Rarity entered her bedroom to find Twilight staring intently at the screen, jaw practically on the floor. Her heart seized: [i]'I've been found out! Play it cool, Rarity, a lady keeps her composure.'[/i]

"Did I miss anything?"

"GAH!" Twilight cried, hand flying violently off the mouse and sending it flying. Quickly her other hand smashed the Alt and F4 keys, and she prayed to every deity she knew that Rarity didn't know how to check her browser history. Quickly the gears began to turn and churn in her head for a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why she reacted so violently.

Rarity, meanwhile, was recovering from the near heart attack she endured when the mouse came flying directly at her face. Luckily she didn't use a wireless mouse, so she was spared what could possibly have been a broken nose. She gripped her chest above her left breast, feeling the suddenly rapid beat come slowing down as she breathed, and tried to come up with a good reason as to why she had... that kind of blog.

The two simply stared at each other for a moment before they heard someone clear their throat through the door. The pair turned to face...

"Scootaloo?" Twilight asked incredulously. There before them stood one of the 'little sisters' of the group alongside Rarity and Applejack's siblings, Sweetie Belle and Applebloom, respectively. The only thing shocking Twilight more than the fact that she was here in Rarity's house right now was what she was wearing: a hoodie, boyshorts, and socks. That seemed to be it.

"Hey Twilight," she responded groggily. "So, uh. Sweetie Belle still isn't feeling well. She's asleep. We both were. Can you try not to yell anymore please?"

Rarity nodded. "Of course, darling: it won't happen again. Wait-" she cried as Scootaloo turned to walk back away. "I'll make some more tea and chicken soup in the morning, so you don't have to do anything. Just... keep her company, please: she feels better when she's with you."

Scootaloo nodded, muttered "Thanks, Rare," and walked off.

Twilight's confusion about Scootaloo's presence, attire, and attitude dissipated and was replaced by concern for the apparently sick child in the next room over. Well, teenager: the adolescents had grown so much in the time that Twilight knew of them.

"Is your sister okay?" she asked.

"She's just feeling a bit under the weather right now," Rarity assuaged. "Nothing serious."

Twilight nodded, glad the more pertinent issue was not anything to worry about, but that still left the matter of the displaced girl in a house that she didn't belong to wearing clothes that were most certainly inappropriate for the setting.

"Why is Scootaloo here?" she asked in less of an interrogative and in more of an 'am-I-missing-something?' way.

"Darling, Scootaloo has been living here with my family and I for several years now," she explained. "We try not to make it public knowledge."

"Okay..." well that answers one question. "So why is she wearing... that?"

"They." came Rarity's blunt reply.

Twilight blinked. "What?"

"Sorry, that was... harsher than I intended it to be. I'm just so used to doing that. Scootaloo prefers to be addressed as they or them rather than by she or her." Rarity sat down on the bed before continuing, watching as Twilight put her hand over her mouth in thought. "The clothes are a personal choice that I wouldn't be caught dead in unless I was living alone or with a paramour, but those are simply pajamas."

"Okay, so... They. Got it." Twilight picked up her purse and walked over to the bed and sat down next to Rarity. "I'm aware that some people use nontraditional pronouns, I just didn't know that Scootaloo did as well. But I'm still confused. Where does she- do they- sleep?"

"Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sleep in the same bed," Rarity explained. "We don't have enough rooms in the house for Scootaloo to have their own bedroom but the two are very close and don't particularly care sleeping together." She shrugged. "Fluttershy and I are the same way. So are Rainbow Dash and Applejack. It's nothing weird or perverse or anything like that. That's just how they've been for as long as Scootaloo has lived with us."

Twilight nodded, starting to understand the situation. "I know that it's normal for a lot of girls to sleep together even in a state of undress but for purely platonic purposes," she adjusted her purse and felt her cheeks color. "I just don't think that I could do that myself, considering..."

Rarity bit her lip, then placed a comforting hand on Twilight's shoulder. "It's a personal choice, darling, and nobody expects you to do or not do anything that you aren't comfortable with."

"I know," she said, nodding and giving a half smile. "And I appreciate that."

The two looked at each other for a moment before both of their thoughts snapped back to what caused Scootaloo to emerge in the first place. The blog. They both turned to the computer screen.

Rarity cleared her throat. "Are you staying for supper? I'm probably going to be making myself a salad but we have other things as well. I know you have a dog and a pizza waiting for you at home."

