The Fall of The Caribou

As a new day dawned in the former country of Equestria, a single caribou mage by the name of Rudolf was already up and working. Clad in a single black robe the young mage flicked through yet another spell book in the Canterlot castle library, browsing for any spell that might ease his anxiety. The de-horned, naked, yellow unicorn mare kneeling down in the corner with a collar attached by a chain to the wall was also meant to release his anxiety, however right now Rudolf lusted for knowledge and not for carnal pleasure.

His personal slave kept quiet, it had only been two weeks since the caribou had successfully invaded Equestria and already she was broken in like the good little pet she was. Rudolf smiled as he continued to flick through the spell book he was holding, the first night in which he had acquired her had been one of the best he had had. Breaking her in for the first time as she begged was a moment which he wished he could have recorded. He still wore her pretty yellow horn around his neck to provide him with extra magical energy.

His hands flicked through the pages and stopped as he eyed a particular spell title, an entry titled: ‘Summoning Spells, From Frogs to Couches, All That Your Heart Desires.’ It seemed that spending the early hours of the morning amongst the dusty bookcases had payed off.

Rudolf grinned as he imagined getting a new mare, one that he could break all over again. All the ponies not already accepting of their new positions as the bottom of society had already been claimed by higher leaders or had been locked in that Castle dungeons with special ‘treatment’ until they submitted. He pictured in his mind the ideal candidate: a strong, iron-willed beauty preferably with large tits and a nice rump would be amazing. It would be even better if she was a guard, those mares where apparently the most entertaining to ruin.

He eagerly read the spell, finding it quite simple actually which was a bonus. He wasn’t the strongest of caribou magic users but he was able to hold his own, his specialty being slave control measures. Smirking, he walked back over to his pet and groped her chest, the unicorn moaning through her red gag as Rudolf’s hand kneaded her young breasts.

Preparing himself, Rudolf concentrated, pictured the descriptions of his ideal female and summoned magic to his antlers, the unicorn horn around his neck glowing as he drew excess power from it. Rudolf probably didn’t need to but he wanted his perfect female so bad that some more power couldn’t hurt. He kept smiling as a glowing red circle appeared on the floor as the unicorn beside him whimpered in fear at his magical might.

It was only a simple spell so Rudolf was certain that nothing would go wrong, he was confident in his own abilities and that was all that was needed.

United Imperium of Planets Army Colonel Tabitha Straken stood in front of the full length mirror, ensuring that her olive-green army dress uniform was satisfactory. Although she was relatively well-endowed the armoured vest under her uniform hid her chest, something she didn’t mind. Large boobs may be good for securing the support of horny older officers but they weren’t that useful for stopping bullets or energy shots.

Her room on board the orbital station was barren, a small space containing a mirror, wardrobe, set of drawers and a single bed with a nightstand. She was currently attending some courses on advance battlefield control, learning about new communication technology that was being developed to assist Command and Control officers like her to shift through the tons of data that was a part of any major military operation.

A set of cold blue eyes stared back at her, Straken running a comb that was clutched in her white-gloved hand through her jet-black hair that contrasted her pale white face, all three features common for those descended from her ice-covered home-world of Spriggen. Her freshly polished jackboots shone as did the golden buttons and medals on her uniform. Her trusty officer’s sword hung from her brown belt in its white scabbard, the blade passed down from her father when she had obtained her commission all those years ago.

On her left hip, sat a bulky black leather holster that contained her special issue plasma pistol, the sidearm packing more of a punch then ballistic or laser weaponry but its downside was that it was a much larger gun. Straken didn’t mind, she had found that having a very large, aggressive looking pistol strapped to you tended to encourage people to listen to what you had to say. It wasn’t just for intimidation however; Tabitha knew how to use it thanks to her prior training and experience. Four years of compulsory service in the standard infantry from age eighteen may seem harsh but it was effective in breeding efficient soldiers.

Her uniform in order, Straken placed her comb in her breast pocket and made one final check as she bent down to lift her right pant leg. Strapped to the inside of her leg in small holsters was a simple combat knife and a single ballistic sidearm, the snub-nosed handgun compact but still packing a punch. Tabitha had found put over the years that one could not be too careful, an extra gun or knife could make all of the difference in a fight for survival.

