> Megalo-Mane-iacal > by ArDee > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Power Ponies X4 - Phantas-mare-goria! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Y’know, Matter-horn, it didn’t hafta be like this!”  The Masked Matter-horn had to bite her tongue to keep from snapping back. Pedantically over-correcting her friends was still a pet peeve of hers, one she thankfully managed to suppressed here. After all, Applejack and Dash - sorry, Mistress Mare-velous and Zapp - were storming her House of Book, and she couldn’t let herself - the last Power Pony standing - fall victim to their ensorcelled depravity!  Easier said than done, though, since they were getting past her book labyrinths with such ease that she figured they had to be cheating somehow. “You’ll have to get through these ledgers to make me sweat, Mare-velous.”  “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, Matter-horn.”  “Wouldn’t be much of a public establishment if they did, Zapp.” Matter-horn did another double-take of the screens over her eyes. Despite herself, she soon found an appetizing view of Zapp’s rump as she peels another corner in the book-maze of her library - Lair! Lair! Her mind corrected insistently. “And I just want to talk. Which we won't be doing much of while our bodies are dancing like puppets in Mane-iac’s spell!” “A spell that I’m still wondering why you’re fighting, Matter-horn....it feels so good to give in and let go for once!”  “Because it’s the Mane-iac doing it, obviously!” Matter-horn shouted, growing increasingly frustrated with her friends' stubbornness - even as her thighs moistened traitorously in anticipation. “We couldn’t fight it before, so why’re you fightin' us now, sugarslit?” Mare-velous’s voice inventively played up her own hypnotism, unnaturally husky and low and deep. “Just this last step and we can wallop the Mane-iac in peace.” “And what if she orders you to go after our family? Our parents? You girls, what about the Princesses themselves?” Matter-horn’s pacing began anew, the worn wooden floor nearly giving her movements away. “And you’ll see just how she blinded you to the truth of your predicament up ahead.”  “What do you mean, up ahead? Are you watching… us…?” Zapp’s words trailed off. Mare-velous was soon as open-mouthed as her partner, staring at the clearing in the center of the Matter-horn’s lair. From end to end of the cramped space, ponyquins spanned the entire area. Each of them was dressed and painted to look like the Matter-horn, down to the glowing horns. The real Masked Matter-horn, however, was still a floor away in her bedroom. She clapped her hooves together in triumph as Mare-velous shouted, “Knock ‘em all down, Zapp! One of ‘em has to be the real one! Hurry!”  Popping away the magicked-up surveillance screens, Matter-horn checked the pristine edges of her outfit. The spandex was vibrant-colored and wonderfully tight, in all the right places. Satisfied with her appearance, she set out downstairs to confront her former friends. The crumpling of plastic ponyquins and grunts of exertion made her slide her thighs together, still slickened from the telepathic work-around Mare-velous had done on her from that Fil-Second goo clone. Oh, payback was going to be so sweet! And rescuing your friends from Mane-iac’s mind control. That too. Focus. But between the three romps they’d had and tearing through the ponyquins, Matter-horn was excited for the time she'd finally be able to have her way with her friends. Enough to break their ‘spell’. at least, thought Matter-horn. She just hoped Rar - Radiance, she reminded herself -would be here quickly enough for this big Nightmare Night finale. Her plan depended on the other mare recovering quickly from her earlier rutting. Maybe even the Matter-horn’s recovery from rutting too, if this set-up turned out as delectable as she’d hoped. Between the leaking chandelier light of her lair, Matter-horn trotted her way into an empty cubby - and nearly stumbled over a small army of crushed pony statues. “Oh,  girls, when are you going to learn that in trying to do things your way, you’ve turned down the wrong road?" Stepping in, her horn’s detection spell picked up no trace of either Mare-velous or Zapp. Still, she could sense they weren’t too far away now. “I’m saying this is a chance to be your own heroes now! Considering how we are in Maretropolis…” One last visual sweep revealed nopony but herself in the barely-lit clearing. “You know how hard it is for anypony to get what they wa-aaaieeee!”  