The Heart of Pleasure
By Haunter Rayne
Ch 97 - Tranquility Run-Amuck

Twilight woke up in bed feeling peaceful. She blinked a few times and looked at her ceiling. "Ah, good morning me." She got out of bed and brushed her teeth to a nice quiet castle. "Ughghh, -spits- mm, good morning reflection." Then she stopped by the kitchen, levitating a bowl she filled with cereal along with a pitcher of milk. "A little morning breakfast and some light reading…" She mumbled to herself while checking through the astrophysics section of her personal library. Then she sat down in her seat at the map table and had a pleasant chill run down her spine as she took her first bite of the cool crisp oat cereal.

"Twilight! Twilight!!!" A frantic voice screamed from the castle entryway after her doors were slammed open.

"Ugh, good morning craziness in Equestria." The princess sighed looking up from where she had been sitting at the table enjoying her cereal with a book. "I'm in here, Rarity!" She called out to her friend. "What's the matter? Surely there can't be trouble in Ponyville this early in the morning." Twilight chuckled. But her sense of humor disappeared when she saw the look on the other mare's face.

"Oh darling, it's the most dreadful of news! It's about Rayne! I'm so worried about him!" Rarity wailed out as she came charging in.

"Whoa there, hold on now. First let's start by telling me what the trouble is." Twilight insisted as she helped her friend to her seat at the map table.

"Well you know that idea that you had? The one that at first I was against? You know, pertaining to all the girls gatherering together to help Rayne as a hole-OH, whole! As a whole!" Rarity stammered, nervously stumbling over her own words.

"Rarity, please! Calm down! You aren't helping anypony by being like this!" Twilight explained and teleported her breakfast away as it was clear she wasn't going to be finishing it this morning.

Taking a moment to breathe deeply Rarity tried her best to relax before saying, "Well as for your little get together, I fear I may be changing my tune on the matter... and rather urgently in fact." She grimaced out with an uncomfortable smile.

Twilight raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "So now you're okay with the idea? And just how urgently are we talking about here?" Twilight asked as she returned to her seat, still feeling bashful that she had ever even proposed such an idea in the first place.

"Mmmm… is now a good time per chance?" Rarity responded

Twilight quirked her head to the side, completely misunderstanding her friend. "Yes… now would be a good time to tell me. When are you asking for this to happen?"

"Now." Rarity said again simply.

"Now?" Twilight asked as she looked up confused.

"Yes now, right now." Rarity repeated.

"Wait, I don't… WAIT?! NOW?! AS IN RIGHT NOW?!" Twilight screamed as her wings flexed straight and her thighs shut together tight.

"Yes… Would that be too soon? Or do you think you might need, say about… twenty minutes?" Rarity asked while being none too subtle with her insistence.

"Yes that would be too soon! Are you kidding me?!!!" Suddenly the princess was now bent over the table heaving from a panic attack at the very suggestion. Meanwhile her tail was tucked tighter between her legs than it had ever been before. "When I suggested that I wasn't even sure IF it should be done at all! And if so, I was thinking of having weeks if not months to prepare! ...or years…" She mumbled to herself at the end.

Now the whining began as Rarity pressed to get her point across. "But Twilight! Rayne might not have that long to wait! I'm so very fearful for him! I honestly believe that his life could be in very real danger!"

"Rarity, please." Twilight rebutted, taking a moment to try and calm herself. "Rayne is a big guy after all. I'm sure that whatever is going on he can handle it himself." She said, trying to sound reassuring.

Rarity was in full rant mode now as she squealed out in a single breath, "Trixie is in town and apparently somehow became spurned by Rayne so now she is soapboxing from the town center attempting to call everypony in Ponyville to rise together against him!"

"Except that!" Twilight choked out. "Okay, you're right! This is bad! We have to go save him!" The princess insisted, finding that to be the most logical conclusion.

"There's no time for that!" Rarity screamed, throwing her hooves onto the table in front of her. "Rayne was already there in the middle of it when I left! Who knows what has already been said in the time that it took me to rush over here? I feel that the chances of saving Rayne before he gets hurt might already be too late! What we need now is a way to bring him back from the effects of Trixie's wicked words!"

