//------------------------------// // The Furious Five // Story: Speak Up // by doomie-22 //------------------------------// Tempest Shadow couldn’t help but give the pony before her a warm smile, pleasant feelings filling her as she observed the pony who had restored her faith in friendship, the pony who had given up her chance to retrieve the Staff of Sacanas just to save her life, thus giving up her chance to save all of Equestira at the same time. It seemed that she suddenly realized that she was in the presence of royalty, because she suddenly gave a sweeping bow, bending down low, showing reverence for the alicorn. “To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked. Twilight bent down, cupping Tempest’s chin in her hoof and lifting up her head until they were eye-level with each other. She put down her hoof while Tempest straightened up. “No need for that, Tempest. We’re friends, remember.” Tempest nodded. “Yes, of course.” She cleared her throat, then, stepping aside, she gestured for Twilight to enter her humble abode as she said, “Please, make yourself at home.” Twilight entered. The apartment wasn’t very spacious at all. It was very small. To the right was the living room that housed a couch, a coffee table, and a couple of recliners. To the left was the dining room, beyond which, through an archway, was the kitchen. In front of her was a long, narrow hallway that had two doors on either side, the rooms on the right being bedrooms and the rooms on the left being the bathroom and the laundry room. After taking all of this in, Twilight made her way towards the living room couch. “Can I get you anything?” Tempest asked, following Twilight. “Something to drink, a snack? I have juice, milk, tea —” “Tea, please.” “Sugar?” “Yes, please.” “One lump or two.” “Two.” “Coming right up.” She made her way to the kitchen, busying herself with making both Twilight and herself some tea. Whereas Twilight preferred her tea sweet, Tempest herself didn’t, thus, as requested, she added a couple of spoonfuls of sugar to Twilight’s cup of tea, then made her way back to the living room. As Twilight took hers, the alicorn thanked her while she made her way to the recliner positioned across from the alicorn, setting her own cup of tea down on the coffee table between them. She sat down, her rump sinking into the seat of the cushion, and she let out a sigh of content. Leaning forward, she seized her cup of tea and, looking at Twilight over the rim of her cup with a warm smile on her face, asked, “So, Twilight, what brings you to Manehattan?” She took a sip of her tea. For her part, Twilight was not sure where to begin. She was still trying to process everything that Spike had told her, still reeling from the revelation of it all. Shakily, she took a sip of her own tea, then, leaning forward, set it down on the table. Her voice shaking, she began telling Tempest all about what had happened over the past few years, about how Princess Celestia had sent her to Ponyville to learn about the magic of friendship, about how in doing so she had become an alicorn, eventually dubbing herself the Princess of Friendship, and how in doing so she had acquired a student of her own, a student that had lived with her for well over a year before saving all of Equestria from Queen Chrysalis, eventually graduating and striking out on her own and how, just a couple of days ago, she had arrived back in Ponyville out of the blue, just to spend some time with her former mentor. Tempest sat, listening in rapt attention, nodding her head at the appropriate moments but otherwise remaining completely silent throughout the whole story. Finally, when Twilight reached the end of her tale, Tempest could do little more besides give a small chuckle and say in reply, “Twilight, I asked you why you were in Manehattan. I didn’t ask you for your whole life story.” Still chuckling amusingly, she once more lifted her cup to her lips and took a drink. Setting it back down, she added, “If you need me to go to Ponyville for a couple of days, I’d be more than happy to.” Twilight’s ears perked up at that. “You will? Really? You don’t mind?” Tempest nodded. “Of course,” she said, getting to her hooves. “I don't mind in the slightest. We could leave right now if you’d like.” Twilight finished off her tea in a swig, knocking back her head to empty the cup, straightening her head and tossing the beverage around in her mouth with a swish as if it was mouthwash, before swallowing and setting her teacup down on the table and getting to her hooves as well. “Let’s not waste any more time, then! Let’s get going!” “Quite right,” Tempest agreed, nodding her head sharply. “Just let me pack a few things real quick and we’ll be on our way.” So saying, she turned and trotted down the hallway while Twilight watched her go. Rarity was a mare true to her word, so true in fact that she easily could’ve given Applejack a run for her money. The instant she stepped off the train upon arriving back in Ponyville, she turned, beginning to trot down the dirt road towards the