A Song of Pony and Changeling, Book 1: Games Ponies Play

Sweetie Belle - Across the Stormy Sea, in Horsehoe Bay

Sweetie Belle looked out of her window with a soft sigh, feeling the warm breeze play over her coat. The waves of Horseshoe Bay lapped at the coast far, far beneath the window to the seaside villa she sat at, serenading her with the sound of the sea. She inhaled deeply, savoring the salty smell and fresh breeze.

Only to have her mood sullied when her sister burst through the doors.

“Darling!” Rarity cried out in a rather chipper voice. “There you are, I’ve been looking for you all day. Come, come, they’ll be ready for you any minute.”

“Yes, Rarity.” Sweetie Belle sighed as she pulled away from the window. She meekly walked forth, smiling faintly. It was a forced smile, but a smile nevertheless. Rarity strode forth, smiling down at her. “Pony Joe has a gift for you, little sister.”

“Does he now?” Sweetie Belle deadpanned, keeping her smile in place. Pony Joe showered her with gifts on an almost daily basis. ’Anything to gain favor with House Draconequus’ She fought the urge to vomit. Two buffalos, the slaves of the ponies across the Stormy Sea, entered her quarters with a box between them. Rarity’s horn glowed as she lifted the lid off of the box and pulled the contents out. At this, Sweetie Belle had to smile.

It was a beautiful dress, silky-smooth looking. But the more she surveyed it, the more she realized what it was.

“Rarity,” Sweetie Belle simpered. “This dress is too tight… I’ll look like some hussy from the streets.”

“You’ve not even worn it yet, dearie.” Rarity tucked the dress away, smiling at her. “You won’t know how you look until you try it. And trust me, Pony Joe knows his dresses. He is awfully wealthy, and his coin has not been missed on us.” Rarity paced around to her back, leaning in to whisper into Sweetie Belle’s ear. “We have to show our appreciation for his hospitality.”

“Yes, sister.” Sweetie Belle sighed again. She knew what was to happen later that day… She just didn’t have to like it.

“You’re going to wear the dress, and you’re going to look beautiful.” Rarity continued, her breath washing across Sweetie Belle’s ear. “Pony Joe promised me that marrying you to that barbaric Gilda and her gryphons would net me all the fighters I needed to re-take our throne. And you’re going to marry her.” Rarity continued, though her horn glowed. Sweetie Belle stiffened as her tail was pulled up, revealing her haunches and everything between them.

“You’re a mare now, Sweetie Belle. I’ll have my fighters, even if I have to let Gilda and every one of her forty thousand gryphon screamers fuck you senseless.”

“Yes, sister.” Sweetie Belle whimpered. Rarity let her tail drop as she walked past, moving for the door. The two buffalo left the box with the dress there, next to her bath tub.

“Bathe, wash up, and prepare yourself, Sweetie Belle.” Rarity called back as she left. “Your wife sees you today.”

“Don’t remind me.” Sweetie Belle mumbled under her breath. She watched Rarity leave before glancing at the revealing and form-fitting dress. “Dumb fabric.” With a sigh, she turned to the bath.

“Ma’am!” One of the buffalo hoofservants gasped as she strode forwards. “We’ve just drawn it! The water is too hot for you!”

Sweetie Belle paid the hoofservant no mind as she stepped into the searing water. She let the pain remind her of the pain she was due in the future. The gryphons were rumored to be brutal, heartless beings. The Gryphon Lands, North of Horseshoe Bay, were home to various roaming bands of the winged beasts. Gilda’s was the largest and strongest of the land, and it was to the heartless leader of that band that Sweetie Belle was to be pawned off.

’Just like mother’s jewels...’ Sweetie Belle sunk into the steaming waters, feeling the oil and scalding liquid wash over her. Rarity had wasted much of the Draconequus fortune in getting them away from Canterlot and the encroaching Solari and Sparkle forces fighting their way into the city. That, and placating Pony Joe, the Old Eternity Empire trader whose home they had been accepted into. Now, there was nothing left but their name.

As Sweetie Belle descended into the water, feeling the pain radiate through her, she thought grimly.

’A name that once struck fear into the hearts of everypony in Equestria. I must do this for Rarity. She’s the heir to the throne. She’ll restore House Draconequus. Fire and Chaos. That’s our promise to everypony. Fire and Chaos.’

Sweetie Belle felt like a newly-hatched dragon as she burst from the waters. Young, nubile, and full of fire.

When she donned the dress, Sweetie Belle felt like a mare. The buffalo insisted she not wear any incense or perfume, as the gryphons disliked things that didn’t smell of their wings. She emerged from her quarters with her head held high, her hair flowing beautifully down her neck.

