, the unicorn following more closely.

As they approached a large tent north of the town, Applejack finally had her answer.

“Uhhh… late for LATE, sugarcube! Ain’t it obvious?”

Twilight Sparkle sweated, gritting her teeth and trying to resist, and kept trotting cheerfully along, beside Rainbow Dash, regardless.

One thing was bugging Applejack, however, and though the thought kept being pushed out of her head, she got stubborn, dragged it from the fog and voiced it.

“Come to think of it—Dashie, why do we BOTH have dicks?”

A voice called out from inside the tent, and Twilight Sparkle’s jaw dropped.

“Come in, my wonderful gentlemen!”

“No…” breathed Twilight Sparkle. “It’s impossible…”

“Come in, for now it is your turn. Trixie has entertained you with her wondrous magic—and now you will entertain her!”

They entered the tent in lockstep, closely followed by Pinkie, Lyra and Bon Bon, and there she was, ass in the air, staring insolently at them with a twisted little smile… and the same slightly dazed look they had.

“No!” screamed Twilight Sparkle. “I refuse to believe you did this, I refuse to believe you can overpower us like this!” She looked around hectically. “Bon Bon, Pinkie, Lyra, hold us back!”

The three unaffected ponies moved quickly, each in their own way. Bon Bon chomped onto Twilight’s tail unhesitatingly, and set her hooves, her solid weight resisting any further motion. Pinkie clung to Fluttershy, trembling, pleading, “No no no no no, this isn’t you, pretty mare, it can’t be!”

Lyra’s method was considerably blunter, but backfired. She’d darted beneath Rainbow Dash, and grabbed Dash’s cock in her teeth. It was such a startling ploy, and so hard to resist, that Dash twisted and fell onto her side, unable to go another step, and stared back at Lyra with wide, wide eyes.

Lyra smirked, her teeth bared, wrinkling her nose wickedly. “Gotcha! You hold it right there, or I’ll… ugh, ew!”

She spat the cock out before it throbbed and spurted any more. Dash had come, perhaps from the sheer novelty of it, perhaps from the long-awaited naughty contact with Lyra and the realization of just whose mouth held her.

“Shit. It should have worked,” said Lyra, as Dash hopped to her hooves again and stepped towards the awaiting Trixie.

Bon Bon glared at her, and rolled her eyes, but didn’t let go of Twilight—whose every feature showed how she strained to get to Trixie, but also how she strained to think and to resist the horribly powerful spell.

“Answer me!” raged Twilight. “How are you doing this?”

Trixie had been gazing fondly and dazedly at Applejack, who was first though Rainbow Dash was playfully trying to nudge her out of the way—but at Twilight’s question, she too seemed to struggle with something, and when she spoke, her voice was different—more normal, without the stagey overtones.

“I’m not, idiot! It has me too!”

The next moment, her dazed look returned, and then Trixie let out a long, quavering moan, for Applejack had mounted her and thrust the brutal stallionhood home with a effortless, joyous shove of her powerful hips. They all stared in horror, watching their strong, steadfast friend screw Trixie, the impressive Apple cock plunging into what seemed a very yielding unicorn pussy. Wet slurping sounds spoke for all of them for a moment, and then Twilight spoke again, more calmly.

“Let go of me, Bon Bon. It’s not killing her—and I need to talk to Trixie, even if it’s while I act like a magic puppet. Trixie! Shake it off! I know you’re good enough to shake it off and talk!”

“Ngghhh!” moaned Trixie, her eyes crossing as Applejack nudged deep. “Trixie will try! But it’s hopeless, we just have to see it through!”

“See what through?” demanded Twilight, trotting up, her body instinctively trying to shove Applejack aside and mount. She had no chance, with Rainbow Dash lost to the spell and using her formidable strength to try and dismount Applejack, who was lost to pleasure and clinging to Trixie’s body like nothing could shift her.

