Chapters Daring Do and the Griffin's Seed
Daring Do pulled poison darts out of her pith helmet and dusted it off. She cautiously stepped past a white statue with a stallion's head in the dusty root-lined corridor and approached the great room at the end. Light from the jungle above filtered in through gaps in the stone ceiling. A beam of golden sunlight shone down on the object of her quest, a pillar of red stone with a glittering crown atop it near the far side of the room. “That's more like it,” she said to herself. She began to drool. It was such a lovely crown with a heart-shaped ruby right on top. It was so sad that such a lovely treasure was hidden away in this place instead of glittering atop a heroic mare's head. There were other large objects in some squares. Several were shorter pillars with balls on top, and two looked like miniature fortresses. One taller pillar had a tall sort of hat with a cross on top.
The room was perfectly square and about fifty hooves across. She could see the floor was alternating squares of dark and light stone. The doorway spanned two squares, one light, the other dark. She counted eight squares by eight squares. “Sixty-four squares?” she asked herself aloud, “That's a chess board. That pillar is a queen with her crown! The others are pawns and rooks and one bishop.” She noticed the chess pieces on the board were made of red stone.
She tapped the white stone statue next to her with her hoof. It sounded solid. It probably wasn't another hollow statue full of snakes or scorpions or poison joke flowers. There was no sign of a dart launcher or hidden crossbow or other trap. She also noticed it was a chess piece; in fact it was a knight.
She surveyed the room. There were little openings all over the walls. That made her suspicious. She picked up a loose stone and tossed it high up into the room. It triggered a flurry of darts and one crossbow bolt that stuck in a far wall. When it hit the floor it triggered a second volley. “It's never simple, is it?” she asked herself. Her words echoed back to her from the far side of the room. “No flying this time,” she said with a sigh.
“Now this is a chess board and the pieces on the board are red. This piece here is white so I guess I'm the white knight against the red. Now how does the knight move?” She puzzled about this for a moment before remembering. “Two forward and one to the side,” she told herself. Reassured, she picked up another rock. The pegasus tossed it onto a square right next to the doorway. Nothing happened. She tossed a second stone two squares forward, and one square to the side. It bounced across the square harmlessly. Then it rolled onto an adjacent square and was met with a volley of darts that sent it sliding onto another square which triggered more darts. One went astray and splintered against the knight next to her. The mare squealed in terror before recovering herself.
Daring picked up yet another stone and tossed it more carefully. This time it landed on a square and stayed there. Nothing happened as the echoes of the falling stone died away. Then she tossed another onto a square two up and one over from the first square. Again nothing happened. Then she did it again. This time the stone skittered across the floor and triggered more darts when it touched a square with one of the pawns on it. Daring grinned to herself. This wouldn't be so hard after all. Then she looked at the layout of the board. Pieces on the board were blocking most every path a knight could take.
She sat on her haunches and scratched the figure of a chess board in the dirt. She marked the place of the queen with a crown and the occupied squares with little pawns and rooks and the bishop. She placed her hoof on one of the first moves she could make from the doorway then made a second move and a third was blocked by the pawn the stone had touched. That was no good. She tried another set of moves and another. Each one was blocked by one piece or another. Then she found a route that wasn't blocked but just went in circles around the board without ever reaching the queen. She could backtrack to the door but not ever reach the prize. She tore at her monochrome mane in frustration.
After dozens and dozens of attempts she hit on one route that finally reached the queen after wandering around the board for thirteen moves. She hoped she could remember it. If she messed up it would be the usual poison darts and crossbows and giant rolling stones. She sighed and practiced the moves again and again until she could get it right every time. Then she looked at the room and visualized actually hopping from square to square. Could she make those hops? She grinned. “If I could jump across collapsing stone pillars to reach the treasure of the seven cities I'll be doomed to Tartauros if I can't manage this,” she said confidently. She strode forward and prepared to jump.
She leaped and landed flat on all four hooves on the first square. That was the easy part. She wouldn't have a running start from here on. She balled up her muscles and crouched. She jumped and flapped her wings just a little bit and landed perfectly in the next square then the next and next without stopping. She paused on the seventh square to make sure she was in the right place. She stood right next to the bishop far from the queen. She was in the right square. From here she also had a short way to return to the doorway. From this point on she wasn't sure if she could remember the way back without setting off the darts.
