Webs. That was the first thing that Blueblood saw when he appeared in what should have been Duke Dark Bargain’s estate. A few feet in front of the stallion was a tall, dark tree that was heavily wrapped in white webbing so thickly that he could barely see the bark. However he wished that he couldn’t for he could see the corpses that were entangled within it. There were three of them, wrecked hollow husks of the creatures they had once been. One looked like the remains of a very large dog but given the state it was in it could have once been a bear. But the other two, upon seeing them, caused Blueblood’s hand to shot towards his mouth to keep from screaming. They had been ponies once. Unicorns in fact. He could tell this because their horns were still attached to their head.

Fearfully the prince took a step back. He had seen pictures of malnourished ponies, ones who had gone weeks without food. Yet, in comparison, they looked like the picture of health compared to what laid before his eyes. Skin and fur were wrapped so tightly against their bones that it had ripped in several places, only noticeable by the remains of the their dulled coats. The eyes and teeth were missing, their manes only held close to their bodies by the webbing. Their terror filled expression, however, were forever locked in mid scream for all the world to see. Or at least to whatever poor soul had gotten him or herself lost in this place.

Much like Blueblood himself.

The prince was about to turn so that he could see which way was best to run away…if there was one when something caught his attention. On the remains of the corpse, sticking out of a decaying pocket, was a badge. Self preservation was halted as curiosity drew his attention. Taking a step or two closer, as well as doing this very slowly, Blueblood could see that the badge held the Equestria crest which was something only those who worked for the government would have. Blueblood could feel his mouth becoming very dry as he wondered how somepony like him could have wound up in a place like this. But then again, he himself was in a place like this so perhaps he should reserve judgment for the time being.

Slowly still, Blueblood approached the body until his nose was inches from the webbed up remained. With this being as close as he was willing to get, the prince’s horn lit up while a glow surrounded the badge. Careful not to disturb the webs as best he could, Blueblood lifted the badge up so to see it fully. Squinting due to the low light he was able to make out the words ‘Mining’ and ‘spector’. It didn’t require somepony with the intelligence of Twilight Sparkle to realize that what laid before him was a former mining inspector. But who was it and why wasn’t his death reported? Blueblood was sure that he would have heard something if one of the government’s employees went missing. Both Auntie Celestia and Princess Luna would have raised a fit! Or, at the very least, the Mining Committee would have been pestering everypony to help them locate their lost inspector.

Many more questions raced through the prince’s mind, but those were interrupted as he felt something large crawl on his pants. Freaking out in a desperate attempt to remove whatever it was caused Blueblood to fall forwards into the webbed victim. Thankfully he managed not to land face first, instead having the sleeve of his coat make contact and stopping him mid-fall. Moving on instinct now, Blueblood turned his body to see what had crawled on him. It was a black spider the size of a purse dog, its many red eyes staring at him in a way that made it look curious but no less terrifying. Breathing hard, Blueblood tried to stand only to fail as the back of his coat was now stuck to the web. He struggled in vain to free himself quickly finding just how fruitless it was to do so.

A series of clicks from above caught his attention and scared the black spider away. Slowly looking up, the prince saw a horrific combination of spider and wolf at least two sizes bigger than the one that had been on his leg. The thing was higher up in the tree, staring at him with hungry eyes as it moved closer. As its horrible mouth opened in a disturbing way, Blueblood’s flight or fight instincts kicked in. A blaze of light shot from his horn into the path of the spider-like creature. It screamed in pain as if fell to the ground where Blueblood could see it was only slightly burnt. A problem that he could easily fix as he fired again and again at the spider-monster as it scurried to avoid the unicorn’s attacks. Finally, Blueblood managed a hit on one of its legs causing it to fall off and blood to begin spilling out. The monster screamed out in pain once again before limping away from Blueblood leaving only a trail of blood behind.

Breathing heavily, Blueblood struggled with his bonds for a bit longer until he realized how hopeless it was. It would probably take muscular strength the like he surely didn’t have to break free. So, instead, Blueblood used his magic to teleport himself out of his coat. Now free, he began to run away from the tree in a direction he hoped would have less webs. Sadly that did not happen as it seemed that the entire forest had web covered trees as far as the eyes could see. As well as a pony cloaked from head to hoof but that would… Wait, what?

For a moment, Blueblood stood there while staring at the mysterious cloaked figure. He had heard stories since his youth of a similar figure who brings souls of the departed to their final destination. Was this that figure? Was this death and he was in the afterlife? He had always thought that the figure would be dressed in black, not in white fur with the head of one of those spider wolf monsters as a hood. Yet now that he thought about it the change wasn’t a bad one. Made a bit of sense seeing where he was and what had attacked him moments ago.

“Oh, a unicorn,” said the cloaked figure in voice that clearly belonged to a mare. The way she used his tribe’s name was the same way a Canterlot noble would speak about a rat on the street, filled with loathing and hate. “I heard the screams and thought that…” The mare’s words trailed off before looking away. “In any case, you seem to be fine. If you value your life then you should return to town.” With that said, the mare turned around and began to walk away.

“Please, a moment if you would,” said Prince Blueblood as he reached out a hand. However the mare did not stop nor did she slow down. Frowning, the unicorn began to follow her as he continued to talk. “My name is Prince Blueblood of Canterlot and it seems I am lost. Would you mind showing me the way out of here?”

“Figured you were from Canterlot,” said the mare as she continued to walk, her tone slightly mocking. “With clothing that nice. What’s the matter? Can’t use any of that unicorn magic to just go ‘poof’ to your nice safe home?”

“It doesn’t work that way,” replied Blueblood with a frown but continued to follow the mare. “My teleportation spell is, admittedly, rather on the poor side so I can not return to Canterlot. In order to teleport safely within the range I am able to it would require intimate knowledge of my destination, which I do not.”

“Well then it seems you are out of luck,” replied the mare, her voice almost sounding happy at that fact. “Because I have no intention of helping anypony stupid enough to enter this forest. Least of all some dumbass unicorn claiming to be nobility.” Her hoof steps quickened now, most likely in an effort to be rid of him.

