The Crystal Empress

A little vacation was exactly what Rarity needed.

Life could get stressful for someone like her; Between her growing business, her status as a minor celebrity, and saving the world from time to time, it could be a lot to handle. Too much for anyone to go through alone. Thankfully for Rarity, she was far from alone. She had good friends to carry her through the rough patches in life, as well as her beautiful, wonderful, loving wife. Rarity never felt more loved or comforted than she did when she looked at Applejack. A tall drink of water, if a little rough around the edges, she was as tender a woman as Rarity had ever known. No matter what the two had gone through, the good and the bad, Rarity knew she could count on Applejack to be there for her.

Rarity knew that, like always, the bad times would pass, and then it would be smooth sailing for them both.

“Darling?” Rarity nudged Applejack, stirring her from her slumber. “We’re pulling into the station.”

“Huh?” Applejack blinked slowly as she stifled a yawn. She had, evidently, fallen asleep during the long train ride, and she jerked upright when she realized she had been laying against Rarity’s shoulder. “Sorry. Must’ve dozed off…”

“It’s nothing to worry yourself over. You always fall out on these sorts of long trips,” said Rarity. She flashed a cheeky little grin. “Although, you did drool on me just a tiny bit…”

“Oh. Sorry.” Applejack seemed a bit embarrassed, and turned slightly to avoid looking at Rarity. “Should’ve pushed me off or something.”

“I didn’t mean… I was just teasing, darling. Honest, it’s okay.” It went quiet, save for a tiny grunt of understanding from Applejack, and that silence persisted until the train fully came to a stop, and the other passengers began to rise. “I don’t know about you, but I’m in dire need of a walk.”

“My legs could use some stretchin’,” agreed Applejack. “Could go for a bite to eat, too.”

“Well, that settles it, then. We’ll drop our things off at the hotel, and then we’ll find someplace nice to sit down for lunch.”

Applejack didn’t respond immediately, but after a somewhat tense moment of consideration, she nodded her agreement. This was enough for Rarity, who leaned over and gave her beloved a kiss on the cheek. Applejack sort of chortled and then returned the gesture with a peck of her own. It was a bit strained of an interaction, which was sadly becoming the norm for them, but Rarity could still feel the love boiling under the surface. It wasn’t anyone’s fault that it had become obscured, but now they just needed to work a bit harder to bring it to the surface. The couple rose from their seats and, after grabbing up their carry-on bags, made their way out of the train and onto the station platform.

“About time you made it!”

Standing on the platform, evidently waiting for them, was not a person Rarity would have expected in the slightest. Flanked by an entourage of guards and assistants, and standing boldly before them in an elegant dress so finely crafted that Rarity found herself immensely jealous of whoever designed it, was the young Princess of the Crystal Empire. Though Flurry Heart was of smaller stature, barely five feet tall, and only twenty-one years of age, she carried herself with the confidence and poise of Celestia herself. She smiled politely to the approaching couple, her eyes seeming to linger on Rarity in particular, her eyes drifting below the visiting seamstress’ own for a split second; By the time she noticed, Flurry had returned her gaze to Rarity’s face, and she smiled innocently, as if nothing had ever happened.

“Welcome to the Empire,” said Flurry with a smirk. "Nice to see you, Auntie Rara, Auntie AJ."

“Oh! Princess Flurry, what a pleasant surprise!” Though Rarity had experienced dinner with Celestia a few times by then, meeting royalty was always an exciting affair for her. “We weren’t expecting you. Surely you didn’t come all this way just to welcome us?”

“How’d you even know we were comin’, your highness?” asked Applejack.

“I just so happened to be talking to Auntie Twilight earlier. She needed to tell Daddy something, but he’s not in at the moment so she left a message, and we got to chatting.” Flurry smirked, giving the pair a little wink. “When she told me you were coming for a vacation… Well, I just had to accommodate you. You’re staying at the Six Seasons, right?”

“Yep. We were just on our way there now.” Applejack nodded slowly, almost uncomfortably. She was a much simpler mare than her wife, with simpler aspirations, so she didn’t regard a meeting with the regality as highly as Rarity. “Then we were going to have lunch.”

“That sounds excellent. Here, I’ll have my people take your bags to your room for you, and you can join me for lunch,” said Flurry. She clapped once and, almost before she could complete the gesture, a gaggle of her assistants descended onto the married couple to collect their luggage. “There’s this amazing bistro downtown, best place in the main city to get lunch. I had them close early for me, but you’re more than welcome to join me. We’ll have the place all to ourselves…”

“We’d love to!” said Rarity, bubbling with enthusiasm. She grabbed Applejack by the hand, looking to her wife with an energetic grin that soon wavered when she saw her lover's expression; Applejack wore a polite smile, but anyone who knew her extensively could tell it was forced.

"Perfect. Come along, I have a carriage waiting for us." Flurry turned on the spot and sort of floated forward in the direction of her carriage. "It's been quite a while, Auntie. I'm dying to catch up!"

"But of course!" Rarity made to take a step forward, but paused when she noticed Applejack's tension beside her. "Er… Actually, darling, could we have a moment? Being cramped on that train for so long, Applejack and I were hoping to stretch out legs a bit?"

"Take as much time as you need. I'll be waiting for you."

Rarity smiled politely as Flurry departed for her carriage, waiting until she was completely certain that she was out of earshot before turning to look at Applejack; The farmer had this exhaustion in her eyes, and her brow was furrowed down in an expression that Rarity could only describe as “irked”. Applejack didn’t say anything straight away so, as was often the case, Rarity took the reins of the conversation.

“I’m sensing you’re upset with me for some reason,” said Rarity. Applejack rolled her eyes.

“Really? What gave it away?” snorted Applejack.

“Frankly, darling, I could do without the tone. If I’ve upset you, then I’m sorry, but that doesn’t mean you can talk to me like that.”

“Rarity… I thought this whole Crystal Empire trip was supposed to be about us. You and me. So why in the world would you go out and commit us to some fancy-schmancy royal lunch without even asking me about what I thought?”

“Fancy-schmancy… Honestly, just listen to yourself, darling! It’s not as if we don’t know Flurry,” scoffed Rarity. “She’s essentially our niece, and she’s offering to treat us to lunch! It’d be rude to refuse. What, do you not like Flurry all of a sudden?”

“There you go, putting words in my mouth again. I ain’t say all that. All’s I’m saying is that I thought this was gonna be a trip for us to reconnect. Just me and you. But we ain’t off the train for even five minutes before you go hopping off to have another meeting with a princess you can talk to your uppity ass friends about, knowing damn well how I feel about this sort of thing.”

“I… I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“Rarity, for Celestia’s sake, I hate having these kinds of get-togethers with important folk like the princesses. Yeah, I know they’re all swell ladies, and I know we’re all well-acquainted by now,” said Applejack, with a delivery similar to that of a woman who had recently stubbed her toe. “But it don’t change the fact that it ain’t my world. I don’t get them, and they don’t get me. Makes me feel all jumpy when I gotta pretend to know what the hell y’all are gossiping about just to fit in. Just another reminder that I ain’t…”

“Not what, darling?” asked Rarity, her heart melting a little. Though the conversation had started off a bit confrontational, Rarity couldn’t help but feel for Applejack. It was clear that she was upset, and Rarity was kicking herself for not realizing it sooner. Perhaps if she was more proactive in these things, they wouldn’t need this vacation as much as they do. “You can tell me. It’s okay.”

“It just feels sometimes like I ain’t good enough for you, okay? You like all this bougie, fancy, extravagant stuff, but me? I’m a simple gal. Sometimes I wonder if you’d be happier with someone that shared your tastes more,” said Applejack. She noticed Rarity’s gaze drift to her eyeline, and quickly turned away to avoid her wife’s sight. “I know it’s silly, but I just wish you would think about stuff like that before you jumped in and dragged me along with you.”

“Oh, darling… I’m sorry, I never meant to make you feel like that. I never realized…” Rarity reached for Applejack’s hand and, when the farmer didn’t pull away, she decided to count that as a victory. “If you like, I could speak to Flurry and—”

“Naw. Too late now. Just… Promise me that the rest of our trip is just gonna be just for us? I really want things to work out, and I think if we could just spend some time together…”

“Say no more. I give you my word, darling. After lunch, it’s just you and me.” Rarity boosted herself up to her tiptoes and, after a short second of contemplation, Applejack stooped down a bit to allow her wife to kiss her cheek. “And I am not leaving your side until I make you feel as amazing as you truly are."

Applejack didn't respond immediately, which was something Rarity probably should have expected. This wasn't the first time that Rarity had made such promises. Always giving her word that things would be different this time around. Even though Applejack knew in her heart that Rarity wasn’t a liar, she also knew that her wife was far from the most reliable woman in the world. Despite that, there was nothing that could be done now, save for moving forward and hope for the best.

“C’mon. Princess Flurry is waiting on us,” sighed Applejack. “Y’know, I really am glad to see her. She grew up into a damn fine little lady, didn’t she?”

“Of course. Good genes, and all.” Rarity offered her hand to Applejack and, after a tense moment of pensive silence, Applejack took it into her own. “AJ, darling? You do know that I love you, don’t you?”

Once upon a time, there would have been no time at all between Rarity’s question and Applejack’s answer. Even now, the gap wasn’t very lengthy. Just long enough for Rarity to notice.

“Course I do. And I love you too, sugarcube.”

“Isn’t this place lovely?”

Rarity had never had lunch quite like this before. More so than just the food and drink, which were impeccable, was the atmosphere and aura; The restaurant that the three had dined at, a very nice Prench bistro the likes of which Rarity adored and wished she could have back home, was an incredibly high-profile establishment. The menu was expensive, and according to Flurry, the wait time to get a reservation was several months at this point. Rarity, being a fairly high-profile person herself, was no stranger to fancy establishments, but the experience of one this luxurious completely to herself was once-in-a-lifetime. To say she was enjoying herself would be the understatement of the century.

She was, of course, very confused why her wife beside her seemed so profoundly miserable, but that would be a conversation for later.

“To call it just ‘lovely’ would be a disservice,” said Rarity, sipping her wine as the party of three finished their meal. “And with such fantastic company, too? Some might say we’re having too good of a time. Wouldn’t you agree, Applejack?”

“Oh, yeah. Was really great, having some time with you, Princess,” said Applejack. She put on a good front, but Rarity could tell she wasn’t having the best of times, which she found genuinely confusing. Not only was lunch fantastic, but Rarity had also gone out of her way to involve Applejack in the conversation, to alleviate Applejack’s previous complaints. What more could she want? “Though I am a might curious… Where are your parents at? Don’t think I’ve ever known them to just up and leave like that.”

“Oh, Mom and Dad are on some dignitary tour. They’re visiting a small kingdom that’s somehow even more northern than we are. Normally, only Mom would go, but I told them I could handle things here for a while,” explained Flurry. “Sometimes they forget I’m not a little kid anymore. I’m a perfectly capable monarch who can more than handle one little Empire. Honestly, after you guys dealt with pretty much every ancient evil that threatened Equestria, the Crystal Empire basically runs itself. All I have to do is occasionally pass a law and smile for the camera.”

“Well, regardless, you’re doing an incredible job, from the looks of things,” said Rarity with a smile. Flurry seemed to glow a little bit brighter at that affirmation, her smile widening. “Applejack and I were just talking earlier, you’ve grown up so fast! You’re such a gorgeous, talented young woman. We’re all very proud of you.”

“Aw. Thanks, Auntie Rara!”

“She’s right. You’re making your Mama and Daddy proud,” said Applejack with a nod. Even though clearly on edge, she tried not to let that negatively impact Flurry.

“It really means a lot to hear you guys say that. I hope to keep making you proud.” Flurry sighed a bit as she set down her wine, a sound that perked Rarity’s ears a bit. “You know… I miss Auntie Twilight and all the others, but It’s nice to see you guys specifically. Sorta… I don’t know. Gives me hope, I guess.”

“Hope?”

“Mom and Dad… They haven’t been getting along too well lately. They’ve been fighting pretty much every night,” admitted Flurry. “They’re working things out now, but… It’s nice seeing how much you two love each other. I hope I have what you guys have someday.”

Rarity and Applejack shared a glance, unsure what to make of it. It was a delicate situation, to be sure. Do they let Flurry’s inaccurate observation stand, and give her a false thought of married life? Or do they correct her and risk ruining her perspective on romance, not to mention embarrass themselves in the process? Applejack clearly didn’t know what to say, and so it naturally fell on Rarity to intervene.

“Love isn’t easy, Flurry. It’s a lot of work, from both parties. But, when it works, there’s nothing more beautiful and fulfilling in the world. Your parents love each other, and that’s never going to change. Even when they don’t exactly see eye to eye,” said Rarity. She let her words hang in the air for a bit before subtly and expertly shifting the topic slightly. “Speaking of romance… Is there any particular reason you have these matters on your mind, darling?”

“Hm? I don’t think I know what you mean,” said Flurry, her cheeks tinged red. Applejack grinned, as did her wife beside her. “What’s that look about, huh?”

“I think she’s asking if there are any secret Princes that we don’t know about,” said Applejack with a smirk. “Any boys I need to sit down and have a good ol’ fashioned ‘you hurt her, I hurt you’ type of chat with?”

