Endurance

Black Wisp ran.

The changeling ran harder than she had ever run before, desperate to get as far away from the death trap that was Equestria. Even as the noon sun shone down on her, she still ran, willing herself to go farther.

After having been thrown away from the city with the rest of the Changeling Army, she had seen the survivors - those who could fly well enough to slow themselves down - scatter in all directions. Wisp herself had sustained a torn left wing - an injury that had yet to fully heal - as well as numerous scrapes and cuts from when her armor had been torn off on impact.

Her injuries may have been minor and mostly gone, but that would pale in comparison to what an Equestrian-standard spear would do. Black Wisp knew that Royal Guard presence in Equestria would be severely increased, and she was hoping to find a safe hiding place, possibly a small town, before a patrol caught her.

If that happened, she wouldn't even be guaranteed a grave.

The pre-Invasion rumors of Equestria were harsh and varied. All agreed that it was beautiful, and certainly more hospitable than the barren wasteland they eked out a living in. However, the ponies that inhabited it were obviously quite unwilling to give it up, which was obvious to even the most naïve drone.

It was rumored that the Royal Guard executed changelings on site. Wisp didn't want to test that theory.

At this point, having run an unknown distance since that morning, Wisp was beyond tired. Gasping for breath, the changeling slowed to a trot, and then to a slow walk. Finally, she tumbled sideways, leaning against a tree as she desperately sucked in air.

"Damnation, how far do I have to run?" The changeling wheezed. Her throat was dry, her lungs ached, and her legs felt numb.

She needed water. She needed it more than anything else. Shakily standing up, she tried buzzing her wings, only to hiss in pain. They were still useless, it seemed. And that left only one option.

Searching on foot.

Wisp sighed and started down the slight incline she was on, fully aware that water flowed downhill. She wasn't some barely-sapient, blank-eyed drone, after all. She was a proud foot soldier in the Changeling Army, one of those who gave orders to drones.

Drones which she was lacking.

Thankfully, she had at least seen to it to receive standard survival training, something she could tell others with pride. Most of those of her low rank had simply scattered upon their landing, and she knew that few would survive past the next two weeks.

As she walked in search of a certain clear liquid, she pondered the frailty of her species. Changelings were an odd species. Their limbs were lined with holes to save weight when flying, and their bodies were utterly dependent upon harvested emotional energy, most notably those considered 'positive', to survive. Sure, a Changeling could survive for a few weeks on 'normal' food, but going too long without consuming emotions would cause a changeling to sicken and wither away.

It was a cursed existence, only brightened by the possibility of hope. A hope that had been shattered after the invasion. Their self-proclaimed Queen might be a little nutty, but she had come up with one last plan for the continuation of their society. The only bleak positive was that, with the greater number of the changelings who had gone forward dead, the collective Swarm might have an easier time surviving.

It was black humor of the worst sort, with a basis in reality. That did nothing to dampen the bitter laugher she let out at her fate. Making it out of the Everfree unscathed and undiscovered was going to take a miracle.

In addition, female changelings were much smaller than their male counterparts, sometimes by nearly half a foot. She could hardly intimidate a timberwolf, much less anything else she might encounter.

Soon enough, however, she heard the pleasant sound of a flowing stream. The changeling rushed forward through the underbrush and emerged into a small clearing around a stream. Black Wisp didn't care. As soon as she was close enough to the heavenly fluid, the changeling practically thrust her muzzle under the water, gulping down as much of the clean mountain water as she could.

After her thirst had been sated, Black Wisp lifted her head away from the water, annoyed by the small strands of her wet mane that insisted on laying themselves over her face. Feeling winded after her long day, the changeling wandered over to a large tree, and nestled herself between the large roots. Closing her eyes, she decided that a small nap couldn't hurt. She'd probably need the energy anyway.

*poke*

Black Wisp's eyes blinked open an indeterminate amount of time after she fell asleep, and then closed just as quickly. It was probably an insect or something. Wouldn't be the first time one of them had bothered her..

*poke*

"Cut it out." She mumbled, swatting at the air with her hoof.

*poke*

"Wake up, Changeling." A deep voice demanded.

Wisp's eyes shot open as she rolled away from the source, coming up from it on her hooves, still blinking her sleepiness away. A vague blur in her vision slowly resolved into one of her worst fears.

