Hello, Stranger....

by GameJunkie7

Rating: mature
Tags: Princess Luna, King Sombra, Queen Chrysalis, Adventure, Discord, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Sex, Human, Anthro, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe
Length: 198927

[Displaced Fic] Konrad Skinner was just your average nerd with a great love for videogames. Then he had to get suckered by The Merchant and sent to an Equestria with humanoid creatures of great power, in the middle of a war no less as The Merchant!

[Displaced Fic] Konrad Skinner was just your average nerd with a great love for videogames. Then he had to get suckered by The Merchant and sent to an Equestria with humanoid creatures of great power, in the middle of a war no less as The Merchant!

Now he has to try and get by in a world where his very existence is considered evil. But...isn't it all just business in the end?

Published 2015-03-11 02:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2017-07-19 06:16:56 UTC

The Fuck's a Displaced?

Author's Note

Ah, the memories, this was my first crossover with DJ A String's The Dungeon Master of Equestria!

Did some editing, again, if any of you sports spot something off, tell me and I'll get to it. :raritystarry:

The Fuck's a Displaced?

Konrad sighed in content as he relaxed in a hay-filled bed with his bedroll rolled out on it for extra padding. After chatting up the guard and getting him to relax, Konrad went to the inn, where he managed to barter this room for a few nights in exchange for giving the brown earth pony caretaker a warhammer. The mare had wanted and needed a weapon to defend herself, and since she could heft it with fair ease she felt it suitable, and worth a few nights in her establishment.

Konrad also had to admit that the mares were quite beautiful, at least the innkeeper and her barmaid were. Up until he'd entered the inn of Dock End, he'd never seen a female of this world. They were more or less like back home, varying in body shape and size if the petite barmaid and the curvy innkeeper were indicators. But since they were all earth ponies he couldn't tell if there was a distinctive body shape preference between races yet like how there was back home.

{Good job kid. That hammer would've fetched more if it was sold to a sundry shop, but getting some lodging was a good move.}

'Thanks for the compliment Avarice. But you heard the guard when I asked; there isn't a shop here in Dock End. They rely on a small caravan that comes out here to buy lumber to get anything they can't provide themselves.' Konrad was rather irritated at that. It meant he'd have to barter food from the locals, and they mostly only grew what they needed as this town lived off it's lumber, not it's crops.

{Hm...good point. But then that just means there's no real competition....}

'A monopoly? I'm pretty sure that's illegal. Besides, we don't have anything save what we looted and what we came with, remember?'

{Oh, I remember. What I haven't gotten around to telling you is the real special ability our hammerspace has. Didn't you wonder where that canteen came from? Or where the water in it came from? What about that healing potion we had when we hadn't even touched the loot yet?}

'Yeah, of course I did. What're you saying?'

{What I'm getting at, is that so long as something isn't considered “owned” by someone or something, our hammerspace can reach out into the world, and snatch it. First-come-first-serve.}

Konrad was astounded at this info, and he decided to give it a try. He reached into his coat, and when he grabbed something, he pulled it out to reveal a bag of gold bits, the currency of Equestria. “...Why didn't we do this before?”

{Slipped my mind, sorry. Those are bits that are lost, out-of-circulation and such from getting misplaced. You'd actually be doing the country's economy a favor by reintroducing them into it.}

'So there might not be much, or, if it's like my world; there's probably enough to make us rich numerous times over.'

{Or, if they're out of print, then they're not viable as currency, but can be traded in for current currency.}

'Things got a lot easier.' Konrad gasped as he dropped the small sack and clutched his stomach. 'Ow, ow, bitch, ow!'

{We need sustenance, preferably meat. Our Plaga is currently forced to feed on our host body. From the feeling of it, we've just lost half the liver.}

'Great! I kinda want this host to live as long as possible since it is my original body! Could you please keep me updated?' Konrad hissed a shrill, disconcertingly insect-sounding hollow growl as he grabbed the sack and stumbled downstairs, getting the attention of both the innkeeper and the barmaid. He plopped into a seat, and dropped the sack of coins on the table. “Found my bits. Had to dig for em. I'll be needing food. Anything but hay, grass or flowers.”

“Um...anything?” The petite orange barmaid in a smock asked nervously, as Konrad was an intimidating figure, and strangers to town were rare too.

“Yes, so long as it's fruit or veg, I'll eat it. Raw, cooked, don't care, too hungry.” Konrad practically shoved the bag of bits into the still frazzled mare, and slumped onto the table, seemingly dead. Getting the urgency of the matter, the barmaid rushed into the inn's larder to fetch the customer much needed sustenance.

{This is what you get for not eating for several days.}

'Shut it, we were pursued. I have an excuse.' Konrad grumbled back in their mind, only sitting up when the cute maid dropped a platter of fresh fruits and veggies in front of him. “Thank ya kindly.” Konrad lowered his bandana mask to a bib and promptly began digging in viciously, shocking the mares both with the ferocity of his hunger, as well as the alien look of his face. They assumed he was an earth pony, but he had no snout to speak of.

“Will that be all?” The orange maid asked as she nervously combed her curly green mane with a hand.

“Yeah, good work.” 'Probably shouldn't have given her all that money...there's a lot here.' Konrad's tune changed when he was half through the platter and still going strong. 'Never mind, geez...how much do I need to eat?'

{Meat's more fulfilling, we'd have to binge on this stuff just to satisfy our Plaga rather than actually feed it. We'd best get hunting.}

'Hunt what? I didn't see a single animal the whole trip here.'

{Again, despite your skill, your lack of observation astounds me.}

'Hey!'

[ ? ]

“So they lost him then.” Luna sighed at the report of her sergeant, who just got back from debriefing the trackers. The only reason she was still here was because she'd decided she'd wait for the rest of her forces to arrive before leading a march into Bullgaria rather than march ahead of them with a smaller task force for scouting.

“Yes, your Majesty. They reported losing him at the Trough River. They searched up and down the bank for miles yet found no trace of him leaving it. If he simply let it carry him, he'd be all the way in buffalo territory by then and we have no jurisdiction there.” The Sergeant reported, getting a growl and temple rub in response out of the mercurial goddess of the night.

“Damned tribal autonomy. I told Tia we'd have been better off annexing everyone, but no~ she had to insist on preserving cultures. What good is preserving culture if it limits our ability to protect Our Little Ponies? Thank you Sergeant, I'll have to inform my sister and Star Swirl of these developments.” Luna dismissed, moving to doing some paperwork with another sigh as the yellow stallion left her office, only to perk up in surprise as a wisp of smoke billowed in from the nearby cracked-open window, and flashed into a scroll that landed on her desk. “Ah! Star Swirl has responded at last. Old colt must have finally gotten back from whatever little trip he'd been on this time.”

Luna picked up the scroll sealed with a blue wax seal with the imprint of two stars swirling around. She broke it and promptly began reading, only for her eyes to widen as she became worried. She then bolted from her desk and slammed the door open. “Sergeant get back here! I have need of your trackers still!”

[ $ ]

After having eaten all the food offered him, Konrad then excused himself from the two gobsmacked mares' company and stated he was going to have a look around the village. He actually did, and found the quaint little place rather charming. It also had a surprisingly high population of about 50 or so, who all bunked in the 5 large communal homes, and farms. Visitors like him, and the two guards who only get rotated out of the village every month stay at the inn.

It was a budding village looking to be a town in the near future, it just needed more capital than lumber to get going fast. And Konrad decided it'd be his first venture. 'This place has potential. Untapped, hidden gem levels of potential, I feel it.'

{Good instincts too. Rookie, I have high hopes for you. Do this, and you'll prove yourself a Merchant.}

Konrad grinned viciously at Avarice's praise, and then after having spoken to a good number of the population, learned a few things. There was in fact a hunting ground a good distance west of here, but any hunted game was merely skinned for leather, the rest was generally used as fertilizer, bloodmeal and bonemeal. The standard game was deer, which apparently were as dim-witted here as they were on earth. There were also rabbits, which were occasionally culled to check their numbers so they didn't storm the farm fields in a wave of death.

This gave Konrad his source of food, as apparently nopony here had any love for the little garden killing beasts, and would actually pay him if he brought in pelts they could use to make leather straps and such. But that was just for food and making a bit of profit on the side, no, what he was focused on was something the village was earnestly interested in.

Him setting up shop here.

He openly stated he was a Merchant, a provider and procurer of various goods, quite willing to serve the small budding village. Konrad convinced the leaders of the town, essentially the Innkeeper, Logger and two Farmers that basically formed the pillars of Dock End's society, that he was keenly interested in seeing this place get more life, and capital in it. His coat allowed him to display an ability they admitted only imagining seeing in big cities in allowing him to provide stock without wasting space.

So, by the end of the day, Konrad found himself given permission to run a stall at the start of Dock End on the only road in and out. If he proved himself a benefit to the village, then he'd be allowed a proper building. So it was with zeal that Konrad promptly set about purchasing a chair, a comfortable one, setting it next to the road, and promptly taking a seat, before setting up a sign that said “wake for service” and promptly conked himself out, planning to hunt at night where he could use his enhanced vision to find rabbit dens, and then flush them out.

Life went on like this for a while for Konrad. He spent nearly a week sitting there during the day, getting woken by villagers looking to buy something, and him able to provide with the tricks of his coat. Thankfully, it just meant that what they asked for was likely abandoned or considered without ownership. Soon though, he noticed the ponies seem a little strained. He had several hundred bits from the week, so that meant he'd bled them near dry without them realizing it. And since he basically only used his room at the inn for the first couple of days, and he hunted at night, he was an enigma sucking bits out of the town. Not good.

'I have to get these bits back into the town, so how...wait...idea.' Konrad didn't wait another moment as he stood, flipped the sign over to “not-at-home”, and went over to the lumber mill. The Logger, a big stallion as tall as he was at seven feet, only made of a couple hundred pounds of rippling tan-furred muscle rather than skinny pale skin, was a jovial and otherwise optimistic stallion with his blonde mane and tail shaved down for safety to avoid them becoming a hazard in getting caught in the mill's saw blade. Said blade ended up getting repaired with metal Konrad had provided recently in fact. “Hello, Logger.”

No, really, his name was Log Runner, so he just shortened it to Logger.

“Ah, well if it isn't the chap who helped me fix the mill's blade! What can I do ya for? Haven't seen ya away from that chair all week.” Logger commented cheerfully as he handily hefted a whole tree log into the guide for the blade by himself. Earth ponies scared Konrad with their unnatural strength sometimes.

“It's not what you can do for me, but what we can do for the village.” Konrad reached into his coat in a gesture nearly second-nature by now, and took out a large sack of bits, paid to him by the villagers who bought “his” wares. Hey, they weren't owned by anyone before him, so they were very well his. “I'd like to commission a small building where my stall has been. Nothing fancy, could even just be a one room shack. I just want a roof over my head so I can still run shop if it rains, and also so I'm not sleeping out in the sun.” 'Thank gog I'm essentially dead, and can't be bothered with things like heat and cold.'

“Well...I see where you're coming from, but on scheduled rain days we just usually stay indoors. Then again, since the war started around seven years ago, most pegasi have been more involved in war efforts than civilian, and the weather's gone a bit wild...alright then.” Logger took the sack, and judged it's weight. “About...500 bits in here?”

“Give or take a few. That's most of all the money I've made since setting up shop.” 'I'll have to pull some more lost coin out if I plan on making a deal with that caravan come next week. I don't want to be here forever, just get this place rolling and hope it takes off.'

“Well, that'll get ya a small two-room house. You say ya want it where you've been napping everyday?” At Konrad's nod, the stallion set the bag down on a nearby table before he idly kicked a lever that got the mill going. “Okay then. Me and the boys will have that cabin up by the end of tomorrow.”

“Much appreciated.” 'Earth ponies are so industrious. Why are there so many here and not in the cities?'

[ $ ]

Star Swirl inexplicably sneezed into the scroll he'd been reading on an observation of the three pony races and their regional preferences. “Hmph, that was odd.” The pale blue stallion of advanced yet magically extended age stated as he straightened his pointy bell-riddled star-patterned hat, and moved a lock of his white mane out of his amber eyes.

The blue star-patterned robe he wore billowed out around his stool as he was sat at his desk in his private chamber atop his own personal tower in the middle of relative nowhere just north of Canterlot, near the frozen tundras of northern Equestria. The wizened Archmage was doing a bit of light reading in between his recent study on a spell he just couldn't seem to grasp, even if he was the one who began creating it on a whim, and researching what he'd suspected upon receiving a letter from his student Luna regarding one of her soldiers becoming charmed with a servile notion towards a sense of debt.

This interruption into his reading made Star Swirl grumble as he rolled the scroll back up and returned to his research on the subject. Ah, yes, he'd already reviewed the section he'd relayed to Luna, about the potential dangers involved in compulsion magics, and especially the most dire part of her letter involving the unfortunate stallion Moss Stone having been forced to divulge information as “payment” for having his life saved.

Contract Magic.

Whether it was verbal, written, or implied, contract magic had the ability to bind both parties to an agreement or exchange. Contract magic was considered illegal for one base reason; it was a classic ploy used by vile fiends of the ages such as Grogar the Terrible, who made contracts of power in exchange for tribute. Many a dark mage or cruel monster had Grogar to thank for their powers. However, since Grogar's eldritch city of darkness; Tambelon had vanished centuries ago, his ilk and by extension his means were long forgotten.

At least, to those who are negligent in their reading. The nerve, hmph, that Star Swirl was one of the few ponies alive to remember the horrors of Grogar's machinations and his dark city of twisted and unnatural evil. To Star Swirl, this meant that whoever Avarice the Merchant was, he had powers that could be easily compared to Grogar. If he could grant power, or take it with a contract...what would that mean? What would he gain should he manage to trick some poor pony out of their strength? Speed? Special Talent even? Star Swirl considered this Avarice a threat, and informed Luna as such.

Now then, after having gone over the scroll again, Star Swirl found nothing further of note, feeling Luna properly appraised of the danger, and returned to reading for pleasure, only for yet another letter to arrive via smoke travel, and he sighed. An old buck's work was never done.

[ $ ]

Konrad was sitting on the dock of Dock End’s river, trying not to snicker at the irony of the name at the moment. He decided to go fishing today, his cabin still under construction in the village. ‘Ah...so peaceful, so quiet...you’d never think a war was happening barely a few days southeast of here.’

{War is often like that Rookie. It’s everywhere, but in places like this, so removed from the grand scheme of things, it’s easy to forget the world’s troubles.}

Konrad looked at the slowly flowing river that managed to push the mill nearby, and the sudden yank of his fishing line drew his attention. ‘Bite!’ Konrad quickly grabbed the pole and yanked, getting the fish hooked, and began pulling in the line by hand. It was one of those ancient things, just a stick and a long bit a wire, but hey, these folks got their occasional fish craving handled. “Oh~! Red Snappah!” Konrad quoted an old machinima by Oxhorn and sniggered as he held the flopping them in his hands. “Now...raw or cooked?”

The Plaga that was the real Konrad practically shot an extending “Alien” like mouth out to bite a chunk out of the fish from under the bandanna, killing it instantly.

“Raw it is!” However, before Konrad could properly chow down, he began choking, his Plaga mouth extending out of his own human one to spit something into his hand. “Ugh...what is it?”

He held out a purple-ish d6 that seemed to contain a galaxy inside of it. While holding it, he heard a voice call out:

This is for anyone who needs help or just wants a friend. Summon the Dungeon Master of Equestria if you’re ever in need.

“What the hell? Magic die?” Konrad blanked out for a few moments, and then jumped up and danced with nonsensical joy. “A magic die! A summons! I feel like I’m playing some sort of role playing game all of a sudden.” Konrad considered summoning this DM to help him, but he figured he’d save it for a rainy day as he sat back down facing the water.

A thunderclap sounded in the distance, and Konrad looked up to notice a storm front rolling in. ‘Huh, said rainy day might happen sooner than planned.’

“Freeze!” Konrad froze, but only in shock as he slowly turned his head around to see several pegasus soldiers, all garbed in the rank-and-file basic bronze and leather armor all aiming spears at him. “You are to surrender for questioning, unders suspicion of using forbidden magic!”

{Rookie...I don’t know about you, but we’re kinda between a bad spot-} The river. {And a sharp place-} The spears. {So, whatever that little trinket you found is, I’d suggest you use it to at least buy time to get out our boomstick.}

‘Yeah...good idea...how do I do that?!’

{I don’t know, roll it or something! It’s a die, nothing complicated!}

Konrad rolled from his seated position onto his back, throwing the die at the soldiers who jumped away on instinct while Konrad got himself upright.

When the die touched the ground, it bounced up into the air and turned into a portal, sending out an elf clad in strange robes and a tattered brown cloak. He held a staff in one hand, a spellbook in the other. He spoke with a voice that commanded respect, as if he knew much….. Stuck up elf…..

“What the hell?!” He said, staring at the guards that were pointing their spears at him. “I swear, it’s like no matter where I go, Celestia’s finest hate me.”

“H-h-halt foul…. thing!” Said one of the soldiers.

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” He said, pointing his staff at the soldiers. “Sleep.”

In an instant, they were all out like a light.

“Now,” he started, turning to me. “Who summoned me?”

Before Konrad could even blink, or respond, several flaring red lights shot up from the incapacitated soldiers into the sky, bursting in a display of light all too synonymous with “OVER HERE!” “Uh...Konrad, or Avarice the Merchant. I appreciate the save, but I think more of them might be incoming!” Konrad reached into his coat and pulled out his Chiappa. ‘Shit, shit, an actual battle! I’ve never killed something sentient before!’

“Wait, did you just say, the Merchant?” He asked, ignoring both Konrad and the lights. “As in… the guy who sent me to Equestria? OH HO HO! I HAVE GOT A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU!”

“Wait, WHAT?! Hey! Point that thing somewhere else!” Konrad shouted as he dodged a bolt of magic that came flying at him, only to start floating randomly, flailing his arms about trying to get down.

“WHY?!” The elf asked. “Why did you send me here?! What reason?! Why did you think it was just okay to mess with us con goers and such?!”

It started to feel like the air around Konrad was trying to choke him…. and was succeeding as he started to feel a lot of pressure around his throat. Only to remember he didn’t need to breathe anymore aside from keeping his host body alive. He could revive it if worse came to worst. “I...don’t...understand….”

“What do you mean you don’t understand?!” The elf screamed at him. “You sent me here! I can…. I can….. You’re…. not him. Are you?” The elf asked as he noticed the differences in appearance between this Merchant and the Merchant that he thought he was.

Konrad felt the air around him release it’s grasp and set him down gently. “Well! That was a fine how-do-ya-do you bleedin’ wanker! I should shoot ya fulla holes for that stunt!” Konrad aimed his shotgun angrily at the elf, forgetting his pacifism in his anger for a moment, only to suddenly jerk away when he realized it and shoot the dock to the right of him. “Oh...shit...almost did something I’d regret there….”

“You bet.” He said. “If you shot me, I woulda decked ya in the face with my staff. Or used telekinesis again. Man, I’ll never get used to the Gamma Dragon rules.”

“DnD? That’s really convoluted. Well...I’m not sure what’s going on, what with them claiming me using illegal magic. I’m just a...humble Merchant.” Konrad had to chuckle. “Regardless, I’m on the run from Equestria’s more upstanding elements. I got here, looted a battlefield, traded a debt for information on current events, and next thing I know: I’ve got pegasi after my ass. I know it’s sexy, but could they not be chasing it?”

“Ooookay,” The elf said, finally turning around and noticing the magic flares. “So, someone wants your butt. I’m gonna guess it’s Celestia. But enough of that. Shouldn’t we get out of here before those reinforcements get here? I’m pretty sure they want me now, too.”

“Well, if they do I bet it won’t bug ya none considering you got Dark Side powers. Let’s go, got a cave nearby we can hide in for the moment.”

[ $ ]

“Home sweet home! Take a seat anywhere! What’s mine is yours!” Konrad joked as they walked into the cave. It had a small entrance, but opened up rather quickly into a surprisingly well-structured cavern that seemed artificial. In fact, a carved entrance with ancient runes deeper in informed the elf that this was the entrance to a crypt, and Konrad had shamelessly piled it’s riches and a vast assortment of odds and ends about the entrance cavern, to note he was specifically sitting on a throne that had moldy cushions, gesturing for the elf to take a seat on a rickety stool.

“What the hell?” He said before taking a seat on the ground. “This is a crypt! A place where the dead are buried! And that’s Elvish! Why is there Elvish here?! Who the hell are you?!”

“Hell if I know anymore! I’m Konrad Skinner, I’m Avarice the Merchant. I’m a Stranger, a familiar face! As for this being a crypt, when you’ve got questionable abilities with questionable clients of unknown levels of trustworthiness and a questionably stable parasite that’s replaced your actual self, you find it hard to find a place to feel safe. I WAS getting a cabin in the village, but with the soldiers after me, nothing’s likely going to be so open as before. So close to getting Dock End a proper merchantry too.” Konrad bemoaned, running his hand through a pile of gold next to him, watching it run down to the floor in boredom.

“But why a crypt?” The elf asked. “Why not just a different cave?”

“Why bother? This place is perfect! Well hidden in plain sight, easy to reach yet hard to find, and filled to the brim with riches! I was going to invest all this into the village, I ain’t got a use for it. But now I’ll have to move on, but I don’t know how to get this place noticed, or even if they’re allowed to desecrate it as I’ve blatantly done.” Konrad informed as he took some coins from the pile and jingled them about. “As for me getting it all out….” Konrad put the coins in his coat, and then pulled out an ancient and rusted sword out that was blatantly too large to fit. “I have my ways.”

“What the?!” He yelped. He calmed down after a bit and started talking again. “Ya know, I thought that I was the only one with a ‘Magic Satchel’.” He said, pulling out a bag. “Although, yours is a bit different.”

“Heh, a bag of holding? I’ve got more than that, more than all the bags of holding could ever hope for. See that statue over there?” Konrad gestured to a small golden statue of an elf women, clearly in a very lewd pose, possibly a fertility idol or something. “Watch.” Konrad reached into his coat, and just over the statue, his hand appeared as if from thin air, where it then grabbed onto the statue and pulled it into nothingness. When the elf looked back to Konrad, it was now in his hand. “Fancy as all get-out.”

“What. The hell. That shouldn’t be possible. That…. That….. Ugh…” He facepalmed, with the audible slap echoing throughout the cave.

“Don’t think too hard about it, I just accept it as it is. The only limitation is that I cannot use that on anything except things either I, or nobody has claim to.” Konrad said with a nod and set the statue down at his feet. “Just as well, actual stealing, from the living at least, is something I abhor and will never resort to. I’d rather die….again.”

“So, let me get this straight.” The elf started. “If I were to call dibs on, oh I don’t know, that pile of gold in the corner?”

“Can’t touch it now. You own it. Simple as that. Unless you say you don’t want it, or give it away to nobody, then that nobody becomes me.”

“Ah, okay. Well then, I’m not claiming it.”

“That’s fine, then it’ll go to the village. I’ve got ideas, but I’ll need a little extra help getting this all moved to town.” Konrad said as he gestured to the vast wealth in the cave. “I can’t just warp it all there, not with those soldier boys aiming spears at my rear.”

“Oh, how I know how that feels. Well, kind of. Back in my Equestria-”

“WHOA! Hold up! YOUR Equestria?! I kinda get Multiverse theory, but you’re saying that you’re from another version of this universe?” Konrad asked in surprise, getting the elf to blink in confusion.

“Uh, yeah.” He said. “What, am I the first Displaced you’re meeting?”

“I know I must seem dumb to ask, but what the blooming fuck is a Displaced?” Konrad asked gruffly as he picked up a coin and tossed it. “There, that coin is now displaced, what special meaning is there to the term?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.” The elf said. “It’s just what someone called people like me. Apparently it’s those of us that have been sent to Equestrias by the Merchant. That shady guy that sold us stuff. I also heard about some kind of lottery, but apparently it’s not common.”

“Pfft, yeah, right, not common he says. If there’s enough of us to earn a capital lettered title just from existing, I think it’s beyond common. Because this means I’m a Displaced too. Damn. There went any consoling thoughts that I was unique. And also this explains you trying to kill me on the dock. Bastard probably used me as a scapegoat. For all I know, I’m going to be attracting hundreds of Displaced looking for revenge.” Konrad grumbled as he shifted in his throne. “Ugh...that’s a later topic. I don’t want to think about it. So, let’s keep things simple for now; like what the hell is your name? I’ve been thinking of you as “the elf” since you popped up.”

“I honestly forgot my original name.” He said. “I did create a new name for myself though. In fact, got it after becoming king of changelings in a different universe. I’m Dox.

“Well that isn’t an odd name, but better than all these word-names ponies have. Well then Dox, mind stirring up some trouble to buy me time for some charity work?” Konrad asked as he gestured again to all the treasure.

“Ugh. Fine, but you owe me.” Dox said. The reaction to the words was violent, as Konrad spasmed and gasped as he clutched his chest. “Yo, you okay?”

Konrad’s eyes shined brightly, and they began to keep glowing as an audible snarl entered his tone. “Ya had to enact a debt...now we’re in contract. So now, neither of us can get out of this without backlash. I HAVE to deliver this treasure, and you HAVE to help me now. Watch words around me Dox...words have binding power when I’m involved.”

“.....Okay then. Let’s get to it.” Dox said.

[ $ ]

The village of Dock End was as it normally was. Ponies were going about their business, going to and from the logging mill with wagons of felled trees, or tilling fields. There was even construction on a new cabin in the village, what with the fact that there was only like, five buildings.

The ponies were busy working on their own things when suddenly a figure appeared on the northwest horizon of the village, on the road. The figure stood there for a bit before the figure summoned a large ball of fire and sent it flying down the road.

This in turn alerted all of the soldiers in the village, who promptly ran out of the buildings that they were hiding in and swarmed the strange figure. When he was completely surrounded, they heard him speak.

“I don’t normally do this kind of roll, but…..” The figure said before screaming: “CHAOTIC EVIL BITCHES! YOU CAN’T STOP ME!” And proceeding to run away from the village, the soldiers following in quick pursuit.

Along the way out the figure cast a few beams of magic to keep the soldiers from getting too close. It even threw one of the soldiers back at the town, all the while screaming like a madman. It’s safe to say, that one soldier wasn’t able to rejoin his brothers in arms in the pursuit.

Around the corner of the inn, Konrad poked his head out, and glared at the hissing soldier holding his leg as Logger and a couple of the other villagers helped him up and started carrying him to the inn. ‘No! Damn it! That was the best spot!’ Konrad tightened his grip on his Chiappa angrily, before he took a few steadying breaths. He may not need to breath, but it was still cathartic. ‘Where am I going to drop the loot now?’

{Where you originally planned to.}

‘But there’s a soldier in there! He’ll see me drop it and might claim it as stolen or some other bullshit, and then there goes the village’s capital! This place would never get on the map then!’

{I’ll deal with the toy soldier.}

‘No killing!’

{Wouldn’t dream of it….}

Avarice coughed, before spitting out Konrad’s human teeth, licking his bloodied lips as the mutation replaced his human mouth with an insect one. “Bleh...great, mouth’s gone. Sorry kid.” ‘Ew...win some, lose some.’ Avarice then chittered his mandibles still surrounded by the flesh of Konrad’s mouth, thankfully all hidden by his convenient bandanna. “Meh, better for eating anyway.”

Avarice stormed into the inn, getting their attention by shooting the ceiling.

[ ? ]

“EAT IT LOSERS!” Dox shouted as he shot YET ANOTHER magic missile next to a soldier. He was aiming at the soldiers, but he had no intent to kill them.

All in all, this was almost as fun as that time that Urahara asked him to help set up some explosives for training….. and he put some in his pants…… Ah, that was funny shit right there.

[ $ ]

At the thunderously loud bark of the shotgun’s buckshot being fired into the ceiling, all the ponies had screamed and ducked out of instinct rather than ingrained fear. ‘Odd, how even across time and space, intelligent and instinctive response is so similar.’ “Alright you ungrateful whelps! I provided my services to your town and you sell me out?!”

“It’s nothing like that Avarice! They’re soldiers, our country’s soldiers, we couldn’t just turn them away!” Logger defended, only to yelp in pain as Avarice took an old throwing knife from his coat and threw it into his shoulder.

“Quiet! There’s something called Friendship, and I was bothering to learn your names! For a Merchant, that’s pretty damn close to trusting! I won’t be coming back, but I still plan to hold up my bargain with you all.” Avarice then looked at the injured soldier laying on a table the villagers had placed him. “Watch you little cog, as I demonstrate my benevolence.”

Avarice then took off his pack, opened it, and turned it over. Promptly, a pile of gold began forming as a waterfall of gold coins, various treasures, and other valuables spilled forth. Within a few minutes, he’d made a pile big enough to fill a good portion of the floor, before he pulled his pack back upright, and closed it. Avarice’s new mandibles clicked in amusement and satisfaction at their gobsmacked faces. “Adieu.” With that, Avarice bolted out the door and into the woods to the east, readying the d6 to contact Dox.

[ $ ]

“OW OW OW! SCREW YOU GUYS! I’M OUT! PEACE!” Dox screamed angrily as he quickly teleported away.

He reappeared right next to Avarice, in the cave, now empty.

“You’re welcome,” Dox said. “Now I’m bloodied as HELL! That hurt, just so ya know.”

“Well, hot damn. I thought you were a mage/warrior dual class, but since you took so much I’m guessing you’re just a mage then. Staff threw me off. Well, I’ve got some healing potions that’ll-.” Suddenly, as Avarice reached into his coat, Dox keeled over backwards, landing in a boneless heap. “Uh...did he just...SHIT!” Avarice quickly fished out a fistful of potions, and began desperately pouring them into the unresponsive elf. “Shit! SHIT! Don’t die on me! Debts aren’t settled when people die! FUCK! I got the first Displaced I met killed!”

“That’s what you think.” Said a different voice. “I’m kinda unkillable. As long as I still have a character to use, I’m alive.”

Avarice turned to the source of the voice only to find a non-anthro alicorn standing at the mouth of the cave. It just stared at him and said, “Sup.”

“YOU ARSE! YOU GOT ME WORRIED FOR NOTHING! DO YOU REALIZE HOW CLOSE I WAS TO INFECTING YOU TO RESURRECT YOU?!” Avarice screamed angrily as he smacked the stately alicorn stallion across the face with the butt of his shotgun. “I would’ve cursed you with undeath damn it! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Yeah. That would have pissed off both me AND the guy whose body that actually is.”

“Oh, great, so I still got SOMEBODY killed! That’s a relief! Not! Tell me there’s some sort of other sorcery involved in this to clear my conscience.” Avarice pleaded sarcastically as he gestured angrily at the bloody corpse on the floor.

“Eh, don’t worry. He’s still alive.” Alicorn Dox said. “In fact, I’m pretty sure you just helped res him. According to the big guy, it’d take weeks to do normally.”

“Oh, so those potions didn’t go to waste. Good. If there’s anything I hate more than killing innocents, or stealing, it’s wasting valuable resources.” Avarice calmed down as he sat on his still cushioned throne. “So...is that body just going to lay there?”

Just as he said that, it started getting up and fading away. Before fading away, Avarice could have sworn he heard it say, “Fuck you Dox, and fuck you, too creepy guy.”

“...I like him. We should invite him over more often.” Avarice joked, getting them both to laugh. “So! Alright, now that all the excitement’s over with, I can slip away while they’re dealing with things in Dock End. But before I do, I want a couple things. Firstly; how the hell did you make this?” Avarice asked as he brought out the d6.

“Well, I just sort of aquired the d6 and said an oath.” He said. “Honestly, it can be any item, and obviously the oaths are different. Just take something and say what you stand for or something like that and offer aid. I don’t know. Oh, and before you choose a coin, someone already has a coin.”

“Well, damn. Money is sorta my thing...wait a tick…” Avarice focused hard, reached into his coat, and then began tugging on something. “Mm! Thing’s stuck! Hold on!” Avarice tried pulling harder, only to make no progress. “Grab on my sleeve and pull would ya?”

“..... I’m not even going to ask.” Dox said as bit on the sleeve and started to pull. “Gwoss.”

“Hey, it was leather before I came here, just pull harder!” Avarice shouted as he could feel his prize loosening.

“Itphs Wowphs thin phsnake phskin!” He shouted through the material.

"It's normal cowhide, just deal with it!" Finally, with a crack, the prize came loose, jerking Avarice’s arm and elbowing Dox in the jaw.

“OW!” Dox screamed as he released the sleeve. “First the bad taste, now I taste blood! DAMN IT MAN!”

“Oh come off it, have a potion, it’ll grow back any teeth ya just lost.” Avarice idly said as he carelessly tossed a vial of the opaque red liquid at the alicorn, too involved in looking at his chosen icon. “Beautiful….” Avarice said as he held the ancient cold blue iron brazier torch up, it had a length of rusted chain connected to the bottom. Likely, that was what had been resisting the pull from it’s secondary mounting.

“That gonna be your token?” Dox said, wiping blood from his mouth and downing the potion. “Now say an oath, like what you’re offering and some instructions on how to call you.”

Avarice held the torch up, his mandibles clicking in excitement.
”If you seek a bargain, a trade, or an extra gun. Light this blue flame and call my name! Avarice, The Merchant!”

“That it?” Dox asked. “Dude, someone is gonna connect you to THE Merchant and come at ya, you know that right?”

“Let them come! Let them call! I will prove I am every bit greater than that swindler! I shall fend off any who attack me, and happily provide service to those who seek it. I can get my hands on anything that isn’t owned, what better honest Merchant is there?” Avarice asked as he cackled darkly, and then fished out a lit torch from his coat, casually passing it over the fuel-less brazier, which then lit a bright blue, before he threw it into the open air, where it vanished into nothingness.

“Great.” Dox simply stated. “I’ll keep an eye out for that, then. You still have a debt to fill.”

“ACK! DON’T SAY THOSE WORDS! NOW I HAVE TO PROVIDE A SERVICE!” Avarice shouted, upset that his powers were used against him. “Bah, fine. Better you than some twit out to get me. Call on me should ya need me, and I’ll be along. Sorry for making the summoning requirements a little difficult, but I don’t want my summons to be an accident made lightly.”

“Eh, don’t worry about it. I know a place that’ll work.” Dox said. “Hell, go ahead and call me if ya want. But, uh. Before I go, you need to say something…. apparently…..”

Then a portal opened up……

“Or that could happen. Later dude!” Dox said as he jumped into the portal.

“...Well, that happened. Alright then. Time to book!” ‘Hey! Can I have my body back! You got to be all cool with that summoning token thing!’ “Oh, put a sock in it. You’ve been piloting since we got here! Let me do some footwork!” ‘Oh, in that case, I’ll just be in here, daydreaming.’ “Lazy arse.” Avarice grumbled before sprinting out of the cave, heading west.

Goodbye Humanity, Hello MEAT!

When Luna read what Star Swirl had deduced, she quickly appointed a general to take her place as the leader of the invasion force and flew with her pegasus squadrons to find the dangerous entity known as Avarice, who possessed a dangerous magic not seen since Grogar. Oh, she remembered him, and his wretched dark city of Tambelon. She remembered getting drunk in revelry when it was reported that the evil city sank into the earth, leaving what was now known as the Great Swamp.

Luna had been glad and worried when word reached her that the pegasus squad dispatched to the logging village of Dock End had been incapacitated with a potent Sleep spell, and so it was that she personally made for the aptly named village. However, when Luna arrived in Dock End, she did not expect any of the circumstances that had arisen.

For instance; the village suddenly becoming rich? The evidence of nearby long-lost elven crypts? The very likely possibility that Avarice himself was one of these fabled elves of yore that preceded even her time? That he was apparently a summoner, and he'd summoned an elf mage to do battle with her soldiers? No, none of it was within her expectations. But what really surprised her was what the villagers told her.

Avarice had served the village for little over a week as a provider of sundry goods as well as special items, like a minotaur warhammer and bits of raw iron for instance. However, he had most of all promised the town he'd arrange a proper form of income to breathe life into the village and grow it into a town. Luna felt a little saddened that her soldiers had prevented that with them driving him out of town. However, in the end; Avarice had done as he'd promised, and with the massive amount of treasure he levied upon the town through a magic satchel according to the only really injured soldier in the skirmish, they would be able to easily purchase the services of a permanent caravan to deliver their lumber, as well as draw in more workers and add another mill.

But that wasn't all actually. The historical importance of elven crypts and ruins meant that once the war was over, this area was going to become flooded in historians and archeologists who wish to study and preserve elven locations and relics. Not to mention, with Dock End's rather strategic location, should Bullgaria be annexed, or a peaceful resolution be reached, it would be the first stop in and out of Equestria between the two countries.

All brought to her attention by the enigma known as Avarice. Luna was just finishing using a certain sort of healing spell to help purge the pony known as Log Runner of the tetanus that Avarice had inflicted upon him with a rusty old throwing knife in his anger as she mused over all of this. “Thank you so much Princess.” Luna managed to contain a blush at Logger's deep, rumbling voice. Darn earth ponies and their sexy muscles and voices.

“It was no problem citizen. But I must know why Avarice would use a rusty knife instead of a clean one.” That did baffle Luna. The villagers said that his wares were “gently used” at best, and junk at worst, but his prices were fair, and sometimes he even offered what they wanted for free as if it didn't matter if he made a profit or not. Then again, he was sitting on a literal fortune of plundered treasure, but he gave that up....

“Probably just to spite me. I was the one he spoke most to, so I guess my betrayal stung the worst.” Logger sighed sadly, his ears drooping. “I guess I reminded him of somepony he used to know, said I was like an old friend. I feel terrible having done this to him.”

“You did your duty to your country Log Runner. Have no shame in this.” Luna made sure as of now to double-check that he wasn't under a similar affliction as Moss Stone, and found that he wasn't. 'T'would seem that for whatever reason, Avarice had no reason to contractually bind anypony here to him, and if he did, he'd already carried out the contract.' “So you're sure that Avarice did not make a contract with anypony?”

“Well...he did make that verbal promise to help us become a proper town...and he did it, even after what we'd done...just goes to show; some ponies, regardless of their background, are just good folk deep down.” Logger said sadly, and Luna decided to leave the sad stallion be.

'Avarice...you're truly a conflicting enigma. I have something else to message sister and Star Swirl about now.'

[ $ ]

Avarice stumbled, coughing as if choking. He fell to his hands and knees, moving his bandanna out of the way, before seeming to vomit up a massive amount of steaming hot meat. 'Oh...fuck...are those?' “Our lungs? Yeah....” Laying in a motionless heap on the ground under them was what used to be Konrad's lungs. 'Ew, what's worse is I didn't even feel that.' “New lungs. We've grown enough to need to supply our own oxygen.” 'Just what the fuck are we evolving into?' “I think I have an idea, but let's swap, I'm tired.” 'Good, I'm tired of just daydreaming all day.'

They'd been traveling east for a few days, and in that time Konrad and Avarice noticed some drastic changes. They couldn't actually feel anything the host body interacted with now, meaning Konrad's body was officially dead and was just a meat puppet. That said, they were consuming the cadaver to grow into what they'd subconsciously found to be the most adaptive form for their environment. As of now; they could actually feel the body around them, their forming body underneath all the dead meat made them feel stifled, as if wearing a too-hot soaking-wet jumpsuit.

“I can't wait for this to be over with.” Konrad admitted. He was all for holding on to his body for as long as possible, but at this point he was just about ready to drop this dead weight and find another host.

{Judging by our progress, it will be if we continue to remain active. Our sedentary period in Dock End built up energy, energy we're now using.}

'Thanks Avarice. If you weren't here, I'd just be aimless and scared.'

{Not a problem. It's what I was designed for after all.}

Konrad coughed a bit more, spitting up some extra dead meat, before grabbing the hunk of organs and stuffing them back into his insectoid maw, which promptly processed the mass into mush, and swallowed. 'No point in letting it go to waste.'

After eating his old lungs, Konrad surveyed the land before them. It was a stretch of swampland so massive it was really daunting to even consider. Remembering what his old friend Anthon had told him, Konrad knew to just try and cut through would be suicide. Anthon had lived in the marshlands of Florida and Georgia for most of his life, so he took his old pal's information to heart. 'I have no idea what's in there. There could be crocs, gators, giant fucking snakes, and maybe even parasites that could give me a run for my money.'

{I don't like this, go around.}

'Are you kidding? Have you seen the size of this place? It'd take days out of our travel to go around.'

{It'd take longer trying to cut through, Anthon said to try and go through anything like this was a death sentence without a boat of some kind, and sorry, but you didn't do so well in emergency nautical construction in the boy scouts.}

'Hey! Making a kayak in a hurry is hard!'

{My point exactly, we go around. Besides...this place is...wrong. Something dark...evil lies within.}

Konrad thought on it, and decided to follow his old friend's advice and Avarice's wariness, and go around. He skirted along the edge of the place for days, seeing giant anacondas, crocodiles with skin made of fucking rock, and all manner of giant insect and spiders that made him look like a snack in size. 'I would just like to say thanks again for saving our asses.'

{I just want to get away from this place, why don't we head north?}

'Right into the fucking thick of the country? Are you kidding? We're wanted right now, laying low on the outskirts is the smart thing to do. Besides, we're a walking corpse right now. Ponies will smell us a mile off.' Konrad justified, moments before getting struck on the back of the head, which meant they'd been hit in their own forming head underneath, knocking them out.

[ $ ]

When they came to, they woke up naked save their boxers in a pile of bodies in a dark cave, swarming with flies, which they could see clearly through their mutating eyes. 'Oh gog, oh gog! It's like the start of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning!'

{Ugh...nerd...we gotta...focus....}

'What's with you?'

{Head...can't...part of brain....}

'Shit...they creamed the part of the brain you were in, hope you can recover, we-.' Konrad moved, only for his left arm to seem to rip off, revealing a stick-thin insectoid limb coated in blood that hadn't finished forming yet. 'Fuck! My body's done! We need a new host, and I don't know how to do that!'

{Know...here....} Konrad cringed as a surge of information flooded his consciousness, and he realized he didn't need a host now.

He had all the meat and energy he needed right here.

Since whoever 'murdered' him and all these poor ponies...horses...buffalo? Wow, a variety of species was here. They all shared the same characteristic of being emaciated to skin and bones, regardless of gender, species, or age. Yeah, there was even a child or two in this mass grave. Well, grave may be a far too kind word for this atrocity. 'When I find who did this, I am going to fucking eat their face!'

Knowing nothing of what lay outside this chamber, and knowing he'd be defenseless against whatever had done this, Konrad began fervently eating into the pile of corpses. He tried not to relish the taste, the forbidden sensation of consuming the flesh of sentient creatures, but Konrad's palate had acquired tastes geared towards his continued survival as a parasite, and soon predator. So soon he had gone on a feeding frenzy he'd never imagined, lost in the rush of gnashing mandibles, crunching bones, and shredding muscle tissues.

He didn't know how long it took, between his massive binges and falling into food comas inside his safe warren of meat, but he'd idly noted that soon he'd been shoving food into his maw with massive claws, ripping through flesh with natural blades of his body, seeing THROUGH things with nearly unblinking eyes. Konrad hadn't heard from Avarice in a long time, it was nothing but peace, and quiet, and his seemingly endless source of food.

Until he snapped awake from another nap that had followed another binge, and turned his shimmering solid red eyes towards a disturbance. 'Someone intrudes in our territory.' Konrad could see through his warren into the open ground between his home and the opening that led outside his domain, two heat sources carrying another cold one he was so familiar with, but still fresh. 'Live prey....'

The two entities he could “see” through the corpses were black bug-like anthro ponies with jagged horns coming from their foreheads, and insect wings folded under petite armored shells on their backs. They were dragging the emaciated corpse of an Equestrian pegasus scout to the pile. “Y'know, I don't see why the Queen has to drain them dry. I mean, not only does it kill them, but it's a waste of renewable Love.” The mare commented, her more curvy carapace shapes indicating her gender along with her voice.

“Yeah, just look at this pile, it's massive...wait...does it look smaller than last time?” The stallion asked as he looked at the rotting pile of bodies. “I mean, it nearly reached halfway to the ceiling with that last body we brought in. Don't know why the scouts brought back an already dead one, but-.”

The stallion didn't get to say anything else, as a giant metallic blade attached to a long segmented black exoskeletal limb punched clean through the outer layer of corpses and stabbed clean through his chest, killing him instantly. “AH~!” The mare was silenced quickly soon after, as Konrad erupted from the pile of bodies, and used his giant scissoring mandibles to crunch clean through her throat. He continued eating her, her flavor unusual, new, and inviting. As he consumed her, especially her brain, Konrad slowly began to regain himself at last, the sensation of eating fresh meat providing something his body needed.

'Oh...oh gog...I just killed and ate someone.' Konrad stood, feeling awkward with his new height, easily now a foot over what he'd been as a human. 'Whoa, trippy.'

{About damn time.}

'Avarice? What's happened?'

{What happened is you degenerated into little more than a feasting and content little parasite that's what. Thank gog these idiots happened along to give you a jump-start.}

Konrad looked at his hands, and marveled at the two-fingered and one thumbed claws with long, extremely dexterous digits. “Holy hell...I recognize these hands....” Konrad then moved his tail...yeah, he had a tail! He instinctively moved it around to look at the familiar sword-like blade that was currently coated in green blood from that lucky stallion who got to die near instantly. “I'm a fucking Verdugo!”

{Bingo! Yahtzee! Survey says: BOW! Welcome to your preferred form Konrad. Nice choice.}

'But wasn't the Verdugo a product of careful genetic alteration and incubation? I know I'm a Dominant Species Plaga, but how could I become an even more artificial Plaga variant?' Konrad asked as he idly scooped up the cooling mare's corpse, and continued munching away at it idly as if he were eating a hotdog.

{You just answered your own question. You were just lucky we didn't have to do an emergency mutation and become something extremely hard to disguise. Especially since we've got a nice little mutation growing just from eating this little bug.}

'What mutation?' Konrad asked as he ripped off the chestplate of the dead mare, and began eating her green and pink organs. It was when he hit a certain gland that Konrad's eyes glazed over, and he swallowed the utterly delicious thing whole. 'Oh~! What was that?' Konrad dropped the body, no longer interested as he began running his claws along his segmented black carapace sensuously, as if that organ was filled with aphrodisiac. 'I feel so~ good!' Konrad's prehensile retracting tongue lolled out of his mandibles, as he was really wishing he had genitalia right now.

{No idea! But it's starting something I like the sound of! Try the other one!} At Avarice's eager prompting, Konrad quickly pounced on the stallion's corpse.

[ $ ]

About an hour later, a black buggy stallion with glowing red slit eyes peered out of the entrance to the corpse dump, and began casually walking along the green resin-coated tunnels, looking at them in interest. 'This is...surreal...what allowed us to do this again?'

{One of those organs you ate was a spectacularly advanced metamorphosis-like gland that lets us shift our biomass about, and alter our outer appearance. It would seem these creatures can do it at will, and with practice maybe we could too. Our body knew the organ was an exceptionally worthwhile adaptation and took it in. That orgasm inducing sensation was something else though.}

'Well, whatever THAT was I'm eager to do it again. Speaking of which.' Konrad looked down his impressively muscularly shaped carapace to the armored groin of his new appearance. 'I can feel I have something down there again. Whatever we just did before, if we do it like this...oh~...haven't even thought of things like that in ages.'

{Watch it Konrad, we don't want to become a sex-crazed shapeshifter. Now remember; eyes on the prize. We need our stuff back from these murderers. Try to blend in.}

Getting reminded these thieving, murdering bastards had killed his original host, and stole his stuff, really metaphorically raised Konrad's hackles. Instead, his folded bug wings buzzed in their armored covering in irritation. 'Yeah, on it.' He walked along the tunnels, his instincts driving him towards the direction of his things as Avarice said they were a part of him.

Before long, he came across something both daunting and impressive. This was a hive. A massive underground structure filled with these bug-like anthro ponies that all moved and mingled about like normal people. Konrad tried to pretend nothing was up, but the way he towered over them, since they were at most 5 feet to 6 feet like normal people and he was still seven feet in this form, really drew a lot of attention. Especially his glowing red slit eyes.

Soon, he had a path formed out of the crowd that all looked at him in a mixture of fear and anticipation. 'What the fuck is going on? Have they seen through me?'

“To whom, do I owe the honor?” The sensuous, silky voice stopped Konrad dead in his tracks, and drew his gaze up a staircase on the opposite side of the massive chamber to a glorious sight. A shapely, yet lithe and graceful buggy anthro mare with long red veil-like hair and a tail, with red eyes like his current ones gazed at him with barely restrained hunger of the carnal sort. “It has been a long time since a King visited my hive.”

'Holy...fudge...she is...so....'

{Keep it together man! We could use this. I know you were a completely tactless nerd in your old life, but be suave, be casual, relaxed. We could find our stuff, get the run-down on this operation, and maybe even get lucky if we play our cards right.}

“I am Avarice. I smelled a distinct stench of death coming from here that was rather obnoxious, and had to investigate.” Avarice stated as he folded his arms and smugly smiled at the tall mare, who blushed green in a mixture of shame and embarrassment.

“Well...I admit I have a nasty habit of eating a bit too much....” She said nervously as she quickly checked herself over, as if worried she might've gained weight that might dissuade this potential mate. “Let's not speak here, come here into my chambers so we can get acquainted. My Little Changelings, go about your business.” At her words, the whole chamber simply continued on as normal, getting Avarice to raise an eye ridge.

'Impressive, let's chat her up shall we?' Konrad easily strode through the crowd, and only noticed just now that every changeling here was completely nude, him included. But their natural armor shells allowed him to look past that and see that while they were naked, they weren't completely so. 'A society where clothing is optional, because their bodies have natural clothing already. Cool.'

He approached the Queen and after giving a respectful small bow of his head, she smiled and led him into her chambers. “I am Queen Ichor, I humbly welcome you to my hive noble wanderer.” Ichor curtsied to him, and Konrad smirked and waved her off.

“Ah, no, you don't need to do that. It's embarrassing. Don't stand on ceremony with me, I'd rather we just sit and talk. It's been a while since I came upon a hive.” 'That's it, play it easy.' Konrad told himself, Avarice remained silent as he observed while both Ichor and Konrad sat at a small table made of what seemed like shaped changeling carapace and green resin on stools of the same material. 'Very efficient, reusing the bodies of the dead for useful objects.'

“So, do you have word from the other hives? I've not heard from any of my sisters in an age.” Ichor asked conversationally as she opened a lidded little candy dish, and popped a bonbon into her mouth.

“No, like I said I haven't come across another hive in a long time. Just came from Bullgaria honestly, had to flee all the fighting going on.” Konrad said as he helped himself to an offered bonbon, the taste was rather nice for whatever a changeling's palate was.

“Shame, I haven't heard from Carnation or Chrysanthemum in forever. Oh well. So, want to mate now, or do you have any questions?” Ichor's incredibly forward question threw Konrad off and he nearly choked on the bonbon in his mouth, and Ichor giggled at his startle. “Not used to a hive's queen being so forward?”

“*cough* No, not at all. They usually try to be all professional about it. But before we do, are you one of those “black widow” types, or something? Have to make sure.” Konrad asked, and Ichor snorted in amusement.

“No, I'm not like cousin Rose. I don't get off on ripping the throat out of my sexual partners.” Ichor said casually, getting Konrad to snicker.

“Alright then, but afterwards, I want to see where you keep the things of your victims. I would have use for them on my journeys.” Konrad said, and Ichor eagerly grabbed his hand and dragged him into her sleeping alcove in the corner.

[ $ ]

Konrad walked out of the cave entrance to the hive on the northwest edge of the swamp feeling really proud of himself, fully garbed in his equipment once more and shifted into looking like his old self again, all pale and ginger as he used to be. 'I never thought I'd miss being a scrawny big-footed nerd.'

{Well done lad. Got some action, finished evolving into a suitable form, and learned a lot of things about these changeling people. Such a shame they have to rely on Love to survive, and that eating only lets them enjoy the taste and make resin.}

'Yeah, and to do it my original body had to die, I had to commit mass cannibalism for possibly days, kill two people, possibly impregnate a changeling queen, and take a bunch of poor unfortunate victim's lost things along with regaining my equipment. I should feel like shit, yet I don't. Why is that?'

{Eh, I guess becoming a parasite can do weird things to a person's morals. Shall we go?} Konrad nodded to himself and Avarice, before he continued onward due east. He could see a dirt desert on the horizon, and he was all for getting to familiar ground after so much forest and swamp.

Author's Note

Ah, yes, Avarice's first major transformation. Verdugo, my favorite baddie from RE4, mixed with Equestrian Changeling. :coolphoto:

No wonder everything went down the gutter so fast! :rainbowlaugh:

Again, edited, please inform me if you spot something off. :pinkiehappy:

Still Not Guy Fawkes....

Sultan Neighezid the Second was not a stallion to be trifled with. His people granted him the title “The Saint” for his patience, not his sense of mercy. Or rather, lack thereof. He was a calm, quiet, and intelligent brown stallion with carefully cropped and oiled hair, which meant little with his white turban hiding most of his head and his neck by solid veil, and his white and golden robes obscuring his body, tail included as he sat in his opulent office, glaring at the letter his captain had delivered. His sharp orange eyes made many both fear and respect him not just from his position as ruler of Saddle Arabia, but the fact that behind his calm and peaceful facade, was a dangerous beast that lashed out at any who dared endanger his people, be they criminals, or foreign threats that made even the Goddesses of the Night and Day worry.

According to the letter, one such criminal had sought asylum from the Lunar Goddess' reach in his country, and he could not abide this. At least...normally he could not. His soldier's report states that this fugitive from Equestria, this Avarice, had taken in a blacksmith mare by name of Demir into apprenticeship to learn a new craft of weaponry. What weapon this was, the reports could not grasp as they were completely unknowing of what they were making, just that they tackled the project with great enthusiasm.

Neighezid had initially grit his teeth in anger. This criminal was sly, providing a potential advancement in weaponry, while also keeping a valuable resource close to his chest. Demir was one of the best smiths in Sığınak, and skilled smiths were hard to come by in a land so scarce of resources as Saddle Arabia. Certainly they had mines, glass blowers that were the envy of all the known lands, but they had no natural prey animals for leather, no normal cultivatable land for crops, and only their coastal locations along the west coat had any crops, and still had to fish for food and fertilizer.

No...he would bide his time. Let this criminal teach this smith his methods, and then swoop in and deliver justice as his Goddess demanded. He would deliver this Avarice to the Goddess Luna in shackles, but until then, he'll just do as he always had to run his country. Be patient.

[ $ ]

“Okay now, careful. Casting is a very delicate process....” Konrad said as he stood nearby with a bucket of water ready in case of any spills as Demir took the stone container of molten iron from the big stone smelter with a long set of tongs to the barrel filled with clay which had a circle imprinted deeply in the center. That was actually a clay cast of Konrad's shotgun barrel which was only about 12 inches deep. He'd used the normal barrel for it, figuring he'd just clean the clay residue out later. This was to simplify the process, and introduce Demir to cast forging. While the iron barrel would be heavy, and hard enough that should the shotshells fired be too much it would shatter rather than disperse the pressure, Konrad wasn't sure of the processes to make a tempered metal that perfectly uniform.

Demir had questioned him on this, and he told her he only knew the construction, and components, not the refining method. In exchange for this she'd teach him how to properly temper metal later, but as she was also clueless of how to do that to a hollow cylinder thus far, they'd have to stick to this as the prototype, possibly toy around with alloys to make this style of forging suitable. Their first attempt at making a shotgun was going to be a single-shot top-break design, which although primitive compared to Konrad's exquisite Chiappa, would literally blow most forms of combat out of the water in the current world stage.

Having a portable cannon was going to change things. A lot of things.

Demir carefully poured the glowing liquid metal into the cast until it began to overflow, and then poured the remainder into an ingot cast, before she set the immensely hot stone cup on the sandy ground. “Whew, that was rather tense. I've not used the smelter to go straight to product before. We only ever made ingots with it for working with.”

“Remember to keep an open mind Demir. Creativity is the basis of all crafts.” Konrad stated before approaching and holding the bucket out to her, which she gladly used to cool her hands and splash on her face to help get the heat out. Gog she looked hot when wet. Konrad then looked at the blank crossbow stocks that Demir had sitting off to the side, unrelated to their work. “I just wish lumber wasn't so hard to come by.” Konrad could only retrieve logs that had fallen in nature, as it was unclaimed. As such, any wood he could provide would only really be useful as firewood until dried, which even in the arid desert took a few days to leech out. Still faster and cheaper than bartering with the caravans for lumber from Equestria. The irony, that the lumber bought here likely came from Dock End on occasion.

“Don't worry, the wood we cut a couple days ago should be dry enough.” Demir said with a tilt of her head towards the drying kiln on the side of her shop where planks and beams of wood of varied size was being kept out in the sun on flat shelves to ensure they didn't warp. They needed the wood to make the stock and grip, the screws and hinges and whatnot they'd made yesterday to mount the barrel to the stock and make a functional setup. “Let's head inside for a break. You've been getting better at working bronze Avarice. Soon enough you'll be able to make your shells properly without my help, and you'll be able to adjust them with cold forging in a jiff when you're re-loading.”

“Thanks.” Konrad said with some humble embarrassment as he looked around the place that served as his home the past few days. While the forge and other dangerous things were out in the open sun, the smaller and flammable things were kept inside. Konrad set the bucket down on the counter before feeling nature call. “Pardon, but I need to use the privy.”

“I'll be making lunch.” Demir said as she began preparing the kitchen. He'd told her he can't properly process plant matter, but she insisted he try to enjoy them anyway, that they were still good for him. He didn't doubt that, it just gave him gas and...other unpleasant things.

After answering nature's call, Konrad returned to the center of the house and sat at the table with the buxom mare who'd been learning from him and teaching him in kind. Since they already had the bases covered, they were helping each other out rather well. Another saucy tomato and grain-based meal. Delicious yes, but not fulfilling for his new body. He still ate it to be polite, but she finally got tired of it. “Why don't you take off that mask?”

Konrad looked at her in confusion, only to remember that; yes, his bandana was still on. It was always on. “Um...force of habit? Besides, I'm one ugly mutha Demir. I may be able to change form, but what you see if I take this off is my true face.” He warned her, and she folded her arms over her bountiful chest and narrowed her golden eyes at him, getting him to roll his solid red orbs. “Fine.” Konrad easily yanked the mystically reliable piece of cloth, and Demir blinked in surprise. “Happy? Ugly mandibles and all on display. Want to see me eat?”

“Yes actually. I'm curious how you can even keep food in with a mouth like that.” Demir's words made Konrad blink. How DID his mouth keep food like blood and sauce in? He didn't exactly have lips anymore. So to oblige her, he took a spoonful of pasta and sauce before putting it to his mandibles, which opened, pulled the spoon in, and when he pulled the spoon away it was as clean as if normal lips had eaten from it. “Huh...odd.”

“Yeah...it is. Hold on.” Konrad's body was enveloped in green fire, startling the mare before he reappeared as a ginger haired white and black paint horse stallion with green eyes, a black spot unevenly covering his left eye and most of his snout, and took another taste, his equine ears perking. “Hm...tastes better in a form more suited to the food type.”

{Huh, it seems our body's needs can change according to our form. Impressive, it means we could more easily blend in if we kept fed on plant matter while disguised.}

“Mm, this is really good Demir. Who taught you to...uh...hello?” Konrad asked nervously, seeing the black mare's eyes glazed, cheeks flushed, and mouth open with a bit of drool. “Demir?”

She snapped out of it and wiped the drool off. “N-nothing. Just wasn't expecting that.” 'OH GOSH HE'S HOT!' “Um...can you change the way you look like that? Or is this the only kind of horse form you can take?”

“I can only take one form per species for some reason. That means no changing looks aside from species. This is basically exactly how I'd look if I'd been born a horse here.” Konrad then erupted in flames again, only now he was a foot shorter, his clothes changed size to fit him, and seemed slightly different. “Earth Pony.” Flames. Now he had a horn, and seemed thinner. “Unicorn.” Flames. Now he seemed even shorter, about average height, and he opened black and white patterned wings. “Pegasus.” Flames. This time he was even bigger than all the times before, even bigger than his true form. He was covered in shaggy black and gray fur, two small horns from the sides of his head and he was a rippling mass of muscle under his thick fur. “Buffalo. List goes on, but doing this is tiring me out.”

Konrad again burst into flames and returned to normal. Demir was blinking and trying to get over the radical changes she saw, and that each one was quite attractive by most standards. “I noticed your voice didn't change though.”

“Yeah, can't change it for some reason. It's part of me, something that's constant.” Konrad said before finishing off his meal. As he was about to get up, a knock at the door frame got their attention, and a meek, poor-looking brown stallion with black hair and eyes was the culprit. He looked poor because he was dirty, and he only wore a thong. He was quite well-built, but that was likely from genetics and him staying fit, yet he also seemed to be underfed, some ribs showing along with his light muscle tone.

“H-hello? Is the one called Avarice here?” The stallion asked nervously, and fingered the small bronze pendant hanging from his neck by a cheap leather strap.

“Yes, that would be me. How may I be of service Stranger?” 'Odd, this is the first time someone's asked for me without a warning or threat attached, or not being from a military official of some kind for once.'

{He seeks our services....}

Konrad's posture suddenly straightened, and he quickly put his bandana and hood back on before standing, and approaching the nervous stallion. “Hello, Stranger. What can I provide?”

“Word from the caravans is that you can acquire...anything.” His nervous words brought forth a momentary second of confusion, before Konrad's earlier musings caught up with him.

'Ah, the ponies of Dock End must've chatted the caravan up about me. My reputation is starting to spread.' “That is correct, however, most of my wares are all “gently used” and have no current owner than myself.”

“Oh...then...you wouldn't be able to help me.” He became downcast, but Konrad's eyes flashed brighter, and he grabbed the stallion's shoulder before he could turn to leave.

“Wait, wait...hold on...tell me what you're looking for first, and then we'll go from there.” 'There's an Opportunity here.'

{A very rare one.}

“W-well...I...I need evidence of the Baig's crimes. To bring him to justice.” At this, Demir bolted up from her seat, yanked them into the building, and slammed the door shut.

“Are you insane?!” Demir asked shrilly with a failed attempt at lowering her voice. “The Baig would have you hung for even suggesting anything of the sort!” At her chiding, the stallion wilted even though he was still several inches taller than the tall, busty mare.

“He killed my sister....” This shut them both up, and the stallion seemed about to fall to the floor as he clutched the pendant desperately. “He visited the brothel...demanded both a mare and a stallion for company. Of course, I and my sister were offered up. We...pleasured him, as is our job but...he started choking her. He choked her until she stopped breathing, even when I tried to stop him. But he's so strong, I couldn't...she...!” Demir grabbed his shaking shoulders and dragged him to her table and forced him to sit before she rushed to the kitchen for some water. Meanwhile, Konrad stood there, his claws clenched and his tail twitching.

{Watch it Fawkes. We're only able to be here because we've got an asset close to our chest. We kill a government official, and our safety is gone.}

'Can you seriously think that after hearing this?! That bastard needs to die! He murdered a mare just to get off!'

{And we WILL do something. But for something of this scale, if we want to succeed...we need to make a deal.}

'WHAT?! Look at him! You heard him! He's a prostitute! He doesn't have anything!'

{He has that pendant.}

'What about it? It's just a bronze hammered disk strung with leather for a cheap little trinket.'

{Fool. Look closer.} Konrad did as Avarice said, and looked more intently at it. His eyes widened when he noticed a faint red magical glow resonate between it, and the stallion. {Do you see it? The raw Value it has to him?}

'What are you saying?'

{You'll see. Make a deal. That pendant, for the evidence to bring the Baig to justice.}

'But how? He's got the citizens scared, they can't provide witness, he's corrupt, he's got corrupt soldiers. How?'

{People like that. Sick, twisted individuals that they are, relish each of their sins. They keep a memento. Mark a diary. Do something to remember it later on in life.}

'But that'd be stealing-.'

{Are you really going to object to taking something like that from someone so wretched? When you were so eager to take his life just now?} …. {Thought not.}

“Stranger.” Konrad's sudden voice startled the poor stallion and Demir out of a quiet bit of conversation, as if remembering he was there since he'd gone quiet for a while. “The Baig, did he take something from your sister's corpse?”

“Y-yes...a lock of her hair.” He admitted with venom in his tone, and Konrad chuckled darkly.

“Then what you asked might just be possible. If I find his little collection, and some confirmation of it being him, then if I get that to say...your Sultan...would justice be served?” Konrad's question made them both gape at him in surprise, but then the stallion snarled.

“Yes! Sultan Neighezid II is an honorable stallion! He may be patient, but he is quick to bring justice to criminals. Please, I beg you, I'll give anything. Help me end the Baig's corrupt tyranny.” The stallion slid to the floor, bowing to Konrad...no, to Avarice.

“Anything? Even that pendant of yours?” At Avarice's question, Demir was about to object when he quickly shot a glare at her, and she went silent as her eyes shined a little. This wasn't her deal. She had no say.

“...Must it be my sister's pendant?” He asked nervously. “I mean...it isn't worth much. It is just a cheap little disk of bronze, you have far more than that here already.”

“Yes, it must be. You have nothing else worth a risk this great. If I obtain this proof, and deliver it, and justice is served, that pendant is mine. Deal?” He held out his claw, and the stallion hesitated only a moment, before taking it, their eyes shining red as Avarice helped him to his hooves. “We have entered a Contract. You will have your proof, your justice done, or I gain nothing from this.” He then looked to Demir. “Keep him here. Likely the Baig will be getting over his little high of murder soon and realize he should've killed the brother too. Where's the Baig's home?”

“He is nearly on top of us. A few streets over, right next to the barracks is the Baig's manor. As you can guess, sneaking about is nearly impossible, and day or night the guards are on constant watch. The Baig has a lot of enemies in the city, and the ones around his estate are on his personal payroll.” Demir said, clearly getting the point across that the poor stallion wasn't the only one wanting the Baig gone, considering she knew that much.

“Hm, hm, hm...you'd be surprised how easy it is to fool the senses.”

[ $ ]

'I swear, I have a death wish.' Konrad bemoaned mentally as he skulked about the shadows of the night near the manor. 'She wasn't kidding, there're so many guards I might as well be wearing them as a suit.' Konrad was across the street, atop a roof. He'd already knocked out the sniper that was up here, tied him up in old rope that smelled of the ocean, and dumped him in a pile of hay down below. Konrad could not ignore that he felt like an Assassin right now, only he wasn't here to kill someone in spite of the scoped large crossbow and bolts he'd taken from the sniper. Hey, if he was going rogue and getting into the habit of taking things, he'd better start practicing, even if it left a horrible taste in his mouth.

The scope made sense, since Saddle Arabia was foremost in the field of glass crafts, what with all the sand, and they export telescopes through Equestria for astronomers and nautical navigation. He was quite thankful for the addition as it let him see further and identify the guard's locations, patrol routes and timing. 'Okay...now!' Konrad clutched the ranged weapon to his chest as he ran and jumped clear across the large gap between his building and landed with a muffled clatter thanks to his cleated boots, and got behind a chimney as the sniper atop the roof approached to investigate, his leather-soled boots nearly silent in spite of the hooves they covered.

“I heard something...come on out....” The sniper warned. “Come out or I sound the-.” Konrad didn't think, he whipped his arm around the chimney, took quick aim, and fired the crossbow. The bolt flew true, stabbing into the guard's exposed throat, getting him to drop his own crossbow and gurgle an attempted scream for attention, but he soon fell to the roof clutching his throat, and choked to death on his own blood.

'FUCK! FUCK! I JUST-!'

{Easy. Calm.} Rather than retort, or freak out like he normally would, Konrad felt odd, like before when-. {I'll take it from here. You just come to terms with your actions. You did what you had to kid. Let the emotionless alter-ego take care of the rest.}

'Just...just don't kill anyone else....' Konrad pleaded, and Avarice quickly grabbed the dead guard and his crossbow before tossing them into his coat, never to be seen again.

{No promises.}

Avarice was in the driver's seat, and unlike Konrad who liked to coast the speed limit, Avarice was going to outright floor the gas. The Verdugo looked up at the highest window of the estate, and without preamble ran and leaped across the courtyard. If this had been Equestria, such a move would've been spotted, since pegasi and unicorns require a lot more security measures and wariness. But here, where horses came in only a single species divided only in their sizes and coloration, such a bold move was completely missed by the patrolling guards below.

He landed with a clatter before he quickly opened the window and vanished into the room. “Who's th-?!” The Baig's voice called in the dark, only for a claw to wrap around his snout, muzzling him and a blade went to his throat, making the very large, portly, and strong stallion freeze under his extravagant bed covers.

“Your murder mementos. Where do you keep them? Better yet, I'll just find out. Have a nice nap.” Avarice used his free claw to squeeze near the base of the Baig's neck on his left side. Like if he were human, the sudden cutoff of blood to the brain knocked the stallion out, giving Avarice plenty of time to use more free seawater-logged rope to bind the corrupt government official. “A little muzzle....” He then used some rope to muzzle the big, fat, heavy bastard. “Ugh, what the fuck do you eat?”

Avarice hoisted him up, nearly had to drag him across the room, and then stuffed him into the closet. “Okay, paranoid, murderous, corrupt, fat....” Avarice quickly approached the bed, and lifted the mattress to find a book with some sort of coat-of-arms on the front. “Bingo.” He picked up the leather-bound book...wait.... “This is Horse Hide! Sick fuck.” Avarice quickly skimmed the book, finding in each page a pressed and resin preserved lock of hair, each of them black. “So, fuck wasn't random. He hunted mares with black manes.” Along with each lock of hair was a name, date, and a short description of what the kill made him feel. “Okay, enough. I'm sure the Sultan will appreciate getting this shoved in his face.”

'Can we do that?'

{Yes, watch, focus on how this feels.} Avarice then focused on his coat, willing it to lead somewhere, to a specific person, and then held the book through the coat until he hissed at his claw being cracked open by the blade of a sword, and dropped the book to return his claw. “Overly cautious fuck. Better read that and figure things out.” Avarice then decided to display another skill of the coat that trick opened up. “Hey, Kon, watch this.” Avarice pulled his tail in, and then pulled the side of his coat over him, and he disappeared as if he was never there.

Meanwhile, halfway across the country, an upset Sultan was foaming at the mouth of the discovery the floating claw literally dropped in his lap.

[ $ ]

Avarice had reappeared in Demir's home out of thin air the night previous, and informed the two sleepless horses that the deed was done, and now they just had to wait and see if the Sultan could draw conclusions. The next morning, there were soldiers practically flooding the district, forcing the local guards to surrender for questioning, and the Baig's banners displaying his coat-of-arms were burned from the stone buildings with flaming arrows, citizens cheering at the clear display that the Royal Army, headed by the Janissaries, soldiers that only followed orders of the Sultan, were here to deliver swift judgment on Baig Eziyet, and temporarily take over as the stewards of the state until a new Baig was installed.

The stallion was so overjoyed he nearly intended to pay right when he heard of it, but Avarice refused, saying he had to go watch the hanging before he gave him the pendant. It was after a lot of cheering and jeering and sudden breakouts in festivities that the brown stallion returned, weeping joyously as Demir and Avarice were calmly having tea, the streets too chaotic to work in peace. “Thank you! I cannot possibly repay you enough! You've helped so much in this city just to help me!”

“Hey, it was a deal. You're going to pay, so it's all just business, he, he....” {The fact we put down a tyrant is just all the sweeter.} …. {You'll have to accept the world isn't all sunshine and rainbows eventually Kon. Nothing is sacred.}

'I killed someone....'

{Get over it.} Avarice sniped, tired of Konrad's bellyaching. “So, Stranger. As for your...payment....” Avarice held out his left claw, and the stallion took off his sister's pendant. He looked at it sadly for several moments before he hurriedly set it in the Plaga's outstretched claw. When he did so, the stallion gasped as red light flowed from his eyes, and into the pendant, leaving him blinking in confusion. “Payment....” Avarice then chattered his mandibles excitedly. “ACCEPTED!” To both the horse's confusion, the pendant then turned into red crystalline light, before Avarice shattered it in his grasp, and the fragments flew into his eyes, seeming to meld with the red orbs as he chuckled darkly.

“W-what was that?” The stallion asked, and Avarice was still coming down from the high of acquisition.

“That. Was the power you and your sister had bestowed on that little pendant. Items, have power Stranger. Especially items of great, personal importance to a person. That pendant represented happy times for you and your sister, and for the brief time between her death and now, it was your constant Reminder of her. Now, through this special acquisition; I can Recall anything I have ever seen, done, felt, or heard. Something incredibly useful mind you.” Avarice said, and shuddered as he thought back to the night with Ichor. “Mm...very useful.”

“Well...thank you anyways.” The stallion said. “Oh...I just realized, we never exchanged names-.”

“And we shouldn't. I won't need your name to remember you, Stranger. You provided my first, true, beneficial and meaningful transaction. My birth name is not Avarice, know this, so we are even. Consider that exchange, moot.” Avarice extended a claw, and the Stranger shook it with a smile, before nodding to a silent and contemplative Demir, and leaving through the front door.

Avarice would never meet him again. Just another deal, another satisfied customer.

“So!” Avarice's outburst startled Demir, and he looked to her with an excited twinkle in his eyes. “Let's get to mounting the barrel and stock eh?”

Author's Note

Avarice discovers more about their coat's abilities, and their own special contract magic and their version of shapeshifting, while Konrad gets his first taste of murder. Things are getting delicious.

I'm Just a Merchant.

Neighezid II looked at his letter, pondering if he should send it. It was a letter to Luna, one he planned to send yesterday, but...he didn't want to disappoint his Goddess, even if she would understand. The Sultan could not arrest the Equestrian fugitive Avarice any longer, for he had provided an immense service to his country, not mentioning the potential boon his teaching the smith Demir his secrets held for his country's military power. He knew it was Avarice who had somehow delivered that disgusting, horrid book of guilt, with the fuck Eziyet's coat of arms branded on the front no less!

There are no coincidences, only fate, and Avarice was fated to flee to his country, and save many of his people from a monster he'd unknowingly instated himself. He decided he'd send his grandson Suleimane to govern the city, as his intelligent and ruthless son Selim was instead on the front lines fighting the Bullgarians alongside the Equestrian armies. In the end, Suleimane while no slouch in war, was far more suited to politics than his father, who he feared would misuse the position of Sultan to feed his hunger for war.

With this, Avarice provided him with proof to unmake that bastard Eziyet, save his citizens, provide a major advancement in weaponry, and also give him a good excuse to provide his grandson experience in governing. That settled it. Neighezid II rolled the letter up into a scroll, sealed it in golden wax with his personal seal, and then handed it off to a trained falcon, that dutifully flew out the nearby open window, which Neighezid II approached to look out of at his glorious capital of Istanbull, feeling both humbled by his failure, yet enlightened by it. Hoping to lead his people better until he had to pass on the throne.

[ $ ]

Luna was disappointed. Not in Neighezid's reasoning, oh no, she understood completely. It was simply the fact that she knew for fact that Avarice only likely did this seemingly heroic act through contract with someone desperate enough to see the corrupt Baig deposed. What did he demand in return for such a service? An enigma such as Avarice could ask for nearly anything, he didn't seem to follow any logic.

And then there was the fact that he'd blatantly supplied Saddle Arabia with a new weapon design of sorts. Neighezid would never turn on them, she knew this, but his son Selim...should that blood-crazed and power-hungry monster get on the throne before he died in battle or was succeeded by his own son somehow, she could easily see Equestria's long-lived alliance with the desert nation dissolving into war for little reason than for more war.

Neighezid already promised to share the weapon's design and any alloy recipes born of it with them to “dissuade potential future tension” by evening the playing field. As it stood, Saddle Arabia's and Equestria's armies were nearly even in power. What ponies had in variety, horses had in their superior physical conditioning, training, and weapons expertise. All theoretical clashes between the countries promised horrid, terrible losses on both sides in a war of attrition. Equestria would only win by virtue of having more resources, and that would take years of bloodshed to achieve.

So it was with a sigh of disappointment that Luna rolled up the scroll for bookkeeping and as evidence of Neighezid's promise to provide the designs of the new weapon. “Lieutenant.” Luna's call was promptly answered by a dark blue pegasus stallion who entered the door to her suite granted by a hotel in the town of Las Pegasus. The town was more focused on it's mining than anything else, good silver was in these parts, and the Marehave was packed with valuable ores under the dry, cracked, clay surface. “Be prepared to move out. There's no reason to stay here anymore. I'm certain sister is feeling the strain on the naval campaign, and I need to oversee the progress of our invasion of Bullgaria.”

“The fugitive ma'am? We've been after him for months now. Shouldn't some of us remain on his trail in case he comes back north from Saddle Arabia?” The Lieutenant's question was quite justified, but Luna sighed again in more disappointment.

“No. He's done the Arabian's a great service, and so he's now welcome there. I'm afraid that in spite of the risks his contract magic poses, he's out of our hands now. We return to the front. Tell the stallions to pack their bags.” The Lieutenant saluted and left to carry out his orders, Luna looking out the window facing south across the valley with resignation of having lost her quarry.

[ $ ]

For the past several days, as he and Demir refined the design of the Demir Classic, Avarice found himself...oddly welcome. The whole town seemed to know that it was him who exposed Eziyet, and both the guards and Janissaries completely ignored him, as if he was just another person in the city. Demir said he'd likely won many friends with his actions, and Avarice was rather embarrassed by it.

Konrad refused to take control of his own body, listlessly droning to himself over taking someone's life, and that he was a horrible person for doing so. With Avarice at the wheel though, there was no chance of the idiot killing himself through either negligence or suicide, so Avarice planned to leave him to his self-pity until he recovered naturally, which so few people get the chance to do.

In that time, Avarice tested the prototype to discover, quite sadly, that the cast iron barrel was far too brittle to withstand the shot made with common blasting powder and lead shot, as it fractured on the first test. Thankfully he'd been holding it at hand length away at the archery range when he tried it, so he thankfully avoided needless injury. With that though, the next step up was clearly steel. When Demir asked him what steel was...oh, ho, ho, Avarice was all too happy to teach her the recipe for steel. In layman’s terms, steel could by made by combining a high-carbon allotrope such as powdered coal or graphite with iron in a smelter. He didn't know the more refined methods, but when they successfully made an ingot, they decided to make a cast steel barrel for the next test.

The second prototype of the Demir Classic fired flawlessly, and each successive shot was just as effective. They'd done it. They had a single-shot, top-break shotgun with a steel barrel and beta brass fittings and trigger. The moment Avarice reported this, both his and Demir's eyes flashed red. The contract fulfilled.

“Must you go?” Demir asked sadly as Avarice finished collecting the 30 or so shotshells he'd made for himself using brass, scroll, blasting powder and his own green resin.

“Yes. I cannot stay here Demir. I have fulfilled our contract. You now know how to make a shotgun, and if you're smart, you'll learn how to make more than your DC.” Avarice looked at her fondly as she wilted, and he sighed as he put his claws on her shoulders, rubbing consolingly. “Demir my dear, this month has been such a treat. I am so sorry to leave you, but there's a whole world out there for me. Deals to make, trouble to find. I can't just settle down someplace and make guns my whole life. I'm not a stay-at-home busybody. I want to see what this world has to offer, and I don't want to settle for a desert when it's what I've seen most my life already.”

Demir sniffed as she cried a little. “I understand. I too sometimes wish I'd been more adventurous. Heh...listen to me. I sound like I'll never see you again....” Demir looked at him sadly, her golden eyes turning red not with magic, but with sadness. “I will see you again, won't I?”

“Of course. If I'm welcome here, I'll stop by now and then, to visit or lay low if I need. That alright?” Avarice asked, and the buxom mare surprised him with a hug, nuzzling his neck and face through his hood and bandana.

“Of course, you silly bug. You're welcome in my home anytime.” She then further surprised him by quickly releasing him, grabbing her first ever successful gun he'd just returned to her, and held it out to him. “Please...in case we never see each other again...I want you to have something we made together. You can't say no either, because I can just make more. I've got spare iron barrels to make more casts to make steel barrels, and the other pieces are all up here now.” Demir joked by poking her head, and Avarice reverently accepted the simple, yet aesthetically pleasing small shotgun. He really wished he could express tears form his eyes right now.

“Thank you...this means so much.” Avarice then hugged her, and she hugged him back. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until they finally let go. “See you later Demir.”

“Farewell Avarice the Merchant. May we meet again.” Demir said politely with a curtsy, and the Plaga saluted before drawing in his tail, and vanishing with his coat.

[ $ ]

When they reappeared from the air, it was to a familiar region. 'Hey...hey, why'd you bring us back here?'

{You need some familiar territory, and a change of pace. We're going to relax here in quiet Dock End as a pony for a bit, help you relax and come to terms with yourself.} Avarice said before stripping nude and “packing” away their equipment in their own personal hammerspace, which apparently everyone here in this world can do. His coat was just special for “holding” so much.

'Oh gog, really?!' Konrad asked as Avarice brought out a black thong that the male prostitutes in Sığınak often wore, which was apparently traditional for Saddle Arabians according to Demir, who shamelessly stated she wore one too when he brought it up, and was confused at his gaping expression at the time. 'No. Just no. We have tons of other clothes, I'm not going to let you display us like a piece of meat!'

{Oh~ someone's getting some brass balls for once. Go ahead, try and stop me.} Avarice laughed as he felt Konrad try to assert himself back into his own body while he slowly fed his legs through the holes in the skimpy article of clothing and slide them up. “Pony-time.” A swathe of green fire, and in place of the Verdugo was a white and black paint pony with more of a white base and black patches of fur covering his coat. His face was the same as back in Saddle Arabia, and he played with the ginger hair of their mane as he stomped his hooves to get used to having a thick, protective layer between the ground and his feet without any boots. “Seriously, what have you got against this?”

Avarice languidly stretched and flexed his lithe, tight muscles that while not bulky like Logger, were still quite notable, and even popped his pecs in amusement. 'Oh gog...I miss being a scrawny beanpole. At least then people would just look at me as a person rather than a slab of meat.' Konrad was referring to all the forms he took aside from his true Verdugo and old human form. Demir told him that at least according to her; pretty much every form he took was attractive in a smooth, streamlined way unlike the bulkier specimens she was used to. She told him that to help avoid further confusion regarding her expressions around him when he transformed. The exceptions were of course his human and Verdugo forms, both for merely how alien they were.

“Well, this slab of meat is going to just traipse on in like it's no matter.” Avarice said with a confident grin, before calmly strolling through the trees onto the road a good distance northwest of Dock End, and casually walked right into town. He managed not to look anything besides idly content with a small smile as he passed a few of the mares, who all blushed and gawked at him as he entered the small budding town. They'd already added a few more buildings along the road, and the place was practically filled with soldiers. {Hm...I hope that doesn't mean anything terrible is happening on the Bullgarian front. These people are good folk.}

'Probably not, see those guys?' Konrad mentally pointed out something in their peripheral and Avarice turned his head slightly to see several horses in standard Saddle Arabian footsoldier armor along with elites and snipers. 'Those guys must be from that march we passed about a month ago. They must be securing the border villages and towns so no minotaur insurgents can hurt the citizens.'

{I hope you're right.} Avarice replied, and then paused at a surprising sight. {They....} Their chair, the one they bought from the town, and the cabin that was supposed to be theirs were both still there. The cabin had even been finished, and a sign that said “Soft Spin's Sundries” was next to the door. {They...did it anyway....} Avarice approached the chair, and looked at it fondly. It was his chair. They hadn't touched it.

'….' Konrad reached out and wiped some dust off of the seat, and sat in it. Taking a deep breath of the clean, fresh air. They relaxed. 'This is nice.'

{Finally. Took you what? Half a month of wallowing in your misery?}

'Fuck off, I'm relaxing.' Konrad stretched and put his arms behind his head, enjoying the warm sun overhead and the cool breeze that blew through the small logging town as he closed his eyes. Until he heard someone in armor approach.

“From where do you hail, My Little Pony?” The regal mare's voice garnered Konrad's attention and he opened his eyes, only to barely refrain from widening them. She was gorgeous. She stood a statuesque height of about seven feet even, her curves even greater than Demir's, not hidden at all in her full suit of bronze armor burned black with a diamond shaped into a crescent moon on her breastplate. Only her head and wings were revealed, showing she had both a horn and wings. The dark blue mare's fur glistened in the sunlight, her ethereal mane of the night sky flowing in the wind that seemed to sweep past, her gentle smile and her cool blue eyes were enthralling, and she smiled knowingly. “Hast our beauty struck thee speechless?”

“Yes.” Konrad admitted freely. “I have not seen a beauty so exotic or regal, and I have just come from Saddle Arabia, where all the mares are as tall as you and equally as beautifully formed, yet they do not compare.” 'Holy shit, where's this suave shit coming from? And with our rough cockney voice it's kind of odd.' Konrad's musings had to wait however, as the mare blushed lightly and chuckled as she habitually tried to tame her hair.

“I had asked because it is not common to see ponies so bold as to wear so little. I have not been to Saddle Arabia in so long, but I am sure I remember that to wear nothing more than a thong; a stallion was often in the business of providing pleasure, am I correct?” The mare asked cheekily with a grin, and Konrad blushed as Avarice howled with laughter in his head.

“Y-yes...well, this was the only clean article of clothing I had after an encounter with a giant leech on the way. I'd rather not wear slimy clothes thank you, and this is the first river I've even come across.” Konrad fidgeted under the mare's gaze, feeling her eyes molesting him. 'Oh gog...being sexually objectified is...oddly arousing.'

“Oh, a shame. And here I was hoping to satisfy an itch I've been ignoring for a good while.” She lidded her eyes into a smokey bedroom stare, making Konrad flush deeper. “Mind scratching it for me?” Konrad was flustered, but he didn't think much on it.

“U-um...i-it would be rude of me to refuse the request of a lady. Might I know your name ma'am?” 'Wow, this mare must really be stressed if she's soliciting me in broad daylight. I'll see if some massage can help her.' Konrad didn't catch the moment of relief in the mare's eyes.

“Just call me Lulu.” She quickly grabbed his hand and dragged him down the street to the inn, ignoring all the staring.

[ $ ]

Luna woke with the morning light. She hated being diurnal, but for her duties she had to flip schedules. She yawned as she sat up, holding the sheets to her bosom and looked to see the naked stallion she'd bedded for an afternoon...and night still sound asleep under the sheets next to her. She must've tired the poor dear out. Luna wasn't kidding when she told him she needed to scratch an itch, but when you're one of the ruling princesses, and have a whole army and country to help run, you tend not to have the time for a good romp.

When she saw him, she'd hoped he was a prostitute from his garb, or lack thereof. Because there was no shame in the occupation, she saw nothing wrong with soliciting him to help her. She wasn't going to just ask some random citizen and force herself on them, or have relations with any of her soldiers like she bet her sister shamelessly indulged in. However, the fact that he didn't recognize her, or even know her on sight, or that she was a princess...it meant something. He was clearly nervous, but that was expected, and he even massaged her! Nopony massaged her before sex before. She had to do that again sometime.

She didn't even know his name, and that made Luna sad. She just used him, that was clear, and he didn't mind. It was wrong. Oh, here comes the guilt. Luna sighed as she quietly left the bed, cast a few cleaning spells over herself and her sleeping companion, as well as double-checking the contraceptive spell to ensure his seed didn't take. She blushed at realizing how close their romp was at impregnating her, even through the spell. 'We did go at it, what, seven times? More?' Luna magically summoned her armor, and looked back to the sleeping stallion. She then summoned a scroll and quill and wrote a note, before leaving it and a hefty bag of bits on the nightstand. 'I hope to see you again Stranger.'

Luna left the room, feeling a bit hollow like she always did with one-night-stands.

[ $ ]

Konrad groaned as his stomach growled, and thought he'd shift back, but he didn't. {Odd...something's...changed.}

'What now?' Konrad asked Avarice as he shoved his face into his pillow.

{Our pony and horse forms are...stable now. Our body isn't straining to keep the form up like it used to.} At Avarice's input, Konrad grunted as he sat up. Oh...he was sore all over. {You had to try the backwards dog position.}

'Hey, that's where SHE was going, I had to follow through.' He looked around, slightly sad to see her gone and a bag of bits on the nightstand. 'It was odd though. There was an unusual amount of kissing, fondling, and passion in that. That's not one-night-stand behavior.'

{Going at it 11 times over the course of several hours isn't one-night-stand behavior either.} Avarice commented, making Konrad sigh.

'Hey, not my fault we had to live with a hot mare who was off limits for a whole month.' What? He'd been sharing a place with Demir for a month, and the mare had little to no shame in even walking about her house naked when she was fresh from bed and not all there in the head yet, and while his base form had no genitalia, he could still get aroused somehow, but he had no outlet with her being nearby all the time. So he and Lulu both went at it last night with everything they'd likely built up.

Konrad approached the bag and put it in his hammerspace, but paused from reaching for his thong when he saw the note.

Dear Stranger.

I am sorry to have used you like this, but I have had a harsh couple of months with no outlet for my stress. My ponyhunt for a dangerous fugitive turned up drier than the desert he fled to on top of all of this, and there were no prostitutes in Las Pegasus as it's a mining town first and foremost.

I hope you can forgive me, but I hope we somehow meet again, and that we do this again on perhaps a regular basis.

Your VERY satisfied customer, Princess Luna of Equestria.

Konrad dropped the scroll, and stood frozen for a few minutes. 'We...just banged the princess....'

{And she was the one hunting us too....}

They both remained stunned, until they both suddenly roared with laughter at the absurdity of it all. “Oh my GOG! That's just...fucking priceless!”

{If only she knew! Oh GOG! The face she'd make!} They collapsed onto the bed, laughing until the maid opened the door.

“Sir is everything-oh my!” The orange maid blushed scarlet and Konrad froze, his legs were spread and his groin in clear view. “I-I'm terribly sorry!” She went to close the door, but instead paused and looked him in the eyes, and he rolled them.

“Mares, such lonely creatures.”

[ $ ]

After pushing himself and satisfying another mare, Konrad decided to leave the town before he was solicited again. 'Thanks so much Avarice. This thong makes me a prime target for repressed mares.' Leaving by following the road this time, Konrad was pleased to feel no strain on his body from keeping his pony form. Considering he'd screwed Luna, that might have something to do with it. She was the effing Goddess of the Night and Moon, he'd be amazed if nothing special happened from even being near her.

{Hey, you just got seriously lucky twice in two days. Thank me a little more sincerely. And that whole Bedding a Goddess thing? That's a fucking story to tell! You can totally brag about it later on.} Konrad rolled his eyes at his alter ego before leaving the path, and transforming back into his Verdugo form to put on his equipment. {So, what now?}

“Now, since we can hold an equine form nigh infinitely. It's high time we traveled north, experienced Equestria for real.” Konrad fit on his perfectly fitting Merchant outfit once more, and once he'd put on the bandana, he transformed into his horse form, basically his earth pony form but bigger, retaining his height but losing his bladed tail and claws while his snout made the bandana hang away from his chest. “With all the things we bought and bartered for from Saddle Arabia's caravans, we have a much wider selection of goods to provide.” His green eyes shimmered red. “And so many ponies to service.”

Konrad went back onto the road, jogging at a good pace, the next stop; Trottingham.

Author's Note

Konrad has ever lived in one place his whole life until this madness happened to him. He isn't going to squander it just settling down in one place, not when he has no real attachments.

Demir is currently his only true friend, and it was hard to decide to leave, but hey; it wouldn't be much of an adventure story if this suddenly turned into slice-of-life now would it?

Also; Moon Butt XD

Fucking Shades of Gray!

Celestia blushed as she read the raunchy details of her sister's bedroom adventure with an unknown stallion. The mare was a foot taller than Luna, and her curves even more generous, but mostly due to her love of sweet breads. She was still fit, but had a healthy bit of pudge. She was sitting in her office in Canterlot working the paperwork as her generals and fleet admirals continued the ongoing naval campaign. They'd made more headway without her, as she was far too soft-hearted for these sort of things, and opted to try taking prisoners rather than just outright eliminating the enemy.

So she took to running the country as her sister tried to peg down a dangerous criminal and otherwise give orders to the army. Usually Luna sent status reports, this latest letter however was of her sister waxing poetic on just how amazing her time with a paint-coat earth pony stallion in the dock-end of nowhere town aptly named Dock End was. '11 times? Nearly impregnated? He actually performed a backwards dog?! Not even my veteran guards can do that!'

Celestia would've claimed her sister making false boasts, but her sister was not one for bluster. If this stallion and her bedded 11 times in one night, then it was true. But still...wow. “Lulu, I get you were frustrated, but wow.” Celestia looked up at a tapping on her window, and saw a familiar falcon. “And that must be Neighezid's letter.” She stood, her flowing conservative white gown flowing like her glittering pink mane and tail, especially when she opened the window and the majestic bird flew in to perch on her desk's intended bird perch. “So what do you bring me little one?”

Celestia gently tickled the bird's neck, making him puff up in joy as she took the scrolls from the tubes tied to his talon. She read the letter first, becoming concerned, and then unrolled the other to reveal schematics for a weapon named the “Demir Classic”, and was called a “shotgun”, whatever that was. It wasn't until she read further in the letter that her eyes widened and she looked at the schematics in awe and fear. “A portable cannon with scattershot...this....” 'This could be what we need to force the griffins to surrender!' A portable cannon was an astounding concept, one that fired a spread that was nigh-impossible to dodge normally?

It was a horrible thought, but Celestia knew that to ignore the advancement of weaponry would lead to her country's downfall sooner rather than later. But she knew; when she ordered her captain to fetch the castle engineer, that before long, the saying of “sharpest sticks” will be changed to “biggest guns” in maybe less than a generation.

[ $ ]

“Glad to be of service Stranger.” Konrad bowed his head to his latest customer who nodded back and left. 'Hm...might have to make a trip back to Demir's soon. Running out of silk.' Konrad mused.

{The ponies here just eat Saddle Arabian trinkets, baubles and silk up like it's exotic candy. Then again, we spent time there so it just isn't as special in our eyes. Also, being in our horse form helps drive up sales.} Avarice was right, as they easily towered at least a whole foot above the tallest ponies in the crowds of Trottingham. They stood out the moment they arrived about a week ago, having decided to sprint the whole way they made the trip along the road in just over a day from Dock End to Trottingham.

He may have been the most suspiciously overdressed, but since this was the market district, and he stood at the corner of it with a pack quite clearly full of goods, the fact he was a Merchant was obvious for the ponies who stopped to ask about his wares. Once word spread he had wares from Saddle Arabia, he'd been getting lines even, and had to excuse himself a few times to quickly warp to Sığınak, buy some more wares from the stalls, and warp back. He stopped in to say hello to Demir a couple times too, getting a smile and laugh out of her for his persistence in reassuring her he wasn't out of her life yet.

Because of the difference in prices, Konrad was making a killing. Bits were more plentiful here, but Equestria was also ironically much shorter on the creature comforts that Saddle Arabians ironically took for granted. It was an odd, nonsensical duality that made Konrad realize that doing this would help balance out the monetary and material balance between the countries.

“Hello, Stranger. What can I do for you?” Konrad asked the posh-looking stallion who approached him. 'Well, a properly well-off one ain't ya?' The gray unicorn stallion was dressed in a fine suit, a very old-English dark gray tux that seemed like it belonged on a cheesy butler in some mansion rather than on a proper and upstanding stallion. Even his slicked-back hair and eyes were a light gray. He was so monochrome that he stood out among the colorful palette of ponies like a gray smear on a fresco.

“I shall cut to the chase. Do you have any Saddle Arabian arms in your inventory?” That wasn't suspicious to ask at all.

“Hm, I only have a sniper's crossbow. It is a fine weapon. I've tested it's accuracy myself. Do you plan it to be a collector's item or-ah~! I see.” Konrad's eyes flashed as the stallion suddenly became nervous. “Trying to...implicate something sir? Need we move this transaction someplace more...private?” Konrad asked, and the stallion looked about before realizing that having the Merchant follow him would be more suspicious.

“Do you know where the Dam's Dive is?” The gray on gray stallion asked, getting a nod out of Konrad.

“The only good place to get a drink in this town? Of course. When should we rendezvous?” The stallion then took a note from his pocket and handed it to Konrad, leaving in a casual stride as the Merchant read the note. 'Tonight, as the sun nears the horizon. Very well.'

{Not suspicious at all. We'll go, but be wary.} Avarice warned Konrad needlessly. The horse stood at the corner for most of the day, securing several more sales until he'd run out of silk, and then casually left for the Dam's Dive. The name was a bit worrisome, as what mother goes drinking instead of watching their child? The proprietor apparently, a mare named Hoppy. Konrad doubted that was her real name, but meh.

It was just a few streets over from Market Square on Carriage Avenue. Which was weird, because Carriage Avenue was nothing but houses, but apparently even though the place was ran out of the local brewer's own basement, it was better than the actual bar halfway across town both in the booze and the waitresses. They weren't all overly buxom or otherwise curvaceous or things like that, they were simply charming, happy to serve and good conversationalists. They also had cute faces. Damn Konrad's weakness for cute girls.

He plodded his boot-covered hooves up the cobblestone walkway to the side of Hoppy's house, and then descended down to the basement-turned-dive. It was as usual filled with patrons even considering it was only mid-afternoon. The round wood tables made of cheap, warped planks and beams filled the place from near the door to the bar. And there at the bar, standing behind it as always was the very buxom green earth pony mare with long flowing red hair and yellow eyes named Hoppy. Happily wiping out a large wood mug with a ratty old bar mop. “Well, if it isn't Avarice again! This is your fourth day in a row!”

“Hello again, Hoppy.” Konrad casually strode through the establishment, ignoring all the suspicious glares of the patrons. They were fiercely protective of Hoppy, not just because she was the best source of beer in town, but because they all cared about the matronly mare's safety. Any fights in here are quickly put down by the patrons and the offenders ejected violently. Also she was a widow of the war, and many of the single stallions here were quite intent on ensuring she and her daughter were cared for in some way, even if she wasn't planning to remarry.

“If I didn't know better, I'd say you have a drinking problem he, he!” Hoppy joked, grinning impishly. Konrad only ordered a single pitcher, and drank it over a period of an hour or so alongside a meal he picked at while he used scroll and charcoal to make lists and other plans.

“Meh, no point drinking into a stupor. I'm not here for the beer for once though. I'm meeting a potential client here. I'll just order a protein salad and some saltine crackers with cider.” Hoppy blinked in surprise at Konrad's words. Clearly she rarely got the customer who didn't want her booze.

“Well, alright then. This isn't just a bar, so go on ahead and find a seat. I'll have one of my girls deliver your meal to you.” Hoppy said as Konrad took out a sack of bits and counted out the 12 bits his order cost and set them on the counter, where she gladly scooped up and dropped in her earnings trey behind the counter. “Thank ya kindly dear.”

“No problem Hoppy. Glad to be serviced.” Konrad joked, getting a giggle out of the mare at his switched words, knowing he always said the opposite on a constant basis. Konrad then drifted over to his usual spot in the dark, far corner. His salad laden with various nuts, cheese, and his crackers and non-alcoholic cider followed shortly, and he tipped the pink mare up-front like he usually did, making her smile even more before he went about having his meal.

The cheese was made with cow milk, which was a little odd to Konrad. Cows were as humanoid as the ponies here, and were fewer in number, but this was probably due to their lower mental faculties. He tried talking to a heifer in the market who was selling her milk, but she seemed to struggle when he used large words or spoke too fast. He asked a pony about it, and was told that cows weren't all-there in the head, always daydreaming or distracted by something, and had nothing to do with stupidity. Still, that told Konrad that some races of this world were still early in their developmental stages.

Especially when he was told they usually lived in communal ranches or corrals. Such places were meant to keep the “simpler” folks from hurting themselves. The ponies didn't know why the cows were so easily distracted and mentally displaced from reality, but they cared too much to let the dear things hurt themselves with their absentmindedness. Apparently mages and doctors were trying to figure it out, develop something to help the bovines focus, but thus far have been unsuccessful.

Konrad hoped they succeeded in the near future. The idea that a whole race of people were so debilitated was depressing. Konrad finished his meal, and soon the gray on gray stallion from earlier sat across from him. “Hello again, Stranger. Now. This is clearly about more than some crossbow. Mind filling me in?”

“I'll cut right to the chase. Do you have any connections that can get shotguns from Saddle Arabia?” The stallion's words surprised Konrad, but he didn't let that through in his demeanor.

“That depends. Who wants them, how many, and why? I have one on my person, one of the first ones in fact, but it's mine, and I know from experience these aren't toys you can just wave around. I'm not going to be a reckless arms dealer.” 'Word travels fast. Demir must have submitted her work with her government and Saddle Arabia's planning on sharing with Equestria, that's good.'

“The navy, as many as possible, to make fighting the griffins easier.” Ah, so bland stallion was working with the government. Judging from how nervous he was, and the subject matter, he wasn't doing this legally.

“Tell me why. Clearly Saddle Arabia's shared the designs with you lot, so why don't you make your...ah. They can't get it right, can they?” The Stallion's fidgeting was answer enough. “Shame. It'd be terrible if poor Demir is the only one with the skill to make them. Very well. I'll put through an order to Demir myself. How many?”

“At least 500.” The stallion said, getting Konrad to blink. “It's a lot, I know, but we need them for our soldiers so the griffins can't just swoop down on our ship and ground-bound soldiers, and our crossbows aren't fast enough to catch a griffin mid-dive. Not to mention we need to dismantle several to try and figure out the construction. The barrels we have, the steel we've got, but we cannot assemble the mounting and trigger right.”

“Alright then. I cannot guarantee 500. Demir's just a single mare, she can't make that many in a week let alone a few days, and she's been making them nonstop for her own country's army.” Konrad then reached into his coat, and brought out his personal, original Demir Classic, the stallion's eyes widening at the steel barreled and brass-adorned beauty. “This is the first one actually. My concerns for your engineer's safety is more in the construction of the shells. The materials used for the primers are very temperamental.”

“Oh, yes, we've already lost a couple of assistant engineers to them. They aren't dead, but missing fingers makes working fine instruments impossible. We've taken to only letting unicorns handle that part of the process.” Gray said sadly with wilted ears. “I will meet you again here tomorrow with the bits, if you'll sign this.” Konrad's eyes glowed as he felt genuine surprise at the sight of a formal contract, with details put in for 500 shotguns, paid in full, to be carried out by the signed party. But rather than gray have his eyes shimmer, only the scroll did.

{Careful Kon. You sign that, and we're bound to fulfilling it. Read the fine print closely.} Konrad did so, finding no loopholes, nothing suspicious. It simply stated that the one signing was honor and duty-bound to fulfill the contract or otherwise be put under penalty of seizure of assets and imprisonment.

'Sounds about right in this case. I can supply this if I work alongside Demir to make them. That's a lot of bits to be paid to Saddle Arabia, with a good portion for me, but no mention of Demir.' “Wrong. Demir is the only one making them, yet I do not see her justly due payment. I will be traveling there myself to help her make them as I can, and I see no reason to exclude my friend from her rightful reward.” Konrad suddenly felt like he'd done something very, very bad. As the stallion's expression suddenly took on a very shark-like grin. 'Oh...fuck.' “YOU SWINDLER!”

“GET HIM!” At Gray's shout, dozens of iron armored unicorn guards stormed down the main entrance stairwell, and Hoppy's house upstairs, upsetting the patrons and especially Hoppy herself, demanding an explanation as they all aimed spears at him with their horns glowing, while Konrad kept Demir's gift to him aimed at the smug gray stallion who continued to calmly grin. “Avarice. A fugitive who uses the forbidden Contract Magics to bind those he deals with to fulfill them. Also the one to help design the Demir Classic shotgun and teach the smith how to make this special steel alloy. You're Under Arrest.”

“Take one STEP and his head get's blown off his shoulders!” Konrad roared, outraged. 'This place has a fucking FBI?! REALLY?!' “And don't think I can't take all of you. There may be like...twenty of you, but I can easily kill you all before you blink!”

“Please. I'm unimportant, little more than a field agent. Go ahead. Shoot. You'll just make things worse for yourself.” Gray said smugly, his shifty gray eyes glinting in victory.

“You won't be so smug with your head spattered across this basement!” Konrad was about to pull the trigger when he froze at the sound of one of the waitresses crying out in pain, and he shot his gaze over to a guard who grabbed the pink waitress who served him, and held his spear to her neck, scaring her stiff and making the patrons go silent in shock. “You wouldn't dare....”

“Your portfolio says that you earnestly care about the common pony's welfare enough to not needlessly endanger them. You took no actual hostages, and the worst you did was inflict a stab wound on a stallion for betraying you. In a non-vital area at that. All reports on you from Saddle Arabia also say that you never went out of your way to hurt others. You also have a weakness for cute mares. You're a criminal, but a soft one. Easy prey for us government sharks willing to hunt you down. You now have two options. Come peacefully, or the mare dies. Simple.” Gray smiled more as Konrad jammed the barrel between his eyes, not even flinching. “You have ten seconds.”

Konrad was sweating bullets, his eyes darting between the counting stallion and the mare who looked at him desperately. 'I...I can't.' “I surrender!” Konrad shouted as he quickly stowed his gun in his coat, and held his hands in the air. “Let her go!”

“Contain him, let the mare free.” Gray ordered, and the guard holding the mare hostage let her go, and she collapsed into a nearby chair in tears as her coworkers all moved to comfort her, while one of the guards approached and his horn sparkled with a pink glow, spawning pink manacles made of the same energy around Konrad's wrists. “You'll enjoy your new workshop Mr. Avarice. The accommodations are...extensive.”

Konrad was then struck on the back of the head, and everything went dark.

[ $ ]

Konrad snapped awake, feeling weak as he was on the harsh wood floor of a carriage in motion. His world was a mess of moving shapes, shifting colors, and an incredible need to vomit. He persevered though, and soon the pain in his head faded and the world cleared back up. {About time you woke up. Damn concussion. Bastards don't know how to avoid causing one apparently. You were lucky you woke up at all.}

Konrad looked himself over, stripped down to nothing but his thong again. He could sense his equipment was still nearby, likely in a storage box under the passenger seat on the front. Ponies and horses drew carriages themselves, no sense in not doing so. But for larger ones more pullers were needed. This small, cramped box with wood barred windows was barely big enough to fit him, and he couldn't even stand in it, so he likely only had a single earth pony pulling him along. 'Mother fuckers. I can't believe I got caught like this when I evaded a fucking goddess.'

{Sometimes, organization and underhanded tactics far outstrip raw power and charisma. Bastard had us good. I too pegged him as looking for a deal rather than it being a setup.} Avarice admitted as Konrad crawled to the door and dragged himself up to the window to see nothing but woods and mountains around them.

'If I remember things right...and the position of the sun means anything...we must be getting taken to Canterlot.' It would make sense, that's where Equestria's seat of power was, aside from the hearsay he knew of about the diarchs having their own private castle in the middle of what was known as the Everfree Forest for their own needs. 'Okay, enough of this shit. Going Verdugo!'

{No! Stop!} Avarice was too late and Konrad let out an agonized peal of a scream in pain, the paint horse collapsing back to the floor as something in him spiked with sheer pain. {Idiot! They've drugged us with something to keep us from using magic!}

'Fucking WHY?! We're a horse right now, only unicorns can use magic without an external focus!' Konrad rationalized to himself as one of his escorting guards, a pegasus in the normal light bronze armor hovered to one of the side windows.

“Tried to use your odd magic did ya? Don't bother, unless you want whatever you try to backlash and flay you alive, just sit tight and don't even think of trying anything else. We need you alive and well if we're going to be getting those shotguns.” The pegasus then flew away from the window, and Konrad hissed in anger and frustration.

'Sons of bitches! When I get out, I'm skinning you all alive or my name isn't Konrad fucking Skinner!' Konrad stewed in his anger, roaring as he tried smashing through the door in his rage. His tackles, punches, and kicks availed him nothing but breaking his skin, cracking a hoof, and splitting his knuckles. “FUCKING FIGHT ME YOU COWARDS! SWINDLERS! TURNCOATS!” Konrad was going to try assaulting the door again, but a unicorn stallion appeared at the window, and blasted him with a spell. “You...cheap...fucks....” Konrad fell to the floor, hurt and oddly tired as sleep overtook him.

[ $ ]

Konrad awoke slowly, hurting all over and to the sensation of being dragged. His hooves making a hollow scraping sound on the stone floor as his captors carelessly tugged him by the pits up to a certain cell door, and tossed him in, before the iron bars slammed shut behind him, the lock sliding into place with finality. '...The fuck did I do to deserve this? Is this karma for killing that guard?'

{Oh, not this shit again. Don't fucking go there. I had to deal with your whining enough over this issue. We're going to end up killing plenty with what we're being put through. We're both too vindictive to forgive this.} Avarice replied, and tantalizing images of blasting Gray's head off, or choking him until the light left his eyes flew through their vision. {Pricks like that especially.}

“RAH~! NOBODY SWINDLES THE MERCHANT! NOBODY~!” Konrad screamed out the door, the echo of his rage was very satisfying. After he huffed and snorted in anger a few more minutes, he then turned to his cell to see it was actually a contained forge, with everything he needed from the smelter and hearth to the anvil, and tools and material to make things. To have room for all of this, the cell was quite large actually. He even had an extra large cot to sleep on. “Are they idiots? They expect me to make them anything?”

“Yes. We do. And you will.” Konrad spun around as he quickly jumped to his hooves and glared at the small barely half-his-height 5 foot tall mare who addressed him. She was a suspiciously armored mare, almost no curves to her at all either save her plump rear and thick thighs. She was a slate gray, her eyes golden and slitted, and she had black bat wings instead of feathered ones. If it weren't for her dull, cruel eyes and her sneer, he would've considered her cute with her little fangs and the tufts on the tips of her ears. Her armor was burnt black, and made for mobility like all pegasi were. “Because if you don't.” She snapped her fingers on her left hand, and another guard, like her but a stallion of average height, opened another cell nearby, entered, and dragged a crying and feebly struggling emaciated brown mare from it. “She get's punished.”

“You sick fucks. What kind of ruler condones this kind of bullshit?!” 'Equestria's seeming more like some dictatorships I learned of in school, rather than the nice place I'd been thinking it was.' Konrad's surprise was evident when the mare laughed cruelly.

“One that we don't serve! We keep these sort of things under wraps so the princesses don't find out. They're too benevolent for their own good. They can't order the things that need done. Not even Mistress Luna has the callousness needed for these sorts of things.” She then took a whip from her side, and used it on the barely-dressed mare's stomach, getting a yelp of pain and Konrad to reach out to grab the bitch, only for her to whip his hand. “Down slave! You belong to Equestria now. And you're going to be making shotguns. Shotguns that work. Shotguns that if they fail, will result in due punishment for both you, and the pretty little things we have locked down here. Do I make myself clear? Oh, and if you kill yourself, we execute them. Isn't that wonderful?”

Konrad was practically foaming at the mouth, he wanted to break this bitch's spine, rip out her heart and eat it as she watched while the light left her eyes! “Just tell me the name of the bitch I'm going to murder first chance I get!”

The petite mare smiled darkly, and got right up in his face with utter confidence. “I'm Sharp Snap, prettybuck. Now get to work.” She turned, and whipped him in the face with her long dark purple tail which both surprised and disgusted him. That was a traditional sign from a mare that they were interested, and he very much was not.

'Bitch. I'd sooner rip out your ovaries than have sex with you.' Konrad turned to his new forced home, his body drugged, unable to transform, and now a slave to the Equestrian war machine. 'This is all karma of sorts. I brought guns to this world, now I have to spread them personally like a plague.' The Plaga snorted in wry amusement at the irony as he approached the important part, the barrel he was to use as a template for the casts. He had no idea how they planned to keep him supplied, the room aired, or anything like that. Probably magic or some shit. 'Fuck...might as well get started.'

Konrad took the iron barrel template over to the barrel filled with moist clay, and started pressing it in to prepare the casts.

Author's Note

You have just witnessed several ultimate weaknesses of Avarice's.

He can be separated from his equipment, he can also be incapacitated by mundane means so long as he was in a passably mundane form when his magic is cut off. He has little to no magic resistance as of this moment. And once again; he has a weakness for cute females or the lives of innocents in general.

Against cold-blooded do-anything-to-win sharks like these guys? Avarice stood no chance.

These Confines Are Frustrating!

Konrad jolted awake with a scream as a sadly familiar sensation cracked across his back. "Wake up slave! Time to get to work!" Sharp's deceptively sweet voice commanded, and he growled as he turned over in his cot to face her, his thong-covered groin exposed to her as she demanded he do, fucking perverted bitch. "Oh, don't give me that look. Do I have to mark your face too?" The big-booty bitch asked as she playfully stuck out her tongue, only she could be so cute while being an utter dike.

"Fuck you." Konrad growled as he sat up, and he leaned back with a glare when she strutted up to him, her hooves clacking sharply on the stone floor of his cells as she leaned into his face.

"Is that an invitation~?" Sharp asked huskily, getting Konrad to blush even as he grit his teeth and growled at her. "Just keep it up buck. Might just earn it." Sharp didn't expect it when Konrad suddenly bolted up, grabbing her throat and bodily pinning her to the floor, choking her as she kneed him in the lower abdomen in futility with her armored knees.

"HOW ABOUT THIS YOU LITTLE BITCH?! You're a lion tamer facing a lion in a small room! And you fucking forgot your chair!" Konrad relished the fear in her eyes as she started losing air, and was going limp when he was tackled off of her by two of the guards in the hall, who had to struggle against him as Sharp gasped and coughed as she desperately took in air. "LET GO OF ME YOU LITTLE SHITS! I'M GOING TO PUT THAT BITCH IN HER PLACE!" Konrad roared as he muscled through the shocked and worryingly insufficient stallions to try and stomp on Sharp, who rolled out of the way and expertly lashed her whip out, wrapping several times around his neck, and choked him as she pulled on it, destabilizing him and throwing him to the floor.

"You stupid slave! Did you forget that any poor behavior on your part equals the pain of the pretty little mares down here?" Sharp hissed as she pulled tighter, Konrad unable to pull the corded leather weapon from around his neck as she continuously tightened it as she approached, and then cheekily sat her luscious bubble butt on his forming abs. All the smithing was doing wonders for his physique. "Listen, slave. You are MINE! Your life is MINE! Your time is MINE! Even THIS!" She reached a free hand to his crotch, and fondled his balls to his shock. "Is MINE! You have no say in anything! Now, get it through your head, or I'm going to make you watch as I whip a mare to within an inch of her life! Am I understood slave?!"

Konrad was barely breathing, he could barely get any air through both the whip, and her sitting on him, so he went limp and weakly nodded. "Good. Pin him." Sharp ordered, and the two stallions stood on his hands as she unwrapped her whip from his neck, and got up in his face. "That was a good effort though." Konrad felt odd, looking in her eyes, instead of hatred...he felt unwanted desire for this bitch. He wanted to make her his. He was surprised when she licked his snout though, and she giggled darkly as she stood up and made sure to step over his head, forcing him to look up at her groin as she passed over, and her long purple tail brushed against his snout, forcing him to get a whiff of her, which excited him to his confusion. "Keep up the good work slave~!"

After Sharp was out of the cell, the two thestral stallions that were pinning him quickly retreated as well, slamming his cell door shut. Konrad laid there in confusion for a few moments, trying to gather himself. 'The fuck? That bitch just keeps confusing me. She keeps sending me signals I shouldn't be responding to, but it gets harder and harder to resist her....' Konrad thought, and then he cringed as he started hearing the bitch's whip crack, and a poor mare start screaming in agony. 'Damn it...I'm so sorry....' Konrad sighed in sadness as he laid there and listened to the whipping and screaming go on for a few more minutes, punishing himself for letting his anger get the best of him...again.

That was murder attempt number three, and again Sharp manages to detain him with nothing but a whip, even if this time she needed her guards to help. Konrad hissed as he rolled over, and groaned as his stomach roared for food. 'I should stop trying that, at least until I finish the boomstick.' Konrad mused as he stood, and looked around his smithy/cell. In one corner behind the smelter was a pile of failed ingots of brass, where he'd fucked up the zinc to copper ratio and wound up with Alpha-Beta or White brass, which was useless for what he needed it for. Next to the worktable in the corner was a small pile of shotgun stocks he carved from his oak firewood supply.

All his materials were delivered to his room while he was asleep, and nothing was taken out of it unless he told the guards his workstations were getting cluttered. Also all the tools were charmed with some sort of spell that made aggression with them impossible. He was forcibly passive when using any of the tools that could also potentially be weapons like the hammers, tongs, and other striking or cutting tools. Which confused him why Sharp didn't seem so engaging while he was working. She seemed to prefer him when he was fresh out of bed, grouchy and rebellious. Stupid, sexy dominatrix.

Konrad shook the errant thoughts from his head as he looked out the cell to check if they were watching him, they weren't for the moment, likely busy with the mare they were punishing to punish him, so he strode over to his cot and carefully dug his fingers into a slightly jutting brick, and pulled it out to reveal a steel double-barrel and a stock that was carved specifically for it. Those were the easy parts, he was still trying to get the brass fittings and trigger and hammer systems working. Having a single-shot would be useless in getting out of here and having more than one gun to juggle would just get him caught quicker. If he could get off two shots with some weak powder made of mostly coal and metal filings using hastily made shred-shot from his poor-quality brass ingots for knockdown on anyone who interfered with him killing sharp, then he could force his way out of here through raw muscle. He discovered early on that he was far stronger than any of the guards down here, it was mostly Sharp's skill and the threats on the other prisoners that kept him here.

'Soon...soon.' Konrad convinced himself as he closed the brick hiding place, and sighed as he went over to the casting area which was always ready with fresh damp clay when he woke up, picking up his trampled bread from the floor on the way, not caring for the spilled water, he could just drink from the barrel of water meant for his forging when he needed to. He considered if he should change his process for the day, and shrugged as he decided to just go as he usually did. He picked up a bit of charcoal, and went to his coat to mark his tally wall. He sighed as he counted them, and added another. Today was day 34.

[ $ ]

Demir was smithing another batch of her guns once again. It was pretty much all she ever made these days. She wasn't going to complain though, each one she made improved her skill with them, and she even started figuring out the extractor catch with a bit of practice on prototypes she kept messing around with. She hoped to make a double-barreled variant soon, or even a revolver variant! All the types of guns that Avarice told her about while teaching her just made her want to try and make all kinds of guns, but she loved the aesthetic of the shotgun, so she was going to focus on it for a good while. Demir paused as she was putting together a prototype revolving shotgun casing, and looked out of her shop's door. She hadn't seen her mentor in over a month, and she was getting worried.

The buxom black horse mare decided to take a break, and set down her prototype revolver shotgun before taking off her apron and smock, and hanging them next to the door as she closed it and locked it. Now wearing just a plain white sarong with a matching white thong and white bikini top, she strode away from her shop as Janissaries took position around her shop to ensure nobody got any bright ideas, while a couple shadowed her to ensure her safety. She was used to the executive treatment by now, as she was still the only smith/engineer in the country who could make the guns and ammo so easily. She made over 20 of them a day, and was considering having to take another smith as an apprentice so she could focus more on advancing the designs of her guns rather than just making more of the first model.

The wind picked up and blew her long white hair into her face, forcing her to brush it out of her eyes. She'd let her hair and tail grow out since she was mostly doing small-scale work since making the stocks and barrels was easy what with so little hammering actually involved compared to filing and cutting, and pulling her hair back was easy. Because of this, she didn't see the stallion in front of her and she bumped into him chest-first, getting a soft "oof" out of them both. "Oh, I'm so sorry sir, I...wasn't...." Demir looked slightly up into the burnt orange eyes of the chocolate brown stallion she'd bumped into. He was heavily dressed in fine robes that were simple, yet elegant, and she couldn't make out his body beneath it, but that wasn't what drew her attention. His eyes...they were so vibrant with intelligence and wisdom beyond his years, despite him possibly being a few years her senior or junior. "...Looking...."

