~~~~~~~Sweet Apple Acres, That Night~~~~~~~

Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had all agreed with one another that the direct method just wasn't going to work on Applejack. For one, none of them could agree if Applejack was at all into mares. (With Dash firmly believing she wasn't, Twilight unsure, and Pinkie Pie insisting AJ had been harboring a 'thing' for Dash for a very long time.) The second problem was Big Macintosh, who would have to be made complicit in their scheme - mostly by virtue of his bedroom being right next to Applejack's. Even Twilight was dubious about what she could do to slow down Big Macintosh if he got it into his head that bad things were up.

The last problem of course, was the other two inhabitants of the house. One of which was a hyperactive young filly, and the other a cranky old grandmother. It had been universally agreed that getting either of them involved was not acceptable. (Despite the deepest, darkest powers of the Shadow within Twilight trying to convince her otherwise...) But Twilight had shut out those thoughts. That was getting harder to do by the day, especially when they suggested all manner of fun and interesting experiments to perform upon the bodies of her slav- friends! Friends, damnit!

So the difficulty of the task lay before them, as how to lure Applejack and Big Macintosh into their fold without a fuss? And then how to fully imbue them with the Shadow without either Applebloom or Granny Smith being the wiser? The three of them had spent much of the day so far hashing out the details. Every plan they'd come up with ran into the brick wall of either noise, or opportunity.

Therefore, by default they'd agreed - much to Twilight's personal chagrin - that the best thing they could do was plan for flexibility. Instead of a concrete checklist, they'd seize the first opportunity that arose and play the rest by ear. Twilight was most definitely not comfortable with this type of plan, but she knew that it would be their best hope given the situation. Dinner had proceeded along with a quiet amicability, and talk had turned from joking and joshing to quiet reminiscing.

And then opportunity reared its glorious head when Granny Smith toddled back into the kitchen carrying a basket full of apples, cheese, bread and two bottles of the Apple Family Reserve Brandy.

Respectful silence greeted the arrival of the famed liquor. Only a mere fifteen hundred bottles were produced every year by the Apples of Tenneighsee. Only half of those bottles were produced for public consumption - and demanded sky high prices on the open market. The rest were distributed to various branches of the Apple Family, who frequently imbibed in them during special occasions or gifted them to important locals.

And right there was Twilight's chance. The brandy was downright strong liquor, and as hard and hardy as Applejack and Big Mac were...Now, how do I keep from getting trashed before we can conk out Granny and Applebloom. She thought musingly, as Granny solemnly broke the wax seal on the first bottle, passing out ancient crystal tumblers. "A toast." She indicated, as she slowly poured a small portion of the almost viscous liquor into the 6 glasses on the table.

One by one, the six grown ponies around the table lifted the glasses. "To Mr. Rich. May he know peace and harmony." Each of them gently touched glasses, Twilight giving Dash a meaningful look as they all slowly sipped the drought. Can’t drink this at any speed. the stuff felt thick on the tongue, and tasted like an entire seasons worth of apples. It rolled down the throat with fiery warmth that blossomed in the belly. Twilight noted that all three Apples had downed the entire shot, and Granny was already pouring each of them a second go.

Twilight turned her head slightly, and spotted Applebloom standing in the doorway and watching them with eager eyes. She grinned suddenly and pointed a hoof subtly at her still mostly full glass, then at Applebloom standing in the doorway. A little bit of this will put her right to sleep. she thought with a smile, touching her lips with her hoof to indicate quiet.
Applebloom nodded with great enthusiasm as Dash struck up a conversation. "So tell us how you met Mr. Rich for the first time, Granny!" Her voice was curious - enthusiastic even.

Granny Smith puffed up, looking suddenly revived by the question. "Well now, that's quite the question youngin'." She idly sipped at her brandy as she thought, as Applejack rolled her eyes meaningfully at Dash. Dash just grinned back at her - keeping the attention on herself as Twilight gently floated the glass across the room to Applebloom. Twilight winked at the filly, who gave Twilight her very biggest smile before scampering off with the glass carefully in hoof.

Soon, Granny Smith had launched into a meandering story - during which time Twilight subtly kept Granny's glass full of the brandy. By the time twenty minutes had passed, AJ had cottoned on to Twilight's game and was throwing grateful looks at her. Guess she's worried about Granny going into a depression over this Mr. Rich thing. Twilight thought with a little wince. She would have to work hard to purposefully avoid the question when AJ inevitably brought it up, but for now things were going nicely.

As Granny's story grew slowly more rambling while she grew steadily drunk, Twilight's mind raced to figure out a solution to the biggest problem. Pinkie swears she can 'handle' Big Mac. So that leaves me and Dash to deal with AJ. I think we're going to have to get her outside and alone and... Twilight swallowed the thought. Ultimately speaking, both Pinkie and Dash had been fundamentally willing. Applejack though.... There's no two ways about it. We're going to have to get her drunk enough to not care. The very thought made Twilight queasy for a few moments, until the shadows deep in her belly silenced such foalish emotions.

No. She needed all of her friends, safe and sound under her protection before she could truly go forward with her plans. Lest those who would seek to stop her might use them against her. Twilight sucked in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She will forgive you, Twilight. Once you've shown her the way. Her eyes caught Applejacks and she smiled a little, shaking her head minutely. Applejack nodded once, and gave Twilight the kind of look that said 'we'll talk'.

Soon enough, Granny had rambled off into incoherency - and within a minute or two was quietly napping at the kitchen table, with her hooves wrapped gently around her half empty glass. Both Big Mac and Applejack heaved a quiet sigh of relief as the five other ponies began to move away from the kitchen - stopping only to tuck a blanket around Granny Smith. Okay, Twi... she thought, biting her lip and trotting over to Applejack. Let’s do this.