A single dark grey unicorn, clad in gleaming gold armor, was standing not five feet away from her, wielding a spear in its' magical grip. A spear which was pointed directly at her.

"Oh, buck." She whispered, her legs feeling weak. Wisp knew she stood no chance against a Royal Guard at her prime. In her weakened state, without any sort of weapon aside from her weak magic, she would last mere seconds. She bowed her head and waited for the blow to fall...

Nothing happened. Slowly, the changeling raised her head, only to see the unicorn smirking at her.

"What are you doing?" Wisp softly said. "You're supposed to kill me. That's what you do. Do you play with your victims before you murder them?"

"Not really. Patrol is boring, and I spend far too much time beating my way through the underbrush." The unicorn said, still smirking. "I'm supposed to kill you on sight, but I honestly don't care that much about the 'Greater Good of Equestria'. I'm proposing a trade, of sorts."

"What kind of trade?" Wisp said, narrowing her eyes.

"You're a female, right?" She nodded. "With all of the parts, right?" Again, Wisp nodded, this time somewhat hesitantly. "Here's the deal. I get a couple of bits for every changeling I bring in. It's a pathetic amount, however. If you show me a good enough time, I'll let you go."

"Just like that?" She asked with some incredulity. "You're just going to let me go if I buck you? Do you take me for an idiot? I have no guarantee that you won't just kill me!"

"Those are your only choices, changeling." The unicorn stated, his eyes narrowing and his spear hovering closer. "Either you take the chance, or I'll leave your body by the river for the manticores to find."

Black Wisp gulped. To the changeling, it didn't seem like much of a choice at all.

"I'll... I'll do it." She said after a moment of hesitation, defeated.

"Good." The unicorn said, unbuckling some of his golden armor with his magic while still keeping his spear at the ready. As Black Wisp was already nearly six inches shorter than the unicorn, she was easily able to watch his length poke out of his sheath as he stepped forward.

"Just remember one thing, Changeling." The unicorn said, his eyes narrowing. "If you bite me, or if I see your horn glow, I will end you."

"Y- yes, I'll remember." She replied. Her magic was weak in any case: She could hardly transform, never mind do anything but a stun spell. And with some of his armor still on, it would nullify almost all of her magic anyway.

"Now, duck under and get me wet."

Black Wisp bent her head down as the unicorn confidently stepped forward and reared up, placing his hooves on her back. The unicorn's length was fully out now, and the changeling hesitantly moved her tongue out and placed a short lick on the flare.. Finding nothing wrong, Wisp inched forward and placed the tip of it into her mouth, suckling on it. The unicorn above her grunted and she felt a line of pre cum hit her tongue. The taste was not unpleasant, unlike a few of the many other sexual situations she had been in.

The difference to Wisp was that it was she who had controlled those encounters. Her life was literally riding on this one, however, and so she would continue to endure the degrading position she was in.

"Go deeper." The stallion ordered, and Wisp was forced to comply  as he stepped forward, forcing more of it into her mouth. She continued to move her head back and forth, lightly sucking on it, but had to turn her head slightly to the side as her horn threatened to touch the unicorn. While it would likely cause some damage, it would not be enough to save her life, and so the changeling forced all thoughts of revenge to the back of her head.

Her vision was partially obscured as her medium-length cyan hair came one again to bother her, drooping in front of her left eye. She was unable to move it as the stallion thrusted forward into her throat painfully. Once again, reality had chosen this time to remind her just how small she was compared to the average pony, and this particular one had enough muscle to force himself in anyway.

The changeling whimpered as the member was once more thrust forcefully into her, the flare stretching her slick throat out as it went. She couldn't even breath. And, for the first time, she felt his balls slap against her chin. He was fully hilted inside of her mouth, and still using her like a toy.

And then, suddenly, the unicorn was pulling out, leaving her to take a deep, desperate breath when he popped out.

"Good mare..." The stallion taunted as he removed his hooves from her back, "But you aren't done yet. Turn around."

Resigned to what was going to happen, Black Wisp slowly turned around and presented herself. She felt the stallion practically hover over her, and felt his member poke at her slit, before moving upwards and poking at her anus.

"Better get ready..." The stallion whispered into her ear, before moving forward.

The flare of his cock pressed against her dry rosebud immediately, the lubrication that was on the tip stripping away rapidly as he pressed into her back entrance. The pain was immediate and harsh as his length drilled into her almost unbearably tight and dry hole.