“Oh, no! Nothing like that, I’m afraid,” sighed Flurry. “No real luck with boys lately. Or ever, come to think of it.”

“Aww, don’t be down, darling. You’ll find the one,” giggled Rarity. “You’re young, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to woo your Prince Charming. Just—”

Rarity’s phone buzzed, which was puzzling to her. She swore she set it to silent, as a polite gesture for lunch. Must have slipped her mind. She pulled her phone from her purse, her intention being to quickly turn her phone back to silent before stowing it away again, but something caught her eye; A notification of an email, from the Six Seasons hotel. Rarity opened the email, her heart sinking when she read the subject line.

Notice of Booking Cancellation

“Auntie Rara?” said Flurry. “Is everything ok?”

“Oh dear… There’s been some sort of issue with our hotel,” sighed Rarity. She could barely look at Flurry, let alone her wife. This was up there with the worst news possible, given the high stakes of the trip. “They’ve canceled our booking.”

“Are you serious? Damn!” groaned Applejack. “I knew something like this would happen. Had a bad feeling ever since you booked the room.”

“No offense, darling, but you had a bad feeling about every room we looked at that was nicer than your barn. If it was up to you, we’d be staying in a motel.”

“Well, right now, it seems like we’re gonna be staying in the snow, so—”

“Guys. Did we all just forget where you are?” asked Flurry with a grin. “You’re in the Crystal Empire. You know, the kingdom run by your close personal friends? Who cares about some hotel when I’ve got a whole castle with about six hundred unoccupied guest rooms?”

“We appreciate the thought, sugarcube, but we can’t just accept such a generous offer,” said Applejack. “It wouldn’t be right to just intrude on you like that.”

“Listen, Auntie AJ, I’m even more stubborn than my father, so let me just save you some time. I’m not just gonna leave you guys out to dry. I have rooms to spare, rooms much nicer than any hotel. Cleaning staff, open bar, and a kitchen that’d make you a whole Hearth’s Warming feast at 2 AM if you asked them to.”

“Sounds a whole lot better than the alternatives,” noted Rarity. Applejack shot her a sideways glance, but clearly seemed to be contemplating the situation.

“I don’t know… I’d hate to be a freeloader…” mumbled Applejack.

“Fine, you feel the need to compensate me? Then how’s this?” said Flurry. “There’s this dress that Dad picked out for me, and while it’s nice… Well, Dad tried his best, but he’s not the most fashionable guy in the world. It could use a few tweaks to really fit my style. If you don’t mind doing a few alterations, Auntie Rara…?”

“Sounds more than fair to me. We gladly accept, darling." Rarity gently grabbed Applejack by the forearm, smiling at her niece. "Thank you so much, darling. That level of generosity is befitting a princess such as yourself."

"Funny you should say that…Little known fact, I'm technically not a princess at all," said Flurry with a little smirk. "Due to some really old laws in the Empire, you can't be considered princess unless married, which technically makes me a duchess. And a neat quirk of being a duchess is that, if something were to happen to the prince or princess, I ascend to the highest title available until a new princess is inserted. I did some digging and, though it hasn't been used for ages now, the highest rank in the Crystal hierarchy is actually the title of Empress."

"That makes a fair bit of sense," mused Rarity with a nod. "It is the Crystal Empire, after all. Hm… Empress Flurry, then?"

"Bow and grovel at my feet, peons."

The air grew tense for a spell, the silence nearly going on a second too long before Flurry broke the tension with a gentle giggle. Soon enough, Rarity was joining in and, though she clearly didn't get the joke, Applejack too gave a polite chuckle. Rarity tried to gauge the situation, but found it a bit difficult, considering who she was dealing with. Applejack had a tendency of keeping to herself, regardless of how often Rarity would tell her to open up. No matter. She was probably just still on edge about the hotel cancellation. Lucky for them, Rarity was there to save the vacation.

And, with some luck, the vacation wouldn't be the only thing Rarity managed to save.

"Princess Flurry?"

Rarity knocked on the grand doors of the princess' chambers, heart thumping like a marching drum. For what reason, Rarity couldn't say. This wouldn't be the first time she designed a dress for royalty, so why was she so on edge? Perhaps it was leftover shakes from talking with Applejack, a brief argument that had occurred once they were settled in their new room. Much of the same as before, Applejack didn't appreciate such a big decision being made without her input. Rarity argued that it wasn't much of a decision, as they were severely lacking in alternatives.

"Hm? Oh! Auntie Rara! Come on in, just lock the door behind you!"

Without much thought, Rarity opened the door and entered the bed chamber, swinging the door shut and clicking the lock behind her. As Rarity surveyed the room, she was taken aback by the extravagantly beautiful decor; a massive four-poster bed, with the finest of silk curtains, took up a large portion of the room, along with a grand wardrobe opposite of a fully stocked bookshelf. There was a red velvet fainting couch and an armchair to one side, facing a large flat-screen television mounted into the wall. Lastly, in the center of the room, was a mannequin wearing a pale green sundress, the one Flurry had described to Rarity before. It was a nice piece, but Rarity agreed that it needed a few alterations to really fit Flurry’s style. Curiously, Flurry herself was nowhere to be found.

“And here I thought the room we were staying in was nice…” remarked Rarity. “Flurry, darling? Where are you?”

“Just getting out of the shower! Gimme a sec, I’m just gonna slip into a robe. Have a seat!”

Rarity did as such, resting her bottom on the fainting couch and folding her hands over her lap. As she sat there waiting, a funny thought popped into her brain; She laid out on her side, her legs propped up onto the couch and her nose tilted up dramatically. As soon as she took the position, Rarity blushed and straightened herself up. It was silly, really. That was the sort of overly theatrical, needlessly sexy antics that had Applejack falling head over heels all those years ago. Now, while Rarity definitely still had her looks, age had tempered that sultry flame. She just wasn’t that mare anymore. Besides, striking sexy poses in the private bedroom of a young woman? Rarity would hate to give Flurry the wrong idea of her intentions.

“Sorry about the wait.” Flurry slid into the room through a door in the back, just as Rarity had sat herself back up. The young princess wore a very nice silk bathrobe, a bit short, by Rarity’s estimation, but undoubtedly very comfortable. Her hair was still wet, and it was clear that she had rushed out of her bath to greet Rarity. “Thanks again for doing this, Auntie Rara.”

“I should be thanking you, darling. The room you have us set in is spectacular, nicer than where we were going to stay to begin with. Adjusting your dress is the least I can do." Rarity stood up and made her way to the mannequin that stood in the center of the room. "So, I assume this is the piece in question?"

"Mh-hm. Dad just brought it on a whim, I'm just glad he got the right size," said Flurry, crossing paths with Rarity and taking a seat on the couch. “I can’t really put it into words, but it just seems… off, right?”

“Agreed. It’s a lovely dress, of course, but it’s a bit… plain.” Rarity inspected the dress for a bit before turning back to face Flurry. “I just need to—Oomf! Oh, Flurry, darling? Your robe?”

“Hm? What about it?” Flurry tilted her head, entirely oblivious even as Rarity pointed to her chest. After a few moments of confusion, Flurry finally looked down at herself; The string to her robe had come a bit loose, opening the garment up just enough to give any potential onlooker a rather healthy eyeful of the princess’ breast. Immediately, Flurry bloomed bright red, using a combination of her hands and magic to pull her robe closed around her. “Oh my God! I’m sorry you had to see that…”

“Sorry? It was a bit awkward, seeing you in that way, but nothing to be sorry about,” said Rarity. Flurry didn’t respond, simply shrinking down onto herself and averting her gaze. There was something in that movement that pushed the thoughts of dress modifications clear out of Rarity’s head, and she made her way to the couch to take a seat beside her niece. “Darling, is everything okay? You seem a bit rattled.”

“I just… I’ve been having some body image issues lately,” sighed Flurry. “I’m so small and flat, with this pancake butt and these ugly little lopsided boobs. Sometimes, I look at someone like you and I’m just… Ugh. I wish I could look like you.”

“Oh, darling, you really needn’t feel that way. Curves aren’t the be-all, end-all for attractiveness.” Rarity placed her arm around Flurry, pulling her in a bit closer. “You are a beautiful woman just the way you are.”

"I don’t know, Auntie Rara. That’s easy for you to say, you’ve probably had guys tripping over themselves to date you your whole life. But me? No one wants me…” Flurry brought her knees up to her chest and pouted. “Not that I blame them. I’m hideous.”

“Flurry! Don’t say such terrible things! If anything, I wish I looked more like you.” As someone who spent much of their youth obsessed with her appearance, Rarity’s heart wept for the young woman. No one deserved to feel this way, least of all such a kind, genuinely beautiful woman like Flurry. “You’re gorgeous, darling, absolutely stunning!”

“You’re just saying that… As if the perfect woman would ever want to look like me,"’ lamented Flurry. Rarity grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her around, staring deeply and intently into the princess’ eyes. “Auntie…”

“Flurry, I don’t want you saying those sorts of things about yourself anymore. Take it from me, comparing yourself to others is only good for causing yourself pain. You are beautiful, and there’s nothing that anyone can do or say to change that,” said Rarity firmly. “And I am not ‘just saying that’, okay? Between you and me, if I was single and perhaps a few years younger, I might be trying to snatch you up myself.”

It happened in a flash, far faster than Rarity could have prepared for; Flurry darted forward, eyes squeezed shut, and pecked Rarity on the lips. It was over in a second, quicker than a hiccup, and yet, Rarity felt Flurry’s soft lips against her own for an eternity. Both women blushed, and neither could look the other in the eye for the sheer awkward embarrassment of the situation. Then, slowly, Flurry looked up, with tears in her eye, to meet Rarity’s gaze.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” she breathed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I… That was so stupid!”

“Flurry, darling, calm down. It’s okay, truly,” said Rarity, though her heart was racing just a bit. This was a very precarious situation she found herself in, and, though inadvertent, Flurry had certainly just complicated things. “You’re a bit emotional, and you acted without thinking. I can’t blame you much. I’ve made my fair share of blunders over a crush, myself.”

“Yeah… Crush…” Flurry sighed, burying her face in her hands. “When did you realize?”

“Well, it was a bit difficult to ignore how you looked at me when we got off of the train,” admitted Rarity, gently rubbing Flurry on the shoulder. All she had to do was keep the princess calm, and things would work themselves out from there. “And, truthfully, you oggled me a bit during lunch, as well.”

“Sorry… I couldn’t help myself, you’re just so… Perfect.” Flurry seemed to be easing up a bit, which was good news for Rarity. “So if you knew, why’d you still agree to come fix the dress?”

“Because, no matter what, I care about you, and I want to help you however I can. I love you more than I’m concerned about a briefly awkward encounter.”

“And I just had to go and make it extra awkward…” groaned Flurry. “I’m sorry, Auntie. Maybe we should just call it quits on this dress thing for tonight. If you still feel like fixing it tomorrow, we can meet back up. Um… Sorry, again.”

“It’s perfectly fine, darling. I agree, reconvening in the morning might be for the best,” said Rarity. She gave Flurry a gentle pat on the shoulder, hoping to soothe the young woman’s turbulent soul. “I’ll see you then. Goodnight, Flurry.”

“Rarity, wait.” Flurry seemed to regret the words as soon as they left her mouth, but it was too late; Rarity heard her, and paused as she attempted to rise from the couch. “I know this is pathetic and probably off-limits, but I’d hate myself forever if I didn’t at least ask.”

“Hm? What is it, darling?”

“Would it be okay if I… Um… If I kissed you? Just the once?” Flurry shrunk down slightly. “Er… I guess technically twice…”

"Flurry, darling, I don't know if that's a good idea…" said Rarity uneasily. "It wouldn't be right."

"I know, I know. It's just… I know I won't ever get the chance again. Even if it doesn't mean anything…" Flurry paused for a beat, and when Rarity didn't immediately respond, she shrunk in on herself timidly. "Sorry. That was out of line. You’re here with your wife, for God’s sake. You know what, just forget I said anything, forget about the dress, just go and enjoy your—”

Rarity silenced Flurry by grabbing her firmly by the wrist and gently pulling her in. With her other hand, Rarity braced the princess’ face, tilting her soft features slightly as she leaned in close to the younger woman. Rarity’s eyes fluttered shut as her lips met the princess’, a soft moan escaping her out of surprise; Flurry advanced more quickly than she expected, her tongue deftly and expertly manipulating the situation. Rarity was awash with surprise and sensation, so much so that she didn’t notice Flurry’s robe slip, nor did she think much of the hands that grabbed her wrists, leading her own up to a pair of soft, perky, petite breasts. Rarity was so taken aback that she fell to her instincts, and she almost absent-mindedly groped the princess as they kissed. After a few moments of passion, it began to dawn on Rarity what was happening, and she slowly pulled away from Flurry in order to catch her breath, and take stock of the situation.

“No luck with boys, was it?” breathed Rarity with a nervous chuckle. “There’s no chance that was your first time, darling. I—”

“My God, how can you be this fucking stupid?”