Trixie moaned, and squeezed her eyes shut. “The spell! It’s always like this. Why do you think Trixie nnnnh! always has to move on? Has to live in a little gahh! cart?”

“I don’t know, you tell me!” snapped Twilight. “You’re also the victim of this spell? That bit is a cursed artifact?”

From across the room, holding Fluttershy, Pinkie piped up, “I told you it was! What will it take to get you to listen to me?”

“Well, you didn’t tell me!” said Twilight.

“I told them!”

“Yeah, well, they’re a little busy right now!” snapped Twilight, as Rainbow Dash managed to wrestle Applejack off Trixie with a strange, tender aggressiveness, and claimed her prize, thrusting her blue appendage into the unicorn mare—while Applejack began trying to re-take her position, shoving at Dash, playfully mounting on Dash’s thrusting rump and then trying to squeeze between the two again.

“Trixie!” demanded Twilight. “Stay with me! What has to happen? To see it through?”

Trixie reeled. “Uhhh! Trixie should have that first one again… shit, that was amazing…”

“What has to happen?” repeated Twilight, her body trying ineffectually to dislodge Rainbow Dash and take her place atop Trixie.

“They will tire, but they must not… one way or another, Trixie has to squirt, then it will be over and Trixie will run for her life!”

“Come again?” blinked Twilight.

Trixie moaned. “Once will suffice. If it is that hard. Ohhh… this one’s not bad, damn it… Trixie has to let her miserable self roll with it for once in her worthless life…”

“Didn’t see that one coming,” blinked Twilight. “For once in your what?”

Trixie gritted her teeth. “Trixie hates this now. It’s a curse. It seemed like such a good idea, and it turned so ohhhh! bad… It’s vile… but Trixie must, must, must come before ponies die…”

“What?” cried both Twilight, and Pinkie Pie.

“See for yourself… let the first one go again… if you love this one,” managed Trixie.

They looked at Rainbow Dash as she thrust and flapped her wings, and gasped. Dashie looked exhausted, wrung out. There was a puddle of spooge under Trixie, that dripped down the insides of her legs and under her belly, and it became obvious that Dash had been humping and coming nonstop in Trixie until she was ready to collapse.

“Applejack, get her out of there!” gasped Twilight.

The earth pony didn’t need prompting—but it was as if she’d heard nothing. All she wanted was to clasp Trixie’s body and bury that massive stallionhood in her. She shoved Rainbow Dash harder, and the hapless pegasus fell off Trixie with a weak fluttering and collapsed. Trixie groaned as the Applejack cock sunk into her again, with even juicier sounds.

“Trixie… hates those fucking noises now…”

“Is she going to be okay?” said Twilight, her body still trying to mount, but unable to push Applejack aside—for now.

“Trixie has to come!” said Trixie, with a burst of lucidity. “They will keep on doing it until they die, or Trixie nnhh! comes! Trixie has to get into it and save you poor ponies before that happens!”

“Yeah,” said Lyra from beside Twilight, “but you’re coming already. What’s the deal?”

That got her a glare from Trixie. “You’re a unicorn. She’s a unicorn. You know what Trixie fucking means! Don’t act stupid!”

Lyra didn’t back down. “Okay, try this on for stupid. You hate this. When you said miserable you weren’t kidding. How many times has this happened?”

Trixie shuddered, panting as Applejack worked the massive stallionhood inside her. “E…eight.”

“How many DIED?” said Twilight Sparkle.

“Fuck, I thought I was tactless…” said Lyra.

Twilight looked dismayed, but Trixie was already answering.

“It was the uhhh! third time. Then Trixie knew it could happen, and it ruined the fourth time, and two more died. Then ahhhh! Trixie dedicated her worthless self to filthy hedonism, and they chased her out of town the fifth, sixth, and seventh times, but nopony died…”

Lyra blanched. Twilight whimpered—while still ineffectively trying to mount. Trixie wasn’t finished.