The stallion was similarly frozen, her golden eyes had captivated him the instant he saw them. They shined with energy and a love for her lot in life that so few achieved. He barely even noted her body as her hair whipped about, the long straight white strands contrasting gloriously with her damp black fur, clearly she had a demanding vocation for her to be sweating so on such a pleasantly windy day. "To be fair my fair mare; neither was I." The stallion stated, his voice was suave and filled with calculating undertones someone steeped in politics always seemed to have, but his voice carried no hidden agendas, no schemes. "May I ask your name my lady?"

Demir's heart jumped. She wasn't looking for a relationship, at least, not actively. She always felt the stallion should be the one to approach first, and here was one clearly making that approach judging from his tone, and that he did not back away from her bosom pressed into his chest, their faces so close. "I am Demir. I am the smith in the administrative district."

The stallion's face lit up with recognition, it made her excited to know her name was getting around to stallions such as this. "The one who created the Demir Classic? I must say, it is a pleasure to meet you dear. I have been meaning to arrange a meeting with you, but my duties have kept me occupied thus far."

Demir blinked, wondering who he was to be too busy to visit her, and for him to have to consider wasting his time on her. "Then might I ask what the name of my current companion is?" Demir asked, only for the stallion to smile softly, apparently glad to not be recognized at all.

"I am Prince Suleimane, current Baig of your city." Demir froze in shock. The stallion she was pressing her assets against was one of the highest powers in her country. "Do no fret, you have done no harm. In fact, this is quite the pleasant situation. It isn't often I find one daring enough to be so forward, even if on accident." Suleimane teased, getting a blush and smile out of Demir. "My lady, if you have the time...would you care to join me for a meal?"

"I would be honored my prince." Demir said calmly, accepting his offered left arm, and pressing her right breast into it as he led her down the street to a cafe the prince frequented.

"Please, my dear. Just call me Suleimane."

[ $ ]

It was a few days later, Konrad didn't resist Sharp's treatment since the third attempt, and to his satisfaction, it actually seemed to irritate her even more than outright resisting. He realized she enjoyed his resistance, and so if she was going to tease him so shamelessly, he was going to tease her back by not giving her the satisfaction, while starting to flirt back just a bit. This was throwing her off, and Konrad was incredibly proud of himself for turning the tables a little. He was in the middle of using a file and chisel set to shape a stock, so he was currently pacified when Sharp strutted in with his lunch, setting the disposable wooden tray of a wood mug of water and a large loaf of bread on a clear space. "Have your lunch slave. Don't forget to eat and keep your strength up."

"Of course . Wouldn't dream of it sweet cheeks." Konrad smirked a little at her snarling, and he expected her to leave, when he was taken by surprise by her taking the handle of her whip, and hooking it over his neck to start choking him, making him drop his tools to try and stop her.

"Cut it out! You can't possibly be reciprocating! Prisoners never reciprocated before!" Sharp hissed as she pressed her petite armored breasts into the back of his neck, and looked down her snout at him from above, him looking up at her in confusion. "You can't seriously be liking this...." Sharp then grinned before she blew on his ear, and it flicked as he shifted in his seat, and he shouted in pain when she suddenly bit the tip of his right ear off, sucking on it as he whimpered, and his thong began tenting forward. "Oh Faust! You really ARE getting turned on by this!" Konrad was horrified at the realization, and even more by her discovery of it. Then, rather than keep choking him, she forced his face up with the handle, and kissed him.

Konrad's mind was blank, Avarice had gone silent a while ago from trying to keep the drugs from affecting them too adversely, so he had no mental response to the fact that his tormentor was kissing him. And he loved it. When he suddenly shot his tongue into her mouth, her eyes snapped open and she jumped away from him. Konrad was confused even more when he heard the cell door slam shut, and he heard Snap's hooves frantically galloping away. He sat there, turned around looking at the cell door in utter confusion. 'What was that?' Konrad was so confused, the following couple of days, Sharp was oddly subdued around him, and he was missing her previous demeanor for some reason. When she got back into the swing of things though, their back and forth got more eager on both parties, and while Konrad still wanted to kill her...he began entertaining letting her live.

[ $ ]

Luna had just finished giving a rousing speech to her soldiers, they had finally taken the first city on the way into Bullgaria. The minotaurs were so adamant of not giving an inch, but before their superior numbers and tactics, the brutes were eventually routed and the survivors taken as prisoners. Of course, her own forces had taken a blow too. She'd lost at least several dozen soldiers at the city walls, and she didn't even know the projections and casualties yet for the fighting and skirmishes inside the city itself. Luna calmly strode down the massive hall of Horn Keep. Horn was the closest city in Bullgaria to Equestria, and so was the first stop on their way to the capital city; Bovia.

Luna continued to walk, her strides leading her down, down into the keep's dungeons which were appropriated for her force's own use in imprisoning their prisoners of war. Luna's hooves did not stop until she came to the largest, deepest cell in the dungeon. "Lord Horn. I wish to speak with you." Luna's words stirred the well-dressed massive minotaur from his rest on his suitably sized cot, and he snorted as he turned over and got up, standing at a daunting 12 feet of rippling muscle and and prime example of a minotaur in his waning years. Even being so old, Lord Horn was still a fierce and dangerous bull, as he proved on the battlefield this day when they breached his city's walls, and he led the charge against their invaders.

"So. The Goddess of War seeks my presence. What words would one so violent as you have for me? Come to gloat?" Lord Horn demanded as he towered a good five feet over the mare. Luna would never admit it, but warriors such as Lord Horn still daunted her. Were it not for her flight and magic, she would stand no chance against warriors of Lord Horn's caliber.

"No. I still do not understand your people's insistence on declaring me the Goddess of War. The moon is a dangerous and powerful thing for certain, but I brought this war down on your heads because your warriors continued to harass travelers and trespass on our lands. And when Griffonia suddenly declared war, you were not far behind with your intentions. We are merely ensuring that you never get the chance to do this again, even if it means we must annex your country." Luna's words made Lord Horn look confused.

"But...we declared war because YOUR soldiers were harassing OUR travelers, and YOUR soldiers were trespassing on OUR land!" Lord Horn said back, clearly baffled, and Luna looked similarly shocked. "One of us is either lying, or we're both telling the truth and something far worse is ahoof here...." Lord Horn growled, and Luna looked at the confused and aggravated stallion with shock. She could tell HE was telling the truth, and she wasn't lying...as far as she knew.

"I shall speak with you again later Lord Horn." Luna briskly strode away. 'This does not bode well...we did not enact any aggressive behavior with Bullgaria until they declared war on us, and our soldiers were merely on standby, serving as mere guards as always.' Luna climbed up the massive keep until she reached the pigeon coops. She had a letter to write to her sister.

Author's Note

Decided to add this thanks to a very good point made by a comment. It didn't really make sense to jump to the rape without some build-up, show you the teasing and torture he went through from Sharp during his confinement proper, as well as the developing situation between them that ultimately resulted in her raping him.

Of course, to get to the meat of it all, you'll just have to find out later.

I also wanted to give some insight into how Demir was really doing, and show how important she really is for the future of weapons development on Equus in this dimension, as well as some of the developments that occurred during Avarice's containment.

Why is this Happening?

Author's Note

Warning, rape lemon ahead.

YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

As for any of you being fans of my story Liberare Elementis, here, finally, have lemon.

Why is this Happening?

Luna looked at the shipment of new weapons in a mix of awe and confusion. 'I didn't order these....' Luna examined the steel barreled and unadorned plain oak-stocked single-shot shotguns. They were simple, functional, and had no stamp of the smith on them, which was beyond unusual. And suspicious. 'I wonder if sister knows who is supplying these? The smith not branding their work anywhere is extremely unlikely.' She read the instructions which were VERY specific on operation, maintenance, and safety. The extensive list of things to do to keep the weapons functioning was impressive, but the list of things NOT to do was even longer. “Such dangerous things. The Saddle Arabians are devious, making cannons so small. But these things don't seem able to pierce plate armor.”

Luna's comment was right, as the test shots against anything less than well-made iron armor were beyond effective, but the lead shot ricocheted violently off of iron targets. For normal combat, it was suggested that crossbows still be the norm, and shotguns only be used against large clusters of lightly-armored enemies or airborne ones. “Ma'am, I don't trust these fancy new weapons.” Luna looked to her lieutenant, who looked at the gun in his hands with a suspicious gaze. “Not that I doubt they were made right but...the smith made these without love, or genuine care beyond it functioning properly.”

Luna double-checked her soldier's assessment, and realized it must be true, as the stocks of the guns were not uniform and painstakingly shaped a certain way, only that they could be held properly and comfortably. An odd ridge or divot here and there also showed said smith was rushed, or careless about it. It might not be integral to the weapon's function, but it said much on the smith's dislike for his work. “I'm going to ask sister where these guns are coming from. Supply our archers with them and instruct them on the list of tactics this scroll details.” Luna ordered before she left for her office. 'It seems our attempts at weeding out less desirable ponies from our government is still insufficient.'

Luna had a bad feeling. Seeing those weapons unnerved her. She could practically sense the malice pouring off of them. The hatred of their creator was profound. She hoped that the willpower and negative emotions of their creator hasn't cursed the weapons. The power imbued into objects by their makers outside enchanting was still mysterious and unknown and often considered superstition. Luna was old enough to know better.

[ $ ]

“Wake up slave!” Sharp shouted before she whipped the sleeping Konrad in his cot. He yelped as the offending weapon stung him, taking some fur with it and leaving a red line under his coat. Konrad groaned as he forced himself to sit up, glaring hatefully at the petite bitch that tormented him daily for the past...how long? He'd have to check his tally wall. “We need that shipment to Manehattan ready by tonight! So get crafting!” Sharp then threw the loaf of bread she had in her other hand at him and spun around to leave, her tail once again as usual whipping him in the face to his irritation, and frustration.

'What is up with that bitch? All I do is snark at her and I even tried killing her several times, and she just gets more interested.' Konrad mentally growled as he ate his loaf of bread. However, he panted a bit, and groaned as he tried to withhold a boner out of nowhere. 'Fuck, no, not this again...!' Sharp's round, juicy, big ass hovered in his mind, and he grit his teeth angrily as his pent-up frustration ate at his resolve. 'Fucking...big booty bitch!' Konrad shifted his thoughts to other things as best he could. He was worrying he was getting Stockholm Syndrome. Every day that bitch taunted him and treated him like dirt, yet every day he found himself more attracted.

'Just eat, get to work. The work will distract. Need to ensure secret project is still secret.' He got back to eating his breakfast bread, he had three loaves of bread a day, and a bucket to do his business in. His water supply was drugged to keep him from being able to use his magic, so the fucks had him trapped here in his horse form, which was getting thin enough by now his ribs were starting to show through his muscles, which ironically bulked up from his hard work at the forge. His body was depleting his fat thanks to Avarice trying to keep them in shape, while his muscles bulked up. He could now say he was genuinely ripped from all his lifting, moving, hammering, etc.

What the fucks fortunately didn't know, was that Konrad was making pieces to a new kind of shotgun. Seriously, did the idiots think they could put him in here, and expect him to NOT come up with the materials needed? Sure, the couple of shells he managed to make using sub-par material might barely have enough kick to knock someone down, but if he could just incapacitate Sharp, he'd be able to muscle his way through any guards that tried to stop him getting attention from the actual authorities. He still had to assemble it though, and the pieces were hidden in loose bricks around the cell. He still needed to get the second trigger mounted properly for his double-barreled boomstick to be done, once that was done, he was out of here.

Konrad sighed as he drank his drugged water. He tried drinking the water used for his forging, but the drug was in that too. It didn't chemically alter the metal in a bad way, and actually turned the steel a little blue when he quenched it. So the drug must've had some cobalt in it. He hoped prolonged exposure to it didn't kill him. After downing his tainted fluid, he got up and turned to the wall, baffled at the number of tallies covering it. How long had it been? Oh, there. Konrad took a piece of charcoal and made another tally at the end. Day 67.

'Time for another day of slave work.' Konrad sighed as he fed the smelter and prepared the casts. The brown mare they first threatened was released several days ago. Something about memory erasure spells to make her forget her mistreatment, and him so she didn't blab, yet still remembered having had served her sentence for theft. She stole jewels apparently. A huge offense, considering the gem mines are dangerous to work in, and the princesses refuse to let their hard work be taken advantage of. Oh the irony.

Konrad took the molten steel out of the smelter, which was magically kept from heating the room and producing smoke as he used tongs to move the stone cup of molten alloy to the cast which had about 10 barrel casts ready, and poured into them. Konrad didn't blame the princesses for his enslaved imprisonment. He knew clear as day from the worried mutters of some of the guards that if they heard about this, heads would roll, literally. Slavery was one of the worst offenses in Equestrian law, just under murder and rape.

After he finished pouring the steel, Konrad set aside the “steel” cup in the corner to cool, and then picked up the “brass” cup and set it in the smelter, before feeding the smelter the copper and zinc in “just-so” amounts. He had to be careful to get the ratio of copper to zinc right to get “beta” brass, which was the right hardness and durability for the finer parts such as the trigger, hammer, etc. Konrad would admit that this experience was good for his smithing skills overall, but he didn't think it was worth the scars and his imprisonment.

Following this, Konrad set to setting out a block of clay, and using pieces he'd already made to impress into the block just right for casting them. Thankfully the screws and bolts were pre-made by the castle engineers, who had been taken off building the guns as a whole for a “private party provider”, pfft, yeah right. Once that was done, and the smelter had melted the brass, Konrad then carefully poured into the block to make the misc parts needed for the gun's finer workings. He'd have to break off and collect the excess bits to be smelted again for later use.

Once that was done, Konrad allowed the smelter to vent. He'd only been able to make ten a day, what with him also secretly working on his double-barrel boomstick, so he'd made...uh...66 times ten...wow, 660 guns. 160 more than that prick Gray had been pretending to be ready to pay for. It'd be 670 by day's end if the carved stocks he constantly made in his “free” time during the cool-down passed his...huh. 'I carved that many?' Konrad mused in surprise at the sight of the pile of wooden stocks in the corner. 'Huh. Guess I don't need to carve more stocks from my supply of firewood after all.'

[It's Raping Time]

Konrad sighed. This wasn't the first time he'd had time available to just rest. But that was all he got to do when he wasn't working. Suddenly, Konrad found his arms grabbed, and shackled behind his back. “Wha-oof!” Konrad was pushed down to the floor, a small form with a large and plush rear was sitting on his butt, moving his ginger tail aside. This had the effect of exciting him again.

“Mm...you've filled out nicely~.” Konrad froze, it was Sharp. She was running her hands down his broad, muscled back. “So tight, so tense, so massively ripped.” She dug her fingers into his shoulders, and the knots that formed from his constant work and stress made him cry out in pain as she kneaded his muscles, rubbing out the knots as she felt him up. Konrad was getting more excited.

“G-get off me bitch! I'm not about to-gak! Agk!” Konrad was scared now. She'd put a metal bit in his mouth, and was strapping it to his head as she also moved blinders over his eyes, which covered his vision entirely. 'No! NO!!' Konrad tried to struggle out from under her, oddly, he was getting even more excited as he struggled, but her cold laughter told him it just made her excited too, and she-FUCK! This thing had reins on it! She was tugging at the reins of the harness on his head like he was just an animal! And it turned him on!

“Yes! Struggle my beautiful muscle beast! I'll tame you yet!” Sharp took out a riding crop, scooted forward, and began whipping his flanks, making him buck in pain. “Woo! Giddy-up!”

'SICK BITCH! I'm going to fucking END YOU for this!' Konrad swore mentally, as to his horror, instead he groaned and grunted in want. 'Why? Why do I want-AH!'.

“Ah-ha-ha~! Enough of this! I'm finally going to get what I want!” Konrad tried to wriggle away from her feebly when she got off of him, his will to fight back weakened as he panted in arousal and trying not to have his penis leave his sheathe, but she twisted and pulled the reins until he was on his back, and she sat down on his gained six-pack abs, her bubble butt just felt so~ soft. “Time to see what sort of monster is hidden by this.” Konrad froze when she cupped his testicles through the thong, and he moaned and humped up into her as he began to rise.

'Where are the other guards?! They would've stopped this!' Konrad knew the other guards weren't nearly as twisted as Sharp Snap, but then again, she ruled down here. This was her own little kingdom. She probably arranged for them all to be gone, knew Konrad would have free time in his schedule...she planned for this! Konrad grunted as she began stroking his sheathe, he was starting to love being stimulated by the cooing and eager small mare, and soon his black skinned penis began to come from his sheathe proper. 'No~! C'mon little man! Don't betray me like this!'

Obviously Konrad's body betrayed him, and soon Sharp was drooling at the sight of ten inches of thick horse meat. “Woo! I heard horses made ponies look small, but I've never seen a stallion so hung!” Konrad sniffled as tears leaked from the blinders in his shame, as he felt her turn around to face him, her groin armor quickly unlatched and tossed aside. “Now, my big, rippling muscle beast. You get to spear me like you've been wanting to! Just TRY to kill me with your cock!”

To Konrad's shock, she rose, positioned him to her drooling opening, and practically impaled herself on him, and he grunted and squealed at the stimulus as she squeaked and moaned as she worked her way down onto him. 'I'm being raped! I'm being raped by a little bitch barely half my size and loving it!' Konrad gasped around the bit as he instinctively bucked up into her, getting a cry of pleasure out of her. 'YES! After months without release!' Konrad pumped up into her when she began using her left hand to play with his balls while she balanced on his abs with her right hand. 'Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck~!'

“Mmph, good boy! Hump me into oblivion!” Sharp demanded, and Konrad let out a shuddering breath as he eagerly did as she demanded. Konrad was losing himself, thrusting up into her with wild abandon with the raw, unfettered NEED to wreck her! “Oh! Oh! Oh! OH YES~! By Luna you're a real stallion!”

'I hope I fucking wreck your puss you bitch! I hope you can't use this hole for anything after this!' Konrad gasped as he got close. 'AGH! I'm gonna~! GONNA~!' Konrad was so oddly enraptured with his nearing orgasm and as Sharp neared her own orgasm she hilted him, meaning his head was flush with her cervix.

“Oh~ Fuck yeah! Let it all out!” She then gave one final bounce, and Konrad yelled around his bit as he came. “Ugh-uh~!” Sharp moaned as her eyes rolled back and her vagina tightened onto him, his seed practically forced into her uterus from how tight everything was. She panted as she held her abdomen, smiling with an extremely serene and relieved expression. “Yeah...there we go.”

Konrad huffed and gasped as he gathered his wits, the explosive orgasm being unlike anything he'd experienced before. It was like he'd never truly orgasmed before now, and he had no idea why this was. “Hai?” What he said through the bit was obvious, and she decided to comply.

“I'm not a young mare, despite my looks hunk. I didn't have long before I lost my fertility. I wanted a stud worthy enough in my eyes, and watching you work, defy me the whole way. I lusted for you so much I decided to use you as my foal's sire. Besides, we're abandoning this operation and no longer need your services, lucky since the Princess has finally caught on. Those involved are being transferred around, Sharp Snap isn't even my real name.” The mare who wasn't named Sharp Snap said factually as she grunted and pushed herself off his flaccid penis. “Today was my last and only chance. The others have already been transferred out. I'm the last one leaving. I had to do this now or never. So, stud. It was fun. I'm just sad I won't see you again.”

Konrad was stunned when she took the bit out of his mouth and kissed him deeply with a swirling tongue. It was one of passion he moaned into as he returned it. Until she released him from the lip lock before he heard her gather her groin armor and leave him there. A soiled and defiled mess. He promptly passed out from all the stress finally getting to him.

[ $ ]

Celestia was beyond livid along with ashamed and worried. Her wild emotions were as palpable as the heat of her sun. She was in the waiting room to the infirmary of her castle, pacing as she awaited the word on the poor victim that had suffered beneath her own hooves for what her guards say was at least 67 days according to the tallies on his cell wall. For over two months the poor stallion was enslaved within small quarters, forcibly fed magic suppressing drugs via tainting his water, and what was worse was the water was also tainted with fertility boosting drugs. Illegal drugs known as Desire's Art, that also caused a dangerous spike in metabolism and dangerous growth along with an intense boost in libido. He was lucky his constant smithing geared it towards building muscle rather than just atrophying by laying about or otherwise growing in unhealthy shapes considering the setting he'd been trapped in.

This, combined with the pathetic and erotically bound state he was found in, along with his semen clearly indicated the stallion had been raped to sire a bastard foal. So many horrific things had been done right under her snout, and she didn't find out until far too late. The only consolation was that he still lived. “Princess.” She stopped pacing, her flickering pink hair and dress taking a few seconds to join in on her stillness as she directed her attention to the white unicorn stallion with blue eyes and a blond mane wearing a gray smock. “The patient is stable now. I've managed to leech the drugs from his bloodstream and provide him the nutrients he's been needing. He's in remarkably good health considering what's he's been through.”

“What about mental health doctor? He was wrongfully imprisoned by ponies pretending to be my soldiers, enslaved for more than two months, and then raped on top of it all. Will he even be able to see a mare without having a negative reaction?” Celestia asked as despite her ponies still not being as educated as she'd like, she'd ensured a basic understanding of psychology was at least comprehended.

“I had the nurses remain a good distance, but I have yet to provide a mare's presence to test for negative reaction. Would you be willing to act as the agitator for a test?” The doctor asked in concern, knowing not to ask would've offended the caring mare.

“Yes. I must speak with him. I must apologize and make reparations for the cruel actions of those who would dare call themselves My Little Ponies.” Celestia stated regally before she followed the doctor into the infirmary. It was little more than a row of beds extending a whole hall, but the size of it and number of nurses showed that this was more or less a small hospital rather than an infirmary. There were plenty of sick or injured ponies here, their privacy only given by the poster bed frames with their curtains drawn. Certainly there must be a cheaper alternative, but Celestia saw no reason of yet to deny the weak and injured comfort.

“This is his bed. As you can tell, we had to give him one of the largest ones available.” The doctor poked his head into the poster bed. “Sir, I have Princess Celestia with me. She wishes to speak with you personally.”

“Lulu's sis? Yes, please. I could use a friendly mare's face right now.” Konrad replied from under his safe, thick blanket, only his head open to the air. 'Luna's sister. At least she's concerned enough to speak to me personally.'

{Ugh...oh...what happened?} Avarice had been out of it for a long time. Being constantly drugged and trying to manage what he could to maintain their health was a challenge and a half.

Before Konrad could reply, the curtain opened to reveal the stunning Princess Celestia. She was definitely Luna's older sister. Every bit as voluptuous and regally beautiful as her younger sister. But, despite that, Konrad didn't feel so strongly attracted to her as much as he felt...comfortable with her presence. Like a family member you hadn't seen in a long time and felt so content to see again. “Hello good sir. I apologize for all the hardship you have faced in my lands. I am glad to see that you are well in spite of it all.”

“Hmph, not your fault. Don't go taking blame where it isn't due.” Konrad said amicably, looking the regal mare his height in the eyes, and saw nothing but genuine concern. “If anything your sis is far more guilty than you in causing me distress. What with her having chased me across the country and then jumped my bones without even realizing who I was. Or telling me who she was for that matter.”

Celestia blinked, and then quickly drew the connections before shooing the doctor away, who complied promptly. “You are Avarice? The being with the powers of Contract Magic?”

“Yep. Didn't know it was illegal when I came here. It was just standard procedure. I'm guessing I failed to erase that Corporal's debt I take it? Considering I was being hunted shortly after I'd interacted with him?” Konrad asked as Avarice just soaked in what he could.

“Yes. Moss Stone has had to be honorably discharged from the army due to his increasingly unstable mental condition. He is fixated on resolving his debt to the point that he's taken to consolidating all his worldly possessions, taking extra jobs to earn bits, and more. I've had to have him detained in a mental ward here in the castle to prevent him from going any further.” Celestia explained, and Konrad sighed.

“Bring him here. I'll release him from his perceived debt. Apologies for the nuisance.” Konrad said sincerely, but instead of leaving, Celestia looked at him in intrigue. “Something else Princess?”

“Eleven times?” Celestia asked, getting a very strong blush out of the horse, and she nickered in amusement, which was always rather novel to see considering a humanoid did it. “Wow. The look on Luna's face when she finds out!”

“I know right?! That's exactly what I thought when I read the note she left me!” The stallion and mare then both shared a boisterous laugh that got them disapproving looks from nearby doctors and nurses. “Hey, mind if I get up? I've been confined to a small space for months, I want to stretch my legs.”

“Certain...ly....” Celestia's face practically glowed red when Avarice threw the covers off, and stood. She had to look up at him. 'W-wow....'

Konrad blinked as he looked down at her. “Say...you're eight feet tall right?” Konrad asked in bewilderment, and she nodded. “Huh...whatever was in that water must've forced some growth through my whole body, not just my muscles. That's dangerous stuff.” Konrad finally examined his body properly, since he had no work to distract him, and he unintentionally popped his pecs in the very impressed and aroused mare's face, causing her wings to flare open. “Well, I'm not going to get any fresh air in here. To the open sky!” Konrad dramatically hammed as he pointed up at an angle and began walking along the hall, causing every nurse who saw him to gawk at him in both amazement and shock.

Celestia stood still for a moment, and swallowed a ball of saliva that had threatened to drip out her open mouth. 'D-doesn't he realize he's naked?!'

“S-sir!” Konrad looked to the nurse who worked up the courage to talk to him. “You do realize that you're...naked, right?”

At the yellow-turning-red nurse's words, Konrad blinked and finally noticed he wasn't even wearing a thong. And yet...he didn't give a plum fuck about it. In fact, rather than being embarrassed, he was getting aroused at being exposed around so many mares. 'Huh...that's odd.' He idly scratched his head in befuddlement as he wondered why he didn't care that he was naked, when months ago he was constantly worried about covering his body.

{Shit, being in a thong for months, and then being raped must've thrown your sense of shame out the window. I'm not seeing any rising panic, we're actually getting excited. Only thing is that draft on our groin.} At Avarice pointing that out, Konrad shivered.

“Um, no, I didn't. Would someone lend me a sheet or something? Kinda chilly in here.” Konrad asked, getting a doctor to comply with a shake of his head. “Hey fella, you built like I am? I'm not ashamed of it.” Konrad made his whole body ripple, getting a lot of woops and catcalls once they got over the shock and he laughed as he wrapped the sheet around himself to ward off the chill. “Brr. Chilly as heck in here. I need some air.”

As Konrad left, Celestia simply watched him leave, and shook her head. “Luna, you got lucky....Eleven times with that.” Celestia was absolutely going to tell Luna he was here, leaving out some things...she was so ready to watch her sister freak out.

[ $ ]

Konrad soon discovered that outside was just as cold as inside, only worse with the winds produced by the elevation that Canterlot had from being on a plateau halfway up a tall spire mountain. No wonder the infirmary had such warm and lavish beds. They were the only source of warmth in that place. “It's a nice view, isn't it?” Konrad turned his head away from the glorious panoramic view provided by this random balcony of the enormous white and gold castle to see that Celestia had decided to follow him.

'Wow...she's warm.' Konrad thought and shamelessly leaned into the flustered princess, who wasn't used to such a bold action. “Mm...you're warm. Like, comforting sunlight warm. How is that?”

The blushing mare smiled and opened her large right wing to wrap around the shivering stallion, who hummed in appreciation. “I am the living embodiment of the sun. I...suppose I'm the closest thing to a goddess a living being can be, so too is my sister Luna, who embodies the moon.” Celestia looked up at her sun, calling down a bit more of an unseasonable warmth as winter was on it's way. “Not many ponies, or people in general know this; but I just help keep the planet's rotation in check, and adjust distance slightly from the sun to help change seasons. This spot of warmth is merely me flaring the heat of the sun just-so.”

“So Luna manages the movement of the moon around the planet then. She has the harder job you know. Just one little fuckup and the world's gone.” Konrad stated, remembering at least something from his science classes. Celestia sighed as she nodded in agreement however, so it was nice to see that was true.

“Yes, it is so much easier to control the rotation of the planet and the warmth of the sun rather than the whole proper movement of an entire solid mass like the moon. I keep telling Luna she's stronger than me, but she doesn't seem to believe me.” Celestia bemoaned as she looked out at her land. “Look at this. Why? Why must people fight? Why must they hurt others, do things like what was done to you, when there is more than enough for everyone?”

“War never changes Tia. And neither do the predators among us. You'll find that out soon enough.” Konrad warned, before he decided to get serious. “I crafted 660 shotguns for those slavers. Ten guns a day. Everyday. What of those ended up in your soldier's hands?”

“My sister reported a shipment of 200 shotguns for her personal forces, all well-crafted save the rush work on the wood pieces. Then there are the 300 shotguns my fleet admiral reported having been delivered for distribution among his vessels. Not to mention the thousands of shells provided for them all by my engineers.” Celestia informed, getting Konrad to frown.

“That's 160 missing....” Konrad mused, but then remembered Sharp Snap's words to him that morning of the day he was so humiliated. “Manehattan. Sharp Snap, the bitch who raped me, told me that the next shipment was going to Manehattan. I can't trust it though, she might've planted that to throw me, and by extension; you, off.”

“Princess!” Their conversation was cut off by a mare flying straight up to them from the northeast. She-whoa. “Urgent message from General Whiplash of Manehattan Arsenal.” Konrad couldn't focus on the mare landing and handing the concerned princess a scroll, he was too focused on the peculiar mare herself. She was the standard build of pegasus mares, being curvy but not in a bulky manner the earth ponies and horses tended to be more often than not, she was also a standard height of 5-6 feet, but that wasn't what caught Konrad's attention.

She was a slate gray, like Sharp. Had slit gold eyes, like Sharp. Had bat wings, like Sharp. Had the cute little fangs and ear tufts, LIKE SHARP! SHARP!

Konrad suddenly roared in a primal and enraged manner as he jumped at the shocked thestral, but Konrad found himself blocked by a golden barrier, and witnessed a golden shimmer going over him before he collapsed and passed out.

Much Game, Much Sorrow.

Konrad came to, curled in a soft ball of blankets in a poster bed somewhere with curtains drawn closed. He tried to remember what happened, but every attempt was blocked by Avarice. {Not letting you trap yourself. Fuck. So that's the stimulus. Better than being scared of all females though.}

'The fuck happened? I was shooting the breeze with Tia, then we got to the important matters, and next thing I know I'm waking up in a different bed.' Konrad steadied himself as he sat up and peeked out the curtains of the poster bed, finding himself in a sun-themed opulent room. 'Hey, this must be Tia's room. Why are we here?'

{Tia seems the kind sort. Likely she brought us here rather than the infirmary so we could be isolated from other potential triggers.} Avarice reasoned as they looked around while they left the bed, checking themselves to find they now wore some silk pants that were way too nice, and seemed to be from Saddle Arabia. Possibly Tia trying to make them feel comfortable with something familiar. {Wow, she's considerately generous. Then again, she probably still feels guilty.}

'Pfft. I told her not to be. Not her fault this happened.' Konrad snorted in irritation before he decided to cut to the chase. He'd been without his gear for a long time, and he needed his portable shop if he was going to be making any deals. Not to mention, nice or not; he was still a criminal for using illegal magic. So booking sounded like a good idea compared to settling on a punishment, or being banned from using his magic. Fuck that.

They could easily sense their gear in the direction of the door, and they quickly strode through the plushly carpeted chamber and opened the doors only to freeze. “Going somewhere?” Tia asked with a cheeky grin as she stood there, arms crossed under her bust as Avarice's whole ensemble floated next to her in a way that seemed as though it moved without a person, and had a slight “hot mirage” red shimmer inside the exposed space between the bandana and the hood. “I think it misses you just as much.”

Konrad blinked as he focused on the possessed black leather outfit that folded it's arms in an upset manner. “Hey! Not my fault! I was drugged for months and couldn't use magic to return to normal and break free!” Konrad yelled at the possessed outfit, which pointed at him and then waved a hand idly. “Like hell! I wasn't going to just get myself killed!” The outfit then waved him off dismissively and Konrad snorted before he casually whipped a hoof up to kick the thing down onto it's back. “Yeah. Missed me like a scorned lover.”

“The spells and enchantments woven into it are...disturbing to say the least. It had to be kept in a cell apparently, because according to some notes my guards found, it became animate after a week of separation from you, and was progressively violent in it's attempts to reach you.” Tia said as she helped the silent specter up with her magic, and it nodded to her thankfully. “Firstly, and most obviously; it is self-aware. You and it are bound together by such an iron-clad Contract that I cannot fathom just what you did to achieve this.”

{We didn't do anything...this must be that swindling fuck's work.} Avarice informed with heat in his tone, and Konrad grit his flat teeth.

“I didn't do anything. I was swindled. I never wanted this, all of this...sure, it's all good fun, it's all such an adventure, but at what cost? The moment I got here, I was a fugitive for possessing magic I didn't know how to use properly. Then I had to discover that I'm not a unique case, and that there are countless Displaced tossed among the multiverse like so many jacks. Then I died. Then I became a monster. Then I had that fulfilling time as a teacher to a lovely lass named Demir for a month. Then I had to be an adventurous idiot and throw that away once our Contract was complete to explore Equestria, and I wound up being a secret society's whipping boy for over two months! Can you possibly imagine what it's like?! To be considered evil, and unwanted the moment you rear your ugly face?!” Konrad raved at the princess who gaped at his ranting exposition while the stallion panted to try and calm down.

Tia was trying to come up with a response when the possessed black leather put a glove on her shoulder and shook it's head slowly, before it went to it's owner and gave him a hug, before vanishing and Konrad was once again, for the first time in months, properly equipped. When that happened, Konrad calmed right the fuck down, and chuckled darkly, making Tia step back a little at the sudden flip in demeanor. “What was I saying? This is too much fun. So...Princess Celestia. You know I'm not about to stop making deals, stop providing my services, stop making Contracts. I've already suffered enough in my opinion, and I feel that proper reparations are in order.”

Konrad finally returned to normal during his shockingly bipolar behavior, his Verdugo form had also gained the mass his horse form had, so that likely applied to all his forms now, and he invaded the stunned and worried mare's space by getting in her face, his eyes encompassing most of her vision. They flashed and Tia felt a Contract trying to bind her. “You do owe me. Even if it isn't your fault, as a ruler of this nation; I am due recompense for your failure in securing the structure of your own personal military.”

That did it. Celestia winced as her eyes were overtaken with the red glow, and she wilted in submission. “I had planned to regardless Avarice. You didn't have to use your magic to force me....” Celestia looked up at him. She knew the only way out of a Contract was to fulfill it to BOTH of the Contractor's satisfaction, and considering how wronged he was, she could only hope that his demands weren't too much for even her. “I will do whatever is within my power to make it up to you. This I swear.”

“Good. Good. First order of business then; you are to aid me in bringing justice to these louts. These cowards who would hide behind the innocent lives of others, and force slavery upon those of free will. There is a difference between a Contract and enslavement. Something is actually owed in the former, the later is nothing but taking.” Konrad said hatefully. Slavery had no place in economics. It only drew in more and more resources for a failing project. It is so much easier to hire workers properly than to force them through threat of pain and other wrongful harm. At least then the job is likely to be done right, and done by people actually capable of the task.

“I planned to anyway. What else. That isn't enough.” Celestia said, the Contract urging her to admit she felt the payment inadequate for the debt she owed, and Konrad blinked at her.

“That's...pretty much all I had planned. Um...anything else I can get for myself...maybe ammo since your engineers are producing it, but aside from that I don't know...money is no object to me....” Konrad thought on it, and while he was considering it, he snapped his claws. “Therapy. I need therapy to help me with my fear and rage towards...ponies like Sharp Snap.” Konrad growled hatefully.

“You mean thestral mares? I'd be happy to. What else?” Okay, Celestia's sense of debt was incredible, this mare was way too caring.

“Okay, I don't know what else.” Konrad said, giving up. “I'll think on it, just don't let yourself get all crazy about it like that stallion you mentioned. In fact, don't forget to bring him to me so I can free him of his debt.” Konrad then transformed back into his horse form, it being about second nature at this point. “Well, I'll go take a walk to think on it.” Konrad was about to walk past her, but Celestia grabbed his arm.

“Actually....” Celestia grinned lecherously as her other hand shot down and cupped his groin to his surprise, making his cheeks flush under the bandana as she lidded her eyes at him. “I think I know how I can finish repaying you~....” She licked her lips, leaned up under his bandana, and kissed him as she led him back through her doors, her magic aura encompassing them for a moment before slamming them shut.

[ $ ]

Konrad groaned as he walked down the halls to the engineer's workshop, waddling a little bit from how sore he was. 'Fucking...13 times?! In five hours?!' Konrad grunted as he rubbed his groin. He was wearing the red silk pants from earlier, and the soft material was much more comfortable than his leather pants at the moment.

{Well, at least she filled her debt. I don't think it would've happened that fast otherwise.} Avarice replied, equally frustrated with how virile they seemed to the opposite sex, and how damn randy they were themselves. They were walking alongside their equipment, which they decided to dub Vagabond. Thanks to whatever Contract bound them, whenever Vagabond was off them completely, it formed together and took shape as if someone was wearing it, reflecting their form.

Meanwhile, Celestia was in her lavish bathroom to “ensure no royal foals” were consummated considering their extremely potent fertility thanks to that bitch Sharp drugging them with fertility drugs. Said drugs had permanently enhanced their fertility and libido, along with their body, which was exactly why the said drugs were illegal and that the accepted drugs were temporary. Now they couldn't have casual sex without much more powerful contraceptive methods, and sadly condoms don't exist here yet.

'Need to change that, need to invent condoms, balloons, latex in general.' Konrad mused while trying to remember just how latex was made. Something about a poisonous tree's resin? Bah, he'd figure it out eventually. He knew it had a similar process to harvesting tannin from oak trees, so he was already halfway there. And Anthon told him learning how to collect tannin would be useless, pfft.

They arrived in the workshop, seeing several stations having been set up, and the parts he'd finished fabricating just before Snap raped him were strewn about one of them, with notes nearby on the proper construction deduced from both the blueprints and the proper parts available for practice. What he was actually looking for were the parts to his new boomstick, and when he saw them carefully arrayed about a separate table, he gestured for Vagabond to take it back, and it did so dutifully. “Ah, so you're the master crafts-stallion who helped develop this murder machine?”

Konrad's attention was turned to the voice to see an orange unicorn mare in a filthy and dirty smith's smock like Demir, and aside from her coloration, drastic size difference, and her horn, she was basically a pony version of Demir upon sight. Her green eyes contrasted with her orange coat and candy-cane striped hair, but the gleam in her eyes, and the way she held herself was so analogues to the black mare that Konrad had to smile softly in nostalgia, and remind himself to visit Demir to let her know he was okay. “Yes. Might I know your name Forge-Mistress?”

She blushed at being referred to as such by such a ripplingly-built stallion of obvious skill in the craft, but instead of becoming meek, she grinned in yet another familiar gesture of confidence that reminded him too-well of Demir. “I'm Brass Bender. I'm the one in charge of making the shells and the brass pieces for the setup. I have to say, your notes you kept in your cell on the meticulous process for “beta” brass was a big help. Now we don't accidentally get “white” brass or “alpha-beta” brass so often when we're trying to get a stronger brass.”

“Well, as you could tell by the poor-quality ingots I had piled in one of the corners I had a lot of trial and error. I'm just glad I was able to keep up production so that Sharp only whipped me when she woke me or delivered my meals....” Konrad wilted slightly at how poorly he was treated, and was just now reminded of the whip scars he had on display. His fur didn't grow back over them, leaving his paint horse coat marred by curves and lines exposing his black flesh beneath, which wasn't so bad, beings it blended with his black markings enough that it almost seemed a unique pattern.

Clearly that was the case, as Brass's ear's wilted at realizing what she'd thought was an attractive pattern was really symbols of his pain. “Oh, I-I'm so sorry for bringing that up. Forget that place.” Pretty much half of the castle knew about the atrocity, but they were keeping it under wraps so it didn't spread to the common pony. They didn't need to find out such cruel ponies were so close to their beloved solar princess.

“I can't. Even if I wanted to.” 'And thus, Recall's drawback has made itself apparent.' Konrad hissed as the memories of the whippings brought back fresh pain, and Brass seemed about to approach but he held his hand out to gesture to stay away. “I'm cursed with perfect memory, I even remember the sensation. Not your fault. I just need to try and ignore it. I can't forget it, but I can dull it.”

{Damn, well, we'll be needing Recall in the future, trust me on that. Just try swapping the memories. Like, switch the pain of the whipping with the sensation of Luna groping our muscles when we-.} Konrad let out a sudden pleasured groan, and Brass blushed as her ears and tail perked at the sound. {Maybe something less effective?}

'N-no, that's good!' “Replaced the whip sensation with, mph...being groped by a rather enthusiastic lover. Need a less effective memory, but it'll do for now.” Konrad's explanation just made the mare shuffle nervously as he looked at her intently. “Well? Is there something you wish to know Forge-Mistress? I was involved in every part of the process for the Demir Classic, so ask away.”

“Sorry. You're just very distracting with your...provocative form and demeanor. Well, as I was saying, I'm in charge of assembling the shells, and you can guess it's very tiring and dangerous work. I was wondering if you knew of a way to make the primers less volatile.” Brass asked as she tried to ignore the way Konrad's hips swayed slightly. 'You are such a damn tease....'

“Not without making them nearly ineffective, no. They need to have the charge to properly set off the blasting powder. Ugh, I just have to finish making proper cordite. I'm sick of calling black powder blasting powder. It's so...general.” Konrad's tail twitched, making his long ginger tail hair whip, and Brass grunted; she couldn't stand it anymore.

“Stop being sexy or just get on with it! You're being such an unbearable tease!” Brass's irate demand was punctuated with a snort and her own candy-cane tail swishing back and forth, displaying that he was very much agitating her both erotically and temperamentally.

“Ugh, sorry. You know I've been drugged with those illegal fertility drugs? I'm so damn randy from it, and I didn't realize it until Celestia explained more about it after the fifth time or so. But I can't have casual sex without impregnating a mare anymore. Not without extensive contraceptive measures and it's so fucking frustrating!” Konrad growled as he humped the air slightly, gritting his teeth angrily at his libido. “I mean, seriously! I just went 13 rounds with your princess, and I'm still raring to go! Fuck!”

Konrad panted as he tried to calm down, his frustration working him up even more, and the mare began panting too, putting her palm to her head. “Whoa...whoa...how long were you drugged?” She moved to the side and sat down on a worktable. “You'd better leave. I think you're putting out way too much testosterone because I'm kinda losing it too.”

“Ugh...I need some time away from proper civilization right now. Vagabond, Ichor's.” 'I need to see that queen, see if she's with foal or not. That was the obviously intended purpose of our mating for her. And if she isn't, she damn well might be before I leave again.' The animate clothing nodded it's “head” and opened the coat invitingly in a mocking gesture to simulate the real Merchant offering his wares, and Konrad transformed into a changeling as he passed through it, Vagabond following behind shortly.

Brass then instantly rushed to her private room off to the side to work off the frustration, grabbing a clean steel barrel on the way for a clear intention.

[ $ ]

Konrad appeared in the entrance to the hive, his changeling form having grown to the same height as his horse and Verdugo forms. Sadly, it seemed the scars intended to stay, as he had discolored green lines on his chitin armor now. “Great, can't escape those in any form then. Whatever. Vagabond, just go do whatever, I'll call on you when I'm ready to go.” The reason Vagabond couldn't warp to him before during their respective imprisonments was because it uses his magic, and since his magic was blocked by the drugs, it couldn't come save him even if it's Contract insisted it continue to try and reach him. Now though, it could, so Vagabond shrugged and vanished off for wherever it fancied.

Konrad then walked into the hive, his movements becoming more languid and inviting as he progressed. As soon as he hit the hive proper, every uncommitted female changeling within line of sight practically bristled with excitement and looked to him. “Ichor.” At his simple single-word demand, a few eager changeling mares gladly led him expediently to the queen's bedchamber, and one left while the other two stayed to pamper him. 'I forgot how hospitable the changelings were.'

“Avarice?” Ichor's surprised voice rang out as she waddled into the room with a couple changeling escorts, one being the mare that had left to fetch her. Konrad blinked in surprise at how gravid she was, especially since it had only been more than three months since they'd mated and she seemed full term with quints. “I hadn't expected you back. Least of all not so soon~.” Ichor cooed as she lovingly caressed her swollen red stomach. It seemed changelings could remove their outer layer of chitin, as before the red eyed and haired queen was just as completely armored as the rest, even when they mated to result in her bearing offspring.

“Goodness. How many?” Konrad asked with genuine surprise and slight concern. He didn't know how changeling reproduction worked completely, just that there was a period of gestation within the womb, and then they were laid as eggs to finish developing outside the womb into a full-grown changeling foal that would still need to go through education and growing up, but all had varying life-spans depending on how well-fed they were with love. Some lived average life spans if they had little love, but some like queens who are required to have love on-hand could live centuries, possibly millennia if they had a constant source.

“At least five. One certainly a queen, another a king, the rest are normal drones sadly.” Ichor informed as she smiled at her belly. “So, why did you return? It is quite unusual for a wandering king to visit a hive twice so soon.”

“Well, if you can't tell, I needed asylum.” Konrad gestured to his scars, and Ichor and the mares all bristled in anger at seeing such a specimen of their race defiled in such a way. “That aside, I wanted someplace familiar. Also...I've been drugged with something that enhanced me quite excessively.” He then took a deep breath. “Especially in virility.”

Ichor blushed a little green, and smiled sadly. “I'm afraid I cannot supply relief, not in my condition. I'd have been so glad to. But~...how about it my little changelings? We're rather short on males here, and the doctor said his seed sample had a greater propensity for males~.” Ichor asked her female subjects, who all cheered in excitement, and Konrad felt relieved.

{Well, at least we won't have to worry about dying from blue balls. I just hope you understand you're spreading Plaga DNA.}

'Kinda figured, but I don't fully understand what's going on. It's gotta be more than the drugs driving me so mad.'

{It is. We're a Plaga, a parasite. The ONLY one. Primal instinct, combined with the drugs, as well as our invasive nature leads us to try and propagate as much as possible.} As Ichor left to give them privacy, the mares all began stalking up to him, and Konrad grinned as he watched one begin removing her chestplate. {So, for us; this is pretty normal. Surprised it didn't happen sooner.}

[ $ ]

Celestia sat on the edge of her bed, face in her hands and looked wilted as Luna flew into the room. “Tia! I teleported here as soon as the offensive had secured the town. Where is he? I wish to learn more about him.” Luna stated with excitement as she approached her sister, but she paused at realizing how mixed up her sister seemed. “Tia...sister...what is wrong?”

“Luna I...made a big mistake....” Celestia looked to her little sister, and she bit her lip as her ears flicked and her wings ruffled. Rather than try explaining with words, Celestia held out her hand, and a glowing bright pink orb hovered above it. Luna blinked in confusion for a few seconds, before she perked up and her demeanor brightened greatly.

“AH~ I'm going to be an aunt!” Luna shouted with glee as she pounced on her worried sister, giggling as she nuzzled the still unsettled mare. When she realized her sister wasn't celebrating, Luna backed off and nervously chuckled. “Um...why would you be so distraught sister? Thou hast expressed thy desire for offspring to me quite often.”

“No, it isn't that Luna. I'm quite happy about this. Very much so. But...the timing...the sire....” Celestia wilted, and sniffled. “I'm so sorry Lulu....” Luna was confused, only to realize what her elder sister was getting at, and Luna sighed.

“He was too much for the contraceptive spells wasn't he? Nearly got me.” Luna giggled a little. “It's alright sister. I'm not giving up on him though. A lover like that is so rare. Regardless, with the war, I can understand why you'd feel now is a terrible-.”

“No! Not even the war is a big enough issue for me to say this is bad timing. It's just...he...I....” Celestia began tearing up, feeling rotten. “I took advantage of him...he was so vulnerable and I...being compelled by Contract Magic is no excuse. It only happened because I wanted it....” Tia barely held off sobbing, she needed to be understandable for explaining to Luna the width and breadth of her wrongdoing. Luna then became serious, concerned for the situation as she knelt at her sister's hooves, and consolingly took her hands in hers.

“Sister. Just calmly tell me everything.”

[ $ }

Konrad laid still on his back, blankly staring up at the ceiling of the cavern chamber in Ichor's sleeping alcove, under the covers with three, maybe four? Yeah, four unarmored changeling mares under the covers with him. All spent. 'Why do I feel so empty?'

{Sharp Snap.} Avarice's mentioning of that harlot sent a spike of fury through Konrad's chest, and his heart pounded as he tried to calm down, not wanting to wake the mares who so graciously offered themselves to him. {This is part of your recovery, don't feel bad. This was bound to happen eventually. That right dike just sped things up. You're trying to get over her treatment of you by asserting sexual dominance in contrast to how she'd reduced you to nothing with just a pair of manacles, and a harness.}

'Please...stop....' Konrad's red eyes began dumping waterfalls of tears down his chitin cheeks, and he tried to rein in his emotions as the mares spooning him stirred. 'Please...no....'

{You have to face it Konrad. I can't just take control for this, that'd be doing you nothing. Recovering from the trauma of killing someone? Yes, you needed time that I could provide. For this? It means nothing if you don't face it head-on. You just need to remember that she doesn't mean ANYTHING to you!}

'She'll be bearing my foals...without my consent....' Konrad's eyes widened in realization of just WHY this hurt him so much. It wasn't just so much the act itself, it was because that bitch stole his seed. She used him as a stud without his consent. She was going to bear HIS offspring, and HE had NO say! 'That bitch! I'll get her if it's the last thing I do! I'm not going to let my foals be under her care!'

{That's the way! Just remember that Sharp is literally nothing before you. You can crush her like nothing! Of course, we can't until she bears those little tykes. But then we have to ensure she dies, and the poor things get a good home.} Avarice stated, and Konrad nodded slightly, resolved on this new quest.

'Find out who those bastards are, shut them down, take down Sharp, get MY kids out of her cruel grasp, and provide them a healthy and safe environment, even if I can't be the one to provide it.' Konrad remembered something his dad had said to him; that if he ever had kids and cut-and-run, then he'd hunt him down and castrate him for being such an irresponsible jackass, “teach you for making my grandkids bastards”.

Quest chosen, Konrad decided it was time to leave, return to the princesses and inform them of his plan of action, since Tia is still held to their deal of debt exchanged for services. But before he could, another changeling mare burst into the royal bedchamber, startling him and the dozing mares. “King Avarice! Queen Ichor is laying!”

“WHAT?!” Avarice bolted up, and ignored the mare's green blushing face at his unarmored red torso, the other mares in the bed with him also getting up and putting their chitin back on over their soft light blue flesh. Konrad quickly followed by first putting on his groin armor, which ironically wasn't necessary to remove for intercourse. Apparently most changelings preferred intercourse “naked” like most people, it was just apparently that Ichor enjoyed getting nasty while still armored. Something about it being like an impassioned moment in battle or something like that.

“There's no need to really hurry. She'll be in there for hours, and nobody is allowed in the hatchery save the laying mare and the doctor. You'd just be pacing about the entrance like everyone else.” The drone mare informed him, getting him to huff.

“I'd have rather you kept me in the dark until later then. Now I'm going to be antsy as hell.” Konrad groaned as he finished putting his chitin on. “I'm going for a walk, I can't just hover at the entrance to the hatchery like a worried vulture.” Konrad walked out of Ichor's chamber, finding the hive to be disturbingly empty. 'Wow, they must all be around the hatchery. Then again, they are her subjects.'

{We will be seeing the eggs won't we?} Avarice asked as Konrad peeled off his chestplate to see how it seemed to adhere seamlessly to his flesh. Like a sticker, that didn't hurt coming on or off.

'Of course! I want to see what I've helped bring into the world, even if they haven't even hatched yet.' Konrad suddenly felt a tingle, a very, very ODD tingle that he never felt before. “Vagabond! To me!” Just seconds later, Konrad was fully garbed just before the tingle came on incredibly strongly, and he heard a familiar voice.

"Avarice! I need you to get your butt over here! You have a debt to pay and I've come to collect! I need your help!" Dox was calling! Well, that debt wasn't going to pay itself.

Konrad was baffled as his body lit aflame in the blue fire reminiscent of his brazier icon's flame, and he vanished with a swath into what could only be described as dark liquid nothingness. He took the brief instant to change back into his unfamiliar human form, and seemed to simply pop out of thin air into a bedroom that looked like it indeed would belong to a cool nerd like Dox.

Speaking of which, this...average guy? What? "Dox? Thank Gog. I need a distraction. What can I do for ya?” 'Whatever is going on...it's odd.'

Author's Note

Yes, next chapter is another crossover with DJ and his Dungeon Master of Equestria. It's all sorts of fun, we had so much fun, it's going to be posted by him since he hosted the chapter, and it's all in his world. So, go on, have fun :D

Why This is Happening....

A blue fiery rimmed portal opened up in the air just over where Konrad had left this realm, and he crashed at terminal velocity straight into the cave floor. Of course, even not in his true form, the term “terminal velocity” didn't fully apply anymore. At most, it just broke a few bones, and those were already healing from the leftover energy he had from devouring parts of Leere of the Void. 'Fucking...ow....'

{Well, that was a venture. Even had our first hand at magical smithing, fought a dragon of the void....}

'Infinite ammo for Chiappa.' Konrad focused on the rewards, had to in order to distract from the utter agony of his smashed face and ribs. 'Got a sample of dragon, gotta try that new form out, and incorporated a flame sac. Now even as a Verdugo we can breathe fire.' Konrad mentally cheered. Being lightning fast and having more potent melee potential or not, breathing fucking fire was metal. 'Not to mention all the examples of prime firearms we got to study for our craft, and Dox told us about a Displaced Handsome Jack out there. If we can bargain with him, we'd be able to maybe make even better guns with a little understanding of Hyperion tech.'

{Even if they were the shittiest guns in the Borderland series?}

'Oh, shut up. Just because we liked Jakobs and Dahl the most more isn't an excuse to turn down superior firepower.' Konrad chastised his alter ego, and sighed as he healed enough to get up. “Vagabond, go ahead and wander like you like to. I'm going to rest up here for a bit.”

The sentient set of leather vanished from him, and once more he was in just his red silk pants as he transformed back into a changeling. “King Avarice!” The mare's call caught him in surprise, and he stood as he turned to face a changeling mare drone as she ran up to him. “The Queen requires your presence in the birthing chamber.”

Confused, Konrad followed the harried mare to the hatchery. After wading through the concerned crowd and entering it with his guide, Konrad had to marvel a bit at the sheer number of glowing little pods here. Each held a new life, waiting to break free and greet the world. Konrad was led to a secluded corner where Ichor hovered over five specific eggs in concern. “What's wrong?” Konrad asked her and Ichor swiftly tackled him to the floor, utter fury in her face.

“WHAT ARE YOU?! You are no changeling! Speak! Speak before I disembowel you right here!” Ichor threatened, and Konrad wasn't having that. He easily threw her off him, and pinned her to the floor. Her struggles were fruitless, and he sealed her mouth with some resin he spat into it, leaving her nose free to breathe as she looked up at him in fear and betrayal.

“Indeed, I am not a proper changeling. Originally. I am one so much as you are when I am in this form. But I do not require love to be sustained, and I have far more available to me.” Konrad then transformed into his true form, and both Ichor and the stunned-still drone mare, clearly the doctor, were shocked at his terrifying Verdugo form that was...oddly appealing, even with the dark red lines replacing the green ones he'd had before. “I am a Plaga. A parasite that can infest a living or dead host body, and control them from within. I was little more than a small thing in a mammal's chest cavity when your scouts killed my host, and dragged me to your hive to be added to the pile.”

Sensing they weren't about to try anything, Konrad released Ichor and stood, clearly blocking their path out of the hatchery as he continued. “I lost myself for a time, my host having died I would've normally followed, but I had grown strong enough to continue feeding on my own. And I had so graciously been dropped on a veritable feast. I know not how many days I fed, and grew, and changed into what you see, but I slaughtered the two changelings who were dragging your latest victim to the pile, and when I ate them, I regained my awareness and gained your race's power to change, if much more limited.”

Konrad then went through his multiple forms before staying in his changeling form. “I am Avarice. And while I deceived you, know that I did not do so with malice. Now, tell me, what is wrong with our offspring? What has happened?” Konrad then spat a solvent for the resin on the wad silencing Ichor, and she quickly spat it out, getting deep breaths before she stood and briskly trotted to her eggs as Konrad and the astounded doctor followed, not fazed at the idea he killed two of their own. Life out here was harsh, they didn't form attachments to just anyone, and the two lost had nobody special in their lives.

“I am unsure, but this is not normal. The king and queen eggs seem just fine, but the drones....” Ichor's voice hitched as she hesitantly reached for one of the drone eggs, and cradled it to her armored bosom sadly. “They do not shine with the same vibrant energy a mother provides her eggs during gestation.” Indeed, they seemed more glassy and dull than having any glow of their own. “I was scared they were dead, but Weaver here says they're still alive, just...unresponsive to Love.”

Konrad then silently asked permission to hold the egg, and Ichor initially seemed opposed to the idea, but then relented as she carefully transferred the egg to him, and he held it in slight awe and worry, which was alleviated when Avarice seemed to gasp in his mind. {The Plaga has spread. This one is the first of a full Plaga-changeling hybrid.}

Before Konrad could inform them of this, to all their shock, the egg in his arms as well as the two on the floor cracked and shook, before bursting open. Konrad suddenly found himself looking at...something sinfully adorable. In his hands was now a blinking mini changeling that seemed to be a full pony version of one, with forehooves and everything, but had a Verdugo tail with the changeling chitin design. The thing wriggled as it seemed to smile and coo at him. Konrad teared up and instantly had to gently hug the critter to his chest. “So...beautiful....”

“My queen, these little darlings of yours are just so cute~!” The hatchery mare, Weaver stated as she snuggled one of the others, which seemed a little unhappy that it got the stranger while it's siblings got the parents. Ichor was cradling the third to her bosom, and it clung to her with little hissing giggles, and Ichor was both concerned, and awed.

“This...is unprecedented! Why? Why are the drones so...animalistic?” When Ichor turned to face Konrad, she suddenly burst out in laughter to see him flailing his arms as the drone had latched onto his face, giggling with it's sharp blade tail wiggling as it nuzzled his head. “Oh, that is just adorable! He's imprinted on you.”

“Mph!” Konrad peeled the clinging facehugger off gently before setting him down, and he whined as he tried to right himself, and like a real foal, he almost immediately took to standing and walking about. “Yeah, adorable. I can just imagine how much of a nightmare it'll be having these little buggers running about with their cuteness, fooling mares into doing their bidding.”

This got giggles out of the mares as they gathered up the three little Plagalings. “I shall take them to the nursery proper your majesty. They don't seem to behave much differently from the other foals I've cared for.” Weaver informed as she accepted all three of the little monsters, who quickly clung to her and began playfully swatting at each other. “Wow, playful little things.”

After Weaver left, Ichor and Konrad stood there for a few moments, awkwardly shuffling about a bit, looking at each other, a bit confused on how to continue from here. “So...leave and never come back?” Konrad asked, only for Ichor to consider it, and shrug.

“No. That's your choice. So long as they grow up to be productive members of the hive, I don't mind my drones being quadrupedal little hellions. Besides, they're so cute it's just wrong.” Ichor said fondly, before licking her lips, and grabbing the collar of Konrad's chestplate, and pulling him down to her face. “We ARE going to be making more by the way.”

“Now?” Konrad asked incredulously, and Ichor licked her lips again, this time being sure to run her tongue along her long fangs, before dragging him through the chamber. “But you just gave birth!”

[ $ ]

Following another several gos with Ichor, this time much more passionate than the first time, Konrad paid Demir a visit to let her know he was still alive. She was so glad to see him, but he told her he couldn't hang around too long since his libido was still way too active and he couldn't guarantee he wouldn't do something unbecoming. Demir then joked and said she'd never get any work done then, so shooed him off, saying she was seeing somebody already, which cheered Konrad up that she was with someone. He didn't want her smithing to ruin her having a normal life.

Konrad then finally returned to Celestia's bedroom in his horse form, once again wearing Vagabond, only to find both Celestia and Luna sitting on her bed, looking at him as if he'd just walked in on something important. “Um...should I come back la-?” Luna suddenly tackled the stallion to the floor, pinning him with her astounding strength as she looked into his eyes. “Hey, Lulu...good to see ya.”

“...Ironically, in spite of everything, it is good to see you too, you charlatan.” Luna then ripped off his bandana and kissed him deeply, which he wasn't braced for. “That's for giving me a good time in Dock End and a niece or nephew.” She then viciously punched him so hard his snout broke, and he screamed as he clutched his face and she backed off while shaking her hand. “And THAT was for leading me on a merry chase for months! I wasted hundreds of bits of resources and even stallions trying to capture you!”

“Well, if you'd tried being peaceful from the start, I would've cooperated!” Konrad shouted as his snout healed. 'Well fuck, there goes the last of Leere.' Konrad mentally groused. “Well, first off; I'm sorry for getting your soldiers killed in hunting me down, and I'm also sorry for getting your sister pregnant.”

“You're taking this surprisingly well.” Celestia commented from her seat on her bed, hands on her abdomen for reference.

“Hey, whatever you think, what we did was seriously cathartic and helpful for my recovery. I needed to remember I am strong, and have the ability to make others want me and not just my seed. But I'm still randy as all fuck though....” Konrad said with a hiss as he humped the air slightly at being reminded of how damn aroused he still was, making the sisters blush as he clenched his face in his hands. “Ugh! Damn it! Fucking...this damn libido! Please tell me there's a way to suppress it! I've had sex like, 37 times in the past three days and I'm STILL raring to go!”

“Um...I know of a way, but I will need to pay our mentor Star Swirl a visit to see if I remember it right.” Luna said, and then leered at him. “Who of Our Little Ponies did you inseminate whilst away?”

“None. I went to a place that's essentially out of your kingdom's reach, but not part of any country. That's all I'll say in favor of protecting them. Oh~....” Konrad rolled over and panted as he pressed his face into the carpeted floor. “I'm so randy...it's unbearable....” 'Fuck~! I can barely think!'

{I'd help, but not much better than you right now.}

“Our presence is certainly not helping you. Until this is resolved we won't be able to focus on what matters. Sister, since the deed is already done, I'd suggest you avoid trying to “help” him for safety of the forming fetus.” Luna then glared at Tia about to object, but Celestia sighed and nodded in agreement. “Then I shall be off. Leave him here alone sister.” Luna then vanished in a flash of blue light, and Celestia did so as well in a flash of golden light, leaving the hopelessly blue-balled stallion to moan in heated agony.

'I am never going to underestimate the power of hormones and the potency reproductive needs have on living things ever again.' Konrad bemoaned as he simmered in his misfortune.

[ $ ]

“-And so that is why I require the arousal suppression spell.” Luna finished explaining to her long-lived mentor, who was still older than her and her sister by decades and still lived through his guile and wisdom in the magic arts. Considering the stallion was as close to a father she and her sister had, Luna was of course quite embarrassed and her face was flushed in spite of her polite and regal tone.

Star Swirl, the ever knowing fatherly figure, chuckled at his adopted daughter's discomfort. “My, my. It seems even without a contract that Avarice has you both by the teats.” Star Swirl said amicably, getting Luna's wings to ruffle and her hooves to shuffle nervously at him calling her out so well. “Quite the stallion then. Well, considering the situation, and the poor lad's affliction caused by his excessive dosing of Desire's Art, I believe retrieving the spell is worth my time.”

Star Swirl grunted as he stood, Luna winced as her excellent hearing caught the sound of his very bones creaking as he moved. Were he not so magically empowered, his body would have been reduced to dust over a century ago. “Father, you don't have to-.”

“I'm not dead yet! Let me move by my own power while I still can!” Star Swirl growled as he forced himself to his hooves, and took his walking staff in hand, beginning a slow walk to the warp pad of his tower. Had to install them out of necessity the past decade. “I know where the spells and enchantments of that nature are stored, even if I do not require them. When I pass on, please, at least give me the honor of a wing of the archives being named after me, and my own library being transferred to it for any aspiring mages.” They passed through the warp pads, seamlessly moving from the top room of the ancient wizard's tower to his dauntingly enormous library. Clearly he couldn't even access most of it now with his condition. “It's up there. Under the compulsion section, section A.”

Star Swirl pointed up high in the massive three-story wall of shelves, and Luna dutifully flew up, and found the related scrolls she needed soon enough. “Thank you father. Is there anything you require?”

Star Swirl was about to reply in the negative when he felt his back crack from the strain of holding him up, and he sighed. “A wheelchair. And a scribe to write down my will. I don't have much longer dear....” Star Swirl said sadly, getting Luna to wilt as she landed before him. “Don't be so sad dear. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Better now when I'm still coherent rather than if I manage to outlive my wits. Send Tia along soon. I want to have a pleasant chat and tea before I go.”

“Y-yes poppa....” Luna replied with some tears, and she gently leaned down to softly hug the withering stallion and kiss his brow. “I'll miss you.”

“That's all I can ask of you really.” Star Swirl said wistfully as he pat her back under her limp wings. “Now, be off with you dear. You have your own problems to deal with. Let this old nag see to his affairs.” Luna sadly acquiesced, and teleported away to her sister to deliver the sad news, and Star Swirl sighed as he turned back to the warp pad to his bedroom. “If only I had made that breakthrough...perhaps I wouldn't have had to force you poor dears to suffer this loss, even if I was just a shell of my former self.”

In the end. Star Swirl's only true regret was that he knew his daughters would cry at his funeral, so distraught and helpless. A father only hopes his daughters to be happy after all.

[ $ ]

Konrad was in nothing but his thong again, having sent Vagabond off to wherever it liked to wander so he could...relieve himself in privacy. He did the shameless deed in a guest room's bathroom of course, he wasn't going to be any more crude to Tia, with him already having soiled her, even if she had been the one who wanted him enough to consider it payment for debt.

He forgot how many time's he'd masturbated, but no matter how many times he did it, he COULD, NOT, CALM, DOWN! As of this moment, he'd drawn a bath to clean up, hissing as he tried to suppress another unwanted boner while he soaked. 'Why, why, why, why~?! That bitch couldn't have done this to me JUST to have babies! Tia explained this could only happen if I'd been on that stuff for at least a month! And I didn't need to be drugged for THAT long to get the needed fertility effect!'

{She clearly had a fetish for large stallions. Probably wanted to watch us bulk up, and masturbated to thoughts of us growing bigger.} Avarice's deduction caused Konrad to gasp and groan as he tried not to reciprocate the thoughts back on images of the bottom-heavy mare.

'Gee, thanks for that! I'm trying not to have to handle myself again! I'm getting raw....' Konrad then had a song from one of his favorite bands pop into his head, which made him bark out in laughter at how well it suited his situation.

{Lavatory Love Machine~! Dude, we gotta bring heavy metal to this world.} Avarice said as the song played in their head, successfully distracting them from their problem. Sadly, it also reminded them of their old friend Anthon, who had been the one to introduce them to Edguy in the first place.

'Anthon...where are you? How are you doing old pal?' Konrad thought sadly. Although he only saw him like once a month, the working man still made time for his old high school buddy in spite of how tired and busy he always was. Konrad dreaded that when he graduated and if he didn't qualify for a scholarship like what happened to Anthon, then he'd be a lifeless working drone like his pal. Konrad knew from talking at length with Anthon that he was turned down for applications to universities due to both lack of funds, and that his scholastic achievements were “sub-par” when he had a 3.9 GPA and graduated with Honors when he didn't even try to.

In Konrad's mind, that told him that he had no future either. If Anthon, his creative pal who was always able to crack a joke, create entertainment by making a fool of himself, yet be intelligent enough to ace exams and the like without studying because he just “understood” the material couldn't get into universities, when dumb jocks and air-headed bitches could, what hope did he have? But here.... 'I had a fresh start...and both that swindling Merchant and those fuckers pretending to be some sort of Illuminati have royally fucked me over here....'

“Avarice.” Luna's voice drew him out of his depressing thoughts, and he saw that she was looking over a scroll floating before her in her aura as she stood a few feet from the now cooling tub. “I have some spells here that suppress arousal, as well as some enchantments I could bind to your undergarments. Considering the potency of your affliction, it might only reduce your-AH!” Luna was interrupted by the damp stallion tackling her, and she was shocked to see his eyes glazed.

“Luna~! My beautiful, sexy battle maiden. I remember our time together~....” Konrad whispered into her ear breathlessly as he roughly grabbed her breastplate, and shockingly ripped it clean off her, snapping the leather straps and exposing her white lacy bra-garbed bosom. Luna's face lit up as the act very much impressed her, and if he was in the right of mind, she might have even gladly engaged in intercourse right then, but she quickly charged her horn with the suppression spell.

“Calm Avarice! I shall remove your desire's grip on your mind!” Luna shot the spell right into Konrad's eyes, and he shouted in pain as he reared back and fell on the floor away from her, and Luna sat up as she held her breasts with an arm, cradling them. “Art thou returned to thy senses stallion?”

'What the fuck just happened?' Konrad asked as he got up, and he panted as he realized he wasn't radiating carnal need anymore. “Y-yeah...what just happened? I was in the tub, the next thing I remember feeling such a rush I...couldn't really comprehend what I was doing.”

“You were as blind as a stallion in a rut during his mate's heat. Faust. Those fools hath made your body so geared for reproducing that you are just a step away from being a mindless stud.” Luna said as she magically retrieved her breastplate and repaired the straps before putting it back on. “Bastards. Had my sister's soldiers not caught on when they did...but why? Why would they make you a breeding machine?”

“I have some theories, none of them pleasant....” 'Oh fuck, do these bastards somehow know what I am? What I'm capable of?'

{If they mass-bred us, enhanced the Plaga portions of our offspring's DNA....}Avarice mused in horror, and their eyes widened in absolute terror, which Luna noticed.

“Super soldiers...monsters beyond comprehension. But to plan this far ahead, to know....” 'NO!' “VAGABOND!” The self-aware black leather set of equipment suddenly faded into view, and Konrad transformed into his true form, startling Luna further. “Ichor's!” Konrad leaped at the sentient coat and vanished through it's opened interior before vanishing itself, leaving a perplexed Luna.

[ $ ]

Konrad burst out of the open air, and barely stumbled at seeing a massive runed metal prisoner carriage take off for the thick and dark thundering cloud cover overhead, but he could easily see the scared red slit eyes looking through the bars alongside the similarly fearful large number of blue eyes packed in with her. “AVARICE~!” Ichor screamed in despairing hope as the varied flying people harnessed to it began pulling the feather-weight carriage into the air.

“ICHOR~!” Konrad screamed in horror as he was about to follow on foot, when a brown-leather armor wearing thestral stallion ran out of the cave leading to the Hive holding a large satchel. “YOU!” Konrad tried to leap onto him, but the lightly armored pony quickly dodged to the side and took off. “GET BACK HERE!” To Konrad's surprised relief, a crossbow bolt shot through the air and punctured through the slate-gray thestral's brown leather armor into his shoulder, eliciting a scream as his wing froze and he fell.

Konrad only briefly looked to the side to see that it was Vagabond who shot him down with a sniper's crossbow before he quickly sprinted to the downed stallion, and flipped him onto his back as he pinned him by pressing down on his chest with his left foot while he had his tail blade at the guy's throat. “WHERE ARE THEY TAKING THEM?!” The stallion simply glared him at him, even going so far as to use his sharp teeth to bite his tongue off to start killing himself, going into shock as he started to drown, getting Konrad to growl in fury.

{Recall.} Avarice said rather hesitantly. {Force him to Recall for you. But doing it like this, without permission to a specific memory, we'd be taking all he is, all he ever was. His earliest memories to as he drowns in his own blood right now. He has to be alive for it to work, and it will kill him without him giving us permission for it.}

'Why do you sound scared?'

{Because as I said; we'd be taking all of him. Everything. We might not be us anymore....} Konrad only hesitated for a second before he knelt at the side of the drowning stallion and put his claws on his head. {No going back.}

'Do it.' Konrad instantly regretted the decision. He screamed in agony as his head felt like it was going to explode from the utterly massive amount of information being crammed into his head. One moment he was experiencing his fifth birthday, the next he was talking to his marefriend at the theater. After a few lingering moments of pure shock, he realized he wasn't in pain anymore. He wasn't drowning in his own blood. 'Wha? What? I could've sworn I was drowning just now. What-?' “AH~!”

The Verdugo leaped away from the corpse, the thestral stallion's eyes had rolled back at some point. “I'm DEAD?! But if I'm dead why am I-?!”

{Hey! Hitchhiker!} Verdugo froze at the thought not his own. {Would you mind switching places? Thank you.} Suddenly, the new presence was in control of the monstrous form of a body, while he was suddenly in the back seat as the Verdugo approached his dead body. {What are you?! What's going on?!}

'I'm...I'm....' They paused for a minute. They...couldn't.... 'Recall.' Using the memory ability for themselves this time, they Recalled. 'We...we're Avarice. Just call us...me...Avarice.' Avarice replied, shaking his head as he reached tentatively for the satchel. 'And you are Crescent Luminescence. Your mom had a thing for long names.'

{How do you know my name? W-wait, hold on. That satchel is holding-.}

“My daughter.” Avarice said vindictively as he gently held up the burlap sack, and then unwrapped the glowing green infant-sized queen egg, cradling it as he transformed back into his changeling form, crying as he held the tiny thing to his chest. “D-daddy's here angel...daddy's here even if mommy isn't....” The distraught stallion curled protectively over his unborn daughter as he barely kept from weeping. 'You bastards...you took them all...you killed who you couldn't carry or wasn't worth the trouble, and bagged all the eggs....'

Crescent, being part of Avarice now, was utterly horrified at the feelings he was experiencing, the knowledge that the changelings were genuine people too, and not monsters like he was led to believe also added to it. {O-oh Faust...what have we done?}

'Killed innocents, ruined lives. All for your precious Die Leucht organization's continued dominance in the shadows....' The fact that there was, indeed, a version of Los Illuminados here sickened Avarice. However, unlike the original cult, instead of worshiping the Plaga, they planned to use them to produce weapons capable of bringing anyone they set sight on to heel. He brought them guns, that was what made them make a move on him. But they were planning to capture him long before, as Crescent's memories say that they knew of his unique abilities since he first left Ichor's hive. They had their members among Luna's scouts, and they went under Luna's radar by pretending to be MIA.

{Even with my knowledge, and experience with flight, you'd never catch up. They'd reroute and I was just told to follow them. I...I don't know where they're going. I'm so sorry....} Crescent wept along with him, barely believing he even thought being a member of Die Leucht was worth dying over, which he did.

'Don't apologize...you're not a bad stallion. You were just misguided.' Avarice told their new companion, looking down at the shining green egg in despair and concern. Engraved along the side in dried resin, was the name that Ichor wanted for her daughter. “Little Chrysalis...I will protect you.” Avarice put his fanged lips to the egg, and kissed her tenderly. She shined just a little brighter from her father's affection, and he sniffled as Vagabond put a hand on his shoulder consolingly while he gave in, and wept, his tears running down the sides of the green egg as the skies thundered, and began to cry as well.

Author's Note

I'm pretty sure a good number of you saw this coming. Nemmy did it, and I wanted this world to be the perfect setting for this.

You'll get the exposition in the next chapter.

Speaking of which, I'm hoping to do a crossover for the next chapter. I feel the time would be right to do it after Avarice exposes as much truth as he's unraveled to the sisters.

Big Trouble, Bigger Guns.

He was dull. So deadened to sensation at the moment. Avarice was Konrad no more, they were more than one person. Crescent had joined them, and Avarice became one with Konrad. It was pointless to cling to an identity if it was no longer individual. They knew it was coming, just not when. He ate Crescent's body to take him in fully, so they could take his form, which while ginger, taller and more fit, was otherwise Crescent. Returning to their changeling form, they cradled Chrysalis to their chest and abdomen, shedding their chestplate to help keep her warm as they explored the empty and dead hive for any survivors.

No one was left.

Judging from numbers, most of the stallions were all slaughtered in their attempts to defend their home, a good number of mares were also found slain. Among them was Weaver, who was impaled and left mounted on a wall in the nursery by a spear of Griffonian make, the mount of the blade engraved with the symbol of Die Leucht; a spiral within a hexagon. He let her down, and kept the spear for possible evidence. He couldn't stay and bury them, he couldn't even give them a pyre, changelings were fire-resistant. He had an egg to watch out for.

He made sure to kick or stomp on any non-changeling bodies that he found. They varied vastly in race, in fact, only a few of the corpses found were actually ponies. Most of them were minotaurs, the massive bovine beasts were as monstrous as myth made out, each corpse an average of ten feet. The only things that made them seem in any way human were their torsos and arms, the rest were even more beastly and bovine than the cows he'd met. They wore little armor, and were mostly garbed in simple harnesses for holding their weaponry, and heavily armored grieves to protect their lower bodies from most opponents.

Then the second most populous among the invaders were griffins. They were all lightly armored in bronze plate, and the bodies he found were all in positions where it was obvious they'd been brought to ground and mauled to death. They were like horses in size, but unlike pegasi with their small and agile wings, they had large, broad, and powerful wings. He didn't care much more for keeping a note of their appearances. He didn't want to think of any of them as people right now.

He ate a griffin king and a minotaur bull while he was here to add two more forms to his list, before he took Vagabond's warp service back to Celestia's room. He was mostly unresponsive for a while, not able to think much further than keeping his daughter safe as he laid in Tia's bed, and curled protectively around the unhatched egg.

[ $ ]

Luna was worried sick when she saw Avarice's expression of terror and he ran off for someplace owned by an Ichor, whoever that was. The fact that it involved him being turned into a breeder, and that he had mentioned going 'someplace else, not within your country' when asked who he'd inseminated, meant that he likely drew conclusion as to just why these traitors had done this to him, and that his potential offspring were in danger.

This also meant that her sister was in danger, being pregnant with Avarice's child might make even her a target for these scoundrels. So Luna immediately sought out her sister, and refused to leave her side as she led her back to her bedchambers, not trusting any of the castle staff or even their own soldiers if these criminals could so easily have taken over the dungeons without them knowing for who knows how long. “Luna, could you please give me some space? I don't feel any safer with you hovering over me like this.” Celestia complained, looking up her sister's armored skirt to gladly see proper groin armor as said sibling literally hovered protectively over her as they neared her bedchamber.

“I cannot sister. These turns of events, and what my conversations with Lord Horn have revealed all tell me that these wretches are beyond far more than Avarice's mistreatment. At that, why ship the guns he made to our soldiers at all? Why not keep them all for themselves rather than a measly 160 of them?” Luna asked seriously, and they paused when they turned the corner in the hall to see Vagabond standing vigil before Tia's door with his sniper crossbow loaded. “Hail mysterious golem! Hast our interesting stallion returned?”

Vagabond nodded, but then held up a hand in universal gesture to stop. He then opened the door and peeked in, before gesturing with an index finger next to the “mouth” of his bandana for silence, and then waved them in.

The sisters were curious of the construct's behavior, but they complied and passed him through the door and into the room quietly. They were both surprised and confused at the sight of the black bug-like stallion with a red fleshy torso sleeping in Tia's bed, curled protectively around a shining green egg. Tia approached a bit more, and the way Avarice's eyes snapped open, and instantly hissed as he looked to the sisters startled them. But after a few seconds, Avarice seemed to come to his senses, and merely sat up, placing the egg in his lap. “Welcome back.”

Recognizing his voice, the sisters then approached at seeing he was indeed the stallion they were expecting. “Tell us dear Avarice, what has transpired the past couple of hours?”

“...I doomed an entire town to death and enslavement simply by association. That's the short-hand of it.” Both of the sisters balked at this, and he looked down sadly at the egg. “This egg...my unborn daughter...is all I could save....”

“Oh, no....” Tia choked out as she worriedly approached, and paused at the edge of the bed. “May I?” Avarice was hesitant, but he trusted Tia, which was a rare thing lately, and he gestured for her to sit next to him, and when she did, he carefully transferred the infant-sized egg to her arms, which she then cradled to her impressively large bosom, and Chrysalis practically blinded them with the warmth of the motherly mare's affection. “My...she's quite responsive.”

“She...I...I have much to explain.” Avarice then dug under the blankets, and pulled out a rather impressively formed chestplate of armor, which he then adhered to his torso, making the sisters blink at how it's shape wasn't an artificial representation, but an actual organic byproduct of it mimicking his actual flesh. “This form I currently am in is known as a changeling. They are a race of bug ponies that live in hives, and require to feed off the life force of sentient beings to live. They mostly focus on the surface energies though, and these are found in emotion. The most potent of which is love. They usually capture sentient beings, keep them suspended in life-preserving pods, and carefully leech their surface emotions for sustenance. However, if they aren't careful, they can drain a person to the point of shriveling up and dying.”

“That is terrible!” Luna stated in shock, but she winced at seeing Avarice glare at her. “I am sorry Avarice, but our oldest tales tell of vamponies who drained the blood of their victims, and turned them into their servants. Such things vilify my dear thestrals to this day.”

“Then let me continue, for your old tales tell of when the changelings were far more numerous than now. From what I've been able to gather, they now live in semi-nomadic hives, only setting down roots in remote locations where they try to live a peaceful existence. One such hive, once full of wonderful people, now lies cold, dark, and dead, because I was there.” Avarice wilted, and Tia leaned into him for a comforting nuzzle. Avarice felt a little better, and also idly thought how adorable the action was, even with their humanoid forms.

{Perhaps, I should explain more. This is hard on you, and I am one of those at fault for this horrible tragedy. Let me bare my sins to my goddesses....} Avarice didn't bother contesting, and let Crescent have the wheel. When Crescent took over, he gently got up from the bed, and walked over a bit to the balcony, where his form burned in green fire, and transformed into his old body, altered as it is.

“Know that you do not speak to Avarice at the moment, but one of the fools who carried out this horrible act of slaughter and foalnapping.” Crescent stated earnestly, turning back to the sisters who were rapt in attention. “I was once the thestral pony by name of Crescent Luminescence. A mere errand runner for the secret society by name of Die Leucht.”

“The Enlightened? Pray tell, how are they enlightened?” Celestia asked with heat, and Crescent wilted, but he faced his goddess's scorn as he deserved.

“Die Leucht holds that, to understand everything, is to control everything. However, they also knew that to try and do this in the open was foolhardy, and impossible. They instead act from the shadows, controlling the powers that be through suggestion, sabotage, murder, and other things quite similar to what you uncovered from freeing Avarice from them.” Crescent informed, getting shocked looks from the sisters. “I am far from done. The fact also remains that the events of just prior, of the changeling hive raid was launched as a contingency for the rogue agent Sharp Snap, also known by the name Whip Crack, having allowed Avarice to escape, when her orders were to transfer him to his designated breeding center to begin the Plague Project proper.”

{Sharp....} Avarice's heart wavered. Sharp let him go? On purpose? {Why?} Avarice flashed back to that tender kiss they shared, and the impassioned one before she left him a mess on his cell floor, and he felt like crying, Crescent failing to withhold a tear. {Stupid, selfish, emotionally-twisted mare!}

“She...Whip Crack...no...Sharp Snap, no...damn it Avarice, stop insisting her fake name was her real name!” Crescent complained as he continued crying, trying not to break down as Avarice realized that Sharp really was falling in love with him somehow, and took such a risk for him. “She...she was the one who leaked the information that led you to...finding out....”

Luna quickly strode up to Crescent, and hugged him to try and calm Avarice. “Hush. Calm. We need you to ease yourself if we are to know as much as we need about this dark organization.” Luna kissed his cheek, and Crescent sniffled as he helped try and calm Avarice down, as the Plaga tried to settle his twisted-up feelings about the harsh mare down.

“Th-thank you my goddess. A-as I was saying, I was just an errand runner, and I don't know much more than the basics, but Project Plague from what I understand, is intending to create Bio-Organic Weapons, or B.O.Ws from Avarice's unique and mutagenic genetics. Beings the now-fleeing Whip Crack...also-known-as Sharp Snap. Damn it, fine. I'll keep calling her by her fake name. Set Avarice free, and into your hands, they had to fall back on trying to capture impure samples. And once scouts confirmed he'd visited the changeling hive more than once, especially after his body was already conditioned by Desire's Art....” Crescent let hang as Luna backed away a bit.

“They attacked it when he was confirmed having left it.” Celestia finished, and Crescent nodded sadly. “Tell me, you've told me their philosophy, but what is their ultimate goal in all this, what have they done to try and achieve this goal specifically?”

“Their ultimate goal, is nothing short than total world domination.” This stunned the sisters silent. “And they're closer than you think. This whole war with Bullgaria and Griffonia is a prime example. As it was all started by Die Leucht inciting events that resulted in them declaring war on Equestria.”

“But why?! What could they gain from such wanton death and destruction?!” Luna demanded in fury, and Crescent remained calm in spite of this.

“Power. With this war, four of the greatest nations in the known world will have weakened each other. And from the ashes, Die Leucht will rise as false saviors. Providing aid to the ill and destitute, and making moves to take over the respective governments. I wouldn't doubt they ultimately planned for your deaths if it came to it.” Crescent hissed out with grit teeth. He was blind before, but Avarice opened his eyes. How could he have ignored that Die Leucht might even dare try to kill their goddesses?

Celestia then protectively hugged Chrysalis's egg between her breasts, and also put a hand to her tummy with worry, and Luna growled as her hackles rose. “Those bastards! I will banish them all to the moon for even thinking of harming my family! Losing Mother was hard enough on us, and we're soon to lose the stallion who was practically our father. I shan’t allow....” Luna paused in fear at seeing Crescent's guilty disposition. “Fiend! Tell us now! What plans does your damned organization have for our father?!”

“I do not know. I just know that they have been watching his tower in the tundra, waiting until he was sufficiently weakened by his age to make their move.” At Crescent's words, Luna teleported away, and Crescent sighed as he looked to a distraught and silently crying Celestia, who gently hugged Avarice's unborn daughter to her breasts for comfort, said egg shined with a warm glow, as if to try and console her.

[ $ ]

When Luna appeared in her ailing father's bedchamber, she gasped in horror to see his room trashed. His once well-kept, if seldom used bedroom was torn to pieces, a couple of dead charred griffins telling her that she was indeed far too late. “NO!” Luna ignored the featureless burned corpses as she flashed rapidly through the tower, crying as she saw more and more evidence of the invaders having destroyed her father's precious refuge.

Everything was gone.

His notes, his entire library, his equipment, his lab. Gone. With him. Luna collapsed to her knees in the middle of his private study at finding a note pinned to his usual worktable through her father's signature hat with a steel dagger, something that was most certainly and disturbingly new.

Dear Meddlers.

Did you really think we would let your transgressions against us go unpunished?

We regret letting you live now. We should have killed you and your whorse mother Faust when you were born rather than wait to see what fruit you would've beared to the world. At least we dealt with your mother as was necessary.

For hundreds of years, you soft-hearted mother hens have set us back again and again.

No longer.

This weak country of “peace” and “prosperity” will burn for your foolishness. There is only one way to bring unity, and that is through power. Yet you squandered it. Wasted it by pandering to the weak just as your mother did. You especially are a disappointment Luna. We had expected better of you.

Hopefully, by your soldiers experiencing what power feels like, what holding a thing as blasphemously capable of wanton power as a gun is like, they'll be more inclined to listen to reason.

Star Swirl will serve us well, his ancient body is not a problem for us with the minds to create astoundingly powerful drugs such as Desire's Art. Soon enough, his knowledge, and his power will be ours.

Can you find it in yourselves to kill the stallion who raised you in place of your hopelessly foolish mother? We would like to see.

Only Through Power, Can Enlightenment Be Obtained.

Luna burned with unadulterated fury, yet absolutely crippling despair. These monsters were the ones who robbed her and her sister of their mother as foals. They were the ones behind the assassin Brute Force literally stabbing their mother through the back, when Brute was both a known friend, and even lover to their mother. The sisters even debated whether the first known assassin in Equestria's history was their father or not. Just HOW could they have turned what their mother's journals described as a “Gentle and Caring lover” into her murderer on the very steps of their old castle in the Everfree?

And now they took their father.

Just how OLD was this organization, to have been in operation at least as far back as several hundred years?

And what hope did they have, if they could strike from the shadows at any moment? From anyone?

From anywhere?

[ $ ]

When Luna teleported into Tia's room, distraught, and holding her father's hat, the dark message, and the dagger with the Die Leucht emblem on the hilt, she froze, not expecting the sight before her.

They were both completely nude, Avarice was a changeling again, his chitin tossed to the side, and his face was between her sister's thighs, while Celestia on top of him facing her, eyes wide in surprise at being caught with the stallion's red-fleshed penis in her mouth, her hands paused around his scrotum.

Luna would've been rather turned on if the situation were less dire, but this was no time for such raunchy behavior. “Sister! I only left at most a half hour ago, and you devolve into oral sex?!”

Celestia raised her head, the large phallus slipping from her mouth with a pop. “Luna, your spell wore off! Avarice was getting into a rut again, and since I can't leave him like this...and I can't have any proper sex at the moment-mmph!” Celestia grunted, as Avarice hadn't stopped pleasing her with his long tongue. “Oh~! Why didn't you enchant his thong?”

Luna blushed, the erotic scene starting to get to her as she sighed. “He rushed off before I could sister. One moment.” Luna moved to the side, the sight of their inverted forms conforming to each other was extremely arousing, and the way Avarice's red hands kneaded her sister's large flanks, and rubbed her sun cutie marks in a way that got Celestia panting was incredibly attractive. 'Focus Luna. Snog later, evil conspiracies now.' Luna charged the suppression spell, and fired it into Avarice's face.

“Ah!” He responded with a pained yelp, and his body jolted against Tia who squeaked at how his body lifted her from the bed. “Wha-ah!” Avarice froze at the delicious sight of Tia's swollen and drooling pink flower in his face, her vulva practically twitching as her clitoris shuddered and winked at him in her arousal. “Um...not that this isn't an absolutely amazing thing to see. But how'd we get like this Tia?”

“You...started panting, humping the air, you were about to pounce on me when I advanced and guided you into oral sex to prevent you possibly endangering our unformed foal. We WILL be finishing this later by the way.” Celestia groaned, knowing she would have to be left wanting for now, but made sure to press her pussy into his fanged snout before she got up, her vaginal fluids staining the wide-eyed changeling's snout as he took in the intoxicating scent of her. “I moved Chrysalis off to the chair over yonder, so don't worry, she's safe.”

Celestia's words brought Avarice back from la la land as he bolted up and looked to a comfortable relaxing chair to see his daughter's egg shimmering brightly. She must've been drinking in the lust like candy. He hoped that wasn't bad for her somehow. “Ugh...damn it...if I get into things like that I want to actually be aware of it!” Avarice shouted, angry that the drugs those fuckers put in him made him blank out like that during special moments.

“I shall enchant your garments and a ring with the suppression spells so you won't lose yourself anymore, but that isn't what's important right now. What IS important is this!” Luna stated, getting the two naked ponies to read the dark message, and widen their eyes. “They took father Tia! They killed mother too! They corrupted Brute! If they can do these things without discovery, what else can they do?!”

Avarice wasn't sure about this now. Before, when he was more ignorant of the world, before he took all of Crescent into himself, he would've dismissed it and went after these fucks anyway with brass balls. But with the knowledge Crescent had, being a native, he was suddenly extremely wary of their chances. 'Damn, these fuckers are entrenched. Getting rid of them will be an epic tale and a half worth of effort. This is, like, mythological quest level shit here. I'm just some lucky idiot with special powers and some guns. What can I do against this?'

As Avarice doubted himself, Tia perked up upon realizing something and she looked outside to see the sun waiting above the horizon. “Oh no! We're almost late for ending the day and starting the night! Sister, before we continue, we must do our duty. It wouldn't do the world right to have a longer day than a night.” Celestia's horn flashed and she was wearing a fresh white and golden robe as she strode to the balcony, only for Luna to grab her arm and stop her.

“No. You rest. I'm not letting you possibly put any strain on yourself and harm the unformed fetus.” Luna stated seriously, and Celestia wanted to protest, but sighed in agreement. Pregnant unicorns had to abstain from higher-level magic so they didn't possibly hurt their foals, so with her being like this right now, no world turning. Celestia retreated back to the bed, and started helping Avarice put his chitin back on as Luna looked to the setting sun, and her horn became alight.

She seamlessly turned Equus around, the sun dipping beneath the horizon and bathing the sky in glorious hues. Normally this would've been drawn out for effect, but they were indeed behind schedule, so Luna sadly rushed the sunset until the sky began to darken with her night, and Luna then turned her attention to her heavenly body, and began to move it. Luna winced, feeling the incredible strain she never really noted when she handled her moon. 'Dear Elders...sister wasn't kidding! Turning the planet is much easier than moving my moon!'

Luna idly mused about how she'd been doing the harder job for centuries, and feeling rather proud about it upon this realization. She watched her moon crest up over the horizon, enjoying it's pearly splendor. But, this was interrupted when a flash of purple light from her moon appeared, and began growing...and growing...! 'It's coming this way!' “Look out!”

Luna shouted as she dove out of the way of a large purple magic sphere that shot clean through the balcony doors, just barely missing Avarice and Tia's heads, and shot into Celestia's bathroom, impacting with a horrid crunch. “MY TUB!” Celestia screeched upon realizing the crunch was her luxurious and large bronze bathtub being crumpled by the impact.

The three ponies, two alicorn and one changeling, all got to their hooves and rushed to the oddly unscathed doorway into the lavish lavatory. The sight that greeted them was oddly alien and unexpected.

Except to an eager and suddenly excited Avarice. “HOLY SHIT! That’s a lunar delivery beacon from Borderlands 2!” ‘Oh my Gog! Yes! I was hoping to come across one of Jack’s tokens since Dox mentioned him! And with this utterly fucked over situation I’m in, I’m going to need some serious firepower!’ Avarice suddenly heard those last two words replay in his head in the voice of Marcus Kinkaid and he had to giddily chuckle.

{What the buck are you talking about?!}

‘You’ll understand eventually Crescent.’ Avarice said before entering the wrecked restroom to the curiosity of the royal sisters.

In the middle of the crushed tub sat a Pristine unused Hyperion Acquisition Beacon, with tiny, possibly eridium, purple shards spread about like a grenade went off inside this confined space. The full body mirror is shattered by shards of rock and magically infused eridium keeping what pieces of mirror on the wall, water is gushing from a broken white ceramic sink with copper pipes looking like swiss cheese.

Not to mention that the once former bronze tub large enough to fit an alicorn having a party for two, was no better than the plumbing from the sink spouting water uselessly into said tub, landing lightly on the token all the same making a rainbow effect with eridium shard hazards on the broken tiles for any uncovered feet or hooves. The oddity was it likely had ricocheted off at least two surfaces before hitting the tub as a final destination as the first wall it struck somehow made a hole into Celestia’s walk-in closet allowing a head to easily peer through.

“Nice~! I haven’t gotten to see such a well destroyed bathroom in years.” Avarice commented with amusement, feeling quite pleased with the wanton destruction caused by the HAB. The token unfolds revealing a light white-blue three dimensional holographic view of the Hyperion logo flashing a ‘loading’ message with finer small print at the bottom barely legible reading out. ‘All damages done by initial token landing is by reading this message; not held accountable by Hyperion’.

Upon reading this, Avarice exploded into laughter, even losing control of his form by suddenly shooting up into a massive 14-foot tall jet-black adult anthro dragon. From behind, the sisters gawked at his rippling broad back with spread-wide dark gray wings and tight buns under his thick, twitching tail. He’d forgotten that while even naked changelings were “clothed”, his other forms weren’t, and his pants were back in the bedroom, exposing himself in all his rippling muscled glory. His head was entirely draconic, even with a slightly elongated neck, and when he calmed down and opened his eyes, they were the glowing slitted red his changeling form had as well. “That. Was. Fucking. Glorious.”

Slowly the loading screen faded as the white-blue light shined over the closest individuals as a synthetic voice rang out, which resonated with the two alicorns present. “Intelligent individuals detected. Initializing holographic image.” And with that, A standard form of a White alicorn with red cables acting as a stylized mane and tail swishing slightly with one of her eyes is covered. The business suit she is wearing shows off the Hyperion Yellow with a higher class put into the design while mechanical wings fluttered, gracing the viewers with a near heart stopping smile, giving out a sigh.

Her figure was indeed that of dream come true; as the sensation that it was reminiscent to both alicorn sisters, from simple flick of the tail to quarter lidded eyes along with her shape. She hummed in an almost erotically husky tone that BOTH alicorns knew by heart, even though she’d left them when they were so young.

“This message is brought to you by Hyperion interstellar Corporation on behalf of Handsome Jack, we take this time out of your busy schedule to make it known of possible business opportunities! By activating this Beacon you have in your possession one of THREE suitable personnel may be called forth, First being the C.E.O. of Hyperion itself Handsome jack, second would be the F.A.U.S.T. Unit, third and least would be Claptrap who may cause bouts of frustration due to lack of experience. When called for assistance do take note that Hyperion requires compensation for requests and/or purchases of Hyperion Branded equipment.”

“MOM?!” Celestia and Luna screeched in shock and hope as they both carelessly cast an aura through the room, sweeping away the debris so they wouldn’t hurt their hooves, and strode hurriedly into the large formerly pristine bathroom to stand in front of Avarice to either side.

“Knew it. Even as a higher form of mechanical existence, she looks too much like you two to NOT be your mum.” Avarice commented with a grin running along his sharp toothed maw.

The hologram of F.A.U.S.T. folded her arms looking sternly at the male in front stating this in a edged tone. “Thou shalt know better than to simply presume what thou see’s, for this is not our true body but one based off our our appearance. Like what we have scanned of thou and ‘our’ daughters, also congratulations Celestia.”

“Ah, but you just proved my point. This is how you see yourself, and thus, that is how you are. These are your daughters, and the name and your demeanor just gave all that away. I love a smart mare, but don’t think me any less than you. Oh, and sorry about that. I ended up putting that little dear in her during a...heated moment and she obliged.” Avarice stated, grinning sheepishly as Celestia blushed and shuffled a bit at the truth.

For some reason the ‘air’ from the token took a chilling dive when some of the water spilling onto it froze. “Thou copulated without formal courtship? We hope ‘stallion’ that any ‘grandchildren’ will not be born bastards, or such abandonments. For Jack had to suffer such things before.” She took a thoughtful look seeing Avarice react quite lividly, his claws clenching and black fire leaking from his grit teeth, before looking at either Celestia and Luna. “Have thou done a check to make sure that foals born when he impregnates by one form would share pony traits? For having a hybrid may be conflicting due to potential tribalism.”

“I was a horse at the time, that a problem?” Avarice asked F.A.U.S.T heatedly, and Luna slapped his ripplingly tight thigh.

“Never consider such a thing! Sure, relations outside the species are rare, but we’ve instituted that no such cruel inconsideration for fellow beings of intellect are legally tolerated!” Luna stated imperiously, only to finally notice again that Avarice was completely naked, and her eyes drifted down to his groin, and she erupted in a blush as her wings exploded out in great wingboners at the size of his sheathe and his balls. ‘BY THE ELDERS HE’S BUILT!’

Giving a leveled deadpan at the three present gesturing to Avarice, while stating this. “Thou keep thy stallion nude inside? By how he is built we wonder if some mares will try to ravage him upon their estrus or beg for his foal givers then.” In a more jovial tone while adding onto the end. “Also for a first impression being nude is a ‘strong’ one.”

Avarice blinked, and finally looked down to notice he was naked, not feeling ashamed at all and rather shrugging. “Meh. Don’t care. Been in a thong for two months straight. Rather enjoy being an exhibit actually.” ‘Holy shit, so turned on right now that I’ve realized it. Trying to suppress a boner is easier though thanks to Luna’s spell but...whoa, is THIS a wingboner?’ Avarice asked Crescent as his wings “fwoomped” out to either side suddenly at his arousal of being exposed.

{Yeah...that is...whoa you’re a pervert….} Crescent commented in their head, actually enjoying experiencing such a sensation of being so liberal with one’s appearance.

Cocking an eyebrow as she looks at her daughters, F.A.U.S.T then idly gestures towards Avarice. “So ‘our’ daughters are only about the physical build of a stallion? That is rather disappointing that thou both are easily entertained, though we couldn’t blame thou in the slightest as we have been ‘grooming’ our human to take interest in non humans for quite some time.” She gave a devious grin that looked quite evil, also very crazy beyond rational thought.

Both Luna and Celestia bristled at the accusation, and Tia narrowed her eyes at her “mother”. “I’ll have you know, ‘mother’, that while I do enjoy the physical traits of my stallions, I have also found him to be quite refreshing in personality. His roguish nature and sense of liberty, disregarding station even, made getting close to him easy, which is so hard with all the posh, and position-advancing fools I have to pander too all the time.”

“Not to mention he’s so...bold.” Luna stated with a grin, slapping his abs as Avarice was now grinning confidently. “When I first encountered him, he wore nothing more than a thong, and I thought him a prostitute. I engaged his services and...mother. Have you been plowed eleven times in one night before? By the Elders….”

“Thirteen.” Celestia said, getting a narrowed leer of jealousy from Luna, and she grinned victoriously.

Smiling more when the conversation was going on, even idly looking at her digits before narrowing her gaze once more firing off questions in a bullet like manner aimed to take on an elephant warrior. “Dost thou know his name? How old he is? His Species? His Medical History? Met his Family or specifically his respective Father or Mother? His family History? How he was raised? The year he learned how to use a chamberpot instead of a sheet? What his aspirations as a foal to what they are now? Taken the stallion on dates? Had compatability spells be done for long term relations?”

“Yes, no, no, no, can’t anymore, no, no, of course not, and I’ve laid that out already. I’d love to, but we’re in the middle of a war with two other countries, they’re already wasting enough time here as it is. For all I know, my species might be ageless if done right….” Avarice answered succinctly in order, rubbing his chin as his wings flicked and tail moved to wrap around Luna, getting a surprised squeak out of her. “I’d gladly tell you gals the rest. So far...you’re the only ones besides Ichor and Sharp who ever got this close to me...I’ve got to save them...protect you...you deserve to know all about me.” Avarice’s wings lowered to gently drape them in a sort of hug, and both sisters were stunned still by the rapid exposition and his admittance of readily offering more of himself to them.

When Avarice wasn’t looking F.A.U.S.T. winked at Celestia and Luna before continuing as if letting them in on a sort of game, the sisters had seen it and were suitably embarrassed. “Then thou wouldn’t mind performing an oath to these two based on honor?”

Avarice then stood up straight, his wings folded and he pounded his left fist to his chest, causing a very audible meaty thud. “I am a man of my word. If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be a Merchant. I’d be a swindler. And I HATE SWINDLERS!” Avarice literally roared, fire spitting out his maw in his anger at just the thought of bastards like the original Merchant and Gray. “I’m not leaving your sides girls, so long as you’ll have me.”

The sisters both looked up at him in awe, as F.A.U.S.T. smiles softly saying her next words in a tone of victory. “Then the answer is plain for when thy minds are made up to keep him. Since the stallion so valiantly offered himself willingly while not even knowing all the RISKS and duties that such take.” There seems to have been some mischief from that look given now.

“Ha! Risks? We’re up against a secret militant shadow organization that murdered this world’s version of you on her own castle steps with her own lover! There’s little more risky than what I’m already up against, and being these fair mare’s lover is just another notch on that pole.” Avarice stated with sarcastic excitement. “I’m utterly terrified! These fuckers are beyond dangerous. They could kill your daughters here at any moment even! I’m worried about even leaving their sides right now with what we’ve learned of Die Leucht.”

A slow rising mock eyebrow is seen before in a lazy tone saying this. “Would that be it? For Our Jack has gone through quite worse with less magic than a foal would and survive. Though the truest danger would be ‘FATHERHOOD’, which all stallions dread in hopes it be smooth.” Smiling gently in a strangely serene reaction to this awkward scenario.

“Yeah, you think I don’t know who Jack is? What he’s capable of? I’m just a Merchant! Magic or not, I can’t create an army of robots, I can’t make technologically superior equipment, or wondrous things like you...yet. I don’t even know how to fight properly. I’ve gotten by on guile, luck, and my abilities thus far. These bastards have started the equivalent of a small-scale world-war just to weaken the country and then destroy it. And the fucks have my offspring! The offspring I only got to hold in my arms for a few moments before they...they…!” Avarice began tearing up, trying not to cry as he was reminded of what these fuckers have taken from him already.

When his lack of skill was mentioned, a couple flicks of her hand caused several smaller screens to pop up lining either side of the screen projected from the beacon, showing him Loader bots and Claptraps alike with their features alongside two blanks of either kind for ‘custom orders’ only to see a Claptrap type filled out in a blink of an eye with what looks to be a Claptrap with Celestia’s banner colors of red and gold painted on the chassis with a magenta glowing pair of eyes. “This one will be our gift as a foalsitter and defender with added magic drain switch to reduce any combatant to a helpless mouse no matter the body frame with pin point execution style finishers. With a foal caring guide. But as for thou other foals, callous as this must be in most cases, we simply can say ‘fear the worst but hope for the best’.”

Celestia perked up, and smiled happily as she put her hands to her trim abdomen. “Oh, thank goodness...no worrying about the pony I assign being an assassin or kidnapper….”

“Hmph, as if I didn’t know that already.” Avarice scoffed, wiping the tears from his eyes, but F.A.U.S.T could easily see the relief her reminder brought him. “So...yeah...having access to Hyperion tech would be a great help. Money is no object to me. Anything that is not considered owned is by default mine to distribute as I see fit. Vagabond.” At the intonation of his name, the sentient set of equipment appeared, and he was Avarice’s size, standing to Luna’s side with shimmering outlines of his wings and tail coming from it, startling the sisters with it’s sudden appearance, as if it was always there. “Demonstrate.”

Vagabond then idly reached into itself, and pulled out an utterly enormous sack of gold bits, which it then dropped without a care to spill all over and especially into the tub, pooling around the beacon. Each coin showed some dirt on them though.

Looking to the sack, then back to Avarice while a second claptrap appeared in luna’s flag colors or deep blue and silver with her silver-blue eyes, the features stating they were both completely scentless, making both bots harder to detect by scent even, along with the standard stealth package. “What would be the Acquisition thou would require? As events on this end are rather unstable due to outside interferences.”

Avarice looked over the list quickly, and then shook his head before tapping the Custom Claptrap tab, and began selecting a list of options. He chose to have a fire-breathing adult Claptrap dragoness with a design focus on crafting. However, when he tried to put through the order, it demanded a height specification as well as a coloration and whether or not to upgrade to the M+ model, but that option was selected already, and the description grayed-out, so he couldn’t see why. But he chose the height to be equivalent to his at 14 feet, and the coloration to be jet black to match him, but with red accents so she was easily differentiated aside from body shape. Her eyes were red to match his too, it also offered pupiled or pupilless, he went for the slit pupiled so it wouldn’t be too unusual to look her in the eyes. “Okay, now for the shotgun.”

Avarice quickly went into the shotgun tab, and selected a Hyperion Painful Brute that had white text flavor. He didn’t need anything special, just a weapon that could deal serious damage. He then purchased several hundred rounds for it. “Can it fire standard 12-Gauge shotshells? That’s the most advanced ammunition I have available here.”

The moment that is brought up a boxed case is digitized in front of them on the floor, though there is a space requirement for his custom claptrap order, asking for a few more feet of clearance to assure no digitization complications once the payment was taken. As F.A.U.S.T. still merely regarded him currently, even looking at him to see the reaction to the standard rounds laying neatly packed to the point they wouldn’t be a cluttered mess in movement.

“Nice, may I compare? I’m a reloader, so I recycle brass and as much as I can, it’d be good to know if I could do the same with the munitions you can supply.” Avarice asked as Vagabond took out a single paper-cuff shot shell from his coat.

She merely gestured to the ammo container of shells for him to do so, he’d already bought it after all as the gold was already transferred over to her end of the connection, only to look him over again, giving a stifled laugh now. “Thou art not willing to look over other things to consider purchasing? For right now we see thou bare to the world as was born thinking nothing can do harm onto thou. Tis rather foalish of ‘our’ girls to not want protection nor thou to even THINK of acquiring some shows how little foresight is placed in dealings.”

“Meh, so long as I don’t get decapitated I can regenerate nigh anything just from eating. But yeah, good point. I’ll get some shields. Hyperion shields doesn’t make healing shields do they? I mean, you make them like Anshin, or other company types too since you’re a monopoly right?” Avarice asks curiously as he uses the menus to look for a shield to his liking.

F.A.U.S.T.’s reaction said it all as her gaze narrowed and her arms crossed under her bust. “The Hyperion Interstellar Corporation has the experience and time to have made such things even if having to reverse engineer other products to improve on design. By such an action we have rebranded them as improved models over the originals.”

“Nice. Because when I played Borderlands 2 I always went for Anshin healing shields or Pangolin turtle shields over any others depending on the situation, and considering I get hurt a lot, having a healing shield would be a good idea for me, and a turtle shield for Vagabond, since he regenerates rapidly on whatever he pulls his energy from aside from my magic.” Avarice put the order through, and a few more sections of the once-massive pile of gold coins vanished as two shield emitters, one with a red core, the other with a green core, both materialized. Before Avarice could gleefully pick them up though, his shotgun finally came through, text on the menu explaining that selecting the best parts took a few moments. It was a beautiful black beauty with purple accents and it also came with a few extra clips for loading shells. “Oh~ sexy momma.”

Avarice picked up the sleek and sexy black beauty, turning the smooth and angular boxy shotgun around in his hands, and even going so far as to lick the side of it sensually while Vagabond picked up the shields and stored them, the sisters both backed away from him, worried Luna’s spell was wearing off already, Luna preparing the spell again. “Sister, it might be best if we go enchant his pants at the least.”

“Good idea.” Celestia responded as they retreated from the bathroom.

Giving a knowing smile chuckling from what was said, seeing his VERY amorous reactions to the shotgun in question. “Tis truly a shame that ‘our’ daughters would be rather feeble when it comes to the action of bonding with a weapon, that would serve thou well in a single lifetime. Though like most they sadly need to be fixed over time or replaced, but that could go for stallions if left unattended too long?” She stated with a raised eyebrow and quirked grin once seeing him literally squeeze the gun between his thick, muscled thighs, and then hump the air with it.

“Boom~<3” Avarice breathily stated as his chest purred with a soft throaty rumble while his long tongue lolling out of his maw. “Can’t wait to fuck someone with this.”

The growing familiar sound of the beacon digitally constructing again brought Avarice’s attention away from his groin and up to the Custom Ordered dragoness Claptrap model in all her specified glory purposely in Avarice’s personal space. She was literally barely a foot away from him, her height matched his perfectly, making him look directly into her matching eyes, as if looking in a feminine mirror.

When he looked down though, he wasn’t expecting his vision to be blocked by two massive orbs of shaped black chassis nearly meeting his massive pecs, easily surpassing Tia’s size, and what he saw around them were child-bearing hips that would make Tia blush even. He was so stunned and visibly aroused with his wings stiffening to the point of his wing membranes creaking, that the freshly-initialized M+, clearly “Mature Plus” model’s arousal and emotion registering software easily picked up on it, and made her grin. “Well, hello handsome. Like what you see?”

Her voice was incredibly velvety, dripping with sensuality as she pressed her warm, hard metal-covered bosom into his chest. The give in the contact telling him she wasn’t all metal under that, making him blush and gawk as he looked into her face, and she neared his own face. “W-wow...Um...yes?”

“Good.” She then gently took his nearing face as an indicator to move forward, and leaned in too to kiss him, stunning him with how organic her mouth felt as they began wrestling tongues, the tips of their lips flush as their serpentine mouth appendages vied for dominance, both taking in the flavor and incredibly soft texture of each other, the shotgun clenched between both their thighs as they began to press together.

Vagabond shook his head at his hopelessly lustful master as he reached into himself again, and produced their signature blue-iron brazier. He approached the apparently indifferent F.A.U.S.T, and offered it towards her, not really buying her stoic demeanor, he knew she did that intentionally, and no machine does things like that for no reason.

“We can see that ‘she’ll’ be of many uses for thou master. We can sense that item is thou’s summon token. Wouldst thou explain it’s use?”

After being asked of how to use it, rather than let her control it’s transfer, Vagabond wordlessly put the brazier back into his coat, and the image of F.A.U.S.T actually flickered, as the brazier was being held out to her on her end of the connection. Vagabond, as always, stayed silent as he waited for her to take it in hand.

A force field enables as a mechanical hand latches on at speed out of instinct to protect her own physical body, as a robotic model of F.A.U.S.T. scowled shaking a accusatory digit before taking the token, making sure vagabond knew she didn’t like that one bit. Vagabond’s pinched sleeve didn’t even let go of the token until she had it in hand, and then mocked her by flipping her off, and then giving a thumbs up and an okay sign, before using sign language even in enough context for her to understand what it was saying.

It basically said; “Fuck off, don’t care if you’re a god, I can do what I want. You’re cool though, so just be glad I like you. Also, nice body. Jack doesn’t know what he’s missing. Try some suggestive hypnotism or subtle wet dreams, he’ll come around.” And then the hand vanished, the robotic limb that was grasping the black leather sleeve clamping onto nothing, it’s software pausing in confusion as F.A.U.S.T leered at the spot where it used to be, wondering how in the void that sexy fool Avarice managed to contractually bind an Elder God of Chaos to himself.

Giving Vagabond a narrowed look of annoyance before looking to view back at the drake still tongue locked with the new dragoness model working over his tongue like a coiling snake. “We shall take the advice with caution due to events at play beyond our reach, but if played right it may be a WONDERFUL stress release….”

With the transactions completed, beings the two unicorn claptrap guards were spawned before the dragoness, but completely unnoticed by the aroused drake as they had left the room with the sisters, F.A.U.S.T took a digital picture of the two grinding and kissing dragonoids before the beacon shut-down, leaving the wrecked bathroom dark as they moved on to groping.

“Avarice...we have the spell ready and your pants enchanted, as well as a copy of our signet ring-.” Luna froze, her darkness-piercing vision easily picking out the writhing forms of the black and black-with-red dragons vigorously making out on the floor, the new dragoness unit working his groin with a gentle claw as he clutched her armored bubble-butt which still had give even with the armor on, their tails twisting together as their tongues still battled. “Damn, too late. Can’t use the spell with him in this state again so soon or we might damage his hormonal responses. We’ll just have to wait for mother’s odd sex doll to work him over.”

Luna shook her head, disappointed with her poor reaction speed to the situation as she left, just as Avarice’s wandering claws found the release for her chestplate.

Author's Note

This Hyperion Aquisition Beacon transaction has been brought to you by CEO Architect of Realities from the universe of Handsome Jack's Return

Any and all transactions or cooperative works are non-refundable and cannot in any way be counted against Hyperion Interstellar Corporation. For any queries, please contact our help desk and AoR will respond as he is able. Thank you, and have a nice day.

So Real, So Alive.

Avarice woke slowly, feeling horribly drained, but in a good way, like he'd gotten a really good workout before taking a nap. 'Whoa...I feel so damn content...what happened? I started blacking out after the shotgun arrived.'

{You became a crazy horny dragon that's what. Even played with that shotgun like it was a sex toy, it was between our and our partner's thighs at the start of it all.} Crescent reported, making Avarice glad that at least one of them knew what they did.

'Who was our partner?' Avarice asked as he cracked his glowing red eyes open, and realized he was spooning an incredibly morphologically correct anthro dragoness, who had her outer chassis entirely removed, exposing dark black and gray flesh-like material convincingly designed to look exactly like a dragon's scales. Her H-cup breasts were pressed into his chest as the mech seemed to be in sleep mode with her head curled under his in a nuzzle, her breasts and body otherwise molded to him, and their tails intertwined. It was incredibly adorable. 'Whoa...who is she?'

{That claptrap we ordered? Yeah...Faust trapped us into the M+ model. My guess; this is either a genuine gift on her part, or she has other ulterior motives. Best thing about this arrangement is we not only get a capable assistant to help you make things, but you also have a fuck buddy that can't get pregnant to work off frustration when our overcharged libido starts rearing it's ugly head. Those arousal suppression spells only work so well from what just happened so soon after having had one cast on us.}

“Mm...partner showing signs of wakefulness, ending sleep mode....” The false, yet far-too-real dragoness muttered in her velvety voice as she curled her neck back and moving her head up to his, opening her glowing eyes to look him in his own eyes. “Good morning master. It is good to see you have slept well.”

“I'm fairly sure that's thanks to you.” Avarice responded slyly, pressing his nose against hers, and she paused a second before smiling earnestly in response. 'Was that her programming working to make a suitable response?'

“I feel that is indeed so. We went exactly 17 rounds consecutively, you only relaxed after having climaxed at least 23 times.” The femme's words stunned Avarice silent. That sort of extremely vigorous activity would've killed a normal person! “Your surprised expression leads this unit to believe that this is an unusual occurrence. Is there something this unit needs to be aware of to ensure no harm comes to master?”

“Comes to me? What about you? You're an astounding creation of Hyperion, no doubt, but won't that much...cum, be dangerous to your functionality?” 'Holy fuck...if we plowed a normal woman while on a high of lust....'

{We could very well fuck someone to death....} Crescent finished in shock.

“Not at all. Mother was careful to ensure the M+ models were the most sophisticated life-like replicas possible. Anything consumed orally is processed in a chamber to literally break down bio-matter into pure energy, providing extra power to our battery systems so our generators don't wear down as quickly. As for vaginally...well...this unit will have to flush out the system. That portion of this unit's anatomy has not yet been updated to proper functionality yet, as those processes have yet to be perfect to Mother's specifications~.” She said with a lustful growl, getting Avarice to gawk at her. “Were this unit updated with the final version of the uterus system, even a machine like me would become capable of reproduction. But Mother's work on creating a functional Von Neumann bio-organic reproduction has not yet been completed. So sadly, I cannot become pregnant. I will simply have to settle for washing myself out...you cum hose~.”

As she progressed in her speech, she seemed to become more set in a less robotic method of speaking, as well as provoking him with her velvety tone and lilting teases. Avarice was just gobsmacked that Faust was so close to creating living machines. 'That is amazing.' “What is your name?”

“My designation is DR4G0N322, but that isn't much of a name. You can name me if you wish.” She said as she hugged him a little tighter, seeming to scan him with her eyes, watching for a response. She was trying to adapt to how to proceed in the situation, and decided that to wait apprehensively was the best way to go.

“I can't just call you Dragoness. That's lazy. How about....” Avarice looked deep in her eyes, and even though they were fake, he thought he could see hope in those too-alive eyes. “Sonata. Looking at you, I feel as if I'm looking at a thing of beauty, and a sonata is what comes to mind.”

The seemingly-living dragoness cooed as her eyes shined for a few seconds. “This unit is hereby known as Sonata. I will be happy to serve you master.” The newly named Sonata then tightened her tail around his, and moved in for a kiss, which Avarice obliged to until she broke away. “I sense that you do not wish for more intercourse.”

“Which is good. You must've worked it out of me. Good Gog is it wonderful not to feel horny for a bit.” 'Such contention...hot damn it's nice to feel calm.' Avarice then moved to get up, and Sonata obliged with a teasing whine, making him chuckle. “You're way too realistic. I can't think of you as a machine if you keep this up. Soon enough if I'm not reminded I could forget entirely.”

