Uniting a Nation

Powder Burn was having the worst day of his life. There wasn’t much call for anypony to be happy, with all of Equestria in serious peril, but having your commanding officer telling you that you were expendable was a special kind of awful.

Yeah, he’d tried to sugarcoat it. “Your talent is with the cannons, and we’re not going to need the cannons anymore.” He’d tried to bribe him. “All of you that were chosen for today’s force reduction, feel free to join King Blueblood’s incentive program. Ponies are panicking privately, and we’ve seen no sign of massed resistance.” But Powder Burn knew that he was being singled out because he was a screw up.

Okay. He had to admit that perhaps ‘singled out’ wasn’t a completely honest assessment, since they were reducing their forces by half, again, just like they had yesterday. That’s how it felt, however. Especially when it turned out that he was the only ‘expendable’ member of his patrol who’d volunteered to continue his service to the bitter end.

Maybe he’d hoped that his loyalty would change the Lieutenant’s mind, but Blaze had just nodded and told him to go suit up.

Suddenly, something smacked him in the side of the helmet, making his ears ring, and he realized that he’d been spacing out instead of keeping a careful watch like he was supposed to.

“Sir!” he said, standing up straighter and looking alert.

“Come with me,” said Lieutenant Blaze. “I heard something in that alleyway.”

The other two members of the patrol, both pegasi, were already taking wing to provide overwatch as the pair of unicorns cautiously advanced into the shadowy gap between the buildings.

Powder Burn let himself relax as they finally spotted the source of the noise. A yellow pegasus shivered as she clung close to a white unicorn’s side. Her ears were flattened against her skull, and half her face was hidden behind her long pink bangs. She gave a soft squeak as she spotted the two guards, and moved as if to hide behind her friend.

The unicorn sighed. “Fluttershy, please, there’s nothing to be frightened of. These are the Royal Guard!”

“But Rarity, they’re hunting…” she replied, in a volume just above a whisper.

“There’s nothing to be afraid of, ma’am,” said Blaze. “You should head to the palace – King Blueblood has opened it to the public, and the staff there will spare no effort to make you feel comfortable.”

“But they’ll eat me!” Fluttershy squeaked, ducking down until only the top of her head peeked over Rarity’s whithers.

“Only in the most comfortable and respectful fashion,” Blaze said. “It’s a sad fact that the world is ending, but there’s no need to be afraid of it. I’ve eaten a few ponies myself, and they all enjoyed the process immensely.” He smiled. “You’re just nervous. I understand.”

Powder Burn noticed that Blaze didn’t mention that the ponies the Lieutenant had eaten were his own wife and foal. Of course they’d enjoyed it!

“I work with animals,” Fluttershy said. “I’ve seen animals eat each other. I – I have to help them, sometimes.” She squinted her eyes shut.

“And I keep telling you, this is nothing like that, darling,” Rarity said. “We’re civilized ponies, not wild predators. There will be no tearing claws, or sharp pointy teeth.”

“I know,” Fluttershy whimpered, “but when I close my eyes, it’s all I can see.”

The Lieutenant looked uncomfortable. “With all due respect, ma’am, perhaps you should get it over with? Maybe your friend…”

“I can’t!” Fluttershy said, curling up and covering her face with her hooves. “I just can’t!”

Rarity stood next to Blaze as they looked down at Fluttershy with dismay. “Perhaps… a demonstration? To show you that it isn’t anything to fear?” She turned to the unicorn next to her, and lifted a hoof towards his mouth. “Could you –“

“Rarity, no!” Fluttershy said, leaping to her hooves and clutching at Rarity’s neck. “Don’t leave me alone!”

Blaze stared at the scene, and turned to Powder Burn. “Private, resolve this situation,” he said.

“Sir?” Powder Burn asked, confused.

“We’ll continue the patrol without you,” the Lieutenant said, and with a coded flash of his horn to signal the pegasi, he turned and marched out of the alleyway, leaving Powder Burn alone with the two mares.

Rarity met his gaze as he turned his attention back to them. “What are you planning to do?” she asked.

“I think I was just ordered to provide a demonstration,” he said, with a sigh. He lit his horn and started to unbuckle his armor. “I’m slightly larger than you. Do you think you can manage?” He focused on the practicalities to avoid thinking about the personal cost. Which was nothing; he was a dead pony walking either way. Having his life cut short by a few more hours than he’d expected was certainly a blow, but he’d rather die than have his last act be an act of cowardice that only served to further terrify a frightened civilian.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Rarity said, reaching up to stroke Powder Burn’s cheek. “You don’t need to go through with it if you don’t want to. I’m sure…” she glanced at Fluttershy, who was backed up against a wall and curled into a ball, staring at the two of them with wide, fearful eyes. “Well… I’ll think of something before nightfall. Surely.”