Interrupting her monologue, Zapp and Mare-velous tackled Matter-horn from above, having hidden on the chandelier the whole time. “That's weird, Matter-horn, considering we got you just fine!” Zapp snarked, smacking Matter-horn's rump as she squealed and struggled against the hefty form of Mare-velous bracing her hooves around the base of her horn. Licking a trail of saliva down her horn, Mare-velous watched Matter-horn quiver in delight at the feeling, sparks dancing on Mare-velous’s tongue and across Matter-horn’s vision. The snap of a rune-carved nullstone ring around Matter-horn’s horn brought her back to attention though - especially when she felt her mana pool rush out of her like the drain-plug had been pulled from it. “W-wha?! But how? Where did you get nullstone?“ “Got it from Radiance, hun.” purred Mare-velous. “Stopped by her Boutique on the way here. And she was vain enough to think we’d never use it against her, too, once we found it!”  “Y-you tricksters! Let go of me, I’m your leader!” Matter-horn stammered, squirming her pinned hindlegs as Zapp rolled her taut thighs over them. The friction made Zapp moan, her slit soaking the crotch of her uniform.  “And we’re going to take you like one, natch.” Zapp purred. “Mmmph, nooo, I’m supposed to be the one handling you, you fiends! Oh, what has that dastardly Mane-iac done to the two of you?!” the unicorn wailed, tears streaming down her face in shocked dismay. “Done to us?” Zapp declared. “At this point, it’s what she’s done for us, Matter-horn. We're gonna make you see the way of things...”  “But it doesn’t have to be this way! Look I…I get it. ” Matter-horn pleaded. “Right now, all we have to do is just be less...screwy. I forgive you both for anything the Mane-iac did to you before. And if it gets you closer to breaking your hypnotism, I can afford to be there for you both again.” Matter-horn stroked a hoof down Zapp’s suit. “Because that’s what friends do.” Mare-velous smiled at seeing that gesture. “Don’t worry yer sweet li'l horn, Matter-horn. Maybe there’s a way we can all get what we want tonight.” And she leaned in to kiss the other mare, her eyes twinkling in impish glee at the unicorn tilting her head to try and meet her lips in the middle. The moment was broken with a bright flash, leaving the three Power Ponies momentarily blinded and stunned. When the dazzle cleared from their eyes, the three of them were left flabbergasted - the Mane-iac herself had arrived!  But how?! The three Power Ponies thought in unison, staring uncomprehendingly at the imposing figure before them. “Nothing as terrible as what we’re about to do to you, you annoyingly clever wretch!” the villainess purred. Madness was twinkling in her eyes as her massed mane of tentacles writhed imposingly behind her. Neither Zapp nor Mare-velous noticed the way Matter-horn’s eyes had widened in very real shock, although it wouldn’t have helped them escape from their compromising position regardless - with the nullstone ring blocking her horn’s wellspring, she was powerless to stop the mad-mare as a wave of her green hair-tentacles rushed toward them at super-pony speed. Had the three of them not been so tangled up in each other, they might have been able to avoid getting just as tangled up in the Mane-iac’s superpower, but alas. Before Zapp could even spread her wings, the bulky hair-tentacle that whipped around her barrel like a lasso and clenched her tightly enough to force the air from her lungs put a stop to any thoughts of an escape by air. Four of the Mane-iac’s tentacles gripped Mare-velous by the hooves, forcing her upright in a wide stance that prevented her from getting any traction against her assailant. Matter-horn, with her horn now disabled, wasn’t much of a threat - all the villainess had to do to subdue her was wrap a relatively gentle hair-tentacle around her midsection, and the mare eeped and froze like a statue in response. “Finally...I’ve finally got you in my grasp, Power Ponies! Ponyville shall be mine! Ahahahaha!” Mane-iac cackled, not wasting any time with starting her villainous monologue. “Once I’m finished with the three of you, there will be nopony powerful enough to stand in my way! My power will...will...uhh…” the mare trailed off, holding a forehoof up to her lips as her face lit up in a blush. Zapp and Mare-velous, both thinking this was just another part of their elaborate roleplay session, had already begun grinding themselves needily against the tentacles holding them. Their sopping-wet marehoods slathered themselves against the hair behind them, and their soft, plump teats mashed against the hair around their midsections in a sinfully delightful way. Stunned into silence for only a moment at the unexpected lasciviousness of the display, Mane-iac felt a wave of aroused thoughts flow into her mind as she witnessed the lewd assault on her hair. The intoxicating rush of power Mane-iac felt as she realized the mares were at her mercy, for her to do anything she wished to the fallen heroines, reminded her of what she’d had to stop herself from doing to Zapp and Mare-velous in that run-down old house earlier in the night. A lascivious grin stretched