Standing back up she smoothed her uniform, casting a final glance in the mirror that contained her six-foot tall form. She looked professional and dangerous at the same time, her awards for combat service in multiple regiments as well as a few for bravery and valour shining bright on her chest. A final nod to herself and she exited her temporary quarters into the hustle and bustle of a military space station at breakfast time.

She strolled past troops armoured in the dull grey full armour of UIP Navy marines and technicians. Lower-ranking officers in uniforms like hers except with less medals saluted as she walked past, the green uniforms of army personnel broken up by the blue of the navy and the occasional black of the special warfare departments. Straken steered clear of any black-uniformed soldiers, the UIP’s many intelligence departments were infamous around the know universes for their seemingly unlimited capacity for cruelty.

Straken eventually made it to the station’s primary personnel teleporters; the large, elevator-like devices used for transit to the military garrison world below where her course was taking place. A large man in the uniform of the Internal Security Agency walked past her towards the centre device, Straken so focused on taking the teleporter furthest away from him that she accidently walked into one that was powered down. She didn’t notice the ‘Out of Order’ sign slightly hidden behind a pair of chatting mechanics.

Realising what she had done, Straken debated leaving for another teleporter but gave up when she decided that walking out of the non-functioning teleporter would be too much of an embarrassment. Glancing outside she pressed the button that closed the teleporter door, the solid metal barrier sealing her off from the outside noise. Relying on her past service in the drop-pod commando corps she bent down and located the hidden panel under the control console.

Opening the panel she flicked the switch that turned the teleporter on, a warm yellow light illuminating the room as the device powered on. Allowing herself a brief smile at her success Straken keyed in her destination and pressed the accept button.
Nothing happened.

Her smug look fading, Tabitha resorted to the tried and true tactic of rapidly hammering the button until the infernal machine worked. A red glow surrounded her which caused the Colonel to stop, the soldier preparing for transport as she clasped her hands behind her back. Only then did she notice that she hadn’t transported yet and that the colour around her was red and not the normal light blue that one saw in UIP teleporters.

‘Well, looks like I’m going to be late for class,’ was all she had time to think before she disappeared in a flash, the teleporter never activating as it powered itself down.

Rudolf clapped his hands together gleefully as a form took shape in his summoning circle, a tall and slender bipedal figure obscured by bright red smoke. His pet whimpered in fear electing Rudolf to slap her across the muzzle, sending the unicorn to the floor where she lay. The caribou was not concerned about his property however; he was just about to get a new toy after all. He prepared his shock stick, the magical black baton charged with energy in case the female materialising was a little more aggressive than he expected.

His look of glee turned into confusion as instead of a pony that he had hoped for a strange creature clothed in what looked like military garb was standing in the circle instead. The being appeared female if the eyes and furless facial features were an indication, not a pony, caribou, griffon, zebra, minotaur or even a changeling but a completely new creature. The new arrival seemed just as puzzled as he was, the female staring at him and the unicorn in shock. Rudolf was broken from his examination of the female, in particular the sword it had, as the pet beside him seemed to murmur in awe from her spot on the floor.

Knowing that all females were weak creatures, Rudolf came to the conclusion that a show of dominance by himself would confirm his high social position equivalent to the alpha male in whatever social structure the alien came from. Raising his baton Rudolf struck the pet on the back, the mare squealing as electricity coursed through her body causing her to spasm on the ground.

Another hit and the squeals were replaced with pained moans, Rudolf satisfied with both his pet’s level of volume and his show of force. He moved back up and faced the creature with a smug look in preparation to order her to service him; however he was met by a dark grey object with a black circle glowing blue in the middle pointed directly at his face.

The clothed female eyed him with harsh blue eyes as she held the large object in her left hand, a hate-filled sneer on her angular face as she revealed sharp canine teeth.

“Slaver,” she spat in a cold voice, Rudolf snapping out of his trance to raise his stun stick once more. The alien was faster however, the title ‘Slaver’ the last word the young caribou mage heard before a bright blue plasma bolt impacted his face, burnt off his flesh and then annihilated his skull in an explosion of blood and bone.

Straken lowered her gun towards the creature that was still alive, the snivelling alien a female judging from the mammary glands and crotch area. Straken examined the sobbing being through the sights of her weapon, trying to compare the creature to any known xeno species either allied with the UIP or against them.

The female had hooves on her hind legs, hands with four fingers and a thumb on her arms, a covering of fur that was a light yellow in colour and short-cut brown hair. A short tail matching the hair was splayed out on the ground as the creature stared up at Straken in fear as it lay on its back.