Twilight stood. "No, I should go soon, otherwise Spike will whine my ears off about unethical animal treatment or something. Thanks for offering though."

Rarity nodded. "Go ahead and gather your things, then," she said. "I don't want to keep my wittwe Spikey-wikey waiting for too long... Thank you again for coming to assist me."

"It was my pleasure," Twilight responded with a hug. "I had fun. Just let me know if you need any other help with any of your... blogs."

[i]'Oh no, why did I say it like that?'

'Oh no, she really does know!'[/i]

"Of course; I know that I can always count on you. And I'll take care of the cake pan and return it to Pinkie."

Twilight nodded. "Thanks."

Both girls deathly afraid of bringing up the topic they didn't know that the other was stressing out about, they went back to Rarity's car and headed to Twilight's house, exchanging no more than small talk. Externally nothing was different, but inside they both had a terrible feeling that the other was silently judging the for being perverted.

Eventually Rarity pulled into Twilight's driveway, and the two hugged before bidding farewells and separating. Twilight waved from the front door before closing it and hearing Rarity drive away. After taking Spike outside ("Finally!") and ordering the pizza (soy cheese with garden veggie) she went into her dimly lit bedroom, clapping twice to activate the lights. She placed her purse and bag on her bed before collapsing on it herself.

A lot of thoughts raced through her mind, none really standing out more so than any other except for 'Go look.'

She turned her head to her computer, sitting there on her desk so insidiously. She looked back up to her miniature planetarium. She looked to the left at her bean bag reading chair and closet. She looked forward at her door and academic awards. She looked to the right at the telescope and many bookshelves. Each time her sight returned to the computer.

"I don't want to," she said as she stood up and walked over to it.

[b]"Yes we do..."[/b]

"This is wrong," Twilight muttered as she pressed the power button and waited for it to boot up.

[b]"Only if we get caught..."[/b]

Twilight violently shook her head trying to dislodge the unwanted thoughts but they stayed, ever present, as she felt her fingers type in her passcode, a complicated string of letters and numbers put together algorithmically using a program of her own design.

"Please don't make me do this..." she whimpered, clicking the web browser.

[b]"You know as much as I do that you want this just as much as me, my dear."[/b]

She clicked the address bar and typed in the URL she was looking for. "theiofthe-beholder", a simple enough sounding phrase. Nothing insidious about that, right? Nothing to betray the contents hidden inside. There wasn't anything really bad, per se. But something that could cause something bad...

Pressing enter, a photograph popped up on the screen. It was one she had seen twice before that day, of the woman in lingerie. The one on Rarity's phone earlier, then on her computer, and now on Twilight's computer.

"Why can't we just ignore it?" she pleaded. "I can't do this, it's an invasion of privacy!"

No reply came, but Twilight found herself scrolling. After a moment she felt her heart slow down, and then rapidly speed up. After another moment she felt another hand on top of her own, forcing her to continue turning the mouse wheel. An orchid gloved slender fingered hand that refused to budge no matter how much her own arm struggled.

[b]"Ssshhh..."[/b] Midnight muttered, reaching her other hand around to stroke Twilight's hair. [b]"It's just a little more..."[/b]

Twilight couldn't move her head to get the cold fingers away. It wasn't really happening in real life, not on the observable plane of existence. Her hair wasn't actually moving, but the sensation still existed. She wanted to throw up.

Another woman in lingerie. Another woman with her breasts visible. Another woman looking seductively over her shoulder as her posterior was facing the camera. Another gripping her breast, putting her fingers on either side of the piercing on the nipple. Another woman in lingerie. Two women kissing while groping each other.

"Please stop..."

Finally her finger did stop... exactly where she didn't want it to.

[b]"Sunset sure does look more beautiful without her clothes, doesn't she!?"[/b] Midnight cackled before removing her hands and walking away. Twilight didn't turn to look as there was no point. Even when she couldn't see Midnight anymore, she always know that it was there. Watching, waiting, constantly on the hunt for the next time she was emotionally compromised.

Her wrists burned.

Sunset Shimmer was in the computer right now. She was laying on her side on her bed, illuminated by the sun's rays. One arm was outstretched, holding the phone that had presumably taken the photograph. The other hand was resting on her abdomen between her chest and stomach. Her legs were crossed in just such a way that her pubic hair was showing, which is relevant because she was completely nude.

