Rarity had her head tilted against the door of the wagon for the entirety of the long, dragging ride to Canterlot, where Shining Armor would hold her for questioning, interrogating for every last detail of what she had done to Rainbow Dash, like if Rarity had tricked her into drinking a love potion, or perhaps the ingredients of a love potion. Or maybe Rarity had used a spell? It didn't matter. Either way, Shining and his team of highly-trained guards would get to the bottom of the mystery on behalf of Twiley and her friends, and then they could go back to normal...or as normal as they could when one of their number had been an abuser in waiting the whole time.

At least, that's what they thought. That's what was going through their heads. But sitting there, in Shining's wagon... it was actually quite a pleasant ride. It may have been meant to transport criminals, thieves, and other undesirable types, but that didn't mean the Canterlot nobility wouldn't spend the same amount of excessive gold that could've been used for better use (like the poor) into making the wagon as shiny and smooth as possible.

Rarity sighed, eyes squinting. Being taken away from Rainbow Dash like that, and from her own best friend...just on the day Rarity realized how much of Rainbow Dash's help she had really taken for granted.

Shining, sitting opposite of her while his guards outside piloted and steered the swerving wagon towards its destination, noticed her mood.

"Hey..." Shining said softly. "I know this must be hard on you..."

"I have the right to remain silent, and I'm going to enforce it, so don't bother with your small talk." Rarity sharply informed him, glaring daggers at him before turning back to gaze out the window at the beautiful world out there. The world she wouldn't be allowed anywhere near again.

"Fine." Shining said. "But I want you to know, maybe, if you're reasonable about it, and admit what you're doing, I might be able to get you off on a lesser sentence..."

Rarity glared at him, eyes rolling. She mulled it over, and decided Shining knowing this information was worth ignoring and going against her previous statement. "Captain, you've already given me the worst punishment possible for a lady with my...condition." Rarity hesitated.

"Condition?"

Rarity slammed her cuffed hands on the empty, plush velvet seat next to her, expressing her fury. "I need Rainbow Dash. Not because I love her -though I do. Not because I remember sweet memories every time she's around. Because she was so willing, so sacrificial, as to volunteer herself to be my medicine for me."

Shining raised an eyebrow, in disbelief. "Your medicine?"

"Yes!"

"Let me try." Shining said. "I don't think there's anything Rainbow Dash can do for you that I can't do myself."

"I suppose not." Rarity admitted. "However, it's very private, and I doubt your wife would appreciate you engaging in such activities...even if it is for a good cause."

Shining glared, challenging her. He was no Rainbow Dash. Dash's glare would always get Rarity excited for what was to come, whether in the bedroom or out for a flying adventure.

"Try me."

Without warning, Rarity stood up in the rocking wagon. She took in a deep breath and puffed her chest out. "Pull my blouse down."

Shining's eyes widened, and he blinked, his teeth slightly showing as he grimaced from this audacious command.

Rarity flopped back down into her seat, the wagon shaking as it rolled over another bump in the road. "That's what I thought, Captain."

Shining put his hand to his face, overwhelmed with embarrassment at getting such a good view of Rarity's... "Oh. Wow. Okay. Um, so...is this condition, an...S.T.D?"

Rarity raised an eyebrow of her own. "Mm...It's certainly S.T, but I hesitate to call it a 'disease'. A disease would transfer from me to Rainbow by now, and since it hasn't..."

She turned her attention back towards the window, where thoughts of rainbows and candies colored like rainbows filled her head, filling her with longing. She closed her eyes and whimpered, knowing she'd never get to see Rainbow Dash again...at least not in that capacity.

"You know what my biggest regret is?" Rarity suddenly asked. "It was no earlier than this morning did I realize how badly I had been treating her. I had underestimated her worth... she was a tool. My medicine, of course...but she was also my lover."

Shining raised an eyebrow, abusers not usually sounding this-this sympathetic or honestly hurt in their tone.

"And now, there's nothing I want more than to have treated her better."

Ponyville was always such a quiet town. The residents lack of aggression and hostility except in friendly sport led to it being so peaceful. Bad things so rarely happened.

So when bad things did, it was much more noticeable.

Rainbow Dask trekked along the wagon's path, tracking it solely by its wheels. She wished she could fly, high up in the sky, above the ground, where there was nothing but wind and drops of flying water lesser ponies to her called 'rain' to interfere in her path. But that high up, she couldn't have seen the wagon's wheel tracks.

Thus she remained, stuck firmly on the ground, unable to think of anything other than how badly Rarity might soon need her medicine, and how embarrassing it would be when that happened... it probably right in front of Twilight's brother, before some of his goons and one of his legal supervisors.

Rainbow made a short sprint over a small patch of grass, trying not to use her wings, lest she get so involved in her flight she forget what she was originally doing.