Castle of Friendship. Upon arriving, it was only natural that she would assume that she’d be venturing on her quest alone, yet when she entered the throne room, she found not only Trixie there, but each one of her friends sans Twilight, each one seated at their respective seat that occupied the circumference of the cutie map table. She briskly walked in the room, uttering a friendly greeting towards her friends and a friendly nod towards Trixie, then settled down in her seat that was between Pinkie Pie and Applejack’s seats. Directly across from her sat Rainbow Dash. Despite the warm reception that her arrival had prompted, the atmosphere in the room was anything but friendly, if Rainbow Dash’s body language and facial expression were anything to go by. Rainbow Dash sat rigid, a scowl seemingly permanently etched onto her face, her wings, which normally would’ve been folded at her sides as she sat, were completely extended. While she may not have been moving, her body was certainly giving away her true emotions at the moment, the pegasus silently seething in her barely contained inner rage, looking as if she might explode from all of the pent up anger that she was currently holding in if one were to provoke her in just the right way, even if only slightly. From beside her and directly across from her, both Fluttershy and Applejack respectively were mimicking her behavior, each sitting stiff as a board, sneers etched on their faces, and their bodies equally shaking with just as much rage as Rainbow Dash seemed to be holding in, if only for the benefit of not only her friends, but Spike as well. Even Pinkie Pie, usually the bubbly one of their group, sat quite still, not saying a word or moving whatsoever. Unlike her other three friends, however, she was not glowering; instead, she had a sad expression on her face, like she’d never be happy again, her mane and tail having lost their usual poofiness, resulting in both of them being straightened, her mane falling past her shoulders as if it was nothing more than a hijab. It reminded Rarity of the time that the pink pony had mistakenly assumed that all of her friends had been avoiding her all day just so they could kick her out of the group when in fact they’d been hard at work preparing for her surprise birthday party. The look hadn’t suited her well back then and now, given the circumstances behind why they were all gathered in one single room, it was even worse. Finally, there was Trixie. While usually boastful and arrogant beyond belief, the magician was seated in Twilight’s seat, wallowing in her anger very much like Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack. She wasn’t even wearing her usual get-up, instead choosing to sit as bare as the others. Rarity supposed that she shouldn’t have been too surprised by this, given how close she and Spike were, despite their constant bickering and fighting. Like Sweetie Belle and herself, Rarity knew that deep down the two siblings, regardless of their differing views and opinions on a large number of issues and topics, cared deeply for each other, Trixie more so for Spike than he her, as she, like Shining Armor and her former rival Twilight Sparkle, saw him as being akin to something of a little brother of sorts and thus, she felt it was her duty to look out for his best interests. Hence, why she was just barely holding it together, the mare sat, visibly shaking with fury, seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was alternating between gnashing her teeth and biting down on her bottom lip so hard that she was actually drawing blood. She didn’t seem to notice, let alone care, as blood trickled down her chin and onto the floor below. There was complete and utter silence within the room, neither pony knowing exactly what to say or do, each one of them, very much like Twilight herself, still reeling from the news that they’d been presented with via Trixie upon arriving at the castle. Unfortunately, given that neither Trixie nor Rarity were highly skilled when it came to magic, there was nothing preventing Starlight form entering the castle. However, should she so much as have the audacity to actually show her face in their presence, there was likewise nothing stopping them from beating the ever-loving snot out of her to within an inch of her life, until she was nothing more than a shivering, bloody mess of a corpse. Even so, Starlight was so highly skilled in terms of magic that she easily gave Twilight a run for her money, and she could easily evade them if she so desired, again, due to the fact that neither Trixie nor Rarity were highly skilled when it came to magic-related combat. The most magic Rarity could do was levitation, and those were such basic spells that they were one of the first spells a unicorn ever learned in their lifetime when they were first starting to use their magic. Regardless, it was still a six to one fight between them and Starlight, seven if Spike were so inclined to get involved, which Rarity seriously doubted given the little guy’s lack of fighting ability