“Good. Us M+ models are also designed for covert ops and blending into environments. Sure, as a dragoness I'll stand out among the populous, but they won't suspect me to be anything but a normal dragon.” Sonata stated as she released him from their embrace, but held his tail coiled in hers for a bit longer. “If you're wondering, coiling tails is a sign of dragon courtship. Is that fine with you?” Sonata asked with fluttering eyes, making Avarice's heart flutter.

'Damn...she's a machine, but I can't see her as one. She's too real....'

{Faust IS a goddess, one of creation. Maybe, her more inorganic creations truly have souls....} Crescent mused, and Avarice decided to move back in on Sonata, who actually seemed surprised as he leaned in and kissed her chastely.

“That's fine dear.” Avarice finished, and he was silently impressed at how her cheek scales flushed a little red. 'Way, WAY too real.' Avarice then moved to the edge of the giant bed, Sonata, now reluctantly, uncoiling their tails as he stood on the floor. “We didn't even make it out of Tia's room. I hope she isn't upset with us....”

Indeed, they had woken in Tia's lavish giant bed. When he moved to inspect the bathroom though, it was completely devoid of damage, and everything from the beacon to his new shotgun and small crate of ammo were gone, likely with Vagabond. {We can always count on Vagabond, huh?}

'Trust him with my life.' Avarice thought without hesitation, and then blinked. Why? Why did he trust him so intrinsically? It was like he was part of him, that much was expected, but he never really thought more on their relationship dynamic. It was less of him being Vagabond's boss, and more of them being partners, with Vagabond picking up all the slack. That made Avarice feel guilty. He didn't like that Vagabond did so much work, and thanklessly too. 'Have to do something for him.'

Their musings were cut off by Sonata hugging them from behind, pressing her massive breasts into his back. “Would you like any help bathing master?” Sonata asked as she squeezed his thick tail between her shapely thighs, and Avarice was happy to realize he wasn't feeling frisky in spite of it. She must've really worked it out of his system for now.

“Well, we must be smelly after all of our activity last night and...to be fair, I don't know jack squat about this form's anatomy, but I don't feel like doing anything naughty either.” Avarice said as he turned his head to the side to look at her, while also scanning the room for Chrysalis's egg, but not seeing her, but he wasn't concerned for her, so she must be in safe hands. He was feeling she was with Tia or Luna, unlike his other children, who were who-knows-where, and tugging at his heart like hooks on strings. If only he could use that to search for them.

“Indeed. Allow me to bathe us then. While my synthetic scales don't produce sweat, I still would collect stench if I am without my outer chassis...speaking of which, where are all of my armor pieces? I can't pinpoint them in my HUD.” Sonata asked in worry, but Avarice waved her off.

“Ah, Vagabond must have them. Let's get clean first, then we'll-AH~!” Avarice half-shouted in pain and pleasure as Sonata grabbed him by his sheathe, and began leading him into the tub, which her long, slender tail easily flicked on with hot water. REALLY hot water.

“Hm, you are sore, that's expected. Cleaning this area is absolutely imperative to your hygienic health. Pay attention master.” Sonata said as she guided him into the tub while coaxing out his flaccid black 12 inch member. “This is important to remember, you need to know how to keep yourself clean if you're not going to get sick.”

[ $ ]

It was a long bath, where Avarice was meticulously taught about all his dragon form's anatomy. Not just his groin either, even if that was where she started and was one of the most important places to keep clean. Due to just how many body parts he now had, he wasn't about to remember half of the words she used to describe things like his wing membranes, or the gaps in his scales. Being a dragon was dirty work. Which was why dragons were often considered smelly people, since they usually live in dry and hot environments and are so used to the earthy smells they can't really register that they smell “bad” to most others until they venture into more populated areas.

He was especially embarrassed when she had to “flush” her uterus system of his cum, and fuck, it was like a white waterfall from between her legs with the way she used her red aura Magic Core to levitate a stream of water down her throat and through a diverted subsystem into her inert reproductive systems to clean them out. And was further embarrassed when she demonstrated that dragons were flexible enough to bend nearly in half, and use their long prehensile tongues to clean their groins. He was especially feeling quite embarrassed when she made HIM do it so he knew how to “clean” himself if he was without a source of water, and was informed it was how most dragons made do with themselves.

When they finished, Vagabond appeared dutifully, not even needing called, and produced Avarice's thong and pants, which he noticed now changed according to his form like Vagabond. Was he spreading to other articles of clothing and such? When he put them on, he noticed that his slowly building arousal vanished, and he was just as calm as when he first woke up. He just hoped the enchantments would let him stay calm for a longer period of time over the spell. Then Vagabond provided a similarly enchanted and size-changing silver and gold signet ring with the Royal Sister's emblem of a half sun and moon he remembered from his first day on that potion vial...oh shit!

“MOSS STONE!” 'Damn it! Shit keeps happening, and I and the sisters keep forgetting to free him from his debt!' Avarice turned to Vagabond, and was quietly amused with how he politely provided each individual piece of Sonata's black and red chassis, helping her get on the pieces she wouldn't normally be able to reach so she wouldn't have to use her Magic Core to levitate them on. “Sonata, I'm going to be looking for the sisters to resolve an issue that's been ignored too often. Would you be fine with staying with Vagabond?”

“Not at all master.” Sonata stated as she was shoving her right breast into her shaped chassis. The thing was like his changeling form's chitin to be honest, the way it seamlessly adhered to her body and could only be removed by her, or by hitting the release between her wings. “I would be glad to familiarize myself with your partner.”

“Alright then. You two have fun now.” Avarice idly said as he left the bathroom, not noticing the silent conversation in sign language that started between the peculiar golem and the sexy robot.

Avarice then began looking for the princesses, or at least Tia, beings Luna was supposed to be on the Bullgarian front. He hoped she would be fine with Die Leucht hunting her, especially considering they seemed to have a particular chip on their shoulders with her. While he intimidated everypony just from his presence, he didn't feel like changing out of his dragon form for a while yet, feeling quite comfortable with his massive size. Eventually he got tired of aimless wandering, and asked a shivering maid who looked between terrified and anxious considering she was a pegasus and had full-blown wingboners and a blush.

It wasn't odd really. Almost every female he saw was both scared, yet attracted. He loved being the focus of attention everywhere he went, and almost forgot why he was looking for Tia when he entered her office, and indeed; there was Chrysalis set carefully on a large, soft, and cradling pillow on a table in clear view, with a lightly armored mare...wait.... “Ah, so there's that bodyguard-slash-caretaker Faust was offering. I'd forgotten about them in my growing arousal at the time.”

It was the red one with gold accents. She was clearly not an M+ model, save her ample D-cup bosom, which for all he knew might've been a milk-producing feature as a nursery maid. He could tell they were techno-organic by the way her shifting made her chest armor jiggle. Aside from that, her design was all business, and in fact, considering her intended uses, the unicorn-model bodyguard Claptrap was indeed all-business. Her blank, glowing magenta eyes seemed to make a grid in their scope, before she nodded to him and returned to standing vigil near-center of the room, as it was the best position to react to threats to either Tia or the egg.

“Ah, Avarice. It's good to finally see you up. The morning's already half-gone. From what my guard shifts tell me, you and that toy 'mother' provided were at it most of the night.” Tia said matter-of-factly with a teasing grin, and Avarice huffed.

“23 times. I apparently orgasmed 23 times before I was satisfied.” Avarice told her, getting her to gawk at him. “Yeah, I'd kill a normal mare if I plowed them when in a rut. So, maybe your mum automatically upgrading her to an M+ model was a good move.”

“Definitely. I don't think even I could handle 23 consecutive orgasms....” Tia said in awe before she shook her head. “Anyway. What's the first plan of action? I'm already getting disturbing reports from my admirals about a number of ships in my navy going MIA without reason or any signs of reappearing.”

“That's bad. If they have ships too...maybe even from the Griffonian navy as well...what could they be doing? I mean, they plan to destroy you and Equestria, so where could they strike behind your lines to cause the most damage? That's where I'd send a defense fleet, don't chance it. As for my being here; we keep forgetting to free Moss Stone. I'm here to ask for his location so I can free him from my magic.” Avarice replied, and Tia nodded as she quickly wrote out a response to her admiral, and sent it off in a poof of smoky magic.

“Certainly. He's being held in the padded cells of the dungeon for the less stable prisoners. Just show anypony who tries to stop you your ring, and you'll be granted passage. Nopony but our most trusted of people are allowed to have those rings, and they'll know it's real from the auras of myself and my sister being infused into it. Also, please inform the castle smith on your way down that I want Solar Radiance's suit of heavy armor delivered to this office.” Celestia said while gesturing to her personal Claptrap, which turned to her with a soft smile, which Tia returned warmly.

“Named her already? It may be an expected name, but she does match it.” Avarice commented, getting a surprising bright hue of red from the robot's armored cheeks. 'Damn, Faust. Your creations are way too alive.' “Thank you, I'll be going then.”

Avarice left the office, and began his journey down the castle following directions from the guards, who were much more forthwith with him using the ring to show them he wasn't just some dragon wandering the castle. When he reached the ground floor, he went into the smithy to find several ponies at work on various projects, but he did notice Brass Bender off in the corner with the assembly station for the shotguns, so he decided to say hello. “Greetings again Brass Bender.”

The buxom orange unicorn mare with candy-cane hair jumped in her spot as she heard his familiar voice, and she turned to him with a smile only to freeze at seeing a dragon instead of a paint horse. The faded lines of scars on his torso easily erased her doubt however, and she smiled again. “Avarice? Wow. You've...gotten bigger?”

“I'm a changeling of sorts. You'll understand later I suppose. How are you doing down here? Trying to build that double-barrel I designed when trying to escape from my imprisonment I see.” Avarice commented when he noticed the number of parts, especially the double-barrel.

“Yes. You've gotten everything for the design right in theory, but with your limited time frame and insufficient tools, you couldn't finish it. This though.” Brass beamed as she picked up an assembled one from off to the side. “This should work. But the designs that Demir has shared with everyone are already superior to it. We'd be better off saving these sort of things for less serious situations. Like hunting, or target practice.”

“Demir's already released more advanced models?” Avarice asked in glee. He wanted to see how well she'd progressed, since his last visit was very brief and he didn't get to actually spend any real time with her when he was just telling her he was okay.

“Yes, but they're so advanced...we can hardly believe it.” Brass said as she put down the shotgun, and then moved further to the side where there were blueprints laid out, which made Avarice smile in glee. “See, this here-.”

“Is a pump-action fixed-frame five-shot revolver shotgun with a simple turning axis for the revolver to be exposed on the left side for loading.” 'Like from fucking Borderlands...Demir, you beautiful, masterful Forge-Mistress....' Avarice stated and thought lustfully, wanting to get ahold of one just for the sake of having one. Even if he has a Painful Brute in his arsenal now, it didn't change the fact that one of his favorite things to do in Borderlands was collect guns, just to collect them for their quirky effects or looks.

“Yes. She even designed something called a 'speed-loader' to load shells in this style quickly.” Brass added as she showed him a large five-round speed-loader she'd obviously made herself from brass and steel.

{Wow. This Demir was truly the right mare to be your assistant, if she's already making things better than you.}

'To think, it all started because I couldn't resist her cute face.' Avarice mused, chuckling as he snapped his fingers, and Vagabond promptly appeared to Brass's shock, and he produced the partially assembled “boomstick” that was made with his parts from his enslavement, but couldn't be finished since the firing pins didn't align properly. “Would you mind finishing the original for me Brass? I'll even pay you commission.”

Brass perked with glee, and bounced slightly in place. Damn, she was so much like Demir it was uncanny. “Oh I'd be glad to! No payment is necessary, we're not really going to be making your boomstick shotgun until things settle down anyway, so I'll just use parts we've got lying around from the assembly testing to finish her, and maybe even use some of that white brass you left in your cell for decoration. Is that okay?”

“More than okay. Thank you.” Avarice said sincerely as Vagabond handed her the unfinished prototype, and then vanished. “I'll see you later Brass. Oh, right. Also Tia wants Solar Radiance's armor sent to her office.”

“Can do!” Brass replied in a chipper tone as she practically pranced to her workstation, and he continued back down to the dungeons.

[ $ ]

It wasn't nice to be back down here. He'd suffered too much in this place to have any fondness for it. Well...aside from Sharp. 'Damn that bitch...twisting me up...making me fall for her in a fucked-up love/hate way.' Avarice then imagined her ripe with his foal, and he hissed in arousal as just imagining it made the enchantments waver. Even if they won't break, there is a point they'd just stop being effective if his hormones broke a threshold. 'Fuck...gotta get that big-booty-bitch back for revenge...and more sex.'

Avarice tried valiantly to stray away from thoughts of Sharp as he strode through the dark, damp, and cold stone halls to the special area for the more unstable prisoners. He only came across a few guards, not as many as there were when Die Leucht was running this place, but despite the bad news that brought on the level of corruption, it was also calming to know that he wouldn't be swarmed by guards again.

His bare scaly and sharp-toed feet stopped before a padded cell that had padded bars, and looked in to see a nearly comatose Moss Stone in a binding harness, which had rubbed his coat off from constant struggle with his confines. The green and brown earth pony stallion wasn't looking so good. He was thin, and not the built and capable soldier Avarice had met when he first arrived in Equestria. He stared off blankly to one of his walls, drooling. The reason being was he'd tried smashing his head through the bars again, and the unicorn medic on duty for the dungeons had cast a numbing spell on him that made moving extremely difficult, and made it harder to comprehend things if cast on the head.

'Holy shit...I did this....' Avarice looked at the bars, before he decided to give something a try. His body was wreathed in green flames and he shrunk, and shrunk, and continued to shrink until he was no bigger than a football. When the flames vanished, in the dragon's place was a simple black rat, with glowing red eyes. The large rodent quickly skittered through the bars, and approached the unresponsive stallion. 'Don't worry buck. I'll be lifting our deal from your shoulders, even if I have to suffer some backlash.'

Avarice transformed into his true form, his chitin glistened in the dim light as he knelt next to the numbed stallion. “Moss Stone. I am sorry for my negligence. Hear me, even if you cannot understand. Hear me, and know that I consider all debts settled. Our contract is annulled.” Avarice gasped as a gripping agony ripped through him, and he fell sideways onto the padded floor, his chitin cracking in multiple places as angry red light shined through them. Avarice was the one to renege on the contract, so he paid the price in pain.

He hissed as he writhed on the floor, crawling away from Moss and trying not to thrash about and potentially harm the stallion. He wasn't sure how long the raw agony lasted, but by the end of it, he was staring at the oddly padded ceiling. Feeling quite mixed up about things. If HIM annulling the contract hurt this much...just...just how bad would one of his customers reneging be? Would they just outright die?

No wonder then. That he was a criminal the moment he arrived, slinging this power around like candy.

Author's Note

I wanted to use this chapter as more evidence of just how powerful Architect of Reality's HJR Faust is with Arch's blessing. Her Claptraps are like her children, and she puts so much love into their creation, that distinguishing between them and a biologically living being is uncannily difficult.

Not just in appearance, reaction, or even their functions. But by how they can still become so much more. Units such as Sonata are but a single step away from fully experiencing what life is really like.

Faust is still making them better too.

Still Upping The Ante!

Luna slept peacefully that night she'd returned from visiting Tia to learn of all of the terrible things involved with Avarice and Die Leucht, even if that wasn't her initial intention, her original plans involved getting a repeat performance in her bedchamber. However, regardless of the horrible circumstances, she felt assured of her own security with her mother's gift; the unicorn Claptrap Lunar Reflection watching over her. Her slumber was interrupted by a terrible crash, and the screaming bloody death knell of someone in her acquired bedchamber. Luna bolted upright in the former Lord Horn's bed, the steel dagger that came with the message attached to her father's hat ready to lunge. Only to find there was no need to.

“Attempted assassination thwarted successfully Lady Luna. Assassin has been summarily executed for his treachery.” The monotone silky drone of Lunar's voice answered from the darkness, her silver-blue blank eyes shining ominously through the blackness. Luna's eyes however, could easily see through the velvet blanket to normal sight. At the lightly armored robot mare's dark blue hooves laid the brutally disfigured corpse of a stallion fully garbed in black, said robes were clearly enchanted with both invisibility and silence spells, but he had no actual armor to speak of and a dropped green orichalcum dagger nearby.

The dagger was evidence enough. “Stay by me! We have traitors to root out!” Luna shouted in fury, skirting a safe distance from the god-slaying blade. It was a blasphemous thing, considered evil across Equestria. The mysterious and thankfully extremely rare metal known as orichalcum was easy to shape like bronze, but held a vicious edge thus-far unattainable by any other alloy. It's most potent attribute however, was it's power to render any and all magic in any being it was stabbed into moot. Even that of a god's. Twas such a very blade that robbed the world of Luna's mother; plunged clean through her spine, heart, and out between her breasts in a single thrust by Brute.

'They have come for me already?! How fast do these curs communicate?!' Luna frantically thought as she left the large bedchamber and equipped her armor not a moment too soon, as a shimmer in the beams of moonlight shining in from overhead to her left was all the warning she got and she barely backstepped away from an invisible thrust that punched clean into her breastplate, but missed both her breasts and her sternum by mere centimeters.

“Target acquired!” Lunar's monotone voice lilted with fury as she bolted from the doorway into the chamber, and fired a light-blue aura from her horn that flooded through the hallway, and revealed not only the attacker, but also several other concealed assassins in the hall who were shocked at their cover being blown so easily, and all abandoned stealth to try and take this chance to slay the Goddess of the Night. “Mistress, get back!” Lunar shouted as her thighs opened up to reveal pistols like Robocop, and she quickly drew twin Hyperion Maximized Machine Pistols.

They stood no chance.

Luna watched in awe and relief as with each burst of fire from her bodyguard's twin machine pistols, one of her would-be assassins dropped like sacks of potatoes, not even the couple of thestrals that tried to take flight for the nearby windows escaped. Once the last of the fell to the floor, the Claptrap mare twirled both of her pistols before holstering them back in her thigh holsters, which closed. Her D-cup techno-organic lightly-armored breasts still jiggled from the intense action, she'd moved so fast. “Mistress, are you well?”

Luna took several seconds to get over the shock of the situation. If she didn't go home from Tia's letter...if she didn't gain this lethal ally as a gift from her alternate universe mother, she'd be dead right now. The number of the wicked and damnable green blades she could see in the moonlight testified to that. These assassins would have succeeded had Lunar not been here. She would have died helplessly, just has her mother did. “N-no...no I am not.” 'Sister! I must warn her!'

[ $ ]

Celestia was sitting peacefully in her office, remembering her sister's grim tale. When her sister woke her in the middle of the night last night, desperate and scared for her elder sister's safety, she'd been beside herself with worry when Luna told her what had nearly happened. The way she described her bodyguard easily putting down a whole assassin squad equipped with orichalcum daggers of all things however, put her at ease knowing such a capable defender was also guarding her as well.

It wasn't even an hour ago that Avarice had walked in asking of Moss Stone, and she was going over reports and other issues involving her navy. Some of which relayed that many of her own ships had disappeared without warning, and from Avarice's counsel, she ordered her admiral to move a defense fleet to blockade the Horseshoe Bay, as it was the least defended coastal region that was also the only access to Baltimare. She only hoped Manehattan and Fillydelphia could do with less ships protecting them.

Celestia suddenly found herself tackled out of her chair to the floor by Solar Radiance as a broad-head arrow shot through her small stained viewing window, easily piercing clean through the glass and stabbing an inch deep in the stone on the other side of the room over her desk.

That would've pierced her head.

“Sniper! Stay down Mistress!” Solar ordered with her husky and commanding voice before she ran to the window, only for two more arrows to pierce the window and actually stab clean through her chest, sticking out her back. Solar could not compute how, or why the primitive projectiles completely ignored her shields.

“NO!” Celestia cried in fear and shock, seeing the robot be punched through like tissue by arrows. Arrows with green broad-heads! “Solar!”

“STAY DOWN!” Solar screamed, her voice scratching with white-noise before she tried to use her Magic Core to summon a sniper rifle from her ECHO storage, only for her processors to fail to initialize her Magic Core.

It was completely fried. Nothing was responding and her systems were showing no reaction from anywhere around the general area of the arrowheads.

Another arrow punched through Solar's left eye, and Celestia wordlessly screamed in fear, her other guards finally having burst through the door at the sound of their princess's screams, only to halt in confusion at the still-standing arrow pierced mare, who growled with inarticulate rage as some of her inhibitors blocking irrational emotional response failed from the arrow in her head having taken out that part of her system. “YO# WA%T-FUCKING &^$ YOU FLY*@^ SHIT?!”

Since her core was fried by the orichalcum arrowheads, Solar took out her thigh pistols, which while Maximized Machine Pistols, were all she'd need. She held down the triggers, the guns becoming more accurate with each shot fired, and even with one eye out, the Claptrap unit's accuracy was unfaltering.

The storm of bullets shredded through the window, and the invisible thestral that was attempting to snipe Celestia from his spot in the air could only widen his eyes in shock before the wall of lead ripped the black-robed assassin asunder, raining his blood and viscera onto the garden below.

Solar still held the triggers for several seconds after the 25-round clips ran dry, her systems lagging from the damage catching up to her. Seeing that the danger had passed, she jerkily moved the pistols back to her thigh holsters, and plainly put them away. “Th-th-threat neu$^&Q#%^$ Mistr-r-r-ress.”

“Oh Elders! Solar!” Celestia got up and nervously approached the heavily damaged Claptrap, said unit was twitching and sparking from the punctures in her body. The two in her chest actually bled a sort of red fluid from her artificial breasts, and drained liberally down her front. “Solar, h-how can we help?”

“Th-th-this unit is in ne-ee-ee-eed of repairs Mistress. It is suggest-est-ested that this unit is ta-ta-taken to a certified-ied-ied Hyperion technician or unit DR4G0N322.” Solar reported dutifully, and the scared and worried Celestia turned to her guards.

“You heard her! Find the black dragoness immediately! She should be here somewhere!” Celestia shouted imperiously, the two guards who had rushed in saluted before galloping down the hall.

[ $ ]

Avarice was still laying in Moss's cell, letting the glowing red cracks of pure pain running across his body fade away into nothing. He didn't know how much time had passed while he was laying here, but damn it; this padding was comfortable and even if the pain was gone, he didn't feel very ready to leave his nice, safe, padded room.

Until he got shot in the face with a large caliber bullet.

“AH! FUCK!” He bolted up and to the wall out of view of the cell door, his left temple cracked for real and blood flowing down over his left eye, tinting his view from it a filmy red thanks to the blood washing over his solid dry eye, not even blinking would clear it out completely with new blood being added, so he just closed it. “WHO'S THERE?!”

Avarice's demand went unanswered, and he quickly spun around, stabbing his tail at the door and both cutting and slamming the cheap iron barred door open, but when he left the cell he didn't see anyone in the hall ahead, but when he looked right, he saw a leg just make it around the corner leading further down. “Hey! Get back here!” He quickly took off down the hall, and he froze upon seeming to hit the sewer system. “The fuck? Why the hell is this dungeon connected to-?”

His question was interrupted by the slamming of a heavy metal door, and Avarice remembered he was pursuing someone with a really big gun who just shot him in the face, and the only people he knew who might be able to do that at the moment are members of Die Leucht. He then again rushed down the side of the flowing filthy waterway on the elevated walkway until he soon rounded a bend and burst through a heavy iron door into what seemed like a junk pit...wait, was this the trash pit for the castle smithy?

Avarice's question was answered by a rusty and broken sword being tossed in from the only source of light overhead, falling into a pile of other broken and often considered worthless bits. Fools. He could use all of this for his craft. Whatever, they threw it away, it's his now.

Avarice's musing on how wasteful some people are was interrupted by a deafeningly loud gunshot and was knocked back by another huge-ass bullet hitting him in the face, cracking his chitin open more. “ARGH! FUCKER! I'M-!” Avarice froze upon seeing his attacker. Standing next to another heavy iron door on the other side of the pit, was someone who shouldn't exist. Someone who was by all means impossible to be standing there.

Aiming at him with a magnum, sporting glowing purple eyes and a scowl, was Leon S. Kennedy from Resident Evil 4. “Hmph. Parasites. So resilient.” Leon fired at him again, and the Plaga used his superior reflexes and speed to bolt to the side, and see the persistent survivor quickly burst through the other door, and slam it behind him.

“Wait!” Avarice rushed to the door. “Leon, how are...you...?” When he came out the other side, instead he found himself back in the dungeon, and when he looked behind him, there was no door, just a blank wall. “Here? What?” 'How the fuck? What? Why?'

{Who in Tartarus was that?!}

'A legend. A figure who survived the impossible. He's killed beings like me numerous times, but it was always for the sake of survival, and bringing down those who would abuse the powers of beings such as I.' Avarice thought back, as he realized this was the “hall” he'd chased Leon down. There was no path to the sewers here....

{Sounds like the kind of person who would go against Die Leucht, but why assault us? Why try to kill us out of nowhere?}

'I don't know. But we've lingered down in this dank place long enough. I've spent two months down here already, I'm tired of it.' Avarice replied before moving on to leave this place as he transformed back into a dragon, mostly because he felt stronger, more sure of himself as a dragon.

Also because the thought of Leon coming after him scared him shitless.

[ $ ]

When Avarice reached the normal levels of the castle, it was to a state of high-alert. The only reason he figured any of the guards rushing about didn't point spears at him was because of his ring. In fact, there were even a couple of ponies both apparently now-former guards, and castle staff bound in manacles and being herded off towards the dungeons he'd just left. 'The hell happened while I was down there? First I get attacked by Leon S. FUCKING Kennedy, and now the castle is being gifted with the power of an inquisition burning through it's occupants.'

{This sort of thing...I heard it only happens during the worst breaches in security, something's happened to the princess!} Crescent concluded, and Avarice's chest rumbled with a deep growl that echoed through the immediate area as he grit his teeth. He then rushed upstairs until he reached the floor where Celestia's office was, and when he reached it, he was greeted to a sight of carnage from all the shattered glass everywhere, the arrow sticking out of the wall at a very precise and intentioned angle, and spent bullet casings littering the floor, at least 50 of them.

'Fuck, assholes tried to kill Tia while we were in the dungeon. They move fast, it's only been a whole two days since I escaped my imprisonment.' Avarice was about to bolt down another direction when Vagabond popped up in front of him. “Whoa! Geez man! Don't do that!”

Vagabond rapidly gestured about, making hand signs. “You fucking idiot! You let a Corruption Shade get near NOW of all times?! I couldn't even contact you with that thing near!”

Of course, Avarice didn't know sign language, so that all pretty much went over his head. “Look, I know I wasn't around when I needed to be, but I'm here now; so could you take me to Tia?” Vagabond face-palmed with his right glove to his snout-shaped bandana, and shook his head in exasperation before he opened himself and Avarice walked through, ending up in Tia's room to find a worried Tia holding Chrysalis to her breasts for comfort as she watched Sonata work on a heavily damaged Solar.

The dragoness Claptrap was quick and efficient, her mouth working as a high-intensity blue welding torch as she melded Solar's breastplate, the damage to her synthetic red breasts were patched by a darker red resin, and the damage to her head wasn't finished being fixed yet, having been cut open with precision to remove the broken parts and see what could be done. The fact her other eye was still on said that the damage wasn't fatal to the unit. “There.” Sonata said before handing the melded breastplate back to the smaller unit, who quickly put the armor back over her breasts. “I'm afraid until I can create the parts to make a new eye, and emotion inhibitor, you will be limited to a single optic and more prone to acting out.”

“Thank you unit Sonata. This unit appreciates your expertise in making emergency repairs.” Solar replied before looking to Celestia. “Do not be concerned Mistress. This unit performed it's duty to protect you as it was intended.”

Celestia still looked unnerved however. Clearly seeing the pony-like robot missing a quarter of her skull's outer casing and seeing the moving parts, flashing lights and the purple Eridium glow within were quite unsettling. “I know Solar, but I just got you last night and already you nearly died trying to protect me. In my own office at that....” Tia said with fear, hugging the solid rock-like egg for comfort, and Chrysalis seemed to shimmer again, making her calm down before she could panic.

The fact the balcony was gone, and all the windows and said balcony were bricked up said something about Celestia's paranoia and fear at the moment. The fact that within several hours, two expert attempts on both her, and her sister's lives with weapons made of the god-slaying metal were made, and would have succeeded had they not obtained their Claptraps just the evening prior.

“This....” They finally noticed that Avarice was in the room with Vagabond next to him. “This is too much. Just in one day...we're going to need more than just a single Claptrap for each of you, but even if we had all the bits in the country, I don't think we could afford more Claptraps. Loaders though.... I've got a call to make.”

Avarice looked to Vagabond, and the clothing golem shrugged indifferently before providing the beacon, and Avarice decided this was going to possibly be an enormous order. If he could afford it, he'd be buying at least a battalion of Loaders. He couldn't move forward knowing the sisters were at such risk.

[ $ ]

After painstakingly ensuring the gardens were secure, with both Solar and Sonata on alert for any cloaked would-be assassins, Avarice managed to convince Tia he needed her presence on the lawn in case any deals ended up needing her permission, beings it was her country he was planning to reinforce. She refused to leave Chrysalis’s egg be though, she’d already grown attached to her, even slept with her last night to keep her warm.

Avarice was glad to comply, he didn’t want to deny his daughter the presence of her adopted mother, as that was clearly Celestia’s intention.

They’d finally gotten an elite squad of guards who were completely loyal to Celestia to be around as extra protection too, and all ended up at the center of the unplanted gardens. Tia said she wants to plant a hedge maze here, but was too occupied with the war to even consider wasting the time and resources on such a frivolous project.

All the better for this then.

Avarice strode a good distance away from Tia and the others with Vagabond next to him, and Avarice set down the beacon he wondered how he was supposed to start it up for a moment. Last time, it started up immediately upon registering a sentient life form. “Hyperion Acquisition Beacon. It is Avarice. I seek to do business with Hyperion once more.”

The holographic view unfolds as the crystals on top emit once more, showing not F.A.U.S.T. this time but a Claptrap pony whom wore a rolled-up long-sleeve earthy brown shirt with an orange vest, somehow looking a bit overweight as the ‘coat’ was a brown color while his cable mane was two tones of brown and grey. Talking in a very familiar gun salesman’s voice whom also drove the vault hunters bus in the first game. “Greetings traveler, to Hyperion’s sales stallion. I sell more than guns, but, don’t be shy.”

“Holy shit! It’s Markus Kinkaid! Second coolest shady weapons merchant in gaming...next to me.” Avarice preened, feeling cool that he was the Merchant. “Well, anyway. Markus. I have need of some SERIOUS firepower. And a repair service for Solar Radiance.” Avarice gestured for Solar to come up, and she did so after getting a nod from Celestia, beings she’s her unit.

“Greetings Markus. It is good to see you again, even if it is with only half our optics.” Solar even did a short bow to punctuate her statement.

The reaction was a narrowing slight of the eyes, looking contemplative before slowly answering in a slight humorous tone. “There is no refunds for hard headed claptraps, such as her for example, but I could see why you would want repairs, she won’t be nearly at peak performance with just a on-site repair job, even with...unit Sonata’s skill. But at least you have warranty pre-paid. Step closer unit Solar, so the beacon can bring you over for a proper fixing.”

Solar looked to Celestia, who gestured for her to go ahead, and the unit only hesitated for another moment before approaching the beacon, and was promptly digistructed for transport to Hyperion’s base in Jack’s universe.

“Now, for the firepower I’m talking about...I need Loaders. Tons of them. Just a single attempt on Tia’s life put Solar in that condition. With arrows. Arrows apparently made from an alloy that can bypass even Hyperion shield systems and other impressive materials like they were hot butter.” Avarice accepted a carefully held arrowhead from Vagabond from the recent attempt, and held it up to so Markus could see it clearly.

The token scan’s the said arrowhead in Avarice’s draconic clawed hand, blinking for a few moments as Marcus Bot seemed to be typing away at something off of the Holo screen as he scrunched his expression in disgust. Seeming to scan the arrow again on a few different color ranges it seems until some type of conclusion could be reached by his response. “My friend it would seem you are dealing with something rather problematic, perhaps I could get the big lady down here.”

“If you feel it’s necessary, please do so. These bastards have WAY more of this alloy than should be supposedly plausible on-hand.” Avarice said darkly, looking hatefully down at the innocuously plain broadhead.

Nodding once he turned to walk out of view but the fading mumbling of “Fucking scary like vault hunters whom break in-” A short moment or two happen before a clear F.A.U.S.T. Leaped down into view looking as if to narrow her optics in a dangerous tone, pointedly at Avarice. “Thou allowed for lack of information upon possible weapon variations of thy universe Displaced…!” The cable mane on her head looked to be sparking up as each cable wiggled upward violently.

“Pfft, cool your tits boss lady. I didn’t even know this shit existed until a half-hour ago! I’m about as new to this...terrifying little shit as you are.” Avarice scoffed back as he held the arrowhead out, pinching the flat sides with his index and thumb to avoid injury. “It’s not made of zinc, copper, iron, cobalt, nothing! I can’t figure out what it’s made of, and that pisses me off more than anything besides these fucks used this to try and kill Tia! When Sonata’s scans came up empty, I had to bring this to you. It’s the same alloy that killed this world’s version of you in one stab in the back.”

She reached out to the holoscreen but when it came into contact, the sight of something similar to Vagabond’s hole appeared as her slender robotic hand came through wanting to take it as a sample. “This will go into study, so that a counter or negating agent may be produced.” With that statement, she made a beckoning gesture to take the offending arrow alloy in question safely.

“Careful. Tia says just one little nick to an immortal or god-like being can either kill or disable them.” Avarice held the hollow shaft-piece towards her hand, and when she took it, he moved his hand just slightly, and yowled in agony as suddenly his green transformation flames flashed back on him, starting from his hand turned-claw until he was writhing on the ground as his true form, screaming murder as Sonata, Vagabond and Tia all tried to hold him down, making F.A.U.S.T’s eyes widen.

Careful in pulling it back through as her eyebrow visibly raised when the alloy in question greyed upon crossing over, only to literally start to break on it’s own except for the shaft and feather rear end. All that remained of the material was a tiny consolidated ball no bigger than a 0.177 bb attached to the small broken shaft of the former arrow. “Now that is interesting, it appears due to the makeup of our separate universes not everything stays the same… There will have to be studies done on both ends, to ensure the same result of counter measure.”

“M-Mother. We have more of those arrows, and several pounds worth on the way from an earlier attempt on Luna’s life as well. We’ll have the daggers to work with, but will the arrow’s accumulative mass be enough for you to analyze?” Celestia asked as she began actively infusing her magic into Avarice’s body, trying to fill the void the magic-killing alloy had left in him.

Looking up from the alloy bb giving a smile towards Celestia stating this. “The arrow samples would be fine though careful care must be administered, but for the daggers, we may have to set up a testing lab there to collaborate results versus universal variations before countermeasures can be done, as it will provide me a basis to start with.” F.A.U.S.T stated, and Avarice managed to take a steady breath as Tia’s golden magic filled his empty reserves enough that he wasn’t about to die from shock.

“Y-you mean. Like an.” Avarice took a few more breaths. “Offsite Facility?”

Tilting her features slightly before having the bb of hazardous material be scanned again, giving them a side long glance after a moment. “It would be productive but as the phrase ‘another bag of cats’ may happen if committing to such an action.” Seeming to emphasize on that note of unknowns in such a process having not been done. Yet.

“I’ll fund it!” Avarice volunteered. “We need some serious high-tech firepower and forces over here. These bastards are like shadows, everywhere. They can strike with this alloy at any time. I was just going to see if I could order a battalion of Loaders, but if it means getting a semi-permanent base of operations for Hyperion here, I’m all for it. From what I can tell thus far, from our interactions and word-of-mouth; you guys are on the straight and narrow.”

Celestia perked up, and knew she could help with this. “I’ll provide the land! There’s a small archipelago of islands about...a couple hundred miles out to sea west of Equestria. It takes a long time for our ships from Tall Tale to even reach there, so it’s uncolonized, and the seas are treacherous, so any trespassers would have to have wings to really harass anyone who lives there.”

Blinking at Avarice’s and Celestia’s Eagerness for such a thing to happen, made her look apprehensive about this line of thought now by how her stance positioned. “Thou do realize that this is a bigger long lasting undertaking that could affect, thy WHOLE world for centuries even to come?” Eyeing them both as a parent would holding keys to a brand new badass tank, that could demolish the neighborhood and nearby school if abused.

“Hey, I introduced guns because of a pretty face. I don’t give two shits about altering the course of this world’s history. Causality states that my being here was supposed to diverge this universe’s course of history anyway.” Avarice looked up to the concerned Tia, who continued to cradle the glowing green egg to her bosom with worry. “So, either way, my daughter was going to be born somehow I bet, she just wouldn’t have been MY daughter. Die Leucht STILL would’ve moved on you, I just sped up their plans.”

Tia looked down on her lover, and the egg in her arms and bosom, before letting a hand gently lower to her abdomen. “...I...I’m fine with it. I...I cannot let harm come to my foal….” Tia said with a tear running down her snout at the idea of her unborn dying. She HAD to survive. Her child needed her. “Even if My Little Ponies see me as a selfish warmonger, I will let NOTHING endanger my family!” Tia looked up to her mother...she was her mother, alternate universe or not, and F.A.U.S.T’s expression became filled with shocked awe, she could feel what Tia was feeling towards her. “Mom...please...help me.” Tia’s voice cracked, she was scared, she wanted her mom’s help.

Looking at both of them long enough to have built up tension all riding on her answer, before she looked off screen for a few moments, only for the Robotic Faust to smile softly as she turned back to them. “Thou shalt know my little sunrise, that thou remind us dearly of us. As we too were the same during the Chaos Wars, with Jack’s help we had done so much. Yet lost so much as we gained little, it merely comes down to ‘was it worth it in the end’. Which for personal standing we would do so countless times when Jack had requested help in a similar way to us. But do take note Avarice; Jack has given his answer on this topic and will allow it so long as the responsibility rests on thou as the Foreman, beings that thou are funding it, to ensure it’s continued operation and prevent failure of it’s operations or shut-down if needed.” Glaring at Avarice as if ready to scold him before smiling softly, giving a sly grin with her gaze shifting to Celestia. “Be sure to have thy sister cosign on this after review of a final draft of location and our allotted bill, but for now we will do the preparation phase as required.”

“No prob!” Avarice was better now, Tia’s magic donation having restored him, and he jumped to his feet, bladed tail wagging in excitement as he turned back into a dragon, his wings and arms spread with a cocky grin. “I’ll even provide funding up front! Vagabond!”

The size-shifting clothing golem seemed similarly excited, and approached the beacon before opening himself like a flasher, and a veritable treasure hoard literally dumps out as Vagabond seems to do a backstepping dance routine, getting Avarice to laugh while everyone else gawks at the mounds of gold and silver coins, priceless works of ancient art, and even what seemed like ancient weapons begin to pile around the beacon.

The guards that came with them all gawked in awe of what they were witnessing. After all; wasn’t Faust dead? What sorcery was this? WHERE DID ALL THAT TREASURE COME FROM?! As they had existential criseses, F.A.U.S.T blinked at Avarice again so openly offering wealth. “Is that enough? Need more? I think there’s several tons of gold alone here, not mentioning the silver and ancient relics.”

She just quietly looked at it before returning a flat look, as if quietly stating ‘you are expecting me to sort all of this to the proper value’ kind of face before sighing as the token starts to Digistructing down the currently laid out treasure before mumbling about cleaning up after someone’s missorted payments. “Thou art trying to be coy with us by doing so, correct?” The same flat look upon her face as she redirects her gaze to Celestia seeing how she’s fairing.

Tia had a scroll floating in front of her, writing on it with an inked quill. “I am writing out the terms now mother. Soon enough you’ll-oh!” Tia was interrupted by the egg in her bosom and arms jerking, and making tapping sounds. “A-Avarice! Little Chrysalis is hatching!” Celestia’s wings flared as she seemed to glow with radiance and Avarice spun around as F.A.U.S.T looked on in interest.

“Really?! But she’s only been out of her mother’s womb a couple of days! Then again, the drones hatched almost immediately. Maybe Chrysalis just needed more nurturing.” Avarice mused aloud as he changed into his changeling king form, and hovered in front of Tia who watched the shining egg rock in her bosom, glowing brighter and brighter as the mare practically dumped maternal love into her. ‘Then again, that’s exactly what you’ve been doing.’

In a flash of light, the egg seemed to crack wide open, and a small. sinfully adorable anthro changeling queen foal valiantly pulled herself up to the fresh air. Huffing and puffing her new lungs cutely. She cooed in curiosity, but her slit green eyes shimmered when she locked onto the smiling face of Celestia. *diabeetus-inducingly cute coos and squeals* She was so happy to see the face of her momma, the one who’d been feeding her love for so long.

“Oh~ Little Chryssie~!” Celestia quickly used her magic to help shuck off the empty shell from the newborn foal, revealing that she was indeed touched by Avarice’s Plaga genes, as she had a tail much like his true form’s attached where a pony’s tail usually goes. The bladed appendage was blunt and dull though, she’d probably have to sharpen it when she got older.

Celestia felt a tingle in her bosom, and she knew what that meant. Not caring who saw, she quickly revealed her pink right nipple, and guided the fanged little foal to it, and she quickly began to suckle, being rewarded by warm milk. Tia sighed, feeling so complete in a way she never imagined.

Avarice, however, was having a hard time calming down as a vicious blush turned his chitin shell as red as his flesh. ‘H-holy fuck?! She’s lactating already?!’

{M-mares can induce lactation in themselves simply from giving in to their maternal instincts, and the Princess is a rather maternal mare….} Crescent informed, himself being rather flushed by the scene.

The faint sound of a Digistructed Solar reappeared fully fixed as the first day ‘she’ appeared last night. “Ah, Mistress. If you are breastfeeding, I can aid in such a task.” Solar reminded by hefting her D-cup armored breasts, but Tia simply looked to her Claptrap serenely.

“Not a chance. I’d rather do this myself anytime. Only do it if I’m not around.” Tia said, humming as the hungry little foal filled her empty tummy from the soft, white, G-cup breast.

“Unit Sonata, a word please.” F.A.U.S.T calmly called, but the new parents were too busy to notice, and the robot dragoness approached, having a hushed and excited conversation before Sonata was Digistructed.

A synthetic cough loud enough to hear was given out to grab the excited parent’s attention as the treasure piles were Digistructed, leaving a clear beacon and Sonata missing currently. “We are currently providing complimentary updates to unit Sonata from this side for a short moment. Though we wonder how it feels to nurse another after so long, can the stimuli be described? For those present are likely curious besides thy courted stallion.” Pointing an index servo to the guards providing security.

“It feels amazing. Having my milk flow from my breast, feeding this newborn life. I feel fulfilled, content...so happy.” Tia waxed poetic as she watched the foal stop, and begin to squirm, so she put her over her shoulder and pat her back until she burped cutely. “I do not care for an audience or not. I am content to have done that.” She pulled her dress robe back up over her breast, but the nipple stained the white silk a little as she cradled the now drowsy Chrysalis to her breasts. “Apologies for the interruption mother, but the foals are always first.” Tia said as she magically returned the unfinished scroll and quill to continue writing out the terms.

Avarice grunted, as he tried desperately to let the suppression enchantments keep his libido from exploding. Public place. Tenuously early pregnancy mare. ‘Don’t...give...in...to desire...to...jump!’

{THINK! Hoofball! Cold showers! An ugly as fudge stallion!} Crescent shouted at Avarice in their head.

‘It’s helping! Keep going!’ Avarice replied as he managed to look away, panting and moving his hips, and F.A.U.S.T grinned evilly.

{Fugly as hell giant spider! Being eaten alive! Penis statue!} Crescent added, only for the sound of Digistruction to occur to their side, and Sonata to suddenly press her breasts into his arm with a purr.

“I’ve been updated~....” Sonata growled enticingly and pressed her shaped chassis into his side, which was quite noticeably larger! I-CUPS?! WHY?! “I’ve also been updated; down there~....” Avarice suddenly shot up in size as he transformed back into a dragon, roared with raw bestial need, and picked up the dragoness before taking off, and flying down the cliff to the forest below for privacy. Celestia fumed, looking angrily at her mom.

“Really mom? I understand he’s volatile, and it isn’t a good idea to do such things with him until later, but why give her such an ability?” ‘And arousing him enough to completely outstrip the effects of the arousal suppressing enchantments too….’ Tia looked at her breasts, she’d always been proud of their size, but that dragoness was now easily two sizes larger, not even mentioning their body size difference. ‘At least my pregnancy will make them bigger….’

Giving her a reassuring smile in response to that, looking her straight in the eyes vaguely commenting. “Tis an investment in the future of this realm, though there is still plenty of uncertainty, of which the first draft should be made and viewed by your sister for approval first before proceeding. As again we remind thou, with such a thing cannot be taken back once done as the events here at play worry us.” She finished in a motherly tone looking softly on Celestia as she still stood with a foal in her arms.

“Indeed mom. But it shouldn’t be long before-.”

“SISTER~!” Luna’s distressed voice shouted out in such volume it shook the very mountain they were all on. “WHERE ART THOU?! WE HATH RECEIVED THY MESSAGE OF THIS TRAVESTY!” Luna smashed through the bricked-in balcony of the highest tower of the castle above. “SISTER! ANSWER!”

Chrysalis woke from all the commotion, and began crying, worrying Tia as she tried to calm her down by bouncing her and after failing in that, exposed her breast again, and offered the scared foal her nipple, which she accepted with a sniffle for the comfort. “Luna! The danger has already passed! Now cease using the Royal Tone immediately! You will scare the foal again!”

Luna looked down, and swooped to land before her elder sibling, pausing in awe at the sight of her sister breastfeeding the black buggy foal. “Oh~ sister! She’s so adorable!” Luna squealed as she hovered closer, and Chrysalis stopped suckling to look at the other alicorn, her eyes shimmering as her infantile mind easily drew conclusion, and she giggled as she reached for the armored mare. “May I?”

“Well...I don’t see why not. But remove your armor first sister.” Luna shamelessly disrobed, vanishing her armor with her magic, ending up only being in her white bra and panties as she eagerly took the cooing and giggling changeling queen foal into her arms.

“Hello there! I’m your auntie Luna! We’re going to get along so-AH! N-no need for that!” Luna blushed as the foal easily slipped down her bra, and latched onto her left nipple, making Luna gasp at the sensation as she looked to a smugly smiling Celestia for help she wasn’t about to receive. “D-didn’t she just eat?” Luna shuddered as the foal tried to coax out milk that wasn’t there.

“Changelings are hungry creatures.” F.A.U.S.T intoned with humor while watching Luna quite possibly in a similarly smug manner, drawing the Lunar Goddess’s attention towards where the voice came from, seeing a smiling if sly robotic alicorn hologram from the token they had seen before in the bathroom. “We hope thou ‘knight’ was faring better than thy sister’s?” She asked in a tone of concern towards Luna as her eyes raked over luna’s currently breastfeeding form.

Luna shuddered as her body began to respond to the stimulus, and she looked down to her breasts worrisomely. ‘Oh dear, not even pregnant either.’ “Y-yes mother. In fact, we’ve garbed her in a full set of black armor to make her more intimidating, and she is currently weeding out the spies and members of Die Leucht from our forces. She’s summarily executing those with orichalcum in their possession with her bare hands.” Luna said with a dark grin. “Ripping their heads from their shoulders, often taking a bit of spine with it.” Luna barely noticed in her grim revelry that Chrysalis was getting fussy, and turned around in her cradling arms to start sucking the other boob in hopes it wasn’t as dry too.

“Really sister? Summary execution? I know they deserve no less, but won’t our forces think we’re being extreme?” Tia asked as she kept an eye on the feeding Chrysalis, grinning slightly at seeing a white bead of fluid on Luna’s left dark blue nipple while she finished writing out the long scroll of terms and the allowance of colonization of the isles.

“I agree with Luna in this matter Celestia.” F.A.U.S.T intoned in a familiar if almost a reminiscent Empress standing as if glaring dagger points to something far off out of view. Quite possibly to nail home a harsh truth while being in her own way protective, if not putting more forethought insight of events.

“Yes sister. We must ensure that our enemies, allies, and subjects alike know that blasphemy and treachery are NOT tolerated!” Luna shouted, but Chrysalis didn’t care as she was getting milk from her auntie, letting her yammer on. “Besides, think of the little ones. They grow here in our lands safe, and generally happy from what our public relations scouts inform us. They can’t have such a place to call home if we...we….” Luna trailed off in fear and sadness, looking down at the foal she was feeding, and smiled softly. “We’re needed sister...we can’t take any chances.”

“Indeed.” Celestia affirmed, covering her breast back up again, having forgotten for a bit and levitated the scroll for her sister to review. “Tell me what you think.”

Luna quickly read through it, before taking the quill in her own magic and signing it. “I see no problems here...goodness, how much can she drink?” Luna asked as she felt her freshly produced milk run dry, and Chrysalis get fussy again, so she switched her back to her left breast, which she proceeded to drain too. “Here is the official deed to the Wither Archipelago. Each of them are volcanically active as a warning, especially the smallest isle.”

She started to smile more at that bit of knowledge, looking to the side and moving her mouth as if informing some-being else off screen of the details. Giving a nod in return to whatever was said back, she then turned back to the screen, stating this for both sisters to hear. “When the next time thou are to use the beacon we ask it be done on the largest island first, for it will allow a multitude of actions.” Grinning more from how luna’s acting from the breastfeeding and giving a knowing look to them both, before slightly sighing. “We wish thou both well from where we and our Jack are will be as thou both are here...oh, and one last thing.”

Several dozen areas behind the beacon began Digistructing, and from them stood about thirty Loaders, ten standard Sgt types, ten Bull types, and ten Hot types. “Loaders! You are to protect our daughters from all harm! Listen to their orders, and otherwise remain passive to capture any who dare harm them for questioning! We will have our answers from the horse’s mouth!”

“YES, MOTHER!” All the Loader bots responded in their gritty robotic monotones, and F.A.U.S.T winked at her daughters before the beacon shut down.

The sisters then looked to each other, and then looked down to the dozing and slowly suckling Chrysalis in Luna’s arms. “Want me to take her sister? I’ll inform Avarice of what needs done when he and Sonata...finish up.”

“Yes, she’s already drained me. Elders. Never thought I’d lactate before pregnancy before.” Luna complained lightly before handing the foal over to her sister, and fixing her bra before summing her armor. “Half of you over here, I am going to take you to my base of operations!” Luna called out, the sleeping Chrysalis too tuckered out from the feeding to really register as Celestia watched the Loaders separate into squads of three, one type each, and 10 groups went to follow Luna, their lumbering strides and mechanical whirring and thudding steps rather intimidating as they gathered around Luna. “Be safe sister!”

Luna charged a mass teleport spell, and vanished in a flash of silver-blue light along with the 15 Loaders assigned to her, and the remaining 15 began approaching, one Sgt unit in the lead carefully picking up the beacon, and approaching. “ORDERS MILADY?”

Celestia looked down to the sleeping foal, and grinned. Life was hopefully looking up.

Author's Note

Yet ANOTHER Crossover with the brilliant Architect of Realities's Handsome Jack's Return!

I cannot express just how fun it is to work with Arch, seriously. Oh and what's this? His world's corruption has taken the form of Leon S. Kennedy? Uh-oh~

The Power of Hyperion!

Author's Note

Sorry for the delay, got busy. Two crossovers in a row, whew, I'm tired. As a warning, got a bit out-of-hand this session again, beware raunchiness.

The Crossover with Dox "here" is chronologically before this.

This is the awaited arrival of Hyperion essentially in-force courtesy of Hyperion

No Refunds.

The Power of Hyperion!

Avarice panted, his tongue lolling out as he strained to keep his pace over the ocean and maintain his heading. If he didn't have Crescent, he'd be hopelessly lost. {Avarice, buck, just rest on a cloud! You can stand on them!}

'I refuse to...accept...that!' Avarice barked back mentally, but a sudden downdraft almost knocking him out of the air led him to desperately seek out a nearby cloud which he crashed bodily into, leaving an imprint. 'Huh...hey...this is nice....'

{Ugh, should've LISTENED to me!} Crescent griped. Avarice had been flying west for two days now, and he'd only stopped and rested on the ground below, rather than use the clouds that Crescent kept insisting were viable platforms because shared memories or not; Avarice still clung to some key beliefs of his old world, and one of those was that clouds are just condensed water vapor.

'Well sorry if I'm from a world where magic does not exist, and all of this is more than enough to piss me off.' Avarice replied, feeling silly that he was still hard-headed about some things. Like that time magic smithing with Dox. He was still pissed about how that damn Portal Matrix defied ALL logic of his craft, especially with the instant PERFECT casting. Now here he was, an anthro dragon resting on a cloud. 'Are we there yet?'

{We get there WHEN WE GET THERE! If you'd just take it easy, you wouldn't be so tired. Damn taur-headed idiot, listen to the thestral here huh?}

'Ugh...I just want to get there so I can get Faust to fix Sonata. I don't even want to imagine what kind of danger her chassis could be in.' Avarice then envisioned the poor android's breasts filling with milk until the stress levels of her life-like flesh would give, and the rupture would cause all kinds of feedback, that for all he knew could send her new “nervous system” into shock, causing him to shudder with worry.

{Hey, I'm worried too y'know. You're fucked up you know that? Falling in love with a soul-infused golem. Thanks for that. I feel what you feel too.} Crescent was just baffled how Avarice wore his heart on his sleeve. He willingly gave it to anyone who would accept him, regardless of whether they'd break it or not. {You need to seriously stop sharing your heart with every female who cares...even in some way. Not even that Demir mare doesn't have you imprinted on her.}

'She's off-limits. Friend-zoned. I've placed her on a pedestal. I find her attractive, of course, but I'm happy that she's in a relationship...speaking of which...after this and ensuring Sonata doesn't die, I need to visit her, see how she's doing. Maybe offer her a job with Hyperion if Jack and her own superiors are cool with it. I'm sure she could help come up with cool design theories.' Avarice mused as he idly flapped his wings, scooting the small wild cloud forward in the direction of his heading, and seeing a chance to both progress and rest, continued to lazily flap his wings.

{Hey, there we go! Caught on to the Lay-Z-Colt method. Now just relax, let your reflexes move us forward while you cool down your flight muscles.} Avarice hummed in contention with the idea as he laid prone out on the cloud, sighing in relief as he nuzzled the still locked-out Hyperion Acquisition Beacon.

'I'll just do this for a bit, I'm sure Sonata's managed to find a way to cope until she can be fixed.'

[ $ ]

Sonata was seated in a very comfortable chair in Celestia’s office, relaxing as much as she could. Which was a considerable challenge, considering the damned Q-Cup breasts she was currently sporting under a damn sheet of a baby-blue nightgown practically sitting in her own lap. She groaned in discomfort as she felt her chest continue it's slow but determined pace outward. “It's been two days~! I can't take this much more!”

“I understand Sonata, but Chrysalis is full right now, and we don't have anything that can relieve you more properly.” Celestia placated with sadness at the android's suffering. She'd been milking herself constantly, and after her breasts just got so ridiculously huge, she started personally feeding Chrysalis instead of Tia. It helped, but even Chrysalis's constant hourly intake only managed to slow the dragoness's persistent artificial milk glands. “I mean, you're not the only one.” Since Tia had gone the past two days without breastfeeding, her boobs had kept producing in anticipation of continuing to provide for such a needy foal/foals. Her production wasn't anything to gawk at, but it wasn't so ridiculously drastic as the poor dragoness. She'd gone up a whole size to H-Cup, and felt her glands settle since she hadn't been feeding, so they slowed down.

“Lucky born-alive mare...at least your body understands when to stop.” Nothing Sonata or Solar tried would shut down her malfunctioning artificial glands, and since Solar wasn't programmed for the detail work that Sonata was, she couldn't manually do anything to help other than either help milk her or even feed from her to add to her batteries. Solar's glands were an older model too, so they couldn't even use her software to try and fix Sonata's due to incompatibility that could make things even worse or do nothing at all.

“It is several months travel by hoof and sea, days travel by air. They simply have not yet arrived sister, do not begrudge Foreman Avarice for his tardiness.” Solar stated from her spot next to Tia and the crib holding the napping Chrysalis.

“I know that. It's just...THESE things!” Sonata squeezed each side of her gigantic breasts together, and her engorged areola and nipples gushed milk, soaking the thin nightgown transparent, making her blush in embarrassment with a sigh. “They're such a hassle...I love being huge, but there's a limit...I'd enjoy it if I actually had control over it, but I don't, so it's frustrating rather than pleasant.”

“I completely understand. Going up a size, well, I never thought myself at all short in the chest department, but I'm still quite pleased to see them filling out more.” Tia confirmed she felt similar about her own situation, and Sonata smiled back at the positive mare. Until Luna burst through the doors with a surprise.

“Sister! I...oh.” Luna and Sonata were both gaping at each other, both for the same reason, and Celestia was especially shocked. “Hmph...took my thunder already golem?” Luna was in a great lavish dark blue gown of minotaur make, but it didn't hide her expansive chest, especially since she had shamelessly positioned the front to barely cover any of her great heaving Q-Cup boulders, which on her smaller frame compared to the other two, made them seem even bigger. Actually, scratch that. All three of the office's inhabitants could see she was now easily as tall as Celestia. “And here I thought going through a growth spurt would've tickled my sister pink. You weren't kidding about me being a late bloomer sister. It really explains why I didn't get as tall as you or mother when we had the same sire.”

“AH~! Luna! I'm so happy for you~!” Tia squealed as she flew through the room to gently tackle her younger sister into a hug. “It just took you experiencing the more maternal aspects to wake up those sleeping growth hormones.”

“Or, perhaps Mistress Luna merely is a late bloomer...scans indicate that delayed genetic development was the cause. Hormonal surges unlocked final great period of growth. Previous statement redacted; Mistress Celestia is correct.” Solar supplied from her spot, and Sonata sighed in relief.

'Maybe NOT being the biggest in at least SOME area will be a nice change.' Sonata suddenly felt a rapid dripping into her lap, and growled at feeling her breasts overflow and start growing again. “DAMN IT!”

[ $ ]

It was another day of sailing west on a cloud when Avarice realized something serious. He hadn't eaten or used the restroom for a long time now. He was concerned, but he wasn't hungry, thirsty, or in need to use the facilities. However, his answer came in the form of remembering the...sensation, of interacting with the women in his life, both sexually and platonically. He realized then that he'd actually been passively feeding off of their love for him. He felt so pleased by this he actually started giddily beating his wings to get this set up so he could get back for some loving, either way said loving came to him was fine in his book. He could use some non-sexual interaction.

{Agreed. We've been alone for a few days, we're actually NOT having our head stuck between our thighs, AND we've had plenty of time to think things through. We needed this trip.} Crescent agreed amiably. {Hey! Look down!}

Avarice did, and was extremely happy to see the islands! They were huge, easily like the real Hawaiian Islands from his world. However his joy was suddenly turned to confusion, and fear. “There's...there's a small village down there!”

Avarice was both surprised, and angry. He could see the little mud, branch, and leaf huts slightly inland from the shore of the largest island which was both the furthest south, and east, making it the first one he'd be going to conveniently. {But the Princess said these islands were uninhabited!}

'That's a very, very small village...and there are a lot of small boats down there...they must've just come here from their homeland, seeking a home, like the Polynesian people of my world who left Tahiti...Equestria wasn't supposed to be coming back here for centuries at least if that's the case!' Avarice suddenly felt conflicted...this was these people's new home...but....

{Let's fly to the nearest island besides this one, see if anyone's settled there yet. We'll try and contact Faust, tell her the situation.} Crescent stated, and Avarice felt that it was the most reasonable action to take. He didn't want to take these people's home from them, but Equestria, and so many others needed Hyperion's presence to keep Die Leucht from snuffing out the Goddesses of the Sky.

Flying over the Big Island, feeling the heat from the active volcano still slowly spewing lava down its slopes, Avarice aimed for the second largest island which happened to be the next island. It was, also, ironically, more suitable in his mind despite it being only a quarter the size of the Big Island at most, since it had two smaller volcanoes on the southeast and northwest ends of the island, so that meant more potential access to geothermal energy than the Big Island's big single volcano still actively spewing lava. And then there was the fact that due to the two sources of earth; the island was covered in valleys, especially the massive stretch of land between the two ends of the island.

{There, that flat area near center of the island. It seems a good spot for obvious reasons, we can just move the beacon if they don’t think it’s in a good spot right?} Crescent asked, but Avarice wasn’t sure, he looked at the glowing blue-white beacon he’d been holding for days now, and the warning sign had turned green instead.

‘Well, the beacon finds this place okay. I just hope we can talk to Faust about getting Sonata fixed.’ Before Avarice could set it down, he suddenly found a claw on his shoulder, and he gasped as he span around, and found Vagabond waving at him several paces away, his other glove was still resting on his shoulder. “Don’t, DO that! Where have you been?!”

Vagabond moved his hands about in sign language again, saying “around” but Avarice clearly got it and rolled his eyes.

“Fine, be a smartass. Good thing you’re here, I’m going to need to fetch Sonata in a bit if things go right.” Avarice then stepped up to a nice little upraised section of rock, and set the beacon down. “Hyperion Acquisition Beacon. I have reached a suitable location, but have dire need to speak to someone able to perform emergency maintenance on unit Sonata.”

“Location confirmed suitable. Deploying H.O.M.A.G.E Unit.” The beacon chimed off, digistructing into being an Earth pony Chassis, with a rather gun metal tone of color with grey glowing optics coming to life the moment after the process completed. Wearing a standard Hyperion suit it seemed, which said claptrap looking quite male as for build.

Taking a moment to take in his surroundings the claptrap gave a mocking sigh before fishing out what looked to be a fashionable grey reflecting set of glasses before giving a cursory once over of Avarice. “Hmmm, by first impressions you give off the tone of unprofessionalism. Your stance and possible gaite show that you are clearly stressed over a personal issue, added into the dossier of your personality and likelihood of choices it would pertain to childbearing or current child bearing mates.” He spoke clearly in a dry tone, with what a bored office worker or a psychiatrist would.

Holding up a fine appearance of a robotic hand to continue. “Likely due to said unprofessionalism i will have to instruct you on proper pronunciations to ensure such mistakes are at the least marginally reduced.” Lowering said hand before adjusting his glasses stating this in a emotionless business tone. “This Unit’s line was specifically designed to run most of the future Off-site’s operations, I would be under the acronym name of H.O.M.A.G.E. To which the ‘pun’ of my line’s name is to honor one who is to become my foreman. Which for lacking intelligence would be referred to as; Hyperion, Off-site, Manager, Actuary, General, Enhancement.”

“Yeah, I don’t do mouthfuls, and I don’t do etiquette. If someone wishes to deal with me, they’re going to be on the straight and narrow or I’m not going to pay any attention. So, Homage, no acronyms or lessons on manners; I’m all business right now. You’re right, I am stressed about a couple of things. Firstly, yes, Sonata is pregnant, and the boss lady’s update to her is making her malfunction in awkward and potentially dangerous ways. Secondly.” Avarice then thumbed behind him towards the smoking volcano of the Big Island. “THAT is the promised island for the Offsite Facility, but since these islands have been discovered; someone has already started a village there. I haven’t gotten in close yet, since I don’t know if they’re hostile or not, but I had to set the beacon down sooner rather than later, and this island...fuck it; Valley Island, has two volcanoes instead of just one active one, along with plenty of terrain, so I had to check if it was good for our arrangement.”

Homage lowered his reflective fashionable shades, giving Avarice a long look as lines of code streamed over his grey glowing irises flicking them towards said larger island. A moment later five Jet Loaders were digistructed into existence before turning into their flight mode, flying up to circle the current island as new lines appeared in his sight before starting a holographic image on his now raised palm for Avarice to see the 3D map. “It would seem you are not a mindless meatsack, cautionary approaches often result in favorable odds when encountering a potentially hostile or friendly local populace. For the former I would suggest a strike team to eliminate any soldiers of resistance and for the former without a ready standby force in case it devolves.”

“I doubt I’ll actually need reinforcements unless they’ve got a few squads of soldiers hidden in the trees. Boss Lady must not’ve told you all about me, but seriously; I can’t focus knowing Sonata’s breasts might explode from her new glands constantly filling them faster than she can relieve the pressure. Are you currently able to send her to the Boss Lady?” Avarice asked worriedly, and Homage let out a mock sigh in exasperation.

Giving Avarice a cold hard machine glare, that would normally make anypony wonder if he was killing them with his eyes only to relent as his gaze refocused upon the updating view of the map marking possible deposits of mining materials. “If you bring that glitching unit before me i can correct the errors in a timely manner, though manual draining of fluids will be required to bring them down to preferable cup size. But this is cutting into our schedule for mapping and construction.” Returning that same glare as it shifted to Vagabond, as if prompting him to hurry the action along tapping a digital timer.

Vagabond promptly “appeared” literally within Homage’s space, practically draping over him as his empty ether hood bared down on the impetulant robot. “Know your place, worm.” The almost nonexistent whisper sent a tremor of actual, genuine fear through the otherwise impersonal and professional mech. He should’ve listened to Faust’s warnings about the golem.

“Vagabond, stop antagonizing the steward. We need his help and I don’t want you shooting him in the face or something.” Avarice chided, and Vagabond backed off, his gestures signaling an apology and bashfulness. “Yeah, it’s fine. Just fetch Sonata would you? We need her here if we’re going to get on with things.” ‘It’s been almost a week, I hope she’s-HOLY GARBAGE TRUCK ON A TUESDAY!’

Avarice was gawking in utter shock at the sight of Sonata, and even Homage blinked in surprise, his restrained emotions having a bit of flutter at the unexpected sight. “Well...I can understand your trepidation now.”

“Shut up and fix me!” Sonata screamed, being pinned to the ground by literal boulders of simulated flesh. Her breasts were the size of giant exercise balls, constantly leaking milk from her huge engorged nipples through little metal tubes that had been shoved through her swollen shut nipples. “I can feel my scales trying to split!”

Homage mock sighed once more before recollecting himself, proceeding with an overall scan before his hands begin to split apart into three digits from each robotic finger that were like the hands of those advanced station droids from Star Wars, like mechanical spiders disguised as hands. Awesome, since they were made to rework things. Approaching closer to Sonata, Homage gave Avarice a look before kneeling down and reaching under the pinned dragoness to peel back a hidden compartment connecting to her stomach just beneath the connection point of her breasts. “Hold Unit Sonata still for delicate code adjustment and drainage.”

Avarice was about to move to do so when two of the Jet Loaders suddenly landed roughly on either end of the worried android. The one behind her pinned her legs and tail while the one in front grasped her claws and she could feel it looking at her with a sense of comfort as it squeezed gently. Her cousins were so much more alive than most would consider. “J-just get it over with. I don’t think I can-AH~!” Sonata screamed as stress lines formed on her breasts.

Homage worked one of his extension cables from his dark gray mane into her main spinal network system, the connection of his ‘cold’ presence slipping inside left the feeling of a calculated distant touch as he began a forced reset of her techno-organic mammary glands, releasing the build up through the normal channels of her forced-open nipples and the emergency aux channels in her body that were being used to direct her milk out between her legs giving the appearance of having pissed herself through her groin armor with some even forced from her draconic maw, her gargling at realizing this and began drinking it to gain some power, all the while Homage’s optics were glossed over with lines of code washing downwards over his view. Fixing the error before force testing the results for proper alignment of two cup-sizes larger than factory delivery if pregnant for organic satisfaction.

Within several minutes, Sonata’s breasts shrunk down and the tightening nipples pinched the bronze tubes, but before they could get stuck the Loader that had been holding her hands quickly shot his hands to her nipples and pulled them out, which she grunted in thanks for through her drinking. Soon enough, her breasts were finally reduced down to J cups, and she sighed in relief as the emergency channels stopped moving her milk out, and her nipples returned to normal. “OH~...I NEVER want to do that again...well...maybe not anytime soon….” ‘Mother, being so FULL was a thrill, but never THAT full again.’ “Homage, since you’re in me right now, could you check to make sure nothing else is wrong?”

A flicker of code answered her verbal query that momentarily passed her optics’ vision, continuing with a system wide check even going so far as to diagnose the condition of Sonata’s eggs, earning a prompt into her optics stating there was an irregularity with one egg. With the following message of ‘It is likely a variation due to the earlier coding malfunctions that may bring about errors that need observation if it hatches.’ The IF part sent a chill through Sonata, and she let out a few tears as she sniffled.

After several minutes more of double checking results with Sonata, Homage finally disconnected from her systems before his cable retracted like a snake back up into his mane in a smooth ‘combed’ style. “Diagnostic reports are completed with repairs to coding issues, there is a 23% increase of tail functionality due to a recent update in prehensile ligament operation.”

“Thanks Homage...I...I need to lie down...Vagabond?” Sonata asked, the tears in her eyes worrying Avarice, but she shook her head at him. ‘He doesn’t need to know...not yet….’ Vagabond knew what she was hiding, and decided to help her, he quickly helped her to her feet, and she entered his coat.

“What’s going on? What’s wrong?” Avarice demanded, narrowing his glowing red dragon eyes at Homage as the Earth Pony Claptrap regarded him in that same clinically cold look.

Taking off his fashionable shade, looking down at them for a moment as his response gave out seemed odd enough. “Due to the particulars and other pressing issues at hand, it may be advised that vital setup begins as delays in such action will leave us vulnerable. But for when matters at hand are taken care of; seek counsel with your Companion Unit Sonata for when she is ready.” The slight glimmer of sympathy shown in those dull gray glowing eyes died out before the shades in hand are opened up and placed onto his muzzle again. Showing the completed scan of the island before shooing the lingering Jet Bots to the Largest island to scan it.

“...Whatever. Doctor-patient confidentiality applies here I guess. Alright, let’s get this going. I’ll approach the islanders when you’ve finished scanning and decide which island is better for the facility. Need to let our neighbors, and potential employees/customers know we’re setting up shop.” Avarice dismissed, still worried but not overly so. Sonata was probably just so relieved at not dying or something from her boobs exploding. That would’ve been a terrible and embarrassing way to go.

A robotic brow rose watching Avarice and Vagabond in kind, pointing to three key locations of interest besides the volcanoes in question. “The island we are currently on is fairly stable even with doubled the risk of active volcano runoff depending on activity and direction of common runoffs. Secondly there is fertile ground on the far end relatively close to the shore which would be ideal for beach-front property as well, thirdly would be that this valley is the ‘hub’ line for walking travel to either end of this island with elevated transport shipping elevators to act between here and either volcano if properly built into will provide geothermal power and make a natural high heat forge.” Pointing out the digital interiors of each volcano and plausible construction reinforcement for emergency run-off like a dam would.

“So, so far Valley Island sounds like a good place for the facility. Big Island is really mountainous though, so we’ll see what the Loaders have to say when they get back.” Avarice commented as he looked behind him, and sighed at seeing Vagabond off somewhere again. ‘Damn it, why can’t he just stick around?’

The 3D image starts to get larger as a vague outline being filled in of the several times larger main neighboring island comes into view though one of the first areas was said mud village upon it due to possible threats. “This settlement is fairly new and lacking any sort of permanence of yet, if desired they could be easily pushed off for uninterrupted operations for the short and long run period of risk management.” Giving a cold calculating look an advisor to a dictatorship would offer besides the unsaid enslaving populus if desired by said foreman.

“Yeah, they must’ve come here from their homeland. Probably fleeing war, famine, or whatnot. I don’t want to have to make them leave if we don’t have to, and if we do, I’d rather use Vagabond to transport them to Equestria. Otherwise, let’s not jump the gun, we might have a local labor force we can hire. Never squander resources if available. Loaders are nice and all, but they’re big. Judging from the size of the huts, they’re about the size of ponies, so having them for farmers, fishers, and miners would be a benefit, especially with the volatile volcanic nature of these islands.” Avarice deduced

Homage doesn’t seem to give any sort of visible reaction, that’s as if he’s well schooled in the art or well facial poker styled face. “Due to lack of proper facilities, that would be the case though if this island is to be Designated the ‘Hyperion Proper’ or Headquarters, depending on distances a Proper bridge could be constructed or regular air travel by airship if Hyperion grade vessels would be allotted. Caution should be advised that at this time none can be made until proper facilities are created.” Checking the Holographic map again, marking pinged responses with their proper names as they start to be colored as for what metals or stone being found.

“Then focusing on the chosen island for the HQ is the obvious choice. Build up, and then build out. But relations with the local’s can’t wait for a full setup. Let’s see what your scouts say and then we’ll decide.” Avarice responded.

Homage seemed to perk up at that and a now visible H symbol was floating over the current idea he and Avarice were on showing the pinging of the Beacon’s location hovering a finger over said H Symbol. “Is this the final choice before initializing? Also what would be aesthetic style be prefered, covert or obvious?” He stated with what looked like a maniacal smirk now turning vicious, with him showing a now completed map rotating between this island and the larger one with the locals on it, showing a rather small if detailed view.

“Hm...yeah. Don’t want to have to clear a plot of flatland out of the forest, that’d take too long. We’d be best off right here. Valley Island has plenty of resources to start with, and once we get going, starting a system for a mining facility on Big Island wouldn’t be too hard. A hasty man would just say plant the HQ on the ‘big-money’ island, but no. We need sustainability here. That volcano over there could erupt explosively for all we know, even if it’s the slower, oozing kind, and these two here are nearly dormant, so tapping them would be the wise thing to do.” Avarice concluded gesturing for Homage to continue.

The once cynical looking Homage had a riled up cable mane and tail, synthetically laughing out like a mad pony before pressing the said H symbol hovering over this current island. Only for the map to show a large portal of some sort opening up above them as Homage clearly took a large step closer to the said beacon in question. “You better follow suit unless your organic desire is to become fertilizer as the first day being the Foreman.” His gaze had shifted upward as the sky rippled, a literal hole to what looked like SPACE appeared with what looked like Jack’s Moon Base firing multiple shots towards this direction.

“...Fucking awesome.” Avarice commented calmly, and opened his wings before giving a mighty flap, launching himself back next to Homage in the safety zone of the beacon. “That, is badass. Launching orbital bombardments across reality. Does Jack realize he has maybe one of the most OP things among the Displaced?”

{THESE CRAZY THINGS CAN CALL LUNA’S WRATH DOWN ON US?! PRAISE TO THE MOON GODDESS!} Crescent screamed in Avarice’s head, he ignored it though, but couldn’t avoid feeling the same way with a similarly manic grin to Homage’s on his maw now.

Homage took a glance down at his digital clock frowning slightly before saying this gazing back up to enjoy the sight as the first shot ripped through said hole, giving now an auditable roar of air resistance impacting it’s path only to collide with one of the cliff edges nearest them with some rocks flying by in huge chunks from the speeds of impact. “You had delayed operational start by at least 47 minutes 35 seconds for the record.”

“Shut the fuck up and enjoy this would you.” Avarice ordered. Not asked; ordered. His flippantly dismissive tone and the fact he didn’t look away from the portal cemented this, and Homage sighed. Avarice was going to be an interesting man to work under. “Besides, there is no actual schedule. I don’t think it’s reasonable to put a timetable on something with so many unknown variables. Faust knows this, you should too. It’s illogical to try and force things through a certain timeframe if you don’t have enough variables contained. Sonata was one such variable. You didn’t account for her. So; fuck your timetable. You don’t get to make them until you have a contained environment to set them to.”

Homage for once gave a true irritated response by a grinding eye twitch as if trying to deny that response, perhaps it would feed into what Avarice was just speaking about or squealed irrationality of it though he kept quiet watching the display of Mother F.A.U.S.T.’s work in delivering the starting materials/equipment with starting loaders. ‘At least he can give orders when he is prodded, let us adjust projections from arrival to basic setup for operation schedules to start.’ Homage considered as the next shot passed through the portal.

[ $ ]

“AH~!” Luna squealed in raw pleasure, gripping the arms of the cozy red velvet chair in Celestia’s office, her engorged stiff nipples squirting milk with each extreme reaction. “Why am I OH~!” Luna humped a bit, panting as her lap-touching Q-cup breasts bounced and heaved with each breath.

“Luna, just WHY are you orgasming?!” Celestia asked in shock as she stood in front of her, having just welcomed Sonata back and helping her into a new nightgown, since her breasts were still too big to fit into her armor chassis, she’d have to reshape it later. They both flinched as Luna squealed in a fourth orgasm, she actually peed herself that time.

“I don’t know~! It’s just HAPPENING~!” Luna screamed, her tongue lolling out as her eyes glazed over in a fifth climax, her breasts practically drooling milk down her robes.

“Th-they’re doing the Facility right now, and Hyperion delivers those kinds of things by-.” Luna screamed in ecstasy from a sixth spike of mind-numbing pleasure as her back thrust herself out of the seat, her breasts wobbling as her pelvis shuddered into the air, her drooling dark blue velvety snatch utterly engorged and clenching onto her exposed underwear. “Moon shot.”

“M-mother is using my MOOOOOOON~?!” Luna squirted from her vagina this time in a seventh climax, her underwear was already wet before, now it was transparent. She was losing her mind, and her tongue was lolling out of her mouth.

“Yes. Hyperion’s main base of-.” Sonata was interrupted again by another scream of rapture from the Lunar Goddess, as said mare went limp and slipped out of the seat onto the floor in a panting a heaving mess as she weathered an eighth orgasm. “Operations is on our world’s moon.”

“AH FUCK ME~!” Luna screamed a ninth struck her, and she began rubbing her groin desperately into the chair. While she is experiencing rapture, the fact that it was without penetration was frustrating as all hell. “YES~! YES~!” Luna screamed as her breasts rubbed into the carpet, staining them with milk as she experienced a tenth and eleventh sensation of peaking. “SISTER~!”

“Luna, what can I-AH!” Celestia suddenly found herself yanked to the floor by Luna’s hasty magic, and was being kissed desperately by her sister who screamed into her mouth as she was rocked by a twelfth hit, and Sonata was blushing at the scene before Luna stopped kissing her sister and pushed her onto her back to get to her groin, she wasn’t going to be the only one getting pleasure! “S-sister don’t-mm~!” Tia’s protests were silenced by Luna ripping her sister’s panties aside with ferocity and began thrusting her long tongue into her as she was struck by a thirteenth orgasm.

“Mother...good gosh….” Sonata was extremely interested in the exposed and gushing twat of the raised ass of Luna, and Sonata saw a prompt come up on her HUD, and blushed even fiercer at realizing what one of the updates to her tail entailed. ‘Homage, you secret pervert….’ Luna squealed into Tia’s pussy from her fourteenth climax, and she turned her glazed eyes back at Sonata, and humped her rump back towards her, and Sonata swallowed as she realized what Luna wanted. “H-here c-comes th-the...the dragon tail.”

Sonata quickly knelt, grabbed Luna’s ass, ripped off the soaked panties with her sharp teeth, and her tail quickly shot from behind her, and plunged into the lust-addled mare’s swollen cunt, making her clench instantly in orgasm, and the updated nerve endings in her tail made Sonata shout in pleasure too as yet another clench and squeal from Luna confirmed yet another climax, that’d be number sixteen.

Sonata rapidly drove Luna with her tail, drooling and panting in response to her arousal as Luna was driven to four more orgasms, only one of them being from being plowed by the dragoness’s tail. On the twentieth and last one, Luna drove her sister into orgasming herself, and Sonata joined their chorus with her own climax. They stayed stiff for a few moments, before all collapsing together, coated in sweat, female semen, and milk.

They all conked out then on the floor, with a crying Chrysalis in the corner, who was woken up from all the screaming. Solar, who watched impassively from next to Chrysalis, sighed before she removed her breastplate and then her chassis chest armor to feed the frightened foal.

[ $ ]

“For some reason, I feel like I seriously missed out on something incredible right now.” Avarice commented suddenly, looking east towards Equestria.

Homage gave Avarice a flat look as he was doing inventory to see if everything matched up, having bots initialize and opening the container doors normally, except one that was jammed. Tapping away at a holographic display proved the response what he was doing when one of the containers literally exploded open as a two story tall smaller ‘Saturn’ version walked out while unceremoniously kicking debris aside to stride quickly up to both Avarice and Homage. “Well you are the first to experience the sight of Saturn’s Cousin bot, the Mar’s unit.”

Avarice was impressed, looking up at the 25 foot tall rust-orange death machine was sobering. He was so used to looking down at others from being in his dragon form for so long that looking UP at someone was rather new. “We warrant a Mars Loader? I know Die Leucht has that OP orichalcum alloy, but do we really need something this badass?”

Homage simply gave a mock raised eyebrow before commanding Mars by prompt to a higher defensible location for now, as the Con Loaders start organizing the supplies closer to the beacon’s location and breaking down the containers to add onto that said pile. “That is correct, also investment in such a first venture required a show of trust to ‘give’ an adequate area defender of skilled deployment.” Homage looked back down at the tally before offhandedly asking an earlier question. “You didn’t specify if the Build should be Covert or Obvious.”

“Meh, I don’t care. Be Obvious if the construction is easier. We’re not going to be able to hide anyway. There’s nothing else here. Besides, when I played Borderlands 2, I always found Hyperion’s oppressive raw presence and how they’ve so blatantly just tore everything apart for their own ends was both frustrating, and awe inspiring.” Avarice replied, looking east again. ‘I swear, something really awesome is happening without me!’

Homage nodded before directing the build process, giving Avarice a ‘general’ time frame of basic completion of initial infrastructure and main building before taming the valley. “It will likely take a continuous week dependant of time variations to complete initial setup before more Loaders can be constructed, by that time the start of a Three layer shield will keep most of the basic hostile elements out. Par any angered sun goddess assault it would last a continuous assault for three months if lacking solar channeling and geothermal sources. “ Even giving off the actuary numbers for chances of aerial assault likelihood before vessel production began.

“That’s great! And with Vagabond, I can now come and go from here as I’m needed. I’ll check in regularly, so don’t worry, I’ll try to have time for you every morning, or whenever is convenient for you. For right now though...I’ve got to explain to those locals on that island why the moon just rained fury on this island.” Avarice informed before considering it, and burst into green flame before appearing in his thestral form. ‘Okay Crescent, you know anything about approaching new people?’

{My marefriend had to drag me into her home and fuck my brains out to realize she was interested, I don’t think I’m the pony to talk to about speaking to others.}

‘Noted….’ “Any tips Homage? Don’t want to have a fight on my hands.” Avarice asked his Number 2.

Homage gave what was looking to be a normal reaction of a ‘flat’ look, before mock sighing. “It would depend on the SPECIES that is there, from Jet Bot images they appear to be zebras. Confirm whom is likely a chief or chieftess that leads them, do not point out about their possible religious or voodoo cultural practices and oddly enough for Jack’s world do not introduce coffee.” Giving a oddly raised eyebrow reaction.

“Why not? I don’t think even Equestria has coffee yet.” Avarice asked.

“Because, coffee’s high caffeine and various other contents somehow combine to make zebras, at least from Jack’s world, become acutely energetic, twitchy, and have even used it as a combat stimulant.” Homage suddenly felt exasperation at seeing Avarice’s face become synonymous with a “meme” that Faust had mentioned once called a troll face. “You’re going to anyway aren’t you?”

“You shouldn’t have mentioned that~.” Avarice sing-songed as he span around, his long ginger hair and tail unintentionally flicking Homage before he took off flying for the Big Island, and Homage sighed.

“My new Foreman is such a hassle, at least I could get the construction underway without too much interruption.” Looking at the Hyperion Acquisition Beacon and giving a sigh, as he started efficiently organizing the teams to start digging out a three sublevel design that he holds holographically projected. While in a nearby distance a quickly lumbering Mar’s Unit looks back before giving a shake of it’s camera before continuing the ascent to a defendable location from the skies. The best spot being indicated as the top of the near-dormant southeast volcano, at least until a proper defense platform could be constructed.

Odd Meetings, Cultural Differences.

The flight over the short stretch of ocean from Valley Island to Big Island felt so much longer to Avarice as a thestral instead of a dragon. Sure, he was faster, but his smaller wings required more effort to get a similar speed going. Yet ironically, he knew both from how his flight was doing and from Crescent's knowledge that he could go even faster due to his more compact form and flight muscles, but he wasn't willing to test that right now over potentially shark-infested waters. {Wuss.}

'Fuck off flycolt! If you want us to get there sooner why don't YOU take the wheel?'

{Finally! Thought you'd never ask!} Avarice felt the detachment of giving up control of his body, and Crescent grinned devilishly. “Prepare for a badass display of epic flight mastery! There's a reason I was one of Die Leucht's messengers!” The former bag-holder of the shadow organization suddenly dive-bombed right towards the water, making Avarice scream in terror in their mind, but Crescent just laughed wildly before suddenly pulling up at an impossible 90 degree angle just feet from the water, causing the rippling ocean to buckle under the air pressure he brought down on it, and begin rising in a trail as if he was actually physically touching the water instead of masterfully speeding along it, a cone of air resistance forming over the front of him.

{HOLY SHIT! Is that what I think it is?!}

'Y-yeah! But I've never been able to break it! I'll just have to be content with sub-sonic speed until I can finally break that barrier!' Crescent thought back, remaining focused with steely resolve to maintain a balance between his continuous speed forward, and avoiding giving in or trying to breach the cone, as it would've just sent him spinning into dangerous waters, and there's no getting out of water once your wings get wet, not even bat-like wings avoid getting too heavy from being soaked. 'If your pal Vagabond hadn't shot me before getting going, I would've been gone before you could even begin chasing us on the ground.'

{Damn, son...you could've been one of the most famous-.}

'I know....' Crescent thought back sadly, wishing he hadn't joined Die Leucht at all...lost his marefriend...died.... He couldn't avoid the tears, and decided to consider it the wind's fault for hurting his eyes, and pulled up away from the water to shoot up the cliff of Big Island they'd been flying towards, before landing at the top of it, and panting as he put his hands on his knees, his wings burning as they flapped slowly to avoid cramping while he cooled down. 'And that's why I didn't fly us here from Equestria. I'm a sprinter. We wouldn't have gotten here any faster if I'd done it. Mostly my speed was used to escape patrols or evade them entirely.'

{Great to know. At least-DODGE!} Avarice screamed into their head, and Crescent saw the image of a spear stabbing through his head, and he jolted to the side just as a stone-headed spear shot from the foliage, barely missing his head and shearing off a good portion of his long mane. {Jump!} Crescent complied with a flap of his wings, and a couple of stone and twine bolas flew past were his feet were, but he was then suddenly tackled out of the air by a swift shadow he could barely see come from the treeline, and grunted in pain upon landing as he was instantly pinned, and had a sharp obsidian-bladed wood dagger pressed lightly to his throat, still easily slicing his skin due to obsidian's molecular sharpness.

“------! –-----!!!” Neither of them could understand her. They watched her furless lips move, they watched as her black-muzzled gorgeous face twisted into a snarl, until she blinked her bright green eyes at realizing his confused expression. “------?” Again, they couldn't understand her, the words too fast, fluid, and oddly sensuously sexy in the way her femininely deep voice ran over the odd language.

{I...think she's speaking Hawaiian! But there's no way in hell I can understand her! Why didn't Homage give us a translator?!} Avarice lamented before Crescent's eyes naturally drew down to the rest of her, how her black striped white chest melons the size of large cantaloupes were barely contained within a sort of leafy bra, and how the black stripes running down her white body seemed to help emphasize her muscular curves, and ended on how her pelvis was planted on their abs, making them blush at how she wore a thong made of plant fibers, not really hiding anything of her black-fleshed nethers considering the straddled pose she took to pin him. {How do we keep ending up in these sort of situations?}

Although they couldn't verbally understand one another, the mare blushed at realizing he was examining her, and could feel a bit of a rise in his sheathe beneath his pants between her large, luscious buttocks, her long tail twitched at being so complimented. “------.” She said something again, but Crescent sighed before shaking his head with a shrug, hoping that communicated that he couldn't understand.

The zebra mare with the long, flowing black-and-white striped mane and tail frowned, before reaching into her satchel, which he had just noticed she had hanging off her side, and pulling out a small book that seemed made of bark, twine and leaves. She looked at him hesitantly before pulling the dagger away a bit, and Crescent nodded before keeping his arms at his sides, and she sheathed her sharp dagger in a resin-cured banana-leaf holster on her muscularly thick right thigh. She then quickly flipped through the pages, looking for something, before taking a couple of small glass bottles corked by resin stoppers that were filled with different colored fluids of varying opacity.

She then took a red, white, and yellow trio of vials before putting the rest away, held them in a loose fist, and closed her eyes before chanting in her native language, and a green glow emitted from her hand, making the stallion look at it in awe, seeing someone besides a unicorn or alicorn using magic so clearly was amazing, and when she opened her hand again, the vials were all glowing their respective colors. She smiled at her apparently successful spell, and then broke open the tops of them before putting them all in her mouth.

She grimaced at the taste, but kept each one in her mouth, swishing them about, and even gargling a bit, before she grabbed his muzzle, and quickly leaned down to kiss him. It wasn't really an intimate thing right away though. She quickly pushed her tongue through his lips, and forced the disgusting cocktail of fluids into his mouth. He grunted in protest, but she quickly put a hand to his throat and massaged it, making him swallow on reflex. After swallowing, the trio of mixed fluids created a tingling sensation running from his lips all the way to his stomach. Despite the horrible flavor, it was oddly enjoyable.

It wasn't for a few moments later that he realized he was hugging the mare and kissing her vigorously, and she was gladly returning the kiss until she sensed him coming to his senses, and she released him, both panting a bit. [Can you understand me now?]

Crescent gawked up at the smirking mare. [Y-yes I can!] 'We're speaking her language?! What sort of magic is this?'

{Very convenient magic. At least, aside from the fact she had to use those potions as a medium.}

[Then answer me this Sky Stallion; why has the moon thundered it's wrath upon that island?] The zebra mare demanded as she pointed over Crescent's head to Valley Island.

{Switch with me, sadly; I seem to be the one with better people skills.} Crescent eagerly swapped with Avarice, and he nodded to her. [Ironically; that's exactly why I was coming here. I don't appreciate almost having my head speared on approach though.] Avarice bit, and the mare grinned cheekily.

[If you hadn't dodged, you would not have been worth my time, regardless of your intent.] Avarice blushed when her tail whipped his groin, and she leaned back a bit, letting her thick, juicy rump press down on his groin as she looked down between her orbs at him with a hooded gaze. [Not many stallions in the tribe can manage such a feat as to evade a sneak attack of that skill, in spite of their training. You have impressed this mare. Not to mention that you are quite...exotic.]

Avarice grunted as his lower abdomen clenched, and his groin tried to become even more known, tenting his pants a bit between her butt cheeks. 'Gotta...hold in...arousal!' Avarice strained, and flared his magic into his thong, pants, and signet ring, each shimmering before he panted at calming down, his painfully powerful desire fading fast, and the mare blinked in surprise at feeling his stallionhood shrink away from her rear. [Do not...test me. I am cursed with extreme virility and fertility. Any female I lay with will doubtlessly become pregnant with many foals at once.]

[And that is a bad thing?] The exotic mare asked in confusion. [Such a male would be idolized as an avatar of our Fertility Goddess; Haumea, granting mares the joy of such bountiful life. Why is that bad?]

[You have to ask? I already have mates, one is currently pregnant with six foals, the other seven. They will grow to be massive, and have so much responsibility laid upon them for my negligence.] Avarice bemoaned, and the mare's confused face softened greatly into one of understanding and having been pleased by his answer.

[So rare...a stallion who considers others so much over himself and his duties. Quite a catch I have made.] She licked her lips, before leaning down and licking his snout, making him perk at the intimate gesture that was just short of outright kissing. [I am Zerona; huntress and scout of my tribe, also amateur alchemist. It is a great pleasure to meet you Sky Stallion.]

[My name is Avarice fair Zerona.] They smiled at each other, and Avarice looked down to where her groin was planted on his lower abdomen. [Not that I do not enjoy our proximity, but might you let me up?]

[Why? I quite enjoy my current seat.] Zerona teased, grinding her lower lips into his abs, and he sighed.

'Why do we always get into these situations?'

[ $ ]

After managing to finally get Zerona to politely let him up, refusing her advances for the stated reason of not wanting to burden her; Zerona begrudgingly led him through the forest rather than let him fly her, saying she would've gladly let him fly her home if he would've granted her the favor of a roll in the hay, but since he refused; his punishment was to hoof it there with her. [I'm not saying I would never mate with you, just...I...I don't want my heart broken.] Avarice tried to explain. [I've already lost my first mare Ichor, and possibly my second mare Sharp to my enemies. My third mare Tia is constantly being targeted by them, and my fourth, Sonata is...special. If I mated with you, I couldn't simply leave you be and expect you to be safe. I'd need you at least under as much heavy guard as them or I'd be all nerves over you and our foals.]

[It is fine, you need not explain further. You have many enemies, I understand, but you're the first stallion who has caught my eye, and I am not one to simply let things go.] Zerona huffed, looking back at him as she trekked down a hill ahead of him. She was barely Avarice's current thestral/pegasus height of about 6 feet, and looking at her in profile allowed him to see that if not for her large chest melons, she'd be too bottom-heavy to comfortably function with wide child-bearing hips, and her glorious booty and thighs that easily rivaled Sharp. [Besides, I see how you gaze on my form. You desire me just as much as I desire you. I'd gladly accept your gift of foals, so I just cannot understand why not if you can guarantee my safety.]

[I'm trying to say that I cannot guarantee it, at least not yet. Most of that's why I'm here in fact. I need to speak with your people of my organization's operations in the area, and the potential of hiring equines from your tribe to help us with our work, for pay of course.] Avarice was suddenly stopped by a hand on his chest, and blinked, wondering when she'd gotten so close as she looked him in the eyes searchingly.

[...Hm...I do not sense deception...but then again, you might simply be under the illusion that your group is altruistic in their intent. Know this; zebras have promised such things in the past, and it has never ended well.] Zerona warned before she turned back around, flicking him in the face with her tail before continuing on, and he snorted with a grunt at suppressing the arousal that sparked.

'Damn it mare....' Avarice continued to follow his escort, not wanting a repeat of earlier. He severely underestimated these zebra's combat prowess, and he'd rather not actually have a spear put through his head. Meanwhile, Zerona ensured he got a show, obviously emphasizing her wide, sexy hips with her gait, flicking her tail in time with her strides to emphasize her rear further, and tease him with glimpses of her uncovered behind, beings her thong only served to cover her nethers, and was really IN her large bum's crack, meaning she might as well have been naked from behind. 'Most, frustrating walk, ever.'

[Oh, a banana.] Zerona said, drawing his attention upwards to see a banana tree leaning over the edge of a sharp little hill to the side, and then he looked back down only to gag and blush as she purposely bent over at her hips, legs spread a little, tail moved aside, thereby presenting herself to him in the traditional fashion. If it were not for his enchantments and her wearing a barely-effective thong, he would've grabbed her ass and fucked her right then, repercussions be damned. [Hm? What is it that has you so flustered Avarice?] He looked past her displayed ass to see her sensuously sucking on a ripe and mushy peeled banana, pushing it into her mouth so deep it vanished, before she actually swallowed it whole with no trouble, licking her lips. [You look tense.]

{FUCK HER NOW! I DEMAND IT!}

Zerona yelped as she was suddenly pounced on, and they tumbled for a few moments until they reached a flat piece, and she hissed in pain from numerous scrapes, but gasped at feeling two hands grasp her breasts, and opened her eyes to see the glazed, hungry green eyes of the stallion she'd been using such shameless seduction into getting to bed her. [You'd better be ready for the consequences!]

Zerona beamed in victory, before grabbing his face. [Oh I am!] Zerona shouted in glee, before yanking his head down and getting lost in a searing kiss.

[ $ ]

Zerona strode forward on unsteady legs, dirty, her hair and coat mussed and ratty. Naked. Her clothes were ruined in the rough and passionate melee, exposing her swollen black lower lips and equally dark nipples. But her face sported a proud and victorious grin. Damn she had fun. [We're almost there my mate. Then we can get clean, and speak with the chieftain of your aims.]

Avarice was in a similar disheveled state. That mare is an animal! His clothes only survived their abuse and literally being ripped off by her due to their powerful self-repairing nature. He wasn't sure how many times they went at it, but that was the first time recently since his enslavement that he could actually remember and enjoy the intimate act of physically joining with another while so deep in a rut. It must've been the ring. He didn't lose it this time, so maybe it kept him aware, even if he couldn't control himself by that point. All he did know for sure of their passionate session was the time-frame afterwards. He was so focused on pleasing Zerona that he didn't even notice the sky getting darker, but she swore the island had no dangerous predators. She was a huntress in discipline only, as since her tribe arrived here a few years ago; they've never had to hunt to protect themselves or occasionally satisfy their odd craving for meat, which was easily met by fish.

[And you're sure me plowing you won't negatively impact first impressions?] Avarice asked again. He was still confused by her insistence that it was otherwise.

[For the last time; yes! Me presenting myself to you will actually give you more leeway with my people. We are an amorous people, believing strongly in love, passion, and the beauty of life and fertility. While us warriors are more disciplined than the average tribal, we too have that same drive. You interested me the moment I saw you, and the way my heart and my loins burned at the sight of you, I was going to have my way with you; one way or the other~.] Zerona declared, getting Avarice to sigh, kinda wishing she “took” what she wanted, his time with Sharp reminding him how much he enjoyed Sadomasochism.

[Okay, but I'm just a bit worried about-.]

[Ah~! Zerona! You finally picked a mate?!] The sound of a smooth male voice called from up ahead, drawing their attention away from each other to an impressively tall and bulky 8-foot zebra stallion wearing nothing but a leafy groin wrap, some shells as a necklace and holding a spear even taller than him. The massive size difference was a huge call away from the lack of height difference in sexes Avarice had seen before, so he was wondering if this stallion was a special case.

[Yes, indeed I have Zekkino. And a truly impressive and fertile lover he is.] Zerona boasted, cheekily smiling back at the sheepishly smiling Avarice who pinned his ears back at being teased at such a sensitive topic, but the large stallion simply laughed in response, as if it was a normal thing.

[That is good to hear! Does this odd stallion have news of the moon's wrath?] Zekkino asked as he eyed Avarice searchingly, and seemed to be satisfied as he grinned at him. [You treat Zerona right, hear? She's been avoiding courtship for years.]

[I don't see why; she is as beautiful as the most radiant beings of this world. I wouldn't have been surprised if she had a whole herd of stallions at her beck and call.] Avarice joked, getting Zerona to blush and cover her nipples and groin from Zekkino, who laughed just as boisterously as before.

[Oh, she did! Most of us single stallions were constantly seeking her affections for years, but she never chose one of us. I am glad that she at least found someone. Knowing that said stallion turned out not to be a zebra leads me to believe had we not had to leave Zebrica, she might have found her love in a gazelle, or even a giraffe.] Zekkino's voice became wistful mentioning this place called Zebrica, and Zerona looked similarly saddened.

[We do not speak of that place Zekkino. It is in the past. The Big Island is our home now.] Zerona sternly stated, and the morose stallion nodded, before gesturing them past him with his head, and she nodded before gesturing for Avarice to continue following her, and when out of sight, she ceased covering herself. [Zekkino was perhaps, the male closest to earning my affection. But it was always tenuous, and I never felt...IT, with him, like I did upon just seeing you.]

[Your tribe...I will have to learn it's history if I am to understand your oddly open customs involving your bodies, sex, and relationships. I mean; you bore yourself before that guy back there like it was nothing before he mentioned you being such a tease.] Avarice commented, and Zerona blushed before again covering herself fruitlessly, but stopped when she remembered the only one around was her new mate.

[It is...a cultural thing I suppose. Nudity is accepted, but it is considered embarrassing to be called out on it by someone who clearly holds affection for said nude zebra. Especially in public or by one's own mate. Please do not tease me about it beyond how fun our time together was. Comments regarding congratulations however are common, so I am not ashamed to be bare as the day I was born, being accompanied by my stallion.] Zerona said before surprising Avarice by whirling around, grabbing his shoulders and pulling him into a kiss, curling a leg as she leaned into him, and he grunted as he closed his eyes and returned the kiss with a hug, and trailed a hand down to her tail to tug it, making her moan a little.

[Couldn't you make it to your hut before having another go?] An old stallion's voice injected, getting their eyes to snap open and pull apart a bit to see a smirking and diminutive old zebra stallion draped in all sorts of hemp cloth, dyed with what pigments could be harvested from nature. That being said; a lot. It was like he was more a pile of tie-dyed cloth than a stallion.

[A-ah, chieftain Zen, I did not expect you to be out so late....] Zerona said nervously as she reluctantly let go of Avarice to stand exposed before her tribe leader, who merely cackled lightly with mirth.

[Oh, don't mind this old nag my young scout. Just gazing upon the early stars for guidance. It is merely to my pleasure to see one of my tribe returning home from the jungle safely, and with a new male in tow, one with wings. Did he come from the sky dear?] Zen asked, his dull and fading glassy eyes looking up at her with a wrinkled and gentle smile. Avarice felt...depressed at the sight of him. Reminded him of his grandpa....

[In a way Chief. He brings an offer from the group that had wrought such a fury on Valley Island-wait....] Zerona's eyes widened upon realizing the building facts. [Zekkino is standing guard...we've never had our warriors posted so far from the border of the village before. What do you mean by returning safely Chief?]

Zen looked sad, before he turned and gestured for them to follow. [It is unorthodox to meet with you in such a state of undress, but I feel I must show you what has come of poor Zoole.] Zen trudged along the barely-beaten path, and Avarice had the feeling that Zen knew they were coming somehow. He had a similar presence to him as the Royal Sisters, at least in raw essence. Just how powerful was the shrunken old nag?

{He feels like Star Swirl....} Crescent commented in awe as they continued into the village, remembering seeing the archmage once in public when he was a colt.

'It makes me wonder just how many forms of magic are available to this world. Unicorns and alicorns can harness it directly, horse mystics can bend the physical realm to their will through mediums and mysticism, and we witnessed Zerona using potions as a medium, which she called alchemy...we've got to multi-class, this world's too magical.' Avarice groused, finally understanding that relying entirely on brute force and technology would likely get him killed in a world steeped in magic.

Zen stopped outside of a hut next to what seemed to be a crematorium of sorts, and looked to us. [Beware young ones. What you will see is truly gruesome. Zerona. I know Zoole was a friend, but I refuse to let you leave this village for vengeance, do you understand?] Zen demanded, making Zerona grimace, before she wilted, and bowed her head in submission to her chief's will. [Good. You will see why I forbid such an action when you see the corpse.]

Zen then moved the large palm leaf “door” aside, and entered, them following. 'Good...Gog....' Zerona practically burst into tears and fell to her knees when she saw what remained of who was apparently a friend. Zoole had been a stallion, what remained of him suggested he was of average build like Avarice was right now. But that didn't matter anymore. What did matter, was the gruesome state his attacker/attackers had left his body in.

There was almost nothing notable left save half his head, and his upper torso along with half his left bicep. His fur and hair were gone, instead his bare black flesh, cracked and burned with bubbling and pestilent lesions was left exposed to the air, where the acrid stench of death, and volatile acidic chemicals assaulted them in the enclosed space. The claw marks, shredding teeth marks, and the way his remains seemed almost...not-solid, along with the stench and violently bubbled and melted flesh told Avarice how he died. [He was killed by a powerful alpha predator with the ability to projectile vomit extremely potent corrosive acids. What kind of creature could possibly do this?]

[No creature of this realm, region, or rightful existence. Not that we know of anyhow.] Zen stated, gesturing for Avarice to follow him back out as Zerona wept before the cot in despair. [This creature, my instinct tells me it has to do with the Moon's Wrath, as Zoole's body is still fresh, and happened shortly after the falling stars struck Valley Island. We heard an unworldly hollow screech of a howl, and then Zoole's scream of agony. By the time my scouts had arrived, Zoole was little more than leftovers of a foul beast.]

Avarice was about to say something when a hauntingly familiar, TOO familiar hollow screeching howl echoed into the village from a nearby cliff overhead, and everyone instantly went on alert, and when Avarice saw the source, he practically pissed himself. 'No....'

“You little tools already let Hyperion in? Weaklings.” The source of the deep and gritty synthesized voice stood atop the cliff at full height of 9 feet on his hind legs. His lithe and spindly form was deceptive, as Avarice knew those thin limbs had all the strength to rend a person in half from power alone. His leathery flesh was pitch black, almost blending into the darkening sky despite the moonlight of the full moon, including his lighter smoky gray natural bone armor on his upper torso and skag head, which had two eerily familiar glowing purple eyes. He only wore a tattered pair of olive cargo shorts, and a leather bandoleer crossed over his torso holding various extremely high-tech equipment he could easily identify as being technology from the Pandora, such as a shield module that glowed green, and various other tools. “Now I have to kill you all on principle. NOTHING Jack touches is worth saving!”

'No, no, NO! He can't be here! He's not even canon!' What stood on top of the cliff, summoning a Maliwan Sublime Deuced Snider sniper rifle from his ECHO storage, was the Vault Hunter OC his friend Anthon once boasted about, a story that never really took off even if the outline was there. What was training the sights of an excessively deadly and dangerous-at-any-range sniper rifle at him, was a slightly-sociopathic successful product of one Doctor Ned at finishing his Wereskag project.

“RIP~?!” Avarice screamed, before raw and pure agony blossomed from his shoulder.

Author's Note

~I like big butts and I cannot lie!~ If that wasn't obvious. Wanted another mare in the herd, and wanted a blatant exposure to a vastly different culture than the more European ones. So I decided to try blending a bit of Polynesian/Hawaiian in with references to African tribal culture.

More about that later though, since Architect's OC kidnapping abilities has taken RIP from Avarice's friend's unpublished fanfic universe, and has enlisted him as a Corruption Shade. Joy.

Outsourced Agent: VH RIP!

(2-3 years ago)

Konrad was sitting at the usual table in the corner of the wood-walled cafeteria, wearing his red tank top and faded jeans with his big size 15 black combat boots resting on the table as he had his white-and-black striped fedora over his face. “Oh cut it out Kon, you're not some douche, so don't pretend to be.” Konrad grinned under his hat at the familiar voice, and took his hat off to see the grinning mustached face of his hairy Scottish-descended friend Anthon. The 330 pound 6 foot 3 dark blond weightlifter was in his workout uniform of a gray T-shirt and brown basketball shorts as usual, stinking to high heaven from all the sweat his phys-ed classes wrung out of him, terribly masked by offensively strong bodyspray.

“And what does that make you then huh fatty?” Konrad asked with levity, and Anthon barked in laughter as he set his tray of school slop on the table, while the twins were on approach. “Hey Kris, Mike!” Konrad called as Anthon sat, while the two short 5 foot 5 identical twin brothers with the same casual denim jeans, jackets, glasses, curly black hair and impressive tamed beards approached holding their brought lunches in opposite hands, making them look like one person walking alongside a mirror.

“Hey guys.” They answered simultaneously, making Konrad and Anthon shake their heads in amusement. The brothers worked so hard to do that on a regular basis. “How's sanctioned daily prison going for you two?”

“About the same as a day for Fillerbunny during one of JV's slumps.” Anthon joked, Kris breaking out in laughter as his twin Mike rolled his eyes. They were twins, and had many of the same interests, but Kris and Mike did have vastly different tastes in humor. Mike liked light-hearted, and genuine humor, while Kris and Anthon both derived amusement from grim, dark, and outright offensive things, making JV's work right up their alleys. Konrad appreciated both spectrums, so he got along well with the group as a whole.

Anthon was the one to bring him into the group....

“Okay, okay. I've got another fanfic idea guys.” Anthon said, getting sarcastic groans of false annoyance from the other three, and he laughed as he fished in his backpack while the twins sat on either side of Konrad like they usually did to practice reading each other's faces for planned jokes or choreographed gags. They were actors in the drama club, looking at scholarships with a minor in drama and a major in whatever they fancied. “Pay attention Konrad, this is a Borderlands fic idea.”

“Ugh...why can't you write a Resident Evil fic huh? You're sick enough to make some really graphic and grisly scenes, so it'd work.” Konrad jibbed, again. He'd been poking at Anthon to make an RE fic for ages, but Anthon said survival/horror wasn't much his cup-of-tea. He wasn't scared by any of it really, and even jumpscares just annoy him, so he preferred action/adventure to horror. The only reason he played the RE games was due to hype and his friends, like Konrad, insisting he give them a try.

“I'll write RE if they make a good combat system that isn't bullshit.” Anthon shot back as usual, and again Konrad couldn't argue, making the twins laugh in blatantly fake “ha, ha” tones in sync. “So, this idea's based around a poor sap who Ned makes an actual perfect Man-Skag-.”

[ $ ]

(Present)

Avarice screamed in agony as the Corrosive bullet punctured clean through his left shoulder, out his shoulder-blade, and perforated his left wing. Zen was stunned, but quickly recovered as he growled and fished numerous carved small idols from his robes, and the rest of the village all quickly took cover while seeking their weapons. As Avarice screamed in pain, his healing factor valiantly resisted the green acid the bullet had carried with it, eventually closing both of the holes as he had ample energy to feed off of, what with the love he'd eaten courtesy of Zerona.

The currently upright Badass Skag looking man-skag throatily chuckled darkly. “Well now, not everyday you get a self-repairing target. I'm going to enjoy melting you!” A back-splash of green graffiti appeared behind the monster, with his name in stylized blood in front of him: (RIP: Rest In Puddles. OF ACID!). “Dance little man!” RIP screamed as he became excited for some sport, and quickly took aim and fired again, only for Zen to react quickly, throwing a turtle idol into the air that flashed, and RIP blinked at seeing his bullet ricochet off of the air, and miss Avarice by several feet, making both the recovering Avarice and RIP look at Zen in surprise.

[I will not allow you to harm any of my tribe again beast! You have killed Zoole, and harmed Zerona's mate! Prepare to die!] Zen then took off at speeds that were utterly ridiculous for both his age and size, an idol of a cheetah buried in his billowing mass of robes glowed as it imbued him with the speed and reflexes of said animal.

'Whoa! Old buck can move!' Avarice thought in surprise, but saw a flash of an image of his head being blown off, and he quickly bolted to the left, a caustic bullet grazing his right cheek, searing the skin off and making the flesh bubble but quickly flake off and be regenerated by his healing factor. 'Fuck! Gotta close the distance!'

{Switch! I can move fast enough to close us in, then you give him the blade treatment!} Crescent suddenly found himself in control of the body, and rocketed up at the homicidal Vault Hunter as he kept Zen at bay with harassing fire, almost hitting the old stallion with each shot, keeping him from getting up the path to the top of the cliff. “Hey ya ugly fuck!” Crescent shouted before trying to shoulder-check the tall sniper, only to be stopped dead by a green shield of energy that appeared upon him impacting it, and what's more, spikes of the green energy stabbed out at him, and pierced right through his unprotected shoulder with pure acidic essence. “AH~!”

{IDIOT! He has a shield, and it's a CAUSTIC SPIKE SHIELD TOO?! Switch!} Avarice screamed as they fell back, and before his shoulder could even bother trying to recover from the gaping acid-burned holes, he transformed into his dragon form, grabbed the edge of the cliff, and pulled his head over it to breathe fire at the man-skag, who quickly jumped away, but this was enough for Zen to finally get in close.

[The crane strikes from above, it's elegance supreme! SKY STRIKE!] Zen leaped up into the air an impressive height due to his frog idol, and then he struck his arm down at RIP, a crane idol flying from his sleeve and turning into a sharp cone of energized air, that grew bigger and bigger as it traveled down. RIP howled as he quickly stored his rifle and fled from the impact point on all fours, a good move since when the cone landed, it punched clean into the rock of the top of the cliff for it's whole size, causing a perfect conical large crater as a quake upset the island from so much pressed-down stone, and the volcano began erupting more harshly, the winds thankfully taking the ash and smoke northeast, away from most of the island.

'HOLY HELL! That's so badass!' Avarice thought to himself in awe before he shook himself, and spread his wings to rise into the air over the new battlefield. The top of the cliff was once a small plateau, but with the gaping crater it was looking like a miniature volcano or one of those cenotes you'd find in the more southern islands of the pacific. Only instead of water at the bottom, it was lava! LAVA IS WELLING UP! [ZEN! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!]

The old zebra landed and sheepishly chuckled as he looked down into the forming caldera of what could disastrously be a new artificial volcano. [We are still new here, I was unaware....]

[Flood it with water! It's the only hope you have of it not destroying your new home!] Avarice saw a scene of his body riddled with bullet holes, and he quickly dove down, barely evading a clustered corrosive shotgun blast that still scraped the tip of his tail, and he pulled up to move diagonally towards RIP, who was no wielding an S&S Caustic Brute, taking constant potshots at his airborne target. 'This is insane! How is this shit happening?!'

{I wouldn't bother with the why just now! We're sitting ducks up here!}

'Ground time then!' Avarice dove down and was wreathed in his green flames, emerging in his true form, his mandibles spreading wide before he let out a hissing roar, his tail whipping the blade into a nearby boulder, cutting clean through it. “You're not the only alpha predator here!”

“Ha! That's what you think! I've seen varkids with more spunk than you!” RIP taunted, before he summoned a grenade from his ECHO, and tossed it. Rather than chance whatever it could've been, Avarice bolted to the side on all fours, and once the grenade detonated seemingly harmlessly behind him, he charged Avarice who just stood there, calmly aiming his shotgun at the bum-rushing Avarice. “So eager, so stupid.” Avarice was about to pounce, when several homing energy missiles made of caustic energy plunged straight through him, ripping massive holes in his body and literally leeching his energy as they passed through, before entering RIP harmlessly. It was a Corrosive Transfusion Grenade. Avarice fell to the ground, choking, his red and purple blood pouring out onto the stone like little rivers, and RIP coldly placed the barrel of his Brute to his head. “Know your place prey.” He pulled the trigger.

[ $ ]

(2-3 Years Ago)

“-You seriously made that a drawback?” Konrad asked in surprise, and Anthon chuckled as the twins both chatted idly, but both had already commented they liked the idea he'd pitched. “You like this character too much Anthon. I mean, you even came up with his skill trees. I thought I liked Borderlands, but you take the cake.”

“You're the RE nut, I'm the Borderlands fanatic. It works out well enough for us both I guess. You like atmosphere, drama, and an intense sensation of helplessness. I like dark humor, levity, and badassery. I think we found our elements.” Anthon joked, looking down at the notebook he'd used to draw out RIP's skill trees, titled Cannibal, Herder, and Fetcher. “Well yeah, like I was saying; the Fetcher skill Stolen Clips makes RIP's guns have larger ammo capacities, regardless of type, but the tradeoff is-.”

[ $ ]

It clicked. Empty. RIP blinked in confusion. 'He doesn't know how many rounds are in a magazine!' Avarice took the momentary confusion of his short-minded opponent as a chance, and stabbed his tail blade at him. The Spike Shield was quick to punish him with more acidic spikes, but it fell, and his blade punched through and into RIP's armored chest, getting a hollow howl of pain from the alien dog-man, and RIP leaped back which pulled the blade from his chest, and spraying purple blood as he backed off, and growled at the downed Plaga who was already healing, his body having started adjusting to the acidic damage. “What's the matter skag? Can't remember how many shots you got?”

“Fuck off!” Avarice roared, ejecting his clip which digitized and moved to pop in another, but had to back off from another lunge, and after being interrupted again by another scorpion-like stab, he roared as he tossed his gun and clip aside, both digitizing back into his ECHO, before he jumped at Avarice to meet in a brutal brawl.

'Shit! Feral Nature!' Avarice lamented, as RIP suddenly became coated in green acid that did nothing to him or his own equipment, and after they broke away from their clawing tumble, RIP hocked up a massive ball of acid at the Plaga, who barely jumped over it, and flipped in mid-air, slicing his tail down and scoring a light hit as RIP tried to evade, but Avarice had to hiss from the pain of the acid coating his enemy as he continued his assault, trying not to let his opponent's shield charge back up. 'Damn it! If it isn't that shield it's his elemental relic and his special ability! Anthon designed him to be the ultimate anti-melee character to begin with, and me without my weapons! Where are you Vaga?!'

Avarice screeched in pain when RIP got his claws on him, and literally ripped his left arm off at the shoulder joint. Before it could turn into a grisly feast and he turned out like Zoole, Avarice lunged to meet the opened maw of his bestial opponent, and bit onto his head, injecting his own brand of venom right into the softer flesh of the inside of RIP's mouth. RIP yowled and shoved him off, before shivering and backing off with his head in his claws, Avarice laid on the ground, panting as he crawled to his removed arm, and promptly began eating. 'I don't know how powerful my poison is. If I'm lucky, he'll die, but if not-.'

“YOU CHEEKY FUCKER!” Avarice's healing meal was interrupted by a fierce kick to the head that nearly snapped his neck, and he rolled for several dozen feet until he neared the edge of the artificial volcano Zen had accidentally created. Zen himself was preoccupied using some sort of idol Avarice couldn't see from this distance to concentrate conjured heavy rain into the conical crater. The lava that had been billowing up was still rising, but slowed as the weight of the rapidly hardening rock on the top layer as well as the water starting to collect began to press down on the weak force of the leaking lava.

'Ow, damn, skag-ass must be immune to my...oh...fuck....' Avarice's thoughts on his venom being ineffective were suddenly moot, as he witnessed RIP howling, rolling about in agony as he bulked up, ripping out of his bandoleer and shorts. The Badass Man-Skag was changing into a Badass Alpha Man-Skag! 'Damn it! My venom is actually Plaga mutagen?! Shit! I just made things worse!' Avarice fretted mentally as his enemy grew larger, more heavily armored, and his head's armor and mouth became more pronounced with larger barb teeth and an upraised crest of his head's bone armor that was clearly meant for ramming. His previously spindly and lithe form was bulking up, becoming muscular as all get-out, and gaining a couple feet in height, before he stood up and howled at the moon at his new 12-foot height. 'We're fucked!'

Avarice quickly got to his clawed feet, his arm having grown back even if it's predecessor was at RIP's feet. Oddly enough, RIP seemed more involved with inspecting himself at the moment, and Avarice took the chance to back away closer to Zen. [Zen, please tell me the crater's almost taken care of. I'm going to need help in a minute because I accidentally made the enemy stronger.]

[Just about. It is a shallow pool of water down there at the moment, but I do not feel it sufficient enough. I need more time. STAY IN YOUR HOMES!] Zen shouted the end down the path, and Avarice could see a good number of armed zebra warriors, both male and female of varying builds pause at his demand.

[You cannot stand against this monster! Let us stop him!] Avarice joined in with his own shout at them, before turning back to RIP, seeing the beast-man having calmed down, and focused his eerie purple gaze upon them. “Hey smiley. I see your damned adaptive genes used my mutagen beneficially.” 'Damn it, why did skags have to be so fucking resilient and adaptive to their environments?'

“Thanks, but I still have to eat you. Job's a job, and I'm being paid big time for this.” RIP picked up his bandoleer, and it digitally restored before a smaller bandoleer attached to it, and he put it back on, a larger pair of khaki shorts digitized over his exposed groin as well. “The fact you're working for Jack just makes this even better.”

“What are you being paid? Who is paying you?” Avarice demanded, trying to stall, RIP's shield activated the instant his bandoleer was back on, and a quick glance into the crater revealed a large pool of water a few feet deep had filled in from the constant deluge, but by how tired Zen was looking, he wouldn't be much help once he was done.

“The pay was pretty vague, but I was promised an “improved fate” by the magical tentacle thing that kidnapped me from my pad in Jakob's Cove. All I have to do is kill you, and boom; I might be able to put MY world's Jack in the ground like he deserves!” RIP exclaimed, his glowing purple eyes leering at Avarice, who leered back. “Of course, he could've warned me that my target is a bonafide Badass. I haven't had this much trouble killing someone who wasn't an Atlas or Hyperion big shot. Then again, I guess the latter applies to you, doesn't it?”