~~~~~~~~

Applebloom knew it was only a matter of time before her sister came looking for the missing glass. She didn't know what had gotten into the normally stuffy Twilight, but she had already resolved to repay the favor someday. For now, she ran as hard as she could while keeping the glass balanced atop her head. Luckily, years of transporting mugs of cider had given her the skills necessary to transport valuable liquids in just such a way.

Minutes later, she rejoined her fellow Crusaders in Applebloom's room, both of them staring at her in awe as she presented the still half full glass to them. Proudly displaying it on her favorite tea-table like an ancient artifact. "You may now applaud." She proclaimed in a rich Apple Family tone of voice, which did indeed inspire a few moments of hoof clapping by her closest friends. Applebloom basked in the adulation before getting down to business. "Aright. Time to see if we've got the stuff to be Liquor Tasters, like Uncle Golden!"

Sweetie Belle nodded with a grin. "Or maybe just specialists in alcohol, like Berry Punch!" Scootaloo stuck her tongue out at that one, and made a bit of a 'bleh' face in the process. Sweetie glared at her. "Aw, don't be like that Scoots! Berry's a really nice mare, and she takes care of Pina Colada really well too!" Scoots blushed and mumbled an apology, while Sweetie's smile blossomed back onto her face. "Now get the teacups! Let's have a little toast like all the grownups!"

Applebloom quickly assembled her little tea set - one that had been passed down through a lot of Apple Family children over the years. A little manipulation poured the rich liquor into each of her three cups. A few moments later she'd stowed the crystal someplace safe - namely in her clothes closet - and joined her friends around the table. Scoots blinked. "Um, so what are we going to toast to?" she looked at her two friends, both of which looked thoughtful. "I mean, usually toasts are supposed to be for important or serious stuff happening, right?"

Applebloom scratched at her chin for a moment before suddenly brightened. "Sometimes they can just be about friendship!" She proclaimed, reaching out her hooves to hug the other two fillies. "And how much we're lookin' forward to the future!" The other two Crusaders burst into grins, and the three of them stifled giggles and laughter as they hugged one another.

