Hyrulequestria

Ch.24

They won’t stop following me! They keep a respectful distance away, but after I slept in the shack and left in the morning, they have been following me the whole time. A couple times in the past day flying over the ocean, which btw doesn’t have the cloud layer continuing, they gathered and bit my brain, making me think the bad things, and ate. I don’t feel any different for it, but it’s creepy!

One neighed loudly as it got close, nudging me with its head and pointing with its nose up ahead at the huge island I was flying towards. “Yep, that’s where I’m heading.” At my response, it snorted and returned to the herd following me. After another hour I of flying, I glided down to the isolated Nottingham Island, landing on the shore. “Whew. I need a break.” I muttered to myself, plopping my ass onto the white sand of the beach.

The herd left me at this point, oddly enthused as they galloped through the air further inland. Good riddance. You may have been interesting, but you made me angry and ate something from my brain. Or drank. Whatever. I sighed as I let myself rest, then groaned and turned myself to goo, then back, resetting myself to peak condition. I’m not just a pegasus, stop forgetting, Me!

Myself suitably chastised by me, which is totally not crazy, you’re crazy! I stood on my hooves and brushed the sand off of my armor, turning towards the heavily wooded island. Welp, I’m Robin Hood here in Nottingham...Trottingham, and I’m no fox. At least right now, dang it, Lulu. Being a fox would’ve been perfect for this! Grumbling at the unfairness of missing out on matching the theme, I took back to the air to fly for the town, see the situation. Wait I do have a feral fox body. Naw, these shouldn’t be caribou, ponies wouldn’t know what to think of me.

I sighed in relief as I found the town was a humble hamlet of earth ponies, no caribou in sight. Fillies and colts were running about, playing, ignorant of the horrors on the mainland. The adults likewise seemed cheerful and going about their daily lives, working wood, and the fields. Have the caribou not bothered with this place? The island is easily big enough to sustain several cities, hell, to be its own small nation even. The fact that the ponies of Trottingham haven't bothered to branch out yet, and simply formed a sprawling hamlet of homes was odd.

“Excuse me!” I called out to a mare as I neared the Hamlet. “What is this place?”

“Hello! Welcome to Trottingham! We haven’t had visitors in a while, pardon our dust.” The mare, dressed in a simple brown sundress that of course failed to hide what I can now consider natural earth pony shapeliness beamed at me with a beautiful smile, her blue eyes shining with excitement and her chocolate mane waving in the wind, accenting her rusty-colored coat.

“That’s fine. Have you heard from the Mainland?” I asked, trying not to think of, well, how sexy she is. Looking around, nearly every mare was as muscular and endowed with assets as Maud and Pinkie, or more. Some even had the lofty claim of amazon with heights reaching 7 feet. But it was the stallions, homina, homina, that really stood out. You couldn’t see one and not imagine them benching a few hundred pounds with ease, several reaching 8 feet in height.

“No. After a few families made it here in flight from the war over 10 years ago, we ceased all contact with the mainland and have been hoping and praying for Sol to shield us from the wrath of the caribou.” The mare clasped her hands over an amulet she fished from her cleavage that was of Tia’s mark. Right, she’s a goddess with a following too.

“You mean Celestia?” I asked as I walked closer and saw images of Celestia all over, especially on the church. I also saw Luna’s images, only smaller and less prominent, also they depicted her as a snarling fox made of stars with her mark on her head. Clearly, they remember Lulu as a monster, that won’t go well if I establish connections between Trottingham and Everfree.

“Yes, the Princess of the Sun. She may be enslaved, but she still raises and lowers the sun. She has not forsaken us.” The mare declared with such religious fervor, I felt distinctly uncomfortable knowing that she was right, but that Tia had no more power than anypony in the grand scheme of things.

“Um.” I really don’t know if showing them Tia would be good, or mentioning Luna, or how Tia is in love with me, a few Caribou, and is in a harem with her sister as the focus. But ultimately, we need the help of earth ponies, so I’ll have to find someone I can speak to without worrying about being lynched by an overly-religious mob. “That’s good, um, and about the fox?” I asked.

“The beast that guards the places deeper inland. He is the pet of the moon, the bringer of Eternal Night.” The mare said with almost pure hatred. Okay so not really Luna, but they seem to see it as her pet. “He’s stolen Lacunae from divine providence and denied Sol her sibling.” Or not. What have these ponies been preaching?

“Okay, well, I”m looking for a Bunker near the center of the Island. Do you know where it is?” I asked and then several of the ponies who were listening in turned pale.

“That is the home of the beast! Stay away! It will take you into its home and never let you leave!” A stallion implored of me desperately.

“Um...it’s a magitech storage facility and we need to see if it has anything that can free us from the caribou. I’m working with the freed Celestia and her returned sister Luna to save the land.” I informed them, hoping to sway them, and while my words seemed to cheer them up more, they still shook their heads at me.

“Better the caribou than that monster! At least the caribou won’t eat you if you displease them.” Said another mare, the others all nodding. “Please don’t go there, for your safety and our peace of mind.”

Great. Oh well. I discovered something just as good if not better with the town. I can set up a teleport beacon that I brought here so we can establish a connection and hopefully trade and get some more residents for Everfree that know how to work the soil. “Alright, you win.” Besides, the changelings can investigate much more stealthily anyway. “But I still need to establish a connection between here and our home in the Everfree.”

“Will you be setting up a magic thing that will link our town with there?” Asked a unicorn colt-how did I miss him- with excitement, the cute little boy looking about to bounce out of his tiny suspenders.

“Yes, Luna has been setting up such stations with key locations we have found,” I explained. Without mentioning that most of those stations are underground and set up by Rover and his team so we can rapidly deploy people across the land. We still need to ferry large quantities of supplies by tunnel though, so it’s a work in progress.

“Then you need to speak to Quirky Quick Quibbler Quillson the Fourth.” Said the first mare I was speaking with.

“Ah, what?” I said blinking.

“He’s the mayor and the oldest unicorn in town to boot. We just call him Q for short.” Input a stallion quite helpfully.

“Ah...crap.” I sighed as I think I may have found out why this island may not have been invaded. “Is there some sort of anti-caribou barrier around the island?”

“And a tamed Windego herd to sicc on any ships that try to get near.” Commented another mare.

“Okay...I have a meeting to get to now.”

---]===>

My left eye twitched, sitting at a desk absolutely covered in random little gadgets. Behind the desk sat a positively ancient pale orange unicorn stallion who looked more skin and bones than almost Star Swirl, who was literally bones. He had googly glasses, a feather-patterned robe, and a stereotypical wizard hat perched on his brow. Oh, and he fell asleep. Again. “Q!”

“AH! Wha?! Is the fox back?” Q the Fourth asked as he jolted awake.

“No! I’m trying to get your permission to put a teleport anchor here so the princesses and our rebellion can work with you!” I’ve had to say this, in increasingly shorter ways five times now! How is he these people’s mayor?! The fairies were all poking him and calling him names, which normally I’d disapprove of, but he’s being such a stereotypical useless old nag!

“Wha? Rebellion? Is those whippersnappers causin’ trouble in the west field again? By Din, why do they do that.” Oh, Goddess please let me stop suffering this old fool!

“NO! Ugh, just, can I put this rock on the south edge of town?” I reached into my cream mane, pulling out the runed granite sphere that would act as the anchor for a set teleport matrix to send people and things to.

“Huh? Sure! Just don’t expect the children to leave it be.” FINALLY!

“THANK you!” I growled as I stood up and stormed out. Fucking hell, I thought for a moment he may have been some god from Star Trek, but no he’s...grah!

“Sorry for grandpa Q.” Apologized a handsome and much more agreeable younger version of the ancient stallion in the busy ‘secretary’ office. Now I see why he was doing so much filing and paperwork and everything his not-actually-the-mayor grandpa should’ve been doing. “He’s getting on in years and nopony will let him retire.”

“Really? Why?” I asked of the cute stallion. He seemed to be in his late teens, was lithe and fit despite obviously being used to office work, and unlike his grandpa’s faded pink eyes, he had fierce and strong red eyes with a matching mane of naturally spiky red hair. I wish he was the mayor! He’s clearly better suited!

“Because they’re superstitious and think so long as ‘the eldest Q’ is in office then the town is safe.” Quirky Quick Quibbler Quillson the Sixth snorted in annoyance. I’ve yet to meet Q the Fifth, but I’m not exactly in any hurry there.

“We have a lot of work to do here.” I groaned, rubbing my face and the fairies helping soothe my headache by pressing on my head in places. Maybe I should look into the bunker after all if it’s caused these people to literally form a stupid tradition like this.

“May may, Nayru your Q’s have declined.” Greeny as I’m now dubbing her, chuckled in amusement. “They also worship Din instead, how ridiculous.”

“You might want to head out before dark. Staying in town will put you in danger.” Q VI told me before going back to work.

“Huh? What, will the villagers tie me up and put me on a crucifix as a sacrifice to the fox?” I asked seriously, and he blinked.

“Um, not the second part. They’ll tie you up and keep you in town overnight ‘for your own good’. They do it to everyone who visits the island, at least for the first few nights until they get that there’s no going outside at night.” Q the Sixth informed me to which I sighed.

“Oh, goodie,” I muttered, already regretting my life choices even more than before.

---]===>

I flew out of town towards the general direction of the keening howl I heard a short bit ago. They can’t exactly stop me once I’m out of arm’s reach, and it was still late afternoon anyway. “Now where is that bunker?” I mumbled to myself as I looked down at the canopy of the forest. It wasn’t as overgrown or as large as Everfree, but it seemed to have more variety in the types of trees.

My keen senses were all that saved me and I dodged the incoming whistling sound. It turned out to be an arrow, which nearly took out my left wing. I looked in the direction it came from to see nothing but the canopy. I dodged another incoming whistle, watching the arrow punch through the leaves of the trees.

Assured of my attacker’s location, I dove to be nearly level with the treetops and flew in the direction of the incoming assault. I instinctively raised an arm when I heard the whistling again and was pegged hard in the forearm which despite my armor stopping, still hurt worse than a paintball on bare skin.

I dove down under the canopy when another arrow came, and I blinked in surprise to see a mossy repeating small ballista turret automatically pull back it’s crank and fire at me. “OOF!” I got hit in the gut this time, and it tossed me to the forest floor with it being so close. It was like being punched by, well, me.

“Sunuva…” I snarled, rolling out of the way of another of the heavy bolts, which while fletched were clearly not arrows. The fact my armor didn’t part like hot butter is impressive. What’s more impressive is how accurate this old thing is, even more than that was its enchantments still being so functional.

The turret cranked and aimed at me again but instead of me getting punched with another bolt, a resounding bass twang was heard with no resulting shot. Looking up to the turret it loaded again, but it was another dry draw, the corded cable vibrating with no ammo. That didn’t stop it from trying though. “Huh. Well then, if this thing is out here then I must be getting close to the bunker.” I walked by the thrumming old weapon, smashing it with a bare fist as I passed it.

Thank goodness I’m still obscenely strong like the local version of Robin Hood.

“Okay, so if my borrowed pegasus directional senses are right, I was heading east by northeast when it fired on me, I turned north by northeast to encounter it. Then logically, the bunker should be relatively in the direction of northeast, with probably some variation towards north or east.” Facing the direction I felt was the most likely, I began walking through the forest instead of flying. If I’m right, there should be a perimeter of these ballista a set radius around the bunker, and I don’t want to get shot again.

About a dozen yards from the turret I found a defensive position, bodies of caribou laying limp over heavy machine guns, rifles, and even a jeep. They were nothing but bones, with plants and dirt overtaking them, but I could see broken bones and arrows, even burn marks. Spent shells of rounds were scattered about, but I doubt I could even see how much there was with the age shown here, many of them were surely below ground with how some of the things were sunken into it.

“Great, so Trottingham hasn’t fully secured the island. But whatever happened here, it was at least several years ago.” I mumbled, looking over the weapons and shoving them all into my mane. Even if they didn’t work, it was still materials to repurpose without risking a raid on an enemy weapon supply. Geez, this trick is so useful, no wonder Pinkie and Maud use it so much.

After cleaning up the useful smaller bits of the doomed battlefield, I continued onwards to the northeast, my pony ears swiveling as I kept my bearings. There were a few more corpses scattered here and there, nothing as big as that battle further back. Eventually, I came across a cave, my hooves causing what must be a collapsed and partially buried tent to crinkle as I approached. I knelt down to examine the tent and found a field journal that a small wood book box managed to mostly preserve.

“Huh, seems this was a scout group.” I got from reading the faded writing...when could I read German? Anyway, I did notice that all the bodies were facing the cave. This must be it. “They were all here two decades ago? So this is not a new, but old attempt. Why have the Caribou not come back?”

Getting a feeling of dread I looked to the cave. All I saw before jaws were tearing at my throat was a massive maw of teeth. I gurgled as it crunched through my trachea, the pain I should’ve felt not registering. ‘Oh, right~ I’m a slime. I thought I made my bodies right though, why am I not feeling pain? When was the last time I felt pain that wasn’t in my head?’

Whatever, thoughts for later, I’m gushing blood-like goo and getting all sorts of annoyed by this clearly vicious monster. I reached into my mane, pulled out a Luger, and shot it in the ear, knocking it to the side and off of me, but the resulting keening whine and the lack of blood or brain matter caught me by surprise.

“Y-you hurt Luka!” A voice growled a tiny and cute voice. Looking in the direction I saw a tiny orange anthro fox that was the size of a three-year-old with a group of equally large foxes to ‘Luka’ sitting with it, each fox made of stars, or it seems so. “I’m going to hurt you!”

The tiny boy pulled out a pistol but one of the large star foxes stopped him from aiming at me as I reformed my throat.

“What is a kid doing here?” I questioned as the group snarled at me.

“I’m thirty-six!” The tiny guy yelled at me.

“I’m sure. So, any of you lot able to talk and explain yourselves for terrorizing the island?” I waved the gun around and put a hoof on Luka’s neck to remind them I’m not defenseless.

The largest of them poked the orange guy, who's eyes glowed blue before his voice changed to female. “It is they who trespass here! All not of Vulpes kind are not welcome here!”

“Too bad. Either make nice or I’ll eat the lot of you. I need to get samples anyway.” I let my hoof melt over Luka’s neck, making her whimper as I tightened my goo around her throat.

“NO!” The female yelled in fear through her anthro conduit. “Please! We surrender! Don’t kill my daughter!”

“You submit to the rule of the sovereign Princesses of the Sun and Moon? You pledge yourselves to my beloved Princesses and wish to serve their people?” I imperiously stressed the den of foxes, forming a ‘tongue’ on my hoof-turned-slime and licking the back of Luka’s ear.

“Lady Luna has returned?! Yes! We submit! Gladly!” Desperately declared the clear matriarch of these creatures, the whole den all rolling over onto their backs in submission.

“Alright, with that out of the way, what are you? What’s in the bunker?” I demanded less intensely, putting my pistol away and returning my hoof to normal, letting Luka up to scamper behind the others fearfully.

“Our home? It is our home, where we willingly submitted to experiments in the name of our Lady Luna, so that we may be closer to her.” Declared the matriarch as she and her rather large family got back onto their paws. “Well, the original ones of us. We’ve, heh, bred a bit since then.”

“Any males?” I asked in confusion, not seeing or smelling one.

“We take males from the village or use Leonard here.” The Matriarch explained. “We’re always born female, and the males who originally underwent the experiments became females. As for what we are, we are Vulpes. Vulpes Minors to be specific. We’re nowhere near old enough to become Vulpes Majors.”

“Huh, I’ve heard of Canis, Lupus, and Ursa, but never Vulpes counted among Luna’s starborne menagerie. I’m guessing you were a desperate unethical genetic super-soldier project?” I asked as I looked around at the massive fox-shaped entities of the night sky. Each was easily big enough at the shoulder to be 6 feet tall, and they’re gonna get bigger? Yeesh.

“More or less? We’re not exactly capable of wielding weapons anymore, and we’ve lost the ability to speak. It’s safe to say the experiment was mostly a failure. We were supposed to become Star Ponies, imbued with the power of the heavens. However, the sample may have been tainted by its handlers, a group of adept fox hunters from the nation to the northeast.” The matron explained as she sat down, the others seeing to Luka and otherwise warily watching.

“Okay, is he one of them?” I asked pointing to Leonard who was tenting his pants. Whoa. Considering how big that is, he must be a midget. Or a dwarf. What do you call people in this world suffering dwarfism?

“He is merely a former adventurer of said land. Leo the Tiny Terror he once went by, well, before we got our paws on him. Now he’s just Leonard, our adorable little horndog.” She cooed through his lips, nuzzling his cheek.

“Okay, why is he tenting his pants?” I asked.

“He smells a new fox.” She chuckled.

“Sorry? I’m a slime, and I’m not using my fox form right now-woah~...” I wobbled, my slime overtaking my fur. “Wha~?” Everything was all...groovy~. Oh no~. I’m...high? How~? Hey, there colorful ladies~! “How you~ doin’?” I slurred before flopping into a growing puddle on the cave floor as I lost control of how much of my mass I was storing away while the pretty light ladies danced.

---]===>

I woke slowly and to a world of blurriness in a room made of metal and saw Leonard working a console behind a glass wall. The group of Vulpes Minors watching on behind him. “Hm, you’re awake. Usually, Vulpes Venom lasts longer than that. Then again, you’re slime. Which will make this all the more interesting.”

“Huh?” I dumbly asked, having somehow been dumped into several buckets in the metal room that began spinning around me. Wee~! Whoa! Colorful lights! Fireworks! Woo~! I giggled as my membrane tingled, my red and cream slime swirling more violently. After a while, the spinning stopped and I was laughing at the full-body tickle, rolling around in a blob of silly slime and knocking the buckets around.

“Wonder what we’ll get. A Vulpus pup is normally guaranteed with ponies.” Mused the teeny tiny terror of Trottingham! The fiend! His plan was to make me a ticklish pile of goo all along! “Ah, her pigmentation is changing.”

“No~ not my swirlies~!” I whined, watching my swirls start darkening, my nearly even mixture of red and cream becoming a beautiful canvas of deep night-sky purple, filled with swirling galaxies, nebula, and stars just like the foxes watching me, much of them red and white, but a large amount of it was also notably blue. At least I still have swirls! Oh, and there’s my Mark, floating like a constellation.

“Red, white and blue seem dominant? It’s normally blue and purple.” One Vuplus commented. Hey, I can hear them! “Ah, and there she is.”

“Aroo?” I vocalized, my slime forming more solidly and seeming able to hold a shape even more strongly. Familiar with the body already, thanks to my fox form, I rolled to my paws and stood, my mass already making me easily twice the size of the others on the other side of the glass. “Hey~! This was mean! I could’ve done this without all the deception if I just ate a hair or something from one of you!”

“Yes, but then what could I have learned from you? Nothing.” Leonard replied, pressing a button that caused a loud buzzer to sound and a door to slide open from the wall. “We’ll stop terrorizing the village and help your princesses, as they’re our princesses too. But keep in mind that my work is all that matters to me. If they try to stop me for any reason, I will blow this island to Seaquestria.”

“That’s mean!” I huffed as he eyed my rear. “No fun-time for you for being a meanie!”

“Shame, you’re rather nicely shaped. Oh well, begone and take all but Luka with you. It was getting crowded here anyway.” Leonard casually dismissed, jumping onto a Vulpes’ back, likely Luka, and riding her further into the bunker.

“Wait, was he just an adventurer?” I asked in confusion.

“No, sorry. It was a ploy he cooked up for us to play whenever someone brave enough came to investigate. Of course, they all joined us here in the family. Some of us really are naturally bred though, so don’t think we’re all former victims.” The voice of the matriarch answered, allowing me to pick her out of the group of elegant entities. “Leonard was one of the original researchers like myself, a former Shekiah. We had to do desperate things while the bunker was under attack.”

“She has a dick! Just like you matriarch!” One of the many females exclaimed, already poking her head under my tail to tongue my balls.

“Ah! Hey! I’m still a slime, so I’m genderless! K-kinda! I’m all the genders!” I proclaimed with a proud nod of my celestial fox head, my eyes closing as I stoically and sagely informed them.

“Oh? We can have fun?!” Another asked as I remembered I needed to get home.

“Um, maybe later? I don’t know if I can promise that, but I need to get you to your new home.” My brain started making sense again. Core! You’re supposed to keep my head on straight! A sensation of apology. Aw, it’s okay, nobody’s perfect.

“Aw, that’s fair. Oh, while on the way, we can teach you our tail magic! It’s really simple, so you should get it down quick.” The vixen who’d been licking my balls excitedly stated, drawing a line with the tip of her tail that turned bright white for a moment, and a tiny cut formed in the far wall.

“Tail magic?” Wait. Are the Vulpes basically less-powerful fox-clones of Amaterasu from Okami? Oh~ why do I keep falling face-first into weird shit?

“Hm, I feel like emptying my balls in our new member first.” The matriarch told us as she rounded me.

“Wai-fuck!” I yelped as she mounted me and shoved what felt like sixteen inches of fox dick into my cunt. “We need to go!”

“Sorry but new members always get me like this. I’ll be done once I’ve bred you.” The Matriarch growled.

Damn it all~! Why can’t I escape this kind of shit~?!