She landed smoothly and gracefully, as befitting a world-class athlete like herself. But after she straightened her knees and prepped her legs to take off running again, she fell to the ground, clutching at her throat.

It felt so dry, so very dry without her cold ...buxom, beautiful, lovely, cold Rarity to fill it with her moisturizing frost, which would leave her unable to breath and suffocating.

Rainbow Dash would've much preferred to suffocate with Rarity there, watching with cold, emotionless eyes, and a devious grin, amused at Rainbow's pain with arms wrapped around Rainbow's neck, choking her even faster... over lying here on her knees, dehydrating without.

"Rarity..." Rainbow choked, holding her hand against her pained, aching throat that was throbbing. Demanding for its thirst to be slaked, its simply biology unable to wrap around the fact that Rainbow had no way to water it without her Rarity...

Fluttershy was crying quietly. Which was weird in of itself, because when Fluttershy did cry... ponies heard.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head." Pinkie said soothingly, applying a medicinal cream on a swab to Fluttershy's bruised cheek. "Auntie Pinkie's gonna make it all better, and then-" Pinkie's eyes lit on fire. "She's going to punch Rainbow Dash in the face! IN...THE...FACE!"

Fluttershy sniffled, then muttering something about being a year older than Pinkie, which didn't come out well with her cheek being numbed of pain. Also something about Pinkie not needing to do that. Fluttershy wasn't one for screaming vengeance, however righteous it may be.

Applejack and Twilight looked at the exchange from Rarity's table- one of many- with concern and worry continuing to gnaw at their bones and nip at their skin.

"Twi..." Applejack said, chin rested on her hand. "Are y'all shore what we did was right?"

"Yes." Twilight answered resolutely. "I mean, it had to be. It's what Fluttershy recommend. I know Rainbow's a little upset over it, but she'll get better now that..." Twilight turned quiet and looked down, putting her hand over her eyes. "Now that Rarity is gone."

"That's exactly wut Ah'm talkin' about." Applejack countered.

"What do you mean?"

"Rainbow Dash was mighty steamed when she realized Shining was here to arrest Rarity." Applejack explained. "She even punched Fluttershy. Me, it's not so bad. Rainbow and Ah get into scraps all the time. But Rainbow knows how fragile and...well, there ain't no other way to put it, wimpy Fluttershy is."

"And yet, she punched her anyway." Twilight concluded, finishing off Applejack's recap of the events that happened just some moments ago.

"That's mah point. Rainbow would never hurt Fluttershy that badly. Not physically." Applejack put her hand on the table, thumping to show her growing concerns. "Wut if she wasn't exaggeratin' when she said she was Rarity's medicine?"

"In that case, she should've told us what Rarity had, so we could've helped with it!" Twilight snapped. "We're her friends! They both know we'll always help. Yet, they didn't come to us! Besides, you heard what Shining and Fluttershy had to say about abuse victims..."

"Well..." Applejack muttered, turning her eyes away.

"Ah know we're all friends, but Ah'm not shore we could've helped even if we knew wut was goin' on."

"Hmm." Twilight looked to Fluttershy and Pinkie again. Pinkie, having applied all the medicine that would help Fluttershy right now, was rather successfully trying to cheer Fluttershy up with a childish game of peek-a-boo. But seeing the medicine on Fluttershy's cheek made Twilight think about Rainbow Dash's and Applejack's words...

Rarity's vision shifted diagonally as the wagon twisted and rolled up a hill. She sighed again, getting the feeling this meant she was at the end of her voyage, and would soon be dragged off to an interrogation room, where the humidity would ruin her mane, and the pointless, fruitless interrogation process would test her patient.

The wagon shifted again, this time leveling out to the top of the hill, with an even, flat surface.

"Come on." Shining gestured his finger for her to get up as he himself did so, and pushed the door open. Rarity complied, figuring any resistance would merely serve to give something to actually hold her in jail for.

"This way..." Shining grabbed by the handcuffs and began to steer her towards the Guard's quarters, where they would soon sit her down, maybe offer her a coffee, and start asking questions they had no business asking.

The building Shining steered her to was simple. It wasn't much more than just a brown rectangle with a door attached to the side of it. Once inside, Shining continued to steer Rarity, who turned the heads of the guards working there every direction Shining made her go. Although it depended on the guard whether their gaze was from shock at seeing such a loyal, dedicated servant of the Princess like that, or from attraction to her body. Shining did nothing for the most part, though he would growl and snarl with one of the more galling amongst them would let loose a wolf whistle. Her steps echoed coldly on the carpeted floor, reminding her with each pass of her leg why she was here, and why she shouldn't have been.

