Chapters ```
Clipper buzzed her way from the hive, her insect like wings flapping madly in the light breeze to carry her at speed to new and unexplored places. She was a changeling, a warped version of a pony with hard black chitin covering squishy insides and muscles that were working so very hard to drive her wings, which in turn drove her towards her destination
Where was she going? She had only a rough idea, she was a scout, light and built to be fast. Her job was to find patches of fruit or food and lay down a scent marker before carrying as much as she could back to the hive. So she was going wherever there was food.
She felt the cold wind trying to chill her through her hard casing as her wings drove her over the tops of the trees at breakneck speeds, she let her body do most of the work while her keen orange pupils searched for any food below.
Come to think of it, when was the last time she had seen a pony? It had not been for the longest of times. She knew she looked like a warped version of a pony, but how did she know what a pony looked like? Ponies would destroy her hive if they knew where it was, which was why they had built it so far from civilisation.
It was also why she was keeping low, which was also the reasons she clipped the top of a tree with a wing and was suddenly thrown off course, plummeting towards the ground at breakneck speeds that her wings had worked so hard to gain.
She crossed her hooves over her head, the chitin armour would hopefully provide enough protection to stop her splattering into paste. Her hooves had holes in them like all of her species, but they would not really make much of a difference to-
Her thoughts were thrown off when she smashed into a hedge, all that speed driving her deep into the hedge as branches scratched at her chitin armour. Her hooves protected her eyes, and the chitin protected the rest of her.
That was until she smashed into the ground beneath the hedge, making her rebound and get launched back out of the hedge, landing on her back on the top of the hedge, looking up at a bunch of berries.
Well, she had done her job. She flopped about, attempting to flip herself onto her hooves. She was a little sore, but did not appear to be too badly damaged. She looked around the small grove that she had landed in. It had a lot of different plants scattered around the grove, a lot of them appeared to be edible.
Even though she had crashed, she had still managed to do her job. She was so good at it. She flopped onto her back in the middle of the clearing. It might have seemed like a strange and random thing to do, but she had her reasons. She had a slightly thicker patch of orange chitin just behind her wings, it was kind of like a saddle, and it was used for placing scent markers and for putting out other scents to help other changelings identify her.
Once she was satisfied with how strong the scent was, she rolled to her feet. Scouts were good at navigation and were built to be jack-of-all-trades, able to survive in tough environments and fill in for jobs where other changelings were unavailable. Other changelings were more specialised to their jobs.
The problem with this was that the workers, while being strong, and able to repair or build everything a hive needed, were really not good at navigation. They needed to be guided directly to their destination using scent markers, and then needed to be guided back to the hive in the same fashion. They could carry far more then she could however.
But enough about them, now that she had laid out the marker, she could begin harvesting. She trotted over to the largest bunch of berries she could find, beginning to munch them down into a sweet tasting paste, before gulping it down.
She would eat as much as she was able, which was the fun part, then fly all the way back to the hive stuffed full of food, which was the not so fun part, before regurgitating it as a spacial paste made using a special gland. It was a lot of special really not fun stuff that really sucked.
There was a sudden rustle from behind her, distracting her from her thoughts and making every muscle in her body tense, her delicate fly-like wings hugging tight to her sides. Her eye slowly moved to scan the edge of her version, but it was not enough to see what had made the noise.
It could have been a timber wolf, here to tear her into tiny bits, or any number of other horrors that inhabited the Everfree forest where the hive was built. Well, if she was going to die, she would at least like to go down fighting. She turned suddenly, wings opening ready to carry her away if it turned out to be something too dangerous to fight.
She was ready for anything, but she was faced with something that managed to surprise even her. It had two emerald green eyes, gray fur, and… a mane and tail like darkest charcoal.
It was a male pony, a really thin, malnourished looking pony in a battered black top hat with bits of the cardboard beneath the fabric showing, and a long coat that had managed to keep its deep crimson colour despite the tattered state it was in, loose threads poking out everywhere and little rips and tears, mainly around the joins in the fabric.
She noticed all of this in the space of just a few seconds, her mouth hanging open and flapping uselessly as she stared at the pony. It looked back at her and sneezed, making her stumble backwards into a hedge in sudden shock, flopping about on her back as she attempted to get back on her hooves.
A pony! A pony here, right in front of her! What was she going to do? She could not let the pony get away back to the other ponies, they would surely search the whole forest and wipe out the hive.
The pony trotted over and sniffed between her legs suddenly, making her squeak and kick the pony in the face with both hind leg, making him stumble back with a whine. She jumped back to her hooves, blushing softly because he had sniffed her privates.
The pony had stumbled back a few feet, giving her room to decide what to do next. The pony just looked at her in a confused fashion, as if slightly shocked that she had kicked him. He looked down at the floor sadly, as if he was a puppy that had done something wrong and was unsure of what that was. It made her heart slowly sink in her chest.
Then the pony’s lip started to wobble slowly, before he let out a heart wrenching sob, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks as he looked up to her, his face looking so heart broken that it did just that, breaking her heart into a million pieces.
She moved over to the pony, shushing him slowly. There was no way she could stay mad at such a simple creature. She moved over and hugged him tightly, holding him close like a small nymph as he sobbed in her ear. She pat the pony’s back softly and kept shushing him. He slowly calmed down and stopped sobbing, one of his hooves moving out and holding her back.
She moved away from him slowly, petting his head. She really could not see this pony destroying her hive, but now he had seen a changeling in the forest he could go and warn the other ponies. They would be able to find the hive and destroy it. She had a niggling suspicion that she was being overly dramatic in order to bring the pony back to her hive, but she could not just leave him out here. There was far too many dangers to a creature like him.
Meanwhile, the pony was sniffing at her chitin in a confused fashion, clearly trying to make sense of what she was. She looked into those green eyes, and he stared into her orange ones. Then he suddenly retched and bent over, vomiting up a gross mix of berries and not-foods that even changelings could not digest.
She had of course leapt far out the way before this had happened, avoiding the vomit. She looked back up to the pony, who was looking unwell, staring at the food as if he did not understand why it had jumped from his mouth and made his tummy icky.
She knew if she left him, this pony would be dead within a few days, he clearly had no survival skills. She had to take him with her. He looked up to her, moving around the vomit to nuzzle at her neck. The breath currently smelt horrible, but she knew that he did not mean it.
“Hey, you wanna’ come with me boy?” She asked him in a voice one would use to speak to an animal. The pony looked up to her, his eyes shimmering out from under his top hat, as if he was trying extremely hardest to understand her words.
Finally, he reached up with a hoof and plucked the hat from his head, placing it in the inside of his coat. He then smiled up at her, as if approving of what she had just said. Clipper gave a comforting grin, flapping her still slightly sore wings and flying over to the pony, hooking all four of her hooves around him as she slowly begin to take off.
Her rear hoof was pressing against something warm, hard and slightly moist. She tried to pretend it was something else as her wings went into overdrive, lifting the pony from the ground and up through the treeline. Her wings buzzed softly as she carried him over the treetops, the pony staring in amazement as the floor got smaller and smaller, his hooves softly kicking against the air.
His little friend down below seemed to enjoy it to, throbbing happily against her hoof as a dark blush overtook her face. Just ignore it. Just focus on something else. He was beginning to softly buck against her hooves, whimpering happily.
She really did not want to adjust her grip on him for fear of sending him plummeting to the ground beneath, so she tried to bare with it, trying not to hear those happy whimpers or feel the bucking of his hips. As they approached the hive, she realised that his whimpering, and just the fact that he was here was starting to draw attention. Changelings buzzing about and watching from a
distance, muttering amongst themselves.
The changeling hivemind was not enough to transmit orders over, but it could put out general feelings, and she felt as it shifted from its normal happy state, to one of unease. As she did finally approach the black form of her hive, two guards flew up to meet her.
Guards were the biggest, strongest and meanest changelings in the hive, and also one of the least common. They had much thicker muscle and chitin then a stranded changeling, as well as rows of razor sharp teeth long enough to punch through the thickest chitin.
“What are you doing with that pony?” The right guard hissed, fixing her a glare.
“Ponies are dangerous. Give him to us and we will dispatch him.” The left guard growled threateningly. Clipper knew this technique, they were just trying to scare her by talking like that and using threatening tones.
“I captured this pony. He is my prisoner and I plan to take him with me.” Clipper responded, keeping a firm look on her face as Hatter squirmed softly in her hooves, looking uncomfortably at the two guards like he knew that he had done a bad thing, but did not understand what that bad thing was.
The two guards looked to each other, then back to her. “Take him to see the queen.” They said, before flitting away to deal with their other duties.
Then the stallion stopped squirming and did something that made even her jump and almost drop him, he spoke, his voice like silk and sand paper “Scary bad ponies! Go ‘way!”
The one good thing about this, was the fact that the ‘scary bad ponies’ had managed to frighten him enough that that erection went away, retreating into its sheath as if hiding from the guards. She drifted down, dropping him onto an outcrop as she readjusted her grip, speaking down to the stallion.
“You need to be good now, we are going to see a…” She had to put this in words he could understand, “We are going to see an important scary pony, you need to be a good pony for me, OK?” She said softly. The stallion blinked slowly, then nodded “Hatter be good for nice pony!” He said, grinning up at her as she went to talk off again.
Hatter, huh? Clipper always thought pony’s names were weird, but she guessed that made sense considering that he had a hat. She picked him up, moving through the hive slowly. The hive was built out of a dark black materiel, lined with a glowing orange gunk that only builder could make. It needed to be replaced every few weeks to keep the hive lit up, so the builder changelings were busy working on it, not even caring as she carried the pony through the middle of them.
The layout would have confused anybody else that went into the hive, but she could tell where she was going from the scent marks that had been laid out, unique only to her hive. The scent of her queen was easy to pick out, working down the winding tunnels as Hatter looked around in amazement, smiling at the pretty channellings that buzzed about, doing the various important jobs that needed doing.
Soon she landed in the central hive, putting Hatter down and nuzzling his neck to keep him calm. There was a lot of guards here, and the ceiling was higher then any other room, dozens of tunnels leading into it to store eggs. In most hives, the queen was the only one that laid eggs. In her species however, everyone was capable of making eggs, other then the workers. The Queen was the only one who could make those, and she could lay far more eggs then anyone else in the hive, and as such, she was still a very important part of the hive.
She and Hatter moved down the middle of the room, pilers went up to the ceiling, coated in the softly glowing gunk. In between these, the guards stood, about two dozen of them, and most of them cast dark looks towards Clipper and Hatter. She was not bothered by this, but Hatter had his head down low and was sticking close to her, his ears flopped down flat against his head. His horn glowed pulling his hat from his jacket, this caused every guard in the room to hiss, showing their fangs and stepping threateningly towards him, in case it was some dangerous pony weapon.
He squealed in shock, dropping the hat and clinging tight to her leg, shaking in fear. Her queen, who was sat on a glowing orange throne at the end of the room, looked towards them. She looked mildly annoyed, but not at them.
“I do not think this pony is a threat, and if he is, he is better assassin then you are going to be able to beat. Back off.” The guards tossed a glance to her, then backed off to their posts.
The queen begin to flap her bug-like wings, she was a much bigger pony then her or Hatter, easily twice as big and twice as long as them. As such, it was hard for her to fly gracefully, but she managed it, flitting up and flying over to meet them halfway to her throne. She landed on the floor and smiled, showing her fangs, yet it did not look threatening.
She held out a large hoof that was filled with holes, speaking in a sweet voice “Come out, I don’t want to hurt you little one.” Hatter shrank back a little more, then realised that this was a nice pony. He slowly stepped out and took her hoof, smiling softly. “That’s it, you are a very handsome pony you know that?” She said, before turning towards Clipper “I don’t see a problem with him staying here, although I detect he is under the effects of a memory wiping spell, that could wear off, so just promise you will keep an eye on him,” She regally spoke.
Clipper nodded “Of course I will! And a memory spell? His own kind did this to him?”
Her Queen nodded slowly, far more regally then Clipper “Most likely, I do want the other changelings to study him, we could learn a lot from him.”
She gave a further nod, “Of course!” Before giving a hiss “Hatter! Bad, stop that!” She said, the Queen looking back to find Hatter was humping her leg rapidly, having taken quite the fancy to it.
Instead of getting angry, her face creased up in laughter, throwing her head back to send it echoing around the room as she softly tried to pull her leg free from his grasp.
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Hatter awoke to screams, yelling and other noises that scared him, Clipper was struggling beneath him, trying to get out. Hatter rolled to the side, busting off the lid of the pod and landing on it in a heap. The scary noises were even louder out here, the screams no longer deadened by the wall of the pod.
Clipper jumped over him, landing on her hooves and pulling him up as a changeling, more specificity a guard with a hole in his side. Orange blood was pouring down his chitin, coating it and dripping onto the floor.
“Run! T-they are here! Don’t… I don’t… I failed” He cried out, before he collapsed to the floor with a groan.
“Oh fuck, shit...” Clipper started to say, followed by so many curse words that Hatter could not even keep focus on them. During this time she had pulled Hatter forward, and begun to rapidly gallop away. Hatter might have had the mind of a foal, but he did understand danger, and e understood that he had to get away from said danger. He also understood that this mare, this wonderful, wonderful changeling, gave him the fuzziest, warmest feeling imaginable. He would follow her to Tartarus and back.
They both came galloping out of the shed sized space, onto the walkway that spiralled up through the centre of the hive. Most of the changelings had wings, so did not need a stairwell, it was more built for convenience and so that the workers could make repairs. The stairwell was a hive of activity at this time however, changelings attempting to fly away, and guards attempting to protect them as they did so.
The attackers were ponies, a mix of unicorns, like Hatter, earth ponies, which lacked horns and magic, but were far thicker built and much tougher, and a few pegasus ponies, which were lithe and had feathered wings to carry them into the sky and send any changelings that made it too close to the exit to their deaths.
The ponies all wore heavy metal armour, coloured in gold. The pegasus ponies wore lighter armour, and used their metal clad hooves in combat. The earth ponies were far more brutal, having heavy metals shields that covered their whole bodies strapped to the front of their armour, with slits in the side through they poked long spears, anyone who was not shoved over the edge by the shields, or attempted to fight back, was impaled with the spear.
The unicorns also wielded spears, and long wooden bows. They seemed to be using their magical reach to provide support. To changelings, the nauseating amount of colours the ponies came in was very strange, but they were more focused on trying not to die.