“I'm just a Foreman. Sure, I'm supposed to be the 'head' of this dimension's branch of Hyperion, but I just got it started. Surely you must know this world's problems, and that I'm trying to help them-.”

“LIKE HOW JACK HELPED PANDORA?!” RIP screamed in fury, before holding his beefy arms out to gesture to everything. “You think Hyperion won't destroy this world?! You think they won't carelessly kill anyone beneath them for their own gain?! You naïve shit! Hyperion, no matter the dimension, or aims, or goals, is always the same! You're dooming this world to the tyranny of Hyperion, and although my friends in my own world could use my help trying to save our Pandora, I can't just let you do the same here! Cutting off the head of the thresher before it can sink into the ground is the quickest way to end things!” RIP then summoned a red smg with a side-loaded drum barrel that had green corrosive element glowing accents to it, the seductive form of Moxxi painted on the side. “So how about I finish you with Moxxi's Bad Touch?”

“NOPE-NOPE-NOPE-SO-MUCH-NOPE!” Avarice shouted in a panic as he quickly sprinted to the side away from the filling crater and Zen as a hailstorm of green bullets sprayed at him, trailing close behind and almost taking his tail off. 'WHY THAT GUN?! What did this ass do to get Moxxi to like him that much?!' Avarice jumped over the stream of bullets that suddenly snapped in front of him, his fear well-placed since that gun was one of his favorites from BL2, it made all Loaders go from threats, to puddles of slag in seconds. Sometimes with only a few bullets. And that was only halfway up the level range against stronger Loaders.

Who did Moxxi have to fuck to get that deadly a gun designed for her?

“HOW MANY BULLETS DO YOU HAVE?!” Avarice shouted in irate worry as the big fucker hadn't even stopped firing once, chasing Avarice around the small plateau with choked laughter.

“I DON'T KNOW! STAND STILL AND LET ME-shit.” RIP finally ran out of bullets in the drum magazine, and Avarice took the chance to grab a small boulder, and shout in exertion as he hefted it up, spun, and launched it at the reloading RIP, who was blindsided by the unexpected act, and knocked to the ground as his shields took the brunt of it and overloaded. Avarice took the chance to bolt with incredible speed and try to stab through the Vault Hunter's maw, but his vertical jaws clenched onto his bladed tail, and they began wrestling, only for Avarice to instantly be overpowered by the powered-up Alpha, and be pinned under the weight of the massive were-skag who chuckled with the blade in his jaw, about to casually rip Avarice's head off.

Thankfully, before Avarice could be finished off, a spear shot through the air and into RIP's right eye, getting him to howl. The instant the pressure on his tail weakened, Avarice's blade promptly shot into RIP's maw, and out the back of his head.

Avarice was admittedly quite shocked at the sudden and anticlimactic turn, as the powerful monster atop him shuddered, his eyes shimmering before they went dark, and when he slumped into a boneless heap, RIP simply seemed to melt into a glowing purple mass of energy, before vanishing, all his equipment with him too.

That was NOT a New-U system!

Avarice bolted upright and looked around frantically, only to be pounced to the ground again by Zerona as the rest of the village charged up the natural ramp onto the plateau behind her. [My mate! I am so sorry I took so long, but Zoole’s death demanded I at least give my proper respects before I left him.] Zerona nuzzled his chitinous cheek, and Avarice had to blink in surprise.

[Zerona...does my true form not bother you?] Avarice asked in shock, and Zerona smiled before she licked his cheek.

[Is that answer enough my mate? I knew it was you when I saw you. My heart told me so.] Zerona said matter-of-factly before she hugged him a little tighter. [You truly are ignorant of zebras if you do not know how bound we are to our hearts, our loved ones.]

Avarice would have blushed if he could have, but he settled instead for humming a cicada-like buzz, and nuzzling her back with his eyes closed. ‘Wow...back home, love was just something told in stories, rarely ever seen. And here, in this world...I found it in several women who gave themselves to me so readily, so accepting….’

[As beautiful as such a sight may be.] Zekkino’s voice interrupted, getting them both to sit up and look his way, seeing a bemused and smirking population of zebra villagers. Indeed; the stallions were much taller than the mares. Averaging a whole foot over them actually. Zekkino was a special case as Avarice thought though, towering over most of them all. [Would it be too much to ask what that beast was?]

Zen had finished filling the crater with water, which was now turning from a potential volcano into an artificial hotspring, and was approaching. Seeing him standing next to Zekkino, Avarice was a little stunned to see a blatant family resemblance between them. Specifically their faces and eyes, and matching stripe pattern. [I agree with my son. Would you please enlighten us? You seemed familiar with that monster.]

Zerona protectively clung to Avarice, and he sighed. This was going to take a while.

[ $ ]

[So that monster was created by your friend?] Zen asked for clarification. Avarice had told him, Zerona, and Zekkino while gathered in Zen’s hut about the Multiverse, the Displaced, and about Hyperion’s presence here, but they were mostly concerned with RIP at the moment, beings he was a direct threat that, according to Avarice; was not gone.

[Essentially sir. For all I know; he already existed, and my friend simply must have been attuned with him, and inspired to tell his story. The Multiverse is as unknowable as it is knowable. Anything is possible. Everything exists. That’s the simplicity of it. Out there; there’s a big, beefy stallion version of Zerona here who’s probably the village stud.] Avarice used as an example, making Zerona blush and the two stallions laugh.

[So what must we do to defend against such a creature? You say he is dead-set on our destruction simply from having associated with you. Do not worry though; you are one of us now. We will not shun you for something as petty as the wrath of your enemies. We have lived through worse, and we shall continue to do so.] Zen affirmed, and Avarice sighed as he thought it over.

[The only thing I can see being a lasting solution for the time is to move your village to Valley Island. It is all valleys though, and no naturally occurring food sources besides grass have grown there likely due to the shelf-like shape of the island not letting seeds carry up from the ocean.] Avarice informed, and Zen nodded before gesturing a hand to his son, who also nodded and briskly left the hut, shouting for the other villagers to prepare to move.

[It is no trouble. We have subsisted on less. Our bodies are resilient, and we have thrived where other tribes have struggled. We shall endeavor to bring seeds with us to begin growing crops proper. With such fertile and flat land, it would be easy to have an actual farm. Please, fly ahead and tell your fellows we are coming.] Zen then yawned, and grunted as he rubbed an eye, Zerona scoffing before she moved to him and pulled him to his hooves easily.

[You are too old to be up so late Chief. Rest now. Let Zekkino and the others manage things.] Zerona ignored the old stallion’s protests as she forced him into bed, and Avarice got up to leave only to be smacked over the back of his head, and he turned to see it was Vagabond, who had a presence that felt angry and concerned.

“I’m fine Vagabond. Just some freaky asshole from another reality. But knowing how his world works, he’s far from gone. Gotta warn Jack that more than canon Vault Hunters could be after our asses.” Avarice growled as he exited the hut and changed into a dragon again, Vagabond next to him similarly changing shape. “Where are you lately? I’ve been busy busting my ass, and you’re off doing who-knows-what.”

Vagabond shrugged and again gestured that he was “around” and Avarice snorted some smoke out his nostrils in agitation at the noncommittal response.

“I’d really like to know how to talk to you. I’m sick of having to guess everything.” Avarice growled, and was about to take off when Vagabond grabbed his shoulder, and gestured behind them to a still-naked Zerona at Zen’s door, who hadn’t been able to get dressed, or clean in all the madness. “Oh, right. Uh...Vagabond, meet my new mate; Zerona. She...well….” Avarice was hoping projecting his memories of what happened would work, and when he felt a sort of pull coming from Vagabond at said memories, and Vagabond nodding his head in understanding, he was hopeful for a clearer form of communication to be started with his partner. “So nothing against it?”

Vagabond moved his hands into the shape of a heart, and Avarice somehow felt...incredibly happy Vagabond approved of his relationships. Like he was making his elder sibling or parent happy. ‘If you only knew.’ Vagabond thought at feeling Avarice’s surface thoughts and feelings. Wondering when his eventual replacement would be able to hear him without dying.

[My mate, what is this? Why do you seek it’s approval?] Zerona asked in confusion. It seemed a magical construct, not his elder family like he seemed to treat it as.

[This is my partner and friend Vagabond. He comes and goes as he pleases, but I trust him like no other. Speaking of which, I need to send you someplace far safer than here, with your tribe. I told you what mating with me would entail, don’t tell me you forgot.] Avarice reminded, and Zerona looked around at her packing tribemates forlornly.

[I do remember...very well. Is he the one who shall take me to the rest of your herd?] Zerona asked hopefully, and Vagabond nodded, before gesturing her closer as he pulled out a damp robe, probably taken from a sinking ship or something, and using it to clean her up a bit like he was her elder family member, and she blushed with a smile before he wrapped her in it. [He is a good stallion...I won’t be without you for long, will I?] Zerona asked worriedly, and Avarice sighed.

[I don’t know Zerona. But do know that I shall return to you and the others. I must go. Your tribe needs safety and security, my group needs their help too, and the rest of the world isn’t stopping as I try to strengthen my hand in this Game of Thrones.] Avarice said, looking east towards the rest of the “known world”, imagining the horrors Die Leucht had planned, that he could not act on as of yet. ‘I won’t let you take Equestria, I won’t let you derail this world’s chance for peace for your own sick hungers for power!’

With that thought, Avarice leaped into the air, opening his wings on an updraft caused by the hot plateau and began soaring to Valley Island to inform Homage of these events, and hope to improve things even more than before, if monsters from other realms were going to pop up like RIP did.

Vagabond put a hand on Zerona’s shoulder, and when she looked up at his empty hood, she was suddenly blinded by him encompassing her with his coat, and then she stood before a bunch of bewildered mares in a plush lounge, equally bewildered. Vagabond was nowhere to be seen. [Um...where did that creature leave me?] Zerona asked, looking from Celestia, to Luna, to a dutifully standing Solar and lastly to an exasperated Sonata, all were wearing nightgowns, having recovered from the erotic events from earlier.

[There he goes again, putting his phallus in another female. Then again, poor dear must have been in pure horny agony from being without attention for a week.] Sonata said in fluent Hawaiian since it was in her language database. When she got up and approached, Zerona wasn’t worried, as she could smell her mate on all these females save the armored one.

[So this is his herd? I was expecting more.] Zerona said, and Sonata choked a laugh as she moved in and hugged the blinking zebra. Herd Sisters were usually this amorous with each other, but it usually took time, while this scaled and metal-plated female wasted no time in pressing her snout between her boulder-like J-Cups in their light-blue nightgown.

[Oh, there will be dear. Trust me on that. A stud like that has too much love to give with his heart out in the open.] Sonata cooed, and then turned to the still nervous sisters, who were both worried about who Zerona was. “This is the new member of the herd ladies.”

They both calmed down, and Luna sighed with a grin while Celestia softly smiled and shook her head in amusement. “Welcome to the group exotic one. We shall be glad to hear of thine tale of bedtime adventure whilst we are awaiting a new suit of steel armor.” Luna said, getting a confused blink from Zerona, and then blushed at realizing the mare didn’t speak Equish. “Oh dear...this might be an issue.”

[I have the remedy to this situation. I just need you to gargle these….] Zerona fished out three familiar vials in her satchel, which was hidden under her robe along with her dagger which was revealed when she opened said robe to open said satchel. [And then directly transfer them to me via mouth-to-mouth.]

Zerona’s words were sadly on clueless ears, and Sonata sighed. ‘Avarice, you sexy stud, if you weren’t my master I wouldn’t put up with this awkward shit for you.’ “Let me translate….”

Author's Note

RIP: Vault Hunter, former worker(slave) of Jakobs, the original man-skag, bitch rider(skags), and lady killer(Moxxi's on-off boy?-toy). Father of at least half the skag population in his own universe, and the only man alive besides Handsome Jack in his universe that knows enough about digistruct technology to keep the old New-U system running, and how to fuck with it to make unique "mutant" people or even recover people too fucked up to be rezzed normally.

One of the original Vault Hunters in his own universe, RIP is known for being a literally bloodthirsty psychopath who's only redeeming quality is his desire to keep the weak safe from the tyranny of the strong. Nothing get's in his way between him; and his sense of "gun justice" and isn't beyond ignorantly trampling the helpless if they "take the wrong side" putting him in line with Brick on their views of the weak. If they can't stand up to snuff; get lost. It's only his friends who manage to keep him on a "leash" and unfortunately, here, on Equus, that leash doesn't exist.

The world is not ready for his madness, his carnage. The rivers will run red with the blood of his enemies.

What If, So Cruel....

Author's Note

Okay people, for those on the Displaced Circuit, you know I've been doing TONS of crossovers with this story, Avarice being tossed around like a football between two other Displaced XD. SO! Instead of being lazy, I'm going to link you to them in CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER of when they happen from Avarice's perspective, all of them are PRIOR to this chapter.
Visitations Training Vacations Bachelor Party [Part 1] Bachelor Party [Part 2] Bachelor Party [Part 3] and this last one has a small, very strong moment between Avarice and Kyth that's solely from his perspective during the party Kyth Get's Plastered

Yeah, and you thought I've just been sitting on my ass doing nothing huh? XD

What If, So Cruel....

It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, the wind was blowing, and the tranquility of the waves gently beating on the sandy shore created such a peaceful cadence that almost anyone would be enamored with the tropical paradise. Until a flaming blue portal opened onto the beach and two black dragon claws grabbed the rim.

Avarice stepped through the blue flame-rimmed portal and sighed through his snout in content at finally being home. Well...his new home. That thought almost sent him reeling back to depression of Earth, all those dead people...all the innocent and good gone with the trash.... 'No. Not going there.' He turned his eyes beyond the horizon, imagining all the innocent, the good and the as yet unborn who could thrive in this world unlike his old, dead one. 'This is home now. I just have to protect it, now that I have the power to.'

{Easy there Av, we might just be developing a god complex.} Crescent joked in their head, and Avarice snorted in amusement, smoke leaving his pony nose as if he were a dragon rather than his currently preferred anthro mutant alicorn form.

‘And why shouldn’t we? Aren’t we one? Vaga didn’t exactly give us a choice….’ Avarice thought back at his partner in godhood about their patron. Vaga was a being known as a Void Dweller, but more specifically; a sub type given the title of Ascended. Ascended are Void Dwellers who, specifically, survived the absolute end of their universe and thus as consequence literally ascended into their current roles. Vaga was Chaos, and so he became Chaos. The Architect was Corruption, so he became Corruption, etc. They were more or less godly beings that flitted about the Multiverse as they willed, doing whatever, but Vaga became bored and decided to try something none of the others have. Him.

Avarice mused over his lot in life, and after looking out at the ocean for a bit longer, turned around, and froze. ‘Holy...shit!’ Avarice was stunned at the sight of a ten-story giant cubic solid-metal building off in the distance that had the Hyperion logo proudly displayed upon it. ‘How long have we been gone?!’

{No clue, how about we find out?} Following his partner’s rational thought, Avarice flapped his wings and flew the distance from the beach towards the building. From his vantage, he could see not just the building now, but where the adobe-hut village had been, was now the construction framework of a large five-story cubic building.

‘That had BETTER be housing Homage, or so help us, we’ll swallow your soul!’ Avarice raged, hoping that in his absence the pragmatic claptrap hadn’t decided to “cut the fat” as it were, for whatever reason. He landed outside the apparent front doors of the building, now seeing the subtitle “Multiversal Branch #1” under the logo. He entered through the automated opening doors, and stormed up to the receptionist’s desk, which, thankfully, was being attended by a shapely zebra mare wearing a very conforming yellow Hyperion business suit like how Faust likes to wear, hiding nothing yet everything at once.

“Welcome to the Hyperion Multiversal Branch. Pardon any disarray, we are still in construction, but we are fully prepared to provide any services.” She answered, her voice seeming to be slightly synthesized and the words not matching the movements of her lips. Ah, Echo, such a wonderous thing.

“Where’s Homage?” Avarice demanded, getting her to blink and look something up on her console.

“He’s currently in his office right now, who is asking?” She answered evenly. Good. It would seem that even from a tribal society, these zebras could adapt quite well.

“His boss. Avarice.” Avarice replied, and she blinked in surprise and confusion, making him roll his eyes as he shifted fully into his dragon form, getting her to make a face of realization and then beam up at him from her seat.

“God of Fertility, it is good to have you returned to us. It has been months after all.” Months...hell…. “Homage is upstairs, current top floor, large office, can’t miss it.” She informed, going back to her console and Avarice saw no need to pester her further, so he changed back into his new most stable form of alicorndom and strode down the hall to the elevator. Yes. Not a Lift, an Elevator. Will wonders ever cease?

He stepped in, the huge booth not even shifting under his weight, and he pressed the highest floor button, tenth floor, glad he got that right considering the place was so huge. He didn’t want to wonder how there were ten basement floors either. Months...how long? He had to return to Canterlot now, he said he’d only be here a month at most, but plural? How did his mates feel? They must feel abandoned. The idea made their hearts sink until the elevator dinged and opened up on the right floor.

“Sir, it is good to have you back.” Homage stated, standing in front of the elevator. Right, receptionist must’ve called him or something. “It has been four months since you disappeared and-.”

“Update. Now. I’m glad you’re going for formalities instead of being all business, but seriously, been gone too long.” Avarice cut in, briskly trotting past, his direct subordinate falling in step behind and to the right of him.

“Yes sir. We’ve established a proper Headquarters. The Offsite Facility is now officially the HQ for the First Multiversal Branch of Hyperion, beings we’ve made such windfall thanks to your heavy-handed money investments, we own a third of the original company’s shares. I’m surprised Mother and Jack haven’t ripped into you for that. Especially when they told me they met you at the Bachelor Party a bit ago.” Homage reported as they neared some glass doors with Avarice and Homage’s names on the plaque.

“Okay, that’s good in general. What’s going on with the zebras, and our business deals with Equestria and Saddle Arabia?” Avarice asked as he moved to the bigger desk, and plopped his tight red-silk covered ass into the enormous plush reclining chair, his red-frilled serpent tail fitting cleanly through the convenient hole at the lower back of it.

“We’ve made a good deal of business thanks to providing claptrap and loader assistants to Demir’s operations in Saddle Arabia, and we’ve been provided even more of her designs for resale with more royalties to her and by extension her country. As for Equestria, our latest batch of “dumb” loaders was purchased for the war to lessen the strain on Luna’s Lunar Loader Battalion and Celestia’s Solar Soldiers. Of course, we used the funds you set aside for them in that regard.” Homage reported, and Avarice nodded, gesturing to continue with more local info.

“As for the tribe, they’ve adapted quite fast, and as you can tell by the secretary downstairs, I’ve hired on several already for more administrative duties I’d rather not waste a claptrap on, and since they’re clearly an asset, I’ve taken it upon myself to construct their own condominium building to house them rather than that primitive adobe hut set-up we made in a hurry before, beings thanks to you, their crops a bit inland have taken off quite well.” Homage reported, and Avarice wasn’t buying all the good news yet, and Homage sighed. “I’ve also...started them on the Doppleganger Project for mass-cloning.”

Avarice leered at his subordinate, folding his clawed hands together as his presence suddenly became that of a dangerous being of higher power rather than just another person. “Who authorized it?”

“Mother. You know I can’t say no….” Homage answered, and Avarice sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. That was the only issue with his position. Only either Jack or Faust could override any of his orders, and what they say goes. After all, even if he’s the President of this Branch, that’s just it; a Branch. He still answered to them after all, they were the parent company, and no amount of money was going to let him get any sort of control besides the 30 or so percent share he has in it, while Jack and Faust share the other 70 percent.

“Alright, so how’d you go about it?” Avarice asked in exasperation, seeing that the program’s go-ahead was out of his claws.

“Initial testing began a month ago, where some full-fledged clones were generated. They have minds, souls, everything, and the tribe was beyond ecstatic at the concept. Since we couldn’t force the newborn clones into service due to them being complete copies of their donors, we released them into the tribe, where they’ve been adopted as siblings believe it or not. But the rest, you won’t care for it. They’re soulless, mindless outside input routines like a machine, and require no upkeep due to their advanced regenerative factors and ambient energy absorption annihilating their need to eat and defecate. So they’re just organic machines, able to do things claptraps can’t without unnecessary risk, and also able to do the more dangerous jobs we’d rather not have the zebras be doing.” Homage reported, and Avarice groaned as he rubbed his temples.

“Great. Anyone who comes for a visit is going to have serious issues with them, try to keep them off Valley Island.”

“It’s Maui now sir.”

“Whatever, just another parallel with home, why not. Let’s just...ugh...I can’t deal with this. Does anything need my go-ahead?” Avarice asked agitatedly, he just really wanted to go home right now, he had mates to coddle, cuddle, and make love to if they want.

“No sir, things have been running smoothly, even with Demir’s pregnancy straining her designing and-.”

“WHAT~?!” Avarice practically screeched, bolting over his desk and grabbing Homage’s collar to yank him up into his face. “OUR FRIEND IS WITH FOAL AND THOU DIDN’T THINK TO INFORM US?!”

“I-it wasn’t important to-.”

“IT’S EVERYTHING THY FOALISH CONTRAPTION! HAST THOU FORGOTTEN WE ART FERTILITY?! WE HAVEN’T EVEN BLESSED HER FOR A SAFE CARRYING AND BIRTH! WHAT FRIEND DOES NOT WISH SUCH A THING FOR THEIR FRIEND?!” Avarice tossed Homage to the floor and growled with black flames licking from his clenched shark teeth, and his serpent tail whipping around dangerously, already having knocked his huge chair over. “The New-U! Is it operable whelp?!”

“Yes sir! The Plague-00 is in orbit and functioning properly, so the Echo and Fast Travel are also-.”

“Good! We shall be off then!” Avarice jumped down from his desk, snagging the Echo Homage quickly digistructed from his storage, and stormed to the elevator to get to the New-U he noticed at the front door.

“...Homage, note to self; stop forgetting how horrifying your boss is.” Homage hissed to himself, the months without his boss breathing down his techno-organic neck made him forget how absolutely demanding his boss was, if not fair for most things.

[ $ ]

The New-U Fast Travel Station hummed as it purred to life, opening up with it’s digistruct nodes flaring out to the sides. The horses of Sığınak looked on curiously, as they’d only seen it in action a few times when a soldier with a New-U account was killed in action, and respawned all the way back here from their posts out in Equestria or Bullgaria. They also laughed at the sensuous and sexy mare’s voice that made hilarious morbid jokes when they came out, the soldiers admitted the voice messages made their own deaths feel a little less impacting and made mental recovery speed up a bit.

But this time, there was no voice, meaning it wasn’t someone being respawned, and the sight that met them when the blue holographics solidified was something nobody would ever forget. Avarice towered over them all, a glorious example of stallionly muscle and presence. His slit eyes, draconic wings, shark teeth, and serpentine tail made them all curious, impressed, and several mares instantly get aroused at the sight of him, some sort of presence he exudes just made him desirable beyond the obvious.

“Hm...hasn’t changed much in almost a year….” He looked over the scantily clad populous, the average of 7-8 feet in height was shattered by him literally being about twice that at 14 and his groin being eye-level with them. He was thankful he was still wearing pants and not a thong as he grinned at the idea of accidentally poking eyes out. “Hello all. I seek my friend and business partner Demir. Might I ask where her smithy is currently?”

Everyone pointed down a road, gawking at him in awe as he bowed his head in thanks, and began carefully wading through the stunned crowd, even the guards and Janissaries were stunned by him, making his tail flick in excitement as his wings ruffled about. ‘Oh gog...forgot how much of an exhibitionist I am. Getting so turned on…and I’m still wearing pants!’ Avarice licked his black and cream lips, his paint-patterned coat began to sheen with sweat from the hot sun, his vibrantly red mane and frills catching the light as sweat began to bead in them, the looks of amazement and arousal were increasing and he began to spread his wings a bit more. ‘Oh gog...oh gog...haven’t been in a public location in so long...so excited….’

He panted, trying to get control as he moved through the crowds, some of the mares being daring enough to put a hand to his flanks as he passed, further enticing him as he began losing his mind. He’d been isolated on Maui for so long, and then just tossed about during the Bachelor Party so fast he didn’t really have time to adjust, not to mention thanks to what happened with Mistress…. ‘Holy fuck, holy fuck, how do I control this?! Uh...MC! MC! Gotta call! Can’t snap here, I’ll get every mare in the area pregnant with how much power I’m letting out!’

Avarice stopped, shuddering as he reached up to grab Missy’s dog tags still hanging from his neck, rubbing the heart on one of them with his thumb. ‘Missy! I need advice! I forgot I’m an exhibitionist and I’m about to-oh fuck! Stop! Groping butt!’ A roan mare was grinning lecherously with her eyes glazed as she began groping the firm and tight sexy flank and plot that was literally eye-level with her, and she cooed as she ran a hand down his serpent tail, appreciating the dry scales. ‘Missy please tell me how you turn off your arousal centers, please!’

“Avarice, it’s good to hear from you, I’m a touch busy at the moment but I can help.” Mistress’s voice answered over the token, it had taken on that male tone, from when they visited Toronto. “First it takes some understanding biology, the normal brain, starting human anyways, releases several chemicals, Estrogen, Testosterone, Dopamine, and Serotonin. DO NOT turn off serotonin, it will make you depressed, however reduce the other three. To do this you need to focus on your own brain, feel the makeup of it, look for the things that feel like… well sex for lack of a better term, and start reducing them to normal levels, not off, but down. You being sexy sex god, they are likely at all time high, probably feel like a firehose in your head, or a flash flood. Feeling better?”

Avarice quickly did so, panting as the mare had reached between his legs to cup his balls by this point, but he was right. He could actually FEEL what parts of his brain felt like...well, sex. Wasn’t too hard, considering that again he was right about it feeling like a flood of raw, unfettered hormones in his head, and he began decreasing them, save the one that started making him want to cry, that he boosted back up. Thanks to that, he began calming down, the rut everyone around him was falling into began lessening and the mare that had been groping him blinked as she blushed lightly and laughed a little meekly as she backed away in embarrassment. “So sorry sir...I don’t know what came over me.”

“I do, and I’m sorry. I’m a being of fertility, quite literally, and thus I make others more...inclined.” Avarice said dismissively, letting her know it was all fine. ‘Oh thank you, you sexy stallion! I am so going to plow you senseless again when we finally get together again.’ Avarice cooed back in response, sending powerful images through the link of them entwining in many impressive ways with a pure sensation of fondness and longing.

There was a moment of silence on the line, Avarice started to grow concerned something happened. As he was preparing an emergency visit he heard Mistress respond. "Damnit I have a guest at the moment, and now everypony is looking at me funny. I'll call you later, invite me to come meet your herd sometime. Have a good time you sexy sex god, love you."

‘Love you too Missy.’ Avarice kissed MC’s token and the ‘call’ ended as normal traffic resumed around him, save the roan mare who was rubbing her hands together. “Yes milady?”

“Um...I know this is sudden but...may I…?” She asked nervously as she made a cupping motion with her hand, and Avarice grinned with a light blush down at her.

“Outside the cycle or not; I get everyone pregnant.” He leaned down almost cutting his waist in half to look her in the face. “Would you be willing to risk such a thing?” The way she grabbed his face to kiss him answered everything and he rolled his eyes. ‘Mares. Such needy creatures.’

[ $ ]

Calmly and smoothly did Avarice continue his journey to visit his friend, several alleyways back laid a naked and spent roan mare under some sheets tucked into an alcove. ‘Gog she was a screamer. Thank goodness Saddle Arabia actually condones public nudity and fornication.’

{This country is awesome! We’d never get away with something like that back there in Equestria!}

‘Hey, we did her a service. Literally. It was no different than if she paid one of the many studs around to give her a good time. Only we did so for free. It’s rude to not oblige a lady after all.’ Avarice grinned as he was overjoyed at something he was able to put to practice back there with that mare. ‘And we did it without getting her pregnant! Damn these Shifter abilities are nice! Just think of cutting off the sperm from the semen and boom; sterile. It goes against everything we represent, but I’d rather not saddle her with foals for a casual encounter.’

{Being responsible with our powers is better than wantonly impregnating every mare that’s interested. If we did, nopony else would get to have kids!} Crescent laughed in their head, getting Avarice to chortle a little as he ducked under an archway.

“Halt.” Two long halberds crossed over the thin passage as two Janissaries blocked the way forward. “What business have you in the Royal District?”

“I am Avarice, head of Hyperion from the Isles. I had recently returned from a journey to receive a report that my friend and former apprentice Demir was with foal, and I wish to personally visit her and congratulate her for her accomplishments as well as her bearing.” Avarice stated calmly, he knew that this way led to the former Baig’s manor, but he didn’t realize whoever the new head honcho was that they’d bar it off from the public.

“You are that shape-shifting creature that lived with her for a month? It would explain your odd form sir. But unless we-.”

“Let him through.” The two elite guards both shot their masks to the speaker, who Avarice looked to and saw a tan-coated stallion with his mane hidden in a turban and the rest of his body hidden in voluminous white and gold robes of exquisite quality, but it was his even and impartial tone, as well as the incredible intelligence in his orange eyes that caught Avarice’s attention.

{Oh~...handsome one….}

‘Shush Cresent, not now...but damn...don’t even need to see under those robes to know….’

“Yes Prince Suleimane.” They chorused, moving their weapons aside, and Suleimane, the effing PRINCE of this country gestured for him to follow, and Avarice did so quietly and respectfully. Any question as to how he even knew he was coming was answered by the Echo hanging off his belt. Homage must’ve called ahead.

“I have heard much of you Avarice, from my fiance. She speaks so glowingly of you that when I heard you were coming, I had to ensure you would be able to visit.” Suleimane’s smooth, sexy voice explained, getting Avarice to feel shivers. “I will be so happy to see her reaction to your surprise visit.”

“That’s...nice….” ‘Holy shit this stallion’s voice is making me horny! And I’m not even a mare! Yet....’

{He’s of the Royal Blood of Saddle Arabia. Their identifying traits are their orange eyes, and unnatural allure.}

‘Remind me of that when we gain the ability to change genders, don’t want to anger whoever his betrothed is. Whoever could possibly land this stud has to be one hell of a mare.’ Avarice mused, before they had walked through the plaza of the manor and into a parlor, where Avarice froze in realization upon seeing who Suleimane happily greeted and approached for a kiss. ‘Oh...shit….’

Demir was as beautiful as he remembered, wearing nothing but a lavishly and well-designed bikini, proudly displaying her swollen H-cup bosom and gravid middle, her black coat shining in the light. She must’ve been carrying triplets to be so large, but he didn’t even know how far along she was. The way she and Suleimane kissed, so tenderly, and the way he lovingly caressed her belly and combed her lusciously long white mane out of her face told him that she’d found someone that she truly loved and got love in return, making him smile. {Dang...your memories said she was an amazing mare but...to end up with a Prince?}

‘That’s my Demir, so strong, so admirable. Nothing can stop her.’ Avarice thought fondly as she looked to him in confusion.

“Hello, who might our visitor be?” Demir asked impartially to both of them, and Suleimane stood aside, grinning as he gestured for Avarice to introduce himself.

“Oh~! Demir~! You WOUND me so! You might as well have gutted me!” Avarice dramatically waxed as he used his hands to gesture as if his chest had been torn open, and upon hearing his voice, Demir squealed and with surprising speed, considering her current gravidity, ran to him and hugged him around the hips since that’s as high as she could reach, blatantly groping his butt as she did so. Avarice couldn’t help his blush as she nuzzled into his groin, and Suleimane managed not to burst out in laughter at the sight.

“Avarice! I missed you! I’ve been trying to contact you, but you’ve been away for months!” She then realized where she was grabbing, and where her face was, but rather than get embarrassed, she grinned mischievously and poked his groin, getting a squeak out of him as she chuckled. “Been working out huh?”

“D-Demir, no amount of working out makes...THAT bigger….” ‘Definitely the hormones. She’s usually far more reserved than this.’

“I think you’ve proven that wrong~!” Demir joked, spanking his flank and backing away to look up at him. “But Faust you’ve gotten big...everywhere. What have you been doing?” Suleimane took the moment to slip away to the side, speaking into his Echo in low tones.

“What have YOU been doing? It seems we both got into a country’s leader’s pants. I still have to return to Canterlot to visit Celestia, see how she’s doing, since she is carrying six of my foals.” Avarice informed, getting Demir to proudly pat her belly.

“Five.” She stated cheekily, and Avarice whistled. Damn. And without any boosters at that. “It’s mainly why I wasn’t actively looking for a mate, mares in my family are very fertile.”

“Indeed. Actually, I am now a God of Fertility, and aside from being your friend, I immediately made my way here because I wanted to ensure you were carrying safely. May I perform my rites?” Avarice asked with a hint of hope to his voice, and Demir blinked before she nodded, cradling her belly as Suleimane watched from the sideline, interested as he was still speaking into his Echo.

Avarice kneeled before her, letting his power come to him again, which required letting his quote ‘sexy sex powers’ come back to the fore, and Demir became visibly aroused when her breasts swelled a bit further from said arousal, but she remained calm as he became unusually patronly in presence. “Indeed, five foals, all healthy identical mares. Proper quintuplets. Thou really art quite fertile our friend. Would thou accept our blessing for a safe carrying and birth?”

“Y-yes….” Demir answered, feeling quite intimidated yet comforted at the same time by Avarice’s raw presence, and she shuddered as he gently reached one of his claws to her belly, and cooed when she felt a comforting warmth radiate into her from it. “That feels so nice….”

“It is done. Thou shalt continue to carry thine foals for six months, and birth them safely. Know this, and not fret.” Avarice soothed, before he consciously made the effort to cut off the hormones in his brain and slowly drew away. “How do you feel?”

“Warm. Safe. Comfortable. No offense honey, but if you didn’t find me, I think Avarice might’ve swept me up.” Demir admitted, and Suleimane laughed jovially as he turned away from his Echo, turning it off. “Communicating with your father again? Why do you insist on keeping contact with that bloodthirsty animal?”

“Dear, your dislike is understandable, but monster or not; he is still my father.” Suleimane didn’t even bother defending his father, rather excusing that the only reason he associated with him was because of the fact he was his father. “So he’s also obtained my mare’s heart, hm? Need I add him to the wedding?” Suleimane teased, getting Demir to blush brightly through her black coat and Avarice to laugh loudly.

“I have too many mates as is! I think I can trust her to you.” Avarice stated, getting Demir to wilt and Avarice sighed. “Demir. I love you, but you’re up on a pedestal, and you have him in your arms. I friendzoned you to avoid unnecessary things happening during our time together, and, well, you met him when I was enslaved, remember? I wasn’t around to accept your heart.” Avarice then gestured to Suleimane, who looked on calmly and with an understanding smile. “He, however, readily gave you his own, and accepted yours. What you have is special.”

“I know...but I’ll never be able to stop wondering; ‘what if’....” Demir sighed, and stroked her belly as she looked deep in thought. “I think you should go...I need some more time apart so I don’t become so confused about myself.”

“I understand. I’ll be around when the foals come, be assured of that.” Avarice swore, and bowed his head to Suleimane. “Good to meet you Sully. If it is alright with you, I’ll take my leave.”

“It is fine. I am just glad she could finally admit this to you after stewing on it since you had first parted ways. Come dear, let us retire to the spa. I’ll rub the oil into you myself.” Suleimane cooed, making Demir smile and giggle as she waddled alongside him, Avarice watching with a smile as he sighed out his nose, smoke curling out from it.

‘What if...such a terrible and stalling pair of words.’

{If she’d said something before you left...you’d have probably never left her. None of what we’ve been through would’ve happened…Celestia and Luna would’ve died….}

Avarice then grimly frowned, and grit his sawteeth. ‘So as terrible a thought it is...it was probably for the best. That she let me go in the first place.’ Avarice stood in the parlor for several minutes, before finally deciding to leave, the meeting in the end, feeling rather bittersweet.

The Return, Part One

After the bittersweet visit with Demir, Avarice was feeling rather angry with himself for having left his lovers alone for so long. Not to mention Poor Ichor, and likely Sharp Snap. Those Die Leucht fucks have had several months to do what they willed with them, and he had no idea just how bad things could be with their knowledge of mutative and practically transformative alchemy. Not even counting whatever they were using Dox’s blood for too.

Yeah, he wasn’t here at the time Dox was abducted and almost exsanguinated to death apparently, happened during his absence, but he was reading on his Echo right now the full reports of what major things had happened since he’d up and vanished for four months. He didn’t want to walk into the castle as if nothing had happened, that’d be stupid and irresponsible to a degree not even he could condone.

So...he’d actually been here when Dox was initially taken captive. Avarice grimaced that the official report was that he was “Emotionally Unsuitable For Deployment” due to an “Identity Crisis” which had been more or less true, as Vaga had dropped the “you’re a god now” bomb on him barely a few days before Missy summoned him, not to mention the trauma and shock added onto that by how he was still grieving for not even a week before that when Vaga first spoke to him, ACTUALLY spoke to him, and told him of Earth’s fate.

Fucking trolling Vaga….

Regardless, he was glad to know that Vaga personally took matters into his hands, saving Dox as well as two of his lovers. That aside, the Die Leucht had, only a month or two later; AGAIN abducted Dox, this time with the express goal of killing him for good. And once again; Vaga was the one to rescue him and his group, this time alongside Luna who acted as his backup, all the way in Griffonia. ‘Next time we see Vaga we’re rending him to pieces for endangering Lulu like that!’

{Calm your testes Av. She would’ve gone even if he didn’t take her if she’d been aware. Especially since the report also says that the Panther Crows were wiped out.} Crescent appeased the fuming mutant alicorn, who huffed out smoke and continued scrolling down the holographic screen of “incident reports”. He was currently sat atop Canterlot’s mountain at a normal size, for him, of fourteen feet with his clothed rear melting the snow around him, and the draconic portions of his body’s current form allowing him to not give a shit about the rapidly flowing water soaking his pants, his fiery internal body heat making the biting cold rather pleasant.

‘I’m wishing I’d gone to the con as Jackie Chan from the cartoon show about now. Then I might’ve been Displaced as a humble guy with all the skill and dumb luck to somehow come up smelling like daisies, unlike me now; stumbling around with absolutely no luck or skill to back up my power.’ Avarice bemoaned mentally. Sure, he wouldn’t trade this power for anything save his loved ones now, but damn, what if...damned powerful words.

{So are we appraised enough? Can we finally drop in on our sexy mates? We have to face the music sooner rather than later colt.} Crescent dutifully reminded and Avarice sighed out his nose, mentally bracing for the reaming of his life.

‘Let’s get this over with.’ Avarice bemoaned his fate, but decided to go for a devastating shock-and-awe approach to let them all know he was back.

[ $ ]

It was yet another gloriously peaceful day in Canterlot, a wonderful respite for the otherwise usually beligered Princess Celestia. Ever since she started showing, her advisors and military leaders had insisted-nay; forced her to take it easy and leave all the stressful management to them and appoint a regent. She would do no such thing! Not during a war that has spanned several years! She understood their concern, but she couldn’t in good conscience leave the country in somepony else’s hands besides Luna, and she was still off in Bullgaria, currently siegeing the capital.

She sighed blissfully in peace however as she ran a hand down her gravid belly, smoothing what few creases there were in her soft baby-blue gown, the cool winter air a wondrous counter to her hot body. She loved this sensation, being so full of life, simply allowed to rest. She’d let her military advisors take over the paperwork, since they only had to bug her for extreme issues, she essentially had nothing to do except care for herself. “Enjoying some rest Tia?”

Celestia groaned in joy as two huge, dexterous claws suddenly clamped onto her shoulders, rubbing what tension she had out. “Oh~ Sonata...thank you.” Celestia was indeed grateful, her enormous Q-cup breasts were a burden on her upper back and shoulders, even with her huge belly that seemed full term with triplets for them to rest on. Luna and Sonata didn’t have much issue with their own bountiful assets though, Luna because she was just stronger than her physically, and Sonata because she was a Claptrap.

“No problem Tia. After all, I’ve downloaded those caregiving subroutines for a reason.” The 14-foot-tall black and gray techno-organic Claptrap was wearing her full set of armor again, the black and crimson body-conforming alloy plates being reshaped for her own larger J-cups, which used to be I-cups, which used to be H-cups. She’d been through the ringer on breast augments for her chassis, all of which of her own choosing. Her current size was from her come-and-gone pregnancy, she’d laid her seven eggs last month and was as curvy and thin as she’d initially been.

In order to massage the seated 9-foot mare, Sonata was kneeling behind her balcony lounge chair, and the Diarch of the Day was moaning from her fellow herd member’s incredibly gentle claws. “Oh Sonata~...what would I do without you and the others?”

“Wallow alone in loneliness?” Said another voice as a similarly fecund mare in a green gown waddled onto the balcony. “Were it not for us, I fear you would have succumbed to depression with our mate so indisposed.” Zerona the Hawaiian zebra was rather swollen with foal herself, easily just as big as the larger mare in scale, even though she was a week behind her since conception. She was with seven foals herself, one more than Celestia, which explained said size. Otherwise her bosom had also grown from a pair of cantaloupes to two large watermelons, still nothing compared to the Solar Princess, but it was a small grace to the otherwise happy and grinning zebra. “Are you ready for your tanning? Are you sure you wish to turn yourself golden?”

Celestia smiled at her herd-mate’s concern, but looked down at her white-furred hand and wistfully imagined it being gold instead. “Yes. I want my fur to turn gold, if not for vanity reasons, then just for the enhancement of the lotion’s ability to allow me to absorb the energy of the sun better.” Celestia was beyond interested when Zerona told her of a special alchemical tanning lotion her tribe had developed that had also been known to change fur color permanently. It could do any color really, but she imagined herself golden...and she was taken with it instantly.

“Very well, then I will-.”

“Hello~ sexy mommas~.” The sun was suddenly blocked out, and the mares and dragoness all looked up at the voice, and gaped at the sight of an incredibly handsome stallion with slit green eyes and grinning shark teeth. But that wasn’t why they were gawking. He was enormous! He was standing and his head cleared over the balcony where they were relaxing while his hooves were still firmly planted in the grassy field of a garden below. “Oh, come now. I know it’s been a while, but things can change in a few months.”

“Avarice?!” The three members of his herd all shouted in shock, recognizing his cockney accent and gritty voice easily, making him give a rumbling chuckle that they could practically feel.

“The one, and only. Not many can say something like that, but with my nature; I apply.” Avarice answered, before leaning down and lidding his eyes at his sexy mates and humming as he hovered his nose over Tia, who wasn’t as scared as she was surprised, and he sniffed her deeply. “Hm, the tanning lotion? Changing fur color dear?”

“Y-yes...Avarice, what happened to you?” Celestia asked, her magic flaring softly as her condition forced her to take it easy, and she reached her aura out to him, gasping as she felt him consciously reach back, and entwine his own aura with her’s. “You’ve ascended?” Celestia breathed out, and gently stood to hug his muzzle, her body pressing into his lips. “Oh Avarice...what have you gone through in our time apart?”

She was shocked then when, he suddenly was no longer a giant, and stood even-height with her, hugging her back as her arms were suddenly squeezing his rippling back muscles rather than his face, and he had hooked his head behind her neck. She could feel a dam of utter despair deep within him that he was struggling to maintain, and she hugged him to herself tighter. “I missed you.”

“I’m here Avarice. It’s okay.” Tia cooed, soothingly running her hands up and down his back, kissing his neck as she let the tightly-hugging stallion hold her. He needed it. He had to know he had something to hold onto. She was all too familiar with the signs of a pony on the very edge, and she’d be damned if she let him break.

They stood there like that, embracing, silently cherishing each other’s presence as Sonata and Zerona smiled as they looked on, both also understanding he desperately needed his First Mate right now. “So aren’t you going to ream me out? I mean I’ve been gone for a long time.” He asked, still not letting go, practically crushing Tia’s back muscles in his claws, but she endured.

“The thought crossed my mind a few times, but no. You’ve been through enough.” Tia assured, nuzzling his neck as she tried to assure him that he was safe here. He was with loved ones.

“Besides, we need to meet any new members you might’ve brought into our herd with that mare-killer between your thighs first.” Sonata joked, and Avarice laughed as he let Tia go, the mare fluttering her wings a bit to get some tension he’d caused out.

“Well, actually...yeah. I do have someone for you all to meet. But first, is Lulu still at the-.”

“JOYOUS DAY!” Luna’s familiar voice in her Royal Caps Lock echoed out of Tia’s bedroom and onto the large balcony, which was no longer barricaded from paranoia, considering the large number of Loaders and Claptraps ensured that no assassins would be sneaking about, and she already had a couple claptraps on poison detail so none of their food could be tampered with. They still tried though, the dutiful bots having stopped several poisonings from happening and catching at least three different spies.

The extremely busty Q-cup night-blue mare who was still without foal happily trotted into the bedroom and onto the balcony, her steel armor having been dented, scratched, cracked, and even completely ripped off in her right breast’s case, revealing a quickly-healing gash in her otherwise glorious orb that she didn’t care to cover right now. “Sister! We have won! Bullgaria is now ours!”

“That is great news Luna! Oh, I feel so much relief, knowing that a third of our troubles are finally gone.” Celestia sighed, feeling some of the weight of the world lessen off her shoulders. “Who do we appoint as regent for the country though?”

“Lord Horn may be old, but he has a few decades in him yet, and he won’t betray us, or let Bullgaria fall if he has anything to say about it.” Luna informed, and Celestia nodded in ascent to her sister’s choice. She’d been able to meet with Lord Horn once, and he was an incredibly well-mannered and wise bull from what she’d seen. “Oh, I did not know we had company. Hello. I am Princess Luna. It is a pleasure to meet you.”

Luna introduced herself to Avarice, not recognizing him in the slightest due to his rapidly changing preferred forms not letting her connect the dots yet as he grinned at the polite princess who, despite trying to hide it, was obviously ogling him. “Lulu, we’re already rather intimate. I don’t think trying to start over is a wide decision.” Hearing him, Luna’s wings flared open and she let her decorum fail her as she jumped at him and squeed in joy as she hugged around his neck.

“Beloved! We hath missed thee dearly! And thou shalt not evade another bedroom encounter this time! We hast been chaste for several months, and thou shalt sate our desires. Especially for such a momentous occasion!” Luna demanded before she kissed him full on the mouth, moaning as she squeezed her breasts, both armor-clad and bare to his chest, and he hummed as he returned the kiss, before gently breaking them apart with a smile on both their faces.

“Okay, now that you’re all here. I need to introduce you all to someone special.” Avarice moved back away, and gently fingered the dog tags around his neck. ‘Missy~! I’m calling you in to introduce you to the rest of my girls. Now is the best time, they’re all happy to see me, and things seem to be looking up for the first time in forever.’

[MC-PoV]

There was a brief jingle in the air sounding almost like a children’s song. A simple, black, shadowy, gate opened and a small blue stallion with a messy brown mane and tail. His cutie mark was a gear and bell over an explosion. Staring up at the wide eyed mares and dragoness, he giggled a little.

“Greetings, I am Mistress Change, also currently known as Tinker Bell. Pleasure to meet you all.” He walked over to Avarice, wrapping a foreleg around his lower body. “How are you doing?”

“Better, now that I’m home Missy. Everyone; I’d like you to meet Missy. He’s a Mass Shifter, so he’s technically genderless, but he can be anything he wants so long as it’s a living form. This, however.” Avarice trailed off, holding his claw towards Missy’s mane.

“Hi I am Jeff, Mistress’s partner. Happy to meet all.” Jeff formed a face with his slitted eyes and shark like teeth. Nodding to the surprise mares and dragoness. The dragoness’s eyes flashed with curiosity about the “living” hair.

“My, he is quite adorable.” Zerona commented as she waddled closer, Missy’s face blushing a bit at her pregnant form. “Where did you meet?” She asked as she turned to the side and reached down to scratch his ears, getting Missy to grin and lean into the affection. It always felt so good to get the ears scratched.

“Oh I summoned him to help my partner Duncan deal with a rampaging magic construct. Then one thing led to another, I got pregnant, Jeff helped so we have an egg, all three of us the parents. He also ate a piece of my hoof which is where some of his new powers come from.”

“You mean you were a giant using the power you gained from the cute dear?” Tia asked as she looked down at Missy in astonishment, and he rolled his eyes, deciding to take away the adorable factor of full-pony, considering this was clearly an anthro world.

“One second, those of weak stomachs may want to look away.” Mistress then began moving his mass, his legs bending the other direction, and feet forming from his hooves. He rose himself up on the legs as his arms slimmed down and hands grew. Jeff flowed over him becoming a simple flower patterned sundress. Mistress grew her own hair out in voluminous blond curls with green highlights. Her chest size increasing to a respectable D-cup, till her now blue eyes checked the average size on the balcony and knocked it up another two sizes to F.

Deciding against the anthro form she shrunk her horn and flattened her face, till she became a supermodel figured human with gray-green skin. She smiled at the mares and dragoness. “Yes he was a giant because of me, and several other factors.”

“Because I already turned matter into energy, my new body can also turn energy into mass. And you all truly love me, so...yeah...I had a lot of energy just from being around others, feeding off the ambient emotional energy like a changeling and just getting more and more. Now when I just let myself loose, I’m a giant.” Avarice explained, before he suddenly shot up in size to being 14 feet tall, causing his girls to blush and Missy to giggle at his antics.

{Jeff get some photos of pony Tia and Luna ready, more embarrassing the better} Mistress directed Jeff as he used the phone in her pocket. He came across several from times Mistress had pranked them with ink in their sleep.

{Will these work?} He asked using their mental connection to share the pictures.

{Yup}

“Well I must welcome thee to our herd. Whilst things here are not all as they should be, we are currently in a good enough state to welcome yet another into our folds.” Luna wagged her eyebrows, making Mistress blush at the very heavy innuendo that the super-busty princess had just made.

“Two” Jeff piped up, not liking being left out. He cared for Avarice too.

“I would happily be welcomed, I must insist that in private you remember that there are two of us, Jeff is his own person, please don’t treat him as a pet or an extension of me.” She said the last part with a familiar fondness that the girls recognized. It was the same fondness they used when speaking of Avarice.

“So sounds like Avarice didn’t waste much time summoning me, why don’t we all get some lunch so we can get to know each other better. I’m sure you all want some time with Avarice anyways, sexy sex god he is.” She winked at him getting Avarice to bashfully look away and scratch the back of his head.

“Yeah...kinda...I’ve ascended into being a God of Fertility. Likely the fault of both my contract, and being so modified by Die Leucht accelerating it. So...that along with my new Shifter powers, I could please any and all of you at one time even.” Suddenly, a second Avarice began emerging seamlessly from the original, getting everyone to gape as the clone easily stood in the buff, everything on display as he and the original leaned against one another, before speaking. “We’re two in here remember? Crescent? Multiple souls, multiple egos, one mind. So if one of us is trouble, you’d better make it double~.”

“Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light” Mistress chimed in giggling to herself.

“Surrender now~ or prepare to fight~!” They chorused as Jeff suddenly formed a mouth from the sundress over Mistress’s breasts.

“Jeff, that right!” Mistress now folded over laughing at the jokes. Ah Displaced, atleast they got the pop-culture references.

“What?” The locals and the dragoness all asked in complete confusion to the four’s amusement over what seemed to be a reference they couldn’t get.

“.... You know Dox once gave my cell infinite battery, anyone think they can give it internet connection across the void?” Mistress asked the desire to spread the power of anime across the multiverse growing. She pulled the small white and pink cased phone out of her pocket. Looking hopefully at the claptrap dragoness.

“I’m afraid I could only give you guest access to our local Echonet, and we don’t have any entertainment up yet. We’re too new. I could still improve your phone for free though, boost signal strength, send and receive more forms of signals, even perform all around better. Other than that, I’m afraid it won’t help explain your little inside joke.” Sonata informed, getting Mistress to sigh and shrug.

“Centuries of work and I still can’t watch anime. Oh well, if you can do that, I would love the access to information, I’m a bit of a tinkerer and could even pass any inventions I make back to your Handsome Jack. I’ll just need his token, but we can sort that out later. For now...embarrassing pictures!” She turned the phone over, in a smooth motion unlocking the screen to show a picture of Celestia and Luna cuddling with black ink drawn all over their face. Gigilling as she went.

“Oh goodness! So adorable!” Tia gushed, pulling her sister in closer to look at the image. “Aw, even as quadrupeds, they look like us when we were a bit younger.”

“Indeed sister. I can also see she too has a bit much jiggle to her wiggle.” Luna sniped back, giggling as she poked her heavily pregnant sister who huffed indignantly as she pat her belly, getting Mistress to gulp and try not to focus on it, lest her nipples decide to give Jeff a tease.

{Damnit five minutes around the man and I lose body control again.} Mistress groaned internally. Jeff laughed, making a comment about enjoying it.

“Its from what is normally referred to as a more “Alpha” universe featuring more “Feral” body types. I assume you have had the Displaced explained to you then?” She switched to one of Celestia hiding her anger at a griffon diplomat, her eyebrow twitching with a faint golden aura around her warhammer.

“Oh~ I like her sister! She’s much bolder than thou.” Luna jibbed at her sister again, and Celestia rolled her eyes.

“I have the desire to pound idiots too Luna, I just don’t break out into an enraged beat-down like you do sometimes. Why do you think the nobles are so scared of you?” Celestia admonished, elbowing her sister, sending glorious quakes through their breasts and lifting up the domed gown a bit, getting Mistress to once again fantasize suddenly about her beautiful baby belly, and blink the dirty thoughts away.

{Damn it, no! Not now.} “I like this one, I wonder if you have one to?” Mistress slid it to Luna sleeping with a cute little pony doll. She was sucking her hoof as she slept. Jeff laughed, {We could always relax instead of eating?}

“Aw...Tiberius III! I do so miss him.” Luna admitted, looking at the picture fondly. “Alas, even if we do not grow out of our little toys, sometimes we just outlast them.”

{Jeff make a note for next time we visit Star Swirl, we shall bring presents next time!} Mistress refused to let the alternate of one of her best friends be sad. Then she blinked, finally taking note that Luna’s right breast was exposed, she was wearing broken armor, AND she had a line of missing fur on her breast, exposing red, inflamed flesh that was open in a thin, but deep line where a wider gash had clearly been not long ago.

“Oh Luna let me see that,” Mistress reached over, placing a hand on Luna’s breast without a second thought. She focused her magic, knitting the wound closed and regrowing the lustrous midnight-blue hair. She smiled at her handy work enjoying the now perfect breast, how she missed seeing boobs. “There now you won’t get a scar.”

“Oh thank you dear! We were going to enlist the aid of the infirmary in knitting it closed, but your magic is much more advanced than ours. Here, in gratitude.” She suddenly closed the distance, and surprised Mistress by gently grabbing her head, and putting her face to the 9-foot tall mare’s still-exposed breast. “Know that we embrace thee fully friend. Thou may even drink if thou wish.”

{And now I’m embarrassed, how does this keep happening, not like its my first breast. Jeff we are going to need to partake in the welcoming before anything else. My head is way too distracted.} She sighed taking a quick sip of Luna’s breast milk, it was creamy, sweet, warm and filling. She only suckeled for a moment.

“Thank you, that tasted far better than I was expecting, this world’s physiology is vastly different from many I have visited. Now then I must confess, I’ve been reading the minds of several of your nearby servants. I’m concerned to say the least. Perhaps you can catch me up on the situation here? Then… we can… get to know each other better?” Mistress blushed at her own suggestion, but the rest all just grinned impishly at her, {Oh gosh, I’m in a relationship with some of the sexiest women and man I’ve ever met, and they’re all perverts too. I’m nervouscited just thinking about it.}

“We’ve had regular assassination attempts as of five months ago to current. The first ones almost claimed our lives, but thanks to Avarice and his affiliations with Hyperion Interstellar Corporation, the attempts have become less and less as we captured more and more agents.” Sonata informed, stepping forward as an Echo hologram projected from her eyes, showing the important video files from Solar and Lunar in their respective put-downs of the first assassination attempts. “The first ones were the worst. After that, Solar and Lunar have doggedly hunted down every suspect, set up security in an infallible net around their respective mistresses, and have repelled all attempts thus.”

“But you still haven’t found them all, or even the local base for these...Die Leucht?” Mistress asked, fishing the name from the surface of Luna’s mind, the hate and utter rage against the name made it impossible to ignore, especially from the Mercurial Luna, and surprisingly even the gentle and loving Celestia.”What has your counter intelligence network found?”

“Next to nothing I’m afraid. These fools would sooner commit suicide before they give any information.” Sonata stated, making Crescent turn away in shame.

“Alright, if I may have your permission, I would like to read your minds. Think about every detail you can. Then I’m going to get to work at my specialty… after we do some things to clear my head, mister sexy is messing with my mind again.”

“Hey~ not my fault I’m so sexy. I’m, too sexy for my shirt~!” Avarice sang, his gritty voice creating a rumbling tone that sent shivers down her spine, especially as he ran his hands up and down his washboard abs and his fucking glorious hard pecs-

{Damn it I need it now!} Mistress pounced on the stupid-sexy-sex god and chaos ensued.

[ $ ]

After banging...everyone. Especially Celestia and the zebra Zerona, what with their divine, sexy pregnant bodies, they cleaned up and Mistress decided to sit down with each of them, get a look through their minds and see if she could pull anything specific or overlooked from them with their permissions of course. Each of them had something to offer, save Sonata, couldn’t read her; robot after all, alive or not. Thankfully she upgraded Mistress’s phone to the Echonet and gave her access the the video files from her memories. Jeff was currently reviewing the videos for clues.

Celestia’s memories provided a good starting point. Noting the face of every servant she started creating a list of any that ever acted oddly that weren’t already ousted as assassins and spies before, and some who she felt might not be but were imprisoned under suspicion. She hoped Mistress could prove them either guilty or innocent, a nice gesture from a wonderful mare.

Luna’s memories about the daggers brought out a lot of questions, even one of those daggers would be a treat to tinker with. Although upon learning that Star Swirl of this world had died she quickly placed that thought to the side. She loved her friend and mentor, it was unsettling to watch the memory, she hugged Luna afterwards, the two comforting each other.

Zerona didn’t have much about the local situation, but her memories of abroad, as far back as her homeland of Zebrica. Disturbing. Somehow they had agents that far out. The corruption was extensive, she hoped she could get enough of it to set them on a downward spiral. It was so much easier to topple a tyrant than a shadow organization with talons in every pie, eyes on everyone, and ears everywhere.

“Thank you Zerona, knowing the extent of the corruption saddens me deeply. However I will not rest until this problem is resolved. Now then if you will excuse me I have some work to do.” With that Mistress rose, shifting into a bland and simple servant stallion. He began a brisk walk towards the kitchen. Some of the best places to learn proper gossip, and find low level spys.

Along the way she noticed, three guards whose thoughts were of the recent attacks, they were far too upset. She slid around a corner listening to them think. She was quickly rewarded as each one remembered being contacted with orders from Die Leucht. Making note of all three names and Guard stations she moved on. She also grabbed the image of the ponies who contacted them with orders.

Upon finding her way to the kitchens she found many a happy mare chatting along with gossip. Mostly they were talking about Avarice, the new ‘consort’ of the princess’s. Reviews were mixed several found him terrifying and creepy. Many thought him to be a rude undeserving creatin not fit to be around. Especially since he showed up out of nowhere, a practical street urchin, beguiled Celestia with his good looks, and now he’s in the royalty’s pocket and then some. Oh and the scandal of him vanishing for months, sending troops, supplies, new technologies.

From the way they spoke of him, he was like the Steve Jobs of this world, both ridiculed, and given adulation for his providing them with such wonders as these “golems” such as FIX Loaders that work construction and engineering exclusively, and the Echonet for communicating. And they wouldn’t stop talking about how sexy he was. Stop ogling my man! {Whoa, possessive much Mistress? Calm down, anyway.}

{Well this is a regular hen’s den, shall we gaggle like the rest of the geese?} Mistress asked Jeff with a smile. Sometimes mind reading was just a touch overpowered. She sighed at her lapse in control, taking a deep breath she prepared herself.

{Perhaps a new maid would be proper.} Jeff thought back eyeing the maid uniforms. Rather attractively formed on each usually very curvy mare. Considering their employers, it must be the norm here.

Shifting to look like a young girl barely old enough to be on staff, but still very clearly busty and shapely to not stand out. Her fur was a deep blue with her main a lovely violet, after settling the details she and Jeff made their way in.

“Um.. ‘scuse me I’m a little lost. I just got hi-hired today, an-and was told to report to the kitchen.” She played up her lost girl persona, sniffling as she went.

“Oh you dear girl you. Its alright, I don’t remember there being any new workers mentioned. Are you sure you are in the right area? This is the kitchen.” A large mare with an apron and chef’s hat on spoke to the lost girl.

“Ya, said it was a favor for me pa, he was in the army and and and…” She started crying unable to finish letting the mares make their own assumptions.

“Shh, its ok deary, what’s your name?” The mare patted her on the head. Her huge bosoms bouncing as her arm brushed against them.

“Hyacinth miss. I’m a hard worker, and I used to do the cleaning. I promise I can help!” She exclaimed portraying a fear of rejection. While inside: {Oh~ why is everyone in this world hot? I think the influence of Avarice is still messing with my head, lowering my inhibitions, it’s a good thing I like it.}

“Well then there is a mop and bucket over there. Why don’t you start and we will help you learn to cook. It’s always nice to have an extra hand.” Nodding to the closet with a well handle attached to the wall next to it.

Mistress quickly got to work, earning a smile from most of the staff. At Least they didn’t have to mop anymore, so much they could push off on the new girl. Listening in she managed to catch a lot of important information. Like the fact one of the employees was not even with Die Leucht but tried to poison the princesses out of religious fanaticism, seeing them accept Avarice as a fall from grace. Mistress made particular note of that one to make sure there wasn’t another shadow group to go after.

“Um, ma’am I was wondering, I missed lunch, can I take a break? The food everyone is cooking smells great!” She asked the head mare again.

“Sure, and call me Cream, short for Cream Puff. Guess what the princess asks me to make the most.” She laughed, sending quakes through her great bosom. Mistress giggled at the joke, smiling as she accepted a cream puff that Cream handed to her in humor.

“So I was curious why the castle is in such a lock down state. The guard searched me a dozen times.” Mistress commented acting ever innocent. She munched down on the sweet snack, making sure she got a little cream on the corner of her mouth for added effect.

“Deary where have you been? Don’t you know about the attempts on the princess’s lives?” One of the other cooks called out. The religious mare visibly tensed at the sudden change in topic and grew very silent. However that once sentence flooded Mistress with useful knowledge. Several mares thought of their husbands currently in jail. One mare though was of particular interest. She was a old cranky mare who had worked in the castle for decades. Mistress shivered hearing her list the ways she had ordered the princesses killed. All in the name of Die Leucht.

“Don’t they know who is doing it? Is it the Minotaurs?” She asked mocking shock and fear. She regulated a bit of extra epinephrine, norepinephrine and dozens of of other hormones. The response was a perfect simulation of fear.

“Oh, most definitely not, at least now that we’ve apparently won the war over them from Princess Luna’s earlier overjoyed announcements across the kingdom earlier from the Echo has anything to say about that.” Cream said as she tossed about some dough with her big but nimble hands. “If it was them, any agents working from there would have either left or surrendered. Any sort of violence against us would just be salt in the wound, spite, no real point to it.”

“That is super scary, no one know where they are coming from? I’m glad the guard has gotten so good, especially with those golems helping them out. We will be safe here… right?” She asked finishing a second cream puff and returning to work.

The old mare continued to smirk in her corner, ignored by the rest of the cooks. {Too bad they will never learn of Die Leucht or our base in Trottingham. Ah, the Gray Stallion, a shame we have failed you so much.}

“Yes they have almost gotten routine at their job. I’ve had so many wonderful meals ruined by poison, it’s such a shame.” Cream Puff shook her head as she continued rolling out the dough.

Mistress almost jumped for joy at all the information she’d gathered, it was so easy to get unguarded ponies thinking. “Well I’m glad I’ll be safe here. Just makes me scared, I might be forced to go live with my uncle out in the country. I don’t know what I’ll do if that happens.”

“Well if you work this hard everyday you will always have a place here. Now it’s getting late, why don’t you take the rest of the evening off. Dinner's almost ready.”

“Thanks I’ll be back tomorrow if I can then!” Mistress wave happily as she skipped out of the kitchen. With luck she could have her new herd friends saved by the end of the week.

[ $ ]

“This is a list of every single operative I found. Also I recommend keeping this one I’ve noted, around, and feed her false information. You might be able to draw out more of them that way.” Mistress texted the list of ponies she found to be known members of Die Leucht over Echo with her phone using a private channel. She also sent a second list. this one consisting of other spies from other countries, and organizations.

“Also keep an eye out, several ponies are unhappy about Avarice, and see him as a corrupting force in spite of all the good his company’s technology is doing. Might try some PR there to fix that. it seems that many fear the technology. Others seem to think he might even be a demon from Tartarus seducing you. I hope you can think of something soon, I don’t think I can keep calm with ponies so rashly accusing our man of things.” Mistress growled, her pony face becoming a bit dog-like before she shook herself, glad she’d slunk away to a small storage closet so there weren’t any prying eyes. {Ugh, Avarice, at a distance? Really? Why can’t I control myself today?}

“AH~!” A terrified scream jolted Mistress to alertness and she quickly stashed her phone before she bolted out of the closet, and froze at seeing something disturbing, and also very unsettling. “Miss Graystone~!” The maid wailed, kneeling over the bleeding corpse of the old mare Mistress had taken the most valuable information from in the kitchen, and she paled under her coat of fur while more of her sanguine flowed from her slit neck.

{No...how? Why?}

“There’s been a murder!” A guard’s voice called from down the hall, and a said guard, who had no treasonous thoughts at all so he was clean, paused at the sight of the mare. “Damn it, another one! Two murders! Two murders!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, as more calls of other voices echoed through the castle, screaming murder, some fresh screams of fear.

{No! NO! What’s going on?! I just started, I was as absolutely inconspicuous as possible! How could they have known? Are they just cutting and running?} It made no sense Mistress hadn’t encountered anypony that seemed even capable, let alone using mind magic. There was no way that it was a coincidence, something had to have known they were compromised… {but how?}

“Well aren’t you the prettiest Monster I ever did see?” A smooth male voice came from behind her, and before she could even move, a large knife plunged into where her heart would’ve been, clean through her spine, but heart-or-no, this knife was something different.

“AH~!” Mistress screamed in agony, it felt like the blade was trying to literally rip the life from her body. Jeff instantly went limp, his mind breaking from hers. It was terrifying, the sudden onslaught of emotions flooded her as she lost control of her own mind.

“Feel it Monster? A blade that takes all magic of any form, in your back. Only souls can break it from what I’ve learned.” He held the limp Mistress up by the blade in her back, the maid had run off the instant the unseen attacker had appeared. “And you Shifters, you’re all so reliant on your magic you have no idea. I’m surprised you didn’t dissolve instantly.”

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Mistress took a gasping breath as the huge knife suddenly left her, and she fell to the floor just as a giant swathe of black flames flooded down the hall over her. “Touch our mate again Leon, and thou shalt have thine soul devoured!”

{My hero….} Mistress thought as she panted and cringed, the wound wouldn’t seal, she couldn’t change shape. {I can’t Shift...I CAN’T SHIFT!} “A-Avarice...help…!” Mistress was about to panic, lowered brain chemicals had spiked, all control of her body was gone, Jeff wasn’t responding to anything! All reasonable thought left her as she lunged at Avarice, finding she could at least shift her teeth, she ripped into the flesh of his shoulder.

In a blind fury she ripped the arm off, consuming chunks of flesh as she went. She was using the fresh biomass to stop the bleeding. The feed back from the wound caused her to convulse on the floor. For a moment she blacked out to the world around her. “I SAID STAY AWAY FROM HER!” She heard Avarice roar above her, and more heat, he was clearly desperate to keep whoever this was away from her.

{I...I just ripped off his arm and ate it, and he’s still defending me?} Mistress asked herself in awe, before she opened her eyes to see the clearly scared and worried Avarice standing over her, his left arm torn off at the shoulder, the rest of it gone; eaten in her rabid desperate frenzy. But his fear wasn’t of her. She bolted up, gasping in pain as she still wasn’t back to normal, and she also froze.

Down the hall, was a platinum-blond human man of fairly impressive stature, definitely taller than her right now. He wore black combat fatigues aside from his shirt, which was instead a form-fitting black muscle-shirt clearly meant to make it easier for him to move aside from his harness over his torso holding various tools, grenades and other small weapons. In his hand however, was the offending weapon that hurt her; a bowie knife...that was it?! However, what really stood out was his glowing purple eyes.

He was Leon S. Kennedy...oh fuck! That’s right! {Avarice is the Merchant! A Resident Evil character! This Leon I’m seeing is the character design from the same game as him; Resident Evil 4!}

“You okay Missy?” Avarice asked, not taking his eyes off the enemy, who similarly kept his eyes trained on them while a fresh arm sprouted out of the torn stump.

“I’ll live, we need to end this fast, and I need to see Star Swirl, something is wrong with Jeff,” She forced herself to her feet. Taking a deep breath she settled on a defensive stance, like riding a bike she prepared for combat.

“How cute. The Monsters found love. How about I help you dance?” Suddenly he drew a pistol from behind him that couldn’t have possibly fit, considering it has a stock, and he shot Avarice through the head from that distance, but Missy’s beau merely stumbled back, and hissed with a gurgle as he regenerated. “No, no, that’s not how you waltz. You have to put a bit of certainty in it.”

“There’s no ending this fast Missy. This bastard’s too strong. We can only fend him off until reinforcements arrive. Then he’ll run. Leon may be a certified badass, but he can’t take a whole horde of enemies at once.” Avarice then split in two, revealing that Crescent was with him too.

“Alright, then no rush attacks, we just hold our own till help arrives. I hate fighting like this.” Keeping an eye on Leon watching where he aimed, prepared to dodge as best she could.

“Aw, she won’t be any fun, she’s already wisened up. How about you dance with me fellas? I think I can accommodate two.” The pistol was gone, and suddenly it was a CHICAGO TYPEWRITER?! “What was it you said? It’s not about shooting, but reloading?” The cheap bastard held down the trigger and a hailstorm of bullets flew down the hall.

Mistress jumped high clinging to the ceiling, aiming to avoid the first volley of lead. Avarice and Crescent didn’t bother though. “What are you doing?!” Her horror was ruined when they stood stock still, the bullets being stopped by a now-visible shield that was around them, and it wasn’t until now that Mistress noticed the shield modules they had on their waists. {Oh~ right, Borderlands.}

“Are you quite done?!” Crescent shouted over the typewriter-like loud firing only for a grenade to bounce off his face. “Shit!” They jumped away, their wings giving them an extra boost that allowed them to avoid the frag grenade’s explosion.

“He can shoot a Tommy Gun one-handed AND throw a grenade at the same time?! HAX!” Avarice shouted angrily before the gunfire finally ended.

“Huh...gonna need to get my hands on some Hyperion tech if it’s that good.” Leon commented before putting his Tommy behind his back, vanishing as easily as it’d appeared. “Looks like range isn’t going to work with you two. But my time’s up. Killed all the loose ends anyway.” He then looked up at the petrified Mistress, and he narrowed his eyes. “Most of them anyway. You already sent the information, so you made my mission pointless. Congrats Monster; you win this round.”

The gunfire suddenly roared through the halls, and Leon bolted down another hall as Loaders stormed after him at ridiculous speed. “Oh~...Mistress...what happened?” Jeff’s voice echoed out from Mistress’s maid dress and she gasped as she dropped to the floor and began happily petting Jeff by rubbing her hands over herself.

{You’re alive! Oh thank Billings you’re alright! I thought I lost you!} Mistress hugged herself, and by extension Jeff, slowly sinking to her knees, holding back choking sobs as tears left her eyes. {I thought you were gone….}

{Should know by now Mistress it’ll take more than that to kill me. Even if it was more potent than a Null.} Jeff groaned as he flung chunks of his own body out, tainted pieces from around the wound. The anti-magic had made them no-longer compatible with his own body.

Before anything else could be thought, Mistress gasped as she found herself protectively wrapped in two sets of arms. “It’s okay sweetie. Avarice is here. We won’t let anything hurt thou.”

“We shall remain here for thee.” Crescent whispered as he kissed her brow, and Mistress couldn’t take it anymore. She wept. She’d hadn’t been so scared or helpless for such a long time. Nothing had outright horrified her and laid her bare like that before, not even the Nulls of her ‘homeworld’ had gotten so close.

“Come dear. we shall carry thee to our bedchambers.” Avarice softly comforted as he moved his arms under her, carrying her bridal style away from the scene, she buried her face in his shoulder and continued to cry, clutching him for a sense of stability to ground herself, to tell her that she was okay, that he could protect her. No matter how much her rational mind screamed in terror otherwise.

It felt good to cry like that, to not have to be so strong. She had been strong for so long, even with her own princesses helping her, she had felt like an older sibling. Now she could finally let someone else be strong, to let the weight of the world off her own shoulders for a bit. Sniffing, she looked up at Avarice, in a soft tone that he had never heard before, “Thank you, Avarice. Thank you so much.”

With that she let the adrenaline stop flowing and fell fast asleep in his arms as he muttered sweet nothings in her ears.

Author's Note

'Nother Crossover, this time with me hosting for once! This and next chapter are with Reinardtoma's Shape Shifters and Sakura Cards in Equestria

Here she helps us along on our journey, while also being brutally reminded that she is still fallible, still a little fish in a very big pond. Leon apparently does that to anyone he fights.

The Return, Part Two

Avarice and Crescent were both laying in a huge lavish bed, snuggling the shivering form of their lover Missy. She’d stopped crying and fallen asleep a while ago, but they didn’t have the heart to leave her, and their other lovers agreed she needed affection right now, especially considering what she’d been stabbed with.

Leon lost his knife in a parkour technique to get around a blockade of loaders keeping him from a door, and the claptraps who analyzed it found it was a mix of high-carbon steel and orichalcum. All the sharpness and anti-magic of oricalcum with the durability of steel. Lovely. Fuckers were getting more creative with the damn alloy.

Missy whimpered in her sleep, and Avarice held her closer to his chest. “Hush little one. We are here. Let the nightmares not take thee.” He kissed her brow and she seemed to calm down a little, so Avarice took the chance to look up at his literal other half in concern. “How are we going to keep our mates safe if that fuck Leon and his ilk can still pop in and stab people in the back like it’s nothing?”

“Constant vigilance? Av, I’m as clueless as you are. We already have a robot army, which has been freed up recently from the land campaign against Bullgaria finally over with, but they’ll be needed there to help the minotaurs maintain order during the transition, maybe even rebuild if they shift programming to FIX Loaders for the construction. What we need is some sort of ‘area denial’ for folks like Leon who can warp around.” Crescent mused, getting Avarice to heavily consider the idea until Missy moaned and got their attention.

“Ugh...what hit me?” Mistress asked as her form was completely reverted to her native humanoid shifter form with her blond hair and slitted eyes. Blinking she looked up seeing Avarice and Crescent snuggling with her. Clutching her head in pain when the memories returned she tried to bury her face in Avarice.

After a few moments the pain finally subsided enough that she could think again. Deciding against magic for right now she check with Jeff. How are you Jeff?

Doing better now, still some pain. We should speak with Avarice and Crescent about what happened and see what we can come up with. They were talking about a null area while you slept Jeff quickly responded, he had been awake for a while but chose not to tell Avarice as he only wanted to hold his Mistress.

“One of our enemies by name of Leon S. Kennedy. Since the day he appeared, he’s obviously been out to end us or otherwise hinder us. He used a bowie knife made of an orichalcum/steel alloy. Orichalcum, in this world, is known as the God-Slaying Metal, and has been used extensively by our enemies; Die Leucht. It’s basically the ultimate anti-magic material. Anything and everything magical it comes in contact with simply ceases to be.” Crescent informed, as Avarice nuzzled her.

“Well that explains alot, I wish I knew how it defined magic. I was taught that everything is magic, literally everything, from reading a book to throwing a punch.” Mistress sat up propping herself against the headboard.

“Well in that case, I hope and pray none of the stuff makes it into your world, it’d probably just eat a hole to the core of the world and implode it then. It considers any and all active energy to be magic. It stops electricity too. Hell, if I could test it on radiation, I might even use it to accelerate my world’s recovery.” Avarice informed, Crescent running his claw through her hair.

“Well there must be a limit or else molecules would cease to be and it simply existing would cause explosions.” Missy stated, and the two great beings looked at each other, and sighed.

“Technically, it does, but in reverse; it implodes. That shock you felt? That was the sudden loss of magic. It’s simply there, and gone the next. It’s like the orichalcum consumes magic. Tests performed at our labs on Maui show that when it comes in contact with active magic, the alloy actually becomes denser.” They instated, but Missy shook her head.

“What I am referring to is you said that the blade was made of a steel compound correct?”

“Not really. Orichalcum itself is an alloy of unknown make. We can’t figure out what it’s made of, no tests are conclusive. What you were hit with was an alloy mixed with another alloy. The fact that they could do this is just rage inducing.” Avarice seethed, his love of the Craft rising up in protest of mixing alloys so casually.

“Ok but you said steel was used with it, just as an example, if the material could stop electricity completely then the bonds that make up the blade would break as the molecules fall apart. Good day it gets hot and turns to dust, bad day fire or explosions. Not arguing that it has some nasty field just that there is a limit. If you can find that limit you might find a way around it.”

“We did find A limit, you won’t like it though.” They warned, their faces grim.

“Try me.”

“Souls.”

“... That is incredibly unhelpful, I’m not familiar with any weapons made of souls.” Mistress tapped her chin thoughtfully. She knew of souls, with some help she even had an idea what was going on with hers, but a soul blade?

“Trust us Missy, stay around us or Dox long enough; you find out that souls are very tangible and terrifying things. Dox explained in a Hyperion report that he once trapped a griffon’s soul in an orichalcum dagger, and it shattered shortly after, unable to handle the threshold of his soul since it was trying to consume it, yet couldn’t.” They grimly stated, getting Missy to sigh and rub her temple.

“Still doesn’t do much for our current situation. I’d love a sample to take with me so I can study it further.” Mistress asked as her form rippling as she shifted casually from one form to the next, stretching so to speak, so the hunk sandwich moved away to give her room to do so.

“Well, if you do, considering how your world works, it might just start growing on it’s own, consuming everything. I’d say to let sleeping dogs lie.” Avarice warned.

“I repeat; if what I was taught held true Jeff and I would be dead and dust. So it must not consider certain things magic.”

“But what if the rules change per universe? For instance; you may be able to change all you want here as you do back home, but do you feel any magic strain in comparison? Is it more or less? Do you feel a difference in the air, the feel of the magic?” Crescent prodded seriously, this was orichalcum they were talking about, not some benign alloy.

“Different yes but the channeling feels the same. “

“Then there’s too many similarities for me to let you risk it. It could suddenly start growing, and eat it’s way to the center of your world, maybe even for a black hole if it gets dense enough.” Avarice stated in concern.

“I could always drop it back in the void if that happened. Whether you let me or not I plan on getting my hands on some.” Mistress said with a determined look on her face.

Avarice and Crescent sighed. They knew when they would get nowhere with a mate, and this was one of those times. “Okay. If we get our hands on anything new you can have some of it for testing. Speaking of which, what did you happen to discover before Leon decided to play Spy and backstabbed you?”

“Well to start with, I sent Sonata a list of Die Leucht members however it sounds like Leon has killed them all. That was not before I got a very juicy bit of information. They have a base in Trottingham, and it is led by a character known as ‘The Gray Stallion’.” She listed off the information as she glomped Avarice for agreeing to share a sample.

Avarice and Crescent both went rigid though, hard as rocks, which she appreciated, considering she liked muscles, but it was more a sign of shock, and if what she saw in Avarice’s face was; pure, unadulterated hate, anger, and bloodlust. “Where.” It wasn’t a question, even though he was gently rubbing her shoulders to try and calm himself down.

“To the Southwest, in the Whitetail Woods. If the geography is the same, I only caught a glimpse before her thoughts shifted.” Avarice and Crescent suddenly jumped out of the bed, Mistress quickly sitting up and getting on her hands and knees as they paced.

“It has been centuries since I read your story, but is that where they kidnapped you?” Mistress asked reading the behavior trying to find out what was wrong.

“No, that fuck snatched me up by holding a hostage in a dive bar in Trottingham. Should’ve done it. Should’ve killed him. Fuck, but the hostage….” Avarice sighed as he buried his face in his hands and Crescent pat his shoulder.

“They would have done it Avarice. You saved that mare’s life.” Crescent reminded, and Avarice sighed again before he nodded. “We fly for Whitetail Wood. They will all die before week’s end.” They then looked to Mistress. “I know it’s so soon after a traumatic experience, but do you feel like getting some justice?”

Mistress smiled a big and wide smile, shifting to make it larger with serrated teeth like Avarice and Crescent’s own shark teeth, but smaller, better for shredding. “Oh trust me I am beyond justice, I am ready for a proper massacre, they almost killed Jeff, I am fucking pissed.”

[I love you too my Mistress,} Jeff thought to Mistress before adding aloud, “They hurt Mistress. Jeff will eat hearts, eat testicals, eat overies, Jeff eat them all.”

“Then let’s go. We have fuckers to slay and prey. Quite literally.” All of their mouths glistened, their teeth sharp. The prey poked the predators, and now they were going to pay the price.

[ $ ]

“I can hear their thoughts this way.” Mistress pointed a armored and clawed finger in the direction of the thoughts. She had shifted to have Jeff armoring her body and able to move her to dodge if needed, she was also in her base humanoid form. They were already well into the woods beyond where any civilization like to travel, however it was still close enough that they wouldn’t need to camp. But then it just kept going...how...how far out are they? And the thoughts are getting louder, but I don’t see any smoke from fires, or anything but trees and more trees.

“Then we must be getting close by now. Stay alert. For all I know, they’ve probably made orichalcum ammo for their shotguns too.” Crescent warned, Avarice was too furious to speak without shouting right now, so he just kept his eyes firmly ahead.

“If you don’t mind I’m going to read your surface thoughts, having the extra perspective in battle could be key, and I don’t know if the orichalcum will negate my mind reading powers if they are armored.” Mistress stated feeling tense, the thoughts were very close, however even with enhanced vision and Jeff looking out she couldn’t make out any location.

‘Sure, whatever. Just don’t dig too deep, fantasizing.’ Avarice warned in his mind as he opened up a bit to Mistress, but images of ripping apart a gray unicorn stallion with his bare claws still flashed across the connection. ‘Sorry, trying to keep my sexy thoughts suppressed.’

“Ah you are so much fun.” She sighed amused by his thoughts.

‘If you think that’s fun~.’ Flashing images of ripping out his ribs one at a time as he laughed came over the connection, and then was followed with him rubbing the stallion’s blood all over his body.

“Yes, yes that is fun, but focus. Something is wrong, for one I can hear the thoughts, but they are… I guess muffled is the best word for it. I feel almost as if we… are….” Mistress looked under her feet. Her eyes wide with understanding. “They have an underground base.”

All of the thoughts made sense in that concept, artificial lighting, the strange devices. These creatures were very sick, twisted monsters. One mind rang out stronger than the rest, a mind screaming in agony, resignation, and despair. Wishing for it to end. Crying out a name she was beyond familiar with. Begging for someone to save her. “Avarice, I think-.”

Avarice suddenly tackled Mistress aside, and a huge spear with a disconcerting green head plunged through his shoulder. “Shit! Ambush!” Avarice shouted as he easily ripped the weapon out of his shoulder, the wound gushing blood a few moments before closing back up, seeming like it didn’t want to heal right away. Or rather couldn’t.

Mistress reacted quickly using Jeff’s eyes on her back she launched a bone spear tendril into the eye of the nearest target below, which had just uncloaked from the tree-line high illusion spell that was rapidly deteriorating once the magic-eating metal had gone through it, revealing the huge area of forest under them was actually a giant clearing, practically FILLED with fully armed and armored enemies.

“Buck you…” Mistress whined. “Why are there always so many?” Dodging another spear, she ripped it out of the air before turning it on charging minotaur as she dropped to the grass while Avarice and Crescent roared, turning into verdugo before dropping into the field too. As the minotaur charged she forced the spear’s butt into ground letting him impale himself, but still had to dodge as the bull-headed idiot tried to smash her with his black hematite warhammer before he collapsed.

{Mistress there are more than we thought, I’m calling LT. CMD. Sparkle.] Jeff stated channeling his will into the golden medallion. {Sparkle, Mistress and I are in need of help, we are under extreme fire, hundreds of enemies.}

{Roger will be there in a moment with back up, toss the Medallion somewhere for me,} a voice replied from the token. Jeff tossed the medallion straight up in the air. It started to ark with electricity sparking with purple lights. Nine gray stones with red symbols appeared in the air just above the medallion, more stones spun out forming a perfect ring. Arrows tipped in orichalcum began flying towards the ring, only for Mistress to deflect them with flesh whips.

This drew the attention of more soldiers, Griffons took flight diving at the portal, forcing Mistress to divert them, launching bone spears at them, some were winged falling to the ground as others continued forward.

Red runes spun around the stones before locking in place, then a blue poof shot out, engulfing a squad of griffons flying at it, stabilizing into a blue wavy portal, the griffons no where to be seen. Soon a large tube shaped ship came flying out of the portal. It remained high above as the portal winked out of existence. The medallion fell into Mistress’s grasp as she dodged another attack.

One of the Verdugo screeched as it ripped through several earth pony soldiers, viscerally slicing them open, biting chunks out, while the other took more time, specifically, to rip his victims in half from the shoulder down, hissing and shrieking in glee even as blades sunk into his chitin.

Mistress sidestepped the hammer of another Minotaur, pushing on it slightly so it crushed a pony. Jeff winced in pain as he was nicked by a blade. Reddish gray ooze seeped from the wound. A spear almost pierced her shoulder, forcing her to shift a hole for it to pass through, then sealing around the wooden shaft she ripped the weapon from her foe.

Then the gunfire started, and not LT. CMD. Sparkle’s advanced kind.

A flechette shot ripped into one of Mistress’s tendrils sending it falling to the ground, a almost necrotic effect began crawling down the tendril before Mistress cut the appendage off. “Now they shoot it from GUNS?! Mother fuckers!”

“CHEAP! ASSHATS!” Mistress heard Avarice scream elsewhere. “I’M TAKING ALL OF THOSE GUNS! I MADE THEM DAMN IT!”

Shots rang out as a few of the shotgun wielders dropped, large holes in their heads where sniper fire had taken them. High above the battlefield the puddle jumper flew in an erratic pattern as an alicorn in a high tech suit of N7 like armor held a sniper rifle while braced on the open back deck. Shots of highly accelerated sand grain-sized material was shot at targets around the two shifters, ripping through the ponies like their armor wasn’t even there.

{I love that mare.} Mistress thought as she dodged a set of talons wearing orichalcum clawed gauntlets. The distraction cost her, letting the griffon rip into her arm. Screaming in pain she bit into his throat, ripping it out and swallowing, She discarded her now useless limb by simply cutting it off as it crumbled into dust and sprouted a new one. She’d burn through all the mass she gained from the yeti at this rate!

{Mistress keep focus, more targets converging on your location,} Sparkle sent thru her token as she changed to her SMG’s shooting at a group of griffons flying towards her ship, but they fired their blade-filled shotguns and the stuff stabbed clean into the advanced alloy like it was a cheap metal. {It would’ve been nice to know they use anti-armor rounds first though!}

“GET DOWN YOU LITTLE SHIT!” A Griffon that had taken off suddenly found a long bladed tail launch up and stab through it, getting a squawk. “GET OVER HERE!” It was yanked back down into the melee, and Mistress had to wonder just how truly pissed Avarice was to just completely go berserk, his thoughts that she could hear were nothing but an endless spiel of curse words, graphic visuals of how to ‘paint’ his next masterpiece, and how fast or slow he should make it even in such a wild and deadly melee.

More shots fired and Mistress lost more tendrils. {That’s it, Jeff; start collecting knuckle bones.} Mistress ordered her partner as she rolled along the battlefield drawing up bodies around her to consume. Jeff began biting off minotaur hands passing the small bones to Mistress after he shaped them to pointed bullets.

Dodging another warhammer Mistress hollowed out the bones in her arms and rifled them, before absorbing her hands into her body, leaving only gun barrel-like twin bones protruding slightly from the stumps. She began launching high velocity bones into the guards. Their numbers were slowly beginning to noticeably drop.

A few fucking lucky shots from the orichalcum ammo hit the engines for the puddle jumper causing it to start to spin out of control, before it was enveloped in a magenta glow, {Mistress going down, dropping us next to you.}

{Keep your range, I don’t know what these things will do to your shields!} Mistress responded narrowly avoiding a spear to the face.

A pained roar echoed over the din of battle, and a huge swathe of black flame overtook a whole section of the field. ‘Shit! Crescent’s down! He’s back in me but I can’t split in a fight this pitched!’ A shockingly enormous amount of blood suddenly rose from the corpses of the battlefield, and shot everywhere in spikes, forcing Mistress to dodge and Lt. Cmdr. Sparkle to strain in lifting her small ship back up, one of the hardened blood spikes digging into the bottom of the Puddle Jumper. ‘Fucking Vampire?! Really?! Gray is a damned vamp! And I don’t mean one of them sparkly shitty motherfuckers, I mean a legit-!’ A blade of blood suddenly rose above the heads of most and shot a short distance down the field before turning back to liquid. ‘HELLSING ALUCARD LEVEL OF BULLSHIT!’

The claim was reinforced when the most intact corpses started getting up! Asshole! He waited for enough of his guys to die to pull this off!

“CHARGE!” came a battle cry as from the puddle jumper came a human. In his had a beam saber, being used to carve thru the dead flesh. Shots came from Twilight’s SMGs ripping into the flesh of the ghouls. However it wasn’t enough to stop them, the bodies kept coming, an undead swarm of flesh and bone. Because the blood was something else. It seemed to take every path out of the body it could, running in disturbing rivers towards the sound of the epic fight going on elsewhere.

“Damn it! We’re helping the bad guy!” Nuada yelled across the field he cut a ghoul, cleaving it from shoulder across its chest. It’s still attached arm clawing its way to kill.

“If we don’t, we Die, destroy the brains!” Mistress ordered. Hoping that Avarice would survive this, unable to do anything else for him. The group of Displaced continued to fight for their lives, the rest of the living soldiers dying quickly enough as the unseen battle between Gray and Avarice spouted blood and fire everywhere.

However, suddenly, the last of the Die Leucht soldiers and ghouls fell all at once, and Mistress was panting as she looked around for a sight she thought would be a good one, but instead got horror at sight she dreaded, the sound of Avarice’s mental voice was gone too. “AVARICE!” She ran to him, tears in her eyes as she neared him. He was in his preferred mutant alicorn form, pinned by several large orichalcum blades to the grass through his chest and abdomen, his purple Plaga blood rapidly spilling out, but it was already too late.

His face was frozen in a vicious sneer of victory, and in a tense left arm raised above him was the decapitated head of who she identified as The Gray Stallion clutched by the mane in his claw dripping Dox’s rainbow blood, the body barely a foot away from Avarice’s. “No! NO! No-ho-ho-ho~!” Mistress screamed as she leaned onto his chest, weeping onto him.

As a headless gray corpse got up….

[ $ ]

Everything was dark. There was nothing in all directions. Silence. Sightless. Touchless. Tasteless. Scentless. He just was. ‘Is this death? Huh...expected more.’ Avarice thought to himself.

{No kidding. Shit. Done in by a cheap bastard throwing vampiric necromancy powers and bodies at us.}

“You wish.” Without preamble, the set of leather clothing known as Vaga was standing...floating? There wasn’t anything here…. “Sorry kid, can’t let you do that.” Blinding light began flooding everything, searing all sensation. Everything was pain, everything was wrong. “Y’see, I, and by extension; you, are a special class of Void Dweller; the Ascended that, plainly, isn’t allowed to die. Why do you think I’m going to all the trouble to replace myself with you?”

Avarice couldn’t think, or speak. Everything was white. Everything was true. Everything, was Life. “So sorry, but that peaceful Dark? Not for you anymore. Get used to the burning pain of the Light.”

Avarice came to, standing in the middle of a field of corpses, blood, guts, and death. But he also never felt more alive. And he felt sick. He vomited as he fell to his hands and knees. Feeling disgusted, like he was unnatural, an abomination. ‘I should be dead! I...I….’ He was distracted from his horrific loss of his sense of existence by someone grabbing his head and hugging it to their bosom.

“Avarice! I thought you were dead! Then Gray’s body got up and you just, exploded from it, spraying blood everywhere!” He was stunned by her explanation, and she pulled his head up to kiss him, blood or not.

Off to the side, a slightly disturbed Lt. Cmdr. Sparkle looked on, while Nuada was vomiting his guts out away from his alicorn friend, all the carnage too much too soon. “Well...this was certainly a venture that needed my help. Nuada, head back on into the Puddle Jumper and...do what you’re doing.”

“Ugh, sure….” Nuada said crawling to the downed ship.

“Thanks Sparkle, you saved our hides, there is more below. Will you and Nuada keep watch up here?” Mistress asked, a new sense of rage filling her. She was pissed that they had killed her Avarice. And while he may apparently be truly immortal, the fact he was shaking was a sign that it was extremely traumatizing.

“Missy...am I here?” More confirmation of his trauma as she took a claw and gave it a squeeze, and a few tears fell from his eyes. “I’m alive? Then that peaceful place...I can’t go to it? Yeah, cool, okay, fine, okay! Fine! OKAY!” He suddenly bolted to his hooves, absolute fury lining his features as information he didn’t have before flew through his mind courtesy of the asshole who killed him. “Entrance is this way. Token force of soldiers, scientists and...midwives….” He growled the last one so harshly Mistress thought a tiger might burst from his chest as he dashed northwest of the clearing, Missy following close behind.

“Yes Avarice, you are here. Now then, there is somepony in pain down there. One last hurrah.” Mistress nodded ripping a patch of sod off a trap door, which Avarice promptly jabbed his claws into and ripped open, lock be damned, hinges too, and tossed it aside before jumping down the admittedly massive hatch that led straight down, and she followed after.

What came next was a slaughter, plain and simple. Avarice destroyed every piece of furniture, equipment, anything, and absorbed his victims quickly, Mistress following suit, wanting to replace the mass she lost to the fighting above, both leaving no blood or bodies, the blood unusually compliant as it practically flew down their mouths rather than spatter everywhere.

It was only after razing most of the underground base even further underground that they finally came to a source of disgusting stenches. The thick iron-reinforced wood double-doors couldn’t hide the rank of death, sour milk, and female semen along with the sharp scent of afterbirth. Inside, they heard nothing but moaning, crying, and whimpering, along with heavy thuds, squelches, and several of them were against the door. “Please...please let me out!”

“...Sharp.” Avarice breathed, and pounded on the door. “Sharp! Back up!”

“Th-that gritty voice! Avarice! Please, no! Don’t! Don’t look at me!” Avarice didn’t listen, her hysteria brought on by disbelief and fear as he backed up, and roared, tearing through the door with his claws like an old wood chipper. When he broke through the locks and he burst in with Missy right behind him, they froze at the horrible sight. “N-no...please...don’t look at me!”

The Die Leucht, the fuckers had caught her, and turned her into this...this, thing. This mass of boobs and tentacles that was almost nothing but womb behind the boobs, a massive gaping vagina at her rear being the obvious point of delivery, as her multitude of black leathery tentacles tried to drag herself into the corner of her pen, for that’s what this room was, and covering her original set of formerly small breasts in shame. “Don’t look….”

“Sharp...Sharp, look at me.” Avarice grew taller as she was 20 feet and filled most of the small chamber, and he stopped when he was eye-level with her, and approached.

“Stay back!” She screamed, whipping a tentacle at him that he let strike, but didn’t even flinch as he approached, and she whimpered, backed against the corner. “J-just kill me quickly, please...spare me….” She closed her eyes, resigned to her justice, when she felt him wrap his big, strong arms around her humanoid torso, and kiss her lips, getting her blank white glowing eyes to flash open in surprise, especially when he darted his tongue in, and she whimpered, moving into him, pressing all eight of her breasts into his body from chest to hoof, her fear soon melting into relief, and her concern turning to joy as she started returning his passion, until they broke away, tears running down her muzzle. “W-why? Y-you should hate me! I tortured you for months! I scarred you! I raped you!”

“That’s all in the past. And you know what else you did?” He soothingly ran his claws up and down her back. “You also gave me something to wake up for, to not just off myself for. I...looked forward to our...interactions more than anything really.”

“I-I thought it was just Stockhorse Syndrome...y-you mean you…?” Sharp Snap asked hopefully, as the monsters that mutated and perverted her body, and her foals into super soldiers had stripped her of everything, her name even. Was he offering her a way out?

“Shut up and trust this.” Avarice kissed her, and her eyes shined bright red, and her body slowly relaxed, until it stopped moving, and Avarice’s body began glowing red, too making him gasp as he broke away.

His voice spoke but it wasn’t his, instead it was a velvety and sexy woman’s voice. “Avarice? What...I’m...free!” The light encompassed him, and he morphed in a way that captivated Mistress.

First was the clear shift from masculine, to feminine. His hips jutted out womanly, his rear bulked up in a delicious rounded manner that shredded his magic red pants, which for once didn’t simply regenerate, his waist thinned and his burly upper body slimmed as the mass moved to his chest to hang in delicious K-cup orbs bigger than HER head as the new mare sighed, her hair mostly untouched as she turned to look at Mistress, a coy smile on her beautiful features.

“Your thoughts… what did you do Avarice?” Mistress asked, a slight blush on her face.

“I freed Sharp Snap of her prison of a body. She’s in here now.” Avarice...or would Ava fit better for a mare? She gestured to her heart, her aura going from the pure anger he’d had for days to being that of content, love, and acceptance of who they were.

(Woo! Sexy~! I want to see how much she’ll squeal with a bit of bite-play!) Sharp cheered excitedly as Ava flushed, her new female groin dripping with more than arousal, the scent of a mare in heat swept over Mistress like a tide, along with the thought-speech of the new mare in Avarice’s body/soul/head.

“I wouldn’t mind finding out, after we get out of this hell hole.” Mistress winked at the new form of her lover. The thoughts of this new aspect filled her with desire, Jeff shared his own thoughts with her. “Jeff says he want’s to play too.”

(Can he be the whip~?)

“He says ‘if you ask nicely.’” Mistress continued to speak for Jeff, the battle leaving him too drained to speak.

(Aw~ now where’s the fun in that?) Sharp commented with a giggle. (It’s much more fun to find out if you like it after the fact.)

“Alright, Avarice, I, or rather Blue needs your help. Mind coming over real quick and not sending Vaga to do it for you?”

Ava froze, her eyes wide open as they dilated in horror. “No! No, no, no, NO! Now’s the WORST time! Stop! No!” The portal opened under her, and the fiery thing was sucking her down as she flapped her wings trying not to fall through. “If I see you, no, please no!”

“Avarice! Stay calm send me a summon, I’ll come help, stay calm!” Mistress called out trying to reach for Avarice only for the magic of the portal to force her away by suddenly increasing in force, sucking Ava down into the vortex and vanishing. Mistress took out the blue iron brazier and clutched tightly to Ava’s token waiting for her call. Only instead she felt a rumble through everything, and heard Twilight’s voice sound in her ear.

{Mistress, a giant humanoid dragoness has appeared though a fiery blue portal. We are preparing to engage!} Lt. Cmdr. Sparkle called over her token.

{No that’s Avarice! Do not engage! I’ll be there in a moment, just stand by and keep away from her!} Mistress yelled into the token, turning and running out of the room, leaving the former body of Sharp Snap behind.

When she got topside, she had to pause at the sight of the gigantic dragoness easily 50-feet tall a short ways south of the clearing where the forest pretty much ended, and she looked scared, worried, and confused, so Mistress quickly sprouted wings and flew up to her. “Avarice! What happened?! Why are you still so big if you’re not in danger?”

“...I fucked Dox….” Mistress blinked in surprise, but was especially surprised when she put her hands to her abdomen, looking down at it between her glorious chest orbs. “And...I’m pregnant….”

Hoo boy….

Author's Note

Woo! Finally! Been so busy lately with life and helping my pal Dox (an extreme pleasure! :pinkiehappy: ) with all the crossovers we've been doing together lately, not to mention all the other thingies.

Yet another fun Chapter with Reinardtoma and DemonWolf and their characters Mistress Change and Lieutenant Commander Sparkle and the newb who threw up at the end of the fight, such cool ppls!

Back to Basics Then?

‘I am such an impulsive idiot….’ Ava mentally growled to herself from her cramped little hidey-hole at the base of the mountain under Canterlot.

After that heated romp with Dox, Ava became pregnant due to both her having been in heat, and also her being a damned god/goddess of fertility. And considering how many enemies she has, Ava flew into a panic upon arriving back in her home dimension and her head wasn’t so fuzzy with hormones that she couldn’t suppress them.

‘Thank gog for Missy, I’d be so lost if she didn’t calm me down.’ Mistress Change had instantly saw to calming Ava down, and quickly coming up with a plan that while Ava didn’t like it, she didn’t have much choice.

Mistress bid some sort of quadrupedal space-marine pony goodbye and sent her home, and then led Ava back towards Canterlot under cover of night, where Missy then helped Ava carve an entrance into the relatively massive caverns of pure crystal that made up apparently according to Missy; most of the mountain.

Here, Missy said, she would have to wait out her pregnancy since she was so vulnerable to Die Leucht during said pregnancy, and since Ava wasn’t skilled enough in her Shifter powers, she couldn’t possibly consider trying to ‘Cocoon’ her offspring like Missy did with their shared child.

Then Missy left for her own dimension with a cute peck on her snout, but not without informing Ava’s lovers above of her location and her situation. Which she was still waiting to see if either Celestia, Luna, Sonata, or Zerona would come down, tell her how Chrysalis was doing especially. Ava hadn’t seen her little baby girl since she last visited before she vanished on her travels for four months.

‘I wonder how my little Chryssie has grown? I have no clue how normal changelings mature, let alone plagalings.’

{I just hate that we’re missing so much. I mean, now look at us!} Ava sighed as she looked down at her valley of breast flesh and at the cramped -to her- crystal cavern that she was semi-comfortably wedged in, tapping her claws on a boulder of crystal boredly while her long whip-like dragon tail twitched in agitation.

(So you had another little brat besides with me huh? Heh, playboy, you get around.) Sharp commented as she continued to adjust to sharing a body and soul with two others. (This is so surreal. I mean, I’m me still, but I’m also you two. How does this work?)

‘Don’t question it Sharp, it’ll just hurt your head. Er, our head.’ Ava thought at her new feminine side.

(Well whatever, I got an idea, considering only Princess Luna would be able to come down here.)

{What, pray tell, would you have in mind?}

(We split bodies when we were trying to rape that hottie, right? Why not do that here? Leave me with the big body so I can deal with the boredom of being stuck here, and you two can take off in your own little bodies.) Sharp said to her soul-mates, who both felt conflicted. (Don’t you dare think I can’t do it. I was stuck as a broodmother for months, popping out mutant horses like some sort of assembly line. I can take being alone with a normal pregnancy over that.)

‘I just don’t want to leave you alone Sharp….’

{We can always swap back out. One of us come back and hold down the fort or keep her company.}

(Yeah, let’s do that. Go on Avarice, you got places to go, things to sell, mares to fuck, all that jazz.)

‘I don’t JUST think with my groin!’

{Says the one who has impregnated, hm, how many females in the past year alone?}

(AND got knocked up not even an hour after going mare.)

‘SHUT UP!’ Ava thought back at her partners angrily, before huffing out smoke and calming down, focusing. And rising out of her cream-scaled right breast was a fairly normal body, only at 8 feet in height and back to being a mutant dragon/alicorn hybrid, paint patterned fur and all, but still female. “Ugh, I can’t seem to get rid of these things!” Ava shouted in irritation from her new body as she grabbed her furry K-cup boobs in frustration, while Sharp’s golden eyes on the 50-foot dragon giantess glimmered with amusement.

“Still got to get used to being a mare I guess Ava. I mean, you were total stallion before, you might be able to just swap around eventually but you couldn’t even leave a male form before right?” Sharp asked as she watched her love/hate partner sigh and fail to change into a male form, regardless of what species she tried.

“Damn it, I get it, just need to improve with my powers. Okay Sharp, I’m heading up. We’ve got a lot of things to do and I’m stuck with just the biomass that I could get away with putting in this body.” Ava said despondently. “Back to Basics I guess.”

{That is, if the basics involved having Shifter powers in the first place.}

“Shut up Crescent.”

“GAH!” Sharp squealed.

“What just happened?!” Ava asked in surprise.

“I think…somebody just squeezed my left nipple.” Sharp said curiously, looking at her boob, but without lifting it up she couldn’t see her nipple over the dome of her enormous breast.

“But neither of us-.”

“AHN~!” Sharp moaned lewdly, shaking and sending her breasts quaking, consequently sending Ava flying into the air and landing back on the breast like it was a giant waterbed. “I got suckled that time! What could be big enough to do that and not be-?”

“TIT!” Came a Luna-esque voice from an almost unnoticeable portal near Sharp’s tit.

“GOG DAMN IT DOX!” Ava screamed down at the nipple-portal.

“LATA!” The portal then closed.

“Great, now whatever’s happened to Dox is going to be an annoying-

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.” Came a VERY deep voice that sent sensual shivers down their spines. “Oh, and Missy says hi.” A silver hand spanked Ava’s ass out of a sudden portal, making her jump with a squeak.

“Stop that! I’M the God/Goddess of Chaos and Fertility! Stop stealing my schtick!” Ava shouted up at...the…. ‘Oh...gog….’ Over her, standing at 15 feet was a lithe but chiseled adonis of equinity, his flowing blue ether hair was as captivating as Luna’s, but his handsome face made Ava’s nipples harden into bullets if the shit-eating smirk and the lustful leer of his cerulean eyes didn’t do it.

“Sup, titty sprinkles?” Said the silver stud. “I’m only around for a minute, gotta get back to missy, she’s kinda helping me out with my shapeshifting, ya know…. Now that I’m a god and all, gotta know how to do it right.”

“D-d-d-d, D-d-d-d….” Ava stuttered, drooling, unable to stop roaming her eyes over him, despising the… rather loose jeans he had on…clearly they were meant to be worn by a wide-hipped and thick-thighed mare rather than a slim-hipped stallion, but the belt cinched the pants tightly to his lower abdomen, just further accentuating his washboard abs. ‘Why do those jeans seem familiar though? I think I remember those tribal symbols from somewhere….’

“Yeah, it’s me. Sup. I’m just here to say hi for Missy… Also sensed you were heading out…” Dox said casually. “Just thought I’d molest you a little, you know, like how it used to be with you and me? But reversed? Oh! And I’ve got a surprise for you! But first, how’s it going?”

“Oh you know, I’m pregnant with 11 of your eggs, no big deal, so she’s fair game for whatever.” Sharp grinned, amused at the byplay playing out on her right boob.

“Good.” Suddenly, Dox? grabbed her biceps, and picked her up into a searing kiss, making her moan into his mouth, before he quickly spun her around to her confusion. “Have a nice trip babe!” Ava yelped as she felt his large hand spank her big ass again, but this time with some force to send her flying into a spawned dark portal.

“DAMN YOU DO-!” Ava’s scream was cut off as the portal closed, leaving a laughing stallion and dragoness alone in the cave.

[ $ ]

“-OX-OOF!” Ava anticlimactically exhaled as she crashed into something firm and soft, as well as baby blue with white. “Ugh, I guess I deserved that for all the shit I put him through.”

“Mmph, ow, excuse me? Could you get off of me?” Ava blinked and put her hands on the soft pillows her head had landed snout-first between, only to blush at hearing a squirt, and feel wetness on her palms, and see over the mountains of breast down at the flushed face of Celestia. “N-not that I don’t enjoy it, but you’re putting all your weight on my belly, and I don’t want to hurt the foals.”

“O-oh! So sorry Tia!” Ava quickly rolled off her gravid lover and grunted when she hit the bed, bouncing off of it, and then hitting the floor, hissing. “Ow~! I forgot what not having so much dense mass was like. Before, that would’ve hurt the floor rather than me.”

“Avarice?” Celestia asked as she grunted and used her wings to help push herself up into a seated position on the massive bed of her room, where Ava realized was where Dox had suddenly booted her to. “Missy was just here a short while ago, telling us you were stuck as a pregnant giant dragoness in the caverns below. Luna just went to go see you, how are you here now?”

“Left Sharp in charge of the foals, had to get out of that cave.” Ava said as she stood up, and felt small, looking up at the 9-foot and massive mare on the fairly high bed. “Whoa...so is this how it feels to almost be normal?” ‘I don’t like it, I hate feeling small!’

{Look at it this way Ava, we’d best get used to being average or near-average sized, and as we are now, we’re of average stature for a stallion from Saddle Arabia, we’d have to lose a couple more feet to blend in with ponies.}

‘SCREW blending in!’ “Tia, I need to regain some biomass quick. Can we have some nookie so I can feed off your lust and-.”

“Hush Ava.” Celestia suddenly said with a serious and chiding tone, making the new mare wince as if struck. “You need to learn some humility young mare, and I think staying small or maybe even trying to actually blend in like you at least attempted before your constant mutations would help with that.”

“But Tia~!”

“No buts. I think you need to learn some lessons before I let you back between my, or any of the rest of the herd’s legs.” Celestia stated, her greater size and regal features enhanced her statement as she purposely tilted her head up, looking down her snout at the black and cream mutant mare, who shuddered, her wings shivering in surprised arousal and remembering what it was like when Sharp kept putting her in her place in the dungeon. “So, I have a mission for you.”

“A mission?” Ava asked, curious. ‘Huh, I’ve been in charge of things for so long, doing something under someone else’s order? Especially my First Mare’s? That sounds...interesting.’ “Go on Tia. You have my attention.”

“All communication with the Crystal Empire has suddenly ceased. Our forces cannot seem to even find their way into the region, and keep getting turned around to their befuddlement. Not even fliers can enter. And when I asked Homage for a satellite image of the region, there was a literal blank spot in the picture encompassing the entire holdings of the City-State.” Celestia said grimly, and Ava growled like a caged tiger at the implications. “I cannot imagine anything but one thing capable of this.”

“Oricalcum Nullifiers and a Misdirection Nexus.” A new voice supplied, and Ava looked up, and up, and up at the approaching figure of her claptrap dragoness lover, Sonata, making Ava feel even MORE puny since she was eye-level with the black and red dragon’s armored groin. “I and Homage have both conferred with our respective sources, mine being the Canterlot Starswirl Academy researchers, and himself being Mother and her extensive databanks of knowledge. Nothing aware can possibly enter the region without being completely thrown off and come back out of the blocked-out area as if they had been heading away from their intended destination from the start, but objects such as rocks seem to go into the territory fine.”

“What about the New-U? When I pulled up the Fast Travel to get to Sığınak, and then from Sığınak to here, I saw that the Crystal Empire and a couple of the larger towns belonging to it were listed.”

“Those are no-go either Avarice. I and Homage have both attempted contact with those stations, but whatever tricks the Die Leucht have up their sleeves are, we have no output connection to those stations, even though we’re still receiving input data from them, we’re no longer able to transmit to them.” Sonata said with a note of frustration. “Just what can’t Orichalcum block?”

“A nice strong blow.” Ava said with a huff. “Too bad we can’t just get in and hit the emitters blocking off the region, that’d solve the problem.” At this, Ava realized both Sonata and Celestia were looking at her expectantly. “What? If none of your troops, normal or mechanical can get in, how can I?”

{Recall.} Crescent simply said, and Ava blinked, the light-bulb over her head metaphorically turning on.

“Their blanket fools standard perception, even that of electronical perception. But can it effect Perfect Memory?” Ava asked with a grin.

“The answer is likely no, and that is what I’m hoping for.” Celestia said as she rubbed her blue gown-covered belly. “All the reports say that the ones who went in and summarily simply reappeared coming back, fully remembered the switch in perception, but not the time between entering and exiting. So hopefully, with your Recall and a bit of Orichalcum of your own, you could get past both the Null and Misdirection portions of the unseen barrier.”

“Well, gotta say. Die Leucht is getting smarter. They lost their assassins, Bulgaria, and hopefully their main Equestrian branch. So now they’ve taken our northern allies, who broker all our deals with Canida and Yakistan due to them being closer. If we lose all of that, Equestria’s economy….” Ava’s eyes suddenly widened, and she growled as her shark teeth clenched hard enough to make her gums bleed. “They’re going to destroy us economically! The whole country would fall into a depression, so much of our money is focused on military efforts right now, that losing our primary source of gems and subsequently an enormous amount of our trading value would leave us bankrupt! Guns or no!”

“W-well I wouldn’t say-.” Celestia tried to intervene in her lover’s money-induced rage. If there was one thing that Ava had a vice for besides sex, it was running an economy or business.

“NOBODY! CHEATS! THE MERCHANT!” Ava roared, and suddenly, Vaga appeared from wherever he had been. The vessel of the fading god now a lighter gray. “Vaga...we have an economy to save.” Vaga made some gestures, before suddenly appearing on the mutant alicorn mare. Her K-cup breasts were full covered in a somewhat tight red shirt, the basketball-sized orbs of flesh supported by a leather bustier corset, and aside from that alteration, the rest of her Merchant Attire was very much the same, hiding the mare’s form for the most part with some modicum of success, even if the trenchcoat couldn’t even close all the way since she couldn’t hope to button near her shelf of boobflesh.

“I think I’ll accompany you to take you to the nearest coordinates of the edge of the barrier that should be near a small village. That way you won’t have to get blindsided by confused soldiers not fully appraised of the situation.” Sonata stated dutifully as she moved to Celestia and leaned down to kiss the mare on the lips, both of them humming. “I shall be back soon love, to rub more oil on your belly.”

“Can’t wait….” Celestia purred, making Ava feel immensely jealous of Sonata at the moment.

‘She’s my First Mare not yours Sonata!’ Ava growled, feeling both a bit hurt that his First Mare would prefer Sonata to her at the moment, as well as that with her having been gone so long, her herd had obviously attached more to each other than to her. ‘I need to fix this! When this is over, I’m getting them all in a spa with me, and I am going to lavish the fuck out of them with tender love and massages!’

“Don’t be so jealous Love. I still love you more than anyone Avarice. After all.” Celestia patted her belly and rubbed her gown smooth and tight over the gravid orb. “These foals are yours. Don’t forget that.”

Ava huffed as her wings stiffened behind her at her First Mare’s sexy display of her fecundity, and pouted as she crossed her arms under her bust. “I know...but wait, before we leave. Sonata, can we go see my little Chryssie? I miss my baby girl and I want to see how she’s-.”

“Is this working? Hello? Avarice, I understand my sister Sonata is with you, correct? Can you and her come and see about helping me? It involves my eggs.”

Ava blinked, and looked up at Sonata who seemed to still be waiting for her to finish. “Sonata, you didn’t mention you had a sister!”

The large black dragoness blinked. “Of course I do! I’m not the only DR4G0N3SS unit in existence.” Sonata huffed in annoyance. “I have so many siblings I can’t bother to count them all. Why did you ask?”

“Well, one of your sisters is asking me for my and your help, involving her eggs~.” Ava lilted with glee. The idea of being called to help specifically for her Fertility related powers cheered her up immensely.

At this, Sonata remembered something, and looked sad. “A-about that...I have something to tell you when we get back from aiding my sister. Brb Tia.”

"Well first whoever is trying to summon me has to actually summon me! Am I going to have to-?"

"Um...I summon you, Avarice the Merchant!" Following the invocation, a huge blue fiery portal opened in the air, and the two stepped in, closing easily after them, leaving Celestia to sigh.

“Hopefully I won’t be seeing you in a few months rather than minutes….”

Author's Note

What's this? AN UPDATE?! THE END IS NIGH! :raritycry:
GameJunkie has actually DONE SOMETHING! :raritydespair:

Oh wait...it's me getting over my rampant videogaming. :ajbemused:

Still addicted to videogames, but at least now I'm not playing them every waking moment I have free.

Sometimes, addictions are serious, and drowning myself in games since my gramps died last year has left me completely unhappy and disappointed in myself. Hopefully my productivity will pick up and you'll be seeing more chapters of ALL my stories.

Welcome Home my Dear....

Inside a thoroughly contained dome of a special glass-like material on a perfectly flat section of grassland all approximately the size of a small football stadium, a portal of darkness rimmed with ethereal blue fire opened near the center, and a 14-foot Ava slowly backed out of it garbed in her proper Merchant attire. “It’s okay sweetie, it’s perfectly safe.” Ava softly uttered, her bandanna off so her companion could see her face.

“I-if you’re sure….” A slightly resonating, husky, sensual voice answered, and Ichor with her new draconic black-scaled hooves stepped through the portal, soon followed by an entire hive’s worth of Blight Wasps came eagerly flying and crawling out of the portal into the containment area with their parents and adopted parents in the cases of those not originally of their genes. “What is this place?” The Queen Dragonling asked as her long dragon tail tipped with Ava’s strain’s signature tail blade nervously curled around her wide egg-bearing hips protectively, and she shivered as she covered her K-cup bosom’s cleavage from the slightly brisk open air with the large plain sky blue robe that Ava gave her for her modesty, her black scales all visibly firming up in response to the cold as her glowing red opaque eyes adjusted to the sunlight with meek blinking.

Once the last of the wasps had come through the portal, it closed, and Ava sighed in relief. “Okay, that’s step one; get you all off the same world as that fucked-up world-ending dragon-god bullshit. Now for step two; can you still feel your connection to Asphyxious? Or how about our swarm of little ones? Can they still feel Everblight?”

Ichor finished adjusting, and then took a calming breath of the obscenely fresh air before her more-solid but still angular Changeling horn shimmered red with her magic, seeming to form a haze around her head and the wasps nearby, who had quickly taken to horseplay with each other since they were no longer trapped in a small cell. “Hm, I can feel Asphyxious, but I don’t feel our children having any solid connection to Everblight. Then again, I might not be able to tell. Little Ones, can you tell for yourselves?”

“It’s faint mother, we can sense him, but it’s like a fading whisper rather than a roaring thunder in our skulls.” One of the nearby wasps not occupied with enjoying the newfound freedom answered, the teeth gnashing in a way that still approximated Changeling speech.

“This is wonderful! Then we are safe here. Love, I am so glad. These past several years have been-.”

“YEARS?! It’s barely been half a year for me since they took you!” Ava screeched in despair, but Ichor grabbed her arms and soothingly squeezed her biceps through the leather sleeves that were once again fading to gray.

“Avarice, dear, you may have been a long-time in finding me to my perspective, but you’ve saved me now. For all I know my torturous hell under that monster’s care was only a year at best. It just felt like everything was an eternity. The experiments...the mutations...the endless births. Watching them through thick bars or odd moving picture screens what they were doing to my hatchlings….” Ichor’s breath hitched, and she took a calming breath. “B-but that’s over now. I’m not with those monsters anymore. But this is just a mere fraction of all the Plagalings I birthed, those bastards have a veritable army of our poor foals in their clutches, and there’s nothing we can honestly do to save most of them.”

“Which is why, I’m giving you and all of our hatchlings this place. Homage!” Ava called out as she turned away from her equal-height and proportioned lover, just in time for a massive hologram to project into a screen across the dome, sending most of the wasps into a panicked frenzy of trying and humorously failing to attack the image of the artificial gray-on-gray claptrap stallion who appeared.

“Your Echo Device ID reads that you are President Avarice, and your attire matches the assumption. Sir, or rather madam. What are these specimens you’ve placed in the intended Varkid ranch doing here?” Homage borderline demanded of his boss, remaining cordial and polite in spite of his dry tone so as not to try and cross a line.