"Too big, too big, too big!" Black Wisp cried out as the stallion violated her roughly and painfully. There was only the barest hint of his lust that she could discretely drain to dull the pain, and she was sure that the damage she was taking was far more than what she could easily heal. Suddenly, the stallion shoved her face into the ground, shoving himself down into her.

"Then deal with it. You're damned tight." The stallion coarsely replied. "Heh, maybe I'll tell my friends about this. You wouldn't believe how bored we get. Maybe they'd come down here and enjoy you just as much..."

"Go to Tartarus." The changeling hissed at him through clenched teeth, trying her best to ignore the pain she was going through. It felt as though a griffon was shoving its' claw into her ass.

"Let's switch things up here..." The stallion above her mumbled, before pulling himself out of her. Wisp flinched as his flare popped out, but otherwise showed no response. It quickly repositioned itself outside of her slit and pushed in, violating the last bit of her that he could.

Compared to his earlier actions, the feelings Wisp was getting right now were practically a mercy. They helped mask the pain she still felt all along her back and rear, and even allowed her to siphon more lust with which to heal her battered body. Sadly, the pain that Wisp felt was still enough to deny her release, even as the unicorn dominated her in the most demeaning way he could. With her face pressed into the ground, Black Wisp felt worthless, like a toy more than anything else.

The unicorn cried out in ecstasy as the changeling felt his member painfully flare, lodging him inside of her as he pumped his seed into her, much of which was assured to stay inside. It was warm, far warmer that it had any right to be, and there was so much of it that, were she to be significantly unlucky, pregnancy would be assured.

Finally, the cruel stallion withdraw himself from Wisp, letting her collapse to the ground with his semen still leaking out of her, along with a thin trail of blood from her anus. He lay several more spurts over her back and face, apparently satisfied with degrading her in every way he could. As if it were a normal thing, he casually put his armor back on, still holding the spear in his magical grip.

Black Wisp slowly turned around to look at the unicorn, noticing him eying her with that damned self-satisfied smirk.

"So, a deal is a deal. I'll let you live." The stallion said. "Although, you could wait here tomorrow, and I'd bring some friends..."

"Go buck yourself." The changeling mumbled just loudly enough for him to hear.

He just laughed, as if it were an everyday thing, before his expression turned serious. "I'll bring a firepassion crystal."

Wisp's thought process ground to a halt, before suddenly restarting. Firepassion crystals, while not rare in Equestria, were night-impossible to find in the badlands. When held close to any emotion-draining being, such as a Changeling, it essentially functions as a free buffet for up to two changelings to survive on. As such, acquisition of them was something that most Changelings could only dream of.

Having one only for herself would be unprecedented, and temping.

"Minotaur shit."  was the elegant reply that came out of her mouth. "You will not be able to get one, I can almost guarantee that. In any case, you'd just use me as some sort of cheap bargaining chip. I don't plan on being executed the moment I show up."

"Why not just do that now, if that was my goal?" The unicorn rhetorically asked, before shaking his head. "Feel free to watch me show up with the crystal, if it makes you feel better. The reason I am even considering this is because my group is based in the middle of nowhere, and there is absolutely nothing to do but wander the forest. Make your call."

"... I'll consider it." In truth, she was certainly considering it. Without some sort of emotion intake, she would likely die within two weeks, from either the hunger or the forest. A firepassion crystal would solve so much... And would also bind her to the unicorn, essentially trusting her life to a Royal Guard of all beings. It would be a dangerous bet to make...

And it, like the decision she had made before, was also her best chance for survival and protection.

It couldn't possibly be worse than a slow death by starvation.

Black Wisp was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't even notice that the stallion was talking, and scrambled mentally to catch up.

"-be here tomorrow at noon." The stallion was saying. "I will assume you are gone if you do not arrive, and you will not get the crystal you desire if you skip out. I have spent enough time here as it is."

"May I know your name?" Wisp asked as he turned to leave.

"No, you may not." He curtly replied. "Goodbye."

The Royal Guard walked into the brush, going off... Somewhere. Wisp just stared at where he was.

"I survived..." The changeling muttered. "I survived, and I might have my food needs for the future satisfied. But should I?"

And for that question, she did not have an answer.