Clipper and Hatter were not stupid, and were heading down deeper into the hive. The guard changelings were not able to hold off the attackers, their thick chitin and long teeth being no match for the spears and brutal tactics the ponies used. Hatter was not very well built, but he was lithe, and having been fed on honey, he was able to run long distances that he never thought possible.
“Come on Hatter, there is an exit near the bottom of the hive we can use to escape!” She said, speeding up. Hatter matched her pace, but soon his breathing was becoming rapid. He did not have the endurance of a creature bred to travel long distances without getting tired.
They finally made it to the base of the hive, the end of the staircase without going underground. But there was already ponies here too, but there was also a lot more changeling guards, who were fighting a losing battle against the ponies. Clipper suddenly found herself faced with an earth pony who had snuck around the back of the guards. He marched forward raising his spear and stabbing it forward threatening
Clipper stumbled back, but the unicorn’s eyes were without mercy, and he stabbed the spear forward again, almost in range. Hatter did not know exactly what it was, but some wall in his mind broke down, it might have been the desire to protect his lover, but all of a sudden he found himself jumping forward.
Hatter’s front hooves shoved the area where the spear head joined the shaft, his teeth locking down on the wood just behind this. The earth ponies might have strong, but with his hooves, teeth, and the fact his hooves were digging into the ground, he managed to stop it.
“Hatter!” Clipper cried. And suddenly the spell that had locked away his memories vanished, and they all came flooding back to him. He had a pair of long knives in his jacket, and he had just remembered where they had come from.
Their were two main pony leaders in Equestria, both alicorns, ponies who were unicorns and pegasuses at the same time. A long time before Hatter had been born, there had been a terrible age of chaos and uncertainty, when the trickster god of chaos, known as Discord had ruled. It had been a very dark time indeed.
Nobody had quite known where the princesses had come from, but they had appeared one day and used a magical artefact to obliterate Discord. They had then returned these magical artefacts to where ever it was they had got them from.
A great age of peace had reined, before the younger of the two Princesses, known as Luna, had grown tired. She was the Princess of the night, in charge of raising the moon, and she was sick of ponies hiding away from the beautiful nights she worked so hard to create. But the thing she hated most was hiding in her sister’s shadow, of being treated as the lesser sister and of being shunned. The dark rage that had grown inside her had transformed her, she had become a dark goddess known as Nightmare Moon.
The other Princess, known as Celestia, the Princess of the day, in charge of raising the sun, had been attacked by here and barely managed to escape. She had attempted to use the same magical artefacts that had destroyed Discord, but they had failed to work. So it had ended up needing to be settled the old fashioned way. With soldiers and spears, blood and death. Princess Luna had set up a base somewhere in the Everfree, the forest had begin to slowly spread throughout Equestria for some unknown reason. No amount of axes or fire seemed to be able to stop it.
So where did he fit into all of this? He would have liked it if he had of been a great general, or at least of some kind of importance. But he had just been a grunt, a pony on the front line charging blindly forward and cutting down anything that stood in his way. He had served in the trenches, using the long bladed knives to stab through the gaps in armour and bring his foes down.
But then… He had run… He could not remember why, but he had been caught, branded a coward and then… He had ended up here. He did remember it was a way to kill ponies, wiping their mind and leading them into the everfree to be eaten by the monsters and other things that prowled the forest.
Along with all of this came his years of combat experience, he might not have been important, but he knew how to kill, and right now he needed to do that to protect his lover. His horn glowed, opening the downward facing holsters behind his shoulders and pulling the razor sharp blades from them. They had wooden handles carved from the trees of the Everfree, and high quality steel blades that had been well looked after.
All of this took him only four seconds. Then he acted. He moved behind the shield, as if he was going to pass him, then his knife had slipped into the space at the back of the ponies’ knee, sinking through the strap that held his shin protectors in place. Shield units were weak and slow on their own, breaking formation was a mistake. He gave a scream and slumped to the floor, not able to carry the heavy shield with a hole in the back of his kneecap.
Clipper stared at Hatter for a second before tugging him, heading towards a side exit the ponies had not yet reached. They begin heading down as the combat behind them became for more fierce as more ponies poured in like an unstoppable river. Most of the changelings had been asleep in their pods, and they had been lucky to have one that had been so low down, as now the guards were preventing almost everyone from escaping.
“I remembered everything! I know who I am now Clipper and I know I love you!” He said. Clipper gave a sort of chuckle as they turned down another tunnel, the layout of the hive still alien to Hatter.
“That is great Hatter! I will celebrate with you if we make it out of here.”
Clipper was taking the situation calmly for that very reason. She was not focusing on all her friends dying, or the fact she was helpless to do anything about it. She was focusing on one simple instinct: Survive. She was going to make sure she and Hatter made it out alive and as unhurt as possible. It was the simplest instinct, and one every animal had, but it was also one of the strongest. She refused to die here and like this, not after she had found true happiness.
They passed into queen’s chamber, both of them out of breath. There were eight guards here, attempting to hold off any of the ponies that made it through while the rest of the changelings evacuated. The queen had likely already made it out of the hive, along with a hooful of guards.
“Quickly! Move!” One of the guards said, waving them down the tunnel with a hoof. Hatter had so many thoughts rushing through his head he was struggling to keep up with anything, but he still had the sense to go first. The apple green glow of his horn casting light down the tunnel as he held his knives in it. There was no glowing orange slime down here, so it was only possible to see a few feet, but if he saw anything gold he was going to stab first and ask questions later.
They walked for what felt like forever, down deeper and deeper into the earth, the darkness stretching on for what felt like forever. Finally it begin to slope upwards, their lungs and burning in the silent darkness, not a word being uttered as they focused all their energy onto escaping. The smell of earth surrounded Hatter, bringing back memories of crawling in muck across trenches and battlegrounds to bring down the enemy. The trenches stretched on for miles across the edge of the Everfree. They had not been able to defeat the bat ponies, so they had built trenches and trapped them inside.
Only, the forest had kept growing, pushing them further and further back, growing over their trenches and seeming never to slow. They could kill ponies, but trees were a whole different manner.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel, a small opening big enough for a single pony to fit through. Hatter’s throat was burning, like bile rising in his throat. He was sure that his legs were going to give out, they felt like jelly, and his lungs felt like he had been breathing in hot coals. Yet one thing stopped him from collapsing. It burned hotter then his lungs, and screamed louder then his muscles.
It was love, the love he felt for the mare behind him. The mare whose breathing was echoing in his ears, driving him forward, driving him to protect her. And then he burst into the light, squinting as the sudden bright sunlight filled his eyes, after days underground with only the light of that glowing orange gunk, his eyes needed a moment to adapt.
Hatterstumbled forward for a few seconds, and then another smell hit his nose. It was a smell that had only filled his lungs once before. It was the scent of burning flesh, like barbecue but far fouler. It was the thing that finally pushed him over the edge, and he begin to vomit all over the base of a tree, tears welling up in his eyes from the acidic burning that filled Hatter’s mouth and throat.
Black smoke poured into the sky from where they eere
Clipper held him tight as he emptied his stomach all over the floor.
“Hatter! Are you OK?” Clipper asked, she did not suffer the same side effect from long periods of exercise, she just collapsed if the exercise was too much and recovered shortly after. She had no idea why this pony was emptying himself all over the floor.
Hatter took a few seconds to wipe the bile from his mouth and get his bearings, before his instincts as a solider kicked in. They were still in danger, they needed to keep moving “C-c-come on… We need to keep moving, just a little further to safety.” Hatter coughed, picking up his knives as they headed deeper into the Everfree, the only safe place for them now. They could set up camp somewhere and Hatter could look after them both with his survival training.
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Author's Note
I think this is the end of the stuff that was written a year ago. New stuff from here on out!
Chapter 4
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They finally found a place to rest almost an hour later, Clipper collapsed in a heap as Hatter preformed one last task, building a small fire and lighting it using his horn. All unicorns needed to learn a small selection of spells, most of which came in useful a surprising amount of times. Finally, he too collapsed, falling limp against Clipper and snuggling into her warmly with a soft smile.
Sweat coated every inch of him, beginning to be dried out by the heat of the flames, every inch of him was aching or sore. Yet he had done it, he had protected Clipper, he had joined the army in the hopes of protecting ponies, and he had used that training to injure them and save a changeling instead. It had been worth it however.
He hugged Clipper close and stroked her mane softly as she begin to sob, tears dripping into his red jacket, staining it a more muted tone with her sadness. He pet her back softly and shushed her, just like she had done for him back at the hive in those blissful few days which felt like an eternity ago.
Now that his memory was back his head was full of nasty memories, ponies he had cut down and killed in the name of peace, without all of that his mind had been like a still pool, now it was more like a raging torrent. He was not able to rest, but next to Clipper he at least got some semblance of peace.
“Just let it all out Clipper, I will protect you no matter what happens.” He said softly, rubbing her back and shushing in her ear softly. Her sobs were muffled by his thick red jacket. The felt fabric smelt softly of wood smoke, the scent seemed strangely comforting to her, much better then the fire on which they had burned all her dead friends.
Another sob burst out of her throat and into the jacket as she clung to her strong stallion, feeling his thin form below the thick jacket that padded him out. “Come on, dry your eyes Clipper. I will sort this out. You are safe now, I would give anything to protect you,” He whispered.
Her sobs begin to slow down as she let all her tears out, clutching close to him as she calmed. She sniffed his neck, then wiped her eyes with a hoof, letting out a deep sigh. “I am all good now Hatter,” She said as she shambled to her hooves “I am just going to go and collect some food for us.” She muttered, heading deeper into the forest and away from the safety of the fire.
“Just be careful please.” Hatter warned, knowing that she was really just going to get some time on her own. He could respect that, he would need some time alone after seeing what had happened to her hive. Even he was kind of twisted up inside from it.
He had no idea what he was going to do next, he had set up a camp, but they could not live like this forever, they needed proper shelter and warmth, it would get uncomfortable really fast. He might have been a solider, he might have been able to survive in uncomfortable conditions, but that did not mean he enjoyed it. He wanted a warm house he and Clipper could share, where he could have tea and crumpets. He was tired of all this death and destruction that followed him around like a plague.
Plague. He felt some kind of wall collapse in his mind again, the last of the memory spell melting away. He had not joined the army to protect his country, he had always hated the war, all those ponies fighting and dying over a family squabble. They could have worked something out with words, shared the kingdom and the day and night like the old days.
But instead they had to send their citizens off to die, bat ponies and other creatures killed by the thousand in a war that could have been solved using something as simple as words. But at one point he had been a proud farther to a beautiful young pegasus mare. She had been an albino from birth, and had been a sickly youth, after her mother-
Her mother, his wife. The mare he had married. They had been doing well together, then… Then his wife had died. The grief had made his daughter so very ill, and he had been forced to join the army because the pay had been good and he needed to save her. He had fought so very hard and earned two promotions in the first year, and had been well on the way to his third.
Then his daughter had died, he had… he had got a telegram about it in the mail, and he had attempted to abandon his post. He had been caught… And then he had ended up in the Everfree with his mind wiped, left to die.
And now he was in the middle of the same forest waiting for his new lover to return while having a flashback. He looked around and realised that on top of all this, he now had a squad of very angry looking bat ponies pointing spears and other bladed implements at him. They were in more muted colours then ponies, and wore dark black or purple armour. Like pegasus ponies they had wings, but their wings were like a bats, leathery and scaled up to match their size. They also had razor sharp fangs that were bared to him threateningly.
He had faced bat ponies before, but now there was six of them surrounding him, and he knew that even if he did fight, he would almost certainly die without even a chance to see Clipper again. He raised his hooves slowly, looking around “I am not a soldier! I surrender!” He said, tossing his knives out of his jacket to show them that he meant no harm “I-I used to serve in the army, but I left.” He muttered, explaining why he was carrying trench knives.
One of the bat ponies stepped forth, locking a pair of metal hoof cuffs around his front legs, the chains joining the two metal cuffs made sure he would not be able to run off at any speed. One of them also pushed a metal ring over his horn, a magical inhibitor that dampened magic, preventing him from using it.
Then they encircled him, and begin to walk deeper into the forest, one of them bending down and picking his knives up. They were still heavily armed, and he was not, so he followed them. They did not bother putting the fire out, and it got darker as they headed further from it. Soon it was so dark that Hatter could barely see, but of course the bat ponies had absolutely no problem seeing in the near pitch blackness.
There was another group of batponies further ahead that they were fast approaching on, the smaller group of five bat ponies joining with the larger group of six. He realised that one of the five bat ponies was really a very familiar changeling.
“Clipper!” Hatter cheered, before getting the butt of a spear to the side, making him cry out in shock. Clipper did not respond to her name, but she was walking and appeared to be unharmed, so that was OK. At least it had not been the ponies that had caught them, they would have killed Clipper on the spot.
The forest was making a lot more scary noises now they were away from the camp fire, as if the forest was starting to wake up now they were away from the light. Soon it was so dark that only the bat ponies could see more then six feet in front of their faces, the only light being the silvery rays of the half moon above them.
No words were spoken as they moved even deeper into the forest, Hatter barely being able to pick out the stern expressions on their faces. “Come on, cheer up guys, it is a lovely night.” Hatter said with a cheeky smile. He did not get a response, but he could feel their cold glares burrowing into him, so he did not say anything further. They approached a large, open space just behind the heart of the forest. Clipper gave a sudden gasp of shock as she entered the huge clearing. Hatter did not understand what had shocked her so much, then he entered the clearing, and the city appeared.
It was like closing over an invisible barrier, one moment it was a large grass clearing, then suddenly it was filled with large yurts and small wooden huts, in the centre of the camp was a huge purple yurt with moon symbols all over it. This was the place they were heading to. This seemed to be a military camp of some kind, which meant that they were in serious trouble.
Bat ponies in various states glanced towards them out of the yurts or wooden huts. The huts had been quickly thrown together out of the trees of the forest, the log roofs coated in tar to weatherproof them. They even had proper windows made out of proper glass from which even more bat ponies stared. It was really uncomfortable. He knew it was a military camp because some of the bat ponies that were staring were wearing armour. There was even a pretty unicorn mare with a scar on her face working at an anvil.
As they past into the large yurt, Hatter realised just how fucked they were. The tent was far more lush then any of the others, being far warmer for a start, thanks to a wood burner that was busy blazing away. The thing that really told him he was fucked however, was the plush bed set to the side of the tent, and the desk set near the back with an exceptionally comfy cushion set before it.
Both these clues pointed to the fact this tent was for somepony more important then a commander. It was most likely a lord, which was a problem because they were normally assholes.