across Mane-iac’s face as her eyelids fluttered sultrily. “Mmh...so eager to be dominated by a superior being such as myself...don’t worry, Power-less Ponies, your Mistress will show you true pleasure,”  Mane-iac purred, held aloft by her hair as she shifted herself closer to Zapp first. A trio of especially thick tentacles lifted themselves from the villain’s writhing mass as she continued to speak. “Oh, Zapp...always the most head-strong of the group...rushing into situations where you’re vastly outnumbered, but always coming out on top in the end. But I bet you’ve always wondered what those henchponies would do to you if they caught you, right…? Of how they’d pin you to the floor, unsheathe their throbbing stallionhoods, and bathe every inch of you, inside and out, with their thick, sticky essences. Until you’re nothing more than a cum-soaked, cock-hungry, moaning and drooling pega-slut. They’d turn you into their breeder fucktoy, and you’d love it.”  Mane-iac poured her honeyed words into Zapp’s twitching ear, and grinned in knowing victory as she felt the other mare cum a fountain into her restraining tentacles without even having to penetrate her. “I may not have a cock to fuck you with, but you can bet that tight little pegasus ass of yours that I don’t need one to turn you into my bitch.” And Mane-iac was eager to prove this point in short order, as one of the three thick tentacles positioned themselves at each of Zapp’s moist, trembling holes. “P-please, Mane-ia-ghlk!” Zapp barely even had a chance to beg and whimper before Mane-iac surged forward into all three of her holes at once, spreading her wide as they mercilessly plumbed her slick depths with mechanical, unerring savagery. The villainess shuddered and trembled in wanton need, bringing one of her own tentacles up to the dampened crotch of her fuchsia suit and grinding it against her cameltoe as she watched the formerly-proud pegasus’s utter debasement.  Zapp’s throat bulged bawdily around the tentacle’s girth as her mouth was stuffed with the thick length, her eyes rolling back into her head as every slutty nerve in her body fired off in rapturous glee. Her rear half was so thoroughly overstimulated that it felt as if her nerves were on fire; at least a foot of each tentacle reamed her pussy and ass, pounding her deepest depths with merciless vigor as she was broken-in from both ends. “No need to - mmh - beg, you little slut. Your holes are - ahhhn - getting claimed whether you want it or not…hhhfuckyes...” Mane-iac panted out between her raspy breaths and pleasured exultations, shifting herself over to address Mare-velous next as the tentacle hotdogging Mane-iac’s own winking, suit-clad vulvae started to press forward more insistently, stretching the suit’s fabric as it tried to thrust into her through it. “Mmh...oh, Mare-Velous…” Mane-iac purred salaciously, bringing the earth-mare’s attention squarely onto her - though the Power Pony did find it hard to tear her eyes away from the full-depth, all-holes reaming that Zapp was getting. “Just as headstrong as Zapp, and at least twice as stubborn...you could do with being ganged up on by henchponies as well, but you’d probably take out a lot of them in the struggle. At least, until the biggest and burliest of them rip away that fancy lasso of yours like the useless piece of glowing twine that it is. Then he’d truss you up like a turkey with it...before they’d all break you just like any other simpering little mare.”  Mare-velous blushed even harder. “Really, it wouldn’t take long once they found out your true biggest weakness, even more than that stubbornness of yours…” The villainess paused in her monologue to slip three tentacles towards Mare-velous’s rear, all three of the thick lengths pausing under her dock. The earth-mare’s eyes widened in realization, causing Mane-iac to grin victoriously. “That’s right...that steel-trap ass of yours has had quite a few nightly visitors, hasn’t it~? I can’t exactly blame you; I’d fuck my own ass every night too, if I had one as fine as yours! Hah!” Mare-velous gave an undignified yelp as one of the tentacles behind her swatted her across her muscular, chiseled plot at lightning speed, making it jiggle. “So juicy you could bounce a bit off it! Your place isn’t farming crops or fighting crime; it’s fucking cocks, you pathetic anal whorse.” Right after Mane-iac’s browbeating ended, all three tentacles wedged themselves into Mare-velous’s backdoor simultaneously, stretching it nearly to its limit. Mare-velous gave an uncharacteristic squeak as she came almost instantly from the sensation. Already prepped for orgasm by the other mare’s debasing words, she didn’t stand a chance once her weakest spot was pleasured so intensely and suddenly. A fountain of her own juices streaked down her hind-legs as she writhed aimlessly in the grip of her Mistress’s