A moment later, they all hoisted cups and tapped them together. "Cutie Mark Crusaders!" They chorused together, smiles spread all around. "Best Friends Forever! Yay!"

~~~~~~~~~

"Ah gotta thank ya, Twilight. I was worried Granny was gonna git into a serious blue spell t'night." Applejack's sweet voice floated across the dark lawn as she trotted up to her. "Nice work with th' brandy. I'm puttin aside the other bottle fer ya." She winked at Twilight's astonished look. "Least I can do, sugarcube." Applejack gave the unicorn a broad smile, eyes twinkling mischievously. "So, why'd you want'a get me out here all alone then?"

Twilight blinked at Applejack, who just chuckled softly. "Darlin, it weren't all that tough to figure out. You've looked positively lost since ya got here." Applejacks humor slowly melted into concern. "Darlin, you know you can talk t'me about anything." Applejack moved up and laid her hoof on Twilight's shoulder "Ah know things haven't been exactly th' same since summer." She sighed a little, kicking a hoof in the dirt. "An' I ain't been the most neighborly either. Fer that, I apologize." Applejacks words practically dripped with sincerity.

Twilight felt a small smile cross her face, and reached out with her own hoof to wrap around Applejacks. "its okay, AJ." She said softly, feeling the Shadow trying desperately to burst out of her careful control. No. I will do this my way. she growled at it internally, returning to the conversation with a chastened tone. "It hasn't been easy on any of us. You've had your own responsibilities too." She sighed softly. "But yeah, I did want to talk to you about something kinda important."

Applejack burst out a little giggle. "Kinda important? Oh dear." She deadpanned. "Th' last time you had somethin' kinda important to tell me, Canterlot got attacked by an army of changelings." Applejack looked patiently amused. "Ah do hope that this is a little less crazy. Granny can get powerful cranky when she's soused."

Twilight giggled a little and hugged Applejack firmly. "Nothing quite that immediate. C’mon, let's go over to the barn. It ought to be pretty quiet there. We can sit comfortably and we won’t wake up Granny or Big Mac." Come on, buy it AJ... she silently whispered. The damn shadow was getting very insistent. It wanted to taste this Apple, to devour it whole and take it into itself. Patience... Soon. She whispered to it in silence.

Applejack nodded. "Sounds reasonable enough. 'Sides, I like sittin' in the loft during the springtime." She smiled a little, lifting her head up as she trotted towards the barn. "You can smell the apple trees on the breeze." Twilight exhaled deeply behind Applejack's back and followed along in her wake. Dash popped her head over the wooden roof of the Apple house and silently followed of the two mares on the ground from above.

~~~~~~~~

Oh good. Miss Twi got Applejack away from the house! Pinkie thought with no small amount of happiness. Perfect! And I get Mister Big Macintosh Apple all for myself. She very quietly giggled, making sure that her voice was kept low. Big Mac was out in the shed adjoining the house, and Pinkie was already slipping out the back door. Filling up the cistern, doing his late night chores - maybe sneaking another nip of the brandy... Mm, and soon a nice private party. Typically, Pinkie preferred to have lots of guests at her parties. In fact, she very nearly demanded it. But on occasion, even Pinkie got the taste for a party of two.

Of course, she'd never had a party with Macintosh more than once or twice. The poor stallion rarely traveled to town, and when he did it was almost always for work or business. Tonight though, there wouldn't be any work or business to distract them. Pinkie had brought along something a little more festive than she normally wore around the apples. Ooo. Gotta remember to invite Cherry to town sometime! I really need to thank her for giving me this. It gave her another giggle, as she adjusted the tiny, purple banded top hat in her fluffy pink curls.

She had to work extra hard to suppress her laughter as she snuck around to the shed door. She could spot the big red stallion inside, slowly tipping the last bucket into a big funnel that would lead to the kitchen's cistern. Pinkie slowly pushed open the door and slipped inside. "Well, hey there Mac..." She spoke in her best, sultry voice. "You're always working so hard. Do you ever find time to relax?"