He was roughly shoved down next to Clipper, forced to kneel as the Lord stared at them, the only thing that was visible of the mare or stallion within being a dark brown muzzle. As far as pony intelligence had gathered, there was six military commanders that Luna commanded, but only two Lords. He looked to Clipper, who was looking very frightened indeed. He gave her a calming look as the Lord spoke.
“My soldiers spotted you setting up camp, we are really sorry about any discomfort that was caused, but you were getting really close to our camp, and if Celestia’s soldiers spotted your fire, they could wandering in. We could not risk it.” She said in a voice as rich as chocolate.
“Oh… Umm. No problem at all. Sorry about getting so close to your camp.” Hatter said. This was certainly not what he had expected from all the stories he had heard.
The Lord looked towards Clipper “Is he holding you against your will dear? Don’t worry, we will make sure he does not hurt you.”
Clipper shook her head rapidly “No! He saved me! Don’t hurt him, please!” She said, looking up at the Lord with a worried expression.
Then the mare begin to laugh, throwing her head back so hard that her hood came down, showing the pretty dark brown mare beneath. Her face was matted with scars, one of her eyes permanently closed thanks to a scar that ran right across it. Her lush crimson mane was so pretty, so well- Hatter brushed the sexy thoughts out of his head. He had Clipper now, and she was the only mare he would ever need.
“I won’t hurt you dear!” She said, looking down at Clipper with a soft smile as she pulled her hood back up “You must not listen to all those scary stories, we are harmless, unless you intend to hurt us. So, what are you two then? Ponies and changelings don’t normal mix, and your friend here does not look like he is under any kind of changeling spell.” The Lord asked.
Clipper blushed darkly and looked down to her hooves, deep in thought for a few moments “I-I guess… I guess we are lovers… He saved me when the nasty ponies in gold armour came and destroyed my hive!” Clipper explained slowly.
The Lord paused for a moment, processing this new information. Finally, she spoke “I see… Well if you want, we can give you a room here for the night, then send you off to the refugee camp tomorrow. It is far more comfortable then it sounds, I promise.”
Hatter was caught off guard by this sudden act of kindness. He had not had anything like it in years. It took him a few moments of thinking and exchanging looks with Clipper before he decided. “That would be… really nice.” He said slowly, giving the waters a final test.
“Good! Guard, give these two our most comfortable empty hut.” The Lord said, turning to one of the guards tasked with guarding her throne. He looked slightly perplexed for the briefest of moments, then nodded, walking past them and giving a “Follow me.” in a gruff voice.
After they had been shown their room, Hatter realised that all soldiers had been given metal beds with proper mattresses. He was so amazed with this that he was forced to ask the guard about it. The guard had looked really grumpy with being asked questions, clearly just wanting to do his job as quickly as he could. He had given a displeased sigh and then explained that they brought the bed frames as it was a permanent outpost, and they were all made out of metal so that they could be melted down in an emergency to make more weapons or armour.
It really was quite ingenious. He was thinking about all of this, because these ponies had been the enemy all throughout the war, and he had just turned up in the middle of their camp and they had given him food and lodging. A pale yellow stallion had brought them both porridge, then walked out. No mean words or harsh looks. No signs of hate at all.
It was really, really uncomfortable to be honest. He knew these ponies were not bad, but seeing it first hand was different. He just-
The floor creaked, and in an instant he had draw his knives using magic, turning to face… Clipper, who had climbed out of her bed next to his, and was now stood before him “I-It is just me. I want… I mean, can we share a bed?” She asked “Only… I am cold, and I miss you.”
Hatter did not reply right away, he simply put his knives away and nodded, giving a smile “Of course you can climb in with me.” He said, tossing the sheet to the side to allow her access. She jumped up onto the bed next to him, cuddling into him tightly and nuzzling his neck. She purred, then climbed over Hatter’s back and cuddled into him from behind. One of her hooves pushed under his chest, and the other over his back, then copying the movement with her hind legs, spooning with him and nuzzling into his warmth.
Hatter had been finding it quite difficult to sleep with his mind racing away, thinking of all the ways he could be killed in his sleep. Now Clipper was snuggled into him, he found that his mind was slowly beginning to wind down. Hatter gave a sigh, slowly closing his eyes as he drifted off into a deep sleep, his mind finally at peace now he had got the mare he loved next to him. A smile slowly spread across his face, realising that this really was what true love felt like.
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Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. ```
He had thought that they were moving camp after being discovered, but apparently that was not the case. They were moving in to lay siege to Ponyville, today. Clipper had been deeply concerned about him staying in the army, but he had explained it was only for a very short while until he had a better plan and safer housing for them.
Upon discovering he was being sent straight to a warzone, she had been far from happy however.
Hatter was trying to pack up his kit bag, a simple leather saddle bag that contained his rations and other things he would need. Clipper was attempting to stop him by unpacking it as he put his stuff into it.
“You can’t Hatter, this is the exactly what I wanted to avoid!”
Hatter sighed “Look. This is what I am trained to do, I don’t recall much about my old life, but my fighting instincts are still strong. I will do this, then I will discuss getting permanent housing for us where I can get a different job and pay rent.”
Clipper groaned in protest. “But I can keep you safe Hattie, we… I could set up a hive and we could live in it together!”
Hatter sighed “I’d really like that, but we are not going to be safe. The guard are really stepping up their patrols, the only place we will be safe is in an area under the protection of the Lunar guard. I don’t think even my skills will be enough to protect us if a whole squad finds us.”
Clipper gave a slow nod. “Fine… But you are still going to be gone for a while...” She suddenly leaned in, her orange eyes fixing on him as their lips locked together. Hatter let out a pleased murr, his hooves snaking out to grasp at the cold chitin of her sides. Then her long tongue suddenly ploughed into his throat, forcing down it as she hugged him close.
He let out a noise of shock at this development, and then she begin to force the rough surface of her tongue in and out of his throat rapidly. This led to him choking softly on it, his hooves scrambling for purchase against her back. She tore her tongue from him, watching as he coughed and spluttered.
“You still belong to me right, Hattie?” She said with a smirk that showed off her fangs. Hatter stumbled over his words and slid up his bed, his shaft was peaking from between his legs, rapidly filling with blood as he stared at Clipper. With her smirk and her bright orange eyes… It was almost enough to frighten him.
She crawled up onto the bed and growled seductively at him “So, you are mine right? Or am I going to have to reinforce that fact?”
Hatter blushed darkly “N-I.. We don’t have time for this Clipper.”
Clipper smirked, then slowly let a thin line of honey dribble from her maw. Hatter wanted that honey so badly. He crawled forward and tried to lick the rope of honey up.
Clipper leaned back, pulling the tantalising rope of honey away from him. He cried out in need and leaned towards her again, making her chuckle darkly. The rope of honey fell to the bedsheets, and he dived for it, licking it up frantically. It tasted so good!
“I forgot to mention, our hive does not need love to survive, but our honey is highly addictive to creatures that are not our species… Other hives had used this to enslave species to do work for them.”
Hatter looked up in a bemused fashion from the sheets were he had licked up the honey. She grinned darkly, “That’s right. You’re addicted to my honey… You will do anything to get it.”
She leaned in close to him, muttering in his ear “I could have forced you to come with me… But I’m not that cruel… As long as you remember who you belong to.” Her tongue snaked out with the last word, slipping into his ear then pulling out instantly. He let out a sharp gasp, his cock twitching between his legs now.
She pinned him against the bed, showing off her fangs as her tongue dangled free, the long orange appendage swirling around her lips, almost wrapping around her neck. She slowly lowered her rear towards his throbbing length, then leaned down to kiss him.
“Come on. If you want the honey, promise you will come back, then say I own you.”
“I… Promise I will be back...And you own me.”
She lightly nibbled his neck, then locked her fangs softly around it, almost breaking the skin “Beg harder… Come on.” She said in a harsh, seductive voice.
“I-I you own me! I’m yours! I’m your propriety to do with as you please!”
She pulled back, fixing him a look before locking lips with him again. She pushed down her rear suddenly, her soaking wet lips parting for his cock easily and taking the whole thing in one smooth motion. The warm, damp folds locked tight around his length and he screamed, arching his back as he kissed her softly.
She lightly bit down on his lip, one of her fangs sinking into it ever so slightly. Blood dribbled from the wound, and her tongue swiped over it, licking it up as she let out a seductive noise. Her cunt clenched down roughly over his length, and Hatter was too deep in pleasure to care what she did to him.
Her tongue slid into his mouth and a thick wad of honey slowly rolled down it. The moment he tasted it he let out a mareish moan and begin to greedily suckle on her tongue, slurping down the delicious treat into his mouth and down his throat. It was almost as good as the cunt that was so wonderfully milking at his cock.
She grinned and slowly lifted up from his cock, leaving Hatter with an aching need for the warmth of her tunnel. She stopped when only the head of his cock was buried in her, then dropped down suddenly. His length slammed into her warm tunnel, juices dribbling down it and onto his groin as he whimpered for more, starting to slowly thrust his length in and out of her.
The honey was removed from his mouth “Ah, no. Bad Hatter, you are only allowed to lie back and let me use you~” He needed that honey. He slowly lay back against the bed and madly suckled on the tongue, needing more of the deliciousness.
And Clipper gave it to him, her tongue sliding down his throat as she painstakingly rose up his length. He cried out with need and then she silenced his pathetic noises with another thick wad of honey, retuning him to a state of frantic suckling. She pulled all the way up again, but this time she held that position, just the very head of his cock buried in her tunnel.
Hatter strained, frantically trying to keep a lid on his need. If he failed, she would take his honey away! His eyes fixed on hers, the orange orbs framed by black chitin, seeming to mock and tease him. His eyes held nothing but need, Clipper could read them like a book, and she was pleased.
Her hips took the whole of his length in one smooth motion again, this time not slowing as a seemingly endless torrent of honey poured from her mouth and into his muzzle. He gulped it down rapidly, his throat bulging with each swallow. He was openly whimpering and moaning now, too deep in a haze of lust to care about anyone hearing.
Clipper’s love tunnel was teasing him expertly, locking around his length each time it hit his base, then slowly relaxing as she lifted it up again. As she leaked honey like a facet from the front, her pussy was leaking juices from the rear, soaking his shaft and her balls in the lightly scented stuff.
Hatter was many things, but beneath all of that he was just a stallion, and he smelled the scent of her feminine juices, and it sent him even deeper into a frenzy, effecting him even more now that he had some intelligence to wipe away.
He was well past making intelligent noises now, his grunts sounding more like a wild animal then a stallion, and his moans sounded like a mare in heat as he attempted to buck up into her, to pound his seed deep inside her and fertilise her depths. She controlled him just like a wild animal too, managing to keep him pinned down even as he lost all control.
She felt he had had enough of her honey now, and she pulled her mouth away from his, ignoring his whines of protest as she retracted her tongue. Her hoof reached down to rub at her clit as she bared her fangs at him. “Come on! Say it Hatter! Tell me how much you want to cum!” Her wings flared out behind her, the holy surface filtering the light that filled the room ever so slightly.
Hatter did not attempt to slam his member into her, knowing that that would lead to punishment. He just gave her exactly what she wanted.
“I want to cum so bad Clipper!” He screamed. “I want to pump my foals into youe womb! I will do anything, just let me cum!”
She leaned down “Then cum for me Hatter!” And with that her fangs sank into his neck and her eyes dilated as her lover’s warm lifeblood filled her mouth, her hoof frantically rubbing at her clit as she sped towards her own climax.
Hatter let out a shriek, feeling pure heavenly bliss mixed with agony. The mix was intoxicating.
His cock slammed up into her as Clipper cried out into his neck, her frantic rubbing pushing her over the edge. Her cunt lost all control, clenching and flexing roughly around his length as he buried his length into her. His cock twitched softly, then begin to fire off thick ropes of his seed into her greedy hole.
Hatter’s eyes rolled up, every inch of him feeling like it was on fire with the lust burning through them. His body did an impression of her cunt as he struggled weakly against her fangs, the feeling of them buried in his neck was pleasant in the strangest of fashions.
He did not know how long he orgasmed, or how long he lay there basking in his orgasm, but he did know that Clipper had needed to patch up the bite on his neck with some black gunk that was normally used in building hives. He had no idea how she made so many wondrous substances with her mouth, but he was honestly too tired to care.
He was lying next to a small puddle of his own drying blood, it had leaked down his pillow, then formed a small puddle by his shoulder before Clipper had decided to patch it up. Hatter was in heaven, Clipper was snuggled warmly into his side, he had just had one of the best orgasms of his life, his body felt like melted butter… it was perfect.
Then Clipper muttered in his ear and his world fell apart around him.
“I didn't want you going off to war Hatter, because I am pregnant and have been since before we left the hive.”
His muscles found new strength and his head snapped to her suddenly “Pregnant? That’s… That is wonderful! Why didn't you say something sooner?”
“I-I was not sure until a few days ago, and I was worried you would do something like this if there was a clutch to care for… But you are doing it anyway, so I had to tell you before you went off..”
Hatter let out a contented sigh as he nuzzled into her. “I would love to stay here and cuddle with you, but the truth is, if we want to be safe, and raise children, we need to work for it.”
Clipper nodded “I understand that, I wish the world was not so unfair…“
She nuzzled into the wound on his neck softly “Go and give them hell honey. Make them pay for what they did to my hive.”
Hatter grinned, then groaned as he forced himself from the warmth of his lover’s embrace. “Don’t worry, I will… Mistress.” He added the last part with a teasing tone that got his flank a smack from her tattered tail. He let out a chuckle, quickly throwing his things into his saddlebag and putting it on with his magic, making sure it was not going to fall off.
His magic then pushed open the door of the cabin, just in time to catch a batpony who was eavesdropping from outside. Hatter gave the black furred bat a glare that could melt steel, then looked up to see a small group of batponies, griffons, stallions and even a zebra that had all been listening to his make-out session.
“Have fun did you? You’re screaming was loud enough for half the camp to hear!” One of the stallions said, stepping forward from the group. Hatter blushed darkly and his mouth worked rapidly, trying to form a response. Luckily, or un-luckily, he had left the door open, and Clipper could see just about everything.
She moved up behind him, biting down softly on his ear which drove a loud squeak from him. Before he could react, her hoof smacked hard into his rear through his jacket. He stumbled forward and turned to her with a dark blush and an even darker glare.
