Chapter 20: The Chance of a Lifetime

“What's the latest on those missing scrolls?” Princess Celestia asked as she burst into the archives. Shining Armor, who was leading the investigation, responded to the princess.

“So you've heard?” he asked grimly. “Well, we're not sure what happened, but we're combing through the crime scene for evidence. As you know, we have unicorns skilled in forensics to deal with the situation.”

“I'd like to speak to their leader, if possible,” Princess Celestia asked.

“Certainly, your Highness,” Shining Armor said. “I can get her for you right away.”

“Thank you,” Celestia said, and Shining Armor quickly summoned the unicorn head of forensics, whose name was Iris Watcher. She introduced herself to Princess Celestia and bowed respectfully.

“There's no need for that at this time,” Princess Celestia said, and Iris quickly rose back to her hooves.

“Well then,” she said with a taut tone, “what is it you would like to know?”

“Have you discovered any leads on the missing scrolls?” Celestia asked.

“Presently, we have no conclusive leads.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Celestia asked.

“Do not be discouraged; we have been able to narrow it down. There were no hoof markings detected in the area, which leads us to believe a unicorn was the culprit. We're scanning the environment for any lingering traces of magic, but we are busy parsing through the traces that are considered a normal part of the operation of these archives.”

“In other words?” Celestia asked politely.

“We're doing all we can at the moment,” Iris explained with a small smile. She was used to ponies being unable to understand the jargon of the field.

“Thank you anyway,” Celestia said, grinning sheepishly. “Is there anything my sister or I could do to aid the investigation?”

“I think we've got things covered around here, princess-no offense, of course.”

“None taken,” the princess said kindly. “Just let me know of any new developments.”

“Will do,” Iris said before bowing again.

“On your hooves,” Celestia said. “You have work to do.”

***

Rarity lay awake that night, feeling horribly anxious and ashamed. Her stomach writhed as if it were on fire, and Rarity had broken into a cold sweat that was so profuse that she feared she was suffering from an illness.

A mental illness is more likely, she said to herself. How mental was I to do such a thing to Spike? It wasn't the first time Rarity had asked herself that question, nor would it be the last.

Tired of trying to fall asleep, Rarity rose from her bed and trotted outside the boutique to get some air. She looked in the direction of Twilight's library and began to sob uncontrollably, feeling like a horrible mare. Nothing had ever been so low for her. Her love for Twilight-and she did call it love now-had been crushed when Big Mac took her out. Her friendship with Spike vanished when she performed such an unforgivable act. And when the others found out what she had done, they would surely shun her. Rarity felt so alone and miserable that her sobbing woke her neighbor Lyra. Lyra trotted outside to talk to Rarity.

“What's going on?” she asked kindly, ever the one to be polite.

“It's...it's nothing,” Rarity said, hoping to avoid discussing her feelings with a mare she hardly knew.

“It hardly looks like nothing,” Lyra said, “and I don't mean to upset you any further, but you did wake me up and I just wanted to let you know.”

“Oh...? Oh, I'm ever so sorry,” Rarity said. “I didn't mean to make such a ruckus.”

“It's all right,” Lyra said, not sure why she was trying to comfort Rarity. “It's just I wanted to know what was wrong. I was...well, kind of hoping if you talked to somepony, you might stop crying and I could go back to sleep.”

“Huh,” Rarity said. “Well, if you must know, there is something wrong, but I'd rather not talk about it.”

“Have you thought about going to see Doctor Shrink?” Lyra asked. “I'm sorry, I'm being presumptuous, but you just seemed really upset and-”

“It's all right,” Rarity said, cutting her off. “I know I must look a fright. Really, though, I don't think a psychologist is necessary here.”

“No, it was stupid of me to bring it up. Except I went to see him before I came out to Bon Bon, and wouldn't you know how happy that turned out. I just thought maybe it would help you feel better. God, I'm a real ass sometimes. I must sound so condescending.”

“It's all right,” Rarity said again. “I know you're just trying to help.”

