"No, Mom, it's just my girlfriend's place." Rarity followed Spicy and Sonata up the stairs toward their apartment. "Of course, Mom. And Mom? Thank you for understanding." She waited for her mother's last words. "I love you too, Mom."
By the time Rarity made it to the top of the stairs Sonata was standing just inside and facing her. The vulnerability of Sonata Dusk's expression, of her entire stance, called for Rarity to walk directly to her. She wrapped her arms around Sonata and pulled her close. "I've got you, darling."
Rarity's three words did the trick for Sonata: she pulled herself against her mistress and clung tight. "I don't want this. It's too much."
"Come on. Let's sit on the couch and you can tell me." Rarity kissed Sonata Dusk on the lips just once, briefly, before leading her to one of the two old couches. Rarity sat down first and pulled Sonata's arms to guide her down. With Sonata on the couch, Rarity pulled the girl closer.
Sonata Dusk opened her mouth, but was forestalled by Spicy Hot. She looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks." She took an offered plate of grilled cheese sandwiches.
Spicy Hot fluttered his wings a little. They were a little problematic in that they wanted to wrap around all of him and not just his torso. "I have some coco warming up. I'll get you that in a minute and then go to the—"
"Please stay. You—You're family." Taking a deep breath, Sonata tried to relax as much as she could with Rarity cuddling her. "I wish Rainbow was here too."
Flicking his eyes to where three cups slowly turned in the microwave, Spicy noticed they had a few minutes to go and slipped down on the couch beside Sonata. "Rainbow Dash had to catch up on some things." He leaned in against Sonata and earned a happy little sound from her.
Rarity only had eyes for Sonata, watching as the tension started to ease from her body. "Thank you, Spicy. Now, Sonata, tell us what happened."
Sonata had let Rarity feel her gem in the car, but she had no idea how Spicy Hot would feel knowing she had it. Slowly, she reached into her cleavage and grabbed the chain at the top of the gem and pulled it up. "When the song made everyone turn a little more Equestrian, this came back."
Hearing disgust in Sonata's tone, Spicy examined the red gem. "It looks pretty enough. What is it?"
"Spicy," Rarity said, "That is Sonata's siren gemstone. All her magic focuses through that, into that, and out of that." She waited a moment. "That's right, isn't it? Princess Twilight said that's how that worked."
"M-More or less. I can't take it off, and I thought it had been destroyed when y-you and your friends did that spell. But it's back." Sonata ran a finger over the red gemstone. From birth, it had lived in her chest, then when she arrived on earth it had become a gemstone on a necklace.
"Can't you just take it off?" Spicy heard the microwave ding, and was about to get up to fetch the drinks when the microwave door opened and, on a tray that looked like a giant, flattened diamond, floated toward them.
Taking a mug of hot chocolate from Rarity's magic, Sonata held it in one hand and used the other to grab at and pull the necklace bearing the red gem. It moved a little, but no matter how Sonata pulled the gemstone necklace wouldn't come free. "It's there because, in Equestria, it was part of me. It's hungry, I can feel it."
Rarity hugged a little tighter when she felt Sonata start to tremble. "Don't think of it. We're here. You don't have to feed it." She kept her voice low, her small muzzle close to Sonata's perked ear. "I can't command you with this, but I can be here for you. Spicy is here for you."
Waiting a few moments, Rarity continued. "Tell us what it's like. Using your power, that is, I've already experienced the other side of things."
Sonata Dusk grit her teeth for a few moments. She remembered using her power all too well. "It feels wonderful." Tears leaked from Sonata's eyes. "The rush of power, knowing that you could order someone to completely lose themselves and be your slave… It's amazing."
"And terrible." Spicy Hot, in a rare moment, wasn't thinking of a joke or a gag to play. He stretched his wing out and around Sonata's back and shoulders.
"And t-terrible. But what's worse is feeding. Our gems can be fed any strong emotion: lust, fear, anger, hatred. Adagio always used the last two. It's easy to make two people fight, and once hatred is kindled—even in ponies—it creates a repeating meal of anger." Tears streaked both of Sonata's cheeks. A sip of her hot drink helped, but the coldness of her gem was still a weight she could barely carry.
"Sonata?" Rarity waited for Sonata to turn her head. She looked into her lover's eyes and kissed her. It was a soft kiss, as kisses go, and it served to remind Rarity that she was covered in soft white fuzz. She held her lips against Sonata's, lending her support through the touch. Taking her time, Rarity waited until Sonata's eyes opened before pulling back. "Do you want to feed on anger?"
Sonata's eyes bulged. "No!"