“If any of you mares… Or stallions, want to keep my Hattie company, he makes the cutest noises when you tease him, and his balls are just mmm, amazing. Also, I think he’s a slut for fangs and being dominated. Just don’t damage him too much~”
Hatter stared at his lover in shock. He was sure he was going to faint. How could she do this to him? There were several laughs from behind him, and then one of the stallion’s saved him. “Alright everyone, leave the poor stallion alone, he looks ready to faint.”
Hatter wished he could faint. His legs gave out beneath him, and he sat in stunned silence, watching the sexy changeling roam off with a cheeky grin as the crowd dispersed behind him. The poor stallion just let out a croak, too stunned to form words. Finally he managed to pull himself together enough to stand, slowly shambling off to where he had been ordered to go.
He was in a large group of mainly batponies, a few griffons, some stallions, and a scattering of other creatures, both pony and not pony in form. They were all wearing some kind of armour however, and a lot of them that could see him were muttering things at his expense, tossing him glances and grins. His belly felt like it was doing backflips and his face seemed to have a permanent blush on it.
The Lord stood on a simple wooden pew, reading out which squads they would be assigned to from a list. The squads were small, just four in number rather then the slandered five or six, this told Hatter that they were going more for the stealth approach then anything else.
He did not really understand why they were attacking Ponyville, it was a small town where nothing really happened. If he had to guess however, he would assume it was something to do with the fact that the Alicorn Princess Twilight Sparkle had come from the town, and therefore it held significant sentimental value to her. If you broke your opponents will to fight, then they were as good as beat.
But thinking on such complex issues was above his pay grade, he was just going to do his job, try not to play the hero, then go home and give Clipper the hardest fuck of her life… If he was allowed now that she was pregnant. Shit. He had not really considered that.
Not that he minded her being pregnant, it was one of the proudest moments of his life. He was going to be a farther! He just wished she had told him sooner, telling him just before he went off to fight was bad luck, the guy who had his wife to get home to always died first in the books.
“Oi!” A voice suddenly spoke from besides him. Hatter blinked and shook his head, turning to the voice. It was a gray batpony stallion with a well-kept purple mane. “Hatter’s you right? You’re over there with squad six.” He said with a wave of his hoof.
Fuck. Right. He had let his mind wander too far and missed his squad. He snuck from the crowd as best he could and slid over to his squad. It consisted of two batponies(A mare and a stallion) and a light orange griffon male who’s beady eyes fixed on him as he slid over. They were the same colour as a sunset, strangely pretty for one of his profession.
He was just taking in the silver armour of the griffon, looking like a rip-off of the armour the royal guards wore, when the batpony stallion spoke.
“Glad you could join us. I can see that you are going to cause problems. I am your commander, and if you step out of line again, I’ll cut your balls off.”
Hatter stared at the batpony, taking in the dark grey of his fur, his bright blue eyes, and his armour. It was made out of steel painted a dark purple like all the other batponies wore, but far more intricate in design.
The stallion let out a sudden laugh, showing off his fangs. “I’m fucking with you, relax. Just do what I say and I’ll get you back to fucking that bugpussy in no time.”
He was never going to live that down, was he?
The batpony mare smirked at him. She was the same gray as him in colour, and had a short blue mane and deep yellow eyes like most batponies he had seen. The strange slits the batponies had in place of pupils seemed to pierce into his soul and made him deeply uncomfortable.
The griffon sudden gave him a smack from behind with a clawed hand. Hatter let out a loud squeak and jumped forward, glaring at him. The rest of the squad begin to chuckle at his expense. He had no idea it was possible to grin with a beak, but the griffon managed it. Cocky bastard. “Your lover was right. The noises you make are adorable!”
He wanted to stab the griffon so badly. “Can we just get on with the mission please?” Hatter pleaded.
They marched through the forest with ease, the animals seeming not to care about the small battalion of batponies marching through it. Hatter estimated that they were only about one hundred batponies, meaning that there were twenty five squads. Definitely a stealth army.
Hatter and his group had reached the small town by nightfall, and in that time he had learnt their commander’s name was Moon Dancer, the griffon was called Hazy Daze, and the female batpony was called Starry Skies.
Hatter gazed over the small sleeping town, almost feeling bad for what he knew was going to happen. Then he quickly buried those thoughts deep down inside him. He needed to get back to his lover safe and he did not care what he had to do to make that happen.
“We need to take out the barracks,” Their commander whispered “We should have another nine squads as backup. There are about seventy guards in the town.”
“Seventy?” Hatter gasped, now looking down on the small town in a different light. No town this small should have that many guards in it.
There commander nodded “They have been trying to clear out the Everfree for a while now. Once all the squads are here, we rush in through the door and kill them before they even have chance to arm themselves.
Hatter thought about it for a brief moment, then suddenly got an idea. “Wait. Do we have anything to light a fire with?”
The Commander looked to him, giving a slight nod. “Yes. I have some flares for emergencies.”
Hatter nodded slowly “What if we lit a fire at the entrance and rear exit to the barracks, then they would be smoked out before they had time to grab their kit, and would be easy pickings for us.”
Moon furrowed his brow “That… Seems kind of horrific.”
“We are at war.” The female batpony noted.
The commander gave a grumble and turned back to him “Fine. Do my job for me, you’re still not getting paid extra.” He turned to the griffon “Go and run Hatter’s idea to the other groups, see what they think.”
After passing messages back and forth for close to an hour, they both agreed that Hatter’s plan was better then their original. Not that any of them knew it was his plan, they all thought it was Moon Dancer’s idea.
Hatter was picked to be the one who lit the flares because it had been his idea, and nobody else wanted to be responsible for killing the enemy in such a horrific fashion. Hazy picked Hatter up and flew him silently over the sleeping town. He felt the griffons powerful talons and paws wrapped around him, holding him tight as a set of powerful wings carried them both through the sky.
Such a powerful creature having such control over him, he could feel the beginnings of arousal starting to spark up inside his body. He shook those thoughts away, trying to focus on the freezing night air washing past them instead. This was no time to be springing a hard-on.
The barracks came into view, and the building almost took Hatter’s breath away. It was a large wooden structure carved to look like a tree! The branches and leaves had not been carved, but the pillar of wood seemed to bend slightly, and it had the grain of bark cut into it. As they got closer, the tree got bigger, and bigger, soon it was the second largest building in the town behind the townhall itself.
It had clearly taken a lot of work, a lot of ponies or some very powerful magic. Hatter briefly cast his mind back to the story of the Princess living in a library that had been destroyed, clearly this was a monument to that… And he was going to burn it down!
The griffon slowly swooped down, Hatter picking out three windows in a line up the front of the treehouse, one for each floor, then he was gently placed down, the griffon moving to the other exit of the treehouse as he was left alone.
The waning moon above cast just enough light to illuminate a patch of blood, all that remained to tell the story of the guards that had been stationed here. A squad with a mage had already been here to disable the magical defences.
Now he just needed to wait until he got the signal that they were ready for him to start the fire. They were going to attack in one huge wave, wipe out the defenders before the command chain even managed to start issuing orders. He heard a soft noise from behind him and turned, watching the first squads land in the darkness.
Soon there was a large group of at least thirty ponies waiting behind him, waiting to start cutting the guards down as they fled like rats from a sinking ship. He sat down, looking around slowly as boredom begin to sink in. He had the flare held in his magic, it was a simple red tube with a cap on the end, to light it he just needed to snap the cap off, then he just needed to open the door and throw it in.
It was close to fifteen minutes later that a bright green flare shot into the sky, telling him that it was time to start. He let out a deep sigh, then threw open the simple wooden door and tore the cap off the flare. There was a bright red flash that blinded him for a moment. His magic failed because of his shock and it fell to the floor, still hissing loudly. He cursed softly and kicked the flare with a hoof, knocking it into the room.
Still half blind he stumbled back, rubbing at his eyes before his vision started to return. He shut the door again using his magic, then held it shut with his hooves, wanting to make it as hard as possible for them to get out.
It took three minutes before the first shouts of alarm started. The door jolted half a minute later, somepony no doubt wanting to get out. Of course, he held the door tight, and then he heard the pony on the other side of the door begin to scream as the heat from the flames started to eat at him. He could feel the heat and hear the crackling from the other side of the door as the flames picked up.
The window above them exploded suddenly, a red furred pony diving from it, quickly followed by several others. It was their armour that made them all look the same, a magical enchantment weaved into the metal. The fact they all looked the same was part of what made them such a terrifying force on the battleground.
The stallion landed in a heap, and one of the batponies stepped forward with a spear in their mouth. The poor stallion barely had chance to scream before the spear stabbed all the way through his throat.
The batpony stepped back, and the stallion clutched at his throat with a sickening choking sound. His lungs were rapidly filling with blood. Hatter did not watch, stepping back from the door as his horn glowed, pulling his knives from his jacket. He grinned, looking down at the oaken handle and the long, razor sharp steel blades.
This was his element. Dozens of ponies had leapt from the windows above now, and the tree was a crackling inferno, the bottom window basking everything in a hellish orange glow. He quickly advanced on the first pony he saw, letting his training take over. Hatter looked at the brown earth pony, and the brown earth pony looked up at him, his red jacket and green eyes framed by the fire behind him.
“I surrender!” The stallion suddenly cried, looking ready to cry. Hatter totally ignored his words, Clipper’s hive had likely begged for mercy, and the ponies that had refused them that were likely here. His knife stabbed forward, guided by the green glow of his magic. It sank into the stallion’s un-armoured throat easily, Hatter not stopping until it was hilted in his neck.
Hatter pulled the knife out calmly, stepping around the stallion as he begin to gag. Go for the throat, the eyes or the heart. His training had been drilled into him over many years. He entered a battle trance, the faces pleas all blending together as he moved around the battleground. All that mattered to him was whether or not they were on his side.
Hatter remembered why his unit wore red coats now, it was not just so that they were clearly visible, to strike fear into their foes. It was also so that they did not need to wash the blood from their coats. As he finished off a badly burnt stallion that was begging for help, he suddenly had a flashback.
He was moving through what looked like hell, or at least as close to hell as you could get while still alive. It was a building that had been burnt down by some kind of immense heat. A stallion was attempting to crawl away from him with horrific burns covering most of his body. It was not even possible to recognise what colour his fur was.
The knife put him out of his pain suddenly. Hatter was wearing some kind of scarf over his face. His head slowly raised from the dead stallion, and he saw the reason he had run. Two burnt figures were slumped against the back wall, barely recognisable.
One of them was clearly a filly however. He stumbled closer, moving through the smoke. His heart was threatening to beat out of his chest and he suddenly felt ill. It was clearly a filly at this distance. From what little blackened flesh he could recognise, she had died screaming in either her father’s or her mother’s hooves.
Hatter slowly removed the hat from his head, pressing it to his chest as he knelt down. A sign of respect, the best he could do after letting such a terrible fate befall them. One of his unit stepped over, “Hatter? You OK?”
He slowly raised his head. He was not sure why, but he knew his eyes were burning with hate. “No. I am far from OK.” And with that he stood, taking off at a gallop.
Hatter stumbled back in the real world, his magic almost failing as he looked down at the burnt stallion he had just stabbed through the eye. He… He… Was a good pony after all. He might have done some terrible things in the service of a higher power, but when it had really come down to it, he had done the right thing.
He slowly pulled his hat from his jacket, his magic knocking the dents out of it before he placed it on his head. He could remember, he was sure that he had seen most of his missing memories now.
He also felt bad for killing all these guards without the slightest hint of mercy. They were just like him, following orders. But if it was a choice between mercilessly killing Daybreaker’s troops, or Nightmare Moon’s, he would go with Nightmare Moon every single time.
The Everfree was being held off from this town, and now that it had been defeated, the Everfree could spread through the town and carry on towards the shining city of Canterlot. He did not quite know when Celestia had become Daybreaker, he was sure that nobody knew the exact date that it had happened, but since it had the fighting had become far more intense.
The forest was the only thing that offered the rebels any amount of protection from the huge army that Celestia controlled. Luna’s troops were fewer in number, but they were higher in loyalty, and they were used to living on the fringes of society, so the war was nothing new to them.
The battle was over in another fifteen minutes, the wooden tree now a blazing beacon in the middle of the town, casting the whole thing in a ghostly orange glow. The guards were all dead, having been wiped out in one fell swoop with only minuscule casualties on their side.
Hatter stood in his blood splattered coat, watching as nearly a dozen batponies worked with shovels to make a graveyard as close to the burning tree as was safe. Guards had their names etched into plates on the inside of their helmets and the inside of their armour, those that had died without it on were being buried in unmarked graves.
Nobody felt sad however, they had done the task they had needed with as few casualties as possible, and the town was now under their control. They had taken very few guards prisoner, in case they managed to mount a counter attack. The civilians had not been harmed however, only one reported death.
The stallion gave a smile, feeling proud in all he h-
There was a sudden smack from behind him, a taloned hand smacking roughly into his flank and taking a firm grip. He yelled in shock, turning to glare at Hazy Daze, who had a firm grip on his flank.
“Hey Hatter, you coming to the afterparty?” He asked. Hatter stared into his sunset orange eye, basking in their colour like it was the real sun.
“Piss off. I’m not interested.” Hatter said simply, knowing that he was just trying to get get sex.
“Oh come on! We have alcohol. Are you honestly saying you don’t find me the slightest bit attractive?” The griffon asked.
Hatter slowly drank in the golden brown feathers of the griffon, the dark brown of his lion half… He was well muscled, and Hatter had never lain with a griffon before.
Also, he was pretty sure he had some kind of mental problem because he was slightly aroused from all the fighting. He gave a defeated sigh.
“What kind of alcohol?”
```
Author's Note
Have an extra chapter for this week. This one is clop focused.
Chapter 7
```
Hatter slowly stepped into the small house that they had borrowed, following behind the griffon and secretly taking in his muscular flank. The griffon moved up the stairs and into the bedroom. He followed quickly after, the wooden stairs creaked softly beneath his hooves.
He noticed that the bedroom was cast in total darkness, and he begin to get the strong feeling that it was a trap. He did not draw his weapons however, just quietly moving into the room. He looked around as his hooves brushed soft carpet, the caress of the soft fibres seeming almost sensual with what he was used to.
Suddenly, three candles in the room lit up at once, illuminating the bedroom in a soft glow. Before each of the candles was one of his comrades, out of their armour. Hatter stepped back in shock and gasped.
“Seriously guys, you all want to fuck me? What the hell is this, some kind of dodgy fucking porn story? This is taking the piss.”
Moon stepped forward, he had a long, unkept purple mane that barely managed to stop itself above his eyes.