The mare of adventure took a deep breath and jumped onto the next square in the sequence. Nothing happened. The room was completely still. She jumped a second time. That was nine squares. She was against a wall. She could see the tips of darts dipped in poison poking out of openings between the stones. She gulped and leaped again and again. She was so close now. She made one leap and her hooves skidded on the smooth floor. She flapped her wings to stop herself and a dart flew over her head. She crouched low on the square and panted. Her heart was beating so hard it felt like it was in her neck. She took a few deep breaths and gazed upon the ruby crown on the red pillar. It was so lovely it made her rapidly beating heart leap. There was just one move left and she would be on the square with the queen and that beautiful crown.
Daring gulped down one last deep breath and jumped. She landed on the pillar and embraced it. “Yes, yes, yes!” she shouted, “You're mine now you lovely glittery masterpiece.” Then it was as if the world dropped out from under her. Daring Do found herself and the pillar falling together with the wind rushing past. The pillar fell through the floor and took her with it. The mare fell into a pit of darkness grabbing for the crown.
Daring Do and the Griffin's Seed
Daring Do groped in the darkness. She couldn't see a thing but could feel the hard stone floor under herself and the throbbing in her head. Her pith helmet had come off and she'd gotten a bump on the head. Her hoof touched something that skittered away into the darkness. It sounded like metal. The crown! She crawled it the direction it had gone and grabbed it with her forelegs. She kissed it and nuzzled that lovely heart-shaped ruby. “Oh my darling, where have you been all my life?” she asked. “In a dusty old temple I suppose,” she answered.
Then there was a sudden flare of light. Bright torches rushed out of a dark tunnel accompanied by the sound of growling beasts. Daring squinted trying to make out who had found her. There was the sound of coarse-throated laughter. She saw the glittering of their eyes in the darkness. Diamond dogs! Lovely baubles shone at the throats of the rough beasts. They waved their torches toward her and taunted. She tried to rise to challenge them and discovered her right hind hoof wouldn't hold her weight. “Roadapples!” she cursed. Her word was drowned out by the growling of the diamond dogs. “I can take you all on with one wing tied behind my back!” she shouted, “Just try me!” She noticed some of the dogs carried lassos and hobbles as well as torches. Daring clasped the crown to her chest.
The filthy canines snarled at her. One growled, “Give us the gems, pony,” but suddenly fell silent with a submissive whine. Daring Do realized the dogs were all staring at the corridor from which they'd emerged, which was behind her. Oh no, she thought, it's the even scarier thing that's behind me again. She slowly turned, pivoting on her knee and faced the new foe. But it wasn't a new foe. It was an old one, this time sporting a diamond-studded eye patch.
“Ricardo!” Daring said confidently, “I see you didn't get enough of my good right hoof the last time we met. Have you come back for more? You still have one good eye.”
The griffon let out a great laugh that ruffled his dark feathers. His voice filled the room with derisive echoes. He grinned, the corners of his beak curling and the lines of a genuine smile creasing the corners of his single blue eye. “Aah my old foe, you shall not escape me this time. You are injured and greatly outnumbered. You can't win every battle and I've stacked this one against you. There is no room here for you to fly and these dogs are expert pony wranglers.” He spread his claws to encompass the stinking creatures. “Seize her, my minions!” he commanded.
The diamond dogs rushed forward waving their torches before them. Daring Do dodged and rolled across the floor, coming up behind them. She popped up and clopped a dog in the back of the head. As soon as she had done so her hind hoof collapsed painfully. The crown fell from her grip and rolled away across the floor. Before she knew it there was one rope around her neck and then another. A dog grabbed her injured hoof and twisted it. She screamed in pain and kicked him in the face, which brought another rush of agony. Another rope looped around her neck and tightened. She fought and kicked with her good hind hoof. It connected with one of the dogs but she couldn't see her attacker or what damage she had done.
