Twilight would have resorted to desperately shield-blasting the guards away from her precious herd mates. The arrival of her two beloved ponies would have spurred her to fight like a cornered hydra. She would have at the very least demanded why the two were even there in the first place. But she didn't get to do any of that, not when she was trapped in the inescapable black hole that was Rarity's embrace. "Oooh, my Heartsong, my Lovebird, you're alriiIIiiight!" Her fillyfriend wailed at her at pointblank range.

"R-Rares, I-I'm glad to see you too, but..." Twilight struggled to get two words out through the unicorn's hydra-like grip around her neck, all while dodging the constellation of wet tissues orbiting her fillyfriend.

"Uh, Rarity, from a medical, legal and moral point of view, I think you're choking her," Doctor Horse murmured in a valiant attempt to prevent murder in the first degree.

"Doctor Horse! How dare you say anything to me after forcing me to launch my beloved darling prince into a deep dark chasm of doom! You brute! Beast! Monster! Polka dot trimmed brocade!" Rarity snapped, pelting the poor stallion with a hailstorm of wet tissues. "You're lucky my beloved survived. Otherwise I'd destroy you!"

"Rarity, dearest, you're not making much sense, I..." Doctor Horse began.

"You dare speak to me of sense?! Sense would be making you sleep on the couch while I set it adrift in the Draconian sea! Without a paddle or a change of underwear! For ever!" Rarity shrieked.

"Rarity, we need to talk abo-..." Twilight almost chocked as Rarity dragged her away from Doctor Horse in what might have been a protective gesture if Twilight didn't feel like she was about to evolve into a giraffe.

"Rarity, dear, I think Twilight wants to say something?" Doctor Horse suggested as he half-cantered to keep up with Rarity's purposeful strides and Twilight's dragging-stagger.

"Yes, Rarity, I..." Twilight somehow managed to squeak.

"Doctor Horse! Why can I still hear you when I am certain I have banished you to the furthest reaches of couchland?!" Rarity barked. Twilight gave up getting any words in between her bickering herdsmates, allowing Rarity to simply drag her in a vice grip across the plaza as Doctor Horse helplessly trailed behind like a colt being punished for bad behaviour. At least it was obvious, almost painfully so, that her two beloved ponies were under no mind-altering magics of any sort. This was as natural as they get.

The guards didn't seem to be in any hurry to capture her. In fact, a few of them exchanged words, smiles and chuckles with a very apologetic Doctor Horse as they went by. 'I'm not about to let my guard down just yet,' Twilight eyed the guards warily, feeling especially fiercely protective of her two beloved ponies. But at the very least she wouldn't start leveling the entire place just yet. That would be a little rude. The polite thing to do would be to at least hear everypony out before she broke out the magic lasers and leveled the entire place.

Who said Twilight Sparkle hadn't matured emotionally?

"....you horrid little stallion, you killed my dear, beloved Horseykins! Oh, my poor sweet prince, gone! Forever! Because you made me throw him like a rock to his death, you brutish silly little colt!" Rarity's wails faded back into the foreground as she ponyhandled Twilight into an unassuming yellow door in a corner of the auction houses and the brothel. A simple sign above the entrance identified it as 'Safe Block 5'. Twilight was surprised to find that the circular, lofty hall beyond was comfortably-lit unlike the rest of the dungeons outside. Rarity wasted no time in pushing Twilight through the first of the many doors lining the walls, one labelled 'Safe Room 2'.

"But, darling, I'm still alive and I'm sorry I worried you, I didn't mean...." Doctor Horse pleaded before the door magically slammed itself in his face. "Uh, alright, um, I-I'll be out smoothing things out with the guards or talking to the potted plants or something if you need me," A muffled voice said through the door. "Err, just call me if you need me. I'll be here, waiting for you to call me and...stuff."

"The nerve of that colt! I just can't stand how...how courageous and selfless he could be sometimes! He's going to hurt himself saving ponies one of these days, mark my words!" Rarity listed off all of her coltfriend's flaws.