Tabitha had the impression that the alien was like a strange combination of a colourful horse and a human, the being having a small muzzle on its face, extremely large, brown eyes and horse-like ears. Unlike a horse however its breasts where located on its chest like a human’s, Tabitha casually noting that the female’s nipples were brown like its hair and eyes. Also of note was the strange growth in the middle of the forehead, the bony yellow protrusion barely visible.

The Colonel gazed down at the corpse of the deceased slaver, a small pool of blood growing around what was left of his ravaged head. She noted that the creature looked like a bipedal moose with hands, the being wearing a plain black robe. Deciding that he would be of no use to her for information, Straken checked that they were still alone before crouching down next to the terrified alien.

“Listen here Creature,” Straken addressed, hoping that the alien could understand her, “can you understand what I am saying?”
A nod from the teary female confirmed to Straken the creatures did indeed speak English, not that great a surprise as one would expect. The UIP had extended its influence across a wide stretch of space and primitive local populations often picked up the Empire’s primary language from traders. What surprised Tabitha the most was that it seemed like slavery existed here, given the UIP’s track record of slaver extermination she doubted that the Empire knew of this planet.

“I’m going to remove your gag now,” Straken instructed slowly to ensure that her message got across. “Scream or yell and I will kill you,” the plasma pistol was moved closer, “bite me and I certainly will kill you, understand?” A rapid nod was received from the alien, Tabitha releasing the clamps of the red ball-gag with her free gloved-hand.

The gag was removed with a plop, the human throwing it on the ground as the alien breathed in a deep lungful of air. Tabitha allowed her a brief moment before the questioning began.

“What is the name of this planet?” she asked firmly, the creature’s eyes seeming to lose focus for a second before they returned to full awareness.

“It’s… it’s called Hesperia,” the alien replied shakily, bracing as if Straken was going to hit her for replying.

“What is your name?” was the next question, the creature still trembling as a stream of blood from the dead caribou nearly touched a hind hoof.

“It’s ‘Pet’ or ‘Slave’ depending on how Master is feeling,” she mumbled out as she glanced to the dead body next to her. “You killed Master though, so now I don’t know. Why did you do that?” Straken attributed the question to what had no doubt been days spent in a submissive role, most likely mental conditioning to ensure obeisance. She gestured to the dead alien with her free hand as she leaned towards the creature that stared up at her.

“That beast is no longer your master, no one is. What was your name before you were enslaved?” It looked like the alien was struggling to remember her own name, Tabitha questioning just how long she had been held for. Judging from the looks of the creature she still seemed relatively healthy, most slaves, sexual or otherwise tended to show serious signs of abuse after a few weeks in her experience meaning that the female had been enslaved only a few weeks ago at most.

“It was, it was,” the alien was having difficulty retrieving the information, Straken wondering if memory suppression techniques had been employed on the female. A spark of happiness appeared in the creature’s eyes as a small smile appeared on her face. “I remember now! My name is Maple Fields!” the alien was elated at her revelation, Straken cutting off any further celebration.

“Good, now what are you?”

“I’m a pony, a unicorn mare,” Straken watched as Maple Fields touched the bony stump on her forehead with a hand before the ‘mare’ glanced at the body of the other creature. She looked to Straken for permission, the Colonel warily nodding for the ‘pony’ to proceed as Straken kept her gun trained on the equine as Fields reached down the front of the body’s robes. The creature withdrew a silver necklace decorated with a horn, Straken noticing that the horn was the same yellow as the pony.

“What happened?” Straken inquired again, Maple Fields glancing back towards the body on the ground. “He can’t hurt you anymore,” Tabitha reassured, the pony gathering herself as she breathed deeply.

“I know, I just feel so… unsure,” another look towards the gun and the alien soon continued. “The Caribou came during the Summer Festival, they took the guard completely by surprised as they teleported in. I don’t know how they do magic, I’ve only seen Mast… them use their antlers when they have a unicorn horn. They all had big breastplates, nets and stun sticks which they then used to start to hurt ponies to capture them. Princess Celestia was beaten by a warrior and they removed her horn in front of us, I don’t know where Princess Luna was but a day later she was being walked like a dog as she was spanked. We are all expected to walk on all fours to ‘remind us of our place.’

