Twilight Sparkle's thoughts were already turning toward dinner or maybe a cup of chamomile tea while reading for the rest of the evening when Starlight said she had one more thing to ask. “Anything, Starlight,” she said, imagining her student might want to talk through some of what happened.
“Will you do it again? Please?”
Twilight turned toward the library door, still smiling. “I'm sure we can... wait, WHAT?” She spun back around, eyes wide and her wings flaring out. “What do you mean, do it again?”
Starlight Glimmer blushed a bit deeper, but her grin remained. “Well, you said yourself this was a learning opportunity for me.” She pointed to the windows where the sunlight still streamed in. “And you did say it was supposed to last for the rest of the evening. I just really want to make sure I fully appreciate the lesson you planned for me. I wouldn't want any of your teaching to go to waste because of some trivial reaction of mine.” She smiled hopefully as she wrapped up.
Twilight's expression slowly grew less panicked and more skeptical as Starlight continued to plead her case. When the words stopped, she raised one eyebrow as she continued to watch her student incredulously.
Starlight held her smile for all of five seconds under Twilight's disbelieving look. “Oh, alright! That was the hottest thing I've ever experienced in my entire life and I really want to feel more of it.”
“Starlight!” Twilight gasped at the frank admission.
“What?” Starlight asked, asserting herself with an easy, confidant tone. “You taught me the importance of being honest with my friends, and that was the honest truth. All of it was, actually, since I did agree to go under your spell for the whole evening and I really do value your lessons.”
“Well, I, um,” Twilight hemmed, casting her mind around for ways to end this without hurting her friend's feelings. “Thank you, umm, and I, ah, do want you to be honest. But don't you think the circumstances make continuing this lesson a little... awkward?”
Starlight shrugged, her smile returning. “It doesn't have to be. I've thought about it and I've decided I am completely comfortable with continuing the lesson.”
Twilight blanched, then started to pace, her wings flaring. “That may be so, but I'm not certain I'm all that comfortable with it.” She looked back at Starlight. “I mean, the spell is making you, um...”
“Horny.”
“Aroused, I wanted to say!” Twilight's blush deepened as her panic rose. “Why would I knowingly do something that's making my student feel that way?”
“If you think about it, Twilight,” Starlight answered smoothly. “This really is just a case of highly motivating your student. Think of it as really strong positive reinforcement.”
"Starlight, this is crazy!" Twilight paced rapidly around the library table, on the verge of hyperventilating while she cast about for more reasons to say no. "I mean, I don't even like mares that way!"
"That's okay," Starlight asserted eagerly, falling into step beside Twilight, "neither do I."
Twilight nearly tripped over her own hooves, skidding to a stop. She rounded on Starlight, eyes wide in panic. "Then why are we even talking about this?" she shouted desperately.
Starlight backed up from the manic look on Twilight's face when she shouted. “It's okay, Twilight. I swear, I'm not asking you for sex, or to be my marefriend-”
Twilight's eye twitched at the word.
“I was only talking about the spells.” She sighed, straightening up, and continued with a gentler tone. “Twilight, I'm sorry. Clearly I was too abrupt about asking and that upset you, and I'm sorry. We've had a long afternoon, and I know I'm feeling pretty hungry. How about you?”
Twilight slowly regained her composure while Starlight spoke, but the issue was far from cleared in her mind. She opened her mouth to reply, but her belly cut her off with a loud rumble. “Yeah, I guess I'm hungry, too.”
“Then let's table the discussion for now and get a bite to eat. I'll pop out for Hayburgers! I know how much you love the food there.” She trotted toward the library door once again. “Once we've eaten we'll be in a much better spot to work this all out. I'll be right back.” Her horn started glowing in preparation for her teleportation spell.
“Starlight!” Twilight cried, trying to interrupt her student before she left.
Her horn powered down again. “Yes, Twilight?”
She pointed to Starlight's hind legs, still glistening with moisture. “Don't you think you should clean up a little before you go out?”
Starlight looked back at her legs and blushed. “Oh, yeah, that's a good idea. I'll wash up, then go for the food. Be right back.” Her horn powered again and she vanished in a blink of power.