“Three died the last time. Trixie hates her worthless filthy self too much, now, to come, and it killed them. But Trixie must come, to break the spell before any of you die on her! This one’s… weakening…”

Twilight glanced in alarm at Applejack, and saw that her hat had fallen off, her tongue was lolling and her eyes staring at nothing. Applejack was incredibly strong—but the drain from this curse was terrible, and neither she nor Rainbow Dash had understood a thing that was happening once they got on Trixie.

“…my stallion!” gasped Twilight, and shoved hard to dislodge Applejack. It didn’t work—the dazed earth pony clung on like grim death, and Twilight pictured her screwing the despairing unicorn to the point of collapse, then keeling over. Trixie was right—it was horrible, how the hell could you hit unicorn ejaculation if you knew that sort of thing was going to happen?

Twilight racked her brain for an answer. “Pinkie! You’re a raging lesbian—lick her tits or something!”

Pinkie Pie looked as distraught as anypony had ever seen her. “I, I, I would… even while…” She gagged, and then continued, “but I’m holding Fluttershy!”

“Bon Bon! Lyra!” commanded Twilight Sparkle. “Go hold Fluttershy!”

They did, and Pinkie came forth, hesitantly. Trixie took one look at her and moaned, “Oh, noooo… nnnh…”

“What?” said Twilight.

“She is like Trixie… you’re right, that one is a raging lesbian. Trixie only wanted to make a special toy for a unicorn lover. Made it… too well… nnnnghh! This one is… so good… but is about to…”

Twilight screamed. Applejack was swaying, almost collapsing. They’d been talking while she continued to fuck, and now her strength was giving out.

“Get her off there! Everypony back away! We have to talk about this!” cried Twilight Sparkle.

“I think you’ll… find that…” began Trixie, but Pinkie and Lyra were already pulling Applejack off her, and as they did, Twilight’s body seized Trixie’s body in a compelled, vice-like grasp, and her slender unicorn-cock entered Trixie’s flooded vagina—and Twilight seized up, her hips moving in a sensuous, erotic trance.

Pinkie screamed.

To the side, Rainbow Dash stirred, too weak to rise, but trying to get up and dance the last fatal steps of her erotic dance. Applejack breathed heavily, limp as a rag, cock still achingly hard. Twilight’s hips thrust and tugged, but the bookish unicorn didn’t have the stamina, and was beginning to pant and wobble already.

“We lost Twilight!” cried Pinkie.

“We need more!” said Bon Bon. “There’s just us left and Fl… sweet Celestia, that’s obscene!”

Fluttershy, unattended, had slunk up and was dreamily trying to shove Twilight out of the way, her enormous stallionhood wobbling beneath her.

“Save… yourselves…” sobbed Trixie. “It’s too… horrible… they’re doomed…”

“Oh no!” cried Pinkie. “Not while I’m alive! I don’t care if I yack, I’m gonna use The Tongue on…”

“You… hate this too. Won’t help…” managed Trixie.

“Pinkie Pie!” said Lyra. “Do you remember where we were the other day? On Applejack’s doorstep?”

“Of course! But…”

Lyra whirled on Pinkie, while Twilight still dreamily thrust and humped Trixie.

“You can run fast. I’ve seen it. As fast as Rainbow Dash. I don’t know how you do that, but I do know we don’t have that cursed bit thing here. It’s at Applejack’s, probably in their bedroom. We need more stallions! Go and get it, right now!”

“But it’ll…”

“Me and Bon Bon will bite it too. The three of us will finish this. Go get it, NOW!”

Pinkie stood stock-still for just a moment, and then she was just gone, wind whipping the door of the tent.

Lyra and Bon Bon stood staring after her for a moment, and then their heads whipped around at a choking noise, and they rushed up to Trixie’s side, for it was Twilight who’d made the choking noise, and she was about to collapse. Beside her, Fluttershy still politely tried to mount, her eyes not focussed at all.

Bon Bon looked down at the mammoth pegasus cock. “Do you think it’ll kill her?”