Big Macintosh turned his head slowly, looking a little confused at first. A look which slowly transformed into disbelief. Pinkie had transformed in the few minutes between house and here. She wore a sassy black top hat with a band of purple silk around the base, perched at a jaunty angle on her hair - Her body was wrapped up in a tight black lace corset and dress, with a flared purple skirt embroidered with black curlicues that was just short enough not to fully cover her plot.. Her legs were all encased in broad black fishnet stockings that seemed to go all the way up to her body. She smirked sexily at him, as Mac's jaw slowly dropped as far as it could. "Ee..yup.." Was about all he was able to say, unable to take his eyes off the sexy pink pony that had appeared before him.

Pinkie giggled softly - a sound which rolled off her tongue and into Mac's ears, sending a little shiver of desire down his spine like an electric charge. "Oh well...Maybe I can help then?" Pinkie said, her hips taking on a sensual little sway as she crossed the short distance between him and the door. "You look like you could use a little shoulder massage..." Her voice was just a little breathy, and Pinkie's walk practically oozed sex as she took those final few steps up to the red stallion.

Mac for his part, was dealing with a brain that had gone fishin. If he'd had more than just a glass of the brandy, he'd have blamed the alcohol - but he hadn't so that was out. There was no real logical explanation for what was going on here. Sure, he'd been propositioned before by some of the mares in town - no few of them obviously curious about his powerful physique and little else. But none of them had come on quite this strong. Even worse, he simply couldn't shake the torrent of lustful thoughts that had hit his mind from the second Pinkie had walked into the room.

That was Pinkie's fault of course. She might not have quite the abilities Twilight had - but Pinkie was a fast study on how to make use of what she did have. This Shadow was awfully useful for enhancing her natural Pinkieness, which in this case meant sexiness. Poor Mac had never stood a chance against her.

Pinkie giggled softly as she pressed the silk of her corset up against his chest, and leaned in to whisper into his ear. "Oo... Pinkie thinks your shoulders aren't the only thing that needs massaging." She smirked a little, her eyes having traced up Big Mac's legs... Big Mac indeed. her thoughts purred, her hooves slowly tracing down his chest. "Want Pinkie to take care of that for you?"