“I didn’t come here on purpose!” snapped Blueblood in a voice louder than he would have wanted. Silently he scolded himself for this. Yes, this mare was being irritating as well as rude and unhelpful. However she was his best chance out of this situation. If more of those spider things appeared, or bigger ones, then he didn’t know if he could hold them off on his own. He was a prince after all, not a warrior or even a fighter! What’s more, he lacked the knowledge to use navigation magic. They had gone over basic compass spells back when he was younger…but he hadn’t been paying much attention since he had felt he would never be in that situation. After all, he was a prince. Learning such a spell was the job of a servant. Not to mention that the likelihood that he would be in the forest and not in a country suite was utter nonsense.

For a moment, Blueblood wanted to hang his head at the irony which had befallen him. All his life he had assumed he could get by thanks to his aunt, good looks, and standing within Canterlot society. That learning the most basic of survival spells was beneath his attention. Now here he was, having to beg this mare for help because of this. A mare who had a clear disdain for unicorns so using his charms wasn’t going to work. Also based on some of the things she said, she probably didn’t believe he was who he said he was. Well, that or she didn’t care. The only way out of this situation would be to convince her that helping him was either in her best interests or if he could make it worth her wild.

So, after taking a deep breath, the prince continued. “Look, I am on an important mission for the crown. If you could assist me in escaping this forest I will see to it that you are greatly rewarded. Why, I’m sure Princess Celestia herself would recognize you for your efforts!”

The mare snorted. “Princess Celestia doesn’t give a damn about anything that happens out here,” replied the mare. “If it takes helping out one of her spoiled, precious unicorns to get her attention then I say you can all become spider chow. Now, if I haven’t made myself clear enough, drop dead and leave me alone.”

“Then bits,” urged Blueblood as he saw this was most likely his last chance to get help. “Help me and I’ll make sure you get plenty of bits for your trouble!” This seemed to work. The mare’s pace slowed down considerably before glancing behind her to look at Blueblood again. He could clearly see an internal battle being waged inside of her and that the side he was rooting for was gaining ground.

“Do you have the bits on you?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes,” Blueblood said quickly. “I should have at least a thousand bits on me at this moment. Help me and they are all yours.” He saw her bite her lower lip. She wasn’t sold just yet. “Plus, I’ll make sure you get another thousand once I return home.”

The mare suddenly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, like I haven’t heard that one before,” she said bitterly. She shook her head and then sighed. “Just…show me the bits and we have a deal.” Blueblood grinned as he reached into his pocket… and found nothing! His eyes widened as a cold sweat began to appear on his brow. Frantically he began to check his other pockets, even patting himself down for good measure while the mare glared at him. Eventually he stopped as a sickening thought occurred to him.

“The bits must have been in my coat,” he uttered while falling to his knees. “Back in the web. It’s still there in that…” Blueblood’s words trailed off as he lowered his head. He was stuck here without any money nor did he have anything to barter with. His fancy pocket watch, for example, was also in his coat. He literally had nothing to offer other than his own life for which this mare clearly didn’t value. Blueblood could hear her sighing and waited for her to begin walking away.

“This is just too pathetic,” she said eventually before sighing again. He could hear the crumbling and crackling of the dry leaves as she turned around. “Follow me and I’ll take you to my place for the day.” At that, Blueblood’s head shot upwards to look at her. Her back was facing him making it impossible to see her face.

“Y-You mean-”

“It’s only for the one day and you get no food,” said the mare quickly, stomping a hoof on the ground to get his attention. “A mare staying in town said that she’d be coming by every night with this job deal. If she’s true to her word, you can follow her back into town. She seems dumb enough to do something like that for you. But if she doesn’t show, you’re on your own. That’s all you get for free. Is that clear?”

“Of course,” said a relieved Blueblood who knew he wasn’t in much of a position to be making demands. Quickly he got up onto his hooves. “But, I will make sure I repay this kindness. When I return to Canterlot, I will be sure to send some bits your way Miss…”

He paused, waiting for her to give her name. At first she said nothing, only starting to walk again before speaking. “Another thing I’ve heard before from you Equestrians before. I’m sure once you get back to your fancy home you’ll forget all about me.” The mare then let out a hum. “But I might as well tell you my name. It’s Batibat.”

About a half an hour later, Blueblood found himself walking it the most disgusting building he had ever set hoof into. When he had seen the outside, he had hoped that this wasn’t Batibat’s home. That they were just passing by a decaying building on the way to wherever it was that she called home. That sadly wasn’t the case. Inside, the floor was littered with leaves, dirt, and tree branches along with the foul odor of wet animals. Wooden boards from the ceiling hung loosely allowing anypony to see the outside. What furniture there was looked like it had belonged to a frat house at one time, with vomit and piss stains all over them. Even the wooden dining table, which was held together by several large pieces of rope, looked like it was in dire need of cleaning with the most powerful cleaning agents in known existence. Even then, Blueblood would still feel dirty eating off of it. The newest thing, and cleanest for the matter, was a large blue cooler in the back of the hut.

There was, however, one thing that caught his eye. Something that felt completely out of place given the setting; hanging on the opposite side of the room was a silver shield baring a family crest. Having spent most of his life gazing upon many similar items within the homes of the Canterlot nobility, Blueblood had gained a bit of knowledge on such items. He could tell that the shield was old, maybe several hundred but the workmanship on it was so superb that he could still clearly make out the crest. Or a more likely option was that it had simply been taken good care of since its creation. Interestingly enough, the family crest depicted two of those spider monsters holding a large broadsword together upwards. Below it was an inscription written in a language that Blueblood was unfamiliar with.

Blueblood was about to inquire about the shield, perhaps stir up a conversation, when movement in the corner caught his attention. There, dressed in rags, was a brown unicorn colt no older than three or four years old. His blond mane was wavy and littered with twigs. The colt’s red, slit eyes stared at him with clear curiosity. Feeling a bit awkward Blueblood managed to force what he hoped was a convincing and disarming smile towards the young colt. The colt looked at him for a moment before smiling as well which revealed his fangs.