“Come on Hatter, there’s wine, and me and Hazy always get laid together. Plus, the noises you make are adorable. I want to see how loudly I can make you squeak.”
Before Hatter could speak, Starry muttered something from the edge of the room.
“I got them all together. Clipper… well… Clipper asked me to swap places with her before we left camp. I had to beg a lot, she’s a really loyal warrior.”
There was a bright orange flash, then suddenly his lover was stood before him with a toothy grin. Hatter felt the world spin from beneath his feet. She was such a good actor, they had talked for almost an hour before getting here and he had not suspected that anything was off. She had seemed like your run of the mill “I want to die. My life sucks” Fighters that seemed to find themselves onto every battleground.
“Cl-Clipper? What are you doing here?” He asked, stumbling back against the bed as the group advanced on him.
“I had to make sure you were safe Hatter… Watching as you had that idea and burnt all those soldiers to death… It was shocking. You were unstoppable. You almost had me frightened… But before you get too big for your horse shoes, I thought I’d remind you that you have a lover to return to and a clutch of eggs waiting.”
Hatter back paddled his way onto the bed, pressing into the wall as his mouth flapped uselessly, trying to form words. His lover could be anyone and everyone he ever spoke to. Celestia dammit, she was going to give him some kind of weird, sexy paranoia.
“I’m not gay!” He weakly spat, crossing his legs as he tried to defend what little dignity he had left. Clipper spotted the erection between his legs and gave a smirk “I think that’s a lie Hatter. In fact, I know it’s a lie. I bet if I had these two strong males pin you down, you’d beg for them to fuck you.”
He let out a shudder, turning to his commander for help. Moon was grinning from ear to ear “Don’t look at me like that solider. I saw the way you went through those ponies. I know that if you really did not want this, you would have escaped already.”
Hatter really wished that he had not cut down those ponies so brutally now, karma had kind of caught up with hi in a sexy and less punishing way. Hazy Daze pinned him down using those strong talons of his, one on each of his forehooves.
“So who’s taking which hole?” He asked casually, like he was asking if anyone wanted anything fetching from the shops. Hatter squirmed softly beneath him, and Hazy fixed those sunset coloured eyes on him. The fight slowly left him as he wordlessly exhaled, his length twitching between his legs.
Clipper gave a smile “You stallions have your fun, I’m just going to play with him for a little using my fangs. If you are good, there’s some honey in it for you Hatter~”
Well that forced any remaining resistance from him. He went limp like a floppy, and extremely fuckable sock beneath the griffon. “I’ll take his ass.” Hazy said, giving another of those weird beak grins down at him. Suddenly Hatter felt oh so small. Like a mouse staring up at a lion.
Moon moved over to the bed with a huff, but he seemed happy enough with taking Hatter’s mouth. He stood over the top of Hatter without a single word, leaving the stallion beneath him to stare up at his underside. Hatter was amazed, Moon was even muscled on his underside! Hatter slowly cast his eyes down the dark gray underbelly, noticing a large scar that ran across his ribs.
Then his eyes settled on his commanders private parts, and he let out a soft gasp. The thick black length that sprouted from between a pair of plump black balls that were just as perfect. The length likely had an extra two inches on him in length, and about an extra half an inch in girth. He was glad that it was not going in his rear, it looked far too wide for that!
Speaking of which, he felt something hard, hot and throbbing pressing softly into his rear, the griffon pulling his legs apart. Hatter shuddered, feeling his length twitch as it was exposed. Then the griffon’s hand smacked into his cock, driving a sharp squeak of shock from him as his cock wobbled about all over the place like some out of control metronome.
Of course, this drove a smirk from Moon “He sounds just like a batpony mare in heat. I can’t wait until I hear him squeaking around my cock while I force it into his throat.”
“I-” Hatter begin, but was suddenly cut off when Moon shoved his member into his face, rubbing the musky balls right around his muzzle. He tried to rear back in shock, barely hearing Moon’s words as he felt the pointed member of the griffon press against his tailhole.
“Shush, slut. Use that mouth to please my cock.” He said sternly. He tried to protest further, but the griffon pressed forward, the large, pointed, and hard length spreading his dry ass as it forced in. A squeal filled the room, one that he quickly realised was his own, but that too was cut off when his commander forced forward.
The hard, and strangely warm length forced into his mouth, cutting off his squeals as his commander let out a content sigh. The length in his ass pulled out as Moon placed his hooves on the headboard of the bed, using them as support as he slowly forced his length into Hatter’s maw.
He had stopped protesting by now, submitting to his fate. His tongue danced over the underside of Moon’s member, feeling every single vein that supplied it with blood. This earned a groan of pleasure from the strong stallion “Good boy… keep going just like that!”
The length in his ass was pulled out, replaced a few seconds later by a talon. He shuddered, not liking such a sharp instrument being so close to his sensitive anal walls, but he could do nothing to stop the griffon. Instead he focused on sliding his mouth along the huge member of his commander, moaning softly into it as his lips put it away easily.
He did not stop even when it hit the back of his throat, just gagging softly as he begin to move it through his throat as well, the warm flesh lightly tensing as it welcomed the huge slab of meat, hugging around it like it was trying to keep it warm.
The griffon was done applying lube to his ass, and was now slowly forcing his well-lubed member into the tight hole. Hatter gasped as the now lubed member slid in, glad that his ass could not gauge temperature, because it would have been very cold.
He finally reached the base of Moon’s cock, his nostrils flaring as they took in a deep whiff of his musk. It was sensational, making his throat convulse happily around the length buried in it as his ass did the same for the griffon’s cock, welcoming it in with a series of skilled convulsions. Hatter felt like he had done this before, but those memories were still sealed off to him.
The griffon groaned in amazement, his thick, pointed member now hilted in his ass. “W-wow! He takes cock like a champ!” Hazy said, Moon giving a moan in approval.
Hatter was just starting to wonder where Clipper had got to, but he soon got a response when a pair of sharp fangs suddenly punched through the flesh of his left ear like a hole punch. Pain tore through him, and he barely managed not to bite down on the member buried in his now convulsing throat. He was kind of thankfully for the member, the squeal he let loose being muted by it’s length as his eyes fluttered.
The griffon let out a pleased squeak as his ass also reacted to the pain, milking his member madly. He reached out his talons and wrapped them around Hatter’s hooves, using them like handle-bars as he begin to thrust faster, hammering his length into the pony like he was nothing more then a fuck-toy.
Hatter was just starting to struggle again when Clipper leaned down next to his ear, shushing him softly. “Come on Hatter, only one more ear to go. Be good for Mommy Clipper!” His struggles begin anew, Clipper moving to his other side and locking her fangs around his ear, not yet hard enough to break the skin.
He let out a mewl like a wounded kitten, not wanting another hole punched in him. Moon was now ramming in and out of his throat, his balls swaying about hypnotically as the bed creaked, yet Hatter did not seem bothered in the slightest by the thick fuck meat being forced in and out of him. His muscle memory was doing everything for him, and he was starting to worry that he had been a huge whore at some point.
These worries were dashed from his mind as the fangs once again sank through his other ear, making a pair of neat holes in them. His body convulsed again and the griffon gave a cry of bliss. “Oh fuck! He’s so fucking tight! I don’t think I can hold it for much longer.”
Hatter was just lying there, his chest heaving as each breath was tainted with the musk of the batpony currently hammering in and out of his throat. He was starting to sweat from the pain that he had been put through, and neither of the males hammering in and out of him seemed to care.
His eyes stared up at the dark gray underside that was moving back and forth above him, attached to a shaft that was currently sliding in and out of his throat. He was lost in a lustful haze thanks to all the musk he had breathing in. The stallion was not even aware of the movements his throat were making any more, neither the fact that his tongue was doing laps around it, making sure that it stayed nice and lubed up to slide down his throat and batter at his tonsils.
The griffon growled, starting to smack his cock about with one taloned hand as the other held tight to his leg, allowing the griffon to hammer him even harder. Hatter did not mind, now drawing pleasure from the abuse of his cock. It even gave a spurt of pre as it smacked into his belly, tossing the glob next to his belly button.
He could feel his prostate starting to give a weird ache as he approached analgasm, the length that was rubbing against it making his cock twitch, trying to stand upright before the taloned hand smacked it back down again.
Clipper ironically clipped something cold and metal to each of the holes in his ears one by one. He shuddered, his tongue aching from the content circling it was doing. His changeling lover was now stroking his chest as he gasped, shushing him and attempting to sooth him as the griffons groans grew louder, his powerful hips now smacking into Hatter’s ass loudly with each thrust, filling the room with lewd noises and making Hatter’s balls tingle.
The griffon arched his back, then spoke to Moon in a strained voice “Together!”
Hatter could hear a weird scraping noise, and it took him a moment to realise that it was the bed, the powerful thrusting of Moon as he used the headboard for support, mixed with the powerful pounding of the griffon were slowly sending the bed sliding across the floor.
The idea of all that force going through him brought his arousal to new heights, and then the griffon begin to smack his cock around harder, and Clipper begin to nibble softly down his neck, moving over the old wound were the black gunk she produced still protected, silently threatening to do the same again.
Then the griffon smacked him straight in the balls, sending pain shooting through him and forcing his eyes to roll back. His commander took the hint and slammed forward hard, his cock twitching rapidly in his throat as Hatter squealed around the cock, taking a sharp intake of air and musk in to fuel his squealing to new heights.
And then the twitching member wedged in his throat begin to pump thick ropes of potent stallion seed into his greedy throat which was currently busy with screaming. This led to it going into his windpipe rather then his food pipe, which led to him choking as his eyes rolled all the way back to whites, all of this meaning that cum squirted from out of his nose and begin to dribble down his muzzle, the musky aroma now being the only thing he could smell.
Then Hazy slammed forward, the bed that had been built for two ponies to cuddle on giving a final titanic creak before it gave up on supporting all four creatures, and then in turn gave up on life, collapsing into a heap with a mighty crash.
Hatter barely even noticed, too focused on the griffon length hilted in his ass and the huge flare that was rapidly swelling up at it’s base, spreading the poor stallion’s hole agonizingly wide as it begin to dump the thick load of griffon cum right up his tailhole, the flare making sure non of it would escape.
Clipper gave a cry of shock as the bed did it’s best impression of a changeling, the legs turning to splinters and the supports turning to fire wood as it all came crashing down. She still managed to do her part however, her teeth sinking deep into Hatter’s shoulder, going through the flesh like butter and filling her maw with a weak flow of his blood.
All of this was too much for Hatter, every nerve in his body screaming out at once as he attempted to pull himself apart, his muscles all tensing up at once as his cock stood straight up in the air, firing off thick ropes of stallion seed into the air, carpeting the area around him as his prostate did a jig, trying to empty itself as fast as possible.
The pleasure just kept coming, climbing higher and higher, screaming, squealing, screeching, they all failed in turn to express how he was feeling. In the end his body gave up expressing itself and Hatter went limp as it decided to shut down, passing out between the two stallions and the love of his life.
He awoke an unknown amount of time, feeling bubbly all over. He was not aware that bubbly was a feeling, but no other word described him as well as that one did. Sitting up with a groan he suddenly felt strange, and not just in a bubbly sense. He was… Cold, and felt somehow light. Looking around he confirmed that he was still in the house, so… why was he cold?
The candles had long since burnt out, so he was left in the dark. He moved his hoof to his ears and felt something metal. Freaking out slightly he glided over the ruins of the bed and begin to head down the stairs. Hatter moved through the door to the house, the waning moon casting light across him.
Hatter let out a screech. In the place of his jacket he was wearing a bright pink tutu and a stripy pink pair of socks. He looked like a total slut! Sure… his ass had cooling griffon cum dribbling out of it and he was sure that his fur was at least lightly splattered with it, but dressing him like this was just… No!
He grumbled, moving down the street as fast as he could. He needed to find Clipper and get his jacket back, he felt naked without it. Sticking to the shadows he moved from building to building, not wanting anyone to see him in such a state. Where would Clipper be? Back at the camp no doubt, but he had forgotten where they had set it up.
Fuck. He begin to prowl around the small town, but a roaming squad of soldiers noticed him. Most of the civilians had been placed under house arrest, the perimeter of the town locked down by all the guards they had to spare.
He had expected them to make teasing comments about the way he was dressed, but of course he was not in uniform. His normal clothes might have been even worse, but being caught in a pink tutu was bad enough.
“Halt!” One of the guards shouted as the other members of his squad begin to look awkward, one of them failing to suppress a snigger. He blushed and froze in place.
“I’m with you guys! Some of my squad played a prank on me while I was asleep!” He lied, only slightly. The truth was just too awkward to admit.
The leader of the squad gave a chuckle “I see. Sorry, but I still need to take you back to camp. The town’s on lockdown.”
Hatter gave a sigh. This was going to absolutely suck. Not enough to warrant attacking them however… Not that he had his weapons. He gave a slow nod “Fair enough. Lead the way guys.” Each word hurt, he could feel his blush.
Hatter made it back to the camp in about fifteen minutes, each of which felt like an hour with the squad watching him. It was quickly confirmed that he was with their army, but not before at least half the camp had gotten their laughs at his expense. He stormed into the tent where “Starry” was working, quickly asking to speak with her privately.
Once they had gotten somewhere where they would not be seen, Clipper reverted to her usual form and chuckled at him. “You look like a sexy sissy Hatter.” She teased.
“This isn't funny Clipper!” Hatter said firmly “I look ridiculous.”
Clipper just gave a smirk “You like it really Hatter. You like dressing up like a slut.”
Hatter growled at this “I do not! This was too far Clipper, it’s beyond a bloody joke!”
Clipper just smiled, the smile getting bigger and bigger with every word. “If you hated it that much Hatter, you could have just taken it off.”
Oh. She was fucking right. Why had he not thought of that sooner?
He slowly sat down, his mouth flapping uselessly to try and throw up some defence against her words. “See Hatter? You like everyone knowing what a sissy you are… How much of a good boy you are for your mummy. I brought the dress, the socks… your ear rings…”
So that’s what those cold things on his ears were. He tried to get control of his lips, but his head was scrambled, and her next words shook his world.
“One of the ponies back at camp sold me a camera.”
All the words in Hatter’s head failed him, his mouth hanging open as he stared at her in shock. He had nothing for this situation.
“That’s right Hattie, I took photos of your squad mates rubbing themselves over you as your ass dribbled cum… By now everyone in camp should have seen them, I made sure the twelve photos got spread around evenly.”
Hatter still had nothing, so he just croaked the first thing that came into his head
“O-Ok.” It was certainly not his best work. His mind was in a spin, Clipper watching him with that cocky smile of hers before speaking.