Lyra gulped. “Oh, Celestia, please not… but we have to see… Trixie! This is Lyra, you remember, who watched you at your show? This one trying to mount you is huge, what do we do?”

Trixie panted. “So was… the best one… go ahead, if she’s fresh, Trixie doesn’t care… Trixie doesn’t matter now…”

Together, Bon Bon and Lyra dragged Twilight Sparkle off the cursed unicorn, and watched Twilight collapse. She was still breathing. They looked up to see Fluttershy’s huge stallionhood shove against Trixie’s vag—and, lubricated by endless spooge, wedge impossibly in.

“AAGGHH!” cried Trixie. “Hurts! Not good!”

Behind them, they heard a rush of wind, and whirled, to see Pinkie standing there, grinning, dangling the bit from her mouth rather than biting it.

“It was on a string!” she cried, and bounced in glee.

“We’ve got to get Fluttershy off her!” begged Lyra. “I’ll take her place. Pinkie, this is your big chance. I swear, I’ll let you at me for a whole night if you just do this for me. You have to do your thing on her while I take over!”

“No!” protested Bon Bon. “I can’t watch you do that! I’ll go!”

Trixie was crying. “Somepony make this stop! Ow!”

Lyra looked at her in anguish, and then whirled on Bon Bon.

“You know why I have to be the one. You fucking KNOW why.”

Bon Bon stopped. She waved a hoof around feebly—and began to cry, too. “My darling. All right. Oh, Celestia! If you must… and you must….”

“Pull Fluttershy off NOW!” demanded Lyra. “Pinkie, bring that bit right over here. You better be ready to go into action, if you yack I’ll fucking kill you. Pretend you’re licking my coochie—you almost will be. Okay, now!”

They’d pulled Fluttershy off, but wouldn’t be able to hold her for long—Pinkie was in position, Lyra ready to mount Trixie, and Bon Bon, weeping, struggled with the maddened Fluttershy. Trixie’s head hung, but Lyra leaned over and spoke passionately to her.

“I could never tell you this, Trixie—but I crushed on you from the moment I saw you. I belong to Bon Bon, but it didn’t matter. I admire your boldness, your style, the way you make no excuses for how you are, and I wanted you, desperately. And I’m a little weird, I wish I was a boy. Well… here’s hoping this works, baby, and if it doesn’t, it was a good life.”

Lyra took a deep breath. “I don’t know if I’d be doing this if we weren’t saving the lives of all our friends… probably not… and I’ll always love Bon Bon. But if it makes a difference… I wanted to do this SO bad… and I kind of love you, just the way you are.”

She turned her head. “Pinkie, give me that thing. I get to fuck Trixie now, and it’s exactly what I want to be doing. Lick her real good, and let’s DO this.”

Bon Bon sobbed, hanging onto Fluttershy. Pinkie held out the bit on the end of the string. Lyra’s eyes flashed, her teeth bared—and she bit down on the magical, cursed artifact like she meant it.

Underneath Lyra, a fine grass-green stallionhood sprang eagerly forth. Bon Bon’s eyes followed it yearningly, and then filled with tears. She didn’t let go of Fluttershy, or do anything to resist what was happening, but she called out, “I love you, Lyra!”

“Love you, Bon Bon,” called Lyra. She took a deep breath. “Don’t let me down, Pinkie. Trixie, honey? Let me love you. This is for all of us—but more, this is for me.”

Tenderly, and resisting the compelling urges that already dragged at her, Lyra nudged forward, prodding at Trixie’s vagina with her new stallionhood. Trixie moaned, and Pinkie said, “You should start! I’ll start too, I promise! I just… hide it in her first?”

“You wouldn’t understand…” breathed Lyra, her body tense with resistance. “I saw the others zone out. It’ll happen to me… but I want to remember what this feels like for as long as I can. Okay… going under, now.”