Filthy claws grabbed her hind hooves and held tight despite her struggling. Before she could do anything more she felt hobbles tighten around her legs. She couldn't kick with her strong hind leg so she struck out with her fore-hooves. The dogs kept their distance and tightened the ropes around her neck without approaching close enough for her to strike. Daring panted and struggled. The diamond dogs laughed at her struggles. “Poor little pony can't kick any more,” growled a dog with a hoof print on the side of his face, “pony gets kicked instead!”
“Stop, my minions! Enough!” Ricardo shouted. He stood over Daring holding the crown. “If you want this lovely bauble you will not harm her,” he said calmly. The dogs were entranced by the shimmering light of the great ruby. “Bind her hooves and bring her along with me,” he said with finality. In a moment there were strong paws grabbing Daring's legs and binding them. They wrapped something she couldn't see around her body and wings and tied her hooves-up to a pole. The dogs lifted her off the ground. She reached out and bit the rump of the dog nearest her. He squealed and dropped his end of the pole. “Whatever you're up to you won't get away with it, Ricardo! I've foiled your plans before. I'll surely do it again!” she shouted. The mare rolled on the ground desperate to escape. She already had a nasty taste of wet dog in her muzzle but tried to bite the nearest ankle anyway. The dogs rapidly picked her up again and bound rope tight around her muzzle.
“I don't think you'll defeat me this time, my lovely foe,” the griffon said calmly, his beak close to her face. Then he did the last thing Daring expected. He gave her a gentle kiss right on the end of her bound muzzle. “You have always been my most delicious opponent and the one I have never defeated before. I shall not make the mistake of giving you a chance this time. There is no hope of escape. You will give me exactly what I want no matter how much you struggle,” he said calmly. His words were so smooth they practically dripped honey. Daring squirmed but she was completely hog tied and muzzled. She tried to slap the griffin with her tail only to have the dogs grab and bind that appendage too. The mare closed her eyes tight and tears ran down into her filthy mane.
Ricardo slipped his sharp claw under Daring's tattered clothes. She gritted her teeth, expecting a sharp jolt of pain. Instead he slashed straight through her shirt. The khaki parted easily as the griffon's claw sliced through it. The cloth and hidden weapons fell to the rough stone floor. She heard her hoof-cuff key skitter away into the darkness along with what had to be the sharpened iron half-bit coin she kept hidden in one cuff to cut herself out of binding ropes. Her last chance of escape was now taken from her. She felt completely naked, which she actually was.
The griffin placed his claws on her flank with a surprisingly gentle touch. He inhaled, and produced a strange purring sound. “You shall give me what I want indeed. Judging by your scent I shall have it very soon.” He let out a sinister laugh that echoed down the corridor as the diamond dogs carried the mare to her fate.
Daring Do and the Griffin's Seed
Daring Do lay back and floated in the bath because that was all she could do. Her hooves were each bound to four little griffin statues at the corners of the huge tub. A female diamond dog sponged her hide with soapy water. Torrents of mud and pony sweat flowed off her body. Another dog hummed an unfamiliar tune as she scrubbed filth out of the mare's tangled mane. Daring couldn't remember having even seen a female diamond dog before. They didn't wear gems on their collars like the males did. Despite being so well traveled she supposed there were things about other societies she still didn't know.
Why had she forgotten to take her silphium? Those little heart-shaped seeds were worth their weight in gold to a pony who wanted to party and not be out of action carrying a foal. Now she was coming into estrus. The very thought of what that griffin wanted repulsed her. She'd had many stallions and a few mares too. Fooling with a mule was one thing but the idea of bedding that monster was more than she could take.
“You be good pony, yes?” the fattest dog asked, “No bite?”
Daring reluctantly nodded her head.
The obese dog untied the rope from her muzzle. It felt good to spit out the nasty taste of dog butt. Her hooves were still bound but the dogs washing her were gentle and thorough. They made sure to get all her nooks and crannies clean.
A dog wearing a strange outfit with a necklace of animal skulls bound her injured hoof and applied poultices to her wounds. She had to be a dog shaman. The wrinkled dog looked to be about a hundred years old and not just in dog years. The hoof actually felt better as soon as the wrapping was complete. She flexed it a little. There was pain but not as much of it. The shaman surprised her by pouring some sort of bitter tasting liquid in her muzzle then holding it shut and covering her nose. The mare couldn't help but swallow it or choke. It felt like lead in her stomach.