She stopped, thinking about cold. Which was a weird thing to think about, but she had good cause. Rainbow had been telling her all morning about Rarity's coldness kept her from thinking straight.

"C'mon." Shining encouraged, nudging Rarity in the back with his curled knuckles. "We're almost there."

Shining was telling the truth, as it took only a few more steps for them to get into the interrogation room. White, plain tiles meant to drive the occupant mad with boredom, a small, confined table with matching chairs meant to instill a sense of claustrophobia, which, combined with the boredom, would led to the guilty party breaking down and confessing to everything. That was the theory, anyway.

After setting Rarity down in a seat on one side, he undid her handcuffs...and then proceeded to cuff one hand to her chair. Rarity rolled her eyes. Shining ignored her and took the seat opposing her, the dim light shining down on both of them uncomfortably, eager for one or the another to start spilling out secrets. Whether they were the secrets the Guards were investigating into didn't matter much to the light, so long as they were secrets.

Shining whipped out a pen, and a notebook, and got straight to the point.

"How long have you been abusing Rainbow Dash?"

Rarity, indignant as these accusations, turned her head away. "Rainbow Dash and I have been in a relationship..." She stressed every syllable, so Shining would get off his high horse. Er, high pony? Never mind. "For three weeks now."

"Uh-huh." Shining nodded and wrote something down in his notebook. Probably something about her being in denial, or arrogant. "So you deny your relationship is an abusive one?"

"Yes."

"Is it healthy, then?"

Rarity looked away, gazing into the endless white, giving her mind plenty of room to gather her thoughts and ponder her answer.

"No."

Shining was confused. The simpleton. It wasn't abusive, but it wasn't healthy. Was this so hard for a Guard to understand? Perhaps not. Perhaps it had more to do with him being a male unable to understand the complexities working inside a woman's mind. Celestia knows what goes on inside one of those. If she, in her god-like position, even cared to bother with what must have been a trivial mystery in comparison the knowledge that came with her age.

"So, you deny your relationship is abusive, while admitting it isn't healthy?" Shining questioned, tapping the pen to his lips. "You're sending me a mixed message, here."

"Just...trying to be honest, Captain." Rarity cricked her neck, to work out a forming kink in it.

One of Shining's men pushed open the door. "Sir, we need you."

"I'll be right there." Shining said, getting up and putting the notepad down. He pointed the pen at Rarity. "Don't go anywhere."

"Your sense of humor is amazing." Rarity replied dryly.

Shining left the room with his guard, leaving Rarity alone to her thoughts, and to the room's special effects, built with the sole intent of breaking the will of all who sat there.

Rarity noticed the abandoned notebook, and reached out to it, pulling her towards so she could whatever filthy lies Shining had written.

Suspect denies allegations of abuse while admitting to harmfulness in relationship.

Rarity snorted. That much was at least true. She pushed the notebook back to where it was on the table, so Shining would never know she read it when he came back. She was starting to calm down, a little bit, realizing that Shining's men...had nothing on her. There was little they could prove, and so, there was little they could legally charge her with.

Then she looked down, and she saw it.

Her finger was oozing some … lavender … slime as though it was her very own blood leaking out from cuts in her finger. The slime oozed, and oozed its way, and then each drop and drip pulled themselves together to wrap her finger in a fine, shiny coat. The slime extended, going far past her finger in a vertical tip that tapered.

Rarity wiggled her finger, making the slimy extension waggle hungrily. It shook and shook, trying to move in sync with her, to really make her feel like it was part of herself. But it was just too fluid, its lack of bones exposing itself and making sure she'd never feel it as part of herself, as much it was.

She sighed and brought it to her face, the tendril going limp, sensing her rejection of it. She lifted her finger and swept the tip of the slime up her chin, wishing for its magic to sooth her.

Shining, walking along his grunt, was wondering just what Rainbow Dash might be doing when another guard came around the corner.

"What's the problem?"

"A Rainbow Dash is here." The guard answered. "Said she's here about Rarity. Asked to ask you to ask Rarity if she needed to medicate?"

Shining stared, dumbfounded that Rainbow Dash would be so daring as to come here.

He clearly didn't know Twiley's friends as well as he thought he did.

Shining burst back into the room, and Rarity quickly exerted the mental control needed to dominate the little slime, making it draw back inside her finger with a shlloorp sort of noise that Shining barely registered.

"Hello, Captain." Rarity greeted him huskily, showing him that she would not be intimidated by his 'manly' entrance.

"Rainbow Dash is here." Shining told her. "She wants to know if you need to medicate."

"No." Rarity said, putting her hands together and her legs out.

A sudden deep gurgle came from the room, causing Shining to look around. "Wha- was that you? You must be hungry!"

"Actually, I already ate." Rarity informed him calmly. "However, the answer to your previous question has now changed to a yes."