Rarity’s brow went up at the sharp language, so out of character that she scarcely believed it to be anything more than her imagination. Then, by some compulsion, she turned to her right, and her heart dropped into the pit in her stomach. At what she saw; Floating in midair, held by a glittering aura of crystal blue light, was a smartphone. Almost as if to confirm her worst fears, the phone’s camera flashed, indicating that a photo had been taken. As her mouth hung open, completely distraught, Flurry giggled and stood up from the couch, bouncing over to retrieve her phone.

“You know, I thought this would be easy, but you really just gave it to me,” said Flurry with a sinister smirk. She stretched and yawned, any semblance of decency gone as she just allowed her robe to billow this way or that. “So, are you ready for me to explain what happens next, or are you still too busy being shellshocked?”

“You… You have to delete that, right away,” said Rarity. She made a step for the phone, just for it to vanish in a flash of magic. “Flurry, this isn’t funny, you can’t just—”

“I gave you a chance, but you didn’t even get two full sentences out before saying something stupid. So let’s get this one thing straight, Auntie Rara.” The tone in which she referred to Rarity was dripping with the most artificially saccharine pleasantry possible. “I can do whatever I want. I’m the strongest, smartest, most powerful princess of the bunch, and unlike the others, I’m not afraid to throw my weight around a little.”

“Seems you got over those body image issues quite easily,” said Rarity with a frown. “So you made all that up just to get a kiss out of me?”

“Ha! Oh, wow, you really are all tits, no brains,” cackled Flurry. “No, Rarity, this wasn’t about getting a kiss. This was about me making you my bitch.”

“Excuse me?! How dare you talk to me like that, I am—!”

“I dare because I have photographic evidence of you, a married woman and symbol of excellence in Equestria, making out with your impressionable niece, a woman half your age.” With each word, Rarity seemed to pale, and Flurry smiled a bit wider. “What would people think? What would your wife think? Thankfully, your marriage isn’t rocky or anything, this could really be the straw that breaks the camel’s back… Oh, wait…”

“You knew about me and Applejack?” peeped Rarity. Her heart thumped, the fear and fury coursing through her in a way she couldn’t recall ever feeling before. “Is that why you mentioned your parents?”

“If you were trying to hide it, you did a bad job. Desperation just isn’t your color, Rarity. If it makes you feel any better, this would’ve happened even if your marriage was rock solid. All that changed is that you saved me an hour of manipulation.” Every word out of Flurry’s mouth felt so absolutely, supremely wrong to Rarity, who had never known the princess to have a nefarious bone in her body. Now, she was showing a completely different side to herself, one that Rarity did not like in the slightest. “So, now that you get where I’m headed with this… For the duration of your vacation, you are going to do whatever I say. If I say jump, you jump. If I say I like your blouse, you give me the clothes off of your back. If I tell you to get on your knees and kiss my pretty little pussy, then…”

Flurry dropped her robe to the floor, completely baring her nude body to Rarity, who quickly averted her eyes. The entire situation was so strange, she couldn’t even begin to make sense of it. All she knew for certain was that those pictures that Flurry took could absolutely ruin her. Her friends, disgusted. Her marriage, over. She needed to keep the contents of that cell phone concealed, by any means necessary.

“Well? I’m waiting. Or did you really need me to spell it out for you?” groaned Flurry, rolling her eyes. “Swear your fealty to my cunt or I’m going to text this photo to everyone you know. All your friends, your family, the old ball and chain. They're all gonna know what an adulterous, cradle-robbing whore you truly are. Your call, Auntie "

Rarity was appalled, not just by Flurry's demands, but by every venomous, incendiary word to leave the young princess' mouth. She couldn't imagine saying such horrible things to anyone, never mind a close friend, bordering on family. And yet, somehow, Flurry seemed to be taking joy in hurting her "aunt's" feelings.

"And if I do what you want, you won't tell anyone about this?" asked Rarity through her teeth. Flurry simply smiled, and pointed down to her pussy. With a little scowl, Rarity dropped to one knee and, with her eyes squeezed shut, pressed her lips between Flurry's legs. She made to pull away, but was stopped when Flurry placed a hand atop her head and held her in place. There was a flash of light and, over Flurry's shoulder, the princess' cellphone reappeared to snap another photo. "Hmf?!"

"Say cheese." There was a devious, sinister, almost ravenous glint in Flurry's eyes as she held Rarity's face firmly against her pussy. She snapped a few more photos, clearly taking great joy in the way that Rarity's face fell with each shutter click, before using her magic to make her cell phone disappear yet again. "Pay attention, Rarity. For as long as you're in my Empire, this right here is the only thing you care about. You keep this happy, then you keep me happy. You keep me happy, and I keep your dirty little secret for you. Say 'yes, Empress' if you understand."

Finally, Flurry released her grip on Rarity, allowing her to pull away with a scowl. Rarity wiped her mouth with her thumb and stood upright, positively seething at her niece's smug little grin. It went quiet for a bit as Rarity considered her options, which seemed few and far in-between. Her best chance at getting out of this with her relationships intact would be to get her hands on Flurry's cell phone to delete the evidence, but given that Flurry could make the phone vanish in the blink of an eye, that plan was a non-starter. With that, it meant Rarity only had one option for the time being.

"Yes, Empress," grumbled Rarity. Flurry grinned, the vile, hedonistic smirk making Rarity's stomach turn. "So what now?"

"Your phone. Now." Rarity hesitated for just a moment, then slowly produced her own cell phone. With a wave of her hand, Flurry surrounded Rarity's phone with more of her crystalline magic. The light faded from the phone, and the screen now displayed a heart made of blue crystal before returning to Rarity's traditional home screen. "There, I enchanted your phone so that we can keep in touch without anyone getting suspicious. You'll be getting a text from me soon, but no one else will be able to see what you see."

"And when I get the text?"

"You, uh, do what it tells you to do. Duh." Flurry stretched and yawned, scratching a hand through her hair tiredly. "Now get out of my room. Your Empress requires sleep."

Once again, Rarity was far from pleased to be spoken to in this manner. Yet, just like before, she didn't have a plentitude of options in this situation. With a dark scowl and her stomach in knots, Rarity silently turned and trudged her way to the door. As she left, she heard Flurry giggle to herself, and The Crystal Empress muttered something just loud enough for Rarity to hear, yet low enough that it seemed to be mostly for her own amusement.

"Oh, I am going to have so much fun ruining your life…"

What a beautiful day for a stroll.

The sun was out, shining down onto the land and helping to moderate the typically harsh winter bite that enveloped the Crystal Empire. Not a cloud in the sky, and a gentle, refreshing breeze blew through the Crystal Forest to keep the ambiance calm, relaxing, and generally pleasant. Even despite the terrible events of the previous night, Rarity couldn't help but marvel at the beauty and the majesty of the forest she found herself strolling through. To her surprise, when she had given Applejack control over their date, her wife had chosen something that they were both liable to enjoy; a stroll through the Crystal Forest, which was holding a fair with all manner of stalls, boutiques, and stands selling baubles and trinkets the likes of which Rarity simply adored. What's more, Applejack had arranged for a picnic at the end, something that brought Rarity back to when the two had first started dating. Simply put, it was a perfect date, the exact thing that Rarity had hoped for when she had dragged her wife to the Crystal Empire.

And yet, Rarity couldn't enjoy a singular second of it, for she was expecting a text at any minute.

"How ya holding up, sugarcube?" said Applejack, clutching their picnic basket in her left hand. With her right, she had laced her fingers together with Rarity's, while the two had their scenic stroll through the woods. "We only got a few more minutes to the picnic grounds."

"I can manage. We're lucky, the weather is incredible right now," remarked Rarity. She tried to act natural, but given her mental state, she was unsure of how well she achieved that. Her only saving grace, ironically, was that Applejack likely presumed Rarity to be desperate for their date to go off without a hitch. Somehow, her failing marriage was the perfect cover. "Excellent choice, by the way. This is a wonderful way to spend the day."

"Even a broke clock is right twice a day." Applejack shrugged and gave a little chuckle. "Was thinking about when we first started dating. Our first date was a picnic, wasn't it?"

"Indeed. It was a bit of a disaster, actually. We made way too much food, and Rainbow fell out of the sky right on top of us!" Rarity laughed at the memory, her laughter trailing off as she thought of Rainbow Dash. Applejack's best friend. She was Applejack's best mare at their wedding. Rarity had seen many a bar fight break out from Rainbow defending her friend's honor. If she saw those pictures that Flurry had taken, Rarity wasn't sure how she'd react. "That was a long time ago…"

"Yeah. We had a lot of good years since then. And a lot of good years ahead of us, too."

It was almost a sort of dark poetry that it was that moment that Rarity's phone buzzed in her pocket. Her heart went still in her chest as she retrieved the device, begging to any God or force of the universe that would listen for it to be someone, anyone but Flurry. As she glanced at the screen, she had a split second of confusion that immediately gave way to utter disgust.

One new message from: GOD

"Everything okay, sugarcube?" asked Applejack, nudging Rarity gently. Rarity jerked upright, quickly glancing from her screen to her wife and back.

"Everything's fine. Just a difficult client." In many ways, that was the truth, though Rarity highly doubted that Applejack would be satisfied by the technicality. "I told him I'd be on vacation, but you know how these people are sometimes."

"You need to take it?"

"Just for long enough for me to tell him to piss off." Rarity slowly released her grip on Applejack's hand and floated away a few steps, just enough to give her a bit of privacy. She maneuvered to the message from "God" and tried her best not to openly scowl. "Won't be but a moment."

I'm bored. What r u doing rn?

Rarity took in a deep breath before typing out her reply.

Busy. I'm on a date right now.

It took just a brief moment to receive a response and, when she did, Rarity swore to herself internally.

You shouldn't have told me that lol.

Rarity scrambled to correct the situation, but she was too slow; She didn't manage to type out even half of her message before she received another one to cut her off.

Ditch your wife someplace and show me your tits.

Can't you let me just enjoy my day with my wife?

Flurry responded with two messages. While the second one had text, the first was just the standard "crying with laughter" emoji.

You have two minutes. And don't do something stupid like leave your bra on.

“Say, darling,” said Rarity, as she begrudgingly sent out her reply. “Is there a rest stop nearby? I’m afraid nature is calling, as you say.”

“Mh-hm. We passed one a minute ago,” said Applejack, gesturing over her shoulder. “Want me to come with you?”

“No, darling, that’s quite alright. You go on ahead to the picnic grounds, I’ll meet you there.”

Rarity didn’t really wait for a response before she departed, too frustrated by her unfortunate situation. Instead, she set off at a brisk jog in the direction of the rest stop, sending out her text as she did.

Hold your horses. I’m going someplace private.

True to Applejack’s word, the rest stop was just a minute or so away, and Rarity very quickly made her way there. Even in an ordinary situation, she’d be less than pleased with having to use a public restroom, but still Rarity slipped into the dank, unsanitary facilities, locking the door behind her. Thankfully, it was empty, at least granting Rarity a bit of privacy as she was forced to humiliate herself. As Rarity approached the sink, she brought her phone’s camera up and pointed it at the grimy, smudged mirror. Eager to get this whole ordeal over with, Rarity quickly tugged her blouse and bra out of the way, revealing her soft, hefty breasts. Immediately she took her photo and sent it to Flurry, as instructed. She barely had to wait a full minute before receiving a return text that was simply a pair of cow emojis. With a roll of her eyes and a deep regret that text would be unable to properly convey her scathing annoyance, Rarity sent another message.

Satisfied?

Almost. Another pic. I wanna see u suck your own tit.

You have to be the single biggest pervert I have ever had the misfortune of knowing.

Flurry responded both with a text message and a photo of her own; She was laid out on her bed, completely nude and with her legs spread out. With one hand, she teased her own soft, pert breast while the other was two knuckles deep into her cunt. Her horn was alight with her blue aura, as it was presumably what was holding up the phone while she took her photo and sent her short, simple response.

Duh. Now get to sucking, Bessie.

With a heavy heart and an even heavier sense of disgust, Rarity did as she was instructed; She propped her left boob up and craned her head down, maneuvering until she had managed to get her lips around her own nipple. Though the size of her bust made the act itself relatively easy, the mental battle required to debase herself to such a level was much harder. Rarity couldn’t even imagine performing such an act to appease Applejack, never mind Flurry.

Finally, she took her photo and let her breast fall out of her mouth, just as a squeaking stall door alerted her to the presence of another. Rarity panicked immediately, throwing her clothes back in place, but not before a woman exited the nearby stall and caught just the briefest glimpse of Rarity’s risque photoshoot.

“Oh, sorry!” The woman paused, but upon realizing Rarity was fully dressed, continued on her way to the sink. She pulled out the earbuds she had in her ears and flashed a nervous little grin. “I didn’t hear you come in.”

“I thought I was alone…” Rarity cleared her throat and discreetly sent the additional picture to Flurry, before the princess got too restless. “Erm… Just trying to get a few sexy pics. For my wife, you see.”

“I getcha. My fella asks for nudes basically every time I leave the house.” The woman laughed as she washed her hands, apparently oblivious to Rarity’s tension. “The moment he can’t see them in person, he wants photographic evidence that my boobs are still attached. I thought it was just a guy thing, honestly.”