Before long her pain was nearly forgotten. Despite being bound and virtually immobile Daring felt like everything was just fine. Oh, crap, she thought, I'm being drugged. She struggled against the feeling of lethargy but could not resist it. The water was so warm and lovely and the dogs so gentle with her. She looked up at the domed ceiling. The sound of birds was coming from somewhere nearby and she thought she could see morning light through windows high in the walls of what looked to be a villa built of marble. The last of her struggle died away as Daring Do slipped away into a fine slumber.
The daring mare awoke slowly and found herself still bound. The cords weren't the rough rope she'd first been bound with. She twisted her fore-hoof to see and found herself to be bound with thick cords of blue silk on a bed of the same material. She was lying on her back with her limbs spread wide. Her wings were bound under her by some means that didn't cut off the circulation. She could wiggle them a bit but no more. Daring looked around. A silver champagne bucket sat on a stand near the bed with a bottle chilling in it and two silver champagne flutes. The whole bedroom was more poshly appointed than the best hotel she'd ever stayed in. The scent of incense reached her nostrils.
At least her opponent had good taste, she thought to herself. Her muzzle wasn't bound but she could feel the pressure of a hackamore on her face. She moved her head and found she couldn't raise it from the pillow on which it lay. The bitless bridle was attached to cords on either side. She tried her tail and found it to be bound as well. Other than the bridle she was completely naked.
“It's a lovely place but I can't say I like the service,” she said to herself.
In response there was a gentlemanly laugh that echoed through the bedroom. “I see you're awake my pet,” the oily voice said. Daring immediately recognized Ricardo's voice. He approached the bed, wearing a silk smoking jacket with some sort of drink in his claws.
“You've taken everything I had, Ricardo, what is it you want this time?” the mare asked. She tried to sound confident as if they were speaking on an equal footing. It couldn't be further from the truth but she had always been full of bravado and her bluffs had worked in the past.
“Why, my dear, there is only one thing I want and it is you. You have taken many fine prizes from me in the past but that is past. As you can see I have grown very wealthy despite those minor setbacks. It is indeed the nature of griffins to hoard gold. I have everything I could ever want except for one thing,” he said in his very smooth deep voice.
“Umm, friendship?” Daring guessed, trying desperately to keep up her jocular bravado.
The griffin laughed. “Friendship may be magic but love is divine, my fine mare,” he said, “I've found that no female griffin is my equal.” He approached and dragged his claws across the tender flesh of Daring's belly. “There is no female I've ever met who would be the match of you. I above all others appreciate that. I've found my thoughts straying to you more and more over the years,” he said very smoothly.
Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap, Daring thought desperately, this is totally not good!
“You may well know, my darling mare, that griffins have a taste for equine flesh. It's said to be the favorite food of all griffins. It is indeed the most treasured savory meat for my kind,” he said in his slippery baritone, “Indeed I do enjoy it very much but I prefer my pony flesh very much alive and flowing with juices.” He bent and pecked her cheek with his shining ebony beak.
Daring Do struggled against her bonds but it was hopeless. “I'll never marry you, you feathered freak!” she shouted.
He laughed in response. “I would never marry you, fine mare that you are. I would not share my fortune with any female. What I seek instead is the impossible. It is said that a hippogriff, the hybrid of griffin and pony, is the most powerful and magical creature derived from my kind. There are none known to exist in all Equestria nor in the lands beyond. There are, however, ancient legends of hippogriffs being fantastically powerful creatures able to wield great power. They also say that the hippogriff is impossible because no griffin can resist rending the flesh of a pony rather than mating with her to produce such a hybrid. I couldn't disagree more.” He took a sip of his drink.
The bound mare clenched her teeth. There was nothing she could say. Normally she would enjoy listening to the villain's monologue as she was secretly slipping her bonds in preparation for a daring escape from the shark tank or vat of acid or pendulum of doom. This time she found herself hopelessly bound by the hooves with silk in the most finely appointed bedchamber she'd ever seen. She felt more than warm now. She felt so hot her whole body was burning. The great Daring Do knew when she'd been subdued and beaten. Not only was she captured but she knew the thing she'd nearly forgotten was upon her. Despite the incense and the clean scent of the silk sheets she could smell the scent of her own estrus. For the first time in her life she was overcome with the complete feeling of defeat.