"You're free to go." Shining told her bitterly.

Rarity's eyes widened, struck dumb by this sudden revelation. Even as Shining moved to undo her handcuffs, she made no motion to show she heard him, or saw what he was doing, or that her brain was still functioning. Because, honestly, it kinda wasn't. Only when Shining had piloted her out of the building and back outside, where Rainbow Dash was waiting in the short spring grass, did she show any sighs of life.

"Oh, Rainbow Dash!" Rarity exclaimed, running up to her beau and wrapping her hands around Rainbow Dash. "You came for me, darling!"

"Yeah, yeah." Dash shrugged Rarity's bawling off. "Are you okay? Do you need your medication? Do you..." Rainbow gulped and swallowed hard, nearly choking on her words.

"Need me?"

Rarity pulled away and smiled brightly at Rainbow Dash, amusement creasing her eyebrows. She drew her mouth to Rainbow's ear.

"I will always need you." Rarity whispered quietly before pulling away again. "And I do need to medicate, but I'll live..."

Rarity took her beau's hands and spun Rainbow Dash around before whispering in her ear again.

"I have something I want to discuss with the Captain, first. But while I do that, you go find somewhere private where I can smother your face into my chest, okay?"

Rainbow Dash, flustered and blushing, nodded, clearly excited by the prospect.

"Go on, darling." Rarity waved her off, and Rainbow Dash took off sprinting, her athletic training coming in handy.

Rarity turned around back to Shining Armor, who was glaring at her suspiciously.

"Oh, what's wrong, Captain?" Rarity asked coyly, already knowing the answer, but wanting to hear Shining admit defeat with it.

"Rainbow Dash made it quite clear we wouldn't be able to convict you in proper hearing." Shining growled. "She said she'd testify for you, rather than against you. Now, we could easily get you for abuse, even if your victim is on your side...but I just got the feeling in my gut Rainbow Dash wouldn't let it be that simple."

"No." Rarity gloated, rubbing her freedom in Shining's face. "No, she wouldn't. I have a request, Captain."

"Yes?" Shining's frustration showed through in his tone.

"I'd like to send a letter to your sister." Rarity informed him. "And I'd like to have one of your guards do it."

"You can't just bring it to her yourself?"

"I can, but..." Out the corner of her eye, Rarity saw Rainbow Dash waving, a sure sign that she had found an secluded place for them to engage in their activities. "I like to multitask."

"Fine." Shining went back into the building and came back out with an envelope, which he briskly presented to Rarity with much resentment. Rarity grabbed it to take it, but Shining's grip suddenly became cast-iron on it.

"Don't say anything rude." Shining growled.

"I wouldn't dare. Twilight is one of my dearest friends." Rarity retorted.

And if I did dare, what could you do to stop me, hmm?

Shining let go out of the letter and retreated back into the building to sulk. Rarity turned around, away from the unlucky guard who gotten the unenviable task of taking and delivering the letter.

Unseen, the lavender slime reformed around Rarity's finger. She raised to her mouth and licked it, causing a small piece of the tip to fall off. She grabbed the tip and held it between her index finger and her thumb, eying it with a sadistic glee. She squeezed it gently, turning into a gumdrop shape, and applied some of her magic to it, changing it from lavender to a candied green. She put it in the envelope, sealed the envelope, then turned around back to the guard.

"Take this to Twilight Sparkle." Rarity instructed confidently as though she were the commander of the poor colt's whole unit. The guard approached to take the envelope, leering at her with distrust. Said distrust turned out to be entirely valid, as Rarity raised her other hand and put the lavender slime to his cheek. His eyes went dull, blank and glassy at the touch.

"And make sure she swallows it." Rarity added in a whisper, the Guard helpless to do anything but nod his head and obey. Rarity took her finger, and the Guard lost his recollection of what just happened and took the envelope. But when he arrived to Twilight's house, he would suddenly recall it and have to carry out Rarity's demands.

I'm sorry, Twilight...well, actually, no, I'm not sorry at all. But anyways, I'm sure you'll understand soon enough... Rarity thought to herself.

"Now, to business." Rarity said to herself, adjusting her dress, so that it was tight enough a passing, playing child wouldn't catch her skirt and accidentally pull it down, but loose enough Rainbow would be able to take all of it off with a single, well-placed strike.

Despite her earlier hesitation at using an alley, the corner Rainbow Dash had found presented a most hospitable air, more so than she could expect from Ponyville. Rainbow Dash was standing there, waiting. Rarity decided not to keep her waiting any longer, running up to the loyal pegasus and embracing her in a tight hug, Rarity's chest pressing against Rainbow's. The feeling made Rainbow Dash go limp, her eyes turning into hearts like that of a Want It, Need It spell.