“Hatter?”
A pause.
“Y-Yes?”
“Your little friend is standing to attention.”
And with that she walked past him, swishing her tail across his face before a green flash turned her back into Starry. Hatter’s mind was just attempting to pull itself back together, having been thrown totally out of control with just a few words.
His head slowly lowered to look down at the frilly pink fabric of the tutu, noticing his length peaking out from beneath it. That was not the worst part however.
The worst part was that he enjoyed it.
He almost jumped out of his skin as Starry tossed his neatly folded jacket next to him. Then his hat landed next to that. He turned to watch her skipping off with a giggle. That mare was going to ruin him.
```
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Author's Note
Last chapter for three weeks or so while I work on non-MLP stories.
Chapter 11
```
He came to the first fork in the path, steeling himself with a sigh, he took the right path. Hatter still felt that Discord was trying too hard, with the huge hedge walls and twisting paths. He was not going to complain however, he was doing this for Clipper, and making Discord happy. Two problems solved with one.
He froze up and looked down at an area of the path that did not look right. He did not know quite what it was, but he floated his machete down from his back and poked at the patch of ground.
The false floor gave away easily, the crude trap of sticks and leaves plummeting into the hole. Hatter blinked slowly, he had expected more from such a powerful creature. He slowly poked his head over the edge of the pit, wondering what he had placed at the bottom.
A pair of vines shot up at him suddenly, and he gave a curse and backed up as the vines attempted to wrap around him. Fuck this. He quickly slid around the edge of the hole, managing to look down at what could only be described as a monster. It was round, and had a pair of small beady black eyes set behind a thick layer of wildly flailing vines. He couldn't even see it’s body beneath them, not that he wanted too.
One of the vines got too close to him, and he gave a loud curse, diving over the last few feet to safety. What the hell was with this maze. He could handle spikes, but weird tentacle monsters was too much. He was not a Japonese school filly!
He was already getting sick of this maze. Discord was allowed his fun, that was part of the deal, but rapey vine monsters were far from fun. His hoof hit a strange patch of ground, which depressed under his hoof.
There was a strange hiss to his side, and then several darts flew out from the hedge to his side. They punched through his jacket easily and he frowned at them, not out of pain, but out of annoyance at the fact that the maze seemed to be trying to please him. It was not going to bloody work.
He ignored the possibly poisoned darts wedged in his side and kept walking, grumbling softly to himself in the fashion that old bucks sometimes do. Why did he constantly get into situations like this? What did he do to deserve this.
The poison flowing through his veins begin to take effect. It washed all the stress away, and replaced it with a strong need to push his member into something.
His member did its part to help him achieve this goal, rapidly filling with blood and stiffening up. Something was seriously wrong with Discord, he had filled the darts with aphrodisiac rather then poison.
He sat down and gave a further grumble, his hoof reaching out and starting to softly stroke his stiff member. Hatter felt like his whole life was becoming some terrible porn novel. Still, it was better then real poison travelling through him.
His sensitive member twitched rapidly, and then suddenly his eyes rolled back as cum spurted from his cock. Bliss tore into him, threatening to tear him apart. He threw himself to the ground and thrashed about, his eyes rolling back. It appeared that it also made him more sensitive.
By the time he recovered he was unsure how much time had passed, but he found out the second challenge of the maze. The bushes were slowly closing up behind him, and with the time he had been out from orgasming the bushes were almost upon him.
It was defiantly starting to feel like a bad porn novel now. If he orgasmed then the bushes would catch up to him, and then who knows what would happen…
He jumped shakily to his hooves, and begin to gallop through the maze now. As the bushes whipped past him on either side, and then a thought suddenly occurred to him. He pulled out his machete, and stepped up to the hedge.
The blade swung through the air, sinking into the hedge easily. Nothing bad happened, then the hedge suddenly lunged for him. He managed to get out the way of the branches in time to avoid being grabbed, but his weapon was nowhere near as lucky, the hedge devouring it.
He did not sit around to question it, he had expected that it would not be that easy. Instead, he used the time he would have spent questioning things to gallop through another section of maze.
He reached a dead end, and quickly backed up to the previous fork, taking the other path this time. After running for almost fifteen minutes, he realised that he had not hit any traps yet.
Thankfully, at the same the thought crossed his mind, a large pink cloud floated up to him. He frowned softly up at it, confused as to what it was going to do. There was a sudden bright yellow flash and lightning arched into his back.
He screamed, not out of pain, but out of pleasure. The electricity lit up his every nerve with the amazing feeling. A mental damn managed to hold off the pleasure for the shortest of times, before it burst apart and flooded every nerve ending in his body with the sheer overwhelming bliss.
Spittle flew from his lips as he slumped to the floor, coating it in a thick splattering of his seed. His cock writhed about beneath him like a snake, spurting his seed everywhere.
Fucking seriously? He barely managed to stop himself from passing out. A fucking magical cloud had just made him climax all over the floor. Everything in this maze was fucked up, and he had barely spent ten minutes in it. He was not so sure that he was going to make it through now.
He managed to stop himself from passing out by the skin of his teeth, scrambling quickly to his hooves and running from a pink cloud that seemed to be made of cotton candy. This was the last thing he had expected happening today.
Hatter needed to keep up his end of the bargain however, he was getting help from a creature of insane power. It was a fair deal. He stopped after reaching the next turn, looking back to the pink cloud.
The cloud too had stopped, seemingly no longer a threat. That was only for a few moments however, because the cloud seemed to shift, expand and change shape. Hatter should have kept running, but he was fascinated with watching the shifting, twisting mass of cotton candy.
It slowly begin to form into the shape of a pony, twisting and moulding slowly into the shape of mare. A light pink mare, with a lilac mane. It had white stripes spread chaotically through it.
She was wearing a yellow propeller hat, and as her eyes opened, Hatter’s breath was taken away from him. She did not have pupils, her eyes were bright purple swirls. Hatter suddenly realised that this attractive mare was a threat to him. He cursed loudly, almost stumbling into one of the walls in his haste to get away.
The stallion did have to admit that having such a sexy mare chasing him was exciting, but he had a mare he loved so much more waiting to be rescued. His breath was coming out in ragged pants, he doubted that he would be able to keep running like this for long, the erect member between his hooves was proving massively distracting.
He wanted to go back to that mare, flop onto his back and beg for her to touch him. He shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind, he was stronger then this. He was so deep in thought that he did not notice the trap he was walking straight into.
The huge blob of goo he rammed into the side of certainly seemed confused as he rammed into it, sinking into it with ease. Hatter gave a confused burble, and the goo creature wobbled, then attempted to shove itself into all of Hatter’s orifices at once.
He was not letting that happen, so before it could get a firm hold on him, he burst out the back of it. He was now covered in a thick coating of goo that was teasing him contently, but he ignored it. The goo creature closed up behind him and went back about it’s business.
He paused to wipe the goo from his eyes, then realised that he had accidentally inhaled goo. He stumbled, and almost leaned against the hedge to support himself. Almost. He realised that if he did so, it would be game over.
The stallion slumped to the floor, coughing hard as he cleared a thick wad of goo from his lungs. He was done, spent, finished, out of the race. No way he could keep moving with how much he was out of breath.
Hatter lay in a heap, waiting to lose the game. He was spent… And it was then that Clipper appeared before him. A perfect replica that he knew could not be real. He was hallucinating from the lack of oxygen rushing to his brain.
“Get up Hatter. I know you can do it, my big, strong sexy stallion. So get on your hooves and finish this maze! I need you to rescue me.”
Hatter frowned softly “Your image is perfect, but your speech is off. I expected more from my brain.”
It did work however, forcing him to try that little bit harder. He pressed his hooves against the ground slowly forcing himself to stand. He could not run any more, but he managed to shamble forward at a rapid pace. He needed to pause, to rest and catch his breath, but he knew that he did not have the time to do so.
He retched suddenly, and vomited all over the hedge to his side. All this running was too much. He had been approaching retirement age when he had had his mind wiped, and now he had pushed his body too far and too fast.
Hatter wiped his mouth with his sleeve, then forced himself to keep moving.
And then everything stopped. The maze seemed to pause. Hatter got the distinct feeling that he had reached the eye of the storm, and in the eye of that storm was a small wooden table with a teapot and several cakes on it. There was also a single cushion set out for him.
The stallion was worried that they might be poisoned, but he quickly realised that that was not Discord’s style. He also realised that he was being given a break because of the fact it was making him ill. Discord did not want to hurt him, he just wanted to play a game with him.
He moved over to the table and slumped down at the cushion. His breath was still coming out in ragged puffs, but he slowly found himself relaxing. His horn weakly glowed to life, picking up the teapot and pouring the… the chocolate milk into a cup.
The stallion lifted the cup to his lips, sipping it with a sigh. It was not tea, but it still helped to relax him. After he had finished the cup of chocolate milk he slowly set it down, the cup impacting the saucer with a soft clink.
He left the teapot and the saucer behind him, not wanting to take the piss with the mercy he had been given. Upon leaving the area, the game started up again. This time he was refreshed, and he had no difficulty moving through the maze at a slow jog.
Running before had been his mistake, he needed to keep it at a jog to avoid winding himself. The mare with the purple swirls for eyes laughed madly, reminding him that the chase was still on. He hit another dead end and was forced to back up again, costing him valuable seconds.
He must have been getting close to the heart of the maze now, he had been in this maze for close to half an hour now, it must have been absolutely huge.
He tripped over a rock while he was lost deep in his thoughts, flying along a few feet before smashing into the ground. His jacket padded out the impact, but it still bloody hurt. He went rolling for a few feet, then slumped in a heap.
Hatter groaned. Being a hero was hard. Climbing to his hooves he took a single moment to make sure his hooves were still attached, then took off at a trot once again.
The mad laughing was getting closer, and Hatter started to panic. He needed to win. He needed to win. The thought echoed in his head over and over again, driving him forward, filling him with the determination to keep moving.
He flew around a corner too fast, and smacked straight into a hedge. The branches wrapped around him invitingly, and with every nerve so sensitive, he almost melted into their touch. Only almost. He begin to struggle hard, breaking the branches apart with what little strength he had before they got a firm hold on him.
Upon breaking free of their hold, he dropped to the ground. He dropped to the ground in front of something pink. Giving a gulp, he took in the hooves of the mare, slowly raising his head to look up into the swirling purple eyes of the mare who had been chasing him.
A smile broke out across her face, and the propeller atop her head slowly spun. Then she leaned down to grab him. Hatter was not about to let that happen, so he gave a roar and dived at her legs. He slid between her legs and attempted to lift her on his shoulders.
Unfortunately he did not have the strength to lift her. He just managed to dislodge his hat, and then when he attempted to put his back into, he made the mistake of lifting up his head in an attempt to use his neck to lift her. He had forgotten that he was a unicorn, and his horn lodged squarely in her cunt.
She let out a gasp of shock, her hooves starting to beat against his back as she attempted to shove him off. Each impact of her hooves was met with the mare yelling the word bad.
And then somehow he managed to lift her. He threw her off his horn and onto the ground. She was too shocked to use magic, so she smacked into the ground and stared at him with the best “What the fuck?” Face Hatter had ever seen. He almost stopped to apologise to her, but realised he did not have the time. Picking up his hat with his magic, he shouted a “I’m really sorry!”
Then he tore off into the maze once again. Finally he made it into a large open space, the very centre of the maze. It had taken him half an hour to get here, and he assumed that it would take another half an hour to make to the exit.
As his hooves beat along the grass, a stone throne appeared in the distance. Hatter thought that it was going to be Discord that was going to be sat in it, but as he drew closer, he realised that it was the mare with the propeller hat.
He skidded to a stop and gave a curse “That’s cheating!”
The mare slowly smiled, a grin like a Cheshire cat that showed off a set of perfectly white teeth that had been clearly been cared for perfectly.
“No, that’s Screwball!”
Hatter blinked, “What?”
She giggled, floating up out of the throne until she was looking at him from an upside down position, “Me silly! Are stallions not meant to learn a mare’s name before they go sticking things in them?”
Hatter blushed and stumbled over his next words. The mare giggled louder at this, turning to look at him from the right way up “You really are a cute stallion! I’d rather like to keep you as a pet!”
He stumbled back at her words, his skin feeling like it was on fire with how hard he was blushing. The stallion decided in that moment that he was not going to respond to that statement, so instead he made a desperate gallop for the exit.
The exit closed up before he could even get close. Screwball laughed madly at him. “Dawwww! Look at him scurry about, he’s so cute!”
Hatter managed to splutter out some words now that his exit was sealed off. “I- I am sorry that I stuck my horn in you!”
Screwball floated down to her throne, flopping onto her back “Don’t worry Hatter~ I enjoyed it, and I want you to stick something else inside me~”
As she spoke, her legs slowly spread apart, showing her puffy pink lips, her clit spilling from out of them like a pearl attempting to escape an oyster.
Hatter almost passed out on the spot, spluttering and huffing until he worked himself up into a state of hyperventilation. Screwball just giggled louder and louder as he worked himself into a fit. Then she realised that this panic attack was serious.
She stopped, tilting her head at him before clapping her hooves together. A wave of calm flowed from between her hooves, and instantly Hatter relaxed. Screwball turned her head to him “Come on. If you stick your thingy in me, I will take you to the exit! And… And I will help you rescue your lover!”
Hatter was still fumbling all over his words, his head in a spin. She was very attractive, but he could not mount her. Clipper would not be happy if he went and had sex with another female. But… if he did not have sex with this female, he might be unable to rescue Clipper and terrible things might happen to her.
It was a lot of mights, and he could solve them all just by sticking his member into this mare. He realised that Clipper might be angry at him, but at least she would be alive enough to be angry at him.
s
Giving a sigh, he made his decision. “Fine.” He moved over to screwball and climbed onto her throne, his hooves standing on the hoof rests as his cock slowly hardened and pressed against her chest. He stared down at her swirling eyes, and she gave a grin.
The swirling in her eyes seemed to become more violent, and s Hatter stared into them, he felt his mind starting to go blank. He tried to struggle and pull away, but she wrapped her hooves around his back and pulled him close.
The moment his hard member touched her lips, all the fight went out of him. She grinned at him, but he hardly noticed, too fixated on those swirling eyes. “Yes. That’s a good stallion, put your thingy in my hole.”
She was not very good at sexy talk, but Hatter did not care. He buried his member into the velvety, almost virgin folds of the wonderful mare beneath him. The only thing that felt almost as good as her amazing walls was the blank feeling in his mind.