What Rarity was saying did make a tiny bit of sense to Twilight's now panic stricken brain but despite that her good sense was still having a hard time rationalizing all of this. "Look Rarity, I wasn't at all prepared for something like this to occur. But perhaps I can get the girls together to arrange for something later this week?" She squeaked out hesitantly.

"But Twilight! Rayne could have an angry mob chasing him down this very instant! If we don't step up as his friends to remind him how much we appreciate him then who will?!" The pale gray mare cried.

That was when a new voice spoke up from the doorway as a sleepy looking Starlight walked in from the hall. "Hey everypony… what's all the shouting about? Did I hear you say that something happened with Rayne?" She asked calmly, not yet having her usual focus to her this early in the morning.

Before Rarity could explode into yet another tirade Twilight quickly stepped up. "Yes, we believe it has. Apparently Rayne has gotten himself into some trouble with Trixie and since this morning-" But Twilight stopped in surprise when Starlight had a sudden explosion of her own.

"Wait, Trixie?! What about Trixie?!" Starlight shouted as she ran right up to Twilight with a worried expression on her face.

"Uh, she's apparently in the town square. And she's been soapboxing about Rayne from near the fountain." Twilight muttered awkwardly. "Starlight, do you know something about this?"

"You bet I do!" Starlight screamed as she began pacing back and forth. "I can't believe she would actually do this! And so soon! And after I specifically told her not to! I can't believe her!"

The two other mares now looked to each other in confusion. That was when Rarity stepped up and asked, "Starlight? Are you saying that you knew that Trixie was going to do this? And you didn't tell us?"

"Yes! Oh well no." Starlight sighed before stopping her pacing to face her friends. "It's my fault really. I thought that Rayne was acting funny after I turned him down so I thought I'd hook him up with a rebound date to make Rayne feel better. But when I asked Trixie to go out with him it was because I didn't think either of them would actually catch feelings for each other. Apparently Trixie ended up really liking Rayne and when he had to turn her down she really didn't take the news well at all." She explained, giving the extremely simplified version of what happened.

Twilight frowned as she asked, "And now Trixie, being Trixie, is looking to take her feelings out by getting back at Rayne for being the one to hurt her?" The tone in her voice though told the other mares that Twilight already knew the answer.

Starlight nodded and told them, "And Trixie knows just how to do it too since I told her all about Rayne being a pleasure pony. At the time I had hoped it would give her some mercy towards Rayne but of course, with her it ended up having the opposite effect."

Now they each looked to one another with worried expressions. But the princess just scowled at the situation and made her way back to her seat. "Okay, look. We're going to deal with this but we're going to take things one step at a time. Rarity, you take Starlight with you back into town to see if you can stop things from getting any worse. Meanwhile I'll stay here and…" She paused while looking over to Rarity and thinking over her suggestion, "...try to work out how to handle any damages that have already been done." She sulked while the other two seemed too distracted to even notice. Right away Starlight and Rarity rushed themselves out the door while, with an almost lamenting expression, Twilight looked to Sweet Apple Acres on the map table and teleported herself away.

- Ponyville Adjacent -

Maud and Rayne teleported into their underground cave with a sigh of relief. Here there were no crowds, no ponies chasing them, and only the peaceful seclusion that was always present in the jewel bedazzled sanctum.

"Well that sure is a fine mess that Trixie has gotten you into." Maud stated flatly.

"Eh, well… you know. I-" Rayne sighed but the mare at his side was quick to interrupt him.

"Don't worry, I don't need to know what happened. No pony is perfect Rayne, not even you. Whatever happened, I am still here for you." She said with that steadfast tone of her's. They exchanged a short smile and knew that they were both passed it now. "So, what are you going to do? The whole town knows the truth about you. I'm sure they will all be after you now because of it."

"Yeah… you're probably right." Rayne sighed as he walked over to one of the canopy posts by Maud's bed.

"You're welcome to stay here." She offered to him while stepping over to her bed and throwing the covers back. "You know that you can climb in here with me until the commotion dies down." She stated, being none too subtle about her offer.