Daring Do and the Griffin's Seed
“You should be flattered,” Ricardo said more smoothly than the feeling of silk on bare flesh, “For I have chosen you as the most worthy of my desires. You are the one mare in the whole world I would chose to take to my bed and to bear my offspring. I believe I have chosen well indeed and my timing has been very fortunate.” He sat his drink on a bedside table and slid between the mare's legs.
The griffin grabbed her thighs in his claws and inhaled deeply. The dark griffin churred deep in his throat. “You may not be willing but your body betrays you. I have had my filthy minions kidnap you at the right time indeed,” he purred. He opened his beak and engulfed the mare's crotch. His long pointed tongue slithered out and touched the mare's puffy slit. Her clitoris jumped as her marehood winked involuntarily. The pegasus felt a whinny escape her lips.
She struggled against her bonds and tossed her head against the silken pillows and the bridle that held it down. The griffin made a loud slurping sound as he drank in the sweet mare honey escaping her slit. He wasted no time taking her whole crotch into his beak and penetrating her with his tongue. The pointed tip curled up inside her and massaged the firm spot deep inside. Despite herself Daring Do found herself feeling some enjoyment in the midst of such humiliation. She couldn't believe she'd been captured and turned into a brood mare for such a mad creature. Her marehood spasmed around his intrusive tongue.
The blissful torture was never ending. He lapped her wildly flowing cunt until she could take it no more and then kept going and going and going. “No! No more!” she begged, “I can't take any more!” she screamed. Nopony heard her or nopony cared. Here in this beautiful prison there was no hope and no escape. The licking went on and on until she found herself sweaty and crying. Tears poured from her eyes and ran down her cheeks. She couldn't stop sobbing even as her body reacted to his ministrations.
When the mad griffin's beak had finally tired of lapping her honey hole she breathed a brief sigh of relief. However, being a good villain, Ricardo did not end the torture. “Aah, you are so sweet my darling. I hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have,” he said and laughed, “Perhaps it has been both pleasure and pain for you but this is only the foreplay of our union.”
The griffin stood over her and slipped out of his silken jacket revealing a muscular feathered chest and furry sculpted abs. Below that he sported a rock hard erection that Daring looked upon with horror, despite being unimpressive compared to any reasonably endowed stallion. Copious pre-cum dribbled from his pointed tip studded with fine white spines. Were the situation not so dire she would have turned up her nose and snorted at such a puny example of colthood. Considering her situation she couldn't imagine things getting much worse. Then she felt him on top of her.
He didn't waste any time slamming himself into her tortured hole. The real pain came when he pulled out, only to drive himself in deeper. His cock tore at her insides each time he withdrew. It made her burning hole feel like a red hot iron rod had been shoved into her. Then he thrust again and again and again. Unlike virtually every time she'd been with a stallion she wished he would finish his business at last and be done with it. The torture went on and on and on with each thrust of his hips.
He grabbed her sides with his claws and began making feral growling sounds as he thrust deep into her. At last he dug his claws right into the soft flesh of her sides and snarled aloud. She could feel something warm filling her tortured tunnel. It was almost a relief but filled her with even more horror. The pain may have been coming to an end but another horrible prospect was just beginning.
She really was in estrus. What if his plan succeeded? What sort of monster might she be carrying just a few days hence? The prospect was just too horrible for the mare to consider. She did her best to turn her mind off and ignore the possibility as he lay panting on top of her, his prickly member tore at her insides even as it shrank and withdrew. She felt a warm puddle forming between her legs. He lay on top of her a long time before rolling off.
Daring heard a cork popping. She kept her eyes tight shut. The pain between her legs was terrible. Then she felt a cold silver cup pressed to her lips. “Drink to our union and our future offspring my darling,” he said.
Over the next few days the attendants and maids fed her and washed her and took care of her personal needs. That is, between preparing her for visits from Ricardo in the morning, noon, and night. His visitations became more brief but more repulsive to Daring until her emotions seemed to shut down and she felt completely numb. It was as if she were drifting through a nightmare rather than really there.