Twilight blushed furiously, and felt her pulse quicken, her toes curl, and her stomach turn. She didn't feel sick, no; this was a turn of arousal, pure and simple. She felt another part of her body twitch, one that hadn't seen any use before. Not by anybody else.

Sunset was was grinning, her eyes half-lidded, and her hair was just freshly washed, conditioned, and brushed, falling around her face, framing it perfectly. Her hips curved nicely, and Twilight imagined how it would feel to grip them. How it would feel to kiss her, not just on her lips, but everywhere else too. Her jaw, her collarbones, her breasts, her stomach, her inner thighs...

She swallowed, feeling her hands furl up her skirt.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, slipping one of her hands inside.

/x/x/x/

"Darkness!" Rainbow yelled, wrist moving so fast it blurred. "Imprisoning me! All that I see! Absolute horror! I cannot live! I cannot die! Trapped in myself! Body my holding cell!"

She, Sunset, Applejack, and Pinkie were finishing off their practice session with a cover song that Rainbow was interested in trying. There weren't any keyboard parts so she had picked the day that Rarity wouldn't be there in order to see if the other girls would be interested.

Everybody sans Fluttershy had really liked the idea, which was good since there was no tambourine part either. She was in the next room surveying the recording equipment, ensuring that Rainbow and the others would be able to go back and listen afterwards. She didn't particularly care for how loud and scary the second half of this song was, but she really enjoyed how pretty the first half had been.

The next two minutes consisted of Rainbow and Sunset's hands and Applejack's fingers moving near constantly, and through the soundproof glass of the school's music room she could tell that they were all having a great time. She smiled to herself. She loved that she could still help them do something even if it was something she herself had no desire to partake in.

When the song finally completed, the girls just stopped, standing still for a moment. They were all panting heavily. After this passed Rainbow let out a whoop before slipping the guitar from around her shoulders, and walked towards the amplifier to unplug it. The others followed suit and Fluttershy took this as her cue to open the door and turn off the microphone.

"My entire hand hurts," Sunset complained, wincing as she rubbed at her sore wrists. "But that was pretty fun."

"'Course it's fun," Applejack replied with a hearty pat to the back. "Now do y'all see why Rain and I love this music?"

"What?" Sunset asked, ears ringing.

"Hey Pinkie!" Rainbow shouted, placing her guitar on the stand. "You did great, but you gotta mind those sixteenth note triplets. I was hearing thirty-second notes instead at one part but honestly I like that more."

"Creative license!" She yelled back before chugging an entire water bottle. Pinkie's hair was tied back in the frizziest ponytail in all the world, and her tank top was practically soaked. When the bottle was empty she shoved the drumsticks in her hair before undoing all the pieces of the set.

"You girls look like you sounded great," Fluttershy offered, passing out more water. "I just hope I did the recording right."

"You always do," Rainbow said before thanking her and chugging half her own bottle before pouring the rest on her face. Her hair was tied in a messy bun, and her sports bra was slightly less wet than Pinkie's top. Well, from sweat. She began to roll her shoulders. "AJ, on point as always. And Sunset, nice job on the second solo. When we get the wah pedal backorder through, I'm sure you'll do wonders with it."

After the girls put their guitars away, they helped Pinkie with the rest of the drums, and then took care of the amplifiers and recording equipment. By the time everything was put fully away the sun had set, and the girls all put jackets on before heading to the parking lot.

"Man, I hate the time change," Rainbow complained. "It makes it so dark at night."

"Maybe if you went to bed at a reasonable hour then y'all'd appreciate seein' the sun earlier in the morning for those of who actually have things we need to do then."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes before flipping off Applejack. She in turn offered one of her own, prompting Rainbow to bring up her other hand for a second one. Applejack then flashed a second bird of her own before both girls dissolved in a fit of laughter.

"I just hate how gradually cold it gets," Sunset interjected, putting her hood up. "Back home in Equestria it was just boom, suddenly winter. It didn't help we have fur over there either... or heat magic."

"Yeah," Pinkie said in between mouthfuls of a cupcake nobody had seen her holding earlier. "I mean, I never feel cold anymore because of my thermo-thingamawhatsits, but I remember when winters were terrible cuz I've got bad circulation, like Twilight."

"Oh!" Sunset cried. "That reminds me..." she dug in her purse for her phone and typed out a quick message to Twilight. "We are done. We'll talk tomorrow. Hope you had fun with Rarity. Send. Alright, cool. You okay with taking us all home, Applejack?"