Twilight found herself in a room that decidedly did not belong in a dungeon. It was cozily-lit, with a welcoming decor that whispered 'make yourself at home'. A magical fire crackled merrily in a fireplace surrounded by comfy pony pillows. Rarity shepherded Twilight over to the nearest pillow as her magic busied itself about the room, putting on the kettle and levitating over a first aid kit. "Now, let me have a look at you, my sweet Heartsong. Did you hurt yourself anywhere? Did you..."

"Rarity."

"Let's check your fur. I don't want you hiding any injuries from..."

"Rarity, I..."

"Show me your wings, darling. That's a good..."

"RARITY!" Twilight snapped, her horn flaring, freezing all of Rarity's levitation spells in midair. "Please, would you just stop and tell me what's going on?!" she demanded, giving her fillyfriend a glare that could probably light up new suns.

Rarity stared wide-eyed at her normally mild-mannered Lovebird. She very slowly unfroze with a soft sigh. "I'm...I'm sorry, Twilight," she said, in a voice so soft and heartbroken that Twilight couldn't help but feel a stab of guilt. "I'll admit, it's bad of me for trying to put off our much-needed talk. I know I....I failed to tell you the truth when you needed it most, sometime, anytime before....before all this had to happen. And by doing so I have caused you untold harm. I do not deserve your wonderfully sweet love, only your anger."

"But...you were going to tell me at some point...right?" Twilight asked, hanging onto one last thread of hope, practically pleading her fillyfriend to say 'yes'. Because any other answer would utterly break the alicorn's poor little heart.

"O-of course, dear! I swear upon my honour, Twilight, I was going to tell you the truth. Right after you left the cafe, Horseykins went to arrange you a visitor's pass and a guided tour while I looked around for you. Obviously I never found you in Ponyville and Doctor Horse never caught you at the gates. We didn't even notice you had managed to get so deep inside until High Light and High Life came by and congratulated Doctor Horse on the 'new slave' they saw wearing his padlock. We rushed down as fast as we could, dear, but..." Rarity trailed off into a soft hiccup. "I...I suppose that's not what you want to hear. You want to know why we didn't tell you before tonight."

Twilight bit her lip. On the one hoof, she was struggling to fight the urge to hug and comfort her trembling fillyfriend. On the other hoof, Rarity had confirmed her worst fears - she and Doctor Horse, the two ponies she loved and trusted the most, were in on this...this...whatever this is, with more and more evidence suggesting they were here willingly. Which, by extension, might mean her friends, her sister-in-law, everypony had been going about this without ever telling her. For her to have to find out by catching them in the act.....Being brutally honest with herself, she felt lost, hurt, betrayed.

"I..." Twilight took a slow, deep breath to steady herself, summoning up some of the most difficult words she had ever had to utter in her life. "If I'm ever going to trust you ever again, I need to know, Rarity," she said, releasing the words that had been trapped in her aching heart, "Please, please tell me," she pleaded.

Rarity winced at her harsh choice of words, biting her lips as she gave a tiny nod. "It was entirely my fault, dear. I...well, let us start with what this place is before I explain everything else. This is Clocktower Society, Twilight. In the simplest, crudest terms, it's a sex playground that has been around for thousands of years. While it is all done in good fun, what we do here is not without risk. It is even riskier when inexperienced, uninformed ponies become curious and think of dabbling in our practices without any training or supervision. So the society has recently started working to seek out ponies who are beginning to show some curiosity for the art and bring them into our ranks to better guide their interests. Now, Twilight, not to sound patronizing or anything, but we only noticed you showing some interest in the lifestyle about four months ago, about two months after we started dating."

"Four months ago...?" Twilight frowned, remembering back. "I think that was when I bought Love Song's books." She thought out loud before breaking into a soft blush as she realized she was admitting to hoarding raunchy bedtime reading. She had told herself it was all 'research' to prepare herself for where she anticipated her relationship with her beloved herd would eventually escalate to. Though on hindsight that excuse did not quite explain why a disproportionate number of the books were Love Song's 'special' stories. "W-wait, how did you and the society know about that?!" Twilight demanded, feeling busted in her pursuit of saucy smutty sex slave stories affronted at the invasion of privacy.

"Let's just say Love Song is one of our members," Rarity said, sheepishly, "I don't know how much you've seen, Twilight, but I mean it when I say we are working to prevent ponies from coming to harm. Though I suppose that doesn't sound all that convincing considering how wrong everything went tonight."