"Oh, Rarity..." Dash groaned, eyes rolling as Rarity gently -and seductively- swayed her back and forth in the hug. "I missed you so much...I know you weren't gone that long, but I was so worried."

"I'm here now, darling, and that's all that matters." Rarity assured her, pressing even harder, making Rainbow's impatient desire spiral out of control and evolve into an all-consuming lust.

"I'm thirsty..." Rainbow complained, sounding like a spoiled child.

Rarity giggled. She tapped her finger to Rainbow Dash's nose. "I'm right here, darling, for all the drink you want."

Rainbow giggled stupidly in response, but then her eyes narrowed in on Rarity's finger. "What happened to your finger? It's covered in slime!"

Rarity was blown back from the surprise, and looked to see the lavender had reformed around her finger. She sighed. "Yes...this has been going on for a couple of days now. I've learned some control of it, but it still happens when it wants to, regardless of what I think."

Rainbow became uncomfortably silent. "Umm..."

"Umm, what?"

"The same thing's happened to me." Dash explained. "I've learned some control of it, too, and..."

"And?" Rarity tsked, eager to know what was so bad that Rainbow would be hiding it from her.

Rainbow's cheeks moved about like she was chewing gum, and she stuck her tongue out, showing a similar lavender extension on it.

Rarity stared blankly in awe, before calming herself and taking a deep breath...followed by an excited squeal. "Ooooh! This will certainly be something!"

Rarity moved to kiss Rainbow, taking the slimy extension in the mouth with the utmost of care. She slurped on it before pulling back to let Rainbow speak.

Rainbow brushed her hand through Rarity's mane. "I don't how I could live without your cold anymore..."

Rarity frowned. "About that, darling...I was wondering, thinking, perhaps...I could be a little warmer to you?"

Rainbow Dash stared, uncertain of this new, radical direction Rarity was suggesting.

"...Sure."

They kissed again, Rarity absolutely loving the feeling of the slime on her tongue and roof of her mouth. "Mmmm...!"

The library in Ponyville was even more quiet than the rest of the town, even on the most rambunctious, loudest festivals of the year where all the foals were running around.

Shining Armor stood away from the table Twilight and the remainder of her friends were sitting, waiting for him to tell them whatever it was.

He tapped on the side of his helmet, which he removed to speak. "We let Rarity go."

Shining got exactly the response he was expecting; numerous cries of "What?" followed by some fists slamming into the table. He was surprised to see that his little Twiley was the only one who did the latter, though.

"How could you!?" Twilight snapped. "You know what abusers are like! They'll keep hunting and hounded their victims until they're put away!"

"Yeah..." Shining rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably, paling a little. "Here's the thing, Twiley...I'm not so sure Rainbow Dash is Rarity's victim."

Everypony seemed taken aback by this. They were so dead-set on their conclusion of an abuse, the possilbity of something more complicated, more secret, never occurred to any one of them...and Rarity had to pay for their ignorance.

"It's one thing for a victim to stick by their abuser's side, thinking they'll get punished if they seek help..." Shining explained. "It's another for them to loyally stick up for their abuser through hot water, no matter what." Shining walked forward and rested his helmet on the table, having tired of holding it and needing a break. "I'm not entirely sure what's going is abuse... Rarity denies it, but she says their relationship isn't healthy, and when Rainbow Dash showed up..."

"Rainbow Dash showed up?" Twilight repeated in disbelief that even Rainbow Dash would be so stupid as to walk to the police headquarters and demand to see an arrested pony. "At the guard's quarters?"

"Yes. She wanted to know if Rarity needed her medication. And she didn't at first, but then she did. So, since I knew Rainbow Dash was intent on fighting, I let her go." Shining raised his hands to calm her when Twilight fumed and snort, infuriated her military brother could fail to take the morally right course of action. "Twiley, you know how stubborn Rainbow Dash is. My hands were tied!"

Twilight turned her away with a humph.

"That brings me to my next point..." Shining said, raising a finger for attention. "Between the arrest, and Rainbow Dash coming over to check on her...I think Rarity is the real victim here."

Everypony but Twilight gasped, putting a hand over their mouths as they each, in their own, drastically different ways, reached an identical conclusion; Shining Armor was right. Rarity was the real victim here, and the only abusers...were them.

"We'd better get started!" Pinkie exclaimed, having already decided on a course of action to make things up to the friend they had bullied that she thought was obvious and didn't need to be voiced out loud.

"Get started on wut?" Applejack questioned, poking a hole in Pinkie's isolated bubble of happiness and determination.

"Our apology party!"