“These Specimens are my children!” Ava growled, smoke trailing out from both her, and Ichor’s nose at the extremely hated term.

“Apologies. I must assume according to description, that the mare behind you is Ichor in some form then? Die Leucht’s handiwork I can presume.” Homage stated, before turning the hologram off since it was agitating the wasps, and they began skittering on the transparisteel dome in curiosity. “I shall broadcast from your Echo to avoid that in the future.”

“You presume wrong. Those murderers and kidnappers were just the delivery colts. A monster by the name of Doctor Arkadius is the one responsible for mine and my children’s plights.” Ichor imperiously stated, before looking around the clear-domed containment zone. “But it would seem we’ve traded one cell for another?” Ichor asked Ava sadly, who wilted with a despondent expression.

“I’m sorry dear. But the wasps, they’re contagious. Unless we can find a way to isolate their contagion/mutagen, I can’t just let them roam free. This big open space was the best I could think of.” Ava said sadly, but Ichor sighed and moved to stand next to Ava, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into a side-boob mashing hug.

“It’s alright love, I understand. It’s better than before, that’s for sure. But what about me? I can surely spread Asphyxious’s Blight, can’t I?” Ichor asked curiously, moving her bladed tail-tip up to watch a clear fluid drip from a nearly imperceptible hole in the point of the blade. “I mean, is this Plaga mutagen? Or Blight mutagen? Is Blight even a physical contaminant like Plaga?”

“No clue whatsoever, Asphy never really got into all that, just that the stuff should be handled like the Black Plague and burned with fire, but we’re not going that far.” Ava said, only for her Echo to ring. “Just a sec.” She tapped the device on her belt near her hip, and her HUD showed Sonata on the other end.

“Ava, glad you’re back! According to Tia, you and I were both only gone a few minutes this time.” Sonata said with joy.

‘Fucking gog-damned time shenanigans, I still don’t want to think of the implications for Time Travel my world’s dimensional travel mechanics might involve.’ “That’s good. Oh! Right, Chryssie!” Ava beamed, looking over at Ichor. “Babe, our daughter Chrysalis! I saved her from the bagman before he could get away!”

{I’m still thankful for that by the way.} Said former bagman commented to his soul-shared partner.

“YOU DID~?!” Ichor practically squealed with unparalleled joy. “I must see her! Take me to my little Princess!” Ichor bounced on her hooves, her grown body wobbling in interesting ways as she forgot to hold the robe closed.

“I heard all that. I’ll be warping on over with little Chryssie in a few minutes. And Ava...we still need to talk.” Sonata said sadly, then hung up, making Ava worried.

“Oh dear, something horrible she’s been keeping from you.” Ichor said with a click of her tongue. “Don’t worry too much dear, it sounds more like plain bad news rather than something world-ending.”

“How can you tell?” Ava asked as Ichor began guiding her forward, the mare blushing at realizing the Dragonling still had an arm around her waist, and the Queen’s right breast was still smishing into Ava’s left breast, getting her a little warm at the contact.

“Love, I’m a Changeling Queen...or rather, I was one. My kind are the epitome of deception, and part of that is being able to decipher the intent and meaning behind another’s words, both for understanding, and to consider how to manipulate the situation.” Ichor said as they neared the only metal part of the dome meeting the flat grass, the door cycling with a decontamination airlock as the wasps all trailed curiously. “No my dears, stay here, you’ll be safe and well fed.” Ichor said was certainty, looking Ava in the eyes for confirmation, only to get a gentle smile, all the answer she needed. “Now be good hatchlings and play around all you like, just don’t go flying into the barrier like you did with the moving picture.”

“Yes momma!” The wasps intoned before they left the area of the airlock be, and the two giant mares entered the chamber that sealed behind them with a hiss, yellow strobe lights and a soft grinding alarm ringing out.

“Beginning decontamination.” A heavily accented zebra mare’s voice intoned, and soon a beam of light-blue light began spreading into a sort of sheet above them, and lowered over them, making the mares shiver as the light destroyed foreign contaminants on the molecular level. “Decontamination complete, proceed.”

“I have yet to hear such an accent. Where are we anyhow?” Ichor asked Ava as they continued through the open door out into a small fullmetal chamber that had hanging gun and rocket turrets aimed at the airlock all along the sides of the ceiling, with Heat Loaders training flamethrowers on the doors until they passed through and the doors sealed again, and the defenses all returned to an idle state, the Loaders moving aside. “I do not appreciate you treating our hatchlings like a disease.”

“But they are right now hun. Until we can help them control those bitey-stingy impulses and can isolate the Blight in them, we can’t just let them out...no matter how harsh the security might seem.” Ava grumbled, but then grinned as they exited the bunker-like entrance into a small security checkpoint with a blank-faced and mane-shaved zebra mare working at the terminal over the desk, her yellow guard uniform straining at her generous E-cup bust. “C-73! Good to see you.”

At the hail, the mare looked up slowly. Above her left brow was permanently growing from her white fur in black fur, the designation of C-73. “it is a marginal joy to see you again madam president.” The husky-voiced, yet bland mare’s voice responded, the gray eyes and her short white mane unsettling Ichor as she blankly looked at them. “is there anything besides yourself, and your companion leaving the containment area?”

“No C-73.” Ava said in a professional yet sad business tone.

“That will be all then. You are clear to proceed.” C-73 said as she returned to her assigned task, and Ava sighed as she guided Ichor away and out into the open skies, the giant dome behind them being one of several on a northern shore of someplace tropical if Ichor’s sense of direction was proving true.

“That mare...was just...wrong. I sensed no emotions. At all. It was like she wasn’t even there.” Ichor shuddered, leaving Ava to sigh again.

“That was C-73. The first ‘successful’ clone of our branch’s Doppelganger Program. I refused to let it be used here shortly after she was made, but it was taken out of my hands while I was away. I understand the benefits, but it’s just wrong to create life that isn’t...alive, you know?” Ava bemoaned, but then took a cleansing breath. “Anyway, welcome to Maui!” Ava cheered in a total 180 as she broke away from Ichor’s side-hug to stand before her and gesture to the terraformed flatland that spanned the whole island between the volcanoes to the northwest and southeast, the containment facilities clearly near the northwest volcano along the shore, while off in the distance to the south was a very tall and ostentatious square-shaped metal building that was clearly still being added on to going upwards.

“Um...okay?” Ichor asked, wondering if it was supposed to be impressive, but then changed her tone when a giant Loader came lumbering around the metal building, her Dragonling eyes helping her realize the scale. “Th-that’s bigger than most Elder Dragons!”

“I know right?!” Ava gushed in excitement. “And Jack makes one's even BIGGER! That one’s half the size of his Saturn models! I lust for one, so bad. But until I can make one here, Jack isn’t willing to sell any of them to me, and I bet when that happens, he’ll be like; ‘but you can make them yourself now. Take your endless money elsewhere’ or something.” Ava grumped, before slipping her wings out of the forming slits in the back of Vaga and stretched them out. “Oh, I could use a good flight, how about you?”

“Um….” Ichor took off her robe, beings it covered her wings, completely uncaring about being nude in front of Ava as she spread her unusual dragon wings out, the membranes being clear like her former Changeling wings, but also had magic or some energy visibly coursing through the near-invisible veins if they weren’t glowing red. “I do not know how to fly with these sort of wings. I never got to impersonate a thestral or dragon before, so I’m a bit two-left-wings about all of this.”

“Then I’ll carry you. I don’t feel like walking the whole way, and I’ve had enough warping around for now.” Ava quickly got behind Ichor who tied the robe closed, and let Ava hug her around the waist, resting her chin on the Dragonling’s shoulder as she pressed her boobs tight into her back as she tried to ensure they’d both be comfortable. “You ready?”

“Let’s just get this over with.” Ichor said with a blush as she wrapped her long dragon tail around her legs so it wouldn’t risk being in the way.

“Up-up-and-away~!” Ava called out, making Ichor yelp in amusement as they took off.

[ $ ]

“I am never letting you fly me again!” Ichor joked as the stumbled into Ava’s private suite on the current top floor of the 1st Multiversal Branch HQ. “I thought you were going to get us killed.” Ichor giggled as she spun around and plopped her enormous scaly plot onto the giant sofa that was designed with Ava’s preferred size in mind.

“Ichor, though we only just met, I’m hurt.” Crescent smirked with a glint in her golden eyes as she ensured the door closed behind her, considering the security tried to be cute and sic a lockdown on her until she bypassed it with her Echo.

“Considering you were among those who slaughtered my kin and kidnapped me and my hive’s mares, you’re lucky you’re now part of my beloved or I would have killed you immediately.” Ichor said with not heat to her tone, the explanation on the way having lessened her spite to a degree that was more or less flippant on the matter.

“Oh I am beyond lucky my fair mare, for I would have certainly been slain by your beauty alone.” Crescent hammed, getting Ichor to titter as her cheeks flushed and she crossed her thick, muscled legs and leaned back into the sofa, letting her robe part until it caught on her nipples.

“Well, such a charmer. Why don’t you come here and test that theory?” Ichor teased with a raised eyebrow, her tail coming up to gently drag the tip of her blade up her smooth stomach and between her breasts as she licked her still elongated fangs with her now serpentine red tongue.

“Gladly-.”

{Time out.}

‘Aw….’ “Sorry babe, Ava wants the reins again, and we don’t have enough biomass to make two bodies this size yet.” Crescent said, before her golden eyes turned red, then green as Ava took control. “Hun, we got Chryssie coming over, I don’t want us to be in the middle of passionate ‘thank gog you’re alive’ sex when she and Sonata get here.” Ava said before sniffing herself and then Ichor with a grimace. “And we need a shower.”

“Mind if we share?” Ichor impishly asked as she squeezed her boobs together, the areola of her black bust swelling out a bit as some milk turned her robe a bit darker. “I want some now not later~.” Ichor purred, her new draconic features giving the purr a deep, throaty, growling tone that instinctively made Ava’s own breasts swell slightly in arousal.

“...Fine, raunchy shower sex it is.” Ava grabbed Ichor’s arm and easily hoisted her to her hooves with a playful yelp on the mare’s part, they both tittered like ninnies as they rushed to Ava’s private luxury bathroom, only for a bell to ring and Ava to almost trip with an anguished groan. “They’re here? Already? Ugh...I wish I had warped us here now! Sorry hun, but sex will have to wait.”

“Mmph...damn...but you’re right. I’ll clean up, you receive our daughter and this Sonata you’ve mentioned.” Ichor said with some frustration, and grabbed Ava’s face before lunging into a deep, passionate tongue-wrestling kiss, and pulled away, leaving them both breathless with a string of saliva between them. “Tonight, you WILL be reminding me why you were the best lay I’d ever had.”

“Gladly.” Ava spanked Ichor’s motherly ass as she turned to enter the bathroom and they both giggled as Ava straightened herself up and moved to the door which rang more insistently this time. “Coming!” Ava called out as she opened the door, and beamed at the sight of Sonata, but especially her companion sitting atop her shelf of a bust. “Chryssie!”

“Papa~!” The little black-shelled Plagaling filly squealed with her adorable voice as she literally bounced off of Sonata’s armored bosom to stand on Ava’s red-silk covered boobshelf and hug her sire’s head with many affectionate nuzzles, her gossamer-like green mane and tail getting mussed up in the snuggles. “You were gone forever! I missed you so much papa!”

“I missed you more baby! Yes I have! Give me a kiss!” Ava picked up the little 6-year-old-looking filly by the armpits, lavishing her cheeks and head with fluttering kisses, making the adorable green sundress-wearing filly giggle as she feebly tried to fight off the Kissy Monster!

“No! Not the kisses! Stop! The COOTIES~!” Chrysalis cried out childishly as she weakly punched and kicked to get away from the dreaded beast of bugs that was cooties.

“I’ll only stop if I get a kissu~ Chu~!” Ava puckered her lips, and Chrysalis giggled before she quickly complied and smooched her sire’s lips and hugged her head as the two calmed down, and were content to snuggle in the doorway for a moment, Sonata all too glad to wait for them to end the moment. “I’m sorry I was gone baby….”

“It’s okay papa, you’re busy.” Chrysalis said in a far-too mature way. It was saddening how fast the Plagaling Queen was maturing, and she missed four whole months of it. The little filly was already like a four year old human child when she vanished off the face of Equus like that, at least it seemed her development was slowing down now that she was at a stage of communication.

“That’s never an excuse honey. Never forget that.” Ava affirmed as she moved into the suite, Sonata following as the door closed.

“But you were summoned, you couldn’t avoid that.” Chrysalis reasoned, and Ava sighed. Her daughter was just too sensible for her own good, considering she wasn’t even 6 months old yet. “Papa...I smell something familiar...like you?” Chrysalis asked in confusion, sniffing the air as Ava sat on the sofa, and Chrysalis practically burrowed under Ava’s plush butt to sniff the sofa. “But not like you at the same time.”

“Chryssie, I have good news.” Ava gestured for Sonata to sit in the metal and leather recliner that was next to the sofa at an angle, which Sonata gladly sat in, beings it was designed like the rest of the suite for a 14-foot average.

“What is it papa? Oh! Do I have siblings?!” Chrysalis adored the idea of having siblings, and often enjoyed rubbing Tia’s and Zerona’s bellies, knowing her siblings were in them, waiting to come out. “That must be it! I remember what Mama Tia taught me about Scenting. This is kinda like that.” Chrysalis said with her still dull and unthreatening bladed Verdugo tail wagging around happily, swishing her long skirt even though the tail was through a hole above it.

“Well, yes, but they’re not here.” Ava lied, not wanting her little girl to know the truth about those siblings yet, even as her shimmering green eyes began to sadden. “Instead. I have someone I want you to meet.” Ava looked towards the bathroom, seeing Ichor come out wearing a bathrobe, and freeze, looking at Chrysalis with a degree of awe and hesitant joy that she’d never seen before. “Look over there.”

At her sire’s prompting, Chrysalis turned around, and she seized up, her breath catching, the same happening to Ichor as they looked into each other’s eyes across the large room. “...Mommy?” Chrysalis asked hopefully, tears in her eyes.

“Sweetling….” Ichor uttered softly, before suddenly Chrysalis bolted across the room, her underdeveloped buggy wings buzzing rapidly as she practically rammed into Ichor’s bosom like a child-sized cannonball, the mare easily catching her and craning her head down into her cleavage to nuzzle the sobbing and beyond happy filly cradled in her great bosom. “Yes my little Sweetling, it’s me, your mother.”

“I know. I could feel it the moment I saw you. Mummy, I thought you were gone….” Chrysalis wept, both sad and overjoyed to be united with her birth mother at last. Tia was a wonderful mom, and auntie Zerona and Sonata were wonderful family, but she always wanted her original mom anyway.

“Hush, hush. Hush little filly don’t say a word. Mummy will protect you from the world~.” Ichor suddenly began singing with an unbelievably soothing voice as she swiftly moved to another door that thankfully led to Ava’s room.

“That was so beautiful….” Ava whispered with a sniffle. “I think we should leave them alone for now.”

“Agreed.” Sonata said. Suddenly, they were both aware of the uncomfortable silence. “Oh...you remember….”

“Sonata, I remember everything. You had something to tell me?” Ava Prodded, Sonata uncomfortably shifting in the recliner.

“I don’t want to ruin this, it’s a time of happiness.” Sonata weakly said. “Just forget I said anything.”

“Sonata….” Ava said warningly, her eyes narrowing into slits.

“...I’m so...so sorry….” Sonata rasped as tears began to leak from her simulated tear-ducts, meant more to emulate emotion as well as keep her optics lubricated. “I should have told you earlier.”

“What is it.” Ava demanded gently.

“...One of our eggs…is a Stillborn.”

Author's Note

What? WHAT?! ANOTHER NEW CHAPTER?! SO SOON?! :pinkiegasp:

Yes, surprisingly, it just happened. No effort. Like it was at the start of the whole thing. Let's hope this trend keeps up eh?

Also. TEH FEELZ! :raritydespair:

Stillborns and New Forms.

Ava didn’t take the news of one of her babies essentially being born dead at all well, especially when the fact was that Sonata had kept it from her for so long had her conflicted between anger or disappointment in Sonata for thinking she wouldn’t want to know about this immediately. Ava was practically catatonic really, letting Sonata gently lead her out of the suite after informing Ichor and Chrysalis that they could stay here as long as they wish.

‘One of my children...born dead? How? Death is the exact opposite of Fertility! The promotion of Life! How could one of MY children...be….’ Ava began quietly crying, Sonata whispering sweet nothings into her ear as she led them to the Fast Travel out front of the HQ, nobody willing to approach the visibly distraught mare and saddened dragoness.

Shortly after the blue digital flash of light, the tunnel of the Fast Travel, and the feeling of sensation returning to her freshly reconstructed body, Ava was led by Sonata out of the secure Fast Travel station that was in Ava’s former cell/forge. Ava had it placed here for some irony.

Sonata then took Ava through the castle, continuing to hold her claw firmly until they reached the ornate doors of the Hall of Stories, a long hall that in itself was separate from the rest of the castle, and within had stained glass windows depicting important events of Equestria’s, and sometime’s, Equus’s history. Ava blinked tears out of her eyes as they passed some of the windows, and noted one that specifically depicted a wrathful white stallion running a green blade through a depiction of Faust. ‘I’m surprised Tia and Lulu could even commemorate a window to such a horrible thing as their mother’s betrayal and murder by their father.’

“It’s in here dear.” Sonata said softly as they approached the Vault. It was perhaps the most ridiculously secure place in the castle. The whole tower the Vault was built atop was solid stone and separate from the castle as a single turret. The Vault itself was actually a paradoxical space within that was magnitudes larger than the actual dimensions of the turret it was built into, a wonder of magic courtesy of Faust with some insights from Star Swirl apparently. “You’ll see why our silent egg is in here when I show it to you.” Sonata said as she began carefully using her magic to input the right sequence to open the solid doors.

“H-hey, babe? W-what about our other eggs? I never got to see them after you had them….” ‘Just how absolutely detached have I been?! Was I so caught up in my work I just drifted away from my beloveds?’ Ava’s question made Sonata blink and sigh as she smacked her forehead.

“Way to go Sonata, forget your mate’s right to see the hatchlings. I’ll take you to them after this dear. I’m sorry for completely forgetting about it...I think that’s the draconic part of my inherent personality programming. Dragons usually love-and-leave, leaving the female with the eggs. I just...didn’t think about it.” Sonata weakly admitted before she returned to the door and finished the sequence.

“Hun, you know I wouldn’t just abandon any of you...right?” Ava asked, worried. ‘What kind of lover am I? I’m never there for them!’

“Of course sweetie, I know. We all know. It’s why we were never too worried about you coming back or not, just annoyed with the times between rendezvous. For that matter, if Tia hadn’t forbid it, I would jump your sexy plot right now. Oh, and what are you doing?” Sonata asked cheekily, getting the teary-eyed mare to blink in confusion. “I thought Tia demanded that you actually try to blend in? Pretend to be normal?”

“O-oh...right….” Ava said remorsefully, having forgotten that since Ichor, and then Sonata, are both her preferred stature, and it slipped her mind entirely. She took a calming breath, and began to shrink. The compression of her mass, and subsequently turning it into pure energy was something she didn’t enjoy compared to just letting her body expand outward, to simply accept her near-limitless potential. ‘It almost hurts, like I’m denying a part of myself.’

“Uh...Ava? That’s...that’s enough.” Sonata said, getting Ava to open her eyes and stop, looking at Sonata and realizing she’d shrunk down to 6 feet, the average height of an earth pony stallion. The reference being that she was now eye-level with the middle of Sonata’s thick motherly armored thighs. “I think that more than constitutes an attempt at blending in...well, aside from being a sort of mutant dragon-alicorn.”

“Yeah, yeah, just...give me a minute.” Ava then opened her wings behind her, whimpering as she felt them start pulling into her body. ‘I could have pegasus, or thestral wings. But I think it will be easier going into the Crystal Empire if I at least try to emulate a Crystal Pony. I’ve never...oh wait. Missy most certainly had so….’ Ava lowered her hood and pulled her red silk shirt up over her basketball boobs to look at the cream and black orbs being supported by the bust-enhancing corset without the modesty-adding layer as her horn also began sinking into her skull. ‘A single tone, Crystal Ponies, at least in Missy’s world, don’t have coat patterns since they’re all made of a single-color crystal with different colored crystalline fibers for manes and tails.’

Ava practically mewled in sadness as her cream patches of fur began turning black, and then she shivered as her body began forming into an almost impossible living form of crystal, her breasts smoothing over as her fur receded and became a solid uniform and even shiny hematite black. To test if she did it right, Ava moved one of her gloved hands to her boobs, groping and poking. ‘Still feel like flesh, but have the slight firmness and stability of a proper Crystal Pony, good.’ Ava then checked her long red curtain of a mane, it having become sparkly with the crystalline fibers catching the light, and she flicked her long red tail out between her coattails to see she had succeeded there as well.

“Impressive Ava. You look just like a proper Crystal Pony.” Sonata praised, actually clapping her claws at having enjoyed the show of Ava displaying a much more subtle and elegant use of her abilities, making the mare blush, which was very apparent with her shiny black cheeks actually changing hue to red.

“Th-thank you...I figured I should go crystal since I’ll be heading up there after this.” ‘Hm, maybe...I’ll test my idea later.’ Ava thought as she gestured for Sonata to keep leading them onward, and soon, they stood before a lone lavender egg covered in deeper purple spots on a red velvet pillow in a cradle under a warm lamp. The shell was metallic and polished to an obscene shine, as if it was a bauble, rather than the coffin of an unborn baby dragon. “Why is it here? Why isn’t it...buried?”

“Because dear. Stillborn dragons are not essentially dead.” Sonata informed, getting Ava to blink in surprise. “I may have misled you. What Stillborns are, are dragons who simply refuse to hatch, for whatever reason. Perhaps he is waiting for something? Someone perhaps? We may never know. Tia has an idea, but in the end, he may never hatch, or he may hatch a thousand years from now.” Sonata shrugged, looking forlornly at a child she may never get to meet.

“So that’s why He?” Sonata nodded at Ava checking if she heard the egg’s gender right. “He, is in here? To be kept safe?”

“Die Leucht is still a major foe to contend with Ava, simply because they are not at our doorstep or rallying a neighboring country to attack us doesn’t mean they aren’t still a credible threat, just less immediate. Within that shell is a currently brain-dead Biotech baby drake. If Die Leucht could somehow examine and utilize any discoveries they could make from our little ones….” Sonata grimly suggested, getting Ava to snort angrily, making her blink her jewel-like green eyes at not seeing smoke like she was so used to.

“So where’s our hatchlings then?” Ava asked as she and Sonata left the vault, the doors sealing behind them.

“...Hmph...this isn’t a Monster...no point in bothering with it….” A voice commented in the shadows, before the click of a nearby cabinet door signaled its departure.

[ $ ]

“I don’t know what’s more precious. That they all instinctively hate my guts, or that they can’t even breathe fire yet.” Ava commented as she left the nursery that Sonata had commandeered from the castle to have her hatchlings. The little rugrats seemed to instinctively despise Ava. It seemed that dragons were love-and-leave for a reason, at least here? Still, once they were a bit older she’d try to connect to them as their sire. “Four drakes and two femmes, those little hellions will be a real handful when they’re bigger.”

“Oh indeed. Infant dragons fear and dislike all but their mothers since we’ve-sorry, not a natural-born one. Since I, and by extension they; are based off of real dragons, it only stands to reason that they’d have a natural predisposition of distrusting potential intruders, even if I did invite you in, they still saw you as an intruder.” Sonata said as she led Ava back up the castle to Celestia’s room, where the Herd gathered more often than not since Zerona shared her bed when they slept, and the bed was thankfully big enough for all of them.

“Well whatever, I guess I’ll just have to introduce myself to them when they get more receptive to others huh?” Ava asked disappointedly as they approached the door, and Sonata opened it to reveal Tia, Zerona, and Luna all sitting around the little lounge that was in the corner of the stately room, enjoying what smelled like some of Zerona’s ‘Zebrican’ tea, which her tribe had planted on Hawaii and then Maui. “Girls~! I wanted to see you all before I went on another potential suicide mission~!”

“Beloved!” Zerona practically shouted in joy as the three gestured them to come closer. “I have splendid news, it would seem that the tea imports from Hawaii are selling well among the populace.” Zerona, ever the alchemist even as encumbered as she was, spent most of her time here spreading the art of alchemy and trying to make some of her homeland’s ingredients and consequently, recipes, available.

“Avarice, or Ava. I hath spoken with Sharp Snap below about the situation, and we will ensure that absolutely no attention shall be drawn to the caves.” Luna stated, getting Ava to breathe out in relief. If Luna was on top of something, she was on top of it. She knew that for damn well.

“That’s good Lulu, I don’t want Sharp, and by extension; my eggs, in any danger. So what’ve you been up to hun?” Ava asked as she climbed up into the seat usually reserved for her, the way it dwarfed her just made her pout and the others to all giggle at the spectacle as Sonata poured herself and Ava a ‘cup’ of tea, which was more a giant mug each considering the group’s usual array of sizes and thus thirsts.

“I have been mostly securing Bullgaria from Griffonian invasion. Now with Bullgaria no longer supporting them, Griffonia has decided to pull back their navies from our naval engagements, and instead begin mustering an air navy across the Cloven Strait as they devote some of their regular navies to the strait as well. I expect the fools will attempt a blitz soon into Bullgarian territory, so I’ve been extensively spreading about our forces to prevent them crossing the strait and making landfall.” Luna informed with a huff. “If we did not have the Loaders, such a thing would have been nigh impossible, and I would have instead pushed for our own invasion, but thanks to us having such valuable defensive measures, I can rally our forces for a better push later rather than a desperate rush now.”

“I’m surprised your scouts can even see anything on the Griffonian shoreline, considering that Die Leucht clearly has sophisticated enough Misdirection Nexuses to completely blind and forestall any attempts to enter their territory.” Celestia commented as she then focused on Ava. “I’m pleased to see you taking my suggestions seriously Avarice.”

“I actually forgot for a little bit to be honest. Oh, great news! The first mare I ever had any form of relationship with and a ton of our children have been rescued.” Ava stated gleefully, getting the others save Sonata to pause and look at her incredulously. “You know? Ichor? The changeling queen Die Leucht kidnapped? Chrysalis’s mum?” Ava asked, getting Zerona, Luna, and Tia to all make an ‘oh’ face in realization.

“We left Chrysalis in her care at the Hyperion HQ, so they’re maybe even safer right now than if we brought them home. Now then, aside from everything, was that all Avarice?” Sonata asked as she downed her hot tea, which Ava quickly sipped and winced at.

“Ow, spicy. Without my dragon mouth I can’t take drinks this hot.” Ava said as she quickly countered her burning tongue with some ice water that was also on the lounge coffee table. “Yeah, I just wanted to touch base with you all before I headed off.” Ava jumped to her hooves, and moved to smooch each of her lovers, instead spanking Sonata’s armored ass and getting a coo out of her as she opened her Echo to check the map for a marker, and envisioning the closes place she’d been to it, vanished into her coat which promptly followed.

[ $ ]

Ava reappeared further north, just about out of immediate sight of Star Swirl’s now abandoned and forlorn tower. She’d been out here when Tia and Lulu had taken her to see the last place they’d seen their adoptive father-figure. It would still be a decent trek to the coordinates on the map north-west of here to reach where the edge of the barrier would be nearest a small village of the Empire by the name of Seam. Of course, considering the Empire’s primary export, it was likely named after it’s mine which was owned by the same-named Crystal Pony by name of Gem Seam.

Sometimes, Ava wondered if any ponies had any creative naming sense to them.

After all, Gem was the daughter of Topaz, who was son of Diamond, who was the daughter of Coal. All same ‘family’ name, and the mine has been going strong four generations. It was a wonder the village was still a village and not a town, but then again, the harsh slush of the tundra the village was on didn’t lend itself well to farming.

Ava grumbled as she sloshed through a shallow freezing-cold bog, glad that at least Vaga had the forethought to tighten the pants skin-tight to her so she wouldn’t get any of the freezing water into her otherwise weather-proof boots. {Sometimes I wonder why we aren’t homebodies, considering we keep tormenting ourselves by being away from our herd.}

‘Because if we didn’t do this, then who would Crescent? Not Vaga, the poor guy’s so weak now he can barely move on his own I hear.’ Ava replied back mentally, looking at her grayed-out attire. ‘Vaga used to be pitch-black, and now he’s faded so much I’m surprised he isn’t drying out and flaking.’

Ava didn’t speak to Vaga lately, not due to any petty reason, but because Vaga simply either didn’t want to, or because he couldn’t and it killed Ava to not know, but it seemed the longer she wore him, the more docile he became. Which she also considered that was possibly part of what he wanted all along.

{Hey, weren’t we here before?} Crescent suddenly asked, and Ava blinked, still slogging through the bog and realizing that, without her paying attention, she’d gotten turned...around….

“That is not good.” ‘This is way too close. What happened to the barrier? Why is it expanding?’ Ava turned back around to where her senses told her was north, since she had at some point found herself heading south when she’d been going northwest before. “Okay, time to see if I can bullshit my Recall ability.” Ava took a deep breath, and strode forward, determinedly focusing on continuing to move forward.

“Holy hell this is frustrating.” Ava commented as she slowly put one hoof in front of the other, feeling any and all sorts of unseen attempts by the nexus to draw her attention away, to turn around, look in another direction. Had she not had Recall, there’d be no way she could’ve forced herself through this. The amount of focus this required was staggering, and migraine-inducing. By the time the compulsion stopped, Ava had only taken ten steps north, and she felt like her eyes were about to burst. “Ow...fucking...ow….”

{Tia is SO going to give us tongue for this.} Crescent hissed, and they both noticed that they couldn’t sense Sharp now. {Fuck, hope she doesn’t panic.}

‘She’s a big girl.’ Ava joked, breathing through her flat pony teeth as she moved her bandana up to her muzzle, now able to see short buildings quite a distance into the tundra. ‘Ugh...kinda wish I was too….’ Ava grumbled, slogging forth once more in shallows that would normally be puddles to her.

[ ? ]

In the darkness, a single mat was laid out, illuminated by a single lantern. There was nobody around, until a gangly and alien humanoid shadow skulked into the edge of the light’s clarity. “I heard you have some good guns.” A synthesized voice stated.

“Well now, I can certainly say that wherever you heard of me, that such a thing is indeed true.” On the other side of the mat, similarly shrouded in darkness, was a much smaller and indistinct humanoid being. “Pardon if it is a bit dark, but even this much light tends to draw unwanted attention.” The voice was lightly accented with a husky undertone, and carried a degree of slyness one could expect from shady merchant.

“I’ve dealt with worse. What ya got?” The brute of the two asked, and soon a long blue and orange scope-free Demir Seeker sniper rifle was moved onto the mat by a dark-toned hand. “Hm, that one of them local guns? Looks like a Jakobs design.”

“A Demir Seeker. Actual wood stock. Cobalt-infused blue-steel construction. Using 12-gauge shotgun caliber rifle rounds. This beauty can down a manticore in one shot. I would know.” The arms-dealer said with a light chuckle. “Go ahead, give her a pull. She’s loaded.” The merchant practically oozed a knowing presence, as if he’d already gotten the sale.

“So that’s why the one light. It’d be impossible to try and shoot you with it screwing over any possible nightvision.” The brute said as he bent into the light, revealing the crested head of RIP as he picked up the heavy high-caliber lever-action revolver rifle. “Mm, haven’t had a good Jakobs rifle in my claws in ages. Let’s see if a Demir matches their quality.”

At the snap of some fingers, a light turned on a bit away from the mat, showing a straw archery target. Shrugging, RIP checked the gun, seeing that it did have a safety, and turned it off, before shouldering, and firing the long rifle with a deafening report. RIP laughed at seeing the single round practically blow out the entire center of the straw target, the rest actually collapsing from the inertia. “Fuck yes….”

“I’ll assume that means you’ll take it?” The arms-dealer asked with a grin in his voice.

“Yes, and all the ammo you can get me for this.” RIP said as he took out a large sack of gold bits, as well as a purple bar of Eridium. “Would you like some Eridium too? This thing is rating incredibly well on my Echo.” RIP asked as he dropped the sack and ingot onto the mat.

“Gladly. Little Grey.” At the call, a shaved monkey in a diaper lumbered into the light, collecting the bag of bits and dragging it into the dealer’s side of the darkness, where a short flash of light occurred. “Oh that is a bit much. Keep the Eridium, I have to portion out what I can’t take, since I only have so much stock.”

“Take your-.” RIP was interrupted by a smaller bag of bits being flung back onto the mat. “Time? Uh, alright then.” RIP then watched the monkey drag a crate that was clearly too big for it to move onto the mat, and RIP opened it with a maw-widening sort-of-grin at all the munitions and a scope inside. “What’s with the scope? It ain’t from here, but it ain’t a Hyperion one either since the local yokels can’t make proper scopes yet.”

“Consider it a freebie. A pleasure doing business with a fellow Green-Collar.” The dealer said with a laugh as he began walking away. “Remember the Drebins whenever you need weapons. And also remember.” A huge heavily-armored vehicle that looked at home in the middle of a battlefield rather than parked in small wooden storage building. On the side in multiple places were the designation Drebin-893, and on the side next to a black-suited and white buzz-cut haired dark-skinned human man were some ominous words. “Eye. Have. You.” Drebin-893 said with a grin and a glint in his eyes behind his shades, before he climbed up into the APC and Little Grey closed the hatch over him, before it drove out into the frozen wastes, somehow seeming to vanish into thin air.

“Humph. Green-Collars. Can’t escape em, can’t live without em in my line of work.” RIP mused, grinning as he flip-cocked the legitimate ‘elephant gun’ despite its awkward size and weight. “Now then...where’s that elephant?”

Author's Note

Yes, I did write this. No, I cannot search for a job asap due to me changing sleep schedules, which will take a week at least. Yes, it was hard to write this, delirious and half-asleep. :pinkiecrazy:

Yes, I went there. Drebin-893

It seems Avarice isn't the only 'Merchant' in Equestria.

Get RIPPED New Ones!

Ava was...perplexed. ‘Why is everypony staring at me?’ Ava asked herself as she self-consciously tried in vain to hug her giant boobs a little closer to her body, feeling violated as practically everypony that saw her gawked, and some even followed as she entered the fairly large almost-town village. ‘I usually adore this kind of attention, why am I not enjoying it at all compared to before?’

{Probably because our current form is completely devoid of predatory instinct or capacity.} Crescent commented as he too felt really out of place. {Thestrals are omnivores, so this is a completely new experience for me as well, and that time with Missy as a Feral pony was too clouded with hormones and us being all emotional for it to be noticeable.}

‘I don’t believe this. First time as a pony in forever and I turn into a total wallflower! I need a drink.’ Ava huffed as she looked around and spotted the tell-tale sign of a tavern, that literally just had the actual word ‘Tavern’ on the front. ‘Ponies, please. Stop. Sucking. At. Naming things!’ Ava moved to the heavy door, beings the all-wood buildings of Seam were all built with the cold in mind, and grunted at trying to pull open the door, the iron knocker/handle not budging the thick wooden door, and pushing yielded similar results. ‘Why am I so weak?! I thought Crystal Ponies were at least similarly as strong as Earth Ponies!’

{Why not try that idea you had before?} Crescent suggested, being similarly disturbed at lacking the physical prowess that Avarice was so used to.

‘Okay, I just hope we don’t get too heavy.’ Ava took a deep breath, ignoring all the ponies watching her in curiosity. Soon, under the leather, Ava felt her body shift slightly, heard the floorboards of the porch of the tavern creak under her increasing weight, and then she growled before grabbing the handle, and easily tugging the heavy door open as if it were weightless. ‘Yes!’

Ava entered, not noticing several of the locals all whispering. No mare had ever been able to open Tapster’s front door in years, not even the miner mares.

Feeling a little more emboldened, Ava casually sauntered up to the bar of the place, which was packed full of grungy, and very~ nicely muscled crystal ponies of both genders in various states of filth, clearly they were the local miners, and it being the late afternoon, it was likely they’d just finished the day’s work and came here to relax.

“Well hello beautiful. What can ol Tapster git ye?” The middle-aged one-eyed dull jade stallion behind the counter asked as he cleaned a crystal glass tankard. The stallion had no mane, and the older male was a surprisingly fit specimen considering his vocation and age, and the fact he was shirtless helped display that. The fact he and his establishment was so clean was also impressive.

“Something strong, and since I don’t know what you all consider common fare up here, I’ll let you decide. You do take bits up here right?” Ava asked as she reached into her coat to take out a bag of bits.

“Hm? A Crystal Pony not from the Empire? Odd, yer parents were the adventurous types eh?” Tapster’s words made Ava’s eyes widen in shock.

‘Dumbass! Uh-um….’ “Y-yes. Mother ventured south into Equestria proper and met my father, Log Runner, on her travels. Pop was an earth pony, but I took more after mum. Though, I did get pop’s stature and strength.” Ava emphasized by easily hefting up the large bar chair next to her with ease, and then set it down to climb up into it, her large yet firm plot making the firm cushions yield.

“Wow. That was impressive. These chairs each weight over 50 pounds.” Tapster said with a grin, surprising Ava. “You really aren’t from around here. Crystal stallions are notoriously tough. Gotta have heavy and tough stuff to take our weight and strength eh?” Tapster said, curling an arm and causing the heavily veined dull jade to bulge, ripple, and seem to shine a little in the lights of the candles.

‘My gog I want to move here….’ “Makes sense...but what about the mares?” Ava asked as Tapster put down a mug and took out what looked like a crystalline wine bottle, the substance itself, when poured, looked like red liquid crystal it was so clear.

“Our mares, unlike you, are usually far less strong compared to stallions like me. Instead they’re faster, more limber, and quicker-witted. It’s something that’s made us Crystal Ponies different from the other pony tribes. Either gender for any of the other tribes have a near half-n-half chance of being equally gifted in their natural traits. Either an Earth mare or stallion could be ridiculously strong, or just fairly strong. Or a mare or stallion Pegasus can be just as fast or agile as another. Things like that. But up here, the mares are better suited to more athletic pursuits, while stallions are best off using our muscles.” Tapster informed as he corked the bottle. “But we still do things outside our body’s comfort zones if we want to. Like me. I’m more suited to swinging a pick than spinning a bottle, but I love my tavern. Not about to go back to the mine just because I’ve got an arm that can shatter boulders.”

“Interesting. So what is this divine smelling drink?” Ava asked as she tugged her bandana down around her neck to better sniff the sweet-smelling drink.

“Crystal wine. Up here, we’ve got actual crystal crops. I’m no farmer, so I haven’t a clue how it all works, but it’s safe to consume, and even dragons drop some gold for a few bushels of crystal berries now and then.” Tapster said, gesturing if it was okay for him to access her bit bag, and Ava nodded as she took a sip, swishing the amazingly sweet yet thickly-bodied, even velvety, drink in her mouth. “Up here it’s a common drink, so that mug will only cost you five bits.”

“Wow...it costs the same for a good beer down in Equestria. I’ve gotta get some more of this before I head back.” Ava said, planning to buy several kegs to store in Canterlot’s wine cellar. “So, have you noticed anything unusual late-?” *KRAAACK-THUD*

The thick and heavy front door suddenly blew off it’s mounting, a good portion of it actually shattered around the former upper hinge where it had clearly been shot by an enormous caliber gun. The rest was wrenched off the frame by the impact and sent flying halfway into the tavern, sending shards everywhere as everypony but her screamed and ducked under cover.

“Well, well. Mister Hyperion Exec got a sex change I see.” Ava’s eyes widened even more at recognizing the deep and distorted synthesized voice. “Even with that coat I can see the sides of your giant hooters from back here. Turn around so I can see the pretty face I’m going to be blowing off with my new toy.” *Splashback of frozen green acid* [RIP Ya a New One...WITH ACID!]

‘FUCK! RIP?! How’d he respawn?!’ Ava mentally freaked out as she steeled her face and stepped down from the large chair to turn around and face her enemy. The 12-foot Badass Alpha Man-Skag towered over everyone, and considering she was eye-level with his pelvis, that wasn’t something fun to consider fighting. ‘Damn it! If I wasn’t trying to avoid attention in the first place I wouldn’t possibly be screwed over right now!’

{At his height, that rifle we’re staring down the barrel of might as well be an average person on a short guard tower.} Crescent growled as RIP growled and his tongue lolled out a bit.

“Mm, mm. You turned into a fine~ bitch, didn’t ya? Shame for you, I happen to prefer dogs. Canida bitches are sexy as sin.” RIP then quickly cocked the lever, pissing Ava off at missing a chance to evade she wasn’t aware she had before. “Any last words before this thing blows your head to tiny bloody pieces?”

“Yeah, actually. LOOK! A DOG WITH HUGE BOOBS!” Ava shouted as she pointed past RIP, who more or less, like the rest of the room, blankly stared at her. “Yeah, I got nothin’.” Ava said, before surprising everyone and rushing at RIP in a quick zig-zag, the giant alien dog firing a shot that ruptured the floor as it barely missed her, and she shoulder-tackled the beast in the groin, effectively launching them both out into the street with RIP getting his upper back and head slammed into the top of the doorway as she continued booking it further into the village.

“Bastard!” RIP howled as he quickly got up, and aimed at his running target, firing off a shot that succeeded in ripping off her right arm, shoulder, and most of her right breast, making her scream in agony as her crystalline body’s fluids and viscera splattered around her, but keep running around a corner, panting and gasping as she rapidly committed her energy stores to regenerating the lost mass and clothing.

‘FUCK! FUCK! What kind of gun is that?! Hyperion doesn’t have guns that ridiculously powerful that aren’t E-Tech or especially high-quality!’ Ava cursed as another round blasted through the corner of the house she’d ducked behind, and she began running again, another giant bullet ripping through buildings disturbingly close to hitting her as she kept evading in her panic. ‘That scope! It must have infrared or something to track me through solid objects like this!’

{Damn it! I think I know! That’s one of Demir’s special designs! You know? The ones enchanted by Saddle Arabian mystics! That’s why the thing is practically a portable cannon!} Ava wailed at a shot that went through another house, clipping her head, taking off an ear and a portion of her skull, which she had to quickly recover before it could end up being her death. Unable to die or not, she didn’t want whatever force behind RIP having the chance of Corrupting her in a vulnerable state.

“Come out! None of these little stick huts will be able to protect you!” RIP shouted, before several clangs and the sounds of flying arrows were heard, along with the pinging sound of projectiles hitting a shield!

“NO!” Ava screamed fruitlessly, as shortly following were the agonized bloody screams of murder following as she bolted around the corner to see several Crystal Guards melting in acid, screaming until they stopped moving, and quickly liquefied, armor included. By now, anypony brave enough to be onlookers had run away, knowing that their homes were not safe from this monster. “You bastard! You just murdered innocent ponies!”

“Hmph, I did nothing. They killed themselves by attacking me. My shield did the rest.” RIP coldly said as if talking about the weather, and flip-cocked the devastating gun, his great size making the action easy. “Now, are you going to be a good bitch and let me kill you? Or am I going to have to tear this place to ribbons playing skag and varkid?”

“Fuck that, I’m done letting...you…?” Ava said as she reached into her coat.

To feel plain leather.

‘W...what? I can’t grab anything from my cache! Or anywhere!’ Ava began panicking, backing away as RIP sensed her sudden helplessness. ‘The Nullifiers! I can’t grab anything outside the barrier! FUCK!’

{But earlier, the bits! Our personal storage is still accessible!} At Crescent’s realization, Ava then instead focused on something she never left off of her person, and whipped out her Chiappa at RIP, surprising the skag as she fired a slug at him as she moved towards him, his new overpowered toy useless in closer quarters as he missed his retaliatory shot and she easily nerfed his shield’s homing spike since it seemed he had indeed switched from his melee spike shield to a damage-based homing spike shield. Getting around the spike and it turning harmlessly into the ground was easy as she flip-cocked Chiappa and shot RIP point-blank, his shield almost unable to handle the force at that range.

“Damn you!” RIP shouted as he flip-cocked the rifle, smacking her in the face as the heavy barrel of the gun rotated, and she quickly flip-cocked her own lever-action and they both aimed at each other’s gun point-blank, firing before thinking. The two massive bullets, both from enchanted weaponry, pancaked before punishing their hasty shooters with lead shrapnel, Ava getting the worst of it due to her lacking a shield at the moment and having the shorter weapon, sending them both stumbling back.

“Gah, I’ve gotta start wearing my shield out of habit!” Ava growled as she took out her healing shield and hooked it into her belt. It’s regenerative effects would help her out by reducing recovery time as well as lessening the strain on her personal regeneration. “Let’s dance asshole!”

“Now we’re talking!” RIP cackled as both he and Ava flip-cocked their guns, running around each other to the right as they fired, their respective shields helping them weather the giant rounds, and after the next shot, they both ducked behind cover of the nearby now-abandoned buildings to reload.

“I can’t believe Dox’s enchantment on my gun just up and vanished.” Ava complained as she fished some of the buckshot she originally made so long ago with Demir out of her personal storage, and fed them into her Chiappa’s tube. ‘Five rounds. Knowing that gun, it has five shots too despite it being a revolver.’

{How can we manage this? That rifle makes any further ranges suicide, and there’s no way we can warp to safety, who know’s what else that barrier blocks.} Crescent asked, not seeing an easy way out. {I’d suggest us letting our size increase, but considering how hard we had to work on this form, it’d take too long to do that much.}

‘Guess I’ll just have to use what I got, and then some.’ Ava snorted, and then bolted around the building seconds before RIP fired at her previous location, blasting out the corner of yet another house. ‘He thinks he’s big? I’ll show him big!’ Ava growled as she bum-rushed the sniper, barely rolling under a shot meant for her head, and flipping Chiappa around before going for the mother of cheap-shots.

The grip of a gun to the groin.

Needless to say, RIP froze. Dropped his rifle, which rolled down Ava’s back onto the ground, and he squeaked in an impressively high-pitched tone as he fell over, twitching, slowly moving his claws to cradle his groin, which while having a retracted genitalia, was still beyond sensitive. “...ow...my tenders….”

“Consider that being for killing innocents. And this?” Ava said as she knelt down, and jammed Chiappa into RIP’s maw. “Is for being a fucking nuisance!” Ava pulled the trigger, blasting a hole out the back of RIP’s skull, his purple glowing eyes going dim, before once again, his body began to evaporate in purple light.

But, seeing something different as a grenade stayed behind, Ava gasped as she tried to get away, only for a flash of green to envelop the immediate area in a corrosive cloud, making Ava scream in utter agony as everything on her melted off, including her skin, her eyes. If she wasn’t so damn dense from her earlier alteration, the gas would’ve fully melted her before it dissipated, leaving her a skinless mess.

Ava fell into the dirt, twitching, eyeless sockets and mouthless maw gaping as she couldn’t comprehend anything in the pure pain as her body slowly began regenerating, but she blacked out long before awareness was a thing available to her.

[ $ ]

It was so soft. Whatever Ava was laying on, it felt like a cloud. Might’ve been. It was also warm, and snuggly...and there were cuffs on her wrists and ankles-say wha?

She weakly cracked open her eyes, the slightly flattened domes of her giant shiny black boobs met Ava’s vision first, forcing her to lift her head up with a hiss to see over them at the lavish room she found herself in. “H-hello-*vicious hacking cough*-a-anypony...here?” Ava weakly rasped out, trying to move her limbs, only to hear the jingling of chains, and she wearily turned her head to see thick chains made of some sort of gray gems binding her arms to the posts of the thinly veiled poster bed, and when she managed to look around her right boob, saw the same for her legs for those posts.

‘Holy shit...I’m actually trapped right now.’ Ava mused blearily, too tired to properly muster the energy to even be irate or worried about the situation.

{Damn girl, without the heavy clothes I can see your earlier modifications have turned us into a bodybuilder! Dem muscles~.} Crescent, clearly just as disorientated, pointed out quite well in spite of their shared confusion. Indeed, if she focused, Ava could see, and feel, just how strong her body was. She had thick biceps, her formerly plush thighs were now practically Chun-Li thighs. And from what she could see between her tits, her abs were a washboard.

‘Lot of good that does us, can’t muster the energy for some reason….’ Ava mused as she didn’t even bother wondering why she was warm when she was completely nude and uncovered, laying her head back into the amazing pillow. ‘I’m just gonna sleep here for a while...wake us when it’s next week….’ Ava thought, blacking out once more.

Author's Note

Got RIPPED again. Bastard. Writing fights with him are hard. :derpytongue2:

I wonder just who has Ava chained to their bed this time? :rainbowhuh:

Don't Be a Stranger.

*Drip* Ava’s eyes twitched at feeling a sensation of wetness on her forehead. *Drip* She grunted and tried to lick the drop of unknown substance off her nose, but her tongue felt swollen and dry. *Drip, Drip* She shuddered at feeling two more drops on each of her nipples. *Drizzle* Ava gasped at feeling the warm and soothing fluid being drizzled from beneath her breasts, down the canyon of her six-pack abs, and down to her groin, before drops were then spread down her legs. ‘W-what’s going on-oh~!’

Then it was the hands, the amazingly gentle and petite hands moving the fluid about her torso with practiced and professional skill. Rubbing the aromatic and oily substance into her black crystalline skin and massaging her abs. {W-whatever is happening...it feels good~....} Crescent echoed in her head, which she absolutely agreed with, this massage was divine~.

“Yes poor thing. Relax. Let the mineral oils calm you gem-child.” An older mare’s voice cooed gently, helping Ava further relax as her masseuse moved her oiled-up hands to her great bosom, gently and smoothly rubbing the oil into the boulders on her chest, making her moan with how rather than pleasurable, it was beyond soothing as the mare seemed to know exactly where to press into the orbs to elicit a sensation of zen to practically flow through her.

‘Oh gosh...have to get this mare to massage our mares….’ Ava mused as once she felt her breasts were thoroughly coated in the warming oil, the mare actually began spreading the drops of oil from her nose and forehead over her face, massaging into her skin the sensation of peace and wellness.

“You have survived a terrible ordeal child. Know that you are in safety now.” The mare soothed as she finished spreading the oil around Ava’s head, down her neck, and into her shoulders and the parts of her arms she could touch. “Now this may be hard, but I need you to roll over dear.”

‘Of course….’ Ava turned over, not noticing that the binds that were on her earlier were removed, and then she sighed at feeling the drip/drizzle of oil once more start on the back of her neck, in a canyon down her back, and then dripped onto her bubble-butt and down her long legs to her hooves, the older mare’s hands returning to work first at her neck.

“When we found you, you had been a skinless corpse. We were astounded when you were breathing, and visibly growing back your outer filaments. So we had you restrained in case you were a monster, but I and the others decided that anypony who would fight against such a creature was no monster themselves.” The mare helpfully mentioned as she spread the oil across Ava’s back, down to her butt, and then began kneading her large rear, making Ava grunt in pain. “Apologies dear, but the buttocks are always quite sensitive.”

“No problem….” Ava mumbled into the thick pillow, only now realizing that the mysterious bed had somehow squished inward to accommodate her gigantic boobs. ‘Must be a cloud somehow, no way any other bed can do this.’

“There. All done.” The mare announced once she finished massaging the frogs of Ava’s hooves, getting her to moan unhappily that the therapeutic massage was over. “The oil will help restore your skin’s luster and help it fight off any infections you may have gotten from being covered in dirt when we first found you.”

“Thank you….” Ava mumbled, drifting off.

When next she awoke, it was to a feeling of being genuinely well-rested, and she pushed herself off the heavenly bed with a grunt, stretching herself out like a cat with a yawn. “Wow...whoever that mare is, I’ve gotta hire her to work on the gals.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I do not accept payment beyond what the State pays me.” The older mare’s voice intoned, getting Ava to jump a bit and turn around to see the source. A petite and rather oddly short elder mare was the one who had spoken. She wore a thick white robe of crystal fibers that seemed intended for both cold weather, and to inflate the wearer’s visage. Something it completely failed to do with the 4-foot amber-coated crystal pony as she pulled her hood back to reveal her short-cut graying mane and her surprisingly fierce ruby eyes that made her slightly wrinkled face seem much younger. “It is my pleasure to provide my healing services free of charge, even my more therapeutic treatments. And I am pleased to see how well you have taken to the oils.”

Ava blushed as she quickly wrapped her shiny almost liquid-black arms over her similarly shiny liquid-black boobs. Whatever the oil she used was, it made her original luster pale in comparison to now, even with the oil having dried/been absorbed into her crystal skin. “U-um...who are you? And where am I?”

“I am Mineral Mender, but most just call me Minnie for obvious reasons.” The older mare snorted in self-depreciating amusement. “As for where you are, you’re in a guest room of the Seam Family Estate. Your battle with the ballista-rod wielding beast was on the opposite side of the village, and what few guards did respond immediately to the commotion were never found. We were hoping you could inform us of their fates.”

Ava wilted sadly at the reminder of what happened. RIP murdered several Crystal Guards without a thought just because he decided to use such an indiscriminate shield. “They were melted ma’am. If there were any puddles of acid...that was what became of them….”

Minnie blinked in shock, but surprisingly retained her composure. “Well, it is best that you put the beast down and saved others from similar fates then.”

“I’m afraid not Mineral...the monster; RIP, is nigh unkillable. I’ve already killed him before. This is his second attempt on my life.” Ava informed despondently. ‘He’s definitely respawning, but where? If I can figure out where he spawns, I could destroy it and keep him from coming back and claiming even more innocent lives.’

{It sucks he has that Feral Nature power that allows him to coat himself in acid. With that, trying to restrain him in anything other than a force-field is nearly unfeasible.} Crescent mused as the healer sighed and rubbed her temples.

“It can never be so simple, can it? It is just as well you survived him again then. I do not envy you that beast’s wrath. Are you feeling well enough to get out of bed dear?” Minnie asked gently, and Ava nodded easily. “Then I will get you the clothes that restored themselves as well as your unusual weapon. Both were in tatters when we found you, but oddly reconstructed themselves over time just as you have. Once you’re garbed and armed however, we ask you to give a statement of the events.”

“Of course, procedure, I understand.” Ava nodded, watching the petite healer leave the room, and she then realized upon inspection why she was warm despite her bed not having any bedding. ‘Another example of non-unicorn magic. I can see the enchantments on the veils of the bed’s drapes.’ Ava then looked down at her bosom, and flushed as she hefted the spheres up by their undersides, enamored with the reflective quality of her skin. ‘Whoa...I think maybe I’ll keep the crystal skin….’

[ $ ]

After being fully garbed in Vaga, who still remained silent, and pocketing Chiappa, Ava gave her statement to the Captain of the local Crystal Guard contingent. While she was completely forthright with the events and RIP’s motivations, the Captain still did not like that she brought trouble into his soon-to-be-a-town village, and asked that she make reparations.

This led to her asking Gem Seam for permission to temporarily have claim to any unmined gems under the town for exactly one minute. And exactly one minute later, Ava was completely forgiven for bringing trouble to Seam due to her dumping several days worth of various gems out of her coat. It also helped her define that yes, her powers still worked within the barrier, but not anywhere outside it.

“I apologize for Captain Twinkle demanding reparation like that, but losing several good stallions in an instant is usually enough for any commanding officer to want something to make up for the loss.” Gem Seam, the essential owner of the whole village, stated from behind her luxurious crystal desk in her equally luxurious office. “I mean, after all. Most of the gems you gave us will be used to arrange for the compensation to the deceased guard’s families.”

Ava couldn’t stop staring.

“Miss? Are you alright?” Gem Seam asked curiously.

‘Don’t jump her, don’t jump her, don’t jump her.’ Ava mentally chanted, trying not to give in to her urges now that she and the sex-on-legs mare across from her were alone in a room.

Gem Seam was a supermodel of a mare. Her face was beyond beautiful, her unique multi-colored crystal hide was just as shiny and smooth as Ava’s, and if that weren’t enough, she was practically a carbon-copy of Ava herself in proportions, current height, and her incredibly muscular build under her formal victorian-era dress. Not to mention her rainbow-striped mane and tail were beautifully coifed into a lady’s spiral of sorts and was just as lustrous as her skin, and her similarly multi-hued eyes were beyond captivating.

Minnie warned Ava that Gem was an obscene rarity among Crystal Ponies, having the luck of being the one-in-a-thousand born with the recessive genes of the original Prism Ponies. “Miss Ava, if you cannot stop ogling, I may think you have intentions for me.” Gem teased, fluttering her beautiful eyes at the Fertility Goddess, who bit her lower lip and grunted as she failed to remain professional.

“Okay, I won't beat around the bush. I’m a Fertility Goddess. You’re an obscenely rare winner in a genetic lottery that I cannot ignore.” Ava stood, rounded the desk, yanked Gem to her hooves with a yelp, and began dragging her down a corridor. “You’ve gotta get makin’ foals! Pronto!”

“B-but I’m only 19!” Gem flushed, not expecting this scenario even with the foreknowledge of knowing her guest was a sex-related deity of sorts.

“Even better!” Ava beamed madly, the potential of gifting the mare’s recessive genes to being completely dominant exciting her at possibly allowing Prism Ponies a full return to the world.

[ $ ]

“Okay, avoid this place for a while….” Ava mumbled with a blush as she continued her way north away from Seam. ‘Maybe hitting Gem with what amounted to a ‘fuck-me’ Blessing along with all the boosts to her genetic potential of her and all her foals Only rearing Prism Ponies along with the fertility boosts was just too much.’

{By the time we managed to muster the will to leave, we’d already devolved her manor into a one-mare orgy. I’m impressed that she outpaced us for a while.} Crescent commented as they continued trekking north into the frozen tundra of the Empire’s region.

‘I’m honestly surprised that she was actually cool with it. I guess she had a libido she’d been suppressing due to her position in life.’ Ava mused as she sighed. Considering how she would go about finding the emitter of the Null and Misdirection barrier now that she was within the Empire proper. ‘Seam was a bust thanks to RIP ruining my chance at getting any info, but since I wasn’t killed or detained for long, it’s likely Die Leucht hasn’t had much time to get settled in.’

“You look troubled.” Ava froze at hearing the familiar husky voice. “Oh, come now. Don’t be so surprised. You think you’re the only Green-Collar causing trouble?” Ava turned towards the source, blinking in confusion at the sight of a custom M1126 Stryker ICV. Custom since the extra AC unit indicated it might’ve actually been an M1130 or M1133, but it lacked the comms suite those two models were known for.

Then again….

“So...I’m not the only Displaced that rat fuck dropped on this mudball huh?” Ava asked of the man standing out of the driver’s side hatch. Drebin-893. “Because I can honestly think of no other reason a human, let alone a very specific human like you, would be here.”

“Hm. I recall a man, dressed much as you. With an accent rather spot-on with yours. Offering me a Little Grey plush I couldn’t pass-up on. Next thing I know, I’m sitting in my cozy little camper here, with some very insistent and rude yaks banging on my rear hatch.” Drebin-893 said as he easily pulled himself up to sit on the rim of his hatch. “Sorry about my last customer. Usually I don’t make a point of bothering with the intents of my clients, but in this case I think it’s safe to say it’d be in my best interest to not deal with him again.”

“What’ya know. A Drebin with some actual sense of decency. Not gonna inject me with FOXDIE are you?” Ava asked skeptically as she wandered towards the vehicle, only to freeze at seeing the Protector turret on top of the troop transport spin and sight-in on her.

“Oh no, not at all. I checked to see if I had a stock of nanomachines or FOXDIE as soon as I realized what happened. Thankfully, it would seem that I don’t have those deadly things from the beloved MGS series. Then again, I highly doubt that this is the only world I’ve been to as well.” Drebin-893 said as he accepted a can of Narc from Little Grey as the naked monkey climbs up to sit next to him, sipping it’s own Narc. “I mean, it seems the navigation systems of my Stryker know just where I need to be. One moment, I’m selling guns to a pony version of Solid Snake. The next? I’m selling munitions to a desperate band of griffon mercenaries in a post-apocalypse. Then? Well, anywhere or anyone is a potential profit.”

“So...you’re basically a Void-Travelling loyalty-free weapons merchant? Lucky bastard. I’m stuck here, trying to save the world instead of just being a Merchant like I’d love to be. And when I do travel, it’s almost always for business. The few times I’ve done it for pleasure rarely worked out either.” Ava said as she backed away, the Protector turret no longer focusing on her once she was a certain distance away. “I’m not going to hold RIP having one of my friend’s better designs in his possession and almost killing me with it against you. Business is business.”

“Which is precisely why I’m here with an offer.” Drebin-893 said as he took out a white handkerchief, and put it over his extended fingers. With a grin and a wave of his free hand, he yanked the cloth away to reveal an apple-sized grenade-like orb, that was oddly, clearly not a grenade. “Here, have this nav beacon. It’ll let my Stryker home in on your location. I don’t do combat though, so save it for when you want a transaction for something you can’t otherwise obtain yourself.” Drebin-893 said before he tossed it the fair distance to Ava, where she easily caught it.

“Thanks. Just so long as you being a visitor means I don’t have to deal with a variant of the Patriots, or Metal Gears in general, I’m good with having a resource from outside my dimension that’s strictly business so I don’t have to bother my friends with favors.” Ava said as she stashed the metal orb in her coat, and then pondered if the barrier was also blocking her token. ‘Dear gog I hope not, if it is I won’t be able to answer any calls for my help while I’m inside one of the damned things.’

“Well, with that, I bid you farewell. I ain’t got a reason to linger here. Unless you’d like a lift? I don’t generally enjoy playing taxi, but if you’ve got the coin.” Drebin-893 suggested as he rubbed his fingers together in a universal gesture for money.

“Not as of this moment. I just need to get to the next town into Empire territory, try to poke around for clues of what’s going on up here, and maybe where I can find the source of the Null and Misdirection crap blocking anyone from entering the region normally.” Ava said, and Drebin hummed as he reentered his Stryker, and shortly after the rear hatch opened as the one above the driver’s side closed.

“You’re in luck. I have a map of the region, and my beauty can get you close within minutes.” Drebin-893 called out as he stepped out onto the ramp. “Of course, the ride will cost ya.” Drebin-893 grinned, and Ava sighed before she prepared to grab her gold. “Oh no, I don’t think gold would be much of a price from one such as you.” Drebin-893 folded his arms as he tapped a foot with a hum. “How about...a sample of your mutagen?”

“What for?” Ava asked harshly, getting the man to shrug with a smirk as he leaned into the side of his transport. “My mutagen isn’t something to just let out casually. I’ve learned the hard way how dangerous it is. Just ask that asshole you sold that gun to. He didn’t used to be that big.”

“And that. Is precisely why I want some. It’s a Deus Ex Machina lady. It can do almost anything to living tissue. Who’s to say I can’t find somebody who could use it to say, synthesize something from it? Make more? Or even better, make a counter-agent to immunize against it. There’s all kinds of reasons I want some to make a profit. Besides. Business is business, right?” Drebin-893 asked cheekily.

“A taxi ride one deadly vial of mutagen is not worth.” Ava growled before turning north.

“It is when there’s a few hundred miles of freezing swamp between here and your next stop.” Drebin-893 snarked with a grin, getting Ava to pause. “Oh well. I guess you have so much time to walk the width of the state of California through freezing cold swampland, considering you can’t so much as sprout wings without potential enemies catching on.”

Ava grit her teeth as she clenched her fists. ‘Gog...damn it….’ “If I find out you’ve swindled me-.”

“Never.” Drebin-893 interrupted seriously. “If there’s one thing I value, it’s my integrity as a businessman.”

“Alright then. Give me one of those Narc sodas.” Ava demanded as she stomped up to the ramp and ducked into the vehicle, Drebin-893 chuckling as he joined her, the ramp closing up and moments later the Stryker started up and began driving, shimmering out of existence.

Author's Note

Not much in this chapter, but I wanted to get things going and there wasn't much Ava could accomplish in Seam since the border village/almost-a-town isn't currently occupied by Die Leucht.

As for Drebin-893, I've decided he's a traveling Displaced of convenience. If someone already has him, please inform me, otherwise I'm going to start abusing him as Ava's only major resource within Die Leucht "deadzones"

We're Not in Kansas....

Ava was curled up on one of the benches of Drebin’s Stryker as the intrepid green-collar drove his private armored home through an indistinguishable void, the radio playing some ridiculously unfittingly cheerful reggae music as Little Gray examined the IV bag she was draining the mutagen in her mandibles into, beings she was in her Verdugo form. “Hair hid hoo het ah ight late at its ee?”

“Don’t be asking me that. My girl just gives me what I need for the situation in her tool drawer. I’ve long ago accepted Stryker’s odd quirks, like her endless vending machine that accepts any currency I put in and disturbingly dispenses whatever I want if I know the code for it.” Drebin-893 answered, interrupting his singing along with the song, and making her realize she hadn’t even noticed he was singing, he was that spot-on with the song.

“Anyhing?” Ava asked curiously as the IV bag filled, and Little Gray gestured for her to stop, so she opened her mandibles and handed the bite plate and funnel end of the IV tube to the monkey, that smartly twisted the tube closed with the valve, and ambled his new prize over to a small fridge next to the vending machine to put it away, and then jumping on top of the tiny fridge where a pet bed was. “That is one smart monkey.”

“Don’t let his appearance fool you. Little Gray is as strong and smart as ten men. I think the only reason he doesn’t speak is because he doesn’t see the point.” Drebin said as he turned off his stereo. “We’re about to get a little bumpy, grab onto something.” Ava wisely did so as she shifted back into her shapely hematite crystal mare form, and was suddenly wishing she waited a moment as the Stryker jumped like it just hit a small hill and sent her huge basketball-boobs bouncing out of her corset’s cups.

“Talk about a rough-rider! Why the sudden harsh jump?” Ava asked as she used the hand not holding the pole next to the bench to stabilize her quaking breasts.

“Stryker exits the Void a few feet off the ground when she’s going places she’s not been to yet. Makes a rather loud entrance, but from then on, any time she exits within a few miles of a place she’s been, it’s a smooth transition.” Drebin informed as he worked the wheel and Ava was glad she was still holding onto the pole as the armored vehicle jerked and jumped across uneven ground. “There, here’s as close as I can get without the Crystal Guard spotting me, the rest you’ll have to cover on foot.”

“Thanks for the ride Drebin, but before I go, seriously, what do you mean that vending machine dispenses anything?” Ava asked as she stood on slightly shaking legs once the armored beast called a vehicle came to a complete stop.

“I mean what I said.” Drebin cheekily grinned as he came back from the cockpit and patted the front of the unusually compact and opaque-faced vending machine. “It has all 26 letters of the English alphabet, and all 10 numbers from 0 to 9. I could be feeding it bits or bills and punching random codes all day, but I’ll never find out all the things this darling thing dispenses. I’m just thankful A1 gives Narc.”

“But if that’s all the code takes, doesn’t-.” Drebin interrupted her but putting a bit in the rather large coin slot, and punching in a random series of letters, numbers, more letters, and then pressed enter, resulting in a wet-sounding thunk in the rather large flap-covered dispenser chute, and Drebin reached in to pull out a...a...what? “What the hell is that?”

“No idea! Isn’t it great?” Drebin held up what seemed to be a raw sort of...alien fish? “Don’t worry though, this thing keeps track of what entered codes dispense. This thing is called...a Garryfish? Hm, not a very creative name.” Drebin pouted at the large touch-screen above the keypad as he tossed the large tan and brown striped fish with stalk-like eyes to Little Gray, who caught it and quickly tossed it in the small fridge without a care. “Oh well, it seems edible, I’ll be finding out at dinner, been craving fish actually.”

“Wow! But...how does that help you supply customers? I mean, it’s clear that thing provides food for money, so you sell stuff to get money to get stuff like a normal person...sort of.” Ava asked curiously as she looked at what seemed to be a this-for-that grab-bag machine, and considering it just dispensed an alien fish the size of a mid-sized dog, that left a lot of possibilities. “Especially considering the exchange rate.”

“Ah, that’s the beauty of the thing. This touch screen has a comprehensive alphabetized and categorized menu for memorized codes. So if I want more of that fish, it will be under G, then under fauna, aquatic fauna, vertebrates, so on. However, just using the memorized code increases the cost of the item to a suitably fair price, but if I just manually enter the code, it’ll still only cost one bit, dollar, etc.” Drebin explained, before leering at the machine. “But. To get a new code for something specific, I can actively search for an item, but if I don’t have the item code already, I have to pay much more to unlock it. For instance, if I wanted, it could actually search for Plaga Mutagen, but considering the nature and value of such a thing, this machine would bleed me dry before giving me the code.”

“Thus why it even had so much value to get it from me.” Ava nodded in understanding. “But that still means, by an impossibly small chance, you could one day get the code just randomly putting in bits and pressing buttons.”

“Yes, but that’s such a waste of money.” Drebin said seriously with a nod of his head. “Sure, I do it when I have plenty of cash to spare, but I’m still only in the...drat, where…?” Drebin touched the screen a few times. “A5000s.”

Ava whistled at the large number. “Damn. So you have to offload some things or….” Ava led into, getting Drebin to sigh and nod.

“Yes, as much as I would like to think Stryker has an infinite storage, she doesn’t like her lockers and drawers filled with all sorts of random junk. She gets testy when I do that, so I have to sell things I can’t keep. Anyway, we’re here.” Drebin gestured to the rear bay door that lowered to reveal freezing cold tundra.

“What? In a hurry to get rid of me?” Ava snarked with a beatific grin as she put on her bandanna and pushed her boobs fully back into her corset, pulling her red silk shirt back down under the black leather until it outlined her bosom again.

“Somewhat. From what I know, this place’s Guards are very efficient, and I’d rather not have angry crystal ponies demanding what I am and what I’m doing here. So off with you. I’m looking forward to doing business with you again however, so stay in touch.” Drebin grinned as Ava waved to him while she went down the ramp, and in short order, the ramp closed back up over the rear of the Stryker, and the metal beast roared as she drove away, vanishing into thin air.

“That is one cool guy. Now then, where did...he...oh fuck no….” Ava whispered in disbelief as she looked up into the sky, craning her neck at the tallest structure she’d ever seen on this planet. “We’re not in Kansas Toto….”

It was like some lazy ass took a giant cardboard cutout of the Emerald City from the Return to Oz, and posted it on a billboard to make it look like it was really off in the distance. Only it was actually there! And fairly close too. “All that’s missing is the spotlights and the Yellow Brick Road.”

Ava shrugged, figuring it wasn’t the strangest thing that could happen in the multiverse, and proceeded to trot onwards.

[ $ ]

“What do you mean I need traveling papers?” Ava demanded of the two emerald-green armored guards that actually had more police-like armor than others she’d seen in this world, it even had ECGD stamped onto the pauldrons. They’d hailed her at the entrance to the city, and had immediately asked for her passport, which, of course, Ava didn’t have.

“What I mean, ma’am, is that the guards in Seam should’ve processed you and given you identification papers at the border. If you don’t have any this far into the country, I’m afraid we’ll have to detain you until we can have this sorted out.” The mare of the two; a rather sincere mare of intriguingly short stature at barely cresting 5 feet and an interestingly slate gray coloration of gem said with a clearly upset demeanor over the situation, her incredibly radiant purple eyes were nothing but honest.

“So yeah, sorry babe, but we’re gonna have to hustle ya.” The orange crystal stallion with the green eyes shrugged noncommittally, getting a slug from the mare to his lightly muscled bicep, the surprisingly lithe stallion grinning happily at the reproachful look the mare gave him. “But no, seriously. We’re gonna have to arrest you while we get you processed and have a passport made.”

“Ugh, fine. I swear. What is with me and having trouble with the law on accident all the time?” Ava groused as she held out her wrists and the guards snorted in amusement and just gestured her to follow them through the gate as a couple of other guards took their post. “What? Not gonna clap me in irons? Throw me in a barred carriage?”

“I don’t know where you’re from miss, but we don’t do those sort of things if we don’t have to.” The petite mare replied. “If anything, knowing guards do that as standard practice elsewhere is disturbing.”

“Yeah, up here we’ve got ‘Due Process’ for everything. We only resort to harsher measures if the circumstances require it.” The stallion added on as they approached a sort of police box with solid opaque sapphire walls that made it stick out like a sore blue thumb in the primarily emerald city. “Just step inside miss, you’ll be popped out at the local guard precinct.”

“Uh….” Ava blushed, embarrassed as she realized something. “Um...don’t you have any...wider boxes?” Ava asked with a raging red overtaking her liquid black face. ‘Oh gog, my boobs are too wide! How do the beefy stallions squeeze in these things?!’

“Yes, but they’re a bit further away, this is one of the older boxes, but you’ll just have to live with the cramped space for just a moment miss.” The petite guard mare said with an apologetic and earnest tone.

“Well we could take the time to trot to one of the other boxes, but I’d rather not. So get squeezing miss chesty.” The stallion snickered, getting another punch to the arm from his partner.

‘I swear, those two have to be mates or something.’ Ava mentally commented before sighing, and grunting as she shoved her heaving chest into the tiny sapphire box, blushing at the sensation of her bosom being compressed as she squeezed all the way into it. “Ow, okay, I’m-

-in?” Ava ended in a bemused tone at suddenly not having her boobs squeezed and standing in a sapphire room with pads spread about and signs at each one naming cross streets as she took a step off her pad. “That’s a really smooth teleporter, smoother even than New-U, but then again New-U has a more complicated setup.”

“You gonna move?” Came the stallion guard’s voice from behind her, getting Ava to yelp and jump away and turn in time to see the stallion trail after and his partner to seamlessly trot in as if she just walked through a door. “Sorry for surprising you, but the box system doesn’t let anyone through if there’s something on the pad.”

“Well now that we’re not in public, let me introduce us, since we’re the guards handling your case. I’m Selene Night. Yes, it’s a pun on Selenite, the crystal I resemble.” Selene beamed at Ava as she trotted ahead, Ava following as her yet-to-be-named partner brought up the rear.

“Well if we’re being friendly, name’s Carnelian, or Carne for short.” Carne said, and Ava shivered, resisting jumping his bones upon realizing that his name, and once she paid notice; essence, was that of Creativity, Sexuality, Courage, and Vitality. Now that the sly ass wasn’t annoying her, he was suddenly very attractive to her on levels beyond his physical body.

‘Holy crap, is it because his body itself is similar to carnelian? He could be a priest of Fertility if I had followers...no, no. Calm down Ava, save being worshiped properly for when you finish getting Vaga’s Chaos Aspect.’ “I’m Ava, short for Avarice, no surname, no permanent address, nothing save this.” Ava said as she took off her left glove, holding up her Royal Signet Ring, getting Carne to snatch her wrist and examine it gravely.

“Moony, we’ve got a VIP here.” Carne seriously stated as he held Ava’s displayed ring to his partner, getting the mare to sigh.

“Great...well, you’re still going to have to sit in a room instead of a cell while we get you checked out and processed miss. If you’d shown us that earlier, we’d have hurried this along more.” Selene groused worriedly as she picked up the pace through the guard precinct which had surprisingly few quill scratchers sitting at desks and more guards actually moving through, many of which either gawked or managed to politely look away from the chesty goddess of fertility as she was guided through.

“That’s just fine, so long as I stay out of a cell...never again, ever, if I can help it….” Ava shuddered in fear, memories of her cell haunting her before she calmed down and replaced the Recall with all the raunchy thoughts of Sharp instead.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure-.”

“Night! Carnelian! In my office!” Bellowed a loud and intimidating baritone from somewhere in the building, and it caused every single guard to go ramrod straight, before Ava’s companions quickly shoved her off onto a surprisingly plump stallion at a desk and rushed off.

“Wow, Chief Trabucco sounds furious.” Commented the hefty stallion as he moved a sort of ancient telephone-like device away from himself, moving switches on a massive switchboard on his desk around. Swarovski was on the name plaque of his desk, making Ava blink at the odd name. “Well, seems unless a guard can escort you-.” The stallion flicked a switch, and suddenly Ava yelped at being forcibly gravitated to a floor-mounted stool in front of the portly yellow crystal stallion’s odd desk. “You get to keep me company. Coordinator Swarovski.” The fat stallion jovially greeted with an outstretched hand.

“Uh...Ava. I’d say pleasure to meet you, but the circumstances are rather iffy.” Ava replied as she shook his soft hand. ‘Wow, I’m so used to healthy and fit people these days. So fat folks are still a thing? Considering he has a desk job, I guess so.’ “You adjusted really fast to suddenly having to, ow, watch over me.” Ava commented as she shifted uncomfortably on the stool, her soft but firm plot being pressed into the seat by whatever enchantment had latched onto her rear and forced her to sit.

“I just told you I am a Coordinator. I have eyes and ears, and a voice almost anywhere within the immediate public under the protection of this precinct. I saw and heard what was going on since you arrived at the south gate, and reported directly to Chief Trabucco when your direct affiliation with the Royal Sisters was proven by your ring and their essences infused into it registered.” Swarovski replied as he fished a...donut...from one of his desk drawers. “Just as well, earned me a break so Ikarov can have a turn watching things for a bit.”

“Why are your names so...different?” Ava asked curiously, and Swarovski chuckled amiably as he nommed on his powdered confection.

“We live near the Yakslovian border here in the Emerald City, some of their naming conventions carried over before they suddenly declared isolationism last year.” Swar informed before scarfing down a chocolate donut.

“Well, alright then. But why did the boss yank them into his office?” Ava asked as she pulled down her bandana and hood to get more air, it was warm inside the building unlike outside.

“Likely because-.” *SLAM* Trabucco’s office door slammed open with Selene and Carne despondently walking out with an utterly HUGE sapphire crystal stallion with a soul patch and shaved mane holding open his door, his armor barely straining to hold in his hulking mass of muscle.

“And you keep that VIP under watch!” Trabucco shouted after the two before he slammed his door shut, making everypony flinch.

“Uh...well, as you can guess miss, we’re your escorts until you’ve been fully processed.” Selene nervously updated as Swarovski thankfully deactivated the enchantment squeezing Ava’s plot to the stool, letting her get up and rub her sore bum.

“That is to say; we’re to keep an eye on you and prevent you from leaving the city until you’ve got a full legal passport to come and go within the country.” Carne added on, and Ava sighed.

‘Great...I get to have two cute little spies watching me as I try to work. Swell.’

Author's Note

I deeply apologize for the wait! Life has been so busy! Busy, busy, busy! I figured getting a job would've freed up some time from job hunting, nope! It made it worse! :raritydespair:

This job, it sucks, it barely pays my rent, my keyboard's breaking after years of devoted servitude, my gamepad too, and no money for either. :raritycry:

Also, it's hot in here the Mohave. :ajsleepy:

Covert Operation, Become Orgy~!

Author's Note

WARNING! WARNING! :pinkiegasp:

GRATUITOUS CLOP AHEAD! :pinkiecrazy:

This is, officially, besides that one vore/unbirth/rebirth scene, the most M-rated stuff I've written in terms of lewd.
You have been warned. This is a Crossover with Guided By The Light and, of course, Asphyxious. :pinkiehappy:

Covert Operation, Become Orgy~!

The past two weeks in the Emerald City...have been rough, to say the least.

With the Crystal Guard, specifically Selene and Carne watching her all the time, trying to gather any info on Die Leucht was extremely risky for one, and then there was the fact that Emerald City had public decency laws. Meaning no public snoo-snoo or even nudity! It made her miss Saddle Arabia so much she almost wanted to GTFO from this prudish nightmare.

But then again, she was trying to curb her libido now that she had impending parenthood and a herd of lovers waiting for her at home, so this was perhaps one of the best chances she’d have to temper her lust.

Not that Asphyxious was being any help….

First there was when he summoned her to help with curing undeath for some poor ponies, that, typically, led to them boinking each other’s brains out. They also went about curing her Blight Wasps of their baser instincts by turning them into Dragonlings. Finding a way back to her temporary apartment without her watchers realizing she’d even left was a chore.

Then there was his followers, worshiping her as a Goddess of Fertility and Commerce, meaning, that according to her world’s laws of gods, according to Vaga; she could no longer obtain his Chaos Aspect. While this pissed her off, Ava still gladly parted with two zebra clones for Asphyxious’ needs, the poor mares had no lives of their own before then anyhow.

Vaga faded away shortly thereafter, no goodbye, no apologies or thank yous, he just...died…. That day, Ava wept and stayed inside, her watcher’s remaining politely at distance but resolutely attentive to any potentially damaging behavior she might do in her emotional state. She failed Vaga, even though he clearly didn’t hold it against her since it wasn’t her fault, and now he finally could rest in peace, while apparently, his power and Aspect will manifest as a being called Discord soon according to what she gathered from Asphyxious, so now there’s that to look out for as well.

To replace his physical body, she had donned a black robe he left in his place. It fit her perfectly no matter how she shifted in it like he had, and it also obscured yet revealed everything so well it felt both conservative and slooty at the same time, perfect. She especially liked that the hood had a full fabric mask in place of her formerly signature bandanna, and it could be tucked back if she didn’t want it on, like when dealing with proper customers.

And then there was this annoying girl, with admittedly great taste, who messed with her shrine in Asphyxious’ world, almost getting her arrested for public indecency when her boobs jumped out of her new robe’s optional corset due to the statue being tampered with. She then afflicted her with Fertility and turned her into a dragoness, not that it seemed to really teach her anything if just satisfy Ava’s vindication at being violated without permission.

And THEN there was meeting Bunnie. Hot little number even before the full-body makeover. Sweet girl.

But as it stood, she was little to no closer to finding any trace of Die Leucht in Emerald City, which she discovered was on the NORTHERN border of the Crystal Empire! Drebin, the sly shit, had instead taken her to the opposite side of the country from where Seam was, leaving her the furthest away from Equestria she’d ever been aside from Maui.

Worse was the growing tensions and the rising crime rates within the city despite the ECGD’s incredibly efficient police work. That coupled with Yakslovia’s sudden isolationism was very suspicious and disturbingly coincidental. Knowing her luck, Die Leucht probably controlled Yakslovia already, but she had to find and root out their elements in Emerald City first and foremost since it was the first line of defense that the Crystal Empire and by extension Equestria had against what she had learned was a very warrior-focused society nearly on par with the minotaurs, and neither country could afford that right now.

“Pleasure doin’ business with ya.” Ava drawled kindly at a crystal stallion who had just bought what was literally the last bundle of Saddle Arabian silk she had. Obviously he was more interested in her, but was invested enough in getting silk for his tailor to work with to be on his way rather than make things difficult. ‘I love my new outfit, but it leaves so little to the imagination.’

Ava was serious, her robe, while not showing a single bit a fur or flesh, could easily cling and conform to her body, outlining absolutely everything as if she were naked anyway, it was why she took to still wearing her corset so at least her huge nipples wouldn’t be poking eyes out and drawing unnecessary attention. Like the local milkers.

One day, at a bar, they ran out of milk and asked if any mares in the building were lactating. Ava, of course, offered up her own milk since they were offering to pay. It was wonderful to get milked, Ava won’t lie, but ever since then, since ponies have tasted her milk, which she had belatedly realized was the literal lactate of a freaking goddess of fertility and was utterly delicious as well as magical in it’s effects, well, she was trying to stay away from that bar and anypony who stared at her enormous tits too long for reasons she could feel were more at what was in them than the orbs themselves.

But besides all these otherwise somewhat good points, she was still no closer to her goals, and thus, was starting to feel cranky.

“You two ready to head home?” Ava practically grumbled to her two escorts, more-or-less resigned to the concept that Die Leucht had long-ago figured out who she was thanks to the ECGD having stonewalled her like this, they were just laying low rather than poking the bear.

“Whatever you say Tits.” Carne amicably snarked with a shrug, getting Selene to reach up to grab one of his ears and yank, getting him to help. “Alright, alright! Sorry!” Ava would’ve been cheered up by the two’s byplay, if it wasn’t for the fact her sexiness was legitimately driving a wedge in their relationship.

“For the last time Carne, leave the poor mare’s excessive bosom out of conversation.” Case in point; Selene was experiencing severe breast-envy while Carne was naturally drawn to her not just for her figure, but his essence was resonating with her now chief, and only Aspect. Being in constant contact has caused his libido to spike, his energy levels to increase, and that was nothing to say to him ambiently leeching off of her, proven that even without her meaning to, he’d grow a couple of inches in height, and was getting insatiable.

The sounds from down the hall of him railing Selene every night for hours shortly after they started babysitting her was a very heavy implication of her effects on him, as when she broached the subject, they both admitted they’d been tiptoeing around the idea of a relationship before Carnelian lost it and jumped Selene’s bones. However they were both very aware that it was Ava doing this to them, even if indirectly, so while Carne was appreciative, Selene started to become both envious and spiteful of her since no doubt she featured heavily in Carne’s bedtime fantasies.

Oh how she’d love to fix that little issue for poor Selene, but until she could confirm Die Leucht’s presence and weed them out, she wasn’t comfortable with such a high level of exposure a mare suddenly rocketing up in size in all ways would do, her milk making mares extra fertile and stallions extra virile was a bad enough risk. “Selene, I don’t mind, and if anything, I’m just so tired of this whole routine. Any news on my passport?”

“No, nothing. I’ve been badgering the quill-scratchers and scroll-movers since day one, but there’s no hint of anything after two weeks. Chief Trabucco is also really miffed about this just as we are, since it seems every time headway on it builds up, all traces of the documents just vanish, and they have to start over.” Selene fumed. She was tired of foalsitting this busty babe that made her feel woefully inadequate, even if she was amazingly pleasant to be around.

“It’s more than obvious there’s someone in the system working to keep you here, but we’ve had no luck ferreting out who it is. It’s gotten especially hard since the Relay was set up a week ago and we’ve lost some standing ponypower to guard it.” Carne said, and Ava blinked in surprise at the info burst.

“...So...what does this Relay do?” Ava asked curiously and searchingly, she hadn’t heard head-or-tails about any Relay, and she was figuring even with her Aspect buttering the couple up, that getting anything from her watchers would’ve been like pulling teeth for a while yet. ‘Crescent! You think this might be a lead?’

{I sincerely hope so Ava, I’m getting so sick of being cramped up.} Crescent did not like being in a form without wings, he was originally a thestral after all, and they have the need to fly just as much as pegasi.

“It’s supposed to be a magical setup that extends and enhances the range of the Crystal Heart. You know, what keeps the Crystal Empire from being completely frozen over like Yakslovia?” Selene informed with a bit of a shrug. “But it doesn’t really seem to be working yet. If it was, the constant blizzards and snowing would’ve stopped in the direction of Yakslovia, we were hoping it’d help them out a bit for their border villages and towns, but so far, no luck.”

‘Yes! This sounds very suspicious. I’ve gotta convince them to...wait….’ Ava purred mentally, her teeth shining as her face gained a grin that unnerved her two watchdogs. “Might I know where it is? If it’s available for any tourism value that is.” Ava asked, and the two looked nervously at each other.

“Um...sure? It’s not like you can get in or anything, it’s at the north end of the city near the wall. Really fancy-looking thing honestly, even if you can’t get too close to it.” Carne informed but Selene looked suspicious.

“But not today, it’s getting late, and the north end of the city gets rather dangerous at night. Even with us there, I’d rather not...somepony like you be there after dark.” Selene hinted with a pointed look at the giant knockers of Ava’s chest which were almost eye-level with Selene’s short-statured head.

“Aw, you do care!” Ava teased Selene, pulling her into a hug that was more or less outright shoving the small mare’s head between her huge boobs, getting the mare to struggle in vain to avoid asphyxiation, all while Carne snorted and chortled as he covered his eyes in amusement. Ava would admit she enjoyed teasing Selene for her stature and figure, but only because the mare’s cute qualities made Ava personally a little jealous herself. Sure, being hugely endowed was awesome, but she wished she could slim down without hurting herself power and spiritual wise.

{So, we finally get to make a move?} Crescent asked eagerly as Ava let the gasping and panting, but also blushing mare out of her cleavage, and the three had a good laugh before heading towards the hotel she’d been boarding in since arrival.

‘No, rather, you get to make a move.’ Ava emphasised as she smiled deviously, coming up with a cheap yet easy plan. ‘I’m going to...persuade Carnelian and Selene into a threesome, meanwhile, you will slink out into the city, and investigate the Relay, with our primary watchers none-the-wiser, and with me having a solid alibi….’

{Even if I get caught, you will still be completely clean.} Crescent purred, Ava about shuddering as she remembered how amazing Crescent was in bed due to the tone his sexy voice echoed in her mind. She hadn’t been able to have any casual sex on her own terms lately, and a little self-cest was found necessary when masturbation wasn’t enough to curb her libido as she longed for her herd, her heart feeling empty without them around, and she even cried at night at the sensation of loneliness, even Crescent was just a balm on her aching, longing desire to be home instead of hunting her enemies.

‘Yes, that’s about right.’ Ava responded after several long moments of depressed silence. Depression, she never really knew what it was like until she had Recall and the ability to always regret the past, or otherwise have a dull, hollow sensation inside her very being. She missed her lovers, she wanted to see her daughter, she was just...so...tired of traveling, merchantry, fighting, and loveless sex. ‘Crescent, am I a horrible pony?’

{For the last time, no Ava, you’re a beautiful, wonderful pony. Stop thinking these things. I thought Mistress helped you with this when you first met.} Crescent chided, and then Ava felt even worse. The last time she had seen her lovely little minx of a shapeshifter was when she died for the first time. Just how much had her first and thus-far only visit scarred her lover? To see her dead corpse only to rise from her killer’s own corpse like some nightmarish Highlander?

{Oh for fuck’s sake! Get it together mare! We have a job to do, we need to root out our enemies and protect our family! Only then, when they are all dead, and we can relax, can we fully connect with those who have their gentle, loving hands on our hearts and souls.} Crescent imperiously demanded, making Ava pant, he sounded like Alucard from Hellsing getting all passionate about it.

‘Well, at least you’ve worked me up. Okay, I’ll go down the hall….’ Crescent molded out of Ava’s body into a rather petite-statured thestral mare, who quickly reached into her robe and grabbed dark leathers and garbed herself to blend with the night. “And you go check out the relay station.”

“I know, I’m the one who thought of it.” She said in a husky womanly voice, then jumped up to Ava’s boob-shelf, and kissed her deeply, with love, and Ava whimpered as she tried not to cry. “Be strong mare, stop giving into despair so easily.” She then went to the window, used her perfect night vision to scan for any spies, and silently defenestrated.

“Okay Ava...time to have...more, loveless, unfeeling sex with some near-complete strangers.” Ava shuddered, feeling ill at the thought. “What I wouldn’t give for one of my herd right now….” Ava whimpered, before gathering herself, and striding down the hall to her watcher’s room. Once there, she took a deep breath, put on a sexy grin and leer, leaned seductively on the doorframe, and knocked. When Carnelian answered the door, she playfully bit her lip, batted her eyes, and purred. “Hey, handsome~....” ‘But Gog damn, this stallion just radiates Fertility~....’

[ ? ]

“I wonder if everything was built right?” Asphyxious asked as he looked at the new temple. For the most part, it look okay. He was just happy he's more relaxed than he has been for a while. “Let see if this works.”

The dragon walked up to the shrine and poked the statue of Palutena on the head. “Hey you there?” He asked blinking at it. Asphyxious then tried her token. “Hey Palutena, want to see the temple? It a little smaller then your one back home but it's just as good.”

“I've already seen it, on the second floor is a portal room that allows me to hop between my temples,” Palutena responded.

“Oh, I didn’t know that. I had to ask mum’s foxes to help build this place. I even had Twilight keep an eye on things.” Asphyxious replied as he headed up stairs.

“I may have also accidently kissed dragon Twilight while finding that little tidbit out,” Palutena chuckled nervously, Asphyxious didn’t look angry he just sighed at this.

“It okay, I’m sure you didn’t mean to. To be honest I’m to tired, after dealing with those three other dragons living inside of me I feel like I could sleep for years.” The dragon explained as he yawned.

Palutena descended the stairs inside the temple in Asphyxious’ world, and out of the temple, her pregnancy was visibly showing now as she waved at Asphyxious, “Hi, good news at least for me, I found out the sex of my foals, it’s two fillies. Oh and Dark magician girl says hi.”

“Good to hear, well it can’t hurt to ask Ava if she could bless you for a safe birth.” Asphyxious replied before groaning at hearing about the Dark Magician girl. “Let me guess she made a bunch of stupid jokes about sex?”

“What is it with you two? You seem like you are perpetually teasing each other?” Palutena asked with a raised eyebrow.

“If by teasing you mean wanting to kill her then yes.” Asphyxious replied bluntly. “She’s annoying, she’s stupid, and she never learns. Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to a brick wall with her. Hell, even being turned into an overly buxom dragoness wasn’t enough to teach her any humility.”

“Well perhaps I shouldn’t have given them, a copy of my temple and a ritual monster card of myself, or the spell card for fairy law heavily customised to make it difficult to use without sacrifice but still.” Palutena replied sheepishly,

“Oh well, let me show you around.” Asphyxious said as he led her outside. Palutena got a surprise when she found they were underground. The dragon lead her to the temple next door, that was next to Rin’s temple. And sleeping out side of Rin’s temple was a deathclaw. “Don’t mind Rocksteady, he wouldn’t hurt a fly.” Asphyxious informed as they walked into Ava’s temple.

“Well I am not particularly worried, Bebop and Rocksteady, they weren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed in the original TMNT,” I replied dismissively “Oh and I wanted to inform you, Dark magician’s Chrysalis, has undergone a transformation, I turned her into a new species, and basically she is my priest as a form of atonement, she is very meek at the moment she is exiled to my world, I named her Chrysanthemum.”

Before Asphyxious could reply, they were practically beset upon by the whole room, crowing accolades and congratulations, as the head priestess; a blue-green mare with blond hair approached. Of course, the assembled anthro ponies, dogs, and what not were all wearing the highly revealing uniform of the temple caught Palutena slightly on the back-hoof. “Welcome cherished matron! I am Bluelime, High Priestess of Ava; Goddess of Fertility and Commerce.” They could hear the capital letters of the titles.

“Pleasure to meet you, I see that you are liberal with your dress code, I am Palutena, goddess of light, wisdom and craftsman. As well as the owner and proprietor of Palutena’s spells fictional spells to reality. “

“Splendid! It is always a pleasure to meet somepony with a merchantry. Feel free to set up a kiosk in one of the wings.” She then gave me a lascivious grin. “And be warned. Here, in our temple, staring is as much an invite to intercourse as is asking. We can feel wandering eyes. It is a practice of abstinence in the face of temptation.”

“That’s new….” Asphyxious commented with perplexity, especially since he had mares and bitches (female dogs) practically hanging on him, purring and cooing. Even one or two unliving were joining in. “Considering you don’t act like it.”

“We choose who we lay with.” Blueline insisted, leering at Asphyxious imperiously, and he sighed.

“Ax already should have a kiosk here somewhere, as for invites I am already engaged and pregnant, I won't be partaking unless my ‘Tia is involved,” Palutena explained watching them warily.

“All’s well and fine then. Free Love is something our Goddess preaches, but declares that one should also stay emotionally faithful to our beloveds. Give one of the acolytes your means of business and we shall set it up for you.”

“Umm, help?” Asphyxious asked as he smiled nervously, hissing when a dog got bold and was rubbing the base of his tail. “L-ladies...n-not...now….” Asphyxious groaned, worming out of the throng of disappointed females.

“Really Ax asking a pregnant mare to help you, where’s your masculinity?” Palutena teased Asphyxious before using her magic to pull most of them off him.

“It’s somewhere in Ava’s hands.” He grumbled in reply. “She’s my Alpha after all. We’re in a really weird, but hot, domination/submission relationship.”

“How in Thanatos’ diseased asshole did she manage that?” Palutena questioned the lich.

“She ramped up my sex drive to the point I can't think anymore.” Asphyxious replied with a light blush.

“Um, I thought that was your default state? Horny I mean,” Palutena asked with a quirked eyebrow,

“No, my default is relaxing and making stuff. Also reading lots of books.” Asphyxious informed as his tail moved from side to side. “Look, if it gives you more insight, I wasn’t kidding. This body, it’s all thanks to Ava. She brought it out, she enhanced it. Hell, honestly, the latest round of mutations wasn’t even her fault, it was the mutagen her enemies stole from her and mass-produced that made me full dracolich. But on the other hand, spring’s interesting...also, my world wasn’t originally Anthro, it used to be Feral, but again; Ava’s enemies, using one of my other friend’s blood, turned our world Anthro. Still have to deal with everyone not wearing clothes… At least in ponyville.” He added sounding annoyed at that.

“Shop is set.” One of the acolytes stated, getting Palutena to jump and noticed the Shop Orb was gone. “It is in the north wing. We shall spread the word of the new shop as soon as possible.”

“Good to hear, caveat emptor, buyer beware also no refunds.” Palutena responded sternly,

“Standard operating procedure then.” Blueline nodded. “Come now, speak with our Goddess. She loves blessing mares for safe carry and birth.”

“Oh crap.” Asphyxious said as he realized something. “I forgot to tell her how the eggs hatched...”

Blueline clicked her tongue in disapproval. “Naughty, naughty Asphyxious. You know how much our Lady loves the birth of new life. She’ll be rather cross at missing yet another birth.”

“Oh boy…” He said worryingly. “Ummm, if it’ll make things up. Pinkie Pie’s thinking about having kids?”

“We shall see, beings for some reason, she has been very adverse to the very idea of even speaking to you.” Bluelime warned, making Asphyxious gulp nervously.

“Well it might have something to do with being a mess of horniness?” Palutena guessed and hums, “Perhaps my presence there would soften the blow of Ax’s presence.” Palutena finished.

“My Lady. I bring forth-.” Bluelime was interrupted by a sudden squeal of raw pleasure, making everyone blush.

“B-Bluelime, could you w-wait a-ah-AH~!” Ava’s voice screamed in ecstasy, drawn out in a glorious orgasm. “OH YES! YES! THIS STALLION WILL BE MY PRIEST! I haven’t even altered him at all and-AH~!”

Palutena’s wings flared and she crossed her hind legs hoping Asphyxious wouldn’t notice the dampness in this environment. Asphyxious looked a little annoyed but chose to leave the room and wait outside.

“Why did I have to come here naked,” Palutena muttered under her breath.

“M-milady. I bring you-!”

“It’s probably just mmmmph~ A-Asphy again. Send him to Crescent.” Suddenly, an invisible force yanked Asphyxious through the temple, screaming and flailing, and Palutena paled as he flew right at her, and she barely turned around to protect her belly as Asphyxious wrapped protectively around her.

“Hey wait I am preg….” Palutena was cut off as she was sent through a rift in the statue to whoever Crescent was.

“Okay… Where the hell are we?” Asphyxious asked, as he still had Palutena in a protective hug. “Also sorry about this.”

“The absolute fuck are you doing here?!” Whisper-screamed a husky feminine voice as the two entwined Displaced were yanked into an alley.

“I swear if that isn’t your tail Asphyxious I am going to remove it… Slowly if you don’t get off me!” Palutena exclaimed as she grit her teeth and flared her wings for a different reason.

“It is my tail… Also Ava sent me here thinking I was calling, while she was busy.” Asphyxious replied.

“SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Violently shushed the voice, the nearly invisible figure kicking him in the snout with a black-leather covered hoof. “Shut up! You’re going to blow my cover!” Hissed the whisper-shouting female voice, that sounded panicked and infuriated. “At least one of you is the right color scheme to blend into Emerald City.” Whispered the voice as whoever she was darted between the two tangled Displaced and the nearest opening of the alleyway.

Asphyxious decides to shut up now. “Screw blending. Goddess powers activate,” Palutena hush shouted, Cloaking everyone in optical camo. “I love being a goddess of light, so many applications for stealth” Palutena said wistfully,

“You could be the Goddess of Cherry Tarts for all I care right now, shut it!” Demanded the fierce and furious mare, her voice giving both Asphyxious and Palutena shivers. It was like Crispin Freeman as a woman.

Asphyxious used eyeless site to look around to see just what was going on. He didn’t like the looks of things and just held a finger to his lips. Which was pointless since Palutena used a Chameleon spell on them. “I swear I saw a flash of light over here somewhere.” Stated a serious and dutiful voice as two crystal ponies, both ludicrously buff anthro stallions at over 7 feet tall wearing emerald crystal armor almost too small for them rushed into the alley as the three practically melded to the walls to avoid being touched.

“This is Patrol 27, potential public disturbance, investigating.” Reported one of them into a shoulder-mounted arcane radio as they continued down the alley and out the other end, spears at the ready.

“Both of you. Be quiet, and don’t do anything without my say-so if you don’t want to be locked in a very secure cell very quickly.” The unknown mare demanded, keeping a protective hand on palutena’s withers as she pulled her along, down the street, and wormed them past two more patrols of guards, all equally professional in their behavior, even if the one of two mares was more laid back, and the two were gossiping about things about town instead of just walking their beat.

Palutena followed the mare, though thought ‘she’s probably on her time of the month.’ A theory that held strongly in her head when she got a good whiff of the mare, and about went mad with the potency of her pheromones. ‘Buck, she’s in heat?! I haven’t been around her long enough to trigger this!’

Asphyxious meanwhile was keeping alert looking around and watching out for any danger. Thankfully they made it to a shockingly advanced-looking building that seemed like some sort of sheltered power station. The light of the moon peeked through the clouds enough to reveal that all the buildings around them were literally made of pure emerald crystal, only clearly altered to be suitable as a building material.

<> Palutena projected her thoughts into the group's minds.

“Don’t do that, I have to share a soul and mindlink with up to three others.” The mare chided, before grabbing Palutena by the face and she could feel her invisible eyes boring into her own invisible eyes somehow. “What are you doing here? This is no place for an expecting mare.”

<> I replied, with a mental shrug.

“I’m sorry for all this.” Asphyxious said softly.

“Damn it you stupid stud. I’m trying to finally see if I have a lead on the Die Leucht, and you have to of course, come to fuck it up!” She whisper-screamed at him, and he started choking from an invisible Force I couldn’t sense. “You idiot!”

“Not my fault, Ava got the wrong idea.” Asphyxious replied.

“Well she’s boinking a stallion whose body is composed of pure living Carnelian, which is likely our Aspect’s most relevant precious gem! Of course she’s going to be addled out of her mind. It’s partly why I insisted she get railed by him to cheer her up.” She hissed as Palutena felt her tiny, skilled hands quickly search over her body, and pressed a few points that made her feel amazing and drained some of the exhaustion her pregnancy was causing.

<> Palutena cooed mentally, before shaking her head to get rid of the heat clouding her mind.

Asphyxious growled mentally, it sounded more annoyed than anything else.

<> I warned as I continued to try and clear my foggy lust rouged mind.

“Nope. Just deal with it. Keep it between your legs as long as possible.” Crescent whispered casually as she approached the building, doing something they still couldn’t see, only sense where she generally besides Asphyxious. Shortly, a seamless door in the wall of the building silently folded open, the shards of emerald beautifully flowing like a flower rapidly moving from bloom to bud and a small rectangular service door was revealed.

Asphyxious on the other hand saw fine with his eyeless site. He drew back when he saw magic everywhere in this place. He did manage to follow them, but didn’t like this place, especially as the door closed behind them. It all smelled strange to him. Then again Palutena wa right; Crescent was reeking like a mare in full-blown estrus. Considering it’s night, and how cold it is, that shouldn’t be happening.

<> Palutena asked slightly nervously, hoping not to be the culprit for her own misery.

“No. It’s probably Asphyxious. His very presence just drives us wild~....” Crescent suddenly lilted, panting, growling. “N-no...no. Not now. I am a strong mare. I don’t, need it.” Crescent hissed as she took out some sort of device that broke Palutena’s invisibility spell as it emitted its own light, and began using it to inspect the odd facility.

<> Palutena lamented mentally.

“I could hide somewhere until your mission over?” Asphyxious asked looking nervous.

“Don’t bother. More than half the studs in this city are beyond fuckable. And I swing both ways, doesn’t matter.” Crescent grumbled, rubbing her thighs together and panting, her breath rapidly fogging the freezing cold air. Palutena blushed at seeing a literal drizzle running down her legs. “Doesn’t help I’m part of this world’s Embodiment of Fertility, and I’m even more vulnerable to the cycles.”

In Palutena’s lust rouged state, Crescent’s dripping marehood was tantalisingly inviting, she panted and then with a swift lick tasted Crescent, making her gasp and moan as she leaned forward, baring her leather-covered crotch as she continued to struggle with her device, one hand holding onto a post as her petite 5-foot frame shuddered.

“My god you two are worse then me, after Ava gave me blue balls.” Asphyxious said giving them a deadpan stare. “And that saying something.”

Palutena kept licking Crescent’s leather-covered muff and found that it was just not much fun and so pulled down her leather garter-belt and thrust her long alicorn tongue down Crescent’s waiting sex. This got a muffled cry of pleasure from the thestral who had her wings rigid as stone, and desperate to finish her Echo’s analysis of the structure as she began grinding against Palutena’s snout, hot-dogging her long green horn between her huge butt cheeks as Palutena’s spell wore off from her distraction.

Palutena couldn’t hold it any longer and transformed a part of herself, giving her a stallion’s cock and balls, it was already dripping with seed, when Palutena pulled out causing Crescent to whine, thinking Palutena had stopped only for her eyes to widen as four feet of stallion meat filled her tiny mound as she was filled to the brim, and then some, jutting out her abdomen and between her cantaloupe sized boobs, stretching the mare’s surprisingly elastic body like rubber. Palutena had her tongue lolling out, ecstatic at the sensation of both fucking a mare, and getting a titfuck at the same time.

“Girls this is not the time or place.” Asphyxious scolded looking at them. “Also Palutena, you’re pregnant right now. This is not a good idea.”

<> Palutena replied in her faux stallion rutting clouded mind, that was deadset on the pretty little thestral underneath her.

Asphyxious just sighed, before leaving them alone to get it out of there system.

“N-no. Please. I’m already pregnant.” This got both Palutena and Asphyxious to pause. “L-let me melt. It will be harder for me to get pregnant if I’m in my base form. But we both need this. Turn us invisible again.” She pleaded as she put away her Echo device, starting to turn into a black slime, her wings falling off into the growing puddle under her, her clothes sliding through her and into the puddle.

“Fuck it, can I help?” Asphyxious asked walking back over to them.

<> Palutena asked as she tried to get some purchase on the now slimy mare, who was losing her arms into forelegs, and her boobs sank into her body, widening her hips around Palutena’s groin, making her groan at how soft and cushy the bubble but she’d been fucking got even more plush, and the tight fleshy walls that had been hugging her dick instead turned into a sucking vice of liquid, practically trying to milk her for her cum.

“Ava made my body into this form.” Asphyxious replied. Before Palutena felt him bite her wings softly. “And if I don’t join in now, I’ll just be annoying for Ava later.”

“Don’t you dare touch her! Not risking you infecting her. Come round, fuck my throat!” Crescent demanded as she became full slime pony, her pants now just a pantomime as her whole body became the sexy black slime of her true form, and in the moonlight a skylight shone on them, she was almost see-through. The sight of Palutena’s dick inside her was admittedly hot.

“Okay, also I have control over my blight now. So there’s no worries.” Asphyxious added before joining them, taking out one of his massive dragon dicks from his genital slit after lowering his pants, he moved it towards Crescent’s face and she eagerly gobbled him up, moaning as she sucked him deeper into her slime.

Palutena still in her clouded instinct driven mind tried to bite onto the back of Crescent’s neck only to accidentally swallow a large chunk of her slime. This was a problem, as almost immediately Palutena felt heavier. More swollen. And thrumming with pleasure.

<> Palutena projected as she struggled to maintain her rhythm. Her nuts felt heavier, even more swollen. Her core burned with an incredible hunger. She felt like she could fuck forever, or sire countless foals, or even bear countless foals.

<> Palutena tried to coyly get the answer, while hiding the truth.

“B-best. B-breeding machine...e-evar~!” Crescent squealed in ecstasy through a mouth she formed on her neck, where Palu had bitten a piece out of her. “Eat me! MORE!” Asphyxious let out a deep moan as he did so without thinking, leaning down to take a bite out of her left hind leg, getting Crescent to squeal in pleasure as he bit her leg off, and began slurping up the detached slime. “More! MORE! EAT ME!” Crescent cried out as she collapsed from the loss of her leg, Palutena and Asphyxious still fucking her as she began to lose her limbs into a puddle.

Palutena kissed the mouth on the back of crescent’s neck, taking in more of her slime, while ramming into her body as hard as she could, and with a final ram Palutena came, polluting Crescent’s body with seed that kept pumping out load after load. There was so much seed that it was changing her color whiter with each passing moment, her body blowing up like a wet bubble. and then Asphyxious grunted through his still full mouth, and she began pumping up faster from his own orgasm. Crescent mindlessly squealed as she blew up into a cum bubble between the two as impossible reserves of cum filled her, and when the two stopped, panting, Crescent was just a ball of black slime around an enormous reservoir of their mixed cum.

“Cum, cum. So much~!” Crescent babbled mindlessly, her huge round bubble of a body slowly becoming opaque black again. “So full. So many babies~!” She wailed in joy, only to slowly calm down. “W-what have we done?!”

Palutena gasped and panted, returning her body to her original shape shifting mass around so, she looked as she should as her mind cleared her eyes widened, “Buck me sideways, I just impregnated another mare, ‘Tia will kill me, well metaphorically I haven’t found anything that can kill me yet.”

“That was insane…” Asphyxious gasped as he stared at them tiredly. “You two feel better now?” He asked as his body shivered.

“I am literally a giant ball of cum! How can I feel better about this!?” Crescent demanded. “Actually, no, I feel beyond content. Like I’m just a womb, filled to the brim with baby batter. Oh Gog, Ava’s gonna kills me!”

Some residual effects of the heat caused Palutena to nuzzle the big black slimy blob that was Crescent and purr. Didn’t help Asphyxious was joining in. “S-stop. Stop~! I feel like I’m going to pop~!” Crescent cried out in pleasure, clearly wanting them to continue instead. “Fill me more! I WANT TO EXPLODE!” Crescent practically screamed. Asphyxious kissed her in order to help calm her down, the spot instantly turning into a mouth to reciprocate, but he gagged when she tried to stuff more of her slime down his throat.

“Well i guess that means I am going to be a sire as well,” Palutena burped up a black bubble that was part of Crescent, “heehee, a father and a mother before my older sis, she is so going to be pissed!” Palutena smirked at the ironic idea. Asphyxious meanwhile was moaning with Crescent.

“She tastes like coconut.~” He gasped as the mare slime rolled her bubble of a body on top of him.

“Bleh coconut, nah she tasted like spaghetti bolognese jus’ like my mum used to make, before she died in a tragic and not at all superhero originy way accident.” Palutena babbled as she was feeling weird. Before she could consider it, a tendril of slime quickly found her mouth, and she moaned as more of the delicious ambrosia slid down her eager gullet.

“This, is the greatest thing I’ve ever felt! Ava needs to know about this! Fuck! I learned something about ourselves before Ava did!” Crescent gushed, and Asphyxious groaned as his completely subsumed lower body jerked, and she began growing again. “Oh~ Yes! More seed!”

“The more you know!” Palutena tittered to herself, as she hugged the cum bubble that was Crescent, then gasped at feeling a slime tendril go into her ass, and then her puffed up pussy, before returning to force-feeding the pregnant mare, her body filling out some.

“Eat up~! You’re eating for five after all~!” Crescent cooed, and Palutena shuddered as her belly began growing, and she gyrated against the tendrils giving her such ecstasy.

<> Palutena was slightly panicked at the turn of events and hoped she would retain her sense of self as she felt herself, change, <>

“Better not, T-this is too good~” Asphyxious moaned as his hips jerked even faster. As he try to grope Crescent body of slime.

“Mmm~ I’m just stuffing your hungry body with all the things it wants! I’m going to make you so pregnant with Celestia’s foals you won’t be able to walk~!” Crescent practically orgasmed on the thought alone, if she wasn’t constantly orgasming already that is. Asphyxious then locks lips with Crescent as he came with her, pumping her body up even further, making the white of his and Palutena’s baby batter visible again.

Palutena squealed as she struggled against her own desires and the tendrils, feeling herself get bigger still, her belly swelling and her whole body getting bigger. Ax cried out and came again, and Crescent gave a shuddering gasp as her body became completely see-thru, and she burst, splashing cum and black slime everywhere. Needless to say, the glorious mess was splattered across a large stretch of the room, and both the even more pregnant Palutena and Asphyxious were coated in the mix of cum and slime.

“Ewww.” Asphyxious said as he tried to clean himself off. Only the slime rapidly absorbed the cum and began to converge on the floor, a large amount of the cum staying cum as Crescent reformed slightly, and a thin tendril of slime lovingly rubbed the huge beachball of cum she kept separate.

“Mmm...still enough for a lot of babies~....” She cooed dazedly, giggling in a bubbly mess that reflected her current appearance. “Ava’s gonna kill me~! Getting preggers while we’re still pregnant back in Canterlot.” Crescent cooed as she ran tendrils all over her smoothing ball, which began to practically glow with Light and Life. “Oh~ so compatible...whoever you are lady, you’re definitely on my list.” Crescent cooed with a loving gaze at Palutena.

“Fuck me, I don’t think I can walk anymore, sooo sore~, I bet pervy Dark magician girl is getting off on this!” Palutena groaned,

“If she is watching us right now, I swear I’ll remove every scale from her body.” Asphyxious growled tiredly. “Fuck it, that be a waste of energy. Stupid spying displaced who has nothing better to do.”

“No. Really. Whose foals am I having? This isn’t Asphy’s spunk. I converted that to biomass right away.” Crescent admitted, slapping her dome of a belly and it jiggled as she began forming a non-anthro body around it so she could stand.

“Well maybe if marshal fucked her more she wouldn’t have a problem.” Palutena suggested, ”I swear she practically creamed herself over the cyber armor equip spell I gave her. Before you ask Ax I have limited omniscience, so calm your tits.” Palutena said before Asphyxious could ask why she knew that.

“Anyway I think you're having Palutena’s foals Crescent.” Asphyxious replied.

“Name doesn’t ring a bell.” Crescent shrugged as she solidified, and Palutena about had another wingboner at seeing Crescent as a ready-to-pop black crystal pony. You could even still see the cum bloating her reproductive system to it’s limits.

“I am Palutena, goddess of light, wisdom and craftsmanship, and we just fucked. Pleased to meet you,” Palutena snarked, only to lose some of her sting when Crescent casually trotted up to her, and leaned up to kiss the taller mare passionately.

“Thank you.” Crescent whispered, love in her eyes.

“I feel so used.” Asphyxious said to himself.

“Ax as far as I can tell from browsing the multiverse you are always used.” Palutena deadpanned. Asphyxious just shrugged at this as he got up off the floor.

“Are we done with the mission, Crescent if so give us the coordinates to Ava so I can warp us over there to bitch slap her,” Palutena asked with all seriousness.

“Can’t do that sweetie, she’s busy constructing an alibi so if this operation went belly-up, she would be completely devoid of blame. I can, however, give you the coordinates to our base of operations, I’ll message Ava the results of the Echo scan...and also long-distance inform her I got us pregnant.” Crescent blushed lightly as she nuzzled Palutena’s neck. “You’re so warm….”

“Sure you do that,” Palutena had no more energy to snark anymore and just gave Crescent a kiss.

“I bet Ava will blame me for this.” Asphyxious added as he crossed his arms. “Everyone blame me for bloody everything.”

“Well if her surface thoughts were anything to go by, any contact with you would have had you bound in chains in the nearest empty room with her, take that as you will.”

“Huh, okay…?” He said thinking on that.

“Palu?” Crescent asked cutely, looking up at the goddess with an amazingly innocent face. “Will you love our foals?” She asked with a foreleg on her bloated belly.

Palutena sighed, “I love all my children, even if they are illegitimate hey maybe i can even get my ‘Tia to add you to our herd.” I said stroking Crescent.

“I may not be there biological father but, I’d be honored to help.” Asphyxious added.

"I wasn’t talking to you.” Crescent growled viciously at the dragon, making him flinch. “Damn lich, you need to learn your place. It may be between our thighs, but it’s not in our hearts until you stop doing this to us! Ava is feeling unloved and selfish with all the stupid sexcapades you keep getting us into!”

“Sorry…” Asphyxious said looking put down and sad.

“Not to ruin a good moment, with a really stupid question, but how did I end up in your heart?” Palutena asked confused as to what she could have done to earn that position.

“Simple. Because I can tell you’re not the love-and-leave or love-and-forget type. We advocate Free Love, but Asphy, even if he doesn’t mean to, constantly brings things under his own umbrella. We are not His! He needs to get that through his head, and then, maybe, we’ll let him in. You though. I can tell, Ava, hell, even Sharp would tell you’re the type to be serious about respecting other’s free will.” Crescent espoused, glaring at Asphyxious. “Your Hoard. It is large enough to encompass a world. Your greed, and hunger is so great, it consumes everything whether you want it to or not.”

“Bullshit.” Asphyxious growled feeling hurt. “I’m going home.”

“Name One.” Crescent demanded with incredible seriousness. “Name one, single member of your Hoard, who joined just because of you. Not what you did. Not for things you have or can do. But for you. And only you.” Crescent began to cry. “We want to love you...but we can’t if you keep pushing everything away from who you really are.”

Asphyxious looked lost as he thought on that then looked back. “I don’t know who I really am… All I’ve ever known was pain and suffering. And now I just don’t know who I am anymore.”

“You are you, what do you have after you strip away all the material wealth, the power and the strength? I don’t mean it in a harsh way but think on it. What makes you, you?” Palutena asked as she held Crescent.

“...A weak soul that is all alone.” Asphyxious replied.

“...And you Lie...again….” Crescent cried. “You still think that? That’s not true. Tell me the truth!” Crescent pleaded.

“What do you want me to say? I’m weak I’ve always been weak. I don’t even understand myself sometimes it’s, maddening. Ava’s my friend, and I don’t want to do anything to harm her.” Asphyxious explained resting his head on a wall.

This talk rose Palutena’s hackles, “Forget your physical attributes! What is in that thick metal skull of yours!? Power is worthless, without your own personality, without your own goals, without your own fears!”

“To keep my family safe!” He roared. “To kill that bastard Toruk who did this to me! Not to lose the ones I love and care for! I’ll take on endless armies to keep them all SAFE!”

“And what are your loved ones? Are they their own people or are they just your hoard? I think that was your first mistake right there, a hoard is naught but shiny baubles and objects of value with no thoughts of their own.” Palutena hugged Crescent with her wing, their bellies rubbing. She had more idea as to Ava and Crescent’s distress over Asphyxious.

“Maybe… You’re right. But Pinkie and the others are nothing like that.” Asphyxious replied as he sat on the floor. “I’m a mess…”

Palutena got up and laid a forehoof on Asphyxious’ back, “The problem was never them Ax, you fooled yourself into thinking of them like your possessions.”

“I’d never think of them like that but, maybe you’re right… I need to think.” Asphyxious said as he teleported away.

Palutena let out a long suffering sigh, “Let’s hope he can learn, finally learn to change his attitude, perhaps shining a light on it was all he needed.” then Palutena facehoofed, “Damn that was a lame pun.”

“If Ava’s best friend was here, he’d be laughing so hard right now….” Crescent sadly commented. “Oh, and sorry. You’re carrying five foals now.” Crescent apologized, rubbing her own belly with Palutena’s, shuddering. “Oh Gog. I forgot how sensitive stretched skin was.”

“Eh I am not alone, I have Rin helping, got My Twilight who I have adopted and I got ‘Tia” Palutena said.

“Good. It’s always important to understand it takes a Village to raise a child, regardless of background or species.” Crescent stated warmly.