"I...." Twilight bit her lip, remembering Rosemary and what she had learnt about her past, how the society had sent out Wind Waker to find her and help her. Suddenly everything was beginning to make sense. "Alright, let's...let's put that aside for now. So you're suggesting the society found out...I mean, thought I might be interested? And they were going to invite me?"

"It was quite the uproar, actually," Rarity said, gravely, "Not surprising, considering you are a princess of Equestria, dear. The society's bigwigs and tophats spent a whole week discussing what to do. They all agreed on inviting you, they just couldn't agree on how or who should be the ones to welcome you. There was...how best to put it...a lot of politics involved. But Doctor Horse managed to wrestle the right to give you the invitation ourselves as is tradition for couples."

"If that was so many months ago, then why....?" Twilight's frown grew deeper as she left the rest of her question hanging in the air.

"That..." Rarity gave a long, drawn-out sigh, "That was my fault, dear. I....I was selfish. I told Horseykins we must wait for the right moment to tell you. I was adamant I didn't want to rush you. I was...." her lips quivered, her eyes gazing out beyond her. Twilight could sense she was recalling something painful from her past. "I was frightened, Twilight. I was frightened you'd end up like me." The poor unicorn averted her eyes. "Compared to all our friends, I'm a relatively new member. I only joined the society four years ago, Twilight, just shortly after our first Grand Galloping Gala. It was...it was somepony I met at the gala. Not Doctor Horse, obviously. This pony wanted me to be his mistress, you know, a dominant from those books you've read. I should have seen the warning signs with how insistent he was. He invited me into the society. We....we rushed things. I didn't know he was as inexperienced as I was. I didn't mean it. I should have been sensible. I should have said 'no'. I should have sensed things were going wrong. I should have...." Rarity trailed off into a broken sob. "S-sorry, I-I don't know what's overcome me, I-I..." She hiccuped, her tears running freely. "T-Twilight, j-just t-the thought that you could somehow end up like that, it...t-the very thought simply kills me. I..." She was silenced by a sudden hug.

"I understand, Rarity," Twilight whispered, comfortingly, holding her fillyfriend tight, "You...you were frightened for me."

"Oooh, d-darling, I-I still e-ended up letting all this happen, I still allowed you to come to harm in the end!" Rarity sobbed, clutching her tightly, "I-I am such a silly pony! I-I don't blame you if you hate me forever and ever! I'm such a terrible herd-sister, I don't deserve such a wonderfully understanding fillyfriend, I...."

Twilight realized she probably should have been angry - Angry for being baby'd, angry for not being involved in such important decisions to involve her, angry for how long Rarity had stalled out of fear, angry at Doctor Horse for not doing anything about it, angry at the society, everything.

But she couldn't find any anger inside her.

All she could really feel was relief - Relief that she was still allowed to love her fillyfriend and coltfriend, relief that her beloved herd had held off telling her not out of some ill intent to leave her out or something but out of love...even if it was a slightly irrational way to show it.

But Twilight did not fall in love with Rarity for her rationality.

Twilight finally gave in and did what she had been dying to do all evening long. "I love you, Rarity," Three simple words froze Rarity's stream of incoherent babble. "You and Doc both." Rarity gasped breathlessly as her fillyfriend's embrace tightened lovingly. "I'm...I'm happy that...that..." Twilight hiccuped around her tears, struggling to find words to voice her relief, her joy that she had not been denied her love.

"I-I understand, my sweet, wonderful Heartsong, because I...I feel the same. I'm...I'm ever so happy you'd still allow me to love you," Rarity whispered, wetly, "I...I promise you, darling, I would live the rest of my life working to be deserving of your love."

"I love you plenty as you are, Rarity," Twilight chuckled softly through her own tears, "P-Please stay the mare I love." She clutched her soft, velvety fur tightly, as if frightened she was in danger of slipping out of her grasp once more.

"For you, always, Heartsong," Rarity whispered back, giving Twilight a chaste kiss on her cheek. They lapsed into sweet silence with Twilight slipping into her favourite place nestling her head against Rarity's bossom as they gently rocked each other through their tears.

"I kind of have one question though," Twilight finally broke the gentle silence, glancing sheepishly up at her marefriend.