“No, darling, I’m afraid women can be just as horny as men,” remarked Rarity. Almost under her breath, she added. “Maybe even worse…”

“Sure, sure! Anyway, I’ll get out of your hair. Sorry if I gave you a scare.” The woman gave Rarity a good-natured wink. “Hope the missus likes ‘em.”

Rarity muttered a half-hearted thanks, getting herself in order as the woman departed. She washed her hands a bit needlessly, and gave her cheeks a firm splash with cold water to sort of jostle her out of her stupor. This wasn’t the type of person she was, the sort to slip off into a dirty public bathroom to take nude photos of herself. She’d never done this for anyone, not any previous girlfriends nor her own wife now. Rarity hated this sensation, this perverse shame that Flurry had forced upon her, but she breathed out a slight sigh of relief. Surely this would be able to satisfy the so-called Crystal Empress, at least for the time being. Rarity checked her messages to ensure that her photo had been properly sent, and grimaced at the text she had received in response.

Good whore. Meet me in my room tonight, 8pm. Enjoy the rest of your date ;)

Of course, that would just be Rarity’s luck. This woman was insatiable, and it was wishful thinking to believe that she’d be getting off that easily. Even still, there was a good amount of time between then and now. More than enough for Rarity to enjoy herself with Applejack. With that silver lining in mind, Rarity adjusted herself, straightened her clothes, and made for the door. As she exited the restroom and stepped back outside, she nearly walked directly into Applejack, much to her surprise and mild concern.

“Ooh, hello. You came back to wait for me?” asked Rarity nervously.

“You know how I worry sometimes. Just thought I’d come getcha. Ready to go?” Something in Applejack’s tone felt off, but not in any way that Rarity could really unpack; Perhaps she was just eager to sit down and eat. Rarity nodded, and the two made their way back to the trail. “So, who was that?”

“Hm?” Rarity arched her brow, genuinely confused for a spell. “Who was who?”

“That lady you was chatting with in the lady’s room.”

“Oh. You heard that?” Rarity tried to hide just how chilling she found that, uncertain as to what exactly Applejack had heard. “Just some woman using the stall beside me. She asked me about my ring on her way out, and we spoke about marriage a little bit. She thinks her boyfriend is going to propose soon, and she wanted an idea of what to expect.”

“Huh. What’d you tell her?” asked Applejack.

“The truth. There’s good times, and there’s bad times. But if your love is good, then the good times are more than worth the struggle.” Though her tone wasn’t as enthusiastic or dramatic as it would be ordinarily, due to her predicament, Rarity genuinely believed what she was saying. This wasn’t easy, but to keep hold of Applejack, Rarity would walk through hell and back. “True love is worth going through anything.”

“Huh. You always gave good advice.” It wasn’t lost on Rarity that Applejack’s response was a bit stilted, but there wasn’t much she could do about it. For now, all Rarity could do was get through the day and try her best to enjoy her time with her wife, before Flurry could sink her hooks into the married woman further. “C’mon, let’s go. I’m starving.”

Rarity nodded her agreement, hoping that she would be able to enjoy this date enough to offset how unpleasant her next date would surely be.

For a moment, as her fist hovered over the princess’ door, Rarity considering throwing this whole ordeal by the wayside.

How much more of this could she really stand? Flurry wasn’t showing any signs of relenting, and every meeting between the two only served to provide Flurry with even more blackmail to use as leverage against Rarity. Things would only get worse the longer she complied, and yet, it was her only option. If she disobeyed, Rarity knew Flurry would make good on her threat to reveal those scandalous photos, and then what could Rarity do? She could confess first, get out in front of things before they got out and try to save face that way, but the odds of Applejack ever forgiving her were slim to none. Deny them? Considering Flurry was, as far as anyone else knew, a perfect angel with nary a malicious bone in her body, it would be a hard sell to convince anyone that she manufactured this whole thing, especially considering Rarity’s issues with Applejack.

Rarity sighed and, with a heavy heart, knocked on Flurry’s door, hoping to get this over with as soon as possible. Within a few seconds, the door flew open, and Rarity stepped into the room. Flurry was waiting for her in the center of the room, grinning sinisterly at the older woman before her. In contrast to Rarity’s conservative blouse and jeans, Flurry wore a sultry blue babydoll nightgown, with elegant lace and beautiful frills, and it only took a moment for Rarity to recognize that it was one of her designs. She scowled openly at the princess, who just grinned and waved, her other hand curiously hidden behind her back.

“So, what excuse did you give the missus when you ditched her to see me?” asked Flurry. Rarity very nearly didin’t dignify that with a response, but after a moment of bitter contemplation, she finally responded.

“I told her you had some last-minute adjustments to be done on your dress. She’s expecting me back in half an hour or so,” said Rarity with a snarl. “So make this quick.”

“You know, it’s actually kind of impressive that you can be this profoundly stupid. Don’t you get it yet? You don’t get to tell me what to do. I am in control,” said Flurry, slowly approaching Rarity. “So if I want to spend all night using you, that is precisely what I’m going to do.”

“You don’t want Applejack to get suspicious too quickly. If she knows I’m here with you, you have nothing to threaten me with.” Her pleading words stung like vinegar to her tongue, but Rarity knew that the only chance that she had was to appeal to Flurry’s sick, perverted mind. “And that wouldn’t be any fun for you, now would it?”

“For once in your miserable life, you’re actually right. So let’s make the most of our time together.” The princess stopped just a few scant inches from Rarity, and the hate and fury that Rarity held in her heart was almost palpable. Flurry looked up at the older woman and smiled, slowly revealing what she was holding behind her back; A black leather collar, decorated with pale blue crystal gemstones and attached to a similarly black leash. Rarity’s lip curled in disgust at the accessory, but said nothing for the time being. “Be a good whore for your Empress and sit still.”

Flurry boosted herself to her tiptoes enough to reach Rarity’s neck, and she strapped the collar around her throat tightly. She pulled on Rarity’s collar a bit, to test its tightness, and determined that it was sufficiently snug. Even still, Flurry tightened it by one notch before she was satisfied, then took the leash in her dainty hands so that she could examine her toy; Rarity was disgusted, on the verge of tears, but still, she said nothing. Flurry simply smirked, knowing in her heart, that she would be getting something out of Rarity soon enough.

“This collar means you are my bitch, you understand me?” said Flurry. Again, silence from Rarity, which was clearly not what Flurry wanted. “I’m talking to you, cunt. When your Empress adresses you, you obey. Do you understand me? Or did your low-class, trailer trash, uncivilized hick parents fail to teach you how to follow simple instructions?”

Rarity had words for Flurry, for having the audacity to insult her family, but still, she said nothing. She couldn’t, because she knew if she started, she’d be unlikely to stop. So, instead, she gave a slow, taciturn nod, hoping that would be sufficient for Flurry. After a tense moment, Flurry eased slightly, evidently deciding that Rarity’s conduct was satisfactory. For now.

"Now get on your knees," ordered Flurry. Rarity cocked her brow, still not giving a verbal answer and certainly not obeying. "I said… Get. On. Your. Knees." Flurry tugged on Rarity's leash, the force pulling Rarity stumbling forward and sending her off-balance. She fell with a yelp and, looking up to Flurry with a burning hate in her eye, she came to a rest on her knees. "Much better. Now, kiss my feet."

"No."

"Pardon me?"

"I said 'no'. You can call me whatever you want, embarrass me, make me wear this stupid leash so you can indulge in your sick power play fetish," snarled Rarity, her annoyance with the situation finally bubbling over. "But I am not, under any circumstances, kissing your dirty, nasty, disgusting feet!"

"You must have misheard me. Did I say 'pretty please, would you like to kiss my feet, Auntie Rara'? No. I said 'kiss my feet'. I am your Empress, you are my servant. You do as you're told." Flurry waved a hand and produced her cell phone with a flourish of magic. "Unless you'd like me to send Applejack a little text? Maybe a photo or two, showing her what an unfaithful whore her wife is?" Rarity was fuming, but she did not give an answer. "No. I don't think you would want that, would you? So… Get your wrinkly face down on the ground and kiss my perfect fucking feet."

Rarity scowled, but, once again, was met with the crushing realization that she held no power in the situation. She was completely at Flurry's mercy, a slave to the will of the self-proclaimed Crystal Empress. There was only one thing she could do if she wanted any chance at escaping the Empire with her marriage intact and that was to obey, no matter how repulsive and debasing she found her commands.

She went down to all fours, palms laid flat against the cold crystal floor, and brought her face as low to the ground as she could manage. Seeing this display of obedience, Flurry slightly raised the hem of her dress, just enough to allow her servant to comply. Infuriatingly enough, Rarity found herself agreeing with at least the last part of Flurry's statement; The Princess' foot was soft, smooth, delicate and perfectly pedicured. Her tiny toes were painted gold, and they smelled faintly of citrus. A far cry from "dirty" or "nasty" as Rarity had previously claimed. Her cheeks flushed red but, after stalling for as long as she could, she brought her lips down to the crest of Flurry's foot and gave it a brief, dispassionate peck.

"There. Are you happy?" Rarity attempted to bring her head up, just to be halted by the grasp of Flurry's magic. She couldn't move, her lips pinned to the princess' foot. "Hmnf?!"

"Do you know how many people would go broke to be in your position?" snorted Flurry. "Kiss them like you mean it, you old hag. Show me how thankful you are for this opportunity."

Rarity swallowed her pride and kissed Flurry's foot again, for longer this time, but it didn't seem to appease her. The princess wiggled her toes and gave Rarity an expectant glare, which was all the instruction Rarity needed to understand what The Crystal Empress wanted of her; with her lip quivering with a bitter, burning disdain, Rarity brought her lips around Flurry's toes, half-heartedly sucking in the dainty little digits.

"Isn't that better? Just doing what you're told?" cooed Flurry as she flexed her toes against Rarity's tongue. "I see you trying to hide it, but unlike you, I'm not stupid. I can see that, deep down, you want this. You want me. You—"

Flurry let out a yelp when, in the middle of her tirade, Rarity chomped down hard on her tiny toes. She swung her foot free from Rarity's mouth, recoiling in pain before inspecting the damage. Rarity hadn't broken the skin or anything so severe, but there was an angry red imprint of her teeth in Flurry's biggest toe. Even though she knew she'd likely pay for it, that little bit of defiance was enough for Rarity at the moment. More than worth whatever Flurry came up with.

"Oops." Rarity's voice was dry and devoid of any scrap of remorse. "Did that hurt, darling?"

"You little…" The look in Flurry's eyes said that she had a thousand disparaging words for Rarity, but she managed to contain them for the time being. Instead, she grabbed Rarity by the hair and yanked her close, until they were nearly touching noses. "If I was a dirty peasant like you, I'd cane you until your tubby ass was more purple than the tacky dye you use to hide your greys. But I'm not a peasant. I am fucking royalty! So, instead, I'm going to teach you the difference between brutish, peon violence…"

Flurry snapped her fingers, and a chill went through the room as she unleashed what was surely an infinitesimally minute fraction of her magical power; Rarity could feel the hairs on her arm stand up straight, her entire being vibrating down to her last molecule under Flurry's awesome force. It was incredibly sobering, to feel that energy come from someone like Flurry, and Rarity began to realize precisely what she was dealing with. Like the power of the sun without the expansive void to temper it, The Crystal Empress had all of Celestia's might, but lacked the wisdom, or more frighteningly, the desire, to control that strength.

Thick bands of blue, crystalline light surrounded Rarity's wrists, manifesting into physical manacles of unbreakable crystal. A long length of chain exploded from each manacle, grabbing anchor to reality itself and pulling taught so that Rarity's arms were spread eagle, as if she was being crucified, and her clothes magically shed from her body, leaving her in nothing but her bra and panties. In Flurry's hand appeared a thin, delicate, needle of pink crystal, easily six inches in length and tapered to a wicked point on one end.

"And elegant, royal justice. Tell me, whore, do you know what this is?" Flurry held the needle before Rarity's eyes, and received no response. "I didn't expect you to. It's a bit above you, so I'll try to explain it in words you can understand."

"It's an acupuncture needle," droned Rarity. She could tell that Flurry did not enjoy being interrupted, so she took great pleasure in doing so. "You're going to need a lot more than one, darling."

"Good for you. I'm impressed you can pronounce a word with that many syllables. But, as usual, your pretensions of intelligence completely fall apart when dealing with someone as naturally bright and perfect as moi." Flurry tugged on the front of Rarity's bra to expose her breasts, and she grabbed them with a callous roughness one wouldn't expect from a princess such as her. "If I were you, I'd stick to thinking with these. That's much more your wheelhouse."

"Are you always such a condescending bitch?"

"Oh, you have no idea." Flurry teased Rarity's nipple, rubbing the little nub of flesh until it grew stiff under her digit. "But, yes. It is an acupuncture needle. A special one, we use it to help repair frostbite injuries. By just inserting the very tip under the skin, we can reverse the lack of feeling due to nerve damage. Only downside is that it leaves that part of the body very sensitive for a bit. The doctors who use them wear special gloves, because if they prick themselves, they could be in enough pain to keep them from working for days."