“Yes, yes I am,” Lyra said before taking a deep breath. “Look, if you don't want to talk about it, I understand, but maybe you could possibly go back inside? I don't want to force you to do anything you don't want to, but it might be better for everypony else. You know what I'm trying to say, right?”

“I do,” Rarity said, “and I suppose you're right. It's really rather selfish of me to air my woes in such a public space.”

“I think you're right,” Lyra said, “I really do. Not that I think you're selfish. I know you're the Element of Generosity and everything, but I guess I'm just annoyed at having been woken up.”

“No, I get it,” Rarity said before trotting towards the boutique. “Goodnight, Lyra.”

“Goodnight, Rarity. Try to sleep well, okay?”

“Okay,” Rarity said before shutting the door to her boutique. She let out a sigh of frustration at how insulting Lyra had been, but then the despair from earlier returned.

Did she need to see Doctor Shrink? It was possible she would have to, given the grief she was feeling and the enormous pressure of the guilt weighing on her. Then again, she didn't want word getting out that she was seeing a psychologist or everypony would start to wonder why, and then word about her and Spike might leak somehow. Not that Spike would tell anypony, except possibly Twilight, and the prospect of that made Rarity shudder. Rarity hoped she would be able to take this secret with her to the grave. At least then she wouldn't have to deal with the repercussions if somepony found out about the rape.

Oh, what am I going to do? she thought.

***

Doctor Shrink went to bed that night reeling. There was something very wrong in his gut and he didn't know what it was. It was time to play shrink with his own mind, as he so often made it a hobby of doing. He thought a little focused thinking might bring him to the root of his problem.

Doctor Shrink closed his eyes and focused on the parts of the body that were feeling tense. His heart was beating abnormally fast, which was odd, and he could feel tension in his neck. Deciding to focus on the neck, he recalled an image of himself sitting with a patient, although he couldn't immediately identify which one.

Then something very strange began to happen to him. His member started to grow stiff. Surprised at his arousal, he focused on it to see what was causing it. The image of himself with a patient returned to his mind, only this time the patient was more defined. She was yellow with a flowing pink mane.

Now Doctor Shrink recognized who the patient was, and he started to feel ashamed of himself. Obviously his feelings were extremely unethical, and he knew he ought to stop seeing Fluttershy in order to maintain his professionalism. There was a problem with this, however. He was the only psychologist in Ponyville, and judging from his first meeting with the mare, she was in desperate need of his help.

Doctor Shrink didn't know what to do. Should he warn Fluttershy about his feelings but continue to see her? Should he recommend her to a neighboring town's psychologist? Or should he keep his feelings to himself and hope Fluttershy never caught wise? There was so much wrong with all three of these choices. Warning Fluttershy would clearly make things far too awkward to continue his work with her. Telling her she needed to see someone else would immediately raise suspicion as to why she needed to do so. And the temptations evident in keeping his arousal a secret were dangerous.

In the end, Doctor Shrink decided to suppress his feelings and see if he couldn't continue to see his patient. After all, he'd never had a problem with any of his patients before Fluttershy, and he believed his professionalism would overcome any desires he might have.

I just hope I'm right, he thought.

***

What have I done? Rainbow Dash thought to herself. She was referring to her surprising move to attempt to kiss Pinkie Pie. Rainbow Dash felt dirty for even considering it, let alone following through with what was clearly a sinful impulse.

She was worried that Pinkie Pie might tell Applejack what happened, but Rainbow Dash reminded herself that Pinkie Pie was a mare who was decidedly gung ho about keeping secrets. Somehow, however, this only made Rainbow Dash feel more apprehensive.

She had no idea what she would do the next time she saw Applejack. Should she own up to what she did? That would cause a riff in an already tense situation. Rainbow Dash considered trying to keep it a secret, but that would make her feel horribly guilty, as she did now.

Then Rainbow Dash began to consider why she had done it in the first place. Were things really that bad with Applejack that she felt like she needed to cheat on her? Because it was cheating, even if Pinkie Pie didn't reciprocate. That much was clear.