The stiff, grass-green erection pressed dead center and lovingly squeezed into Trixie’s marehood. It went slow, so very slow, as Lyra fought with all her stubborn quirky willpower to stay conscious and aware, as the enchanted vagina swallowed her so deliciously—and finally, as her thrust neared its depths and as Lyra gritted her teeth at the roof of the tent, the spring-green unicorn was dragged moaning into the orgiastic daze that had taken the others, and began dreamily thrusting, her elegant flanks making love to her mare as if no other existed.

Bon Bon and Pinkie both stared for a moment, but then their attention was caught by a very small thing.

Trixie’s head still hung—but her horn flickered, just a little, and she let out a shuddery moan.

“Oh my gosh!” cried Pinkie. She bent to speak directly to Trixie. “That’s my friend Lyra, and she really likes you! And I like girls, and I’m gonna do some stuff to you that I really like doing, okay?”

“Hurry! Lyra isn’t strong!” begged Bon Bon.

“You hush! That’s not sexy talk!” screeched Pinkie. She turned back to Trixie. “Sorry about that. She’s got a point though… but hey, you know what? I never told anypony, but… I wanted to eat your pussy too! Of course, I’d like to do that to every pretty mare, but…”

“Pinkie!” sobbed Bon Bon.

“Oh! Right! Going in!”

Pinkie wriggled under the two, and peered up at her target. It seemed awful to her, glazed in spooge and with a unicorn stallionhood lovingly thrusting into it over and over—but then she remembered Rainbow Dash’s suggestions, and further, remembered what exactly had been happening. It was all mares here—just in an impossibly strange way. She’d just have to think weird thoughts, and she could do it.

“It’s covered with DONUT GLAZE! I’m going to lick it all off! Nggggllll…”

Pinkie spat a bit before she was done, but she got Trixie’s mound mare-fresh in just a few seconds. It seemed as if the new juices were coming from Trixie, and she delighted at the thought. Even better, they were mixed with something that seemed like it might be not totally unlike Lyra’s wonderful, untapped juices as well. Pinkie even ran her tongue over Lyra’s magical stallionhood, exploring, tucking behind to check—sure enough, thought Pinkie, it was creepy magic stuff and there was still a vag and she TASTED LYRA’S VAG… and before she got carried away (for Lyra shuddered and moaned something fierce at that) Pinkie returned her attentions to the equally delicious Trixie, bathing her whole mound in sensuous licking, and favoring her clit expertly.

Lyra clung to Trixie’s shivering body hungrily, but with an odd gentleness, and there was something about her moans as she tugged and thrust—something to suggest that her heart, and the powerful spell, weren’t wholly at cross purposes. There was a sincerity, somehow.

Trixie shuddered, as the two mares worked on her. She opened her eyes, revealing a pitifully tragic look, and tears came forth. “Why…” she mumbled, “why, why… nnnnh!”

From between her legs, a perky voice chimed out. “Because we like you?” With that, Pinkie returned to her cunnilingus.

“But…” breathed Trixie, weeping harder. Lyra clasped her body more lovingly, and nuzzled at her neck, her hips gently continuing their loving work. Bon Bon, silently crying, kept holding Fluttershy back and did not let go or utter a distracting word.

Trixie shook harder and harder, her horn flickering, gasping for breath, and the only sound was Pinkie’s delighted licking and the steady slurp of Lyra’s cock thrusting so tenderly into her, and it seemed as if Trixie let out a sob, and then a louder sob, a cry that could have been anguish or despair, and one final cry that arced upwards in pitch and passion and wavered and shook…

Trixie’s horn spewed magic upwards, spraying the roof of the tent. A stray fringe caught fire, then burned out. Around them, all the magical erections on Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, Fluttershy, all disappeared. So did Lyra’s—it didn’t even shrink back, it winked out of existence like the others, and Trixie’s pussy briefly poured come, causing Pinkie to jump back with a squeak.

And in Lyra’s mouth, the magic bit burned up in a shower of apparently heatless, weightless sparks—and was gone.