Whenever the attendants let her use the bed pan she tried to squeeze the monster's seed out of herself. Not being able to see what came out, she wasn't sure if it accomplished anything but she had to try. She fell into a state of complete dejection. After a few days he had her brought to his bedchamber and simply cuddled next to her. He wrapped his wings around her body and whispered sweet nothings about their future child in her ear. She seemed to hear him from a distance through a haze. The whole captivity seemed so unreal. She'd been captured many times but always escaped without being put through such torture. Had she lost her mojo?
Eventually she was surprised to be left in a luxurious room all alone. A very muscular dog removed her bonds and left her on a bed with white silk sheets. She lay staring at the high ceiling. There was a spiral staircase up to a higher level and windows half-way around the room. The other half was mainly stone book shelves. They'd left her in a tower high above the sea. She lay awake for hours as the beams of sunlight played over her body. Her coat was scrupulously clean and brushed and her mane only slightly messy. She found she had no energy at all. Some time later she drifted off into a dreamless sleep.
Daring Do and the Griffin's Seed
Daring Do came to wakefulness in the early morning light. Judging by the stiffness of her joints she must have been bound by her hooves for at least a week. She'd never been held captive so long. She tried to stretch and found her right hind-hoof still sore and her joints aching. She didn't dare touch between her legs. What was down there looked swollen and bloody from the intrusion of Ricardo's spiny feline member. She sat up on the edge of the bed and tried her sore hoof. It held her weight but she found herself falling back onto the bed just from stiffness.
Looking around, the bedchamber was large and semicircular. There was no art on the walls or any other decoration. The only furniture was the bed and a bedside table. The book shelves were built into the wall and made of solid stone. She pushed the table. It was made of stone mortared to the floor. The bed was a flat slab of stone with a thick cushy pad on top whatever it was made of felt crumbly. She had a thought and tried the hem of the silken sheets. The fine white cloth shredded when she tried its strength. There was no way to make a rope out of it.
The glassless windows were open to the sea breeze but blocked by decorative iron tracery that did not look like prison bars but served that function. The stone floor looked seamless. There was absolutely nothing in the room she could see that would serve as a means of escape. The pegasus flapped her wings experimentally. They were unharmed but even stiffer than her legs. She found her wings getting stiff in the other way quite involuntarily. She actually blushed. It was a strange reaction after the degradation she'd been through.
The mare found the room had two doors. One was made of thick wood bound in iron with a blocked slot at the bottom and no handles or visible locks. A perfect prison door, she thought. The other was partly open. She stumbled through and found a little mares room with a flush pit toilet in the floor and a washbasin with running water built into the wall. There was a mane brush and toothbrush but both were flimsy things that were sure to fall apart if she tried digging at the stone walls with them. She searched beneath the basin and couldn't find any loose objects at all. There were towels but they felt as flimsy as the bedsheets. She squatted over the toilet and let loose. Her urine stream brought a horrible burning sensation and she was thankful when it was over. She could see blood mixing with her thick urine in the basin.
She rose to her hooves a bit unsteadily and made her way to the spiral staircase. It was the same smooth stone as everything else with hardly a visible seam in it. She stomped up it and found herself in a round tower room surrounded by open windows on all sides. To the south lay a beautiful blue sea. Celestia's sun was just rising from its depths. On the north lay a rugged mountainside almost devoid of vegetation. There wasn't a town or road on any landmark she recognized anywhere in sight. The tower had no view of the shoreline below. She did hear the sound of a waterfall in the distance. The sound reminded her reassuringly of Cloudsdale.
This was not a good place to escape to even if I can get out of here, she thought to herself. She put her hooves against the iron tracery blocking the windows. She pressed with her fore-hooves, then turned and bucked it with her left hind-hoof. It didn't budge or crack. She'd have to try again when she had her strength back. As she sat gazing at the rising sun there was a scraping sound in the room below.