As Blueblood was slightly startled by this, Batibat walked past the prince towards the colt. Once she was close enough, she knelt down so that she was at the same eye level as him before placing a hand on his head. “Murky, this stallion will be staying with us for the day. Please do mommy a favor and remember what I taught you.” The colt, Murky, nodded while saying nothing.

Content with this, Batibat stood up and turned to around to face Blueblood while removing her hood. Upon seeing her features for the first time, Blueblood found his breath taken. He knew she had a purple coat, but her mane was the most intoxicating shade of red he had ever seen. Long, flowing, and utterly wild in appearance. Her equally red slit eyes glanced at him, making him feel like he was her prey. And, if he was completely honest, had they met under different circumstances he would have welcomed being her prey for the evening.

“Pick a spot wherever and sleep there,” she said, as she picked a corner of the room and sat down. “There’s no food for you so it’s best that you save your energy until that mare comes. If she comes I should say.”

“R-Right,” replied Blueblood as he scanned the room for someplace clean to sit on. This sadly proved to be a hopeless endeavor so he resigned to sitting across the room facing Batibat. At once he could feel a tingle going down his back as well as several other sensations that he didn’t particularly like. Still he was able to count his blessings for the shelter since it was better than sitting outside with those things. The last thing he wanted right now was to be kicked out due to his complaining.

For the next few minutes, everypony sat in utter silence. Murky sat there staring at Blueblood. Or rather, in particular his horn. This brought several questions to the forefront of Blueblood’s mind. Was he the first unicorn this colt had ever seen? If Batibat was indeed this colt’s mother then that meant his father surely was a unicorn. Was he dead or had he abandoned them? In either case, why were they living in such horrible conditions? He knew for a fact that there were many organizations out there to help the poor and homeless across Equestria. Had they somehow missed this one family who were so much in need of help? Or were there many families who needed help but there wasn’t enough bits to go around. As Blueblood continued to wonder these questions, along with many more, he looked over at Batibat. Her eyes were closed granting her a more peaceful appearance. Yet he knew she wasn’t asleep. With everything buzzing around in his head, there was no way he could fall asleep. Maybe if he asked a question or two…

The prince bit his lower lip. He didn’t want to open any old wounds or insult his hostess. Doing so might cause his to end up outside and alone, wandering through the forest until he either found his way out or died. That was a risk he wasn’t really willing to take. Perhaps he could inquire about something a bit more innocent and see where it went?

“Excuse me,” said Blueblood breaking the silence. “I seem to be having trouble falling asleep. Would you permit me to ask a question?”

“That’s your problem, not ours,” replied Batibat harshly without opening her eyes. “So just close your eyes and shut your trap.”

“I simply wished to inquire about the shield,” Blueblood said quickly. He watched as Batibat opened her mouth but wordlessly closed it. Slowly, she opened her eyes to look at him.

“The shield?” she asked after a moment before glancing over to it.

“Yes,” said Blueblood. “I was wondering if it was your family’s crest or coat of arms. I have seen many in my life, but never one like that before.”

Batibat shook her head. “It’s nothing more than a relic, something to remember a time when my family was still strong,” she replied as she looked away from the object. “As well as a painful reminder of what we have lost. I only keep the damn thing because my grandfather made me promise to keep it.”

“May I ask what happened?” asked Blueblood. “But if it’s too painful, you don’t have to.”

“Not like it can hurt me anymore,” replied Batibat with a shrug. Blueblood could see her glancing at the shield out of the corner of her eye, before returning her focus to him. “My grandfather was a Duke around these parts. He used to tell me how almost every month he would get offers to buy his mining system that he always refused. No matter how much they offered him, he’d always said no. Then came the day he realized he was getting too old and passed on his station to my father who sold the mines the first chance he got. After that he spent his days living like a big shot wasting his bits on poor investments, gambling, booze, and plenty of other things. By the time I was born all of the bits were gone and so was he. All he left us with was a pile of debts. My mother took her own life shortly after that leaving my grandfather to raise me all by himself.”

“That…That’s horrible,” said Blueblood. He had heard of nobility falling into ruin many times over the course of his life, but had never seen those ponies after their fall. Nor did he ever check in on their families. But now, seeing a mare whose blood was that of nobility reduced to something like this was truly an eye opening experience.

“That’s life oh great prince,” replied Batibat simply as she closed her eyes again. “Just something that happens and not everypony has a ‘loving’ aunt who can bail them out of any tight situation they’re in.” Blueblood felt his face as it began to burn while his ears flattened against his head. As much as he wanted to argue against this he found he could not. For as long as he could remember, Princess Celestia had always been there to help him out. If it wasn’t for her, he never would have been able to get into her school with his lackluster magical skills and poor testing. When he got into trouble with the other nobles, his aunt was there to help smooth things over and the worst he ever experienced was a lecture. Whenever he was in any sort of trouble or needed anything really, she was there to help him. Now, looking at Batibat, he wondered if Princess Celestia didn’t care about him, would he be in the same position?

Blueblood opened his mouth to ask another question when a series of frighteningly familiar clicks could be heard. Batibat opened her eyes as she leapt to her hooves. Together they went to the window and saw that the situation was far worse than he had thought. There wasn’t one of those creatures out there but hundreds. They moved across the ground at an amazing speed while others looked like they were crawling down the trees. A few were no bigger than the one that Blueblood had seen earlier but the rest were much, much larger. Many of them reminded the prince of a report he had once read where several timber wolves had combined to create a massive creature that could swallow a pony with a single gulp.

“What…What’s going on?” breathed Blueblood as he stumbled backwards. Batibat looked confused and frightened as well, which did not do anything to make him feel more at ease.