Rarity's breath went still in her lungs when she felt the tip of the needle press against her nipple, the sensation more intense than any she had ever experienced. Like lightning had struck her, scorching her flesh with pinpoint precision. Rarity screamed, a river of tears racing down her cheeks as Flurry slowly inserted the needle. The princess bit her lip, deriving an uncanny amount of pleasure from Rarity's pain, and the sickening visual of the crystal needle entering Rarity's nipple on one side and slowly breaking through on the other. While the insertion was slow and painful, when Flurry removed the needle, she yanked it from Rarity's flesh in a swift, clean, but no less agonizing motion.

"Mmm… You're so much prettier when you're crying," breathed Flurry, barely able to hear herself over the quivering sobs of her toy. She giggled villainously, and an almost tangibly mocking tone possessed her. "How're you holding up, Rares? I'm not too much for you, am I?"

"D-drop dead!" Rarity could barely choke down a breath long enough to get those two simple words out. "Oh God, fuck…"

"Sounds like you're ready for me to do the other udder. Moo for me like the dumb cow you are and I might even be gentle."

"P-please… don't…" Rarity could hardly breathe, the very wind passing against her pierced nipple enough to keep her tears flowing. "Not another one… I can't, I'll—!"

She screamed again, her throat raw from her bellowing sobs when Flurry stabbed her through the other nipple, this time with inverted methods; The initial insertion was as quick as a flash, but Flurry took nearly a full minute to remove it. By the time the needle was free of Rarity's flesh, she could hardly see straight, her vision doubling and going shadowy in time with her labored, quaking breaths. Flurry smirked, then snapped her fingers to conjure two nipple rings, each bearing the symbol of The Crystal Empress: a fractal heart of crystal blue. She floated the piercings over to Rarity's tits and slid them into the new holes, clicking them into place with a quick flash of magic. Flurry flicked the piercings with a finger and snickered sinisterly at the way Rarity's sobs pitched up from her relatively gentle touch.

"See? Look at that!" remarked Flurry. "All it took was my logo, and now you're almost worth looking at. I'm just surprised those fat balloons on your chest didn't pop when I stuck them."

"So clever…" huffed Rarity through her tears. "But don't you think… my wife might… notice…?"

"Notice what?"

"The damn piercings! She's going to…" As Rarity began shouting, her eyes drifted down to her own chest, where she was absolutely flummoxed to see that the nipple rings had completely vanished. Except, they couldn't have. She could still feel the pain of the insertion, even the cold metal against her flesh. "What… What did you do?"

"Oh, it's a really complicated concept, I don't know if someone at your level will understand. Here, I'll try to explain it." Flurry stared at Rarity, completely deadpan and devoid of all remorse. "I made them invisible, you idiot. Any unicorn worth their horn can do magic like this, and I'm better than all of them." When Rarity blinked, the nipple rings reappeared, and only then did she notice the faint, shimmering remnants of Flurry's crystalline magic. "You should see what I'm capable of doing when I can be bothered."

"You're so powerful, so smart. So talented," said Rarity. "So why are you doing this to me?"

"Because it was either you or your wife," said Flurry with a deceptively innocent smile. "And Applejack is ugly, so I got stuck with you."

"I meant more in a—"

"I know what you meant. Just wanted to remind you that your wife is an ugly, stupid, inbred hick." Flurry closed the distance between her and Rarity and, without warning, grabbed the seamstress roughly by her freshly-pierced tits. "I'm doing this because nothing makes my pussy wetter than an innocent woman's tears. You just so happen to have the misfortune of being very innocent and very, very, very easy. So I'm going to use you until I'm bored, and then, if you're lucky, there'll be some of you left for your pig wife."

"What happened to you…? I remember when you were just a baby. So kind, so loving. You'd never want to hurt anyone…"

"Yeah, I was dumb back then, just like you. But I know better now. I know that I'm smarter and stronger than everyone else, so I should be able to do whatever I want. Speaking of…" Flurry waved her acupuncture needle before Rarity's face, taking great pleasure in the way the little bit of color fled Rarity's face. Flurry snapped her fingers and made Rarity's panties vanish with a quick flash of magic. "I wasn't joking before. I want to hear you moo, fat cow. Unless you want a third piercing between the legs?"

"P-please. Please don't do this…" begged Rarity. She trembled in her bindings, nearly screaming out when Flurry dragged the dull end of her needle against the exposed lips of Rarity's cunt. "I'm begging you, please!"

"Fuck, hearing you beg is hot. But, no. That's not what I want. I want you to do as you're fucking told," said Flurry. She pinched Rarity's clit with her fingers, digging the tips of her nails into the extremely sensitive nub of flesh. "So unless you want another gaudy piece of jewelry, you've got two options. Either we tell your uggo wife what a cheating whore you are, or…"

Rarity gulped in an attempt to slow her racing heart, but to no avail. She was powerless, completely at Flurry's mercy. For a moment, she considered giving up. She considered telling Flurry she could tell whomever the hell she pleased, just so long as this ordeal ended straight away. But, as she thought on it more, Rarity realized she couldn't. If Applejack ever learned of what happened, she would never forgive Rarity, and Rarity knew it. Her marriage would be over, and she'd be all alone, her one true love gone for the rest of her life. And so, with a pit in her stomach threatening to swallow her whole, Rarity took the only escape route she could.

"M-moo. Moooo…" Rarity's grunts were half-hearted and lacking enthusiasm, but Flurry still grinned upon hearing the older woman debase herself. "There. I d-did it. Now, please put that needle away."

"Hm… Nah. You can do better. Try 'I'm a big dumb cow! Please milk my fat udders!'. I think that would probably do it for me," said Flurry. "And I'd hurry if I were you. I'm getting bored, and the last thing you want is for me to have to entertain myself."

"I'm a b-big dumb cow," growled Rarity, barely containing her fury and shame. "Please milk my udd—AH!"

As Rarity spoke, Flurry took the opportunity to grab Rarity's new nipple ring and tug firmly down, nearly pulling the piercing from her flesh. The pain was enough to renew her tears, and Rarity sobbed openly as Flurry continued exerting a constant pull on Rarity's tits. After a few more torturous seconds with no signs of relief, it dawned on Rarity why she was still being punished; She didn't finish her lines.

"I am a big dumb c-c-cow," shivered Rarity. "P-please milk my f-fat udders…"

"Good whore. Do you understand now? Your body belongs to me. I can do whatever I want to you. Open your mouth,” said Flurry. Shakily, Rarity obeyed, and she recoiled sharply when Flurry spat onto her tongue. She held Rarity in place with her thumb beneath her chin, using a burst of magic to conjure a ballgag, which she secured in Rarity’s mouth. “You know, it’s a shame I’m going to have to give you back to your old bag at some point. You make for decent decoration.”

Even if Rarity wasn’t gagged, she was uncertain that she’d be able to respond. Her body still quaked with pain, and almost as intense was the heavy shame and disgust. She was absolutely humiliated, totally at the mercy of a woman who showed her the same level of care as a child would show a toy. Flurry simply didn’t care about what happened to Rarity. It wasn’t clear if Flurry cared about anyone other than herself, and a soul like that, with power like her’s, was simply horrifying.

There was a knock at the door, a few heavy hands against the wood, followed by a voice that replaced Rarity’s pain with a dreadful, dreary sense of abject fear.

“Hello? Princess Flurry?” called Applejack through the door. Flurry grinned like The Devil himself, rising to her feet and grabbing Rarity by the leash. “Are you up?”

“Auntie AJ? Just one sec, let me throw something on!” Flurry was able to switch gears on a dime, and she replaced her disgusting cruelty with the same pleasantly innocent facade that had lured Rarity to this position. She dragged Rarity through the air, parking her just to the left of the doorway. She flashed Rarity one last sideways glance before whispering. “Don’t give yourself away.”

Without giving Rarity a second to unpack that command, Flurry swung open the door to greet Applejack. Almost immediately, Rarity began to cry, because this was it. It was over. Applejack was looking right at her and her vulgar, humiliating display of submission to another woman. And yet, the swears and angry words never came. Rarity peeked through her lashes, the tears in her eyes making it a bit difficult to parse the situation at first. Soon, it became clear that, while Applejack was looking right at Rarity, she certainly could not see Rarity.

“Hey, Auntie. What brings you here?” Flurry adopted her former mannerisms seamlessly, and it was impossible to think that she spoke with anything but the most kind-hearted of pleasantry. “Rarity’s not with you?”

“That’s… why I’m here, actually. I’m looking for her,” said Applejack, clearly trying not to let on that she was upset. Rarity was worried, because if Flurry was able to read her so easily, Applejack must be an open book to The Crystal Empress. “I thought she mentioned swinging by here?”

“Huh? That’s weird, I haven’t seen her since the other day. You sure she said she was coming here?” asked Flurry, giving her head a little tilt. “Maybe she got sidetracked?”

“Yeah… Maybe. Maybe I misheard her.” Applejack pulled her phone from her pocket and began texting. “I’ve been tryna reach her, but she ain’t picking up her dang phone.”

“That’s not like her. Hope everything’s okay. Do you want to come in, take a seat?” Flurry gestured to her bedroom, intentionally brushing her fingers against Rarity’s nipple as she did; It took every ounce of fortitude in her body to avoid screaming, but Rarity managed to choke it down. “We can wait for her together. Maybe if we both try to get in touch with her, one of us will get lucky.”

“That’s mighty nice of you, Princess. I might… Oh, look at that.” Applejack gave a nervous little chuckle. “She texted me back just now. Said she was looking for me, guess we just, uh, kept missing each other.”

Rarity was confused, immediately glaring at Flurry for further manipulating her wife, but she managed to peek a bit of bewilderment from The Crystal Empress herself. Somehow, this wasn’t Flurry’s doing. Even still, Flurry adapted well, and she hardly missed a step as she responded.

“Oh, that’s good. Well, glad we found her,” said Flurry with a grin. “Is there anything else you need, Auntie? I was on my way to bed.”

“Sorry to disturb you. You have a good night, your highness.”

Without another word, Applejack departed back for her room, leaving Rarity alone with Flurry once more. The princess hummed curiously, then swung the door shut as she retreated to her bed. She was puzzled, clearly, and her inquisitive eyes soon found Rarity’s; The older woman didn’t seem confused anymore, just bitter and profoundly upset. Flurry flicked her hand and moved Rarity’s gag out of place, finally allowing her to speak again.

“What was that about a text?” asked Flurry. “You haven’t touched your phone since you came here. So what was she talking about?"

“She… was lying,” said Rarity, completely and utterly disgusted with herself. “We’ve been fighting, I say I’ll be one place, then I’m not there when she goes to check. She knows how this looks.”

“She didn’t want me to think that you might be having an affair.” Flurry clasped her hands over her mouth, letting out a surprised little giggle. “Oh my God, that is so funny! She lied to try to help you save face!”

“Applejack never lies. She hates liars.” Rarity’s voice went a bit hollow, as the significance of what had happened dawned on her. “And she did that, for me…”

“That’s just perfect! Man, I wish I could take credit for planning that, that’s just too good!”

“Can… Can we please stop?” croaked Rarity. “Pick this up tomorrow? I just… I can’t go on.”

“Hm… Well, you have been a fair bit of fun tonight.” Flurry tapped her chin in faux thought. She snapped her fingers, and Rarity’s chains vanished, sending her tumbling to the ground with a pained grunt. “Beg your Empress for mercy, and perhaps she will grant you a… Shall we say, a temporary pardon?”

“P-p-please, Empress Flurry. The All-Powerful Goddess.” Rarity pushed herself to all fours, trying her best to act the part and deliver her lines without breaking into tears. She managed to keep it together for long enough to dip her face down and kiss Flurry’s feet. “Please have mercy on me.”

“You know, if I let you go home now, what I do to you tomorrow is going to be twice as bad.”

“I don’t care. I just can’t keep on right now…”

“Well, fair enough. Your groveling has been deemed satisfactory.” As Rarity looked up, her face awash with relief, Flurry spat harshly onto her face once more. “Get the hell out of my chambers, trash. You’ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow.”

“I… What exactly…” Rarity almost didn’t want to ask, but as she crawled to her discarded clothes and began redressing herself, she felt compelled to ask. “What are you going to do to me tomorrow night?”

“Today, I marked your flesh,” said Flurry, as if delivering a final monologue in some grand play. “Tomorrow, I shall break your spirit. Now get out, you worthless sack of garbage.”

As Rarity finished with her clothes and rose to her feet, she muttered something that sounded almost like an agreement before tearing off her collar and dropping it to the floor. She had no departing words or farewells to give Flurry. Instead, Rarity lurched forward like the walking dead, and trudged her way out of the room.

This was all her fault. She was stupid. Selfish. Naive. How could she have not seen through Flurry’s false praise and excessive generosity? How could she have been so easily duped by this wolf in sheep’s clothing? It dawned on her that, perhaps, she didn’t want to see it. Perhaps she was too focused on herself, on solving her silly marriage problem so she could go back to tending to the person who mattered most; herself.

Or perhaps it was as Flurry said, and, deep down, Rarity wanted this for herself.

“Where’ve ya been?”