Moments later Twilight heard water running in a nearby bathroom. She sighed and attempted to order her thoughts, but the image of the mind-controlled Starlight strutting through the library kept returning and derailing her ideas. She trotted off to her private bath to wash for dinner, knowing Starlight would be back seconds after the order was ready at the restaurant.
“What did I get myself into?”
As expected, Starlight returned scarcely fifteen minutes later with two large Hayburger bags floating in her teal magic. “Twilight!” she called, walking toward the dining room. “I'm back with the food. Where do you want to set up?”
“Out here, Starlight! On the back balcony,” came the reply echoing down the crystal hallways, amplified by a bit of magic.
Starlight shrugged and teleported to the balcony, appearing right before Twilight. “I figured you'd want to eat in the dining room,” she said, floating the bags to the small table between the chairs.
Twilight smiled slightly, her horn lighting up purple. Moments later a bubble of purple energy spread out around the balcony and faded to transparency. “Given our likely topic of conversation, I thought somewhere less formal might be appropriate. I also thought some privacy might be in order, so I put up a soundproofing spell. Nopony outside this balcony will hear what we have to say.”
Starlight chuckled as she unpacked the large amount of food. “Sounds like you have everything covered, Twilight.” Sitting on one of the chairs, she floated a paper-wrapped burger over to her mentor. “No pickle and extra ketchup, right? I wasn't sure how hungry you were, so I kinda went overboard. Better to have leftovers than go hungry.”
Twilight took the burger and settled in. “You know me pretty well, Starlight.”
The two simply ate in silence for a while, looking over the view of the mountains in the distance as the sun slowly lowered toward the horizon. They were well into their second burgers when Twilight finally spoke.
“So, Starlight, when did you learn about it?”
Starlight raised a brow, her mouth full from a large bite she'd just taken. She chewed quickly, holding up a hoof, then swallowed. “Sorry, you caught me off guard, there. Um, learn about what, exactly?”
Twilight smiled at the pause, waiting patiently. “About the, um, what did you call it? Your “kink” for being controlled.”
Starlight blinked, chuckling briefly. “Okay, so no small talk. Got it.” She munched on a few hayfries as she sorted her thoughts.
Twilight blushed, looking chagrined. “Sorry. It just hasn't really left my mind since you mentioned it. It felt like we were still in the middle of the conversation.”
“I suppose we are,” Starlight admitted. “It was when I was with the last wizard I apprenticed with, Silver Spark. That was about six years ago.”
Twilight tilted her head, raising a brow. “What do you mean, the “last” wizard you apprenticed with? You were apprenticed under more than one wizard?”
“Mmhmm. Seven in all while I was learning magic.” She met Twilight's confused look with a soft smile. “We don't all get to be the personal protégé of Princess Celestia, Twilight.”
The comment brought a blush to Twilight's cheeks, and she nodded. “Alright, yes, I may have been a little sheltered in my studies. Still, I've heard of ponies having an apprenticeship not work out and finding a new mentor, but seven?”
Starlight looked out over the sunset again. “I didn't exactly take a traditional path to learning magic. I was still hurting about Sunburst being taken from me, and a part of me blamed Celestia's school, so I never applied.” She glanced back at Twilight, smirking at the appalled expression she found. “There are a lot of... lesser magic schools in Equestria. I bounced around several of them until I was old enough to apprentice.”
“You attended more than one magic school, too?” Twilight puzzled over the idea as she munched on hayfries. “I mean, you're so skilled in magic now, I can't see you having trouble in any magic school.”
“Oh, I didn't have trouble. I got bored. None of their programs would take me as far as I wanted, and I always found myself outpacing all the other students, and some of the teachers.” She puffed a laugh, shaking her head. “And I was still scared of opening up to anypony as a friend, so I had nothing else to occupy my time. So I'd learn everything the school had to offer then start making trouble for the teachers until I was kicked out, just to start the process again at the next school. All of my apprenticeships went about the same way.”