He did not have any worries any more, Clipper was gone from his mind, he did not have any worries. He just had to focus on her eyes and let his instincts do the rest, sliding his hard length in and out of her in an almost automatic fashion. Hatter did not need to think about anything, the swirls were doing all his thinking for him.
She pulled him tight to her, her lips wrapping around his roughly. Her tongue slipped into his maw and easily pounded his tongue into submission, dancing around his mouth. Hatter did not fight back in the slightest, her swirling eyes now much closer, and therefore much bigger, filling almost the entire of his vision.
It was then that the bliss surrounding his member was overwhelmed by the bliss of blankness filling his brain. He hugged into her, loud, whorish moans of pleasure escaped his lips as he pounded her mindlessly.
She pulled her maw away from his and smiled at him, arching her back against the throne as she moaned happily, pressing back against the throne. One of her hooves reached down and started to rub rapidly at her clit. Her cunt softly squeezed his length, but he could barely feel it.
He could barely feeling anything with the overpowering blank feeling filling his mind. “That’s it… Just keep up the slow thrusting like a good stallion.”
The words filled his head like gospel, and he attempted to nod his head, but was too unfocused.
Those swirls quickly wiped those attempts away. He just focused on those words that the pretty, swirly mare had spoken. Hatter’s length slid back and forth inside her slick walls. He did not make any noises to indicate pleasure, and his face was blank. Nothing in the world mattered to him more then those swirls, and the words behind them.
He did not know how long he thrust into her tight depths, but to Screwball it was almost an hour later when she finally felt ready to orgasm. Hatter did not care, he could have stared into those eyes forever and not give a care.
Screwball looked deep into his eyes, before speaking five simple words.
“You can cum now, Hatter.”
And then Hatter let out a scream, his hips thrusting in an out of control fashion as the bliss hit him all at once. It was like a dam exploding from a ton of dynamite going off, and washing away a small village that represented his muscle control and his mind.
He convulsed into the mare as his cock emptied every ounce of his seed into her, pressing firmly against her soft fur. His mind was finally free of the control of Screwball, and it was instantly wiped away once more by the tidal wave of bliss.
Screball whimpered softly into Hatter’s shoulder, her eyes rolling back as a powerful orgasm tore into her, one of her first in very many a year. She had been edging herself for the whole hour, and her orgasm was almost as powerful as Hatter’s. She had more self control however, and she managed to stop the bliss from turning her into a wreck like the stallion beneath her.
After she was done orgasming, she softly pushed Hatter off her. Her magic cleaned away the cum in her cunt, preventing the risk of pregnancy. She watched the half asleep stallion for a moment, smiling at him. She quickly realised that her farther would be wondering where they had gotten to soon.
She clapped her hooves together and the two of them flashed away and appeared at the entrance to the maze.
```
He came to the first fork in the path, steeling himself with a sigh, before he decided on taking the left path. His hooves padded across the grass as he sighed softly. Why was he being put through all this shit? He just wanted to rescue his wife and get a nice home for them and their babies, but everything seemed to be trying to stop him.
He turned a fork in the path, still lost deep in thought about his wife. It was then that the universe decided it was time to screw him up again. His hoof hit a patch of ground that depressed beneath it. Hatter looked down at his hoof and blinked slowly, before half a dozen darts shot into his ass.
He leapt forward and cursed, tearing out the darts with magic and staring at the remaining off-purple fluid within them. Poison? He dropped the darts to the floor, discovering that it was not poison within when a massive wave of arousal hit him. He gasped, blood rushing from his brain to fuel the rapidly growing erection between his legs.
He panted softly, reaching a hoof down to rapidly stroke at it, but instead of helping, it was liking throwing petrol on a raging fire, and he cried out in bliss. A few rubs later he was lost in his frantic rubbing, spraying cum all over the ground like he was a fountain.
He almost gave into it, he could have lain there forever, frantically rubbing at his length. But, he had work to do. He groaned, slowly forcing himself to his hooves. He felt terrible, his length was demanding attention, throbbing between his legs in an attempt to derail his mind.
He did not let it however, forcing himself forward with all his might. What kind of sick maze was this? Using aphrodisiac in place of poison was both weird and cruel. But he guessed that to such a chaotic creature, killing him outright would seem cruel.
And it was likely better then poison in terms of how bad it was for his health. He kept moving, although moving was likely the wrong word to use when describing the way he was moving. Shambled would be a better description. It was like his movements had lost all purpose, as if each step brought him pain.
In a way that was the case. Thankfully the maze seemed to leave him alone for a few minutes. Only a few, before another patch of ground depressed beneath his hoof. He stared at his hoof, then cursed and tried to dive forward.
He almost avoided getting hit by all the darts. Almost. All but one of them sank into his back leg. He cried out as the dosage of drugs in his veins suddenly hit a critical mass.
The lust was too much for him, and he begin to rapidly rub at his length, putting so much fuel on the fire that it exploded. His screams echoed around the maze, and drew a pink cotton cloud towards him.
He finally managed to get control of himself in time to crawl away. The cloud floated over him for a moment, pausing almost as if it felt sorry for him, and then there was a crack of lighting that hit him square in the back.
Instead of pain, bliss torn into him. Cum spurted from his cock in one huge string, coating his chest and the ground. He did not know how many times he passed out, but he managed to keep crawling through some unknowable force of will. He was weak, but he kept moving. His head was in a spin, and he almost collapsed.
He managed to crawl around the corner, barely able to feel his hooves at this point. He was not sure why he was still moving, he knew he was not going to make at this point. Hatter suspected that it was simple because of stubborn pride.
Of course, the universe once again decided it was time to screw him over again, because when he turned the corner, there was a slime monster waiting for him. It would have just looked like a softly jiggling ball of green gunk, twice the size of him easily.
It was not until it leapt towards him that he realised it was a living thing. The jolt of fear that tore into him managed to give him enough strength to stand, shambling to his hooves and lighting up his horn as he prepared to draw his knives.
It was then that he recalled he did not have his knives. And then the slime leapt forward, landing in front of him with a loud slorp noise. He had no knives, so he turned to the only weapons he had on hoof, which were his hooves. Punching a slime was a lot like trying to beat up jelly that could repair itself.
And also grab you. He cried out in shock and hit it with his other hoof, which turned out to be an even bigger mistake as it too wrapped around his hoof. He was totally helpless. He struggled frantically to break free, but the cool slime soothed his lust wrecked body.
He sighed contently, and then the slime pulled him forward roughly. He cried out in shock, but the cry was quickly cut off when he was pulled into the cool mass of slime.
It filled his mouth and wrapped around his body, shocking him with how cold it was. He made the mistake of trying to suck in air, and slime forced into his mouth. For a moment he was worried that he was going to drowned, but the slime that forced into his mouth quickly. Before he could even get concerned that it was killing him, the slime formed rapidly into a breathing tube.
Air filled his lungs and he gasped in bliss, the cold slime clenching softly all around him. All of him, including his cock. He panted heavily on the slightly sour air that was being fed to him. His hips were already trying to thrust back and forth, but the slime held him perfectly still, and he gave a whine in protest to this.
Thankfully, the slime seemed to be kind, or at lest, Hatter thought so. It wrapped softly around his cock and begin to slowly stroke back and forth, making his eyes flutter. Mixed with the drugs, it felt simply amazing to the stallion. It was almost, no, better then any cunt Hatter had had before!
His thoughts were cut off and his vision turned white as an orgasm suddenly tore his mind to shreds. He tried to convulse, to scream, to express his bliss in some way, but the slime stopped it.
And somehow that only made it feel so much better. He went wall-eyed within the slime as it stroked his member, a powerful orgasm rapidly approaching as he struggled softly against the goo.
His orgasm smashed into him like a sledgehammer, and he tensed as an orgasm forced its way through him. His cock twitched, and then begin to fire off thick ropes of cum into the goo creature, which had wrapped a thick tube around his member.
He eagerly gave up all the sperm he could provide, sucking in deep gulps of air through the breathing tube that the goo had kindly provided. Once he was spent, he let out a content sigh and relaxed slowly into its embrace.
It did not let him rest however, starting to milk at his over sensitive length the moment he was done catching his breath. With the drugs still coursing through his veins, he was forced to hardness in mere moments.
He let out a loud whimper, realising that he was totally helpless at the mercy of the slime. The tube kept sliding up and down his member, milking it so softly, and yet it felt so very good. His back tried to arch, and he tried to scream in bliss, but the slime stopped him. Helplessly floating inside it, the only thing he could do was orgasm. Again.
And again
And again.
Until finally, it proved too much for him. His cock twitched, weakly spurting out a final string of cum before his eyes slowly closed, and the cool fingers of unconsciousness took him, just like the slime that wrapped all around him.
He awoke to someone softly stroking his mane, and his eyes snapped open. He looked up at the pink mare above him in confusion. Her eyes were purple swirls, fixing on him softly as he awoke. She was wearing a yellow propeller hat that made her look quite silly with her eyes the way they were.
He attempted to question what was happening, but instead of words, a loud bark escaped his mouth. He blinked in confusion, and tried to speak again, but once more a it was a bark that left his mouth, this time a softer one. His hooves moved to his mouth in reflex, but that just made him even more confused. His hooves were covered in a black layer of what seemed to be latex.
And the hooves themselves were capped in thick rubber boots, moulded to look like the paws of a dog. “Aww, the poor puppy looks confused.” A masculine voice that Hatter recognised suddenly spoke. He slowly looked up at the same chaotic creature that had cast him into the maze in the first place.
He was grinning at him in a fashion that made him uncomfortable, sending the gears of his mind into a rapid spin.
He was sure that there was something he was meant to be worrying about, but he couldn't remember quite what that something was. He slowly climbed to his hooves, which felt strangely weak at this point.
There was definitely something he should have been worrying about. He begin racking his brain in an attempt to remember what he needed to worry about. It must have been very important to him, but whenever he tried to recall, the thoughts moved just out of his reach.
He decided that this would require all of his brain power, so he sat down on his rear and begin to think really hard. Now, the harder he thought, the fuzzier his thoughts became. He quickly realised that his mind was not returning to normal! He was trapped like this! He begin to struggle and then attempted to stop thinking while he still had some intelligence left.
Hatter was too late however, and soon he was drooling mindlessly onto the ground. Looking over his new body, he realised that he was locked in a latex bodysuit, and his mouth was being held open by a ring gag he assumed must have been magical. He could barely feel it however.
The chaotic creature slowly floated over to the chaotic mare, “So how do you like your new pet?”
The mare grinned and did a mid-air backflip, squeaking softly before speaking “I love him! He’s so cute!”
She paused to look sad for a moment. “But didn't he say he wanted to rescue someone he loved? Is… Is this not cruel?”
Discord chuckled softly “Don’t worry, this is a clopfic, and this chapter is not canon.”
The mare turned to Hatter with a grin “In that case, hello pup. My name is Screball, but you can call me mistress or Xwwzip.”
Hatter blinked, then barked at her.
“That will do too!” She said joyfully, wrapping a tight hug around him. The stallion was not sure what was happening, but this mare made him feel happy, and she was hugging him, so he did the best thing he could and hugged back tightly, nuzzling into the warmth of her fur for safety.
Hatter did not have to worry any more. He did not know why he had been trying to worry over things in the first place, there was no point in getting worked over something when you could choose to be happy. He just had to focus on being happy and…
She rubbed a spot behind his ear and he flopped onto his back with a very pleased whine. It felt so good! He thrashed about softly on his back, and then she begin to rub at his belly. It was heavenly!
His back leg begin to kick in an almost spasmodic fashion, and he attempted to moan out, but that turned into a whine by the time it had passed through the gag.
Hatter’s mind was so blank, the only thing flowing through it was pleasure. He did not have worries, or cares, he just had to focus on the sheer bliss flowing through him.
He loved his new life.
```
```
Clipper was running behind Hatter as the camp fell apart around her. It was like a repeat of her hive all over again. Once again Hatter was there to protect her, and once again she was too scared to do anything to help.
This time however, Hatter’s skills proved not to be enough for them to escape, and guards closed in from every side, encircling them. Clipper watched sadly as Hatter threw down his knives. She knew that it was the correct thing to do at the time, but even so, she was still mad at Hatter. This was exactly why she had not wanted him joining an army.
But she was also angry with herself because she had failed to prevent him from joining despite her many protests. She should have tried harder. She should have done a lot of things. Her life was full of regrets, and Hatter was the only thing she had to cling to.
She should not have come here. She should have stayed back in the Everfree. She shouldn't have trusted that bloody griffon.
Things only got worse for Clipper from here. She was not kept with the other prisoners, instead she was forced to watch as the love of her life was stabbed with a spear and plummeted to his death in a lake.
She had screamed and struggled against the guard that was holding her, but had been totally helpless to do anything to help him except scream his name. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she attempted to kick the guard away from her. It was not enough, the generic looking guard being too strong for her.
Clipper felt her hate for the royal guard grow even more. She was going to slaughter every single one of them if she got the chance. But that chance never came, and she was dragged away as sobs racked through her body.
She was still not kept with the other prisoners however. Instead the changeling was kept in one of the small white tents that the batponie’s had been using to stay in before… Before they had all been cut down in the surprise attack.
Clipper dived onto the sleeping bag, burying her face in the fabric to silence her sobs. Hatter was dead. Hatter was dead! The fact echoed in her head over and over again, and each time it did another sob escaped her lips. She needed to do something. She needed to make this pain stop.
She knew that killing the griffon who had stabbed her lover would not bring him back, but it would at least make her feel like she had given him a proper send off and let him rest in peace.
So Clipper sat do, wiping the tears from her eyes as she begin to plan. She was going to kill the griffon, and then she was going to escape and follow the river in the hopes of finding Hatter’s body.
Hazy Daze entered the tent twelve minutes later and found Clipper lying across her sleeping bag with a seductive look in her eyes.
Hazy gave a smile, “Oh, you look like you’re feeling better.” He noted, sitting across from her with a chuckle.
“Y-Yes~ Changelings don’t really feel love, and with Hatter gone I need someone new to give me a good fucking and fill me with love.”
Hazy chuckled, climbing up onto her back and wrapping his talons around her neck. Clipper gave a pleased shudder, starting to grind back against Hazy with a needy whine.
Hazy smiled, resting his head on her shoulder and cooing as his cock slowly hardened, pressing warmly into her back. Then Clipper suddenly turned, her fangs bared and rapidly closing in for his neck. Hazy did not even flinch, his talon moving and grabbing her head roughly, holding her at bay as he laughed softly.