mighty mane, eyes rolling aimlessly in her skull as her mind and ass were relentlessly reamed. Every few seconds, another pummeling thrust from the tentacles behind her sent pleasurable shockwaves through Mare-velous and brought another Saddle-Rager-esque squeak from her lips. “Mmh, nice and deep in there...very deep, in fact! Tell me, has that studly farmhand brother of yours gotten a chance to stretch out this tight little ponut before me~?” Mane-iac teased, and grinned viciously in Mare-velous’s face as the superhero averted her eyes and refused to speak, her face taking on a growing blush. Zapp was too busy being fucked into incoherence in all three holes to notice her lover’s silent admittance, but Matter-horn’s jaw dropped as her mind raced at the implications. ‘A-Applejack?! But why would she-? And how is Mane-iac even doing all this?!’ Matter-horn mused, too shocked to form words. She was also lost in her own thoughts enough to ignore Mane-iac shifting away from the thoroughly-reamed, degraded, and broken Mare-velous. Her tentacles continued to triple-team both Power Ponies as the villainess turned her attention to her greatest nemesis, and the de facto leader of the Power Ponies - the Masked Matter-horn. “And then there’s you…” Mane-iac growled. A snarl grew its way onto the mare’s face the longer she glared at her insufferably self-righteous foil, who was brutally forced out of her bewildered thoughts as a tentacle rose up and smacked her across the muzzle. The strike had enough force behind it to make the mare see stars, and her head was forcibly whipped to the side as she yelped in pain. Matter-horn groaned as her head flopped down, a dizzy enervation overtaking her as her cheek began to redden from the blow. The mare winced as one of Mane-iac’s tentacles pushed up against her chin, forcing her to look into the face of her captor. The two of them glared at each other sourly, and Mane-iac was again the first to speak. “Finally, we turn to the biggest stuck-up goody-two-hooves of all.” One of her tendrils lecherously stroked the side of Matter-horn’s face, under her white cowl. Only the dangerous sparking of her horn stopped the Mane-iac from slipping further underneath the fabric. “If only this was the only mask you had.”  ”Y-you don’t know a thing about me, Mane-iac!” Matter-horn declared. But even now, her mind reeled for possibilities. Wouldn’t giving in be the right way to cap off this Nightmare Night?  Though she’d certainly never wanted Mane-iac to be this cerebral, no matter who it was beneath the tendrils... “Oh, don’t be so coy,” Mane-iac cattily replied, her eyes dimming as she sized up Matter-horn. “Your obsession with licking Celestia’s golden horseshoes, your growing petting-zoo’s worth of assistants, your all-consuming need to have the answer to every question that Equestria’s never asked. Matter-horn, you are Equestria’s hand-sock. You’re every bit as empty inside as the doll you enchanted that nearly started a riot...and I’m still pissed off by that. Causing mass panic and civil unrest is my job, damn you!” Matter-horn gave an involuntarily step back, her mind reeling from horror. How does Mane-iac evenknow about all of that? She thought in a panic. Mane-iac cackled as she saw the other mare’s gobsmacked expression. “Oh, the look on your face right now...I could just frame it! Tonight, though, you get to be a whole different type of sock: a cock-sock!” One of her tentacles opened out into an obscenely phallic tip, brimming with slime as she took aim at Matter-horn’s maw. “Say ‘aahhh’ for Dr. Mane-iac!” Matter-horn was so focused on the tentacle threatening to intrude in her mouth that she didn't notice the other one creeping up at her side. With a flash of motion, it circled around her horn, and her reflexive attempt to launch a spell fizzled into nothingness. However, the way Mane-iac’s tentacle brushed against her horn’s base sent sparks of pleasure rippling through Matter-horn’s body; just enough that her mouth opened in shock for a second.  That split second of weakness was all Mane-iac needed to act - the tentacle made good on its threat, swiftly plunging its way down her throat with uncaring ceaselessness. One foot of throbbing green tentacle, almost as wide around as her own hoof, filled Matter-horn’s gullet faster than she could even react. “Mmph, fuck, you really are a horny little slut just like the rest of the Power Ponies, aren’t you? You’re the biggest slut of all of them, being their leader, right? Look how much you’re slobbering all over me, it’s like you’re begging to take me up that tight little plot of yours…” Mane-iac purred triumphantly, reveling in the sight of her greatest rival whimpering at her hooves while her friends were fucked stupid in the background. “Tell you what, Matter-horny...I’ll show you some mercy and shove that big, slick