Batibat bolted away from the window and began to race around the room as fast as possible. She never paused for a moment as she snatched up whatever she could carry, brining it over to the open windows and doors in an effort to barricade them inside. All the while she muttered to herself frantically. “This should not be happening. I haven’t needed to attack any of the wolf spiders for weeks and none of them survived. So why…are…they…” Batibat turned to look at Blueblood with narrowed eyes. “Did you attack any of the wolf spider?”

“You mean those things out there?” demanded Blueblood before a thud was heard on the roof. All three ponies in the room looked up and, through the holes in the roof, saw one of the wolf spiders sniffing the air while saliva dripped from its open jaw. “Ah, y-yes I did.” Blueblood paused to gulp. “I was stuck to one of those webs and I thought it was going to attack me and-” Blueblood was cut off as Batibat dropped everything in her hands and quickly closed the distance between them. Roughly she grabbed him by the shirt as her eyes bore into his own.

“Did you kill it or wound it?” she demanded.

“I-I tried to kill it,” answered Blueblood causing Batibat to pale. She released him as she stumbled backwards and then fell to her knees, her head looking at the dirty floor. Murky, who had curled himself into a ball, began to cry loudly as another crash could be heard. “Why does that matter?”

Batibat shook her head without looking up. “It means that it returned to its pack and informed them of what you did,” she replied grimly. “Right now, every wolf spider in the forest is probably heading towards us. Even if we were to somehow escape, they’ll continue to hunt us down until we’re dead.”

Pip yawned as he made his way towards Steel Fang’s home. Above him the sky was growing brighter as Celestia began to raise the sun. A light fog covered the ground that sent a shiver down his spine. With everything that had happened, he was glad to be back on the surface instead of in that pit of darkness.

The meeting with the Countess had been brief; him telling her what had happened from the moment that thug entered his club to his meeting with Dark Bargain. While the Countess was somewhat polite, she bore the look of somepony who had been told the same story far too many times to hide the boredom from her face. The only reason she was doing any of this was because she had to at least go through the motions. When he was finished, she had thanked Pip and then told him that she would be in touch with him after she got word from Canterlot. Until then both he and Succubus were not to leave Hollow Shades. Then, when Canterlot came back with its verdict, the Countess could go over Succubus’ options on how to proceed.

When he left, a chariot had already been prepared for him to take him back to Hollow Shades. Thankfully neither Dragon Fang or Dark Bargain were there, leaving him alone for the trip back into the world of light. With everything that he had learned about how life was down there, how much they were counting on a thestral victory in this matter, some time alone to think about these matters was what Pip needed most.

Now as Pip entered the building, he knew that the first thing he had to do was talk to his wife about this. So they could decide what to do as a couple. So that-

Pip’s brain, for whatever reason, shut down when he saw Succubus and another thestral mare standing before him in the nude. Why this was so shocking he had no idea since he had seen her and other mares nude plenty of times before? Perhaps it was because he didn’t know this mare. Perhaps it was because he had been in such a dark place for so long, dealing with so much serious stuff that seeing something like this again threw him off. Or maybe it was because they were both naked in a home that didn’t belong to any of them!

“Pip!” cried Succubus, snapping Pip back into reality as she launched herself at him. Within mere seconds Pip found his wife’s arms were around his smaller frame, holding him in close to her nude form as she kissed him deeply. Her tongue snaked itself into his mouth as she moaned pleasurably while he slowly returned the embrace.

“Well it looks like we’re done here,” came the other mare’s voice. Slowly, Succubus and Pip separated to turn and look at the mare who was gathering up her garments. As she began to put them on, she looked up at the two and grinned. “Hey now, don’t stop on my account. Wouldn’t mind watching the two of you going all the way right here.”

As Pip blushed at this, Succubus chuckled as she held onto the smaller stallion so that his face was pressed up against the side of her breast. “As much as the thought of that turns me on, I think we’ll have to save that for another day. Me and my sexy stallion here have a lot of catching up to do. Besides, the guest room is a bit too small for all three of us.”

“Pity,” said the mare with a pout as she put on a shirt without a bra. “Well, I guess it can’t be helped seeing this isn’t your place. Maybe when we get to Ponyville you two can make it up to me.” Now fully clothed in skimpy attire for what thestrals usually wore, the mare walked past them while swaying her flank from side to side. “I really can’t wait! Might as well start packing.” With that, the mare exited the building.

Before Pip could ask who that was Succubus had him in another lip lock, kissing him as if she hadn’t seen him for months instead of the single night they had been apart. It was hungry, even feral as she moved his body backwards towards what he hoped was the guest room. Several times Pip felt like he was about to fall on his flank but was saved by his wife’s arms. Soon Pip felt the pull of gravity once again, only this time Succubus allowed him to fall while their lips separated. He landed on the guest bed with Succubus staring at him like the Countess’ wolf spiders had done.

“Pip,” she purred as she slid down into a crawling position on the bed, moving up his body as she continued to talk. “So much has been going on. I have some wonderful news to share. But that can wait until after.” The two were now face to face with each other with Succubus licking her lips. “I’ve been denied you for far too long my sexy stallion.” She paused to kiss him deeply once again, pinning him to the bed with her body. He could feel her pussy, wet from want, against his leg. “No need to be quiet, everypony is out of the house. Just you and me.”

Once more Succubus’ lips were on his, kissing him needily has her hands began to remove his shirt. Soon their bare chests were pressed against each other while the only sounds in the room were their collective moans and the smacking of lips. Pip ran his hands down the sides of his wife’s soft body as her mouth moved towards his neck. Small gasps escaped the small stallion as he felt her fangs lightly prick at his neck. Pip could now feel her tit flesh moving across his chest as Succubus began to grind her body against his. At the same time, her hands were hard at work bellow unzipping his pants to free his member which was steadily growing harder by the moment. Even though his eyes were closed, Pip’s body could sense that it would soon be completely free of its bindings so that there would be nothing in-between them. Then, nothing would stop them from going all out in their love making.

So, realizing this, Pip’s hands grabbed onto Succubus’ before she could pull down his underwear. The stallion then opened his eyes in time to see Succubus pull her head back to give him a surprised look.