Rainbow Dash rolled over in her bed, groaning to herself. She had made a mess of the whole situation and was unsure how to clean it up. Should she ask Pinkie Pie what to do about it? Yes, that would be a good move. Perhaps Pinkie Pie had some sound advice about how to deal with the situation.

Feeling better about her decision, Rainbow Dash fell back to sleep. However, she awoke a short time later after an incredibly erotic dream in which she was at Sugarcube Corner with Pinkie Pie baking sweets. In the dream, the two mares were baking a cake when Pinkie Pie decided to rub batter into Rainbow Dash's body and start to lick it off. Pinkie Pie continued to lick Rainbow Dash well after she was free of batter, and she slowly began to lick lower and lower until she was licking Rainbow Dash's vagina. The arousal this image released was enough to awaken Rainbow Dash, who was now in a cold sweat.

The mare felt horrible even imagining this pleasure, even if the dream was completely involuntary. There was something clearly wrong with her relationship with Applejack that was driving her towards Pinkie Pie, but Rainbow Dash couldn't immediately identify what that problem might be. It seemed to her that dating Applejack had been exhilarating at first, but their constant bickering had put a damper on the excitement and begun to drive her away.

But why did the two of them argue so much? Rainbow Dash imagined that their previous bickering had been the result of suppressed sexual tension, especially the time when they were competing to see which pony was more athletic. But that didn't explain the continued tension after they started dating.

Rainbow Dash thought of her commitment issues once again and decided that if she really loved Applejack, as she had tried to do, then these issues simply wouldn't exist. This much was evident to her, but she couldn't understand why the feelings that had clearly existed before she started dating her had faded over time.

There was nothing for it. To solve this dilemma, Rainbow Dash needed to go back to sleep and discuss things with Pinkie Pie in the morning. With this in mind, Rainbow Dash shut her eyes and tried to doze off. She didn't have much success.

***

Rainbow Dash wasn't the only one thinking of the recent developments. Pinkie Pie had her own difficulty going to sleep that night, as she could only think about Rainbow Dash's attempt to kiss her. Why did Rainbow Dash even do it? Pinkie Pie imagined that she was having issues with Applejack but could not identify what those issues might be. In her naïveté, she believed that Rainbow Dash still had feelings for Applejack, even though Rainbow Dash herself had been able to admit to herself that she clearly didn't.

So why would she try to kiss me if she's in love with Applejack? Pinkie Pie asked herself. The answer wasn't clear, and this question only brought up so many others.

She thought about the possibility of discussing what happened with Rainbow Dash, but she told herself that she didn't want to make things more awkward than they already were. But she didn't want to avoid Rainbow Dash either, as that would also make things more awkward than they already were. Pinkie Pie, therefore, did not know how to handle the situation.

Then Pinkie Pie wondered if she shouldn't tell Applejack what happened. Even though she was notorious for her secret-keeping, Pinkie Pie felt that Applejack deserved to know what had happened, even if it would break her heart. But it felt too much like meddling into affairs that weren't her own, so Pinkie Pie quashed the idea.

But then how was she going to handle this? She didn't want to talk to Rainbow Dash, she didn't want to talk to Applejack, and she didn't want this to keep running around her head the way it did. Telling somepony else, like Twilight, for example, would be out of the question. It wasn't fair of her to bring one of her friends into this mess while going behind the backs of both parties involved.

It was too much for Pinkie Pie to make sense of without a good night's rest, so she did her best to table the issue until the morning came. Thankfully, Pinkie Pie was able to distract herself, so she slept soundly until the morning came. It was then that she was awoken by a knocking on the door of Sugarcube Corner. Pinkie Pie groaned to herself as she went down the stairs and opened the door, but her sleepiness was jolted out of her when she saw who had knocked.

“Dashie, what are you doing here so early?” Pinkie Pie asked, her heart pounding.

“Look, Pinkie Pie,” Rainbow Dash said, “I wish I didn't have to come, but I have to talk to you about what happened yesterday.”

“I don't really want to talk about what happened yesterday,” Pinkie Pie explained to Rainbow Dash.

“What? But we have to talk about it. I feel terrible for what I did and I didn't know what else to do about it.”