Everypony made an "Oh" noise and nodded their heads slowly. Quickly seeing that for all of Pinkie's oddities, an apology party would be a good thing to do. Fluttershy and Applejack quickly scooted their chairs out and got up to follow Pinkie out the door as she discussed what they would need for decorations and ingredients for sweet treats.

Shining looked at Twiley, who was fingering her many bookshelves, thumbing through the uncountable mass of books like it was a child's tiny bookshelf, rather than the huge industrial bookshelf it was.

"Aren't you going to help with the apology party?" Shining questioned, raising an eyebrow and worrying about his sister's bookworm tendencies keeping her away from her friends.

"No." Twilight answered, still looking through the books – and Shining could tell he wasn't just looking at his sister, he was looking at a mare on a mission. "I'm going to find some books on abuse, and I'm going to the bottom of this, with or without you and my friends."

Shining put his hands on the table, seeing he wasn't going to convince to draw away from her books- that he ever could when they were younger. "Just...promise me you won't get so obsessed with this you alienate everypony from you."

Twilight turned to face for a brief moment, but quickly turned back towards the bookshelf without a single word.

Shining sighed, picking up and putting on his helmet on his way out the door.

Rarity walked through Ponyville, dragging the drugged Rainbow Dash by the hand. The pegasus was simply too high from their interaction earlier to move on her own without assistance. Rarity would've liked to stop and took in the fresh air, basking in her freedom after it was taken from her in such a brutish fashion. But with Rainbow giggling so stupidly the way she was, they were sure to attract the kind of attention Rarity didn't want.

She was quickly moving through the streets, hoping to get to her boutique and lay Rainbow to rest on a sofa until the pegasus' words could take on a coherent form.

Once she arrived, she was startled to find the door unlocked. But then she remembered she had left in cuffs, and it didn't take a genius to figure out the first Rainbow did after Rarity was taken away was burst out the door and run to get her back. That wouldn't have left much room to lock the door.

When she turned the knob and pushed the door open, she was completely taken by surprise and partially deafened by the yell of "SURPRISE!" followed by Pinkie blowing a party blowing in her face. Loudly. The loud noise had the side effect of sobering Rainbow Dash up. Everypony started to talk, not realizing Rarity couldn't hear them. Applejack figured out and motioned with her arm.

"I'm fine, darling." Rarity lifted her hand to show she was fine. Now cognizant, Rainbow slipped out from her grasp, freeing Rarity's other hand to rub her forehead while she waited to hear again. "I just...need a moment."

Rarity took a scan around the room, seeing pink and yellow balloons scattered around the floor, and confetti spread wildly on the table, surrounding a cake, a pie, and cupcakes as well. A large pink banner was stretched around the circumference of the room with the words "WE'RE SORRY" repeated over and over in royal navy blue.

The blood finished rushing back to Rarity's numb ears. "All right. You were saying, darlings?"

Fluttershy boldly took the initiative, as she held no hesitance when it came to her friends. "We had Shining Armor come and take you away because we thought you were abusing Rainbow, but we saw wrong! … I saw wrong." Fluttershy whimpered meekly, taking Rarity's hands into her own. "I hope you can forgive me."

"Shinin' told us all what happened, and we realized y'all were the real victim here." Applejack added, hat held over her chest in somber admittance of her mistake.

"We're so, SO sorry, so we threw this apology party!" Pinkie chimed in, pulling Rarity into a tight, forgiving hug. "We hope you can forgive us!"

Rarity was so unprepared for all this that she just stood there with her mouth slightly open.

"I made you cupcakes and everything!" Pinkie said, pointing to the table. "Oh! But before we do that, there's one teensy little thing we need to take of..."

"What's that, darling?"

Pinkie twirled around and threw a punch over Rarity's shoulder that connected into Rainbow's cheek, throwing the pegasus against the wall.

"That was for punching Fluttershy!" Pinkie snarled, eyes burning with righteous fury.

Rainbow Dash put a hand to her sore cheek, and motioned for Rarity stay away when she tried to come over and help. "Okay, yeah. Yeah, I...I completely deserved that."

"Um, I'm sorry... I think? I'm not sure how I should feel about that..." Fluttershy mumbled, feeling flattered that Pinkie would stand up for her, but unsure about hurting her friends.

"It's okay. Come 'ere." Rainbow spread her arms out for a hug, an invitation Fluttershy gleefully accepted. "It's okay." Rainbow ruffled Fluttershy's mane a little. Fluttershy turned away from Rainbow Dash and to Rarity.

"Um...so, do you forgive us? All of us?" Fluttershy squeaked, her leg turning twitchy in her nervous state. She shakily offered her hand to Rarity. "No...no hard feelings?"

Rarity looked at the hand. Taking it into her hand would mean she did forgive them. That they could wipe the slate clean, and that Rarity would not take any eyes for eyes. That Rarity would hold no grudges and take no vengeance against them... or Twilight.