tentacle up your cute little butt...if you promise to eat me out little a good little whorse.” Matter-horn moaned dumbly around the tentacle impaling her throat, her eyelids fluttering as the invading appendage touched her in places she didn’t even know she had. She grunted and whimpered in protest as she felt the tentacle start to retreat from her damp, clenching throat, long since having accepted this as some surprise part for the roleplay. The way Mane-iac continued to demean and degrade her implied a level of genuine malice in the villainess’s actions, but it was turning her on so much that she couldn’t bring herself to care - except for when the mare stopped giving her such wonderful sensations. Mane-iac tsked and shook her head as Matter-horn stared pleadingly into her eyes, the tentacle previously in her throat now hovering tantalizingly in front of her mouth but refusing to re-enter. “Use your words, filly. Tell me how much you want me to ruin you; how much you want to devour me while I dominate the ever-loving fuck out of you!” “Yes! Oh, yes, please, Mistress! I’ve been a bad mare, going against you for so long! Ponyville is yours for all I care - fuck me, impale me, destroy me! If I don’t cum in the next five minutes I think I might die, Mistress!” Matter-horn screamed at her captor, pleading desperately for release. It was no longer a want but a need, the raging dragoness of instinct inside her demanding its satisfaction by any means necessary - even if it was provided by an enemy. “Mmh...good filly.” Mane-iac purred, patting the mare on the head. The spit-slickened tentacle that had been invading her throat migrated its way south, positioning itself at her ponut as it teased its slickness against the firm ring of muscle. Another tentacle took aim at her eager, sopping-wet marehood, slick enough for the unlubricated appendage to slide its way into her with ease. Matter-horn shuddered at the unfamiliar sensation of both her holes being stretched at once by such long, thick invaders. The knot building within her core tightened rapidly as she - knowledgeable about sex, but inexperienced in its execution - was driven mad by the overwhelming stimulation assaulting her on all fronts. Her attention was taken away from her own pleasure, however, when Mane-iac plopped her rear down on the unicorn’s face, grinding insistently and demanding her own pleasure from her lust-slave’s greedy maw. While Matter-horn may not have had much experience with getting impaled, she had more than enough in driving another mare wild with nothing but her own tongue - her many sleepovers with her friends had seen to that with ease. She used that skill to full effect on the Mane-iac now, turning the other mare into a breathless, groaning, moaning, disheveled mess in a matter of moments. The villainess’s eerie red-and-green eyes rolled in their sockets as she ground and swirled her hips atop the debased hero’s muzzle, the mare’s tongue hitting all of her sweet-spots with effortless ease, as if they’d been fuckbuddies for years. It didn’t break the concentration of the swarm of tentacles plugging the three mares’ holes; the many appendages practically had minds of their own most of the time, anyway. (Mane-iac had the most nightmarish bed-mane in all of Equestria, fictional universe or otherwise.) Mare-velous and Zapp had long since been reduced to nearly-catatonic, heart-eyed ragdolls, their minds driven to incoherence by the relentless assault on their erogenous zones. Zapp gurgled around the tentacle deep in her throat as her pussy and ass continued to be pounded into submission by the pair of tentacles at her plot. Her ears, hooves, and wings twitched and shuddered aimlessly in the tentacles’ grip; one pair of tentacles assaulted the sensitive spots behind her ears while others ground themselves against the frogs of her oversensitive hooves - the main reason she never went to the spa, as even a hooficure would leave her too busy cumming her brains out in public to even think of sitting still - and corkscrewing their way up-and-down her wingbases, jerking her flight muscles as if they were a pair of hard cocks to service. The three tentacles reaming Mare-velous’s plothole still continued their efforts in stretching the mare out, but they were now joined by one hot-dogging its way between her firm vulva and teats, teasing its tip against her soft, sensitive underbelly. The earth-mare’s mouth was left free-and-clear, allowing her to moan into the room at her heart’s content, heedless of volume. Not only was it music to Mane-iac’s ears to hear one of her enemies being so thoroughly debased that they no longer cared if it was her pleasuring them or not, it also triggered familiar memories in Zapp’s mind of their love-filled nights together. The pegasus shuddered with each and every one of Mare-velous’s moans, further