But she didn't look upset when Rayne just stepped forward to kiss her before shaking his head. "Thank you, I appreciate it. But I don't think that running away from this is the answer. Besides… hiding from everyone doesn't really go with my whole 'helping everypony' thing." He chuckled.

She nodded and reached up with her arms to run her lips across his one more time. After that Maud stepped back and asked him, "How are you going to handle the entire town at once? Can you really make that many copies of yourself Rayne?"

To that the stallion laughed and told her, "I don't think it's really my responsibility to have to help everypony at once." Then he sat upon the bed and patted the seat beside him. "I haven't forgotten the legend about pleasure ponies that Discord and Zecora told me. I think if I did try to help everypony then it might run me ragged and I'd end up hurting myself. So I think it's best to set my expectations a little lower to only helping who I can, when I can. And I'll have to just work things out the old fashioned way, one at a time."

Maud gave him one of her rare smiles as she brushed some of his mane back away from his face. "I'm proud of you Rayne. I think you are going to be just fine." Then the two fell into each other's arms, still taking at least a short break from the craziness in town to enjoy the simple peace of being together. Once Rayne did finally pull back from the tender mare beside him it wasn't without her grabbing a hold of his hoof and telling him sternly, "But just in case, remember that you're very important to me Rayne. You've changed my life for the better and you will never be a failure in my eyes. If any pony up there tries to tell you otherwise, then I'll remind you of that as many times as you need to hear it."

Rayne didn't bother to hide the blush on his cheeks as he pulled Maud in to hug her tightly. "Thank you. Hearing that gives me all the strength I'd ever need. Thank you Maud."

Then with a nod she let him go. "Have a good day at work." Rayne actually gave a hardy laugh to that as he slipped off the bed and strode his way to the cave tunnel before teleporting back to town.

- Hours Later -

"Any luck?!" An anxious Twilight shouted as she and Fluttershy sat in their seats around the map table waiting for everyone.

From the doorway Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack all came rushing into the castle but stopped to shake their heads. Applejack spoke first saying, "You sure were right Twilight. The whole town's been going bonkers looking for Rayne every which way they can. But I dun gave the low-down to Granny Smith and Big Mac. If Rayne happens by anywhere near Sweet Apple then they'll invite him in to get away from the crowds. And all the other farmers at the vineyard and the orchard said that he's already done all he could for them in recent days so they'll leave 'em alone if'in they see him."

Pinkie went next as she began to point with one hoof, then a second, then a third, all the way to seven hooves somehow as she ranted on, "Rayne sure is amazing because no matter how we followed the trail, we just couldn't catch up to him! First we heard that he headed to the custom shop but the store owner said he wasn't there. Then we passed by Scootaloo who said Rayne has been spending a lot of time talking to the construction ponies lately. But they wouldn't even talk to us about him for some reason. Then we followed his trail from the flower seller, to the train station, to Yankee Doodle Donkey's! And needless to say, he was of no help." She pouted.

Rarity stepped forward saying, "Just like you suspected Twilight, ponies everywhere were becoming upset that there just isn't enough Rayne to go around. The ponies at the bowling alley were wanting Rayne to reconfigure their entire tournament schedule for the whole next season while Mayor Mare was planning to turn him into a political official. And when I stopped by the day spa to see if per chance he had visited his place of employment, both Aloe and Lotus seemed quite perturbed that he hadn't shown up to draw all these demanding ponies in for business."

"Oh dear, this is just awful!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "Poor Rayne has everypony in town making demands of him just like in the stories! I know that Rayne is uniquely skilled in handling situations just like this, but no pony could go on satisfying all of these requests forever! What are we going to do?!"

"We're going to find him!" Twilight asserted when just then Rainbow Dash zoomed in through the open front doors behind everypony. "Dash, did you have any luck?!"

"Nooo! And I can't believe it!" The pegasus cried out. "I've flown around checking so many places that I'm actually tired! Me!!! And that's just from trying to spot the guy! I can't imagine how much more exhausted Rayne must be feeling having already gone all over town doing favors for every insignificant little thing everypony has been asking him to do! Did you know that he's been doing everything from gardening, to revamping business models with Filthy Rich, to helping out at the veterinary clinic?! I mean I'm energetic but how much battery life has this guy got?!"