Rarity raised her hand and wrapped her fingers around the back of Fluttershy's palm.

"No hard feelings."

Fluttershy smiled, relieved.

"Oh, by the way!" Applejack interjected, rushing forward. "Ah gave it some thought, and Ah know where we went wrong."

"...You do?"

"Eeyup! We tried to call an arrest on ya, but that's not what you and Rainbow need at all! Wut y'all really need is this!"

Applejack produced a pamphlet that Rarity was curious enough to go ahead and take it from her. Rarity was quite confused and surprised at the pamphlet's cover.

"Couple's Counseling?"

Celestia's lovely afternoon sun turned to the dim-lit twilight that was in neither Luna's or Celestia's domain. But even that faded away with the ticking clock and became the night that was Luna's alone to rule before Twilight Sparkle was done searching for and reading through the books on abuse in her library's vast, numerous shelves.

She was sitting at the table, pouring over every word, hoping one sentence would be the one to make the mystery go away. She was so confused, and very conflicted. Rainbow Dash was displaying the same loyalty that she always displayed...but to an abuser, whose main strength laid in in their victim's loyalty and fear of rebelling to them. Their confidence their victim would never speak out against them.

Twilight was just starting to make progress in this seemingly futile task by considering the possibility of Stockholm Syndrome when she heard a loud, orderly knock on the door. From the rhythm beat, and tone of the knock -five times, all quite blunt- she knew was a Canterlot guard, but it didn't sound like Shining Armor.

She closed the book she reading and got up from her seat, going over to pull open the door and greet the guard.

"Hello, officer. What are you doing here at this hour- oh, wow, it's dark already?" Twilight greeted, at first sure her brother would never send one of his guards to her house with the intent to harm her. But then her mind started working against her, coming with all sorts of reasons as to why this guard might be here. "D-did I do something wrong? Are you here to arrest me for abuse of the emergency response program?" Twilight gasped quite loudly, sucking in air. "Did I not a return a book on time!?" She put her hands to her cheeks, horrified at the idea she might be...tardy!

"Ma'am." The guard said, coolly reacting to this panic-prone mare. It was a required training for all in the guard to know how to keep calm and calm civilians. He raised up a letter. "I'm just here to deliver a package from Rarity to you."

Twilight calm down, and chided herself mentally for overreacting. "...Oh. Why didn't she come bring it to me herself?"

"I don't know." The Guard said with a shrug. "She said something about multitasking, then went off to make out with her girlfriend or whatever..." The guard cleared his throat, thinking he had implicated himself. "I didn't pry into her business, of course."

"I didn't think you did." Twilight took the envelope from him, giving him a look in a new light as she wondered if he was the type to pry after all. She removed the thought and tried to give the guard his due respect. "Thank you for the letter."

"No problem."

Both he and Twilight turned around to go on their ways, Twilight back to her precious books, the guard to his station, but the guard suddenly stopped, a seductive, irresistible whispering on the wind into his ear, a forgotten voice in his mind that he would just as quickly forget again.

"Make sure you swallow it."

Twilight turned to stare at the guard. His tone had changed to bland and emotionless, which she supposed was what the guards were trained for, but he sounded less like an individual in control of himself and more like an enslaved automaton. "Are you all right, sir?"

The guard turned back to her. "Yes. Why?"

"You just said to make sure I swallow the package?" Twilight held the envelope and pointed at it.

"I...don't remember saying that."

Now that he had served his purpose, the voice in his head left him completely, and would never bother him again as long his seductive puppeteer didn't find another use for him...

"Mm." Twilight held the envelope by the sides in both hands, finding that just as she was on the verge of solving on mystery, she had found the next. "That's concerning. Have a nice evening."

"You too."

The guard closed the door behind him and departed, wondering if maybe he should schedule with a psychiatrist to identify an unknown psychosis of his that somehow slipped by his training.

Twilight walked back to the table, looking down at her envelope the whole way before throwing it away on the table and returning to her book, determined that she would dig and dig until she got the bottom of the mystery, and discovered how to put Rarity and Rainbow Dash in position that would be healthy for both.

She suddenly had a thought, remembering Applejack's concerns about Dash's claims. What if they were already in the healthiest available position for them at the moment? She tapped her chin, pontificating on her own position.

This, too, was interrupted, when the envelope bounced up on its own.

Twilight's jaw drop, mystified at the strange occurrence.

She blinked, not sure she actually saw what she thought she just saw. But then the envelope hopped up again, this time closer to her.

Twilight raised her hand to her mouth to close her jaw back up before she swallowed a fly and caught a disease.

"Rarity...what did you send me?"