amplifying Zapp’s pleasure as she let herself slide further into fantasy and debauchery. Matter-horn gave a juddering scream of ecstasy as Mane-iac’s tentacles rammed themselves home deep within her, and her vision went completely white as the end of the wriggling mass in her vaginal cavity curled and rubbed aggressively against the spongy nerve-bundle of her G-spot. Above her, she felt Mane-iac cease her aggressive bouncing as her thick earth-pony flanks pressed domineeringly against Matter-horn’s head, her horn wedging its way between the villainess’s suit-clad cheeks as they muffled the unicorn’s hearing and vision. A deluge of the evil mare’s juices nearly made Matter-horn feel like she was drowning in marecum, exaggerated by the fact that it was already hard to breathe beneath her Mistress’s flanks to begin with. “Mmmh, fffuck yeah! Drink all of me, you talented little slut!” Mane-iac growled as she ground her hips against Matter-horn’s muzzle, exulting in the feel of the other mare’s passionate tongue wriggling in her clenching depths. Following the laws of comedic timing, this was right around the time that the doors to Golden Oaks Library slammed open with a jubilant burst of feminine, giggling laughter. For a second, Matter-horn’s heart leapt into her heaving chest, certain that their debauchery was about to be seen by an impressionable little filly searching for treats. But it was Fili-Second who’d run in this time, her demeanor resplendent with radiant, energetic happiness. The pink party Power Pony’s eyes widened curiously at seeing Matter-horn moaning loudly in her ongoing orgasm from beneath the Mane-iac’s flanks. “Whoa, Twilight! If I’d know you were into this I could have had more of that Magic Matter-Gel cooked up! And woooow, is this Mane-iac real?”  “Real as a heart attack, Fili.” Mane-iac taunted, shuddering a little at feeling Fili-Second’s hooves poke at her face as she lifted her well-licked rear end off of Matter-horn’s marecum-soaked face. “Which makes me wonder why you’re not in the middle of one, you diabetic annoyance.” “Weeeell, the three of us - me, Radiance, and Saddle Rager - got to talking and we figured out that you weren’t part of tonight’s plans!” “Pah, as if anyone plans to be assaulted by a supervillain such as myself!” Mane-iac preened, glaring flaming daggers at the pink menace-of-sanity. “Mmh, I dunno, I wouldn’t say you’re a suuupervillain! More like a...great-villain? Decent-villain? Good-villain? Wait, no, that’s just confusing, teehee! Anyway-” Fili continued to blab on-and-on as Mane-iac’s face began to turn an angry shade of red. “I think we get the idea, darling!” Radiance hastily interrupted, stepping through the doorway as she followed in Fili-Second’s hoofsteps. This time, unlike the earlier appearance of a flesh-and-blood Mane-iac, there was no doubt about what Matter-horn saw. It was definitely Saddle Rager and Radiance. Radiance, she knew, was a part of this final twist to their Nightmare Night - but Saddle? What was she doing here, she’d only volunteered for the first part of this play-session! Unless… Saddle Rager eeped upon seeing Matter-horn, the unicorn shill shuddering from the tendril-reaming she’d been getting - her face plastered with Mane-iac’s feminine fluids. The second Mane-iac’s eyes locked onto Saddle Rager, the pegasus raised her head up and shouted, “Discord!”  Oh my. That clinches it. Just like that, Matter-horn’s priorities shifted. Save for Rainbooms or animal rebellions, nothing got Saddle Rager’s voice that high unless it was an emergency. Which meant Matter-horn’s place was by her side, with all the quickness she could muster. Matter-horn had only barely got away from the teasing touch of Mane-iac - and the scoff the villainess gave at Matter-horn’s feeble hoof-drags - before Discord arrived. He was busy slapping what looked like a horse statue with a fuse burning in its maw onto a chessboard floating in front of him’. “What exactly is this - oh my, what seems to be the matter, dear Flutteshy?” Discord quickly hid the chesspiece behind his back as he spoke. “You said your little trip would only take a minute. Naturally I kept all your pieces where they are, and-” BANG! Discord sheepishly looked at what the exploding chess piece behind him had wrought. Feathers now stuck to both his back and Matter-horn’s face. “...If it helps, Flutters, I did not take those from a living animal,” he said. Several of the feathers started shifting to match the color of both his coats and Matter-horn’s. “At least, not initially.” Discord finished. “Nevermind that, Discord. Fluttershy says that this is your doing, now un-do it! Post-haste!” Radiance hollered. Although, perhaps we should just call her ‘Rarity’ again at this point... “Exactly what is that butter-face blabbering on about this time?” The tittering voice of Mane-iac finally brought everypony’s (and Discord’s) attention to her again. “Actually? Never mind. I can easily plug that wallflower’s simpering mouth shut!” The second that one of Mane-iac's tentacles moved towards Fluttershy, a taloned hand clutched onto them. Discord's eyes radiated pure fire as the slippery appendage in his talon started turning into stone. The transformation continued further and further until it reached Mane-iac’s head, and despite how she struggled and shrieked, his grip didn’t stop.  “Oh come on! Again, Discord? Is this because you want to get into Saddle Rager’s sn…” Then Mane-iac’s head was frozen in a granite smirk, followed by the rest of her body. “Have I made up for my oversight this Nightmare Night?” Discord asked Fluttershy, his trademark mirth conspicuously absent. Fluttershy tentatively nodded. “Y-yes, Discord.” “Oh, delightful! Don’t tell Sunbutt of this, though.” Discord warned. “After what I’d said of statues before…why, she’d never let me live it down.” And with a snap of his fingers, he, the chessboard and the Mane-iac statue were gone. “Sure you didn’t forget something, Discord?” Twilight sputtered, her face still covered with glued-on feathers. Discord’s head re-materialized in mid-air. “Oh, but of course.“ Another snap of his fingers and Twilight had suddenly grown a fake beak. “Toodles, Fluttershy! Happy Nightmare Night to all, and to all a good fright!” And again, the draconequus was gone. Three feather-and-beak-erasing spells later, Twilight was back to normal. Now everypony’s eyes were on Fluttershy, the roleplay season having been brought to an impromptu halt. The shy pegasus fidgeted nervously, avoiding everypony’s eyes. “You see...umm...oh dear...I think this might all...kind of be my fault?” The last part of her sentence came even quieter and breathier than the rest of it. Despite the faces of her friends softening in concern, the poor pegasus looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but there, at that moment. “I’m sorry, what?” Twilight shouted incredulously, as a chorus of shocked gasps rolled through the other mares. “Y-yes, well, I was having morning tea with my new friend Discord the other day…” “Oh, brother,” Rainbow Dash interjected, giving an incredulous snort as she rolled her eyes. Applejack visibly flinched at the mention of “brother,” although nopony else seemed to notice - save for Twilight, whom she shared a meaningful “we need to talk” glance with. “You see…” And so Fluttershy began to recount her tale of that fateful day. “So, Discord...I’m sorry, but I’m not going to be able to go trick-or-treating with you on the weekend. Something came up, and me and the rest of the girls are going to be...busy. A-all day. Doing...friendship stuff.” Fluttershy cursed herself under her breath at how blatantly lame of an excuse that was, and tried her best to regain calm. “Oh really? And what could possibly be so important to postpone the greatest trick-or-treating duo Equestria has ever seen? Surely not another…”friendship emergency,” on Nightmare Night of all nights!” Discord asked, a bit taken aback at the sudden cancellation of his plans with Fluttershy. He had the coolest non-Euclidean costume picked out, and everything! “N-no, it’s...umm...oh goodness, it looks like we’re out of tea! Let me just go make some more…” Fluttershy excused quickly, nearly galloping into the kitchen in her haste to avoid the conflict. ‘Ohh, why did the girls tell me everything about their plans? They know I’m terrible at hiding things!’ She worried internally, shuffling her hooves as she stared at the freshly-filled teapot slowly bringing itself up to a boil. Meanwhile, back in the sitting area, Discord sat with crossed arms in silence as he waited for Fluttershy to return. Glancing at the birdwatching book sitting on her coffee table, he gave it a cursory glance before deciding some light reading would help pass the time while she came up with an excuse to avoid telling him what the girls really had planned. But, as he lifted the birdwatching book from the table, he found something that answered all his questions. A comic book rested beneath the book he’d lifted up, resplendent in an eye-catching riot of colored inks and hard black lines. It stood out like a sore thumb on Fluttershy’s pastel coffee table, an entirely un-Fluttershy sort of item to find in her home - and hidden so carelessly, too! Rather unlike her, but with Nightmare Night just around the corner… The delightfully cliched, evil-looking mare on the cover made him give a little snort of derision as he set aside the birdwatching book for the far more interesting action-adventure rag. The strong aura of enchantment emanating from the book gave him pause once he gripped its cover in his paw; some sort of advanced portal spell, combined with a verbal trigger. An enchantment-trapped comic? What