She looked down the stairway and found a tray full of breakfast lay on the floor just in front of the door. She just barely saw the slot close behind it. Steam rose from a stack of pancakes. The grinding emptiness in her belly reminded her she'd hardly eaten in the last few days. She refused most of what the maids had offered her except in the worst desperation. The very idea of eating had made her nauseous. Now hunger gnawed at her insides.
She stumbled down the steps and fell upon the pancakes like a feral horse. Wooden utensils lay on the tray but she ignored them. She gobbled down everything as quickly as possible. She even ate the daisies set on the tray as a garnish. Despite the impulse to vomit everything up immediately she managed to keep it down. It sat heavily in her stomach. She sat back on her haunches and patted her surprisingly slim belly with her hoof. She recoiled at the idea of what else might be inside her.
In the next few days she became more used to her accommodations and started regular workouts. She did hoof-ups and burpees and wing-ups and reverse-wing-ups until both her wings and legs were back in shape. Within a week she felt in better shape than she'd been in before her captivity. The regular meals were large and delicious but served on flimsy trays with tableware made of balsa wood. It would do her no good at attacking the stone surrounding her and the iron keeping her from the wide open sky.
Meals were passed in under the door and once a week she was given fresh towels and sheets for the bed.
Her painful marehood slowly healed without any visible damage. Her hocks and ankles still bore marks where she'd been bound but they began to fade.
She kept track of the days by lining up the fragile wooden breakfast forks on the bedside table and then on one of the book shelves. After a week she tried clopping for the first time thinking of Charger, the last stallion she'd taken to her bed before being taken captive. He was such a gentlecolt and had such a huge flare he'd made her deliciously sore several times in the one night they'd spent together. She also remembered what had happened with her silphium seeds. She must have left the vial at the hotel along with her toothbrush and pack of condoms. A mare must always be prepared and she had found herself sadly unprepared to face Ricardo.
Now that the soreness from her repeated violation had passed she was surprisingly horny. At times she could hardly keep her wings down and her hoof away from her crotch. She found a surprisingly good selection of erotic novels aimed at mares among the books. From time to time she felt as if she were being watched. There was a mysterious slit high up above the door she couldn't quite get her hooves into. A hidden observer could be behind it. Whoever might have been watching got a good show every day. She tried poking forks into it but never hit anything on the other side.
The problem, she thought, was she'd heard pregnant mares can get relentlessly horny the way she was. She folded her bonered wings and ran up the stairs to the upper floor of the tower. The mare braced herself against the imprisoning ironwork and ran her wings up to maximum power. She was sure she was back to the twelve wing-power she'd managed at school. Her furious wingbeats created an indoor hurricane, whipping through the empty room. No matter how hard she pushed against the stone it did not give. It seemed there was no release. She sat on her haunches in despair.
Weeks dragged by and then more than a month. Despite working out regularly Daring found her belly beginning to grow. The rest of her was now lean and strong. She had nothing to do but work out and read and watch the horizon outside. At times she saw ships out at sea and once the lights of an air yacht glittering in the distance. Nothing came close to this barren coastline and the jagged rocks out from the coast.
Week by week the bulge in her belly grew. After what she figured was ninety-two days she felt the first kick. What should have been a wonderful experience drove her deeper into despair. The hybrid creature he had planted in her belly was growing inside her. She couldn't deny it now. Her udders swelled and her nipples became tender.
As her belly grew time went by outside. The climate became unbearably warm for several months then turned milder and even slightly cold for about a month. Surely it was a warm southern climate with a cool dry winter. She wasn't sure where in Equestria she was but it was far from civilization. Rarely did she even see a ship's mast out at sea.
She remembered her lessons about foaling from school. If it were a normal foal she should carry it for about three-hundred and forty days. She reminded herself that this was no normal foal. By the time three-hundred days had passed according to her fork count she felt as if she would explode. Her belly was incredibly huge and swollen beyond the size she'd expected. She couldn't see her udders anymore. Despite that she kept up her flight exercises. She could hover in the high ceiling of the upper floor all afternoon without breaking a sweat. Now she couldn't reach her marehood to clop but had lost her previous interest in it.