or stature. In spite of this, though, Rarity still remembered how he had put up an admirable fight against the Diamond Dogs when they attempted to kidnap her. Had he not been pushed into the ground and then brutally catapulted into a nearby tree, he easily would’ve succeeded in holding them off. The memory of the Diamond Dogs made her visibly shudder, yet also remembering how Spike had so bravely and valiantly tried to protect her was nothing short of a sweet and happy one. Between that and all of the generosity and kindness he’d shown towards her, thus proving just how deep his love for her truly was, really brought a smile to her face despite the circumstances she found herself in. She couldn’t help but feel as if her being here were the Fates’ way of allowing her to make up for all that he’d done for her. He’d always been there for her, through thick and thin, just as he’d been there every step of the way for Twilight. Now it was her turn to return the favor. In truth, though, she would have preferred that the circumferences be different, as the situation in which she found herself in was anything but ideal. The silence was suddenly pricked by the metaphorical pin of a sound that resembled somepony having just finished teleporting into the room, and after turning her head, much like the others had done in response to the the sudden interruption, Rarity’s jaw went slack when her eyes fell upon none other than Starlight Glimmer herself, utterly drenched from head to tail in blood. She gave a warm smile to the assembled group, showing that even her once brilliantly white teeth were now stained with blood. She lifted her head, beaming at them all, before opening her mouth to speak. “Evening, all. Anypony seen Twilight around?” Rarity’s heart pounded in her chest. Surely all parties within the room would seize the opportunity that had so graciously been bestowed upon them to rush at Starlight and beat her to within an inch of her life. Yet, to Rarity’s surprise, not a single pony did such a thing. They all sat, still as rigid as ever, simply glowering at their former friend. At first, nopony said anything in response to Starlight’s quip, and Rarity immediately predicted that somepony would comment on the fact that the pony standing before them was covered in blood, yet it seemed as if nopony was interested in commenting on this fact. When somepony, that being Applejack, finally did lift up their voice to speak next, Rarity was not expecting to hear the following words proceed out of Applejack’s mouth. The farmer cleared her throat before speaking. “Sorry, Starlight, but your princess is in another castle.” Starlight blinked in confusion. “What/” “What?” Pinkie echoed, before her pupils shrank, her mane and tail curled into a tight coil, and she thumped her hind leg against the seat of her chair, and, after a few seconds of this, gave out a contented sigh as if she’d just gotten done having the best orgasm of her life. Rolling her eyes, she said, “Anywho —” At long last, it seemed that Trixie had found her voice, for before Pinkie could go any further, the stage magician lifted up her voice to speak. "Starlight, wha . . ." The pony seemed at a loss for words. "What are you doing covered in blood?" Starlight smirked. "Oh, that village Discord sent me to? Yeah, I took care of that." She lifted a hoof and licked the blood of her limb. Applejack stood up to her full height in her chair and pounded on the table with both hooves as she bellowed. “Just what in Celestia’s name do you think you’re doing here, Starlight?” Starlight chuckled. “Why, visiting my friends, of course.” Rainbow snorted in amusement, her hooves crossed over her chest. “That’s a laugh.” Applejack marched up to Starlight and Rarity, in all honesty, was half expecting Applejack to knock her senseless. Instead, the mare said, in a dark tone, “Girl, your best bet is get out of here while you still can. Otherwise, I’m gonna beat you to within an inch of your life, and then I’m gonna knock your daddy’s dick so hard in the dirt that he can never foul Equestira with another little cunt like you!” Starlight laughed at that. “Oh, really, now?” She leaned forward until she and Applejack were touching noses while the farmer continued to sneer at her. With a smirk on her face, she said, “I’d love to see you try.” “Oh, honey, don’t even tempt me,” Applejack replied. “There’s nothing I’d love to do more right now than to inflict some pain on you!” “You got that right,” Rainbow yelled. Starlight opened her mouth, getting ready to reply, until she was suddenly smacked right in the face with a water balloon. Seeing this, Rainbow turned to Pinkie and, lifting her hoof for a hoof bump, cried, “Nice one, Pinkie Pie!” “Uh, that wasn’t me,” Pinkie Pie replied. Rainbow raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Then who —” Looking up, she got her answer. Fluttershy was hovering in the air, furiously beating her wings, savagely grinding her teeth, and breathing heavily, a box tucked under a hoof that was stuffed to the brim with water balloons, She didn’t hesitate to grab another water balloon, this one fit to burst due to the volume of water stored inside it, and hurtled it right at Starlight's face. She did this with such speed and accuracy in terms of aim that not only did Starlight have no time whatsoever to stop it, even with her magic, but even Rainbow was impressed with her skill. “Soak in it,” she screamed, continuing to pelt Starlight with water balloons. “Soak in your lies!” She grunted as she yet again sent another balloon flying right at Starlight’s head, the balloon bursting instantly as soon as it made contact with Starlight’s horn, and the pony was left standing there with rivulets of water running down her face, dripping down onto the floor below from her chin, mane, ears, and nose. “My face hurts,” Starlight said. “Yeah, and it’ll match your ass after I’m done kickin’ it,” Applejack replied. Before Applejack could make good on her promise, however, Fluttershy didn’t hesitate to hurtle another water balloon at Starlight. Rather than run or try to stop Fluttershy, Starlight merely stood there, taking the water balloons to the face like a champion, waiting patiently until Fluttershy was done. If nothing else, at least the water balloons were getting rid of the blood that coated her body. Unfortunately, this naturally had the side effect of creating a mess on the floor, not that anypony seemed to mind or care at the moment. The five friends watched gleefully as Fluttershy continued to assault Starlight with water balloon after water balloon until finally, panting, Fluttershy was left with no more ammunition and she, albeit reluctantly, discarded the box that had at one point contained the numerous water balloons. Smiling, Starlight lifted a hoof and brushed off a stray piece of balloon that had gotten stuck to her chest via the water, then lifted her eyes towards Fluttershy and, raising an inquisitive eyebrow, said, “You finished?” Fluttershy gave no response. “Good,” Starlight said, continuing to smile, “because that means I get to do this.” Her horn flared with its usual turquoise aura, and Fluttershy suddenly let out a strangled gasp, tightly clutching her throat, her eyes watering and her wings failing her miserably as Starlight’s magic tightly squeezed at her windpipe, the unicorn seeming to take great pleasure in slowly but surely strangling Fluttershy to death. The poor pegasus was left with no other options except to hope and pray that one of her friends would come to her aid. “I’ve wanted to do this ever since that day in my village, when you and that bitch of a cunt Twilight Snarkle” (“Hey, that’s my line,” Trixie yelled) “ruined my life! Oh, I’m going to enjoy every last second of draining every last breath out of you that I can!” Luckily, Applejack immediately came to Fluttershy’s rescue, the farmer rearing back her hooves and slamming them against Starlight’s face, knocking the pony off her hooves and sending her flying across the room, resulting in her slamming against the crystal wall, hard, with a resounding crunch, the impact leaving behind an imprint as she fell. Applejack stepped forward, biting down on Starlight's mane and jerking her up to her hooves before slamming her up against the wall, tightly pressing a hoof against her throat as she got nose to nose with the unicorn, sneering at her as she yelled, “You get your ass the hell out of here before I lose what sliver of sanity I have left and beat the living shit out of you, girl!” She threw Starlight to the floor, glowering down at her. “Now get!” Whatever pain Applejack had been hoping to inflict on Starlight was merely brushed off by her, the pony getting to her hooves and silently wiping some dirt off herself, then silently turned. “Fine,” she said. “I’ll go.” With that, she trotted out the door. Applejack snorted indignantly. “Good riddance,” she muttered, turning around and walking back to her seat. Meanwhile, both Rarity and Rainbow Dash were tending to a shaking Fluttershy, who was still struggling to get some air back into her lungs and catch her breath. Trixie beamed at Applejack. “Don’t tell anypony I said this, and if you do I’ll just deny it, but that was freaking awesome!” She lifted a hoof for a hoof bump, only for Applejack to pay it no mind, and she silently put her hoof down. “No offense, Trixie,” the farmer replied, “but I ain’t exactly in the mood for talkin’ right now, you hear?” Trixie merely nodded her head in understanding. While he had been completely confident that he’d be perfectly safe with his friends looking out for him, Spike still couldn’t help but feel a little jittery, especially seeing as he was all by his lonesome in his room. He lounged on his bed, one leg crossed over the other as he lay reading a Power Ponies comic. The heroes at least gave him some reprieve regarding the current situation. Perhaps Twilight was right in saying that reading could be a great way to escape one’s troubles. Even so, his concentration was occasionally broken up by the odd noise here and there, and there was little he could do to prevent himself from jumping at every little noise that made its presence known. His fears were beginning to get the best of him. Surely there was no way Starlight was capable of entering his room. Then again, in her haste to leave for Manehattan, Twilight had neglected to put a shield spell around his room, let alone the castle, hence why, for at least a moment or two, he thought he could hear Starlight’s voice coming from the throne room, followed by Applejack screaming at her to get out. He waved this away as his imagination and tried, once again, to concentrate on what he was reading. He plucked a sapphire from the bowl of gems that Rarity had so graciously given him as a means of easing his nerves and making him feel better and popped it in his mouth, merrily chewing and swallowing as he turned a page in his comic. His concentration was broken up yet again by something else that made its presence known. He had the sudden urge to relieve himself. Perhaps that forty-four-ounce soda hadn’t been the best idea. He discarded his comic and hopped up from his bed, making his way out of his room and down the hall towards the bathroom. It would be a quick trip that wouldn’t take him more than a couple of minutes before he was back in bed enjoying his comic. Or, at least, that’s how the scenario played out in his head, for as he entered the bathroom he noticed that Owlowiscious had somehow managed to get inside and had left several droppings on the floor. He grumbled to himself and, after retrieving the broom from the nearby hall closet, began sweeping up the droppings and depositing them in the toilet before flushing it along with his urine once he’d finished his business. It was as he was turning to leave that he ran right into somepony, a certain pink pony that stood with a scowl on her face. He backed up, and a grimace came across his face, his stomach churning, making him feel queasy, as he beheld Starlight’s sneering face glaring down at him. “So,” she said, quirking an eyebrow, “I raped you? With my looks, I could have any guy I wanted. Why would I rape you? You're not even that attractive." With a grunt, she smacked him hard across the face. "Do you have any idea how badly you've fucked things up for me!?" She didn’t give him a chance to respond. She lunged forward, grabbing him by the throat and choking him. His eyes watered, blurring his vision, kicking his legs in vain, his tail thrashing against the wall behind him, his claws tightly wrapped around her hoof, trying his best to loosen the tight hold she had on him, but his efforts proved futile, as there was no doubt that she was not only physically bigger than him, but stronger than him too. Thus, she had the upper hand. She looked down at him with absolute fury as she said, "Do you know what you’re going to do? You’re going to go to every single pony you told and tell them that you lied, do you understand me? You're going to tell them—” He was left with no options but to do the only thing he could think of. He screamed, “No!”, and raised his claws, bringing them down hard across Starlight’s face, slashing her cheek. She screamed in pain, lifting a hoof to the fresh wound, immediately dropping him, and he seized his chance, running as fast as his legs could carry him to the bathroom door. Alas, she was quicker, as he suddenly felt her tugging on his tail with her magic, pulling him back. She rolled him over onto his back, towering over him, breathing heavily as she glared down at him. “You little prick! I’m going to enjoy this!” She flipped him back over onto his stomach and, with her magic, conjured up a strap-on, which she immediately began putting on. Unfortunately, given that she was preoccupied at the moment, she didn’t see that Spike had gotten to his feet, so she was surprised when she had the wind knocked out of her by a surprisingly powerful kick from him, knocking her back on her rump. In retaliation, she reared back a hoof and struck him across the face, knocking him to the floor. She didn’t so much as give him a chance to get up, roughly kicking him in the stomach. Panting, she flipped him over onto his back, merely so she could smack him across the face as she yelled, “You little fucking asshole! How dare you not let me fuck you in the ass!” He reared back a leg and delivered another powerful kick to her stomach, and she gave out a strangled gasp, feeling the air being knocked out of her yet again, and he ran as fast as he could. Behind him, he heard her yell, “You’ll pay for that!” He looked behind him just in time to see her charging up a spell and he just had enough time to duck. Her spell missed him, and the sound of shattering glass, followed by the broken shards falling into the porcelain sink below, told him that she had hit the mirror instead. Feeling her trying to pull him back towards her yet again, he turned and punched her in the throat before once more making another run towards the bathroom door. Unfortunately for him, she seemed to have anticipated this move because he skidded to a halt when she suddenly teleported