"I'm sure you have plenty, darling. I'll answer anything," Rarity said softly, caressing Twilight's mane lovingly all the while.

"I saw everypony else here on the way down." Rarity froze at Twilight's words. "And you said you were the last of our friends to join. So....um...why didn't you all just tell me earlier?"

Rarity sighed deeply. "Twilight, you wouldn't believe how many serious chats we've had about that."

"You've all...discussed it?" Twilight's ears perked up.

"Yes. And we've always reached the same conclusion," Rarity sounded suddenly weary, "None of us knew for sure whether or not you'd be into this sort of thing. It isn't the sort of thing you can simply ask, not without lying about our reasons should you have told us you despised the very notion. After all, honestly, darling, if the five of us had told you we love quesadillas and we visit the Mexicolt Corral in Canterlot every weekend, what would you have done?"

Twilight's eyes widened, her pupils shrinking to pinpricks at the very thought. She could only whimper in reply.

"Exactly, dear. Consider that this is a much more serious, dare I say, riskier affair than forcing yourself through a plate of quesadillas." Rarity nodded. "It wasn't until we found out you shared our interests that we could safely consider inviting you."

Twilight fell silent as the frightful thought settled in a deep pit of sudden, sober thoughtfulness. That was how serious this whole affair was. Quesadilla serious. Her friends had not taken the matter lightly, even weighing out all the possibilities and consequences.

Twilight was sure about one thing, at least - She hadn't given any of this the same depth and breadth of thought her marefriend and her friends had. The realization of just how far out of her depth she was struck her with chilling fright. "I-I want to go home, Rarity." She finally managed to whisper shakily.

"Yes, let's." Rarity nodded, decisively. "Let's go home, Twilight."

The door opened to reveal a stallion sitting by the entrance, a forehoof curled around a potted plant in solitary companionship, the other clutched in tight prayer. He looked up at the open door, his face a stricken picture of tearful hope mixed with frightened dread. He gasped as a lavender alicorn rushed into him, burying her face in his chest. He gasped as he caught her in his forehooves, his voice raspy with relief. He whispered her name, grateful that he could still utter it in love. No other words were necessary. Their hold upon one another was worth all the words in their hearts.

The stallion looked up over the alicorn's mane to find the other love of his life looking on with a sheepish, apologetic little smile. He payed her look of apology no mind, instead reaching out and pulling her into the hug, clutching both his beloved mares against his chest. Together they shared in joyful relief, happy that they were at least still able to go home together.

"Doctor Horse!" A loud bellow rang out across the entire entrance hall, echoing about the vaulted ceiling and domed cupola.

Twilight froze in her tracks behind her stallion. Rarity not-so-subtly stepped up beside her coltfriend, protectively shielding Twilight from view.

"What is it, Jet Set? I'm just on my way out," The doctor demanded impatiently. Twilight noticed how her stallion eyed the approaching dark gray pony with the kind of caution normally reserved for wild cragadilles. She was quick to recognize the black-maned stallion as Jet Set, one of Canterlot's younger elite.

"Don't play coy with me!" Jet Set barked, attracting the attention of everypony in the hall. From how he carried himself, it was obvious to Twilight he was intent on making a scene, "You can't pretend we didn't just have a major security breach, Mr. Chairpony of the Dom's Council," He trotted up and poked Doctor Horse in the chest. Twilight felt a flare of anger at how irreverent he was of her stallion. From the look on Rarity's face, she shared her sentiments. Neither of them missed the twinge of worry on Doc's face, however. "Yes, you know the breach I'm talking about," he said, his dark look slowly turning into a menacing grin, "The one that involves the very leader of Clocktower Equestria East, you!"

Author's Notes:

Sorry updates are a little slow at the moment, everyone. I'm a little tied up with some real life matters plus I'm currently working with two readers who've expressed great interest in writing more Clocktower stuff for you all. I'll put up a blog post with an announcement as soon as they post their stories. One's a really kinky Subbie Dash story, the other's an exciting romp into the realm of Clocktower Equestria West. Hope you're looking forwards to more Clocktower 'cause I know I am!

As for the clop? Twilight won't be encountering much clop for at least another chapter, but I'll be sure to tide things over with another Clocktower Scene soon.