The Caribou told us all that the gods had deemed that females were merely meant to serve males, considering how weak and frail we are.” Maple Fields hung her head, Straken observing that the mare still believed some aspects of the controlling rhetoric. “We all had collars put on us and banned us from wearing clothes,” the mare nodded towards the black collar still around her neck securing her to the wall, “and we were either given away, used right there and then claimed or auctioned off. The caribou told all of the stallions that it was their right to use mares as objects and most of them soon joined the caribou with only a few resisting.”

Straken spat on the ground at this information, the soldier fuming as she heard how the majority of the male population turned against their own females for their personal gains. She was confident that in the same situation that any males in the UIP would fight to the death rather then submit to such debauched slavers.

“That was two weeks ago,” Maple went on. “Any stallion that refused to rape a mare then was locked up in the dungeons with a few of the more violent mares in the guard. Every day the Caribou remind us of the punishments that they all are facing for their actions, even foals aren’t spared.” Maple actually started to weep again at the reminder of what happened. “Colts are being brought up to be just like the Caribou while fillies are either kept to be trained as good slaves or claimed by the more horrible males.” Straken’s anger had reached boiling point, however one could not tell from her calm exterior.

The Colonel stood up and unsheathed her sword as Maple looked at the weapon in amazement while a cyan sheen covered the silver metal, the powerfield of the sword activating with a hum. Straken brought it down, severing the chain that held the mare to the wall as Maple closed her eyes. The pony opened them once it became apparent that the scary female was not going to kill her, the furless alien gesturing with her sword in an upwards motion.

“Come on, get up,” Straken commanded, the pony scrambling to get off the ground. As the naked mare stood up, making no effort to cover herself, Straken noted that the pony was short, only coming up to her chest. Maple stared up at her tall saviour with awe.

“What’s your name and what are you?” Maple questioned, Straken debating for a while whether to answer the query before deciding that fostering some trust between the pony could lead to more useful information about the situation.

“I am Tabitha Straken, Colonel in the United Imperium of Planets Army, Command and Control Corps.” The mare took in the military garb and weapons of Tabitha, only now fully comprehending that before her stood a high-ranking military officer from an alien race. “As for what I am,” Straken pressed on as she withdrew a small silver pen-like object from her breast pocket, “I’m a human but all that matters to you is that I am a soldier from space.”

“Oh, I knew I hadn’t seen a creature like you before,” Maple commented, Tabitha not responding as she pressed a button down on the silver device she held to her mouth, a beep sounding as Straken kept her gun trained on the doorway.

“This is UIPA Colonel Tabitha Straken of the Command and Control Corps, ID number three-four-seven-three-nine-seven-ten-slash-twenty-B. Issuing a urgent call for assistance from all available assets, co-ordinates unknown but I am currently stranded in hostile territory alone. Local society is in aftermath of hostile takeover, occupants speak English and large amounts of slavery are present. In accordance with order Thirty-Seven-B I am engaging hostiles to the best of my ability, requesting immediate backup.”

Maple trembled as the human put the device back in her pocket, the mare understanding most of what Straken had said. She had interpreted that the human had asked for help somehow and was now planning to go out to fight the Caribou.

“Wait! You can’t go out there!” Maple protested, fearful for her own safety and that of her new friend. Straken continued to check her weapons and equipment, the solider carrying spare energy packs for her pistols in her belt and a small pouch contained a case of cyanide pills in case of capture. Tabitha had sent off her sub-space message, with all of her equipment ready she was going to do what was expected of any UIP citizen in a situation like this.

She was going to kill as many Caribou and pony stallions that were aiding them as she could before re-enforcements arrived, she killed every hostile or she fell in combat either by an enemy or her own hand if capture was likely.

“It’s simple pony,” Straken didn’t use the mare’s name in order to prevent attachment. “I’m going to do what your males should have done and attempt to eliminate every filthy slaver that stains the ground with their presence. No matter if I die, my comrades will arrive and finish what I start. I suggest that you stay here and attempt to hide.” Straken moved to the door without waiting for a reply, a shout from Maple stopping her.

“Wait!” the Colonel turned around to spot the mare hesitantly lift up the stun baton, the weapon still crackling with energy. “I’m coming with you,” Maple said as her voice gained focus and determination. “If you… die then I’m going to be left her alone until some more find me, I don’t want that to happen again.” Tabitha watched impassively as Maple’s free hand moved to guard her groin, the pony slowly raising it back up to grip the handle of her baton as the Colonel shrugged with sword and gun in hand.

