A Few Good Ponies

Hayseed Swamps

Just North of the Southern Pass

2000hrs

Swamps. Why did it have to be swamps? Sunrise thought to himself as he walked. The trail they had been following had long since faded away. Occasional stretches of it could be seen before it disappeared into dense foliage, and some areas were simply flooded, costing them large swaths of time as they had to navigate around murky ponds and marshland.

The sun had dipped below the horizon not long ago, and with the growing darkness making progress that much more difficult, Sunrise decided to call it. Spotting a cypress tree with an opening large enough to shelter both of them, he signaled Lightning to stop.

“We take shelter here for the night. With how thick the forest is, it should be safe to make a fire without fear of being spotted.” Said Sunrise.

Lightning nodded, and they set to work gathering wood. Before long they had a small fire going in front of the tree, warming their hooves on it against the chilly night air.

Opening his saddlebags, Sunrise pulled out the last apple fritter. “This will do for tonight. I'm hoping tomorrow we'll be able to find some edible roots, and maybe even some fruit in this forest.” He said.

They sat by the fire, talking and enjoying their meal for some time. Lightning Strike had been a member of Sunrise's squad for over a year, but he had never really gotten to know her all that well. He had to wonder why since she had always seemed to be the center of conversation, always talking to ponies and motivating them with her warm and energetic personality. If he had to guess, he figured it was because he always took his job so seriously. He had always done things by the book, and after experiencing the stress of battle he had begun to see his fellow guards as expendable. They looked at each other, his amber eyes meeting her sapphire gaze. Slowly he leaned in and their lips touched. She pulled away quickly.

“Is  something wrong?” Asked sunrise.

“Nothing at all.” Replied Lightning, before pressing her lips against his once again much more passionately. Her tongue finding its way into his mouth and wrestling with his own.

********************

“How about we take our minds off the mission for a while.” She whispered, standing up. Nickering softly as she broke the kiss, she walked past him, swaying her hips seductively, and flicking his face playfully with her tail.

Sunrise felt his dark orange member harden, slowly emerging from its sheath. Lightning glanced down at it with a smirk.

“Ah ah, ladies first.” She said playfully, before turning around and lifting her tail to the side, exposing the smooth flesh of her marehood and tight pucker. Her eyes sparkled in the firelight as she looked over her shoulder at him. Taking the hint, Sunrise pressed his muzzle forward, running his tongue in a small circle, teasing her clit before slowly moving it up her slit, parting her lips with a soft “slick.”

He repeated this a few times before rimming it around her firm anus, causing it to clench briefly from the unexpected attention. She let out a soft moan, panting lightly from the sensation, and winking her vulva, exposing the soft pink interior of her opening, already glistening with desire. She looked back at him with a sultry smile and whispered, “Take me.”

Not needing to be asked twice, Sunrise reared up, placing his fore hooves on her shoulders. His hard member probing around for a moment before finding its mark and parting her soft lips, sliding in about half way before pulling it out and pushing it back in completely. His balls slapping her rear as he hilted himself before settling into a steady rhythm of thrusting.

Neighing softly as she felt his member sliding in and out of her, Lightning began to moan as her climax started to build. Feeling his pace quicken, she was sent over the edge, screaming as she orgasmed, followed only a few seconds later by Sunrise as his thrusting suddenly stopped, balls deep inside of her, his member twitching as she was filled with his hot fluid. Panting in the afterglow, Sunrises's softening member slid out of her with a soft squelch, leaking a mixture of their fluids down her leg.

*****************

Shortly afterward, they left the orange glow of the dying embers of the fire, and made their way into the tree. Lying down next to each other, Sunrise wrapped his forelegs around her, as she laid her head on his shoulder, cuddling each other as they fell asleep.

Several hours later, Lightning Strike was awoken by a rustling sound just outside of the tree. Standing up, she peered out into the darkness, watching as a pony-like head poked its way through the entrance. This wasn't any kind of pony she had seen before. It looked like an earth pony, but even in the darkness she could make out a set of strange markings beside its eyes. A set of dark brown lightning bolts contrasting against the tan fur of its face.

“Hello?” She inquired.

It didn't respond, but she could see a clear look of curiosity and intelligence in its green eyes. It moved forward slowly, nuzzling her broken wing gently before pulling back cautiously. Suddenly it opened its mouth, 3 long black tentacle-like tongues springing out. One wrapped around her front legs, holding them together while the other two wrapped around her rear legs. She was quickly pulled forward with a yelp, and found her head stuffed into the strange pony's throat. In seconds her whole body was in the creature's tight throat, leaving only her rear legs and tail sticking out as she was swallowed. She tried to scream, but it was muffled by the wet walls surrounding her.

Sunrise awoke with a start to see a strange creature in front of him, the tip of a black tail hanging out of its mouth before it disappeared, following a massive bulge down its throat, before that too was quickly deposited into its bulging stomach.