Unwilling and having no intention of taking a chance- she was not the type to gamble, especially when it came to the unknown, she prepared her magic, her hand glowing as she channeled arcane forces beyond the understanding of most. She shot her magic out, throwing a fireball that blazed the envelope open, without setting her table on fire. Exactly as she had calculated it to.

She eyed the envelope, expecting something nasty to crawl out. A giant centipede. A scorpion. A piece of fabric Rarity had magically brought to life and instructed to attack Twilight. Instead, what came out, wiggling its way out from the envelope like a curious foal, was a tiny...green gumdrop. It was alive, or at least able of movement on its own.

Twilight stared, eyebrow raised, curious. The scientist that she always knew was in her starting yelling at her to take the appropriate precautions, trap it, and study it in the name of Celestia's royal crown. But she was still cautious, not sure what it was, or what it wanted.

It hopped up into the air, bouncing towards her. It landed right in the middle of her open book, wiggling slightly as it landed with a bump on her pages. It would be easy to close the book and sandwich its tiny frame within, killing it...but that would be cruel. So instead, Twilight followed Fluttershy's example and gently took the gumdrop into her hands.

"Hey, little guy..." She greeted gently, raising it to her face. Perhaps a little unwise, but if it wanted and was equipped to attack her, surely it would have done so by now.

She had no idea that would be her biggest mistake.

Once it was in close to her face, it wiggled and shook, changing from green to gumdrop red. Then it jumped from her hands into her mouth. She tried to keep it out, having the frame of mind to not gasp and give it an opening, but it seemed to change its entire state of matter, going from solid to liquid, and simply slipped by her lips onto her tongue. Once inside, it started expanding in size, increasing in mass to envelop her tongue.

Twilight had never read about this kind of thing happening in any of her books, so she didn't know what to do and panicked. She got up from her chair and put her hands over her mouth, trying to get her fingers to pry the little slime out. But it had reached its desired size, and began to contract on her tongue. It felt like it was suckling on it. The feeling was such an alien pleasure to her that she dropped to her knees on the floor.

She gripped the table, and mange to muster the strength to pull herself up, but the slime had other ideas, still gently and enticingly contracting. She thought she heard her door latch open, but she felt another wave of pleasure rip through her mouth, making her collapse against the chair.

Rarity... is this what happened to you? Is this your medical condition?

Then the goo started pulsing, spiking outward, rubbing against the roof of her mouth. The childishness of it contrasted highly against the horrible nature of the assault on her tongue. The spiking... it was like it was begging the way children do. 'Hi! My name's Tom Jr. You're pre-e-et-ty... would you pretty please with a cherry on top... lustfully and voraciously consume me, ma'am?'

Twilight tried, again, to get up, and rubbed at her throat. Unable to resist, she tilted her head back and swallowed hard, sending the goo straight down her throat and into her stomach. She breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the worst of it was over, now that the goo was where it obviously wanted to be; in her stomach after pleasing her tongue.

But her suffering was only just beginning. She dropped to the floor, feeling incredibly heavy 98-pound weights on each of her shoulders. She was a librarian and a scholar; her shoulders weren't made take this kind of weight. In fact, she doubted Shining Armor himself could handle it either.

She rolled around onto her back, hugging herself and wrapping her fingers around her shoulders, feeling unfamiliar lusts and hungers she had never felt before, but had been present in the species for several years before she was born.

She started breathing heavily, unable to handle the raw lust that had been... implanted into her. She rolled her eyes up to see Rarity standing a few feet away, looking at with a bemused smile, Rainbow Dash hanging backwards somewhere, flapping her wings in place, hovering like she was Rarity's thug.

"Rarity...? Wha?" Twilight questioned groggily, rolling onto her front and pushing herself up.

Once more, a shadow of doubt was casting itself, asking yet again who was the real victim...

Rarity's only response was to smirk and give off a satisfied chuckle. She raised her finger, which encased itself in its lavender slime coat. Twilight's eyes were magnetically drawn to it like a junkie to an unused syringe.

"Wha-what did you do to me?" Twilight sputtered, rubbing her throat, which was starting to feel very thirsty.

Rarity remained silent, but walked over, placing the lavender finger to Twilight's chin and rubbing seductively. Rainbow seemed to have no qualm about her girlfriend giving another mare this treatment. Twilight shakily raised her arms and gripped Rarity's arm, holding it steadily, pleading for Rarity to not stop her treatment.

Rarity was silent the whole time, not making a sound.

Not a sound...except a darkly amused chuckle with a smirk.

Author's Notes:

Sorry if the thing with the slime/goo seems a little random.

One thing I strive for with my stories is never being entirely straightforward while still being able to make sense, even if it takes a few delayed shock reveals. I can't just tell you everything flat-out and straight-up, can I? Where's the suspense in that?