“We,” began Pip as he gulped, “need to talk first.”

“We can talk later,” was the reply as Succubus tried to pull his underwear down again. However, Pip held firm with all the willpower he could muster at this moment.

“Succubus, I want to do this with you as well,” he said in a serious tone. “But…we really do need to talk about this. It’s about the meeting I had.” For her part, Succubus groaned before flopping over onto the side of the bed next to him.

“Why?” she asked s the two rolled to their sides so they were staring at each other. “We don’t know what Princess Celestia will decide. She might not do anything to my brother so he can keep being a Duke. Yay for him. If not then you already know what I want to do. Seriously Pip, after being down there can you seriously tell me that you want to spend the rest of your life living in the Hanging City?”

Pip thought about it for a moment while trying to hold back a shiver of fear. “To be honest, no. I wouldn’t like living there. I wouldn’t even be willing to go back down there unless I absolutely had to.”

“Then we know what we have to do,” replied Succubus as she reached over to place a hand on Pip’s side. Slowly, Succubus brought her he closer to Pip’s until their foreheads touched allowing them to gaze into each other’s eyes. “When this is over, we can go back to Ponyville and back to our lives. While you’ve been down there, I’ve been scouting for more dancers who are willing to come back with us. I’m almost sure I can get a few more living on the Wall to come with us as well. So as far as I’m concerned, the only thing we need to be asking ourselves is why aren’t we making love right now to celebrate?”

As Succubus moved in for a kiss, Pip felt he to speak up again with the big issue. “But what about Banshee?” This stopped Succubus and got her to retreat. She then stared at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head. Seeing this, Pip clarified. “If your brother loses everything, what will happen to Banshee?”

Succubus blinked. “That’s simple. She’ll stay with us. There, problem solved.”

“That’s what I thought too,” said Pip. “But your brother pointed out the problems with that. And I really do see his points. I mean, a strip club isn’t really a good place to raise a filly as young as her. She’d have to be confided to the upstairs apartment every night with the music blaring. And if she goes downstairs and foal services finds out they might take her away. Not to mention that we’re both working every night so neither one of us will be available if she needs us or wants to play with us. The only way this could work realistically work is if we bought a house and one of us stayed home to watch her. No matter who does this, we won’t be seeing much of each other.”

“I…I never thought of it like that,” muttered Succubus, her eyes looking down towards the mattress. “Banshee is my sister and I love her to death. B-But I just started living for myself and being with you.” She paused for a moment as her eyes turned to look at Pip again. “Also…I’m not really ready to be a mother just yet.”

“Honestly, I don’t think I’m ready to be a father either,” said Pip as he reached over to place a hand on Succubus’ side. “But I also don’t want to see anything bad happen to your brother or Banshee. He’s afraid they might end up living on the Wall but-”

“That won’t happen!” said Succubus as she sat straight up, wings extending as she spoke. “They can’t live there!”

“But what can we do?” asked Pip as he sat up, bending his knees as he did while also placing both hands on his head. “I would ask them to stay with us until Dark found a job and got his own place, but I’m still worried about Banshee staying at an active strip club! We could close it down until they were ready to move out but who knows how long it’ll take them? We have our own bills to pay and our dancers will leave if there’s no work. It’s just feeling more and more like the only way we can make sure they’re ok is if you take over for your brother.”

“No!” stated Succubus firmly. “There has to be a way. Maybe…Maybe we could buy a house for Dark and Banshee. Would that work?”

Pip lowered his hands off of his head to place them at his sides while looking at his wife. “That would be tricky. We would have to find a place first, make sure we qualify for a loan, and then there would be the waiting period until we could move in. All in all, it would take up a lot of time. Plus, if Dark can’t find a job in Ponyville then we’re paying his bills along with our own. Realistically we can only go on like that for so long.”

“Ah, ok,” said Succubus as worry kept into her voice. “Maybe we could ask Princess Luna or Princess Twilight. Maybe they would have some work for them. Not to mention they would be able to give them places to stay. I bet even Rarity could help with that. She might have a boutique opening somewhere and needs a manager or something for it. Yeah! That’ll work out.”

Pip, however, frowned. “I’m not so sure about Rarity. She has a few boutiques, but hoping that she’ll open another one anytime soon is really pushing it. Princess Luna is living in Sweet Apple Acres along with Applejack, Big Mac, and several foals so I don’t think they’ll have the room to put up two more. Princess Twilight and her herd might be able to take them in, but she’s still uncomfortable hiring ponies to work under her. I know for a fact that Snips and Snails tried asking her for a job once and she said she didn’t have anything for them.”

Pip sighed and shook his head. There were two more Princesses that they hadn’t brought up, but both seemed unlikely to be of much help. While he had heard plenty of nice things about Princess Cadence and Prince Shining Armor, Pip didn’t know either of them personally enough to warrant counting on them to help. Maybe Twilight could, but they already had plenty of ponies working for them, it would be a long shot. As for Princess Celestia it was doubtful if Dark Bargain would even consider a job in Canterlot. He would be working for the pony that he and his tribe blamed for the situation they were in.

Pip let out a sigh. “I just wish there was a way Banshee could take the job,” he said.

“She’s too young,” replied Succubus as she sadly shook her head. “She has to be at least sixteen in order to claim the title.” Hearing this caused Pip to groan. Of course there would be something like that in play. Otherwise, Dark Bargain wouldn’t have called them there. He could have simply given the post to his sister and convinced her to let him run things until she was…old enough…to…

Pip eyes widened as he got an idea. “Could we find somepony to hold the post till she was old enough? Like a Steward or something. Just somepony to manage things until the next in line to take the post is old and mature enough to do so.”

Succubus’ eyes flashed with hope. “I don’t know. I mean, something like that has never happened. But if it’s happened before in Equestrian history then maybe the Countess will allow it if it’ll help this place.”