“I don't think I can help you,” Pinkie Pie said. “You need to talk to Applejack about it. I won't do it because it's not really my business what happens between you two, but I think she deserves to know and you have to be the one to tell her.”

“I can't do that! She'd never speak to me again,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, it's a risk you're going to have to take!” Pinkie Pie said, trying to keep her voice down despite her anger beginning to rise. “I mean, maybe you should have thought of that before trying to kiss me.”

“Look, it's not like you let anything happen,” Rainbow Dash said. “Can't we just forget about the whole thing?”

“I don't know, Dashie. You look awfully tired. Did it keep you from sleeping?”

“Well, it kind of did...” Rainbow Dash admitted.

“Then I don't think it's so easily forgotten,” Pinkie Pie said.

“You're probably right,” Rainbow Dash said to Pinkie Pie.

“So what are we going to do?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“I was hoping you'd know!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Well, I don't know, and I don't think I can really help you,” Pinkie Pie said.

“You already said that,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Well, it's true.”

“So what's going to happen here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I think you should just go. Let's see if we can't forget about it. But I still think you need to tell Applejack.”

“Forget that,” Rainbow Dash said. “I have enough to deal with right now.”

“Suit yourself,” Pinkie Pie said. “Just don't let it happen again.”

“I promise I won't,” Rainbow Dash said, and she flew off without another word. Pinkie Pie shook her head and shut the door, hoping the whole thing would just go away. Rainbow Dash was right, the stress wasn't worth it.

***

Spike was groggy when the morning came, as he had spent all night grappling with himself about what to do concerning the situation with Rarity. Unfortunately for him, Twilight noticed, and she immediately bombarded him with questions.

“Spike, you haven't been sleeping well for days,” she said. “Now, I know something's up, but I'm really frustrated that you won't tell me. I asked you as a friend, and now I'm ordering you as my assistant.”

“Are you serious?” Spike asked. “You're really doing this.”

“Yes, I am. I can't stand to see you so upset, and I'll do whatever I have to in order to find out what's going on. That's why I magically sealed the door to my room so you can't leave until you talk.”

“What?” Spike asked.

“I'm not foaling around,” Twilight said.

“Apparently not,” Spike muttered. “But it's nothing really, Twilight. I just haven't been sleeping well because I'm nervous about where things are headed with Ruby.” This was an outright lie, but Twilight had been desperate and Spike had been far too ashamed to admit what happened with Rarity.

“Really?” Twilight asked. “That's it?”

“Yeah,” Spike said.

“Well, I guess that makes sense. I mean, this is your first relationship and it's probably very confusing. So what are you thinking?”

“Well, I don't know if I really like her or not,” Spike said. “I mean, she's great, don't get me wrong, but isn't there supposed to be like a spark when I think about her? Because I'm not sure I'm feeling that.”

“Oh no,” Twilight said. “That probably isn't a good sign.”

“It isn't?” Spike asked, horrified. It was easy now to cover up his problem with Rarity, as this actually touched on a real concern he'd been having, even though it had been driven out of his mind.

“Well...no. If that spark isn't there...I don't know what to tell you, but maybe you have to break things off with Ruby.”

“But I don't want to do that,” Spike said. “I left her once already, and look what she did! She followed me all the way to Ponyville. I thought I'd humor her with a few dates, and now look at the mess I'm in.” And Rarity certainly hasn't helped matters, Spike thought to himself.

“Look, Spike, I know this is a very confusing time for you, but I want to tell you that you have to hang in there. If you don't want to break things off with Ruby, I think I understand. Maybe your feelings will change after some time.”

“Are you sure?” Spike asked.

“It's entirely possible,” Twilight said. “Now that you've talked to me about what's troubling you, I suppose I can let you go. Sorry to hold you hostage.”

“It's all right, Twilight. It's good to talk things out like this.”

“I'm glad to hear it,” Twilight said. “Now, can you straighten up the library today while I'm gone?”

“Where are you going?” Spike asked.

“I'm going to give the Apple family a surprise visit,” Twilight said.