“Suit yourself,” she responded while turning around an opening the door, “just stay out of my way. You civvies are always a burden in combat.”

With that Straken strode out of the room with plasma pistol raised, Maple following behind hesitantly as she gripped her weapon and questioned if going with Tabitha was a good idea after all.

In a darkened room a communications device shaped like a grey rectangle with blinking lights went off, an orange claw lashing out from the bed in an attempt to seize it. The scaled limb got it on the third try, moving the communications unit to a fang filled mouth as a finger pressed down on a flashing button.

“This is Orthodox, the Fuck are you waking me up for?” a male voice demanded sleepily, an orange lizard tail flicking out from the covers as the owner yawned.

“… You have an assignment.”

“Fuck off, it’s Sunday morning,” the voice replied, rolling over in the simple white-sheeted bed which disturbed the numerous empty alcohol bottles sharing the space with the occupant. “What the hell is going on that you need me for, I thought that Chalmers got all of this urgent shit?”

“Agent Chalmers is currently on a diplomatic mission and is not able contacted.”

“That’ll go well, we better prepare for another war” Orthodox muttered as he sat up in the bed, stretching a pair of scaly orange arms out to either side as the male voice conversing with him continued.

“Due to this you are to gear up and assemble in the briefing room, your being sent in to provide backup to an Army Colonel stranded on an unknown hostile planet. A brief sub-space message informing us that hostiles are slavers and that she was engaging the enemy was all we have received so far. Urgency is stressed of course.” The orange figured sighed deeply, two clawed feet hitting the metal floor as the 4’8 tall bipedal lizard hacked up some mucus from his throat.

“Fine fine, give me five minutes,” he gave in and closed off the channel without bothering to wait for confirmation. He plodded into the bathroom; an unknowing observer would describe him as an orange dragon with no spines or wings who also happened to be only slightly taller than a midget. A quick minute spent brushing the taste of whisky out of a sharp-tooth filled maw and Orthodox ambled over to a chair with a large set of black objects resting on it.

The lizard went about fitting the armour to his naked body, a main chest plate with wrist gauntlets and leg pieces being secured on before with a finger he pressed a button concealed under an armoured panel on the side of his chest piece. With a whir a blue glow lit up on the armour pieces, black metal plates extending out to join the pieces together until Orthodox was completely covered in powered black armour except for his head.

A single logo of a white skull with a third eye on its forehead was located on his left breast armour with the letters ISA, which stood for ‘Internal Security Agency’, underneath the simple mark. A final look in a mirror showing bright green eyes and a hairless orange head was taken before Orthodox placed his helmet on, the single optical sensor band lighting up with a menacing blue glow.

His metal-booted feet clanged on the metal floor as he walked over to his simple dresser, withdrawing multitude of pistols and knives that he stored in his armoured suit in holsters and compartments. He brushed off a poster of a nude and busty porn-star off dull grey box, lifting the lid to uncover a multitude of grenades of different types and sizes. Stuffing the entire box’s worth into storage compartments Orthodox reflected on the wonders of the Quantum storage technology that allowed him to carry so many interesting tools of death.

He had one more thing left to do, a visit to the wardrobe against the grey wall his last stop before the briefing. Keying in a code to the electronic lock on the heavy doors Orthodox opened it up and withdrew a ballistic shotgun that was slung over his back as well as two duel gauss machine pistols. A large rapid-fire plasma assault rifle that was almost as large of him was his last choice, his armour enabling him to easily lift it in one hand as he crammed extra energy magazines into his storage.

His equipment secured, he sent a mental command for his helmet’s faceplate to lower revealing his mouth. A cigarette was fished out from a compartment and placed between his lips, a small flame that came out from the armour covering his right thumb used to light the deathstick. Orthodox breathed in the smoke with a happy sigh, opened his door and walked out onto the deserted floor of the living quarters located on the ISA listening post he was living in for the moment.

As he started to walk to the base’s briefing room to meet with the commander in charge of the facility he cocked his plasma rifle, the thin blue line in the middle of the weapon on the sides glowing with a blue energy.

‘I wonder just which Fucker has pissed us off and it going to die today?’ he mused as he finished the cigarette, swallowing the remains as his blank faceplate closed shut.