“Lightning!” Sunrise yelled, charging his horn and shooting off a blast of deadly magic. In his panic though, he missed, and the bolt of energy struck a root next to the creature, instantly reducing it to smoldering splinters.

The creature's eyes widened, and it quickly turned around and ran out into the night, giving Sunrise a glimpse of its snakelike tail, ending in a brown tuft of fur, before it disappeared into the darkness.

Casting a light spell, Sunrise ran after the creature, chasing it through the woods with tears in his eyes. Its bulging belly swaying side to side as it fled, barely seemed to slow it down, as muffled yelling was heard from within. Sunrise fired off bolt after bolt, splintering trees left and right of the creature as it zigzagged, continuing to elude him. After several minutes of this, they both emerged into a clearing, dimly lit by the rising sun shining through the trees. Both were breathing heavily. The pony-like creature turned around to face Sunrise, and he grinned.

“I've...*pant*...got you now...*pant*....creature!” Hey yelled, charging his horn.

Before he could release the blast though, two more of the creatures ran up to him, one of them, clearly older than the rest, with a dark green coat and gray mane held up a hoof.

“Stop!” It yelled. “We mean you no harm!”

Puzzled, Sunrise let the spell fizzle out.

“You can talk?” He asked. “What the Tartarus are you, and why did he eat my friend?”

The creature made a strange gurgling noise, as if struggling to speak, before continuing. “We are....tatzl....tatzlponies.” He looked over to the younger one that Sunrise had been chasing, exchanging a series of unintelligible noises and body language, before turning back to Sunrise.

“My son here....said your friend was injured. Our kind engulfs others, not to consume them, but to protect them. To heal them. He was trying to help her.” Said the elderly tazlpony.

The tan tatzlpony started to make several hacking and gagging noises, before a large lump traveled up its throat, and a very wet Lightning Strike was deposited onto the ground. She looked around in confusion before running over to Sunrise and embracing him.

“Thank Celestia you're okay.” He said, before looking down at her wing. Though soaked with saliva, it looked normal. It was no longer hanging at an incorrect angle, and the formerly broken feathers were smoothed out and healed.

“What is your name?” Sunrise asked the elderly tatzlpony.

“Our names would not be pronounceable in Equestrian, but you can call me Swamptongue.” Said the older tatzlpony.

Sunrise looked over to the tan tatzl pony that had  eaten Lightning.

The tatzlpony tilted its head to the side like a dog before pointing a hoof at its chest and making an unintelligible screeching sound.

“Alright....” Said Sunrise. “How about we just call you Screech?”

The tatzlpony smiled and nodded.

“What brings you to our territory?” Asked Swamptongue. “We don't typically see ponies around here.”

“We are royal guard ponies from Canterlot.” Sunrise stated. “I am SGT Sunrise, and this is Private Lightning Strike. We were on a mission to deal with an escaped prisoner of Tartarus in the Badlands, when our whole detachment was.....corrupted. Made to serve an evil unicorn calling himself Multis.”

Swamptongue's eyes widened. “We have much to discuss, please follow me.” With that he led the small group into a small hut fashioned out of logs and moss with thickly thatched straw roofs. With the sun now up, Sunrise noticed there were actually several of these huts, arranged in a neat semicircle around the edge of the clearing.

Swamptongue sat down behind a small table, Screech sitting at his side. “Welcome to my home, please, have a seat.” He gestured with his hoof for them to sit down on the opposite side of the table. In the corner of the room a small fire burned in a fireplace built out of smooth river stones, bathing them all in a warm glow.

When they were all seated, Swamptongue began to speak. “We know of this Multis you speak of. He is an ancient legend in our culture. You see, there used to be a lot more of us. Thousands of years ago, back in the time before your princesses. We used to live with ponies, share your culture. Sure, many of us were hermits who lived on the outskirts of your civilization, but many chose to live in your towns and cities as well. That is until Multis rose to power. Corrupting ponies to join him with his dark magic. But our magic is different. His powers couldn't corrupt us, so he chose to destroy us instead. Where we were once a flourishing race, we now only number in the hundreds. These day, outside of our society, most are not even aware we exist.”

“So what happened to Multis?” Asked Lightning.

“He ruled for several years before a group of ponies bearing the magic of harmony banished him to Tartarus. A tatzlpony named Hypothesis bore the element of kindness.”

“Wait...so your race is immune to his magic? You could be the key to defeating him, we could make a counter to his spell!” Exclaimed Sunrise.

Swamptongue and Screech exchanged a brief conversation in their strange language before turning back to him.

“If Multis has indeed returned, then he is a threat to us all. My son would like to join you on your journey. Hopefully you will be able to use his magic to save your comrades.”

Sunrise looked over at Lightning, who gave him a nod. "We would be glad to have him."

A short time later the 3 of them began their journey to Canterlot, loaded down with saddlebags containing fruit and supplies given to them by the tatzlponies. Now with a solid plan to deal with Multis, Sunrise felt something he hadn't felt in quite some time. Hope.