on Equus was a sweet mare like Fluttershy doing with such a dangerous article? Skimming through the pages, Discord’s eyes took on a soft glow as he used his powers to speed-read through the entire story. Coming to the end, his eyes alighted on the somewhat cleverly-disguised verbal trigger - although, to any experienced mage, its formal and mildly cryptic phrasing would’ve been an immediate red-flag, even more than the waves of enchantment magic roiling in an aura around it. Idly, Discord wondered how many unfortunate foals had been gobbled up by one of these fiendish fictions, sealed inside never to escape… The draconequus shuddered, cutting off that line of thought. He had all too much experience with being trapped forever in something, and almost gripped the comic with his mismatched limbs and tore it apart right then and there - until a thought struck him. Holding the closed comic in front of him with his paw, he used his claw to pensively stroke his goatee as he stared at the wild-maned villainess adorning the issue’s cover. A sly grin overtook him. “Yes...that will do nicely…” He muttered. With no further preamble, Discord abruptly snapped his claw and disappeared back to his home dimension in a flash of chaotic teleportation, comic still in paw. Alerted by the bright flash from the other room, Fluttershy re-entered to find Discord conspicuously absent - and the birdwatching book on her coffee table moved aside. The comic underneath it was missing, which said all-too-much about the reason for her draconequus friend’s sudden disappearance. Her eyes widened as an “Eep…” of fear left her lips. “And why didn’t you tell us this happened before?!” Twilight was nearly apoplectic by this point, her neurotic behavior overtaking her restraint in talking to her shy friend. “I didn’t want to...umm...ruin Nightmare Night for all of us...and we did have f-f-fun...didn’t we?” Fluttershy responded, giving Twilight a hesitant grin and a squee - a potent combination that was nigh-on impossible to resist. “I...uh, heheh...I guess…” Twilight’s flanks shuffled uncomfortably as she moistened at the memory of how utterly the fictional villainess had dominated her - in the moment, it did feel nice to just give in and let the other mare do whatever she wanted. “For right now, though, Applejack and Dash take priority. Help me get them up to…” A warm smile crossed her face. “Actually, I know exactly where to take them now.” Her horn lit up, in preparation for a teleportation spell. Several seconds later, both Applejack and Dash were in the warm embrace of Dash’s bed, in her cloud-house far above the bustling Ponyville. Twilight stood at the foot of the bed, smiling warmly as the two cuddled against each other upon sensing the other’s presence. “There we go, that’s them taken care of.” Twilight turned to leave but found herself frozen a bit, thanks to her indecision. Then her head turned back to the two slumbering mares. “And your idea for this roleplay was amazingly inventive, Applejack. Here's hoping for another.” Teleporting back to the library  - without her Matter-horn getup - Twilight curtly nodded to Rarity and Pinkie. “Apologies for getting you wrapped up in this, girls. Right now though, Pinkie’s got customers at her home to handle, and I’m sure both me and Rarity could use a nap at this point - we can talk more tomorrow, right?”  “Probably for the best, yes.” Rarity nodded, turning for the door. “Let’s make haste, darling. My bed is calling my name, and I suspect all the little colts and fillies at Sugarcube Corner are calling for yours!” “Oh! Okay! Seeya Twilight!”  Pinkie replied, trotting through the door behind the fashionista. “Besides, considering those activities, I’m sure talking’s probably not gonna be possible anyway!” “I mean the trick-or-treaters, Pinkie!” “Hehe! I’ll be sure to let Spike know about that!” “You will do no such thing or so help m-” The door snapped shut before Rarity’s tirade of “sophisticated profanity” was unleashed. Twilight sighed wearily before turning to the last of her friends in the treehouse. “Oh yeah, Fluttershy? Tell Discord to come back to Golden Oaks tomorrow night. Alone, if you would.” Thankfully, Fluttershy offered no resistance to the idea, simply nodding and traipsing out to enjoy the rest of their Nightmare Night. Soon, only Twilight was left in the Golden Oaks Library. After a moment of ruminations, she summoned up a scroll of her own and an ink quill. Forgive me for I know not what I do, Spike, Twilight thought as she began writing. Dear Discord, I know you’re not too eager to hear me blab, so I’ll cut right to the point. Before you showed up, Mane-iac’s tentacles were so deep in me that I thought they'd come out the other side. It was frightening, enlightening, and rather hot.  So in terms of whether she stays in that stone prison, here’s my proposal...