Rarity didn’t exactly recall making her way back to her room. Her body was on autopilot, and she hadn’t even turned on the lights as she entered. Applejack had been waiting for her, and she stood just a few paces from the door with her arms crossed over her chest. Rarity could feel her strong emerald eyes boring through her flesh, singing her soul, but she couldn’t afford her wife the same eye contact. She looked straight ahead, pausing in her tracks as she struggled to make a decision. Finally, Rarity gave the only answer she could think of, knowing damn well it was a bad one.

“I just went to see Flurry, like I said. Her dress needed some revisions,” said Rarity, her voice low to try and mask how she had been crying. “The new design gave me trouble. It took longer than I expected.”

“Really? Cause I went by Flurry’s a bit ago and you weren’t there.”

“I made a few stops along the way. Needed to get materials.”

Rarity begged silently for Applejack to just leave well enough alone. She was running out of bullshit to shovel, and she wasn’t sure Applejack was buying what she was selling anyway. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Applejack let out an annoyed snort and walked past Rarity to get to the door.

“I’m going on a walk,” said Applejack. “I need some fresh air.”

Rarity wanted to reach out to her, grab her by the wrist and stop her from leaving. She wanted to fight for Applejack, to plead her case. She wanted to beg Applejack for forgiveness, a forgiveness that Rarity knew in her heart that she didn’t deserve. But, to put it simply, Rarity just didn’t have it in her to do anything but stand there and listen to the door slam behind Applejack as she left. She stood in silence for a bit before breaking down in tears, and she sobbed all the way to the bathroom.

Rarity had no clue what Flurry had planned for tomorrow night, but the one thing she did know was that she desperately needed a hot shower.

Rarity had already finished crying by the time she made it to the Empress' chambers.

It was later than her previous visit, the time pushing 10 PMwhen Rarity left her room. For better or worse, that didn't particularly matter tonight. No one was waiting for her this time, so at least that was one less thing to worry about. Even still, Rarity knew this new Flurry well enough to understand that what she said the previous night was no empty threat. The longer Rarity delayed, the worse things would be, and so she finally got herself in order just enough to knock on the door once more. As was becoming the routine, Rarity was only left waiting a few moments before the doors swung open and she stepped inside.

"It's me," said Rarity plainly, to the seemingly empty room. As she strained her ears, however, she could hear a bit of bustling from the bathroom. No doubt Flurry preparing for the night.

"Your collar is on the bed. When I see you, I expect you to be wearing it and nothing else."

"Yes, Empress."

Rarity sullenly removed her shoes, then her pants and top. She hesitated when she reached for her panties but, after a brief second of consideration, she removed her undergarments as well. No bra for her, as her chest was still incredibly sore from her piercings. Rarity carefully folded her clothes and sat them atop the bed before grabbing the collar that Flurry had waiting for her. It had been decorated since the night before, with glittering blue crystals spelling out the word "TRASH" across the leather. With a tired sigh, Rarity attached the collar to her neck, feeling the studded leather weigh her down in a way that was difficult for her to put into words. It wasn't too uncomfortable, physically, but the burden it put on her emotionally was almost too much to handle.

"I'm ready," said Rarity drearily. Flurry didn't respond right away, and the silent anticipation was beginning to wear down on Rarity in just a few short moments. "I said I'm ready."

"I heard you. We work on my time, Trash, not yours," said Flurry from the bathroom. "Sit on the bed for now." Rarity grumbled as she sat down beside her clothes, gripping the handle to her leash tightly, waiting for the torment to begin. "Finger your cunt while you wait, and tell me about how you lied to your dirty, ugly, inbred, hick wife."

"You're disgusting," snarled Rarity. Her blood boiled, and though it was obvious that Flurry was just trying to get a rise out of her, it was equally clear that she was successful. This appeared to be part of the fun for Flurry, to make Rarity as angry as possible, knowing that there was nothing she could do about it. So, instead of lashing out, Rarity took in a deep, calming breath, letting out a shaky exhale before continuing. "As for Applejack, I—"

"Follow instructions, Trash, or you're in for a long night. I said finger yourself while you tell me. That wasn't optional."

It wasn't entirely clear how Flurry could tell that she wasn't complying, but we're Rarity to care enough to speculate, she'd chalk it up to some obscure bit of magic that Flurry had cast at some point. Whatever manner of trickery it was, Rarity wasn't fond of it, but it once again left her trapped with no other option but to obey. So, even though she felt positively disgusting in doing so, she slid her hand between her legs and began to rub her pussy, just enough to hopefully satisfy her perverted Empress.

"I didn't lie to Applejack today. I didn't have to," grumbled Rarity. The sensation of touching herself while so intensely upset was a strange and uncomfortable one for Rarity, and her stomach twisted into a knot as she ran her fingers up her slit. "She left early this morning. She didn't want to talk to me. All she said is that she'd be back later, when I was ready to tell the truth.”

“Aww, you poor thing. It’s a shame you’re such an unfaithful whore, or else you may have really been able to make things work between you two.”

“Flurry. Can I ask you something?” It seemed that Rarity had surprised The Crystal Empress, judging by Flurry’s lack of a response, and even Rarity herself seemed uncertain as to why she spoke up. When Flurry didn’t refuse, Rarity decided to soldier on. “It’s not as though we were especially close, but I always thought our relationship was… It was fine, wasn’t it? We cared for each other. You always seemed happy to see me whenever we visited. I thought I treated you quite well. So… Why is it that you hate me so much that you’d see my marriage ruined? You get off on it, obviously, but why? Why hurt me?”

“Sometimes, I really do envy you. So simple, so unimportant. So stupid. It must be relaxing.” Though Flurry’s words were disparaging, her tone was different than before. She didn’t seem to be insulting Rarity directly. This wasn’t to be mean. This was genuine emotion, from deep within her soul. “But instead, here I stand before you, burdened with glorious purpose.”

“Respectfully, darling, that didn’t answer my question.”

It went quiet for a spell, and Rarity temporarily feared she may have overstepped. There was simply no telling with Flurry, what she was capable of or what would set her off. But then, Flurry sighed, and the sounds of her footsteps carried her closer to Rarity. Cruel and sadistic as Flurry evidently was, Rarity was expecting something awful as an answer to her inquiry. Something scathing, something insulting, something humiliating.

Rarity wasn’t quite expecting something terrifying.

“I don’t hate you, Rarity. Why would I? I hate you as much as a lion hates a gazelle. No, you know what? Even that’s not right. I hate you as much as you might hate an ant. Even if you dedicated all of your energy, your every resource, every single second of your life, you couldn’t ever achieve anything that would be anything more than a mild annoyance to me in the grand scheme of my life. Hate implies passion, and I feel none of that to you. You are insignificant. You don’t matter. If you had never entered my life, I would still be the embodiment of perfection you know today. If you left my life tomorrow, nothing about it would be made any worse. If I had never met you, I would still be a God who can’t even be bothered to tap into her full potential.”

The bathroom door opened, and into the room stepped The Crystal Empress. Much like Rarity, Flurry was mostly nude, displaying her tight, young body in a way Rarity didn’t previously have the pleasure of witnessing. Her smooth, toned belly, her luscious legs, her perfectly petite breasts. Rarity wasn’t certain what she felt when she gazed upon Flurry. Disgust? Envy? Arousal? Perhaps some terrible amalgam of the three.

“You aren’t special enough to like or dislike. When you die, I won’t care enough to see it. To me, you are an ant.” The thing Rarity found most concerningly confusing about Flurry’s body was the accessories she chose to adorn it. Her crystal tiara stood firmly atop her head, and around her waist was a leather harness securing an intimidating rubber cock to her body. Unsurprisingly, Rarity lacked much intimate experience with that particular organ, but Flurry’s strap-on seemed noticeably bigger than what was standard for the opposite sex. “So what’s the harm if I have a little fun stepping on you?”

“W-what are you going to do to me?” squeaked Rarity. Her fear seemed to awaken something in Flurry, and her eyes lit up a bit. She grinned deviously, and grabbed her toy by the base, swinging the lengthy member idly as she slowly made her approach.

“I’m going to do something your dusty oaf back home probably hasn’t done in a while. I’m going to make you cum.” Flurry finally came to a stop just in front of Rarity, and grabbed her under her chin. “And I promise you this, you are going to hate every second of it.”

“P-please. I’ll… I don’t want that. I’ve never… Applejack asked, but I’ve never… Used one of those. I could… I could go down on you, if you’d like. Or kiss your feet again. Just please don’t—”

“Lay down on your belly,” said Flurry simply. “Face the TV.”

“Flurry, I’m serious. I’ve never wanted anything like that anywhere near—”

“I’m going to tell you one more time, and then I’m going to leak your photos.” Rarity could feel the intensity wafting off of Flurry, the unflinching intent. There was no denying that she meant her threat, and if Rarity truly loved her wife, she knew what she had to do. “Lay down on your flabby, disgusting, stretch-marked belly and face the TV. Or are you really so selfish that you’d let seven inches of rubber ruin your marriage?”

If Rarity wasn’t so preoccupied with choking out a pathetic, quivering sob, she might have been impressed by how perfectly and meticulously Flurry was able to deconstruct her. It seemed that every word from the young Empress’ mouth was tailor-made to destroy Rarity, and she managed to hone in on her every fear and insecurity. So effective were Flurry’s incendiary words, Rarity couldn’t even bother to mount a response. She couldn’t do much of anything, short of assuming the position that Flurry had outlined; Rarity lay prone on the bed, staring blankly at the unpowered television screen. She kept her eyes forward, and as such, she couldn’t see Flurry as she rounded the bed and approached from behind. Though Flurry was in her blind spot, Rarity could certainly feel her presence as the dainty royal clambered onto the bed behind her. She could feel Flurry slink in behind her, that damned slab of rubber sliding between them. Rarity bit her lip when she felt Flurry guide the tip of the toy to her pussy, spreading her apart with the strap-on in a way she had never before experienced.

“Try not to tense up too much,” whispered Flurry as she penetrated Rarity. “If you get blood on my sheets, I’ll make you wish you weren’t born.”

Rarity wasn’t concerned with blood just then, more worried about the tears streaking down her face. As was becoming the norm, Flurry was right; Rarity hated this. Every thrust and rock of Flurry’s hips, every inch of toy cock that invaded Rarity’s formerly unpenetrated flower, made her sob and sniffle through a mouth of clenched teeth. It hurt, of course, but not quite as much as Rarity had been expecting. In fact, had she agreed to do this with Applejack, Rarity was beginning to think that she might enjoy it. Instead, it was Flurry who was using her, intermittently increasing and decreasing the speed and ferocity of her thrusts. It felt so perverse, so uncaring, so wrong, and yet, there was no escape for Rarity. Her only silver lining was that Flurry, thankfully, instructed her to look away, so at least she didn’t have to see her abuser’s smug little grin.

Almost as soon as that thought entered Rarity’s head, the television flipped on, displaying a video in progress. Rows and rows of white chairs in a grassy field, occupied by all manner of people from Rarity’s life. Her friends, her family, clients from her business, admirers of her work defending Equestria from threats. Even Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were accounted for, all wearing their finest formalwear. For a second, Rarity was thoroughly confused, but when she saw herself strut into frame, dressed to kill in an exquisite black tuxedo of her own design, the pieces fell into place in her mind.

Flurry may not have hated Rarity, but in that moment, there was no more perfect descriptor for what Rarity felt towards The Crystal Empress.

“Turn this off,” demanded Rarity. “How dare you!”

“Unfortunately, I was out of the country for school when you and the hillbilly got hitched, so I wasn’t able to be there for the wedding,” cooed Flurry. She could sense Rarity’s fury, and it just fueled her to work her hips even faster. Soon, Rarity was yelping, squeaking, perhaps even letting out a moan or two, and Flurry was soaking up every last drop. "Since we’re spending so much time together now… I figured you wouldn’t mind watching the tape back with me. You can give me all the juicy details while I fuck you.”

“You can’t take this from me. You can’t ruin this.” Rarity laid her face down, unable to look at the screen as she begged, pleaded to Flurry. This was a joyous memory, the happiest day of Rarity’s life, and here comes Flurry to destroy it. Of course, averting her eyes was a short-lived solution, as Flurry grabbed a fistful of purple hair and yanked Rarity’s head upright, forcing her to watch as Applejack entered the camera in her beautiful white wedding gown. The Wedding March played as Applejack approached the altar, and even from the rather wide camera angle, it was clear that Rarity was in awe at her bride’s beauty. “Please… Let me keep this…”

“So what’s with you in the tux, huh? Doesn’t seem like your style,” said Flurry, flat-out ignoring Rarity’s pitiful begging. “I always got the sense that AJ wore the pants in your relationship.”

“I-If I tell you about it, will you please turn the video off?”

“I’m pretty sure that even you can guess the answer to that, Trash.”