“For a changeling, you really are a terrible actor. I saw it coming almost instantly.”
His other talon swung in from the side, smacking her across the face as the griffon stood up. Pain burned across the side of her face, and then one of his taloned hands closed around her throat, the griffon grinning down at her in a sadistic fashion.
He pinned her head against the floor and laughed, “I guess if you really want me to fuck you though, I can do that.” Clipper felt fear blossom in her chest, and her legs kicked at him. His armour nullified the blows against his chest easily, and he held her forelimbs down with his talons. She attempted to bite him again, to tear his throat out. But his head swung forward, smashing his helmet between her eyes and stunning her.
By the time she recovered his length was pressing between her legs. She screamed, attempting to kick him off one final time, but then the head of his member slipped between her legs. She let out a sharp cry as it entered her dry lips, which locked around his cock and tried to force it back out.
Hazy was not bothered in the slightest however, just continuing to slowly force his length into her with a loud, lusty moan. Clipper let out a scream, trying to throw the griffon off her with all her might.
It did not work however, the large griffon member slowly forcing into her, inch by agonizing inch. She screamed, her dry love tunnel was trying to lock the member out, but it only managed to make it dig into her in even more painful ways.
She did not want to give him the pleasure of crying, but the feeling she was experiencing was horrific. It was like her very soul was being torn apart, leaving her feeling like she had been hollowed out from the inside.
Hazy did not feel bad in the slightest, her tunnel was clenching around his cock in the most amazing of ways, trying to force it out, but only managing to milk it in even more pleasurable ways. He shuddered, needing to defile her even more.
He pulled back, then let out a thick wad of spit right in her eye. She hissed angrily and attempted to bite him again, but he was having non of it, hilting his member into her roughly. He gasped, cawing in a bestial fashion as he pulled his hips back.
He took in the pain in her eyes, letting it fill him with a pleasant feeling, and then he slammed forward, hilting his length in her in one rough motion. She cried out in shock and pain, arching her back.
Tears begin to form in Clipper’s eyes and Hazy leaned down to slowly lick them up, moaning in a mocking fashion. “That’s it Clipper. Your lover is dead. Just let all those tears out… You’re mine now!”
And then Clipper got lucky, her fangs breaking the skin of his throat and breaking the skin apart. She shook her head roughly, trying to tear the skin apart. Hazy cursed, his fist smashing into the side of her face and knocking her back to the ground.
The griffon pulled away, a hand holding his throat as he glared at her.”Fucking bitch! I’ll be back to do worse to you later!”
He stormed out of the tent, a taloned hand wrapped around his throat as blood poured from around it.
Clipper lay back, crossing her legs to cover up her sore vaginal parts, but the tears pouring from her eyes had stopped, and a blood stained smile was plastered across her face. She had got the bastard. And if she had gotten him once, she knew that she could get him again, and if she could, then she could escape.
Hatter was roaming through the forest, his machete cutting down the undergrowth as he followed the map. He felt like some famous jungle explorer! He wished that Necrosis had leant him a plinth hat to complete the image, but he brushed the foalish thoughts from his mind.
He was pretty sure that he was getting close to his destination, but he was not the best at reading maps, so there was no way to be sure. He knew that if he followed the compass he would either get to his destination, or he would make it to the other side of the forest and know that he had messed up.
His compass had stopped pointing north however, he did not know if they were meant to do that, but he knew that the needle always pointed north, so he kept following it blindly. Soon close to four hours had passed, and darkness closed in from every side.
He had stopped needing to cut down the undergrowth so his horn was not providing any light. He realised this was problematic, and pulled out his blade once more. This was when he begin to notice that the plants he was passing had already been cut down with a machete. Something else had been through here recently.
Hatter was starting to get tired, he wondered what time it was, and so stopped to pull out his pocket watch. Flipping it open he checked the time. His watch hands seemed to be broken, spinning around at a speed that made it look like it was about to take off.
He frowned deeply at it, and then it begin to melt like butter in his hoof, distending and thinning out until it had become more like a pizza then a watch. The stallion was reminded of a famous painting for a brief moment, and then just as fast as it had happened it was over.
The pony prodded the watch in an unsure fashion. He was quite sure that it was not designed to do that. He must have been very tired indeed. He decided that he was going to set up camp right here.
Pulling out the sleeping bag that had been packed for him, he considered making a small fire, but that would likely attract gnats. He unhooked his saddle bag, pulling out a plastic wrapped sandwich and unwrapping it before sliding it into the sleeping bag to stop any hungry animals from stealing it.
He slid into the sleeping bag with his sandwich, sealing it up to keep the insects out. Then he quickly devoured the sandwich, which seemed to be peanut butter flavoured.
After he was done, he lay back and relaxed, slowly drifting off.
He had weird dreams that night. He was a butterfly with beautiful bright blue wings, flapping about on a warm summers day as the sun shone from above, warming every inch of him, and helping to dry out his brand new wings.
He flapped down to a flower, a long proboscis slipping from out of his mouth and digging around for nectar. Finding a large deposit at the bottom of the flower, he scoped it into his mouth and let out a content sigh.
Life as a butterfly was simply the best. He could fly about all day and all he had to do to get food was fly over to a pretty flower and bury his face in it.
He flew to the next flower and let out a smile, stopping to sniff this one deeply. It simply smelled amazing! Like roses and hot chocolate!
He buried his proboscis in the flower, slurping up the sweet liquid with a happy flap of his wings. He then took to the light blue sky again, spreading his wings out to the sun as he flew over the forest with a smile.
The trees looked amazing from up here, the lush green leaves spread out like a blanket below him. He wanted to get a closer look at the forest, so flapped down and landed on a tree branch, looking down at the forest creatures below.
A large deer buck, with a rack that was absolutely huge, was munching on a patch of grass that looked delightful. A doe was nuzzled into his side, also munching at the grass. They looked happy, so peaceful together.
And then the bucks antlers slowly rotted away, falling from his head. He did not seem to notice at all, continuing to eat his grass. Hatter wanted to scream a warning, dark black clouds closing in over head, blocking out the sun. He knew that something bad was going to happen, and was totally powerless to do anything.
A lone timber wolf closed in on the buck, who lowered his head to get ready to fend it off. He charged, and the timberwolf did not miss a beat, leaping onto the buck and sinking its teeth deep into its shoulder. Hatter attempted to help, but his body was frozen in fear and he could do nothing.
The buck reared up, but could do nothing to stop the timberwolf now that he had gotten hold. It screeched, a noise a deer should not be able to make, and then it fell, and the timberwolf tore into his neck, spraying blood everywhere.
The buck did not seem distressed by this however, he seemed more distressed by the group of timberwolves that were dragging the doe off by her hind legs. Hatter felt panic rising in his chest, and he screamed louder and louder.
But the screaming did nothing, and the dream fell away.
Hatter snapped awake in his sleeping bag. There was some kind of warm gunk pressing into him from every side. He was still in shock over the nightmare, but still let out an “eww!”. He could not find the inside of the zipper, but as his hoof clawed around madly for it, the sleeping bag parted with a noise like tearing fabric, his hoof bursting into the open air.
The stallion let out a gasp, poking his head through the hole that his hoof had made, slowly forcing his shoulders out as well. The sleeping bag ripped more, and then Hatter slipped out in one smooth motion, letting out a gasp as he flopped onto the forest floor.
He was soaked in some kind of strange gunk. Maybe an animal had slobbered on him, or somepony had played a prank. He did not really care at the moment. He was absolutely exhausted, despite the fact he had just woke up.
It seemed like he had slept a good few hours too, as the Everfree was the kind of dank darkness that meant it was morning, rather then the choking darkness that meant it was night time.
He attempted to get to his hooves, but they flopped about from under him like limp noodles, failing to support his weight in the slightest. He looked at them and frowned. He moved his front hoof over to one of his rear legs, scraping some of the gunk off it and bringing it to his face.
It was orange in colour, he did not have any idea what it was, so he did the only thing he could to identify it, he pressed it to his lips and dabbed his tongue onto it. It tasted foul, so foul he did not dare swallow it. He spat the gunk out to the side, making a disgusted noise.
“What the fuck is going on?” Hatter questioned out loud. He could feel a strange pressure in his back. He turned and looked towards the strange pressure. He had a pair of bright blue butterfly wings hanging limply on his back, soaked in the strange gunk.
“What, the fuck is going on?” He repeated, confused at his current situation.
He looked towards his sleeping bag, which had somehow become a cocoon. Hatter quickly came to the conclusion that he must have still been dreaming. That was the only logical conclusion. He attempted to snuggle back into his cocoon and go back to sleep, but the goo was rapidly cooling, making going back to sleep impossible.
Hatter let out a growl of annoyance and climbed out of his cocoon, his new wings flaring out to the side from the rage coursing through him. “OK. I will repeat myself one last time. What the fuck is happening?” He screeched.
Laughter echoed all around him, and a patch of forest opened up into a path that was clearly a trap. Hatter was sick of all the weird stuff, the nightmare having really shaken him up.
With his machete held tightly in his magic, he advanced down the forest path, a deep frown clear across his face. Whoever was doing this too him was going to get a blade to the face. He was forced to fold his wings into his sides to prevent them catching on the undergrowth as he advanced down the path.
Passing through the final layer of undergrowth, Hatter’s magic failed him for a moment, his weapon clattering to the floor. There was a huge oaked table set in the middle of the forest like it had always belonged, and sat at the table was the strangest creature he had ever seen.
His body was snake-like, he had a horse’s head, with a deer antler on the right side of it, and a blue goat horn on the right. He had a small fang peaking out from between his lips, his right arm was a lion paw, his left hand was that of an eagle. Hatter could not see his legs, but he knew that they would be strange too.
As Hatter picked up his weapon, he noticed that the strange animal had a pair of tiny mismatched wings, one of them belonging to a bat, and the other to a pegasus. He could have shown, and not told about all of this, but it was important to let his brain process this information as quick as possible before it got over loaded.
It still failed however, his brain sent into a spin as he almost dropped his weapon again. It was only now that he noticed the food on the table. There were several teapots in several mesmerising and wonderful colours. Next to the teapots were teacups in even stranger colours.
Then there were the cakes next to those, and they looked heavenly, Victoria sponges, tea cakes, eclairs, battenberg, bakewell tart… Several other cakes Hatter was unable to identify.
They all shared a common theme however, they all made Hatter want to shove them in his mouth and keep them safe in his belly. He looked back to the weird, chaotic creature, and realised he was now wearing a copy of Hatter’s jacket and hat, sized up and moulded to his from.
“What is this?” Hatter asked.
The chaotic creature flew out of his seat and hovered in place, his wings not flapping in the slightest as he violated all the laws of physics and logic in one sweep.
“It’s been ages since I had some company,” The creature explained, “I just want to make everything perfect and play some games!” He said in a gleeful tone.
Hatter looked back at his wings, then back to the creature “Did you do this to my back? Who the hell are you?”
The creature bowed in mid-air, taking his head off and holding it to his chest as he took a bow. His hat somehow stayed floating in place, and he reattached his head beneath it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. “My name is The Ancient One, or… Discord!” He grinned, throwing his arms wide and snapping his talon.
Instantly, several of the teapots and plates of cakes gained sentience and begin to do a strange, lively dance around the table. Hatter tried to hold onto his anger and remember what an important mission he was on, but the sheer amazement of everything that was happening had him at a loss.
He watched a plate of small crustless cucumber sandwiches leap over a steaming pot of tea, and he felt a foalish urge to clap his hooves together in glee. He quickly crushed that urge however, remembering the wings sprouting from his back.
“That’s impressive, but why did you make butterfly wings come out of my back?”
Discord floated down to his seat, sitting down with a grin like a Cheshire cat.
“Oh, that? I made you into an alicorn OC. It’s traditional.”
Hatter understood about half of what had just been said, but it did not really matter. “Well would you mind removing them from my back? I really do not appreciate them.”
Discord gave a chuckle, rotating until he was sat upside down. “Some ponies would love the chance to have wings!”
Hatter frowned, but slowly moved over to the table, sitting at a chair that quickly rotated so that he was floating upside down too.
He attempted to keep the serious look on his face. “Well if you are the Ancient One, I need to ask a favour of you. After you rid me of these wings.”
Discord gave a laugh, “That’s not how bargaining works, you are meant to give me something I want, then I give you something that you want.”
“Well I was a rebel figh-” Hatter was suddenly flying backwards, stopping a mere moment before he smashed into a tree.
Discord was before him an instant later, his eyes filled with rage like Hatter had never seen before. He fell silent, all words failing him as Dicord’s lion paw pressed into his throat.
“Don’t mention either side in this stupid war.”
Hatter gulped, then nodded slowly, showing that he understood. Discord backed up, setting him back in his seat. “Now, what are you here for?”
He tried to keep calm, not letting Discord get to him, he was scared however, but he managed to bury that deep down.
“I want to save my lover. She has been captured. That is all.”
Discord apparently found this funny beyond words, his serpentine body wiggling about as he laughed manically. It was not a healthy laugh, it was the laugh of someone that had been through too much for too long.
The stallion was not stopping him any time soon however, clearly if a creature this powerful was unhinged, he wanted to do as little as possible to annoy him.
“Is that it? I lost someone I loved very much too, and it almost destroyed me. I understand your pain.”
Hatter nodded, he could understand why this creature was insane now. If Clipper got killed, he might go mad too. Discord put a talon to his chin, like he was thinking deeply. “I have not had anyone to play with in ages. If you can make it through my maze, I will give you all the help you need.”
He knew not to trust such a chaotic creature. “And if I lose?”
Discord chuckled softly, “Then you would have to stay here with me, as my plaything.”
He chuckled “Fine. I will play your game, Discord. But if I win, you better give me all the help I want.”
Discord bowed down, looking up to Hatter with a sly grin “Then a deal is struck, and the game begins.” His taloned fingers snapped together and suddenly Hatter was in a white void. It only lasted the smallest moment, and then he was suddenly dumped onto a grass path at the start of a hedge maze.
On the upside, his butterfly wings seemed to have vanished. That was a silver lining at least
The stallion slowly looked around the maze, giving a light frown. Hatter had expected something a bit more imposing from such a frightening creature, but he was glad that it had not been imposing. He was quite sure that a typical maze with a minotaur in it would have been extremely boring.
Well at least as far as scary mazes went, being gored by a bull would be the exact opposite of boring. He was not going to get anywhere sitting around however. Climbing to his hooves he begin to move through the maze.
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