“Then how did you learn about your kink?” Twilight asked. After a moment her eyes grew wide. “Your mentor didn't use mind control as a punishment, did he?”
Starlight sighed, shaking her head slowly. “No, it wasn't a punishment. I hadn't gotten to that part of the cycle with Silver Spark yet. He was actually a pretty powerful wizard, compared to my prior mentors, and I was learning a lot.” She smirked, giving Twilight a side-long look. “He taught me most of my dueling skills, to give him credit where it's due.”
Twilight sat back, eyes wide as she remembered the duels she'd fought with her student. “Whoa.”
With a chuckle, Starlight continued. “I learned so much from him I actually started to trust him as a teacher. He challenged me like no other mentor had before. Then he announced he would teach me mind control magic, which I'd asked him to do for moons. I was so eager to try it, until the day came for the first lesson.” She stopped, looking back to the mountains.
Twilight watched her for a few moments, concern creasing her features while the silence grew. She reached over and lightly rested a hoof on her friend's shoulder. “Starlight, do you need to take a moment? We can stop if the memory is bothering you.”
Starlight shook herself out of her thoughts. “No, it's alright. It's long in the past, and I really want you to know, so you'll understand.” She reached up and patted Twilight's hoof. “Thank you, though. You're a good friend.” Taking a breath, she continued the tale.
“Silver Spark was big on teaching through experience, so the first lesson was for me to experience the spell cast on me correctly. I trusted him, so I put up no resistance and the spell took complete control of my body. It was like I was watching someone else from behind their eyes, and I felt a rush of pleasure like I'd never felt before.” She blushed a little, glancing at her mentor. “I think you saw the results of that feeling first-hoof.”
Twilight blushed along with her, nodding at the memory. “All too clearly,” she agreed. “So he cast the spell and you realized you liked it?”
Starlight nodded, but her expression darkened. “Yes, but that's not all that happened. Silver noticed my reaction to the spell, too, and he...” She sighed. “He took advantage of it... and me. He kept me under the spell for the next two days.”
Twilight gasped, raising one hoof over her mouth, eyes growing wide. “Oh, Starlight! That's awful!”
She reached out to take hold of Twilight's hoof, giving it a comforting pat. “It was, but it was also a long time ago. It's okay, I've come to terms with it.”
Twilight responded by lunging forward into a full-on hug of her friend, wrapping her wings around her protectively. “That may be so,” she said softly, “but it's still a terrible thing for anypony to have to go through.” She let the hug linger until Starlight moved away, wiping away a few tears.
Starlight accepted the hug with a warm smile, feeling her mentor's need to express her horror and empathy. She didn't complain, tearing up a little herself before pulling back. “Thanks, Twilight.”
Twilight composed herself, floating up a cup of juice from the table. “So that's when you set out on your own, right? Since he was your last mentor.” She took a long sip from the straw.
“Actually, no. I stayed there for another two weeks.”
Twilight's eyes bugged out and she sprayed the juice from her mouth right over the balcony rail in a spit-take that would have made Pinkie Pie proud. “You did WHAT?”
Starlight nodded calmly. “I still hadn't learned the spell, and I really wanted to learn it, more than ever after that. I was exhausted after being under his control for so long, so I couldn't flee immediately.” She scoffed as a memory returned. “Would you believe he tried to convince me that my response to the spell meant that I “really wanted it” and that what happened was my doing? He likely thought he was being clever and subtle when he suggested that nopony would believe me if I reported it.”
“That doesn't make any sense.”
“I know, right? After all those moons of studying under him, did he think I was some naive little filly who couldn't think for herself?” She sighed, shifting back on her chair again. “All I really knew was that I was right not to let anypony in after what happened with Sunburst.” She checked herself, looking back to Twilight. “Or so I believed back then, obviously.”
“So what did you end up doing when you stayed?” Twilight asked cautiously
Starlight shook her head. “Well, I knew I couldn't trust him anymore, but I had to learn that spell. Given what happened and my reaction, he wasn't about to show it to me anytime soon, so I put a plot in motion.” She waved a hoof between them. “I won't bore you with the details, but it's a good thing I'd already learned teleportation and camouflage spells before I met Silver. He never knew what hit him. Still, while I got it set up he put me under the spell five more times, always for at least a full day, in the name of “training” me.”