"Then don't. I won't lie and say people don't get angry around Canterlot, but it's not like you will have a lot of chances to feed at work, and hopefully not at home." Rarity actually envied Spicy, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy: she wished she could wrap a wing around Sonata and hold her. "Do you want to have your magic back?"
A flicker of desire rose in Sonata, but she crushed it as hard as she could. "I don't!"
Having seen Sonata Dusk's emotions shift, Spicy Hot cleared his throat. "Sonata, it's okay to have desires. Think of what we do during a session. You know I'd love nothing more than to clamp a heavy collar on Rainbow Dash and introduce her to some heavy bondage, maybe even lock her up as my pet." As he spoke, the desires to do just that flared white-hot in Spicy. He didn't hold back how they made him feel from his features. "But I'd never do that. She's a person. As someone with that power over her it's my duty not to betray her or my ethics. Sonata. It's okay to want to do it. You can't stop your dreams. But they don't have to be reality."
Rarity watched as Sonata looked thoughtful. She reached a hand up and gently brushed her girlfriend's hair, even tracing the edge of one adorable ear. "We could even role-play it, darling."
"How—?" Sonata's head jerked as if she'd been stung. She looked at Rarity as if her life depended on the next few words.
"Oh dear!" Rarity lifted a hand to her forehead, but kept her eyes locked on Sonata's. "My own pet is giving me commands. I am at her mercy and would do anything she asked me to do. Every naughty thing she can tell me she wants, I will do!"
The overacting was not just obvious but obviously used. Sonata's heart sped up at the idea for telling her mistress to play certain games, and having Rarity just do them. It wasn't mind-control, not like using her siren power would be, but it might scratch an itch. She tried to say something but her throat was too tight with excitement.
Knowing the game for what it was, and remembering how much she just wanted to stare into the sirens' eyes when their magic had tried to grip her mind, Rarity relaxed herself and just stared into Sonata's eyes. "Yes." She held her voice flat—emotionless. "I will do anything my pet wants me to."
Sonata choked back a giggle. "You're terrible at pretending to be mind-controlled. Did we ever do more than make you a little upset?"
"You had us arguing under the stage. I just couldn't think properly and everything my friends had done was suddenly terrible and their fault." Rarity blinked a few times and pulled Sonata more firmly against her. "What's it really like?"
Closing her eyes, Sonata Dusk remembered back to a time before Earth and before Equestria. She swam through the sea and sang her lovely songs. No one heard them, but she didn't care. Then someone did hear her. "A griffon. She was wonderful and free. She looked into my eyes as I sang to her and I watched all the fire and freedom leave. Her mind was mine. I broke her…"
Pulling Sonata against her, Rarity stroked the hair leading down Sonata's back. "Shh," she told the sobbing siren. "You didn't know any better. It took time for you to realize what was wrong."
"I always knew it was wrong. I just liked doing it!" Fresh tears flowed down Sonata's cheeks and soaked Rarity's dress. After the griffon, Sonata could remember ponies, more griffons, and even a dragon she had bespelled. Then she'd met her sisters.
"Then we got together. Adagio, Aria, and me. Adagio always knew what to do. We'd…" Sonata shook her head. "I have never been mind-controlled, but the look in peoples' eyes when they lost themselves was euphoric." Looking back up at Rarity, Sonata put on the best smile she could. "So if we do play games, I don't want you to look like that."
Rarity kissed Sonata on the nose. "You're not the first run-in with mind-control, I'm sad to say. Sunset Shimmer lost her way, had a moment of indiscretion. I'm glad Princess Twilight knew what to do. We didn't have any powers back then, and fighting off half the school without hurting them wouldn't have been easy.
"I guess her magic worked different to yours. She seemed to take control of them like puppets." Rarity picked up one of the toasted cheese sandwiches and offered it to Sonata with her own hand.
"Maybe I should talk to her. She seems better now." Sonata nibbled on the bread and let the worry seep away. She had friends. She had family. She had someone who loved her. She ate some more of the toast and then sipped at her drink.
Spicy Hot cleared his throat a little to remind the girls he was there. "It's a lot easier to say you'll be good when you don't have the magic to be evil. You have a fight now, Sonata, and I trust you to win it. But remember, if you need help, we're here for you."
Sonata turned to look at Spicy, the young man (technically, Sonata could call anyone young) who had taken her in when he had no pressing need to. "You've gone soft, Spicy Hot!"
Looking down, Spicy ran a hand over his crotch. "Well… I mean at some point. But I didn't even get hard until Rainbow Dash threw me her panties." He grinned and pulled the offending garment from his pocket. "Oh! Oh! This will be the first time ever I can leave a girl's underwear laying carelessly beside my bed!"