“Please… I’ll do anything. I…” Rarity’s words died in her throat, because reality finally caught up to her. Of course, she’ll do anything. How could she possibly refuse? She had nothing to bargain with, because what Flurry wants, Flurry would take. Any attempts to delay or barter or beg for mercy would be met with scorn and further torment. So why bother resisting? “She struggled to come to terms with her sexuality. She felt that being a lesbian somehow made her less of a woman. S-so when we got married, she asked if she could wear the dress. She’d always dreamed of getting married, and… I wanted her to have the full experience that she wanted.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet and selfless of you. It seems like you two really loved each other,” snickered Flurry. Almost as if to reward Rarity for her compliance, Flurry used her magic to tease and tweak Rarity’s clit, expertly pulling her strings and forcing this disgusting, unwanted pleasure onto the married woman. “Too bad you’re letting a woman half your age fuck your brains out right now.”

Rarity’s eyes seemed to glaze over, and all she could muster for the next several minutes were hot, bitter tears and hollow answers to Flurry’s cruel questions about the ceremony. Who chose the decor, how was the cake, what did Applejack think about it, each question designed to remind Rarity of the vow she was currently betraying. Whether it was fair or not was beside the point, because Rarity knew in her heart that she had promised herself to Applejack, and Applejack alone. Now, she was allowing herself to be taken by someone else. She could put an end to it. She could tell Flurry to stop, pictures be damned, but Rarity simply couldn’t. She couldn’t find the strength. Whether it was Flurry’s power over her, the mild pain from the strap-on, the shame at her misdoings, or, worst of all, the increasing pleasure Rarity felt from Flurry’s magical stimulation, the married woman just couldn’t bring herself to make it end.

“Do you, Rarity, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to honor her, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for as long as you shall live, til death do you part?”

“I d-do…” Rarity whimpered the words along with the video, her tears in the present mirroring the ones present back then. “Oh God…”

“Are you ready, you cheating whore?” whispered Flurry. She pistoned her hips, working her magic faster, and she could feel Rarity twitch and quiver beneath her, which could only mean that she was getting close. “When I say the word, you’re going to cum for me, do you understand?”

“Y-yes…”

“And do you, Applejack, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to honor her, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, for as long as you shall live, til death do you part?”

“Here it comes, Trash,” said Flurry, almost laughing at Rarity’s despair. She doubled her efforts as Applejack said “I do”, using Rarity’s hair as a handle to pound her deeper and more intensely than Rarity could have ever imagined possible. “Almost there… Wait for it…”

“You may now kiss the bride.”

“Cum for me, whore.”

Rarity screamed through her teeth as she came, her eyes red and puffy from how hard she was bawling. Flurry timed it perfectly, and her orgasm crashed down on her like a ton of bricks just as the happily married couple kissed in the video. She could hardly recognize the woman in the suit as herself. That woman would never be caught dead in a situation like this, getting drilled by another woman while her wife was furiously wandering the Empire, and she certainly wouldn’t be enjoying it. When her orgasm finally, mercifully, came to an end, Rarity simply went limp, unable to even twitch out another pathetic whine when Flurry pulled out and rounded the bed.

“Good job, Trash. You were sufficiently entertaining, so I’ll show you a bit of mercy.” Flurry grabbed Rarity by the hair and used her luscious locks to wipe the sticky juices from her strap-on. She unstrapped her harness and tossed it blindly, the toy haphazardly landing on Rarity’s head and dangling from her horn in front of her face. “Once you’ve cleaned my toy, changed my sheets, and made my bed, you can go. And I won’t make you come back for the rest of your trip.”

“R-really?” croaked Rarity.

“Well, I’m probably gonna make you send me more nudes when I get horny, but you’re leaving in like two days anyway. Doesn’t make a ton of sense to keep dragging you away.” Flurry shrugged, using her magic to summon a fluffy pink robe around her nude body. “I’m on my way to raid the kitchen. Want anything while I’m gone?”

“Bottle of water?”

“Meh. We’ll see how I feel. Get to work, Trash, I want all that done before I get back.”

Flurry didn’t bother with any further parting words, and simply left the room, locking it behind her with a quick wave of the hand. Even though she knew she was on a timer, Rarity took a moment to compose herself. Deep breaths in and out as she stood up on shaky legs, doing her best to straighten her hair to a state that approached presentable. As she did so, the shame and disgust she felt were cut by a cool wave of relief. Flurry might have been a vile, demented, cruel monster, but she didn’t seem to be the type to go back on her word. If she said she wouldn’t summon Rarity back to her chambers, then Rarity was inclined to believe her.

With a tired sigh, Rarity went about stripping the bed of its sheets, quietly thankful that this whole nightmare was finally over.

This little vacation was exactly what Flurry needed.

Life could get stressful for someone like her; Between her growing kingdom, her status as a princess, and indirectly ruling the world from time to time, it could be a lot to handle. It only made sense that someone like her would need something to take their stress out on. It was a fair bit of work, from manipulating the hotel, to the married couple, as well as doing everything possible to ensure that no evidence could be traced back to her, but it was more than worth the effort. Even though Rarity and Applejack were on the train back to Ponyville, and Rarity was unlikely to ever willingly return to the Empire, it didn’t matter. Flurry had plenty of pictures and videos, taken in secret, that she would keep under lockdown. More than enough to remember the occasion. But, still, Flurry was a bit disappointed that her little ant had escaped her boot intact.

“God, I need a coffee…” yawned Flurry as she rolled out of bed. She had already sent in her breakfast order to the kitchen, which would be delivering her food shortly. This left Flurry with a few moments to herself, some time to plot out her next move. “That was fun, but who’s next…?”

There was a knock at the door, and Flurry was immediately suspicious. She hadn’t heard the wheels of a dining cart, nor the bell that typically jingled as the kitchen staff approached. They always announced themselves when dropping off her breakfast, so why not today? Her parents weren’t due back for another few days, and no one ever bothered her in her chambers uninvited. So who could possibly be awaiting her? Her curiosity mounting, Flurry secured her robe to her body and slowly approached the door, cautiously pulling it open.

“Rarity?” The married woman didn’t respond, simply quivering as she fought back tears. Without a word, Rarity handed Flurry a sheet of paper she carried, folded over itself and crumpled from the force with which Rarity gripped it. “What’s this about?”

Dear Rarity,

I ain’t much for words, so I’m keeping this short. I know we’ve been having our issues, but I really thought we could make it work. Thought that was the whole point of this trip. I wanted everything to work out, but at the same time, I ain’t stupid. I know what you’re up to. I didn’t want to see it, but after a while it was pretty damn obvious you found someone else. I saw your texts, the ones you didn’t bother deleting. Should’ve known you’d get bored of me eventually and run off to fuck some noble guy. Guess I was just dumb and in love.

You broke my heart, Rarity. But I ain’t gonna let you hurt me anymore. You want to be a princess so bad? Tell your prince he can have you. Once I get home, I’ll get your things together for you and have Twilight send them over. But if I never see your sorry ass again, it’ll be too soon.

Hope you’re satisfied,
Applejack

Flurry read the letter once, twice, three times, grinning wider and wider with each reading. After all of that, everything she had done to taunt and threaten Rarity, all Rarity had done to protect her marriage, and it didn’t matter. While Flurry hadn’t planned on this, it’d be a lie to say she didn’t find it thoroughly amusing. Far more interesting than that, however, was what she saw when she finally looked up from the letter; At some point, Rarity had dropped to the floor on her hands and knees, prostrating at the feet of The Crystal Empress.

“How may I serve you, my Empress,” said Rarity, her tone bitter and hollow in equal measure. Flurry grinned, her mind flooded with terrible possibilities. “I am yours to use as you see fit.”

Turns out, Flurry could have a bit more fun stomping on her ant, after all.

Consequences [ALTERNATE ENDING]

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Rarity didn’t react immediately. She was too confused, too taken aback, to truly process the weight of Flurry’s response. She peeled herself from the floor, bowing in worship at Flurry’s feet, and frowned. Unsurprisingly, Flurry met her aunt’s displeasure with a sinister, self-satisfied grin. Rarity just looked up at her niece, the monster she was. The fiend that had ruined her life. The cruel Crystal Empress. After nearly a minute of staring up in stunned silence, Rarity finally got her words together.

“W-what do you mean, no?” said Rarity.

“It means exactly what it sounds like. No,” said Flurry. “N. O. No.”

“But… I’m… I’m offering myself. I’m giving myself to you.” Rarity couldn’t even stand, instead falling back onto her butt as the mounting dread of her situation began to set in. “I’m… I’m giving you what you want. You can do whatever you want to me.”

“Duh. I already did. I already made your dumb hick leave you. I had my fun.” Flurry shrugged, leaning against her doorframe as she soaked in Rarity’s despair. “Besides, Mom and Dad will be back any minute now. It’d be tough to explain the sudden middle-aged hag I have stuffed in my closet, and I really wasn’t planning on usurping my parents until I turned 25.”

“You… You’re not serious. Surely, this is some cruel trick.” Rarity scrambled forward, all but lunging at her Empress’ feet. “You can’t just leave me with nothing!”

“Listen, Rarity, I know you’re not too bright, so I’ll try to make things nice and simple for you.” Flurry slowly stooped down to a crouch, bringing herself to Rarity’s level. Her hand reached forward and grabbed Rarity under the chin with an almost mocking degree of tenderness, tilting the damaged mare’s face up to properly absorb her despair. “I don’t want you. I never wanted you. What I wanted was to ruin your life. I wanted to destroy your marriage. I wanted to make you hate yourself. That’s what gets me off, not having some Ponyville 6 giving up her pussy willingly. I’ve gotten all the fun out of you that I could, Auntie. You’re no use to me anymore. So do yourself a favor and get out of my sight.”

"I… I can't. I can't go home. I have nothing left!" Again, Rarity lunged forward to Flurry's feet, and again, The Crystal Empress stepped back to avoid her. "It's not just Applejack. She's told everyone by now what a cheating whore I am." Flurry turned her back on Rarity and slowly made her way back to her bed, with Rarity crawling, groveling right behind her. "I called Twilight, and she won't speak with me. The others won't take my calls. My own sister won't even talk to me after what I did to her best friend's sister."

"And all of that was because of little old me?" laughed Flurry. "Damn, I'm good… Save your sob story, Auntie. I don't care how lonely you are. You're nothing to me now. If you want to bask in my excellence, then I need some sort of payment from you, and you have nothing left to offer me. So too bad, so sad, cry me a river, Rara."

"Take me in or I'm telling your parents what you did."

In less than a fraction of a second, Rarity felt her back impact the wall, and the air forced out of her lungs. She didn't make much of a noise, just a low, croaking groan as she made impact. Rarity wheezed, her eyes flitting around the room, discombobulated. She looked ahead, thoroughly baffled to be looking down at the top of Flurry's head. She blinked, awestruck, when she pieced the situation together; Without breaking a sweat, without even lifting a finger, Flurry had sent her flying into the ceiling, and pinned her there. The air in the room went cold as ice, and Rarity could feel the hairs on her arms stand on end. There was a crackling, sizzling sound from below, and without the use of her wings, Flurry slowly began to rise from the ground.

"Are you threatening me?" said Flurry, her low, even tone sending chills down Rarity's spine. "I knew you were stupid, but did you actually just threaten me?"

"F-Flurry. Please, I'm sorry," squeaked Rarity. The Crystal Empress looked up, her eyes shining bright with her unpredictable, inescapable power. "I didn't mean… I just… I'm—"

"Think for a moment, you brainless cow. Think about everything I did to you. Think about how much damage I've caused in just a few days." Her hand reached forward to grab Rarity by the throat, and she once again made her otherworldly strength known; Rarity could feel the heat of Flurry's magic propagating at her very touch, burning her flesh like a winter storm. "And remember that everything I did to you was for fun. It was a game I played. I did it for my own pleasure. What you just said would take this from pleasure… to business. And you should be very, very afraid of what I'd do to you in order to handle my business."

In that moment, Rarity felt smaller than she had ever felt in her entire life. She was a speck, she was insignificant, she was absolutely nothing in the wake of Flurry Heart. Rarity thought she knew before, but this was a reminder that this woman, this force of nature, was everything that she claimed to be. It wasn't ego that led Flurry to believe that she was God. It was empirical evidence.

"Please, merciful Empress. I meant no threat or disrespect." A few words in, tears began to flow down Rarity's cheeks, and Flurry loosened her grip slightly. Not for mercy, but, as with most things Flurry did, for her own sick enjoyment of the poor woman's suffering. "I will serve you. Worship you as my one true God. I will erect a shrine in whatever cage you deem worthy of something like me. Pray to you every morning when I wake and every night before I lay my head to rest." As if to prove it, Rarity fought against Flurry's unmatched might (a feat only possible because Flurry herself allowed it) and folded her hands in front of her in prayer. "I'll do anything you ask. Just please, please… Don't make me go home. Don't send me back to nothing."

Just as quickly as she had been launched, Rarity found herself back on the floor, clutching her surely-bruised ribs as she curled into a ball beneath her Empress. Flurry slowly lowered herself to the ground, head tilted curiously at the truly pathetic mare at her feet. Just a week ago, she was a proud, dignified, happily married woman. Now, with a few choice manipulations and the most minimal effort, Rarity was rendered sobbing, desperate, hopeless.

Flurry smiled, using her foot to nudge Rarity onto her back. Maybe there was still fun to be had with her, after all.

"You don't know what that word means, do you?" said Flurry. "You think you know, but you don't. 'Anything' is very powerful. More powerful than your simple little brain can process. For your sake, don’t make promises like that if you can’t follow through.”