“Only problem is we’ll need to find the right pony for the job. Somepony we can trust to do a good job, but won’t try to keep the position when it’s time to return it to Banshee.” Pip found himself frowning at that. Perhaps he was becoming more cynical, but he could see somepony from around here getting used to living the ‘high’ life as it were and would try to keep it. Maybe exploit some loophole or just downright kill Banshee and her brother so there would be nopony to return the title too.

Succubus, on the other hand, grinned brighter than ever. “We don’t have to worry about that. I think I know just the mare for the job. She cares way too much about this dump to let things go into ruin or even consider selling the mines. But I know for a fact she would bug out if she had to stay there for too long.” As Pip made a face, Succubus giggled while moving on top of him. A sultry smile gracing her lips as she did so. “We can check to see if we can do that in the evening.” Succubus paused, leaning down to loudly kiss Pip’s neck. The small stallion moaned loudly as he felt her tongue against his fur, her breasts pressed against his body as a hand stroked his still covered cock. As tingles of pleasure continued to course through his body, Succubus leaned forwards a bit to whisper into his ear. “For now, my sexy stallion, I believe we should enjoy whatever time we have alone together. Just you and me doing our own sexy dance.”

At this point, Succubus’ hard nipples were poking into Pip’s cheeks. With no reason or desire to control himself any longer, he turned his head slightly to latch onto the closest one. Succubus mewled in pleasure the moment his lips made contact, wrapping her arms around his head to keep him there as he sucked greedily on the nub. Not that Pip had any objection to this as he played with the nipple in his mouth with his tongue. Over and over again he ran his mouth muscle over it, tasting the slight bit of sweat that was on it. While normally Pip would have reached to caress the other breast, tweaking the nipple just the way he knew she liked it, his hands wanted to be touching something else. He reached downwards to take hold of her soft flank, squeezing it as he lightly bit the nipple in his mouth causing Succubus to moan both lewdly as well as loudly.

As soon as he felt her arms loosen, Pip released his captive and latched onto the other nipple. His hands continued to paw at her rear, squeezing and kneading while his wife ground her hips into his body. Every cry she made, every pant that passed through her lips, every motion made by her slowly moistening pussy urged the stallion onwards. His tongue moved about wildly, lapping everything it could in his saliva before sucking on it to drive her wilder. As he did this, Succubus’ hands were roaming down his body in a slow and sensual way. When they reached his underwear, the stallion felt one of her soft hands slip under it to touch his bare crotch. Moaning into her breast, Pip felt tingling sparks as her hand enclosed around his shaft while her thumb began to circle around the tip. Over and over it went, creating a small amount of friction that almost made Pip’s back arc. Eventually he could wait no longer, lightly biting on the nub before pulling back a bit. The effect was instantaneous. Succubus began to make several gasping sounds as her body became stiff and rigid. Opening his mouth, Pip released the flesh in his mouth so that it could return to its proper shape.

“Oh, I just love it when you play with my breasts like that,” said Succubus softly through her panting. “Please, I’ve been waiting for this for so long. Don’t stop just yet.” Despite wanting to do more, lapping away at her pussy and drinking her juices, Pip moved his hands from her flank so that he could continue to play with her breasts. After being down in the Hanging City for a single night, he could understand why Succubus never wanted to go back. Why she was so hell bent on leaving as soon as possible. She deserved a little bit more attention right now. And the stallion certainly didn’t mind giving it.

Both of Pip’s hands touched her large, warm breasts. At first he gently kneaded them while kissing around the areola on each one. Each time he moved between them, his kisses became faster while his hands kneaded her just a bit rougher. Succubus screamed her delight as her thumb continued to rub against the head of his cock, smearing pre-cum all over it. Then Pip began to go all out. Once more he was latched on to one of her nipples, sucking on it as hard as he could while gripping the breast firmly. His other hand meanwhile pinched and twisted away at her other nipple causing the mare above him to convulse in pleasure. She had let go of his member, instead holding on to Pip tightly as he switched breasts. Succubus was breathing hard into his ear at this point, her grip slightly painful as she urged him on.

“Pip. My sexy Pip. Keep playing with my breasts like that! Use that sexy mouth and tongue to make me cum! Oh, you really know how to shower my breasts with love! Keep doing that until I cum!”

Then, much to her surprise as well as her disappointment, Pip detached himself from Succubus’ nipples. Before she could ask why he did that, Pip put his arms on her sides and tried to roll them over. While this first attempt did not succeed, the second one did as Succubus helped in the roll. Now on top of her, Pip reached down to finally removed his underwear. With his hardened shaft out of its confides, the pinto stallion positioned it between the valley of flesh before him. Once it was in there, Pip spread his wife’s breasts as best he could before quickly spitting on his rod to help lube it up. Succubus helped as well, lifting her head so she too could add some saliva.

Pip thrust his hips back and forth a few times to help coat his dick a bit more, as well as feeling her chest against his meat, before closing the two mounds. With his hands placed closed to her hardened nipples, Pip made sure they were pressed tightly together before making his first thrust. Both ponies moaned loudly as the friction they both felt coursed through their bodies, Pip feeling Succubus lift her hips slightly at the same time. As he pulled back to prepare for another thrust, the pinto managed to move his thumb and pointing finger towards this wife’s nipples. With them in position, Pip was able to squeeze both nubs at the same time as he thrusted once again. Succubus, in response to this, cried out his name at the top of her lungs while her hips flailed again.

Over and over again, Pip thrusted into the space between her breasts. He could feel his pre-cum flowing a bit to add to the lube, but there was not enough to eliminate the friction they both felt. With each thrust, Succubus’ hips went wilder and wilder as she cried out for more. Pip did his best to continue to play with her breasts, knowing how much she loved having them played with. No, that was the wrong thing to say. She loved having them looked at. She adored having they played with by somepony who loved them. It set her off like nothing else in Equestria. If he could, he would have tried doing other things. Yet it was the fear of losing pressure when he was so close to his orgasm that prevented him for doing so. Thankfully, Succubus didn’t seem to mind.