“Oh, I get it,” Spike said. “You want to see Big Mac, don't you?” Twilight blushed.

“Maybe,” she said.

“Well, have fun, and say hi for me,” Spike said before getting up and starting to go to work on the shelves in Twilight's room.

“Thanks Spike,” Twilight said.

“You're welcome,” Spike replied.

***

Twilight arrived at Sweet Apple Acres about half an hour later and surprised Big Mac, the first pony she saw, with a surprise kiss on the cheek. Big Mac jolted in surprise and turned around only to see the purple mare smiling at him, and he breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled.

“Ah can't believe ya gave me a start like that,” Big Mac said.

“Sorry,” Twilight said. “I just wanted to stop by and say hi.”

“It's mighty fine of you to stop by, Twilight,” Big Mac said.

“Thanks,” Twilight said, blushing. “So how are things on the farm?”

“They're going mighty well,” Big Mac said. “The apples look promising this year. They're already starting to come in on the north side. Look, you can see them startin' to sprout.” Twilight glanced at the nearby trees and noticed small fruits beginning to blossom.

“That's incredible,” Twilight said.

“Ah know,” Big Mac said. “It's what ah live for.” Surprisingly, Twilight saw a tear slide down Big Mac's cheek, but Big Mac acted like nothing happened.

“So, um...” he said, “how are things with you and Rarity? I guess mah showin' up didn't blow over too well.”

“Yeah, I don't really know what that was about,” Twilight said. “She just got really upset when she found out you were taking me out.”

“Was she jealous?” Big Mac asked. “Ah know it's a crazy thought, ah was just wonderin'.”

“I'm not sure,” Twilight said, although she knew perfectly well why Rarity reacted the way she did, and she felt guilty for leading her on.

“Aw, forget ah said anything,” Big Mac said. “Ah can tell you're just rackin' yer brain, and it ain't worth it.”

“Really?” Twilight asked.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac said. “Even if Rarity is a mite jealous, ah don't think you should worry yer pretty little head over it.”

“Okay then...” Twilight said. “How's the family?” she asked, hoping to change the subject.

“They're goin',” Big Mac said. “Granny Smith's a little under the weather right now, so Applebloom's takin' care of her. That leaves Applejack and me to do the chores on the farm.”

“What's she up to?” Twilight asked.

“She's tendin' to the other crops while I work on these apples,” Big Mac said. “Actually, she's been actin' mighty strange lately.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Ah mean she's not so talkative as usual. Around the dinner table she's about as quiet as ah am, and she seems really lost in her own thoughts. Ah've talked about this with the rest of the family, and Applebloom wouldn't say nothin', but she looked mighty nervous about somethin'. Granny Smith and ah have no idea neither.”

“That's...that's odd,” Twilight said, thinking she knew what was on Applejack's mind, but if Big Mac didn't know what it was, it wasn't right for her to tell him without Applejack's permission.

“Ya got any idea what's goin' on with her?” Big Mac asked.

“No, I don't,” Twilight lied.

“Okay,” Big Mac said. “Ah was hopin' one of her best friends would know, but it's all right that ya don't.”

“Sorry,” Twilight said. “I wish I could be more help.”

“Nope,” Big Mac said. “Don't worry about it.”

***

This was it! The notes about how to release Discord were all here! It excited her to no end, knowing that she would finally be able to meet the god of chaos in the flesh. The only problem was she needed to find a way to spend considerable time in the garden without being detected while she performed the ancient spell.

Wondering how to plan out the logistics, she considered all the forms she could take and wondered which would be most suitable. Posing as a guard would look wrong, as it would look suspicious if she stayed in one place for too long. Perhaps a maintenance pony was a better idea. She could pretend to be polishing the statue as she worked. Yes, this would be a much better idea.

She worried that somepony would find out she was still lurking around. It had been hard enough to recover after Shining Armor had repelled her from Canterlot, but she would exact her revenge on the whole of Equestria yet.

Queen Chrysalis knew this spell was the chance of a lifetime, and she was not about to mess it up.