“What worse could you do to me? All my friends hate me now. The only woman I ever loved won’t even look in my direction,” said Rarity. “Once word gets out that Applejack left me—and word will get out—there goes my reputation. No one wants to be on the red carpet wearing a dress made by some cheating, gold-digging whore.” Rarity snorted, immediately clutching her ribs in pain from the movement. “And she thinks I was sleeping with a man… Oh, the tabloids are going to drag me for that…”

“You could plead your case. At the end of the day, it’s her word against yours,” suggested Flurry. “There’s a good chance that some people will believe you over—”

“Believe me, over the Spirit of Honesty? Even I’m not dumb enough to try that.” Despite daring to talk over The Empress, Rarity managed to escape punishment. She wasn’t sure if this was a good sign or not. “Besides, if they do believe me… That means they won’t believe her. And I don’t want to ruin her life like you ruined mine.”

“Yeah, well, I just want you to consider your options. It’s not looking good for you now, but things could always get worse. Maybe you should climb out of the hole before you try digging deeper.”

“I’ve thought this over all morning. There’s nothing I can do, and frankly, nothing worse you can do to me. Not until you’re ready to show the world your true colors, anyway.” With a ginger little groan, Rarity sat herself upright so that she could properly look at the woman she hoped would accept her. Flurry was being a bit softer than before, perhaps finding some level of pity in her blackened, frosty heart. “Until you’re ready for your parents to know what you’re really like… Stick me in a cage someplace. Abuse me like you’ve been doing. You could give me more piercings. I… I actually kind of like them.” As if to prove it, Rarity pulled down on her top to reveal her still-tender nipples and the piercings that hung from them. “You could peg me while I tell you about how much I miss Applejack. Whatever gets you off, I suppose.”

“Wow, I really fucked you up, huh? Okay, Trash, how’s this for a deal?” Flurry smiled knowingly and offered her hand forward to Rarity. Rarity looked at the hand uneasily, uncertain as to why Flurry would ever offer her any sort of “deal”, considering she was the one with all of the power. “You said you’d do anything I ask. Shake my hand, and then I’ll tell you what I want you to do. Then, either you do it… Or I am going to make you go back home. I figure since I don’t want you anymore, I’m actually doing you a favor by allowing you to continue to amuse me. And if you fail to do so, I’ll make you do your walk of shame all through Ponyville. Mind you, the operative word in this scenario is ‘make’. You won’t be refusing that one, if it comes to that.”

“So… do what you ask?” Rarity stared, clearly trying to unravel the mystery before her. What could Flurry possibly have planned? “Or else I have to go back to Ponyville.”

“What do you say, Auntie? Wanna risk it? I suppose you don’t have much left to lose, right?”

As her hand went up, Rarity could feel her heart thumping in her chest, pounding like a drum. Why was she so scared? This was what she had asked for, wasn’t it? And yet, something about Flurry’s demeanor was supremely off-putting, even with the last week taken into account. There was something different about this offer, some unknown, devious twinge. It was at that moment that it occurred to Rarity that this whole situation was insane. Why was she so deadset on giving herself to someone like Flurry? Was it her power? Her self-assuredness? The guarantee that, no matter what, Rarity could count on her cruel, evil owner? Better the devil that you know.

After a second or so more of contemplation, Rarity reached forward to shake The Devil’s hand, and sealed her fate, one way or the other.

“Deal,” said Rarity dejectedly. “I agree to do whatever you ask, or face your punishment, my Empress.”

“You poor, poor thing… I’d feel bad for you if my pussy wasn’t soaking through my panties,” whispered Flurry. “Are you ready for your orders, Trash?”

“Whatever you say, I am yours to command.”

“Good girl. Because I want you…” Flurry leaned forward slowly, sensually, almost romantically. Like a lover drifting in for a kiss. But before her lips met Rarity’s, she slid past, stopping a scant half-inch from Rarity’s ear. She wanted Rarity to feel the command just as much as she heard it, and so she slowly, airily whispered into her aunt’s ear. “To kill yourself for me.”

Rarity didn't say anything at first. Couldn't muster up the words in time. She just sat there, soaking in her order, and quietly, she began to cry. It was a different sort of despair than before, a more subdued, tormented, silent little cry that Flurry very clearly took great pleasure from. So much so that she couldn't help but rub herself through her panties as she watched her dear, disgraced aunt cry.

"Yeah, that's about what I thought. You didn't give it enough thought, did you, Trash?" sighed Flurry wistfully. "That's okay. I never really believed you'd be able to do it. I'll give you to the end of the day to get yourself in order before I send you back to Ponyville and—"

"H-How?"

"Hm? Did you forget that I'm God? My magic is the single most powerful force in Equestria. Do you think it's outside of my power to control your body? Force you to take the train back home and talk to your friends? I—"

"How do you want me to do it?" said Rarity, staring down at the floor. She shuddered and shivered a bit, but somehow, in the face of the worst possibility imaginable, she stood the course. "You want me to kill myself. I'm asking you how I should do it."

"Wait… Wait, hold on," Flurry covered her mouth, barely choking back a laugh. "You're not actually going to kill yourself just because I told you to, right?"

"If you expect me to… my wrists… I may need a bit of wine in me. To work up the courage." Finally, Rarity looked up, her eyes puffy and red from crying, and stared Flurry dead in the face. It was a unique expression that Rarity wore. Her lip curled in disgust, her eyes wet with tears. No light or life behind her eyes. And yet, somehow, Rarity still has a tinge of respect, perhaps adoration. "I only get one try at this. I'd like to get it right."

"Oh, Auntie… You poor old thing…" Flurry snapped her fingers and, from the fabric of reality itself manifested a length of strong, sturdy rope. As Furry offered the rope to Rarity, a thought seemed to occur to her, and she snapped her fingers again; This time, rather than rope, a keycard appeared. "I think you're booked for one more night at the Six Seasons, if you want some privacy. I sent a few things ahead, they’re waiting for you there."

"Of course it was you…" Rarity couldn't even find it in herself to be angry. To find out that this was all Flurry's doing, from the very start, was obvious in retrospect. "Before I go, I must ask… Why not do it yourself? If you want me dead, and you certainly have the means to do it. Why not just stop my heart with a snap of your fingers?"

"For exactly the reasons you just outlined. It would be so easy to do it myself. But to make you feel terrible enough that you're willing to do it for me? That's not just fun, Auntie," giggled Flurry. "That's hot. And I'm not sure if this will make you feel better or worse about it, but you dying by your own hand, simply because I told you to? That's going to make me cum harder than I ever have in my entire life. So don't keep me waiting."

Rarity stood up, rope clutched tightly in hand, and slowly drifted towards the door. She stopped just before exiting, as if waiting for someone to stop her. Of course, no such thing happened. She was at the mercy of her Empress' command and, to be frank, she didn't have it in her to fight anymore. This was her fate now. It couldn't be worse than the alternative.

"No use in delaying any further," said Rarity, her tone dark, quiet, almost brooding. "I'll see you in hell, my Empress."

"For your sake, I hope not. Have a nice death, Auntie." Flurry waved, even going so far as to blow Rarity a kiss. "I'll miss you."

Somehow, despite everything, Rarity believed her. She no longer took these things personally because, as Flurry said, it could've been anyone. The Crystal Empress didn't seem to have any limits on who she harmed, so why not Rarity? At least Rarity could claim to herself that she may have spared some other innocent soul from meeting a similar fate. That was as close to a silver lining as she could devise.

After taking just a moment to steady herself, Rarity departed, strangely deciding that she would miss Flurry, too.

The hotel room was just as Rarity had hoped when she booked it; Large, but cozy, with beautiful furnishings and all the amenities one could desire. Had things gone to plan, she had no doubt in her mind that a few days there with Applejack and room service would have reignited their passion in no time flat. The way she envisioned the trip, it always ended with her having to pry her wife off of her when it was over. Now, Rarity was all alone, sat on her bed with her cell phone in one hand and a cheap bottle of champagne in the other. The thought had occurred to her that, given the circumstances, there'd be no harm in splurging on some top-shelf bubbly, but Rarity ultimately decided against it. What had she done to deserve such a treat, anyway?

"Rarity, I really don't think this is a good idea. What you do is your business, but I don't want to be stuck between you two. I'll hold on to your stuff until you get back in town, but I can't talk to you right now. Goodbye."

As her minutes ticked down, and she found herself growing more and more intoxicated, Rarity decided that she should at the very least say goodbye to her friends. Twilight's response was as leveled, measured, and fair as one could ever expect, and even that was devastating to Rarity.

"Can't talk right now, Rares. Someone here needs cheering up."

Pinkie was, for once in her life, without much to say in this instance, and Rarity didn't blame her. Were the roles reversed, Rarity wasn't sure if she'd have the right words, herself.

"I'm… on my way to AJ's right now. Maybe we should talk another time. She really needs me…"

True to form, Fluttershy was the gentlest of them all with her rejection, but Rarity knew better. She knew that tone, the way that she suggested they talk another time. It was the same way Rarity would easily let down the well-intentioned men who would often bare their hearts to her; In other words, "another time" really means "never".

"You've got some fucking balls calling me after what you did to AJ. I never want to hear from you again, bitch."

Rarity had saved Rainbow for last, knowing that she'd react the harshest of them all. She was Applejack’s best friend, after all. It was brief, thankfully, and with only a few expletives. Funnily enough, it was pretty obvious to anyone who knew Rainbow Dash that she had held back considerably for Rarity. She sighed, dropping the phone onto the bed, followed by her empty bottle of champagne. None of her friends were happy with her, obviously, but none of them had given her what she felt she deserved, either.

Her eyes went up to the stage before her, the noose attached to the ceiling fan, the chair to serve as her platform, and the tripod camera set up to record it all, and Rarity snorted. If they won't give her what she deserves, then she'd just have to do it herself.

"I can only assume this thing is actually recording. It seemed properly set up when I stepped in, but I didn't think to check it. Not that it matters." Rarity stood up, doing her best not to stumble. She looked straight down the camera, tears in her eyes, and continued on. "I'm sorry. For everything. I hope that you never see this, but if you do… I love you, Applejack. I never stopped loving you.” Rarity thought about leaving it at that, but it felt unsatisfactory. There was this itch at the back of her mind, an itch that compelled her to continue on. “And to you, cruel God, I hope this is sufficiently entertaining for you.”

That was enough for Rarity. At least now, Flurry wouldn’t be able to somehow punish her for failing to acknowledge her. Rarity didn’t think Flurry could actually torment her from beyond the veil, but if there was anyone powerful—and petty—enough to find a way, it’d be The Crystal Empress.

Trembling from nerves and unsteady from alcohol, Rarity clambered up the chair that had been set up for her. She stared through the loop of rope, pondering for a moment if she was really, truly going to go through with this. Could she really bring herself to end her own life? Strictly speaking, she had another option. She could always return home to Ponyville, face down her mistakes and live with the consequences of her actions. Go home to her empty bed, her former friends who hated her guts. Go home to the shame and guilt and regret, unable to shake her disgrace, and too terrified to reveal the true source of her troubles. Truth be told, even if she did go home, this was likely her future, anyway.

Slowly, Rarity slipped her head through the loop, letting out a shivering little sob at the rough feeling around her throat. She gave it a firm tug, to test its strength, and determined the rope to be sufficient. No more delaying, nothing else to distract her. All that was left was to get on with it.

“Goodbye,” croaked Rarity, squeezing her eyes shut. She took in a deep breath and kicked out her chair from beneath her feet.

Rarity dropped, pulling the rope taught and constricting her throat. Immediately, fear and instinct kicked in, and Rarity kicked her feet pitifully beneath her, desperately clawing and scratching for even a scrap of air. It hurt. Of course it wouldn’t be pleasant, but Rarity hadn’t really considered that it would hurt. The rope digging into her tender flesh, her lungs burning in protest, the pressure in her head dulling her vision. She couldn’t breathe, her head felt fit to burst, and yet, she persevered. Why? Some callous trick from Flurry? Enchanted rope that made it impossible for Rarity to escape her torment?

Quietly, subtly, barely-audible over the sound of her blood rushing through her brain, was the faint twinkle of unicorn magic. With bloodshot eyes, Rarity looked up, disgusted at the sight of her own horn glowing with magic. Survival instincts, she reckoned. Her body wouldn’t let her die. Her magic wasn’t quite strong enough to completely lift her, just boost her enough to just barely draw in the bare minimum of air. No. No backing down now. With tears streaking down her cheeks, Rarity reached up and wrapped both hands around her horn, snuffing out her magic with her fingers. She dropped a bit further, enough that she could now feel her full weight coming down on her throat. Rarity kicked and thrashed a bit more, each flail with less energy behind it than the last. Soon, she went still, her body slumped, unmoving save for the slight drift as the ceiling fan partly turned. Once it was clear that the body wouldn’t move again, a twinkle of magic flared in the room, causing Rarity’s phone, the camera and tripod to vanish into thin air. Souvenirs, for the woman depraved and evil enough to arrange this whole ordeal.

Though she wouldn’t know it, Rarity had served as sufficient entertainment for her cruel, evil Crystal Empress, after all.