She merely shrugged. "If y'all are okay riding in it. Heater ain't the best but it beats walkin'."

"Shotgun!" yelled both Pinkie and Rainbow simultaneously. They immediately launched into a match of rock paper scissors: both threw rock, then both threw paper, then rainbow did rock as pinkie did paper. She cheered as Rainbow put her face in her hands.

"Every time..." she groaned, before climbing up into the back seat.

Sunset was halfway up into her own seat before she stopped.

"Need help, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.

"N... no..." Sunset pulled herself all the way up before putting her hand on her stomach. "It just feels like someone shoved an ice cube... up there."

"Yeesh," Rainbow muttered. "You feeling okay?"

"I'm fine, it passed. But is that normal for humans?"

The girls all shrugged.

"Well one of my ex boyfriends shoved one up there one time and it felt super amazing-"

"PINKIE, NO!"

/x/x/x/

Twilight sat panting, staring up at the ceiling, eyes still unfocused. Her underwear sat at her ankles, wet. She blinked, and the projected stars came together. The feeling had passed, the afterglow gone. Now she just felt cold.

She sat back up in her chair, feeling the unpleasant squelch of sweat underneath her thighs. She looked down at her legs, at her sticky fingers, and cursed at herself. She slipped one foot out and slowly brought herself to a standing position, using her elbows to keep balance on the desk.

Twilight glanced around the room before sighing and removing her skirt. She wiped the fluid on her hands as best as she could before wiping a dry bit on the chair. She reached down to pick up the panties and bunched them up inside the skirt before stepping over to an empty laundry hamper and plopping them in.

After a brief glance at the computer screen, she stormed over to it and made as if to hit alt f4, but paused. Sunset's smile made her feel sick. Dirty. Twilight instead clicked minimize and then put it to sleep before pulling off her jumper. She tossed it on her bed before removing her own shirt and bra, glaring at the glitter that fell to the floor.

"Great, I'll have to vacuum again..."

She tossed the remaining clothes in the basket before brushing off the remaining bits of shiny little synthetic plastic, or as much as she could get off. Some still stayed, especially after the earlier activity, and she clenched her fists. She took a deep breath and released it before striding to her closet.

Opening it up, she grabbed her fluffy lavender bathrobe and wrapped it around herself. She turned to the dresser and pulled open a shelf, picking out a pair of pajamas to wear. A flannel button-up top and a fuzzy pair of sweatpants. She closed the drawer and opened up another, pulling out a different pair of panties and a roll of fuzzy socks.

She stepped back over to the bed and laid the articles down before casting one last glare at the computer.

Suddenly her phone buzzed. She dug into the purse and luckily didn't have to spend as much time as she did earlier finding it. However, what she saw made her drop it immediately back in.

"Sunny3
We are done. We'll talk tomorrow. Hope you had fun with Rarity."

Twilight took a step back and put her hands over her mouth, then on her temples.

"She knows, she knows, she knows, she knows, why did I do this, I'm so stupid..." she pulled her glasses off and tossed them haphazardly on the bed before putting her palms over her eyes and cursing again.

She heard scratching on her bedroom door and a small voice. "Hey, Twilight?"

She sniffed. "I'm fine, Spike."

"...no you're not."

She stormed to the door and put her hand on the knob. She took a deep, steadying breath and pulled it open.

"I'm fine."

Spike stepped forward and nuzzled her calf. "You know that I can smell feelings, right?" he reminded her. "You're upset about something and... well, I don't wanna talk about that other thing that just happened. But please, just... be careful. I'm here if you need me."

She bend down and picked him up, hugging him against her chest. He licked her cheek twice before nuzzling the crook of her neck.

"I know," she whispered.

The moment was interrupted by the doorbell. Spike barked twice before looking at Twilight and grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry... force of habit..."

Twilight put Spike back on the floor before turning to pick her wallet out of her purse, thumbing to the credit card in her parents' names. She then headed down the stairs to the front door, tying her robe as she walked. She'd tip with money, thank you very much.

She opened the door and beheld a familiar face.

"That's one large garden veg- oh, hey Twilight! Didn't know you lived here."

She nodded. "Flash Sentry, hello." That was his name, right?

His eyes traveled down to her bare legs for just a moment before he cleared his throat and looked back into her eyes. "So yeah, garden veggie with soy cheese, brings you to ten eighty five. How've you been?"