“And I guess I also have you and Ava now as well, Rin is okay she’s been helping me cope with the whole foal thing, after I got turned into a woman,” Palutena said contemplatively.

“Both Ava and I used to be stallions. But we love being mares, wouldn’t go back to just a penis as a primary erogenous zone for anything.” Crescent giggled, before picking up her discarded leather kit, and shoving it into a digital storage space, before grabbing Palutena firmly. “Hope you’re not squeamish.”

“So are you going to show me the coordinates?” I asked as I hugged Crescent tightly, enjoying her firm muscles under a thin plush layer of skin that made her so soft and nice to hug.

“No need, hold on!” She practically squealed in excitement, before suddenly, everything was Light, and their vision was overtaken in a tunnel of white-blue light, before they blinked, and were standing in a tropical paradise.

Palutena shook her head and cleared her blinded vision, “what the buck was that?” she asked, Crescent.

“New-U. We were literally converted into digital data, and transmitted over a secure line to a digistruct module. Perfectly safe for anything and everything. We could only transmit one-way however because whatever Die Leucht has over the Empire, only let’s signals out, not in.” Crescent informed casually as the cool but pleasant tropical island night blew a light breeze over them.

“No!” Palutena quickly tried to look behind her to see if her genitals were intact. Having the known the New-U system from the borderlands games.

“Pfft, did you seriously think I would let something that castrates and spays everyone who uses it into my world? I’m part of the Goddess of Fertility. Don’t. Forget it.” Crescent teased, flicking her tail in Palutena’s face as she passed her on the way towards a tall, and still getting taller rectangular metal tower that reflected the moonlight like an ominous obelisk. “Come on in. My door’s open~....” Crescent teased, winking as her pussy did the same, making Palutena blush.

Palutena followed after the vixen in pony clothing into the door, “So Crescent, when can we expect Ava to finish that polishing that poor gem off?” Palutena asked with a smirk,

“In the morning...she’s earned a rest.” Crescent sadly replied, before flicking her tail to wrap around Palutena’s neck and pull her into the futuristic building, passing an empty receptionist desk towards an honest to goodness elevator. “In the meantime, let’s you and I work to make sure her dreams are as wonderful as the sex is.” Crescent purred, pulling the larger alicorn mare into a deep kiss just before the doors of the elevator closed.

“Oh and want did you have in mind, my little moon?” Palutena cooed and nibbled on Crescent’s ear.

“Fill me. Fill me with your cum and make me explode. Over, and over again.” Crescent pleaded breathlessly. “Just don’t eat me, or you’ll get even more pregnant.” Crescent growled as she rubbed Palu’s belly. “Even if it just makes you hotter.” Crescent panted as she kissed her beloved Goddess of Light on the lips.

Palutena leant into the kiss and brought her right forehoof sliding up Crescent’s left inner thigh and gently caressed it as it goes up between her legs and to her soaked goal, which was hard with her beachball belly in the way, teasing Crescent’s marehood, caressing her labia. Before bringing her hoof up to her lips and licking Crescent’s juices teasingly slow.

“Tell me, my little thestral, what do you want me to do to you?” Palutena asked, her voice low and husky with desire, making Crescent whine at having to repeat herself at the larger mare’s teasing.

“Fuck me so full of your seed I explode!” She begged, whimpering, rubbing her bloated belly against Palu’s own belly. “Make me your broodmare!” Crescent cried out as she sprouted her bat wings again, weakly flapping the rigid appendages.

Palutena locked her lips over Crescent’s, before saying “Your wish is my command,” Palutena charged her horn and flipped Crescent over, causing her to squeal in excitement. Palutena’s hermhood made a comeback in it’s full turgid glory, despite the little time between the last time and now Palutena’s desire hadn’t lessened as she rubbed the tip of her cock against Crescent’s still tight little snatch. “Will you be my bubble again?”

“Forever!” Crescent declared, turning to slime just as Palutena shoved her dick into her snatch, and with one swift thrust, Crescent’s body parted for Palutena’s huge cock, somehow larger than before, that now it reached up to Crescent’s neck since she was still rather petite at the moment. Palutena began thrusting back and forth slowly at first, but building speed with each successive thrust. “Oh Palu~! You’re one of the most virile ponies I’ve ever-glorp!” The tip of Palutena’s dick came out of the slime mare’s mouth, and she struggled to let more of her biomass encompass the pillar of equine superiority.

Palutena groaned in ecstasy as Crescent’s little body tightened around her penis, milking her, sucking on her cock as the little slime pony tried to force her neck longer, to get the head of the glorious mare’s phallus back inside her. “Oh~ my Crescent if you get any tighter i just have to wear you as my cocksleeve, you dirty little mare you.” Palutena cooed as she grabbed Crescent by the barrel and starts moving her whole body up and down while she leaned back on her hind legs.

This clicked something, and Crescent undulated wildly, her limbs sinking into her torso and fully encompassing Palutena’s ludicrously massive dick. Sealing around Palu’s huge grapefruit-sized balls and sucking even harder as her torso lengthened, and gave shape to a giant onahole. Crescent went silent, her head still at the tip of Palutena’s enormous cock until she inched forward and swallowed the tip back into her body amidst all the thrusting. “I am! I am your cocksleeve~!” Crescent practically wailed in joy even as Palu’s own cum inside her shifted so it was sharing space with her dick, making it an even more unbearably hot and steamy affair as her hermhood was basted in her own seed.

Palutena fervently thrust and pulled Crescent up and down her cock faster and and faster and with repeated rapid thrusts, the rapidly changing sex-turned-masturbation causing cum to start filling up Crescent’s body, it just kept coming and coming streaming in obscene amounts of seed inside the mare who was practically squealing at being Palutena’s personal cocksleeve. With a look of determination and perhaps a helping hoof of stupidity, Palu opened her mouth wide, enveloping Crescent’s surprised face and her own cock, deep-throating the mare turned into sexy gooey slime.

“Mmmmph~<3” Palu moaned around her dick, swallowing her own cum along with the shocked slime mare, her belly bloating as more filled her stomach. She sucked, and sucked, sucked until she was so big her hooves didn’t touch the floor as her dick had left her lips long ago. She drank Crescent without the mare having a chance of fighting back, until she was gone, and Palu let out a loud, unladylike burp. “Oh~ Crescent~! You taste so good~!” She cooed, before remembering what eating her did. “Uh-oh...and I ate all of her! Crescent?!” Palu panicked, rubbing her oversized belly, feeling a little sick at feeling the slime trying to crawl back up her throat.

“I guess I gotta own up for that stupid stunt.” Palu bemoaned, before letting her throat relax, and cringing at feeling Crescent rapidly escaping her stomach, until her belly shrank down to a still ridiculously big size, even standing her belly hit the floor, but now Crescent was without any cum in her, and she glared at Palu reproachfully.

Palutena looked sheepishly at Crescent, “Sorry I kind of got carried away there,”

“Kind of? You about killed me! Sure, I would’ve just shifted awareness to the nearest avatar of Ava, but still, you almost turned yourself into a giant womb! You’re carrying six now! I said not to eat me!” Crescent panicked, looking at Palu’s even bigger belly with concern.

“What can I do to make it up to you?” Palutena asked, wanting to resolve the issue.

“Did you not hear me? SIX! You’re pregnant with six foals now! I think we should stop while we’re ahead, but you still gotta give me back some cum, I...I lost them….” Crescent began tearing up, and Palu turned even more green.

“One moment please, this won't be pleasant. Be glad I haven’t eaten anything,” Palu warned as she locked lips with the distraught mare, surprising her, and began regurgitating the cum slopping about inside Palu’s stomach and into Crescent’s open mouth.

“If that is not enough,” Palutena left the sentence hanging as she showed her still rigid cock pressing into her still big belly, but it was no longer obscenely big as the blob of slime now was in exchange. “I still have the source."

“I said to fill me until I explode.” Crescent smirked, rolling out of the elevator into a lavish suite, designed as if giants lived here. “Do as you promised.” Crescent stated, and Palu could only lick her lips. Beyond happy to have this chance to just let go. Over 1000 years of repressed urges needed an outlet that could take it, and colt could Crescent Take It!

[ ? ]

Asphyxious was staring at his echo, left with nothing but his own thoughts. He knew what he would feel after doing this, but he had to know. He made a call to Sonay. “Sonay, it me… I need you to tell all of my hoard mates, they can leave if they want. I won’t be angry or be upset… Just tell them, thank you for putting up with me. And I hope they live happy lives… Thank you.” Asphyxious looked up at the snow cover sky, as his heart felt like it was in agony.

[ $ ]

Ava was laying in bed with Carnelian and Selene Night, aka Selenite. She wore them both out, and was feeling so empty again once Carne was knocked out from exhaustion and Selene joined him. Until a short while ago, when she practically went catatonic from the sensations Crescent was flooding her with. She felt so content, and warm. Fuzzy inside. It was the same way she felt when she was with Tia. Her beloved. She pined for her Goddess so much it hurt.

She loved the others, truly, but Tia was the first to actually take her heart, and treasure it. Hell, the only reason she was so cold was because Ava had been such a negligent bitch lately, she felt she deserved it. But this? Whatever Crescent was doing, she was beyond thankful. Ava cuddled the two ponies using her boobs as pillows, and fell into a restful sleep for the first time in a long while.

The Problems With Egos.

Author's Note

Obligatory Weird Clop Warning. :ajbemused:

Not nearly as bad as the previous chapter, but hey, gotta mention it. :ajsmug:

Yet another crossover with Asphyxious, and with Neokiva. :rainbowkiss:

The Problems With Egos.

Ava slowly woke up. Feeling incredible. She sat up and stretched, yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes. “So, finally awake Tits?” Came the snarky voice of Carnelian, making Ava snort in amusement before looking up to see the astounding stallion was fully garbed in his armor already. “You slept like a rock. I thought you were the one to tire us out.”

“Mmm...where’s Selene?” Ava asked curiously. It was odd to see one without the other. Those two were practically made for each other.

“She went to go check in with the precinct. Gotta keep our updates on your activities constant. We’ll...be editing out that we had sex last night though.” He grinned foxily and Ava rolled her eyes good-naturedly.

‘What the absolute hell happened with Crescent last night? Whatever she did, I feel amazing!’

[ ? ]

Crescent awoke slowly, in a haze. She felt so tired, but content. After she was rolled into the suit off the elevator, the night became an unknowable blur to her even with Recall as she was fucked so silly she couldn’t even think. “...Why can’t I move?” Crescent asked as she formed a face somewhere on what she felt like was a ludicrously spread-out body. “Thing to note, when the body is spread out in some way, control weakens.”

“Morning sweetie!” Came the angelic voice of Palutena, and Crescent managed to focus her attention on the utterly gorgeous green alicorn as she exited the gigantic ensuite bathroom with a towel drying herself off with her magic.

“Hey babe. Lookin’ good.” Crescent purred at the sight of the gloriously swollen mare. She was so pregnant, she could barely move, but her alicorn strength and size made it easy.

“How’s my cum bubble~?” Palu purred, and Crescent cooed as she neared, forcing herself forward to kiss her love-.

“Time to wake up!” Palu suddenly shouted, and Crescent snapped alert, still immobile. And blind. Very blind. “Please wake up! Oh me, please tell me I didn’t literally fuck you to death!”

“W-wha?” Crescent asked, a mouth forming somewhere on her body to ask, her eyes very slowly coming to shape to blink at the sight of a visibly worried Palutena. “What’s wrong Palu?”

“Oh me! Don’t scare me like that, you weren’t responding.” Palutena paced around the gigantic bed with worry, “I thought you were dead!” Palutena responded as she paced.
“Can you still move, sweetie? Can you feel your body?” Palutena asked again.

“Unf...I don’t think so….” Crescent responded, trying to move, only to wobble. “Am...am I seriously...a gigantic ball of your cum?” Crescent asked, both in astonishment, and some level of longing.

“Well you wanted me to pop you with my cum!” Palutena screeched, lashing out due to the stress of harming her new marefriend.

“And did you?” Crescent asked, pantomiming panting, excited at the thought. “I was so out of it I can’t remember after the first time at the relay!”

Palutena blushed and looked away, “Your wish was my command. Ahem so yes.” She replied, her face heating up even redder, changing her green fur so much it was like a ripening tomato.

“H-how many~?” Crescent asked with desire, wanting to know so bad she was shivering across her ballooned slimy expanse like a bubble about to pop.

Palutena coughed into her hoof, turned away and mumbled, “Three-mumble....” it was so mumbled Crescent couldn’t make it out which is impressive considering she’s usually a thestral.

“Three?” Crescent asked eagerly.

“Three Hundred! I fucked you so hard I popped you three hundred times with my cum!” Palutena admitted with utter bafflement, and Crescent had a tiny orgasm just hearing that, squeaking quietly.

“My...various Gogs...I love you….” Crescent panted and quivered. “I-I don’t think I can settle for anything less now. I think you might’ve successfully ruined me for anyone else Palu~.” Crescent praised with a purr. “My Gog. I can’t imagine sex any other way now.” Crescent moved her face across her body towards Palutena. “Kiss me you glorious mare!”

Palutena sighed in exasperation, but complied anyway, kissing Crescent gently so she doesn’t pop her with kisses next. As amazing as it was to see her lover literally explode, and reform, only to be filled and explode again, she didn’t want it to ruin the tender moment.

“So...how are you feeling Palu? Did you...eat any of me while I was insensate?” Crescent asked in concern, looking at Palu’s belly to see it didn’t seem much larger than after she drained the cum out last night. “Because seriously, six is enough. Our Tia can tell you that much...or...Ava’s Tia, really….” Crescent admitted sadly.

“Really what?” Palutena prompts Crescent.

“Um...Ava’s herd is...Ava’s herd. I’m not involved. Emotionally that is. I’m just...there, you know?” Crescent asked weakly, looking about to cry. “I’m so lonely...please, please tell me you love me Palu….” Crescent hiccuped. “Nopony loves me. They only see Ava. Nopony sees ME!”

Palutena wrapped Crescent up as much as she could over the giant bubble of cum and enfolded her within her wings and gained a super serious look in her eyes, “ Crescent, I see only you, well okay, there is my ‘Tia but you are welcome to join our herd permanently, I love you Crescent. However as you have ground rules there is one for me and 'Tia. When we form a Herd it isn’t just a load of people loving one person, but not each other. The love has to be for each other as well. So you and 'Tia must fall in love as well. It is the only way I have seen successful polygamy work, and not to rub salt in the wound. Your experience perfectly demonstrates one of the ways polygamy done wrong hurts those involved. There is only jealousy and power struggles, everyone in my herd will love each other equally or as much as they can as they love me,” Palutena explained.

“Oh Palu! I Love Y-!”

The door of the gigantic bedroom was kicked open as Asphyxious stumbles in with a bottle in hand. “I’m drunk.” He said before face planting on the floor.

“...Okay he kinda ruined the moment, but hey...maybe we should slow down? I do feel all fuzzy with you. So let’s introduce me to your ‘Tia before we do anything rash, hm?” Crescent changed gears once she was snapped out of the reverie, making Palutena look a little taken aback. “Hey, we gotta be mature about this, right?”

“Perhaps in a room that doesn’t stink of sex yes?” Palutena deadpanned.

“I see the moon rising.” Asphyxious mumbled/sang from his sport on the floor. “I see the clouds parting, but I’ll always love yoooou.” He then took another swig of the bottle.

“Speaking of, my body mass is approximately ninety percent your cum...I kinda need to process.” Crescent admitted sheepishly, rapidly shrinking down and forming her anthro body, only it was more a mutant alicorn/kirin with black crystal instead of fur, her scales even more beautiful as she held a substantially swollen exercise-ball sized belly that supported her basketball-sized breasts. She bit a lip with her shark-teeth and blushed as she fluttered her dragon wings and flicked her long scorpion tail, the broadsword blade scraping the floor, as she used a claw to move one of her long, crystalline red locks out of her face. “Uh...I’m...seriously super-pregnant now though…I can’t absorb the primordial soup in there without killing our foals.”

“Beautiful.” Asphyxious said before falling onto his back. “I can’t get up… The room spinning.”

“Um yes you are beautiful, Crescent, but right now? I am worried about the drunken lich singing show tunes at the moment.” Palu commented dryly as she tried to focus more on the drunken dracolich than her incredibly sexy new marefriend.

“You are so beautiful, to me.” He started to sing. “Can’t you seeeeee!”

“Stop singing Joe cocker’s song, Ax.” Palutena huffs at the drunken lich, “Okay that’s it, we need some professional help here.” Palutena groused as she summoned Ax’s Gem, “Whomever can hear this come to me, and help me with this drunken lich.” Palutena practically begs.

“Hey…. I can hear voices in my head.” Asphyxious said before groaning to himself. “My head hurts…”

“Dear Gog man! What did you drink? I thought you were practically a god.” Crescent asked, hissing as she let her enormous belly rest on the bed the shock making her huge breasts jiggle and shoot some milk, making her blush. “Oh yeah...eternally lactating. Sorry about that.” Crescent apologized since she spritzed both Palutena and Asphy in some of her milk.

“Umm, everything?” He replied before holding his head. “Oh bloody hell, wait. Where am I? How did I get here?”

“You used those two magic things called legs and feet.” Palutena deadpanned.

“Wait, when did I get here? How did I get here, last think I remember is order drinks from a pub.” Asphyxious asked holding his head. “By Ava, my head hurts so much…”

“Just a moment ago, you interrupted a touching if strange confession.” Palutena glared at the lich slightly before thinking better of wasting the energy.

“Wait, what pub?” Crescent asked, her black scales on her face bleaching white.”

“By the way, what is happening to your scales Crescent, did I inadvertently mark you as my mare?” Palutena asked curiously, while trying to ignore the lich and the headache.

“I don’t know, it was in this town in the middle of nowhere.” Asphyxious replied holding his head. “Can I have some water please, my skull feels like it will split open. I think it was called, Tap somethings...”

“Oh Gog.” Crescent covered her face as her bleach-white scales turned red instead. “Did you have any milk?” She asked in shame.

“I don’t know, maybe? I think I ordered everything to drink?” He replied resting his head on the cold floor.

“Ava’s, well, all of our milk, is a ridiculously alcoholic, aphrodisiac, magical fertility and virility booster to anyone of breeding age...and Ava sold some of her milk at Tapsters in Seam after paying to fix the front door, and then at the Crystal Tap in Emerald City before we found out about it.” Crescent said in embarrassment as she covered her large shiny nipples.

“Me dammit! Ax, we can’t take you anywhere can we?” Palutena said sighing a deep sigh of profound exasperation.

“Lower your voice, my head is killing me.” He groaned trying to hide his head under the bed.

Palutena looked at him before gaining a true trollface, “Ahem, I am the very model of a modern elder goddess! My aspects are Light, crafting and wisdom. I know the things mortals hide from the time they fucked the maid to the day they took it from someguy!” Palutena started singing abridged pirates of penzance in a baritone voice similar to Alucard from hellsing ultimate abridged, “Hah abridgception.”

“Ava’s friend would be railing you for botching that.” Crescent snorted, and then groaned as her belly shrank.

“I think I did quite well on improv, thank you very much.” Palutena sniffed haughtily

Asphyxious whined at the sounds, as he crawled under the enormous bed to try and hide from her singing. Letting out whines that made it clear he was in some kind of pain.

“P-Palu~! Something’s happening~!” Crescent moaned as her scales began turning white, her crystal fur too, her belly shrinking rapidly. “They’re forming really fast!” Crescent screamed in panic as her belly shrank to barely the size of a full term, then to barely showing, and gone. “Th-they’re still there...just...normal.” Crescent mused in confusion, her red hair turning blue while her amber eyes turned golden.

“Bronze Brave! What is happening to you!” Palutena shouted, getting Crescent to blink in bewilderment.

“Who the hell is Bronze Brave?” Crescent asked, looking over her pure white crystal body in confusion. “I didn’t do that….” She rapidly returned to normal color but looked confused before turning back into her new white and blue coloration. “This feels more natural.”

“No one important, compared to you changing magical Alignment from Neutral to Light,” Palutena replied, “Just trying something out that didn’t work.”

“No, whatever that was, it felt fitting for some reason.” Crescent commented, before sighing and rubbing her flat toned abs. Palutena about jumped when she realized her new marefriend is ripped!

“Please… no yelling…” Asphyxious whimpered from under the bed with only his tail sticking out.

While we were all distracted by the impressive display of alignment alteration through lots of sex, A portal opens, revealing a sad dragon Twilight, who spotted the drunk lich on the floor, and turned her eyes to Palutena, which caused her to freeze, turn away and blush in embarrassment.

“Twilight?” Asphyxious asked as he slowly poked his head out from under the bed.

“I’m so sorry!” She yelled before running up and hugging him. “I didn’t mean to make you so upset, I’d never leave you like that! I’m sorry for kissing Palutena, please forgive me!” She crying holding on to the hangovered dragon.

“You did what?” Asphyxious asked still blurry from all the booze. “Wait, oh Twilight. That’s not why I said about it being okay for those who wanted to, to leave the hoard.” He explained as he hugged and calmed her down. “I still love you and the others, and I’m sorry if I scared you.” Twilight just hugged him and sniffed.

“Then, we’re still apart of your hoard?” Twilight asked smiling at him.

“Well seeing as we’re married now, it a little more than that.” Asphyxious replied as she started to giggle. But Twilight then looked back at Palutena and the other mare. “Oh thats Crescent, she’s apart of Ava but she is her own being as well. Also, my head hurts...” Asphyxious explained

“Uh...hello. Dragon girl? Um….” Crescent tried covering herself, her boobs far too big for a single arm to try and vainly cover, her puffy groin was also more than a palm could handle, and she shielded herself with her wings with a vibrant blush on her new white scales, the membranes of her beautiful scaled dragon wings shimmering across the light spectrum despite primarily being blue. Palutena about drooled at the glorious, adorable, embodiment of Light her Marefriend had become out of the blue.

“Oh it nice to meet you, ummm why are you doing that?” Asked Twilight as she summoned Asphyxious a glass of water. Twilight was also not wearing anything.

“Twilight, you forgot your clothes, again…” Asphyxious added as he started to drink the water.

Palutena walked up to Twilight, and gave her a hug, “I am sorry I accidently kissed you Twilight.”

“What?” Crescent asked, her eyes narrowing possessively, getting Palu to raise an eyebrow at her, making her blush. “Sorry...I kinda get possessive. You don’t know what you have until you die.”

“Calm down Crescent, this happened before we even met, and she isn’t a threat to you. That is because I see Twilight more as a daughter after I adopted my Twilight.” Palutena explained,
“And Remember you still have to share me with my ‘Tia.” Palutena reminded Crescent who shuddered and nodded.

“What is all this serious business involving mares named Twilight?” Crescent huffed. “Is she part of all this Timeline nonsense that Asphy told us before? Because I’ve never met any Twilights in my life. Or Ava’s life. Or Sharp’s life...or...Lyra’s…? Who the fuck is Lyra and why is she in our Shared Soul?! Lyra knows her...huh…?” Crescent hissed and rubbed her head, looking like she got a headache.

“Yeah, you’ll meet her later.” Asphyxious replied rubbing Twilight’s ear to help her relax.

“She won't be born for another millennium or so, and depending on timeline, may become an alicorn, be related to Starswirl the bearded or Clover the clever…. Oh My Me! Starswirl and Clover the Clever….eeewwww. How could I have not seen it before!?”

“Maybe I shoud l head back now, I’m sure Fluttershy is worried and Pinkie Pie maybe need some help to calm her down.” Said Twilight as she made a call with her own echo. A portal opened as Twilight walked though.

“Ah~!” Crescent screamed in pain, holding her head. “Damn it Sharp?! What were you doing?! Why is there another mare in the Soul?!” Crescent panted, sweated, shivered and tried not to fall into the bed. “Bitch! She added a new soul to our Shared Soul! Without Ava’s or my input!”

“Another soul?” Asphyxious asked with his maw dripping with water. “What happened?”

“Apparently. Sharp has been liberal with our powers!” Crescent practically foamed at the mouth with pure fury. “She took in a Dead mare’s Soul, without even contacting either of us! Bitch! No wonder I and Ava have been so unstable! We haven’t been able to reconcile with our new Fourth Shard!”

Palutena rushes to Crescent’s side and held her tightly, stroking her lustrous long navy blue mane, the six-foot tall mare weakly trying not to collapse once the shock finished setting in.

Palutena closed her eyes and let loose her Light magic, so that Crescent could bask in the strengthening properties of her light, for other creatures of light.

“I’m blinded!” Asphyxious yelled as he fell back covering his eye and eyepatch.

“What happened Crescent? What did this sharp do specifically? Is this an homage to hellsing ultimate’s ending?” Palutena started peppering her with questions.

“No. As we add souls, we get stronger, like Alucard. Every time we’ve added a soul, Ava, no, Avarice, Us, gets stronger. The hard part is each new soul involves reliving that entity’s entire life, in an instant. When Avarice absorbed me, he lost himself to me entirely for a moment, I was in control of the body as he processed me. Then I was thrown vindictively into the backseat for a while. I helped kill Ichor’s Hive. I’m a monster. But he accepted me over time. Treated me like an equal.” Crescent calmed down some. “Only, the Herd didn’t see me as separate, just another bonus for Avarice….”

“Crescent, you are your own pony, and despite some questionable mistake, in the past you are a good person, a monster would not care for the lives it had ended,” Palutena stated with certainty and conviction.

“Am I good? Am I? I killed children Palu! I assassinated foals because they were related to the wrong ponies! What good pony does these things?” Crescent pleaded, about to break down again. “Dear GOG this Lyra mare is such a pussy! Making me all sentimental and shit! She’s weakening Sharp’s cruel influence on us....”

“I didn’t say you were good or bad for that, in fact good and evil are an entirely subjective thing, what I did say however was that it was a mistake, a costly one. But had you been a true monster you wouldn’t regret it or care about your past actions at all.” Palutena grabbed Crescent by the shoulders, “No pony or person is ever perfect! It is what you do after you make a mistake. That matters” Palutena Kissed Crescent.

“Sentimental is good, you’ll need it for rising your children.” Asphyxious said as he rubbed his eye. “I’m not one to talk, but my kid’s well being is at the top of my list. Also we need to find out why this other soul was taken in the first place.”

“I already know. Sharp was having a power trip from being summoned in place of Ava, and decided she liked the submissive and weak Lyra, so took the poor dead mare’s soul from a Doppelganger she was unintentionally possessing, which, I swear from Sharp’s memory, is ANOTHER SHARD of us!” Crescent fumed. “What the fuck is going on?! All these Time Shenanigans! I thought we were trying to avoid them!” Crescent grumbled as she took out her Echo, tapping away at it. “Sending the data to Ava’s personal Echo. Including all that’s happened here...our new relationship….” Crescent smiled softly up at Palu, who simply beamed at her. “And then, we’re going to go visit Sharp and Lyra. Gog knows what torture she’s doing to that poor mare.”

[ $ ]

Ava was pissed. Very, very pissed. ‘Crescent, you awesome bitch! No wonder I felt so~ good all last night!’ Sure, she was thankful, but more angry that she had yet more offspring. She was also conflictingly happy to an extreme that Crescent was finally finding herself instead of devoting all of herself to supporting her.

‘We’ve gotta find a better way to distinguish each other, the way we blend and change gender identities is pissing me off!’ Ava had to ponder why she was so moody, probably had to do with the second pregnancy going alongside her already existing pregnancy? Double pregnancy hormones? Is that a thing? Her boobs did feel tender….

“We’re here Ava. Don’t know why you’re so insistent on speaking directly to the Mayor.” Selene mused. They couldn’t exactly say no, she’d been an exemplary guest to their city for the past two weeks. And her VIP status also made rejecting an official audience with the Mayor just outright ridiculous when it got down to it.

“Trust me. You’ll understand in a bit. It’s pretty much the entire reason I’m even here.” Ava admitted, getting the two to look to each other curiously. ‘Okay, okay. Calm down Ava. Can’t be a Royal Bitch to the Mayor. Keep calm, and fuck on. Damn it, no, wait, I fucked up. Why am I obsessed with the word fuck?! Damn you Crescent! And your stupid sexy goddess too!’ Ava growled. The distance between her and her other Shards seriously irritating. ‘Gotta refresh asap. All join in one body, reaffirm the connection.’

“Ava? You’re...kinda worrying us.” Carnelian said, making Ava realize she’d trudged straight up the stairwell of the highest tower, over 50 floors, and was now pacing in front of the Mayor’s office, the secretary looking very worried.

‘And, of course, aside from myself; the secretary has the biggest boobs I’ve seen in this city yet! Is this world a living parody of stereotypes?!’ “I’m fine. Just...antsy. I’ve been trying so hard to compile the evidence I need for this investigation.”

“What investigation?” Selene demanded, looking affronted.

“Into an enemy’s infiltration and subtle control of your nation.” Ava said, not bothering with censure. If the Mayor himself was a member of Die Leucht, then she was boned already. Hopefully, he wasn’t in on the whole thing.

“Wait, what?” Carnelian asked in shock, only for the door to open, and Ava turned, only to turn into a drooling mess upon the sight of the mayor.

“Greetings fair mare. To my City. I’m sorry you haven’t been treated very well, but understand these are trying times.”

‘OHMIGAWD HE’S HAWT!’ Ava was drooling into her cleavage at the sight of the huge, burly, and rainbow-hued Prism Pony stallion. ‘He’s almost as hot as Gem Seam was~!’ He put a finger on her chin, and closed her mouth with a knowing grin.

“I get that a lot. But, I don’t let it define my interactions. Please, come in.” The well-dressed Mayor Diamond Heart declared, his three-piece business suit hiding absolutely none of his ripped physique, and when he turned, Ava’s eyes trailed down his broad, chiseled back to his tight ass under his short-cropped rainbow tail.

‘Must fuck. Must fuck! No, business first. Then fuck. Yes. Fuck friend. New friend~!’ “Sure….” Ava weakly drawled, following him in and the two guards were slightly flushed. Prism Ponies were in high positions because of their superior breeding and intelligence. Practically every crystal pony wished they were born the one in one thousand Prism Pony in a generation. The two followed and closed the door, half for Diamond Heart’s safety, and half to make sure they don’t devolve into sex instead of business.

[ ? ]

“Why do I have the sudden need to kill and eat someone?” Asphyxious asked himself.

“Probably Ava finding a new toy.” Crescent commented, feeling a little flushed. “Good Gog, whoever she found is seriously impressive to turn her on this much.

“A better question, why do I have the urge to rain holy death upon someone, or at least maim them and the distinct need to mount something very shiny and rare?” Palutena asked in irritation.

“Sweetie, remember, while I do want somepony to truly love, I believe in Free Love like Ava. I’m going to have casual sex, just without attachments.” Crescent reminded Palutena, fanning herself and holding open her enormous black t-shirt over her breasts so to let out some actual steam. “Seriously, who is this person?”

“As long as they don’t hurt my friend I’m fine with it.” Asphyxious replied as he looked around.

Palutena shook her head to clear it, “That wasn’t me that felt that? Oh my gog! Wait what that’s not my exclamation!” Palutena curled into a ball and covered herself with her wings.

“What are you talking about? Are you pulling a Missy on us with that whole Fanfiction thing? We already know that we’re apparently Fanfiction in several universes.” Crescent rolled her eyes. “Good for them. See how fucked up life is for us.” Crescent flipped the bird to the air as they continued to stroll through the Crystal Caves, which had been clearly dug into. And eaten if the lack of debris said anything.

“Great, the madness is spreading.” Asphyxious said as he facepalmed.

“I feel a niggling in the back of my mind, an itch I can’t scratch and….drooling?” Palutena trailed off in confusion.

“Okay, I am jealous now…” Asphyxious added. “And I don’t know why?”

“People! Existential crises later! I have my own mess to sort through starting with this giant bitch!” Crescent stated, the end pointed at the utterly gigantic, sexy black-scaled bubble butt aimed at them. Dragon tail waving above gleefully before it froze, and the giantess turned with cheeks full of crystals, crumbs of crystal stuck to her utterly massive boobs that were even bigger than they were on Crescent or Ava, and her already full-term with twins belly resting on the floor. Needless to say, the 50-foot dragoness’s inviting vagina was in clear display as she swallowed.

“Uh...hey~!” Sharp started, only for Crescent to fire a powerful lightning bolt from her horn at the dragoness’s ass, getting a yelp and jump out of her that shook the entire cave.

“Don’t hey~ me you bitch! You have some ‘splainin’ to do!” Crescent screamed up at the naked giantess furiously with smoke trailing from her nose. In response, Sharp huffed out some smoke of her own, turning around to sit, still with her legs wide open, arms crossing under her utterly gigantic breasts and almost pushing them into her chin as she leered down at the trio, Asphyxious looking like he was about to burst out of his pants just from the erections straining them.

“That’s one huuuge bitch!” Palutena remarked and whistled as she looked up at the dragoness.

“I better be, since I’m the biggest bitch this side of Equestria!” Sharp declared proudly, grinning her draconic grin with feral pride in the fact. “You could call me the Bitch of Avarice. I’m so greedy, and she brought me right in. Guess she’s greedier than me~.” Sharp purred, pinching her nipples and spraying them in her alcoholic goddess milk. “So sup Crescent? What’s with the entourage? Stealing the little dragon bitch out from under Ava?” Sharp asked as she looked hungrily at Asphyxious. “You look like a screamer~....”

“Business before pleasure.” Asphyxious scolded with his eye, as he cleaned himself off.

Palutena gained a faraway look akin to a thousand yard stare at the mention of greedy mares. “The thirst is real! Why am I so bucking horny!?… pun unintended.” Palutena complained.

“No! You’re not taking control of this situation!” Crescent demanded, suddenly tearing out of her clothes of black T-shirt and spandex shorts to equal Sharp, and grabbed the super-hot bitch’s throat. “You, are coming with me! Lyra gets to stay and watch the eggs and my foals since you’re clearly irresponsible enough to threaten them!”

“W-where the fuck did you get this much biomass!” Sharp demanded furiously, grunting and hissing at feeling her body shift against her will. “Get out of my Avatar!”

“No! Get out of Our Matron Avatar!” Crescent demanded, and Sharp hissed before her amber eyes turned golden, and the formerly utterly furious look was replaced with fear. “Are you okay Lyra?” The dragoness began crying, and Crescent tried to hug her, only for her right eye to change from gold to amber, and begin screaming in distorted vocals. Half screaming in rage, half crying in loneliness.

Palutena hissed in pain as the two mares fought over the body, “So many voices!” Palutena screamed as she collapsed on the floor, like a puppet with it’s strings cut.

Asphyxious sighed and moved between the thrashing kirin mare and the pregnant dragoness. “I’ll make sure the eggs are safe.” He said placing the side of his head on the pregnant dragoness’s side, Lyra looking down at him curiously and holding her belly in concern as Crescent and Sharp continue to feud from their completely conflicting Magic Alignments and personalities.

“The eggs are fine, a little worried but they're calming down now.” Asphyxious said with his head still on her side.

“Th-thank you. I’m still so new to all this. Sharp just basically ate me, and kept...doing things to me.” Lyra whimpered, hugging her bloated womb protectively.

“It alright now, you have nothing to fear.” Asphyxious said trying to calm Lyra down.

“Palu~! PALU~! HELP US!” Cresharp screamed in agony towards the insensate mare. “It hurts! Can’t think-right, fuck, she’s useless-no she's-using how~!” Cresharp began pounding her head into the cave floor, trying so hard not to go insane from their conflicting powers eating away at each other without a buffer.

Without Ava.

Palutena, let out a scream in tandem, as she felt her head splitting, suddenly an all consuming rage filled Palutena, she roared inarticulate nonsensical rage as she dug into the cave floor.

“Idea! Crescent, don’t fuse the head, just the body!” Asphyxious called out.

“Two heads are better than one!” Lyra shouted to clarify.

Palutena’s body began leaking light magic in flashes, as her rage built. Out of her back a pair of dragon wings burst forth just above her alicorn wings, “What did… gah!” Palutena exclaimed as her head pounded, “Who's responsible? I feel like my head is tearing apart, “ Smoke burst through Palutena’s muzzle.

“I have no idea what is happening right now,a part from Crescent growing a second head.” Asphyxious said looking on in confusion. “And...being colored differently on both halves of her body.”

Palutena tried to clear her head but to no avail, a long dragon tail burst out from her dock and she let out another roar of pain, “Must contain…. Ah! This mutation!” Palutena’s pupils shrink to slits and a eyes narrowed, “Sharp Are you the cause of this!? Arrghha!” Palutena screamed, “This only started when I came here! You must be the cause!” Palutena growled

“Palu?! Palu?! What’s happening?!” Came Crescent’s concerned voice, her head lowering down to Palutena, only for a black and red inverse to join it right next to her right cheek with a sickening grin at her pain.

“Looks like she got a bit too much of us in her, huh? She looks so weak and easy now.” Sharp said with a disgusting glee at Palutena’s moment of weakness, getting a growl out of Crescent.

“Nyaargh! My mind is on fire! What’s happening? Why am I hearing conflicting voices, it’s feels like It's gonna drive me insane! My body is on fire and I can’t take…..” Palutena collapsed under the strain, her body shaking and shivering.

“Reminds me of the time I had to kill off the other dragons who were living in my heart stone.” Asphyxious commented. “So you two going to help her?”

“We can’t! We don’t know jack shit of what’s happening to her!” Crescent and Sharp answered in stereo, but one in concern, the other in frustration.

“Okay then, I’ll pull it out and eat it.” Asphyxious replied walking over to Palutena. “I’m used to hearing voices in my head.”

Palutena’s hooves grew scales and shifted slightly as claws shot out of them, three in front of each hoof and one behind curved down, before her hooves dissolved into more articulate paws. “I...I can’t-.” Palutena was interrupted by her face snapping, restructuring from an elegant pony snout into a regal dragon’s head as her fur started shedding, being replaced by glorious green scales, her horn curving into a fierce ramming horn as two more regal horns sprouted from her temples, sweeping back on her skull.

“Okay this may hurt, but I need you to try and relax.” Asphyxious said as he placed both hands on either side of her face. “Listen to my voice, focus on it and nothing else. You’re in a forest, lush and green I want you to see yourself walking through it. Can you do that?”

“Okay, I want you to think back. To what you looked like where you live, your home.” Asphyxious asked slowly pulling one hand away as a mass of wispy energy followed and formed into a ball. Asphyxious kept this up until he was sure he got all of it out.

“Was this caused by me? Because she ate so much of me?” Crescent wept into her hand, while Sharp scoffed and rolled her eyes, tapping her claws of her own hand on her thigh.

“Oh suck it up. It’s her own fault for liking the way we taste.” Sharp heartlessly rebuffed, making Crescent cry even harder. “Oh Faust, seriously? Why is everyone else in the Shared Soul a fucking pansy?”

Palutena roared, leaking more light magic in the process, leaking out of every part of her body including out in puffs from her ragged breaths.

“Careful, I may throw this at your head.” Asphyxious warned as he held the mass orb in his magic. As he removed the last of it out of Palutena’s system. “Also get some rest and don’t use any magic.” He warned before floating the orb to the two head dragoness.

“What!? But I am magic! It is my very being I can’t just turn that off!” Palutena complained, with tears streaking down her face.

“I said don’t use it, not turn it off. It not the same thing, like saying don’t smoke don’t mean stop breathing.” Asphyxious explain.

“What happened? To me... give me a mirror or gem or any reflective surface!” Palutena begged desperately.

“Well, I tried to removed the dragon horns and scales, but failed, it was already set in.” Asphyxious said as he looked back at the dragoness. “What do I call you two now?”

Palutena looked at a gem shard and wept as she saw her face covered in scales, her horn curved and her muzzle longer more draconic with a soft curve to it, her hooves were caught halfway between hooves and dragon claws in that the pads of her paws were still covered in her former hoove’s enamel, with scales reaching up to the first joints on her legs, Palutena’s mane flowed like it did as a pure alicorn, so there was a solace in that at least. Scales interspersed between her coat, glitter emerald green, and her breath let out tiny white motes of light. Also her long dragon tail was covered in shiny scales, save for the flowing ridge of tail fur that ran atop it.

“Odd, where you thinking of my Twilight when you was changing?” Asphyxious asked looking her over. “My Twilight has hoof toes too.”

“No I was too busy being in excruciating pain!” Palutena shouted sending a gout of light out of her mouth as she growled. Asphyxious did something that surprised her and placed the side of his head on her smooth pregnant belly, which looked even smoother with the occasional scale giving it a sparkle in the dim lights of the glowing crystals. “What are you doing, Ax?” Palutena asked in confusion.

“Shhh, I need to know if it was just your body that changed. And that they’re okay.” He said listening carefully.

“Excuse us? Wouldn’t we be better suited to that?” Sharp demanded imperiously. “After all, we are Shards of Avarice. Goddess of Sex, Pregnancy, and Animal Husbandry.”

“Oh fuck off you cunt. I’ll take a look.” Crescent sniffled before reaching down to her transformed marefriend, or, is that drakefriend now? She gently ran a claw along Palu’s back, and sighed in relief. “They’re unchanged. They’ll be half you and ‘Tia. What caused this?”

“Fuck if I care! She’s even hotter than before! Fuck, everything looks hotter with some dragon in the mix.” Sharp boasted with her shark teeth and slightly more draconic black head with red frills grinning in superiority over her counterpart’s white kirin head and royal blue mane. Their body was a complete split. Black and red on Sharp’s right side of the body, while white and blue on Crescent’s left half. The only thing bridging them was their cream divider split from between their necks down to their groin made of scales. “I mean look at us! We, are a sexy bitch!”

Crescent gasped at feeling Sharp heft their still gigantic basketball boobs, but pointed out that her’s was black while Crescent’s was white, with a red and blue nipple respectively. “Great, as if this situation wasn’t annoying enough.”

[ $ ]

The office was in shambles. Clothes were all over the place, portraits and knick-knacks cluttered about. There were even cracks in the walls, and a chair was broken. What seemed to be the site of a battle, was instead the site of a vicious sexual frenzy.

“...I will say milady. Wow.” Diamond Heart said with a winning grin, his clothes torn to pieces as he laid on the plush floor of his office, Ava breathless on top of him, pressing her giant bosom into his even more impressive pectorals, still keeping his huge mare-breaker in her. “You have an amazing way to break utterly terrible news to ponies.”

“Sorry. Too hot. Couldn’t resist. Searing pain in my head. Couldn’t think. Used sex as a medium to try and tell you your city’s compromised by Die Leucht.” Ava panted, exhausted. ‘What the hell is going on with me? I feel so weak, so drained all of a sudden.’ Ava felt like all her energy was being siphoned out of her. Physical, Mental, and Magical. “They’ve taken over the new relay, using it to instead broadcast their Null and Misdirect barrier to the north, likely antagonizing Yakslovia.” Ava had managed to use her Echo as extra proof while riding the stud, but was rather hazy, and unable to be sure she got her point across.

“Yes. And your presentation, while full of holes, was also very clear and to the point on that.” Diamond Heart said, his chiseled muzzle frowning in consideration. “I can only consider a few positions in the city that would be worth taking over. My position, obviously. But I’m not with these Die Leucht characters. There’s the Deputy Mayor, Crystal Chime, but she’s been so reliable, I’d find it hard to believe. Even harder to believe would be Chief Trabucco. He’s as straight-laced as anypony could be. So that means I’ll just have to do a full shakedown of my administration. It won’t be a popular decision, but all this unrest in my city needs to be addressed. Carnelian, Night!”

“Y-yes sir?!” Came the nervous responses of the two lovers, who had been unable to stop Ava jumping the mayor’s bones, and couldn’t avoid jumping each other when Ava blasted them with some sort of ‘fuck aura’ that drove them mad when they tried to interfere. That said, they were in a similar state of dishevelment as the mayor and the VIP.

“Get your clothes back on, and head straight to Chief Trabucco ordering a fully comprehensive review of the entire system, including myself. The city is being shutdown, as of right-!” Chief Trabucco chose that very moment to burst in, looking harried and frazzled.

“Mayor! We’re being attacked!” He reported, completely and professionally ignoring the state of undress in the room, an explosion shaking the building shortly after.

“Ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff...fuck….” Ava tiredly let out. ‘Of course. Too late, as usual….’

[ ? ]

Palutena panted as she recovered from her unexpected and unnatural transformation, “Now what? I’ve transformed into a goddess, alicorn, dragon hybrid thing. You two are doing a draconic impression of an orthrus and Ax? I don't even know what's up with you anymore. Oh and then there's my boost in Physical, Mental, and Magical parameters and now I have an urge to fuck anything with a pulse that puts natural heat to shame! And I am feeling like I'm missing something important. So did I miss anything in this clusterfuck of a situation?” Palutena snarked.

“No, that about sums it up.” Crescent grumbled, blushing, panting slightly as Sharp licks at her jaw and sucks on her ear. “Bitch, s-stop. We have to go, Ava needs us. I can feel her frustration from here.” The tri-colored dragon tail behind them was running over Cresharp’s body, teasing mostly Crescent’s half of the body. “P-Palu, make her stop. She’s driving me crazy.” Crescent whined as Sharp grabbed Crescent’s blue nipple, and tugged, making her cry out, Sharp purring in victory.

“Sorry Crescent I can't use magic yet so just grin and bare it for now, I have a feeling when we meet Ava we are going to be having a bad time,” Palutena responded sympathetically.

“Pizza, French fry, pizza, french fry.” Sharp teased as she used her claw to open and close their pussy despite Crescent trying to stop her. “I can’t believe how sensitive you are. I’m barely blushing.” Sharp purred as she turned Crescent’s head towards her’s, their slightly serpentine necks making the deep kiss she initiates possible, ignoring how Crescent whimpers.

“What sort of life have I been dragged into?” Lyra asked in exasperation.

“From what I can tell? A selfcest orgy combined with a harem containing the diarchs, a robotic dragoness and a zebra.” Palutena snarked.

“How does she-she’s slightly omniscient.” Sharp started and Crescent finished, getting a shrug out of them before they went back to making out, Crescent now reciprocating as her half of the body becomes more draconic, wiggling her toe claws once the hoof finished changing.

“That it.” Asphyxious said as he shocks Sharp with lightning magic, getting an annoyed growl from her. “Also what do you want me to do with this?” He asked holding the ball of mass in his magic.

“It’s what hurt Palu-ask the one it hurt.” Cresharp stated in irritation, before Sharp pulled up Crescent’s breast and started suckling, getting Crescent to pant with her tongue lolling out as her head became full dragon, her luscious blue locks of mane turning into blue frills as her claw came up to cup Sharp’s cheek.

“What is it specifically?” Palutena asked, her curiosity piqued.

“All the biomass that was changing your body, lucky for you I pulled it out before it reached your kids.” Asphyxious replied before he zaps Sharp again, who simply growled in response and Crescent hissed.

“What would I even do with that then? As I certainly have no idea how to mold it.” Palutena mused.

“Hmmm, worry about it later. Go to meet with Ava before those two get too far into it.” Asphyxious responded as he looked at the orb of mass, ignoring how Crescent was now frigging their mound, their toes clenching as Crescent panted.

“Give it to Ava then, she’ll probably need it.” Palutena declared absently, while she was playing with the light embers she breathed out.

“Alright, lets go.” Asphyxious then started to glow with runes on the floor. “Just a heads up, you may get dizzy.” He then started to teleported to group.

“W-wait! Let us shrink down! Being a two-headed dragon will be hard enough to ignore!” Crescent managed to shout, Cresharp’s body as a whole shrinking, making Sharp growl.

“Then hurry up I’m not waiting.” Asphyxious replied smiling at them.

“You better wait motherfucker! I’m not going out in public without my leather.” Sharp Snapped at him as she stopped her masturbation. “We, are continuing this later.” Sharp growled at Crescent, who blushed slightly with a grin. “Definitely.” Crescent responded as they reached 14 feet in height, and then Sharp snapped her claw, summoning a giant dominatrix-style leather bikini, boots, and garter-belt. “W-we’re wearing that?!” Crescent blushed. “Yes, you were wearing similar last night.” Sharp rolled her eyes. “But without spikes or stiletto heels! Those are dangerous!” “Kinda the point.” Sharp grumbled as they put on the revealing and sexy leather, before Sharp took an utterly gigantic whip out from their cleavage, making Crescent gawk. “Ready!” “I-I guess?” Crescent more asked, looking at their stiletto high-heel boots.

“My god you two are adorable.” Asphyxious added before he teleported the group to where Ava is. How did he find Ava? Asphyxious used eyeless site to look for her magic.

Which was greatly diminished, and hiding. On top of an incredibly tall tower. Asphyxious blinked once the spell had done it job, then looked around. “Wow, this place must’ve been fancy.” He said looking at the artwork scattered on the floor, and a forlorn Ava looking out a huge green-tinted window at the chaos.

“I was too late...again. And now I’m too weak...again….” Ava lamented, looking utterly devastated.

“What happened?” Asphyxious asked as he walked up to the window to look outside.

Ava whirled to look up at him, shocked to see him, and shrank away from him, ashamed. “You get to see me at my weakest...this is exactly what I don’t want you to see….”

Palutena walked over to Ava, and gave her a wing hug with her left side wings, to comfort her.

“Just tell me what happened and I will help you.” Asphyxious replied still looking outside.

“From what I can see from here, that’s an army from Yakslovia, likely attacking because of the Null and Misdirect field Die Leucht has erected over the whole Empire being broadcasted into their nation using the Crystal Heart Relay. The only way they would even be here is if Die Leucht let them in.” Ava bemoaned her failure to avert this. She had the time, she was just hindered by law and bureaucracy.

“Let me guess, they think the empire is the cause and see it as a declaration of war?” Palutena asked as she tightened her wings pulling Ava closer.

“Are they the enemy?” Asphyxious asked looking back at Ava. As if waiting for more details.

“They might not even be affiliated with Die Leucht. They might just be the normal army, being manipulated into attacking innocents. But they are attacking innocents. It’s here, it’s too late to avoid. They must die, or be routed.” Ava resolutely stated, before looking to the group, and gawking up at Cresharp, who simply smirked down at Ava and snapped their whip in their claws.

“Alright, ladies keep Ava safe and lock this room down. I’m going out to say hello.” Asphyxious said as he calmly walked out the room.

“What?! I’m not going to just sit here! Not when I have Crescent, and Sharp back!” Ava declared, motioning for Cresharp to close in, hugging Palutena on instinct and not registering she was still there. “C’mon! We have some yaks to roast!”

“That’s the Ava I remember.” Asphyxious said with a smile as he walked out. “Let see how brave they are facing a dragon.”

Palutena smiled, unaware of what is about to happen and so kept holding onto Ava. “We are here for you Ava.” Palutena encouraged, getting a snort from Sharp.

“Huh? Wait, who are you-?” Ava asked, only for Sharp to yank her, with Palutena between them, into her abs, and Palu didn’t even get to scream as she was absorbed into the two-headed dragoness, and a third head sprouted between Crescent and Sharp, purely cream to represent her neutrality, and they all moaned, holding their suddenly heavily pregnant belly. “Oh~! W-what happened?”

“Uh...might’ve just unbirthed our new friend?” Sharp asked curiously, rubbing their gravid scales.

“Oh Gog, we’re pregnant with my marefriend….” Crescent bemoaned. “And she’s also pregnant, so it’s a recursive pregnancy. Why does all this weird shit keep happening to us?”

<> Avarice moaned as she moved around in her womb, and they tried to simply move her out, but they couldn’t, their body treated her as a genuine pregnancy, and they all blushed, looking at each other.

“D-do we...have to…?” Crescent asked, blushing.

“I...guess?” Sharp replied, going a bit pale.

“...Always wanted to ever since Dox knocked me up, honestly.” Ava resolved, they didn’t have time for this.

<> Palutena complained self consciously.

“They kinda are now that you’re our daughter….” Avarice replied in unison, annoyed and upset. “All our offspring share our oversexed qualities.” They answered, rubbing their belly, squatting down as they removed their leather panties.

<> Palutena asked with a huff.

“Giant breasts. Child-bearing hips. Huge bubble butts. Huge testicles. Giant dicks. It’s all part of the symbolism.” They replied in resignation, grunting, their huge orb of a pregnant belly shifting down towards their pelvis. They didn’t notice the orb of mass floating in a ball of magic behind them, subtly float over and sink into Avarice’s back.

<> Palu worriedly asked as Avarice panted, all three heads flushed and filled with trepidation, and excitement.

“We need to birth you. We can’t get you out the normal way. So...happy birthday!” They cried out as their whole body lurched, their belly moving more towards their pelvis, panting, and regulating their breathing as sweat rolled down their scales. “Dear Gog you’re huge~!” They exclaimed, and their belly swelled slightly. “S-stop growing! It’s already enough of a challenge!”

<> Palutena falsely apologized, beyond turned on by the events.

“Crescent, you know how to pick em. I kinda want her now.” Ava said. “Fuck off, she’s mine!” Crescent replied. “You can have her, she’s not sub enough for me.” Sharp input.

<> Palu said, moving inside the womb in a decidedly unhelpful way, making Avarice groan, especially when Palutena came, and flooded her womb with seed. <>

A loud roar was heard outside, as Asphyxious flew down into the city. To help deal with the army.

“If you just impregnated us again, we are so putting you on the couch Palu!” Avarice screamed and cringed as their belly filled even more, while Palutena felt the walls of Ava’s womb clench around her body in spite of her cum inflating the womb a bit, and felt herself being dragged through Ava’s cervix into her vaginal canal.

<> Palutena complained as the tight confines of Avarice’s vagina clenched and unclenched around her, dragging her further down the tight tunnel.

“We were already pregnant when you did that, didn’t you see Sharp and Lyra? We can get pregnant multiple times at the same time.” Avarice explained, wincing as fluids dumped down their thighs onto the floor. “Also, believe it or not, pregnant females can get pregnant while pregnant. It’s a thing called superfetation.”

<> Palutena asked confused at the prospect of pregnancy not shutting off when they are already pregnant.

“All three of us!” They wailed in pained ecstasy as Palu’s draconic head breached their pussy, but only the tip of her snout. “H-help us along would you?! You’re very big!” Palutena groaned, and dug her new claws into the damp walls of the giantess’s vagina. Causing a squelching noise as she pulled herself along slowly but surely but the walls clenching were slowing down her progress. “OH GOG! THIS FEELS AMAZING!”

Palutena spotted a light at the end of the wet tunnel and noticed that it was close enough, so she thrusted her foreclaws outside and grabbed onto Ava’s labia. She pulled her way out, stretching the entrance with one final grunt of effort as the tunnel flooded with fem-cum as Ava orgasmed on top of Palutena’s own cum having aided in the pressure and lubrication department. “I live~!” Palutena cried out dramatically as she was reborn, and promptly got stuck at her now wider flanks. “Uh...my hips are stuck.”

“S-stop wriggling~!” Avarice squealed as Palu’s long dragon tail thrashed about in her birth canal. “That’s not helping~!” Palu cringed at feeling her hips being squeezed by Avarice’s pussy, only to suddenly be ejected from the sopping box, the dragoness falling onto her back and panting from the exertion. “Oh~! We can’t wait to have proper babies if they feel anywhere this good!”

“I suppose that makes you my new momma then?” Palutena between coughs as some of Ava’s cum had gone down her throat the wrong way, and yelped at suddenly being picked up, her lips pressed gently to Crescent’s giant blue nipple as they cradled her and looked at her with incredible motherly affection.

“Drink our little angel. Momma loves you~....” They said absently with glazed eyes and stupid soft smiles. Palutena mumbled something with her mouth full of nipple and milk gushing into it. Shrugging she just started drinking it and going with the flow of things. She felt stronger, healthier as she drank. It was like a health potion and stamina potion. After a short bit, Avarice gently removed her from the blissful simplicity of breastfeeding, and looked at her with stupid grins. “We’ve totally gotta do that again sometime.” They all winked at her, and proceeded to clean her with a triple-tongue bath as all the mess on the dragoness simply wicked away.

‘I’ve gotta stop getting pulled into awesome fetishy situations. At least I don’t have to worry about bringing up certain fetishes with ‘Tia if she’s uncomfortable with them.’ Palutena shrugged, letting the three-headed dragoness clean her up.

Get RIPPED Once More!

Author's Note

Booweep~! Booweep~! :coolphoto:
Yep, clop again. :unsuresweetie:
Palu is insatiable. :twilightblush:
Then again, so is Ava. :trollestia:
So yes, this is the point in time Avarice was summoned to the future of his own world by Dox. :facehoof:
Still with Asphy and Palutena. :raritystarry:

Get RIPPED Once More!

Asphyxious roared as he dove down onto the army of yaks, which easily stood head and some shoulders over even the crystal stallions. Asphyxious reached down and bites into one yak before throwing him away. Before roaring at the rest then breathing fire at them, if they didn’t run they would have been burned to death. Those yaks who got too close was either stepped on or eaten by Asphyxious. One Yak thought he was lucky, until Asphyxious tail sent him flying into a building.

Then Asphyxious was perforated by over seventeen giant javelins, crushed by fifteen boulders from catapults, and even more smaller boulders courtesy of trebuchets.

He backed off to reassess.

‘Holy Mum’s tails that’s a lot of siege engines! Considering how big the wall around this emerald city is, I guess they came prepared.’ Asphyxious then thought of something, being a big dragon may not be the right way to go about it. He then smiled as he changed into his smaller form and pulled out his cutlass. “Time to play another game of hide and fire.” Asphyxious laughed as he ran off to find the siege engines.

[ $ ]

“Well mom,” ‘That is going to take some getting used to’, “what now? I believe there was a crisis at hoof?” Palutena asked Ava, as she blatantly ignored the cursing screams coming from Asphyxious.

“Just about sweetie. We’ve got an idea that will distract them. Better than Asphy did anyway.” Avarice replied, before smashing out the window and snorting. “You’d think that would’ve been stronger considering the height.” She commented over the roaring winter winds that whipped into the previously warm office.

“I don’t think they have reinforced glass here, mom!” Palutena called out the window.

Just then a crystal pony had an idea for an invention, carried on the wind.

“Then how did it resist the high pressure winds?!” Avarice asked, and suddenly, all the high-rise tower’s windows shattered. “CURSE YOU MURPHY!”

“I am going to ham it up and say it’s magic,” Palutena snarked.

“I doubt crystal pony mystics can treat windows.” Avarice rolled all six of her eyes. “Are you able to fly yet honey?” They asked over the wind. “You need to stay out of the action, you’re carrying six of our grandfoals after all.” Avarice reminded.

“Yeah. I’d rather not test these out in battle,” Palutena flapped her dragon wings, “I mean come on it’s going to be hard flying with mismatched wings let alone two pairs of wings in the first place.” Palutena griped.

“Then stay here Love.” Crescent said. “Or use a cloud.” Ava suggested. “Or you could try out your new dragon powers.” Sharp suggested, getting smacked by Crescent’s claw. Then Avarice took off into the sky with her powerful mismatched red and blue wings, then, transformed rapidly into an utterly gigantic hydra/dragon hybrid, and landed with a loud and meaty crash, that also crushed the forward battering rams of the army, and they roared as they started tearing into the army, taking attacks from the siege weapons without care, breathing white Light flames, regular red flames, and black Void flames from each of the three heads respectively..

Then one siege weapon caught fire, as mad laughter was heard. Before Asphyxious yelled. “I Will Eat Your Face!” He then set fire to more siege weapons.

[ ? ]

Back with Palutena, she had made her way to the top of the Tower and was surveying the battle from afar, “Okay let’s try this!” she spread her stance to keep stable, which with her foreclaws and her powerful hind claws, this was easy. She opened her mouth and sucked in air, not particularly expecting anything to happen, photons of light started gathering like one of those wave motion cannons you see in anime sci-fi, ‘What the buck!?’ Palutena thought as a ball of light grew larger as more light gathered.

When she couldn’t suck in anymore she let go of what she was holding in causing a beam of light to impact at the battlefield, she moved her head as yaks disintegrated when they were engulfed by the beam causing explosions as the gas in the air from said disintegrations ignited from the heat causing more destruction and chaos. After ten seconds the beam faded and ceased to be, Palutena looked on in horror at the decimation and the wide gouge it had cut into the land that also had melted all the nearby snow. “Well at least I can make trenches easily now I suppose.” She chuckled with a sweatdrop forming on her head in embarrassment.

“PALU YOU ARE SO SEXY~!” Screamed Crescent into the winds, making Palutena blush at being praised for something so terrible, what was odd, was her voice was now a man’s, almost exactly like Crispin Freeman’s Alucard.

“YOU HAVE MY BLESSING TO MARRY CRESCENT~!” Screamed Ava in a throaty male cockney voice.

“THAT WAS FUCKING TITS~!” Praised Sharp in a deep and dominating baritone male voice.

“I… Am oddly okay with this.” Asphyxious said to himself before cutting the head off a yak that was in his way to the next siege weapon. Before setting said weapon on fire. And then Asphyxious’ head was gone. A thundering report echoed across the battlefield. His headless body flailed around, panicking in a morbidly humorous way.

“What just-?!” Palutena’s question was interrupted by having her left foreleg and her left pair of wings suddenly forcibly removed, sending her screaming to the rooftop in agony as her new regeneration rapidly clotted the wounds and started growing the limbs back.

“PALU~!” Another deafening thunder silenced Crescent, and the hydra began rampaging wildly in search of the Sniper.

“What the fuck was that!?” Palutena exclaimed as she cried tears of pain as her enhanced healing factor kicked in, and she frantically rubbed her belly with her still intact claw in the hope her foals were okay, before she got up onto her remaining legs. Palutena began moving in a zig zag to avoid sniper fire, teleporting at random, she let out a roar as she gathered for another shot and spotted a gleam coming from the distance, an obscene distance away from the battle. A bullet grazed her flank, tearing out a chunk of her flesh thanks to whatever enchantment the gun had to have to be that effective at such a range.

Palutena grit her teeth and fired the beam in the general direction of the sniper, not waiting for a full charge hoping to hit whoever it was, another explosion erupted and obscured her vision. Then she screamed as her other claw was shot off, sending her crashing to her chest. She wept and tried to move, scared she was about to die, her babies about to die with her, when Avarice roared in glee, and numerous gunshots informed her that Avarice had engaged the sniper.

Palutena whimpered and closed her eyes, letting her healing stop the bleeding before she began to try and cast her healing magic.

[ Asphyxious PoV ]

[What the difference between a king and his horse? Form, Ability and Power! If they’re the same, why is it one becomes the king and leads them into battle? While the other becomes the horse and carries the king? There only one answer, INSTINCT!]

Darkness! Pain! No sound! No sight! Pain, so much pain! ‘Wait…’ A stray thought crossed what was left of my mind, as my body was panicking. Damage! Need stop bleeding! Missing! Pain! Fight! Kill! Danger! ‘Wait... ‘ Another thought as my mind was slowly getting in order from inside my heart stone. My body was moving I knew that, but I could not see or hear. ‘STOP!’ I commanded as my body stopped moving.

I could not see, hear, or smell. But I could still feel, the dirt under my body, the heat from the fires. And the pain, around my neck-wait… No, my head was gone. ‘WHY IS MY HEAD GONE!?!’

The fear from before was replaced by anger, I wanted to growl but had no throat to make the sound. First things first, I needed my body to stop the blood loss. Once that was dealt with, I had to deal with a big problem. I needed to see, no I needed a skull!

I used my blight to speed up the cells in my body to grow faster and replace missing bone and muscle. Slowly or quickly, depending on how you look at it, but to me my skull was slowly reforming itself, the first thing that was restored was my eyeless site. Then once the muscles and tendons were attached to my new jaw, I began eating the dead yaks to speed up my recovery.

Good MUM these guys tasted good!

Once the brain was reformed and I was sure that all of my senses were working. I looked at the horrified yaks that had just seen me regenerate my own head. That small amount of time without a head was just like when I was imprisoned. I growled savagely at them before hearing the sound of gunshots. Now I understand how I was nearly killed, a sniper! I then ran off into the dark, I needed to find this sniper and kill him! I will not rest until I eat his heart!

[ $ ]

Crescent snapped his jaws at RIP, who dared to shoot his beloved, who dared to try and kill his lover so soon after they had just started. He could only hope she was safe as Avarice pressed RIP as hard as they could, to keep him occupied while the army was recovering from Palu’s Photon Breath, which really they should just start retreating. “What does it take to END YOU?!” Avarice screamed at RIP, who dodged another stream of mixed fires, and shot them in the chest with his overpowered rifle. They tried to ignore how utterly effective that was in hurting them.

“You know I cannot die until I cleanse Hyperion from this world! I will rise as many times as it takes!” RIP roared as he fired at Crescent’s neck, causing him to go limp, enraging Ava and Sharp into charging him. From the shadows Asphyxious lunged and bite into RIP’s Sniper rifle, destroying it. Asphyxious’ small victory was replaced by rage, when RIP shot him with a huge magnum pistol. It wasn’t enough to kill the dragon, but it did make him pull back. Then the utter agony of the acid in the bullets hit him, and he retreated as he tried to recover.

Then, to rub it in, he simply respawned the revolver/lever-action super-sniper from his Echo. “Moron. When a weapon is registered in an Echo’s Equip Slot, you just reconstruct it.” RIP then casually jumped away from two streams of different-colored flames and shot Sharp’s head off at the neck with only one arm, leaving Avarice screaming in rage before his severed partner heads fell off completely, and spawned two of each Crescent and Sharp, the double Light and Dark hydra heads hissing ferally. “Oh right, Hydra. Forgot that tidbit.”

“Here comes Trouble!” Crescent screamed as his two heads both spewed Whitefire. “Make it Double!” Sharp’s heads echoed before adding their Void flames, the polar elements causing violent roiling and bubbling explosions that RIP avoided like a pro, before he was cut off by Avarice’s normal dragonfire, and he lobbed several grenades randomly around. “Asphyxious! Run!” Avarice screamed in fear as the numerous explosives silently burst into green acidic missiles that casually homed in on them both.

Asphyxious had recovered from the first bout of acid, and was definitely not willing to face even more because of his biomechanical nature. Being an Iron Dracolich was a drawback sometimes. However, it had upsides, like wings to easily leap away from danger at the drop of a hat, causing the missiles that went for him to lazily turn on Avarice instead, who roared in incredible agony as dozens of the green acid projectiles bored clean through them, turning red as they exited and flew back towards RIP.

“Once again, you don’t even fight like a real warrior. More like a beast on the Pandoran plains than any civil creature.” RIP taunted, the hypocritical monster cupping a puddle of acid, and licking it from his claw. “Mm, so rich in proteins.”

“Gloat...while...you...can….” Avarice weakly rasped, the several holes burned clean through them having destroyed several organs that were taking their time regenerating. “You...cheap...bastard….”

“Cheap? Me? I’m the one putting effort in here! I can’t turn into a giant beast!” RIP said as he strolled confidently towards Avarice, who struggled weakly to try and get up, to move, fear in all of their eyes. “Oh well. Once I Corrupt you, then I’ll move on to that island paradise you’ve commandeered.”

“Hey sir pukes a lot!” Asphyxious yelled. “Afraid to take down someone who can fight back? He’s no fun, I on the other hand can go a round or two more.” Asphyxious shouted as he bolted between Avarice and RIP.

“Ax, no! He’s obsessed with acid! You’re weak to it!” Avarice managed to croak out as the hole in his neck finished stitching together.

“I don’t care! You’re my friend and I’ll be damned if I let this prick kill my friend!” Asphyxious growled as blood dripped from his wounds.

“Hmph, right. This’ll be over quick.” RIP declared, bulking up, his muscles practically straining his hide as green acid started pouring from his very pores as his claws extended grotesquely, like Wolverine’s original bone claws, only from his existing ones. “When I’m done with you, you’ll be little more than a puddle of proteins for me to drink.”

“There an old saying, know yourself and your enemy and you will never lose.” Asphyxious replied with a smile. Before casting ice wall in front of him. Only to jump back when RIP literally barrelled through it like a disgusting space-dog missile and swipe at where his head had been just a second prior.

“Sorry! Not losing my head again thank you!” Asphyxious yelled before casting hellfire next, sending a bolt of blue fire at RIP, who just tore through it with his claws, barely being fazed as his acid rapidly evaporated into a deadly acidic gas from the heat.

“You’re just making it worse!” Sharp Snapped, having recovered enough to breath her cold Void flames to prevent RIP from gutting Asphyxious.

“That the idea!” Asphyxious yelled before pulling out a LMG from his ECHO before using it on RIP.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha~! You call that peashooter a gun?!” RIP demanded, his powerful shield just taking all the bullets before he took out a pieced-together monstrosity that looked liable to blow itself up, and the acidic gunk spewing out of some pipes on it didn’t help. “THIS IS A GUN!” He started unloading a ridiculous spread of high-caliber bullets that stitched a line of holes across Avarice’s body, making them scream in agony as RIP trailed the bullet hose after Asphyxious as he ran. “Dance! Dance little man!”

“Chill out.” Asphyxious said with a smile before getting three rounds into his body, forcing him to cast blizzard, obscuring RIP’s vision. Even though he was now in a mini blizzard there was a strange light coming from behind RIP. By the time RIP notice and looked back, it looked like a mini sun was heading straight for him.

“Clever boy.” RIP grunted before impact, and ragdolled across the area, cursing obscenities as he rolled through the snow and slush that was rapidly melting from the heat Palutena’s earlier attacks had let off in the distance. “Gah! Good one! But try this!” RIP declared, summoning a rocket launcher and fired it into the air, the missiles bursting into smaller cluster missiles, and then homing in on Asphyxious rapidly.

“Well this is going to hurt.” Asphyxious said to himself as he wrapped his wings around himself when the missiles hit, bursting in even more acid. Then he seethed in pain as he moved, hearing another volley of micro-missiles inbound, barely avoiding the hail of caustic explosives behind him in a trail. “You need a better hobby!”

“What could be better than explosives and acid?! Ha-ha-ha~!” RIP crowed as he fired even more of the homing micro-missile rockets, until he ran out. “Ah~...the boom is always worth it.” RIP purred as he put away his odd launcher.

“You need help.” Asphyxious said throwing a rock at RIP that hit him in the back of the head, which just clacked off his natural bone armor. “Five points!” Asphyxious chard before running again.

“Did you seriously just throw a rock at-?!” A maw full of teeth closed around his upper torso. “Oh fuck.”

“MISS ME MUTHAFUCKA?!” Avarice roared as Crescent lifted the flailing RIP into the air, Sharp snapping her jaws on his lower half, and they pulled. It was a sickening sight, seeing RIP scream and twitch as the two hydra heads yanked and tugged as his body was slowly Ripped in half. After several horrible seconds, they finished pulling him apart, and spat him out.

RIP persisted though, even ripped in half, he desperately tried to avoid being rezzed. He gasped, and gurgled in death throes as he still tried to kill them with his pistol, shooting them in the chest impotently. Avarice, honestly? Felt horrible for him. He had no choice in this. Neither did Leon, or any other Agent of Corruption. Avarice simply watched, visibly disheartened instead of triumphant over putting RIP down for the third time.

“Gak...don’t...fucking...pity...me….” RIP weakly demanded mere moments before he dissolved into motes of purple light, and vanished.

“...We need a way to free them.” Avarice mused sadly, referring to all Agents of Corruption.

“How about neither? I’m calling in the badass!” Avarice’s blue fire-rimmed portal appeared before them, and they growled in annoyance at hearing the summoning call.

“FUCKING DAMN IT~!” Avarice roared, reverting their colors to pure black and red to hide their affinities, and charged into the portal.

Asphyxious, meanwhile, was panting, and recovering slowly from his numerous grievous acid wounds. “I’m going to find a pub and get a drink.”

[ ? ]

Palutena looked around, It was dark and she couldn't see.

[Do not go gentle into that good night,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.]
Echoed a female voice through the void.

“No! I will not go quietly into that good night, I have too much to live for, for some bastard with a sniper rifle and a vendetta to end me! That mortal thinks he can strike me down!” she growled, an intense rage filled Palutena as she began to hear a heartbeat slowly beat faster and faster, Palutena opened her eyes she was now standing with her body regenerating. Ripples of light pulsed from below her.

Slowly her body morphed and changed, light green scales completely replaced her coat followed by a layer of white feathers formed over the top and all the way down her legs. Her single pair of dragonwings grew feathers and changed shape, looking like huge white falcon wings to match the other pair that had also changed into falcon wings. The primaries on her wings slowly gained green highlights on the tips of the feathers, as both sets of wings increased in span and width.

Palutena’s neck lengthened slightly as did her mane lengthen, it's color faded to white as her muzzle curved into a beak. Which was then filled with razor sharp teeth. Her muzzle extended and formed completely, her horn now sat on her snout had lengthened and was thickening at the base as it curved more.

Two more horns formed on both sides of her crest and swept back. Her body was lithe, not an inch of unneeded fat, not even on her harder-to-notice baby bump, scales grew harder and thicker, her tail became more feathered rather than fringed with hair. The color of her eyes changed to silver with blue and green highlights as another pair of eyes appeared slightly above and behind the first pair. Both eyes blinked as she got used to how her new pair of eyes enhanced her vision. Finally her body shifted into a more anthropomorphic form and stance, growing Double E cup breasts and her torso and spine becoming more humanoid in shape and her forelegs and claws shrunk forming arms and hands. Her hips were just as wide however, even as she stood on her powerful scaled claws.

She blinked now that she looked like an anthro dragoness, obvious as her tits were buffeted by the freezing wind. Palutena ran her new still-scaled hands over her needy body, she was now a giantess easily measuring up to Avarice’s preferred fourteen feet, possibly more. ‘Damn how many damn transformations am I going to go through!? What is this, an episode of Dragonball Z!?’ A breeze hit her hard and despite her nudity the cold didn't bother her anyway due to her body’s unrelenting and raw heat, both literal and figurative.

Palutena rose her head to the sky and let out an earth rending piercing roar that half sounded avian as well as draconic, a powerful thing to strike pure terror in lesser entities. She sucked in air and magic, like she did before. Once her breath was fully charged, she strained as that wasn’t enough. A javelin, likely from a ballista, ricocheted off her scales and barely ruffled her lustrous plumage, as she sucked in more, forcing her body to accept more power and a second charge level, she breathed so deep it looked like her torso was puffing up painfully, pushing her bosom out as she forced her lungs to expand uncomfortably.

The regular large ball of light gained several thick rings around it, as Palutena aimed at the battlefield and fired. A huge twenty foot beam, easily twenty times the size of her first beam swept across it, followed by a chain reaction of explosions. Palutena’s new ears picked up the screams as the yak’s army was engulfed in light and explosive fire. As the beam swept over the battlefield, she realized that RIP was gone, and so was Avarice, so she ceased the beam once she ran out of breath for it, and panted.

Palutena didn’t notice that her expenditure of such intense energy evaporated all the snow for miles in all directions and made the city feel like it was summer as she flapped her wings in tandem, lifting off the tower and roaring as she did. She had utterly destroyed the army and was left with no targets for her fury. Except Asphyxious, but the lug hadn’t done anything to earn her ire, so she just settled for firing weaker blasts into the distant frozen mountains, vaporizing the ancient glaciers and causing massive rainstorms to rapidly build from all the gasses her disintegrating attacks were causing, making the Emerald City experience the first actual rainfall of its long history.

Rain tinted red with all the organic compounds that she’d turned to gas and erased from the solid and liquid states poured from the skies like a waterfall. It was literally raining blood.

Palutena hitched, feeling disgusted as what she’d done hit her, covered in the ichor of her victims, the red rain turning her vibrant white hair and features brown, streaking down her lustrous green scales, and making her look like a sick monster. She convulsed, disgusted with herself and sank to the destroyed landscape she’d devastated, already flooding and turning to mud.

Before she could even start properly self-remonstrating, she felt a powerful body behind her, hugging her around the waist firmly and with love. Avarice curled their three heads over her shoulder, whispering sweet nothings into her ears as his strong arms held her, and she wept.

[ ? ]

Palutena sat in her hotel room, contemplating on her actions as the ponies of Emerald City were partying in the street, their crystal bodies painted shades of red and brown by the ichor, turning the sight into a disgusting and hellish thing to her eyes in spite of the genuine revelry. Even the gleaming green architecture of the whole city was stained shades of brown from the persistent and flood-causing deluge that had lasted since yesterday.

A newspaper whacked her in the face, the odd crystal-fiber paper immune to the ravages of liquids which it had been wiped clean of before being brought inside. Blinking she found Ava looking at her with a glare, “Look at the front page of the local paper.”

Frowning in confusion, Palutena read the headline; Ultra Rare Light Dragoness Saves Emerald City. Yesterday during an attack launched by Yakslovia, a feathered dragoness of light obliterated the encroaching army’s forward forces. Reward given for successful capture or location of the den of the Dame’s endangered species for breeding and preservation, as well as for nominal reward to the Dame for her aid in dire times.

Hunters from around the empire gather to seek and capture rare dragons!

Story cont, pages 3 & 4. Also on page 5 average dragon breaks into pub and drinks everything, been seen to sing badly. Guards are on the lookout because the dragon looks badly injured.

Seeking Light Dragoness giantess for crimes of public indecency and making mares feel inadequate, to pay small fines in consideration for her services to the country. Identifying features are a feathered and scaled body, Double E cup breasts which at her stature are the size of small mares curled into a fetal position, quad-wings in form atypical to dragons of Avian descent.

Light Dragoness Cult Surfaces, Preaching that her appearance signals the time for ascension is upon us! Full story on page 6.

Super-Ultra Rare Tri-Elemental Dragon Confirmed! Zoologists declare potential breeding between the Tri-dragon and the Light Dragoness could revolutionize Dracology! Overheard declarations of attraction support theory. More on Page 6.

Palutena looks up and see’s that Ava’s eyebrow is twitching in silent anger, “Oops?” Palutena said looking sheepish. “I wonder how they’d react if they found out you birthed me and was also having my kids?” Palutena mused with a lopsided smirk. She’d used her magic to polymorph into an anthro pony with enough luster to pass for a crystal pony, especially in all the muck outside. When the ECGD had tried apprehending her and Avarice they fled and quickly came up with disguises.

Asphyxious meanwhile looked like a mess, cuts everywhere. Scales missing and even one of his wings was broken. But he had a content smile on his face, or he was passed out. It was hard to tell as the city doctors that had worked on him gave him some really potent drugs. They were easily able to sneak him into the hotel since he wasn’t as high-profile as Palutena and Avarice had been, even though Avarice was only spotted as a Tri-Dragon after the metaphorical dust had settled, their hydra form only speculated upon as most of the ECGD had been rallying behind the walls at that time.

“I hurt… Everywhere… I want my mum....” Asphyxious groaned as he was laying in the other bed of the hotel room when he slowly woke up. “And my head won’t stop hurting….” It took Asphyxious a while for him to notice all the gifts that were around him. The lug had earned enough goodwill the hotel staff had kept leaving random trinkets and thank-you cards at the door. “What the hell happened last night?”

He tried looking at the annoyed and abashed duo of Ava and Palu then remembered, he had no eyes. So Asphyxious used his blight to grow one to replace his right eye. Now that he could see in color, he was surprised by all gifts he’d gotten. One nurse in the hospital had even kissed his cheek with obnoxious red lipstick that he rubbed at, familiar to the sensation of lipstick on his person.

“Okay… Might as well roll with it.” He said as he picked up one of the many gifts and looks at it. Asphyxious stopped and purred as the first gift he grabbed was of a really lewd pictograph with a number on it.

“Palu, I love you, but if you’re going to be visiting, or if I’m going to be visiting, you’ve got to get your power under control.” Crescent’s voice coming from Ava’s lips, and her golden eyes told Palutena that Crescent was controlling Avarice’s main avatar at the moment. Before Palu could respond, Crescent moved in, squishing their humongous breasts together and purring. “But damn, if you being all old-testament isn’t hot.” She stretched her neck to bridge the distance caused by their busts and kissed her softly. “You’re a serious find.” Her eyes flashed red, and Ava’s green eyes were there now. “And I would know. I’m a Merchant.” Ava purred in her cockney accent.

“Speaking of that, I heard you're a craftsperson as well, that happens to be one of my domains, perhaps I can grant you a boon to boost your crafting skills and or your luck,” Palutena replied after returning the kiss Crescent gave her. Then she sighed, “and I know I need to control my power, hell sometimes my power leaks out of every orifice, I have even heard from eavesdropping on my guards, that I would be even more powerful if not for mental blocks causing me to unconsciously limit my power. And that scares the hell out of me mom, Crescent! Seriously, if my limited power vaporised several thousand tonnes of flesh and snow enough to alter the biome we are in, into its polar opposite,

just how much power do I really command, that’s not even counting what I get from worshippers or what i’d have access to once I finally reverse engineer Tirek’s magic siphon spell. I am a goddess of light, wisdom and craftsmen, that got a power boost and then turned into a living photon laser, Oh and let’s not ignore the voice in my head that triggered my full draconic transformation in the first place!” Palutena exclaimed and threw up her hands in frustration. “And not to mention that my power leaking is likely a direct consequence of my mental block!” Palutena pouted.

“Honey, where are you going?” Ava demanded in a motherly fashion, getting Palutena to pause slightly, before continuing to the door.

“To get some air.” Palutena went to the door of their room, intent on leaving for some fresh air, well as fresh as can be expected in blood rain and forgetting that she was naked. As she left through the door and stood in the hallway-.

“You get back in here and put clothes on young lady! I’m not having any daughter of mine go out in the buff. I’m enough of an exhibitionist for the whole family.” Ava demanded with a tone that brooked no argument, this caused Palutena to turn and begin to respond with an embarrassed blush just as a sapphire crystal mare who wasn’t looking where she was going, grinning and laughing as she was running backwards impacted Palutena and disappeared inside her as Palutena’s body rippled from head to toe.

The force from the impact knocked her back into the room, spinning and landing on her back on the floor, her eyes wide in shock. “Whoa? Wha…. Aarrghhh!” she screamed curling into a ball as pain wracked her body, as her coat turned sapphire and she felt her magic and strength rise in a big leap. Her eye’s widened even further as her mind was flooded with memories and knowledge, including the final moments of the mare who’d crashed into her. Still wide eyed she stared blankly at the ceiling as tears streamed down her face.

“There’s nothing left of her,” Palutena muttered, “She doesn’t exist anymore. My mass didn’t even increase. Was she that insignificant? But I have never felt so alive, so full of energy. it’s like it took the good parts and just converted the rest of her into energy. She didn’t even have time to struggle.” She continued to mutter, as Ava panicked and pulled her back into the room and laid her on the bed. Then ran to close the door, hoping nopony saw what happened, intent on silencing any witnesses.

“What am I?” Palutena asked no one in particular, “I remember her foalhood, the first time she had sex, everything she learned. Those times she would secretly masturbate to a photo of Princess Celest..,mmmph,” a hand covered Palutena’s mouth interrupting her spiel and letting go once she stopped and her eyes locked onto Ava.

Palutena looked at Ava like she could make sense of the world,” Help me mommy.” it was a simple heartfelt plea for information, anything that she could latch onto in the maelstrom that was now her mind.

“My poor baby.” Ava whispered as she moved to her distraught daughter, holding her and pushing her head as deep into her cleavage as possible. “Did you consume her soul baby? If you didn’t, I could resurrect her...it’d just be really tough without a body to do it with.” Sharp’s voice came out, her eyes amber, and filled with sorrow.

“It's gone…. no soul….gone…..gone,” she repeated over and over.

“Hold still baby. Just a test.” Sharp said, splitting off a small child-sized version of Sharp, who jumped up into the air, and landed on Palutena. The avatar was absorbed instantly, and Palutena screamed in agony of the Darkness permeating her being, along with the agonizing and cruel memories of Sharp in entirety nearly drove her mad. Sharp was the opposite of any decent mare, a verifiable monster with very few redeeming qualities, a mare she wouldn’t have hesitated ending instead of the mercy Ava gave her

She whimpered as her body changed into a gray thestral, tears pouring from her eyes. “Hm, that was...nice, actually. Dying is very therapeutic.” Sharp quietly uttered, her gaze clouded, a peaceful smile on her face.

“Really!? It just scared the bejeezus out of us!” Crescent’s voice said, shuddering, Ava panting in fear. “The Darkness...so peaceful...can never have it….” Ava lamented in horror, hugging Palutena as her curse of Perfect Recall repeated the instant of her first death to her in perfect sensation. “Sharp...any clues as to how her absorption works?”

“Fuck if I know, hit her.” Sharp said, raising an arm and stabbing clean into Palu’s chest, her arm sank in like Palutena was liquid, and she cooed as she moved her arm around in her like she was a pool of water, making Palu gasp and shudder from the sensation, unknowable if it was pleasure or pain. “One-way. Hitting her with enough force pretty much caused her to absorb whatever touches her, aw, no more sex for you Palu. You’re a man-eater now.”

“Poor baby. We can...Bargain to weaken you.” Ava offered, her voice broadcasting her sudden greed. “Take some of that tremendous power off your hands~...give it to us~....” Ava purred enticingly, snapping off her absorbed limb and simply regrowing a new one. “To absorb anyone, without even having to eat them first? Something we’ve wanted for a while.”

“Ava, you are not trying to bully my lover into a Deal, are you?” Crescent demanded, only for Ava to chuckle darkly.

“Not at all~! If anything, I’m asking for what she so foolishly took from mommy back. This isn’t normal for you dear. C’mon~. Won’t you let Mommy have her Toy?” Ava urged, her red glowing eyes starting to overtake Palutena’s, only for the goddess of Light to snap her eyes shut and shudder, shaking her head, making Ava sneer. “Oh c’mon, don’t be such a child. Mommy can make the pain go away.”

Palutena shot up placed her glowing hands on Ava’s head and poured copies of the sapphire mare’s and Sharp’s memories into her mind.

“Do you now understand what you ask Mom!?” Palutena demanded.

“Yes. And I still want her.” Ava stated seriously. “Such a sweet girl. She would’ve been delightful company. Especially since I’m already with Celestia.”

“Even if it means you won't be getting her at all? I don't know about you but I don't hear any extra voices in here.” Palutena pressed, pointing to her head, and making Avarice back away.

“...So that’s what we are huh? Extra voices?” They all asked from one echoing voice at once. Looking sad, and they got up, turned, and moved to the door.

“No! I didn't mean it like that it's difficult to explain, you all exist but what happened in me, she didn't exist she ceased to be totally,” Palutena tried to explain.

“Memory, is the Key Palu. Souls are more than just energy. They can be defined by the world around them, the events, Memories that shaped them. You are that mare now, even if you don’t hear any more voices, feel any different. Goodbye. Have a good day.” Avarice sadly uttered as they closed the door. “I still love you….” They whispered through the door, leaving with quiet and subdued steps.

“Well that went down the toilet fast.” Asphyxious commented with a cringe.

Palutena just heaved a heavy sigh as the stress was getting to her.

[ ? ]

Asphyxious left Palutena and Ava to their own devices, meanwhile he was going to find out who this mare was who left him her number. And more importantly why she did that. It took him awhile to find his way around the city, but once he found it thoughts were swimming around his head. Who was this mare? Why did she leave him that photo of herself? And lastly should he take her out to diner? By the time he was done thinking he found the door and knocked on it.

“Hello?” Asphyxious said as he wait outside the door. He looked at the photo again to make sure he had the right address.

“Well~. Hey there~....” Came the husky voice of a mare, and Asphyxious looked up to see a fit young mare of dusky tones and strong red eyes, her short spiky mane looked like hardened clear amber crystals on top of her soft golden fur. She wore a full dress robe that failed to hide her hourglass shape, and she smirked when she noticed him eyeing her.

“Wow… I take it you wanted to see me?” Asphyxious asked staring at her. He had no idea what drawed this mare to him, he also sniffed the air and could smell no one else in the room with her.

“Yes, come inside. I have need of your natural talents.” She stated seriously, gesturing him to come inside her abode, which was almost like a New York City townhouse as he closed the door behind him. “Please, take a seat in the living room while I put some proper clothes on and get some tea.”

“Alright.” Asphyxious replied as he sat down. He took the time to look around, and noticed how most of what was indicating his hostess’s personal life were popular magic theories and what was clearly a photo of her parents.

“Sorry for the mess, but my decision to try and reach out to a fellow magister was on a whim.” The mare said as she entered, now wearing a humble tunic that hugged her very attractive figure, and placed down a platter holding a pot of tea and two cups.

“That was fast.” Asphyxious comments with a little intrigue, since he wasn’t sitting down for more than a couple of minutes.

“Magic.” She said coyly with a weak snort at her poor humor. “Regardless, I was in one of the taller buildings when the battle happened, and I had a spyglass on me, so imagine my surprise to see a dragon casting spells with an ease most mystics couldn’t hope to ever obtain.”

“Well it’s actually quite easy, so long as you memorize the spell matrices or the invocations. It’s best really to keep the core intent of the spell in mind, and from there-.” Asphyxious wasn’t expecting an intellectual meeting, but it was a refreshing change of pace.

Of course they banged later that evening, but up till then his hostess by name of Amber Armistice was a delightful intellectual to speak with. And the magically stimulated orgasms too, but that wasn’t as important as the fact that for once, Asphyxious appreciated his partner’s brain more than their body, well, aside from Twilight, you can’t ignore that brain.

[ $ ]

“Oh~! How do you have technology this advanced~!” Ava panted for what had to be the fifth time in recent memory, gasping as her nigh-endless flows of milk were being pulled from her engorged breasts with the mystic milk pump’s suction. It was relentless, almost purely mechanical in its ruthlessness on her poor mammoth boobs, but the cup’s rubber rather than glass composition made wet sucking noises that were very arousing.

“I don’t know where you’re from missy, but we’ve had mystics cooking up weird contraptions for years. When cows got tired of being hand-milked since it’s always cold up here, they made milkers to speed up the process. But….” The plain stone-toned stallion who worked manual labor for the pub she was selling her milk to at the moment looked at her in bemusement. “You’ve got more milk than any mare, or cow for that matter we’ve had donate.”

“Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment.” Ava panted as she was bent over a padded sawhorse to support herself, her pendulous bosom hanging under her and being milked constantly. She’d already filled two barrels, on her way to a third. “Hey, big boy. Mind giving me a bit of attention back there?” She asked enticingly with a grin, flicking her tail to the side so her robe-covered but completely revealing rear was exposed.

“It’s not exactly polite to fuck a mare while she’s milking.” The stallion excused weakly, crossing his legs, and Ava cooed as she wiggled her ass at him.

“It’s not impolite if it’s requested, is it?” She rhetorically asked, and the stallion sighed.

“What is it with milkmares and their milking?” The stallion asked in resignation, clearly too used to horny milkmaids asking to be serviced.

[ ? ]

Come the next morning, with a snap of her fingers Palutena was clean and covered up in an outfit, black cotton figure hugging pants tucked into black knee high boots, a bustless crimson red waistcoat over a black ruffled blouse. A book hung from the left side of a thick tan leather belt with a right thigh pouch, it also held various vials some of which well filled. Two armbands with three pockets each, one on each arm and a pair of black gloves made of cotton. A pair of brass goggles with a set of magnifiers on the right side, a black hooded cloak finished the outfit, with even more pockets. A satchel bag also hung on her right side.

“Me and a relay have some business tonight, better not keep it waiting.” Palutena said, rubbing her very obvious baby bump through her clothes. Palutena sighed though as her current form took no energy to maintain anymore,’her Sapphire coat the only visible thing to denote the mare who, by a sick twist of fate is consigned to the oblivion that is my soul, with no afterlife, no peace, no nothing besides memories that are mine now. To denote she even existed at all.’

[Oh finally, we got through!] Came the same voice from before.

<>

[Guilty as charged, I am Lux, the dominant plaga that will become a part of you.]

<> Palutena demanded

[Of Course I am, just as much as you are. What happened is simple, you assimilated her, took her best qualities and converted the rest as energy and life force. Sharp's test last night caused issues to arise, for instance, you gained Darkness as an Aspect which had slowed down our adapting to this body as we had to relearn how to control what had changed. I wonder if Rin will be happy that she no longer needs to fear us or perhaps she can even teach us healing? You did say you wanted more healing spells, didn't you. Another change that dragoness is now our true form, however it is not our final one, we are still evolving, choose who to consume carefully and I shall continue to be your guide.]

<>

[Think of it like this, you have enemies yes? You Displaced always do, so absorb them, steal their knowledge, power and abilities for yourself. Maybe that RIP fellow if he yet lives, finish him completely by assimilation.]

Ava shook her head, “Hey! That’s not fair! Why do you get to make things with a snap of your fingers when we have to summon pre-existing things~!” She pouted, having returned sometime in the night as Palutena slept. They seemed to have put yesterday behind them, ignoring the issue entirely. Palutena didn’t like it, but she figured if the unusual woman was willing to ignore the events of yesterday, then she might as well not make an issue of it just yet.

[That's our domain, well one of four of them.]

“Goddess of Crafting, Mom. I can make anything I want, granted, with a single snap of my fingers or if I am feeling particularly trollific, wiggling my nose like Shantae. I prefer to get my hands dirty and do things manually, when I have the time though.”

“Want dante’s rebellion sword?” she asked rhetorically before clicking her fingers and a perfect copy of rebellion appeared in her gloved hands and then tossed it to Ava who fumbled to catch it, quickly, and rather disturbingly, squeezing it between her breasts and licking the tang of the blade in excitement. Only to be shocked by the lighting that burst from it, making her shiver in masochistic ecstasy.

“The only drawback? Experimentation and new designs have to be done manually first.” Palutena kept explaining.

“Hang on weren’t you just upset you caused genocide? Then murder?” Ava asked in confusion.

[Hard to care, when the idiots attack us. And that was not murder, that mare has become part of our greater whole, she should feel privileged! That is, if she wasn’t us, hm, so she does feel privileged? Mind we change every time we absorb someone.]

“Sorry about that. I have been moping about when there is still work to do,” Palutena added in self deprecation. “Not to mention there is no bringing them back without injecting them into Ava and I will not do that, it is unfair on her,” Palutena muttered under her breath.

“You know we’d do it for you in a heartbeat.” Avarice whispered softly, sadly. “What’s another mind in this mess, huh?” They weakly chuckled, without any mirth. Palutena kissed Ava surprising her.

“I know you would, but that doesn't mean you should.” Palutena replied softly before kissing her again, getting them to groan into her lips, “I love you and I am not going to become a burden on anypony, especially you three er four sorry Lyra,” Palutena held them as they cried softly, hugging her tightly.

“Yeah...yeah….” Avarice shuddered, wracked with silent sobs. “We’re such a mess. We need others to keep us grounded, constantly. It’s why being away from Tia, Luna, Sonata, Zerona. Little Chryssie, Missy, Ichor. Is so painful. It’s just...we need something to keep sane for, you know?” Avarice whimpered, backing away, wiping tears from her eyes that were rapidly changing colors.

“Yes, you are a mess but you are my mess” Ava deadpanned, “Okay that sounded better in my head,” Palutena commented wryly.

“It’s insanity, it’s madness. Trying to keep straight who we are? Sometimes, like now? We can’t keep our egos separate. But we’re not a whole. We’re just, broken little pieces of glass, who can’t fit together properly anymore. We need glue.” They hugged her again. “Would you be our glue? Or, at least Crescent’s?”

[This is Sparta!]

“I will, for all of you. You forget that part of why Crescent was depressed was because your herd only focused on Ava.” Palutena reminded, which only made Avarice shake their head.

“We collectively ignore, not forget. B-but what about ‘Tia?” Ava asked in shock, blushing fiercely at being invited to a completely separate herd.

“Which one specifically?” Palutena asked.

“Both! Tia is very possessive, I can easily see your ‘Tia being the same! I thought Crescent was the only one joining your ‘Tia’s herd!” Avarice said in shock and concern.

Palutena snorts, “No my ‘Tia isn't possessive, I told her upfront that if we were to date I'd likely build a herd with her, a proper one, no offense Ava but the whole multiple people loving one pony without also loving each other never works out. It's the basis of all love triangles. Which is why you should thank your lucky stars your mares managed to do so if only because of your absence and shared need.”

“Uh...they...kinda...all...ahem...each other. Constantly. They act around each other like they do with Ava.” Avarice informed in some confusion.

“That is likely due to pregnancy hormones, being horny as fuck and your fertility goddess powers being up in their grills, they don't specifically have a choice, seeing as your busy.” Palutena excused.

“Oh...so we won’t know their real feelings for each other until they pop out the foals. Got it...but...Luna isn’t preggers. At all. And she is the most ravenous with them from what my calls with Sonata say. And Sonata’s biomechanical, she’s resistant to me. Her whole thing was self-determined, and initial programming making the leap to true sentience.” Ava considered.

“Well Luna is pretty self explanatory, mom you’ve been blue-balling her. the last time you had sex was the first time you had sex!” Palutena explained in exasperation.

“Oh...oh GOG! She’s been wanting the D so long, and we haven’t obliged her?! We keep getting dragged off, or thrown into something when we’re about to-holy balls! We’ve gotta go home, and fuck her stupid ASAP!” Then Ava blinked. “No, wait, we did have sex when Missy was introduced. But...huh...it didn’t take? She’s still not pregnant...what’s wrong with us?” Ava asked herself, her perfect memory making her shudder from the specific thought processes and sensations. “Uh...she’s not infertile, we know she’s not...ugh...we’ve got so many relationship issues.”

“Hate to break it to you, she maybe a little infertile. It's not like you’ve boosted her fertility at all. So here's how it looks low fertility in Luna, plus no fertility boosting from you as I seem to recall when you were fucking Luna you were smaller and turned off your powers, add to that the infrequent sex. Well it's no surprise she isn't pregnant,” Palutena shrugged.

“Hm, yeah, she’s on constant contraceptive, so maybe that’s it? She is Equestria’s head honcho right now, she’s probably trying to keep herself foal-free until Tia’s back in the saddle. Metaphorically speaking.” Ava considered, sitting on the bed, pulling Palutena into her lap with a squeak. “Ugh, too much thinking! Want some milk?” Ava asked, holding a breast up in her robe towards a lightly blushing Palutena’s face.

[Denial is not just a river in the camel lands]

<>

“Just gonna poke one last hole in that contraceptive theory, 'Tia was on the strongest contraceptive spells and your first time you almost got Luna pregnant.” Palutena said before she wrapped her lips around the clothed nipple, which receded to reveal said nipple to Ava’s surprise, and started drinking, making Ava moan and run her hands through Palu’s hair.

“Y-yes, s-so what are you saying? That at s-some point-ha~....” Ava started panting as Palu began groping her other breast, causing milk to soak the black robe around her nipple as she pushed Ava onto her back on the bed, taking deep, hard sucks of her nipple, practically chugging Ava’s magic milk. “L-Lulu was struck with something that made her infertile? That we didn’t sense?”

Pausing, Palutena gave Ava a deadpan, “The only reason she isn't pregnant is you haven't been fucking her enough, while your godhead is released. And be careful, Luna may become Nightmare Moon due to perceived favouritism.”

“G-godhead? Is that a nickname for our-oh~....” Ava panted even harder as Palu grabbed her groin, and she grunted as her new, stable, enormous hermhood began extending under the robe, making her flush in arousal and surprise. “A-and who is Nightmare Moon?” She managed to get out, groaning as Palu clenched her thighs around Ava’s mast, the robe clinging to it like a second skin as the equine phallus extended a few inches past Palutena’s tight butt.

Palutena sighed, “what do you know of my little pony gen. four friendship is magic?”she asked, rubbing her thighs together, making Ava pant and wriggle under her. ‘Wow, having this sort of power over somepony in bed is kinda cute.’

“N-not this shit again. Asphy told us about that, in our world, it was more commonly known as Our Tiny Horses. My Little Pony was a rebrand that took off just before I was Displaced. I had no clue what it was at all.” Ava said, her green eyes shining through before getting lost in the blender of egos again. “Palu, Palu you’re-nnff….” Ava pleaded as Palutena squeezed her dick so hard in her thighs it hurt a bit.

“Well Ava, strap in because it's fucking true though you are in the unenviable position of being in the time period a thousand years or so before the show starts,” Palutena explains as her memories of the show play on a floating screen over Ava’s head so she could see it, getting comfortable, Palutena hugged Ava’s boobs like an odd pillow.

“Now despite your many derailments of the alpha timeline, there are several things that are immutable, Luna being possessed by Nightmare Moon; a Tantibus that took advantage of her jealousy towards her sister and how ponies ignored her beautiful night. It all comes to a head when she is fully possessed refuses to lower the moon, declares herself sole princess of equestria and then tries to kill Celestia. Celestia is then forced to use the Elements of Harmony to banish Luna to the moon, for a thousand years.” Palutena informed as she kneaded and played with Ava’s pillowy breasts.

“The absolute fuck?! That’s stupid! That’s just...so...what?!” Ava demanded, her boner rapidly flagging in her confusion, before redoubling in her rage.

“Emotions are rarely logical or all that intelligent, mom. It will happen unless you can stop it happening, not exactly doing a good job on that so far, Luna will be jealous of her sister the reasons this time being you. So instead of getting mad, do something to prevent it.” Palutena said, rubbing her thighs up and down around Ava’s turgid hermhood.

“Alright...are you going to take responsibility for this?” Ava demanded with grit teeth, grinding her length against Palutena’s groin, panting.

“What do you want me to do? If it helps Lulu I'd do anything to prevent that tragedy from happening, sadly I was Displaced after my Luna was banished so I couldn't do a thing.” Palutena said seriously, as if she wasn’t grinding her crotch against Ava’s dick.

“I meant, my ridiculously massive ladyboner! I’ll handle Lulu, but you’re driving me crazy Palu!” Crescent’s voice emerged out of the mess, her golden eyes desperate as her black crystal rapidly bleached white, her cheeks flushed, her red mane turning navy blue as she grinded her dick in Palu’s thighs. “I haven’t been male in weeks, I almost forgot how good, oh fuck….”

With a smirk and a roll of her eyes she grabbed hold of Crescent and dragged her further onto to the bed, and then straddled her tented 16-inch erection, which was impressive for a humanoid. “Well dear,” with a snap, her and Crescent's clothes disappear as she grabs her dick, placing the tip of her flared diamond horsecock at her entrance, a playful idea flits through Palutena's mind as she shifts the insides of her pussy to that of a dragoness but tighter, with a thrust down, Crescent's cock starts feeling alien sensations she wasn't expecting. “Let’s share the responsibility.”

“H-holy fuck! Did you give your pussy tongues?!” Crescent squealed, gasping as Palu’s unique vagina sucked on her like a really long mouth, making them both moan as Palu rapidly descended until their groins met. “Wow! W-we’ve gotta, unf, try this on our next stud!”

Palutena giggled, ”No silly, I just shifted my pussy into a smaller version of the one I have as a dragoness.”

“S-so Sonata’s pussy is accurate?! W-we thought it was just a unique design choice!” Crescent squealed as she humped Palu, sending her bouncing, the goddess moving with her to slide up and down the diamond dick.

“Faust seems like a stickler for realism, I mean an artificial womb is a tad extreme.” Palu replied as she grabbed Crescent’s nipples, causing her to yelp and squirt milk in scattered geysers as Crescent focused on kneading the Light/Dark goddess’s tight ass.

“I can...get...that! P-Palu. We can sterilize ourselves and cum in you if you want. That way, you get the full experience without getting even MORE preggers.” Crescent informed, humping faster, Palu laying down atop her, pressing their huge tits together to look Crescent in the eyes.

“Good cause like Lyra can't take anymore, neither can I!” Palutena replied, kissing her lover deeply as their groins slapped together fervently, Palu shivering as she felt her orgasm approaching, the way her baby bump rubbed against Crescent’s abs just riling her up even more.

“Hey Crescent want know something, try this!” Palutena squealed as she let herself slightly absorb Crescent's hips and genitals, while power filled her hands so she could send the memories of sensations into her. “Arousal gets transferred during the absorption process, so we both can experience double the orgasm from very different genitals,” Palutena explained.

[Do you really think that’s a good idea at the moment?]

“OH MY GOG~!” Crescent screamed in astonishment. “We’re fucking ourselves~!” Crescent squealed, shoving more of herself into Palu, melding their legs and hips, bellies, chests, their breasts practically fusing together as Palu’s breasts swelled and engulfed Crescent’s gigantic bosom. “A-are you going to eat us?” Crescent asked in a mix of horror and rapture as her arms were sucked into Palu’s shoulders, their noses pressing together as the sensations of their lovemaking permeated them.

[Well if we absorb her, you can’t blame me]

“No, I can control it, that sapphire mare caught me off guard so I absorbed absolutely all of her. if I get better I bet i could fuse with ponies but leave their minds intact so we could be one and fuck Ava at the same time.”

[You didn’t even know you could control it until I told you!]

“Palu~!” Crescent wailed as she pressed her face into Palutena’s, and they began merging, melting into a mass of indistinct form, before they suddenly were back to normal, screaming in utter rapture as Crescent flooded Palutena’s womb with sterile cum, blowing her belly up massively until she looked to term with her sextuplets. They stayed still for a few moments, utterly fucked stupid by the sensory overload.

[Whoa that is going take some time to assimilate oh geeze I am going to be so bloated on blanks]

Palutena relaxed in orgasm bliss as Crescent sunk into her, absorbed into her like liquid, leaving Palutena alone, seated on the bed and holding her enormous belly. Just in time Palutena caught herself and fused with Crescent, their body showing traits of both of them,

[Palu stop, if you relax during this she’ll disappear,]

Crescent’s diamond white blended with her sapphire as Palu’s breasts surged in size to Crescent’s bust size. “Ava put that dong to use, fuck us!” Cresutena demanded in a voice that sounded reminiscent of the dual tones of changelings while spreading her legs and her pussy, and an enormous equine dick came from her thighs like it was a second, inverted groin, burrowing into her pussy. Cresutena screamed as she fell onto her back, the dick getting bigger inside her, the balls attached to it began to swell immensely as they panted, eyes unfocused, grabbing their basketball-sized breasts in pleasure and rubbing their huge cum-pregnant belly as the disembodied penis thrust in and out in a fevered pace.

[Stop taking risks with our mate!]

“Yes! YES! Fuck me! Fuck me so hard I die~!” Cresutena screamed in excitement as the big diamond balls were stupidly swollen, and soon, the ridiculously large equine phallus began pumping cum into them, blowing them up even bigger, inflating them like a balloon on a water spigot, and after it was done, Cresutena laid there, completely drained, rubbing their balloon of a belly like it was a dream. “Oh me. No wonder I love being blown up and popped! Uh...I think I should...get us apart.”

[please stop...]

Palutena separated carefully from Crescent, the sapphire mare still buried to the hilt in Palu’s diamond pussy, Palu was just as big as before, looking like she was about to pop with decuplets or something, “That was amazeballs,” Crescent cheered. “It’s good you got our elasticity. All that sterile cum would’ve popped a normal mare.” Crescent giggled as she slapped Palu’s bloated white cum-belly. “Uh..Palu? Why am I sapphire?”

[Oh gog! You gave me a heart attack! If you’re going to practice, practice with a waif or a whore not our mate!]

Palutena blinked then chuckled sheepishly, “Here let me get that,” she said swapping their coats around to their respective owners.

[.......]

“Got kinda scary there, we’ll admit. We just all were one focused entity for a moment. That was...nice.” Avarice said as her body turned black again, the eyes the unfocused rainbow of colors again. “So...fuck Lulu, don’t get her preggers yet though because she’s got important duties. Keep her happy, and avoid the whole dream parasite thing, got it.” Then she stuck out her tongue. “You didn’t have to actually take our offer on the milk and start teasing us though. That’s on you, sly minx.”

[I wasn’t scared nuh uh, not at all…. Nope not scared. I WAS FUCKING TERRIFIED!!!!]

“Yep avoid the whole forever night time thing and the cold death of life on Equestria,” Palutena asserted as she rubbed her giant belly, it began shrinking however, soon leaving her with just her baby bump. “I really shouldn't tell you this Ava. You remember your stillborn dragon baby? He hatches one thousand years in the future, is named Spike or Barb if he turns out a she and they will live with Twilight Sparkle or Dusk Shine respectively who hatch them with their magic. and they are happy.” Palutena said, sitting up in Ava’s lap, still impaled on Ava’s dick.

[If you shouldn’t why are you? That’s on a need to know basis!]

“That’s...really, really sweet of you to tell us.” Avarice looked incredibly thankful. “So, all this potential future stuff aside.” Ava moved forward, pulling their groins flush together, grasping Palu’s hands with hers, looking her in the eyes. “What is it with you? You’re the most accepting of our bullshit we’ve ever met, and that’s including Asphy, who just brings in his own brand of bullshit.”

[Okay ignore me see if i care!]

<> Palutena snapped.

[is that before or after you tear out her heart by leaving?]

<>

[smug disembodied smile]

“I believe the phrase, be like water is appropriate here, go with the flow, hit an obstacle, chip away at it slowly or just go around it. water is adaptable.” At this, Ava leaned in and kissed Palu softly on the lips.

[Well not everyone can become like water like you can.]

<>

“Well, you’re a real tall, cold glass of water in a desert for us. Would it be alright, if we went with you and-.” Asphyxious teleported into the room looking as good as new, interrupting the moment, Palu thankfully clothing them with a snap of her fingers on impulse as the jumped away from each other and out of the bed.

[Booo that was a lame pun]

<>

When Palutena looked at what she had clothed Ava in she collapsed laughing, “Hey Ava are you in another castle?” Palutena smirked as she levitated a mirror in front of her.

[All hail Princess MELON!]

<>

Ava gasped and twirled in the frilly pink princess dress, her basketball breasts being perfectly supported by the corset underneath, making them seem even bigger in the dress’ plunging neckline, the white daisy at the end looking like it was going to be torn in half by the stress her breasts were pulling on the fabric, making it look like shear in some places. “Oh my gosh! This is so pretty~! Can I keep it?!” Ava gushed, holding the bell-skirt that barely needed a wireframe with how it flared from her wide hips, sending it flaring as she twirled.

[Must. Fuck. Mom,]

<>

“I suppose that's ok, not like I can't make an infinite amount of them,” Palutena shrugged, “ you look pretty in it though,” Palutena added.

[Wow what a way to devalue them, ever heard of supply and demand?]

“You guys have no idea the night I had, also found my old eyepatch.” He said with a smile. “You won’t believe all the stuff they gave me.” Asphyxious gushed, as if he wasn’t paying any attention to them, and Ava blushed before suddenly being garbed in her form-fitting black robe and outer corset, gathering herself so she didn’t appear different to Asphy.

[Said the executioner to those to be executed]

“Uh, Asphy, we saw you open some of the gifts yesterday before Palu and us had our spat.” Ava said in bemusement.

[Did he get separated from the special ed. group?]

“Oh, well. I gave some to Lyra to try and cheer her up.” Asphyxious replied with a grin.

[Lyra’s dead not much that could cheer her up except maybe our ability to ressu-Oh wait nothing to resurrect nevermind, completely Erased by Recoome’s Eraser Gun.]

Before Ava could reply to that, Palutena walked up to Ava, and planted a passionate kiss on her lips, which smished their bosoms together tightly, getting her ears to perk so hard they seemed to get a bit longer, and her body went rigid, “Before we get fully derailed, let me make this clear. I love you guys, Crescent, Ava and yes even Sharp. So don't take this the wrong way but you got lucky with your curse and I mean very lucky. I did a lot of experimenting last night,” Palutena started to explain.

[So are we trying that docking thing from that vandread anime?]

“We guess, since Memory Is the Key, we are lucky that’s most of what a Soul needs to form, or stabilize.” Avarice interrupted.

[stop going on about memory]

“But that's just it, souls do not materialise in me, they are absorbed by me, if the soul is everything what happens when that soul is absorbed into another, that soul becomes a part of it…” Palutena stressed, getting a nod from Avarice.

[Exactly souls are delicious, and they are super healthy for you, not so much for the donor.]

“Exactly. We were trying to tell you that you are that mare now. Everything she was, you are.” Ava insisted, getting Palutena to shake her head.

[No mom keeps ignoring my point because she’s in denial about the fact that she is the same person.]

“I am not done, let me finish,” Palutena said placing a finger over their lips, which they licked playfully, getting her to roll her eyes in exasperation.

“I do not get another person residing in my mind because my soul is unstable and what Sharp did made things a hundred times worse,” Palutena demonstrated by summoning dark in her left hand and light in her right hand. “I am now balance but I am also chaos. Anyone I absorb is not coming back, is not separate, is not their own person, but part of the light/dark maelstrom that now comprises my soul and oblivion is the destination.”

[I doubt she’ll get it, mom has stubbornly refused to believe us.]

“So~...Us without the multiple ego problem. That’s great!” They cheered, getting Palutena to sigh, and try to get them to understand only-. *Knock, knock, knock* Came the firm pounding on the door, getting everyone’s firm attention, and Ava quickly answered, beaming at the sight of two crystal guards. “Carne, Selene! Where’d you two disappear off to after Trabucco barged into the mayor’s office?”

[The first step is acknowledging there is a problem mom.]

“We led a SWAT team into the Relay, captured several suspects, and have tortured what they know from them.” Selene reported dutifully and seriously, even saluting to Ava, who was still using the form she chose to travel with, so was easily identified.

[Oh look it’s nymph and nympho.]

“Did you really need to do that?” Asphyxious asked as he was cleaning his cutlass on the other bed, having moved into the room once he was ignored again, he was getting used to it. “I’m sure we could have come to an understanding, as in have them talk or I eat them.”

[Where’s your caretaker Ax? We are here to help]

“That isn’t necessary. Our Methods are fantastic.” Carne said with a grim grin. “From what we extracted, we systematically rooted out the corrupt individuals, found the array that’s spreading something called a Null-slash-Misdirect around the region, destroyed it, and now the relay is properly spreading the Crystal Heart’s power north.”

[Eehh they’re a five.]

“Huh, So what were you guys doing while I was getting the five star treatment from the ponies?” Asphyxious asked. “You won’t believe how many rich ponies tried to get me to marry their daughters. Even telling them I was already married didn’t seem to discourage them.”

[Well I was enjoying myself by making snarky comments while I wait for everypony in the room to find that one braincell they have and use it.]

“Asphy, unless you want us to wrap you in a full gimp suit, you’re not going to touch yesterday with a ten foot pole.” Ava declared with a growl.

[Kinky! Too bad undead can’t feel anything]

<> Palutena warned.

[no you’re right he’s special dead badumtish!]

“What? I didn’t do anything yesterday. All I did was eat, sleep and heal.” Asphyxious explained. “Those ponies were annoying anyway, so I bolted the first chance I got.” He left out about meeting with the mare Amber, because if he started to explain they could be here for hours. Talking about magic theory. Also he didn’t want Ava investigating her, the mare didn’t deserve any of Ava’s attention, she’d just disrupt her life.

[Then where did you go to do something you clearly could’ve done here? He’s not telling the truth.]

“Well...we actually went and got milked. A lot. We didn’t want to think, so we went to every pub and sold our milk by the barrel. Getting milked is really enjoyable to us.” Avarice shrugged. “We figure since Die Leucht has either been routed or just outright forced to hide, no point in preventing our awesome goddess milk from getting distributed.” Ava hefted her huge tits impishly.

[I’m thirsty mommy!]

<>

Asphyxious gulped as he remembered something. “So… That why that drink was warm… Still tasted good.”

[How in tartarus’ anus did that freak of nature gulp with no throat muscles?]

“And alcoholic, aphrodisiac, and also fertility and virility boosting. How are you not jumping anything that has a pulse right now?” Ava asked curiously.

[I’m very, very thirsty. Can we have some mommy?]

Palutena licked her lips, feeling a little parched. <>

[Hey don’t blame me for being a deadpan snarker, blame that sharpy marker or Canada whichever floats your boat.]

“I was wondering that myself?” Asphyxious added as he thought about that. “Maybe my body built a residence to it or something? Or it could be because my heart stone is fully under my control now. After I killed the other three dragons living inside my heart stone.”

[Or maybe you’re dead and don’t have a pulse?]

“Good for you. We can’t do that because we’re all part of each other, rather than just a shell holding different entities.” Ava pouted in annoyance, before turning to the two guards. “Anyway, so, what’s the sitch? Am I under arrest again?” Ava teased with a bit of mirth, before the guards looked to each other sadly. “Oh c’mon! Seriously?!”

“I could join you if you like?” Asphyxious asked looking at his friend. “I could give you a back rub if it’ll help? You look like you need one.”

[no thanks we have a policy of not exploiting the mentally handicapped.]

“Argh, no. Just...go home, you’ve done enough. Next time though. Next time, I am tying you to a ceiling, and reaming your tight little ass, got it!” Sharp declared, getting Asphyxious to shudder at the memory of Ava doing just that, in the yet-to-happen-for-her future.

“Trust me, I’m all yours.” Asphyxious replied before giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Til then my friend… Umm, how do I get back home again?”

“Ugh, just Go Home!” Ava shouted, and Asphyxious vanished from existence, likely back to his world through Ava’s shrine. “Argh that stupid sexy lich! He get’s on my last nerve!” Ava then turned to Palutena. “I guess...it’s goodbye for now?” Ava asked sadly, looking lost.

[Different strokes for different folks i guess.]

“Yeah, I have get back to my world however I am not going alone,” Palutena cryptically assured.

“Remember what I said?’ Crescent’s voice asked, she fidgeted a bit. “I would love to be your cocksleeve….” Crescent softly muttered with a blush, rubbing a hoof into the carpet.

“Yes I remember which is why I am going to do this,” Palutena's hands dove into Ava’s body, through her breasts, causing the guards to balk as another pony was pulled from Ava’s body, the mare herself looking utterly astonished and shocked just as much as the equally-endowed nude white thestral mare Palutena had pulled out of her was.

[Huh? I take it back, I guess mom wasn’t crazy after all or the crazy is contagious. Note to self avoid Pinkie Pie to avoid a contact high.]

Palutena tossed Ava one of her shop orbs. “For my fictional spells made real store, Palutena's spells and a copy of my temple schematics and floorplan. Also here’s my staff token. You’ll be pleased to hear that once that temple is built, I can travel to it from my temple at home or any other of my temples in the multiverse and the owners of that world can visit through theirs to mine,” Palutena explained turning to the thestral mare and snapping her fingers, garbing the stunned mare in a revealing leather kit like what she’d been wearing when they met a few nights ago. “Ready Crescent?”

“W-what?!” Crescent asked in surprised glee, her golden eyes shimmering in joy as her cute bat wings went stiff as boards. “I’m going with you?!”

[Why are you surprised, that we want to take our mate with us? We’d suck as an animal and as a person, if we did that.]

“She’s leaving the Collective?!” Ava screamed in shock. “Ava, it’s doable, I did it.” Sharp voiced, making Ava look no less worried. “Take care of her...okay?” Ava asked fearfully, she hadn’t actually been devoid of Crescent for...ever.

[You know what mom I give up you’re a collective if you want to be.]

Palutena sighed and turned to hug Ava, “She’ll be fine and she can still visit you. Did I not just tell you, that as soon as that temple is built token-free travel to and from my world is possible. Plus Ava, surely you knew how much Crescent was hurting? How lonely she was right? And don't forget I am here too, I can talk to you as well. If you need it.” Palutena reassured Ava.

“Oh, that’s great! But, she’s me, and I’m her, even if we’re different egos. She needs me. I’ll have to have her back now and then to stabilize her if we’re going to be apart for long. The distance between Sharp and I causing erratic behavior and instability was evidence enough, not to mention adding Lyra without syncing her with me. If she starts acting weird, you send her back.” Ava looked to Crescent, and hugged her. “...I’ll miss you when you’re not around.”

“Dummy. I’m always right here, remember?” Crescent replied, poking Ava in the head, and then between her bosom. “And here.”

“Memory, Is the Key.” They both said at the same time, kissing tenderly.

[Fuck memories.]