"Oh, he's been assisting Dr. Fauna? That's so unbelievably nice of him." Fluttershy gushed until the rest of her friends turned to her with a frown. "Okay so maybe that's not the most important detail right now, but it's still a really nice thing for him to do."

Jumping back on topic Rainbow quickly asked, "What about Starlight? What's she doing?"

Twilight looked over and told her, "She headed off to where Vinyl and Octavia share a house together to see if there were any sudden or spontaneous plans for the band Faceless. You know, just in case Rayne gets the idea to flee from town and get away from it all. So far there's been no word back from her yet."

That was when they all looked back to the doorway at the sound of huffing and little feet padding their way through. "I-... I-.. I found him!!!" Spike yelled as he almost collapsed before Dash zoomed over to catch him and fly him back to his seat. The panting little dragon took a moment to catch his breath from running so hard before saying, "He was at… he was at… uhh...the post… office!"

"Ohhhhhh!!!" Several of the ponies all shouted.

Pinkie jumped in her seat shouting, "That makes perfect sense! There's no one in Ponyville who needs help more than the mail ponies!"

"Collating… filing… organizing…" Spike groaned as if he were gasping out his last breath and then collapsed into his seat. Twilight just rolled her eyes and Rarity gave a chuckle as well.

"Honestly darling, you're so dramatic sometimes. Wherever did you learn that from?" The fashionista exclaimed before stepping over beside the dragon. After one firm smooch on the lips, Spike was then able to sit up seeming good as new except for all the hearts in his eyes. "Now, if you would please. You were saying you found Rayne at the post office?" Rarity then sauntered her way back to her seat with a smirk looking rather proud of herself.

After clearing his throat and shaking his head a bit Spike nodded to the group. "Yeah, he was there helping Derpy with a new sorting system so that mail wouldn't get lost as it's separated amongst the different delivery ponies. But I told him that his friends had heard what happened and that they were all worried about him. He told me to tell you all that as soon as he finished he'd head over to the castle straight away."

- Back in Town -

"Alright well I guess that means I'm out of time!" Rayne chuckled while standing half in and half out of the post office doorway.

Just then a particular gray pegasus blushed as she looked around at the other coworkers who weren't paying attention. "Rayne!" She growled softly.

With a smile the stallion added, "Oh but it'll be dark soon and I hope I don't get a chill tonight. Do you know anypony who might be able to lend me a scarf?" Rayne snickered as if his simple request were just the funniest thing.

"Okay, okay!" Derpy Hooves hissed as she looked around and pushed Rayne outside. Once she had closed the door and made sure nopony else was nearby she quickly said, "Alright, you've made your point! I like him! I like Doctor Whooves, okay? There, I admit it! Are you happy now?" She pouted bashfully.

Rayne just leaned in as if Derpy were the only mare in the world and told her, "He's never going to know how you feel unless you tell him! I'll bet that inside he is a really caring guy. But if he's married to his work then he might not be the type to notice the little things. You need to step up and tell him if you ever want anything to happen. Don't wait for him to be the gentlepony, bring it to him yourself! You are a great mare, but don't trust me on that… trust him. I promise you won't be disappointed."

There was a short silence between them before Derpy unexpectedly threw her arms around him and hugged Rayne very tightly. After that she pulled away and blushed while saying, "I've gotta get back to work."

The two nodded to each other and she went back inside. Although instead of moving on to someplace else, Rayne suddenly dropped to one knee as he collapsed against the wall. "Phew, what… a… day..." He whispered to himself.

With that he looked around to make sure that nopony else was watching. With the shimmer of his horn a second Rayne materialized beside him. The new stallion cast a brilliant light as he used healing magic upon the other. When it was over the new stallion collapsed leaving the old stallion to stand back up refreshed. After another glance around Rayne absorbed his copy back into himself and then shrugged it off as if nothing had happened.