“Aah, here she is.” Pony Joe grinned as Sweetie Belle joined them on the terrace. Rarity, she saw, was wearing the garb of House Draconequus. Even the gryphons would know the gemstones emblazoned on her barding. There was a point in time when that mark would be equated with the powerful dragons, and the fire and destruction they wrought wherever they flew.

“Prepare yourself, Sweetie.” Rarity nodded solemnly. “Gilda and her flight will be here any moment. Go and meet them, as you are.”

Sweetie Belle descended the steps of the terrace until she stood on the threshold of Pony Joe’s home. Sure enough, a dark dot on the horizon began to steadily grow. Gilda flew fast and free towards her, leading a massive contingent of Gryphons. Sweetie Belle stood at the edge of the drive, watching the dot grow and grow until it couldn’t possibly be missed. And then it continued to grow. She felt fear and apprehension build in the pit of her stomach as the gryphons swarmed overhead, circling and screeching terribly. One gryphon, seeming larger and faster than any of the others, detached from the circling overhead to swoop down in front of her.

Gilda landed before Sweetie Belle with a flourish of her wings, her talons digging into the dirt roughly. She glared down her beak at Sweetie Belle, her wings still spread wide. Gilda was easily twice her size, not counting her wings. But Sweetie Belle found her strength. She raised her head, looking Gilda right back in her eyes.

All around them, the gryphons circled and screeched, even as Sweetie Belle met her new wife’s eyes confidently. The dress hugged her flanks in all the right ways, and she felt as beautiful as ever. Apparently, so did Gilda. With what Sweetie Belle could have sworn was a rather lecherous grin, Gilda’s wings flared out and she took into the skies.

“I don’t understand,” Sweetie Belle called back to Pony Joe as Gilda and her flight dwindled on the horizon. “Did she like me?”

“Very much, child.” Pony Joe smiled as he swept upon her. “You’d have known if she didn’t.”

“How?”

“You’d be dead.” Rarity breathed a sigh of relief. “As would all of us, most likely…”

“So I did okay?”

“You did fine, Sweetie.” Rarity smiled as she stroked her mane. “The gryphons will be ours. You still have your duties to do, but the gryphons will be ours. Soon, you’ll see, we’ll re-take Equestria. We’ll have our throne back. Fire and Gemstones.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Gryphon weddings were barbaric affairs. Sweetie Belle had heard stories about them in the past and the books she sometimes read in Pony Joe’s home, but she had never seen one, let alone been the guest of honor. Ponies and Gryphons in equal measure streamed past the platform she and Gilda sat upon, each of them bearing gifts for her or Gilda. The gifts ranged anywhere from fine jewels and fabrics to books of knowledge and magical curiosities. One of them, a gift from Pony Joe himself, was an artifact that she actually knew quite a bit about. Gilda did, too, it seemed.

It was a product of magic from the ages past, as timeless as some of the cities that, unlike the artifact, lay in shambles. With it, two females could produce a child. Given the severe lack of actual males in the world, this artifact and others like it was to thank for the reason there were so many alive today. If both parties had it close by or integrated it into their lovemaking session, the more submissive of the two would be impregnated.

But that gift came second to Pony Joe’s most beautiful gift. Sweetie Belle gasped as a small chest inlaid with lapis and rubies was placed before her. Inside, three dragon eggs rested.

“A rare sight, even among my collection.” Pony Joe smiled at her. “They’re little more than fossils, I’m afraid… But beautiful fossils nevertheless. The namesake of your house.” Pony Joe bowed low. “My final gift to you, my Princess.”

“Thank you.” Sweetie Belle looked down at the eggs with wide eyes, her heart racing in her chest. The eggs were the namesake of house Draconequus, as it was from those eggs that their dragons hatched. But that was hundreds of years ago… The last dragon had died away quite a long time before she was born, even.

She was so caught up with the dragons she almost didn’t notice the unassuming young stallion who approached her next. He had to clear his throat to get her attention. She looked up at him begrudgingly, though a smile crossed her face when she saw he was an Equestrian.

“Milady,” He bowed low. “My name is Button Mash, and I formerly hailed from the Bear Islands.”

“Button Mash.” Sweetie Belle tapped her lip thoughtfully. “I remember you… You were banished for slavery.” She frowned at him. “You sold crystal ponies to the Storm Islanders.”

“I did, milady. And I had to flee the fury of Shining Armor else I be beheaded.” Button Mash cleared his throat awkwardly. “I joined in with Gilda’s band of gryphons to keep an eye on their slaves, and to you I offer this.” He stepped aside, revealing a modest pile of books. “Tales and stories from Equestria.”

Sweetie Belle could have squealed. She hadn’t seen any books from Equestria since well before coming to Pony Joe’s home in Horseshoe Bay. She picked up the whole stack, going over the titles of books one by one. Many of them were tales of adventure and songs of valor, but there were a few books of history as well.

“Thank you, Button Mash. I’ll treasure these.”