The silliness cut through the tension inside Sonata like a knife. The gem was still there, and she still wanted to use it, but she didn't have to. "I could always add more. Maybe a bra." Sonata tapped her chin in thought.
"Darling, I could leave you chained to his bed for all the good it would do him." Rarity sipped down the last of her chocolate, not realizing that she had been drinking it. She took a bite of the sandwich and chewed thoughtfully.
While Rarity was eating, Sonata decided it was soon time for either bed or more personal snuggles. Either option would lead to one thing. Pulling her shirt up, she revealed an expanse of light blue skin, and then reached behind her back and unhooked her bra strap.
Sonata noticed someone watched her closely. She tilted her head in Spicy Hot's direction and raised an eyebrow. "I should totally know better than to ask, but have I finally tempted you?"
Blushing, Spicy Hot shook his head. "No." He bit his lower lip. "Ugh! Definitely not, but I need to learn some things." He then did something that—in his mind—proved his homosexuality: Spicy Hot looked up from Sonata's exposed breasts to her face. "I fumbled."
"You what?" Rarity peeked around Sonata, catching on that there was an odd conversation in progress.
"I was playing with Rainbow Dash and I did something I thought should stimulate her, but it didn't. If she were a guy, I'd know what to do." Spicy folded his arms across his chest in defense of what little shred of his proud and fabulous pride remained.
Rarity tried not to laugh. "Sonata, come and sit against me." Turning, Rarity lifted one leg up on the couch and parted her thighs for her girlfriend.
Blinking a few times, her mind trying to catch up on what was going on between the two dominants in the room, Sonata realized she was going to get some closer time with Rarity. She moved, turning her back fully to Rarity and sliding her rump back against her. Looking down at Rarity's feet, Sonata was reminded of the evening again by the fact they were hooves.
A second later, Sonata forgot all about Rarity's hooves because her mistress had reached around and cupped her breasts. She relaxed further and let out a happy sound.
"I'm glad I finally get to repay you for the BDSM lessons. So,"—Rarity squeezed Sonata's breasts only lightly, then flattened her hands out under them—"these are breasts. I believe I can leave out the usual descriptions for them."
Spicy Hot was curious as could be, but in a removed fashion. He needed to learn, and wanted to learn, just so he could better work with his submissive—his girlfriend. "I know. I've seen them before."
"They're like any other erogenous zone. Some parts are hotter,"—Rarity ran just her thumbs up and around Sonata's areolas—"and other parts are colder." She circled outwards, running her thumbs up to soft flesh on the top-side of Sonata's breast. "But all of them are sensitive, and all of them can be played with."
Sonata moaned when Rarity's hands not just cupped her breasts, but massaged them. She closed her eyes and held nothing back.
"Show me what you did to Rainbow Dash." Rarity took her hands away from Sonata and looked over her shoulder to watch.
"What? On Sonata?" Spicy's mind recoiled, but he clamped down on that knee-jerk reaction. Reaching out a hand, he touched Sonata's breast. It was softer and much larger than Rainbow Dash's. Spicy Hot realized just how much more he liked Rainbow's body. He slid his hand up, remembering the motion that had failed to excite Rainbow.
"Friction isn't what you want here. Touch and squeeze is everything with breasts." Rarity took charge of both of Sonata's breasts again, rolling each in a slow massage. "The nerves run deep, so be gentle and knead like dough."
Spicy looked away for a second and felt his world come back together. Things made sense again. Still gazing away from the two lesbians playing, he took a deep breath. "Rainbow Dash doesn't have much to knead, but I can try that. What about other things. Licking?"
Rarity raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Spicy, look at me."
When Spicy Hot turned around, he saw Rarity tilting Sonata to the side and lean over her. Rarity's mouth came down atop Sonata's nipple and, despite wanting to learn, Spicy looked away. "Point made. Ugh. I can look at girls doing things all day long, but thinking of them while thinking of Rainbow Dash just…"
Using her magic, Rarity lifted Sonata off the couch and cradled her close. "Spicy, play with her. Tell her what you want to do, that you need to test her out. She will understand."
Turning back to Rarity, Spicy watched as she carried Sonata to her bed. "I'm supposed to be in charge of everything. I should know what I'm doing!"
"Did she complain about you not stroking her breast right?" Rarity set Sonata down on the bed and began undressing her.
Spicy slumped back and spread out on the couch. "She didn't, but she might not have noticed."
"Tell her, Spicy." Rarity slid her naked girlfriend under the covers, then quickly shed her own dress. Taking everything off, Rarity slid into bed with Sonata Dusk and pulled her close. "You're safe, darling."
Sonata purred.