But a sudden burning sensation in his forehead gave the stallion some pause as he once more leaned against the post office wall for support. "Ergh, that's the third time today. I'm going to burn out my magic circuits or something if I keep doing that… but for now, it works." He said to himself before standing back up again.

As he left Rayne looked up to the sky. Hues of orange were starting to creep along overhead. "Celestia will be rotating out the sun soon. And then of course the beauty of the night shall grace us with the moon's presence." He sighed to himself. "But it's too early to turn in now. Ponies are waiting on me as I've got someplace else to be." With that he took the quieter streets through Ponyville, casually making his way towards Twilight's castle.

- Meanwhile in the Castle -

"Yes, that's good. That will do nicely. Oh and Applejack, just a bit further to the back if you'd please? Thank you." Rarity instructed as the main six busied themselves with transforming one of the drawing rooms in the very back of the castle into a boudoir setting fit for a king. The room had been magically repainted a burgundy red with dark caramel colored accents. Then all around tapestries were hung in black and dark purple lace to give the room an intimate feeling. "Yes that's it girls. Remember the three basic components: quiet, comfort, and concentration." Rarity reminded them.

Fluttershy nodded, pinning back an embroidered sheer curtain over the inside of the doorway. "Quiet, check. These soundproof spelled drapes match the rest of the decor around the walls and can be closed after our guest of honor gets here. That way we won't have to worry about second guessing ourselves if things get… oh, um... noisy." She giggled bashfully.

Rainbow Dash spoke up as Pinkie helped her move the furniture into place. "Okay, we've got the three cushioned benches with pillow-top backings set into place at the center front, left, and right… also with your fainting couch thingies on each of the far walls, just like you asked."

"And naturally strewn about throw pillows everywhere!" Pinkie shouted while pulling the string on her party cannon which this time spread small pillows of various colors across the floor and furniture. "Now that is what I call comfort!"

Applejack just laughed at her antics as she went around setting carefully placed lamps near the primary seating areas. "And I've got concentration. All these here vintage lamps we can cover with an orange or a pink cloth to help set the mood lighting. But since the light won't travel very far we can set them only where we want our guest's attention to be instead of all over the room."

"Yes, that's exactly right Applejack. Well done all of you!" Rarity cheered as she looked things over.

Meanwhile, Twilight had placed out a small canister of potpourri on either side of the room while also lighting a few incense candles to maintain a soothing aroma amidst the exotic atmosphere. "Lights, sounds, and smells." Twilight read aloud while reading from a racy how-to book from her library. "It says here that mental sexuality can be just as important as physical circumstances. Satisfying the senses in more ways that just through touch can also be very alluring. The way a partner smells or the sound of the environment around you can heighten-... Oh do you think we should have music playing in the background?"

But before anyone else could respond there was a resounding groan of discontent. "Uggh! No Twilight! We don't need music!" Rainbow Dash said. "This is sex Twilight! We are all about to have sex! It's physical and it's passionate and it's emotional. I can't believe that you could possibly be an egghead about this too!"

Now with a bit of a bratty pout Twilight snapped, "I'm not trying to be an egghead about this Dash! I'm just trying to contribute my part here and make sure that everypony has a good time. I've never done anything like this before so excuse me if I'm feeling a little bit nervous!"

At this all of their friends stopped what they were doing and looked over to her. "If it helps make you feel any better…" Fluttershy began. "I'm feeling a little nervous about this too."

Rarity bit her lip and stepped forward so that she could address Twilight and Fluttershy directly. "Darlings, let me please remind you that nopony is forcing you to do this. If indeed you are having any second thoughts then I'm sure that there are other ways-"

But Twilight just shook her head. "No, I'm doing this. It is true, I am nervous… but that doesn't mean that this isn't something that I'm curious about. It's just new to me is all."

"I understand what you mean Twilight." Everyone in the room looked over at Fluttershy. "This will be your first time, won't it? It's the same for me. And while I know some ponies don't care about this sort of thing… there's still a part of you who still wants it to be special. Isn't that right?"

Twilight looked down to her hooves for a moment. "I can't honestly say that I know for sure but I think you might be right, Fluttershy. I'm not in love with Rayne. But I think I'm willing to trust him with this."