“You,” Gilda lifted a claw to Button Mash, nodding towards Sweetie Belle. “You fight good. Good pony warrior. Queen needs her knight.”

“Yes, Gilda.” Button Mash lowered his head to Sweetie Belle. “Should you have me, I will swear my fealty to you, milady.”

“My wife makes a good point.” Sweetie Belle nodded to Button Mash. “Remove your sword, ser.” At her insistence, Button Mash clamped his sword in his teeth and drew it from its sheath. Sweetie Belle awkwardly took the sword in her magic, trying hard to heft the rather large blade. She did so well enough, laying the tip against either of his withers.

“Ser Button Mash. I herby knight you. Swear your fealty to me, and I promise you lands, honor, and glory.”

“I do, Lady Sweetie Belle.”

“Yes, yes,” Rarity rolled her hoof. “Now put your sword away before some gryphon challenges you. I’d hate to spill blood on the stage here.” Button Mash accepted his sword from Sweetie Belle, shoving it home in his scabbard. From there, he went to stand behind Sweetie’s cushions, keeping a watchful eye on the festivities.

Barbaric as they were.

Sweetie Belle paid the barest of attention to the wedding, as her focus was mainly on the books Button Mash had brought her. Soon enough, they wandered back to the jeweled eggs. In between staring longingly at the books and adoringly at the eggs, though, she caught glimpses of the wedding-goers and their disgusting rituals.

Some sort of fight broke out before the platform they sat upon, and Gilda seemed to tense up beside her. Two gryphons squared off, their curved talons slicing the air back and forth in an intricate dance. Apparently it was over some female group follower, some poor storm islander caught between two angsty gryphons.

As Sweetie Belle watched, one gryphon lashed out, but over-extended. The defending gryphon danced backwards, spun about, and slashed her adversary across the neck. The one gryphon fell to the sand, her lifeblood gurgling out of her beak. In triumph, the victor hoisted the poor storm island pony into the air and began roughly tonguing her. Button Mash leaned into speak quietly into Sweetie Belle’s ear.

“A gryphon wedding without at least three deaths is considered a dull affair.”

The night wound down eventually, and the sun began to slowly set over the bay, Gilda began casting hard looks Sweetie Belles’ way. Of course she knew what came next. No wedding was complete without a consummation. Not even in Equestria. Apprehension and doubt began to well within her breast, coupled with a nervous quiver that found its way up and down her spine.

“Come.” Gilda stood from her bed of cushions, glaring down her beak at Sweetie Belle. In her other claw, she held the artifact from Pony Joe.

“O-okay…” Sweetie Belle flushed as she took Gilda’s talon. Gilda roughly pulled her up, yanking Sweetie completely out of her cushions and onto Gilda’s back. Her stomach dropped out from underneath her as Gilda spread her wings and flapped powerfully, carrying them both up and into the air. The wind whipped through her mane, and each lurching, powerful motion of Gilda’s wings made her feel as if she was going to fall.

“Hold on.” Gilda grunted beneath Sweetie. She complied, mostly out of terror than anything else. Gilda flew hard and fast towards the coast, landing on a rocky portion just out of reach of the surf. When they landed, Gilda roughly dropped Sweetie onto her rump.

“Oof.”

“Hmm.” Gilda stood over her, looking rather intimidating. That certainly wasn’t helping the feeling in Sweetie’s gut, or the unstoppable quivering. She and Gilda stayed like that for a while, looking into one another’s eyes.

’I must do this.’ Sweetie thought to herself, trying hard to swallow the lump in her throat. ’For Rarity. For House Draconequus. For my family.’

Gilda laid a claw on Sweetie’s neck, pushing her down onto her back. Sweetie went, even as the tears began to build up behind her eyelids. The claw dragged down her front, shredding the dress, but not quite cutting her. She sobbed as the dress fell off her body, revealing every little bit of her nubile young body. Gilda must have liked what she saw, because she took the artifact, and shoved it in.

It hurt.

A lot.

Sweetie Belle gasped as the artifact speared her walls, filling her to the very brim. Gilda stood over her, riding the magical object, effectively fucking her with it. In the back of her mind, Sweetie Belle knew that doing this very well could make her pregnant. Then again, that’s what Gilda wanted.

It didn’t stop her tears, though. Sweetie cried until it was over, until the artifact was pulled out of her aching vagina and left with her virgin’s blood on the grass. Gilda stroked her mane with a talon, but the sensation was about as hollow as Rarity’s incorrigible quips about her marehood.

“We try again tomorrow.” Gilda growled when she pulled away. Sweetie Belle knew that the artifact hadn’t taken. She wasn’t pregnant.

Not yet, anyways. She belonged to Gilda now, and that fact alone was going to put Rarity on the Equestrian Throne. She took solace in that fact, knowing that her marriage to Gilda would lead to House Draconequus ruling Equestria once again.