Big Mac's thoughts were long gone, replaced by a deep seeded heat that had come from nowhere. The heat had planted itself in his stomach and slowly grown through his body. Within moments, Mac had found himself with a slightly uncomfortable situation - not an unwelcome one, just a little uncomfortable. The gentle tug of Pinkie's hooves, that come-hither look in her eyes. All of his morals, his uncertainty were slowly draining out of him with every light touch. She hadn't even been particularly bold until that last line, the very vocalization of which seemed to make him even harder. Mac swallowed and croaked out his first words in what seemed like forever. "Eeyup.."

~~~~~~~

Twilight gently folded her hooves as she stared out the barn window, her body lying upon a thick bed of straw covered with a thick blanket. Applejack had been right - even from her new home, none of the windows or balconies had a view quite this fine. The bright moon hanging overhead cast the vast orchards in a ghostly sort of light, giving the world an unearthly glow that set Twilight's heart aflutter. "Applejack... " She said softly, as her orange-coated friend plopped down on the blanket next to her.

Applejack's well-muscled hoof gently laid on Twilight's own and stroked gently in concern. Twilight took in a deep breath and spoke again, trying as hard as she could to hold herself back. "I've changed, Applejack. For a long time there, I thought I was holding it all off - that I was just different on the outside now. But... There are things inside me that've changed too." Twilight bit her lip, fighting down the desire to just kiss her friend and throw all this subtlety out the window.

Applejack's eyes were full of gentle concern, and Twilight fought down the visions of taking her on this blanket. Against her will, if necessary. Applejack's words cut through her thoughts, and Twilight tried to shake the reverie off. "Sugarcube, ah don't think you've changed as much as ya think you have." Applejack winked slightly, sounding a little sassy. "Else why would you be here tryin' to talk to me about it?" Applejack scooted closer and Twilight had to bite her lip even harder as that strong forehoof wrapped around her neck. "Twilight, I know yer scared that darkness is gonna take you and twist you all up inside." Applejack's words were soft, encouraging even.

Twilight could feel the shadow surging forward, boiling with a toxic mix of lust and desire. She desperately stamped it down, but that was not working as well as it used to. "No, AJ." Twilight whispered, trying in vain to hold it back. "I'm afraid that's what it's going to do to you." Applejack blinked at her in confusion, and Twilight turned her head slowly towards her friend. She could feel the shadow trying to reach into her and become one with her again. "You need to understand, AJ - All I've wanted was to help make you and the other girls safe. To keep Equestria safe."

Applejack licked her lips nervously, but kept herself steady in place. She wasn't gonna act like some namby-pamby city pony and run at the first sign of trouble. "Now, C'mon there darlin. Don't you be giving up on me already!" She chuckled out, trying not to sound too forced. "Yer not gonna hurt me, Twilight." She smiled slightly, leaning in to lift Twilight's head with her hoof. "I know you ain't, sure as I am of anything." Applejack's tones were so... reassuring, so sure. She was so very strong, even in the toughest of times.

Twilight wanted to run, right then and there. Where was Dash? Why wasn't she helping? They had discussed the best way to do this was to explain everything together! Then AJ wouldn't be as likely to run from them, and they wouldn't have to do anything wrong! Yet with every moment that passed, Twilight could feel her control over her Shadow eroding. And in a sick, twisted way she didn't want to control it.

Twilight wanted to revel in it, to pour the power down her friend's throat until her body and mind gave in and begged for more. She looked up into Applejack's beautiful eyes for a moment, and nearly spilled over her words...until she spotted Dash sneaking up on the pair of them. Twilight's eyes widened for a split second, wondering what in the world Dash had in mind.

Something warned her then, that Dash was not going to go along with the original plan. That the shadow inside of Rainbow Dash had a different idea of how things were supposed to be going here. But Twilight could not move - could not speak. She could only watch as Dash slipped silently up behind Applejack. Her movement was swift, subtle and strong as Dash's hoof came crashing down upon Applejack's temple. As strong as the earth pony was, she was no soldier or warrior. The blow knocked her unconscious instantly, leaving her with no way of knowing what had possibly happened.

Twilight found her voice, clawing out of her throat in a boil of anger. "What in the name of the Shade was that for, Dash!?" She very nearly screamed, her hoof lashing out to grab Dash - and finding that three tendrils of shadow energy had burst out from that hoof to wrap firmly around the cyan pegasus' throat. "We talked about this! We agreed! Reason! Logic! We would CONVINCE her to join us!"

Dash did not seem the least bit disturbed by the harsh words - a dark, sexy smile crossing her face. "She can't resist you now, Mistress... I saw her beginning to lose faith in you. A few more moments and she would have run - and then what would we have done?" Dashie's voice purred softly, stroking the unconscious earth pony's form. "Mm...Come on Mistress, don't tell me you didn't feel the desire to just conquer her... she is a strong one. She must be taught to respect your strength."

Twilight slowly uncurled the tendrils of her power from Dash's throat - and the pegasus sank down to her knees, lifting Applejack up into her lap almost lovingly. "I can feel her, Mistress..." Dash whispered. "I can feel the strong love inside of her... for you... for me..." She blushed brightly. "Especially for me. Come on, Mistress... let it go." There was a beatific smile upon Dash's face. "Stop resisting the change, and become who you were destined to be. Take up your power and drive us to submit to you..." A saucy tone entered Dash's speech, and Twilight could not see the deep shadows that seemed to drip from the pegasus' wings. "After all, you certainly enjoyed it the first time you did it to me..."

Twilight felt the dam burst, her control snapping like so many twigs. She inhaled in the shadows that were leaking off of Dash and felt her dark mane slowly liquidizing from the power, dripping onto the blanket she lay upon. A small smile curved her face, and she remembered how good this felt to do...and spoke softly. "Tie her up, pet."