Twilight managed to resist the urge to pull her friend into another protective hug at that admission, but only barely. “How did you get away, then?”
Starlight smiled mischievously. “He started to believe the manure he was spreading about me really wanting it, and then he got lazy. He'd been locking up the spellbook with the mind control spells since that first time, but then he simply stopped. Once it wasn't under a magical lock and key, it just took time to put the plan in motion.” Her smile took a mildly-smug turn. “Once he was asleep I used a camouflage spell then teleported into his room. I found the book and got out of there. I spent the rest of the night studying the spell over and over again, so I would get it right.”
Twilight found herself leaning in, intrigued by the story. “What happened when he found out?”
“Oh, he never did,” she answered with a chuckle. “Just as he was about to take a bite of breakfast, I hit him with a slightly-tweaked version of the spell, cutting out the escape trigger he never taught me was worked into it. He was very agreeable about packing and loading his entire magic library into a cart and pulling it out of town for me.” A most-satisfied smile spread over her lips. “Then he wrote out a full confession of all the crimes he'd committed since becoming a wizard. That took a while, since I was definitely not the first apprentice he'd taken advantage of, and he turned out to be pretty sketchy in his business dealings, too. Then he took a moment to make a nice sandwich board with “RAPIST” written on both sides, and wore it when he hoof-delivered his confession to the town's mayor at midday.” She winked at Twilight. “I have the feeling justice was done.”
It took a few moments for Twilight to pick her jaw back up after hearing Starlight's story. “Wow,” she said, thinking it all over. “I knew you were pretty devious before we met, but I had no idea just how devious. Do you know what happened to Silver Spark after that?”
Starlight shrugged, floating up her own drink. “I never did bother to find out. I had all I wanted from him, and I did what I could to keep him from preying on another apprentice after I'd gone. I assume he couldn't answer the charges and ended up in jail.” She chuckled and flashed a wink to her friend. “I imagine the spell wore off eventually. I might have neglected to put in an end timer when I cast the spell, and maaaybe I anchored the magic to his horn, so it would feed off his own magical power. I'm sure somepony sorted it out, once they realized his actions weren't born out of actual regret.”
“Starlight, you can't do that!” Twilight rubbed her forehead against the headache from even contemplating what was described. “I mean, that's incredibly dangerous to the unicorn, having external magic feeding through their horn like that. It could damage him, or disrupt his flow of magic, or . . . “ Her cheeks paled with the thought. “It could create a feedback charge and shatter his horn.”
She nodded along with Twilight's assessment, sipping on her drink. “Good.” was her only reply.
Twilight's mouth gaped at the word. “Starlight, that is not even something to joke about. After all we've been through, I would think you could see how wrong it is to risk permanently disfiguring a pony like that, no matter what vile things he'd done.”
Starlight sighed and looked into Twilight's eyes, seeing deep concern within. “Don't misunderstand me, Twilight. Of course I wouldn't make that choice now, after all you've taught me. By the same token, though, I can't judge my past choices by things I didn't know then. Looking back, frankly, I'm amazed I let him go as lightly as I did.”
Twilight worked through the logic as she listened, nodding slowly as she came to the same conclusion. “I suppose that's true. Sometimes I forget just how far you've come from the pony you were.” She floated over a couple hayfries. “The more I think of it, I would be pretty angry if my first time were taken against my will, too.”
It was Starlight's turn for a double-take. “Wait. When you say my first time, are you talking about the spell?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, I meant your first time with a stallion. You know, for sex.”
Starlight watched her face for any sign of a joke, seeing only earnest sincerity. A huge smirk spread over her lips, then she burst out laughing. Twilight sat watching, perplexed, as Starlight fell back in her chair, struggling to catch her breath. She wiped tears from her eyes as she sat up again, still chuckling.
“Oh, Twilight, I never said he was the first stallion I'd been with. Or mare, for that matter.”