“Just stop,” he said, lifting his own hoof to rest against Rarity’s lips and keep her from saying any more. “It’s not like this is a huge, terrifying sacrifice that I’m only making because I’m brave. I’m happy to help your friend, and to be your meal.” He tried to smile, but that wasn’t really an often-requested skill for a Guard, and he wasn’t sure that he pulled it off.

Rarity opened her mouth, and took his hoofguard in her teeth, carefully removing it and letting it clatter to the ground. “Of course!” she said, with a much more genuine smile. “Finish undressing, then, and I’ll begin from your rear hooves. I believe I can handle the size, but I’d rather not get your horn caught in my throat by trying to take you headfirst.”

“Ah,” Powder Burn said, stepping out of his other shoes and then lifting off his helmet. His armor was already unbuckled, so he shrugged his shoulders and let it slide off his back. It clattered to the ground in a jangle of metal on cobblestone. Without its weight he felt light as a pegasus, ready to drift away on the slightest breeze.

He turned to present his hind hooves to Rarity, who took one in her magical grip and lifted it to her mouth. As her lips slid around it, Powder Burn turned to Fluttershy. “Come over here and watch,” he said. “This is for your benefit, so there’s no sense hiding.”

“I don’t want to watch,” Fluttershy said, softly.

“Too bad,” Powder Burn replied, as Rarity’s lips slid over his fetlock. “Come over here and watch.” He tried to keep an on outwardly pleasant face, and enjoy Rarity’s tongue as it started to caress his frog, but this Fluttershy was just so... ah, there she went, finally.

Fluttershy slowly got to her hooves, and took a few steps towards the pair, as Rarity lifted Powder Burn’s other hind hoof to her mouth, and pushed forwards, feeding both hooves into her throat, her neck starting to stretch around them.

“Does it hurt?” she asked.

“No. Not at all,” the stallion said, as the tight muscles of Rarity’s neck started to pulse around his legs, drawing him in deeper, his thighs and cutie marks slipping inside. “It’s a bit uncomfortable to stretch out around somepony you’re eating, but being eaten is…” he took a step back towards Rarity, to keep his forelegs underneath himself as he was pulled inside her. “It’s kind of like weird sex.”

Fluttershy eeped, blushing.

Rarity glowered, and Powder Burn gasped as she bit down on his legs. “Sorry, sorry! I didn’t mean anything by it! For Celestia’s sake, be careful!” It hadn’t really hurt, but he was thankful she hadn’t been a few inches farther along. His most sensitive parts were about to enter her mouth. To his relief, she pushed past them quickly, lodging the back part of his body in her throat instead of lingering over them with her shy friend watching, or worse, using them to further demonstrate her ire.

“Are you okay?” Fluttershy asked, staring into his eyes, as he slid back into Rarity’s maw, inch by inch.

Powder Burn laughed. “Don’t worry about it. Your friend’s gentle enough, and I’m sure she’ll be even gentler with you.” Before it was too late, he lifted his foreleg, and squeezed it into Rarity’s mouth, alongside his barrel. “Come on, help me with my other arm,” he said.

Fluttershy gingerly lifted it up in her teeth, and folded it back, tucking it into Rarity’s lips. With another large swallow, the rest of Powder Burn’s body slid into Rarity’s throat, leaving just his head and neck in the open air. Fluttershy’s cheek brushed against his as she pulled back.

She was so soft.

“See?” he said, as Rarity’s tongue lapped at his throat, pulling him deeper. “Nothing to be afraid of.”

Fluttershy lifted her hoof, and stroked his cheek. “Thank you,” she said, closing her eyes and giving a tiny smile.

Powder Burn sighed. It had worked, after all. His work done, he closed his eyes as well, and relaxed. Rarity shifted positions around him to let gravity help, and he slid steadily into her depths.

“Thank you, Fluttershy,” Rarity said, breathing heavily and reclining on the cobblestones, rubbing the huge lump of guard stallion engulfed in her belly. “That was a wonderful performance.”

“Rarity!” Fluttershy squeaked. “He can still hear you!”

“Perhaps, but it’s far too late for him to do anything about it,” she said. “It’s not as if his ire can give me indigestion.”

“You’re terrible!” Fluttershy said, stomping her hoof, almost hard enough to make an audible clack against the street. “And you’re making me as bad as you!”

“If the last act of my life’s drama is to eat or be eaten, then I intend to put forth my best effort,” Rarity replied, smirking. “Equestria deserves no less.”

Powder Burn didn’t say anything, as he lay in Rarity’s belly waiting to dissolve, but the brief moment of happiness he’d felt at seeing Fluttershy’s smile was gone. This really was the worst day ever.