“I thought we had a thing though, being a three-headed dragoness.” Ava chuckled.

[Now it’s just two headed how sad.]

“Timeless travel. I can essentially be in two places at once thanks to time shenanigans. Just...be careful of us meeting ourselves.” Crescent warned both Ava and Palutena.

“And for the love of all things sacred and sexy, fuck Luna! Also keep her happy but also don't neglect the others either, ya hear!?” Palutena lectured Ava with a stern finger wagging.

[This I agree with momma Luna, momma Celestia, momma Sonata and momma weird zebra name i can’t remember all need a good fucking.]

“Yeah, I got it. So, gentleponies. Arrest Me!” Ava dramatically declared, holding out her wrists, and Carnelian actually slapped irons on her. “Uh, I thought you said this wasn’t standard procedure?”

[By the looks of things they aren’t going to be gentle.]

Palutena decided to read the guard’s minds before she went she had a niggling feeling that was bugging her.

[A wasted effort I assure you they just want to bang her, you don’t need mind reading to read body language or that smell.]

'Hurry up so we can fuck already!’ Carne thought. ‘Selene is seriously wanting another go with all three of us and I’m way eager to oblige!’

[Gee what a surprise.]

‘Awww this sentimental drivel is cutting into our time off!?’ Complained Selene internally. ‘The whole ‘under arrest’ ploy sounded good at first, but maybe we should’ve just jumped her and her hot friend instead.’ Palutena smirked and snickered at the guards and gave them a knowing grin that morphed into a troll smile.

[For once mortal I wholeheartedly agree, p.s you’re lucky you’re fucking mother because i’d so eat you right now if i could.]

“Oh Ava~” Palutena sang causing Ava to turn back to look at Palutena and Crescent as the guards tried to pull her from the room, Palu phased out while flying through the window, while playing the troll song and carrying off a squealing Crescent.

[ $ ]

“What was that about?” Ava asked, only to be shoved into the room and Selene to lock the door with a frantic energy, Carne grinning as he suggestively unclasped his pelvic armor. “Uh...guys?” Ava asked nervously.

“You! Are going to explain, everything!” Selene demanded, panting, hunger in her eyes.

“And you’re going to do what we ask. Or else~....” Carne purred, dropping his pants, and Ava smirked.

“Why, I think I’m resisting arrest officers. What’s going to happen to me?” Ava coyly asked as Selene rushed her, tackled her into the nearest bed, and started madly groping Ava’s giant tits.

“First. I think we’re going to have to collect some samples!” Selene shouted before she started suckling one of Ava’s tits through the robe, and it all went downhill from there.

Crime Doesn't Pay, Often.

Ava was sitting in Chief Trabucco’s office, sweating a storm. Shortly after having another threesome with Carnelian and Selene, she divulged the whole truth of events regarding her business in Emerald City, and in the Empire as a whole. It was a much more complete idea as to her quest of hunting Die Leucht and saving the Crystal Empire, rather than the rushed, harried, and abridged version she gave Mayor Diamond Heart in her lust-drunk and addled state.

This, in turn, resulted in Ava being more formally detained, taken to Chief Trabucco, telling him the same tale, and now she was sitting in the Guard Chief’s locked high-security office waiting for the Chief and Diamond Heart, who was evacuated to a safehouse once the fighting had started, to arrive and decide her fate. Because allies or not, in the good interests of both their nations or not, Ava had enacted another country’s espionage within another country, so her position was tenuous at best.

‘Will they do horrible things to me?’ Ava frantically pondered, utterly scared that despite her good intentions that she’ll be imprisoned, or experimented on since especially thanks to Palutena pulling Crescent out of her in front of her favorite ECGD guards, her not being a normal crystal mare was beyond obvious.

{Probably, don’t think too hard about it babe. I’m sure I’ve done worse to you than whatever they’ll come up with.} Sharp idly commented, not at all bothered. {I mean, I raped you, made you my forge slave, scarred you for life.}

‘Oh sure, let’s bring that up.’ Ava pouted, barely avoiding flinching as her Recall lent the fresh pain of being whipped to her senses. ‘You’re such a cunt, you know about our Recall.’

{Bitch, you knew what you were getting into when you brought me in. Don’t deny you just love to be abused.} Sharp hissed fiercely. {Now that your little comforting Crescent is gone, prepare for some Real Tough Love.} Sharp purred, making Ava shudder, Recalling what it was like to be bound, bridled, and then ridden like a mere animal against her will.

‘If we weren’t in this situation right now, I would pull your head out and start-.’

“Ah, lovely to see you again. The Spy who Sexed me.” Diamond Heart affably laughed as he entered the office, Trabucco and her familiar guards following in after as the Mayor of Emerald City, now once more properly clothed in his formal business attire, took Chief Trabucco’s seat. “Now as I’m sure you understand miss, this is a serious issue. You’ve performed acts of espionage within my country, even more so, you’ve done so within my city, my direct jurisdiction. I’m afraid, I can’t look the other way.” Diamond Heart shook his head, but didn’t lose his cheery attitude. “So, in light of your exemplary attempts at protecting my citizens despite your external representation, I will settle for some community service to just sweep this under the rug.”

“Wait, seriously?” Ava asked in shock. “This isn’t because we banged right? I’d feel really naughty if that was the case.” Ava admitted with some skepticism.

{What are you doing? He’s giving us a get-out-of-jail-free card! Don’t question it!} Sharp demanded.

‘Sorry if I don’t want to feel like my freedom is because of my tits and ass!’ Ava sniped back.

“No, no, not at all. Well, that does help, but, I’m not letting it color my opinion as much as you and your allies killing the whole Yakistani forward force like the wrath of Faust.” Diamond Heart reminded with all seriousness, before he cleared his throat. “Speaking of which, the sheer destruction has temporarily altered our local climate, and completely ruined our landscape. I think I know what you could do to let us forget your clandestine activities.”

[ $ ]

*Wolf Whistle* “Yeah! You work it babe!”

“Hey baby! Those boulders in your tunic or is it just me?”

“She’s gotta be made of jelly, cuz jam don’t shake like that!”

‘THIS IS SO HUMILIATING!’ Ava mentally screamed in rage and frustration as she panted, sweated, and shoveled another scoop of dirt from a wheelbarrow into one of the many long, LONG trenches that Palutena’s photon breath beams had cut into the landscape.

Garbed in a simple white work tunic, Ava’s overly voluptuous shape instantly became a great hindrance with her boobs and butt instantly drawing the supposed-to-be-loose work garment shamefully tight. This, in addition to actually having to do hard manual labor for a day with lecherous stereotypical construction stallions all heckling her just rankled.

{I don’t know, I kind of like how embarrassing this is for you. It’s like abuse-play.} Sharp taunted, making Ava growl as she tugged down on her dangerously short skirt yet again, trying to keep anypony nearby from seeing her lace white panties with a faint blush. Yet another embarrassing thing added to her punishment was she wasn’t allowed to wear pants when her overseers, Carne and Selene, saw how high her tunic rode on her thighs.

Personally she just thought they were being perverted jackasses. Not that she didn’t mind showing off her legs, just she wasn’t used to-. “Kya~!” Ava actually squealed as she had to hold her tunic down when a strong wind gusted and tried to tug it up and over her hips, getting all sorts of hoots and hollers from the stallions helping fill the trench. ‘This is so demeaning!’

“C’mon Tits! The sooner you finish shoveling fifty wheelbarrows of dirt into the trench, you’ll be let off with a warning!” Carnelian shouted with encouragement, they told the work crews that she’d done something minor and they figured this a fitting punishment, so the heckling was probably spurred on by them too.

“And why aren’t we just dumping the wheelbarrows in wholesale again?!” Ava demanded, the way they were all going about it was time consuming and tedious, the trench would’ve been half-filled if they’d just dumped the dirt in.

“No can do Ava. The mystics charm the shovels so that the soil retains its Fertility in spite of the cold, and dumping it would skip the enchantments of the shovels, since the scholars haven’t figured out a way to work the same magic into the wheelbarrows that would work on every ounce of dirt put in them as of yet.” Selene explained seriously, getting a groan out of Ava at realizing the process did have merits with their current limitations, especially since without meaning to, Palutena had wiped out the wild crystal berry crops that were fermenting under the snow. Magic fruit be weird yo.

Ava toiled for hours, fifty wheelbarrows of soil was a lot of dirt! Halfway through it, Ava was sweating so hard her tunic was clinging to her like her robe did, but the wet cling and naturally wet look of her black crystal coat practically made her attire see-thru. The heckling stopped around then, the onlookers either worried or too stunned at the sight of her to comment further.

“And...fifty….” Ava panted, dripping sweat and looking like she’d just gone for a swim. She blushed as she looked down at her practically naked form, glad she’d put on a lacy white bra since the white tunic had gone clear from her sweat, the bra and even her panties thankfully were a stronger, more elastic material so it avoided shaming her further. She dropped the shovel and slowly trudged up to Carne and Selene. “You two. Spa. Now.” Ava hissed angrily, and the two guards gulped nervously at her imperious demand.

[ $ ]

“Ah~...this is heaven….” Ava sighed as she submerged into a deep hot bath, Selene seated across from her with a faint blush as she watched the much larger mare’s enormous bosom float in the water enough that they were only halfway into the water. She and Ava were here in the Jacuzzi section of the spa while Carne was getting his own treatments elsewhere and would be joining them later, since this spa was unisex.

“You’d think with how heavy those are they’d sink.” Selene grumbled as she enjoyed the bath and the view with a sense of envy.

“Fat Floats hun, that’s just how it is. No matter how much milk I’ve got in them, they’re still more fat than anything.” Ava informed idly. “Why do you think when out at sea the fat guys are singled out as life-preservers?”

“What?” Selene asked in confusion, completely lost.

“Whatever, different universe.” Ava dismissed before moving a hoof, getting Selene to squeak at her doing something under the soapy water. “So. Now that you know who and what I am….” Selene moaned as she shimmied in her seat to Ava’s hoof-play. “How about we cut to the chase? I can get you whatever you want. You are obviously jealous.”

“Am not! I’m a perfectly normal-mmph~!” Selene bit her lip as she squirmed, grabbing Ava’s lower calf and grinding on her hoof.

“A normal mare isn’t this repressed hun.” Ava sighed as she let the mare instantly fall into her lusts. “A normal mare would’ve asked or told me to stop, instead of just going for it.”

“Shut up! Until you came along, I was so dry a snowpony could look attractive!” Selene growled, fully admitting her sexual dry spell. “I didn’t have the courage to ask Carnelian out because I didn’t think he was interested in a short, waifish mare like me. Then you come along, he can’t stop ogling you, and then he just jumps me out of nowhere?! You’ve already done so much for me by mere association, so why should I want more?!” Selene demanded, at some point having moved across the spa tub, straddled Ava’s wide hips, pressing her mons into Ava’s own groin and squeezing their chests together by having grabbed Ava’s shoulders, pressing her snout into Ava’s with a mix of utter lust, fury, and frustration in her eyes.

Ava meanwhile, just let her vent and cling to her, her face bored and knowing. “You gonna kiss me or something?”

“Maybe. Don’t know. I just...can’t...get you!” Selene growled, running her hands down Ava’s arms and reaching under her massive bust to trace her six-pack abs. “Ugh! I wish I had a body like yours so bad. Not even the tits, don’t need giant boulders, but the height, and the muscles….” She reached down, groping Ava’s tight but squeezable butt and running her hands down her smooth, toned thighs. “These hips, and thighs. I want them. So bad….” Selene whispered, nuzzling the top of Ava’s bosom. “You make me feel so small, so plain. I don’t hate you, but I just want your body so bad.”

“Oh, come now. You’re fine as you are.” Ava placated, running a hand through the smaller mare’s white mane. “I could easily make you like myself, but unlike this girl I met named Bunnie, you don’t practically need such a stature boost. Besides, cute little things like you are what help the diversity in beauty be maintained.” Ava reinforced, holding the mare a bit further out so she could look her in the eyes. “You don’t need big tits or a ton of muscle to be beautiful hun, I just prefer it for myself. I won’t say no if you want that too, but remember, sometimes you should embrace what nature gave you.” Ava said in a gentle and warm tone.

“Well...I do like how Carne towers over me since he started...growing out of nowhere. I also like my stallions bigger than me….” Selene blushed as she admitted she liked being small. “But I’m so rail-thin! I hate my slender body, some stallions even say I look like a colt….” Selene confided as she squirmed in the motherly mare’s grasp. “I want to look like a mare, even if I don’t get any taller.”

“I understand hun. If that’s what you want. But I need Payment, I can’t just keep tossing things around all the time, my Commerce Aspect, though Minor, doesn’t like me just throwing things around all the time.” Ava informed, humming. “Before we talk about that though, would you know if Diamond Heart or Trabucco would be willing to help me hunt for Die Leucht in the Empire? Even if indirectly?”

“Oh! Certainly! They both want these traitors and spies gone, for the good of our country. We might be considered so close to Equestria other nations see us as one and the same, but we have our pride. If we can help you to help us, then they will definitely give you aid.” Selene said with confidence, completely at ease from Ava’s aura infusing her and comforting her unease.

“Alright then, so that won’t work as the Cost. Hm…. How about this, you, bear Carnelian’s foals.” Ava grinned, making Selene gape and flush so red she seemed to be made of ruby from the neck up. “Not right away, but you two are so cute together. I can tell even before I came along, you both had such a chemistry. I just made it erupt into a passionate frenzy. I want to see you both marry, and have a family.” Ava said warmly, making Selene fidget and look uncertain. “Like I said, it isn’t immediate, you and he will do it on your own terms, but I know you’ll both do it eventually. I would just like assurance that you will both commit.”

“I-I can’t make this decision alone! They’d be his too.” Selene leered up at the larger mare, and Ava looked to the side, getting Selene to blink and turn in the same direction, squeaking in shock to see Carnelian wearing nothing but a towel at his waist, and beaming so brightly it was as if his sunset-toned face was turning diamond from his pearly white teeth.

“Oh buck yes! We’ve been beating around the bush for almost a year Selene! All the byplay, the teasing, the double-entendre. We’ve been too nervous to commit. Do it, I’d love to marry you.” Carnelian stated with complete honesty, and Selene clutched her hands to her chest with awe and joy.

“Yes! Oh Carnelian!” Selene jumped out of the tub, leaping at her stallion and laughing joyously as he caught her, dropping his towel as he spun her around, thankfully the floor was a coarse stone that allowed him to maintain his hoofing. “I love you too! I’ll gladly marry you and have your foals!” Selene declared, before shuddering, her body glowing red as Ava’s eyes shined the same shade from where she still sat.

Selene didn’t get any taller, but her hips did widen a good bit, her butt filled out in a perky and fit way, her thighs thickened slightly with muscle and fat, and then her chest blossomed from her humble B-cups to DD-cups, not too big, but far from modest, also they helped emphasize her new abs. “Hey! Looks like the Goddess of Fertility finally payed you a visit Selene!” Carnelian teased his now short-stack mare, who simply squealed and jumped around in glee, while Ava merely smirked and submerged fully in the bath to dunk her head.

‘Another job well done….’

{You’re such a fuckin’ softy.}

‘Bite me.’

[ $ ]

Ava later searched for and met with the ‘cult’ that had suddenly started worshiping Palutena, and informed them that she was actually an actual Goddess of Light, Crafts, and Wisdom. She gave them a copy of the blueprints for her temple that Palu left with the Shop Orb, which she’d set up on Maui later, both the temple and the shop. There’s no rule about each god having only one temple to a world to her knowledge.

“At least with that, my new friend will have proper worshipers here. Can’t believe she’s being labeled the Epoch of Light.” Ava explained to her friends as they guided her through another building to meet up again with Diamond Heart and Chief Trabucco, this one merely a small public function building the mayor was using as a backup office.

“To be fair, she did literally save us by unleashing the wrath of a goddess on the yaks that were invading. We still haven’t heard back from the scouts sent up there so we don’t know if any more of them will be coming yet.” Selene informed as she happily displayed some cleavage from her currently poorly-fitted armor. The petite mare was still petite, but at least she felt a little more confident what with her new body’s enhanced strength making her at least as strong as the average stallion. Add that onto her already spry and agile frame and she was expecting to have a very exciting guard career.

“Hopefully they’ll be open to communication that isn’t on the business end of a spear.” Carne smirked at his lover’s good mood. He was beyond pleased to see her perk up so much from what Ava did for them.

“Oh yes. Pray for peace, but be ready for war. Especially if Die Leucht is indeed entrenched in Yakslovia’s politics and other forms of infrastructure.” Ava knocked on the door of the office that Diamond Heart had appropriated once they reached it.

“Come in.” At Diamond Heart’s allowance, Ava opened the door and took in the sight of the Prism Pony’s slightly frazzled state. His mane was disheveled and he was rapidly looking over scrolls, signing some, stamping others with refusals, and tossing them wholesale at a petite mare almost as small as Selene who struggled to hold onto all of them. “Alright Deputy Mayor Crystal Chime. That’s all the action requests.”

“Thank you sir, I’ll get these to where they need to be.” Chime, a glass-clear mare that was otherwise completely unremarkable responded to her superior before dashing past the trio and down the hall in a definite rush.

“Turns out Chime was being blackmailed by these Die Leucht cretins. The moment the Yaks arrived, she instantly admitted to some rather significant acts of perversion which even we find deviant, and informed us of what she knew. I’m a lenient stallion, so I decided she would keep her position. And do ALL my grunt work as well as her punishment.” Diamond beamed evilly, putting forth a horribly bad maniacal laugh.

“Well that’s good to hear. Hopefully she was the worst leak. But as a rather perverse mare with really powerful and odd kinks myself. I’m curious. What is she into?” Ava asked as she sat down. She was earnestly interested in the subject simply because she herself couldn’t think of anything to be ashamed of.

{Besides being a pathetic milky breeding whore?} Sharp sniped, making Ava shudder just slightly.

‘Don’t bring up my fetishes in casual conversation!’ Ava demanded as she tried to ignore the memory of being pregnant with Palutena and then giving birth to her on the spot.

“Well I’m afraid you’ll have to keep imagining. I’ve sworn everypony she’s told to secrecy to preserve her dignity. Poor mare doesn’t deserve this mess ruining her reputation.” Diamond stated with all seriousness, making Ava whine in disappointment. “That aside. To business. You’re a hero. Have the key to the city.” Diamond Heart stated so casually it was like it was an everyday thing, making Ava gape as he held out a large emerald key with the sigil of the city inlaid with gold on the bow.

“What? Seriously? That simple? No ceremony, or grand announcement?” Ava was bemused as she accepted the ornamental thing. It clearly was enchanted, but her laymen’s understanding of magic couldn’t lend her any insight into what it did.

“No ceremony for a crook.” Diamond grinned, making Ava snort and giggle. “But honestly, I feel you’ve been cooped up here long enough. You’ve got work to do.” Diamond stated as he opened a drawer of the desk and pulled out a dark green passport emblazoned on the cover with the sigil of the Crystal Empire, which was of a diamond inlaid with elegant filigree. “Here’s your VIP Passport. This, along with that key, will tell any other political officials and guardsponies that you have urgent business, and move you along ASAP. I’m saying this, because we weren’t the only city to get a Relay.”

“So it stands to reason, that Die Leucht has compromised the others too.” Ava caught on, getting a grim nod from the stallion as she accepted the passport, and opened it to see a shockingly impressive portrait of her current guise. ‘Hm...I really like this form. I think I’ll keep it as a base. The black hematite crystal part at least. Especially since after enough flirting around here, I’ve found out it’s associated with Love, Protection and Healing.’ She blushed a bit at the detail the artist went into on it though. ‘Am I really this beautiful? And endowed?’

{Shit’s really noticeable in a mirror or picture huh? I think the artist even made the boobs bigger than they really are.} Sharp commented, making Ava nicker in amusement, before she spotted a series of slots on the inside back cover, and she slid the Emerald City Key into one of them. {We’ve gotta try some narcissistic mirror-masturbation sometime if you find us so hot.}

‘Agreed.’ Ava grinned before snapping the passport shut. “Alright. Where am I heading?”

“There’s Ruby Ridge near the cliffs of the east coastline. Sapphire Shore on the west coast. Quartz Canyon that’s just a bit north of Seam. And last, but certainly not least, is the Crystal Empire’s capital city; Aventurine. The prototype Relay was installed there first, to spread the protection and energy of the Crystal Heart across the whole Empire, rather than just the capital and its surrounding lands.” Diamond sighed and rubbed his forehead. “The city is considered to be divine. The Heart itself is composed of pure Blue Aventurine, as is the city itself. Said to have been brought to Equus by angels.”

‘Whoa. That’s a bit too Catholic for my taste. Lovely. I thought I escaped most of all my old world’s religions when I was Displaced. Blue Aventurine is considered to be Angel Raphael’s stone, and considering what the Crystal Heart does, it matches Blue Aventurine’s meanings near-perfectly.’ “Alright. So I should head straight for the capitol?” Ava sighed when Diamond shook his head morosely.

“From what I’ve heard over the past few weeks, the capital is on complete lockdown. Nopony in, or out. This isn’t unusual, since the city regulates who is allowed inside, forcing trading to be done with the farmers outside the walls. But the fact that absolutely Nopony, not even grocers or other necessities are being let in? This is concerning. But there’s nothing I can do about it. In situations as these, a public official, such as myself, can appoint a pony of impressive actions and intentions to investigate, and seek the aid of our fellow cities and settlements.” Diamond looked Ava dead in the eye. “I’m risking a lot giving you this duty. Do not fail.”

“If I fail, I’m probably dead.” Ava replied with all seriousness. “Or, I’ve been captured, enslaved, and made a breeding factory to produce the armies of my enemies.” Ava shrugged. “So, here’s hoping I don’t fuck up.”

“Indeed. Well, off with you. You’re officially released from our custody.” Ava nodded and stood to leave. “Oh, but do come back.” Ava looked at him curiously, before blushing so brightly her face turned ruby at him holding up a crystal decanter filled with milk, which she instantly knew it was her milk. “You are a really tasty mare.” Diamond teased, making Ava sputter, snap her hood up and hide behind her mask, before scurrying out of the building, hearing Diamond, Selene, and Carne all laugh at her embarrassment.

‘Oh~ this is so embarrassing~! Why did Palu have to addle me so bad I thought getting milked for several hours was a good idea?!’ Ava bemoaned her previously scatterbrained state. Giving birth and then having three ponies a body after so long of just two a body had really killed her sanity for a bit.

{Like I said. A milky, breeding whore.} Ava was too embarrassed about how right that statement was.

[ $ ]

Once Ava had composed herself enough to realize she could warp out to the tundra, she did so and sighed at the fact she still had at least three more cities to investigate and probably rescue, before she could even go to the capitol. This made her decide, once she’d made it to the next city, she was going to go home for a few days. That said, she had a certain Displaced to bother for that, so she reached into her sleeve to rummage for it.

“Okay, where’s that rat bastard’s token...here it is. Drebin! You green-collard ass! You dropped me off on the opposite side of the fucking country!” Ava screamed at the grenade-shaped beacon. Only to sigh, and press the button, remembering it was a more technical thing than most tokens. “Ah!” Ava yelped, as a deafening horn rang out behind her, causing her to spin around and glare at the Stryker.

“Hey intrepid business mare! Come on around and I’ll open shop for ya.” Drebin called out over the exterior megaphone, and she stomped around the side, not caring that she was just getting her hoofboots more muddy. She kept up her leer when the ramp lowered and Drebin-893 with his sidekick Little Gray were casually standing with the dark-skinned man beaming at her. “So. What can I do for ya?”

“First; explain. Why, did you drop me on the Opposite Side of the Country, when I had asked to be taken to the next Town instead?” Ava demanded, getting Drebin to shrug and chuckle.

“Hey, don’t blame me what Stryker assumed what the Next Town was. She’s a mysterious lady, with sometimes eerie insight into being in the Right Place, at the Right Time. It’s part of how I’m so successful.” Drebin admitted. “Now then, if nothing else. What can I do for you?”

“...Alright, I might as well use that to my own advantage. I need to get to either Ruby Ridge, Sapphire Shore, or Quartz Canyon.” Ava stated, and Drebin gestured for her to enter as he strode in, she gladly did so and sat down as the ramp closed. “So. What would you like for your services?”

“More mutagen! I sold what you gave me already to a very enterprising young lady. She needed it to stabilize some other mutative disease or something. Offered to pay just as well for another bag.” Drebin stated as he got into the cockpit and Little Gray wheeled out another IV stand, bag, and bite plate.

“Joy...more milking….” Ava grumbled as she transformed into a verdugo.

Author's Note

I...did it? I DID IT! I WROTE SOMETHING! :pinkiegasp:

And I'm the first member of my immediate group of friends to do it in MONTHS! :facehoof:

I hope this starts a trend. If anyone has any suggestions, pls, do so, I need some inspiration. :twistnerd:

EDIT: Dear GOG what has FimFiction been doing?! ALL MY WORK IS IN SHAMBLES~! :raritycry:

Goofing Off, Making Plans.

Ava woke with a startled snort as the Stryker bounced like a rubber ball upon re-entry, having nodded off while Little Gray collected her mutagen, but considering there were at least three bags on the IV stand, she must’ve been drooling in her sleep. “*ptoo* I think I may have overpaid.” Ava commented as she sat up off the bench and returned to her crystal pony form.

“Well I guess it’s investment for future services.” Drebin shrugged as he entered, the Stryker having already stopped after a surprisingly short few bounces. “That’s two more rides or otherwise two very pricy items you may need.” Drebin grinned, getting Ava to roll her eyes.

“Yeah, yeah you greedy trader. I’ll be cashing those in though for sure. You’re saving me a ton of time in travel.” Ava insisted, cracking her neck and sighing. “Wow that’s a comfy bench.”

“It better be, it’s where I sleep. Well, until next time friend.” Drebin saluted as the ramp lowered, and Ava casually exited, watching the ramp go up before the Stryker drove off and vanished again.

“Okay, now where am-?” Ava yelped at a white noise that washed over her senses, before a tinny voice, like an old recording reached her ears.

“Howdy Ava. We need your help now.” Weakly echoed Bunnie’s voice, sounding so off that she couldn’t tell if it was said casually or with worry.

“Oh, I guess Drebin’s Stryker is a deadzone. At least I still got the call at all-.” Ava was suddenly barreled over by an extremely excited tiny quadrupedal thestral mare.

“Ava~! It feels like it’s been forever~! Oh, so many WONDERFUL things have happened in the short time I’ve been-!” Ava grabbed the mare’s snout, and sighed in a mix of relief and exasperation.

“Crescent, not now, synch up. We’ve got a sexy bunny rabbit to help.” Ava declared, and Crescent beamed before melding into her ‘Soul Sister’ and they fell into their fiery blue portal.

[ $ ]

Ava returned to her world through her portal, but as a ten foot tall bunny/dragon hybrid that was almost spot on for her usual proportions. “Whew, now that was a violent excursion.” Ava commented as she changed back to her current preferred crystal mare form, summoning her robe and corset back on.

{No kidding. It’s especially bad to know just how far Die Leucht’s Plaga experiments have gone.} Crescent bemoaned.

(Speak for yourself. I found the mantis shock troops and that adapting stallion balls-to-the-walls badass.) Sharp added, getting equal levels of annoyance and disapproval from the other two egos.

‘Whatever, it’s done for now. So, Crescent. You feel okay to go back to Palu? I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s only been a day or so at best since you left.’ Ava informed her First Shard, concerned for her stability and well-being.

{Oh yes, I’m fine. I was just feeling...weak, and tired, so I figured I had to come and get a refresh. It’s been about a few weeks on my end.} Crescent replied, getting Ava to relax at the thought of her leaving again already.

‘Okay, you get back to your mate Crescent. At least one of us should be allowed to do that.’ Ava bemoaned as she turned around, and spotted an admittedly intimidating deep red crystal wall off in the distance, the smell of the sea reaching her snout.

{Okay, no. Fuck obligations right now. You have obligations to Yourself too!} Crescent declared vehemently.

(Listen to the bitch. You go home right the fuck now, and remind your mares why they love you with a good bit of leather and lace.) Sharp growled with anticipation, and Ava’s body shuddered partly from the wintery chill of the ocean breeze coming from the direction of the red-walled city, and partly from wanting to go home so badly and see her beloveds.

“Okay, fine. Fuck the mission, I’m sure just One Day Off is alright, since it took Weeks for the situation at Emerald City to come to a head when Drebin dropped me off there. I need to kiss them, hold them...tell them I love them.” Ava shivered, and let out a shuddering sigh. “Okay...that’s what I’ll do. You go back Crescent, don’t leave Palu wanting.” Ava insisted, and Crescent melded out of their shared body as her feral thestral form, giving a cheesy salute before vanishing in motes of Light.

{Gog it’s about time she left. Ever since she got all Grossly Incandescent she’s been a real pain in the flank.} Sharp grumbled, since she was an entity of Darkness, she and Crescent didn’t mingle well as a rule.

‘Well now she just matches her name. Maybe we should refer to her as Luminescence from now on? Lumi?’ Ava giggled at the thought of using Crescent’s second name in such a cute way.

{Ugh! Stop that! I swear, I shouldn’t have brought Lyra into the fold, she’s turning us into sissies!} Sharp groused, and Ava forced herself to stop giggling like a ninny, that wasn’t like her at all.

‘Well if that isn’t a good reason to pay a visit back home, I don’t know what is besides our herd. I’ve yet to meet Lyra at all.’ Ava looked towards the ruby-walled city, and sighed. “Hope you can hold out for a day at least.” Ava grumbled before vanishing, unaware of a telescope atop one of the towers of the city having seen her arrival and departure….

[ $ ]

Ava popped into Celestia’s room, arms spread and eyes closed. “Tia~! I’m home~!” She called, only to hear her own echo. “...Huh. I expected her to be in here with Zerona, considering how large they were just a couple weeks ago.”

{Well, we don’t know what they get up to, kinda another fault on our part.} Sharp reasoned with a hum. {But whatever, let’s start with Lyra first. I wanna tease and torment her again~.}

‘Could you please not for now? I need to synchronize and talk to her anyway.’ Ava pleaded, before warping down to the cavern and looked around, noticing that the cavern had been burrowed further into. Ava’s ears perked at hearing Lyra’s voice conversing with someone, so she jogged into the new cavern, and smiled at seeing Lyra chatting with Luna, who was laying on Lyra’s mountainous cream-scaled left breast that along with it’s partner, were supported by Lyra’s firm belly, which was now on it’s way to seeming full term with triplets rather than twins. ‘Wow, Dox’s eggs are really coming along fast.’ Ava mused as she looked at the seated dragoness’s body with a clinical eye.

“-And that’s why I stopped obsessing over minotaurs.” Lyra finished with a giggle and making Luna heartily laugh as well, clearly Ava just missed a rather silly story.

“Thou has such amusing tales sweet Lyra. Ah...it is good to just relax from Our duties now and then. We thank thee for lending an ear and a bosom.” Luna sighed as she wriggled on the giant breast in comfort, and Lyra simply smiled softly at the second mare Ava had ever thought of romantically.

“You two are so precious together.” Ava commented, getting them both to jolt and look up at the entrance to the crystal cavern they were in, and she started walking towards them again. “If I didn’t know better Lulu, you like Lyra like a friend?” Ava asked curiously. “I hope not, because since she’s part of me now, you have to love her like you do me.” Ava brought up, making Lyra’s black scales redden and Luna to tilt her head.

“Why would we not love her as well?” Luna asked as she stood up, her lush burgundy robe practically clinging across her Q-cup bosom. “We know thou art a conglomerate of souls. It would be most foul and cruel not to love each of thee.”

“Oh...I wish Lumi could have heard this….” Ava replied with a hint of sadness, but couldn’t avoid the soft smile and the flutter of her heart at hearing Luna proclaim she loved ALL of her, every single piece. “I’ll have to let her know the next time I see her.”

“Crescent is not present?” Luna asked curiously as she fluttered down to her lover, and blinked at the cognitive dissonance looking Down on her beloved created in her. “Um...could thou perhaps...size up?” The 9-foot tall mare requested uneasily. “It feels wrong to be looking down when we art so used to looking up by now when thou art involved.”

“In this body? Not for now Lulu. But Lyra, you and I have yet to properly get acquainted.” Ava turned towards the giant dragoness. “I, am Ava, the Primary Shard of Avarice. The Leader so to speak of this Legion phenomenon.”

“H-hello...sorry if I seem nervous. It’s kinda odd to look at you and...well….” Lyra gestured to her fecund and glorious giantess form, and back to Ava, who was little more than a 6-foot mare in comparison. “I guess despite seeing Crescent and Sharp shrink down, I just always felt like since I’m just a single piece of you now, that I would be but a speck compared to you.”

“Not at all, I get that. But believe it or not, you’re as big as we can get physically. Which is...odd to think of it, since if we were all in separate bodies, we could all get that big...hm….” Ava mused on the odd limitation, but figured if a problem arose that needed somebody MORE than 50 feet tall, then things were well and beyond out of hand by then. “Oh well, I’m going in.” Ava strode forward, and before Lyra could react, she’d melded into the pregnant giantess’s calf.

“Oooooooh~ yessssss~!” Lyra moaned, panted, and lolled back into the wall with her eyes crossed and her tongue stuck out.

“Love?! Art thou alright?!” Luna demanded as she flew over the gigantic dragon and landed next to a nipple almost as big as her thigh to look down at the delirious femme.

“Oh~...more than alright! I felt so...Empty and lethargic since I was shoved into this big body.” Lyra groaned as two more dragon heads popped up on either side of her’s. “Wow...this is so...so….”

“Hard to describe with words, isn’t it?” Ava’s voice cooed from the green-eyed head, which nuzzled Lyra affectionately. “Even I can’t explain the level of contentment having My Shards within me feels.”

“Yak, yak, yak. Can we fuck or something? I’m getting bored.” Sharp grumbled from the golden-eyed head, getting Ava to give a long-suffering sigh.

“No. I don’t want sex.” Ava’s words actually made Luna gasp in shock, and Ava giggled. “Wow...hun...just...wow….” Ava cooed, feeling content more than anything. “I needed you Lyra...I really did, and do. Having the Sad Lumi and the Wrathful Sharp really made me an unbalanced mess.”

“Considering YOU were supposed to be the Ballast, that’s kinda fucking obvious. You weren’t really stable to start with stud.” Sharp teased, then kissed Lyra’s cheek, getting the yellow-eyed head to blink in surprise at the bitch’s affection. “Kinda why I brought you in, besides being a sexy little submissive.”

“Uh, um...thank you?” Lyra asked in confusion, but just relaxed with the other two heads. “Luna...would it be okay if we took a nap?”

“No-no! Don’t! If thou fall asleep, thee might not awake until thou give birth in three months!” Luna warned, desperately jumping on her giant lover’s areola and making them grunt in discomfort as milk spurted from the huge nipple. “Entering a hibernation now would allow whatever schemes Die Leucht has in the Empire to flourish!”

“Okay, okay...we’ll let you sleep Lyra.” Ava said, about to pull herself and Sharp out, only to be stopped by Sharp pulling the other way.

“No...I’ll stay.” Sharp volunteered to some surprise for the others. “I originally volunteered because I wanted to be alone, to just lay around and get fat, sleep. Recover from being a Broodmother. I’ll be taking that vacation back, thank you.” Sharp cheeked, and suddenly Ava found herself on the giant boob next to Luna, once more a 6-foot crystal mare. “Now get out of my room. I’mma get some sleep….”

Sharp quickly carried out her intention, napping in the enormous alcove with loud, echoing snores, that made Ava and Luna cover their ears. “Let’s get out of here before she causes a cave-in!” Ava joked, before squeaking and blushing at Luna scooping her into a bridal carry, pressing her against her gigantic Q-cups and flew them out of the cave. ‘Wh-whoa...I...I REALLY like being swept off my hooves like that!’

{Uh, if that’s new? Sorry. I’m kind of a romantic, and I always Loved when Bon Bon would just pull me into a deep, searing kiss and we….} Lyra went quiet, sobs unintentionally causing Ava’s breathing to hitch. {I forgot I died again….}

‘It’s okay my beautiful. We’ve all died, at least once. It’s something we all here in Avarice share in common….’ Ava snuggled her lover’s bosom as they flew, quickly dozing off herself in the embrace of somepony she trusted beyond doubt.

[ $ ]

Ava woke slowly. She didn’t want to get up. She was snuggled up to whose scent told her was Luna, and she felt and smelled Tia on her back, who must’ve been Zerona on her legs and snuggling her broad hips since she felt her breath on her groin. But under her, she felt the firm and comforting scales of her dragoness lover Sonata, whose bosom was her and the two sister’s pillow.

‘I don’t wanna wake up~...five more hours please?’ Ava squirmed, trying to get comfy again amidst the pile of soft and supple bodies, even if Sonata’s abs were a bit firm on her lower back. She shuddered at the cold air despite her hot lovers warming the rest of her up. Her nipples quickly and painfully went erect at registering the cold air on her naked bosom. ‘They must’ve stripped me down and decided to all take a nap. Where’s a blanket?’

{I dunno Ava. I think if we even had a sheet all the body heat would make this a sauna.} Lyra yawned. {Just do what I do. Snuggle in, picture peaceful string music….} Without warning, restful and beautiful soft music began playing, making them quickly drift off, not noticing the green aura gently emanating from their crystal body.

[ $ ]

Ava groans as she wriggles under the covers, feeling well-rested and cozy under the soft, snuggly blanket. “Mmf...Lulu?” Ava asks, confused at the realization that she was alone in the bed, and now fully awake, yawns as she sits up, instinctively holding the covers over her bosom as she blearily looks around Celestia’s bedchamber. “It’s morning? It was midday when I fell asleep, how tired was I?”

Ava let go of the covers, crawled to the edge of the utterly massive bed, and stepped off. “Ah!” She yelped as suddenly the blanket whipped around her, rapidly turning into a beautiful but simple red cocktail dress, making her blush at how it literally hugged her whole body and pushed her breasts up.

“Sleep Cuddles good. Jeff missed Ava. Jeff keep Ava warm after others left. Went to eat.” Ava jumped at hearing Jeff’s voice in her left ear and turned her head to see the mouth on the left shoulder strap of the dress, which was clearly Jeff himself.

“Jeff? What’re you doing here?” Ava asked in surprise, running her hands over Jeff and marveling at how comfortable he was.

{Who? What? Uh, what’s going on? I’m not a morning mare….} Lyra asked in confusion.

‘Jeff is my lover Mistress Change’s partner, both in practice and in relationship.’ “I could’ve sworn nothing was happening to need calling Missy.” Ava pulled Mistress's Token up out of her cleavage since she was still wearing it, and rubbed the heart-emblazoned dog tags affectionately.

“Celestia called. You have herd cuddle. So she call. We need break, we come. Good relax.”

“Oh! That’s...that’s so sweet!” Ava chirped, her eyes glittering with joy, and she blushed. ‘Whoa, WHOA! I am SO giddy! Why do I feel so bubbly? I wasn’t like this before...oh.’

{Squee~ Sorry~!} Lyra falsely apologized, her cheerful and romantic personality making Ava practically hug herself to try and hug Jeff.

“Thank you Jeff!” Ava leaned her head to kiss the mouth with a chaste peck, and giggled. ‘Holy cow! I had no clue endorphins were this addicting! Lyra, calm down!’ Ava’s stomach growled, and she blinked, surprised. “I shouldn’t be hungry, I absorb emo energy and since my lovers were all snuggling, I should’ve been ambiently feeding.”

“Long sleep. Mistress say Ava mind fragmented, exhausted. Need long break. Estimate, twelve hours sleep least. Take lots energy to recover.

“Oh. Well then, I guess I need food then...that’s...I haven’t eaten actual food for...several months.” Ava worriedly commented as she took a step, only to yelp and shoot up a few inches, seeing Jeff had taken the moment she’d lifted the hoof to give her high-heel red pumps. “Not funny, I can’t walk with these.” Ava pouted down at the Mimic.

“Can too. Practice.” Jeff said with a tone of amusement.

“Well I’m used to stilettos thanks to Sharp, but pumps are...Feral ponies wear high-heels?” Ava asked as she Recalled a memory of Lyra, who sheepishly laughed a bit.

{Uh, minotaurs do, sometimes. It was in my minotaur phase….} Lyra admitted.

“Would that apply to me though? You were quadrupedal when you tried them.” Ava took a step, and blinked at how easy it was, then strode from the room, the heels adding an even wider sway to her foal-bearing hips. “This is ridiculous. I look like I’m going on a date rather than to breakfast.” Ava cupped her boobs and huffed. “Are you doing this to be cheeky? Or are you flirting?”

“Be cheeky!” Jeff cackled, and Ava sighed with a roll of her eyes and a smile, before reaching the dining hall, and opening the doors. Ava blushed vividly at the sight of Missy wearing her shapeshifting robe and corset, which seeing on somepony else was quite an eye-opener. Specifically, from this angle behind her, how it completely hugged her rear to the point she might as well be naked.

‘Oh dear Gog I wear That all the time?! No wonder everypony can’t stop ogling me other than my dead sexy body.’ Ava couldn’t avoid watching how Missy, in her voluptuous and youthful Hyacinth form from when she was investigating before, filled out the shapeshifting costume and tried to avert her eyes in a bit of shame. ‘I wear...that? I...didn’t realize how much of a slut I’d become...it’s really sexy, but I didn’t think twice about it before seeing it on somepony I love. I’m surprised I wasn’t arrested just for wearing it.’

“I don’t like the term slut very much, but it is a rather nice outfit. The shapeshifting part is useful, and very comfortable.” Mistress responded flashing a seductive smirk on her bright blue lips from over her right shoulder. “Although the dress you're wearing is rather lovely. I love the boots.”

“You can blame Jeff, he’s the one who decided to give me pumps out of nowhere.” Ava strutted to the table which was heaped high in various meals which Tia and Zerona were plowing through like piranhas to sate their enormous broods. In juxtaposition, Sonata didn’t bother to eat anything since her being a Claptrap meant eating was optional, and she was actually performing maintenance on Solar and Lunar off to the side.

Ava neared Missy, and leaned down to claim her lips in a gentle kiss, before sitting next to her, close enough for her enormous left breast to press into Missy’s smaller but still substantial right breast. “Missed ya Love. How’ve ya been since ya left me to gather myself?” Ava crooned as she nuzzled Missy’s cheek and picked up a tiny finger sandwich before Tia’s magic took the rest of the plate to her ravenous maw. ‘Wow Tia and Z have gotten insatiable. I hope they’re not gonna get sick eating that fast.’ Ava mused as she watched food disappear behind mountainous bosoms supported by gigantic fecund bellies and vanish before empty plates were practically slammed back onto the table. ‘It would seem pregnancy tends to take patience and decorum out of some mares.’

"Lots of things have happened. Die Leucht showed up on my world, however Dox helped with them. I'm helping one of the now former Die Leucht soldiers settle into one of the guard squadrons. The lowbies are generally forced into this. I hate to say. Aside from that met some new Displaced, and got an internet setup between our worlds. Limiting it right now, but you know.” Mistress explained trying to be as nonchalant about it as she could while she was snacking on some pancakes.

“Then Mistress help Dox remove invading minds, cause huge headache.” Jeff added reaching out with a tentacle from Ava’s breast to grab an apple and bring it to the mouth he had on her shoulder.

“If I’m connecting the dots right from what I Recall of Sharp’s little venture which got us Lyra, at least one of those minds was a fragment of Mine, Lumi’s, and Sharp’s soul from when Dox almost killed us. Keep an eye out for it okay? I want that back at some point.” Ava casually informed as she offered a muffin to Jeff’s mouth.

“Oh. Sure, sorry I couldn’t nab it, I’ll look into getting soul vessels. Anyhow Duncan is making a lot of progress. A good portion of the cards have been sealed. Also his training has made him a lot more powerful. If he masters the cards, I think he’ll be able to take me on. Might even be able to spar with you.” Mistress joked. Although with the full power of the cards fighting gods wasn’t really that far fetched. “By the way I’m fairly sure we are short somepony.” Mistress pointed out.

“Hey, where’s Lulu?” Ava asked once Missy had brought it to her attention as she managed to grab a plate of omelettes from the feeding frenzy. She started eating with her fork in her right hand while she hugged Missy with her left, eager to maintain physical contact with her fellow Displaced.

“Luna went to the defensive front in Bullgaria to check over things. Recently the Griffonian shore has suddenly seemed to become vacant, and the ships in the strait have abandoned their holding patterns, both the airships and the sea ships have raised anchor and sailed back to the sea.” Sonata informed as she finished up with Lunar and spanked her bottom, getting the more primitive Claptrap mare to jolt and glare silently at her. “Oh go on you stiff, I’ve still gotta finish up with your sister.”

“Oh, great! So they’ve deployed the Mis-Null Barrier over their own lands now? Just. Peachy.” Ava growled in frustration. “But why did they just give up defending their land?”

“Probably because they know the only one who can breach the barrier; You, are busy with their invasion of the Empire.” Missy stated matter-of-factly, getting Ava to groan. “It’s a rather extensive tactic on their part. Distract the enemy with an invasion of their ally, and meanwhile they shore up their defenses at home to free up their naval forces for use elsewhere. I’ve already advised Lulu to tighten the security of the shores in anticipation of a siege.”

“Which was quite easy and expedient!” Luna’s voice boasted from behind the two Displaced Shifters as the Night Princess pressed her massive bust to the back of their heads, which was a bit awkward since she was wearing her full suit of armor, not to mention the 9-foot tall mare had to practically bend over at the hips to do so at their sitting height, putting her face just above their brows. “Thanks to our forces being in constant contact through the Echonet, We were able to organize a new defense structure in mere minutes what before would take days!”

“Oh, that’s great news. I’m so glad-mmph?” Ava blinked as Luna kissed her suddenly.

“Luna is really thankful to you ya know? You’ve made her life so much easier without realizing it haven’t you?” Missy grinned as Luna practically picked Ava up and crushed her to her breastplate to deepen the kiss. “Lulu, back down girl! You’re gonna suffocate her!” Missy laughed as Ava indeed vainly tried to push out of the kiss, but was utterly overpowered by the Goddess of the Night’s amazonian strength and size until they parted at her leisure, panting for breath.

“We wish thou were around more Love.” Luna admitted, and Ava looked sad. “We know thou has urgent business, but do this more often please? Come home, and spend time with us. Thou art in shambles. Mistress noticed thine mind was in pieces when she arrived. She even did something to help thee recover while thee slept….” Luna informed with great concern, and Ava whimpered, tears in her eyes.

“B-but we Are Pieces….” Ava’s and Lyra’s voices echoed together, only to be shushed by Luna and getting her mane petted.

“None of that. Shush. Who art thou?” Luna affirmed, and Avarice looked at her in visible pain.

“We don’t know anymore….” Avarice shuddered as they felt something snare their mind, and calm them.

“Ava, Lyra. Focus on my voice….” Missy intoned, and they closed their eyes. “Ava is a powerful, strong, and sensual mare. Lyra is a bubbly, creative, and kind mare. You may be one, but you are also two. Both of you need to be fully aware at all times, but also acknowledge you are different ponies.” Missy affirmed, and Avarice took a shuddering breath.

“Thank you Missy.” Ava stated, and groaned as her stomach grumbled. “Lulu, Love. Could ya put me down hun? I’m starved. Even with all this Love going around.” Ava complained, before her eyes turned from green to yellow.

“Even if it tastes like chocolate bon bons….” Lyra commented, squirming out of Luna’s grasp and landing with a stumble back to the chair. “Holy, geez...been without a mobile body for so long and dead before that, kinda feels odd to move around so much.”

“Ya, not a feeling I plan on ever feeling. Everyone I’ve ever talked to says dying is awful.” Mistress said shaking her head at the thought.

“Oh, yes, we can all tell you that hun.” Avarice stated in unison while pointing at themselves. “It’s something we all have in common. Pass the watermelon?”

“Oh yes, I agree-*burp*-excuse me.” Celestia added after finishing one last plate, and she patted her firm mountain of an abdomen with a content sigh. “I swear, we get hungrier by the day, don’t we Zerona?”

“Indeed it is so dear.” Zerona rubbed her striped belly, sighing in satisfaction. “But I fear if our beloved was not becoming so proficient with Body Magic we would be doomed to being overweight from our demanding broods.”

“I’m not touching either of you in those departments until the foals are born and we see where the damage lies.” Ava asserted as her green eyes flashed back over Lyra’s, getting pouts from the two hyper pregnant mares. “No. I don’t care how big your butts get. Bigger is almost definitely better with this world’s scary-hot genetic structures. I’ll only do it once there’s no more babies in those bodies.”

“Oh, poo. And here I was hoping you’d make me taller.” Tia fluttered her eyes, and Ava blushed at the thought.

“Oh sister, that is just cruel, using Ava’s love for giant mares against her.” Luna needled, making Ava mumble into her plate of watermelon slices which she had proceeded to just absorb by sweeping an arm over it.

“Maybe, but then Lulu would be a ‘little sister’ again, and I think she prefers this.” Ava winked at the dark mare, who tittered. “Now then, since you’re all done eating-.”

“Wait, Jeff not!” Jeff interrupted, grabbing a gold food tray and bringing it to a huge mouth he formed instead over Ava’s bosom and ate quickly. “Sorry, go on.”

“Thanks Jeff. As I was about to say; I have seen the light of the magic of Spa time. I want to take you all to one and just relax.” Ava announced, and then her eyes became Lyra’s.

“Oh! Yeah! Spas are awesome! Especially if you get a full body massage along with a hot soak.” Lyra gushed.

“The sensation of soaking in a hot tub does sound great. I’ll pass on the body massage, being able to remove your own knots makes it less enjoyable.” Mistress responded. Although listening to all the sounds the others would be making would most certainly be worth it. Getting whimsical idea Mistress also offered, “If it's agreeable, I know a trick or two and can help with those massages.”

“That does sound quite wonderful. A day of leisure sounds like the perfect thing. We shall order the private bathhouse to prepare at once!” Luna declared, grabbing an egg benedict from Ava’s plate as she passed. “Tonight, we rest, and then make vigorous love!” Luna stated, getting Ava to cough and blush with an adorable fidget.

‘Lyra, stop making me act like a blushing virgin!’ Ava demanded as she calmed down.

{Not sorry~!} An extremely chipper Lyra replied, getting Ava to sigh.

Author's Note

Okay, here we go. Avarice needs some lovin'. Proper, romantic lovin'. :trollestia:

Also, had to yank Reinardtoma into this since Missy is part of the Herd, hopefully, they'll get back on the ball with Shapeshifters and Sakura Cards. :trixieshiftleft:

Then again, I'm trying to get my whole group of friends back into writing again somehow. :coolphoto:

Shifting Mistress of Massage

Ava was wrapped in a towel, standing at the entrance of the bathhouse with her jaw agape. “WHEN DID YOU DO THIS?!” Ava’s shocked voice echoed across the utterly massive artificial magic hot spring that had a ridiculous amount of therapeutic massage and other sorts of equipment along the walls of the gigantic olympic-pool-sized bathhouse, all done in the same white-gold scheme as the majority of the castle. “Not even Maui has facilities like this yet!”

“I had Homage arrange for it with FIX Loaders. We already had the materials, so it was a simple commission.” Celestia casually waved off as she waddled over to a special levitating maternity massage table that would let her lay prone while her belly and bosom hung under her, both Zerona and Luna following suit since their own bodies required such accommodation to lay perfectly prone.

“Besides, I had a good hand in the design myself. Couldn’t call myself our herd’s caretaker if I didn’t do what I could for the health and wellness of my loved ones.” Sonata informed as she split her claws into a great many smaller mechanical digits, which she proceeded to coat in massage oil while she moved to the beds. “After all, it’s what I was designed for. Mother always thinks of the future, and she knew you needed a superior ‘maintenance’ unit such as myself.”

“Jeff approve.” Jeff stated walking past everyone, having taken the form of a small sphere with legs. He slipped into the water letting himself relax, and turning into a floating disc on the water. Mistress smiled and wandered over to the massage tables and began working over Celestia’s body, a slight orange glow forming around her hands.

“Oh~ Missy! That is just wonderful~....” Tia purred as she practically melted into the bed as she visibly loosened up. “I feel like I’ve been brutally pampered for days~....”

“Happy to help, I picked up this spell for assassination years ago. However it works great for a regular massage. So just relax and forget about everything for a few minutes” Mistress explained as she worked from neck, to back, to arms, to legs, and the repeated the loop. After a few moments she formed an additional set of hands to add to help with the massage.

“Well, that’s not exactly fair.” Sonata pouted and folded her arms.

“Be not envious Sonata. Eventually Avarice will become just as adept as she.” Luna teased the 14-foot high dragon, who huffed smoke and retracted her claws back to normal.

“Well, since Missy is clearly more capable with this portion of the spa, then I’ll get the mudbath prepared.” Sonata strode over to a smaller tub and began pressing buttons.

“I can only work on one at a time Sonata, it takes a lot of my concentration to do this safely. If you wanted to work on the others you're more than welcome.” Mistress called out to the dragoness trying to make a peace offering.

“No thanks Mistress, it’s only logical that you do that part since it is more effective. It’ll make the seaweed and mud bath more effective when they’re fully relaxed.” Sonata stated, before looking over at Ava, who was still wrapped in her towel, and suddenly seeming uncomfortable as she shifted on her hooves. “Ava sweetie, why not join the others? It was your idea.”

“Um...well, I don’t know if she knows how to work Crystal?” Ava pointed out her wet-looking crystal skin, the black shine making her practically shimmer. “I mean, I got this healing massage that made me go from normal crystal to this eternally wet look. I still don’t get how it did that, or why my body adopted it as my preference. Or even if-.”

“Stop making excuses and get over here.” Zerona demanded imperiously, the zebra sending a smokey-eyed glare that promised punishment if not followed, and Ava quickly skittered over to a bed. “Now lay down and enjoy the eventual treat.”

“Okay….” Ava meekly muttered as she dropped her towel and laid down on her own sectioned massage bed, and looked up at Missy. “Hey, Missy. Since you know so much about how my own powers work, could you give me some tips?”

{Dear Faust that zebra is hot.} Lyra squeaked.

‘Her dominating personality is what got her into the herd, same with Sharp. I’m a bit of a submissive myself but I tend to switch. You on the other hand, have completely screwed with my head.’ Ava complained, since she was way more complicit in following direction than usual.

“Ava it's not a you or I, thing, it's a We thing. Don’t go blaming parts of yourself.” Mistress stated as she walked over to the mare, leaving Celestia a moment to breath and chill for a moment.

“So it’s both our faults we cave to authority Great.” Avarice said in unison, rolling their heterochromatic green and yellow eyes. “Oh well, better than before when we were just a dashing rogue in a leather trenchcoat.”

“It was a nice coat. For some reason I am jealous of it, oh well. I’m going to finish Celestia now and move onto Zerona, then Luna, and finally yourself. So just lay here and relax.” Mistress whispered into Ava’s ear. Mistress than smacked Avarice’s ass, electing a small yelp of surprise before moving back the massive white mare.

“Yes love, rest. It is why we are here.” Luna declared, reaching over to rub circles on Ava’s shoulder. “How have thou been? We can only infer so much from reports from Homage.”

“Yes. What has gotten you so stressed that you mentally suffered for it?” Zerona asked as she shifted her hips on the levitating lower half of bed and adjusted the ‘pillow’ section she was resting her head and arms on while her bosom and belly hung down with the two parts of levitating furniture suspended her like from an invisible hammock.

“To put it simply, I was stonewalled by bureaucracy to a point I was trapped in Emerald City. I was both sexually and emotionally frustrated since I couldn’t trust anypony not to be a Die Leucht spy. And to top it all off I missed you all so much. I’m sick of being away for months and weeks at a time.” Ava grumbled as she adjusted the pillow section herself, having pinched her boobs for a moment.

“It sucks but we have to do what we have to do. Being a Displaced isn’t easy, and it's even harder when you partner with the rulers of nations.” Mistress explained as she pulled a particularly large knot out of Tia’s shoulder causing her to moan in a mix of pain and pleasure.

“Not like I planned it.” Ava giggled. “You know the story, Lulu and Tia both jumped me first and foremost, I just couldn’t say no. And never can.” Ava affirmed with warmth to Luna, who smiled back. “So what about you all? I’ve been so damn busy I haven’t even been able to get reports from Homage on your situations.”

“Oh, I’m just resting with Tia. Coming up with brews that could aid in ways not currently available. And still trying to convince Tia and Luna to change their fur colors to gold and silver respectively.” Zerona complained as she looked to the completely relaxed Celestia, whose pink ethereal mane had draped over her face.

“Not gunna with other me on Maui turning gold until she leaves….” Tia mumbled, but before Zerona could whine about it, she gasped as Missy moved onto her, moaning in pleasure herself, making Luna titter.

“And We are the Goddess of the Night, not just the Moon. Perhaps later, when stealth is not so important.” Luna told the groaning zebra who was getting the royal treatment from Missy like Tia had before her. “As for Us, We have been quite busy with the military, but with how things have entered a wait-and-see period, We have had more time on our hands. Thus why we have been home quite a bit lately, and missing thee all the more for it.” Luna admitted, moving to kiss Ava on the cheek.

“Aw, I’m sorry Lulu. I’ll come home every chance I get. I promise.” Ava swore. “I suppose just having a Shard of me home isn’t much in the grand scheme of things.”

“Lyra is not thou.” Luna affirmed with deadly seriousness, making Ava blush and her heart pound in her ears. “We love all of thou, but thou were our first romance. Nopony before thou had we dared let into our heart besides Tia.” Luna stated, and Ava licked her lips and panted a bit.

“Lulu, if we weren’t here to relax, I would jump your bones so hard right now.” Ava declared, absolutely turned on by Luna’s affirmation of her love for her.

“We look forward to-oh~....” Luna was interrupted by Missy arriving at her table. “Oh Missy...thou art a wonderful wizard.”

“Mud and seaweed is ready. Up you get Princess.” Sonata teased Celestia as she helped the dozing mare to her hooves.

“Mm, don’t wanna….” Tia mumbled as she was lead over to the mud bath which had filled from a broad trough spigot and was heated from the tub itself. Her protests died with a sigh when she reached the brown sterilized mud and sank into it up to her neck and Sonata began applying seaweed and cucumbers to her head.

“How about I help you over to the bath Zerona?” Ava asked as she got up anyway and moved to aid the hyper pregnant mare off the bed with an ease of strength that her heavily muscular body flexed to easily maintain fluid movement in turning Zerona over, and the beautiful zebra groaned as Ava easily picked her up in a bridal carry despite her size, the bodybuilder of a mare striding by Missy and Luna only to yelp and steady her hold on the zebra when two hands spanked her callipygian rear. “Hey! Carrying precious cargo here!”

“You can manage.” Missy teased with appreciation in her eyes. “Nice muscle definition. Been working on it I see?”

“Yes, thine body is a temple of divine prowess.” Luna purred, and Ava huffed as she continued to carry the pregnant dozing zebra to Sonata, who proceeded to easily take her off her hands and put her in the bath.

“If you must know, yes. I was tired of being weak while I’m average size, so I figured concentrating a lot of mass into pure muscle was a good idea, but my Aspect won’t let me reduce the fat deposits in my boobs and butt without weakening me, ruining the purpose.” Ava declared, posing and flexing, getting hoots from Tia and Sonata and making her grin and she soaked in the attention. “I love being buff. No wonder I-wah!”

Ava cried out as a tendril extending from Missy wrapped around her and yanked her back to the bed as she moved away from the absolutely blissed-out Luna. “Alright you sexy sex goddess. Time for some you, and me time.” Missy purred, and literally shoved all four of her hands up to the wrists into her back, and Ava instantly began moaning as she literally melted into a pile of black fleshy goo. The two mounds that had been her breasts plopping to the ground and making Missy giggle.

“Right you don’t have the best of control, a large bucket would have been better than a bed. Jeff, would you mind?” Mistress asked.

“Jeff not mind.” Jeff responded as he sprouted paddles and rowed himself to the edge of the massive bath nearest them, sprouted spindly legs and skittered under Ava’s floating table, and turned into a dustpan to scoop up what had already dripped down, and then with those parts still in him, turned into a large washbin. “Ready for give Ava bath.”

“Oh~ Missy...I forgot how orgasmic you were.” Ava managed to form a mouth and coo as Missy scooped Ava off the levitating bed into Jeff. “I also forgot how nice it is to just let go of a shape. You’d think Recall would’ve-.” Ava felt a split of sharp pain that was instant, and then gone, and she hummed. “Or...yeah, I need that Shard Dox stole, I think I’ve figured out why Recall has been so skipsy.”

“You okay?” Missy asked as she molded the clay-like flesh around as she poked and stroked various nerve bundles gently, causing Ava to melt even more into practically a soup.

‘Never better!’ Ava thought loudly since she was too relaxed to bother with forming a mouth.

{Wow this is so cool! We’re like Elasti-Mare!} Lyra gushed, getting Ava confused.

‘But we’re more like clay than rubber. Your world’s naming sense makes no sense.’ Ava commented, confused that Lyra’s memories lined up. ‘Anyhow, thank you Missy. Gog I have to visit you sometime. Maybe even visit your Tia and Lulu, see what other versions of them could be like. Are they much different than my two Sky Goddesses?’ Ava asked conversationally as Jeff playfully prodded her too. ‘Mm, Jeff, not now. Later.’

“Jeff.” Missy said warningly, and the mimic ceased his teasing with a chuckle.

“Thank you Mistress.” Luna said as she knelt down next to Missy and mashed her gigantic bosom into her as she kissed her head. “Be sure to make Ava a puddle of bliss.” Luna insisted before going to the mud bath as well.

“That’s the plan~.” Missy chirped, before she grinned deviously and began moving her four hands through the goop in a way that rendered Ava a senseless protein soup within moments. “Done. Now to prolong it.” Missy then transformed all her limbs into dozens of tendrils that dove into the tub and she hovered over Jeff and Ava with every single tendril holding her up and using her body weight to stimulate every single nerve bundle in a way that caused Ava to completely black out in pure relaxation. “There we go.” The tentacle-limbed mare stated as the robe and corset was perfectly shifted to accommodate all the limbs without losing it’s form-fitting cling to her body.

“That is quite impressive. I don’t think Mother has managed to make any robot aside from some prototypes do anything close to that.” Sonata praised as Missy grinned cheekily.

“Nothing I’ve found is as good as I am at shapeshifting.” Missy declared proudly, before looking down at the Jeff-tub full of liquid goddess and stepping out of Jeff and Ava. “That should be enough, much more and she might pass out for hours.”

“That won’t do at all. I’ve already made reservations for us all for a wonderful dinner at Canterhall.” Celestia declared.

“Isn’t that the bistro that aspires to rival our personal kitchens?” Luna asked as she put cucumbers on her eyes and her starry ether mane began to settle. “We had thought a change of pace would be in order, why did thou not instead reserve a place at Nibbles?”

“That dive you call a diner would make me retch dear sister, at least with how sensitive my palette is right now.” Celestia countered. “Besides, Canterhall still has peasant dishes that our chefs refuse to make even on demand out of pride.” Celestia huffed, since she’d had to order food from Canterhall for cravings she’d had that her chefs were unwilling to ‘lower’ themselves for, even if it was for her.

“Mmm...that sounds great.” Ava cooed as she rose from being a primordial ooze and stretched as she formed her crystal mare form again, sighing. “I am so ready for a hot soak and some good food because-.” Ava’s belly roared and shook the ground, and she blushed. “I...am still hungry...should I be worried?” Ava asked Missy as she held her six-pack abs and groaned in pain, feeling empty. “I-it hurts...it actually hurts….”

“Ava. Feed.” Missy demanded as she shifted her limbs back, and started to take off the corset and robe so she could bathe, Jeff had already sprouted spindly legs and got back in the giant bath to float and relax. “You’re not actually feeding off emotions right now, nor have you been since I got here. Also, you have to keep an eye on this. You’re so heavily based on Changeling biology before you became a Shifter that you still need to feed on emotion.”

“What? But I’ve always just done it passively.” A stab of pain in her mind struck Ava, and she huffed. “Great, yet another thing Recall has failed to grasp. Thanks so much Dox.” Ava growled before she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, a vapor of green seeming to form and flow down her throat. “Ooo~...wow. How’d I miss that? I thought I was passively eating, but I was just tasting.”

“I noticed Crescent isn’t in there. It's possible that he was actively feeding for you, without you realizing it.” Mistress explained.

“Lumi always was starved for attention, approval...Love….” Ava looked sad and sighed. “Still have to tell her she was loved next I see her. Well, time for a swim. Coming babe?” Ava asked Missy as the Mistress of Change tossed Ava’s clothes onto the bed, and they both grinned as they jumped at the pool, turning into aquatic creatures moment before hitting, splashing the others and making them yelp from the hot water as the two Shifters starting playing and racing in the pool.

“Thou hast ruined the mud bath! Face our wrath!” Luna imperiously declared with a smirk as she jumped into the bath after them, splashing the others even more and getting the dragoness and two pregnant mares to pout.

“I swear, they can be such children at times.” Sonata complained as she set about draining the mud bath.

“How will we ever have the energy to keep up with our foals and those three?” Celestia asked Zerona tiredly, and they both sighed with smiles on their faces regardless.

Author's Note

*PINKIE LE GASP* :pinkiegasp:

PROGRESS! :raritystarry:

Next chapter will hopefully be out in a similar time span...frack! I just invoked Murphy! :fluttershyouch:
No~! :fluttershbad:

Dinner, Movie and Chill.

“W-why do you all insist I wear this to dinner again?” Ava fidgeted in vain to puff out her shape-shifting corset and robe so it wasn’t outlining her every curve, but it stubbornly refused to hide her body. “You all get to wear such fancy clothes, but you insist I wear this shameless outfit instead.” Ava whined as she pouted at her herd who were all dressed up and ready, save Sonata who due to her size was being fitted by the castle tailor at the moment.

“Ava, let me clarify something. I want everypony to know how lucky we are. And one clear way to rub it in the noble’s noses is to flaunt how attractive you are.” Celestia smirked deviously, her soft blue gown was a flowing and tasteful ensemble. It hid everything naughty but did nothing to hide her massive endowments, especially with the cavernous cleavage it put on display. It even hugged her massive belly and curved under it into a short knee-length skirt. Something about very cozy shape wiring that was hidden by frills.

“But can’t I do that in this?” Ava asked as her signature outfit was replaced by a beautiful pink dress, the same one that Palu gave her, and gave a twirl. “It also does nothing to hide my body, but it also looks much more suitable.” Ava insisted in response, cupping her huge boobs to emphasize how the dress pushes them up into absurd cleavage and barely even goes high enough to hide her nipples.

“Why Ava, thou dost appear a proper Princess in that dress!” Luna praised as she knelt down to be eye level with the crystal pony and rubbed the flaring white-frilled ankle-length skirt between her fingers. “Tis of incredible quality! Where did thee acquire this dress? We would gladly commission some clothes of the tailor.” Luna declared, as if her current silver shimmering silk dress was nothing special. It was even more revealing than Celestia’s dress in that it didn’t have cleavage, so much as it literally just had two broad ribbons running up over the breasts to just barely cover her areola and nipples and hook behind her neck to support her massive bosom, meaning for all intents and purposes she was topless while the rest of the dress barely went down to mid-thigh.

“I know! It makes me feel so pretty!” Ava gushed as she grabbed the skirt and twisted a bit to make it flow. “It’s a gift from Palu, she should have a shop available soon. So what do you think Zerona, Missy, Jeff?” Ava asked as she bounced on her hooves.

“It is a beautiful dress. I believe it is better than your more revealing robe for the occasion. Especially since it shows more of your breasts and we’ll be sitting at a table for possibly hours.” Zerona teased as she adjusted her green gown, it was similar to Celestia’s, but it had the added caveat of having an ankle-length skirt with a slit up to her hip on her right side, to show off that despite her pregnancy, her legs are just as curvy and muscular as ever.

“As long as you are more comfortable. We are out to relax and have a good time. We can’t do that if we are uncomfortable,” Mistress stated shooting Celestia a look of disapproval. Jeff and Mistress were out of place compared to the others, in that Jeff took the form of a more conservative black evening dress. The dress was sleeveless, with a high neck, and a skirt that ran to her knees. “Also when in public please remember that Jeff isn’t here, we may be relaxing, however keeping him secret is of utmost importance to both of us.”

“That is fine, though it does rub the wrong way to ignore a member of the herd entirely.” Celestia stated with a furrowed brow, clearly uncomfortable with the idea. “At least let somepony feed him under the table.”

“He will be taken care of, we haven’t lived for hundreds of years without figuring out a few tricks. If any of you know mind share spells, you’re welcome to them. As of the moment though, I’ll share his thoughts on his behalf.” Mistress explained, it was odd enough having so many ponies know about Jeff, more so that they were wanting to treat him as a real individual, it was nice.

“Hyperion is currently in the process of developing neuro-transmitters. It might one day make telepathy by science possible.” Sonata randomly commented as she stepped out. The 14-foot giantess of a dragon claptrap stepped into the room, she wore a shimmering red dress that was backless, held up only by her J-cup bosom, and had slits down the sides of the ankle-length skirts to show off her hips and legs, practically making the skirt just a long loincloth. “How do I look? Shimmer Seam said she wanted me to try her ‘Virgin Killer’ style.” Sonata informed as she wagged her tail over her nearly exposed rear.

“Sonata, I don’t know if that’s...decent….” Ava blushed so hard she was turning ruby, especially since Sonata’s height made ponies of her current stature just have to look up slightly to focus on her pelvic area, and the ‘skirt’ which seemed to be similar to some styles of Chinese dress at her height meant that just being at her sides, one could easily make out her underwear, which was a shameless g-string if Ava’s eyes weren’t lying.

“Oh look at you, the blushing virgin.” Sonata teased, making Ava wince and the dragoness laughed at her discomfort. “This isn’t just a dinner date and a movie sweetie. We’re making a statement.”

“What?” Ava blinked as her herd started filing out of the common room they’d been congregated in, leaving her and Missy to follow Sonata at the end of the procession. “What kind of statement? Tia said she wanted to show me off, but why would you all-.”

“Politics is dirty business hun. Tia has been stuck sequestered in safety while Lulu has been bogged down in the military. Zerona and I have no power outside our group, but even so Zerona is similarly stuck being under protection, and I’ve been busy coordinating Hyperion’s dealings with the mainland along with being their caretaker. So while we’ve been indisposed, the local lords and ladies have become...bold.” Sonata growled.

“What?” Ava suddenly growled, her face layering in crystal scales and smoke suddenly started billowing slightly from her nostrils. “Who is disrespecting my beloved’s authority? I’ll-.”

“Calm down Ava, it's not that bad. Politics are this way everywhere, this is very tame compared to some of the things I’ve gotten into. As long as we nip it in the bud now, we will maintain control and preserve our Equestrian values. I’ve given Celestia and Luna some advice on small things they can do to help control the situation.” Mistress explained allowing Sonata to continue.

“Indeed. And one of those ways, is to boldly remind ponies of your presence. So Tia decided to use this dinner date to shove noble noses into the fact that she’s still important, and that they cannot continue to act without consideration of her or her laws.” Sonata stated, getting Ava to calm down slightly, returning to pure crystal pony.

“Okay, I can see that, but where is Lulu in this?” Ava pointed out, and Luna looked back at them from beside her sister before the utterly massive stretch carriage that would ferry them opened it’s doors.

“We art more involved in the military and guard structures of the country than the more esoteric branches. We leave those annoying details to Sister Dearest.” Luna smiled evilly as Celestia huffed and with the help of a servant, entered the carriage.

“I still can’t stand military work sister. I’m just glad one of us can stomach it.” Celestia quipped as she took a seat, using her magic to help Zerona in, and getting glares from Sonata and Luna for it. “Oh come off it. This little bit of magic won’t hurt the foals.”

“Celestia, due to the fact you are giving birth to Godlings, you will want to conserve your magic. Also swim, a lot, it relaxes and strengthens the correct muscles. Odd the things you learn being a spy, did you know that eating cheese before bed will bring good dreams?” Mistress offered. Helping others into their chairs, allowing Sonata to enter last at the help of the carriage attendants, pointing out that the carriage was enchanted with a dimensionally larger interior.

“I know all this Mistress.” Celestia sighed. “I’m just tired of being treated like an ice sculpture.” Celestia grumbled as the stallions pulling the carriage set off. “Regardless of my own condition. How are you Mistress? Last I remember you had to make a cocoon for your progeny?”

“Benefits of years of understanding biology. Yes, thanks to Ava’s help I have a cocoon created and in the care of a friend, off world. The world of a Displaced is dangerous, I visit regularly for updates on it’s development. We are around seven months along, there will be a longer gestation period than normal, so we have about thirteen months to go.” At Missy mentioning the length of time, Ava grunted and shifted her hips. “Yes Ava, if I wanted to or could with my situation being what it is, I would literally be pregnant for over two years if I were to carry them in me.”

“That...is fucking hot.” Ava growled, lust burning in her eyes. “You’re lucky I’m more in control of myself now, or I’d want to see you like that.” Ava ruffled her skirt, waving a hand at her canyon of cleavage to try and cool off.

“Yes, yes we can play later.” Mistress snuggled in close to Luna, enjoying the physical contact. Resting her eyes for a bit. “What of you Luna? What are your plans?”

“Hm...We are unsure. Thanks to Hyperion, control over our military is far simpler and expedient than it has ever been, leaving us with an unusual amount of free time.” Luna stroked Missy’s mane as she considered any options, the amazon pursing her lips as she tried hard to think of something. “We have no idea. We’ve mostly been spending every free moment bonding with Lyra lately.”

“Which I am so grateful for Luna.” Lyra said from Avarice’s lips, her yellow eyes practically shimmering with content. “I never expected even getting close to a princess after my friendship with Twilight more-or-less kinda drifted away. But I’m beyond happy with my new lot in life...even if it meant losing everything I had before.”

“We still have not heard you play Lyra.” Zerona commented, her hands soothing her belly which was visibly displaying kicks, which drew everyone’s attention. “I have not had the pleasure of experiencing any Equestrian music since my arrival. I would like to hear it.”

“Maybe we should go to an orchestra next time?” Sonata suggested as she leaned across the carriage to sooth Zerona’s wiggling belly. “Hush little ones. You are inconveniencing your mother.”

“Nnf...they’re kicking my bladder….” Zerona warned with worried eyes, and Sonata quickly knocked on the front of the carriage, getting a quick stop. “Sorry….”

“We’ll be a moment.” Sonata stated clinically as she tossed open the doors, and carefully but quickly picked up Zerona and rushed her out the carriage and to the nearest building.

“Perks of being royalty; every bathroom is your bathroom by necessity.” Celestia giggled as she rubbed her belly. “I’m lucky my own pregnancy hasn’t been that active as frequently. I think it may be the difference between the horse dominant genes and the thestral dominant genes.” Celestia mused as a single kick showed up on her belly, getting a gasp out of the hyper pregnant mare. “Oof...but they are a good bit stronger….”

“Ya, so glad I can skip that, although being able to feel the kicks is something i’m a bit jealous of. So any ideas for names yet?” Mistress asked, suddenly realizing that she hadn’t put any thought into it at all.

“I will name the first colt Konrad, in memory of the stallion I originally fell in love with.” Celestia smiled softly at Ava, who was gaping in awe. “Beyond that, I haven’t considered it much myself. I know Zerona’s already named all seven of her foals, but I don’t have that kind of creativity.” Celestia giggled ruefully. “What’s irritating however is she refuses to help me, and she refuses to disclose her chosen names. Something about Zebrican tradition.”

“If We were to have a filly, We would name her Midnight Moon, or Selene.” Luna stated confidently. “If a colt, Artemis.” Luna continued, looking at Ava. “We expect thee to impregnate us the moment sister is without foal, if thou needs to be reminded.” Luna licked her lips, and Ava squirmed at her night goddess’s declaration.

“I am so sorry.” Zerona repeated as she was suddenly returned with Sonata, the dragon helping her back to her seat and the doors closed before Sonata sat back down and the carriage started moving again. “That stallion was such a gentlecolt, letting me use his toilet so suddenly.” Zerona commented as she relaxed.

“It’s good to see chivalry isn’t dead.” Missy replied before looking to Sonata. “So Sonata, how are the whelps?”

“Hm? Oh. Sorry, forget them sometimes...it’s dragon related, because no matter how hard I try to baby them, they get disinterested in me, I get disinterested in them. I just toss them some food drenched in my milk and let them rip it apart, the little darlings.” Sonata sighed wistfully. “I wish I could interact with them like other mothers of other species do, but at the same time, I just...don’t care.” Sonata replied sadly. “I know it’s wrong on so many levels, but Mother tells me it’s normal for dragons to Love and Leave because emotional attachment is...difficult to hold onto. That I’m able to maintain such a consistent relationship with anypony here is...impressive, really.”

“But what about our Stillborn? You reacted very strongly to that.” Ava reminded, and Sonata cringed visibly, getting glares from everypony. “Sorry, but I had to bring it up, considering it involves your relationship with our whelps.”

“I know, it’s just...for dragons, stillborn eggs are a serious subject. They’ve been tied to tenuous concepts such as destiny, or fate. Every time in at least this world’s recorded history for dragons, what little there is, it has always been a dragon born of a stillborn egg who brought great change and prosperity, or great sorrow and doom.” Sonata shuddered at the concept. “Our Stillborn could be destined for great things, or fated for a terrible path.”

“Ya, I don’t do destiny. We forge our own lives, I believe the main reasons for such a reference is a lack of recording. Of course the most noticeable individuals will be recorded, as such you create a false statistic, comets on earth used to do the same thing. Protect the egg, when it hatches, we will be there to ensure it has a great life.” Mistress offered dismissing the concern.

Before more could be said, the carriage came to a stop, and one of the buff earth pony stallions that were pulling opened the door. “We have arrived at Canterhall Your Majesties.” The stallion bowed.

“Thank you sergeant. Your team may rest while we enjoy the evening.” Celestia kindly instructed as the group exited the stretch carriage, and the stallion saluted before returning to his pull-bar and the group of earth ponies promptly drive it around the corner.

“Showtime.” Sonata purred as she checked her dress’s hold on her bosom before the large group of royal lovers strode towards the grand doors, the porters quickly opened them and were thanked for their service as the group passed through the thick mahogany doors, drawing quite a few eyes and the puce unicorn Maitre'd instantly started sweating bullets as he tried to compose himself.

“Welcome to Canterhall Your Majesties. I shall personally escort you to the most private-.”

“Not this time Prompt Service. We would like a table in the same area as our nobles.” Celestia interrupted, getting the named puce stallion to slick back his short-cropped black mane and nod, before turning and briskly guiding the massive group of VIPs to the upper-class section of the already upper-class establishment, rather than a private dining room.

“I will arrange a comfortable seating arrangement, and return with menus in a moment.” Prompt stated as his horn lighted up with the same pale grey color of his eyes and moved a few tables, which attracted the attention of every dining noble, which was over a dozen of them, and set up a long series of tables to comfortably seat the six valuable customers. “Apologies madam, but you’ll have to wait a moment longer for me to arrange a proper seat for you.” Prompt apologized to Sonata, who merely nodded in acknowledgement as Prompt speed-walked away so swiftly he was almost running, but not quite.

“I feel just slightly bad about tricking Prompt Service like this.” Celestia whispered as she took her seat at one end of the table, Zerona doing the same at the other end with help from Sonata, while Ava and Missy both sat on opposite sides of the table facing each other. “I reserved a dining room, but switched to here on the spot so they couldn’t instead put the nobles in dining rooms, if I said I wanted to eat in this section outright.” Celestia winked, and Luna tittered as she sat next to Ava closer to Celestia.

“See, this is why We leave thou in charge of the sycophants and peons sister. Only thou could make them dance around on thine palm.” Luna praised, enjoying the quiet scoffs and displeased murmurs of the offended nobles that overheard.

“I love that honesty Princess Luna. Having dealt with the military in the past myself, I’m sure your soldiers adore you for it. My father has always appreciated such behavior.” Mistress complemented, reverting to her persona now that they were in public.

“Please Hyacinth, just call us Luna.” Luna purred playfully, Mistress getting a gleam in her eye at apparently her role as Hyacinth being sustained in her absence. “After all, one who has lain with us deserves public acknowledgement.” Luna leered lustfully, getting a couple of lady nobles to choke and a few stallions to vent their collars as they tried to ignore the conversation in vain.

“Sister, please. Control yourself.” Celestia falsely chided. “After all, this is a public place. No need to tell everypony who we mate with.” Celestia played onward, getting Luna to barely avoid giggling.

“Well it’s everyone at this table, so it shouldn’t be hard to guess sister!” Luna replied, getting blushes and uncomfortable mumbling from their audience, meanwhile Prompt had arrived with a massive chair for Sonata, and seeing the seating arrangement the other five had taken, placed it next to Hyacinth closer to Zerona, before levitating menus around the table and also placing empty plates and silverware, along with cloth napkins before them as Sonata sat down.

“Tonight’s special is a strawberry cheesecake dessert, topped with chocolate creme and a sauvignon blanc wine for those of you without foal.” Prompt informed as he stood ramrod straight with his arms folded behind his back, his magic performing astounding dexterity in how it set their table and even pre-emptively poured them crystal-clear water from a glass decanter, without even tipping said decanter. “Food pairings with the sauvignon blanc are any selection of seafood, rich greens, or poultry.”

“I’m pre-ordering that cheesecake. A whole one.” Celestia stated, before looking around at the others. “Does anyone want appetizers or extra sides before we look at our menus?” Celestia asked.

“Fried zucchini with a cucumber sauce.” Ava ordered, getting some nobles to scoff at the ‘pedestrian’ dish.

“That sounds pretty good to me. I’ll take chefs choice. Let him have a bit of fun.” Mistress requested.

“A whole pig. Raw.” Sonata drooled, getting a few coughs and sputters. “No, that is a bit too uncouth.” She got some sighs of relief. “I’ll just have it ground and seasoned, then used to make tacos.” This got murmurs of confusion, there was no such thing as tacos. “Oh, and be sure to fry some corn patties into folded shapes for me please. Also shred some lettuce, tomato, and onion. Don’t forget cheese.”

“...Very well, it shall be done.” Prompt used a quill and notepad with his magic to take the orders down. “What about you my Princesses, and what of you milady?” Prompt asked of the sisters and Zerona.

“I’ll have a garden salad with some fried zucchini, now that Ava’s piqued my cravings.” Celestia hummed as she thought of the delicious crunch of fried vegetables. “Actually, scratch the salad, bring me a plate of assorted fried vegetables.” This made a noble faint, his wife suddenly nervous and trying to rouse him before anypony noticed.

“We shall partake in Midnight Black wine. We will also ask to have a plate of steamed vegetables.” Luna stated with a warm smile for the Maitre'd maintaining his composure so well compared to the dramatics of the nobles around them.

“Has this establishment received imports from Maui?” Zerona asked, getting a nod from Prompt as well as interest from the nobles, imports from Maui were considered interesting and new still. “Then if it’s just the appetizer, I ask for a pineapple and coconut salad. Also a glass of coconut water.” This instantly got some nobles to flag a waiter or waitress and ask about said food and drink.

“Very well. Your appetizers will be along shortly. I will give you some time to decide on your main course.” Prompt bowed slightly before he sped off again.

“Sonata, really?” Ava asked in exasperation. “Tacos as an appetizer?” She stressed and Sonata grinned viciously.

“Sweetie, I am a dragon. Claptrap or not, I can put a lot of food away. For the same reason on both parts, I can go without, but I’d rather show these snobs some delicious new food and enjoy it at the same time.”

“Sonata, we’re ponies. We can’t eat that much meat.” Celestia reminded, groaning as her belly rumbled audibly, rubbing circles to try and sooth it. “I hope Prompt brings malt vinegar….”

As the royal herd awaited their foods, they continued their conversation. However all of them were listening very closely to the nobles reactions. May of the nobles not realizing that the entire group was more than capable of hearing whispers around them. In particularly one noble caught all of their ears.

“...I am so sick of this war. Who cares about Griffonia and Bullgaria.” A well dressed, and large noble stallion whispered to his date. Blond hair, blue eyes, white coat. “Why don’t they just have Hyperion trample them both and be done with it?”

“He is thinking of having Hyperion just march Griffonia, glassing the entire area with their might.” Mistress stated to everyone in a quiet whisper. Electing a few hisses and shocked looks. ‘Girls remember tact.’

Celestia caught the meaning from Mistress. Decided to gently approach the subject, “Dear Sister, I do wonder how the Griffonian front is fairing? I am eager for peace talks to begin.”

“Sadly Sister they have put up a strong fight, and have secured their borders. They seem ready to draw things out until they can make another push.” Luna growled in irritation. “If they had not raised that barrier We could have rushed through their defenses and put an end to this within a week.”

“The same barrier that interlopers have erected over the Crystal Empire yes?” Zerona tacked on, getting several ponies to tense and subtly turn their ears to them a bit more.

“Yes. The same confounding magic that thus far only Avarice has been able to bypass.” Luna looked to Ava, who sighed and rubbed a temple.

“Not without difficulty and powerful headaches loves.” Ava waxed with full truth, getting some nobles to now grumble that they’re dependant on a random mutt’s abilities.

“I sincerely wish there was some other way. Not even Hyperion’s creations can get through the barrier.” Sonata complained, getting even the noble who brought up the concept to become worried.

“It would seem we’re just going to have to devote ourselves to a war of attrition on their part?” Hyacinth asked in false concern, getting sad nods from around the table.

“Indeed. For while we’re still at war, our current situation will allow us to recover while Griffonia is constantly trying to make up for lost ground. Would the nobles be able to handle the job sister?” Luna asked with obvious doubt, getting several of the nobles to literally have their hackles raise at her doubting their capability.

“Oh, they require some prodding now and then, but I’ve no doubt they can do their jobs.” Celestia replied, and from that, almost every noble in the room calmed down.

“They’re all simmering at the idea their rulers had any doubt in them at all, and resolving to do their work better.” Mistress whispered to the group, getting them all to subtly smile in victory.

“Your Majesties, your appetizers are here.” Prompt declared as he approached the table with several ponies carting their orders.

[ $ ]

“Ah~ I’m so glad we went.” Celestia sighed as she sat down in her futuristic reclining couch in her bedroom, everyone else doing the same. Including Sonata, who had her own custom recliner. “The foals are especially happy with my food choices tonight.” Tia cooed as she rubbed her massive belly, which was visibly straining her dress with how much food she ate.

“Indeed. I am also quite pleased to see how well Equestrian chefs are grasping my people’s food.” Zerona added as she cuddled into Celestia’s side, their bellies rubbing against each other. The smaller mare practically using Celestia’s right breast as a pillow. “I wish we could do this more often.”

“Agreed.” Ava groaned, her own belly was a bit paunched with how much she ate herself. “Ugh...I forgot how satisfying it was to actually eat food….” Ava said from her place next to Mistress, leaning into her lover’s body and nuzzling her cheek. “Thank you for coming Missy, Jeff. I’m just irritated all Jeff got out of dinner was a few pieces of cutlery.”

“The meal chef make good.” Jeff stated, despite nopony seeing him get passed anything by Mistress. “Must have again love.”

“I replaced my mouth with Jeff’s mouth sometimes. So we both ate about the same amount of food.” Mistress informed, before she opened her mouth to show it was hollow of any teeth, or tongue, and then a different mouth literally moves forward inside her own mouth.

“Jeff is used to it.” Jeff spoke through the not-Missy’s mouth.

“Ooo~ I wish my special clothes could do what you do Jeff. It would make life so interesting.” Ava cooed before moving to kiss Jeff and Mistress at the same time, getting them to hum.

“Well, before we even consider doing any strenuous activity on such full stomachs, I suggest we wind down with a movie.” Sonata interrupted before anything could spontaneously start up, and held up a remote, pressed a button, and the far wall opened up to reveal a massive entertainment center. “There’s a staggeringly enormous library of movies imported from a Displaced Homage has gotten in contact with.”

“Do you have Deadpool? It was only a leaked clip at the time, but I really wanted to see it!” Mistress asked bouncing up and down like a small filly.

“Oh? It was already released in my world. I didn’t get to see it yet either though.” Ava agreed with the idea, getting Tia and Zerona to look bemused. “Wait a second, Sonata, where’s Lulu?”

“In the restroom. Unlike some of us, she doesn’t have the ability to either ignore going to the toilet, or have several fetuses prolonging digestion time.” Sonata informed, getting Ava to blush at forgetting that going to the bathroom was a thing for normal people. “She should be along soon, in the meantime, what is Deadpool?” Sonata asked as she used the remote to search the Hyperion Echonet for the relevant content.

“He’s DEADPOOL! The merc with the mouth! The man who can never die!” Ava gushed in excitement. “Also, he’s got a hot bod and wears skintight clothing. Even if he’s mutilated under it.”

“I only really know about him from a game and bit of research. However he is hilarious. He breaks the fourth wall, as a power almost. Also loves pancakes, and make the most inappropriate jokes ever. He is an ‘Adult’ comic book character.”

“What is this fourth wall?” Zerona asked, but before anyone could explain, Luna entered the bedroom and plopped down between Ava and Zerona, practically grabbing Ava’s head and mashing her into her right breast.

“Now then. Let us-.” A sudden explosion of sound from the entertainment center interrupted Luna’s lecherous intentions. “What sort of magic…?” Luna was caught up in the opening of the movie, and shortly, everyone forgot further conversation.

[ $ ]

It was an epic movie. Filled with love, tragedy, action, and ridiculous levels of inappropriate hilarity. At some point after the climax however, Celestia and Zerona fell asleep against each other. After Sonata and Luna moved them to the bed, Luna bashfully rotated the planet and moved the moon almost a half-hour behind schedule before crawling into the bed herself. Sonata put away the entertainment center, and proceeded to go into sleep mode in her recliner after that.

Missy and Ava were alone by all intents and purposes. Snuggling on the gigantic couch with Ava as the big spoon, nuzzling the back of her head. “Thank you so much for coming you two. Just to be here.” Ava softly whispered as she conformed her body to Missy’s. “You have no idea how much it means to me.”

“Actually, I do. And I Love you too.” Missy whispered back, forming a mouth on the back of her head to passionately kiss Ava. “I wish I could stay longer, complete freedom from time dilation or not, if I stay too much longer I may not be able to leave.” Missy pressed her rear into Ava’s pelvis. “But if I do stay, I’m afraid I won’t be able to resist you.”

“I know. Still don’t get why I mess with your self-control so badly.” Ava cooed as she broke the passionate lip-lock with the alternate lips. “I do Love you Missy. You too Jeff.”

“Jeff Love too. But Mistress right. Must go.” Jeff stated, and Ava hugged them tighter for a moment, whimpering.

“Ava. As much as it hurts, we all will always be there for you. Stop hurting yourself like this.” Missy affirmed, turning around to squeeze their bosoms together and nuzzle Ava’s face, licking the tears away from her eyes. “You can always give me a call if you need.”

“I know….” Ava kissed her normal mouth this time, starting to grind against her before Missy pulled away and smirked at her. “Sorry. You go on home before I put another baby in you.”

“Oh no, my lover wants to impregnate me again. I better run.” Mistress snorted a bit at her own bad joke, and got up from the couch as she and Jeff shifted back to her Morning Glory form. “Good night Ava, Lyra.”

“We love you Missy. Goodbye.” Avarice stated, their eyes mismatched again as they watched Mistress and Jeff enter their portal home, leaving them alone. They shuddered, shivered, and curled up on themselves, tears leaking from their eyes at the very thought of leaving their herd to get back to work up in the Empire.

Author's Note

Have I Subverted your Expectations~? :trollestia:

Regardless, now with that done, back to writing by myself again. Don't be hard on Reinard, they were in the middle of a move apparently. :rainbowderp:

I'm shocked they actually had the time to do this with me. :raritystarry:

Shoo-Shoo-Be-Doo~!

Upon having dove into the water, Ava began her shifting. It was a little tougher, since she wasn’t familiar with seaponies, so she had to piece her form together even if Mistress had met them before, which she didn’t know whether or not if that was the case. After a few seconds, Ava gently set down on the silt of the cove at the base of the pier, which was of course littered with nautical brick-a-brack.

“*GASP, cough, cough* -Wow- *cough* gills are...weird when you still have lungs.” Ava breathed slowly, trying to tell if she’d done the lungfish lungs wrong, figuring using lungfish as a basis for a respiratory system was a good idea. After a minute of not drowning and her legs now formed into a long and beautiful black and red koi tail as her robe strank into a formfitting piece over her torso and hips, she decided she got the gills and lungs right. She tried to examine herself as best she could, but the murky water and her normal eyes weren’t up to the task, also they stung from the salt and countless other minerals in the water.

{Don’t give us gross fish eyes please! Maybe give us a second clear eyelid like some reptiles?}

‘You mean a nictitating membrane?’ Ava asked, and gave herself her green dragon eyes, but added nictitating membranes over them, which normally dragons don’t need since their eyes instead are immune to intense heat and smoke. This combination made the water clear as the surface, but it was still dark even with her enhanced eyesight. ‘Not enough, I can’t see further than a few dozen feet.’

{Oh! OH! Make us glow! Like those deep sea fish!}

‘You mean, bioluminescent.’ Ava rolled her eyes at her companion’s peppy nature. ‘Next you’ll be asking me to make a bioelectric organ so we can shock things.’

{YES! We’ll be the ultimate Aquamare!} Ava facepalmed, deciding not to make any more suggestions since Lyra was already so brimming with them. She decided to make the red spots scattered around her koi tail bioluminescent, but not activate them yet, they were still within surface sight. Then, to humor Lyra, shifted her biology until she had some claws coming from her hands, that sparked when she tapped them. {AH~! We are so awesome! We need to become a superheroine after all this!}

‘Please no, this is so tiring as it is….’ Ava pleaded as she moved, wobbling at how her still massive bust completely ruined her hydrodynamics, and looked worriedly down at them. ‘Lyra...this is going to hurt, and ache until we figure out what makes a seapony physically appealing towards reproduction.’ Ava cried out into the water in agony as she forcibly shrunk her basketball-sized breasts down, curling into a ball as she felt like she was ripping them off instead, Lyra screaming in their mind along with her.

After several agonizing moments, and a constant throbbing ache persisting afterwards, Ava uncurled, and looked at her petite B-cup breasts with a sniffle. {Dear Celestia. Please...don’t do that again….}

‘No promises….’ Ava couldn’t understand how Lumi could handle this, and it hurt far more now that she was gone. Eager to find any seaponies and get a sample so she could define what made a seapony appear ‘fertile/virile’ she rocketed into the cove, which steeply dove down into a dark basin. Feeling safe enough from surface eyes, Ava activated her red bioluminescence, and her eyes could now make out everything as if in broad daylight.

She continued down deeper, following the basin until it clearly dropped off into the ocean proper. The pressure was getting painful, the koi and lungfish she’d based her current form on were shallow water creatures, not deep sea. ‘Please, please! Let my light bring one to me, let one spot me and investigate!’

“Hoi~ there~!” At a cheery feminine voice calling through the water in a Scottish accent, carrying in whatever way it is that seaponies broadcast their voices in water, Ava slowed and turned in the direction it echoed from, finding a lithe and sporty yellow seapony mare hurrying up to her. “My aren’t ya an interestin’ one? I haven’t seen-MMPH?!” Ava pounced before the mare could react, desperate to stabilize her situation to the point she lunged and captured the mare in a deep searing kiss, trying to get her saliva as quickly as possible to get the template.

{SHOO-BE-DOO~!} Lyra excitedly declared, even with the pain.

After a few seconds of startled struggling, Ava let her go and groaned as her whole body became coated in a different pattern of scales, but kept her koi pigments. Her lungs changed, moving her trachea into a separate system that led straight to her lungs rather than piping her lungs through it. Her bosom grew only slightly into DD cups but she felt them grow a bit deeper into her chest. Finally, her former hip region actually slimmed down into a sporty shape that made her inherently faster, and the pain stopped, both from her Aspect and the pressure. “Whew! Sorry about that! But I needed help getting stable. I’m not normally a seapony.”

“Well! Isn’t that a fine greetin’?” The mare instead seemed entirely nonplussed, instead cheekily grinning. The yellow-scaled mare moved her orange mane behind her shoulders and placed her palms on her slim waist where a surface mare’s hips would normally be, her sharp amber eyes slitted like Ava’s in an eerily similar fashion. She was flat as a board, but Ava wasn’t so sure what that meant. “Pouncin’ on me like you’re in rut like that? Kinda got my dander up.” She then looked down at Ava’s pelvic region, blinking. ‘What’re ya? A herm?”

“Um….” Ava blinked, checking her pelvic region, and realizing that, yes, she’d default gone for best of both worlds. “Yes.”

“Oh really? Well isn’t that a dandy thing. Sorry lass, not exactly lookin’ to breed yet even if ya got me a bit riled.” The mare replied, and Ava sputtered. “I mean, I’m a perfect specimen for layin’ our eggs, but I’m not up for a commitment yet.” She looked Ava up and down. “Regardless how hot it would be to see ya bloated up with my eggs.”

“P-pardon?! I’m sorry, but I’m trying to tell you I’m not normally a seapony. I’m here because you all are getting too close to the cove and it’s agitating the surface ponies.” Ava cut to the chase. And what did she mean? Bloated with HER eggs? How did seaponies breed?

“What? Them lubbers makin’ a fuss? Ugh, joy. Now I’ve gotta tell the Jarl we gotta stop scavvin’ in the cove for a bit.” The mare grumbled. “Well now, guess I’ve gotta take ya to the Jarl. Get him up to snuff on the surfacers.”

“Well, I guess. Gotta find out what the relationship is between you lot and Ruby Ridge.” Ava reasoned, following the sporty mare with ease, the pressure no longer getting to her, her eyes even seeing far more clearly.

[$]

It was quite a swim, Ava had NO clue how far down this was, but the moment the drop-off leveled out, a town appeared. Oddly enough, most of the buildings seemed to be made from the repurposed hulls of sunken ships, or otherwise made with coral, stone, or even carefully arranged whale skeletons bound with seaweed. “What is this place?”

“We just call it Skully. We’re just a humble scavvin’ outpost. You surfacers are so wasteful, we make little towns like this anywhere you lot tend to make your own homes on the shores.” The mare informed, guiding Ava towards the most intact sunken ship.

“Well, just so I know who’s guiding me, what’s your name?” Ava asked out of curiosity as they got near to where the captain’s cabin was.

“Fenelia. Eachann! Got a visitor!” Fenelia hollered as she casually barged through the door, and Ava winced at the clear disrespect she displayed to who she was told was the Jarl, which memory told her was a very important position.

“Oi mare I heard ya! The tykes are givin’ me a right sour stomach if you’d be so kind as to not give me a jolt!” Replied back a shockingly husky female voice which honestly sounded a bit ill.

‘I thought Jarls were male? Didn’t Fenelia say the Jarl was male too?’ Ava mused in confusion.

“Oh come off it! Ya like the eggs pressin’ on your stomach.” Fenelia taunted and Ava entered, and gawked in shock and the very clearly heavily pregnant blue mare...stallion? Who was laying back in a throne to let his utterly massive belly have clearance. He honestly looked quite haggard, his long flowing green mane was a billowing mess, and his...breasts? Were quite swollen. Easily Ava’s normal size. Also his face was just as feminine as Fenelia’s….

‘What...the...fuck?’ Ava thought in shock and confusion.

{Oh~! Right! Seahorses, not, uh, seaponies, but I guess them too at least in this case, kinda have the males as the females, and females as the males...sorta.} This made Ava’s eye twitch, confused. {The females lay eggs in the males, who in the womb, thing, inseminate them, and carry them to term.}

‘That is...both very interesting, and hot, yet revolting. My Aspect absolutely LOVES it though….’

“Shut it ya misandrous mare! Not every stallion loves carryin’ their wife’s brood!” The stallion/mare shot back at Fenelia, huffing as the yellow mare grinned condescendingly down at him/her. “Now then lass...uh, Fen, this is a lad.” Eachann remarked at Fenelia in confusion.

“No she ain't. She’s got both!” Fenelia moved to Ava and shamelessly pulled open her vagina while at the same time, tugging a huge penis from her slit just above it. The penis wasn’t actually a penis Ava realized as she looked down in shock, seeing the X shaped opening that clearly marked it as an ovipositor. Quickly recovering, she blushed and smacked the offensive mare for touching her without permission as she covered her privates back up, getting the yellow brute to giggle and rub her cheek. “Feisty one ain't ya?”

“Fen, what have I told ya about public indecency?” Eachann warned with a searing glare, the...fuck it, mare, sitting up in her throne more to get a better look at her visitor. “So. What’re ya visitin’ for?”

“Okay, first off: I’m a surfacer. You’re both females by our definitions, let’s get that out of the way so I’m not confused.” Ava let be known, and the two mares looked to each other before shrugging and gesturing for her to continue. “I change shape, so that’s why I am the way I am right now. Now then, your scavengers-.”

“Scavvers. It’s an official job title, be respectful.” Eachann warned, before motioning for Ava to continue.

“Sorry, Scavvers, have been getting too close to the surface, and in case you didn’t know, the world above has been at war for the past few decades.” Ava informed, getting the two mares to instantly become wary and concerned. “So the city you’re near, Ruby Ridge, an actual Fortress City in fact, is getting antsy since they’re currently being invaded by spies that have cut them off from all outside communication. And they’ve been spotting your Scavvers.”

“Oi, oi! We ain’t no invaders! This is bad, we don’t want the surfacers gettin’ riled at us.” Eachann bit her plump and kissable lower lip in worry. “We need to...Fen...how you feel about gettin’ yer fins dry?”

“About as unwillin’ as anypony?” Fenelia squirmed in discomfort. “But, we cannae just send the lass back without proof of us. I suppose this means we’re done hidin’?” Fenelia asked her leader, who somberly nodded.

“Best let them know at last ourselves, rather than them find out on their own and decide we’re a threat.” Eachann declared, looking back to Ava. “You bring my sister-in-law back in one piece ya hear? If anythin’ happens, there WILL be war.” Eachann warned, shuddering at the thought. “Whether I want to at that point, or not.”

Ava gulped, and looked at the sporty male/female then the female/male in concern, and nodded her understanding...ugh, this was so confusing. ‘This is it. The day boys are girls and girls are boys.’

{To think we thought it was just a school joke….}

[$]

“So this is how ya normally look?” Fenelia asked as she swam around Ava at the bottom of the pier back at Ruby Ridge, giving the goddess a grope here and there in her handsy exploration, making Ava blush and growl in annoyance at being touched without permission yet again. This mare had no sense of boundaries. Ava had changed back in preparation to take Fenelia up, but the perverted mare had other priorities. “If this is how big your colts are before they have eggs in em, how do they move when the eggs start growin’?” Fenelia asked as she squeezed Ava’s breasts, making her shudder and express milk into her corset.

“Fen, for the last time. Hands off.” She smacked the mare’s hands off her breasts, and huffed, glad she saved the lungs and gills for last. “Now. On the surface, I’m a mare, not a stallion. If they have THESE.” Ava hefted her tits, and gestured to her pussy between her legs. “They’re female. If they have THIS.” She reached forward, and Fenelia had the gall to moan as Ava penetrated her groin slit, and pulled her huge orange ovipositor free for demonstration. “They’re male. So you need to treat everypony with respect, or else you’ll be chum in the water.”

“Mmph, ya got very nice hands~....” Fenelia purred as she thrust her ovipositor into Ava’s grip, and the mare jerked her hands away in disgust of the misandrous mare. “What? Ya grab a mare’s dick and expect her not to start ruttin’? You surfacers are so backwards.”

“Shoes on the other hoof.” Ava growled.

“What’s a hoof?” Fenelia asked, and Ava sighed.

“C’mon you brute.” Ava demanded, grabbing the lithe mare and arranging her into a bridal carry, marching up the incline to the shore.

“Whoa now! I thought we weren’t gonna have foals-!” They breached the surface, and Fenelia was thankfully shut up quick by hacking and coughing as her gills registered no water, and her lungs quickly purged the water out of them to start breathing air for the first time. “Oh, various GODS! How do you breathe up here?! It’s dryer than a thermal vent!”

“Welcome to land.” Ava dryly snarked, as she continued to stride onward towards the ramp up to the city proper, the sun was setting and soon the portcullis would close, she had no time to indulge the folks who lived down here, or the guards who were also down here for the night in her companion’s existence. “Move along! One side! Important business!” Ava declared, getting a path of gobsmacked onlookers to watch her ferry the once-a-myth creature into the city.

“Yes! Gaze upon me surfacers! I am your goddess now!” Fenelia declared, and Ava sighed again as she trudged up the ramp in a hurry.

“Not making a good first impression.” Ava growled as she made it up the ramp, and about-faced towards the twin towers to find the Admiral.

“Pfft, right, and what do ya expect me to do? Meekly shrink back into my big strong stallion’s arms?” Fenelia snarked, fluttering her eyes at Ava.

“I’m a mare, I repeat, a mare.” Ava reinforced. ‘I can’t believe I feel so strongly about this. Guess I’m definitely not a man anymore. Here you are andro officer, I’ve shredded my man card into tiny bits for your proof.’

{This bitch. Ugh. I can’t believe the Jarl thought SHE would be a good choice.}

‘She’s her sister-in-law, it’s probably a sort of diplomatic or political thing.’ At least, Ava HOPED that was why. Ava stormed up the tower, quick as could be, and knocked briefly before entering the Admiral’s office, finding him behind his dusk, furiously writing in a scroll with a new officer she hadn’t seen before off to the side, wearing instead a blue frock coat and a small bicorn hat. “It’s seaponies. Here’s one. She’s a bitch. Their females are males, and their males are females.” Ava informed blandly as she plunked Fenelia into a chair.

“Well isn’t that just rude?” Fenelia huffed, before looking at the mutually gobsmacked Admiral and officer. “Well, let’s get on with it before my scales dry out. We’re not spies, we’re not gonna try to invade, and we’ve nothin’ to do with your enemies. There, done, take me back.” Fenelia aimed the last bit at Ava, only for the Admiral to start...laughing.

“HA~! Ha-ha-ha~! I knew it! I told those stick-assed idiots seaponies were real!” Full Sail declared with raucous laughter.

“S-sir! Now isn’t the time for any sort of levity!” The blue-coated officer, who had mother-of-pearl skin rather than pearl itself, and had aqua hair for his mane and tail, his red eyes were filled with worry as his face contorted in slight disgust at his superior’s behavior for some reason.

“Ha-ha-ha~! I’m sorry Colonel Half Sail-.” Ava and Fen both chortled at the other stallion’s unfortunate name, getting the Colonel to frown and the Admiral to get a few more laughs in. “-But I see your point!” Full Sail managed to gather himself, and sighed down into a somber mood. “Thank you for looking into it. At least that’s SOMETHING gone right….”

“What do you mean? Didn’t the mayor take action?” Ava asked in concern.

“Well...that’s just it. The mayor’s dead.” Full informed bluntly, and the room fell into ominous silence for a moment.

“...FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff….uck….”

Author's Note

GASP! My gog! Is it happening?! Is this the real life? Is it just fantasy? Of course it's fantasy! :rainbowdetermined2:

Ruby Ridge After Dark.

Ava glared hatefully at the murder weapon that Half handed her. It was indeed a Die Leucht Steel dagger, the same they left pinning Star Swirl’s hat several months ago. “Damn. Too late, again. Great, now what’s the plan?” Ava asked of the two officers.

“Well, with the death of the mayor, I’m afraid that means all of the city is now under full military lockdown. I’m stuck doing both my own work and the mayor’s work. Half here is taking most of my normal duties however, including handling any mercenary work. Colonel, pay the mare.” Full Sail idly dismissed, getting back to frantically dealing with his paperwork and shooing them out the door with a hand. “You go on and get some rest, I’ll have some more work for you in the morning.”

“Uh...what about me?” Fenelia asked in confusion.

“I’m afraid milady, that by now the gate is closed for the night, no exceptions save for bringing civilians in during a siege.” Colonel Half Sail informed the seapony.

“Damn, so I’m stuck foalsitting this bitch all night.” Ava grumbled, getting Fen to pout, not denying it as Ava put the dagger down on Full’s desk.

“Afraid so miss. Follow me, I’ll pay you for the job you did, then I’m afraid you’ll have to find an inn, with a guard escort. We are entering a full curfew-enforced lockdown.” Half informed as Ava scooped Fen back into a carry, and followed Half downstairs to a smaller office that she’d passed without thought a few times already. “Here you are, 500 bits for a job well done.”

“Wow, thanks! That can get me a week in a pricy inn, a month in a cheap one.” Ava beamed, taking the hefty sack of gold coins, which Fen grabbed and looked into with curiosity.

“You use metal disks for money? We use quartz-encrusted shells we call clams.” Fenelia stated with interest as she looked at a bit closely.

“Yes, well, I’d gladly escort you two ladies, but I’m afraid the Admiral wasn’t lying when he said I had to pick up most of his original work with these circumstances. You might catch a guard clocking out for the night if you head down around now.” Half helpfully informed, and Ava nodded thankfully as she continued to carry Fen and headed down the tower again.

“She’s nice, that blue one.” Fen commented, and Ava sighed.

“He, Fen. He’s a male.” Ava informed tiredly.

“Argh! You surfacers are so weird!” Fen complained while scratching her scalp in frustration.

“Again, shoe on the other hoof.” Ava blandly repeated from earlier.

“And again, what is a hoof?” Fen demanded.

“It’s these magical things on the ends of our extra limbs.” Ava stopped on the stairs and lifted a leg up into the air, demonstrating her unnatural flexibility.

“So that’s what you call the ends of your legs?” Fen asked before Ava started heading back down again.

“You know what legs are, but not hooves?” Ava asked skeptically.

“We have crabs in the ocean you know.” Fen huffed.

“Whoa...this is new.” The rolling deep voice perked Ava up faster than a double-shot espresso, and she looked over the ground floor/bridge of the twin towers to see Jet signing out of his shift at the work board next to the stairs.

“Whoa….” Fen cooed in awe as she looked up at Jet like he was a work of art. “Y-you’re a male?”

“Um...yes? Aren’t you?” Jet asked her, making her ears wilt in realization.

“Um...no.” Seeing Jet, a far-cry from any male or even female Fen could draw parallels to, threw her off and made her uncomfortable.

“Seaponies are weird. Their females are essentially males, their males are definitely females. But they’re also both basically females.” Ava shrugged, and Jet rubbed his helmet in befuddlement.

“That’s...hard to wrap the head around. Well, anyway...are our plans for the night canceled?” Jet asked, and Ava drew herself up just a bit taller.

“Not a chance. She can join in. Doesn’t have anywhere else to be.” Ava declared, and the stallion quirked his head at an angle, looking at Fen curiously, the petite and usually boisterous mare squirming nervously under his scrutiny.

“Hm...might be interesting. Alright, you need an escort anyhow. The Wretched Wreck is also an inn, so at least you won’t need to leave once there.” Jet informed as he moved towards the door, Ava and Fen following.

“You’re sure a room will be available?” Ava asked as they exited into the cold night. The Crystal Heart locking the Empire in perpetual spring or not, Ruby Ridge was by an arctic ocean and the Heart didn’t stop water in masses like rivers or ponds, so there was no hope of it preventing the ocean from chilling things a bit.

“Pfft, that dive? It’ll have a few rooms free, especially since it’s literally tucked into the south crescent of the city by the Southpoint Lighthouse.” Jet informed as he nodded to other passing guards.

“How can you dive on land? Do you surfacers swim through the ground?” Fenelia asked in perplexed amazement, getting Jet to chuckle and Ava to snicker.

“Only Diamond Dogs have that precious ability. Trust me, if we crystal ponies could do that, we’d never have bothered building cities above ground.” Jet claimed, and this caught Ava’s attention, she’d read up and heard about diamond dogs, but she’d never actually seen one she could remember, blast her faulty Recall.

“What are diamond dogs?” Fen asked in curiosity, her eyes roaming over the dark city that was only illuminated by glowing crystal lamps at every street corner and patrolling guards with crystal lanterns, her seapony eyes letting her see everything as clear as day since they were meant to sea in the depths of the ocean. “Your architecture is astoundin’. I’ve not seen buildin’s this solid since I visited the capital city as a wee lass.”

“Don’t your people have architects?” Jet asked in curiosity, and Fen nodded.

“Oh sure, but they all stick to the capital, or other officially instated cities. Wee little outposts like my home get by on hand-crafted structures from what we can scav. Funny thing that, we frontier ponies gotta get by, but caravans still come out to buy our salvage for the cities.” Fen rolled her eyes. “I think the big cities forget all their rare comforts like wood or metals come from us. Leave us to scrounge for what we can get.”

“That’s terrible! What sort of dystopian society do your people have that entire towns are just left to rot?” Jet demanded out of an impressive amount of outrage, and Fen scoffed in agreeing annoyance.

“Only the well-off or rich ponies live in the cities. Your not livin’ in a city? Tough luck. Best grab everything of use or end up seafood. I know how to wield a harpoon like ya wouldn’t believe thanks to our way of life. My first kill was at the tender age of 15. Ran a blue shark through the eye. Ate well for days.” Fen reminisced oddly fondly, Jet just shook his head.

“Well, to hell with that. If it could work out, I think ponies here at least would be willing to see how we could get along. We’ve got a whole cove your town could move to.” Jet suggested, and Fen perked up quite a bit.

“That’s...a right neighborly thin’ of ya to say….” Fen sounded at a loss for words, and Jet shrugged.

“Ponies here are good folk. It’s why we guards are so adamant about protecting it, duty aside.” Jet shrugged off, and Ava, seeing an opening, interjected.

“Uh, Jet, we’ve been walking for a while. Where’s this place?” Ava asked, and Jet looked around and stopped, sheepishly rubbing his helmet.

“Ah, sorry. We’ve passed it, we’re almost to the lighthouse instead by this point.” Jet gestured up, and Ava looked up at the ruby lighthouse, a bright white beam sweeping over the water in a matched doppler with it’s sister lighthouse to the north.

“Um...is somepony supposed to be climbin’ the outside of it?” Fen asked, getting both Jet’s and Ava’s instant attention.

“What do they look like? Where on the lighthouse?” Jet demanded as the trio began moving quickly towards it.

“U-um...they have these weird...flippers, on their back and-they’re swimmin’ now! They’re swimmin’ in the air with their back flippers! That’s so amazin’!” Fen gushed, and Ava put a finger to her muzzle to shush her, and Ava changed her eyes to seapony eyes, which let her see to her fear an outline in the night sky.

“Griffin! Sound the alarm!” Ava shouted, and Jet grabbed a crystal horn from his waist, and blew into it, the loud drone echoed through the night. “Fen, stay here with Jet.” Ava set Fenelia on the ground, and she rapidly transformed into a pure dragoness, no time for fancy things. Up here though, once she got dragon eyes, making out the interloper was easier since she could also see their heat signature if she focused on her thermal vision.

When Jet sounded the alarm, the griffin decided to bugger off, but Ava flew after them in a rush. {W-wha? What’s going on?} Lyra grumbled, having fell asleep at some point, she seemed a more naturally lazy mare than the others Ava has had in her so far.

‘We’re chasing a Die Leucht operative who just did something to the lighthouse!’ Ava rapidly brought Lyra up to speed as she dove after the griffin, who was trying to dive down the cliff and out to sea, but Ava, with a less urgent need for self-preservation, dive-bombed the griffin so hard she heard something snap when she impacted, causing the target to screech in pain before they hit the ocean, which felt like smacking into solid concrete.

Ava quickly turned into her seapony form, grabbing the enemy in the process, and swam up to the surface, forcing the griffin to have their head above water. “What did you do?!”

“*cough, cough* Fick dich!” The male griffin replied, trying to claw her eyes out, and in response she dunked him under, forcing him to lose air and then let him back up.

“Let’s try this again! What did you do to the lighthouse!” Ava demanded, ignoring his claws scratching at her scales. Seaponies had tough scales for the depths, this was nothing.

“*cough, cough, hack* Sprengstoffe setzen….” Ava lunged and her maw of sharp teeth ripped the saboteur's trachea out, and she proceeded to viciously bite through his whole neck with jaw strength only a predator of the sea or dragon could muster, before rapidly absorbing his body into her mass.

{He said he set explosives! We’ve gotta tell the guards!} Lyra replied with shock, having learned some rudimentary Germane when in school, which was why Ava was so quick to execute him.

‘Hold on, gonna try some dynamic shifting!’ Ava dove down several feet, and then did a sharp U-turn and leapt up out of the water, turning into a dragoness during the ascent, and flapped her wings harshly against the water still clinging to her to rise up the cliff, seeing guards had already stormed the lighthouse, but having been told of the explosives, saw they were set around the center of the exterior, so those guards would all die in vain if she didn’t act quick.

Ava flew straight for them, heedless of caution as she flew around in a circle, ripping the disturbingly advanced shaped charges from the ruby with the distinctive sound of ripping off adhesive. The ticking sound of an egg-timer coming from each of them telling her she had only minutes to seconds to get this done. After doing a last sweep with her eyes, Ava flung the demolitions explosives out into the sea, and went blind when they exploded in a chain detonation that smacked her so hard with a wave of heat that she tumbled head over tail until she crashed in an unnatural heap on the cobblestone street below.

“Ava!” She heard through the ringing in her ears, and groaned as she melted into a puddle, and reformed into her preferred crystal pony body, rubbing her neck as Jet, carrying Fen, rushed up to her and he helped her up. “That was quick thinking and acting miss. You’ve just saved several guards and the lighthouse.” Jet informed, only for a second series of explosions to ring out, this time coupled with the crunching of failing superstructure, and everypony looked north in horror to see Northpoint Lighthouse crumble and fall into the cove, facing Southpoint.

It hit the water with a further deafening impact, and being large enough, blocked half of the entrance to the cove, revealing the full purpose of Die Leucht’s sabotage. Had Ava not succeeded just now, Ruby Ridge’s cove would’ve been blocked, leaving any allied ships unable to leave, or enter the natural protective barrier of the massive cove. Not to mention without the lighthouses, the city would’ve been impossible to find at night for said allies currently all out on patrol.

“Oh no….” Ava groaned, and several of the guards in the area began belting out patterned horn calls, which other horns across the city replied with their own horn calls in differing patterns. Soon, at least a whole squad of new guards showed up, all wielding crossbows and entering the lighthouse.

“C’mon, let’s get to the Wreck...I need a drink.” Jet sighed as he held Fen with his right arm, cradling her as she wrapped her arms around his neck, making her blush despite all the frantic excitement, and looped his left arm under Ava’s right arm, pulling her away from the important structure she’d just saved. “And I figure you do too.”

[$]

The Wretched Wreck, was an apt name. It seemed some inspired idiot tried to build a small schooner up on top of the cliff, only to realize far too late there was no way to get it down to the water. It was propped up on permanent struts with the starboard side facing the wall and the port side facing the street, two buildings of the usual construction were built as close as possible to it, but the bow was left with plenty of clearance for the admittedly beautiful bowsprit of, ironically, a seapony. Funnier was that it was of a male seapony, which was obviously then thought as the female.

At some point since it’s unfortunate construction, someone had the enterprising idea to turn it into a tavern and inn, which was clearly a success since despite all the action, it was full of off-duty guards, who were all looking towards Northpoint from the railings and windows in a mixture of anger and worry. Only possible since the Wreck was at the very edge of Southpoint and buildings were scarce closer to the lighthouse.

“Can’t believe this….”

“Those bastards!”

“It’ll take years to replace that and dredge the cove….”

Ava overheard several guards all mumble and grumble as her group arrived up the gangplank, idly noting an utterly ancient sign hanging on the left side of the gangplank on the railing.