Lyra blinked, not realizing where she was for a moment. She looked down, and realized she was mounting somepony—saw it was Trixie, and it all came back. She began to grin. “I did it!”

“We did it!” corrected Pinkie. “Where did the thingy go?”

“Damndest thing,” said Lyra. “It sort of fizzed out of existence!”

She felt Trixie wobble beneath her.

“Fizzed?” said Trixie. “Fizzed? Trixie has never seen it fizz! It disappears, and comes back to haunt Trixie again!”

“It fizzed,” said Bon Bon, flatly, dignified tears running down her face. “Did it hurt you, darling?”

“No, it didn’t… aw, Bon Bon! I’m sorry!”

Bon Bon gave her an accusatory look. “Maybe you are. It doesn’t matter. We saved all these ponies—and I’ll be on the couch tonight, my love.”

“But…” said Lyra, expression torn between grief and anger, “but…”

Bon Bon’s eyes brimmed, and she turned and trotted away. Lyra jumped off Trixie, and went after her, and the two ponies ran straight out of the tent, towards whatever difficult conversation faced them.

Trixie collapsed, head in her hooves, as the others began to stir.

Pinkie went to her. “We did it! You taste yummy, Trixie, I’d like to try you sometime without all the yucky guy stuff. Whaddya say? Trixie?”

Twilight Sparkle was getting up. “Ooohh… well, that was different. What were you guys saying about fizzing?”

“Me and Lyra saved you all! I got the bit thingy from Applejack’s house and brought it here and Lyra used it!” said Pinkie. “We fucked Trixie until she felt better and she came! And the magic thingy fizzed and blew up!”

“Trixie told you, it doesn’t fizz! It just vanishes, and then it shows up somewhere!” She added in her more earnest, natural tone, “I was lucky the last time, I got to it first! I put it in my cart where nopony would find it…”

“Uh, yeah…” snickered Rainbow Dash.

Applejack stared at her. “Dashie… you realize we was fightin’ each other—to get to fuck Trixie?”

Rainbow Dash stared at her, and burst into raucous laughter. “Bahahaha! That was ridiculous! Come on, let’s get the bit back and go home.”

Silence fell.

“Well,” said Fluttershy after a moment, “I think it’s good that it’s gone, the awful thing! What it did to me was horrible! Even if… oh.”

She’d glanced at Applejack, who wore a stunned expression. Rainbow Dash looked angry and disappointed. Pinkie looked exasperated—and Twilight Sparkle looked gutted, and stared with horror directly into Applejack’s eyes, pleadingly, shaking her head…

“It’s okay, Dashie. I’ll fix you up!” said Pinkie Pie smugly. “I didn’t disappear at all!”

Dash’s cranky look softened a little bit. “And… and we’ll team up and take care of Applejack!”

“I… you… well,” said Applejack, “I guess that ain’t all that bad…” She accepted a hug from Pinkie, and one from Dash, and looked apologetically at Twilight as they towed her away.

Fluttershy flew off, without further comment. It was odd she was flying—she seemed angry, and perhaps that had something to do with it.

Trixie wiped tears.

“This time, at least Trixie can WALK away. It spares Trixie the effort of running. Trixie will never have to run out of town again. Goodbye. Trixie is happy you weren’t all killed.”

She stalked out of the tent, sniffling.

Twilight Sparkle sat in the middle of the empty tent, a horrible emptiness in her expression. One eye twitched. She stared at nothing, unable to speak, seeing over and over again the sight of Applejack, led away by her lovers, rendered a mare again for good.

Twilight gulped. Her eye twitched again, that awful hollow look deepening—and then, it hardened unexpectedly, into something else.

Twilight Sparkle got up, and left the tent. She went around it, to the little cart she knew would be there, and she banged on the door with her hoof.

It opened. “Oh, it’s you. The powerful unicorn who didn’t end up making Trixie squirt. Trixie won’t need your help. Trixie can carry her things all by her…”

“We need to talk,” said Twilight Sparkle.