Twilight handed him the card before pulling the robe tighter around her body. "I've been... okay."

He swiped the card in his scanner before he bit his lip. "So uh..." he sniffed the air and then his face grew a little redder. "Got company over?"

Twilight put her palm on her forehead. Of course. "Nope. It's, uh... just me." Awkward. "Alone. By myself." Nobody else he could see, at least.

Flash gave back the card before handing over the pizza box with a receipt on top. "How's the, um... other Twilight?"

Twilight shrugged, filling out a generous tip. She wasn't paying for it, after all. And Flash was a nice enough guy, she just didn't really... gel well with him. Didn't help that he was in love with what was essentially her clone. But since the bus crash he had been in constant need of a pick-me-up.

[b]"Flash Flash."[/b]

[i]"No."[/i]

"Haven't seen her in a while. Sunset would know." A pang of guilt racked her stomach.

Flash glanced at the receipt then did a double take. "I'll ask her later then... thanks Twi." He grinned at her. "See ya around. You should order more pizzas."

Twilight nodded, giving the ghost of a friendly smile in return, but failing to make it reach her eyes. She slid the door shut with her foot, not seeing him turn back to see if she was still watching him. But she knew he did anyway.

She walked into the kitchen before setting the box on the counter. She wasn't hungry but she opened it anyway. They never cut the soy cheese pizzas themselves, which was her biggest pet peeve about the chain because...

[b]"Aww, it's so sweet that you know when I'm going to pay you a visit."[/b]

Twilight opened the silverware drawer and dug around for the round pizza slicer. The various knives glinted at her. Ignoring them, she eventually found what she was looking for, and removed the decorative orange plastic safety bit.

[b]"Let's have some fun."[/b]

"You had enough fun earlier today," Twilight replied. "Or did you already forget mind raping my best friend?"

[b]"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it, baby."[/b]

Twilight huffed, and began cutting. Twelfths, so it would last longer, and also so the individual pieces would be more satisfying.

"Only as far as sexual pleasure goes, but there are plenty of other girls out there."

[b]"Maybe so, but you don't love any of them. You're too much of a coward to pursue any of them. The only one you can see and talk to and hold and feel every day is her... that makes it so much more delicious to see her naked body sprawled across that bed, in that picture you were never meant to see..."[/b]

Twilight looked over her shoulder at Midnight, leaning cockily against the wall. She licked her lips as Twilight rolled her eyes and finished the last cut.

"You can influence me to explore my sexuality but you have no power over me-"

Before she could even take a breath to finish her sentence, Midnight shoved Twilight into the counter. She grabbed Twilight's hand and forced it around the pizza cutter, and held it against her throat. With the other hand she stroked Twilight's hair, cold fingers sending wave after wave of deathly chills down her back.

[b]"IS THAT SO?"[/b] she snarled, pressing the blade into Twilight's skin. [b]"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, my dear, but I seem to have immense power over you. Unless, of course, you WANT to slice your own neck open."[/b]

Spike started barking.

[b]"How tragic that would be. How horrifying for your parents to come home to. How sad for your dog to watch, wondering why you turned red and grew colder and colder, and then stopped moving. How sad for your friends to know that they never got a chance to say goodbye, to always wonder if it was their fault, to have to attend your funeral. What do you think Sunset will say at your eulogy?"[/b]

"Please let me go!" she cried, trying feebly to move her other arm anywhere but pinned under her chest, useless. "Don't hurt me, I'm sorry!"

Suddenly the pressure was gone, and Twilight pulled herself up, throwing the cutter across the room, smashing into a utensil basket and scattering its contents on the floor. She fell to the floor on her knees, coughing, sobbing. Spike came running up and began licking her hand. She pulled him in and started stroking his fur.

"You're stronger than her..."

Twilight merely shook her head no. She wiped away the tears with the back of one hand before feeling her throat. Her fingers came away with red dots. Spike licked them away.

[b]"Have you learned not to argue with me, pig?"[/b]

Twilight nodded.

[b]"Good... now about that eulogy. I actually doubt if she'd come when she realizes you not only purposefully sought out her personal, private nude photos, but... you masturbated to them? Disgusting. You can't even blame me for that one, that one was all you."[/b]

Twilight didn't respond, she just sat and wept.

[b]"Enjoy your pizza."[/b] and with that, Midnight turned and walked away.

/x/x/x/