*The Wretched Wreck. Est.*

For some reason, the year the establishment opened was broken off by some sort of impact. Considering how weathered the landlocked schooner was despite clearly being well cared for, it might be well over a couple hundred years old, especially since it likely predated the very walls and buildings around it.

Considering the direction they came from and both her and Fen’s presence in the group, several guards approached, but Ava was not in the mood to mingle for once, and Jet warded them all off with apologies and an insistence that the two ladies get a room for the night before they decide if they want any company.

Ava approached the stallion running the bar surrounding the entrance to the captain’s cabin, weaving around patrons and tables. “Biggest room you have.” Ava requested, fishing for the fresh bag of bits she’d earned today.

“Biggest eh?” The grizzled old sailor who owned the establishment mumbled as he looked between her and Jet, as well as Fen in his arms, who was relaxing against his shoulder, her eyes closed as she dozed. “Hmph, been awhile since I’ve seen a seapony. I’ll give ya a room with a bath so she don’t dry up.” He turned around to a pegboard with several keys, and he picked on towards the top. “16 bits a night.”

“Nice price.” Ava perked up slightly at such a cheap price for a room with a bath, and paid him before taking the key.

“Just remember the key won’t leave the Wreck, if you forget, might tear a hole in your pocket.” The owner warned. Clearly some ponies had forgotten and got damaged clothes or bags for their trouble.

“Got it.” Ava held onto the key, and guided Jet and Fen down the stairs into the midship, looking at the divided rooms all along the large hall to find her room, #3. “You two get in here, wake up Fen, for all the trouble you’ve caused, you’re gonna make this fun.” Ava demanded, making Jet realize this wasn’t going to involve any foreplay, and Fen blinked in confusion as she woke up as Jet entered the door.

“Wha?” The door closed.

Author's Note

So, be level with me here. :coolphoto:

Next chapter, do you want kinky, unusual, fetishy clop? :rainbowderp:

Or do you want to gloss it over for substance? :trixieshiftleft:

Makin' so Many Foals....

Author's Note

Happy Birthday, to Me. *ravenously noms shrimp*
Happy Birthday, to Me. *rips meat out of crawfish*
Happy Birthday, dear GameJunkie. *dips crab in butter*
Happy Birthday, to Me.... *burps pieces of lobster*

Have some weird kinky clop, on me. :moustache:

Makin' so Many Foals....

Ava started drawing the bath, glad to see the internal plumbing of the Wreck worked just fine as the spigot poured warm water steadily into the large ruby bathtub. “Go ahead and get Fen in the water while I figure out how this is going to go.”

“How what’s gonna go? Don’t I just stick my dick in his vag?” Fen asked, getting Jet to choke and sputter as he fumbled with her and managed to gently set her in the tub.

“Seaponies really are weird.” Jet blustered as he took his helmet off to reveal his mane was shaved down, and his eyes were hazel.

{Called the hazel eyes!} Lyra cheered childishly, and Ava rolled her eyes.

“How many times do I have to tell you males and females up here are different? Up here, once again I reiterate, the stallions have dicks, and the mares have vaginas.” Ava explained, humming as she looked at the suddenly blissed-out mare in the tub, who seemed to take to the warm water like it was a hot spa bath instead.

“Mmm~...how do ya surface ponies get the water so nice~?” Fenelia asked as she submerged under the deepening water, sighing the clean fresh water into her lungs, saying something that the two surfacers, of course, couldn’t hear since she said it into the water, and Jet turned it off once it was deep enough her whole body was submerged.

“So, while she’s distracted, want me to get us some rum?” Jet asked Ava as he pointed a thumb at the door.

“Naw, I’m a Goddess, I can’t really get drunk anymore off of normal alcohol. But as for you two, I can definitely get you plastered!” Ava gushed as she decided on what she was going to do to them, hefting her milky tits with sly glee, making Jet visibly nervous as Fenelia rose out of the tub, squirting water out of her gills much easier than when she came out of the ocean.

“Oi! I’m talkin’ to ya!” Fen indignantly demanded.

“Couldn’t hear ya babe. But enough talk, it’s time for you two to give me a show!” Ava beamed as she strode to the tub, and casually hefted Fen out of the water before she could protest, and swiftly moved her to the huge king-sized bed, and plopped her onto it, ignoring that she was getting it wet. “You, undress, now.” Ava demanded of Jet as she casually shrugged out of her robe and corset, getting Jet to gawk at her liquid-black hematite body. “Jaw OFF the floor, and armor ON the floor please.”

“W-what’s goin’-MMPH?!” Fen was interrupted by Ava’s left nipple being shoved into her mouth, and before she could try to resist, a gush of Ava’s heavenly lactate hit her tongue, and she moaned as she began to suckle, wrapping her hands around the basketball-sized breast to grope and knead it into gushing more into her mouth.

“Uh...wow….” Jet managed to get out as he finished carefully removing his ruby guard armor, and approached Ava’s right side, still wearing his breeches. “I’ve never seen anypony go at a mare’s milk that much.”

“You’re joining her. Mouth, tit, now.” Ava panted, her cheeks flushed as she enjoyed the feeling of Fen drinking, and even squirming between her thighs, the yellow mare’s tail rubbing her just right on the vulva.

“Not much room down th-.”

“NOW!” Ava demanded, her eyes glowing green, and suddenly Jet was more interested in listening to the obviously powerful mare than make complaints. He got on his knees next to the bed, laying his torso along it to grab her right breast, and made to drink from it. The moment he tasted her milk, he groaned, and couldn’t resist mirroring Fen’s worship of her breast and the milk it produced

“Oh~! This is incredible~....” Ava moaned, panting, gasping, and kissing Fen’s and Jet’s brows alternatingly, even biting their ears and groaning as she felt a boobgasm building. “Yes, oh gog yes! I’ve never properly-AH~!” Ava screamed out as she began to jerk uncontrollably, the most intense boobgasm she’d ever experienced, especially outside of masturbation or even milking, sending sparks through her vision and making her whole body go limp, her eyes rolled back as her tongue hung free.

“Mm...so-*burp*-good...but so full now….” Fen muttered as she stopped drinking, hands under Ava rubbing her bloated stomach. “Whoa...what...what’s goin’ on-*hic*-with the room? It’s all...wobbly….”

“Ugh~...I feel like I just did several shots of whiskey….” Jet groaned as he stopped drinking too, and blearily tried to sit up, only to end up falling backwards onto his back on the floor. “Holy...shit...that’s good stuff….”

“Thanks...I make it myself.” Ava preened, winking down at him as she recovered from her intense euphoric high like a pro. “But we’re not done. Or, rather, you two aren't~....” Ava grinned, getting up off of the drunk and confused Fen, and hefted Jet up onto the bed like he was a sack of potatoes, and tugged his breeches off of him, whistling at the size of his package. “Nice! Got a good one here!” Ava appraised as she grabbed one of his apple-sized testacles in her right hand and groped it, getting him to jerk his hips in surprise. “Nice, I don’t have much to do with these nice baby-batter makers to make them efficient at their job.”

“Whoa...what’re those?” Fen asked curiously, wavering about as she pushed herself up with her arms, looking at his balls in wonder.

“These, my fishy mare, are his sperm glands.” Ava informed, before reaching her fingers into Jet’s sheathe, and with a groan on his part, coaxed his huge 15 inch horsecock out, making Fenelia gawk in awe as Ava began stroking to keep him tumescent. “And this. Is a REAL stallion’s dick.” Ava leaned down, rolling her tongue around his flared glans, getting Jet to groan and then hiss as she clamped down with just her lips and gave a hard wet suck that made his hips jump, and she pulled back to let a string of precum connect her lips to his dick. “Instead of eggs, it delivers semen to the eggs in the female.”

“That...is so~ hawt….” Fen declared, her face getting more flush as her drunkenness set in along with her building arousal. “He’s even longer than me!”

“Yep, but if I’m right~....” Ava reached her left hand to Fen’s groin area, her right hand still stroking Jet to keep the stallion at full attention, and then with a moan on Fen’s part, coaxed her own bitch-breaking 12-inch girthy ovipositor out, stroking it in tandem with Jet’s to help compare. “You are easily much thicker. Which makes what I’m about to do. So. Very. Epic.”

“What’re you doing?” Jet asked as Ava beamed mischievously.

“Ah don’ care, jus’ keep doin’ tha’~....” Fenelia drunkenly slurred.

{DEAR LUNA! DO IT! OH HOLY SHIT! I did NOT think I would find this hot before! I regret all these years of strictly Filly Fooling!} Lyra gushed as Ava moved the two dicks towards each other. And then shoved the flare of Jet’s dick INSIDE of the opening of Fen’s ovipositor.

The two ponies whinnied in pleasured shock, both humping their groins forward, which acted to feed Jet’s cock deeper into Fen’s egg-tube. The two were so alight in pleasure, they turned to each other, and began sloppily making out as they forced their anatomies together, and Ava panted as she began to rub her winking clit and jam as many fingers into her pussy as she could to the show.

Things slowed down when Jet’s dick began to enter her abdomen, and then it picked up as Fen forced him, and her ovipositor, deeper inside. She slammed her body into him, forcing more and more of his dick into her, her tongue lolling out as she got on top of him, frantically ramming her body onto him. “DEAR GODS! THIS IS AMAZIN’~!”

“Holy shit! Seaponies can-FUCK~!” Jet neighed, and Ava shuddered and squirted from her nipples and pussy in her lighter orgasm as she watched him start to fill Fen’s little body with his seed, and the mare cried out in rapture as something her anatomy wasn’t usually supposed to do was stoked, and she rubbed her belly as it visibly paunched from Jet’s semen.

“Ah...ah...oh...oh no….” Fen realized what was happening as her magically drunken haze lifted, and sighed. “W-well...I guess this bachelorette needed a stallion anyway….” Fen grunted, her belly bloating more, rapidly, making her pant and whine, but only making Ava get off again at the sight.

“W-what’s going on?!” Jet asked in worry, watching the tiny mare’s belly blimp out atop him as lucidity returned to him as well.

“We k-kicked my ovaries i-into gear! We d-don’t usually-mmph-make fertile eggs unless we’re in heat, or being rutted...and damn, if I wasn’t just rutted right now, I don’t know what that was….” Fen groaned, her belly looking to term with a single foal. “G-gotta get home. Ya don’t got a womb, so I’ve gotta find a surrogate to lay my...our, eggs in.” She looked extremely worried, rubbing her belly. “If they start growin’ in there...m-mare’s aren’t meant to carry! W-what’s gonna happen if I don’t get em out right quick?” Fenelia began hyperventilating, and Ava placed a calming hand on one of her fair shoulders.

“Calm friend. They won’t take root. You’re surprisingly adaptable to surface ponies. You still need a surrogate, but they won’t try to latch onto something that can’t support them.” Ava informed serenely. “Jet, you okay with this? I had a feeling you were okay with siring some foals. Mostly why I was fine with you two getting drunk off my magic milk and going at it.” Then she looked to Fen. “And you, need a stallion. And foals. You’re going to waste away if you keep up your sexist behavior.”

“Ugh...well, gettin’ me eggs inseminated so I have to finally be responsible isn’t the worst way ya could’ve helped me our.” Fenelia shrugged off, rubbing her distended belly. “Hm...Eachann can’t possibly hold this many. Feels like I’ve got dozens swirlin’ around in there.” Fen mused, then sighed as she remained speared on Jet, who looked like he was processing at the moment. “Meh, I’ll ask him anyhow. He really does like bein’ all fecund. Just won’t admit it.”

“Uh...not really upset. Kinda...been looking for a mare past year or so….” Jet bashfully admitted as he looked at Fen, who smiled at the statement. “Well, I may not be a sailor, but I landed me a big catch.” Jet winked, and Fen tittered at his terrible pun as Ava groaned at said same pun.

“Okay, just for that, I’ll try some rum.”

[$]

When Ava and Jet left in the morning carrying a clearly pregnant Fen out, they got plenty of wolf whistles and they teased Jet relentlessly. He took it in stride, carrying his new marefriend/mate in his arms like even loaded up with fertilized eggs she weighed nothing. “I’m going to go down and get Fen in the water.” Jet informed Ava as they reached the open portcullis.

“The towers are in sight, so I think I’ll be fine without an escort the next few hundred feet. But...before we separate. How about I give you the ability to both walk on land, and swim in the sea?” Ava asked, her green eyes glowing red. “Well, not Give, really. You’ll have to make a Deal for it.” Ava purred, and Jet looked nervous at the glow in her eyes, while Fenelia simply looked excited at the idea her mate/coltfriend could join her in the water.

“Okay...won’t lie. Situation’s looking like trying to stay on land is going to drive a wedge in my new relationship. Long distance isn’t exactly sustainable.” Jet admitted with a shrug. “What’s the price?”

“It’s also on her, or anypony else who decides to herd around you two.” Ava declared, the red glow taking over her eyes entirely. This was perhaps one of the biggest Deals she was going to broker. “I want you to sire, and propagate a new species of seapony! Those little ones floating around in Fen right now are a perfect start, but you’ll need more. HUNDREDS more at least!” Ava was drooling, squirming, making the couple back away nervously. “You’ll be Power Running, Power Sleeping, Power Dating, Power Eating, Power Laughing, Power Spawning BABIES! You’ll have so many babies! 400 BABIES~!”

“Okay we get it!” Fen blurted out, overwhelmed by the fertility goddess’s fanaticism. “I’m up for that. We seaponies normally spawn over a dozen foals a matin’. Sea’s a terrible and dangerous place ya know. Trouble will be findin’ surrogates willin’ to put up with us constantly breedin’. Which, by the way, we are goin’ to do.” Fen directed the last part to her mate with a husky purr, and Jet grinned back at her.

“I’ll do it! Why not? If I can still come on land, I won’t even have to quit my job if her town moves into the cove.” At Jet’s words, suddenly, he groaned as a red light emanated from his own eyes. “W-what is that?”

“Mmm...proof of our transaction. The Contract, ya see. Since this is an intangible Deal of incredible power, the Contract wants to make clear that neither of us can back out.” Ava mumbled, before clapping her hands. “Okay then! Time to turn you into the first Merpony!” Ava gushed, moving up to them and placing a hand on Fen’s tail and Jet’s bicep.

The change was quick. Jet’s smooth crystal skin was suddenly replaced by the same crystal, but in layered strong scales so he could go down to the depths without pressure crushing him. His pony tail was consumed by a long seapony tail while his hooves were replaced by finned digitigrade claws. His own hands became seapony hands, but with extra webbing. Finally was his eyes and gills, making him temporarily blind and unable to breath for a few seconds and he gasped through his new lungs and gills as he blinked his new eyes. “W-whoa...everything seems...brighter….”

“Seapony eyes can see in the near-complete darkness of the ocean floor. They’re awesome like that, but don’t look at the sun or any bright lights.” Ava warned as the red glow in her eyes vanished, but Jet’s retained a red sort of glowing rim around his eyes. “Remember, hundreds of foals. Keep them safe would you?”

“Since I’m movin’ into the cove, even if I have to drag Skilly with me, that’ll be easy to arrange.” Fen beamed, and squirmed. “Oh~ Jet, we gotta go. Holdin’ them in is gettin’ rough.”

“Okay dear. I’ll be back in a couple of hours hopefully for my shift. Be sure to bring the Admiral or Colonel up to speed on my new situation.” Jet said to Ava before he dexterously jogged down the ramp with his lover, his new digitigrade claws making the steep slope easier to handle.

That said, Ava jogged to the towers and climbed the stairs as quickly as possible to knock on the Colonel’s door, the mother-of-pearl stallion calling her to enter. “So, Guard Jet has got the seapony Fenelia pregnant with a new species of pony and they’re going into the ocean to get things arranged. Oh, and I turned Jet into a Merpony like his offspring will be so he could go into the water and still come on land.” Ava summarized to the sapphire-coated stallion, who merely blinked in slight befuddlement.

“That’s...odd. Well, good for Sergeant Jet. He’s needed to settle down for a few years now.” Half Sail commented with a shrug, as if magical transformations and seaponies were already old news. “Regardless, I have an assignment for you, if you’re interested. Only pays 50 bits though.”

“Hey, don’t care about the money. I’m trying to save you all.” Ava replied, gesturing for him to continue.

“Good to hear. I need fresh eyes on the murder scene of the mayor. The dagger was clearly left as proof that we’re in impending danger, and the murder itself shifted our forces around in just the right way that we left the lighthouses nearly defenseless in our goal to try and secure any VIPs. Devious monsters, thinking our defense patterns out so perfectly. I need to see if an Inquisitor’s skills can’t suss out something my ponies may have missed.” Half informed, before putting his quill down in it’s inkpot, and taking a small badge from a drawer in his desk. “Here, this is an RRGD Deputy badge. Consider yourself temporarily conscripted so after this job, I won’t have to pay you or waste a guard escorting you around.”

“Pfft, keep the money. I don’t care. Just gimme so I can get going.” Ava teased, and the Colonel rolled his red eyes before tossing the badge to her. “Alright, let’s go ransack a crime scene!”

“Please retain professionalism Inquisitor.” Half dryly snarked, and with a friendly smile to each other Ava took her leave.

[$]

“C’mon you lubber, I know the water’s new to ya but ya gotta keep your wits about.” Fenelia lovingly chastised her new lover as they swam down into the dark. Jet blended into the dark so well that if it weren’t for Fen’s seapony eyes, she’d lose him in an instant.

“Sorry dear. It’s just...daunting. Even though I know it’s day, we’re so far down it looks like a moonless night down here. Yet despite that, I just know which way is where, and I can tell that if anything came within range, I’d be able to see, hear, and in some weird way, feel it.” Jet answered, his legs aiding his tail in forward propulsion while his hands acted as extra stabilizers that normal seaponies don’t need since they have other fins on their tails besides the caudal. He had them too, but they were less effective with his legs blocking streamline flow.

“Well get over it. You’ll be meetin’ my family in a moment. And there’s the hard part of explainin’ I need a surrogate since my male is...different.” Fen quirked an eye ridge at him, and he snorted.

“Hoi~ There~!” Came a mare’s voice, and the two slowed down and waited until the seapony that addressed them swam up, and Fen looked quite surprised. “So, I see ya just took your sweet time gettin’ back eh? Your sis and the Jarl got all worried when ya didn’t show up through the night. Pestered us to look into it.” The seapony mare was hard to distinguish features of, considering she was covered from the end of her caudal fin to the top of her head in white armor, which seemed to be composed of a mixture of coral, bone, cartilage, and quartz. To stay afloat in spite of the weight, she clearly had to move her tail more, but the harpoon in her hands was a slim thing meant for speed in the water.

“O-oh? Um...well...the surface ponies up there have a security thing about not letting anypony in the water after dark. And well….” Fen grinned nervously as she rubbed her swollen belly. “Surface ponies do it different. Their males have the dick and the mares the vag, and they shoot their semen into the mare’s womb. Got a taste. It’s fuckin’ great.”

“Obviously. Is this one of these surface ponies?” The mare asked curiously.

“Yes, I am. I am Sergeant Jet. I had a night of pleasure with this beautiful mare and we’re heading down to Skully to find a surrogate to carry our foals, as well as bring the Jarl up to speed on the situation.” Jet stated, and the guardsmare hummed in consideration.

“Well, since the Jarl already bit the big one of revealing ourselves to the surfacers, I guess I’ll have to enact contingency. Patrol Captain Elspeth of Doggerland, I hereby extend an offer of alliance or non-aggression with your people Sergeant Jet. Will you bring me to your leaders?” Elspeth decreed, and Jet blinked in surprise, while Fen groaned and facepalmed.

“Can we PLEASE do this AFTER I unload my eggs? I don’t wanna keep them in me too long.”

Let's Get Things Moving.

Ava sighed at her suspicions being confirmed, absorbing the integumentary fibers of a Panther Crow griffin’s feathers, which she found in the recently deceased mayor’s office. The fine organic fibrous material was so small it was no surprise the RRGD didn’t find them, but Ava could smell the traces of the assassin’s presence, helping her reach her conclusion.

‘I thought Dox, Vaga and Luna killed the leaders of the Panther Crows? Then again, even if their leadership was eliminated, it stands that the Die Leucht would try to rebuild them.’ Ava mused with annoyance as she left the empty office, she looked around the receptionist lobby and moved towards an aquamarine mare wearing a topaz frock coat and a ruby/topaz checkered Tam o’ shanter. “Captain, the reason your guards have found no further evidence is because a Panther Crow was the assassin.”

“Oh, joy. So now we’ve gotta be on watch for INVISIBLE flying bastards.” The mare groused as she pinched her snout and clenched her emerald green eyes. “Thanks Inquisitor, we’ll add some mystics to our patrols with a focus on life detection magic. That aside there’s nothing much else we need from you here. I’ll get our security shored up, you go tell the Colonel what’s going on.”

“Will do Captain, try not to work yourself to death.” Ava stressed, and the tired mare sighed with a nod, dismissing Ava and the Shifter began speed walking down the stairs and halls to do just what the Captain requested. ‘Poor mare, with most of the ships on patrol she’s the ONLY Captain left in the city.’

{Standard procedure from what I remember of Equestrian military practice, at least naval. Only Captains are given command of individual ships, sergeants and lieutenants don’t have enough seniority or something, but Majors and higher are needed for administration. Save the Royal Captains, they have seniority over any other rank so long as it involves the capital. Maybe the Crystal Empire emulates the same structure?} Lyra mused, and Ava hummed with a nod, aside from the fact that outside the military strictly, the individual Guard Districts also operated slightly differently.

‘That might be true, but realize it seems the system is specialized by region. Emerald City used a civilian police system to help maintain order over so much space to cover, and thus far it seems Ruby Ridge uses military police as just an extension of the Empire’s Navy.’ Ava considered as she exited the city hall, which was the tallest building in the center of the city at it’s widest in the crescent, and she turned east towards the cove and the navy towers, taking in the barren city square with sadness.

{To think, even little colts and fillies were running around just yesterday.} Lyra commented soberly, and Ava sighed quietly.

‘All the more reason to help as much as we can. Defend this place from whatever Die Leucht and their puppets are doing. Do so elsewhere. Again, again. It seems unending.’ Ava mused with depression. ‘But if not us...then who? Who could step up for this job?’ Ava soberly considered as she reached the southern naval tower and climbed up to Colonel’s office.

“Ah, Inquisitor. Good to have you back already. There’s been...a development.” Half Sail stated, and Ava looked at the chair opposite him as she moved to the side of the office, and hummed at the sight of Jet standing aside the chair, within said chair was a seapony mare completely covered in white armor of various compositions from bone to quartz.

“I can see that. Back so soon Jet?” Ava asked the Merpony curiously, and he nodded.

“Fen continued down to Skully to find a surrogate for our foals, but I had to come back and deliver Patrol Captain Elspeth here.” Jet fidgeted on his new webbed claws, his long fishtail instinctively undulating to maintain his balance.

“Wow. You surface mares are quite somethin’. You make most of our stallions looks like wallflowers….” Elspeth giggled. “If more seaponies could see how well fit surfacers can be, they’d probably be clamorin’ for a vacation up here.” At hearing Elspeth say ‘well fit’ Ava blushed ruby at the intense compliment.

“W-well, I’m a special case. Not that ponies up here aren’t hot in general I mean. Ahem...what did you need to do here?” Ava asked, trying to keep things on track.

“Right, well, from what I’ve relayed to Half here, and what’s been related in turn, I can give a more thorough report. I’m willin’ to extend the aid of my patrol unit to Ruby Ridge as an act of goodwill. The aid was originally up in the air, but havin’ heard of the plight up here, and what we’ve discovered on our way here, we’ve decided to help the Colonel get his ships back.” Elspeth informed, only for Half to cough.

“Ahem, they’re the Admiral’s ships technically, and even then only by command. I’m just filling in.” Colonel Half Sail reminded the foreign patrol captain.

“Right, your government owns the craft instead of independant merchant houses, details, details.” Elspeth rolled her eyes. “But anyway, on our way here from Skully, we surfaced to get a bearin’ on where the shore is, and tried swimmin’ straight here….” Elspeth alluded and Ava decided to play along.

“But you got turned around by the Misdirection Barrier, of course.” Then, Ava noticed what she was hinting at. “But then...how did you get here? How did I and Fen get here?” Ava asked, having just realized Skully was so far out it went beyond the barrier, yet she and Fen came back just fine, no problems at all.

“Well, when she met up with us, I thought nothing of it too. Until she mentioned that to the Colonel.” Jet nodded.

“Indeed. When she brought this up, I asked how she came through. Apparently, the intuitive Captain here decided to test the effects of the barrier on varying water depths.” Half continued and gestured for the posturing armored seapony captain to continue without fanfare.

“The barrier has full effect within two fathoms depth of water. At two to four fathoms, it causes confusion and disorientation. At greater than four fathoms, it barely has any effect at all, and the deeper you go, the more negligible this so-called barrier gets.”

“So at just over 24 feet deep in water, the barrier is negated?” Ava blinked in surprise, but then again the fact the Crystal Heart cannot affect bodies of water much at all just meant the barrier, or at least this specific one, wasn’t up to the job of preventing underwater navigation.

“So, what is a foot? Uh...math...one sixth of a fathom? You surface ponies have really small distance measurements.” Elspeth commented, and Ava snorted.

“Just be glad Hooves aren’t the standard measurement, they’re only half a foot.” Ava teased, and Elspeth looked fidgety at the idea of using that small a measurement for something, which made her wonder how much she would balk at the idea of Inches or Centimeters. It was also telling how big their actual cities might be if they measured by fathoms as their standard, but then again the sheer amount of space available in the ocean along with complete freedom of motion in all directions probably contributed too.

“Back on topic.” Half urged. “This means that Captain Elspeth here and her unit of guards can go searching for our wayward ships, take a line down, and forcibly guide them through the barrier with an unyielding waypoint.” Half Sail informed, and Ava perked up at the idea of Ruby Ridge getting it’s navy back home and ready to defend for whatever siege Die Leucht was concocting.

“That’s great! That would put the odds so much in our favor. But tell me, why help? You could just have taken Jet prisoner, taken Fenelia back, and moved Skully away from here even. Why bother with this?” Ava asked curiously, and Elspeth shrugged.

“Eh, the fact Jet here was returnin’ Fenelia was proof of good faith enough. But he also inseminated her eggs, and is willin’ to stay with her? We may spawn by the dozen or so, but not many of us survive the dangers of the ocean. Usually, only two or three foals a rearin’ even survive to adulthood down there. Hearin’ what’s goin’ on, as well as the situation tells me to let this opportunity go would be a shame, a waste. To have a safe home, up here? In your cove, would allow us to stop fightin’ to survive at least a bit. Give new families a chance to grow.” Elspeth then looked up at jet. “Also, Fenelia’s waxin’ poetic on surface ponies got me interested.”

“Dear gog...I’ve discovered a species more obsessed with breeding than rabbits.” Ava groused playfully, inwardly beyond glad at this. “So then, let’s see if we can’t bring those ships home.”

“You’ll be joining them?” Half asked curiously, and Ava shrugged, unless he had something else for her, it was better than nothing. “Well, I do actually have something that could use your attention Inquisitor.”

“Again with the Inquisitor title, but yes, go on.” Ava nodded for him to continue, and he sifted through his scrolls for something.

“The Admiral has finally found the paperwork for the Relay. It was buried in three separate cabinets, in triplicate. The late mayor was a stickler for bureaucracy and had all three seperate files organized by their area of impact rather than by subject matter. Altogether it has given us the secret location of the Relay which was apparently going to be given to us soon since the Relay was finished. Hopefully with the Equestrian Inquisitor’s insight, we can find where these spies have sabotaged the system, maybe even stop the barrier entirely.” Half Sail stated as he handed Ava a scroll that simply unrolled into a map of the city with a general location in the north end of the city marked.

“Somewhere around the Northpoint Lighthouse. Why am I not surprised, since Southpoint’s so heavily residential.” Ava huffed, and looked to the two aquatic ponies. “Well then, even if I fix this before you find a single ship, at least you guys fetching them will bring them back much faster.”

“Aye, true that. Alright big fella, pick me up. We’ve got some babes in the reef to lead back home.” Elspeth ordered of Jet, who chuckled as he picked the armored mare up.

“I’d prefer you not mock my ponies to their faces, they may very well try to fish you out of the ocean rather than follow.” Half warned, before waving them all out.

[$]

‘Not near the lighthouse like I’d initially thought….’ Ava mused as she sniffed the air, having shifted her olfactory senses to that of a bloodhound to see if she could scent any griffins, and it led her through Northpoint to the ruins of the lighthouse, which was abandoned since Obviously it had no further value. Just what the devious bastards would want everyone to think. ‘It’s inside, but where?’

{Obviously not up. Only way to go is down.} Lyra helpfully considered, and Ava moved past the flimsy wooden barricade the RRGD put up to keep any curious lockdown breakers at bay. She followed her nose through the rubble to a suspiciously conveniently open downwards stairwell. {Whoever blew up this lighthouse knew what they were doing, leaving this stairwell intact, but the rest damaged enough to keep most ponies out.}

‘Knowing my luck, that poor schmuck I caught was just the patsy, and the real demolitionist was at this one.’ Ava growled internally as she descended the stairwell. She kept sniffing the air, her eyes set to draconic to try and be ready in case any invisible assailants were around. Thankfully nobody assaulted her on the stairs, and Ava made it into a huge basement that held the same sort of massive and complicated crystal structures as the Relay in Emerald City. “Bingo. Time to get to work, and at least this time, no rutting Goddess of Light to set me off like she did to Lumi.”

Ava took her Echo from its digital storage space, and began scanning the array, humming as she looked over the data. She couldn’t make heads or tails of the mathematical formula cascading down the viewscreen, but she knew back on Maui Homage was already processing this and she’d have her answer soon. {BEHIND!} Ava dropped to the floor and rolled just as Lyra let loose her warning, and she scoffed at letting her attention being taken away from her surroundings.

Her eyes had a faint thermal outline of her enemy now that they’d shown themselves trying to apparently stab her in the back, but they had instantly retreated into the latices of the Relay, the humming heat of the magic ruining her thermal vision’s ability to pick them out, and sadly the overpowering ozone scent of the magic resonance was also ruining her nose’s ability to suss them out as well. “Grrr! Fine then! I don’t need to fight you to do what I need to!”

{Good thing I was listening when you were focused on the Echo, I heard the knife as they made to stab.} Lyra was nervous and worried, never having been in a situation like this before, while Ava just shrugged it off, keeping her head on a pivot as she kept the Echo scanning. She took out Chiappa and flip-cocked it to ensure she had it loaded.

“Okay little rat. I’m going to find what’s corrupting the Relay, and I’m going to smash it. Even if you have Orichalcum, your only advantage is gone. I’d suggest you either surrender, or flee.” Ava broadcasted as she kept the Echo scanning, before she heard it report having finished diagnostics. “Well, that’s that then.” Ava declared and returned her Echo unit to its digitized form. “Am I talking to myself here?”

“Yes.” Ava jumped at hearing her own voice and jumped away from behind her, spinning to see another her wearing a loose black robe runed with silver to her shock. “Oh, what’s the word? Cat got your tongue?” The Not-Ava asked, before suddenly Shifting into a malformed mockery of her and leaping.

Ava just blasted the Not-Her’s head off, and watched it crumple to the floor as it’s head was splattered behind her. “Well...that was anticlimactic. Better tell the RRGD they’ve managed to copy my Shifter abilities….” Ava turned around, and screamed in agony and fear as a green blade erupted out of her stomach.

“Oh, well that’s not good.” The Die-Leucht Shifter commented, turning into a normal Panther Crow as she twisted the Orichalcum dagger in Ava’s back, making her cough up blood as her eyes sightlessly shook in pure pain. “I guess I’ll just have to stop you, won’t I?”

“H-how?” Ava gasped, futilely trying to pull away, only for the hen to move with her, keeping the dagger in. It was getting heavier, eating her magic as fast as her body produced it. Not allowing her to heal.

“Well you already figured it out. I’m one of the lucky ones, by-the-way. Most of us who were changed with your base form in mind ended up as dumb formless piles of flesh.” The hen hissed, and moved her free left arm to grab Ava’s chest with her talon, making her chuckle. “Because, seriously. As attractive as this form of yours is, it’s just unwieldy for combat or stealth.”

“F-fuck...you….” Ava weakly rasped, falling to her knees, the hen following her to kneel in her growing pool of blood. ‘No...not like this….’

“Hm, tempting. But I’m not about to-.” The hen was interrupted by a crossbow bolt stabbing through her eye, and the Shifter cawed in surprise as she was jolted by the impact, allowing Ava to pull free of the deadly dagger, gasping as her fairly pathetic magic reserves set to healing her.

“Get away from the Inquisitor.” Admiral Full Sail demanded from the foot of the stairs, two RRGD guards with him, both with crossbows aimed at the ready, Full Sail himself seemed to be unarmed. “I swear, Half needs to forward your activities to me before sending you off.”

“Damn it!” The hen complained as she yanked the bolt out and tossed it on the floor, her eye already fully healed. “I almost had the biggest thorn in our side removed forever, and you just had to be a Big Damn Hero!”

“Well, it’s kinda my job. Now are you going to come quietly? Or do I have to tell my colts to turn you into a pincushion?” Full asked as his guards both aimed slightly to the side and up of her at opposite angles, making sure they’d react to her trying to juke more quickly.

“That would do little more than annoy me. But regardless, nothing for it. Ta-ta.” Her robe turned the hen invisible, and the stallions fired, missing.

“Keep your knives ready lads, no knowing if she’s flown the coop or she’s just stalking the rafters.” Full strode forward with confidence to Ava, ignoring her blood getting on his hoofboots as he leaned down to offer a hand up. “Need help milady?” Ava nodded weakly and took his offered hand with gratitude, standing up as she wobbled and gathered herself.

“Thanks for the save...that dagger could kill Celestia or Luna even easier than me. I was dead until you showed up.” Ava informed as she slid Chiappa back up her sleeve. “That said, I’ve got what I needed here.”

“And that is?” Full asked, folding his arms behind his back as Ava took out her Echo, checking for Homage’s response.

“The interceptor corrupting the Relay is in….” Ava turned northwest and pointed. “That way. Anything of significance out that way? Within reasonable distance.”

“Hm...that’s...the direction of the old quarries if I remember my bearings. Where a lot of the ruby for the city came from in fact. At least for the walls before we had to resort to magically altered ruby rather than natural ruby. Perfect place to hide something.” Full Sail mused as he took her shoulder and started guiding her still weakened form towards the stairwell. “But for now, I may not know how your body works, but I’m willing to bet you at least need some food and rest after that.”

“Preferably. And some Love. Or Lust. Just nothing negative, darker emotions taste unpleasant.” Ava murmured, and Full Sail grumbled.

“Shape-shifting ponies, griffins, and seaponies. What happened to the days when the worst you had to worry about were dragons?” Full griped as he led the Equestrian Inquisitor up the stairs, while as the guards followed, the Shifter panther crow hen reappeared almost right next to where she’d been with a leer.

“Just great. Zerstöre is going to be squawking mad about this.” The hen grimaced, turning invisible and taking wing up the stairwell once the Admiral and Ava had already left the building and more guards were starting to pour in.

Author's Note

Finally got something done. For some frustrating reason, GDocs has crapped out on me, I've had to resort to Libre Office :fluttershyouch:

Well Isn't This Dandy?

Being a nerd was always such a hassle, as Konrad Skinner could tell you. He was a 7-foot spindly beanpole with the biggest feet in his year at high school, getting him dubbed Bigfoot by bullies and friends alike, the latter with affection though. Especially by his old friend Anthon. Big lug graduated while he was still a Sophomore, and when he had to get a job, he just had no time to hang out anymore. Them's the breaks for an adult just getting to know the real world.

However, right now, he wasn't some green-eyed, spindly ginger with long straight hair that made girls jealous. Right now, he was The Merchant; crafty, mysterious, and subtly dangerous. He honestly had a lot of trouble with his outfit, it was really hard to get every piece just right, even if he didn't look exactly true to form.

The hooded black leather trenchcoat had to be custom made, something that took a local tailor a few days to get right according to specifications, leather was harder to work with than thick cloth after all. The underclothes were easier, since his dad had an old leather vest easily disguised as a regular shirt, and his leather pants, treated against shrinkage thank gosh, so that good episode of Seinfeld would not be happening to him. Combined with his worn black combat boots, and assorted little trinkets from all his misadventures with his friends, the rest was easy to come by save the gloves. He couldn't find good enough gloves to match the fingerless leather ones the real Merchant has, so he had to settle for some dyed-black cowhide gloves he bought at All-Mart last minute. Oh, and then to his shame, he'd gone to the con forgetting the absolute most important thing.

The huge traveling pack.

He'd totally fucking forgot one of the most absolutely crucial parts of the costume, and even considered chickening out this month and trying again next month when he was prepared. But no, a true Merchant faces his challenges head-on with guile and determination. Not all ventures turn out profitable, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't take chances!

He was quite well received regardless, but they didn't think he was THE Merchant, just A Merchant. Konrad felt quite put-off by how many con goers were all commenting and saying he must be a junior member of the “Merchant Union” and not a fully fledged one. After the twelfth or so person saying that joke, Konrad decided he'd had enough and come back next month. He paused though at a scene of a bunch of Homestuck cosplayers RPing. The big muscly guy with no shirt replacing his S syllables with Zs was especially into it.

Konrad felt like he recognized him for some reason, it wasn't until the act was over that he realized he reminded him of his old friend Anthon. Feeling a little bittersweet at the reminder of his old pal, Konrad was about to leave when he finally noticed something awesome. A vendor dressed properly as The Merchant! “Well, hello Stranger. It's good to see another fellow philanthropist among the rabble.”

Since the vendor had the slight cockney accent and the voice down-pat, Konrad felt it only respectful to play along, putting forth his own Merchant voice. “Same here. Thought there'd be nobody else here with some sense to em. Mind if I peruse your wares?”

“He, he, he. What're ya buyin'?” The Merchant asked as he gestured to his stall, but very clearly gestured to a spare travel pack, exactly like his own. Konrad's eyes widened and The Merchant chuckled, having caught his customer like he knew he would. “This here is a genuine brown leather travel pack. It'll hold all your things, and then some. Guaranteed to survive many long journeys, barring it gets slashed or shot of course. Even good leather can only last so long.”

“You know my needs too well Merchant. What's your starting price?” Konrad knew to fall out of character would be disrespectful right now, and the twinkle in The Merchant's blue (did they just flash red?) eyes and his amicable raspy chuckle told him he appreciated it.

“For you? Free, but only if you buy this.” The Merchant blindsided him with the change in offer, the pack an incentive, but the item he brought out was incredibly tantalizing. “This here modern remake of the Winchester 1887, developed by Chiappa Firearms in Italy, features a longer barrel at 28 inches, all the metals are purposely tarnished for an aged look, and the stock is stained a dark mahogany. Due to the barrel's length, unlike most shotguns, this one's meant for longer ranges, rather than indoors. With this-.” The Merchant brought up another barrel, clearly for changing out with the other. “Rifled barrel and slugs, it can even be used as a devastatingly high-caliber rifle. For the...tasteful gunman.”

“You must be kidding. Those go for 1,533 dollars. How could any con goer afford that?” Konrad was no fool when it came to guns. His dad was a gun nut and stockpiled the things in his own personal gun closet in case “shit hit the fans” as his paranoid dad would say. “Let alone there aren't any actual weapons allowed in here, security's running scans at the entrances.”

“Ah, that's the ticket though.” The Merchant replied shrewdly as he pointed out the trigger, it was removed, how'd he miss that? “Your eyes only got the big picture Stranger. Seeing a good piece can do that, but if you're gonna hit the big leagues, you gotta notice all the fine details before making a deal. Besides, this thing isn't worth much to me, I'm not a gunman myself. It came in with a bunch of props by mistake and I opted not to mention it. This thing is the genuine article though, just missing it's trigger, easily enough found at a later date. Since this isn't the full package, and I'll be making a killing with whatever price I'll get for it, I'll cut the price down to what you feel is fair, so long as you aren't trying to cheat me.”

Konrad bristled slightly. The Merchant's challenge of his integrity really ate at him, and Konrad quickly reached into his trenchcoat for his wallet, fished out all his cash, and smacked it on the table. “900 bucks. I've been saving up for this con, and I want that gun and pack enough to lay all my saved cash on them.”

“Well, generous ain't ya? Alright then. 900 for the gun, rifled barrel, and the pack.” The Merchant took the cash and put it in his lockbox behind the stall, before he handed Konrad the shotgun, barrel, and finally handed over the pack, but held onto it for a second. “Oh, and one more thing. Mind the natives. A Merchant has to be wary of his clientele after all.”

Konrad nodded, taking the words to heart as they were filled with truth. “I will, don't worry about that.” Konrad said just before he inserted the gun into the rifle holster inside his coat, the barrel in a long pocket, and shrugged on the pack. The moment the pack was on, he vanished in a flash of red light, nobody around seemed to have noticed, and The Merchant's eyes shined red with glee.

“Oh, I won't. I'm betting on it.”

[ $ ]

Konrad woke up slowly, as he always did. He was never a morning person. He groaned as he gripped his sleeping bag tighter to his-wait. “This isn't my sleeping bag...it's not this nice.” Konrad opened his eyes, and he blinked upon realizing he was apparently camped out in a deep forest somewhere. “The hell?” He wriggled his way out of the bag...well, more bedroll, and took in his surroundings and himself.

He was oddly wearing his Merchant outfit sans the pants and vest, leaving him in nothing but his coat and boxers, his gear all seemed to be stuffed into his newly acquired pack just nearby. “Alright...just what could've caused me to be kidnapped, and carted at least a state over just to be dumped in the...woods?” 'Why is my voice like The Merchant's? I'm not TRYING to do his voice!' Konrad decided to calm down, it might just be from his throat being dry, even if he didn't feel thirsty.

On instinct, Konrad reached into his coat, and took out a large canteen, which he quickly opened and took a few draws of fresh and clean water, only to spit-take to the side and look at the offending canteen in shock. “Where did I get this?!” Voice still gritty and slightly cockney, he ignored it in favor of inspecting the insides of his coat. The pockets were empty. He tentatively closed the canteen, and then slid it into one of the pockets. Where it promptly vanished. “Holy...shit...THAT'S AWESOME!”

Konrad had a few minutes of having fun pulling out and putting away the canteen with giddy joy, also getting more to drink, noting it seemed to refill when he put it away and brought it out again. However, the can-trip lost it's novelty, and Konrad finally decided to get his shit together and gear up. Once fully suited, also properly masked and everything, he felt...right. Whole.

“This shit's getting weird, but I can appreciate a hammerspace trenchcoat. I'm like Inspector Gadget or something. Only without the...I don't right?” Conrad looked at his hands, and held his left one out. “Go, Go, Gadget Rocket Hand!” After laughing for a second, Konrad screamed in agony as his hand seemed to sever at the wrist, spraying blood everywhere as a prehensile tendril of tender rubbery bloodied flesh connected between his hand and his bleeding stump shot out and grabbed onto the tree he'd aimed at. “AH~! FUCK! WHAT IS THAT?!”

While Konrad freaked out, the thin tendril was losing tension and retracted back into his arm painfully, dragging his hand back towards his stump through the air until they connected again. He looked at it in fear as he watched his flesh visibly knit back together, and soon was back to normal like nothing happened. Konrad ripped off his glove and rolled up his heavy sleeve to see his arm was whole and unblemished save the blood still on his skin. And he KNEW what that was.

“No...no, no, No, NO!” Konrad screamed in denial as he ran through the forest, listening for a water source, and he was rewarded by the sound of a small waterfall, which he then changed direction towards. He found a small lake that was fed by a small waterfall at the top of a low cliff, and he quickly looked at his reflection to see his eyes were red. GLOWING red. “Plaga...I'm fucking infected with Plaga! Considering what that just was...I'm infected with Dominant Species Plaga. So...at least I don't have to worry about becoming a mindless carrier and infecting absolutely everyone I come across.”

Konrad decided he'd be fine here for a while, and set up camp. He wasn't putting up with this right now.

[ $ ]

Konrad had troubled dreams, having nightmares of Plaga bursting out of his head or chest, only the perspective was from the parasite rather than the host. Each time he woke screaming, whimpering. Whatever that swindler did to him was terrifying him. None of this was possible.

He managed to get enough sleep however, but he was fully awoken come early morning by the sounds of shouting, the clashing of metal, and the death knells. He couldn't see it through the low fog that had rolled in overnight, chilling the air, and it was muffled by distance and flora. However, rather than pack up and leave...Konrad had the strangest sensation. He felt...drawn to it. He didn't know why, he wasn't sure how either, but he felt...he had something to gain from this...an Opportunity. Konrad's burning red eyes shined bright, and a dark grin stretched on his lips, a faint predatory hiss crawling up his throat.

He promptly got himself packed and equipped, even taking out the Chiappa, which he noticed with surprise had it's trigger, and was loaded with buckshot. 'I'll figure out my coat's abilities later, I've got a deal to make.' Konrad let the pulling sensation of the unseen battlefield draw him closer until it sounded like the battle had dwindled into a skirmish, then a slaughter, and after a rousing roar of victory from whatever side won, he heard horns blare off in the distance way, way off from his destination, and the winners promptly departed, clearly in a hurry if they didn't stop to loot or execute the battlefield. 'Jackpot!'

Konrad, the nerd that he was, knew that wherever he was, or whenever he was, (he wasn't going to doubt time travel as a possibility at this point) it was likely as far back as the bronze age, or as late as early renaissance if such a battle was taking place. Konrad's suspicions were more-or-less confirmed when he left the treeline to find a foggy field filled with fresh corpses, broken melee weapons, and many other things he couldn't clearly make out in the low fog obscuring the ground. However, the looting would have to wait; his instincts drew him towards a small pile of corpses, and he immediately used his Chiappa's barrel to nudge the top corpse off in a roll, revealing that the one under it had still been breathing, even if weakly. “Hello, Stranger.”

Konrad barely even considered the oddity that this person had green skin, and an anthropomorphic face. Now that he bothered to notice anything aside from his odd impulse to seek this person out, all the other bodies here were humanoid, but had animal characteristics. “*cough* Who...please...help....” The soldier begged with a wet cough, some blood dripped from his lips. “A potion...please...my lungs....”

“Oh, you mean-” Konrad held his shotgun to his shoulder, and reached into his coat with his left hand, and pulled out a small vial of bright red opaque liquid. “This potion?”

“Th-thank you.” The soldier reached a brown leather gauntleted hand out for it, but Konrad held it away.

“Ah-ah! Careful now. Best I do it. Consider this a free service.” Konrad smirked under his bandanna as he knelt down and set aside his Chiappa to uncork the vial and pour it into the dying soldier's mouth. 'And there, debt, sealed.' Konrad's eyes flashed, and the soldier's eyes flashed as well while he took a deep breath, and released a sigh of relief.

“Thank you kind sir. I am indebted to you. Even if the potion was pilfered from one of my fallen fellows.” Konrad blinked in surprise at the comment, before he noticed an emblem etched onto the side of the vial, one of a sun and moon merged at half within a shield. “I am-.”

“Ah! No! No names!” 'Huh? Where'd that come from?' “In my business, it is better to remain anonymous. Besides, with the conditions of things, knowing your name won't do me much good, regardless of your station. If you must...call me Avarice the Merchant, or simply Merchant will do.” 'What the hell? I'm not the one saying this!'

{Just shut up Rookie, I'll handle things.}

The soldier grunted as he stood up, the potion having done it's work, and he quickly removed his simple golden bronze cuirass, since the chest was indented, clearly he'd taken a hammer blow which broke his ribs and punctured his lungs. He was lucky he didn't drown before Konrad got to him. “Well then...Merchant. Just call me Corporal then. A simple soldier in service to her majesties Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the defense of the realm against the Griffonians and the Bullgarians. We'd just happened upon a party of minotaur barbarians crossing our borders and engaged. I took a warhammer to the chest, and was left for dead. I don't blame them. That horn in the distance was another patrol calling in distress. Living before the possibly dead I say.”

“Loyal eh? Then you must know more information about current events than the average folk. How about this; in exchange for having saved your life, you pay me in information.” 'Hey, that's smart.'

{Remember Rookie; Information is the most valuable thing. It is worth both nothing, yet anything to the right people. Right now; he's got the upper hand. He could feed us complete hogwash and we'd be none-the-wiser. I'm holding saving his life over his head as leverage. If he has any honor, he'll comply.}

“Well, you're rather a shady person. What with you here in the middle of a battlefield when you seem unarmed save that odd stick of yours. But...you did save my life. Very well, what would you like to know?”

[ $ ]

“Thank you for your business. I hope fortune favors you Corporal.” Merchant said to the green anthro earth pony soldier, who glumly nodded in response as he finished putting on some looted equipment from his fallen fellows, and rushed off in the direction he remembered the distress horn having sounded and where he heard his surviving patrol members had run off in. 'That was...distressingly educational.'

{Yep, welcome to Equestria Rookie.}

The Merchant, or rather, the persona Konrad referred to as Avarice, as it wasn't really him, moved about the battlefield, stripping every poor passed-on pony and minotaur of practically everything, and shoving them in his coat while Konrad came to grips with what he'd learned.

He was in an alternate dimension entirely for one, in a land known as Equestria, right on the border with Bullgaria in fact, a country they're at war with. Currently, Equestria was at war on two fronts, with the Bullgarians at their southeast and the Griffonians from the east along the coast by sea. Princess Celestia was focused on the defense and naval campaigns against Griffonia, while Princess Luna was in charge of the land forces holding the border and striking into enemy territory. Corporal couldn't give him much on their intended strategies, but he speculated that while Celestia wished to weaken Griffonia and possibly negotiate peace, Luna intended to possibly annex Bullgaria, make them pay for their transgressions.

The other neighboring nations were mostly neutral, but Equestria was receiving both financial and military aid from Saddle Arabia, as they are loyal to the Diarchs of Equestria entirely based on the fact that their nation was founded with blessings and aid from the sisters. They couldn't directly control their forces however, since they were even further from the fighting as they were along Equestria's southwest border with inhospitable terrain of badlands and volcanic wastes between them and Bullgaria, so they had to essentially focus entirely on aiding Luna's forces along the border so Equestria's soldiers could penetrate the country proper.

That was most of what they could gather from Corporal without seeming too suspicious, as they could state ignorance of current events on them having nomadic tendencies, they had no plausible excuse for even asking what he was, let alone anything else considered general knowledge. Avarice had finished looting literally everything from the battlefield as the sun rose to mid-morning, including all the broken weapons and damaged armor. Konrad agreed with the action since he could work with them. He was taught how to do several things analogous to smithing and handicrafts thanks to being a former member of the boy scouts and his dad's obsession of being prepared for just about anything.

That hit Konrad hard for a second. He'd likely never see his family or friends again. He'd never get to play videogames again! 'I...need some time to accept what's happened. I'll go over my gains and other such things after I've made tracks. Don't want the army catching up and arresting me for looting.' Konrad looked at the sun, and assuming it rose and set in the same general directions as Earth, then...he began walking with the sun at an angle to his rear-right, facing northwest into Equestria.

[ ? ]

“So you don't even know anything about his appearance?” Luna asked seriously, the green Corporal was standing before her in salute, still in armor, his short cropped gray hair still a mess from the action earlier today, his gray eyes equally a mess from exhaustion in catching up with his patrol, aiding them and another patrol, and finally the march back. He was brought before the Princess for his own report, since he'd barely survived he was supposed to be taken off duty to recover from phantom pain and psychological damage, and she wanted to know how he'd survived before shipping him home for a month.

“No your Majesty. Avarice the Merchant was, as I had stated, covered head to hoof in obscuring black leather. I could only see his eyes milady, and...I thought I was looking the Warden in the eyes. His glowing red irises ensnared me. I was...compelled to do as he requested and answer his demand for information on current events. I understand after thinking it over but...it was payment as he said. I owed him for saving my life, and he accepted my words to be his price. He truly was a Merchant...it was a deal.” Corporal stated, seeming to drift off when he thought to hard on it, but he focused when Luna's horn glowed a light blue and his eyes did as well. “I'm sorry. I'm...not really....”

“You are still under influence, even after the deal was complete...do you still feel indebted to him Corporal?” 'What sorcery is this? What entity could impel someone to their services?' Luna was sat behind her spartan wood desk, in her spartan wood office in the outpost near the Bullgarian border. She was what more lecherous people would call an amazon, what with her staggering 7-foot height and generously curvacious body combined with impressive and lean toned muscles often conservatively protected by her black armor, she cut an intimidating figure only surpassed by her sister. She just happened to be visiting as she was headed on campaign to take one of the enemy country's closest cities, and the story that Corporal Moss had told caught her attention.

“Y-yes milady. I still owe him my life...even if he believes my debt is settled I still don't feel that is so....” Moss said sadly, his ears pinned back in worry. He owed Avarice, he couldn't deny it, but such debt literally binds him to the Merchant. What could possibly free him?

“Corporal, your moral standing is impressive, your sense of duty inspiring. Do not belittle yourself. You are dismissed. Pack your bags for the trip home, you need rest.” Luna ordered, gesturing for him to leave, and the corporal did so but he was visibly saddened. “Whoever you are...you hurt one of My Little Ponies, even if you did save his life.” Luna sighed before she pinched the bridge of her snout with her left hand, while running her fingers through her long ethereal mane to get it to stop flowing to the side. “Sergeant.”

“Yes Ma'am?” The yellow unicorn stallion with slightly better equipment than the corporal's that stood next to the door saluted.

“Get a hunting party together. I don't want someone with such disturbing powers running about our country. I'd rather him in chains, but if he is proven to be endangering anyone, you have my permission to put him down if he resists capture.” Luna then gestured for him to leave, and the sergeant did so with no further words as Luna began to write a couple of letters. “I hope sister or Star Swirl have any idea as to what sorcery this man possesses.”

[ $ ]

“This. Is. So cool.” Konrad grinned as he moved a warhammer in and out of his coat, the thing was weightless so long as it didn't fully leave his coat's access to his hammerspace, which was bound to the coat and pack. 'Pfft...hammerspace.'

{Oh, stop acting like a child.} Konrad was still on the move, his essentially dead body not feeling any strain from a constant brisk walk for pretty much the whole day since he woke up. Yes, he still needed sleep and food, just not as much. He'd already put two days of walking between him and where he'd gotten info out of Corporal, and had yet to come across any form of civilization. He knew he was at the border back then, but just how much distance is there between the border and the nearest border town?

{Get to cover.} Konrad listened to his alter ego's order promptly, dashing into a tall series of bushes and getting deep into them, hoping he didn't leave much evidence of his hurried dash. Avarice, who now shared his head was incredibly helpful and intent on keeping them alive for obvious reasons. He said he was little more than a sort of defense mechanism inserted in his psyche along with all the other crazy things The Merchant himself did by sending him here.

Konrad was glad he listened to Avarice once again, as a trio of winged anthro stallions all swooped down below the canopy of the woods they were currently in. One knelt down where he'd been, and looked in his direction. He was in deep and the leaves covered him fully, hiding him from sight. After the tracker had informed his companions their new heading, they took to the air and flew in the direction he'd have been going had he not hid in the bushes. 'Shit, they have flying people here?!'

{Those looked to be ponies, so they've got pegasi here then. Let's assume there're unicorns too and all manner of mythical creatures.}

'Good idea, fortune favors the prepared, but luck favors the wary.'

Konrad then left the bushes, and sprinted in his chosen direction, trying to leave as little proof of his heading by stepping on hardier grasses and going in odd directions now and then, while also taking short breaks to restore his body's needed oxygen by hiding in bushes and tall grass. Only twice more did he barely run afoul of his pursuers, each time they became more irritated with his obvious attempts to delay them, until he finally came across a river and let it sweep him downstream westward before he crossed on the other side. He didn't see them again.

{Excellent work Rookie. You've got some talent.}

'Boy scouts, boot camp, dad was way too insistent on me being prepared for the worst. Really fucking glad for it now.' Konrad thought with a grin, even as he felt sad about this whole situation again.

After that bit of excitement of evading the trackers, Konrad continued on for a couple more days before he finally found a village. It was little more than a few large communal homes, an inn, and a couple farms along with an old fashioned lumber mill next to a river probably connected to the one he'd crossed a few days ago. This must be one of the most border of border villages, since the standing soldier presence was as lax as barely a single guard per road through, which to say, the two guards at either end of the small cluster of log buildings on the only road through, which in fact, ended in the direction he came from, meaning this place was the end of the road of Equestria in the southeast.

'So, how do we approach this?'

{Alright Rookie, I'm going to let you take the reins. My only advice is to act natural.}

'Okay, natural...you do realize that, aside from being from an alternate dimension, I'm an entirely different species, AND I'm from a much, much more modern era than this place is in? Normal for me is...crazy to them.'

{Then play that to your strengths. Be eccentric, be subtly dangerous, but not conspiratorially so.}

'Alright then, let's go.'

Konrad then calmly and nonchalantly exited his cover as casually as possible, even having his hands in his pockets on the sides of the coat. The brick red earth pony guard with orange eyes and similarly colored short-cropped tail, wearing the same simple bronze and leather armor as Corporal had tensed at seeing him approach, especially from the direction he had. “Halt! What business have you in Dock End?”

Konrad simply continued to approach until he was within conversation distance, the guard glad he'd at least stopped at a reasonable distance. “Hello, Stranger....”

Author's Note

Edited, if anyone spots any errors I missed, please be a sport and point them out. :scootangel:

I'm Not Really MacGyver....

Luna was concerned. A good few of her trackers and scouts had gone missing. Sure, the southern regions of Equestria were still mostly uninhabited by Her Little Ponies, but the buffalo tribes still thrived in the deserts and plains, and the Saddle Arabian caravans braved the harsh region well enough to call it a “pleasant journey” compared to their homeland. The fact that most of them went missing around the areas closest to the Great Swamp led her to believe they'd befallen a sad fate of being consumed by an errant beast of great size.

She quickly stopped sending her soldiers there, she wasn't going to lose any more good stallions to that wretched place. But her evaluations of Avarice's movement speed, considering how long he'd been in Dock End after his interaction with Moss Stone, told her he was now in the San Palomino Desert anyway. However.... “I'm sorry your Majesty, but we simply are not prepared for a search of such a desolate place.”

Luna sighed in resignation as her lieutenant informed her that her small company of pegasus trackers could not head into the desert to seek out the crafty and well-prepared Avarice any longer. “I understand. It would seem that we must let him go, for now. The nearest settlement is Las Pegasus, we'll head there before we give up entirely.” At the lieutenant's nod of confirmation, she focused back to looking out on the hot and dry expanse of sand that began the San Palomino and ended the Marehave, and began the tentative border of Saddle Arabia. “I must inform them, in case he decides to traverse the sands rather than try to stick to the dirt.”

Luna summoned a quill and scroll, beginning a letter to Sultan Neighezid II detailing what she knew of Avarice, and to be wary.

[ $ ]

'This is so cool.' Konrad thought as he used a rusty smithing hammer with a broken handle that was fixed with green changeling resin of his own production and a broken branch from back in the swamp. He was using a curved and indented anvil-shaped stone he'd found in the middle of the hot, dry, unforgiving desert to shape a strip of bronze he'd taken from some of the armor he still had from his second day in Equestria with a nearly-broken bevel shear that only worked thanks to his new-found strength forcing it to move. 'Making my own shotgun shells out of bronze, using my coat to collect the potassium and other things I need for the primers and cordite. I feel like MacGyver, even if I'm using these skills to make shotgun ammo.'

Konrad lamented that he couldn't get his hands on enough intact scroll to make easier paper shells, he'd barely had enough intact disposed scroll to make the lead wads. He'd use some rabbit leather, but he wasn't confidant in it not swelling after firing and getting stuck. 'Don't these people throw away a letter after it's been read?'

Elsewhere, a certain blue archmage sneezed as he was casting an erasing spell on the now read-through letter from his student, and promptly began writing a response on the same scroll.

'Damned recycling ponies! If this was earth, I'd have more random shit to work with.' Konrad lamented, easily figuring that the nature-minded people were concerned enough of their environment that they already recycled, meaning nothing of what he'd need of that sort was easy to come by. That's life. However, he was just collecting the materials and preparing the shells for a proper casting later when he had access to a forge, and could properly size a tube to hammer the bronze to so it would actually fit in the receiver and barrel.

Konrad hissed and dropped his tools in pain as he clenched his stomach. During this, a flash of green fire emitted through his clothes which began to loosen as they grew bigger, and he grew into them as his hands became his long, deadly claws and the gloves morphed to match. His long, deadly tail also sprouted out and spread the coattails of his coat apart as he was doubled over in agonizingly painful hunger, making him look like he was supposed to be Sasori from Naruto rather than The Merchant. {Forgot to eat again Rookie? You know keeping a form besides our true one takes up a lot of energy.}

'Shut up I know! I'm not used to working tools like this with these claws damn it!' Konrad cursed his alter-ego viciously before he reached into his coat and easily ripped a hunk of meat off one of the many corpses back at Ichor's hive, and ravenously shoved the rotting meat into his maw under his bloodstained bandana, trying not to moan in rapture at the flavor as his carnivorous body sent a rush of endorphins into his brain to continue, and he complied by reaching into his coat for more.

{No, you're in denial. You need to accept this is your body now. It isn't healthy to-.}

“FUCK OFF!” Konrad spat furiously before he continued gnawing through a bone. 'I know damn it! I fucking...understand...alright?' Konrad asked, more to himself as he sniffled through his very small and efficient nostrils and his eyes closed, trying to cry from tear ducts that didn't exist anymore as his eyes didn't need moisture, his mandibles loosely holding the limb he'd been eating before dropping it and he curled into a tighter ball as his breathing hitched, choked sobs working up his throat. “I know....”

Konrad lost himself to a one-man pity party for a good while, clinging to the rock he'd been working at for an anchor. It wasn't until the sun set and the moon rose that Konrad hesitantly gathered himself, and finished eating the dirty and sand-coated limb to sustain himself. He was now completely carnivorous. He could eat fruits and vegetables, but they'd only be filling and not actually supply his needy body with what it needed. Luckily he was nigh immune to disease, so he could eat the most rotten things so long as they were meat and he'd be fine.

Konrad was glad he'd found a copy of his own Token sticking out of the sand a few days ago, because he could use some light to gather his ten or so unfinished shotshells, and the blue flame provided a clear and soothing light he felt he needed right now, pursuers be damned. It was actually a more intense flame than normal fire, as could be suggested by the blue color, and it burned eternally unless doused with water or smothered. He idly hoped those who found his Token out there in the multiverse were responsible with the flames it could produce, remember; only you can prevent forest fires.

Thankfully this wasn't a forest, so Konrad took a flint from his coat, and struck the rock so sparks would land in the brazier of the iron torch, which quickly took them in and ignited in a steady blue dancing flame, allowing him to easily find his tools and his work to store, and decided to drop stealth for now, he was sick of running at the moment. {Giving up?}

'No, just...tired of running. If they find me, I'll fend them off. I'm tired of staving off a confrontation. It might get the message across not to mess with me.' Konrad then began trekking into the desert, completely unconcerned for supplies for the fact his coat supplied all he needed. He was like a specter, an otherworldly entity in the way his gangly, vicious form, concealed beneath thick dark leather aside from his wicked tail, all cast beneath a bright blue flame just screamed that he was not of this world.

Apparently, a lot of people agreed.

“GAH~!” Konrad screamed in agony as something punched clean through his leather coat and into his left shoulder between his chitin plates. At this, his reflexes caught on instinctively and he jumped away, only to be pummeled by similar projectiles in a hail of what he could tell from his rapid side-stepping were crossbow bolts! Only the first shot penetrated though, the rest didn't since his retreat lessened their impact. When the barrage was over, Konrad's enhanced eyes could notice the trail he'd left in the sand, he'd easily side-stepped at least half a football field within a few seconds! Just what kind of speed does he have now? He'd overstepped the limit of the small volley of bolts by several yards!

“Where is it?!” Konrad heard from the direction the bolts had come from, and he looked to his torch to see it'd been doused from his rapid movement, obscuring him from sight.

“I don't know, keep vigilant! Our Sultan's messenger said to be wary of the creature Princess Luna warned him of as we continued our trek towards Equestria. If we have warded it off that is good enough in my book, just don't let it get too close.” Konrad listened in to the obvious commander's words, accented as they were in a far more middle-eastern accent than the old-English and middle-English he'd gotten used to in Dock End.

{Saddle Arabian soldiers, snipers specifically. Crack shots, powerful crossbows. Don't be sighted again. The only reason we survived that was luck, and since it was night they went for a volley rather than a direct focused attack.} Avarice informed, remembering some of the things Moss told them about the reinforcements the Bullgaria/Equestria border was expecting.

'But Moss told us that nearly a month ago, just how long did these guys take to start hoofing it to the border?' Konrad asked, only to quietly gasp and duck under an incoming bolt that nearly went through his head. 'Holy shit! They can see me in this darkness?! I can barely see them! And I have thermal vision!'

“Missed, can't see it now. Must've scurried off. We have a prowler captain.” A mare's voice intoned, getting an irritated growl from the commander's voice. Konrad really, really wished he could see them, but he was scared stiff of being exposed and suddenly becoming a Plaga pincushion.

“Just keep vigilant in scanning our surroundings. We have a duty to reinforce Equestria's borders alongside our fellow soldiers already helping secure their border. Remember; this isn't just to help an ally, we're being paid enough gold to help our country build capital to grow on, so we do this for our families! A single fugitive is not worth the delay.”

{Hm, so the Saddle Arabians are practically just glorified mercenaries...they need money....} Avarice hung the words a bit, and Konrad's concerns suddenly flew out the proverbial window.

'We need materials....' Konrad thought with his mandibles chattering in excitement, and he totally ignored the couple of bolts that nearly hit him as he began crawling at speed further south into the sands. After he'd covered enough ground and avoided the mass of heat signatures in the dark, the snipers stopped taking shots at him and he stood back up to continue walking normally, taking the chance to yank the bolt in his shoulder out at last. 'Find a town, find a blacksmith, make ammo, teach smith how to make new weapon designs depending on their current levels of technology, they carry this knowledge to the capital, they begin to profit, become a power....'

{Potentially pull support back from Equestria if they don't pay more....} Avarice warned, getting Konrad to pause, and hiss.

'War...why can't it ever be so simple?'

{Nothing ever is Konrad.}

[ $ ]

After some rethinking, Konrad decided not to introduce the advent of firearms to Saddle Arabia. This was reinforced by a few things. One, Saddle Arabians were VAIN! Konrad was slinking in the shadows of the first town he'd come across, not knowing it's name as of yet. And so far, even with this being a small, walled-in town, just about every well-clothed horse he saw was garbed in silk, flowing robes, and excessive amounts of jewelry. Every mare had at least one golden bangle, necklace, or earring, not mentioning rings. Every stallion had at least a golden ring. And the sexual objectification! There were mares lewdly portraying their bodies with bikinis, sarongs and the like everywhere, and even some stallions wore little more than a thong!

It was awesome.

Especially since horses were much larger than ponies. The average horse mare stood at seven feet, and the average stallion at eight feet. This also translated to their muscular toning and their sizes and shapes, being very generously voluptuous for the mares in general, and it was hard not to see a stallion who wasn't ripped. Almost none of them were as beefy as Logger though. Konrad shuddered at remembering the stallion he'd almost considered a friend. The stallion may be small in mass compared to almost all these horses, but he still knew the jovial tan stallion could likely out-lift any of them.

All this told Konrad and Avarice however, that letting this country become opulent would be horrible for it's citizenry. A spot of poverty would actually do some good for their general disposition. If they could afford to waste resources on such frivolity considering they were a desert nation, then letting them get rich would be a mistake. The rift between the rich and poor would become such a gap that social graces would deteriorate, and the general happiness he was witnessing would actually lessen. What sort of lies was this country's leadership feeding it's people that they think they need MORE money?

{Calm down there Fawkes. We don't need to go all revolutionary. We're just a Merchant.}

'But a Merchant can choose their clients. And I don't feel like pandering to any “official” channels at the moment.' Konrad groused as he perched in the shade of a tall building. The architecture reminded him of Constantinople from Assassin's Creed Revelations. It would seem that Saddle Arabia was oddly styled after the Ottoman Empire rather than Arabia. But Konrad nearly flunked history AND geography, so what did he know?

The town was a very notable size however, just shy of a city really. The baked tan clay and stone border walls were clearly meant to keep any sandstorms from burying the buildings as there was a notable dip between the sands of the desert outside and the town proper, about a quarter of the way up the wall in fact. When Konrad disguised himself as a horse stallion, and asked around, pretending to be a traveler, his average response was that this was the highest the sand usually got, but regardless the entrances to the city had large staircases leading near the top and dropping down into the town so regardless of the height of the shifting dunes outside, the town was accessible. And thanks to royal mystics and their rituals, a barrier formed over the whole town during sandstorms to prevent it from getting in.

Konrad mused over the architectural genius of this place as he idly chewed on a hunk of meat from the pile back at Ichor's. He couldn't for the life of him find any meat in the markets. Explanation being that leather was an import, so why bother getting meat when they can just order bloodmeal and bonemeal from the caravans?

So, Konrad found an easy item to sell then, beings he still kept a lot of the leather he'd collected in his time in Dock End. But, as he'd observed before, the horses here were vain, and he didn't like the idea of pandering to their vanity with preserved furs and expensive tailoring supplies. So he was looking for the smithy, only to wander through half the town and not hear the melodious and familiar sound of hammer and anvil. 'Just where is a damn smith in this place? A town this large has to have one.'

{Sığınak seems to be a very tourist friendly town. Probably has the smithy tucked away in a far corner we haven't been to yet.}

'Sığınak?'

{Name of the town. You didn't bother asking for the name, so the locals assumed you knew. I overheard some of the guards talking and they mentioned the town's name as Sığınak.} Said guards were equally vainly decorated, practically treated like part of the town rather than individual people actually. They appeared to be homo-equine versions of the “elite” guards from ACR as well. They patrolled, stood guard at the gates, everything you'd expect. But they also matched the town's appearance, and were easy to overlook in spite of their golden bronze armor. That was likely the intent, as everyone seemed to be wary and note where the guards actually were before going about their business. Made criminal activity difficult if you didn't know if the coast was clear.

'Whatever, yeah, this place seems more like a tourist trap and trading town than anything. They have to have a smithy by the barracks though. It's a must.' Konrad affirmed, looking for, ah-ah! 'There. That lookout tower screams security. The barracks must be there.' Konrad was focused on a single, standout tower that shot up from a view of second and third-story tile rooftops in the southwest corner of the town. The guard presence was also much more concentrated on the rooftops there, meaning their armory and more governmental buildings were over there as well.

{Right in the hornet's nest. How do you want to go about this?}

'The guards clearly know to be on the lookout for us, but they expect an elf-like creature from the gossip I've caught wind of, and that movement of troops sent a messenger back here warning that I might be a “Spawn of Hades” wreathed in a cloak of darkness, beholding a torch of blue flame. I'm honestly flattered, and considering just popping in as our real selves, stir things up.' Konrad replied in bemusement, his confidence oddly high even though those snipers almost had him. Then again, the one that pierced was a lucky shot, and testing some bolts on his chitin armor showed that unless he was at near point-blank range, they wouldn't have pierced his natural armor at all.

{Strong-arm services from a smith in broad daylight, surrounded by trained, deadly, fully armed and armored soldiers? I find the option oddly tantalizing.} Avarice admitted with a mental chuckle. {Alright then, let's give it a go. We need to get used to being seen as our true form anyway. We should only rely on our shape-shifting when we're on the move, or keeping suspicion away from us. Our outfit might be a dead giveaway, but with time we'll master it's abilities enough to make that moot.}

Konrad chattered his mandibles excitedly, before he shoved the last bit of meat in his claw into his maw under his bandana, and bolted across the rooftops like a living bolt of black lightning. Konrad knew the Verdugo was fast, one of the fastest enemies in Resident Evil in fact, but he was enraptured with his new body's speed. He sprinted on all-fours right past guards and civilians alike and they barely noticed until after he'd passed, looking after him in shock. 'I feel like fucking Sonic the Hedgehog!'

Konrad quickly ran at a short building just before the area of the barracks proper, hearing the familiar and comforting sound of hammer and anvil. He jumped, dug his claws and cleated boots into the wall, and climbed straight up it before flipping over the top, just missing the head of a guard, landing behind said guard, and then jumped over the rest of the roof to land literally a few feet in front of a shocked and stunned-still black mare with white messy mid-length hair pausing in her hammering.

“Hello my fair Forge-Mistress. I require the use of your services and hopefully your tools to finish a project of mine.” Konrad casually stated, not winded at all since his new lungs were more efficient than his original pair. 'Fucking, nailed it.'

{Showoff. Loved it.}

The mare stayed stock still, the surrounding soldiers, guards, snipers, and few civilians doing the same, until she blinked and took a deep breath. “W-what do you require?” She asked with a quivering and surprisingly timid voice, setting the raw billet she'd just started hammering out to the side. Konrad noticed she was just as shapely as most horses tended to be, and was exceptionally tall for a mare too, being between seven and eight feet. Her breasts were a bit surprisingly large though. About F-cups from observation. Probably from her chest muscles developed from working the forge, she probably wasn't actually that big either since she was wearing a properly thick and protective blacksmith's smock.

“Several things. I'll get to the specifics when you've calmed a bit. But I need to shape these-.” Konrad reached into his coat casually, ignoring her flinch as he pulled out all ten of the unfinished bronze shells and set them on a clear spot of her workstation. “To fit in this.” Konrad then brought out his shotgun, setting it down next to the shells as most of the guards then calmed down and simply kept an eye out as one of them left to deliver news of his presence.

The mare looked very interested rather than nervous or scared now as she held up the brass and the gun curiously. Konrad wasn't worried since he'd removed his last three live shells from the gun. That cheap bastard dropped him here with only the five shells in the gun. He was lucky he'd only wasted two back in Dock End and not needed the other three yet. “Interesting...but why? What does it do?” Upon quick inspection of the weapon, and noticing the construction, her eyes shined in realization as she held the misshapen bronze shell casing to the receiver, and then promptly put the shell down before aiming down the sight at a random angle, surprising Konrad with how she'd properly held it and aimed just from inspecting it. “This is an unusual crossbow...how does it launch it's projectiles?”

“Um...with-.”

“Blasting powder, in a shell, launching a metal slug?” She instantly grasped as she looked at the shells again. “Astounding! It's a cannon on a small scale, only with portable and ready-to-fire balls! You must teach me!” Her sudden flip from timid mare, to interested weapons enthusiast, to excited craftsmare really shocked him, especially when she grabbed his shoulders over the anvil and beamed as she looked him in the eyes with her shimmering golden orbs of glee.

{Well, we're fucked. We can't say no to a pretty face.}

'Gog she's cute...damn it...fine.' “Very well, but it comes with a price.” His statement brought her out of her moment of excitement, and she backed off before straightening herself out. “If you're going to be learning the art of gunsmithing, you need to learn that it is far more dangerous than just shaping metal, or working wood. It's about ballistics, knowledge of chemical reactions, understanding the effects of said chemicals on the metals, and using incredibly small and fragile pieces. It's as much engineering as it is smithing. It's as much about effectiveness as it is about artistry. I can teach you the basics, I can teach you how to make my kind of guns, but nothing more. Knowing all this, are you still willing to apprentice under me in learning how to make guns?”

“Yes!” She said seriously and with eagerness.

“Very well. I will teach you, but in exchange I must have access to your forge both for teaching you, and for making my own projects. Is this acceptable?” Konrad asked, and she nodded, her eyes beginning to shimmer red as his eyes shined. “Then we are in contract.” Konrad held out a claw, and she grasped it without hesitation, their eyes flashed red until it faded. “Let's get started!” 'I get to work with a cute mare on guns! I get to pass on what I know! This is so cool!'

“Yes, let's. My name is Demir, one of the only smiths in town. Might I know my new teacher's name?” She asked with a smile, and Konrad didn't hesitate.

“Name's Avarice. Let's get to work.”

Author's Note

Bronze, especially if it's thin enough, is very easy to cold forge compared to other metals. It doesn't hold a firm shape like brass does, and while it is inherently a poor choice for shotshells, it would still service just as well as a paper or plastic shell, if not better.

However, to get the size perfect, the shells have to be the exact right size to fit the receiver and barrel. The easiest way to ensure this when Reloading a shot shell is to use a blank barrel to check for fit. Paper shells are the easiest to make, needing only the metal base cuff and primer to be checked, and then adding the paper, powder, shot wad, and capping it off with a thin, easily breakable resin or traditionally waterglass, but can also simply be folded.

Also, note how even after planning not to, Avarice caves from a pretty face? Cute girls are one of his greatest weaknesses.

Building Problems, Preparing Solutions.

In the heart of Griffonia, laying in the Vast Plains between the great northern Highland Mountains and the deep, dark Black Forest of the south, lies the ancient and proud capital city of Berlion. It sprawls for miles across the plains, both the land below, and the clouds above comprise the largest known city in the world. The ground plays host to a great many farms, at least half dedicated to livestock of pigs, deer, and smaller animals such as rabbits, while the great cloud city above carefully regiments the planting fields and grazing plains with the needed water to stay healthy.

But the ground isn't all farms and slaughterhouses. No, in the very center, the heart of the heart if it were; lies the original walled city of Berlion. Sitting on the shore of the Dancub river, the second longest river in the lands, the great tan stone walled city was a cluster of constant activity, where the rich and powerful played politics, and the gutter urchins scraped by, either stealing from the pockets of richer griffs, or plying to even darker trades.

But these urchins stay away from the deepest, darkest gutters and alcoves of this ancient stone city. The nobles and the smarter soldiers ignored anything even spoken of them. For here, under the very shadow of the palace of kings, where the king either listened or ignored the rabble of his advisers, sat an innocuous small alcove. The only thing of interest, a small engraving of a spiral within a hexagon.

A black cloaked and hooded form did appear within the small indentation, as if from the very air, and knocked upon the symbol three times, once, and then twice. The stones of the alcove ground gently against each other in a fashion suggesting regular use as the wall sank in, and split in half in jagged teeth-like bricks just long enough for the figure to bolt in, and they quickly snapped shut like the jaws of hell.

He shot through the dark as if it was plain as day, and after making several turns, he stopped in the center of a dark room. Only then, did a brazier with a focusing cone overhead blaze with orange light, illuminating him, the edge of a large round stone table, and the vague, indistinct outlines of the several most powerful people on the planet, who ruled most of the known world from the shadows they now sit in.

“Report.” The deep, thundering voice from directly ahead of him demanded. His voice inspired fear, and the sense that to step out of line would mean your instant death.

“My Lords. I am sorry to report, that both of our assassination attempts have failed horribly, and our compatriots that were not slain or managed to escape are being executed, or interrogated as we speak.” The cloaked figure reported, getting a roar of rage from the cloaked male's left, along with a crack of hard talon on stone table.

“Insolence! You should have carried out those harlot's ends yourself rather than come before us then! Or has the infamous stealth of the Panther Crows grown stagnant in these later years?” This voice was rough, raspy, and full of grit and anger. It was one that made one uneasy, and his voice easily exposed his short temper and quick action.

“Do not be so hasty. He would not return if he felt the news he could provide was not worthwhile.” A silky female voice countered from his right. Her voice was of a deceptively soothing nature, one that was inviting, calming, yet hid a dagger behind it's back. “You are here with news on the developments are you not? Why else, would the leader of the Panther Crows return, rather than a messenger?”

“Well? Speak.” The first voice before him demanded, and the griffin spread his liquid-black feathered wings from under his equally black cloak, and pulled his hood off to reveal the crow head of a panther crow griffin of the Black Forests. His eyes were a golden yellow, or rather, his left one used to be, the slash over his eye having damaged it, turning it milky. His bill was straight like most of his subspecies of griffin over the lion eagle's and tiger hawk's hooked ones, but the upper bill was cracked up the left side to his nostril, and had a plate of similar-colored bronzed literally melted on to hold his bill together and keep it from worsening. In spite of his surroundings, he was completely calm, and composed.

He was Corvo. Leader of the Panther Crow Assassins, one of the most wanted criminals in the known world, and head of the most notorious assassin's guild across several nations. “The news I bring is not something any here wish to know. What I tell is not fallacy, nor is it embellished in any way. The Diarchs of Sun and Moon are guarded now by living beings of metal and lightning. Their bodies harder than the steel we've only recently discovered. Their reflexes quick as lightning. And their senses more profound than the most experienced of warriors.”

“I can confirm these claims.” A smooth, calm male voice stated from the forward right of Corvo. He was calculating, intelligent, and not one to leave loose ends. “My spy network's operatives in the regions in question have thankfully survived most of the fallout of Lord Corvo's organization's failure. They have confirmed that these...things, the Celestial Sisters have guarding them, may have the shape of ponies, but they are not living. They answer only to them, think only of them, and do anything and everything they ask, without question, doubt, or hesitance unless it involves leaving them in any way vulnerable.”

“Can your spies deduce a weakness for these golems of metal and lightning?” The rumbling voice at the head of the circle asked.

“The only weakness they can discern from distant, VERY distant mind you; observation, is that orichalcum can bypass their superb defenses, both magical and physical as any other, but even when shot through three times, twice in the chest, once through the eye, the Solar Diarch's guardian did not fall, and did not fail to bring swift vengeance upon Lord Corvo's chosen sniper.” The smooth voice responded with both intrigue, and a hint of impress. “However, the events following this attempt, are what Lord Corvo is unaware of.”

“Please. Enlighten me. Unlike your spymasters, my assassins are not trained to blend in beyond the approach.” Corvo stated cordially, as the Crows swooped in, silenced the target, and fled. It was how they always operated, and it never failed...until now.

“My fellow Lords...our glorious organization silenced the blasphemer Faust, did we not?” The smooth voice got a number of affirming grunts and words from the several others. “Then why...was the Solar Diarch, and her new stud; Avarice, able to call upon Faust's 'spirit' from the beyond, and summon more of these wretched golems?” This got a number of uproars from around the shadowed table, and Corvo being in the light, was unable to see any of them with his eye so blinded.

“ENOUGH!” The bellowing head voice shouted, and the others all fell silent. “Lord Sharp Ears. Is what you've said true, without embellishment?”

“Yes Lord Force, it is as I have said, without jest, or fault in my information.” Silence. Silence fell over the chamber. But soon, Lord Force; head of the Die Leucht Council, began chuckling, it rose soon into a deafening roar of jubilant barks of genuine laughter. None of the others joined.

After a few more moments, Lord Force calmed down, and gathered himself. “So...she lives?”

“Yes...Milord.”

“...Good....”

[ $ ]

Luna looked over Horn from the top of Horn Keep, and, surprisingly; with the reinstated Lord Horn standing behind her, once more garbed in his finery. “I cannot believe this...that we were so easily fooled by these monsters.” Lord Horn huffed out his nose with anger as he looked down along with the Lunar Goddess to see her golems, known as Loaders, working around the city, rapidly aiding in the reconstruction, and in the yard, he could see the princess's personal golem; Lunar Reflection in a full suit of blackened steel armor, inspecting soldiers, and occasionally either having one detained, or liberally executing them on the spot with her bare hands by ripping their head from their shoulders. “These constructs, gifts from your mother from beyond, they are both terrifying and inspiring.”

“Lunar is an example of the finer sort, the rest of the simpler kind are meant for more menial things such as grunt work and open warfare. While they are indeed from my mother, they are not from the mother whom birthed me. I wish that it did not come to this Lord Horn. I especially wish that we had not wasted so many lives pointlessly.” Luna shook her head sadly, and grunted as she shifted her breastplate. It was getting tight....

“Indeed. You have my backing, but trying to convince king Minos of a ceasefire and even more of an alliance is going to be a struggle and a half. He would demand restitution for all the poor taurs lost in this conflict. And we both know; he will not find any monetary compensation enough.” Lord Horn then looked to the Loaders helping fix a home near the keep. “But, in bodies....”

“...I'll consider it. The organization that supplies them would be willing to sell us more, but we need to get things in order with them.” 'Blast, how fast are my breasts producing? It's different for every mare, but Elders....' Luna hissed as she loosened the straps on her shoulders for a bit more give in her chestplate, and Lord Horn was not oblivious.

“Oh? You are with child Princess? You should not be putting yourself in such risk.” Lord Horn's assumption was perfectly understandable, and Luna sighed.

“I am not with foal Lord Horn, but I am lactating due to having nursed my adopted niece during my last visit home. But that isn't important. What is important is that we convince Lord Minos that there are traitors in his court, and that-.” Luna was interrupted by a minotaur giving a mournful bellowing moo that could be heard across the city, and Lord Horn gasped as if he had been struck. “Lord Horn, what was-?” Luna went unanswered, and instead Lord Horn and it seemed every single minotaur in the city raised their heads high and mooed mournfully, tears running from the old bull's eyes. “What is going on?!”

Lord Horn bellowed for a few moments more, and then when he ceased, the city had fallen deathly quiet, every minotaur in sight visibly wilted, some even sat where they were or leaned despondently into the nearest wall. “It...it is the Mourning Moo...it is an ancient magical impulse to be done the moment the most saddening thing to happen for our country could ever happen.”

“What are you saying?” Luna asked worriedly, as the massive bull plopped to his flanks, and buried his face in his massive hands.

“The King has passed....”

[ $ ]

Celestia sat in her now bricked-in office, a cradle having been added in the corner for little foal Chrysalis to sleep. It'd been a whole day and she'd seen neither hide, hair, scale, shell, or whatever else Avarice had for his appearance. She blushed whenever she heard a dragon's roar of pleasure from the forest below, and they'd happened numerous times over the course of a whole night into the early morning. Whatever her mother did to Sonata, it was working way too well.

Tia was mostly irritated about how her bricked in office had to have a small hole for her magically sent messages to leave out of, and she now had to receive her messages via guard through her doors. It was so much easier to just do it all through the window. Damn assassins.

Tia was interrupted from her musings and her writing out another approval for her admiral's requisitions from the royal treasury to fund more ships for the fleets by little Chrysalis wailing from her crib. “Oh dear, again? It's only been an hour.” Tia quickly stood and approached the crying foal, picking the little dear up in her arms before exposing her left breast, and the little thing immediately set to satisfying her seemingly endless hunger, latching onto her nipple to suckle eagerly. 'Just how much can a changeling foal eat? And she doesn't even poop!'

Celestia was baffled by the morphology of changelings, but for all she knew it was little Chrysalis's Plaga genes that made her body completely process everything ingested into energy. That was something to be thankful for she guessed, little Chrysalis had no anus to speak of, but still had the shape and rear to suggest she should've had one. Tia even carefully peeled off the foal's soft chitin bottom to check the light green flesh underneath, and indeed she had no butt hole.

She was definitely a she however, but lacked a urethra to pee from, so no liquid waste either. Tia smiled lovingly however as she watched the sparkling slit green eyes of the foal look up at her while she suckled her milk. “You're lucky I have so much milk to give, or you'd be going hungry.” Tia walked back to her chair, and sat down as she held the nursing foal while using her magic to continue working on her paperwork.

It seemed to Celestia, from what she'd been able to observe; that changelings are sustained by pure love, but for this little Queen Plagaling, she only needed love for sustenance while an egg and possibly while in the womb, but needed exclusively proteins once hatched, possibly until they can begin harvesting love again. And breast milk was rich in protein. Tia hissed when she realized the tiny dear had actually drained her left breast, making her gawk at the fussing little dear before she revealed her other breast as well and let her drink from there. 'Goodness! My G-cups should hold at least almost a half-gallon of milk each! How is she processing it so fast?!'

Tia was distracted from the still hungrily nursing foal by a guard entering, and pausing at seeing his princess exposed and nursing. Again. “Faust...how much can that little thing drink?” He asked in bewilderment. Seeing his goddess topless had been something to get used to, but the stallion was more impressed with how such a small thing could obviously drink so much fluid.

“Apparently at least half a gallon.” Tia responded with a cheeky grin, feeling proud of the fact as she'd actually measured a breast last night when she felt it fill up. “What do you have for me?” The guard quickly got over the matronly buxom mare's nudity and strode forward with a scroll, his ears wilted.

“I bring sad news from Bullgaria.”

Tia, curious about why Luna would send a message and not come herself as she was wont to do, she magically took the scroll in her grasp and unsealed it before reading, and her ears also wilted. “Oh dear...King Minos is dead, and the timing...it could only mean one thing.” Celestia sighed, looking down at the foal who had once again dozed off while suckling her nipple, and she gently detached the little adorable parasite before standing and moving to tuck her back in her cradle before covering herself once again. “Thank you, you are dismissed.”

The guard saluted before striding to the door and closing it softly to avoid distressing the filly foal. Celestia then returned to her desk, and continued with her paperwork. It was hard, sitting here, when the world outside crumbled. But this was her duty, and she had a responsibility to far, far more than herself. Tia rubbed her tummy, smiling softly as she continued her task.

[ $ ]

It was far beyond cliché at this point, but once again Avarice found himself slowly waking up somewhere with little idea of how he got there. 'Hell, damn it...it's like I'm a chronic alcoholic.'

{Only our poison is sex. Oh, hell...we went at it like jackrabbits all afternoon and night.}

'I don't even want to know how many times, I just know I'm sore, tired, and very, VERY fulfilled.' He weakly cracked his eyes open, finding as he expected; the dragoness android curled up with him, only she seemed to be even more intimately entwined with him than last time. This time, she was literally laying atop him, her neck crossed over his, her left cheek nestled against his own left cheek, her even larger breasts pressed so firmly against his pecs they pancaked as her claws were wrapped around his neck and right armpit. In fact, he was STILL IN HER! They must've passed out the last go or something, and her legs were limply straddled around his hips as their tails were coiled as close to their bases as possible all the way to the tips. 'Holy hell...we...whoa...coming back to me. We didn't just have sex...we made LOVE...that's the only way I can think of for a position like this to happen.'

{And unlike last time, where her reactions actually seemed simulated, this time she actually acutely responded to stimulus. She squealed, roared, actually seemed to gasp and pant for breath. Why would she need to do that?} Crescent asked as Avarice tried to shift, only for the android to mumble and tighten all her holds on him, even her vagina on his flaccid member. {OW! Yeah, that's new!}

“Ugh...Sonata...Sonata wake up.” Avarice nuzzled her, trying to get her to respond, only for her to mumble. “C'mon, get up. You can't seriously be tired, you're a robot. A very realistic one, but a robot nonetheless.”

“Mmph...can't...energy stores...low...generators still filling batteries....” Sonata's velvety voice responded groggily. “So...tired....”

“I tired you out? Holy shit. Talk about stamina.” Avarice commented as he grunted and tried to get up with the dead weight of a dense and very sophisticated android atop him. The most she did to help is shift off to the side, and he helped lower her to the forest floor but had to roll on top of her since they were still joined by their groins, and he realized that they were in the lush forest at the bottom of the cliff. “Whoa...I didn't even have the patience to find a real bed?”

“No...pushed you too hard.” Sonata responded weakly as she limply tried to uncoil her tail from his, but he helped by unwrapping her slender tail from his own by carefully moving his thicker, stronger tail from around her thin, whip-like tail. “Thank you....”

“No problem...but.” Avarice's tone got her to open her eyes weakly, he was over her, claws on either side of her head, and she could still feel his weight on her pelvis. He was grinning sheepishly, and gestured his head down, and she slowly lifted her head until she saw the issue.

“Oh....” He was still in her. Stuck from the looks of it. Her vaginal “muscles” were holding him in, and it wasn't for a few seconds before she remembered why, and widened her eyes. “Oh! Hold on.” Sonata grunted as all kinds of streams of text and other data flew across her eyes, and then gawked when she paused on a certain thread of data. “W-WHAT?! B-but I didn't turn it on!”

“What're you talking about? Is this part of your update? Is something faulty?” Avarice asked in worry. He wasn't interested in possibly having to rip his own dick off to get out of a literal “man-eating snatch”. Sure, he could regenerate it, but the pain wasn't something he was looking forward to experiencing.

“Y-yes, something is faulty, but it isn't what's keeping you in me, hold on.” Avarice's hips suddenly launched off her when the gentle pressure he'd been exerting to leave her baby canal was released from her no longer clamping onto him, and he grunted at the sudden jerk as his black member dripped in her lube and a little of his cum leaked from her. “Avarice...I...I have some news.”

“What?” He asked as his member retreated into it's sheathe. 'Gonna need another bath. I don't want to have to put my tongue in that again if I can help it.'

“...I'm pregnant.” Sonata's completely out-of-the-blue statement was a shocker. Especially for one simple thing.

“BUT YOU'RE AN ANDROID!” 'WHAT THE FUCK?! Is this the real update?! Machines that can reproduce?! Holy shit! This is Von Neumann mechanical reproduction isn't it?!' Avarice gawked as the sheepish dragoness smiled nervously and sheepishly.

“My update...it initialized the test version of the Von Neumann System. Mother's theory is that-.” Sonata stopped, seeing Avarice clearly not caring for the finer details of the process. “Right, too technical. Basically; I can now process the biological seed of a donor with the artificial ovum of my supposed species. But it was only supposed to work if I turned it on. Otherwise it simply made me more...alive I suppose you could say. I already had a soul from Mother plucking me from the ether, and now I have a body as close to alive as possible. But for some reason it worked regardless, even though it was supposed to be off. Now I'm registering seven confirmed fertilized eggs....”

Avarice gawked at her, and she blushed as she looked between her massive breasts to her slightly bulging tummy, which still had his baby batter in her. “Seven? Oh gosh. Ichor had five and that was before being altered...am I just so damn fertile? I know I've been enhanced by Desire's Art, but seven?”

“Yes. Your sperm count is ridiculously high. It's actually almost more sperm than semen. Don't worry. I can easily handle any number of eggs. So I'm not going to be at risk. But I'll have to hold them to term for the next six months.” Sonata informed with a saddened tone. “I'm so sorry master. I didn't mean to saddle you with-.”

“DON'T YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE!” Avarice roared at her, getting her to flinch. “Not your fault. More Faust's fault really, giving you a test version that wasn't completed. Then again, more realistic this way now I think it. Damn. Now I won't be able to have sex with you for a while, and I might get dangerously randy again later.”

“Why do you say that?” Sonata asked curiously, making Avarice blink. “I can have as much sex as either of us want. I'm a dragon. My eggs are only vulnerable to the most ridiculously powerful of traumas. That aside...well, watch.” Sonata used her claws to emphasize the curve of her abdomen, and Avarice notice it shrinking down, but nothing was coming out of her womanhood. “My new systems can process the dead bio-matter directly into nutrients and energy for the eggs. So, you can still have sex with me, but I don't know if you'd just be adding more eggs or not since to protect the unborn my systems can ONLY break down dead matter and fresh sperm is very much alive, I'll have to talk to mother about this....”

Avarice blinked, and then suddenly remembered he had important shit to do! “That's right! I need to know how things went! You set me off before anything could be confirmed, so let's get dressed and head on up.” Avarice then quickly found his pants, he was surprised they hadn't been destroyed in his primal state. He took a bit to find his thong, but that too was intact. Vagabond must've truly spread himself to these other articles of clothing. Feeling a need to test this, Avarice reached into his left pocket, but it was just a pocket like the outside pockets of Vagabond's main body. 'Hm...I'll have to get with him on that later.'

“Um....” Avarice looked back to his partner who actually was flushing in embarrassment as she tried to put her breastplate back on. Note; tried. “Oh no....” Sonata bit her lower lip as she tried to squeeze her breasts into her breastplate still, while threads of data ran across her eyes. “No! This isn't fair! The milk production glands have activated already, and I can't turn them off!”

Avarice could see the problem now; her breasts were even BIGGER than before now! II-Cups! “Damn it, Faust needs to do some tuning. All these malfunctions are a huge problem for you.”

“And they'll only get bigger!” Sonata fretted, looking at her glorious chest orbs. “I wouldn't mind, if I didn't need to fly! Having such a disproportionate shape will make flying dangerous.” Sonata then used her levitation magic to attach the rest of her outer chassis, but she hovered her breastplate over her II-Cup mams. “I'll have to...milk myself down to size....” Sonata grunted as she began kneading her breasts, and she flushed and panted as she worked herself up, her lighter gray areola and nipples began to visibly engorge, and she squeaked as she twirked her nipples, and began to express her milk in a steady stream.

Avarice was turned away, panting, desperately trying to rein himself in from having witnessed something so hot. 'Damn you Faust! Are you trying to use me as a breeding machine for your own testing?' It was for a rather intense and heavy minute that Sonata panted, moaned, and squeezed her milk out until she could finally get her breastplate on.

“R-ready!” Sonata said, completely embarrassed by having had to do that due to a malfunction. Avarice then wordlessly took her claw in one of his, and looked at her in concern. “I'm fine. Just...very frustrated and flustered about this happening.”

“Alright then, let's go before you outgrow your chassis.” Avarice and Sonata then flew up the cliff to the castle, and landed in the garden where they made their way inside. “We'll need to see Tia about what went down for the deal before we can see about getting you tuned. Is that okay?”

“I'll manage, but I'll need an extra-large robe soon, my breasts are already pinching in my breastplate.” Sonata griped as she fidgeted her breasts about, some of them slipping from the once-perfectly fitting armor, giving some cleavage. “Oh no....”

“I'm sure Tia must have something big enough. She's nowhere near our size, but she must have some loose nightgowns that could at least cover your breasts.” Avarice reasoned as they began climbing up to the floor with Tia's office. It was mid-day, so it only made sense for her to be there. The two dragons did pause though, at the sight of Solar Radiance in a full suit of bronzed steel armor that completely covered her from horn to hoof giving commands to several Loaders of three varied types.

“-If you've found a breach, you have my permission to seal it. I don't care if you have to cave it in, just make sure nothing can come in from under our hooves!” Solar ordered the Sgt Loader, which then saluted with a hand.

“YES MA'AM! TO THE CONFERENCE HALL BOTS! WE HAVE A BREACH TO SEAL!” The Sgt then rapidly spun around, and began quickly trudging past the two dragons, who while still taller than the 9-foot Loaders that filed past, both felt rather impressed at the inherent intimidation factor they presented. Sonata, not having been activated until recently, was also rather impacted by her simpler cousins.

“Ah, unit Sonata. I suppose congratulation are in order.” Solar said haughtily, her full-helm making her voice echo a little more than usual as her magenta eyes flashed in the eye-slits of her visor. “Hm...that is not good....”

“Indeed it is not. Ugh....” Sonata's breastplate shifted forward some more, her breasts being squeezed by the constraining armor. “My milk glands are too active, I need release or a loose garment.”

“I shall aid you sister. Avarice; Mistress is in her office. Convene with her while I aid my malfunctioning sister.” Solar quickly moved down the hall they'd just come down, and Sonata mouthed an apology to Avarice before she promptly followed after her smaller sister.

'I hope Solar can help for now. Sonata shouldn't have to be dealing with these kinds of problems.' Avarice then jogged to Tia's office, and it was at the doors that he paused, and looked around. He felt...naked...oddly naked even though he's wearing pants. 'Where's Vagabond?'

{I don't know...I feel...oddly alone...vulnerable...is this what it's like when he's away from us for so long?}

'No...I was without him for two months once and never felt like this. I hope nothing's wrong.' Avarice then entered, and wasn't at all bothered by how Tia was bared to the world again, feeding his daughter again. “Wow, just how much can she drink?”

“Enough to drain a breast, which holds at least half a gallon. My poor chest is practically straining to keep up.” Tia joked, yet was serious as well. “Your daughter is quite the thirsty dear, demanding to be fed nearly every hour.”

“I can only express my gratitude for you being so kind and generous to do this for her.” Avarice expressed earnestly, and Tia smiled at him.

“I can only express my joy at doing this. At most, I had not expected to be doing this for another 11 months.” Celestia replied, looking lovingly at the little buggy foal who had finished, and was now yawning, so Tia got up from her chair and set Chrysalis in her crib again. “I swear though, I might need to take up Solar's offer to switch off for a bit. I need time for my sore nipples to recover, and my breasts to refill. I'm practically empty.” Tia's claim seemed unlikely though, since her breasts didn't have any sag to them. Then again, Avarice noted that no mare's breasts he saw had much of any sag.

{Doctors claim that the natural magic that flows through us all naturally provides some rejuvenation properties, you'll only see sag in very elderly ponies or other peoples. It's mostly why Star Swirl has been alive for so long, his body is just so replete with magic his aging slowed.} Crescent helpfully supplied, making Avarice glad for that. Tia was centuries old, he knew that, but she was a goddess, and he didn't want to think of him being at fault for depreciating her beauty in any way.

“You might have a volunteer then. Faust's 'update' for Sonata has caused several malfunctions. For one; she's now pregnant with seven eggs, and her breasts are rapidly filling with milk to the point she can't even wear her breastplate.” Avarice informed in irritation, and Celestia blinked, before widening her eyes at realizing she'd forgotten to check something and casting a spell on her hands, before hovering them over her abdomen, and she beamed in excitement.

“Six! I-I'm pregnant with six foals!” Tia's genuinely excited reaction surprised Avarice. She was going to get huge, and she was happy about it? “Wow~! You really ARE fertile! Getting me this pregnant through contraceptive spells AND attempting to actively prevent it.” Tia complimented, feeling even happier and Avarice blushed as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

“Geez...you all make it sound like being a baby making machine is a good thing....” Avarice commented in embarrassment, and Tia giggled as she held her hands to her tummy, imagining herself full of life.

“It is. In our culture anyway. I don't know about Griffonia, but here, Bullgaria, and in Saddle Arabia; males as potent as you are sought after. Sure, your potency now is caused by enhancement, but not even Desire's Art has such a drastically impressive standard for multiples. You already had that capacity, it just increased your likelihood of helping gift a female with more children.” Celestia stated, before she turned to the side, and opened a drawer in her desk to retrieve the beacon. “But enough about that, we have plenty of time to be concerned with foals at a later date. What needs done is that this beacon needs taken to the largest island of the Wither Archipelago.”

Celestia then laid out a map of Equestria, and then pointed to a small chain of large islands far off the west coast. “So there, is where I call Faust, and get things started up.” Avarice guessed, pointing to the largest island of the chain, furthest south. 'Geez, it looks like the Hawaiian islands.'

{From what your memories are telling me, there seems to be a lot of creepy similarities between your world and ours.}

“Yes. Only call mom then. She was very clear that the next time the beacon is used, is that it's on the largest island.” Celestia clarified, and Avarice hissed in irritation; Sonata needed help NOW, not later!

“Guess I'd better get flying...holding this thing I guess. Wherever Vagabond is, I can't feel him right now, so calling him is out. I'll just have to do it the normal way.” Avarice took the beacon from Celestia's hands, and it flashed with a red “warning” sign, meaning it wasn't going to work even if he tried anyway, and he sighed. “Locked me out until I reach the destination? Fine. I'm going Tia.”

“Fly well Avarice.” Tia then opened her wings and hovered up to him, putting her hands to his cheeks as she kissed him, and he returned her affection. When they broke off, she looked him in the eyes with love he could tangibly feel. “Be safe my stallion.”

“I will my mare.” Avarice kissed her again, and she hummed into his lips before they broke apart again, and he turned to leave.

Tia landed gently as she shamelessly watching his firm rear and tail, her own tail twitching, causing her flowing pink ether hair to flicker. “Hmph. I can't wait until my foals stabilize enough for me to have some of that again....”

Author's Note

What's this?! Faust has made living machines! They already had souls, but now they can bring life into the world too!

Faust, that sneaky goddess, planning to use that technology to "get busy" with Jack I'll bet.

Fortress City, Ruby Ridge.

Ava appeared, once more garbed in her usual corset and robe, back at the very spot she’d teleported home from. ‘I miss them already….’ Ava absorbed some of the blood that had burst from her nose that forcing entry through the barrier caused as she looked east upon the massive ruby wall with some trepidation.

{It’s rough Ava. I miss Bon Bon so much, so I can sympathize somewhat.} Lyra, thanks to the herd, was slowly adjusting to the idea of leaving her old life behind her. It didn’t change she missed her beloved Bonnie.

‘Thanks for just being here Lyra, Sharp isn’t the best company and with Lumi having moved on to her own pursuits I was worried I’d only have her around. I love the bitch...but she’s a bitch.’ Ava snickered as she started walking towards the 20 foot tall wall, nervously eyeing the sentries posted every 50 or so feet atop it. ‘Hot damn, this place is even more secure than Emerald City.’

{From what your memories of the geography tell me Ava, this city is on the east coast, which is on the same ocean as the one Griffonia and Bullgaria have access to.} Lyra brought up, getting Ava to hum at the sense of it as she found the road and began following it up to the ominous black gates, which contrasted so sharply with the ruby walls they seemed to suck the light out of the area around it.

“Halt! State your business!” One of the guards demanded, a burly black stallion who stood an easy head and shoulders over her. His deep booming voice rolled across the couple dozen feet away.

“I am Avarice, Merchant, and official investigator on behalf of Equestria into the enemy invasion that has subverted your entire country!” Ava boomed back, getting several perked ears from the two guards at the gate, as well as along the top of the wall to perk up in attention.

“Provide proof at once!” The stallion demanded further, and she snorted before pulling her passport out of a sleeve.

“Want me to throw it?!” She snarked. ‘Gog damn this stallion is a flankhole!’

{I can’t say anything about guards specifically, but as a pony, this buck is a-.}

“No, I shall approach, do not move!” The stallion ordered, jogging the distance, and despite his behavior, Ava couldn’t help but notice how his muscles rippled between the ruby plates of his full suit of armor, or that his skin tone matched hers, making it even more obvious as he neared. “I will view your passport.” He declared, even without shouting his voice was deep and resonant to a point it made Ava shudder, she could practically feel it thrumming through her.

‘Whoa, okay, if he turns out to be an okay guy, I am going to see about getting to know him better.’ Ava handed him her passport, and he nodded as he opened it, his eyes widening in surprise before closely inspecting her card, and then the Emerald Key.

{Won’t lie. I’m not one for casually sleeping around, and I’m a Filly Fooler anyway. But this colt? Woof.} Lyra giggled in their head, making Ava fight not to join her.

“Apologies Lady Avarice. I will bring you to the Admiral post-haste.” The stallion whispered urgently as he handed her passport back. She almost had a nosebleed when he about-faced and started striding forward briskly, his very tight and muscular rear, even armored, was clear to her thanks to his short-cropped tail.

‘Okay, yeah, I’m gonna try and tap that.’ Ava licked her lips as she followed eagerly, shamelessly ogling him everywhere that appealed, which was almost everywhere. ‘Gog, if becoming a mare wasn’t enough, ponies of every gender are just stupidly sexy.’ Ava mused as they neared the gate, which practically flew open despite it’s size when the stallion grabbed the giant handles and flung it open with a single pull, barely pausing his forward momentum. ‘Oh HELL YES I’m tapping that!’

{Awooo~ *pant, pant, pant*!} Lyra exuberantly agreed, which made Ava start to drool slightly at the thought of this huge, powerful stallion using that strength to bend her over and-.

“This way.” The stallion urged as they trotted through the walled city, which Ava had snapped out of her lecherous daydreams to notice was very authentically Coastal European in design. The buildings were shorter closer to the walls, and taller the further in they were, as well as being tightly constructed. Buildings side-by-side along streets had no alleys, only solid walls meeting together. This lent a very structured and solid street and building design.

‘Geez, if someone was trying to storm this place, it’d be a tactical nightmare! Almost everything here is made purely for militaristic defense.’ Ava thankfully kept close to the stallion, since the streets were crowded with happy citizens going about their lives. Ava had to dance around a couple of fillies chasing a colt with ribbons and flowers, clearly intending to play dress-up with him. “So...this is Ruby Ridge right? Where’s the Ridge?”

“You’ll see it in a moment.” The stallion declared as the buildings started getting shorter now that they seemed to have passed the city square, which perplexed Ava. It wasn’t all that big now that she reflected on it, how was a city this small a city? “Up here.” Her guide stated as they neared single-story buildings again, that were interrupted by twin enormous towers that even had a bridge built between them.

The reason for the bridge became apparent when Ava heard her hoofboots hit metal instead of cobblestone street, and she looked down with shock to see a ridiculously enormous iron portcullis with just barely large enough holes to be called such running along from where she stood to about halfway to the two towers, which had a gatehouse situated over it at the halfway mark.

“Mind your hoofing milady. The holes may be small, but last time somepony got a leg caught in the gate we had to have smiths widen the hole to get them out.” The stallion informed from his place on solid cobble off to the right of the horizontal sliding gate. “Best you come over here.” He said, and she gingerly avoided the holes on her way to him, since although her hoofboots were clearly too wide to fit through, she didn’t want to test it.

“This is really odd. Why is this here?” Ava asked as they continued on, her examination revealed it was clearly on a track of sorts, with gear indents which indicated how the gatehouse moved the monolithic plate of iron.

“It’s the only access between Ruby Ridge and the beach of the cove our city overlooks. A natural ramp that steeply runs down between two sheer cliffs. It is the reason Ruby Ridge is here. It is the only easy access the entire East Coast has from the sea. Making this a strategic and crucial location to hold against hostile naval forces wishing to invade.” The guard stallion informed, making Ava gape at the gate.

It was peculiar, but it’s worth was obvious. There was no way she could see getting past that from below with ponies throwing oil, boiling water or whatnot down on invaders. “That is...rather astounding.” Ava admitted as they neared the tower of the right side of the ramp. “Say, what is your name sir?”

“Jet.” The stallion stated simply, getting Ava to blink.

“But...isn’t jet pressurized plant carbon?” Ava asked, since jet wasn’t in the strictest of terms a geode, or gemstone in the traditional sense.

“Crystal comes in many forms. Your passport speaks true of your Equestrian origin, if you don’t know that.” Jet smirked superiorly down at her, making her pout up at him. “Regardless of semantics. I am here to guide you to the Admiral and return to my post, I doubt we will meet again.”

“And why would that be?” Ava petulantly demanded, Jet quirking an ear at her as he continued through the tower-how long had they been climbing stairs? Since when were they climbing stair-Ava stopped trying to Recall, it hurt. She seriously needed to get that shard of their souls back.

“Are you saying you would make time in your busy schedule to meet me again?” Jet asked doubtfully, and Ava simmered.

“Yes.” She affirmed. Business or not, she’d learned her lessons from Emerald City. Depriving herself was a quick way to weaken and hurt herself. She’d cling to the stallion if it meant having some sort of wall to lean on if the chips were down.

“Well then...perhaps I will see you again. We’re here.” Jet stated before a regally embossed black door. Seriously, where did these ponies get the hematite for these black doors? It was so pure it sucked the light out of everything around it. Then again, where did all the Ruby come from for the main architecture? Then again, what about the Emerald for Emerald City? Ava’s brain started hurting. Confound these Crystal Ponies, their architecture and magic may drive her to drink.

“So what should I expect of the Admiral?” Ava asked, since Jet made no move to enter or open the door for her, she assumed the fully armored stallion was leaving her to her business. ‘Hm, now I wonder, what color are his eyes? Since his body and tail are both jet black, I wonder what his eyes look like.’ Ava mused as she looked into the eyes of his helmet.

{Probably brown or hazel.} Lyra idly commented.

“Admiral Full Sail-.” Ava could not contain the unladylike guffaw that tore from her mouth at the Admiral’s unfortunate name. “Quite, keep that contained. As I was saying, Admiral Full Sail is a very weary and actionable stallion. He’ll see to it that your investigation is given full priority without doubt. Now then, I must return to my post.”

“Besides your post...where may I find you?” Ava asked with her winning lecherous grin, and a hand on her hip, cocked out to accentuate it further as she flicked her lustrous red mane. And the stallion, who was indeed a stallion, had a mental stall at her signals as she looked his helm in the eye holes. ‘Hook, line….’

“Y-you might find me at a tavern named the Wretched Wreck on the south side of the city just past sundown….” Jet managed to stumble out.

‘Sinker~!’ “See you there.” She husked out with a wink, and the stallion, once so imposing, literally staggered away and barely managed to begin a descent down the stairs at her wiles getting him primed. “Oh, he is going to be fun~....”

{Whoa~! Ava! That was amazing! I haven’t seen a mare make a stallion so...dumb, for lack of a better word, so fast!} Lyra gushed, and Ava grunted as she felt her body send pleasure signals everywhere. {That was so~ hot! You’re making me wanna-!}

‘L-Lyra! We can engage in self-cest later! Business now!’ Ava declared, panting slightly and trying to force herself to calm down from Lyra literally having started Shifter-style intercourse. ‘Later.’ She reaffirmed, getting a bashful sensation from Lyra as she knocked on the door.

“Come in.” Came a raspy and carrying voice that sounded almost like someone talking through a filter of burbling seafoam. Ava turned the latch and entered, closing the door behind her as she examined the stallion behind the desk. “Hmph, so you’re the anomaly I’ve been having my sentries keep an eye out for.” The pearly stallion was an unexpected specimen.

He was clearly middle-aged, had a grizzled and generally discontent air about him despite his station and finery. His pearl skin contrasted with his shocking blond mane and beard, which was made all the more obvious with his ruby-thread frock coat and hematite thread tricorn hat. HIs aqua blue eyes were also very captivating, telling tales of adventure and experience she couldn’t fathom. Also, despite his desk job and age, he was clearly quite fit if more wiry than buff. “Anomaly?”

“Yes. One of my plains watchers spotted you arriving initially in the fields by an unknown carriage of sorts literally falling out of the air by some measure. Then you buggered off in a similar way you came, so I’ve had my guards on alert. If Jet let you in and guided you to me, you must be on official business. Out with it. I’m a busy stallion.” Full Sail demanded as he set a quill he’d been writing with since she entered to sit in it’s inkpot.

“So nice to be blunt. Refreshing.” Ava sighed in relief, this was the sort of stallion she wished she could have spoken with in Emerald City. Nothing against Trabucco or Diamond Heart, but their bureaucracy was maddeningly inefficient. “I’m here to help weed out and rout a clandestine invasion of your country.” Ava stated simply as she held out her passport to him, the stallion leering at the idea of it before he took her passport.

One look, and he looked like he was about to explode in raw fury. “So it’s true...should’ve listened to my gut.” The grizzled stallion growled furiously. “I’ve been suspicious of that damned Relay, I’m supposing that’s the focus of this?” Sail asked rhetorically, to which she nodded.

“Yes. They’ve subverted the Crystal Heart by altering the barrier it projects. It causes all perception to fail upon entering and the victims unknowingly turn back around, compelled to really. It has effectively isolated the Empire from the whole world, and while it’s easy to leave, entering is nearly impossible.” Ava informed, and the pearl stallion slammed a fist into his desk.

“Damn those Griffonian wretches! I’ve lost 3 ships in the last MONTH! I thought they were attacked and lost, so maybe, hopefully they’re just incapable of returning. This also makes the disturbing silence I’ve had to endure from our allied ports in Equestria not answering letters, my messengers not returning either. I had thought the worst….” Sail hissed a seething sigh of mixed rage and relief. “I’m going to take this to the Mayor, the stallion is the one in charge of civilian matters, which the Relay is supposed to be.”

“Thank you. Where can I lend aid in rooting out the spies?” Ava asked, taking back her passport as the Admiral stood, and Ava had to crane her neck. His chair and desk made him look normal height, but the wiry stallion was easily as tall as Jet and most other crystal stallions.

“Nowhere. This is not your jurisdiction. Ally or not, despite Emerald City’s laid-back position on things, this is an Empire issue, not an Equestrian issue. I’d advise you bring this dire situation to the attentions of the other cities in the empire rather than waste your time here.” Sail declared as he rounded his desk to leave.

“B-but I can’t do that! This is bigger than just a few spies! By the time I was able to find my proof for Emerald City, they were beset by a siege from Yakslovia incited by Die Leucht spies!” That got the admiral to pause as he was reaching for the latch, and he turned back to face her.

“Is that so?” He asked somberly, and she nodded. “Right then...I have some things I need looked into. Things I can’t waste my force’s vigils on since our port is practically empty from our patrols being out in force, and I need every guardspony on alert. I’ve already got them running extra shifts, I can’t stretch them any further. Would you be willing to take contract work?”

“Are you kidding?” Ava asked in bemusement.

“No. You’re practically a civilian. I cannot ask you to do anything in any official capacity. I will pay you as a mercenary.” The admiral stated without hesitation, and Ava sighed.

“Yeah, sure. If it means I can help save your city and this country.” Ava huffed, irritated that, despite Sail’s forthright behavior, he still had to do annoying workarounds just to get things done.

“Good. Go to the cove, ask the fishers about disturbances in the water. It’s been getting more frequent, and I can’t spare anypony.” Sail ordered, and Ava nodded before he opened the door and strode quickly and purposefully out, the tails of his calf-length frock coat trailing behind him from his brisk pace.

‘Okay, this is either a foal’s errand, or something sinister lurks in the water.’ Ava thought as she closed the admiral’s door when she left his office, trailing down the stairs after him.

{Or maybe it’s seaponies!} Lyra excitedly considered, making Ava blink in confusion.

‘What?’ Ava asked in befuddlement. She hadn’t heard about seaponies before.

{You don’t know about seaponies?! Shoo-be-doo~ Shoo-shoo-be-doo~!} Lyra began musically chanting, making Ava giggle and try not to follow along.

‘Okay, stop that! There’s no way that’s a thing!’ She denied in amusement. The thought was ridiculous, but if anything it was-.

{It’s totally possible! If something as divergent as Centaurs and Minotaurs can happen, then who's to say Seaponies aren’t possible?} Lyra declared, and Ava huffed with a bit of a chuckle.

‘Okay, but if it is seaponies, that means I’ve got to play ambassador too.’ Ava bemoaned, hoping that things wouldn’t be that complicated.

{Aaaand now you’ve invoked Murphy.} Lyra deadpanned, making Ava groan.

[$]

“And of course...it’s all fish tales.” Ava grumbled at the edge of a pier, leering down at the water in annoyance. Every fisher she spoke to pointed in the direction of the water, claiming seeing beautiful mares in the water that seemed to vanish just as fast as they appeared. All the guards watching the cove say they haven’t seen anything, but were refusing to ignore the claims out of hand, they just couldn’t do anything about it since the whole city, now that she’d seen it from multiple angles, was indeed just as big as Emerald City in span and they could not leave their posts on hearsay.

In fact, the cove she was standing on the end of the main pier of, was a rather large wood shanty town reminiscent of countless classic small coastal towns, just built at the base of the utterly massive white stone cliffs that Ruby Ridge spanned the whole top of with walls also on this side to help defend against bombardment. Ava looked up at the lighthouses on the tips of the crescent shaped cliffs, easily several hundred feet above the sea, and she looked back at the natural ramp the Gate sealed off when nopony was passing through.

‘Holy shit this place is enormous. Even this wood shanty town is big enough for a few hundred ponies to call home.’ Ava mused in awe at the sheer scope of Ruby Ridge. This place was a tactical nightmare as she’d originally thought. Siege this place? Suicide. It must be.

{Odd they sealed the top of the ramp, and not down here.} Lyra commented at the open ramp, the portcullis at the top was currently open for evening traffic. It was normally closed aside from the early morning and evening because it also acted as a bridge for midday hoof traffic of the city above, which was decreed as unsafe if it wasn’t latched into a closed position, since to make it mobile it was literally on a track of wheels.

‘Well, that’s none of our business.’ Ava shrugged off any further musing, and took a calming breath. ‘Okay, I’ve managed to figure out how to go seapony, ready for a swim?’

{Am I ever! Shoo-be-doo~!} Lyra hammed, and Ava giggled before looking around, and seeing the coast clear, jumped in, her black clothes and body making her vanish instantly.

Author's Note

And here we go~! :pinkiehappy:

Okay, lets see where this goes, because my original plan was too expected, I'm going to try and see where going off the rails gets me since it seems to get the juices flowing. :yay: