Corruption of Souls

Ch.47

“Huh, they’re making good progress.” We commented from our lofty 20-foot height, strolling across the arid badlands heading south by southwest through the wastes of Equestria towards Rodenas. We currently wore a form-fitting dress similar to Aventurine’s, a gift from her. It would fit no matter our size and proportions, sometimes even shape. We especially appreciated the corset, you don’t know how wonderful it is to have support for huge tits until you finally have it, even if We don’t need it for strength and magical reasons.

What We were referring to however, was the encroaching line of green on the horizon to the west. Beyond, the formerly barren dunes of sand were now hills of rolling green grass and budding trees. Soon the Sand Witches may be known as the Dune Druids.

“This is nice.” We sighed as We strolled, our demon great axe out just in case as We walked, even if it was a hatchet at our current size. We could see feral elk and arid-region animals sprinting away from us, something a bit disappointing since We loved watching nature, but our size triggered a flight response. “Well, at least the birds just land on us.” We mused in amusement with a look at the crows on our left shoulder. At least We don’t have to worry about their poop thanks to the self-cleaning magic dress.

“Yummy birds~.”

“How long until We reach this place? We’ve been walking for days already.” We sighed at the fact it wasn’t until now that We were starting to see larger trees. For the most part it wasn’t the large tangle that Briallia described. “So boring.”

“Well hey there!” We heard as a massive anthro blue dragon standing at around 28 feet landed near us. “I didn’t think I’d find another being of my size in these lands, considering how isolated it is.” He chuckled with a voice that was obviously male on top of his rippling masculine physique, easily rivaling Spike at a much more massive scale. “What do you think about her Tweedledum?”

“I dunno Tweedledee, What species is she?” Asked a red dragon who landed next to the blue one, this one was about the same size but fatter. They looked related.

The fact they were male both confused and kinda pissed us off. “Where the absolute fuck have you been?! The dragonlands have needed males for centuries!” We snarled in frustration. Do not tell us there are several male dragons just hiding out across the world! We will kick you in the internal nads!

“Huh? We were hibernating? We were in that cave over there.” Tweedledee said as he pointed to a mountain off to the east that had an incredible gaping cavern facing us. “I was much smaller when I went in. We had a growth spurt and had to dig ourselves out. We have obviously been asleep for much longer than we should have. Is the Crystal Empire still ruled by that nice pony princess?”

“They’re kinda hunky, well the blue one is.”

“Don’t care. Shut up. Go back to the Dragonlands and get fucking. We’ve busted our fucking balls for the past fucking year doing your fucking job!” We roared in his face, even if he was nearly a third again our height over us, poking him in the rippling pectorals with each curse.

“Uh...okay, bye angry lady?” Tweedledum said before they flew off.

“Really? Fucking really? They slept through their kind almost being wiped out?!” We began stomping, turning our paws into hooves for a more satisfying thundering sound and impact as continued towards Rodenas.

“Trust me girls, that is more common than you think. There’s my Advisor who is still asleep.”

Then...We stopped, looked towards where the dumb dragons flew off and then screamed in wordless fury at our own stupidity. We could’ve flown there!

“Uh...oh. Um, even I forgot about that…”

(<3)

After throwing a tantrum, We turned full dragon and flew to Rodenas within an hour since We’d already crossed most of the distance. The fact said distance was only a few hours by wing only served to infuriate us further, which abated upon seeing Rodenas properly. “Whoa...Briallia wasn’t kidding. It’s so dense there’s almost nowhere to land, not even on the roads.”

Soon, We found the Village Briallia had mentioned, being the only place to land and We found demons and ghosts duking it out in the ruins of said village. They were throwing spells, hacking at each other with weapons, generally butchering each other. Landing outside of the fight down towards the end of the one-road village, We took stock of the situation.

It seemed the ghosts, although weaker, were overwhelming the hellspawn which were mostly Imps and Possessed Mice. Especially when the ghosts dove into the enthralled corpses and promptly transformed into Ents to fight the other demons. We hummed after We had shrunk down to make it easier to move and We let the ghosts dispatch the demons. Once done, the Ents began shambling towards the trees with nearly all the ghosts following save one, which hovered over towards us. It was hard to distinguish any features considering it was so wispy.

“Um, hello? We are Wiatr. We came to see if there is any Corruption remaining here.” Because while Hell is a serious issue, it seemed the haunted regions of Rodenas had them contained for now. However, instead of responding the ghost suddenly lurched forward, diving into our chest. “Wha-hey! Get out!” We huffed indignantly, shaking our bust in annoyance.

“They come.” We didn’t even jump at the sound of the whispered male voice in our head.

“Who?” We looked around warily, eyeing the other ghosts in case they were going to try and possess us too, but they weren’t.

“They come to burn it. Our home. The Mice, our charges, our long-strayed descendents, scattered to the four winds. Carim is not complacent.” Ugh, great. That place.

“Okay, so this is the former kingdom of Carim, a place known for its ruthlessness and cruelty. Makes sense even though you protected them, you still constantly harassed the mice with your encroaching haunted plants.” We gestured around the village already being rapidly claimed by the forest despite the demons having tried to set up more of their little portals here.

“We cannot defend our land properly without hosts. Without new flesh. This is not Oolacile or Darkroot. Our lands are haunted by violence and death, rather than purpose and upkeep.” Oh, come on don’t tell us...

“Get on with it, what do you want with us.” We sighed, getting an exhausted idea of what he meant, considering mice are breeding machines naturally with one-month gestations of multiples averaging 4 to 7 pups each litter.

“We need new vessels and our living counterparts have fled to safety, having forgotten the ancient rites with their elders and wise-women having lost the knowledge and warding us away with magic and alchemy. Traitors all. Let them live in their new homes, but we want our land back!” The ghost declared passionately.

“You want us to bear your new bodies.” We took a deep breath and let it out at the ghost not even denying it. “Whatever. Another day, another situation solved by being a baby factory. Where to?”

“It would be faster if you flew. Head south by southwest. There you will find the ruins of the capital.” The ghost went silent and We took flight once more with our new hitchhiker.

(<3)

The closer to the capital, which the ghost refused to name, the more roads, clearings and towns there were. Of course, the fact that the Demons were burning the forest the best they could in spite of the ghost’s efforts to thwart them really filled the sky with smoke and cleared a good amount of the forest too. The sight enraged the ghost within us to the point where he refused to talk any further, simply giving us the notion to keep going.

The ruins were overrun by Hell demons. We gulped nervously. They had every type down there in swathes of rapidly building organization. It looked like a military occupation at the moment, but soon it would turn into a bulldozing army heading north to Equestria most likely. “Damn it. That’s not good. We can’t stop them alone.” We fished into our cleavage, taking out the Marine’s token. “We know you’re busy, but please, if you can hear us at least give us advise. An army of Hell is encamped in the ruined capital of a country just southwest of Equestria.”

“How did they get here anyway? I thought we sealed Hell originally? Why choose this place?”

“Grah~!” We heard below and a knight in onion-shaped armor rushed from the forest at a group of demons, their sword swirling with a tornado of wind which they swung down and sent flying into the nearest gathering of Imps and Hell Knights, slicing a whole bunch of them in twain. “Foul Beasts! You will fall to my blade, for I am the last of the Knights of Catarina! I will not let you monsters of Sin persist!” He roared before jumping back into the trees and running off, leaving enraged demons that instantly began chasing him before a surprisingly powerful bomb he had left in their midst blew up, scattering blood and giblets everywhere.

All in all, while ballsy, pretty cool and it did kill dozens of them...it was also stupid. That was just one camp, in a city full of camps! There's thousands of these demons! “Well...at least it seems We have an ally, but what is a knight of Catarina doing in the ruins of Carim?”

“Damn jolly good-for-nothings. If we wanted his help we would’ve asked for it.” The ghost huffed.

“Well you’re asking us for help and you don’t even know where We’re from.” For all he knew, We’re a dumb adventurer well in over her head. We kinda are actually…

“Better a stranger you don’t know than the drunken lout you do.” The ghost grumbled.

“...Okay?” These spirits of Carim are serious pieces of work. Our unease towards these clearly hostile entities aside, We followed the vague direction the ghost was urging us towards and landed in a clearing the trees made for us. “Huh, that’s convenient.” The canopy suddenly snapped shut and branches seized us. “Hey!”

“Brothers, release her. She is a guest.” At my companion’s words, the trees let us go. “I had told them to open the canopy, but not what it was for. Apologies. Turn slightly to the right and begin walking.” We huffed and began moving through the thick trees, shrubbery and low-hanging branches clearing out of the way that formed a tunnel of sorts, revealing an ominous stone tomb-like entrance.

We turned into our vixen form since it was more suited to tight spaces. We even shrunk our bust and hips down, being Willow’s original willowy physique. It made the walk so much better, especially with how our clothes changed into a black copy of Daring’s signature khaki safari gear. It felt like old times. Nostalgia hit us so hard of Daring seeking lost forest ruins, of Svartr hunting fleeing Undead in the Garden, of Willow going camping and finding a cave.

Our happy moment ended when We reached the tomb and began descending. Eerie aqua lights began shining when We reached the main chamber of, surprise, an empty tomb. However, the center of the chamber clearly began an intricate carving in the floor that went in a spiral outward to the walls. “To the center and disrobe please.”

“Don’t treat this so clinically. If We’re going to be getting rapidly knocked-up and birthing an army to fight the one outside, at least make it enjoyable.” We grumbled, moving to do as told. “Okay, so how are We going to do-?” We were interrupted by harsh aqua light blinding us, magic shackles grabbing our wrists and ankles. “Hey! We’re doing this willingly! No need to restrain us!” We pulled on the ethereal shackles, unsurprised at how unyielding they were despite our strength. This was clearly ancient and established magic rooted here.

“The sacrifice is in place! Begin brothers!”

“S-sacrifice?! No!” We pulled against the tightening ghostly chains that pulled us off the floor and began pulling us spread-eagle with our front facing the ceiling. “D-don’t kill us! We’re Undead! That can’t be worth anything to a ritual!”

“That just means you’ll survive birthing full-grown men. This chamber acts as a Bonfire, so even if you die you’ll just respawn here.”

“What?!” We yelped. We haven’t actually birthed a full-grown person before! “W-wait! Let us at least size up to our full height of 20 feet!” This chamber was massive, easily 50 feet from wall to wall and the ceiling was vaulted, going up so high the darkness swallowed it. “We could gestate so many more of you at once and the birth would be much easier on us!”

“We don’t have time.”

“Bullshit!” We snarled and surged in size, ignoring the agony of the shackles cutting into our growing limbs by going goo. “We are not doing this your way! Now either get started or We’re leaving! This is no way to treat a Goddess!” We snarled. Damn ingrates.

“So...glorious. Pardon us.” At the ghost’s awed words We moaned, the familiar sensation of something entering our vagina turned into one We remembered from Daring’s favorite pastime of getting pumped with cum from a hose. We groaned, rubbing our belly with our hands as We rapidly filled with ectoplasmic ghost goo, but instead of forming new life, already spiritually prepared ones simply entered our body, forming their own bodies as We billowed outward.

“See? Is this so hard?” We teased our unseen audience as our swelling orb of rebirth began to absorb our limbs. “Mm, just like the hose from the tank. So fulfilling.” We muttered, closing our eyes and enjoying the passive debauchery. We dozed off, waking when our head hit a wall. We blinked, feeling our sides pressing into the walls of the tomb, our breasts pushing into the air above, our cunny engorged and pressing into the doorway leading outside. “Um, We might be getting too full for your tomb. It might start getting damaged.”

“Good point. Alright brothers, begin birthing.” We cooed when the innumerable shapes within us began moving, our transparent goo-skin letting us see the dozens of full-grown rat people, holy shit, Skaven, swimming for our door-sized quim. We moaned and sighed in pleasure as the warriors of a land long past and forgotten squeezed out of our birth canal, heading up the stairs immediately. “To think, we thought we would have to have you birth several women first and then have them sacrifice themselves to keep spawning us in a cycle that would’ve taken months, which you’ve reduced to hours. Thank you.”

“We just wish you didn’t do it so intent on killing us to get what you wanted, but with this new arrangement, how long do We have to be here?” We questioned, enjoying being a breeding factory as usual. Especially considering this was the first time besides with Aventurine We did it as a slime.

“At this rate? You’ll birth our whole army in a few weeks.” The ghost’s answer wasn’t reassuring.

“Weeks?! Ugh...fine. It’s not like there’s anything more pressing going on right now.” Besides, this needs to be done. With the boys back in their home dimension, We need to do what we can to stop Hell from gaining a stronger foothold.

(<3)

Celestia sat in her comfy recliner at the side of her study, her face in her hands. Her wings were limp at her sides. She looked up balefully at the enormous gods-damned painting sitting against the far wall, an image of her sister’s likeness now staining the moon of it. “Are you sure?” Celestia asked of someone she didn’t look at, instead glaring hatefully at the portrait.

“A-absolutely. I felt a...spark, when I looked at a drop of Twilight’s blood and your blood mixed together.” Arian nervously answered, looking fearfully at the giant grim entrance to her birthplace. “I...I’m so sorry. If I was faster-.”

“It is not your fault.” Celestia quietly hissed, her shoulders quaking, her breath hitching, her eyes pricking with tears as she looked at the damn moon of the image.

“Is there any precedence of this?” Twilight asked searchingly, placing a hand on her mentor’s shoulder.

“Never. This is the first time that anything has dared to even act on the wish to take my sister’s Dark Soul. Whatever monster has done this, will die. Even if it is immortal, I will stop at nothing to see it’s very essence scattered to the winds.” Celestia snarled, clutching her hands into the armrests of her chair so hard she was splitting seams. “Wiatr has gone south to Rodenas to investigate the Hell invasion there, as well as to find any Corruption. None of my Covenant or I can enter Ash, it rejects my very being to the point of also rejecting my servants. I asked the Darkmoon Blades to seek their mistress, but they too cannot enter Ash without her permission.”

“I could go with my friends.” Twilight volunteered and swallowed nervously. “I-I’ve been studying Yharnam for a bit on the side. If I had a bit of time to look up their Blood Rites, their Contracts, I may even be able to give us an edge, turn us into Hunters.”

“Y-you’d turn yourselves into those bloodthirsty monsters?!” Arian yelped. “D-don’t! Even the strongest of them give in to the Blood eventually! B-besides, the Good Hunter himself that is…” Arian squirmed uncomfortably, but Twilight looked resolute. “O-okay, but I need Pigment if I’m going to be making the painting while you look for Celestia’s sister.”

“That is all well and good. I’ll begin donating blood immediately, Twilight, do so when you have time between your planning sessions. Please...my Faithful Student. Bring my sister home.” Celestia pleaded and Twilight nodded, before teleporting away. “...Also, now that something is being done...why aren’t you anthro right now? I don’t appreciate you squeezing your feral bulk through my doors.” Arian whined plaintively in response.

(<3)

On a hill. By a tree. Overlooking a meadow of beautiful white flowers, hundreds of eyes snapped open under the concealing clothes of the person sitting on the wheelchair at the base of the grand leafless tree. “Hm? Queen Lacunae? No...her touch is not this strong.” He looked up at the moon, his many eyes peering past the Veil and seeing the shadowy outline of a horned mare. “What? What is happening?” He stood, suddenly vanishing in a burst of dust, appearing in the church on the hill next to the hill his throne sat.

He quickly poured over the tomes, referencing Queen Lacunae and Ash’s odd kinship with Dark, before finally finding one titled The Dark Soul. He opened it, his eyes seeing all and he snapped it shut. “Fools! Who has brought our progenitor here?! If she dies, this world will go with her! Hunters!” At his call, bells chimed on the wind and the one in the belfry of the church gonged, summoning many darkly dressed, but all quite flamboyantly so men and women of varied species. They all flooded into the small church, kneeling, bowing, some even taking that amusing scarecrow-like pose as was their liking.

“Yes Master Huntsman!” They chorused.

“A foolish Old One has abducted the progenitor of this world and sealed her in the moon! Go forth, find them! Kill every Kin in the mortal realm you find it! Seek the Dark Soul!” He commanded and they all nodded, wordlessly storming out in a tide for the tombstones, tiny chimes echoing as they warped to the realm of mortals.

Once done with that, Hunter sighed and rubbed the creases of his Beastly Bone Ash Mask and tugged on the high collar of his green Tomb Prospector garb. “Dear Hunter. Do not fret.” Came a soothing voice from the door and he looked over to see the animate life-sized and eerily beautiful doll of a blond-maned white unicorn mare bringing over tea and biscuits to the altar. “Your hunters will do their task as always.”

“I don’t doubt them for a moment Doll. Just that this has even come to pass.” Hunter sighed, moving to sit on his rocking chair behind the altar, his improvised desk/table. “Any news on Arian? Any sign?”

“The Painter is still lost to us. Perhaps the Old One endangering us now is behind her disappearance.” Doll stated, arranging the tea and biscuits for him.

“She is still alive. The world would have shuddered at the death of a Painter as it always does.” Hunter insisted, hoping beyond this Forlorn world’s Veil of hopelessness that she would do what all Painters since Aria have failed to do and finally save the Forlorn. “It is just as well that-.” Hunter suddenly shot his head towards a random part of the ceiling, stood and clutched at his chest. “...Someone Calls…” He vanished and Doll simply moved to wipe the blood from the altar, her master’s tea steaming, his biscuits forgotten.