The pegasus nodded while twirling her pink mane with her hoof. "To be honest I think I may even be a little excited. What I mean is, doing this, here in this way, with all of you… it feels like it's making this easier for me somehow." Fluttershy shared which brought smiles all around. "And in fact, I think that seeing all of your excitement to have Rayne… you know, with you… makes me excited for it too. Oh, but I hope that doesn't make me a dirty mare to say!" She gasped which suddenly filled the room with laughter.

Applejack poked a playful nudge into Dash's side as she said, "Aw well sure it don't there Fluttershy. Besides, we all know that the real dirty mare of our group is Rainbow here, heh heh." She chuckled. But the Dash just balked in surprise at the comment and the unusual absence of a snarky comeback went unnoticed by the group.

"Alright, places! Places girls!" Rarity called out to the group. "I'm sure that our guest will be arriving any minute if he is not walking through the front doors already!" And with that each of the girls moved themselves to corresponding spots that they had worked out beforehand. "Now you wait right there and keep looking pretty!" Rarity said with a charming note to her voice as she closed the door to the drawing room and walked back to the entrance of the castle to wait for Rayne.

- Not Long After -

Rayne strolled casually right through the front doors to the Castle of Friendship. He trotted along the carpet covering the crystal floors just as he had many times before. But this time he did have a slight bit of apprehension. "So, I wonder what they have in store for me? Does the princess want a favor from me now? Hmm, I doubt that's it seeing as she's known about me for all this time. I wonder what those crazy girls could be planning…" He thought silently to himself, being careful not to monologue aloud.

Once he was through the entryway though he found a most unexpected surprise waiting for him. "Hello Rayne, we've been expecting you." Rarity said to him in a sultry tone.

The stallion's eyes almost popped out of his head because the outfit she was wearing was stunning. It was a lingerie corset that wrapped tightly around her waist with a cincher. Everywhere was black leather ribbing and synthetic lace material with red accents. "Rarity…" Rayne gasped as he walked up to her, being none too shy about taking an eyeful. She merely blushed with a smile, allowing him to admire the sight of her. "Rarity, Rarity! Oh my, hehe. Does Twilight know that you're walking around in her castle like this? Not that I disapprove of course."

She could almost smell the primal musk radiating off the stallion which made her glad because lighting his spark was exactly what she was trying to do. "Oh and how, hehe. Ah ah, no touching. I belong to Spike now, remember?" She teased, turning her back to him with her flank pointed out and staring back from over her shoulder. "But if you want to come with me," she said with a wink, "then follow me this way to where my friends and I have a surprise for you."

In his mind Rayne imagined some hilarious Jim Carey moment of his jaw dropping and thanking the sky for this opportunity. But on the outside he kept his cool, albeit with a smile upon his face.

Rarity made no attempt to hide it so Rayne took full advantage to stare as she swayed her hips back and forth. The erotic getup she had on narrowed in the back where it curved in under the base of her tail. Because of this, as she exaggerated her movements Rayne could clearly see the edges of her slit poking out around her garment. And despite her earlier protests about being touched, Rayne could see that Rarity was genuinely aroused at the moment. He surmised that she probably knew exactly what she was doing and needed this, enjoying having an eager stallion's eyes upon just as much as he was enjoying the view.

All of a sudden his view was blocked as she lowered her tail to cover herself and gestured toward a door. "And here we are. Please, go on inside Rayne. Your surprise awaits!" She said while standing off to the side and giving a playful knock upon the door.

"Hello, hello!" Rayne called out with a laugh as he opened the doors and poked his head inside. But what he saw when he entered was the last thing he had thought to prepare himself for. "Oh my." With Rainbow Dash on his left, Pinkie on his right, and Twilight in the center, the three mares stepped off of three cushioned beds in perfect unison together. All three were dressed in black lacy lingerie with garter belts attached along with it.

"Hiya Rayne." Pinkie spoke up first with a seductive smirk.

"Whatcha grinning for?" Dash teased him as she smiled at him with a wink.