in front of him, blocking his only means of escape. He looked around for any way to get out, silently cursing the fact that the bathroom contained no windows to the outside world, leaving the both of them completely boxed in by nothing but crystalline walls. He mentally made a note to remind himself to talk to Twilight about this as soon as he had the chance. For the time being, though, he had other matters to contend with at the moment. He watched as she slowly approached him, and he immediately began backing up, until he felt his rump bump into the edge of the edge of the tub. He looked behind him to see that she had him completely cornered and, fearfully, turned to see that she was just a couple of inches away from his face, but the thing that surprised him was that she was no longer scowling, but instead had a sweet smile on her face that, if he was being honest with himself, seemed to be forced. A chill ran through him as she lifted a hoof and gently brushed it across the side of his face. She seemed to be oblivious to the fact that blood was trickling down the left side of her face from when he’d slashed her earlier. “Tell you what, half-pint,” she said. “I’ll forgive you if you agree to come with me. What say you and me get out of here? We can go to Manehattan, Fillydelphia, Canterlot, just name your destination.” Her smile widened. “And there you’ll be by my side, just as you’ve always been with me here in Ponyville, your tongue and your marvelous cock constantly driving me higher and higher to even greater heights of pleasure, until there isn’t an inch of my body that hasn’t been utterly coated in your delicious cum!” He’d finally decided that he’d had enough. His claws shook at his sides, the expression on his face adopting one of determination as he spoke quite clearly: “No.” The smile instantly vanished from her face to be replaced by her sneer. “What did you say?” “I said no.” She snapped. She knocked him to the floor with a swift smack across the face. “Why you little —” Whatever she was going to say next was cut off by him knocking her off her hooves by sweeping his tail at the place where she stood and he once more made a mad dash for the bathroom door. Meanwhile in the throne room, Fluttershy was still trying to recover from her ordeal. Rarity had fetched her a drink, and the pegasus gratefully took it and gulped it down. “That was really cool, Fluttershy,” Applejack said, giving the pony a congratulatory pat on the back. “But what got into you?” Before Fluttershy could answer, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “Her brother’s a registered sex offender.” She hovered in the air, her hooves crossed over her chest, a glare on her face as she said this. “You mean Zephyr?” Applejack asked, raising an eyebrow. Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Of course I mean Zephyr! It’s not too surprising, really, given all the times he tried to have his way with me.” She glared at Rarity. Rarity, for her part, looked down at the floor in shame, idly kicking at the floor with a hoof before sheepishly looking up at Rainbow and saying, “I’m so sorry, darling. Of course had I known about your past with him, I never would’ve insisted that you try to wow him just to get the crown for Twilight.” Rainbow, thankfully, grinned with a smirk as she replied, “I got the last laugh, though. After I gave him a nice kick to the balls, he left me alone.” She snickered. Pinkie Pie giggled. “Good one, Rainbow. I —” “Pinkie, be quiet for a moment,” Applejack suddenly spoke up, turning her head, her ears twitching. “Aw, come on, Applejack, I was just gonna say —” “No, seriously, Pinkie Pie, be quiet!” Applejack barked, and she seemed satisfied when complete silence filled the room. As the others stood, the silence of the room was suddenly shattered by some sort of commotion coming from down the hall. Listening closely, they could hear screaming and, at various points, voices yelling. Applejack’s ears twitched yet again. “What in the name of Celestia . . .” she wondered. It was hopeless. Starlight had him covered from every angle. There was no move he could make that she wouldn’t anticipate, and she was always ready for a counterattack, merrily slapping and smacking him in the face, punching and kicking him in the gut, even going so far as to pretend as he was some sort of ball and began kicking him around the room. He would bounce off the wall and then she, upon teleporting to his anticipated destination based on basic physics and his trajectory, would swiftly deliver a kick to his backside, sending him bouncing off the wall yet again, only to be kicked by her once more, sending him hurtling towards the ceiling, bouncing off the wall, off another wall, just to end up getting kicked by her once more. It seemed that he’d reached the end of his patience because he screamed, ‘Stop!” and, planting a foot against the wall he was hurtling towards, launched himself across the room at her and, upon reaching her, slammed a fist against her jaw, knocking her off her hooves. She growled and, jumping