“Wait, what? You told me you don't like mares like that.”
“I don't. How do you think I figured that out?”
Twilight blinked, her understanding fading away. “I'm sorry, but when you said Silver Spark was the first pony you started to trust after Sunburst left, I assumed that meant you hadn't gotten into any other relationships, since they take trust to make them work.”
Starlight nodded slowly, seeing Twilight not quite making the leap. “I know that now. That's why dating never worked out, because I wouldn't open up to anypony.” Her smile grew into a knowing grin as she added, “And, fortunately, you don't have to open up very much if you're just getting together for some recreational sex. You know what I mean, right, Twilight?”
Her eyes popped open wide at the question, cheeks flooding with color, and she took a sudden interest in the remaining hayfries. “Ahh, yes, of course I know... exactly what you, um, mean...”
Starlight stared as her mentor hedged around the question, the grin remaining. “Twilight?”
Twilight looked up at her, still blushing a little. “Yes?”
“You've never had a hook-up, have you?”
She opened her mouth to reply but simply sat there, blushing, as she thought over the question. “Ah, no,” she said simply, cheeks flushed.
Starlight kept herself from laughing, barely, but her smile grew wider. “It's alright, Twilight. Some ponies prefer to keep sex in a relationship, and that's okay. I just decided long ago that this mare has needs, and it's okay to get them met.”
Twilight blushed even deeper. “Ha, yes, in a relationship, of course,” she murmured, floating up some hayfries and taking her time eating them.
It was Starlight's turn to look surprised. “Twilight... are you saying you've never... ever?”
Twilight stopped mid-chew, cheeks positively glowing. “Maaaaybe?” she answered reluctantly, her voice rising in pitch. She took a deep, steadying breath before continuing. “It's just I was always so invested in my studies before I came to Ponyville, I never made any time for asking anypony out. Also, it turns out being Celestia's protégé scares off a lot of ponies.”
She chuckled. “I can imagine.”
“Once I got here I was too busy learning friendship to think about dating. Then I became Princess of Friendship, and everyone was intimidated again.” She sighed. “I've just resigned myself to going without.”
Starlight looked into her eyes, smiling. “You know, Twilight, your friends might be able to help you with that, if you want us to. I know I'd do all I can to help you find somepony you like enough to give a chance.”
Twilight shook her head, her blush finally coming under control. “I appreciate the offer, Starlight, but I don't think I'm ready for that right now. I'm more worried about your request.” She stood and stepped close to her student, reaching out with a wing to her shoulder. “Doesn't being placed back under those spells bring back everything Silver Spark did to you?”
Starlight smiled, drawing a raised eyebrow from Twilight. “That's just it, Twilight. I told you I came to terms with what he did long ago, and I did. But because of what he did, I've never trusted anypony enough to let them put me under to experience all the good feelings that came from surrendering control.” She reached up, tenderly touching Twilight's cheek and looking deep into her eyes. “Until you.”
Twilight blushed, but didn't look away. “I'm touched that you trust me that much, Starlight. I just don't know if it's a good idea.”
“Twilight, I understand why you're hesitating. I'm asking for your help to reclaim a part of myself I never thought I'd experience again. You're the only one who can help me get there. Will you?”
Twilight searched Starlight's face, finding only sincerity. “Alright, Starlight,” she finally said, nodding slowly. “We'll do it, but there will be ground rules in place before we start.”
Starlight leapt forward with a delighted squeal and hugged Twilight tightly. “Absolutely! Oh, thank you, Twilight! Thank you.”
They embraced while Twilight chuckled. “I'm happy to help a friend, Starlight. Even if it feels a little weird from my end of things.” She pulled back. “Let's go inside and get those rules worked out.”
Starlight nodded eagerly, grinning. “Yes, please. Oh, do you want me to clean up dinner?” She lit her horn, about to float all the wrappers and leftovers.
“Just leave it there,” Twilight said casually, walking to the door into the rest of the castle. She glanced back and winked at her. “You'll clean it up later.”
Starlight's grin grew even larger and she trotted after her friend and mentor as they went back inside.