“Pip, oh Luna, PIP!” she cried out. “Please, shower by breasts with your cum! Shoot all of your love between them. Coat them with your seed so I can feel it on my fur! I want everypony to smell you all over me so that they know how much you love my body! This body that they call ugly that drives the rest of Equestria wild!” Again and again, Succubus called out for him to cum causing Pip to pick up his pace more. Finally, the pinto could no longer hold it in. With a grunt as his only warning, several ropes of cum were launched to fill whatever gaps there were between her boobs with his hot load. Feeling this must have been what she needed for Pip saw Succubus’ eyes roll upwards as so of his cum began to slowly crawl towards her neck. He could feel her hips jerk upwards once again, shaking as they were held up for several long seconds before crashing down on the bed.

As Succubus’ chest rose and fell slowly to help her catch her breath, Pip removed his hands from her breasts. As he slowly pulled his softening cock away from her, he couldn’t help but notice the large amount of sticky white cum that was there. The large mass of his seed moved down her belly and would have continued to roll down Succubus’ sides had she not moved to prevent this. Pip watched as Succubus got up while at the same time scooping up as much of his cum as she could with her hand before smearing it across her breasts. As she did this, Succubus parted her lips to release a pleasurable noise while her eyes closed as if to better savor the sensation. Once her breasts were well coated, the thestral mare began to lick her fingers clean one at a time.

Watching this erotic sight was enough for Pip to get hard again. The pinto watched as Succubus grinned at him while pulling out the last finger she was sucking on with a loud popping noise. The next thing Pip knew was that he was on his back, staring at the ceiling as Succubus straddled his hips in front of his cock. He could feel his member pressed against her ass cheeks before he raised his head.

“That was delicious my sexy husband,” she said as she licked her lips. “You know how much I love tasting your salty, sexy taste. But I’ve waited far too long for my sexy stallion’s cock to be inside me, filling me.” She gave a lewd moan as she bent over a bit, causing him to shiver as her flank cheeks were still pressed against his rod. “Now, since you’ve been a brave stallion, allow me to do all the work. You just lie there and watch me as I make you cum. Over and over and over again. I want everything I have been denied since this trip began.”

As Succubus raised her hips, Pip fought the urge to gulp. Both the mind and body were willing…but he was unsure if he could last more than one more time. After hearing her say that how long was Succubus really planning on doing this? He was a normal earth pony who couldn’t magic his balls to produce an endless amount of sperm after all. Plus he was starting to get tired after such a long night so-

Whatever thought he had against the idea quickly vanished as he felt Succubus lower herself onto him. Both ponies gasped and moaned as Pip’s rod was slowly inserted into Succubus’ warm tunnel. Despite the many times they had done this, it was still as tight as the first time they had had sex. The slick feeling around his cock reminded him of all their previous love making causing it to become as hard as it could get within her. Looking up at his wife, Pip could see that her eyes were closed to better savor the feeling of being filled by him. Seeing how much pleasure he was giving her caused the pinto to smile slightly. If he could make her feel good like this then maybe there was nothing to worry about. He just needed to give her his all and she would be happy and that would be all that mattered.

Succubus’ eyes fluttered open as she reached towards his chest with her hands. Gently, she began to feel his scrawny frame with the tips of her fingers starting at his shoulders. Bit by bit, she traced his body while letting out the occasional coo until coming to his hips. As her hands pulled away, she smiled at Pip while licking her lips in anticipation.

Then, she began.

It didn’t start with her lifting up, but rather grinding her hips against his slightly. As she did this, her hands reached up to cup her breasts, squeezing them in front of her husband. Lewd noises escaped her lips as she continued, moving her hands to pinch her nipples as her hips continued to shake. Eyes fixed on her husband Succubus began to pull on her nipples as far as she could before releasing them, making for a very erotic show. As her hips began to grind faster so too did the speed at which she played with her breasts increase. She kneaded them, pulled them, pinched them, pressed them together, and everything else Succubus could think of. The temperature of the room began to increase, sweat beginning to appear on both of their bodies. It mixed in with the cum on her breasts causing them to shimmer while beads of the stuff rolled down her body and onto Pip’s. The small stallion tried to sit up so that he could play with her breasts as well or, well, do anything to help get her off like she was doing for him. However, as soon as he tried, Succubus reached out with both hands to pin him against the bed.

Succubus said not a word, just shaking her head as her pussy clamped tighter around his cock. With a quick kiss, Succubus released her hold on him before straightening up with her wings outstretched. She began to rise quickly off his cock only to stop just before the head could be in the fresh air. Succubus then slammed downwards to bury it deep inside her again, her breasts bouncing about as she did. There was no rest as she raised herself up again to repeat this, crying out her stallion’s name as she did so. Again and again, Succubus took Pip’s cock deep inside her wet tunnel as the stallion lover laid there. He could feel the walls of her pussy clamping around his member, just noticeably tightening up with each impalement. Trying his best to make this last, Pip found himself gripping the covers of her bed. But it was so very difficult right now. His cock was twitching to release another load, this time inside her. And Pip knew that Succubus could feel it.

“Oh Pip!” she cried out passionately while continuing to bounce. “Yes! I can feel it! I’m so close my Pip! You’ve got me so hot and close! I just need to feel your seed filling me up while you watch to cum! OH BUCKING LUNA PIP! PLEASE FILL ME UP RIGHT NOW BEFORE I LOSE MY MIND!” Succubus’ passionate cry was the final straw. No longer able to hold himself back, Pip’s cock shot load after load deep within her while his body went limp. He could see it in the mare’s face that she too felt his orgasm hit her, eye’s fluttering in ecstasy while her mouth moved soundlessly. Her own orgasm hit her after his third rope, the walls of her pussy clamping down harder than anything else that had happened this night as she came hard. Succubus began to fall forwards making it look like she was going to land on top on her husband but managed to stop herself at the last moment. With both hands on either side of Pip the thestral mare lowered herself until their hot bodies were pressed against each other.

For a moment, they laid there panting as they recovered from their own orgasms. As they looked into each other’s eyes the two had the same thought at the same time: moving their lips in to capture the others for a brief kiss.