to her hooves and firing another blast of magic at him. She once again managed to miss, instead hitting the crystalline wall behind him, sending shards of crystal flying in all directions. Suddenly, somepony was furiously knocking on the door, and Applejack’s voice could be heard shouting on the other side, “What’s goin’ on in there? Open this door right now!” The two occupants of the room completely ignored her, as Starlight once again used her magic in an attempt to physically drag Spike across the floor towards her. Upon reaching her and her letting go of him, he screamed, “No!” and didn’t hesitate to seize the opportunity to grab the nearest object he could find, that being a bottle of mace, and he, turning, sprayed a healthy dose of it in Starlight's eyes. As she screamed in pain, he sprang to his feet, but he wasn’t headed towards the bathroom door as one would expect; instead, he was heading towards the sink. He could hear her sprinting after him. How she was able to tell where he was he had no clue, but he figured that she must’ve been using her other senses to keep track of him. He felt her feebly trying to grab onto his tail with a hoof and he, after reaching the sink, grabbed a shard of glass, then, turning, seized her by the throat, running forward until he slammed her up against a wall, putting the shard of glass up to her throat, the both of them panting heavily as he glared at her. The room was suddenly flooded with light and Spike, despite his better judgment, turned his head, still being sure to watch Starlight out of the corner of his eye just to be safe, to see not only Applejack, but the whole gang standing there. Breathing heavily, he turned back to Starlight, tightly pressing the shard of glass against her throat. He saw her swallow hard, and he felt his spirits lift at that moment, thinking that he had finally managed to make her afraid of him for a change instead of the other way around. This thought was shattered, however, when she managed to rear back a hoof, as if she was getting ready to strike him. Aside from the sound of his and Starlight's heavy breathing, there was complete silence, that is until Applejack spoke in an angry tone, “Oh, do it! Please hit him! Please hit him! I wanna see you do it! It’ll be the last mistake you ever make in this lifetime, I guarantee you that!” Then, to Spike, she said authoritatively, “Come out of there, Spike!” In spite of himself, he did as commanded, dropping the shard of glass on the floor, leaving him to discover that he’d apparently been holding the piece of glass so tightly that he’d actually managed to cut himself, leaving a long gash on his hand that was currently drawing blood. Ignoring this, he stumbled towards the bathroom door, where he was immediately enveloped in a hug that consisted of himself, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Trixie, whereas Applejack and Pinkie Pie stayed put. Glaring, Applejack barked at Starlight, “What the hell is wrong with you?” When Starlight offered up no reply except for a wheeze as she rubbed at her eyes, she screamed, “Answer me!" Lowering her voice, she added, “Everypony knows what you did.” When Starlight continued to remain silent, she screamed, "Say something, cunt!" Breathing hard and letting out pained gasps, Starlight began walking forward, feeling her way towards the bathroom door. “Please, please . . .” "You're not leaving," Applejack said. "I can't see," Starlight cried. "Please, move . . ." “You’re not going anywhere,” Pinkie Pie snapped in a voice that was very much unlike her own. “Please, move, I can’t see anything,” Starlight cried. "AH! My eyes!" “I don’t care,” Applejack shouted. Meanwhile, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Trixie led Spike away from the confrontation, insisting that he get his hand looked at. They led him to the kitchen, where Rarity immediately went to work at wetting a washcloth while Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy presented him with something to eat and drink, which he, to everypony’s surprise, politely declined, stating that he wasn’t hungry, but, at their insistence, he went ahead and ate a little bit of an apple turnover and drank a little juice. Rarity walked back over to the pair, sitting down on her haunches while she gently mopped up the blood and pressed the warm cloth against his hand, insisting that he keep it pressed, thus applying as much pressure as possible, for the next few minutes. He inhaled sharply through his teeth, the warmth of the cloth only seeming to do nothing except make his pain all the worse. Trixie silently soothed him, running a hoof through his scales while she sat beside him. “I can’t imagine what you must be going through right now,” Fluttershy said. “I can,” Rainbow Dash replied. Spike snorted in amusement at that. “How can any of you possibly know what I’m going through right now.” “I can,” Rarity replied, and everypony immediately turned to look at her. “You?” Rainbow asked. Rarity inhaled deeply, then spoke. “I have . . . been raped twice in my life.”