By three-hundred and twenty days she was sure the foal was ready to come. She could tell by feel that her nipples were still pointed together so she wasn't ready to pop but it was getting close. In another week that changed. One morning her udders were even bigger and the nipples pointed apart. That was the last outward sign the foal was coming before the contractions started and her water broke. She became terrified of what might be ready to emerge from her. She had terrible nightmares about what the freakish foal might look like. Sometimes it was a giant griffin clawing its way out of her belly.
She knew one night it would inevitably be ready to emerge. As the days crept by she felt more and more of a sense of panic. She had the constant urge to run, to fly, to get as far away as she possibly could. The feeling was overpowering. That, she knew, was another sign of the impending birth. She would have the urge to give birth away from the herd in the darkness of night. As her time approached the gibbous moon grew toward its fullness and so did her udders and her belly.
The urge to fly drove her crazy. She pressed against the iron grill and beat her wings for hours on end. There was no escape. As darkness fell once again she stumbled down the stairs in tears and collapsed against the door that barred her way. To her great shock it swung open on silent hinges. She found herself lying on her side in the stairwell outside. She lay there staring at the light of Luna's full moon beaming in through a wide open window. Her hooves clattered on the floor and wall as she struggled to right herself and dive toward freedom.
Daring Do and the Griffin's Seed
Daring Do plunged out the window and into the moonlight. Finally the pegasus was out in the open air. She flapped furiously and felt herself gaining altitude but something was wrong. Her alulas fluttered and her primaries began to separate dangerously. “Don't stall don't stall, don't stall!” she cried in the night air. She wobbled in flight. Despite her increased wing power the mare hadn't flown in the open air in nearly a year. Now she had a great unknown weight in her belly. She could barely maintain altitude without pitching up and stalling.
Then she was struck by something entirely different. Her abdomen clenched in pain and she doubled-over in flight. It was her first contraction! This sent her into a spin. She dropped down and down and down. “Remember what Lieutenant Thunder said, Daring,” she said to herself, “Pitch down gently and let your wings recover.” The pegasus felt another contraction as she spiraled down. The moon glittered on the sea below her as it got closer and closer. Far below she could see a strip of silver coming down the cliff. It was the waterfall! She tried to aim for its base. A moment before impact she flared and touched down roughly in sand. Her hooves dug in and she stumbled to her knees.
The clear water roared down into a pool on the beach directly in front of her. She bent her head and drank deeply of the cool water. Another contraction struck her but she ignored it. She panted and sat on her haunches in the sand. Then she realized there was warm liquid soaking into the sand between her legs. “Oh nononononono!” she said, “I'm totally not ready for this.” Her water had broken already. She'd never be ready to greet her monstrous child but at least her foal would be born in freedom. She could feel it turning inside her. The sensation sent strange shudders through her.
She felt a sharp pang of love run through her body that fought back the fear. Though lost, she was free now and far from anypony. Her body told her she was ready to give birth. It was her heart that wasn't ready to greet the strange child. It would be a creature of a sort Equestria hadn't seen in centuries. Her contractions were less than two minutes apart. Soon there would be either hooves or claws protruding from her marehood. She didn't know which and was terrified by the very idea.
Far above a dark figure wrapped in inky wings stood upon the battlements of the ancient castle. He swirled dark wine in his glass and listened to the sound of the waterfall and the surf far below. Among the sounds of nature he heard a different sound. It was a strange wild cry.
“Aah, my child, a child not seen in Equestria in perhaps a thousand years,” he said to the surrounding night, “I have brought you to life and set you free. I would not be a fit parent, megalomaniac that I am. I would not have my child raised by a griffin such as I nor one like my own father.” He raised his glass toward the moon. “To you, father, and to the crocodile I fed your sorry carcass to. I still keep her as a pet in my garden in your memory. If ever you escape from Tartauros I'll send you back again the very same way.”
Another wild cry sounded far below. It was a wild screech that could only come from a great predatory beak. “Grow and learn my child,” Ricardo said, “Become strong and free in the company of your mother. Live the adventurous life I never could in my youth. Live and grow and become powerful.”
“Perhaps you will find me again some day. You may join me by my side or be a great foe. I do not care. I care only that I have brought such a creature as you into the world. You shall be the best child I could ever have. Even if you ultimately destroy me you shall always be my beloved child.” He took a long sip of wine and saluted the night.