“Wow,” said Pip as he pulled back slightly, his lips brushing against those of his wife’s. “That was amazing.”

Succubus giggled at that before kissing him again. “Whoever said we were done my sexy stallion?”

Meanwhile, as the sun continued to rise into the morning sky, a bright flash occurred in an alleyway near the town square. Rats scurried out as fast as their tiny legs would take them as loud crashes echoed in the air as well as the cries of a couple ponies. An old metal trashcan rolled out into the street followed by three ponies. The first, looking positively drained of all life was Prince Blueblood. His clothing was now beyond salvation with various claws marks all over it as well as blood from both him and the spider monster’s staining it. His mane was left in shambles while his coat seemed to be paler than ever before. Dark circles were around his eyes as he panted as hard as a pony who had just finished the entire Equestrian Games by himself in a single afternoon. Following him were Batibat and her son, both looking as if they two had just exited a living nightmare. Their rags were even more ragged than ever, if that were possible. Large chunks of skin could now been seen of Batibat’s body, but thankfully nothing that the unicorn would have found inappropriate or indecent to be seen in public. As for her son, the colt was clinging to his mother’s leg for dear life while his eyes remained tightly shut.

As he walked, Blueblood felt himself stumble over his own hooves as sweat dripped down his face. Never before had he felt so drained in his entire life. But, then again, never before had he had to fight so hard just to stay alive. Whatever adrenaline had been coursing through his veins now seemed to be fading fast.

“Thought you said it was unsafe to teleport to a place you didn’t know,” said Batibat. Blueblood didn’t need to turn around to know she was glaring at him angrily. “Perhaps if you had just done that in the beginning, me and my son wouldn’t be homeless!”

“Madam, believe me when I say that this was the most unsafe thing I have ever done,” breathed Blueblood as he leaned against a dirty wall. Right now he was far too tired to care about looking undignified or any other sort of nonsense. “I panicked with no way to know where we would land… or in what condition. Didn’t even know I could get us this far. Might as well count our blessing.” Slowly he turned to look at the mare finding her to be frowning at him. He supposed that she had every right to be angry with him. She had taken him in, reluctantly at that, only to lose everything except their lives. Still, he saved them so that had to count for something. Right?

“Well we can’t go back,” she fumed. “The moment one of them gets our scent they’ll be all over us. With no place to stay the night-”

“I’m sure one of these fine ponies will open their doors for royalty,” interrupted the prince as he stood up and tried to flash a reassuring smile. Batibat remained unconvinced probably due to the fact that he looked like a homeless bum of several years. Still, this did not detour Blueblood. “Perhaps a hotel would be best. We will be able to have all the amenities we’ll need. Food, running water, soft beds. After we get settled in, I can contact my aunt and explain what happened. I’m sure she’ll send bits to help us out as well as reimburse you for all of your loses.” Blueblood then clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Now, all I need to do is find one.”

“There’s only one in Hollow Shades,” said Batibat, jerking her thumb towards one of the nicer buildings near them. It was a large, three story mansion like structure with a purple roof. From where he stood, the prince could see several niches between its many windows displaying thestral stallions in ‘heroic’ poses. In all honesty he would have assumed this was the building of a noble or some other wealthy pony. “But it’s never take in any of us.”

“Ha,” said Blueblood as he did his best to walk towards in a confident stride. “There is not a hotel in Equestria that would turn me away!” Despite saying this, he could hear Batibat sigh loudly as she followed him.

When Blueblood entered the building, he was met by a long and open room with red carpeting. There were fine chairs placed around the room with old, yet elegant wooden tables placed next to with each with a vase and flower on them. The walls were draped with flowing purple curtains along with murals carved into the walls of thestrals battling changelings. As he glanced around, the prince felt like the curtains were covering up some of the more…gore filled images in order to make the guests fill more at ease. Taking a wiff of the air told Blueblood that something was cooking. Looking around, he spotted an open door that lead into a long dining room full of tables that looked far too new that did not match the rest of the theme around him.

Before he could examine his surroundings any further, the sound of hoofsteps alerted him that someone was coming towards him. Turning his head in time, he spotted a tall thestral mare clad in a black dress that covered nearly her entire body as well as wearing a veil to conceal her face.

“…Can I help you?” she asked in a cold tone.

“Yes,” replied Blueblood as he flashed a smile. Never before had it failed to charm even the coldest heart he had encountered. “I have had a bit of a rough trip and I was hoping that you could provide me as well as my companions with a room for the evening.”

“All the rooms that somepony like you could afford are booked for the next several weeks,” replied the mare in a snappish tone. “And that is being generous to the fact that you could even afford something beyond a broom closet.”

“I can assure you that I can pay,” said Blueblood quickly, not daring to drop his smile for a moment. There was still a chance his charm could still work, he just knew it. “Perhaps you don’t recognize me in this state, but I am Prince Blueblood. If you allow-”

“You’re the ninth pony to claim to be Prince Blueblood this year,” interrupted the mare, irritation ringing in her voice. While he couldn’t clearly see her eyes Blueblood was sure she was rolling her eyes as she spoke. “If you think I am dumb enough to allow you to spend the day here so you can just run off without paying…” Her voice trailed off as the door opened behind Blueblood. The stallion turned around to see Batibat standing there with her son in her arms now. When he turned back to look at the mare he saw that her hands were clenched into fists. “You dare bring that unsightly harlot into my home?! You blasted unicorns have some nerve. This establishment is not a whorehouse!”

“Please madam,” began Blueblood as the mare stormed away out of sight. A moment later she returned with a blade in hand. Knowing his magic was not strong enough to throw up a shield spell and not willing to risk his life trying to disarm the mare, he ran out while shooing Batibat out.

The three of them ran and ran down the street. Well, it was more like a quick jog for a few blocks until Blueblood felt himself nearly collapse to the ground in front of a mare wearing skimpy clothing.

Author's Note

Yes people, we have a chapter with clop!