Rayne's heart was immediately thumping in his chest as he could not believe his eyes. "What is going on here girls?" Rayne mused out in disbelief. Thinking quietly to himself he said, "What in the world did I miss? It looks like a cheesy porno set in here except… it's actually kind of nice. And all six girls in lingerie waiting for me? I never asked any pony for this." With another chuckle as Rarity literally pushed him into the room with her hooves. "Alright so what's the deal because this has got to be too good to be true." He stated as he glanced from mare to mare.

"Well this is my castle after all." Twilight said to him. "So shouldn't I be the one to decide what is or isn't allowed in here?" While she spoke Rayne looked around seeing Applejack sitting in red lingerie on a seat off to the left wall while Fluttershy was in white lingerie near the right wall. Both waved to him bashfully but did not stand from their seats. "I invite you to come in and make yourself more comfortable."

"Careful what you wish for." Rayne laughed as he stepped the rest of the way inside. Now he was face to face with Twilight while Dash and Pinkie stepped up to his sides.

Twilight attempted to toss her mane back seductively but the action came off as nervous and awkward. "This is a party for you Rayne… a private party… a pleasure pony party." Quickly Twilight's eyes glanced over to Rarity feeling insecure about if she had delivered that cheesy line correctly or not. After a nod from the other mare, Twilight gave scowl that Rayne assumed was supposed to be a sultry stare. "To put it simply, we appreciate you Rayne. You've made a lot of ponies in town happy. Everywhere you go you are doing something nice for everypony else… and tonight, my friends and I have decided to do something nice for you."

Rayne almost left the oxygen in his lungs behind as Twilight walked around him and then pushed him back until he fell onto the loveseat in the center of the room. Now looking up from his back he saw Twilight, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie crowd around him while Applejack and Fluttershy finally lifted themselves from their seats. "Ta ta, dear Rayne." Called a charming voice from the doorway.

"And where are you going?" The stallion asked, seeing that Rarity had not followed him inside.

"Oh well since I am committed to being with Spike now, it wouldn't be appropriate for me to stay for the, ahem, festivities? My part was just to escort you here and possibly get your furnace burning along the way. And from the looks of things... it would appear that I succeeded." She snickered and Rayne closed his legs bashfully. "Have fun now my dear!" Rarity called out again before pulling the drawstring to close the drapes and then shutting the doors to the room as she left.

Author's Notes:

Sooo... yeah. Well... So that happened, haha. As I'm sure you can tell, there is going to be some very steamy action in the next chapter. But before we get to that let's review this chapter.

So I wanted to start this chapter with a light hearted feel. Twilight wakes up to a nice morning but then quickly gets interrupted by Rarity. And because Rarity left the crowd early she didn't stick around long enough to see that Rayne turned out just fine. So once again, the overdramatic fashionista is causing background problems for everypony. Also, notice that Starlight has conveniently been out of the room every time anypony had ever talked about Twilight's "party idea."

Alright so yes, this story does support the ship between Derpy and Doctor Whooves. Who liked my jokes about time and scarves relating to that stallion? Also I haven't forgotten about Octavia and Vinyl. But I'll get back to them in a few chapters from now.

Now here's a big point about Rayne's magic. Many of you have already guessed about it in the comments. Yes Rayne can make a copy and use that to use healing magic so he can avoid blacking out from using that power. But even in doing that it isn't perfect. That exhaustion still leaves a residual burning in his horn once he reabsorbs that copy of himself.

So there was a small detail that has a big point to it in this chapter. Why didn't Rainbow Dash comment back when Applejack teased her about being a dirty mare? I'm not sure if any of you noticed but I actually hid several small differences in Dash's behavior in several of my last chapters. Why has she been acting out so much? Well, that will be answered in the next chapter.

I think that Jim Carey is a great facial comedian. Even all the way back to his old movies like Dumb and Dumber or Ace Ventura, he's always had overdramatized antics which I love.

And as a final note, I wanted to announce that I received some fanart for an earlier chapter. In Ch 75 - Choices Made, there is a very impressive piece depicting King Aspen being attacked by Rayne's Obsidianwolves. Please go take a look if you haven't seen it.